Simultaneous full-duplex communication over a single electrical conductor

• US 7,639,598 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2007
• Issued: 12/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Szabolcs Sovenyi
• Original Assignee: Szabolcs Sovenyi
• Inventors: Sovenyi, Szabolcs
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Kwang B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huq, Obaidul
• Application Number:
  US11/668,236
• Publication Number:
  US 20070177679A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,065 Days
• Field of Search: 370276-295, 370241-253, 370/463, 370/203, 375295-315, 375316-352
• US Class Current: 370/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40006 Architecture of a communication node current supply arrangements H04L12/10; intermediate storage or scheduling H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/407 with decentralised control

Abstract

Simple, inexpensive, general-purpose devices and methods achieve simultaneous, full-duplex and bi-directional communication of analog, digital or audio signals across a single conductor. “Sifudu” transceivers, which stands for “simultaneous and full-duplex,” reduce the number of cables necessary for transferring information between two or more terminals at a given rate, and/or facilitate information transfer at a higher rate than traditional circuits across the same number of cables. The transceivers can accommodate both digital and analog signals of arbitrary polarity. Since a sifudu circuit is capable of transmitting analog signals, it is also capable of transmitting digital signals in frequency, phase, or amplitude shift keyed form, thus opening the possibility of realizing higher baud rate than other simultaneous bidirectional communication systems that transfer digital data only, one bit at a time in each direction. The transceivers can be connected into a multi-terminal network configurations including chain, star, tree, woods topologies, alone or in combination.

Claims

1. A system for achieving simultaneous, full-duplex communication over a single electrical conductor, the system comprising:

a first transceiver terminal T₁ having a first input for receiving a first signal x;

a second transceiver terminal T₂ having a second input for receiving a second signal y;

a first communication circuit C₁ in T₁ between the first input and a point A for transmitting a signal representative of x from A to T₂ over the single electrical conductor;

a second communication circuit C₂ in T₂ between the second input and a point B for transmitting a signal representative of y from B to T₁ over the single electrical conductor;

a first estimator circuit E₁ in T₁ for measuring one or more signals relative to the point A;

a second estimator circuit E₂ in T₂ for measuring one or more signals relative to the point B;

the first estimator being operative to output a signal ŷ

=f_1e(s₁₁, . . . , s_1P, x);

the second estimator being operative to output a signal {circumflex over (x)}=f_2e(s₂₁, . . . , s_2Q, y);

where;

s₁₁, s₁₂,. . . s_1P are the signals available for measurement relative to point A;

s₂₁, s₂₂,. . . s_2Q are the signals available for measurement relative to point B;

f₁(s₁₁, . . . , s_1P, x, y)=0;

f₂(s₂₁, . . . , s_2Q, x, y)=0; and

{circumflex over (x)}, ŷ

are estimates of x and y, respectively.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second signals are analog or digital signals.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the first and second communication circuits include a resistor; and

the variables include the voltages developed across each resistor.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the first and second communication circuits include current-sensing components; and

the variables include the currents measured by the current-sensing components.

5. The system of claim 1, further including an intermediate circuit containing active or passive components connected between points A and B.

6. The system of claim 1, including a plurality of transceiver terminals interconnecting the pins of two or more integrated circuits.

7. The system of claim 1, including a plurality of transceiver terminals in network communication.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a central communication node including a plurality of transceiver terminals arranged as a star network topology;

a plurality of stations, each sending messages through a transceiver terminal in simultaneous, full-duplex communication with a respective one of the transceiver terminals of the central communication node;

the central node being operative to send a combination of all incoming messages back to each station; and

wherein each station includes a decoder to extract the message intended for that node from the sum received from the central node.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the messages from each station are sent using a different carrier frequency; and

the decoder in each station includes a band pass filter.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

three transceiver terminals forming a T junction; and

a plurality of the T junctions arranged as a linear chain structure.

11. The system of claim 10, including a plurality of star or linear chain structures forming a tree network topology.

12. The system of claim 11, including a plurality of tree structures forming a woods network topology.

13. A method of achieving simultaneous, full-duplex communication over a single electrical conductor, the method comprising:

receiving a first signal x at a first input of a first transceiver terminal T₁;

receiving a second signal y at a second input of a second transceiver terminal T₂;

providing a first communication circuit C₁ in T₁ between the first input and a point A;

transmitting a signal representative of x from A to T₂ over the single electrical conductor;

providing a second communication circuit C₂ in T₂ between the second input and a point B;

transmitting a signal representative of y from B to T₁ over the single electrical conductor;

measuring one or more signals relative to the point A and outputting a signal ŷ

=f_1e(s₁₁, . . . , s_1P, x); and

measuring one or more signals relative to the point B and outputting a signal {circumflex over (x)}=f_2e(s₂₁, . . . , s_2Q, y);

where;

s₁₁, s₁₂,. . . s_1P are the signals available for measurement relative to point A;

s₂₁, s₂₂,. . . s_2Q are the signals available for measurement relative to point B;

f₁(s₁₁, . . . , s_1P, x, y)=0;

f₂(s₂₁, . . . , s_2Q, x, y)=0; and

{circumflex over (x)}, ŷ

are estimates of x and y, respectively.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second signals are analog or digital signals.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the first and second communication circuits include a resistor; and

the variables include the voltages developed across each resistor.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the first and second communication circuits include current-sensing components; and

the variables include the currents measured by the current-sensing components.

17. The method of claim 13, further including the step of interconnecting an intermediate circuit containing active or passive components between points A and B.

18. The method of claim 13, including the step of interconnecting the pins of two or more integrated circuits using a plurality of transceiver terminals.

19. The method of claim 13, including the step of arranging a plurality of transceiver terminals in a network configuration.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of:

providing a central communication node including a plurality of transceiver terminals;

providing a plurality of stations, each sending messages through a transceiver terminal in simultaneous, full-duplex communication with a respective one of the transceiver terminals of the central communication node;

summing of all incoming messages at the central communication node and sending them back to each station; and

decoding the message intended for a particular node at that node using the sum received from the central node.

21. The method of claim 20, including the steps of:

using a different carrier frequency for the messages sent from each station; and

decoding the messages using a band pass filter.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the central communication node and stations form a star network topology.

23. The method of claim 21, including the steps of:

interconnecting three transceiver terminals to form a T junction; and

arranging a plurality of the T junctions to form a linear chain structure.

24. The method of claim 23, including a plurality of star or linear chain structures forming a tree network topology.

25. The method of claim 24, including a plurality of tree structures forming a woods network topology.