An Ethernet compatible low cost/high performance communication solution

摘要

The LAN-HUB is a new local area network designed to combine the properties of several existing LAN standards to provide highly reliable communication at a relatively lower cost per station, improve network capacity/delay performance and increase the LAN user's flexibility in configuring his network. The LAN-HUB network is configured around the CODEX 4320 LAN-HUB communication controllers which allow up to eight Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 stations to transparently share one network transceiver or RF Modem. Each LAN-HUB controller executes a fair, collision free, arbitration among its local stations attached to its LAN ports, using a patented collision avoidance algorithm. The HUB's rear panel further provides a Network port which can be attached to a standard 802.3 transceiver, to another HUB or terminated in a loop back mode. The HUBs, thus, allow stations to be organized in a standalone star network, in a "cascading" star configuration, or as an integrated bus/star network. When organized as star or cascaded star networks, the HUB controllers provide highly reliable and controlled, collision free, bandwidth allocation suitable for applications such as CPU room clusters. Alternately, in a bus configuration the HUBs support an Ethernet type bus network, with random access channel control. In the latter configuration the HUBs provide a lower cost/higher performance solution for bursty traffic users, since they reduce cabling requirements, decrease cost by sharing each transceiver among several LAN stations and improve network throughput/delay performance by eliminating local collisions. The LAN-HUB is thus effective in creating a local communication solution with a significant degree of flexibility in choosing the network layout and the type of service, random or deterministic, provided to the network users.