Ring network system
First Claim
1. A ring network system comprising:
- a plurality of nodes, each node comprising means for capturing data;
communication links interconnecting the nodes in a ring configuration;
control means in at least one sender node comprising means for;
transmitting an outgoing signal to an addressee node, said signal having a relative address determined according to the relative location of the addressee node in the ring network, andreceiving a return signal from the addressee node and reading an addressee node identifier and captured data incorporated in the return signal;
data transfer means in each node comprising means for;
receiving an outgoing signal, monitoring the relative address, and determining if it is the addressee node,re-transmitting the outgoing signal to a next node if it is not the addressee node,in response to reception of the outgoing signal, generating a return signal including captured data and transmitting said return signal to the sender node on a return path in the opposite direction to that of the received outgoing signal through nodes of the system if it is the addressee node, said return signal incorporating the identifier of the addressee node, receiving a return signal and determining that it is a return signal, andadding captured data and the node identifier to said signal and re-transmitting the signal to a next node on the return path.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A ring network system (1) has at least one node M which acts as a master or sender node to transmit an outgoing signal (O.S.1) having a relative address determined according to the relative location of the addressee node in the system. As the outgoing signal passes through each node in turn, it is changed and a node recognizes that it is the addressee node if the relative address has a predetermined common addressee value. The addressee node generates a return signal (R.S.1) with a node identifier which is transmitted in the opposite direction to the outgoing signal and the sender node ensures that this is received for a valid poll. The master node (M) may automatically configure itself by retrieving the identifier of all nodes in response to outgoing signals. This allows nodes to be easily added or deleted. Each node on the return path adds data which it has captured together with its identifier so that data may be captured from all nodes between the sender node and the addressee nodes. A node (M) may transmit outgoing signals alternately in opposite directions in a manner whereby the addressee nodes are selected so that each communication link (3-8) is omitted in sequence and fault diagnosis takes place.
92 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A ring network system comprising:
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a plurality of nodes, each node comprising means for capturing data; communication links interconnecting the nodes in a ring configuration; control means in at least one sender node comprising means for; transmitting an outgoing signal to an addressee node, said signal having a relative address determined according to the relative location of the addressee node in the ring network, and receiving a return signal from the addressee node and reading an addressee node identifier and captured data incorporated in the return signal; data transfer means in each node comprising means for; receiving an outgoing signal, monitoring the relative address, and determining if it is the addressee node, re-transmitting the outgoing signal to a next node if it is not the addressee node, in response to reception of the outgoing signal, generating a return signal including captured data and transmitting said return signal to the sender node on a return path in the opposite direction to that of the received outgoing signal through nodes of the system if it is the addressee node, said return signal incorporating the identifier of the addressee node, receiving a return signal and determining that it is a return signal, and adding captured data and the node identifier to said signal and re-transmitting the signal to a next node on the return path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification