Multipoint Network System

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a multi-point network system, which includes N network devices. The N network devices include M transmittable devices, where M is not greater than N. The M transmittable devices include a master device and at least one slave device. Each of the M transmittable devices has at least one identification code as its identity identification information in the multi-point network system, and the M transmittable devices have at least N identification codes in total. In a round of data transmission, the M transmittable devices obtain transmission opportunities in sequence according to their respective identification codes. A Kth device of the M transmittable devices has a plurality of identification codes, so in a round of data transmission, the Kth device obtains a plurality of transmission opportunities. Each of the M transmittable devices performs a counting operation to generate a current counting value; when the identification code of any device of the M transmittable devices is the same as the current counting value, the any device obtains a transmission opportunity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to network systems, and more particularly to multidrop network systems. Background Art

[0002] A US patent publication (publication number: US 2019 / 0230705 A1) discloses a method for avoiding packet collisions on an Ethernet multidrop network. In this method, the number of nodes supported by a multidrop network must be planned in advance, and each node has only one transmission opportunity in a round of data transmission. Therefore, this method cannot increase the transmission opportunities of each node according to its needs. Summary of the invention

[0003] One of the purposes of the present disclosure is to provide a multi-point network system as an improvement over the prior art.

[0004] An embodiment of the multi-point network system disclosed in the present invention includes N network devices. The N network devices include a master device and a plurality of slave devices. Each of the N network devices has at least one identification code as its identity information in the multi-point network system. The M transmittable devices of the N network devices sequentially obtain transmission opportunities according to their respective identification codes, wherein the M transmittable devices include one of the plurality of slave devices and the master device, the N is an integer greater than one, and the M is an integer greater than one but not greater than the N. Each of the M transmittable devices performs a counting operation to generate a current count value; when the current count value reaches a first extreme value, the current count value is reset to a second extreme value. The first extreme value and the second extreme value are respectively the upper limit and the lower limit of the current count value, or respectively the lower limit and the upper limit of the current count value. When the identification code of any device of the M transmittable devices is the same as the current count value, the any device obtains a transmission opportunity. The total number of identification codes of the M transmittable devices is not less than N; since each identification code corresponds to a current count value, the difference between the first extreme value and the second extreme value of the current count value is not less than N. During an I-th round of data transmission, a K-th device of the M transmittable devices has a plurality of identification codes, so the K-th device can obtain a plurality of transmission opportunities during the I-th round of data transmission, wherein the total number of identification codes of the M transmittable devices is greater than M, K is a positive integer not greater than M, and I is a positive integer.

[0005] The features, implementation and effects of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings as preferred embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006] Figure 1 An embodiment of the multipoint network system disclosed in the present invention is shown;

[0007] Figure 2 Display in traditional mode Figure 1 An identification code allocation map of N network devices and a corresponding transmission opportunity distribution map;

[0008] Figure 3 Displaying an identification code allocation map of the N network devices and a corresponding transmission opportunity distribution map in an implementation example; and

[0009] Figure 4 The identification code allocation map of the N network devices and their corresponding transmission opportunity distribution map in another implementation example are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] The present disclosure includes a multidrop network system that can increase the transmission opportunities of each node according to its needs. Background knowledge of the multidrop network system can be found in the IEEE 802.3 standard specification and the US patent publication (publication number: US 2019 / 0230705 A1).

[0011] Figure 1 An embodiment of the multi-point network system disclosed in the present invention is shown. Figure 1 The architecture of the multipoint network system 100 is based on the IEEE 802.3 standard specification, and includes N network devices (i.e., N nodes), where N is an integer greater than 1. The N network devices are interconnected via a physical transmission medium 102 (e.g., a twisted pair cable or an optical cable), and include a master device 110 and a plurality of slave devices 120. Each of the N network devices has at least one identification code (ID code) as its identity information (ID) in the multipoint network system 100.

[0012] See also Figure 1. In an implementation example, each of the N network devices performs a counting operation (e.g., an incrementing counting operation from a lower counting limit to an upper counting limit; or a decrementing counting operation from the upper counting limit to the lower counting limit) to generate a current counting value, wherein the current counting values ​​of the N network devices are the same, and the period of the counting operation is equal to the period of a round of data transmission of the N network devices. When the identification code of a certain device of the N network devices is the same as the current counting value, the certain device obtains a transmission opportunity; when the certain device of the N network devices has a plurality of identification codes, the certain device will obtain a plurality of transmission opportunities in a round of data transmission. It is worth noting that in a traditional mode, each of the N network devices has only one identification code, and the identification code will not be greater than the upper counting limit of the counting operation of the network device. Therefore, the network device will only obtain one transmission opportunity in a round of data transmission, regardless of the transmission requirements of the network device. Figure 2 A distribution diagram 210 of the identification codes (0, 1, 2, ... and (N-1)) of the N network devices (#1, #2, #3, ... and #N) in the above-mentioned traditional mode and a corresponding transmission opportunity distribution diagram 220 are shown, wherein each square of the transmission opportunity distribution diagram 220 represents a transmission time slot, the length of each transmission time slot is not necessarily the same, and the number in each square represents the identification code of the network device using the transmission time slot.

[0013] See also Figure 1 . The M transmission-permissible devices of the N network devices sequentially obtain transmission opportunities according to their respective identification codes, wherein M is an integer greater than one and not greater than N; in other words, a part or all of the N network devices serve as the M transmission-permissible devices. The M transmission-permissible devices include at least one of a plurality of slave devices 120 and a master device 110, and each of the M transmission-permissible devices performs the aforementioned counting operation to generate the aforementioned current counting value. In an implementation example, in addition to the M transmission-permissible devices, X network devices among the N network devices have identification codes greater than the counting upper limit, and the X network devices perform the counting operation, where X is equal to (NM).

[0014] As described above, when the current count value of the M transmittable devices reaches a first extreme value, each transmittable device resets the current count value to a second extreme value to prepare for the next round of data transmission. The first extreme value and the second extreme value are respectively the upper limit and the lower limit of the current count value, or respectively the lower limit and the upper limit of the current count value. When the identification code of any device of the M transmittable devices is the same as the current count value, the any device obtains a transmission opportunity. The total number of identification codes of the M transmittable devices is not less than N and greater than M; since each identification code corresponds to a certain current count value (i.e., a value between the lower limit and the upper limit of the current count value), the difference between the first extreme value and the second extreme value is not less than N and greater than M; more specifically, when the counting operation is an increment / decrement counting operation and the difference between two adjacent count values ​​is 1, the difference between the first extreme value and the second extreme value is the total number of identification codes of the M transmittable devices. During an I-round data transmission, a K-th device of the M transmittable devices has a plurality of identification codes (e.g., S identification codes, where S is greater than one but not greater than the total number of identification codes of the M transmittable devices minus one), and therefore, the K-th device obtains a plurality of transmission opportunities (e.g., S transmission opportunities) during the I-round data transmission, where K is a positive integer not greater than M, and I is a positive integer. In an implementation example, the plurality of identification codes of the K-th device are discontinuous to meet the transmission requirements of the K-th device.

[0015] In an implementation example, the difference between the first extreme value and the second extreme value of the current count value is greater than N; in other words, the total number of the identification codes of the M transmittable devices is greater than N. For example, the counting operation is an incremental counting operation and the difference between two adjacent counting values ​​is 1. The identification code allocation map 310 of the N network devices and its corresponding transmission opportunity distribution map 320 are as follows: Figure 3 As shown, the N network devices all serve as the M transmittable devices, so the N is equal to the M. Figure 3In the example, N is equal to 8, and the N network devices are represented by #1 to #8 respectively. The N network devices have a total of 12 identification codes (0, 1, 2, ... and 11). The lower limit and upper limit of the current count value are 0 and 11 respectively. Among them, network device #3 has 2 identification codes (2 & 8), network device #4 has 2 identification codes (3 & 10), and network device #6 has 3 identification codes (5 & 9 & 11). According to the above, network device #3 has 2 transmission opportunities in a round of data transmission, accounting for 2 / 12 = 1 / 6 of all transmission opportunities; network device #4 has 2 transmission opportunities in this round of data transmission, accounting for 2 / 12 = 1 / 6 of all transmission opportunities; network device #6 has 3 transmission opportunities in this round of data transmission, accounting for 3 / 12 = 1 / 4 of all transmission opportunities; each of the other network devices has 1 transmission opportunity in this round of data transmission, accounting for 1 / 12 of all transmission opportunities. It should be noted that the total number of identification codes of the N network devices, the number of identification codes of each network device, and the lower limit and upper limit of the current count value can be determined according to implementation requirements and are not limited to the examples in this specification.

[0016] In an implementation example, the difference between the first extreme value and the second extreme value of the current count value is equal to N, and M is less than N; in other words, the total number of the identification codes of the M transmittable devices is equal to N, and only a part of the N network devices are the M transmittable devices. For example, the counting operation is an incremental counting operation and the difference between two adjacent counting values ​​is 1. The identification code allocation map 410 of the N network devices and its corresponding transmission opportunity distribution map 420 are as shown in FIG. Figure 4 As shown, a part of the N network devices (network devices #1 and #6) serve as the M transmission-capable devices, and the remaining network devices (network devices #2-5 and #7-8) cannot obtain transmission opportunities. Figure 4 In the example, N is equal to 8, the N network devices are represented by #1 to #8, the N network devices have a total of 8 identification codes (0, 1, 2, ... and 7), the lower limit and upper limit of the current count value are 0 and 7 respectively, wherein the M transmittable devices are network device #1 and network device #6, network device #1 has an identification code (0), network device #6 has a plurality of identification codes (1 to 7), and the identification code (255) of each of network devices #2 to #5 and network devices #7 to #8 falls outside the range between the upper limit and the lower limit of the current count value. As described above, network device #1 has 1 transmission opportunity in a round of data transmission, accounting for 1 / 8 of all transmission opportunities; network device #6 has 7 transmission opportunities in this round of data transmission, accounting for 7 / 8 of all transmission opportunities; the remaining devices cannot obtain transmission opportunities in this round of data transmission.

[0017] See also Figure 1In one implementation example, before the earliest round of data transmission begins, the identification codes of the N network devices are determined and fixed. In another implementation example, after the earliest round of data transmission begins, the identification codes of the N network devices are adjusted according to the transmission requirements of the N network devices. For example, Figure 4 In the example, the identification code of each of network devices #2-#5 and network devices #7-#8 is greater than the upper limit of the current count value in the I round of data transmission, so network devices #2-#5 and network devices #7-#8 cannot obtain transmission opportunities in the I round of data transmission; after the I round of data transmission, the identification code of at least one of network devices #2-#5 and network devices #7-#8 (hereinafter referred to as network device #X) is adjusted to fall within the range between the upper limit and the lower limit of the current count value, so during the (I+1)th round of data transmission, network device #X can obtain at least one transmission opportunity. For another example, Figure 4 In the example, network device #6 has multiple identification codes, so network device #6 can obtain multiple transmission opportunities in the first round of data transmission; after the first round of data transmission, the multiple identification codes of network device #6 are adjusted to a single identification code (for example: 5), and the single identification code can be one of the original multiple identification codes.

[0018] See also Figure 1 . In an implementation example, the N network devices use a communication protocol to perform a communication operation; the N network devices include a designated device (e.g., a master device 110) and (N-1) non-designated devices (e.g., a slave device 120); the designated device is one of the M transmittable devices. The designated device learns the transmission requirements of the (N-1) non-designated devices through the communication operation; for example, some non-designated devices make special transmission requirements, and some non-designated devices do not make requirements, so the designated device infers the requirements of the (N-1) non-designated devices. The designated device determines an ID assignment of the N network devices based on its own transmission requirements and the transmission requirements of the (N-1) non-designated devices. Each of the (N-1) non-designated devices learns the ID assignment through the communication operation and determines its ID accordingly.

[0019] In the above two implementation examples, each of the N network devices includes an upper layer circuit (not shown in the figure) and a lower layer circuit (not shown in the figure), the upper layer circuit adopts the communication protocol to control the communication operation, and the lower layer circuit is used to transmit data. For example, the upper layer circuit is a media access control (MAC) circuit, or an electronic control unit (ECU); the lower layer circuit is a physical layer (PHY) circuit. Since each of the media access control circuit, the electronic control unit and the physical layer circuit can be implemented by known / common technologies in the art, their details are omitted here.

[0020] Please note that, under the premise of being implementable, those skilled in the art may selectively implement part or all of the technical features in any of the aforementioned embodiments, or selectively implement a combination of part or all of the technical features in multiple embodiments, thereby increasing the flexibility of the implementation of the present invention.

[0021] In summary, the present disclosure can determine the transmission opportunity of each node according to its transmission demand.

[0022] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure are described above, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make changes to the technical features of the present invention based on the explicit or implicit contents of the present disclosure. All these changes may fall within the scope of patent protection sought by the present invention. In other words, the scope of patent protection of the present disclosure shall be subject to the scope of the attached claims.

[0023]

Explanation of symbols

[0024] 100: Multipoint network system

[0025] 102: Physical transmission medium

[0026] 110: Main control device

[0027] 120: Slave device

[0028] 210: Identification code allocation diagram

[0029] 220: Transmission opportunity distribution map

[0030] #1~#N:Network device

[0031] 0~(N-1): Identification code

[0032] 310: Identification code allocation diagram

[0033] 320: Transmission Opportunity Distribution Map

[0034] #1~#8:Network Devices

[0035] 0~11: Identification code

[0036] 410: Identification code allocation map

[0037] 420: Transmission Opportunity Distribution Map

[0038] #1~#8:Network Devices

[0039] 0~8: Identification code

Claims

1. A multipoint network system, characterized in that: The multipoint network system includes N network devices, the N network devices include a master device and a plurality of slave devices, each of the N network devices has at least one identification code as its identity information in the multipoint network system, the M transmittable devices of the N network devices sequentially obtain transmission opportunities according to their respective identification codes, each of the M transmittable devices performs a counting operation to generate a current count value, and when the current count value reaches a first extreme value, the current count value is reset to a second extreme value, wherein: The M transmittable devices include one of the plurality of slave devices and the master device; N is an integer greater than one, and M is an integer greater than one but not greater than N; The first extreme value and the second extreme value are respectively the upper limit and the lower limit of the current count value, or respectively the lower limit and the upper limit of the current count value; The total number of the identification codes of the M transmittable devices is not less than the N, each of the identification codes of the M transmittable devices is different and is between the first extreme value and the second extreme value, and the difference between the first extreme value and the second extreme value is not less than the N; When the identification code of any device of the M transmittable devices is the same as the current count value, the any device obtains a transmission opportunity; and During the Ith round of data transmission, the Kth device of the M transmittable devices has a plurality of identification codes, the total number of the identification codes of the M transmittable devices is greater than M, K is a positive integer not greater than M, and I is a positive integer.

2. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that The difference is greater than the N, and the total number of the identification codes of the M transmittable devices is greater than the N.

3. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that The M is equal to the N.

4. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that The difference is equal to the N, the M is smaller than the N, and the total number of the identification codes of the M transmittable devices is equal to the N.

5. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that During the I round of data transmission, each of the identification codes of X network devices of the N network devices is greater than the upper limit of the current count value or less than the lower limit of the current count value, the X network devices are not included in the M transmittable devices, and X is a positive integer, and X is not greater than N minus M.

6. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that During the I-th round of data transmission, the plurality of identification codes of the K-th device are not continuous.

7. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that Before the earliest round of data transmission begins, the identification codes of the N network devices are determined and fixed.

8. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that After the earliest round of data transmission begins, the identification codes of the N network devices are adjusted according to the transmission requirements of the N network devices.

9. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that The N network devices use a communication protocol to perform communication operations. The N network devices include a designated device and (N-1) non-designated devices. The designated device is one of the M transmittable devices. The designated device learns the transmission requirements of the (N-1) non-designated devices through the communication operation. The designated device determines the identification code allocation of the N network devices based on the transmission requirements of the designated device and the transmission requirements of the (N-1) non-designated devices. Each of the (N-1) non-designated devices learns the identification code allocation through the communication operation and determines its identification code accordingly.

10. The multipoint network system as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that The designated device is the master device.

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