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AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRandy L. Walter, John L. Schroeder, Gerald W. Vanbaran, Donald G. Hodges, Courtney L. Albers
Estimating the term…
A computing network uses Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) to divide the time on a bus into a plurality of frames, each frame having a plurality of time slots. Each time slot is assigned no more than one of the plurality of devices within a collision domain, the assignments indicating the identity of the device permitted to transmit packets onto the network during the assigned time slot. A bus cadence unit simultaneously sends an epoch packet initiating the frame. The epoch packet contains a time slot assignment table containing the time slot assignments, the device identification, as well as a time slot offset and duration. Each device on the network is configured to measure a frame interval between repeating epoch packets. The measured frame interval is further processed in each receiving node to obtain a calibrated frame interval. The calibrated frame interval is used to accurately synchronize transmissions of data from the various devices onto the network. A time slot protocol governor in each node controls access to the bus to only the assigned time slot or slots using the calibrated frame interval to reduce or eliminate synchronization errors.
A method of operating a network having a plurality of devices coupled to a shared bus comprising the step of transmitting an epoch packet indicating the beginning of a frame wherein the frame has a plurality of time slots and wherein the epoch packet includes assignments of the time slots to the devices, and time slot offset and time slot duration information for each time slot assignment.
An adapter for allowing a device to access a shared bus of a network for transmitting packets during one or more time slots selected from a plurality of time slots defining a frame, said one or more time slots being assigned to said device, said adapter comprising:
An adapter for allowing a device to access a shared bus of a network for transmitting packets during one or more timeslots selected from a plurality of time slots defining a frame, said one or more time slots being assigned to said device for transmission, said adapter comprising:
An adapter for allowing a device to access a shared bus of a network for transmitting packets during one or more time slots selected from a plurality of time slots defining a frame, said one or more time slots being assigned to said device, said network including a bus cadence unit (BCU) configured to transmit an epoch packet during said frame, said epoch packet comprising timing information and at least one reference bus attribute, said adapter comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.