METHOD AND ANALYSIS OF SYNCHRONIZED DATA TRAFFIC OF A PACKET AND ADDRESS-ORIENTED DATA NETWORK AND CONFIGURATION OF SUCH A DATA NETWORK FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE METHOD

• US 20100118896A1
• Filed: 03/27/2008
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Siemens Healthineers AG (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Grottel, Joachim, Tröltzsch, Andreas, Lindner, Friedrich, Karl, Harald
• Granted Patent: US 8,259,757 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/503
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/56 Details of data transmission or power supply, e.g. use of slip rings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps

Abstract

In a method and network for the analysis of synchronized data traffic, at least one network participant stores sent and/or received data packets in a mirror memory, and the data in the respective mirror memories are frozen and made available for evaluation via the entire data network, upon the occurrence of a trigger event in at least one of the active network participants, while maintaining the synchronized data traffic.

Claims

1. Method for analysis of a synchronized data traffic of a packet- and address-oriented data network with a plurality of data-generating and/or data-receiving network participants, respectively with individual network addresses or other individual identification features, wherein the data network synchronizes received data packets and known transmission and processing times using receipt points in time, and the data transmissions ensue synchronized with the data traffic,

in mirror memory in at least one network participant, recording data packets that said at least one network participant has sent via the data network in parallel with the data transmission and/or data packets that said at least one network participant has received in parallel with the internal data processing;

upon an occurrence of a trigger event in at least one of the active network participants, in each of the network participants equipped with a mirror memory, freezing mirror memory so that each mirror memory contains data of the same time segment for respective different points of the data network; and

providing all data frozen in the mirror memories via the data network for evaluation while the synchronized data traffic remains unaffected.

2. Method according to claim 1, comprising providing the frozen data of the mirror memory by retrieving the frozen data from each of the at least two network participants.

3. Method according to claim 1, comprising providing the frozen data of the mirror memory by each of the at least two network participants transmitting the content of its mirror memory to a specific network address independently or upon request.

4. Method according to claim 1 freezing the mirror memory by no longer writing new data into the mirror memory and present data unchanged at least up until transmission.

5. Method according to claim 1, comprising time stamping the data stored in the mirror memories.

6. Method according to claim 1, comprising selecting data that are written into the mirror memory according to a predetermined criterion in a filter before the mirror memory.

7. Method according to claim 1, comprising any continuing storage of the input/output data transmission of the data frozen in the mirror memory.

8. Method according to claim 1, comprising connecting at least electronic end devices that form a data source and/or data sink to said network as network participants.

9. Method according to claim 8, comprising also connecting switching stations to said network as network participants.

10. Method according to claim 1, comprising employing a dual port RAM in connection with an FPGA for parallel storage of the incoming/outgoing data traffic of the network participants.

11. Method according to claim 1, comprising communicating conditions for the trigger event to freeze the mirror memory of a network participant to the other network participants and automatically configuring the network participant.

12. Method according to claim 1, comprising treating switching points located in the data network as network participants.

13. Method according to claim 1, comprising connecting components of any of the preceding patent claims 1 through 12, characterized in that the method us used for the data and/or signal exchange between individual networked components within a tomographical system to said network as network components (11).

14. Network for data and signal transmission, comprising:

multiple network participants connected among one another that respectively have different network addresses or another individual identification feature;

every network participant comprising transmission and reception modules in which data packets to be sent via the data network are generated and received data packets are processed;

the transmission and reception modules comprising synchronization modules that mutually synchronize the network participants using reception points in time of received cells and known transmission and processing times, and the transmission modules are configured to transfer the data packets synchronously in the data network

at least one network participant comprising at least one mirror memory connected in parallel with a data input and/or output thereof, wherein at least a portion of the data packets going out and coming in via the data network is recorded in the mirror memory in parallel with additional processing;

a trigger unit that detects a trigger event and that, upon detection of the trigger event, freezes mirror memory and, depending on the configuration, freezes mirror memories of all other participants located on the network to cause the mirror memories to all contain data of the same time segment for respective different points of the data network; and

a transfer unit that transfers the data frozen in the mirror memories via the network while leaving the synchronized data traffic unaffected.

15. Network according to claim 14, wherein the at least two network participants in the data traffic each comprise a dual port RAM in which the incoming and outgoing data are stored in the mirror memory in parallel with the data traffic.

16. Network according to claim 14, wherein at least a portion of the network participants are electronic end devices that form a data source and/or data sink.

17. Network according to claim 14, wherein at least one switching point for the data traffic is provided in the network structure.

18. Network according to claim 17, comprising:

at least one switch for at least one data input/output with at least one electronic memory module connected in parallel with a data input and/or output, so at least a portion of the data packets going out and coming in via the network are recorded in the mirror memory in parallel with the additional processing;

this at least one switch comprising said trigger unit.

19. Network according to claim 18, wherein said at least one switch comprises a dual port RAM at at least on data input/output thereof, said RAM storing the incoming and outgoing data are stored in a mirror memory in parallel with the data traffic.

20. Network according to claim 14 comprising a filter that selects data to be stored in the mirror memory (2.x.5).

21. Network according to any of the preceding patent claims claim 14 through 19, characterized in that the means to detect a wherein the trigger unit event contains an FPGA (=free programmable gate array).

22. (canceled)

23. A tomographic system comprising:

a plurality of tomographic components configured to operate in combination with each other as a tomography apparatus;

a network for data and signal transmission among said plurality of tomographic components, each of said tomographic components having a network address in said network or another individual identification feature;

every tomographic component comprising transmission and reception modules in which data packets to be sent via the data network are generated and received data packets are processed;

the transmission and reception modules comprising synchronization modules that mutually synchronize the tomographic components using reception points in time of received cells and known transmission and processing times, and the transmission modules are configured to transfer the data packets synchronously in the data network;

at least one tomographic component comprising at least one mirror memory connected in parallel with a data input and/or output thereof, wherein at least a portion of the data packets going out and coming in via the data network is recorded in the mirror memory in parallel with additional processing;

a trigger unit that detects a trigger event and that, upon detection of the trigger event, freezes mirror memory and, depending on the configuration, freezes the mirror memories of all other participants located on the network to cause the mirror memories to all contain data of the same time segment for respective different points of the data network; and

a transfer unit that transfers the data frozen in the mirror memories via the network while leaving the synchronized data traffic unaffected.