High speed communication bus
First Claim
1. A computer network concentrator system, comprising:
- a backplane with a DATA line, a BUSY line parallel with said DATA line and a SLOTSEL line parallel with said DATA line;
a plurality of modules connected to said DATA, BUSY, and SLOTSEL lines, each of said plurality of modules having a unique slot ID, said SLOTSEL line being capable of transmitting any one of said unique slot ID'"'"'s, one of said plurality of modules being an active arbitration module and having a Bus Arbiter means for selecting which of said plurality of modules will transmit data onto said DATA line, said Bus Arbiter means transmitting said unique slot ID of one of said modules onto said SLOTSEL line;
each of said plurality of modules including a Transmitter means for monitoring said SLOTSEL line for a respective unique slot ID on said SLOTSEL line, monitoring said BUSY line for a BUSY signal, said Transmitter means transmitting a BUSY signal onto said BUSY line and subsequently transmitting a packet onto said DATA line upon said Transmitter means detecting that said BUSY line does not have a BUSY signal, detecting that said SLOTSEL line has said unique slot ID and a detecting that a respective module associated with said Transmitter means has said packet to transmit onto said DATA line.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer network system containing a concentrator with a backplane that has a plurality of lines. The backplane contains data lines and control lines for managing and organizing the transfer of data between modules in the concentrator. The system contains intelligent devices that allow the selection of transmitting modules to occur at the same time as actual data transfer is going on between other modules. This is preferably done in a round robin arbitration process where, while data is being transferred by a first module, a bus arbitration device is placing addresses of modules which sequentially follow the transmitting module onto the control lines. Modules will see their address on the control lines, and if they have a packet to transmit, they then reserve the right to transmit after the presently transmitting module is finished. In this way the selection of the next module to transmit is performed in parallel, and does not slow down, the transfer of data between modules. The control lines are also able to indicate when a receiving module has been unable to copy a packet. The transmitting module can then resend the packet for either a maximum number of retries, or until the receiving module is able to copy the packet.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A computer network concentrator system, comprising:
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a backplane with a DATA line, a BUSY line parallel with said DATA line and a SLOTSEL line parallel with said DATA line; a plurality of modules connected to said DATA, BUSY, and SLOTSEL lines, each of said plurality of modules having a unique slot ID, said SLOTSEL line being capable of transmitting any one of said unique slot ID'"'"'s, one of said plurality of modules being an active arbitration module and having a Bus Arbiter means for selecting which of said plurality of modules will transmit data onto said DATA line, said Bus Arbiter means transmitting said unique slot ID of one of said modules onto said SLOTSEL line; each of said plurality of modules including a Transmitter means for monitoring said SLOTSEL line for a respective unique slot ID on said SLOTSEL line, monitoring said BUSY line for a BUSY signal, said Transmitter means transmitting a BUSY signal onto said BUSY line and subsequently transmitting a packet onto said DATA line upon said Transmitter means detecting that said BUSY line does not have a BUSY signal, detecting that said SLOTSEL line has said unique slot ID and a detecting that a respective module associated with said Transmitter means has said packet to transmit onto said DATA line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A management system for a backplane of a computer network, the system comprising:
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an ARBACT line; an ESYNCH line parallel with said ARBACT line; a SLOTSEL line parallel with said ARBACT line, said SLOTSEL line having a dominant state and a recessive state, said SLOTSEL line maintaining said dominant state when both said dominant and recessive states are transmitted onto said SLOTSEL line; a plurality of modules connected to said ARBACT, SLOTSEL and ESYNCH lines, each of said plurality of modules having a SLOT ID, each SLOT ID including a plurality of dominant and recessive states, said SLOTSEL line being capable of transmitting said SLOT ID, each of said plurality of modules having Bus Arbiter means for selecting which of said plurality of modules will transmit data onto the backplane, said each of said plurality of modules also having Master Elect Arbiter means for electing one of said plurality of modules to be an active arbitration module and disabling all Bus Arbiter means on modules not elected as said arbitration module, said Master Elect Arbiter means of said active arbitration module transmitting an ARBACT signal onto said ARBACT line, each of said Master Elect Arbiter means transmitting an ESYNCH signal onto said ESYNCH line if said ARBACT signal is missing from said ARBACT line, said each Master Elect Arbiter means removing said ESYNCH signal from said ESYNCH line after a predetermine time period, said each Master Elect Arbiter means transmitting a respective arbiter version field and a respective SLOT ID onto said SLOTSEL line after all ESYNCH signals are removed from said ESYNCH line, said each Master Elect Arbiter means monitoring a state of said SLOTSEL line, if said SLOTSEL line has a state other than a state transmitted by said Master Elect Arbiter means, said Master Elect Arbiter means stops transmitting onto said SLOTSEL line and disables a respective said Bus Arbiter means, a Master Elect Arbiter means still transmitting after all other Master Elect Arbiter means have finished said transmitting of said respective SLOT ID'"'"'s onto said SLOTSEL line is a remaining Master Elect Arbiter means and transmits said ARBACT signal onto said ARBACT line. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A management system for a backplane of a computer network, the system comprising:
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a DATA line; a PR (Port Ready) line parallel with said DATA line; a PNR (Port Not Ready) line parallel with said DATA line; a plurality of modules connected to said DATA, PR and PNR lines, each of said plurality of modules including Transmitter means for transmitting and receiving a packet onto and from said DATA line, each of said Transmitter means transmitting a PR signal onto said PR line if said Transmitter means is properly receiving said packet from said DATA line, each of said Transmitter means transmitting a PNR signal onto said PNR line if said Transmitter means can not properly copy said packet from said DATA line. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer network concentrator system, comprising:
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a backplane with a DATA line and an arbitration line in parallel and operating simultaneously with said DATA line; a plurality of modules connected to said DATA line and said arbitration line, each of said plurality of modules having a unique slot ID, said arbitration line being capable of transmitting any one of said unique slot ID'"'"'s onto said arbitration line, one of said plurality of modules being an active arbitration module and having a Bus Arbiter means for selecting which of said plurality of modules will transmit data onto said DATA line, said Bus Arbiter means transmitting said unique slot ID of one of said modules onto said arbitration line; each of said plurality of modules including a Transmitter means for monitoring said arbitration line for a respective said unique slot ID on said arbitration line, said Transmitter means transmitting onto said DATA line upon said Transmitter means detecting that said Arbitration line has said unique slot ID. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification