Priority polling and dynamic time-window mechanisms in a multicycle Fieldbus

Real-time local area networks have to handle synchronous and asynchronous data transfer. The data transfer is handled in two different phases or time windows. Priority polling algorithms that generate the polling sequence for the data transfer automatically respecting the periodic deadlines are presented. Dynamic mechanisms to extend time-windows are introduced and the network bandwidth is utilized more efficiently. These algorithms are computed during the real-time operation of the network.<<ETX>>