Power line communication network

1. A media access control (MAC) controller for a network providing communication for network stations located at a plurality of customer premises and sharing a communication medium, each of the premises having a plurality of network stations, the MAC controller comprising:

a virtual local area network (vLAN) controller, providing access to the communication medium and communication among the stations located at a single customer's premises, to define a vLAN therebetween; and

a group local area network (gLAN) controller providing access to the communication medium and communication among interfering vLANs, two vLANs being considered to be interfering when one can sense communications over the medium from a station in the other; a MAC controller being provided in at least one station in a vLAN,

wherein the MAC controller is constructed to utilize a token passing protocol to control access to the medium, and

wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to utilize a token passing protocol among vLANs to control access to the medium thereby, a vLAN being capable of retaining the token when received from one of the other vLANs, but must pass the token immediately when receiving it from any other vLAN except for the one of the other vLANs, whereby, although the vLANs in a gLAN are connected in a bus configuration, they pass the token in a logical ring topology in which the ring includes vLANs that are unable to communicate directly.

2. The MAC controller of claim 1 wherein the MAC controller is connected to use as the communication medium the portion of a power line at the output of a last step down transformer.

3. The MAC controller of claim 1 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to control the transfer of the token between two vLANs, an originator and a recipient, through a handshake procedure requiring a token pass message from the originator, an ACK message from the recipient in response to the token pass message, and a handshake message from the originator in response to the ACK for the recipient to assume possession of the token:

the originator providing a predefined retry remaining count along with the token pass message and re-sending the token pass message together with a decremented retry remaining count, upon failure to receive an ACK message, until the retry remaining count is zero, whereupon the originator retains the token; and

the recipient responding to the token pass message by sending an ACK accompanied by a decremented retry count, and continuing to repeat these steps upon failure to receive a handshake message, until the retry remaining count is zero, whereupon the token transfer fails.

4. The MAC controller of claim 3 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to provide a token master flag to one of the vLANs, defined as a token master, the token master computing a vLAN token hold time (vTHT), the token being passed around a logical loop together with vTHT, each vLAN other than the token master retaining the token for no longer than the vTHT before passing it on.

5. The MAC controller of claim 4 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed so that the token master flag is retained by one of the vLANs and sent to the next in the logical loop after the token has made a complete traversal of the entire loop, the vLAN in possession of the token master flag being the token master.

6. The MAC controller of claim 5 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to maintain a token heartbeat which is incremented every time the token master flag is passed, a vLAN seizing possession of the token master flag upon encountering the same heartbeat consecutively, whereby loss of token mastership is avoided.

7. The MAC controller of claim 3 , wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.

8. The MAC controller of claim 1 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to control the transfer of the token between two vLANs, an originator and a recipient, through a handshake procedure requiring a token pass message from the originator, an ACK message from the recipient in response to the token pass message, and a handshake message from the originator in response to the ACK for the recipient to assume possession of the token:

the originator providing a predefined retry remaining count along with the token pass message and re-sending the token pass message together with a decremented retry remaining count, upon failure to receive an ACK message, until the retry remaining count is zero, whereupon the originator retains the token; and

the recipient responding to the token pass message by sending an ACK accompanied by a decremented retry count, and continuing to repeat these steps upon failure to receive a handshake message, until the retry remaining count is zero, whereupon the token transfer fails.

9. The MAC controller of claim 8 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to provide a token master flag to one of the vLANs, defined as a token master, the token master computing a vLAN token hold time (vTHT) by dividing the round trip time, TRT, of the token around the logical loop by the number of vLANs in the gLAN, the token being passed around a logical loop together with vTHT, each vLAN other than the token master retaining the token for no longer than the vTHT before passing it on.

10. The MAC controller of claim 9 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed so that the token master flag is retained by one of the vLANs and sent to the next in the logical loop after the token has made a complete traversal of the entire loop, the vLAN in possession of the token master flag being the token master.

11. The MAC controller of claim 10 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to maintain a token heartbeat which is incremented every time the token master flag is passed, a vLAN seizing possession of the token master flag upon encountering the same heartbeat consecutively, whereby loss of token mastership is avoided.

12. The MAC controller of claim 9 , wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.

13. The MAC controller of claim 8 , wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.

14. The MAC controller of claim 1 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to provide a token master flag to one of the vLANs, defined as a token master, the token master computing a vLAN token hold time (vTHT) by dividing the round trip time, TRT, of the token around a logical loop by the number of vLANs in the gLAN, the token being passed around the logical loop together with vTHT, each vLAN other than the token master retaining the token for no longer than the vTHT before passing it on.

15. The MAC controller of claim 14 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed so that the token master flag is retained by one of the vLANs and sent to the next in the logical loop after the token has made a complete traversal of the entire loop, the vLAN in possession of the token master flag being the token master.

16. The MAC controller of claim 15 , wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to maintain a token heartbeat which is incremented every time the token master flag is passed, a vLAN seizing possession of the token master flag upon encountering the same heartbeat consecutively, whereby loss of token mastership is avoided.

17. The MAC controller of claim 14 , wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.

18. The MAC controller of claim 1 , wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.

19. The MAC controller of claim 1 , wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.

20. A media access control (MAC) controller for a network providing communication for network stations located at a plurality of customer premises and sharing a communication medium, each of the premises having a plurality of network stations, the MAC controller comprising:

a virtual local area network (vLAN) controller, providing access to the communication medium and communication among the stations located at a single customer's premises, to define a vLAN therebetween; and

a group local area network (gLAN) controller providing access to the communication medium and communication among interfering vLANs, two vLANs being considered to be interfering when one can sense communications over the medium from a station in the other; a MAC controller being provided in at least one station in a vLAN,

wherein the MAC controller is constructed to utilize a token passing protocol to control access to the medium, and

wherein the gLAN controller is constructed to provide a token master flag to one of the vLANs, defined as a token master, the token master computing a vLAN token hold time (vTHT) by dividing the round trip time, TRT, of the token around a logical loop by the number of vLANs in the gLAN, the token being passed around the logical loop together with vTHT, each vLAN other than the token master retaining the token for no longer than the vTHT before passing it on.

21. A media access control (MAC) controller for a network providing communication for network stations located at a plurality of customer premises and sharing a communication medium, each of the premises having a plurality of network stations, the MAC controller comprising:

a virtual local area network (vLAN) controller, providing access to the communication medium and communication among the stations located at a single customer's premises, to define a vLAN therebetween; and

a group local area network (gLAN) controller providing access to the communication medium and communication among interfering vLANs, two vLANs being considered to be interfering when one can sense communications over the medium from a station in the other; a MAC controller being provided in at least one station in a vLAN,

wherein the MAC controller is constructed to utilize a token passing protocol to control access to the medium, and

wherein the vLAN controller is constructed to poll stations in the process of granting them access to the medium, a polling overhead being managed by granting medium access to a station with an active connection at a rate required to maintain quality of service guarantees, while a station without an active connection is granted access at a much slower rate determined at the convenience of the controller.