Reserving time periods for communication on power line networks
First Claim
1. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium and contend for access during a priority resolution period, comprising:
- providing a first CSMA network protocol in which at least some transmissions have a format that includes a start of frame delimiter (SOF), a payload, and an end of frame delimiter (EOF), wherein the SOF and EOF each contain sufficient information to permit a station receiving only one of the SOF and EOF to determine the start of a priority resolution period; and
providing a second network protocol capable of coexisting with the first protocol, so that stations may communicate using either the first or second protocol,wherein the second protocol includes transmissions that have a format that includes an SOF but not an EOF,wherein the transmissions of the second protocol have the effect of reserving a reserved time period during which stations following the first protocol will not transmit, andwherein the reserved time period extends into the time normally occupied by the EOF according to the first CSMA network protocol.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium and contend for access during a priority resolution period. At least some of the stations use a first CSMA network protocol having certain characteristics (e.g., some transmissions have a format that includes a start of frame delimiter (SOF), a payload, and an end of frame delimiter (EOF), wherein the SOF and EOF each contain sufficient information to permit a station receiving only one of the SOF and EOF to determine the start of a priority resolution period). And at least some stations use a second network protocol capable of coexisting with the first protocol, so that stations may communicate using either the first or second protocol. The second protocol may have various characteristics configured to achieve coexistence with the first protocol (e.g., transmissions that have a format that includes an SOF but not an EOF).
189 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium and contend for access during a priority resolution period, comprising:
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providing a first CSMA network protocol in which at least some transmissions have a format that includes a start of frame delimiter (SOF), a payload, and an end of frame delimiter (EOF), wherein the SOF and EOF each contain sufficient information to permit a station receiving only one of the SOF and EOF to determine the start of a priority resolution period; and providing a second network protocol capable of coexisting with the first protocol, so that stations may communicate using either the first or second protocol, wherein the second protocol includes transmissions that have a format that includes an SOF but not an EOF, wherein the transmissions of the second protocol have the effect of reserving a reserved time period during which stations following the first protocol will not transmit, and wherein the reserved time period extends into the time normally occupied by the EOF according to the first CSMA network protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 24, 25)
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11. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium and contend for access during a priority resolution period, comprising
providing a first CSMA network protocol in which at least some transmissions have a format that includes a start of frame delimiter (SOF), a payload, and an end of frame delimiter (EOF), wherein the SOF and EOF each contain sufficient information to permit a station receiving only one of the SOF and EOF to determine the start of a priority resolution period; - and
providing a second network protocol capable of coexisting with the first protocol, so that stations may communicate using either the first or second protocol, wherein the second protocol includes transmissions that have a format that includes an SOF but not an EOF, wherein the transmissions of the second protocol have the effect of reserving a reserved time period during which stations following the first protocol will not transmit, and wherein the reserved time period extends into a time gap between the EOF and the start of the priority resolution period.
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12. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium and contend for access during a priority resolution period, comprising
providing a first CSMA network protocol in which at least some transmission have a format that includes a start of frame delimiter (SOF), a payload, and an end of frame delimiter (EOF), wherein the SOF and EOF each contain sufficient information to permit a station receiving only one of the SOF and EOF to determine the start of a priority resolution period; -
providing a second network protocol capable of coexisting with the first protocol, so that stations may communicate using either the first or second protocol, wherein the second protocol includes transmissions that have a format that includes an SOF but not an EOF, wherein the transmissions of the second protocol have the effect of reserving a reserved time period during which stations following the first protocol will not transmit, and wherein the transmissions using the first CSMA network protocol have a format that includes an SOF capable of specifying that a response delimiter is expected, and the reserved time period extends beyond the normal time period of the EOF into a time gap between the EOF and the response delimiter.
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13. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium and contend for access during a priority resolution period, comprising
providing a first CSMA network protocol in which at least some transmission have a format that includes a start of frame delimiter (SOF), a payload, and an end of frame delimiter (EOF), wherein the SOF and EOF each contain sufficient information to permit a station receiving only one of the SOF and EOF to determine the start of a priority resolution period; -
providing a second network protocol capable of coexisting with the first protocol, so that stations may communicate using either the first or second protocol, wherein the second protocol includes transmissions that have a format that includes an SOF but not an EOF, wherein the transmissions of the second protocol have the effect of reserving a reserved time period during which stations following the first protocol will not transmit, and wherein the transmissions using the first CSMA network protocol have a format that includes an SOF with a contention control field for specifying that stations with a lower channel access priority than the transmitting channel should not contend during the next priority resolution period, and wherein the reserved time period can extend through the completion of the priority resolution period by using an SOF with a contention control field set to specify that stations with a lower channel access priority should not contend. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of operating in a CSMA network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium and contend for access during a priority resolution period, comprising:
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providing a first CSMA network protocol in which at least some transmissions comprise a start of frame delimiter (SOF), a payload, and an end of frame delimiter (EOF), wherein the EOF may specify whether a response delimiter is expected; and providing a second network protocol capable of coexisting with the first protocol, so that stations may communicate using either the first or second protocol, wherein the second protocol includes transmissions that comprise an EOF without a preceding SOF and payload, wherein the transmissions of the second protocol have the effect of reserving a reserved time period following the EOF, during which stations following the first protocol will not transmit, the reserved time period extending to the start of the priority resolution period, wherein the EOF of the first protocol includes one or more contention control parameters that can be set to specify that other stations should not contend during the next priority resolution period, and wherein the EOF used in the second protocol is set to specify that other stations should not contend during the next priority resolution period, wherein the reserved time period following the EOF can extend through the completion of the priority resolution period. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification