Communication system for the transfer of small digital message blocks and large digital message blocks.

摘要

A communication system (10) for the transfer of small digital message blocks and large digital message blocks. A plurality of nodes (26, 38, 30, 32, 34, 36) are coupled to a common wideband communication channel (12) capable of facilitating the transfer of small digital message blocks and large digital message blocks. One of the nodes (26-36) is a master node controlling the communication on the communication channel (12) by selectively polling the other of the plurality of nodes (26-36). The communication system (10) has a first protocol for the transmission of small digital message blocks and a second protocol for the transmission of large digital message blocks. The master node establishes a polling priority (66) for each of the plurality of nodes and polls those with a higher polling priority more frequently than those with a lower polling priority. The master node allows the one node being polled to communicate over the channel (12) of either a small digital message block or a large digital message block. Further the master node adapts the polling priority (66) for each of the nodes based upon a predetermined algorithm.