Nortel Networks Corporation

John Andrew Shotton

Simon Daniel Brueckheimer

David John Stacey

Andrew Geoffrey Tomlins

Fai Tsang

Martin Sproat

Greg M Bernstein

Michael Thomas

Julian Frank Barry Cable

Stephen Rylant Evans

William Smith

Osama Bhagat

A method of adapting synchronous time division multiplexed (TDM) traffic at an interface between a synchronous network in which the traffic is transported in frames identified by corresponding pointers and labels and an asynchronous network in which the adapted traffic is transported in cells, the method comprising mapping said synchronous frames into primary multiplexed groups, mapping each said primary multiplexed group into traffic cells in a respective asynchronous virtual channel, and providing that virtual circuit with a corresponding virtual channel indicator, and wherein said pointers and labels are mapped into one or more separate asynchronous cells for transport ahead or said traffic cells.

Communications network

A method and apparatus for handling persistence measurement of channel associated signaling for a plurality of line circuits, eg, T1, E1, OC3, STM 1 circuits, which extracts channel associated signaling data from a plurality of line circuits; assembles the channel associated signaling data into a data frame; contains the data frame in a suitable carrier, eg, an AAL 0 cell; monitors a continuous stream of the data frames, to check for changes in line status; and generates an event message data frame when a persistent change of line state has been detected. The extracting of associated signaling data may be provided on a separate card to a call control processor, and using separate processor functionality. A data processing load of a prior art call control processor which would otherwise be taken up in channel associated signaling persistence measurements may be alleviated, and the data processing burden on a prior art call control processor for handling persistence measurements is separated off and handled by the data processing apparatus and method according to the present disclosure.

Automated line signal processing

In order to support both signalling processing on a per channel basis and multiple adaptation protocols, an interface (,) is modularised principally by function. Incident channels (,, Ch,&mdash;Ch,) are applied to a routing device (,) that consults a connection map (,) to determine an appropriate path, via an interface (,), for signal processing of each channel, as shown in FIG.,. Modularised processing platforms (,) each contain a number of signal processors (,), with each processing platform providing an additional level of indirection with respect to channel handling. In this latter respect, one of the signal processors (,) on each platform is assigned to distribute channel processing to appropriately configured other ones of the signal processors and such that signal processing functions may be distributed between the other ones (,) of the signal processors. The present invention is particularly useful in relation to a narrowband-broadband interface to support differing adaptation protocols that require different signal processing functions and also to vary signal processing capabilities on a per call basis.

Adaption resource module and operating method therefor

Growing community of inventors

Wickford, United Kingdom

John Andrew Shotton