Communications control method

• US 7,085,233 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2001
• Issued: 08/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Redwood Technologies, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ohmi, Shinichiro, Hayashino, Hiroshi, Ando, Kazuhiro, Harada, Yasuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): LY, ANH VU H
• Application Number:
  US09/972,962
• Publication Number:
  US 20020041586A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,756 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1887 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0095 Ring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/02 Hybrid access

Abstract

In serial transmission of a mixture of isochronous data and anisochronous data, communications through a transmission path with a high ratio of occurrence of transmission errors may disturb images during streaming reproduction and produce noise in sound. To solve this problem, the isochronous data that has not been successfully received is retransmitted by using an anisochronous region. Thus, a transmission error of the isochronous data can be reduced without impairment of isochronous characteristics of the data.

Claims

1. A method for controlling communications among a plurality of terminals coupled to each other to form a network in which a mixture of isochronous data and anisochronous data is serially transmitted, said method comprising:

dividing time into cycles, and providing an isochronous region and an anisochronous region for each cycle;

determining by a destination terminal, after each terminal transmits, for each cycle, the isochronous data using the isochronous region in a time division manner, whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received;

instructing an originating terminal of the isochronous data to retransmit the isochronous data by using the anisochronous region when there is any terminal that has not successfully received the isochronous data; and

suspending retransmission of the isochronous data even though a reception error is not cleared when a time consumed by one more retransmission presumably exceeds a predetermined maximum time allowed, for each cycle, to be consumed for retransmitting the isochronous data,

wherein said instructing is carried out repetitively until the isochronous data is successfully received.

2. The communications control method according to claim 1, wherein:

each terminal encodes and modulates the isochronous data before transmission; and

in said instructing, the originating terminal is instructed to retransmit the isochronous data after changing a coding rate used in encoding and a modulation scheme used in modulation.

3. The communications control method according to claim 1, further comprising giving an inquiry to the destination terminal about whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received,

wherein said determining is carried out based on a response to the inquiry.

4. The communications control method according to claim 1, wherein:

the destination terminal spontaneously gives a response about whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received; and

said determining is carried out based on the response.

5. The communications control method according to claim 1, wherein the maximum time is smaller than or equal to a time length of the anisochronous region.

6. The communications control method according to claim 5, wherein the maximum time is equal in value to a time length of the anisochronous region.

7. The communications control method according to claim 5, further comprising retransmitting, in the anisochronous region of a next cycle, the isochronous data whose retransmission is suspended.

8. The communications control method according to claim 1, further comprising suspending retransmission of the isochronous data even though a reception error is not cleared when the number of times of retransmission exceeds a predetermined maximum number of times of retransmission of the isochronous data.

9. A method for controlling communications among a plurality of terminals coupled to each other to form a network in which a mixture of isochronous data and anisochronous data is serially transmitted, said method comprising:

dividing time into cycles, and providing an isochronous region and an anisochronous region for each cycle;

determining by a destination terminal, after each terminal transmits, for each cycle, the isochronous data using the isochronous region in a time division manner, whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received; and

instructing an originating terminal of the isochronous data to retransmit the isochronous data by using the anisochronous region when there is any terminal that has not successfully received the isochronous data, wherein;

each terminal carries out multicast transmission of the isochronous data to the terminals that belong to respective specific groups;

said determining determines whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received by all terminals that belong to the group destined to receive the isochronous data; and

in said instructing, when there is one or more terminals that have not successfully received the isochronous data in the group, the originating terminal is instructed to carry out multicast retransmission of the isochronous data to all of the terminals that belong to the group.

10. The communications control method according to claim 9, wherein:

each terminal encodes and modulates the isochronous data before transmission; and

in said instructing, the originating terminal is instructed to retransmit the isochronous data after changing a coding rate used in encoding and a modulation scheme used in modulation.

11. The communications control method according to claim 9, further comprising giving an inquiry to the destination terminal about whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received,

wherein said determining is carried out based on a response to the inquiry.

12. The communications control method according to claim 9, wherein:

the destination terminal spontaneously gives a response about whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received; and

said determining is carried out based on the response.

13. The communications control method according to claim 9, wherein said instructing is carried out repetitively until the isochronous data is successfully received.

14. The communications control method according to claim 13, further comprising suspending retransmission of the isochronous data even though a reception error is not cleared when a time consumed by one more retransmission presumably exceeds a predetermined maximum time allowed, for each cycle, to be consumed for retransmitting the isochronous data.

15. The communications control method according to claim 14, wherein the maximum time is smaller than or equal to a time length of the anisochronous region.

16. The communications control method according to claim 15, further comprising retransmitting, in the anisochronous region of a next cycle, the isochronous data whose retransmission is suspended.

17. The communications control method according to claim 15, wherein the maximum time is equal in value to a time length of the anisochronous region.

18. The communications control method according to claim 13, further comprising suspending retransmission of the isochronous data even though a reception error is not cleared when the number of times of retransmission exceeds a predetermined maximum number of times of retransmission of the isochronous data.

19. A method for controlling communications among a plurality of terminals coupled to each other to form a network in which a mixture of isochronous data and anisochronous data is serially transmitted, said method comprising:

dividing time into cycles, and providing an isochronous region and an anisochronous region for each cycle;

determining by a destination terminal, after each terminal transmits, for each cycle, the isochronous data using the isochronous region in a time division manner, whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received; and

instructing an originating terminal of the isochronous data to retransmit the isochronous data by using the anisochronous region when there is any terminal that has not successfully received the isochronous data, wherein;

each terminal carries out broadcast transmission of the isochronous data to all other terminals;

said determining determines whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received by all terminals destined to receive the isochronous data; and

in said instructing, when there is one or more terminals that have not successfully received the isochronous data, the originating terminal is instructed to carry out broadcast retransmission of the isochronous data to all of the terminals.

20. A communications control apparatus for controlling communications among a plurality of terminals coupled to each other to form a network in which a mixture of isochronous data and anisochronous data is serially transmitted, said apparatus comprising:

means for dividing time into cycles, and providing an isochronous region and an anisochronous region for each cycle;

means for, after each terminal transmits, for each cycle, the isochronous data using the isochronous region in a time division manner, determining by a destination terminal whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received;

means for instructing an originating terminal of the isochronous data to retransmit the isochronous data by using the anisochronous region when there is any terminal that has not successfully received the isochronous data; and

means for suspending retransmission of the isochronous data even though a reception error is not cleared when a time consumed by one more retransmission presumably exceeds a predetermined maximum time allowed, for each cycle, to be consumed for retransmitting the isochronous data,

wherein said instructing means repetitively instructs the originating terminal to retransmit the isochronous data until the isochronous data is successfully received.

21. A program embodied on a computer-readable medium and having instructions operable to cause a computer to perform a method for controlling communications among a plurality of terminals coupled to each other to form a network in which a mixture of isochronous data and anisochronous data is serially transmitted, said method comprising:

dividing time into cycles, and providing an isochronous region and an anisochronous region for each cycle;

determining by a destination terminal, after each terminal transmits, for each cycle, the isochronous data using the isochronous region in a time division manner, whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received;

instructing an originating terminal of the isochronous data to retransmit the isochronous data by using the anisochronous region when there is any terminal that has not successfully received the isochronous data; and

suspending retransmission of the isochronous data even though a reception error is not cleared when a time consumed by one more retransmission presumably exceeds a predetermined maximum time allowed, for each cycle, to be consumed for retransmitting the isochronous data,

wherein said instructing is carried out repetitively until the isochronous data is successfully received.

22. A recording medium on which a communications control program is recorded, said communications control program having instructions operable to cause a computer to perform a method for controlling communications among a plurality of terminals coupled to each other to form a network in which a mixture of isochronous data and anisochronous data is serially transmitted, said method comprising:

dividing time into cycles, and providing an isochronous region and an anisochronous region for each cycle;

determining by a destination terminal, after each terminal transmits, for each cycle, the isochronous data using the isochronous region in a time division manner, whether or not the isochronous data has been successfully received;

instructing an originating terminal of the isochronous data to retransmit the isochronous data by using the anisochronous region when there is any terminal that has not successfully received the isochronous data; and

suspending retransmission of the isochronous data even though a reception error is not cleared when a time consumed by one more retransmission presumably exceeds a predetermined maximum time allowed, for each cycle, to be consumed for retransmitting the isochronous data,

wherein said instructing is carried out repetitively until the isochronous data is successfully received.