METHOD OF DATA TRANSMISSION IN A DATA COMMUNICATION NETWORK

摘要

A method of data transmission in a data communication network includes negotiating a connection between a source terminal (16) and a destination terminal (18) in the data communication network. During the connection negotiation process, optimal field lengths are determined for recording a source identifier (52) and a sequence number (54) in data packets transmitted in the connection. The source identifier (52) identifies a connection from the source end to the destination end of the data transmission, while the sequence number (54) identifies the relative position of a data packet in a series of data packets transmitted in the connection. The length of the source identifier and sequence number fields may either be calcuted or selected from a set of predetermined field length values. Data packets formatted according to different transmission protocols ("secondary data packets") that are received for transmission through the data communication network are packed into one or more "primary data packets" formatted according to the transmission protocol of the data communication network. In addition to a source identifier (52) and sequence number (54), the primary data packets include a first packet offset (56) to identify the location of a first new secondary data packet that is packed into the primary data packet. A first packet offset field length is determined during connection negotiation. The data transmission method of the invention includes packing one or more secondary data packets, or a portion thereof, in a primary data packet to fill the primary data packet, thus minimizing unused data bits in the primary data packet. After transmission, the primary data packets are reordered, if necessary, and the secondary data packets are unpacked therefrom.