Configurable hybrid medium access control for cable metropolitan area networks

Board of Industrial Protection (21) Application no. 960790 (22) Inception date 27.02.96 (24) Course date 27.02.96 (41) Alm. avail. 29.08.96 (86) Int. Entry date and application number (85) Continuation day (30) Priority 28.02.95, US, 395325

10.03.95, US, 402007 (71/73) Seeker / Holder (72) Inventor (74) Proxy

General Instrument Corporation of Delaware, 2200 at Berry Road,

Hatboro, PA 19040, US

Reem Safadi, Horsham, PA, US

Jens FC Langfeldt, Bryns Patentkontor AS, Oslo (54) Designation Configurable hybrid medium access control for cable networks in urban areas (57) Summary The hybrid MAC system (10) for controlling medium access can be configured according to the type of communication required to support a desired application or service. The MAC system (10) analyzes services: it is requested from a set-top terminal (16) or a network-managing client and determines the best MAC component for transmitting signals in the upstream direction based on the resources required for the service and the available network resources. One part (of the upstream channel spectrum is assigned to each of the MACs in the components: 1) POP; 2) assigned static TDMA; 3)} assigned dynamic multi-stroke TDMA; and 4) directly in hatch reservation - dynamic loop allocation TDMA. Depending on the communication requirements of the service desired, the configurable MAC system 10 will select the MAC I component best suited to support the service. One^! The frequency sensitive transmitter is then tuned to the channel which has been pre-assigned for the selected MAC component (s) (10). As communication traffic varies with time, the system will redistribute parts of