Resilient data communications with physical layer link aggregation, extended failure detection and load balancing

A system for providing resilient data communications, comprising:

• a physical-layer link-aggregation system at a physical layer of a network configured to aggregate wireless links in the network to generate a virtual channel for data communications;
• a port configured to receive a group of one or more data frames for transmission over the virtual channel;
• an inverse multiplexing circuit configured to segment the group of one or more data frames to generate data frame group segments for transmission respectively across the wireless links of the virtual channel;
• a transmitter configured to transmit each of the data frame group segments across a selected one of the wireless links of the virtual channel;
• a failure detection circuit configured to detect, at the physical layer, a link failure of a particular wireless link of the virtual channel;
• and
• a redistribution mechanism in communication with the failure detection circuit and configured to automatically redistribute the data frame group segments away from the particular wireless link to at least one other wireless link of the virtual channel after the detecting of the link failure of the particular wireless link to render data communications through the virtual channel resilient to the link failure of the particular wireless link.

A method of providing resilient data communications, comprising:

• using a physical-layer link-aggregation circuit at a physical layer of a network to aggregate wireless links between a first node and a second node to generate a virtual channel for data communications;
• receiving by the first node a group of air frames over a group of the wireless links of the virtual channel, the group of air frames being sent by the second node;
• processing by the first node the group of air frames to generate data frame group segments;
• assembling by the first node the data frame group segments to generate a group of one or more data frames;
• examining by the first node at the physical layer of the network the group of one or more data frames to detect a wireless link status packet for determining a status of a particular wireless link of the wireless links of the virtual channel, the wireless link status packet having been inserted into the group of one or more data frames by the second node;
• and
• storing by the first node a flag to identify the particular wireless link as good or bad based on the examination, the first node using the flag to identify a link failure of the particular wireless link of the virtual channel.

A system of providing resilient data communications, comprising:

• a physical-layer link-aggregation circuit at a physical layer of a network configured to aggregate wireless links between a first node and a second node to generate a virtual channel for data communications;
• a demodulator configured to receive a group of air frames over a group of the wireless links of the virtual channel, the group of air frames being sent by the second node;
• a demultiplexer configured to generate data frame group segments from the group of air frames;
• a multiplexer configured to assemble the data frame group segments to generate a group of one or more data frames;
• a packet detection circuit at the physical layer of the network configured to examine the group of one or more data frames to detect a wireless link status packet for determining a status of a particular wireless link of the wireless links of the virtual channel, the wireless link status packet having been inserted into the group of one or more data frames by the second node;
• and
• a register configured to store a flag to identify the particular wireless link as good or bad based on the examination, the first node using the flag to identify a link failure of the particular wireless link of the virtual channel.