US6081530A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Transmission of ATM cells
Assignee: Quarterhill Inc
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Filing: 1997-11-24
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Granted: 2000-06-27
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Expires: 2017-11-24
Abstract
Abstract A system and method of transmitting data cells are disclosed. The system includes a data transmitting and receiving unit including transceiver circuitry, a main backplane interface, and backplane interconnection circuitry. The transceiver circuitry transmits and receive data cells over the data link, the main backplane interface provides physical interconnection to the backplane, and the backplane interconnection circuitry transmits and receives cells. The main backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal. The operations data signal terminals are separate from the cell signal terminals. The operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals are configured to connect to mating connectors on a backplane. Backplane interconnection circuitry couples the transceiver circuitry to the main backplane interface. The interconnection circuitry receives data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over cell signal terminals, receives data cells from the cell signal terminals and provide them to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the first data link, and transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals. The method includes asserting a signal indicating the priority of a cell to be transmitted over the backplane, receiving on a second backplane signal line a signal that the apparatus may begin transmitting the data cell, and transmitting bits of the data cell on a third backplane signal line after receiving the signal that the apparatus may begin transmitting the data cell.
Inventors
- 👤 Christian Ray Wiher
- 👤 Ronald L. Knipper
- 👤 Ming Yin
- 👤 Shaun Noel Missett
- 👤 James Thomas Martin
- 👤 Frank Peter Marrone
- 👤 Stanley Hugh Herum
- 👤 Fred Clemmer Horton
- 👤 Dirk Kurt Brandis
- 👤 John Anthony Fletcher
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 16:44
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04Q11/0478; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/54; H04L12/56; H04L12/5601; H04L2012/5614; H04L2012/5615; H04L2012/5616; H04L2012/5672
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
262 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane, comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; and backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry and the main backplane interface to each other for data cell transmission, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals and provide them to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; and wherein the cell signal terminals comprise separate terminals to receive cells and separate terminals to transmit cells, the terminals to receive cells comprise a first and second control terminal and at least one incoming cell data terminal, and the backplane interconnection circuitry asserts a signal on the first control terminal to indicate that the apparatus is ready to receive a cell, accepts a signal on the second control terminal as indicating that a cell is being sent to the apparatus, and receives data bits of the cell on the incoming cell data terminals.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
262 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane, comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; and backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry and the main backplane interface to each other for data cell transmission, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals and provide them to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; and wherein the cell signal terminals comprise separate terminals to receive cells and separate terminals to transmit cells, the terminals to receive cells comprise a first and second control terminal and at least one incoming cell data terminal, and the backplane interconnection circuitry asserts a signal on the first control terminal to indicate that the apparatus is ready to receive a cell, accepts a signal on the second control terminal as indicating that a cell is being sent to the apparatus, and receives data bits of the cell on the incoming cell data terminals.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of claim 1 comprising a single incoming cell data terminal and wherein each bit of the cell is serially received over the single incoming cell data terminal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 1 comprising eight incoming cell data terminals and wherein bits of the cell are received in parallel over the eight incoming cell data terminals.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
261 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane, comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; and backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry and the main backplane interface to each other for data cell transmission, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals and provide them to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; and wherein, the cell signal terminals comprise separate terminals to receive cells and separate terminals to transmit cells, the terminals to transmit cells comprise a first and second control terminal and at least one outgoing cell data terminal, and the backplane interconnection circuitry asserts a signal on the first control terminal to indicate that the apparatus is ready to transmit a cell, accepts a signal on the second control terminal as indicating that the apparatus can begin transferring the cell, and transmits data bits of the cell on the outgoing cell data terminal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
261 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane, comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; and backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry and the main backplane interface to each other for data cell transmission, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals and provide them to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; and wherein, the cell signal terminals comprise separate terminals to receive cells and separate terminals to transmit cells, the terminals to transmit cells comprise a first and second control terminal and at least one outgoing cell data terminal, and the backplane interconnection circuitry asserts a signal on the first control terminal to indicate that the apparatus is ready to transmit a cell, accepts a signal on the second control terminal as indicating that the apparatus can begin transferring the cell, and transmits data bits of the cell on the outgoing cell data terminal.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
The apparatus of claim 4 comprising a single outgoing cell data terminal and wherein each bit of the cell is serially transmitted over the single outgoing cell data terminal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 4 comprising eight outgoing cell data terminals and wherein bits of the cell are transmitted in parallel over the eight outgoing cell data terminals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the signal indicating the unit is ready to transmit a cell includes a cell priority indicator.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
322 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry and the main backplane interface to each other for data cell transmission, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals and provide them to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; a backup backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the backup backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; a status terminal connector configured to receive a status signal from a corresponding connector on the backplane and configured to operationally couple the status signal to the backplane interconnection circuitry, wherein the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive data cells over the main backplane interface but not over the backup backplane interface during a first state of the status signal and to transmit and receive data cells over the backup backplane interface but not over the main backplane interface during a second state of the status signal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
322 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry and the main backplane interface to each other for data cell transmission, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals and provide them to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; a backup backplane interface configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the backup backplane interface including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; a status terminal connector configured to receive a status signal from a corresponding connector on the backplane and configured to operationally couple the status signal to the backplane interconnection circuitry, wherein the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive data cells over the main backplane interface but not over the backup backplane interface during a first state of the status signal and to transmit and receive data cells over the backup backplane interface but not over the main backplane interface during a second state of the status signal.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
71 words
The apparatus of claim 8 wherein, during the first state of the status signal the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive operations data over the main backplane interface but not over the backup backplane interface, and during the second state of the status signal the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive operations data over the backup backplane interface but not over the main backplane interface.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
94 words
The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising a second status terminal connector to receive a second status signal from a corresponding connector on the backplane, and wherein, during a first state of the second status signal the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive operations data over the main backplane interface but not over the backup backplane interface, and during a second state of the second status signal the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive operations data over the backup backplane interface but not over the main backplane interface.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
283 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane, comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane and a backup backplane interface, each configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main and the backup backplane interface each including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry to the main backplane interface and to the backup backplane interface, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals of the main and the backup interface, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals of the main backplane interface and the backup backplane interface and to provide cells to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; a status terminal connector configured to receive a status signal from a corresponding connector on the backplane and configured to operationally couple the status signal to the backplane interconnection circuitry, wherein the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive data cells over the main backplane interface but not over the backup backplane interface during a first state of the status signal and to transmit and receive data cells over the backup backplane interface but not over the main backplane interface during a second state of the status signal.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
283 words
Apparatus for communicating data cells between a data link and a backplane, comprising: transceiver circuitry operative to transmit and receive data cells over the data link; a main backplane and a backup backplane interface, each configured to provide physical interconnection to the backplane, the main and the backup backplane interface each including at least one cell signal terminal and at least one operations data signal terminal, each of the operations data signal terminals being separate from the cell signal terminals, the operations data signal terminals and the cell signal terminals being configured to connect to mating connectors on the backplane; backplane interconnection circuitry operatively coupling the transceiver circuitry to the main backplane interface and to the backup backplane interface, the interconnection circuitry being operable to receive data cells from the transceiver circuitry and transmit them over the cell signal terminals of the main and the backup interface, to receive data cells from the cell signal terminals of the main backplane interface and the backup backplane interface and to provide cells to the transceiver circuitry for transmission over the data link, and to transmit and receive operations data over the operations data signal terminals; a status terminal connector configured to receive a status signal from a corresponding connector on the backplane and configured to operationally couple the status signal to the backplane interconnection circuitry, wherein the backplane interconnection circuitry is configured to transmit and receive data cells over the main backplane interface but not over the backup backplane interface during a first state of the status signal and to transmit and receive data cells over the backup backplane interface but not over the main backplane interface during a second state of the status signal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
172 words
The apparatus of claim 11 wherein: the cell signal terminals comprise separate terminals to receive cells and separate terminals to transmit cells, the terminals to receive cells comprise a first and second control terminal and at least one incoming cell data terminal, the backplane interconnection circuitry asserts a signal on the first control terminal to indicate that the apparatus is ready to receive a cell, accepts a signal on the second control terminal as indicating that a cell is being sent to the apparatus, and receives data bits of the cell on the incoming cell data terminals, the terminals to transmit cells comprise a third and fourth control terminal and at least one outgoing cell data terminal, and the backplane interconnection circuitry asserts a signal on the third control terminal to indicate that the apparatus is ready to transmit a cell, accepts a signal on the fourth control terminal as indicating that the apparatus can begin transferring the cell, and transmits data bits of the cell on the outgoing cell data terminal.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-06-27 | 2003-12-27 | 2004-06-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-06-27 | 2007-12-27 | 2008-06-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-06-27 | 2011-12-27 | 2012-06-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |