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:
Sep. 16, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 07, 1995
Debra J Worsley, Vista, CA (US);
Brian C Edem, San Jose, CA (US);
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A data communication system, such as a local area network, is provided with a capability of transmitting isochronous data. Preferably the system conveys both isochronous data and non-isochronous data by time-multiplexing the data into a recurring frame structure on a four-bit nibble basis. An efficient encoding scheme permits transmission of both isochronous and non-isochronous data over existing media, such as twisted pair, without degrading bandwidth previously achieved for non-isochronous data over the same media, such as using an ethernet system. Bandwidth available for a particular isochronous source/sink is selectable and sustainable with a predefined granularity. The arriving data is de-multiplexed at the hub into separate channels for handling the separate streams by appropriate hardware. Preferably, the present invention can be implemented in a fashion that is transparent to already-installed media access controllers. Preferably, some components of the system can detect the frame-transmission capability of other components and, if such capability is lacking, can fall back to a mode compliant with existing capabilities.