Architecture and implementation of the access mechanism for a bus-structured multiservice LAN

The design and implementation of a high-speed access mechanism for a fiber-optic multiservice LAN is presented. The handling of stream-type and burst-type communications is accomplished through the use of a distributed hybrid switching protocol that uses an asynchronous dynamic time-division-multiplexing technique. The network comprises a write channel in which each network node transmits and a read channel where the transmitted information is duplicated and thus received by the network nodes. In parallel with the write channel, a sense channel is responsible for detecting the right of access for the node. The protocol provides bounded delay for the packet-switched traffic and small buffering memory for the circuit-switched traffic, which together with the network bit rate and the node processing time and capacity set the network efficiency. Experimental results are presented for the node processing time and the network speed