Method and system for communicating information in a network

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 and further comprising transmitting the additional frame to one of the plurality of nodes.

Claim 6

The method of claim 3 , wherein designating slots for insertion of information comprises producing a table indicating, for each slot, whether the node has been identified to insert information into the slot.

Claim 7

The method of claim 3 , wherein designating slots for extraction of information comprises producing a table indicating, for each slot, whether the node has been identified to extract information from the slot.

Claim 8

The method of claim 3 , wherein initiating insertion or extraction of information comprises initiating insertion of information to a slot designated as a slot for insertion of information and further comprising: writing the information to a buffer before initiating insertion of information into the designated slot; and inserting the information into the designated slot from the buffer.

Claim 9

The method of claim 3 , wherein initiating insertion or extraction of information comprises extracting information from a slot designated as a slot for extraction of information and further comprising transmitting the extracted information to a data port.

Claim 10

The method of claim 3 , wherein providing a frame having a plurality of slots comprises providing a frame capable of storing thirty-two bits of data.

Claim 11

The method of claim 3 , and further comprising retransmitting the frame at a periodic rate.

Claim 12

A network for information communication having a plurality of nodes serially connected in a loop topology for transmission of frames of data, each node having an interface unit comprising: an input/output port receiving a plurality of types of isochronous frames of data transmitted to the nodes of the serially connected loop, the input/output port decoding the received data for processing, said input/output port also transmitting the plurality of types of frames of data to other nodes on the serially connected loop; a scheduler receiving a frame of decoded data from the input/output port to establish timing of transmission or retransmission of the plurality of types of frames of data in a sample window bandwidth to establish periodic communication between the plurality of nodes; an extraction/insertion unit receiving a frame of data from the scheduler for further processing the frame of data in accordance with a designated frame type from the plurality of frame types; and a selector receiving data from the extraction/insertion unit for transmitting to the input/output port for encoding and transmission of the frame of data to the plurality of nodes.

Claim 13

A network for information communication having a plurality of nodes serially connected in a loop topology for transmission of frames of data, each node having an interface unit comprising: an input/output port receiving a plurality of types of isochronous frames of data transmitted to the nodes of the serially connected loop, the input/output port decoding the received data for processing, said input/output port also transmitting the plurality of types of frames of data to other nodes on the serially connected loop; a scheduler receiving a frame of decoded data from the input/output port to establish timing of transmission or retransmission of the plurality of types of frames of data in a sample window bandwidth to establish periodic communication between the plurality of nodes; an extraction/insertion unit receiving a frame of data from the scheduler for further processing the frame of data in accordance with a designated frame type from the plurality of frame types; and a selector receiving data from the extraction/insertion unit for transmitting to the input/output port for encoding and transmission of the frame of data to the plurality of nodes.

Claim 14

The network for information communication as in claim 10 further comprising a memory for receiving a copy of the frame of data from the input/output port for availability to the scheduler as required for retransmission.

Claim 15

The network for information communication as in claim 10 further comprising a multiplexer receiving the decoded data for determining the processing path for the data for transmission to either the scheduler or the extraction/insertion unit.

Claim 16

The network for information communication as in Claim 11 wherein frames of data comprise asynchronous frames in addition to isochronous frames, the interface unit further comprising: a routing control unit receiving the decoded information from the input/output port for processing isochronous frames to said memory for further processing by said scheduler or for transmission to the extraction/insertion unit.

Claim 17

The network for information communication as in claim 13 wherein the scheduler processes asynchronous frames of data on a bandwidth available basis.

Claim 18

The network for information communications as in claim 13 wherein said scheduler includes a schedule for timing the transmission and retransmission of isochronous frames of data to the extraction/insertion unit.

Claim 19

The network for information communication as in claim 15 wherein said scheduler creates the schedule based on a scheduling algorithm in conjunction with a schedule table.

Claim 20

The network for information communication as in claim 10 wherein the extraction/insertion unit reads data from or inserts data into slots of isochronous frames of data according to the type of frame.

Claim 21

The network for information communication as in claim 17 wherein the extraction/insertion unit includes an access table defining nodes designated for reading or inserting data into designated slots of a frame of data.

Claim 22

A network for information communication comprising a plurality of nodes serially connected in a loop topology for transmission of isochronous and asynchronous frames of data, each node having an interface unit comprising: one or more input/output ports receiving frames of data transmitted to the nodes of the serially connected loop, an input/output port decoding the received data for processing, said input/output port also transmitting frames of data to other nodes of the serially connected loop; a main path and an auxiliary path, the main path providing both isochronous and asynchronous processing of data, the auxiliary path providing asynchronous and loop processing of data; one or more multiplexers receiving the decoded data for selecting the main path or the auxiliary path for processing the received decoded data; said main path comprising: a memory for receiving a copy of the decoded frame of data routed to the main path; an extraction/insertion unit receiving a frame of data either from one or more multiplexers or from the memory; a scheduler generating a multiplexer select signal to direct a frame of decoded data from an input/output port to the extraction/insertion unit or to direct a frame of decoded data from the memory to the extraction/insertion unit; said auxiliary path comprising: auxiliary path logic receiving frames of decoded data from an input/output port for processing of frames of data for transmission to the plurality of nodes serially connected in the loop topology; and one or more selection multiplexers receiving decoded frames of data from the extraction/insertion unit or from the auxiliary path logic for transmitting to an input/output port for encoding and transmission of a frame of data to the plurality of nodes serially connected.

Claim 23

A network for information communication comprising a plurality of nodes serially connected in a loop topology for transmission of isochronous and asynchronous frames of data, each node having an interface unit comprising: one or more input/output ports receiving frames of data transmitted to the nodes of the serially connected loop, an input/output port decoding the received data for processing, said input/output port also transmitting frames of data to other nodes of the serially connected loop; a main path and an auxiliary path, the main path providing both isochronous and asynchronous processing of data, the auxiliary path providing asynchronous and loop processing of data; one or more multiplexers receiving the decoded data for selecting the main path or the auxiliary path for processing the received decoded data; said main path comprising: a memory for receiving a copy of the decoded frame of data routed to the main path; an extraction/insertion unit receiving a frame of data either from one or more multiplexers or from the memory; a scheduler generating a multiplexer select signal to direct a frame of decoded data from an input/output port to the extraction/insertion unit or to direct a frame of decoded data from the memory to the extraction/insertion unit; said auxiliary path comprising: auxiliary path logic receiving frames of decoded data from an input/output port for processing of frames of data for transmission to the plurality of nodes serially connected in the loop topology; and one or more selection multiplexers receiving decoded frames of data from the extraction/insertion unit or from the auxiliary path logic for transmitting to an input/output port for encoding and transmission of a frame of data to the plurality of nodes serially connected.

Claim 24

The network for information communication as in claim 19 wherein each interface unit further comprises a routing control unit receiving the decoded information from an input/output port for processing to the main path or the auxiliary path.

Claim 25

The network for information communication as in claim 20 wherein the extraction/insertion unit of each interface unit further comprises inserting data into slots of an isochronous frame of data or extracting data from identified frames of data.

Claim 26

The network for information communication as in claim 19 wherein the scheduler of each interface unit further comprises a timing controller for timing of transmission or retransmission of frames of data to establish transmission of isochronous nodes between the plurality of nodes and further controlling the transmission of asynchronous frames of data based on available bandwidth.

Claim 27

The network for information communication as in claim 20 wherein the routing control unit of each interface unit processes decoded information from an input/output port to the extraction/insertion unit or for storage in the memory.

Claim 30

The method for communicating information as in claim 24 further comprising: designating slots of a frame for a designated node for insertion of information and/or extraction of information.