3com Corporation

Ammon E Gustafson

Kenneth S Morley

Brady V Brown

A method and architecture for implementing link level security to enforce access privileges between a calling modem and an answering modem over a communication channel during a communication session in a modem employing a communication protocol capable of modulation modification. Security scramblers different from the standard scrambler inherent in the communication protocol are loaded into a calling modem and an answering modem. A password may alternatively be entered into the calling modem for verification prior to the enablement of the security process. During the training phase of the communication protocol, descriptors designating specific secure scramblers are passed from the calling modem to the answering modem for verification of the correct access privileges by the calling modem. The answering modem thereafter directs the calling modem to utilize yet another secure scrambler for the subsequent training and exchange of data. Since the secure scrambler modifies the modulation of each modem, incompatible scramblers are unable to properly train and therefore unable to establish a communication channel therebetween. An alternative implementation also employs scrambler hopping to provide yet further security.

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West Jordan, UT, United States of America

Ammon E Gustafson