Method and apparatus for handling link suspend pulse and silent line state transitions of a network device
US7317732B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 2, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jan 8, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 4, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02D30/50
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for handling data during link suspend pulse and the silent line state of a network device operating in a low power link suspend mode is presented. Accordingly, a new generation of network devices capable of operating in both the full power operational mode of prior art network devices, and a low power “link-suspend” operational mode are presented. The low power “link-suspend” (LS) mode reduces the power consumption of a LAN communications link at the physical layer by eliminating the need to continuously transmit standard idles to maintain link between two linked partners. In the LS mode, a low duty cycle “link-suspend-packet” (LSP) is transmitted between periods of silent line state (SLS). During the SLS, which is a non-data transmission period, the transmitter may be turned off to conserve power therefore preventing the receiver from immediately knowing the phase of an incoming data. Thus, in order to prevent loss of data, the LSPs serve to maintain link and provide information necessary to train the receiver loops so that they can quickly lock onto the incoming data. LSPs are specially constructed so that they can serve as part of the data preamble when th…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.