Patent ID: 8065042

Claim:
A method of communication in an on-board network in a motor vehicle, between a master station and a plurality of slave stations in which network data frames are ordinarily sent by said plurality of slave stations on a serial bus in response to requests, one for each slave, sent on said serial bus by said master station, said method comprising: a) causing said master station to transmit a travelling request frame onto said serial bus; b) causing a first slave station to: i) receive said travelling request frame, ii) insert first data into said travelling request frame, and iii) return said travelling request frame onto the serial bus; c) causing a plurality of other slave stations to: i) receive said travelling request frame from said first slave station, ii) insert, for each of said plurality of other slave stations, other slave station data into said travelling request frame, and iii) return said travelling request frame to said serial bus; d) causing said master station to receive said travelling request frame, containing said first data and said other slave station data added by said first slave station and each of said plurality of other slave stations, respectively; and e) after said master station receives said travelling request frame, causing at least one of said plurality of slave stations to actuate a device within the motor vehicle based on said first data from said first slave station and said data from each of said plurality of other slave stations inserted into said travelling request frame; wherein said travelling request frame is submitted once on the serial bus by said master station in connection with collecting of data from said plurality of other slave stations by said master station and said first slave station and each of said plurality of other slave stations insert, each in its turn, said first data and said other slave station data, respectively, onto said serial bus and into said travelling request frame in response to said travelling request frame, wherein a single checksum calculated on said first data from said first station and said other slave station data from said plurality of other slave stations is inserted into said travelling request frame; wherein said single travelling request frame contains no identification data that identifies any of said first slave station or said plurality of other slave stations.