Patent ID: 6879579

Claim:
A method for controlling communications access between a hub and a plurality of distributed stations over a medium, the method comprising the steps of: (a) the hub allocating a plurality of channels, for data communications between the stations and the hub, the number of channels being at least equal to the number of stations, and each station owning at least one channel, and wherein each channel is varyingly in a distinct one of an empty-, a reserved-, or an owner-state, and wherein: (i) the empty-state provides a channel to which any station can have access; (ii) the reserved-state provides a channel having an owner and to which a station having made a reservation with the hub, but not owning the channel, can have access if not being used by the owner, and further to which the owner can resume access on demand; and (iii) the owner-state provides a channel to which only the owning station has access; and (b) the hub re-allocating the respective state and/or the number of channels over time on the basis of each station's data requirements.