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US 8,046,484 B2Granted
Transmitting data across a contention channel in a centralized network
AssigneeSharp Laboratories of America, Inc.
InventorsDeepak Ayyagari, Tomohiko Ozeki
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of transmitting data is disclosed. The method transmits data from a source device over a contention channel in a centralized network to more than one device on the channel, including a central coordinator. The method then waits for a data acknowledgment signal from the central coordinator as an indicator of successful reception of the data by any device to which the data was transmitted.
Claims16
A method of transmitting data and for determining that the transmitted data was received, the method comprising:
- transmitting the same data from a source device over a contention channel in a centralized network to a plurality of devices on the channel, and to a central coordinator connected to said contention channel;
- the source device determining that said data was received by said plurality of devices by waiting for and receiving a data acknowledgment signal on a beacon channel only from the central coordinator in lieu of a data acknowledgment signal from the said plurality of devices as an indicator of successful reception of the data by said central coordinator and also as an indication that the data was probably received by said plurality of devices to which the data was transmitted;
- and
- the central coordinator generating the data acknowledgment that is received from the central coordinator, the generating occurring responsive to a first portion of the plurality of devices transmitting an individual data acknowledgment signal to the central coordinator, and a second portion of the plurality of devices not transmitting an individual data acknowledgment signal to the central coordinator within a predetermined period of time, wherein the data acknowledgment signal received from said central coordinator comprises a universal data acknowledgment signal including a list of acknowledgments and negative acknowledgments received from said plurality of devices.
1 more element
A system, comprising:
- a source device connected to a centralized network and to transmit same data to a plurality of devices on a contention channel;
- and
- a central coordinator connected to the centralized network and receive the same data from the source device on the contention channel, and to generate a data acknowledgment responsive to a first portion of the plurality of devices transmitting an individual data acknowledgment signal to the central coordinator, and responsive to a second portion of the plurality of devices not transmitting an individual data acknowledgment signal to the central coordinator within a predetermined period of time, wherein the data acknowledgment signal received from said central coordinator comprises a universal data acknowledgment signal including a list of acknowledgments and negative acknowledgments received from said plurality of devices;
- wherein the source device includes:
- a port to allow the device to communicate with the centralized network;
- and
- a processor to:
- transmit the same data over the contention channel to the plurality of devices on the channel, and to the central coordinator connected to said channel;
- and
- wait for and receive the data acknowledgment signal on a beacon channel only from the central coordinator in lieu of a data acknowledgment signal from said plurality of devices as an indicator of successful reception of the data by said central coordinator and also that the data was received by said plurality of devices to which the data was transmitted.
7 more elements
An article of non-transitory machine-readable media containing instructions that, when executed, cause the machine to:
- synchronize the frequency and time of a frame in a power line communication system;
- transmit the same data from a source device over a contention channel to a plurality of devices on the contention channel, and to a central coordinator connected to said contention channel;
- wait for and receive a data acknowledgment signal on a beacon channel only from the central coordinator in lieu of a data acknowledgment signal from said plurality of devices as an indicator of successful reception of the data by said central coordinator and that the data was also received by said plurality of devices any to which the data was transmitted;
- and
- re-transmit the data to be broadcast until an event occurs, wherein the event includes at least one of an expiration of a timer, a re-transmit count reached, and an acknowledgment received from the central coordinator, the central coordinator generating the data acknowledgment that is received from the central coordinator, the generating occurring responsive to a first portion of the plurality of devices transmitting an individual data acknowledgment signal to the central coordinator, and a second portion of the plurality of devices not transmitting an individual data acknowledgment signal to the central coordinator within a predetermined period of time;
- wherein the data acknowledgment signal received from said central coordinator comprises a universal data acknowledgment signal including a list of acknowledgments and negative acknowledgments received from said plurality of devices.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.