Patent ID: 7907628

Claim:
A multi-channel network having priority based arbitration, the network comprising: a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes is adapted to transmit and receive data; two or more hubs, each hub having communication links with the plurality of nodes, wherein the communication links between any one hub and the plurality of nodes defines a channel of the multi-channel network; wherein each node is adapted to communicate with at least one other node through the two or more hubs; and two or more guardians, wherein each guardian is associated with one of the two or more hubs; wherein each node is adapted to transmit during a time slot; wherein for each channel of the multi-channel network, each node is assigned a unique priority rank; wherein for a first channel of the multi-channel network, the unique priority rank for each of the plurality of nodes is assigned in an increasing priority rank order; wherein for a second channel of the multi-channel network, the unique priority rank for each of the plurality of nodes is assigned in a decreasing priority rank order; and wherein, when two or more nodes of the plurality of nodes attempt to transmit during the same time slot, each of the two or more guardians determines which of the two or more nodes of plurality of nodes is permitted to transmit data during the associated time slot by permitting only a winning node with the highest assigned priority rank to transmit through the associated channel.