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:
Jun. 13, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 31, 1996
Roger E Billings, Independence, MO (US);
Other;
Abstract
A computer network includes a network hub which connects a plurality of computers together. Data packets generated by the computers are sequentially merged into a stream of data packets which is then broadcast to all of the computers in the network. The network hub includes a plurality of ports, each of which is connected to a respective one of the computers, receiving data packets generated by the computer. The network hub also includes a plurality of storage devices respectively connected to the ports. Each of the storage devices receives and temporarily stores the data packets received by the port. A merging processor is connected to each of the storage devices and sequentially merges data packets temporarily stored by the storage devices into a stream of data packets. The stream of data packets is then broadcast to each of the computers in the network. The network hub may communicate with each of the computers to indicate the capacity status of the storage device.