> > Maybe "token ring" isn't the right term for what I'm > thinking cause I seem to > > have sent everybody on a different path. "Token ring", as I > understand it, isn't > > a network topology, its a communications protocol. We use > it on several of our > > robots (www.ssl.umd.edu) and I think it was used for PC's > back in the heyday of > > coax cabled LAN's, but that was before my time. > > It's both a protocol and a topology. It's a token-passing > protocol on a > ring network. Regardless of the fact that TR networks are > usually (now) > cabled with Cat-5 and RJ45 connectors, it's a ring. The > earlier wiring > schemes used shorting connectors that would bypass an > unplugged node, now > I think the switches take care of it for you. In any case, > the token is > passed from node to node in series on a ring network. > > > The system I'm refering to, whatever its called, involves a > series of nodes on a > > multi-drop broadcast network that need to communicate > peer-peer. A node can only > > communicate when it has the "token", when its done with the > network it gives the > > token to another node which then either uses the network or > passes the token on > > to the next node. The token tends to move around the > network in a ring, hence > > "token ring". Obviously there are some problems with this > system, but it works > > for simple networks. > > I think that's a valid concept, it's just not "token ring". It's a > token-passing protocol on a bus network. Now all you have to > do is figre > out an addressing scheme so a node knows who gets the token next. By every node monitoring what's going on, they keep a map of active node #s Every once-in-a-while, when a station has the token, if there's a gap between his node# and his sucessor he does a "solicit-for-sucessor" to one of the non-active ones. That way new node #s get picked up. -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics