DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD AND SWITCHING NODE DEVICE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data transmission method by which a bus can be effectively utilized in the case of asynchronous transmission in compliance with, e.g. the IEEE 1394 and to provide a switching node. SOLUTION: The system realizing this method is provided with switching nodes M3, M6, and M11 where arbitration is available. The switching nodes M3, M6, and M11 have the right of arbitration of a segment by means of their ports detecting presence of a slave node. Furthermore, the switching nodes M3, M6, and M11 store path information that denote cross-reference among a plurality of ports and destination node addresses. The switching nodes M3, M6, and M11 divides a serial bus into a plurality of segments and apply arbitration to each segment. Thus, packets can be transmitted at the same time to different segments so as to enhance the utilizing efficiency of the bus.