Method and apparatus for providing a connection-oriented network over a serial bus

A method of communicating over a serial bus that connects a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of:

• (1) executing a programming interface call that specifies a desired type of virtual connection on the serial bus, wherein the desired type of virtual connection is selected from a group of plural different connection types;
• (2) assigning a connection handle to communicate using the desired type of virtual connection specified in step (1);
• and
• (3) transmitting data packets over the serial bus using the connection handle,
• wherein the plural group of different connection types includes a connection defined by a unit identifier (UI) and FIFO address for a node on the serial bus.

A method of communicating over a serial bus that connects a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of:

• (1) executing a programming interface call that specifies a desired type of virtual connection on the serial bus, wherein the desired type of virtual connection is selected from a group of plural different connection types;
• (2) assigning a connection handle to communicate using the desired type of virtual connection specified in step (1);
• and
• (3) transmitting data packets over the serial bus using the connection handle,
• wherein step (1) includes the step of selecting communication by allocating bandwidth on an isochronous channel on the serial bus.

A method of cimmunicating over a serial bus that connects a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of:

• (1) executing a programming interface call that specifies a desired type of virtual connection on the serial bus, wherein the desired type of virtual connection is selected from a group of plural different connection types;
• (2) assigning a connection handle to communicate using the desired type of virtual connection specified in step (1);
• and
• (3) transmitting data packets over the serial bus using the connection handle,
• wherein step (1) comprises the step of specifying a unit identifier (UI) and FIFO address associated with a specific node on the serial bus.

A method of communicating over a serial bus that connects a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of:

• (1) executing a programming interface call that specifies a desired type of virtual connection on the serial bus, wherein the desired type of virtual connection is selected from a group of plural different connection types;
• (2) assigning a connection handle to communicate using the desired type of virtual connection specified in step (1);
• (3) transmitting data packets over the serial bus using the connection handle;
• and
• (4) repeating steps (1) and (2) within a single node, such that two separate virtual connections are created for communicating within a single node.

A method of communicating over a serial bus using a connection-oriented protocol, comprising the steps of:

• (1) binding a client to a connection-oriented application programming interface that presents a generic interface as to the type of communication medium over which a connection is to be made;
• (2) specifying a parameter that selects a specific communication mechanism to be used in setting up the connection over the serial bus;
• (3) creating a virtual circuit over the serial bus using the specific communication mechanism;
• (4) transmitting packets over the serial bus using the virtual circuit;
• and
• mapping a function in the connection-oriented application programming interface into one or more serial bus-specific functions.

A method of communicating over a serial bus using a connection-oriented protocol, comprising the steps of:

• (1) binding a client to a connection-oriented application programming interface that presents a generic interface as to the type of communication medium over which a connection is to be made;
• (2) specifying a parameter that selects a specific communication mechanism to be used in setting up the connection over the serial bus;
• (3) creating a virtual circuit over the serial bus using the specific communication mechanism;
• and
• (4) transmitting packets over the serial bus using the virtual circuit,
• wherein step (3) comprises the step of creating an entry in a virtual circuit data structure that maps a virtual circuit to a channel on the serial bus.

A method of communicating over a serial bus using a connection-oriented protocol, comprising the steps of:

• (1) binding a client to a connection-oriented application programming interface that presents a generic interface as to the type of communication medium over which a connection is to be made;
• (2) specifying a parameter that selects a specific communication mechanism to be used in setting up the connection over the serial bus;
• (3) creating a virtual circuit over the serial bus using the specific communication mechanism;
• (4) transmitting packets over the serial bus using the virtual circuit;
• (5) creating a second virtual circuit to receive packets from the serial bus;
• (6) receiving packets from the serial bus and mapping the received packets to the second virtual circuit;
• and
• (7) routing the received and mapped packets to one or more clients that registered to receive the packets.

A method of communicating over a serial bus using a connection-oriented protocol, comprising the steps of:

• (1) binding a client to a connection-oriented application programming interface that presents a generic interface as to the type of communication medium over which a connection is to be made;
• (2) specifying a parameter that selects a specific communication mechanism to be used in setting up the connection over the serial bus;
• (3) creating a virtual circuit over the serial bus using the specific communication mechanism;
• and
• (4) transmitting packets over the serial bus using the virtual circuit,
• wherein step (4) comprises the step of fragmenting the packets before they are transmitted over the serial bus.