Alcatel USA Sourcing, L.p.

Calix Networks, Inc.

Caux Networks, Inc.

Brian Semple

Jason W Dove

Andre Tanguay

Rodney Witel

Paul Franceschini

James Lotz

James W Jones

Ying Zhang

Mike Nelson

A method of creating a signal encoded with a message for transmission from a line unit to a switch unit in a network element of a communication network includes arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous bytes of traffic and arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling wherein there is one nibble of signaling for each byte of traffic.

Backplane bus

A point-to-point system for connecting a line card to a switching card using a transmission rate measured in gigabits per second.

Traffic is transported within a system in the form of TDM packets. These packets are generated at source line units and transported from the line units to a switch. The switch routes the packets to appropriate target line units based on information contained within the packet. At the switch, packets from the source line units may be merged. A gather function relies on each of the line units sourcing packets to exclusively drive lines at software-assigned timeslots within the packet. The switch performs a simple OR function of each byte in merging the packet payloads.

Traffic merging system

A network element can be configured for connection to any portion of a communication network: access, transport and core. Moreover, a single network element can be configured to couple subscriber equipment directly to the core portion of the network, thereby permitting the subscriber to bypass the transport portion of the network. Specifically, such a network element can be configured to include a line unit that supports subscriber equipment (also called a &ldquo;subscriber line unit&rdquo;), and also to include a line unit to support a link to the core of the communication network (also called a &ldquo;core line unit&rdquo;). The subscriber line unit and core line unit are both installed in a single chassis, and each unit can be installed in any of a number of slots in the chassis. Moreover, when configured with appropriate line units, such a network element may support traditional circuit-switched telephony services while simultaneously delivering packet-based voice or data services. The network element provides multi-class service over the entire range of the network because it employs a common switch fabric for handling both synchronous and asynchronous traffic over a common bus.

Concurrent switching of synchronous and asynchronous traffic

A variable rate subscriber bus is adaptable to carry communications traffic in the forms of DS0, T1 or DS1 formats between a channel bank and a channel card at any one of a plurality of predetermined data rates. The data rate for the variable rate subscriber bus is selected according to the type and capacity of the channel card. The variable rate subscriber bus is capable of supporting high data rate traffic for high density channel cards while maintaining compatibility with conventional low density channel cards.

Variable rate subscriber bus

A method of scheduling a plurality of time multiplexed cells and a plurality of asynchronous cells in a temporal frame, which consists of first and second subframes, comprises the steps of assigning the time multiplexed cells or clusters of time multiplexed cells interspersed by a first plurality of asynchronous cells to the first frame and assigning a second plurality of asynchronous cells to the second subframe.

Method of scheduling time division multiplex (TDM) cells in a synchronous optical network (SONET) frame

A method of sequencing a plurality of cells in a superframe consisting of a plurality of frames in a temporal sequence comprises the steps of assigning one of the frames as a marker frame, assigning one of the time multiplexed cells in the marker frame as a marker cell, and coding the header bytes in the marker cell with header data. Alternatively, each of the time multiplexed cells may contain the header data without designating a marker cell.

Method of sequencing time division multiplex (TDM) cells in a synchronous optical network (sonet) frame

A queuing apparatus for avoiding address collision in a plurality of frames received from different interfaces includes a queuing memory 2, an address collision detector 16 which generates a frame offset for a succeeding frame colliding with its preceding frame, and a frame offset device 14 coupled to the address collision detector 16 to offset the address of the succeeding frame in response to detecting the address collision. A method of queuing the frames includes the steps of detecting an address collision between the preceding and the succeeding frames and repositioning at least some of the frames to eliminate the address collision.

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Novato, CA, United States of America

Brian Semple