Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/ – Intrasystem connection – System configuring
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-16
2001-02-20
Lee, Thomas C. (Department: 2782)
Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/
Intrasystem connection
System configuring
C710S036000, C710S038000, C710S100000, C710S108000, C714S001000, C714S006130, C714S011000, C714S013000, C711S162000, C711S165000, C711S166000, C713S100000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192437
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission apparatus in which cards are inserted into slots of a shelf and either a redundancy configuration or a non-redundancy configuration is used.
A variety of transmission apparatuses employ either a redundancy configuration or a non-redundancy configuration. When the redundancy configuration is used, a working card and a protection card per channel are installed in the transmission apparatus. If the working card malfunctions, the working card is disconnected from a transmission line and the protection card is connected to the line, in order to provide reliability of data transmitted through the transmission apparatus. When the non-redundancy configuration is used, a single card per channel is installed in the transmission apparatus. The non-redundancy configuration is often used by transmission apparatuses which do not require high reliability of the data transmitted. It is desirable to suitably select the redundancy configuration or the non-redundancy configuration for each transmission apparatus in order to meet both the reliability and the cost efficiency.
(2) Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6
shows a conventional transmission apparatus with a working card connected to a transmission line.
In the conventional transmission apparatus of
FIG. 6
, a plurality of cards are inserted into slots of a shelf
51
. A working card
52
-
1
and a protection card
52
-
2
are inserted in the slots of the shelf
51
. The working card
52
-
1
contains a relay
53
-
1
, and the relay
53
-
1
is switched as indicated by the dotted line in
FIG. 6
so as to connect the working card
52
-
1
to a transmission line
55
. The protection card
52
-
2
contains a relay
53
-
2
, and the relay
53
-
2
is switched as indicated by the dotted line in
FIG. 6
so as to connect the protection card
52
-
2
to an inactive line. The shelf
51
includes a selector switch
54
at the outputs of the slots, and the selector switch
54
is switched as indicated by the dotted line in
FIG. 6
so as to connect the output of the working card
52
-
1
to an output transmission line.
With the arrangement of the conventional transmission apparatus shown in
FIG. 6
, a signal supplied via the transmission line
55
is processed by the working card
52
-
1
, and the processed signal is delivered from the working card
52
-
1
to the output transmission line. The working card
52
-
1
and the protection card
52
-
2
are usually configured in the form of a module of electronic parts fabricated on a printed circuit board. Alternatively, these cards may be called boards or units.
If the working card
52
-
1
in the above-mentioned apparatus malfunctions, the switching of the relays
53
-
1
and
53
-
2
and the switch
54
is changed to disconnect the working card
52
-
1
from the transmission line
55
and connect the protection card
52
-
2
to the transmission line
55
.
FIG. 7
shows the conventional transmission apparatus with the protection card
52
-
2
connected to the transmission line
55
.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, the relay
53
-
1
is switched as indicated by the dotted line in
FIG. 7
so as to disconnect the working card
52
-
1
from the transmission line
55
and connect the working card
52
-
1
to an inactive line. The relay
53
-
2
is switched as indicated by the dotted line in
FIG. 7
so as to connect the protection card
52
-
2
to the transmission line
55
. The selector switch
54
is switched as indicated by the dotted line in
FIG. 7
so as to connect the output of the protection card
52
-
2
to the output transmission line. With the arrangement of the conventional transmission apparatus shown in
FIG. 7
, a signal supplied through the transmission line
55
to the shelf
51
is processed by the protection card
52
-
2
, and the processed signal is delivered from the protection card
52
-
2
to the output transmission line.
FIG. 8
shows a redundancy configuration and a non-redundancy configuration of a conventional transmission apparatus. In
FIG. 8
, “W” indicates a working card inserted in the shelf, “P” indicates a protection card inserted in the shelf, and “C” indicates a control card inserted in the shelf.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the shelf is divided into an upper segment with eleven slots and a lower segment with eleven slots. In the upper segment of the shelf, ten sets of working cards “W” and protection cards “P” and a control card “C” are inserted into the slots thereof. The working card “W” and the protection card “P” of each set are installed per channel. The upper segment uses the redundancy configuration. In the lower segment of the shelf, five working cards “W”, a protection card “P” and a control card “C” are inserted into the slots thereof. Either of the working card “W” and the protection card “P” is installed per channel. The lower segment mainly uses the non-redundancy configuration.
When the redundancy configuration, such as that of the upper segment of
FIG. 8
, is used, it is possible to make effective use of the card slots of the shelf. However, when the non-redundancy configuration, such as that of the lower segment of
FIG. 8
, is used, the number of vacant slots for the protection cards is increased with increase of the working cards inserted in the shelf. It is difficult for the conventional transmission apparatus to effectively use the vacant slots for the protection cards of the shelf in the non-redundancy configuration.
In order to effectively use the vacant slots for the protection cards in the shelf of the conventional transmission apparatus in the non-redundancy configuration, the line connections of the relays of the cards to be inserted (and those of the adjacent cards already inserted) have to be set such that the transmission line is always connected to the cards inserted as shown in FIG.
7
. Such setting of the line connections of the relays has been manually performed for each of the cards inserted in the shelf. Practically the setting of the line connections of the cards inserted needs complicated and time-consuming manipulations, and erroneous setting of the line connections of the cards inserted in the shelf is likely to occur.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved transmission apparatus in which the above-mentioned problems are eliminated.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a transmission apparatus which can effectively use card slots of a shelf without increasing the number of vacant slots for the protection cards with increase of the working cards inserted in the shelf not only when the redundancy configuration is used but also when the non-redundancy configuration is used.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a transmission apparatus which allows accurate setting of the line connections of the cards inserted in the shelf not only when the redundancy configuration is used but also when the non-redundancy configuration is used.
The above-mentioned objects of the present invention are achieved by a transmission apparatus in which a plurality of cards are inserted into a plurality of card slots, the transmission apparatus comprising: a shelf which includes a working card slot and a protection card slot, the working card slot supplying a first slot ID to a first card inserted in the working card slot, and the protection card slot supplying a second slot ID to a second card inserted in the protection card slot; a control logic circuit, provided within each of the first and second cards, which receives one of the first slot ID or the second slot ID, a redundancy
on-redundancy R/N signal and a working/protection W/P signal, and outputs a control signal depending on the related slot ID, the R/N signal and the W/P signal; and a line connection relay, provided within each of the first and second cards, which connects either a working line or a protection line to an output of the related card in accordance with the control signal supplied by the control logic circui
Oka Akihiko
Tsukamoto Keiichiro
Fujitsu Limited
Helfgott & Karas P.C.
Lee Thomas C.
Nguyen Tanh
LandOfFree
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