Patent ID: 7095751

Claim:
A star node for interconnecting a plurality of stations in a network, the star node comprising interfaces each having a connection terminal for connecting a selected one of the stations to the star node, each interface having means for accepting at the connection terminal a signal from the station associated with the interface and for forwarding said signal to the connection terminal of the other interfaces, characterized in that the star node comprises a common terminal and in that the interface comprises a receiver having an input coupled to the connection terminal for receiving the signal from the associated station, a transmitter having an output coupled to the connection terminal, a first activity detector for generating a first activity signal in response to signal transitions at the input of the receiver, a second activity detector for generating a second activity signal in response to signal transitions at the common terminal, a first switching means for disabling signal transfer from an output of the receiver to the common terminal in response to the second activity signal, and a second switching means for disabling signal transfer from the common terminal to an input of the transmitter in response to the first activity signal.