Method and apparatus of transmitting data via a multi-protocol single-medium network
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus of transmitting data via a multi-protocol single-medium network. The method includes initializing a network; transmitting messages in the network; setting up the size and the protocol of the messages and assigning the messages to a multi-protocol stack of the PHY layer based on a network time sharing multitasking principle; assigning each of the messages to a proper time slot; checking whether or not all messages are assigned to the proper time slots; if yes, transmitting the messages; and receiving the messages by a network device and transmitting the messages to another network device via a single-medium network.
1. A method of transmitting data using time division multiplexing via a multi-protocol single-medium network, applied to a single channel for transmitting a plurality of packets of different network protocols, the method comprising:
receiving a first data packet and a second data packet by a physical layer wherein the physical layer is coupled to the multi-protocol single-medium network;
identifying the first data packet is in a first protocol by utilizing a protocol determination unit to recognize a first protocol marker in the first data packet corresponding to the first protocol of the first data packet, wherein the protocol determination unit is logically coupled between the physical layer and media access control (MAC) layers of the network protocols;
forwarding the first data packet to a first media access control (MAC) layer process corresponding to a first protocol stack after removing the first protocol marker;
identifying the second data packet is in a second protocol by utilizing the protocol determination unit to recognize a second protocol marker in the second data packet corresponding to the second protocol of the second data packet, wherein the second protocol marker is different from the first protocol marker indicating the first protocol and second protocol are distinct; and
forwarding the second data packet to a second media access control (MAC) layer process corresponding to a second protocol stack after removing the second protocol marker.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first protocol is an Internet Protocol (IP) network protocol and the second protocol is a non-IP network protocol.
3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first protocol is a cable network protocol.
4. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a step of using a first protocol marker for identifying the first protocol and a second protocol marker for identifying the second protocol.
5. The method as recited in claim 4 , further comprising:
determining the first data packet's length and the second data packet's length.
6. An apparatus of transmitting data applied for transmitting or receiving different network protocol packets in a single-medium network, comprising:
a physical layer, coupled to a single medium network and for receiving and transmitting a first data packet having a first protocol and a second data packet having a second protocol;
a protocol determination unit, logically coupled to the physical layer and for recognizing a first protocol marker identifying the first protocol and a second protocol marker identifying the second protocol;
multiple media access control (MAC) layers, corresponding to different network protocols, logically coupled to the protocol determination unit, including a first media access control layer and a second media access control layer, wherein the protocol determination unit is logically coupled between the physical layer and the multiple media access control (MAC) layers; and
a microcontroller, coupled to the first media access control (MAC) layer and the second media access control (MAC) layer;
wherein when the protocol determination unit receives the first data packet from the physical layer and recognizes a first protocol marker which identifies the first data packet is in the first protocol, the protocol determination unit removes the first protocol marker and forwards the first data packet to the first media access control (MAC) layer; and when the protocol determination unit receives the second data packet from the physical layer and recognizes the second protocol marker which identifies the second data packet is in the second protocol, the protocol determination unit removes the second protocol marker and forwards the second data packet to the second media access control (MAC) layer.
7. The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , is made of a FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).
8. The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , wherein the first protocol is an Internet Protocol (IP) network protocol and the second protocol is a non-IP network protocol.
9. The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , wherein the first protocol is for a cable network protocol.
10. The apparatus as recited in claim 6 , wherein the microcontroller, a protocol marker, synchronizes packet transmitting and packet receiving, controls the protocol determination unit to identify the first protocol and the second protocol, and determines the first packet's length and the second packet's length.