Patent ID: 7581031

Claim:
A system for maintaining proper termination and error-free communication in a network bus including a power bus comprising: at least one network device electrically connected to and adapted to communicate via said network bus, wherein said at least one network device is configured to transmit signals to said network bus, and configured to receive signals from said network bus; and a network controller electrically connected to said network bus, wherein said network controller is adapted to direct communications with said at least one network device via said network bus, and wherein said network controller is adapted to provide power signals to said at least one network device via the power bus of the network bus; and at least one bus protection element disposed between said at least one network device and the network bus, wherein each bus protection element comprises: at least one isolation switch disposed between a respective network device and the bus, wherein said at least one isolation switch is configured to controllably halt the transmission of signals from the respective network device onto the bus; and a logic element electrically connected to said at least one isolation switch and the respective network device and configured to monitor signals on the network bus to thereby identify improper signals on the network bus, including being configured to receive signals transmitted from the respective network device to said network bus and determine when any of the respective signals are improper signals, and wherein said logic element is configured to controllably operate said at least one isolation switch to selectively connect and disconnect the respective network device to and from the network bus based upon said logic element identifying a predefined number of improper signal.