Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
146 words
A terminal (TER i ) for a telecommunications network in which a multiplicity of users (U i ,U j ) are couplable to the network for communication with each other via a channel (1) forming a communication path characterised in that the terminal comprises: means (R i ) for detecting the presence of packets in the channel intended for or originating from a receiver terminal to which the terminal wishes to transmit a data packet; means (E,T i ) for encoding and transmitting a request packet (REQ) to the receiving terminal (TER j ) when no packet is detected; means (R i ) for detecting an acknowledgement packet (ACK) transmitted by the receiving terminal (TER j ) in response to the transmitted request packet (REQ); and means (E,T i ) for encoding and transmitting the data packet (DAT) in response to the detected acknowledgement packet (ACK).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
A terminal according to claim 1 wherein the packet detecting means is operable repeatedly until no respective packets are detected.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
A terminal according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the acknowledgement packet detection means is operable repeatedly until a respective acknowledgement packet (ACK) is detected.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
95 words
A terminal according to claim 1 further comprising: means (R i ) for detecting a request packet (REQ) from another terminal in the network; means (E,T j ) for encoding and transmitting to the another terminal, an acknowledgement packet (ACK) in response to the request packet (REQ) from the another terminal; and means (E,T j ) for encoding and transmitting a busy tone packet (BTP) indicating that the terminal is busy in response to a data packet (DAT) transmitted from the another terminal in response to the transmitted acknowledgement packet (ACK) from the another terminal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
A terminal according to claim 4 wherein the request packet detecting means is only operable when the terminal is not busy.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
A terminal according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein the request packet detecting means is operable repeatedly until the request packet is detected.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
A terminal according to any of claims 4 to 6 wherein the message packet detecting means is operable repeatedly until the data packet is received.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
40 words
A terminal according to any preceding claim wherein the transceiver is operable to encode the packets using at least one identification code, each terminal being assigned unique codes, for identifying the destination and/or origin of a packet transmitted between terminals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
A terminal according to claim 8 wherein the terminal is operable to detect the respective packets by detecting the respective at least one identification code included in a data packet transmitted between terminals.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
94 words
A terminal according to claim 9 wherein the terminal is operable to supply a signal (S i ,S j ), derived from the channel (1), the signal including the at least one identification codes of packets in transmission between terminals, to a correlator (C j ) included in the receiver to which is also applied a respective identification code as a reference, the correlator being operable to detect the level of correlation between the signal and the reference and to only transmit a packet when the level of correlation is below a predetermined value.