Appeal No. 1998-0706
Application 08/166,279
from Allen's processors to Allen's cluster modules (Answer
at 10). Specifically, the examiner relies on the following
description in Bione of a prior art communication system that
employs look-up tables to effect communication between the
stations of different LANs:
LANs using the same protocol are interconnected by a
control interface referred to as a "bridge".
Prior art bridge interfaces commonly comprise
so-called memory look-up tables for providing a
cross-reference between each station connected to
the bridge interface (bridge) and the LAN in which
the respective station is situated. More
particularly, the memory look-up tables are used to
store a plurality of addresses, each identifying a
respective station, together with a code identifying
the particular LAN to which the station belongs.
When a message is directed via the bridge to a given
destination station, the memory look-up table is
searched to locate the stored address code of the
destination station for determining the LAN to which
the station belongs. For stations in LANs serviced
by different bridges, an interbridge address is
created and put in temporary memory when the message
is forwarded to the next bridge. The process is
repeated for each message, with the bridge directing
- 11 -
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007