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:
Mar. 09, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 30, 1995
Dennis J Dombrosky, Willoghby Hills, OH (US);
Jack D Calderon, Concord Township, Lakes County, OH (US);
Timothy J Murphy, Hudson, OH (US);
Allen-Bradley Company LLC, Milwaukee, WI (US);
Abstract
A bus structure for interconnecting the modules of an industrial automation controller includes DATA lines and associated control lines that enable interface circuits on each module to transfer frames of data. The interface circuit includes a flow control circuit for managing resources within the receiving module, and thus controlling the flow of data over the backplane bus. As soon as a message begins to be received, the flow control circuit makes a determination as to the availability of resources within the module to successfully receive the data frame. If sufficient resources are not available, a busy indication is returned to the transmitting module, and the transmitting module then aborts the transmission. The factors evaluated by the interface circuit in forming the determination as to the availability of resources includes the factors of: (a) availability of a control block when the frame begins a new complete message, (b) completion of processing for a frame from a particular source module before accepting another frame from that module, and (c) availability of a buffer for receiving the frame.