Method and apparatus for transceiving data in a micro-area network

A system for transceiving data in a micro area network that includes a plurality of data transceiving entities, the system comprises:

• a control module coupled to the micro area network, the control module configured to:
• determine a desired data rate and available transmission resources in the micro area network between a first transceiving entity and at least one target transceiving entity of the plurality of data transceiving entities;
• select one combination of a plurality of combinations of first and second transmission format conventions based at least in part on the desired data rate and available transmission resources;
• and
• communicate to the first and second transceiving entities data indicative of the first and second transmission format conventions;
• a first processing module coupled to the control module;
• a second processing module coupled to the control module;
• a first memory coupled to the first processing module, wherein the first memory includes first operational instructions that cause the first processing module to:
• obtain, as the first data transceiving entity of the plurality of data transceiving entities, a data unit for transmission, wherein the data unit includes payload data and overhead data, wherein the overhead data identifies the at least one target entity;
• format, as the first data transceiving entity, the payload data using the first transmission format convention to produce formatted payload data;
• format, as the first data transceiving entity, the overhead data using the second transmission format convention to produce formatted overhead data;
• transmit, as the first data transceiving entity, the formatted payload data and the formatted overhead data to the at least one target entity;
• a second memory coupled to the first processing module, wherein the second memory includes second operational instructions that cause the second processing module to:
• receive, as the at least one target entity, the formatted payload data and the formatted overhead data;
• deformat, as the at least one target entity, the formatted payload data using the first transmission format convention to produce retrieved payload data;
• deformat, as the at least one target entity, the formatted overhead data using the second transmission format convention to produce retrieved overhead data;
• and
• reconstruct, as the at least one target entity, the data unit from the retrieved payload data and the retrieved overhead data.

A method for transmitting data in a micro area network, the method comprises:

• determining by a control circuit that is coupled to the micro area network, a desired data rate and available transmission resources in the micro area network from a transmitting entity to at least one target entity in the micro area network;
• selecting by the control circuit one combination of a plurality of combinations of first and second transmission format conventions based at least in part on the desired data rate and available transmission resources;
• communicating from the control unit to the transmitting entity data indicative of the first and second transmission format conventions;
• obtaining a data unit for transmission, wherein the data unit includes payload data and overhead data, wherein the overhead data identifies at least one target entity of the micro area network for receiving the data unit;
• formatting the payload data using the first transmission format convention to produce formatted payload data;
• formatting the overhead data using the second transmission format convention to produce formatted overhead data;
• and
• transmitting the formatted payload data and the formatted overhead data to the at least one target entity in the micro area network;
• and
• wherein the obtaining, formatting and transmitting are performed by the transmitting entity.

A method for transmitting data within a network, the method comprises:

• obtaining a data unit for transmission to a target entity within the micro area network;
• logically separating overhead data of the data from payload data of the data unit;
• formatting the overhead data using a data formatting convention to produce formatted overhead data;
• and
• formatting at least a portion of the payload data utilizing the formatted overhead data based on the data formatting convention to produce a formatted data unit;
• wherein formatting the payload data includes modulating the formatted payload data on the formatted overhead data to produce the formatted data unit;
• transmitting the formatted data unit over the micro area network.

An apparatus for transmitting data in a micro area network, the apparatus comprises:

• a control circuit coupled to the micro area network, the control circuit configured to:
• determine a desired data rate and available transmission resources in the micro area network from a transmitting entity to at least one target entity in the micro area network;
• select one combination of a plurality of combinations of first and second transmission format conventions based at least in part on the desired data rate and available transmission resources;
• and
• communicate to the transmitting entity data indicative of the first and second transmission format conventions;
• a processing module;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to operate as the transmitting entity to:
• obtain data for transmission, wherein the data includes at least one frame, wherein each of the at least one frames includes payload data and overhead data, wherein the overhead data identifies the at least one target entity for receiving the at least one frame;
• format the payload data using the first transmission format convention to produce formatted payload data;
• format the overhead data using the second transmission format convention to produce formatted overhead data;
• and
• transmit the formatted payload data and the formatted overhead data to the at least one target entity in the micro area network.

An apparatus for transmitting data within a network, the apparatus comprises:

• a processing module;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:
• obtain a data unit for transmission to a target entity within the micro area network;
• logically separate overhead data of the data from payload data of the data unit;
• format the overhead data using a data formatting convention to produce formatted overhead data;
• format at least a portion of the payload data utilizing the formatted overhead data based on the data formatting convention to produce a formatted data unit;
• wherein the instructions that format the payload data include instructions that modulate the encoded payload data on the formatted overhead data to produce the formatted data unit;
• and
• transmit the formatted data unit over the micro area network.

A method for receiving data in a micro area network, the method comprises:

• determining by a control circuit that is coupled to the micro area network, a desired data rate and available transmission resources in the micro area network from at least one transmitting entity to a target entity in the micro area network;
• selecting by the control circuit one combination of a plurality of combinations of first and second transmission format conventions based at least in part on the desired data rate and available transmission resources;
• communicating from the control unit to the target entity data indicative of the first and second transmission format conventions;
• receiving formatted payload data and formatted overhead data from the at least one transmitting entity in the micro area network;
• deformatting the formatted payload data using the first transmission format convention to produce retrieved payload data;
• deformatting the formatted overhead data using the second transmission format convention to produce retrieved overhead data;
• and
• reconstructing a data unit from the retrieved payload data and the retrieved overhead data;
• and
• wherein the receiving deformatting, and reconstructing are performed at the target entity.

A method for receiving data within a network, the method comprises:

• receiving a formatted data unit that includes formatted overhead data and formatted payload data;
• deformatting the formatted payload data utilizing the formatted overhead data based on a data formatting convention to produce retrieved payload data;
• wherein the deformatting the formatted payload data includes filtering the formatted overhead data from the formatted data unit to produce retrieved payload data;
• and
• deformatting the formatted overhead data using the data formatting convention to produce retrieved overhead data;
• and
• logically combining the retrieved overhead data and the retrieved payload data to produce a retrieved data unit.

An apparatus for receiving data in a micro area network, the apparatus comprises:

• a control circuit coupled to the micro area network, the control circuit configured to:
• determine a desired data rate and available transmission resources in the micro area network from at least one transmitting entity to a target entity in the micro area network;
• select by the control circuit one combination of a plurality of combinations of first and second transmission format conventions based at least in cart on the desired data rate and available transmission resources;
• and
• communicate from the control unit to the target entity data indicative of the first and second transmission format conventions;
• a processing module;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to operate as the target entity to:
• receive formatted payload data and formatted overhead data from the at least one transmitting entity in the micro area network;
• deformat the formatted payload data using the first transmission format convention to produce retrieved payload data;
• deformat the formatted overhead data using the second transmission format convention to produce retrieved overhead data;
• and
• reconstruct a data unit from the retrieved payload data and the retrieved overhead data.

An apparatus for receiving data within a network, the apparatus comprises:

• processing module;
• and
• memory coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:
• receive a formatted data unit that includes formatted overhead data and formatted payload data;
• deformat the formatted payload data utilizing the formatted overhead data based on a data formatting convention to produce retrieved payload data;
• wherein the instructions that deformat the formatted payload data include instructions that filter the formatted overhead data from the formatted data unit to produce the retrieved payload data;
• and
• deformat the formatted overhead data using the data formatting convention to produce retrieved overhead data;
• and
• logically combine the retrieved overhead data and the retrieved payload data to produce a retrieved data unit.

A method for transceiving data within an internetworking unit, the method comprises:

• receiving data that is formatted in accordance with a protocol of a first network;
• converting format of the data from the first network protocol to a local protocol;
• wherein the converting the format of the data into the local protocol further includes,
• formatting payload data of the data using a first transmission format convention to produce formatted payload data;
• and
• formatting overhead data of the data using a second transmission format convention to produce formatted overhead data;
• wherein formatting of the payload data and overhead data includes modulating the formatted payload data on the formatted overhead data to produce the data;
• processing the data in the local protocol to produce processed data;
• and
• converting format of the processed data from the local protocol to a protocol of a second network.

An apparatus for transceiving data within an internetworking unit, the apparatus comprises:

• a processing module;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processing module, wherein the memory includes operational instructions that cause the processing module to:
• receive data that is formatted in accordance with a protocol of a first network;
• convert format of the data from the first network protocol to a local protocol;
• wherein the instructions that convert the format of the data into the local protocol include further instructions that,
• format payload data of the data using a first transmission format convention to produce formatted payload data;
• format overhead data of the data using a second transmission format convention to produce formatted overhead data;
• and
• wherein the instructions that format the payload data and overhead data include instructions that modulate the formatted payload data on the formatted overhead data to produce the data;
• process the data in the local protocol to produce processed data;
• and
• convert format of the processed data from the local protocol to a protocol of a second network.