Method for ensuring access to a transmission medium
OwnerOyvind Holmeide, Lennart Liljestrominventors
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method for ensuring access to a transmission medium at a predetermined point in time, for transmission of a data packet. This is achieved by making one or more communication pons on which the packet is to be transmitted unavailable for conflicting traffic for a period of time that is set to expire at the desired point in time, and preparing the data packet to be transmitted as soon as said communication port again is made available. Also described is a time server for distributing time information packets utilizing the method.
Claims15
Method for ensuring access to a transmission medium at a predetermined point in time, for the transmission of a data packet,
- characterized in
- making one or more communication ports on which said packet is to be transmitted unavailable for conflicting traffic for a period of time that is set to terminate at the predetermined point in time,
- preparing said data packet for transmission as soon as said communication ports again are available, and
- transmitting said data packet when said one or more communication ports are again made available.
Method for including a time stamp in a data packet, said time stamp indicating the time of a local clock at the moment said packet is transmitted,
- characterized in
- making one or more communication ports on which said packet is to be transmitted unavailable for data traffic,
- generating a data packet including a time stamp equal to a recorded time of the local clock plus the remaining period of time for which said communication ports will be unavailable,
- preparing said data packet for transmission as soon said communication ports again are available, and
- transmitting said data packet when said one or more communication ports are again made available, at a point in time corresponding to the time stamp in the data packet.
Time server for distributing time information packets on a computer network, comprising one or more communication ports with output buffers for transmitting time information packets onto said computer network, a local clock,
- characterized in further comprising
- means for making said communication ports on which time information packets are to be transmitted, unavailable for any communication that is not already ongoing,
- processor means for reading a local time from the local clock, generating a time stamp equal to the time read from the local clock plus the time remaining during which the communication port will be unavailable, generating a time information packet including said time stamp, and placing said time information packet in the output buffers for transmission immediately upon termination of the period of time during which the communication port is unavailable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.