Patents by Inventor Francois F. Blouin

Francois F. Blouin has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Network access mechanism and method
    Patent number: 8259746
    Abstract: A communications system includes a network that is coupled to a number of terminals, at least some of which are capable of audio or other forms of real-time interactive data communications over the network. Each of the terminals includes a network adapter that is capable of detecting a collision with another terminal on the network. If a collision is detected, transmission of a data frame is aborted, and a backoff time delay is selected. The backoff time delay is selected from a group of delay periods that vary at a rate different than exponentially with a number of collisions. The group of one or more delay periods can contain delay periods that increase linearly with the number of collisions, delay periods that increase according to some power of n, where n is the number of collisions, or a delay period that is selected at random based on a predetermined mean backoff delay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Wing F. Lo, François F. Blouin
  • Network access mechanism and method
    Patent number: 8045575
    Abstract: A communications system includes a network that is coupled to a number of terminals, at least some of which are capable of audio or other forms of real-time interactive data communications over the network. Each of the terminals includes a network adapter that is capable of detecting a collision with another terminal on the network. If a collision is detected, transmission of a data frame is aborted, and a backoff time delay is selected. The backoff time delay is selected from a group of delay periods that vary at a rate different than exponentially with a number of collisions. The group of one or more delay periods can contain delay periods that increase linearly with the number of collisions, delay periods that increase according to some power of n, where n is the number of collisions, or a delay period that is selected at random based on a predetermined mean backoff delay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Wing F. Lo, François F. Blouin
  • Mechanism and method to select a time delay in response to a collision
    Patent number: 7313105
    Abstract: A communications system includes a network that is coupled to a number of terminals, at least some of which are capable of audio or other forms of real-time interactive data communications over the network. Each of the terminals includes a network adapter that is capable of detecting a collision with another terminal on the network. If a collision is detected, transmission of a data frame is aborted, and a backoff time delay is selected. The backoff time delay is selected from a group of delay periods that vary at a rate different than exponentially with a number of collisions. The group of one or more delay periods can contain delay periods that increase linearly with the number of collisions, delay periods that increase according to some power of n, where n is the number of collisions, or a delay period that is selected at random based on a predetermined mean backoff delay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2007
    Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited
    Inventors: Wing F. Lo, Francois F. Blouin