Power line communication network

A media access control (MAC) controller for a network providing communication for network stations located at a plurality of customer premises and sharing a communication medium, each of the premises having a plurality of network stations, the MAC controller comprising:

• a virtual local area network (vLAN) controller, providing access to the communication medium and communication among the stations located at a single customer's premises, to define a vLAN therebetween;
• and
• a group local area network (gLAN) controller providing access to the communication medium and communication among interfering vLANs, two vLANs being considered to be interfering when one can sense communications over the medium from a station in the other;
• a MAC controller being provided in at least one station in a vLAN,
• wherein the MAC controller is constructed to utilize a token passing protocol to control access to the medium, and
• wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to provide a token master flag to one of the vLANs, defined as a token master, the token master computing a vLAN token hold time (vTHT) by dividing the round trip time, TRT, of the token around a logical loop by the number of vLANs in the gLAN, the token being passed around the logical loop together with vTHT, each vLAN other than the token master retaining the token for no longer than the vTHT before passing it on.

A media access control (MAC) controller for a network providing communication for network stations located at a plurality of customer premises and sharing a communication medium, each of the premises having a plurality of network stations, the MAC controller comprising:

• a virtual local area network (vLAN) controller, providing access to the communication medium and communication among the stations located at a single customer's premises, to define a vLAN therebetween;
• and
• a group local area network (gLAN) controller providing access to the communication medium and communication among interfering vLANs, two vLANs being considered to be interfering when one can sense communications over the medium from a station in the other;
• a MAC controller being provided in at least one station in a vLAN,
• wherein the MAC controller is constructed to utilize a token passing protocol to control access to the medium, and
• wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, a polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.