Forming and maintaining access groups at the lan/wan interface
US5365523A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 16, 1992 |
| Grant date | Nov 15, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 16, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L12/66
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Access agents in nodes at the LAN/WAN interface are formed into a group of access agents so that the access agents may be managed by the WAN as a group. The group must maintain group operation integrity in that if communications between agents in the group are broken, the access agents will coalesce into subgroups and continue performing communication jobs as a group activity. Each of the access agents contains a finite state machine to perform the tasks of group formation and maintenance. The formation of interconnected access agents into a group is accomplished by one access agent being identified as a group leader. All other access agents communicating with the group leader within the LAN may then join the group. The maintenance of group activity integrity is accomplished by detecting a break in group communication integrity and thereafter reforming the group into multiple smaller groups. The maintenance of group operation integrity also includes the merger of small groups into a large group when a bridge is added between LAN segments.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.