PROVIDING ACCESS TO A DISTRIBUTED DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM

摘要

A plurality of end devices are coupled via a shared port to an asynchronous network in which traffic is carried in cells. A cell multiplexer is disposed between the devices and the port and is adapted to multiplex cells from the devices to the port in the order in which they are received by the multiplexer. The multiplexer broadcasts cells received from the network to all of the devices. Each said device is allocated a respective VCI so that it can identify its own cells from the broadcast cells.