High capacity secure address loop network

摘要

A loop network is disclosed in which the ports have access to time slots on each of two buses. The buses carry the time slots in opposite directions. Ports are addressed by marking a bit of a time slot word on one bus and a bit of a time slot word on the other bus so that the two marked bits will arrive within a predetermined number of bit intervals of each other at the addressed port. Time slots are seized by an upstream port writing a predetermined pattern into an arriving idle time slot and by the downstream port recognizing the arrival of that predetermined pattern. A time slot may be reused during the remainder of its passage around the loop after it is rendered idle by the downstream port of a connection.