System for determining the frequency of repetitions of polling active stations relative to the polling of inactive stations
US6006017A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 2, 1995 |
| Grant date | Dec 21, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 2, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L12/4035
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method to implement a hybrid contention and polling protocol for a communications or computer network is disclosed. Various apparatus and method embodiments of the invention employ specific polls from a primary station for polling identified secondary stations of the network which may be in an active state, general polls to any of a plurality of secondary stations of the network which may be in an unresponsive state to initiate contention access to the network, and general polls for collision resolution in the event that a plurality of secondary stations may simultaneously contend for network access. Various embodiments may also include frequency channel allocation for transmission and reception of data and other information within the network. The various procedures and apparatus disclosed may also be used to apply various polling parameters to optimize network performance.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.