Patent ID: 7301968

Claim:
A method for transferring data between a central controller and a first node of a plurality of remote network nodes over a digital data network having a passive optical network topology, the network connecting the central controller and the plurality of remote network nodes, the method comprising the steps of: discovering the first node by the central controller; synchronizing the internal clock of the first node to the internal clock of the central controller; measuring a round trip delay from the central controller to the first node; transmitting uplink data from the first node to the central controller using IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard packets, in response to transmission authorizations sent by the central controller to the first node; and transmitting downlink data from the central controller to the first node using IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard packets wherein the steps of discovering and synchronizing comprise the steps of: sending a GATE message from the central controller to undiscovered nodes, said GATE message sent to the undiscovered nodes comprising a time stamp of the central controller, a first grant start time value, a first grant length value, and a first GATE message MAC control opcode; receiving at the first node the GATE message addressed to the undiscovered nodes; setting the internal clock of the first node to the time stamp of the GATE message addressed to the undiscovered nodes; after the setting step, sending a REGISTER_REQUEST message from the first node to the central controller between the time when the internal clock of the first node equals the first grant start time value and the time when the internal clock of the first node equals to the sum of the first grant start time value and the first grant length value, the REGISTER_REQUEST message comprising a time stamp of the first node, address of the first node, and a REGISTER_REQUEST message MAC control opcode; and in response to receiving the REGISTER_REQUEST message at the central controller, sending a REGISTER message to the address of the first node, the REGISTER message comprising a REGISTER message MAC control opcode.