System for collecting from masters information independently collected from associated slaves in shelves of a telecommunications terminal

• US 5,455,959 A
• Filed: 08/19/1994
• Issued: 10/03/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alcatel Network Systems India Limited (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel Network Systems India Limited (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Simmering, Marlin V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim, Krisna
• Application Number:
  US08/293,093
• Time in Patent Office: 410 Days
• Field of Search: 395/325, 395/800, 395/725, 395/275, 370/85.5, 370/85.8, 364/132, 340/825.06, 340/825.07, 340/825.08, 340/825.21
• US Class Current: 710/18
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/22 using successive scanning, e.g. polling G06F13/24 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements

Abstract

An automatic inventory retrieval system collects inventory and status information regarding the presence or absence of plug-in master and slave units in the slots of various shelves in a telecommunications terminal, such as a network element, by having independent masters in each shelf polling associated slaves at a relatively frequent polling rate and collecting information for storage until reception of a relatively infrequent master polling signal provided from a network control unit to all of the shelves. Communication between the control and the various shelves is provided over a balanced serial link interface comprising differential pairs, whereas communications internal to the shelves and the network control may be by means of single-ended signals. Redundancy in the network element is accommodated with a single serial link between the central control and the shelves by use of time-division multiplexing. The relatively frequent slave address polling in the shelves may be done on the order of every several hundred milliseconds or less, whereas the relatively infrequent polling of the master units in the shelves by the central control occurs at a frequency on the order of once every second or more.

Claims

1. A telecommunications terminal having an automatic inventory retrieval system for collecting inventory and status information relating to printed circuit (PC) boards for use in separate printed circuit board housings of said telecommunications terminal, said telecommunications terminal comprising:

a cross-connect core, having network controls for providing master PC board address polling signals that occur at a master polling frequency on a terminal bus for providing the master PC board address polling signals; and

a plurality of said PC board housings, each housing for housing PC boards connected to an associated serial link interface wherein said PC boards for each housing include;

a plurality of slave PC boards connected to said associated serial link interface, each slave PC board having a selected address in said housing, each slave PC board responsive to slave address polling signals that occur at a slave polling frequency that is greater than said master polling frequency on said associated serial link interface, each slave PC board for providing on the associated serial link interface in response to a matching slave address and slave address polling signal, a slave response signal containing selected inventory and status information; and

a master PC board for connection to said terminal bus and to said associated serial link interface, for providing the slave address polling signals on said associated serial link interface and responsive to the slave response signals, for providing said slave response signals on said terminal bus in response to a matching one of the master unit address polling signals, the master PC board having a selected master address;

wherein the cross-connect core is responsive to the slave response signals on said terminal bus from said master PC board for said collecting inventory and status information.

2. A system for collecting status information relating to, printed circuit boards on a terminal bus in a telecommunications terminal having at least one printed circuit board housing for housing said printed circuit boards and a controller to which said at least one printed circuit board housing is connected by said terminal bus, each of said at least one printed circuit board housing having a plurality of circuit boards connected to a housing bus wherein said printed circuit boards include a plurality of slave circuit boards, each slave circuit board having a selected address, each responsive to slave address status request signals provided on said housing bus, each slave unit providing on said housing bus, in response to a slave address status request signal that matches its selected address, a slave address status response signal containing selected status information;

wherein said circuit boards include a master circuit board for each of said at least one printed circuit board housing, for providing the slave address status request signals on said housing bus and responsive to the slave address status response signals on said housing bus from the slave circuit boards for providing selected slave address status response signals on said terminal bus in response to a master circuit board address signal on said terminal bus, the master circuit board having a selected master address;

said telecommunications terminal having a controller, for providing the master circuit board address signal on said terminal bus and responsive to the selected slave address status response signals from the master circuit board in the at least one printed circuit board housing for said collecting status information.