Lucent Technologies Inc.

Alcatel Lucent

Agere Systems Inc.

Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.

Agere Systems Guardian Corp.

Enrique Hernandez-Valencia

Bharat Tarachand Doshi

Mooi Choo Chuah

Subrahmanyam Dravida

Yung-Terng Wang

Donald E Blahut

On-Ching Yue

Kotikalapudi Sriram

Ronald L Sharp

Murali Krishnaswamy

Jon Anderson

James D Bobeck

James S Manchester

Robert William Dalton

Nevin R Jones

Sanjiv Nanda

Wing Cheong Lau

Kirk K Chang

Wei Luo

Roger Levy

Roger Henry Levy

A user accesses the Internet through a hybrid data communications system architecture in which upstream service is provided via the local loop of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and downstream service is provided via a cable television (CATV) network. The Cable Modem Data Termination system (CMTS) includes a routing table. Upon detection of a CATV service interruption, the CMTS re-routes IP traffic destined for a destination IP address (IP) associated with the user to a different IP address, or endpoint, as a function of the routing table. In this instance, the different IP address is associated with equipment that provides downstream IP service to the user via the local loop of the PSTN.

Internet protocol based network architecture for cable television network access with switched fallback

A fiber channel (FC) signal representing block encoded data is applied to a block decoder, which removes the block encoding from the data. The data is then applied to a simplified data link (SDL) protocol encoder, which maps the data into an SDL protocol packet for transmission over a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network)-based transport medium.

Mapping of block-encoded data formats onto a bit/byte synchronous transport medium

A simplified data link protocol which may be implemented in a very high-speed transmission system, e.g., SONET, processes a datagram received from an IP facility according to QoS considerations and scrambles a datagram before it is again scrambled by a transmission system, e.g., a SONET transmitter, to ensure that the pattern of a user's data does not match the transmission scrambling pattern. The data link protocol scrambler also employs a novel synchronization scheme. We also use a pointer system which identifies the location of a datagram in a frame to eliminate flags and the need to process user data to ensure that it does not contain and a boundary flag.

Simplified data link protocol processor

The present invention sets forth a methodology for providing improved downlink backhaul services from a radio network controller (RNC) to a plurality of base stations via a backhaul network that provides Ethernet services. The Ethernet services are provided by a group of provider edge (PE) switches and regular label switch routers (referred to as P switches). Base stations within the network are assigned into clusters, each of the clusters having a cluster ID. The RNC transmits packets to a given switch or switches out on the network based on a cluster ID included within the transmitted packet. The communications traffic is then multicast from at least one last hop switch in the network to candidate base stations on the basis of the cluster ID and an active set within the cluster. Advantageously, the clusters act as subgroups for more easily directing the transmission of the backhaul multicast traffic. Significant advantages are realized through use of the present invention, including the ability to allow faster and smoother handoffs, as well as backhaul bandwidth savings since intelligence regarding cell switching is extended out at a point farther along the network than was previously enabled.

Backhaul multicasting using Ethernet-based radio access networks

A fibre channel (FC) signal representing block encoded data is applied to a block decoder, which removes the block encoding from the data. The data is then applied to a simplified data link (SDL) protocol encoder, which maps the data into an SDL protocol packet for transmission over a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network)-based transport medium.

A time division multiplexed communications method and system in which time is divided into a number of frames and each frame is divided into N data bursts. The method and system further has a first multiplexer by which a half rate channel is formed as a series of bursts that occur periodically every N bursts once per frame, a second multiplexer in which a full rate channel is formed as two half rate channels on consecutive timeslots, and a transmitter transmitting the full rate channel from a first wireless station to a second wireless station. The full rate channel provided by two half rate channels on consecutive timeslots yields a significantly larger resource pool available for assignment of communication traffic. For full rate channels, the interleaving 0246/1357 method that is used by the system is just as good as the known 0123/4567 method when ideal frequency hopping is used, and the 0246/1357 method performs better when non-ideal frequency hopping or no frequency hopping is used.

Method and system for interleaving of full rate channels suitable for half duplex operation and statistical multiplexing

The specification relates to a device and method utilized for packaging voice data (and other delay critical 'connection' or 'flow' type application data) for point-to-point transport from one Packet Circuit Gateway (PCG) to a second PCG over Label Switching Routers (LSRs) within an Internet Protocol (IP) network; the beneficial aspects of the packaging format being: (i) a reduced overhead requirement when compared to conventional IP telephony due to inclusion of a switching label in lieu of an appended IP header, thereby increasing network bandwidth efficiency, and (ii) the increased transport speed associated with layer two label switching when compared to layer three forwarding.

Point-to-point data transport over the internet utilizing label switching without IP headers

Multilink PPP is enhanced to provide for a more flexible quality of service (QoS) support in a wireless environment. In particular, multilink PPP is enhanced to enable a packet interface, or packet endpoint, to transmit a message to an opposite PPP peer, where the message identifies the number, and type, of classes on a particular PPP link. Two new messages are defined for use in the IP control protocol (IPCP) phase of a multilink PPP connection: a &ldquo;non-Sharing QoS Negotiation&rdquo; option message, and a &ldquo;QoS-Enhanced Multilink Header Format&rdquo; option message.

Quality of service (QoS) enhancement to multilink point-to-point protocol (PPP)

A quality of service guarantee for voice and other delay sensitive transmissions within an Internet Protocol (IP) network is provided by identifying the IP network path utilized for IP packet transmission between source and destination edge devices and virtually provisioning IP network path bandwidth for priority voice traffic. Priority for voice packets and admission control of new voice calls (and other delay sensitive traffic) based on the remaining available capacity over the IP network path guarantees that high priority voice (and other delay sensitive traffic) meet stringent delay requirements. A Virtual Provisioning Server is utilized to maintain bandwidth capacity data for each path segment within the IP network and to forward the bandwidth capacity data to a Signaling Gateway. The Signaling Gateway determines whether to accept or reject an additional delay sensitive traffic component based upon available bandwidth capacity for an IP network path. The Signaling Gateway then signals the originating source edge device as to its determination to accept or reject. Quality of Service guarantees concerning acceptable delay and jitter characteristics for real-time transmission over an IP network are therefore provided without the need to directly signal the individual IP routers over which an IP network path is established.

Method for providing quality of service for delay sensitive traffic over IP networks

An ATM network element receives a stream of data associated with a particular user. This data stream is further partitioned into frames and ATM cells. A predefined traffic set is associated with the user. The ATM network element evaluates the received data stream for conformance to the user's traffic set at every frame boundary. If a particular frame is conforming, the ATM network element provides a predefined quality of service (QoS) to the user. If a particular frame is non-conforming (and hence there is no commitment to the user of the corresponding QoS), the next (future) frame is evaluated only on the basis of the traffic characteristics of past conforming frames and the future frame. That is, past non-conforming user generated traffic is not used to determine any QoS commitments to future user generated traffic.

Conformance definitions for guaranteed frame rate service

An ATM network element receives a stream of data associated with a particular user. This data stream is further partitioned into frames and ATM cells. A predefined traffic set is associated with the user. The ATM network element evaluates the received data stream for conformance to the user's traffic set at every frame boundary. The Payload Type Indicator (PTI) of an ATM cell header is used to indicate whether that cell belongs to a non-conforming frame or a conforming frame. In particular, if a frame is determined to be non-conforming, the ATM network element sets the PTI field of at least the end-of-frame cell (i.e., the cell with the UUI bit set to one in AAL5), to a predefined code representative of non-conforming (hereafter referred to as an NCF code). As a result, downstream network elements are able to determine which of the currently buffered cells belong to a non-conforming frame by looking at both the PTI field and the frame boundary marker (UUI bit). For instance, if a downstream network element determines that the end-of-frame cell belongs to a non-conforming frame, any of the cells from that frame may be discarded from a buffer irrespective of the PTI field status of the other user data cells for that frame.

Non-conformance indicator for the guaranteed frame rate service

A user accesses the Internet through a hybrid data communications system architecture in which upstream service is provided via the local loop of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and downstream service is provided via a cable television (CATV) network. The Cable Modem Data Termination system (CMTS) includes a routing table. Upon detection of a CATV service interruption, the CMTS re-routes IP traffic destined for a destination IP address (IP1) associated with the user to a different IP address, or endpoint, as a function of the routing table. In this instance, the different IP address is associated with equipment that provides downstream IP service to the user via the local loop of the PSTN.

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Highlands, NJ, United States of America

Enrique Hernandez-Valencia