Patent ID: 7346052

Claim:
Process for implementation of a redundant switched full-duplex Ethernet type communication network comprising at least two independent elementary networks each comprising at least two switches, which are interconnected to each other and each connected to at least one subscriber equipment, each elementary network RE 1 , RE 2 comprising at least one source subscriber equipment and at least one destination subscriber equipment, connected to each other through at least one physical link through at least two switches which are interconnected to each other and each connected to at least one subscriber equipment, each equipment comprising at least two physical interfaces each connected to one of the elementary networks, said process comprising, for each elementary network RE 1 and RE 2 , the following steps: in transmission of a frame by a source subscriber equipment: addition of a numbering field in each transmitted frame, to thereby insert a frame number so that each frame is identifiable in time, sending each said identifiable frame on the elementary networks RE 1 and RE 2 , in reception of a frame by a destination subscriber equipment: storage of a received frame number that was added to a send frame, acceptance of a frame only if its frame number has not already been received, said acceptance taking place during a prescribed time window, wherein a virtual link mechanism is used to limit the transfer time from a source equipment to one or more destination equipment, and wherein each switch uses a static configuration table to determine the virtual links that it is required to switch and the allowable number of packets for a virtual link.