Network system capable of adjusting signal transmitting path

This application claims priority to China Application No. 2201910268276.0, filed 2019 Apr. 2, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a network system comprising a plurality of nodes, and particularly relates to a network system which can automatically adjust the signal transmitting path.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A conventional network system may comprise a plurality of nodes, which are used for signal transceiving and signal relaying. In some environments having long shapes, such as a tunnel or a road, these nodes are connected in series to provide a signal transmitting function. For example, a Daisy chain is such kind of communication system. Such network system still has some problems. For example, if one of the nodes connected in series fails or a network line is disconnected, no subsequent nodes can receive the signal transmitted by previous nodes, thus the network system could not normally operate.

Therefore, one objective of the present invention is to provide a network system which can automatically adjust a signal transmitting path.

One embodiment of the present invention discloses a network system comprising: a control node; a first head node, comprising a first head forward port, a first head backward port and a first head backup port, wherein the first head forward port is connected to the control node; a first ordinary node, comprising a first forward port, a first backward port and a first backup port, wherein the first forward port is connected to the first head backward port; a second ordinary node, comprising a second forward port, a second backward port and a second backup port, wherein the second forward port is connected to the first backward port; and a third ordinary node, comprising a third forward port, a third backward port and a third backup port, wherein the third forward port is connected to the second backward port, wherein the third backup port is connected to the first head backup port.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses: a network system, comprising: a control node; a first head node, comprising a first head forward port, a first head backward port and a first head backup port, wherein the first head forward port is connected to the control node; a last node, comprising a last forward port, a last backward port and a last backup port, wherein the last backward port is not connected to any node; a plurality of ordinary nodes which are connected in series and not used as a head node and the last node, wherein each of the ordinary nodes comprises a forward port, a backward port and a backup port. The forward port of a first one of the ordinary nodes is connected to the first head backward port. The forward port of each one of ordinary nodes which are subsequent nodes of the first one of the ordinary nodes is connected to the backward port of a previous ordinary node. The backward port of a last one of the ordinary nodes is connected to the last forward port. The backup port of at least one of the ordinary node is connected to the backup port of the ordinary node, which is a subsequent node and separated by one or two nodes. The first head backup port is connected to the backup port of the ordinary node, which is a subsequent node of the first head backup port and separated by one or two nodes from the first head backup port.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of a detail structure of the network system illustrated in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is another example of a detail structure of the network system illustrated in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the action of the network system when a signal transmitting path of the port of the network system is disconnected, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the action of the network system when a signal transmitting path of the port of the network system is recovered, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the network system comprises a control node CN, a first head node HN_ 1 , a plurality of ordinary nodes NN_n (only three of them are shown in the diagram) which are not the last nodes, and a last node NN_f. f is a positive integer greater than or equal to four and n indicates f−1 positive integers comprising 1, 2, 3, . . . , f−1. The control node CN may be composed of one or more nodes, which is responsible for processing the signals transmitted to it by all nodes and sending commands to control all nodes. The head node is a node connected to the control node directly, and the number of the head node can be one or more. The embodiment in FIG. 1 comprises only one first head node HN_ 1 . Each of the ordinary node NN_n which and is not a control node, a head node, or a last node. The embodiment of FIG. 1 comprises the first ordinary node NN_ 1 , the second ordinary node NN_ 2 , and the third ordinary Node NN_ 3 , which can communicate with the control node CN via the first head node HN_ 1 and/or other ordinary nodes.

The network system itself or any of its nodes may be a mobile communication base station (such as a small cell or a NB-IoT or eMTC small communication base station supporting the Internet of Things functionality), a fiber optic gateway (such as GPON ONU), 802.11ac or 802.11ax WiFi wireless router, wireless access point, or wireless network card, a IoT gateway/device, or a positioning anchor/station/beacon using a positioning technology such as Ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning.

The first head node HN_ 1 comprises a first head forward port HP_ 11 , a first head backward port HP_ 12 , and a first head backup port HP_ 13 . The forward direction here means a direction toward the control node CN, and the backward direction means a direction toward the last node NN_f. For example, the first head node HN_ 1 and the first ordinary node NN_ 1 are nodes previous to the second ordinary node NN_ 2 , and the third ordinary node NN_ 3 is a node subsequent to the second ordinary node NN_ 2 . In other words, HN_ 1 and NN_ 1 are NN_ 2 's previous nodes while NN_ 3 is NN_ 2 's subsequent node. The first head forward port HP_ 11 is connected to the control node CN. Each of the ordinary node NN_n comprises a forward port, a backward port, and a backup port. The forward port of each ordinary node NN_n is connected to the backward port of the previous ordinary node/head node, and the backward port of each ordinary node is connected to the forward port of the subsequent ordinary node/last node. Also, the backup port of at least one ordinary node is connected to the backup port of the subsequent ordinary node separated by two or more nodes, or connected to the backup port of the last node. In addition, the first backup port HP_ 13 is connected to the backup port of a subsequent node separated by two nodes or more. Please note, “separated by two nodes” is used as an example for explaining following descriptions.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the first ordinary node NN_ 1 comprises a first forward port P_ 11 , a first backward port P_ 12 , and a first backup port P_ 13 . The first forward port P_ 11 is connected to the first backward port HP_ 12 . The second ordinary node NN_ 2 comprises a second forward port P_ 21 , a second backward port P_ 22 , and a second backup port P_ 23 . The second forward port P_ 21 is connected to the first backward port P_ 12 . The third ordinary node NN_ 3 comprises a third forward port P_ 31 , a third backward port P_ 32 , and a third backup port P_ 33 . The third forward port P_ 31 is connected to the second backward port P_ 22 and the third backup port P_ 33 is connected to the first head backup port HP_ 13 .

The last node NN_f comprises a last forward port P_f 1 , a last backward port P_f 2 , and a last backup port P_f 3 . The last forward port P_f 1 is connected to the backward port of a previous ordinary node of the last node NN_f, and the last backward port P_f 2 is not connected to any other node. In addition, the last backup port P_f 3 may be connected to a backup port of an ordinary node separated by one or two nodes from the last node NN_f. For example, if the embodiment in FIG. 1 comprises only three ordinary nodes, the last backup port P_f 3 may be connected to the first backup port P_ 13 . If the embodiment of FIG. 1 comprises only four ordinary nodes, the last backup port P_f 3 may be connected to the second backup port P_ 23 .

Based on the above-mentioned embodiment, the network system 100 can automatically adjust a signal transmission path when one or two of the ordinary nodes NN_n fail or one or two network lines are disconnected, so that other ordinary nodes can still normally communicate with the control node CN. For example, if the first ordinary node NN_ 1 fails, the first head node HN_ 1 , the second ordinary node NN_ 2 , the third ordinary node NN_ 3 , and the last node NN_f can still communicate with the control node CN.

Please also note that the topology of the network system provided by the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples. For example, the network system provided by the present invention may comprise more than one head node or more than three ordinary nodes. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 below show detail examples of the network system shown in FIG. 1 .

In addition to the structure shown in FIG. 1 , the embodiment of FIG. 2 further comprises the second head node HN_ 2 , the fourth ordinary node NN_ 4 , the fifth ordinary node NN_ 5 , the sixth ordinary node NN_ 6 , the seventh ordinary node NN_ 7 , and the eighth ordinary node NN_ 8 . The second head node HN_ 2 comprises the second head forward port HP_ 21 , the second head backward port HP_ 22 , and the second head backup port HP_ 23 . The second head forward port HP_ 21 is connected to the control node CN, and the second head backup port HP_ 23 is connected to the first backup port P_ 13 . Even if the first head node HN_ 1 fails, other nodes of the network system 200 can still communicate with the control node CN via the second head node HN_ 2 .

The fourth ordinary node NN_ 4 , the fifth ordinary node NN_ 5 , the sixth ordinary node NN_ 6 , the seventh ordinary node NN_ 7 , and the eighth ordinary node NN_ 8 comprise corresponding fourth to eighth forward ports P_ 41 to P_ 81 , fourth to eighth backward ports P_ 42 to P_ 82 and fourth to eighth backup ports P_ 43 to P_ 83 , respectively. The fourth forward port P_ 41 is connected to the third backward port P_ 32 , the fifth forward port P_ 51 is connected to the fourth backward port P_ 42 , and the fifth backup port P_ 53 is connected to the second backup port P_ 23 . Based on above-mentioned rules, the sixth to eighth forward ports P_ 61 to P_ 81 are respectively connected to the fifth to seventh backward ports P_ 52 to P_ 72 of previous ordinary nodes thereof. Also, the seventh backup port P_ 73 is connected to the fourth backup port P_ 43 (that is, the backup port of an ordinary node is connected to a backup port separated by two nodes).

In the network system 200 , the last backup port P_f 3 is connected to the sixth backup port P_ 63 of the sixth ordinary node NN_ 6 which is previous to the last node NN_f and separated by two nodes.

FIG. 3 discloses a network system 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention. Compared with the network system 200 , the network system 300 does not comprise the eighth ordinary node NN_ 8 , so the connection architecture of its last node NN_f is different. In FIG. 3 , the last backup port P_f 3 is connected to the sixth backup port P_ 63 of the six ordinary nodes NN_ 6 , which is previous to the last node NN_f and separated by one node.

In the embodiments of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the backup ports of ordinary nodes with odd numbers (such as the third ordinary node NN_ 3 or the fifth ordinary node NN_ 5 ) are connected to backup ports of the ordinary node separated by two nodes previous to it or a backup port of a head node. The exception is the first ordinary node NN_ 1 , whose backup port is connected to the second head backup port HP_ 23 . The backup ports of ordinary nodes with even numbers (for example, the fourth ordinary node NN_ 4 ) are connected to backup ports of the subsequent ordinary node separated by two nodes, or connected to the backup port of the last node. The exception is the ordinary node with the maximum even number. If there is no node between the ordinary node with the maximum even number and the last node NN_f, its backup port is not connected to any node (the eighth ordinary node NN_ 8 in FIG. 2 is an example). Also, if there is only one node between the ordinary node with the maximum even number (for example, the sixth ordinary node NN_ 6 in FIG. 3 ) and the last node NN_f, its backup port is connected to the last backup port P_f 3 of the last node NN_f.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the action of the network system when a signal transmitting path of the port of the network system is disconnected, according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 4 , it is assumed that the signal transmission path between the second backward port P_ 22 and the third forward port P_ 31 is disconnected. In such case, the second ordinary node NN_ 2 and the third ordinary node NN_ 3 are both regarded as abnormal.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4 , the network system periodically checks whether the port works normally by using routing information check timer. Therefore, if the signal transmission path between the second ordinary node NN_ 2 and the third ordinary node NN_ 3 is disconnected, the second ordinary node NN_ 2 and the third ordinary node NN_ 3 will find the corresponding port (the second backward ports P_ 22 and the third forward port P_ 31 ) are abnormal (step 1 ). After the port abnormality indication is triggered, the second ordinary node NN_ 2 will put the second backward port P_ 22 into the abnormal list, for example, into the abnormal VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network). Since the third backup port P_ 33 is used as the forward port, the third backup port P_ 33 will send a port abnormal notification packet (step 2 ). After receiving the packet, the first head node HN_ 1 will put the first backup port HP_ 13 into the working list (such as the working VLAN) (step 3 ) and send a port abnormal response packet to the third ordinary node NN_ 3 (step 4 ) through HP_ 13 . After receiving this packet, the third ordinary nodes NN_ 3 will put the third backup port P_ 33 into the working list (step 5 ). By this way, the third ordinary node NN_ 3 and the node subsequent to it can form a signal transmission path through the third backup port P_ 33 and previous nodes of the third ordinary node NN_ 3 . Briefly, when the port being used has a problem, the port and the port connected to it will be moved to the abnormal list, and the backup port will be activated to form a new signal transmission path. Also, the activated backup port will be put into the working list.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the action of the network system when a signal transmitting path of the port of the network system is recovered, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Corresponding to the embodiment of FIG. 4 , if the signal transmission path between the second backward port P_ 22 and the third forward port P_ 31 is recovered, the routing information check timer will cause the second ordinary node NN_ 2 and the third ordinary node NN_ 3 to find the corresponding ports (the second backward port P_ 22 and the third forward port P_ 31 ) have been recovered from the abnormality. The second ordinary node NN_ 2 will move the second backward port P_ 22 from the abnormal list to the working list (step 1 ). Since the third backup port P_ 33 is a forward port, the third backup port P_ 33 sends a port recovery notification packet (step 2 ). After receiving the packet, the first head node HN_ 1 will put the first forward port HP_ 11 and the first backward port HP_ 12 into the working list, and the first backup port HP_ 13 will be placed in the backup list (step 3 ). Also, the first head node HN_ 1 sends a port recovering response packet to the third ordinary node NN_ 3 (step 4 ). After receiving the packet, the third ordinary node NN_ 3 puts the third forward port P_ 31 and the third backward port P_ 32 to the working list, and puts the third backup port P_ 33 to the backup list (step 5 ). Via above-mentioned steps, the signal transmission path recovering process between the second ordinary node NN_ 2 and the third ordinary node NN_ 3 can be completed. Briefly, when the failed port is restored, the port and the port connected to it will be moved from the abnormal list to the working list, and the previously activated backup port will be moved to the backup list and become unused temporarily.

The signal transmission path disconnection flow and the signal transmission path recovery flow in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 can be applied to network systems with other structures. However, please note that the network system provided by the present invention is not limited to using the signal transmission path disconnection process and signal transmission path recovery process of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 . The signal transmission path disconnection process and signal transmission path recovery process may be completed with different types of packets or different steps under different network standards.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, the network system disclosed in the present invention can automatically adjust a signal transmission path to provide a normal signal transmission function when one or more nodes fail or one or more network lines are disconnected.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.