Patent ID: 7099965

Claim:
A communication system adapted to interconnect a bus controller with an associated data channel via a common digital bus, the communication system comprising: a bus controller connected to the common digital bus for communicating in an asynchronous mode with a data channel across the common digital bus; and a network device interface connected between the common digital bus and an associated data channel, wherein said network device interface transmits commands to and receives data from the associated data channel based on commands from said bus controller, wherein said bus controller transmits messages containing a plurality of bits having a value defined by a transition between first and second states of the bits, wherein said network device interface evaluates the messages transmitted by said bus controller in order to determine a timing of the data sequence of the message and uses the determined timing to communicate with said bus controller, wherein said bus controller communicates with the network device interface using a first predetermined bit rate, wherein said bus controller transmits a first message from the bus controller to the at least one data channel at a predetermined second bit rate, wherein the predetermined second bit rate is selected from a predetermined number of different bit rates that may be used to communicate on the common digital bus, wherein said network device interface: receives the first message and analyzes the first message at each of the predetermined number of different bit rates; determines from the predetermined number of different bit rates that the first message is being transmitted at the second predetermined bit rate, where the determination is made independent of a synchronous clock signal from the bus controller; and transmits a second message from the at least one data channel to the bus controller in response to the first message at the second predetermined bit rate.