Importance

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Abstract

A communications network includes a primary node and one or more secondary nodes, each node having first and second ports. The primary node periodically polls the network in opposite directions to determine if the network is operating as a loop, or as open chains. The secondary nodes memorize at which port a message is received, and use this information to determine the port at which to output the message, or to output a response message, depending on the type of message received. First and second timers are used depending on whether a successfully received message is a command or a response. If a subsequently received message is garbled, it is stopped from further propagation and an error message sent. The timers are checked and a determination can be made whether the garbled message was a command or a response.

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First Claim