US5712982A — TDMA point-to-multipoint transmission network wit…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 235 words

Time division multiple access point-to-multipoint transmission network including a central station and a plurality of local stations; each local station including means for sending return multiframes including a plurality of return frames and a single free period having a duration allowing measurements to be made, each return frame including a plurality of return subframes each having a fixed duration and containing data sent by that local station only and addressed to said central station, return subframes being sent at predetermined times decided on by transmit time measurement means so that subframes sent by all said local stations are received by said central station without overlapping and constitute a return frame; said central station including means for sending forward multiframes including a plurality of forward frames and a single free period having a duration allowing measurements to be made; wherein, in said central station and/or at least one local station, said means for sending multiframes include: means for sampling from a data source a series of data packets, two consecutive packets being separated by a free period, and for inserting each packet into a frame, two consecutive frames being separated by a free period; and time-shift means for inserting a predetermined number of frames into a multiframe, time-shifting said frames to eliminate the free periods between them and thus to constitute a multiframe including a single continuous stream of time-shifted frames and a single free period.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 235 words

Time division multiple access point-to-multipoint transmission network including a central station and a plurality of local stations; each local station including means for sending return multiframes including a plurality of return frames and a single free period having a duration allowing measurements to be made, each return frame including a plurality of return subframes each having a fixed duration and containing data sent by that local station only and addressed to said central station, return subframes being sent at predetermined times decided on by transmit time measurement means so that subframes sent by all said local stations are received by said central station without overlapping and constitute a return frame; said central station including means for sending forward multiframes including a plurality of forward frames and a single free period having a duration allowing measurements to be made; wherein, in said central station and/or at least one local station, said means for sending multiframes include: means for sampling from a data source a series of data packets, two consecutive packets being separated by a free period, and for inserting each packet into a frame, two consecutive frames being separated by a free period; and time-shift means for inserting a predetermined number of frames into a multiframe, time-shifting said frames to eliminate the free periods between them and thus to constitute a multiframe including a single continuous stream of time-shifted frames and a single free period.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 27 words

The transmission network of claim 1 wherein said time-shift means include sufficient memory for storing at least a number of bits corresponding to said single free period.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 66 words

The transmission network of claim 1 wherein said time-shift means include a dual-port memory having an input clock and output clock, said memory input clock is disabled for each said free period between said consecutive frames, and said memory output clock is periodically disabled for a duration equivalent to said single free period accumulated from a predetermined number of said free periods between said consecutive frames.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 67 words

The transmission network of claim 3 wherein said memory further comprises a FIFO including: a serial-to-parallel converter, a parallel-to-serial converter, and control means for controlling said converters and memory such that an input bit stream is converted to a parallel stream, stored into and read from said dual-port memory, and then converted back to an output bit stream according to said input clock and said output clock.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 210 words

A time division multiple access point-to-multipoint transmission network including a central station and a plurality of local stations connected to a common transmission path; said central station including means for sending forward frames, said forward frames each including a single free period having a duration allowing response-time measurements to be made; each local station including means for sending return frames, said return frames each including a plurality of subframes and a single free period having a duration allowing response-time measurements to be made; wherein each subframe is sent by a respective local station at a predetermined time relative to a frame start time, said predetermined time being adjusted according to said response-time measurements for said each respective local station; and wherein said means for sending forward frames and means for sending return frames include: means for building a shift frame comprising a single free period and a plurality of input data subframes clocked from a data source with free periods inserted between each two consecutive input data subframes; and time-shift means for storing a predetermined number of bits of consecutive shift frames, accumulating the free period of each said shift frame, and generating a multiframe including a single continuous stream of time-shifted shift frames and a single accumulated free period.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 210 words

A time division multiple access point-to-multipoint transmission network including a central station and a plurality of local stations connected to a common transmission path; said central station including means for sending forward frames, said forward frames each including a single free period having a duration allowing response-time measurements to be made; each local station including means for sending return frames, said return frames each including a plurality of subframes and a single free period having a duration allowing response-time measurements to be made; wherein each subframe is sent by a respective local station at a predetermined time relative to a frame start time, said predetermined time being adjusted according to said response-time measurements for said each respective local station; and wherein said means for sending forward frames and means for sending return frames include: means for building a shift frame comprising a single free period and a plurality of input data subframes clocked from a data source with free periods inserted between each two consecutive input data subframes; and time-shift means for storing a predetermined number of bits of consecutive shift frames, accumulating the free period of each said shift frame, and generating a multiframe including a single continuous stream of time-shifted shift frames and a single accumulated free period.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 65 words

The transmission network of claim 5 wherein said time-shift means include a FIFO memory having an input clock and an output clock, and sequentially storing a predetermined number of bits of said shift frames using said input clock, said output clock being enabled for a predetermined number of said shift frames, and then disabled for a time corresponding to said predetermined number of shift frames.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 22 words

The transmission network of claim 6 wherein said predetermined number of bits is determined by the free period in each shift frame.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 27 words

The transmission network of claim 6 wherein said FIFO memory includes sufficient memory for storing at least a number of bits corresponding to said accumulated free period.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2001-01-26	2001-07-28	2002-01-27	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2005-01-26	2005-07-28	2006-01-27	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2009-01-26	2009-07-28	2010-01-27	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

TDMA point-to-multipoint transmission network with a multiframe which includes a single continuous stream of data subframes and a single free period for response-time measurements

Abstract

Inventors

Bibliographic Details

Claims Analysis

References Cited (Backward Citations)

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Assigned Categories & Tags

Assign Category Tag