Patent ID: 6633577
Filing Date: 2003-10-14
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A handshaking circuit for establishing a particular relationship between nodes interconnected by a transmission medium, comprising:a state detector for monitoring said transmission medium to detect a predetermined first state, a predetermined second state, a contention when said predetermined first and second states are simultaneously asserted on said transmission medium, and an idle state when either of said first and second states is not asserted on the transmission medium; a state machine connected to the state detector for asserting the first state on said transmission medium to initiate a handshaking process and relinquishing the first state when the contention is detected by the state detector; a receive counter connected to the state detector for continuously incrementing a receive count value from the instant the contention is detected to the instant said idle state is detected; a transmit counter connected to the state detector and the state machine for continuously incrementing a transmit count value from the instant the first state is detected to the instant the contention is detected; and a comparator for comparing the receive count value with the transmit count value, said state machine asserting the first state on the transmission medium again when the transmit count value is greater than the receive count value and asserting said second state on the transmission medium when the transmit count value is smaller than the receive count value.