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. 09, 1996
Filed:
Apr. 12, 1994
Brian C Edem, San Jose, CA (US);
Debra J Worsley, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Michael S Evans, San Jose, CA (US);
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A data communication system such as a local area network or a wide area network capable of transmitting isochronous data. The system conveys both isochronous data and non-isochronous data by time multiplexing data into a recurring frame structure on a 4-bit nibble basis. The arriving data is de-multiplexed at a hub into separate channels which are forwarded to separate hardware appropriate for handling the particular data stream. The data is passed hierarchically from a source, through a node, and to a hub. The hub places the data into an internal connection memory for switching onto a high bandwidth bus for distribution to other destination hubs, nodes, or sinks, except, where the source node and destination node are attached to the same hub, the hub provides a local loopback to the destination node, thus avoiding the need to place the transmitted data onto the bus. This system conserves room on the bus for other isochronous and non-isochronous data.