Nortel Networks Corporation

Rockstar Bidco, LP

Chung Cheung C Chu

Rafi Rabipour

David G Sloan

Paul Boudreaux

William Navarro

Pierre Gendron

David Brombal

Data communication apparatus including a port and a control entity. The control entity is operative to establish a connection with a remote entity over a first path and negotiate with the remote entity using in-band signaling over the first path establishment of a second path allowing the exchange of data between the data communication apparatus and the remote entity. The invention presents advantages from the standpoint of ease of implementation and bandwidth and resource savings. The use of an in-band messaging protocol to negotiate a establishment of the second path can be implemented generally in a straight forward manner. At the same time, the ability to transfer at least part of the connection to the second path avoids the drawbacks that would arise if that part of the connection were constrained to the first path. This feature allows the operator to take advantage of benefits provided by the second path but not available to the first path.

Methods and apparatus for data communication

Apparatus communicating with a mobile and a remote base station. The mobile is assumed to have a coding unit capable of operating in at least one mode selected from a set, each mode in the set being associated with a coding requirement. The set is characterized in that it has at least one mode that is associated with a greater coding requirement than a 'designated' mode. Also, the apparatus comprises a control entity suitable to establish a tandem-free transfer of data received from the mobile to the remote base station. The control entity is operative to send control information to the mobile to cause the coding unit therein to operate in the designated mode prior to establishment of the tandem-free transfer. By forcing the mobile to operate in the designated mode, it is guaranteed that the tandem-free transfer can be achieved.

TFO-capable communication apparatus

A communication apparatus having a communication interface for communicating with a first remote entity, the first remote entity including a decoder capable of decoding data encoded according to a first encoding format. The communication apparatus includes a control entity operative to detect an attempt by a second remote entity to establish a TFO connection with the communication apparatus via the communication interface, for sending to the first remote entity, via the communication apparatus data encoded according to a second encoding format, different from the first encoding format, where the decoder at the first remote entity is incompatible with data encoded according to the second encoding format. When the control entity detects such an attempt, it enables a converter to convert data encoded according to the second encoding format received from the second remote entity into data encoded according to the first encoded format, and sends the data encoded according to the first encoded format to the first remote entity via the communication interface.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling the transition of a bypass capable codec between operative modes, based on a certain characteristic of the audio data signal processed by the codec. The apparatus relies on a control signal to determine when the codec will switch from one mode to another. This control signal reflects a characteristic of the audio data signal received at the apparatus, such as the type of speech activity or the format of the audio data signal. When in the active (non-bypass) mode, the apparatus relies on an additional control signal to switch to the inactive (bypass) mode. This additional control signal is received from a control unit at a remote codec that indicates that the remote codec is also bypass capable, hence the decoder at the first codec and the encoder at the remote codec can switch to the inactive mode to pass between them the compressed data frames.

Method and apparatus for controlling the transition of an audio signal converter between two operative modes based on a certain characteristic of the audio input signal

A signal processor for effecting the conversion of an audio data signal from one format to another. The signal processor has a signal converter that can selectively acquire two operative modes, namely a first operative mode and a second operative mode. In the first operative mode, the signal converter transforms the audio data signal from one format to another and releases the converted audio data signal from the output of the signal processor. In the second operative mode, the signal converter is disabled and permits passage of the audio data signal to the output without conversion. The signal processor has a control unit for controlling the transition of the signal converter between operative modes. The control unit enables the signal converter to pass from the first operative mode to the second operative mode when at least one operating condition has been satisfied. The control unit reacts to a link impairment occurring on the data communication channel to alter the operating condition to be satisfied to enable passage from the first operative mode to the second operative mode. In a specific example of implementation, the modification to the operating condition can be such as to &ldquo;tighten&rdquo; the requirements to be met for switching from the first to the second operative mode.

Method and apparatus for controlling the transition of an audio converter between two operative modes in the presence of link impairments in a data communication channel

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting control information over an audio data stream, such as PCM coded speech information. The device comprises a control unit having two inputs receiving the PCM speech samples and control information signal. Each PCM sample is made up of a plurality of bits arranged according to different significance positions, such as position _N, where N&plus;1 is the number of bits in the sample. The control unit receives a selected sample and shifts a bit at a selected significance position to a lower significance position. The empty slot at the predetermined significance position is used to receive a bit from the control information signal. The compound signal thus obtained is then released over a transport path, such as a T link, for transmission to a remote location. At the receiver, the control information bit is extracted from the selected sample at the predetermined significance position, and the PCM speech sample is recovered by shifting upwardly at least one bit at a significance position lower than the selected significance position.

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Brossard, Canada

Chung Cheung C Chu