Network Interface Data Selector Ring Topology Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network interfaces in in-flight entertainment systems and other communication architectures face challenges with high latency, complex wiring, and high installation costs due to the need for multiple connections and data lines, especially in star architectures, while also requiring low failure rates and high data bandwidth.
Innovation Solution
A network interface with a data selector and data switch that allows for direct forwarding of data between network users without intermediate storage, reducing latency and enabling reliable data transmission, even in the presence of defects, by using bidirectional or unidirectional physical interfaces and reversing data flow directions as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If star architecture is used to achieve high data bandwidth and low failure rate, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and installation outlay increase due to multiplicity of plug connections and data lines
Solution Approach 1:
The network is segmented into multiple rings instead of using a centralized star topology. Each network user is connected to exactly two neighbors forming ring segments, which reduces the number of connections per node from multiple (in star) to exactly two, thereby reducing wiring complexity while maintaining reliability through redundant paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The network topology is transformed from a two-dimensional star configuration to a closed-loop ring structure that adds dimensional continuity. This ring architecture provides alternative data paths around the loop, ensuring reliability without requiring multiple radial connections to a central node, thus reducing overall wiring complexity.
2Device complexity
If daisy chain or ring architecture is used to reduce wiring outlay, then device complexity is reduced, but latency increases due to sequential data transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The network interface dynamically switches between two operational modes: ring mode for normal operation and fault mode for defect conditions. This dynamic adaptability allows the system to optimize for low latency during normal operation while maintaining the simplified ring wiring structure, resolving the contradiction between reduced wiring complexity and latency performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The data transmission parameters are changed by implementing a dual-mode operational state (ring mode and fault mode) that alters how data flows through the network. In ring mode, data can traverse the ring efficiently with minimal hops, reducing latency while maintaining the low-wiring complexity advantage of the ring topology.
3Reliability
If intermediate storage is implemented in network interfaces, then data transmission reliability is improved, but latency increases due to storage and forwarding delays
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate storage function is extracted from the network interface, eliminating the buffer memory and associated storage-forwarding delay. Instead of storing data temporarily before forwarding, the system uses direct cut-through forwarding where data is transmitted immediately upon receipt, achieving low latency while maintaining reliability through the redundant ring path.
Solution Approach 2:
The data transmission process skips the intermediate storage step entirely by implementing direct cut-through forwarding. Data rushes through the network interface immediately upon receipt without being held in buffers, thereby eliminating storage-induced latency while the redundant ring topology ensures transmission reliability.
4Adaptability or versatility
If different hardware configurations are used for network users to optimize specific functions, then adaptability is improved, but manufacturing precision and cost increase due to hardware variability
Solution Approach 1:
The network interface is designed as a universal module with identical hardware configuration for all network users. Each interface can perform multiple functions (data reception, forwarding, fault detection, mode switching) without requiring hardware variations, achieving manufacturing standardization while maintaining adaptability through software/firmware control of the same hardware platform.
Solution Approach 2:
All network users are equipped with homogeneous network interface hardware to maximize manufacturing precision and reduce costs. The identical hardware design simplifies production, testing, and maintenance while the system maintains functional adaptability through uniform implementation of the dual-mode operation across all standardized interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A network interface of a network user having at least one physical interface for connecting the network interface to a network interface of a different network user, at least one data selector, which is connected to the physical interface and which is suitable for receiving data from the physical interface and sending data to the physical interface, and at least one data switch, which is connected to the data selector and which is suitable for receiving data from the data selector and sending data to the data selector.