Patent · US Expired

Flow control method for networks

US6198722A · kind A · utility

45Cited by
7References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 27, 1998
Grant dateMar 6, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 27, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L47/266
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method is shown for a central node to flow control one or more end stations operating under a medium access control protocol wherein the central node transmits a signal to the end stations that causes the end stations to defer a data transmission, and wherein the central node halts the transmission to reset a protocol timer in the end stations, and wherein the central node resumes transmission before expiration of another protocol timer that would cause the end stations to commit to attempting a data transmission onto the communications medium and the end stations can thereby be held in a flow control state without loss of transmission packets. A central node device is shown for a network with a port configured to couple to a communications medium in communication with an end station, wherein the end station is configured to control its access to the medium according to a predetermined communication protocol that requires that the end station refrain from transmitting data onto the communications medium for a first period of time when the end station detects transmission activity on the medium and also requires that the end station wait for a gap in transmission activity that is …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.