Raza Microelectronics, Inc.

Rmi Corporation

Khalid Seikh

Tushar Ramanlal Shah

Thomas Yat Chung Woo

Chandrasekaran Nageswara Gupta

Debaditya Mukherjee

Addepalli Sateesh Kumar

Jai Prakash Agrawal

Hari Sarvotham Nallan Chakravarthula

To more fully utilize the available bandwidth of a network link, network nodes in accordance with the present invention allow TDM data to be combined with packet data. A Packet/TDM cross connect switch, having both a TDM switch and a packet switch, is used in these embodiments. Data packets are transformed into TDM packet columns. The TDM packet columns are combined with standard TDM data columns in the payload of a TDM data frame. Data packets may be sorted based on a priority scheme, in which high priority data packets are given precedence over lower priority data. However, both high priority and low priority may be combined in a TDM packet column.

Dynamic mixing TDM data with data packets

To better utilize the variable bandwidth of wireless links, a network node in accordance with the present invention escapes rigid bandwidth hierarchy of conventional TDM protocols, which is not suited for fully using the available bandwidth of a wireless link. Specifically, many embodiments of the present invention use TDM frames that have payloads, which do not strictly conform to the bandwidth hierarchy of conventional TDM protocols. For example, many embodiments of the present invention form TDM frames having a payload that is a non-integer multiple of a base bandwidth, such as OC-1/STS-1.

Method of generating, transmitting, receiving and recovering synchronous frames with non-standard speeds

The versatility provided by network nodes in accordance with the present invention allows the formation of networks using different types of links, links with differing bandwidth, data rates, and bit error rates, as well as both asymmetric and symmetric links. For example, a network can include a first network node coupled to a second network node with a wireless link. The network can include a third network node coupled to the second network node an optical link and coupled to the first network node by a wireless link. A fourth network node can be easily inserted between the third network node and the third network node using wireless links. The optical link between the second and third network nodes can operate at one bandwidth and the various wireless links would operate at other bandwidths depending on the environmental conditions between each pair of nodes.

Hybrid network to carry synchronous and asynchronous traffic over symmetric and asymmetric links

To provide the quality and reliability of a fiber optic link over a wireless link, network nodes in accordance with the present invention include a link quality management unit, which controls multiple transmission parameters of a wireless interface in response variable link conditions. For example, the link quality management unit of one embodiment of the present invention controls transmission power, modulation, and error correction. In general, a receiving network node provides feedback to a transmitting network node. Thus, in many embodiments of the present invention, the link quality management unit includes a signal quality detector, which measures a signal quality value, such as bit error rate, signal to noise ratio, or error vector magnitude. The measured signal quality is transmitted back to the transmitting node so that appropriate changes can be made to the transmission parameters.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Khalid Seikh