3com Corporation

Chipcom Corporation

Ira Hart

Yuval Shohet

Brian Ramelson

Yoseph Linde

David E Bartolini

Gordon C Saussy

Menachem Abraham

John L Cook, Iii

Samuel Ben-Meir

Ilan Carmi

Yongbum Kim

Steven E Horowitz

Alex Herman

Igor Zhovnirovski

Richard Rehberg

A local net area network, or LAN, configuration is provided with a multiple generic LAN channel architecture which can be logically and dynamically changed. The configuration control can be applied to each module of the network and to each port of a module of a LAN hub. The architecture provides multiple LAN protocols to be used simultaneously, as needed, through protocol specific functions. Industry standard protocol such as: token bus, token ring, and fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), can be implemented using the generic channel architecture and its characteristics providing respective network functions. The architecture also provides a digital collision detection method and provides information necessary for precise network statistics monitoring. The token passing ring architecture provides a logical ring formation within the generic channel. A token passing bus architecture uses modified Ethernet.TM. architecture, and a hub management provides control for the generic multichannel and the LAN management provides protocol dependent network management. The architecture provided allows multiple hub management entities via hub mastership arbitration to provide a unique master for the hub management function.

Generic backplane system which is configurable to serve different

Communication system concentrator configurable to different access

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, MA, United States of America

Ira Hart