Multi-protocol network interface card
US7239642B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 16, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jul 3, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 4, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L49/357
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for a communications network that executes a medium access control (MAC) protocol that permits multiple access to a shared medium or shared switching fabric. The MAC protocol uses a BANDWIDTH_ALLOCATOR to regulate access to the network by sending a permission message to a NODE, allowing it to transmit to a specific set of NODEs for a specific length of time. The medium and switching fabric can carry one or more protocols, each of varying framing format and native bitrate. The switching fabric provides a connection-oriented bufferless data transport service that preserves frame ordering. An illustrative embodiment uses a slotted master/slave time-division multiplexed access (TDMA) scheme to allow flexible provisioning of network bandwidth.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.