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:
Aug. 22, 1995
Filed:
Jan. 11, 1993
Mark Copley, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
David G Fish, Monument, CO (US);
Chris L Odell, Monument, CO (US);
Charles H Whiteside, Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Forte Networks, Inc., Colorado Springs, CO (US);
Fluke Corporation, Everett, WA (US);
Abstract
A token ring local area network (LAN) testing apparatus is provided. The apparatus monitors history or status of token ring stations. Such information is useful in isolating token ring faults that may occur during its operation. The apparatus includes current and past memory lists that contain status information for each token ring station. The current station memory list contains addresses of all token ring stations that are present during a current neighbor notification process. The last station memory list contains addresses of all token ring stations that were present in the token ring during the neighbor notification process that was previous to the current neighbor notification process. A neighbor notification process is a conventional part of the token ring media access control (MAC) protocol. Included with the addresses in these lists is a determined one of a number of state characters that is indicative of station status. The state character for each token ring station is determined using predetermined algorithms that are based on the presence/absence of stations in the token ring.