KR100337906B1 - Signal processing method and structure suitable for out-of-band information transmission in communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

The out-of-band out-of-band signaling technique for transmitting information such as communication station status information between communication stations in a communication network, typically a local area network, comprises sequentially generating a plurality of n-bit sequential segments with n equal to or greater than three. Each bit is a first binary value or a second binary value. Each sequential segment is encoded by one of a plurality of different n-bit code groups divided into a first code group and a second code group combination. The n bits of the first code group are all the first binary value, for example, all " 1 ". Neither of the second code group contains a pair of non-adjacent bits of a second binary value, for example, none of the second code group contains two " 0 " s separated by one or more other bits Do not. The sequential segments are output in the order in which they are generated and generate a special bit sequence that carries the desired information. The communication station status information typically includes configurable capabilities, flow control parameters, and integrity control parameters.

Description

Signal processing method and structure suitable for out-of-band information transmission in communication network

Field of use

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to electronic communications, and more particularly, to a method and structure for out-of-band communication in a local area network.

background

A local area network (" LAN ") is a communication scheme that enables communication armies located within a limited geographic area, such as an office, building, or building group, to electronically transfer information between each other. One form of communication station is typically a data terminal machine (" DTE ") that is a personal computer or workstation. The DTE constitutes a transfer source of a message and / or a transfer destination of a message. The DTE also provides communication control functions. Other forms of communication stations are repeaters (or hubs), file servers, and bridges.

Information transmitted between communication stations on the LAN can generally be categorized into categories of (a) data, (b) control information on start / stop of data transmission, and (c) other control information. The term " in-band " used herein with respect to the communication station of the LAN generally refers to the period during which the communication station is transmitting control information regarding the start and stop of data packets and data transmission to other communication stations on the LAN. The term " out-of-band " is basically the inverse of " in-band ". Thus, "out-of-band" used for the communication station of the LAN refers to the period during which the communication station is not transmitting control information to start / stop data packet and data transmission. During an out-of-band period, the communication station may transmit other types of control information, such as configuration or link information, to other communication stations in the LAN.

Communication stations in a LAN exchange data and control information in accordance with a fixed protocol that defines network operation. ISO's Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model sets up a seven-layer LAN communication model. The two lowest layers in the model are the physical layer and the data link layer. The physical layer includes (a) a physical medium in which the communication stations are interconnected and information is electronically transmitted, (b) a method in which the communication station interfaces with the physical transmission medium, (c) a process for transmitting information through the physical medium, and ) Modules that specify the information flow protocol. The data link layer includes media access control (MAC) interfaces with the logical link control sublayer and the physical layer either directly or by a coordinating sublayer.

IEEE Standard 802.3 CSMA / CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection) access method and physical layer specification are one of the most widely used standards for physical layer and MAC sublayer. The IEEE standard 802.3, commonly referred to as Ethernet, defines various data rates.

The IEEE Standard 802.3 10Base-T protocol is concerned with transmitting data at a rate of 10 megabits per second (" Mbps ") through a twisted pair copper cable. Consider a LAN that includes two communication stations capable of transmitting data only at a 10-Mbps rate of the 10Base-T protocol. Before one of the two communication stations starts transmitting data to another, the transmitting intending communication station first establishes that there is a 10Base-T communication link with the receiving communication station. This is realized by the link pulses that each communication station transmits during the out-of-band period immediately after power-up. This link pulse, commonly referred to as a " normal " link pulse, consists of a 100ns pulse provided every 16ms +/- 8ms. When the transmitting intending communication station receives a sufficient number of uplink pulses to indicate the presence of a link to a communication station capable of receiving data at a 10Base-T transmission rate, the receiving communication station begins data transmission.

A protocol called 100Base-TX is being considered to extend the IEEE standard 802.3 to accommodate data traveling over an existing type of twisted pair copper cable at an effective data rate of 100Mbps. The 100Base-TX protocol is commonly referred to as fiber data distribution interface (FDDI) and works on the ANSI X3T12 standard, which covers data transmission over 100Mbps over fiber-optic cable. In short, an extension of the proposed IEEE standard 802.3 includes a protocol called 100Base-FX for transmitting data over a fiber optic cable at an effective data rate of 100 Mbps. Both protocols are common to 100Base-TX and 100Base-FX and are known as 100Base-X.

Under the proposed 100Base-X protocol, certain control information is included in the 100Base-X data stream before it is placed on a copper or fiber optic cable. In particular, the MAC sublayer in the transmitting communication station often supplies data with a 4-bit code group called a nibble. The physical layer of the transmitting communication station includes a physical code and a sub-layer (" PCS ") which converts a 4-bit code group into a 5-bit code group often referred to as a symbol. Each 5-bit code group has the same total bit duration of approximately 40 ns as a 4-bit code group. The 4-bit / 5-bit conversion done in the PCS increases the total number of available code sets. It has the capacity to include control information in the data flow. After scrambling, serializing, and additional encoding to reduce electromagnetic disturbances, the encoded information moves the cable at 125 Mbps.

The 100Base-X mapping between the 4-bit MAC data code group and the 5-bit PCS code group is given in the following table.

Half of the 5-bit code group corresponds to the 4-bit code group. Some of the other half of the 5-bit code group are used for control purposes. The remainder of the other half of the 5-bit code group is not used and is therefore shown as invalid in Table 1. In Table 1, the acronyms "SSD" and "ESD" refer to flow start separator character and flow type separator character, respectively.

Referring to the drawing, FIG. 1 details MAC to PCS 4-bit / 5-bit conversion. Data from the MAC sublayer is provided for an in-band period called a frame. Each MAC frame consists of a preamble, a frame start delimiter (" SFD "), and a data portion. The preamble includes seven preamble octets, and each octet consists of eight bits, that is, a pair of 4-bit code groups. Frame start delimiters take one octet. The data portion includes 46 to 1500 pairs of 4-bit code groups. Each bit is a binary "0" or a binary "1".

A pair of out-of-band periods called inter-frame intervals surround each MAC frame. In FIG. 1, the acronym " IFG " At interframe intervals, the MAC sublayer does not supply any information. Therefore, the bit in each MAC frame interval is " 0 ".

In converting the MAC data into the 100Base-X PCS stream of the 5-bit code group, the 10-bit SSD code group pair JK replaces the first preamble octet of the MAC frame (i.e., the first two 4-bit preamble code groups) 100Base-X Indicates the start of the PCS flow. Each pair of 4-bit MAC data codewords is converted to a corresponding pair of 5-bit 100Base-X codewords according to Table 1. At the end of the MAC frame, the PCS adds the 10-bit ESD code-train pair TR to indicate the end of the 100 Base-X PCS flow.

The portion of the 100Base-X inter-frame interval that follows the flow termination delimiter TR constitutes an out-of-band period for the physical layer. During this portion of the interframe interval, the PCS provides the idle code group I to indicate the presence of a good communication link. As shown in Table 1, each I code group consists of 5 " 1 " s. The mapping opposite to that described above occurs at the communication station when the communication station receives 100Base-X data from another communication station.

The physical layer in one communication station supplies a carrier sense signal whenever the physical layer receives 100 Base-X data from another communication station. In particular, carrier detection is asserted when a pair of non-contiguous " 0 " s within the 10-bit portion of the entire flow of the 5-bit code group arriving at the PCS during data reception is detected. A " 0 " pair is " non-contiguous " within a 10 bit flow segment when two " 0 " s are separated by at least one other sign bit. For example, both the 10-bit segments 0101111111 and 1111111000 include a pair of non-contiguous " 0s ", but the 10-bit segment 1111001111 does not include a pair of non-contiguous " 0s. Carrier detection is not asserted when an ESD signal pair TR is detected and ten adjacent "1" s, such as signal pair II, are detected in the entire 100Base-X inbound bitstream.

In conjunction with the 10Base-T protocol, a prerequisite for allowing one communication station to transmit data to another communication station in accordance with the 100Base-X protocol is to allow the transmitting communication station to establish a 100Base-X communication link with the receiving communication station. This means that it is necessary to periodically determine whether the receiving station can initially receive 100Base-X data (i.e., properly handle it) and if so, keep the receiving station able to receive 100Base-X data . ≪ / RTI >

In specifying how the 100Base-X communication link will be set up when the transmission medium is made up of twisted-pair copper cables, the proposed extension of the IEEE Standard 802.3 for inclusion of the 100Base-X protocol includes two communication stations It is possible to communicate according to other protocols such as 100Base-T4, or any of these protocols, according to only 100Base-TX, only 10Base-T or 100Base-TX depending on 10Base-T And sets the NWay automatic detection processing. &Quot; MAC parameter for 100 Mb / s operation, physical layer, medium attached unit and repeater (version 1.0) ", CSMA / CD access method & physical layer specification, Draft Supplement to 1993 version of ANSI / IEEE Document # 802.3u / 802.3, Chapter 28, 24 July 1994. See also "IEEE Link Task Force Automatic Detection", NWay Automatic Detection Specification, National Semiconductor, Version 1.0, 10 April 1994.

For example, one communication station may have only 100Base-TX capability, while the other communication stations may operate at 100Base-TX and 10Base-T. Therefore, the data is transmitted according to the 100Base-TX protocol. In other cases, each communication station may be able to communicate in both 100Base-TX and 10Base-T. The two communication stations can theoretically communicate according to any one of the two protocols, but 100Base-TX is preferable because 100Base-TX is faster. Finally, if only one communication station can use 10 Base-T and the other communication station can use only 100 Base-TX, two communication stations can not communicate with each other directly.

Under the NWay automatic detection procedure, the communication station includes a link negotiator that generates a " high " link pulse beast that carries information specifying the processing capabilities of that communication station. This high-speed link pulse indicates whether the communication station operates in 10Base-T, 100Base-TX or 100Base-T4 mode. The high speed link pulse also indicates whether the communication station can perform data transmission and reception simultaneously (full duplex) or only one of data transmission and reception (half duplex) at a time. The control information included in the high-speed link pulse is placed in a predetermined register among the 32 16-bit management control registers included in the PCS.

Two communication stations with NWay link negotiators exchange high speed link pulses until each communication station determines that another communication station is performing the NWay procedure. The communication link is then set up. Subsequently, data transmission occurs at the highest common denominator of data transmission capability. For example, if one communication station operates at full duplex at 100Base-TX while another communication station can operate at either half-duplex 10Base-T or 100Base-TX, data transmission occurs at 100Base-TX in half duplex. In the absence of a common denominator for data transmission capability, no communication station can transmit data to another communication station.

Each burst of the high-speed link pulse includes 16-bit information. The high-speed link pulse burst is provided at the same frequency as the normal 10Base-T link pulse. That is, the interval between the start of the high-speed link pulse burst is typically 16 ms. Thus, the average bit rate for a high-speed link pulse burst is typically only one kilobit per second.

The NWay auto-detection procedure is a technique useful for establishing an optimal mode in which two stations can exchange link and processing capability information according to IEEE standard 802.3. However, since the bit rate for the high-speed link pulse is constrained to the 10Base-T protocol, it is very low for the 100Base-X protocol, where the data travels about 10 times faster. The communication station status information including the link information is transmitted at a significantly higher speed than in the current NWay-based 100Base-X LAN application without inducing false carrier detection and without introducing information fragments that may confuse the communication network It is highly desirable to have an out-of-band signal processing method.

General start of invention

The present invention provides such an out-of-band signaling technique. During an out-of-band period, the signal processing method of the present invention typically transmits communication station status information at an average bit rate exceeding 10 Mbps between a pair of communication stations operating in accordance with the 100Base-X protocol during an in-band period. This is more than four orders of magnitude greater than the out-of-band bit rate typically achieved with NWay procedures.

The present invention allows communication stations to exchange various types of information regarding the status of a communication station. In NWay, the transmitting communication station can inform the receiving communication station of the possibility of configuring, including the dual processing capability of the transmitting communication station. This includes configuration information that is covered by NWay, such as 100Base-TX, 10Base-T for communicating over twisted-pair copper cables, as well as configuration information not currently processed by NWay, such as 100Base FX . Therefore, the signaling technique of the present invention constitutes a fast action supplement for NWay for setting up a communication link between two communication stations.

Significantly, the signaling techniques of the present invention can be used to communicate data flow conditions, such as congestion and pathology, that affect the processing performance of receiving data from each communication station. In addition to providing communication station status information to be exchanged between two communication stations for a period before the communication link is set up between two communication stations, the signaling technique of the present invention provides communication station status information to be exchanged during an out- Lt; / RTI > For example, when a link is set up and one of the communication stations transmits a message to another communication station, the receiving communication station uses the signaling technique of the present invention to determine whether the receiving communication station is stalled to the transmitting communication station, It is necessary to postpone the data transmission until the data transmission is completed.

In particular, the signal processing method of the present invention causes sequential generation of a plurality of n-bit sequential segments having a total number of bits of at least 3 in each sequential segment. In the 100Base-X protocol, n is 5. In each sequential segment, each bit is a first binary value, such as "1", or a second binary value, such as "0", as opposed to a first binary value.

Each sequential segment is coded by a selected code group of a plurality of different n-bit code groups assigned to a first code group and a second code group set. The n bits in the first code group are all the first binary values. In the 100Base-X protocol with n = 5, the first code group is made up of five " 1 " s and thus corresponds to the idle code group I.

The main feature of the second code group is that none of them contain a non-adjacent bit pair of a second binary value. For example, when n = 5 and the second binary value is " 0 ", the 5-bit code group 111000 may be one of the second code group. Although (111000) contains two "0s", these two "0s" are not adjacent because they are adjacent to each other. On the other hand, the 5-bit code group 110000 is divided into non-adjacent " 0 " s at the third and fifth bit positions by the fourth code bit (here, It can not be one of the second code groups. In the 100Base-X application, the second code group consists of eight 5s identified by the names " 0 ", " 7 ", " 9 ", " B ", " D ", " E ", " F & And at least some of the bit code groups.

Since the n-bit sequential segments have been generated in the manner described above, the sequential segments are output according to the order in which they were generated to generate a special bit sequence that carries the communication station status information.

The encoding of the special bit sequence is preferably done in such a way that no pair of non-adjacent bits of the second binary value occurs in any m (m is at least n + 1) consecutive bits of the sequence. In the preferred case m is equal to 2n. When n is 5 and the second binary value is " 0 ", this means that no pair of non-contiguous " 0 " occurs in any 10 consecutive bits of the sequence. This restriction is automatically satisfied by placing at least two sequential segments coded in a first code group, for example, a code group, between each pair of sequential segments encoded in the second code group.

As described above, the carrier sense is generated in the 100Base-X protocol whenever two discontinuous " 0s " are detected in any 10-bit portion of the 100Base-X output physical layer flow. The special bit sequence generated by the present invention is preferably arranged such that no pair of non-adjacent " 0 " occurs in any of the 10 consecutive bits of the sequence, so that carrier detection is not asserted false for out-of-band information transmission. Similarly, information fragments that could damage data transmission are not introduced into the system. The advantageous effect is that the present invention provides an efficient, ultra-fast out-of-band technique for exchanging communication station status information between communication stations in a communication system such as a LAN.

1 is a code diagram for MAC to PCS 4-bit / 5-bit mapping in a LAN using the proposed 100Base-X protocol.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram for a typical two-station LAN that can utilize the out-of-band signal processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for a DTE communication station suitable for use in the LAN of FIGS. 2 and 7 for out-of-band signaling according to the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 4 is a code diagram for MAC to PCS 4-bit / 5-bit mapping in a LAN using the out-of-band signaling technique of the present invention.

5 and 6 are transmission and reception state diagrams for the implementation of the out-of-band signaling technique of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram of a repeater base LAN that can use the out-of-band signal processing method of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a repeater communication station suitable for use in the LAN of FIG. 7 for signaling a band according to the present invention; FIG.

In the drawings and the description of the preferred embodiments, the same reference numerals are used to denote the same or very similar elements or components.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring now to FIG. 2, a second diagram illustrates a method for transmitting information regarding communication station status, such as configurable performance (as well as duality), congestion, network priority, And shows two communication station LANs in which communication is performed. The LAN shown in FIG. 2 is composed of two DTE communication stations 12A and 12B. A pair of twisted copper cable pairs 14 interconnect the DTE communication stations 12A and 12B.

The DTE communication stations 12A and 12B can transmit information according to various twisted pair protocols of the IEEE standard 802.3. In particular, the communication stations 12A and 12B can both communicate according to 100 Base-TX. The communication station 12B can also communicate according to 100 Base-T4. Both the communication stations 12A and 12B have processing capability for high-speed out-of-band signaling according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows the internal organization for the 100Base-TX DTE communication station 12A of FIG. 2. The organization shown in FIG. 3 also shows most of the internal configuration of the 100Base-TX portion of the DTE communication station 12B.

3, the DTE communication station 12A includes a media dependent interface unit 20, a physical layer 22, a media independent interface unit 24, a data link layer 26, and an upper layer 28, Lt; / RTI > The physical layer 22 is comprised of a physical medium dependent (" PMD ") sublayer 30, a physical medium attachment (" PMA ") sublayer 32, and a physical encoding sublayer . The data link layer 26 consists of an adjusting sublayer 36, a medium access control (again "MAC") sublayer 38, and a logical link control sublayer 40. Subject to improvements in accordance with the present invention, the DTE communication station 12A generally honors the operation and performance specifications of the 100Base-TX protocol. For the components 20, 24, and 30-38, "MAC parameters for 100 Mb / s operation (version 1.0), physical layer, media attachment unit and repeater", CSMA / CD connection method and physical layer specification, Draft Supplement to 1993 Version of ANSI / IEEE Document # 802.3u / d2 Std 802.3, 24 July 1994.

During 100Base-X data transmission for the 100Base-TX protocol, the MAC sublayer 38 transmits the binary NRZ (non-return) data to the media independent interface 24 and, if appropriate, to the control sublayer 36 And supplies it to the PCS 34. The NRZ data is provided in the form of a 4-bit code group that arrives at 25 Mbps on each of the four parallel lines to generate a cumulative transmission rate of 10 Mbps. The PCS 34 converts the 4-bit code group into a 5-bit code group provided at 5 parallel lines at a cumulative data rate of 125 Mbps. The 5-bit code group still has the NRZ coding scheme.

In performing a 4-bit / 5-bit conversion, the PCS 34 uses the signaling techniques of the present invention to introduce communication station status information into the out-of-band portion of the resulting 5-bit PCS data flow. The out-of-band portion basically includes (a) a period preceding the control bit identifying the start of the first data packet, and (b) an interval between frames, that is, the DTE communication station 12A controls And the period between the periods in which the enclosed data is transmitted.

The PMD sublayer 30 and the PMA sublayer (together " PMD / A sublayer 30/32 ") perform additional operations on the 5 bit PCS data flow. Specifically, the PMD / A sublayer 30/32 blends the 5-bit PCS data flow using an appropriate pseudorandom function. The PMD / A sublayer 30/32 then serializes the mixed 5-bit stream and performs a non-zero return 1 change (NRZI) encoding on this serialized bit stream. After converting the 1-bit NRZI flow into a differential format, the PMD / A sublayer 30/32 performs multi-level transmit / three levels (MLT-3) . The combination of scrambling, NRZI coding, and MLT-3 coding reduces electromagnetic interference. The mixed MLT-3 differential flow is then fed to one of the twisted pair cables 14 through the media dependent interface 20 for transmission.

By default, the reverse occurs during 100Base-X data reception under the 100Base-TX protocol. When the 100Base-X mixed MLT-3 differential flow arrives at the other side of the twisted pair cable 14 at 125 Mbps, the PMD / A sublayer 30/32 decodes the MLT- Thereby generating a true difference bit stream. After converting NRZI to NRZ decoding and mixing the mixed NRZ flows into a single-ended form, the PMD / A sub-layer 30/32 deserializes the single-ended flow to produce a cumulative transfer rate of 125 Mbps, Bit code group supplied at 25 Mbps. The PMD / A sublayer 30/32 also de-marshals the 5 bit stream using a pseudo-random number function that matches the pseudo-random number function used to blend the flow.

The PCS 34 includes a code grouping circuit consisting of three 5 bit register combinations forming a 15 bit shift register. Each successive group of five bits coming from the PCS into the five output lines is shifted through three five-bit registers in three clock cycles. During each clock cycle, the 15 bits of the three 5-bit registers are queried for control information indicating the beginning of the data transfer, i.e., the flow start delimiter, to align the 5-bit code group. Each 10 bit portion of 15 bits is also checked to see if it contains a non-contiguous " 0 " pair. In such a case, carrier detection is claimed.

The PCS 34 converts the data-containing portion of the NRZ code group of the 5-bit unmodified NRZ code into a 4-bit code group according to the inverse of the MAC to PCS 4-bit / 5-bit mapping used in data transmission. The 4-bit code group is supplied at fourteen parallel lines at 25 Mbps to lower the cumulative data rate to 100 Mbps. The 4-bit code group is supplied to the MAC sublayer 38 through the media independent interface 24 and, if appropriate, the tuning sublayer 36. [

Prior to performing the 5-bit / 4-bit conversion, the communication station status information included in the out-of-band portion of the 5-bit NRZ flow and satisfying the requirements of the out-of-band signaling technique of the present invention is restored from the 5-bit flow. This communication station status information is written into one or more logical registers, preferably one or more stacks 34R of the 32 16-bit management control registers included in the PCS 34. [

The out-of-band signaling technique of the present invention is typically used in communication stations such as DTE communication stations 12A and 12B that can operate in accordance with the 100Base-X protocol. In such a LAN application, the out-of-band signaling technique of the present invention precedes a segment containing 100Base-X PCS data in each band generated in the physical encoding sub-layer of the physical layer and a predetermined " non I " 5-bit code groups are selectively arranged. That is, a certain portion of the generated 5 bit segment of the out-of-band portion of the entire 100 Base-X PCS output bitstream, which is typically idle, is encoded into a non-I code group.

The encoded sequence of each idle bit is referred to herein as the " encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow ". The rest of the entire 100Base-X PCS output bitstream, the remainder of the data packet and preamble, along with the delimiter, is referred to herein as the "PCS flow containing 100Base-X data". The " non-I " 5-bit code group means a 5-bit code group other than the idle code group I consisting of only " 1 ".

The non-I 5-bit code group is distributed in the 100Base-X idle PCS stream encoded in such a way that no pair of non-adjacent " 0 " occurs in any 10-bit portion of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream. Since the carrier sense signal is asserted when a non-contiguous " 0 " pair is detected in the 10-bit portion of the entire 100Base-X PCS output stream, avoiding a false claim of carrier detection by arranging the encoded 100Base- . To accommodate the requirement that non-contiguous " 0 " should not occur in any 10-bit portion of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS system, each non-I 5 bit code group placed in the encoded 100Base- Should not have a pair of non-contiguous " 0 " s. Therefore, the non-I 5-bit code group that can be placed in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream is limited to the code group given in the following table.

A code group 11001 identified by the name W is a group of invalid codes for 100Base-X data containing PCS flows to which actual data is transmitted. As a result, code group 11001 is not used for the 100Base-X idle PCS stream that is preferably encoded. Thereby, eight 5-bit code groups identified by names 0, 7, 9, B, D, E, F and R remain. At least portions, and typically all, of these eight code groups are selectively placed in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream. Anyway, a non-I 5-bit code group that is practically used in the 100Base-X idle PCS flow that has no non-contiguous "0" and is coded to convey communication station status information is referred to herein as a non-I "out-of-band" code group. Therefore, the signal description of the present invention uses (a) a first code group made up of I code group and (b) a second code group set made up of non-I band outlier code group.

When properly arranged, certain pairs of non-I out-of-band codes may be arranged side by side in the encoded 100 Base-X idle PCS stream, or may be arranged in a single I, i. E., 100Base-X Can be separated from the idle PCS flow. For example, placing the non-I out-of-band code group 11110 immediately before the non-I out-of-band code group 01111 does not result in any pair of non-adjacent "0s." Likewise, generating the non-I-band code group 00111, the idle code group 11111, and the non-I-band code group 111000 sequentially generates non-adjacent 0's within any 10 bits of the 15 total bits, Does not result in any pairing. Therefore, inserting any one of these two non-I code combinations into the 100Base-X PCS flow should not cause false claims of carrier detection. However, placing such code combinations in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS typically puts undesirable restrictions on the ordering of the encoding.

For ease of coding, two of the idle code families I separate each pair of consecutive non-I out-of-band codes from the normally encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream. The plurality of Ys of the I code group also precedes the first non-I out-of-band code group. Y is at least 2, and is particularly high (e.g., 12) to ensure synchronization of the deconfigured at the physical layer of the receiving communication station, followed by at least two I code groups usually followed by a final non-I out of band code group. Therefore, the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow is typically as follows:

YIs α I I β I I γ I I δ I I ...

However,?,?,?, And? Are selected from the non-I-band code group.

A specific example of a coded 100Base-X idle PCS flow is

YIs B I I 9 I I F I I 7 I I ...

to be.

Of course, non-I out-of-band codes can be repeated in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream.

Thus, another example is

YIs B I I 9 I I 9 I I 7 I I ...

to be.

The encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow typically consists of separate repeating portions to provide signal enhancement for noise and data corruption. All of the repetition parts may start with the same non-I out-of-band code group to indicate the beginning of the sequential part. For example, if a group of zeros 11110 represents the beginning of each iteration sequence portion, a typical example of a coded 100Base-X idle PCS flow is as follows.

YIs 0 I I D I I B I I 9 I I 0 I I D I I B I 9 I I

| <--- first part -> | | <- repeated part -> |

I I D I I B I I 9 I I ...

| <- repeat section -> |

In short, the coded 100Base-X idle PCS flow is as follows. The encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream is made up of bit sequences that are periodically repeated during an out-of-band period (as described below). The bit sequence consists of one or more sequential parts, each of which is formed by a plurality of 5 bit segments. Each 5 bit segment is encoded in one of the I code group or the non-I band code group according to the teachings of the present invention.

Again referring to the LAN in FIG. 2, the communication station status information regarding the state of the DTE communication station 12A is stored in any of the local registers, preferably the management control register 34R. The PCS 34 of the DTE communication station 12A includes a state machine 34S as shown in FIG. The state machine 34S processes the communication station status information stored in the register 34R to generate the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow according to the present invention. Likewise, the physical encoding sublayer of DTE communication station 12B includes a state machine, not shown, that generates a 100Base-X idle PCS stream, represented by reference numeral 34S, and similarly encoded.

During an idle (i.e., out-of-band) period, each state machine 34S sequentially generates a 5-bit sequential segment suitably encoded by a selected one of code group I or non-I out-of- The state machine 34S then outputs a 5-bit sequential segment according to the order in which it occurred to generate the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow.

The state machine 34S is preferably operative during the generation of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow to avoid having the DTE communication station 12A begin to transmit actual data while allowing the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow to occur. Collision signal to the MAC sublayer 38 of the communication station 12A. When a collision is asserted, the MAC sublayer 38 delays the supply of data to the PCS sublayer 34, thereby causing the communication station 12A to temporarily stop sending data as outbound of the twisted pair cable 14.

Following the generation of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow, the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flows generated in each DTE communication station 12A or 12B are mixed, NRZI encoded, and MLT-3 encoded in the manner described above (Without damaging the coded object's intellectual content). As described above, the encoded 100 Base-X idle PCS stream is also serialized. Each communication station 12A or 12B then feeds the modified idle bit stream to the outward twisted pair cable 14 for transmission to another communication station 12B or 12A.

Starting with a plurality of I code families, the entire 100 Base-X output PCS flow is as follows:

I I ... I / J K / remainder of preamble / SFD / 5 bit data code group / T R / YIs? I I? I I? I I? I I ...

Where?,?,?, And? Are also those selected from the non-I out-of-band code group. FIG. 4 shows the conversion of the output from the MAC sublayer 38 to the entire 100 Base-X PCS flow. Comparing FIG. 4 to FIG. 1, it can be seen that there is no change in the conversion of the MAC frame into the data-containing portion of the entire PCS bitstream. The technique of the present invention affects only the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow. The " IFG " in FIG. 4 also means inter-frame spacing.

Upon receiving the 100Base-X bit stream with communication station status information according to the present invention, the communication station with state machine 34S with 100Base-X enabled capability decodes the inbound bit stream in a manner complementary to that described above. The 5-bit data segment with the inward flow start and flow term delimiters is converted to a 4-bit code group according to the mapping in Table 1. In the inward information processing, the state machine 34S restores the communication station status information included in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow and writes the restored communication station status information to one or more of the management control registers 34R.

The communication station status information stored in the register 34R typically consists of configurable capabilities, link acknowledgments, flow control parameters, and maintainability control parameters. The configurable performance information is not limited to the communication station basic technology, for example, 100Base-TX, 100Base-T4, 10Base-T. Full duplex or half duplex. The flow control parameters include congestion and path diagrams. The conservatism control parameter includes a remote loopback for checking for remote failures.

Remote loopback is used to check for remote failures in the following cases:

(a) indicates that the curled DTE communication station 12A is receiving information from the remote DTE communication station 12B by way of the inward cable of the cable pair 14 and the inward cable pair from the communication station 12B to the communication station 12A 14 &lt; / RTI &gt; is good,

(b) if the local communication station 12A is supplying the intended information for the remote communication station 12B to the outgoing cable of the cable pair 14,

(c) whether or not the local communication station 12A determines whether the remote communication station 12B is receiving outward information, that is, whether or not a remote failure occurs in the communication link via the outgoing cable pair 14 or in the receiving circuit of the communication station 12B If it is desirable to determine whether or not.

In such a case, the conservatism control information sent by the local communication station 12A to the remote communication station 12B during the out-of-band period in accordance with the present invention allows the communication station 12B to receive the communication station 12B from the communication station 12A Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; a &lt; / RTI &gt; remote loopback parameter that causes an attempt to send back some or all of the available information. The information sent by the communication station 12A to the communication station 12B for return to the communication station 12A when the remote loopback is initiated by using the signaling technique of the present invention, And may include data as well as control information including communication station status information sent thereto. The failure of the communication station 12A to receive this information indicates the presence of a remote failure. After determining whether there is a remote failure, the communication station 12A may terminate the remote loopback by sending another out-of-band parameter to the other communication station 12B.

The signaling techniques of the present invention may also enable the local DTE communication station 12A to obtain control over the management control register 34R of the remote DTE communication station 12B (and vice versa). As a result, the communication station 12A can perform a diagnostic test on the register 34R of the communication station 12B.

Code group indicating the beginning of a sequential portion when the communication station status information is so written in register 34R using an out-of-band signal comprising a separate repetition portion, the first one or more non-I out- Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; 34R. &Lt; / RTI &gt; The subsequent non-I out-of-band code group provides the actual communication station status information.

Code group 0 considers the next 100Base-X idle physical flow again indicating the beginning of the repeating sequence part:

YIs 0 I I R I I F I I 7 I I 9 I I F I I E I I 0 I I R

I I F I I 7 I I 9 I I F I I E I I 0 0 ...

The pair of R and F code groups following the zero code group identifies a particular one of the 32 registers of the stack 34R. The following four non-I-out-of-band code groups 79FE constitute communication station status information. For example, the sign segment 79FE may mean (0 1 3 2) to be binary (00 01 11 10).

It is typically desirable to have a group of 8 (2 ³ ) non-I out-of-band codes to carry the register address and information content for particular ones of the registers 34R into which the communication station status information will be written. When one of the non-I out-of-band codes is used to identify the beginning of a separate sequential part, such as the code group in the previous example, that code group is generally not available for conveying register addresses and control information . Unless a group of invalid W code is normally used, the total number of non-I out-of-band codes available to carry the register address and information content is only seven, one less than the desired number. This problem can be solved by appropriately placing two or more of the I code groups between distinct sequential parts to identify their starting point instead of using one of the non-I out-of-band code samples to identify their starting point.

In particular, 4 of the I code group is preferably inserted between repeated sequential portions, which may contain information for a particular one of the registers 34R. When the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream contains communication station status information for two or more registers 34R, it is assumed that 8 of the I codes are each between consecutive sequential portions containing information for different ones of this register 34R . Also, 12 of the I code group is used at the beginning of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow. The initial 12 I code set is sufficient to ensure reverse mixing synchronization in which the 100Base-X protocol defines a 60 " 1 ". This corresponds to the 12 I code group.

A specific one of the management control registers 34R selected by the user for receiving the communication station status information in the remote DTE communication station 12B is R ₁ , R ₂ , ... R _X ... R _XMAX concurrently, whereby if XMAX is the total number of such selected registers from stack 34R, then the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream is typically:

12Is R1 I I G1 I I. . GL 4Is R1 I I G1 I I. . GL

8Is R2 I I G1 I I. . GL 4Is R2 I I G1 I I. . GL

.

.

8Is RX I I G1 I I. . GL 4Is RX I I G1 I I. . GL

.

.

8Is RXMAX I I G1 I I. . GL 4Is RXMAX I I G1 I I. .

. . GL. .

Wherein (a) each RX is a non-I-band code group representing the address for the register R _X, (b) L is typically the same integer and a 6 for designating the 16-bit register address, (c) G1-GL each register R is _X is a non-I-band code group which represents the data write (d), XMAX (although this can be increased as described later, but), where not more than 8. This sequence constitutes a period that is repeated at all times until the out-of-band period ends. R _X (or RX) reference characters where management control register (34R) register (34R) at a different version of the 100Base-X idle PCS stream encoding are used only to identify the sequence portion that contains information about the different ones of the Can represent different things.

For illustrative purposes, the sequential portion for each management control register (R _X ) is repeated once for each cycle of the previously encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow to provide protection against noise impairments. That is, the total number of occurrence of the sequential part for each register (R _X ) is 2 in each cycle. Additional noise immunity can be achieved by increasing the total number of occurrences of the sequential part for each register (R _X ) to a number greater than two in each period of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow. Alternatively, only a single set of communication station status information for each register R _X may be supplied in each cycle of the encoded 100 Base-X idle PCS flow. This allows bandwidth to be increased during in-band transmission.

If the total number of non-I out-of-band codes is 8, each non-I out-band code group may represent 3 bits. For example, a non-I out-of-band code group may have the following meanings:

In the coded 100Base-X idle PCS flow, each 5 bit segment encoded with the non-I out-of-band code group RX is used to identify up to 8 registers in the stack 34R. Two 5-bit segments so encoded in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream can identify 64 registers. Because there are only 32 registers in the stack 34R, the two 5-bit segments encoded with the non-I out-of-band code group provide addresses for all the registers in the stack 34R.

Likewise, each 5-bit segment encoded in the non-I out-of-band group in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream provides 3 bits of register content. Thus, a 16-bit register requires one encoded segment for six encoded 5-bit segments of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS stream, ie, 5 encoded segments for the first 15 register bits plus 16th register bits , And two of the available bits for the last encoded segment are not used.

Each 100 Base-X 5-bit code group has approximately 40 ns to complete. In the given exemplary coded 100Base-X idle PCS flow, a non-I out-of-band code group 7 occurs in the 31 code group of the first sequential part. The 16 bits of control information are transmitted for register R ₁ during the first sequential part. This corresponds to an average bit rate slightly higher than 10 Mbps.

FIG. 5 shows a typical transmission state diagram followed by the state machine 34S of the local DTE communication station 12A in generating the previously encoded 100 Base-X idle PCS flow. &Quot; CG " means the code group in FIG.

&Quot; OB " means out of band. The same RCMAX in the previous example is the total number of sequential partitions for each register (R _X ) in the remote DTE communication station 12B during each period of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow. The RCT is a transmission iteration counter variable that searches for the position in the repeated sequential part.

As shown in FIG. 5, the occurrence of each full cycle of the preceding code sequence causes the state machine 34S to assert a conflict in the MAC sublayer, causing it to postpone the data transfer. The state machine 34S does not claim a conflict after each pre-processor has terminated.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of the DTE communication station 12A (or 12B) for processing a 5-bit code group included in the 100Base-X bit stream received from the DTE communication station 12B (or 12A) Shows a typical reception state diagram followed by the state machine 34S. &Quot; CG " and " O-B " RCR is an iterative counter variable that searches for the location in the repeated sequential portion within each cycle of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow.

In processing the 5-bit code group in the 100Base-X idle PCS flow, the state machine 34S divides the sequential portion for each management control register R _X into a buffer register (C _RCR ) located in the state machine 34S, . Before loading the second and any subsequent iterations of the sequential portion for the register R _x into the buffer C _{RCR '} , the state machine 34S transfers the immediately preceding sequential portion for the register R _X to another buffer register C _REF ). After loading the second and any subsequent iterations of the sequential portion for the register R _X into the buffer C _{RCR '} , the state machine 34S transfers the code group of the buffer C _REF to the code group of the buffer C _RCR . Buffer (C _REF) of the code if the group code group matching with the resistor (R _X) end-sequential buffer (C _{RCR ')} by de way buffer (C _RCR) up to the part for, in the buffer (C _REF) The communication station status information RX, G1-GL is decoded in accordance with Table 3, for example. Is written to a specific one of the registers 34R indicated by the decoded address information corresponding to the code group represented by the character RX represented by the content characters G1-GL.

As shown in FIG. 6, the state machine 34S transfers information to the management control register 34R (or 34R) if the code group of the buffer C _REF does not match the code group of the buffer C _RCR at any time point at which the comparison is made ) To end the attempt to write. The test of FIG. 6 also ends the attempt to write information to the register 34R as soon as another item indicating that the value of the group of inbound codes is not of a suitable nature. For example, the state machine 34S returns to the starting point if the two code groups succeeding the non-I out-of-band code group are never the I code group.

Ratio I the other code group right buffer in (C _RCR) and after the band buffer, a non-I-band code group instead of loading a (C _REF), for example, the following buffer (C _RCR) decoding in accordance with Table 3 _Lt ; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; C _REF. &_Lt; / RTI &gt; This causes the length of the buffer registers (C _RCR , C _REF ) to typically be reduced by about 40%. The portion of the C _REF content corresponding to the code group represented by the content characters G1-GL is then written to the specific management register identified by the portion of the C _REF content corresponding to the code group represented by the address character RX (34R).

7 shows a portion of the repeater base LAN where the out-of-band signaling technique of the present invention is used for communication station status information exchange. The portion of the LAN shown in Fig. 7 consists of the repeater communication station 16 and four DTE communication stations 12A, 12B, 12C and 12D. The pair of twisted-pair copper cables 14A, 14B, 14C and 14D connect the DTE communication stations 12A-12D to the repeater communication station 16, respectively. The twisted pair copper cable 18 connects the repeater communication station 10 to the rest of the LAN, not shown.

Like the LAN of FIG. 2, the components of the LAN of FIG. 7 transmit information according to various twisted pair protocols of IEEE standard 802.3. The DTE communication units 12A to 12C communicate according to 100 Base-TX, and all have the capability for the high-speed out-of-band signal according to the present invention. The communication station 12B can also communicate according to 100 Base-T4. The communication station 12C can also communicate according to 10Base-T. The 100Base-TX portions of communication station 12A and communication stations 12B and 12C are internally organized as shown in FIG. The DTE communication station 12D can only communicate according to 10Base-T and has no out-of-band signal processing capability of the present invention.

Repeater communication station 16 includes a plurality of media slave interface units 42, the same plurality of physical layers 44, another same plurality of media independent interface units 46, and a repeater 48. For simplicity, only two media dependent interface portions 42, two physical layers 44, and two media independent interface portions 46 are shown in FIG. 5. Each physical layer 44 is formed of a physical media dependent sublayer 50, a physical media attachment sublayer 52, and a physical encoding sublayer 54. The physical layer 44 may be integrated into one integrated circuit. Subject to improvements of the present invention, the repeater communication station 16 generally meets the operating and performance specifications of the 100Base-TX protocol. The MAC parameters for the 100 Mb / s operation (Version 1.0) cited above, the physical layer, the medium attaching unit and the repeater are also described in detail.

The DTE communication station 12C and the repeater communication station 16 use the out-of-band signaling technique of the present invention in the same manner as described above for the communication stations 12A and 12B. The physical encoding sublayer at communication station 12C includes an out-of-band state machine and 32 16-bit management control register stacks operating in the same manner as state machine 34S and register stack 34R of communication station 12A. The PCS 54 in each physical layer 44 of the repeater communication station 16 includes an out-of-band state machine 54S and 32 16-bit management control register stacks 54R. The state machine 54S and the register 54R likewise operate in the same manner as the stack machine 34S and the register 34R of the communication station 12A to implement the out-of-band signal processing method of the present invention.

The signaling techniques of the present invention can be used in a variety of ways. For example, a communication station having both a 100Base-X processing capability and an out-of-band signal processing capability of the present invention can use the signal technology of the present invention immediately after power-up of the communication station. When a communication station receives similar out-of-band information from a cable connected to a remote communication station having a 100Base-X processing capability, the two communication stations can exchange communication station status information for efficient communication.

Alternatively, if the communication station described earlier also has NWay auto-detection capability, the communication station may initially use the NWay technique. When NWay is successfully used to set up a communication link with a remote communication station having 100Base-X processing capability and the out-of-band signal processing performance of the present invention, the two communication stations can also use the signal processing method of the present invention Can be used continuously. That is, the two stations can renegotiate (if necessary) the link condition without having to interrupt the communication link as required by the NWay. In this way, the present invention supplements NWay.

A LAN including a data transmission communication station such as DTE communication station 12A-12C and repeater communication station 16 with out-of-band signal processing capability of the present invention likewise includes a communication control station with out- You may. The communication control station assigns priority using the out-of-band signal processing capability to determine when each data transmission station of the LAN can transmit data to another data transmission station of the LAN. In particular, the communication control station supplies each of the data transmission stations with a serial bit sequence (by a suitable cable) representing a version of the encoded 100 Base-X idle PCS stream adapted to the communication priority of the communication station. An example of the network priority that can be so controlled is the minimum width of the interframe spacing for each of the data transmission stations.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, the description is for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the following claims. For example, the 100Base-FX fiber optic cable protocol uses the same 4-bit / 5-bit MAC-to-PCS mapping (and vice versa) as the 100Base-TX protocol. Therefore, the present invention can be used to exchange communication station status information with a communication station that operates according to the 100Base-FX protocol but does not have 100Base-TX processing capability. The present invention is also applicable to Token Ring LANs that conform to the FDDI standard.

The present invention can be applied to a LAN configuration other than that shown in FIG. Some types of repeaters may be able to communicate communication station status information from one DTE communication station to another DTE communication station using the signaling techniques of the present invention. Instead of using a register for NWay, the communication station may have a separate register to store the communication station status information transmitted in accordance with the present invention.

During 100Base-X data transmission, blending, NRZI encoding, and serialization operations may be performed in a different order than given above. The same applies to inverse blending, NRZI decoding, and deserialization operations during 100Base-X data reception.

In an implementation in which two or more of the I code groups are inserted to identify their starting point between separate sequential parts, the total number of I code groups inserted between repeated sequential parts containing information for a single register is other than four . Likewise, the total number of I code families placed between consecutive sequential parts, including information on each addressed register, may be other than eight. I code group may precede the beginning of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow.

The end of the register address field and the beginning of the register contents field in each part of the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow are different from the total number of consecutive I code groups used elsewhere in the encoded 100Base-X idle PCS flow, And for the total number of I code families between register content fields. For example, 6 in the I code group may be placed between the register address field and the register content field in each sequential portion. Thus, the state machine 34S of the receiving communication station does not need to know the particular number of 5 bit segments encoded in the non-I out-of-band code group to represent the register address field.

The first and second binary values may mean "0" and "1" instead of "1" and "0", respectively. Some type of control information other than indicating start / stop of data transmission may be transmitted during an in-band period. The present invention can be used in communication systems other than LAN. Accordingly, various modifications and adaptations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the true scope and spirit of the following claims.

Claims (42)

wherein each bit in each sequential segment is optionally a first binary value or a second binary value that is inverse to the first binary value, and wherein each sequential segment Is encoded with a selected code group among a plurality of different n-bit code groups assigned to a first code group and a second code group set, wherein all n bits of the first code group are a first binary value, and the second binary value A step in which no pair of non-adjacent bits occurs in any of the second code group, And outputting a sequential segment according to the generated sequence to generate a special bit sequence. 2. The signal processing method according to claim 1, wherein no pair of non-adjacent bits of the second binary value occurs in any m consecutive bits in the special bit sequence, and m is n + 1 or more. 3. The signal processing method according to claim 2, wherein m is equal to 2n. 3. The signal processing method according to claim 2, wherein two or more sequential segments encoded with a first code group are inserted between each pair of sequential segments encoded with a second code group in a special bit sequence. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the special bit sequence comprises a plurality of separate portions, each of which is a second code group of two or more in length, And the specified one of the second code group occurs at the beginning of all the separated portions to indicate the beginning of each separated portion. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the two sequential segments encoded in the first code group are between each pair of sequential segments encoded in the second code group in each separate portion of the special bit sequence. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the special bit sequence comprises a plurality of separate portions, each of the second group of codes having a length of at least two, And a plurality of selected two or more of the first code group are inserted between each pair of consecutive separating parts to indicate the beginning of each separating part after the first one. 8. The signal processing method according to claim 7, wherein the two sequential segments encoded in the first code group are between each pair of sequential segments encoded in the second code group in each separate part of the special bit sequence. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first communication station transmits a bit stream representing a special bit stream to the second communication station during an out-of-band period. 10. The signal processing method according to claim 9, wherein the second code group conveys information peculiar to the first communication station. 11. The signal processing method according to claim 10, wherein the transmitted information comprises communication station configuration information. 12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the transmitted information comprises data flow information. 10. The signal processing method according to claim 9, wherein the special bit sequence comprises loopback information in which the first communication station attempts to transmit the information previously transmitted to the second communication station by the second communication station to the first communication station . 10. The signal processing method according to claim 9, wherein n is 5. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first communication station is capable of transmitting information according to the 100Base-X protocol. 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first code group is a 5-bit code group of the 100Base-X protocol, And the second code group includes at least a part of 5-bit code groups 0, 7, 9, B, D, E, F and R of the 100Base-X protocol. 17. The signal processing method according to claim 16, wherein the second code group includes a 5-bit code group (11001). 16. The signal processing method according to claim 15, wherein the total number of the second code group is 8, and each second code group represents a different 3-bit code. 16. The signal processing method according to claim 15, wherein 12 or more of the first code group precedes a special bit sequence. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein upon receiving the information transmitted from the first communication station in accordance with the 100Base-X protocol, the second communication station may process the received information according to the 100Base-X protocol, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt; 2 &lt; / RTI &gt; communication station is not asserted at the second communication station. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of generating an additional special bit sequence, wherein the additional special bit sequence may be different from the special bit sequence described earlier of the organization of the second code group in the additional special bit sequence Further comprising the step of generating an additional special bit sequence having the same type of characteristics as the special bit sequence described earlier except for the point, the second station further comprising a step of transmitting a bit stream representing a further special bit sequence to the first station And transmitting the signal. The method according to claim 1, A plurality of data transmission communication stations are interconnected with a communication control station in a communication network, and each data transmission communication station is capable of transmitting data to one or more other data transmission communication stations in a communication network, The communication control station sets a communication priority for transmitting data between the data transmission communication stations by transmitting a bit flow indicating a special bit sequence to each data transmission communication station, and the special bit sequence sets the content for each data transmission communication station according to the communication priority The signal processing method comprising the steps of: Generating a special bit sequence comprising a plurality of 5-bit segments occurring sequentially in time, wherein each bit of each sequential segment is selectively associated with a first binary value or a second binary value, Wherein each sequential segment is encoded into a selected one of a plurality of different 5-bit code groups having a first code group and a second code group set, wherein all five bits of the first code group are first binary values, Any pair of non-adjacent bits of the second binary value does not occur in any of the second code group and no pair of non-adjacent bits of the second code group occurs in any ten consecutive bits in the special bit sequence The signal processing method comprising the steps of: 24. The method of claim 23, The first code group is a 5-bit code group I of the 100Base-X protocol, Wherein the second code group comprises at least a portion of 5-bit code groups 0, 7, 9, B, D, E, F, and R of the 100Base-X protocol. A state circuit for generating a special bit sequence comprising a plurality of n-bit segments of n = 5 occurring sequentially in time, wherein each bit of each sequential segment is optionally opposite to a first binary value or a first binary value Wherein each sequential segment is encoded into a selected one of a plurality of different n-bit code groups assigned to a first code group and a second code group set, and all n bits of the first code group are encoded in a first A binary value, a state circuit in which no pair of non-adjacent bits of the second binary value occurs in any of the second code group, And an output circuit for changing the special bit sequence for cable transmission and supplying the special bit sequence thus changed to the external cable. 26. The electronic communication device according to claim 25, wherein no pair of non-adjacent bits of the second binary value occurs in any m consecutive bits in the special bit sequence, and m is n + 1 or more. 27. The electronic communication device according to claim 26, wherein m is equal to 2n. 27. The electronic communication device according to claim 26, wherein two or more sequential segments encoded with the first code group are between each pair of sequential segments encoded with the second code group. 26. The method of claim 25, n is 5, The first code group is a 5-bit code group I of the 100Base-X protocol, Wherein the second code group comprises at least a portion of 5-bit code groups 0, 7, 9, B, D, E, F and R of the 100Base-X protocol. 30. The electronic communication apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the second code group includes a 5-bit code group (11001). 30. The electronic communication device according to claim 29, wherein the total number of the second code group is 8, and each represents a different 3-bit code. The electronic communication apparatus according to claim 29, wherein 12 or more of the first code group precedes a special bit sequence. 26. The electronic communication device of claim 25, wherein the device transmits data during an in-band period and repeatedly transmits a special bit sequence during an out-of-band period. 34. The electronic communication apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the second code group conveys information unique to the apparatus. Transmission cable, A first communication station for transmitting a bit stream representative of a special bit sequence over a cable during an out-of-band period when data is not being transmitted, wherein the special bit sequence comprises a plurality of n-bit sequential segments occurring sequentially in time, Each bit of each sequential segment optionally being a second binary value opposite to a first binary value or a first binary value, each sequential segment having a first code group and a second code group set And n bits of the first code group are all first binary values and no pair of non-adjacent bits of the second binary value occurs in any of the second code group The first communication station, Characterized in that the cable comprises a second communication station for supplying a bit stream indicative of a special bit sequence. 36. The electronic network of claim 35, wherein no pair of non-adjacent bits of a second binary value occurs in any m consecutive bits in a special bit sequence, and m is n + 1 or more. 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the second communication station transmits an additional special bit sequence to the first communication station during the out-of-band period, and wherein the additional special bit sequence comprises an arrangement of the first and second code groups in an additional special bit sequence Characterized by having substantially the same characteristics as the special bit sequence described above, except that it may be different from the special bit sequence described previously. 39. The method of claim 37, The first code group is a 5-bit code group I of the 100Base-X protocol, Wherein the second code group comprises at least a portion of 5-bit code groups 0, 7, 9, B, D, E, F, and R of the 100Base-X protocol. In a communication network, A plurality of data transmission stations each capable of transmitting data to one or more other data transmission stations in a communication network. Wherein each bit of each sequential segment is selectively a first binary value or a first binary value or a first binary value or a first binary value, Wherein each sequential segment is encoded in a selected one of a plurality of different n-bit code groups each having a first code group and a second code group set, and wherein n bits of the first code group And none of the non-adjacent bits of the second binary value occurs in any of the second code group, and the bit flow sets the communication priority for data transmission between the data transmission communication stations And the special bit sequence is supplied to each of the data transmission communication stations in order to change the content of each data transmission communication station according to the communication priority Electronic communications network as ranging. 40. The electronic network of claim 39, wherein no pair of non-adjacent bits of a second binary value occurs in any m consecutive bits in a special bit sequence, and m is n + l or more. 40. The electronic network of claim 39, wherein the communication priority sets a minimum width for an out-of-band period between the periods when one of the data transmission communication stations transmits data to another one of the data transmission communication stations. 40. The method of claim 39, The first code group is a 5-bit code group I of the 100Base-X protocol, Wherein the second code group comprises at least a portion of 5-bit code groups 0, 7, 9, B, D, E, F and R of the 100Base-X protocol.