Patent ID: 7860126
Filing Date: 2010-12-28
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method for data transmission between first and second components that move relative to one another in a movement direction and at a movement speed, said first component comprising a plurality of transmitter segments arranged along said movement direction, each of said transmitter segments having a center distance from an edge thereof to a center thereof, and said second component comprising a plurality of receiver units spaced along said movement direction, with adjacent receiver units, among said plurality of receiver units, having a spacing therebetween that is less than or equal to said center distance, said method comprising the steps of: organizing said data into data packets, and forming each data packet to include an error code, a data portion, and at least one packet identifier; dividing said plurality of transmitter segments into a plurality of transmitter segment groups, with each of said transmitter segment groups comprising multiple adjacent transmitter segments in said plurality of transmitter segments; from each of said transmitter segment groups, transmitting a plurality of said data packets in parallel from the multiple transmitter segments therein, to said receiver units, with each receiver unit receiving said data packet only from a transmitter segment in said group of transmitter segments that is located in immediate proximity to the receiver unit; after transmitting said data packets from said group of transmitter segments, as transmitted data packets, storing the transmitted data packets for a predetermined time period in a buffer memory associated with said first component; at said second component, after receipt of said transmitted data packets, using said error check code in each of the transmitted data packets to identify any non-error-free transmitted data packets, and transmitting a signal on a one-bit return line back to said first component that identifies said non-error-free transmitted data packets; in one of said transmitter segments, receiving said signal from said one-bit return line and retrieving, as retrieved data segments, any of the transmitted data packets stored in the buffer memory that are identified in said signal, and re-transmitting said retrieved data packets to said second component; and at said second component, supplying the transmitted data packets received by said receiver units, that are not identified as non-error-free packets, together with the retrieved data packets that were re-transmitted, to a receiver device, as correctly-received data packets, and, in said receiver device, assembling the correctly-received data packets in a correct order using the respective packet identifiers of the correctly-received data packets.