Simple link protocol providing low overhead coding for LAN serial and WDM solutions
AssigneeAgere Systems Guardian Corp.
InventorsKamran Azadet, Leilei Song, Thomas E. Truman, Meng-Lin Yu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A data structure, method and protocol wherein synchronization data indicative of a data frame delineation point is inserted within an inter-packet gap (IPG) proximate a data frame during transmission. Optionally, a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) length indicative data, pointer data, and other data is inserted within the IPG to further insure appropriate delineation of data frames within a data stream.
Claims26
A data structure, comprising:
- a plurality of data frames temporally separated by respective inter-packet gaps (IPGs), each IPG having positioned within it at least a synchronization pattern suitable for delineating a respective data frame.
A protocol suitable for delineating data frames within a communications link, said protocol comprising a plurality of layers including a physical coding sublayer (PCS), said PCS processing a data to be transmitted as a sequence of data frames, said protocol comprising:
- receiving a data stream to be transmitted as a sequence of data frames;
- inserting, into a temporal region following each transmitted data frame, a synchronization pattern suitable for delineating said data frame.
A method for transmitting data, comprising:
- transmitting, to a physical media dependent (PMD) layer, a sequence of idle control characters;
- transmitting, to said PMD layer, a start of frame delineator (SFD) upon detecting the presence of data to be transmitted;
- transmitting said received data until an entire data frame has been transmitted;
- transmitting, upon the transmission of said entire data frame, an end of frame delineator (EFD) and a termination flag (T-FLAG), said T-FLAG comprising a relatively long synchronization pattern selected to be substantially unique.
A method for receiving data, comprising:
- determining data frame delineation points within a received data stream by detecting the presence of a synchronization pattern within said data stream, said synchronization pattern being positioned within inter-packet gaps (IPGs);
- and
- forming data frames for subsequent processing by utilizing said determined delineation points.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.