Medium access control layer that encapsulates data from a plurality of received data units into a plurality of independently transmittable blocks
First Claim
1. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a powerline communications medium, comprisingproviding a physical layer for handling physical communication over the powerline communications medium;
- providing a high level layer that receives data from a station and supplies high level data units for transmission over the powerline communications medium;
providing a MAC layer that receives the high level data units from the high level layer and supplies low level data units to the physical layer;
at the MAC layer, encapsulating content from a plurality of the high level data units into a stream of sub-frames;
dividing the encapsulated content into a plurality of pieces with each piece capable of being independently retransmitted; and
supplying low level data units containing the plurality of pieces.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a shared medium, comprising providing a physical layer (e.g., PHY) for handling physical communication over the shared medium; providing a high level layer (e.g., PAL) that receives data from the station and supplies high level data units (e.g., MSDUs) for transmission over the medium; providing a MAC layer that receives the high level data units from the high level layer and supplies low level data units (e.g., MPDUs) to the physical layer; at the MAC layer, encapsulating content from a plurality of the high level data units; dividing the encapsulated content into a plurality of pieces (e.g., segments) with each piece capable of being independently retransmitted; and supplying low level data units containing one or more of the plurality of pieces.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a powerline communications medium, comprising
providing a physical layer for handling physical communication over the powerline communications medium; -
providing a high level layer that receives data from a station and supplies high level data units for transmission over the powerline communications medium; providing a MAC layer that receives the high level data units from the high level layer and supplies low level data units to the physical layer; at the MAC layer, encapsulating content from a plurality of the high level data units into a stream of sub-frames; dividing the encapsulated content into a plurality of pieces with each piece capable of being independently retransmitted; and supplying low level data units containing the plurality of pieces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of operating in a network in which a plurality of stations communicate over a powerline communications medium, comprising;
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providing a physical layer for handling physical communication over the powerline communications medium; providing a high level layer that receives data from a station and supplies high level data units for transmission over the powerline communications medium; providing a MAC layer that receives the high level data units from the high level layer and supplies low level data units to the physical layer; at the MAC layer, forming low level data units by encapsulating content from a plurality of the high level data units; and adaptively escalating a robustness of transmission of the low level data units depending on a frequency of transmission errors. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system in which a plurality of stations communicate over a powerline communications medium, comprising:
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one station of the plurality of stations configured to operate according to a protocol that includes; a physical layer configured to handle physical communication over the powerline communications medium, a high level layer configured to receive data from the one station and further configured to provide high level data units for transmission over the powerline communications medium, and a MAC layer configured to receive the high level data units from the high level layer and further configured to provide low level data units to the physical layer; wherein the one station if further configured to; encapsulate content from a plurality of the high level data units into a stream of sub-frames at the MAC layer of the one station; divide the encapsulated content into a plurality of pieces with each piece being capable of independent retransmission; and supply low level data units containing the plurality of the pieces.
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20. A system in which a plurality of stations communicate over a powerline communications medium, comprising:
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one station of the plurality of stations configured to operate according to a protocol that includes; a physical layer configured to handle physical communication over the powerline communications medium, a high level layer configured to receive data from the one station and further configured to provide high level data units for transmission over the powerline communications medium, and a MAC layer configured to receive the high level data units from the high level layer and further configured to provide low level data units to the physical layer; wherein the one station is further configured to; at the MAC layer, form low level data units by encapsulating content from a plurality of the high level data units; and adaptively escalate a robustness of transmission of the low level data units depending on a frequency of transmission errors.
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Specification