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:
Jan. 28, 1992
Filed:
Sep. 19, 1990
Jerry Hutchison, Littleton, MA (US);
Henry Yang, Andover, MA (US);
William Hawe, Pepperell, MA (US);
Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, MA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting invalid network topologies in a local area network (LAN). The stations comprising the LAN include single attachment stations (SAS), dual attachment stations (DAS), wire concentrators (WC), and DAS/WC combination stations. Adjacent stations exchange connection type information identifying a type of physical connection of the station sending the connection information. A station receiving the connection information determines whether the connection is valid for its physical connection type using a connection matrix. Invalid connections can result in a network topology where stations are physically connected, but are not logically connected, because the stations do not all form a primary ring. Invalid connections may be rejected and bypassed in each station. Alternately, a station detecting an invalid connection may reconfigure itself using an internal data switch. The actions of each station, taken together, achieve a globally designated primary ring.