Inband dynamic port allocation
First Claim
1. In a multi-port modem, a method of allocating bandwidth from a donor port which is idle to a recipient port which is to have its bandwidth allocation increased without interrupting other ports in said modem, said multi-port modem being of the kind that transmits and receives data to and from a plurality of ports including said donor and recipient ports over a transmission medium using time division multiplexing so that each port uses one or more time slots for data transmission, and wherein the data are transmitted over said transmission medium, the method comprising the steps of:
- transmitting a code over said donor port time slot to signify that said donor port is idle;
coordinating a change in transmission rate of said recipient port by transmitting a handshaking protocol over the time slots of said idle donor port and said recipient port; and
reconfiguring said multi-port modem to allocate the bandwidth of said donor port to said recipient port without interruption of said other ports.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-port (multiplexed) modem for implementing automatic reconfiguration of the ports so that transmission bandwidth can be optimized. The modem utilizes a sequence of communications and acknowledgments transmitted over the donor port donating the bandwidth and the recipient port receiving the bandwidth. This allows reconfiguration of the modem ports without need for interruption of the unaffected ports and requires no secondary channel to implement. Only the port going idle and the port receiving the bandwidth are affected so that communication channel throughput is maximized and unaffected ports are not interrupted.
45 Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a multi-port modem, a method of allocating bandwidth from a donor port which is idle to a recipient port which is to have its bandwidth allocation increased without interrupting other ports in said modem, said multi-port modem being of the kind that transmits and receives data to and from a plurality of ports including said donor and recipient ports over a transmission medium using time division multiplexing so that each port uses one or more time slots for data transmission, and wherein the data are transmitted over said transmission medium, the method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a code over said donor port time slot to signify that said donor port is idle; coordinating a change in transmission rate of said recipient port by transmitting a handshaking protocol over the time slots of said idle donor port and said recipient port; and reconfiguring said multi-port modem to allocate the bandwidth of said donor port to said recipient port without interruption of said other ports. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. In a multi-port modem, a method of allocating bandwidth to a recipient port which is currently idle from a donor port which is to have its bandwidth decreased without interruption of other ports of said modem, said multi-port modem being of the kind that transmits and receives data to and from a plurality of ports including said donor and recipient ports using time division multiplexing so that each port uses one or more time slots for data transmission, and wherein the data are transmitted over a transmission medium, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request for bandwidth from an external source recipient port; coordinating a change in bandwidth allocation by transmitting a handshaking protocol over said donor port time slot and said recipient port time slot to signify that the port is to relinquish bandwidth to said port requesting bandwidth; and reconfiguring said multi-port modem to allocate the bandwidth to said recipient port from said donor port without interruption of said other ports. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a multi-port modem, a method of allocating bandwidth from a donor port which is to reduce its bandwidth to a recipient port which is to have its bandwidth allocation increased without interrupting other ports in said modem, said multi-port modem being of the kind that transmits and receives data to and from a plurality of ports including said donor and recipients ports over a transmission medium using time division multiplexing so that each port uses one or more time slots for data transmission, and wherein the data are transmitted over said transmission medium, the method comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a code over said donor port time slot to signify that said donor port is going idle; coordinating a change in transmission rate of said recipient port by transmitting a handshaking protocol over the time slots of said idle donor port and said recipient port; and reconfiguring said multi-port modem to allocate the bandwidth of said donor port to said recipient port without interruption of said other ports. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In a multi-port modem, a method of allocating bandwidth to a recipient port from a donor port which is to have its bandwidth decreased without interruption of other ports of said modem, said multi-port modem being of the kind that transmits and receives data to and from a plurality of ports including said donor and recipient ports using time division multiplexing so that each port uses one or more time slots for data transmission, and wherein the data are transmitted over a transmission medium, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request for bandwidth to be allocated to a recipient port; coordinating a change in bandwidth allocation by transmitting a handshaking protocol over said donor port time slot and said recipient port time slot to signify that the port is to relinquish bandwidth to said recipient port; and reconfiguring said multi-port modem to allocate the bandwidth to said recipient port from said donor port without interruption of said other ports. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification