Verification of link integrity of a home local area network

Details Verification of link integrity of a home local area network Verification of link integrity of a home local area network

1999-09-30

2004-07-27

Nguyen, Brian (Department: 2661)

Multiplex communications

Diagnostic testing

Fault detection

C370S248000, C379S001030

Reexamination Certificate

active

06768720

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to home networking systems, in particular to a home local area network (LAN) having the capability to detect media in the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The personal computer has become a powerful platform in the home for work, communication, education and entertainment. As the Internet becomes an essential means of information access, many new digital appliances are being developed to exploit communication of voice and video across digital networks Just as there is a critical need for high-speed connections to information and broadband entertainment sources outside the home, there is a growing need to rapidly move digital data between devices within the home. Businesses accomplish this by deploying local area networks (LANs); however, networks are not commonly deployed in the home due to the cost and complexity of installing the new wiring required by traditional LANs. A need to share Internet access, digital information, and computing resources among PCs and other information appliances has sparked consumer demand for a home networking solution. Several groups have proposed solutions which create a network in the home that will utilize existing resources such as telephone wiring, power lines, or radio-frequency (RF) transmission to connect computers and devices without requiring expensive rewiring of the home.
Although office LANs may have dedicated personnel to manage the networks, home LANs are unlikely to have such dedicated management personnel. End-users will want a network which is easy to troubleshoot when something goes wrong. One concern with a network, particularly one such as a home network, is link integrity, or a concern with the physical connection to the network. End users expect some kind of visual indication that a physical connection in the network is working. With traditional networks such as 10Base-T Ethernets, hub devices and transceivers exchange hardware link heartbeat pulses when the connection is idle. Either the hub or the transceiver can display a visual indication of packet transmission as an indication of link integrity.
Home LANs without a centralized hub device typically do not have a hardware means of detecting link integrity. In addition, standard tests used to certify Network Interface Cards (NMCs) can fail a “media detect” test because of the lack of an indication of link integrity.
Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the techniques as described herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, a home network controller provides indication of the integrity of a link in a home local area network (LAN). The home network controller can provide a visual indicator of the status of the link to assist in troubleshooting of the home LAN.
The home network controller includes a physical interface connected to a link of the home LAN. Software and circuitry in the home network controller monitor the status of the link to verify link integrity.
The home network controller uses receipt of a physical layer packet as a proxy for link integrity. The home network controller software reads an interrupt status register to check for receipt and transmission of a packet during a current monitoring period.
If a packet has been received since the previous check of the interrupt status register, then the link is declared working To avoid false indications of link failure caused by a transmission at a tail end of a previous monitoring period, the home network controller software can make a decision based on two successive periods. If during the preceding period a packet was transmitted, but no packet was received during the current period, then an indication that packet transmission occurred in the current period indicates that the link has failed.
To avoid deadlocks, the home network controller can stimulate packet transmission by using a heartbeat signal. The heartbeat signal will transmit a packet on the home LAN if no packet was received and no packet was transmitted during the current period, as evidenced by the interrupt status register.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5448723 (1995-09-01), Rowett
patent: 5754764 (1998-05-01), Davis et al.
patent: 5905781 (1999-05-01), McHale et al.
patent: 6078970 (2000-06-01), Nordstrom et al.
patent: 6385203 (2002-05-01), McHale et al.
patent: 2001/0043568 (2001-11-01), McHale et al.

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