1-22. (canceled)
21. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a first communications device, without a prior request to send (RTS) signal being sent, a first clear to send (CTS) signal from a second communications device, the first CTS signal indicating a data exchange duration, wherein a non-resetting network allocation vector (NAV) is set by at the first communications device that overrides a resetting NAV at the first communications device; and
receiving, at the first communications device, a request to send (RTS) signal that directly follows the first CTS signal and that is addressed to the second communications device, the RTS signal indicating a data exchange duration that does not exceed the data exchange duration of the first CTS signal.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising sending, from the first communications device, a second CTS signal.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the RTS signal is addressed to the first communications device, the RTS signal indicating a data exchange duration that does not exceed the data exchange duration of the first CTS signal.
24. The method of claim 21, further comprising sending, by the first communications device payload data to the second communications device.
25. The method of claim 21, wherein the non-resetting NAV has a longer associated duration than an associated duration of the resetting NAV.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein the first CTS is configured at a first modulation and the second CTS is configured at a second modulation.
27. The method of claim 21, wherein the non-resetting NAV is configured to be non-resetting at a plurality of other communications devices.
28. A computer readable medium, comprising:
first receiving logic configured to receive, at a first communications device, without a prior request to send (RTS) signal being sent, a first clear to send (CTS) signal from a second communications device, the CTS signal indicating a data exchange duration, the first receiving logic configured to set a resetting network allocation vector (NAV) to be non-resetting;
second receiving logic configured to receive, at the first communications device, a request to send (RTS) signal that directly follows the first CTS from the second communications device, the RTS directly following the first CTS signal is addressed to the first communications device, the RTS indicating a data exchange duration that does not exceed the data exchange duration of the first CTS.
29. The computer readable medium of claim 28, further comprising second receiving logic configured to receive, at the first communications device, a request to send (RTS) signal that directly follows the first CTS signal.
30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the RTS is addressed at the first communications device, the RTS indicating a data exchange duration that does not exceed the data exchange duration of the CTS.
31. The computer readable medium of claim 28, further comprising third receiving logic configured to receive, by the first communications device payload data from the second communications device.
32. The computer readable medium of claim 28, further comprising second sending logic configured to send a third CTS signal from the first communications device to the second communications device, the third CTS signal being sent directly after the second CTS signal.
33. The computer readable medium of claim 32, wherein the second CTS is configured at a first modulation and the third CTS is configured at a second modulation.
34. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the first receiving logic sets the resetting NAV to be non-resetting if the data exchange duration is longer than a default data exchange duration of the resetting NAV.
35. A system, comprising:
means for receiving, at a first communications device, without a prior request to send (RTS) signal being sent, a first clear to send (CTS) signal from a second communications device, addressed to the first communications device, the CTS signal indicating a data exchange duration: and
means for sending a second CTS signal, from the first communications device, to the second communications device,
wherein a network allocation vector (NAV) at the first communications device is set to non-resetting prior to receiving a RTS signal.
36. The system of claim 35, further comprising means for receiving, at the first communications device, a request to send (RTS) signal that directly follows the first CTS signal.
37. The system of claim 36, wherein the RTS is addressed to the first communications device, the RTS indicating a data exchange duration that does not exceed the data exchange duration of the CTS.
38. The system of claim 35, further comprising means for receiving, by the first communications device payload data from the second communications device.
39. The system of claim 35, further comprising means for sending a third CTS signal from the first communications device to the second communications device, the third CTS signal being sent directly after the second CTS signal.
40. The system of claim 39, wherein the second CTS is configured at a first modulation and the third CTS is configured at a second modulation.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system for automatically reloading software in an embedded and replaceable unit of an aircraft, the unit being reinstalled on the aircraft after having been removed and repaired or being a new unit installed on the aircraft to replace a previously removed defective unit, the system comprising:
a transmitter associated with the unit and adapted to transmit a configuration frame comprising a set of identifiers of the current hardware andor software configuration of the unit;
a detector adapted to capture the configuration frame and to detect a change of hardware andor software configuration of the unit; and
a software loader adapted to automatically reload a set of appropriate software elements in the unit according to the detected change of configuration.
2. The system according to claim 1, in which the detector comprises:
a receiver adapted to capture the configuration frame;
a comparator adapted to compare the identifiers of the current configuration of the unit with those of a preceding configuration in order to detect any change of hardware andor software configuration of the unit;
a trigger adapted to transmit to the software loader a trigger signal in order to trigger the downloading of the set of appropriate software elements into the unit according to the detected change of configuration; and
a recorder adapted to record the identifiers of the current configuration.
3. The system according to claim 1, in which the transmitter is incorporated in the embedded unit and is adapted to transmit, on successive dates, a series of configuration frames, each frame comprising, on the date of transmission, the current hardware andor software configuration identifiers of the unit.
4. The system according to claim 1, in which the transmitter comprises:
a connection detector adapted to detect a reconnection of the unit in a corresponding receptacle of the aircraft;
a first RFID tag tagging the unit and comprising first configuration identifiers;
a second RFID tag tagging the receptacle of the unit and comprising second configuration identifiers; and
an RFID controller adapted to recover the first and second configuration identifiers from the first and second RFID tags after the detection of reconnection of the unit, and to transmit the configuration frame comprising the current configuration identifiers of the unit on the date of its reconnection in its receptacle.
5. The system according to claim 4, in which the connection detector comprises a switch which is tripped when the unit is installed in its receptacle.
6. The system according to claim 1, comprising an embedded software storage device, the software loader being adapted to recover the set of software elements from the embedded software storage device.
7. The system according to claim 1, in which the software loader is adapted to recover, via communication devices, the set of software elements from a software storage device arranged on the ground.
8. The system according to claim 1, in which the detector is adapted to check that the unit comprises the appropriate configuration and to perform a validation and a logging of the new configuration.
9. An aircraft comprising a reloading system according to claim 1.
10. A method for automatically reloading software in an embedded and replaceable unit of an aircraft, the unit being reinstalled on the aircraft after having been removed and repaired or being a new unit installed on the aircraft to replace a previously removed defective unit, the method comprising:
transmitting a configuration frame comprising a set of identifiers of the current hardware andor software configuration of the unit;
capturing the configuration frame and detection of a change of hardware andor software configuration of the unit; and
automatically reloading a set of appropriate software elements in the unit according to the detected change of configuration.