Patent ID: 6430192
Filing Date: 2002-08-06
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method of operating a repeater for a packet-based data transmission system wherein the repeater has a receiving port associated with a buffer whereby packets received at the port are temporarily stored in said buffer before they are onwardly transmitted and wherein the repeater performs a contention resolution process such that if an attempted onward transmission of a packet from said buffer is prevented by virtue of contention with a prior transmission, a subsequent attempt at transmission of that packet is delayed, the method comprising:(a) examining a received packet to determine whether the packet is a multi-media packet, giving the packet a higher priority if the packet is a multi-media packet and a lower priority if the packet is not a multi-media packet; (b) for a higher priority packet, and if said packet is not transmitted onwardly from said buffer owing to contention with said prior transmission, making a fresh attempt at transmission of the packet from said buffer on the expiry of a selected fixed minimum time; and (c) for a lower priority packet, if said packet is not transmitted onwardly from said buffer owing to contention with said prior transmission, making a fresh attempt at transmission of said packet from said buffer after a time which is pseudo-randomly selected in a range up to a substantial multiple of said selected minimum time.