Patent ID: 7478174

Claim:
A system for reestablishing stability of a network comprising: first and second bus controllers disposed in electrical communication with the network bus at opposite ends thereof such that the network bus extends therebetween, at least one bus controller adapted to detect a bus failure due to an open circuit condition; and a plurality of network devices also disposed in electrical communication with the network bus between said first and second bus controllers such that the first and second bus controllers are each configured to communicate with the plurality of network devices across the network bus; and at least one termination device associated with respective network devices, each termination device comprising a network termination element adapted to be switchably connected to the network bus, wherein the first bus controller is adapted to identify a bus failure due to an open circuit condition downstream of any respective one of the plurality of network devices relative to the first bus controller that divides the network bus into first and second portions with which the first and second bus controllers, respectively, are in electrical communication, wherein the first bus controller is also configured to issue a command instructing the termination device associated with the respective one of the plurality of the network devices upstream of the open circuit condition to switchably connect the network termination element to the network bus once the bus failure due to the open circuit condition has been identified such that communication between the first bus controller, the respective network device and any other network devices positioned on the first portion of the network bus between the first bus controller and the respective network device continues to be supported and further such that communication between the second bus controller and other network devices positioned on the second portion of the network bus continues to be separately supported.