Excel Switching Corporation

Michael E Noonan

Mark P Hebert

James F Allen

Robert H Squires

A telecommunications switching node that includes at least one resource interface card which serves as an interface for connection to external call processing resources. The interface card communicates with the line cards in the switching node directly over the system buses, i.e. without passing through the CPU&bsol;matrix card and it uses two line card ports to connect to all external resources. The resource interface card also communicates with line cards that are connected to the system buses in other switching nodes in an expanded switching network. Its resources are thus available to ports in the other nodes when those nodes have available ports that are not occupied with other tasks. For communications with the latter ports, the resource interface card transmits information through the CPU/matrix cards on its switching node and on the nodes where the communicating ports reside. Thus for communications with ports on its switching node, the interface card receives information on the incoming bus and transmits it on the outgoing bus and for communications with ports on other nodes it receives information on the outgoing bus and transmits it on the incoming bus.

Resource interface unit for telecommunications switching node

A method and apparatus for conferencing two or mores calls in an expandable telecommunications system. The system may include a plurality of nodes connected by an inter-nodal network such that the nodes communicate with each other by exchanging variable-length packets of information. At least one node in the system contains digital signal processing circuitry capable of conferencing the voice information from three or more callers interfaced with the system. Packets containing voice information from each conference participant are preferably transmitted via the inter-nodal network to the node having the requisite digital signal processing circuitry. This node performs a conferencing function on that information, packets the resulting conferenced information and transmits those packets via the inter-nodal network to the nodes interfaced with the conference participants.

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Rochester, MA, United States of America

Michael E Noonan