The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 23, 1991
Filed:
Jan. 09, 1989
Ker-Chin Chang, San Jose, CA (US);
Clarence E Elkins, Pleasant Hill, CA (US);
Paul A Marshall, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Duane E Dunwoodie, Los Altos, CA (US);
Mohamed M Mansour, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Paul R Bauer, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Walter A Lobitz, Westwood, CA (US);
Wiltron Company, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Abstract
A fault-location operating system for use with transmission networks using repeaters with loopback capabilities. A plurality of bidirectional transmission links L.sub.i, for i=1 through N, are used for transmission of data between the terminals. A test control unit is connected at the first terminal to the first end of the first transmission link L.sub.1, and controls transmission of control signals across the first transmission link L.sub.1. A plurality of repeaters R.sub.i, for i=1 through N-1, are used for interconnecting the plurality of bidirectional links. Each repeater R.sub.i is connected to the first end of one transmission link L.sub.i and to the second end of another transmission link L.sub.i+1. Each repeater includes a first circuit for repeating data transmitted from the one transmission link L.sub.i for transmission on the other transmission link L.sub.i+1, and a second circuit for repeating data transmitted from the other transmission link L.sub.i+1 for transmission on the one transmission link L.sub.i. In addition, a loopback circuit is included in each repeater that is responsive to the control signals on the one transmission link L.sub.i for looping back data transmitted from the one transmission link L.sub.i for transmission back on the one transmission link L.sub.i. In this system, each repeater has a loopback capability responsive to control signals sent through the transmission links. The loopback capability can be provided in other elements in the network so that a single test control unit can be used to located faults anywhere within the network.