Expandable and contractible local area network system
US4430651A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 27, 1981 |
| Grant date | Feb 7, 1984 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 27, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L12/413
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
This disclosure relates to a system and method for the synchronization of variable-length messages being transmitted between stations of a local area contention network where the messages are made up of a variable number of fixed-length packets. This system is adapted for automatic address assignment of different stations of the network so that the network may be expanded or contracted by adding stations and removing stations respectively. In this manner, a very reliable network is provided in that the failure of any particular station does not interfere with the functioning of the other stations in the network or the network itself. In addition, the system includes provision for associating various server stations with a given procedure so that a client station may broadcast a request for a procedure and corresponding server stations will send the response to the client station containing the network identification of the server station. If two or more stations contain the particular procedure called for, the first one to respond to the client station is selected.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.