Arrangement in a communications network
First Claim
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1. A data communications network comprising:
- a plurality of data communications units interconnected by a communications medium which carries data transmissions from a transmitting unit to a receiving unit;
each of said transmitting and receiving unit comprising a data transmission control and emitting portion, a data receiving control and reception portion, and a mode control portion to configure each of the plurality of data communications units into a send mode in which said data transmissions occur and a receive mode in which data is received;
each said data transmission control and emitting portion including a data transmission format control section which provides said data transmission during said send mode as main data frames, each main data frame being provided with a start main data frame delimiter encoded segment followed by a data area of fixed duration that is encodable as N data slots, each said data slot having a data capacity of M bits of data, N and M both being integers greater than 1;
each said data transmission format control section further providing at least some of the main data frames in said data transmission during the send mode with at least C of the N data slots having encoded therein periodic data, C being an integer greater than 1; and
said data transmission format control section further having a dynamic controller that detects whether or not all of the available N data slots of the data area of fixed duration have been used to encode said periodic data and then provides at least a portion of any unused ones of the N available data slots with an encoded delimiter area for marking an asynchronously encoded subframe portion within said main frames while also providing another portion of said unused ones of the N available data slots as an aperiodic data encoded asynchronous subframe portion of P data slots, wherein P is an integer greater than 1.
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Abstract
In a communications network, first information items are transmitted synchronously and second information items asynchronously. The second information items are overlaid on the synchronously transmitted first information items. A bandwidth accessible on transmission can be variably distributed between the first and second information items and, with the desired variable distribution, transmitting and receiving units become synchronized by synchronization information which is transmitted via a channel established for asynchronous transmission between the transmitting and receiving units.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A data communications network comprising:
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a plurality of data communications units interconnected by a communications medium which carries data transmissions from a transmitting unit to a receiving unit; each of said transmitting and receiving unit comprising a data transmission control and emitting portion, a data receiving control and reception portion, and a mode control portion to configure each of the plurality of data communications units into a send mode in which said data transmissions occur and a receive mode in which data is received; each said data transmission control and emitting portion including a data transmission format control section which provides said data transmission during said send mode as main data frames, each main data frame being provided with a start main data frame delimiter encoded segment followed by a data area of fixed duration that is encodable as N data slots, each said data slot having a data capacity of M bits of data, N and M both being integers greater than 1; each said data transmission format control section further providing at least some of the main data frames in said data transmission during the send mode with at least C of the N data slots having encoded therein periodic data, C being an integer greater than 1; and said data transmission format control section further having a dynamic controller that detects whether or not all of the available N data slots of the data area of fixed duration have been used to encode said periodic data and then provides at least a portion of any unused ones of the N available data slots with an encoded delimiter area for marking an asynchronously encoded subframe portion within said main frames while also providing another portion of said unused ones of the N available data slots as an aperiodic data encoded asynchronous subframe portion of P data slots, wherein P is an integer greater than 1. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of formatting data and transmission of formatted data on a communications medium interconnecting a plurality of transmitting and receiving units, comprising:
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providing transmissions from any transmitting unit as a sequence of main frames each of which include a start delimiter followed by a data area of fixed duration that is encodable as N data slots, each said data slot having a data capacity of M bits of data, N and M being integers greater than 1; encoding at least C of the N data slots in the main frames with periodic data to form an encoded synchronous frame segment, C being an integer greater than 1; detecting which of the N data slots of the data area of fixed duration in each main frame are free slots that have not been encoded with said periodic data; encoding at least one of the detected free slots as a start delimiter of an asynchronous subframe; further encoding at least some others of the detected free slots with aperiodic data to form P data slots as part of the asynchronous subframe, wherein P is an integer greater than 1; and still further encoding at least one of the detected free slots as a stop delimiter of the asynchronous subframe. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification