Apparatus for and method of communicating among devices interconnected on a bus

摘要

An information communication system has a plurality of nodes connected by both an information transmission bus and a signalling channel. The information transmission bus is used to carry messages between devices attached to the nodes of the network. The signalling channel is used to signal nodes that a message transmission is about to occur. Based on the devices connected to the nodes, the appropriate communication protocol can be set up and resources allocated on the information transmission bus to efficiently transfer information. The invention allows a device acting as a message source to communicate with another device at a first node using a first protocol and to communicate with a different device at a second node using a second protocol. The protocols can be stored in the devices attached to the nodes or a control node can be used.