Patent ID: 7990851

Claim:
A communication system comprising: sets of communication modules, each module having i) a pair of ring-channel ports operable to be connected in a ring-configured channel (“ring”) in a network, ii) a peripheral device port operable to be connected to a transmission segment for data to and from peripheral devices, and iii) dual ring ports (“DRP's”) operable to be connected together providing an inter-ring channel for a set of modules, first and second ones of a set of communication modules being operable to send duplicate data packets on first and second rings, wherein if duplicate data packets arrive via the rings at first and second modules in a next set within a predetermined time interval of one another, each of the modules in a next set transmits its ring-channel received data packet out a ring-channel port, and wherein if one of the duplicate packets arrive at the DRP of a module a predetermined time interval before arriving at a ring-channel port of the module, the module sends the corresponding packet received at the DRP out its other ring-channel port and its peripheral device port.