Lucent Technologies Inc.

At+t Corp.

At&t Bell Laboratories

Peter Allen Dempsey

Stuart Warmink

Robert W DeMarco

Salvatore John Iaccarino

Michael P Bottiglieri

Jay Wang

Chandan Sarkar

Daniel John Goudzwaard

Gordon Douglas Woods

Robert D Trachtenberg

Kyoo J Lee

Roger Henry Levy

Andrew Bennett Struble

Stephen L Kay

John H Blevin

Kin Ling Leung

Raphael Jimenez

Lakshmanan Parameswaran

Clifford B Stern

Davinderjit Singh Kohli

Reducing code size of debug output statements

A computer system runs an applications program generated by an object-oriented software development program. A state transition is made to a state of the applications program from an outside state. All state transitions to the state from outside states are connected to an input of a transition merge point of the state. A merge transition of the merge point is selected in response to the state transition and the merge transition transitions back to the state, wherein the merge transition contains merge transition code which executes during the merge transition.

Single-shot entry code for software state transition

A computer system comprises an active processor and one or more spare processors. A dummy thread is created on the active processor while the active processor is running a current thread, causing the current thread to become dormant. The operating system of the active processor saves a set of internal state information for the current thread into a first memory coupled to the active processor. Each write to the first memory is duplicated in an equivalent spare memory coupled to each of the one or more spare processors. The dummy thread then activates the spare processor and de-activates the active processor.

State transfer with throw-away thread

A data system, such as a computer network or a telecommunications system, has a base station and a number of nodes called network interface units (NIUs). Each NIU is assigned to one of a number of groups of NIUs. The base station transmits special data to the NIUs indicating which groups of NIUs are currently authorized to transmit upstream messages to the base station, where only the authorized NIUs are allowed to transmit upstream messages. When message collisions in the upstream direction becomes a problem, the base station can reduce the number of NIU groups that are authorized at any given time to transmit upstream messages, in order to attempt to reduce the rate of message collisions. In one possible embodiment, each NIU is assigned horizontal and vertical group words that identify to which group it is assigned. The special data contain additional horizontal and vertical code words that are monitored by the NIUs. If the bits in the downstream code words appropriately match the corresponding bits in the NIU's assigned group words, then the NIU recognizes that it is authorized to transmit upstream messages to the base station. Otherwise, it is not. The horizontal and vertical code words correspond to two-dimensional patterns that indicate which subset of NIU groups are authorized at any given time. By cycling through a series of 2D patterns, the base station ensures that each NIU is authorized at least some of the time. Depending on the number of bits in the code words, a back-off scheme can be designed with different back-off levels, each of which authorizes a different number of groups to transmit. The base station can progressively decrease the rate of upstream transmission by selecting back-off levels with fewer and fewer NIU groups authorized to transmit.

Bandwidth control in a packet-based data system

A method and apparatus for switching from an active to a standby controller in a redundant duplex carrier system without requiring retransmission of messages in progress during the switch. A main processor in the standby controller is periodically switched and made the active controller to ensure reliability of the system. The main processor in the active controller stops sending messages for a period of time before switching control to the standby controller. The main processor in the standby controller delays initiating any new communications until any current messages have been completed from the active controller. The main processor of the standby controller then retrieves any unprocessed messages that may have been sent to the active controller just before or during the switch from the active controller to the standby controller. The delay of new messages and retrieval of any unprocessed messages ensures that no data will be lost during the switch, thus removing the need for retransmission.

Method and apparatus for error free switching in a redundant duplex communication carrier system

Disclosed is a circuit and method for utilizing FLASH devices as nonvolatile storage elements. Information is modified by adding a new block of data at another location in the memory rather than writing over the outdated information. An address pointer locates the latest information for each data file.

Flash memory device employing unused cell arrays to update files

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for identifying remote terminals which are networked in a digital loop transmission system. A Site Interface Unit (SIU) at one of the remote terminals acts as a master. The Bank Controller Unit (BCU) at each remote terminal calculates a 16-bit number based on its 60-byte serial number. A binary search is then performed by the SIU to determine the calculated number of each BCU, and an address is assigned to each remote terminal by the SIU. Any conflicts in the numbers initially calculated are resolved by transmission of the full 60-byte serial number.

Address management for remote terminals in digital loop transmission

A remote terminal for a subscriber loop carrier network operates by flow from one to another of units in the terminal of time division multiplexer data streams of binary valued digital bits. Each stream has the format of periodic frames of time slots of which each frame consists of (a) a service time slot containing only service bits, and (b) a plurality of customer slots which contain mostly bits coded with data from customers of the network, but which also include a less number of service bits. Each unit includes encoding means responsive to local synchronizing and clock pulses derived from data incoming to the unit to encode on each frame of the outgoing data stream synchronizing information consisting of (c) a synchronizing pattern comprising a coded sequence of service bits localized in the frame's service slot and (d) a spoiler pattern formed of service bits distributed over customer slots in the frame. The spoiler pattern is interrelated with the synchronizing pattern so that no fortuitous bit sequence occurring in the stream and including any bit beating customer data can falsely duplicate the synchronizing pattern. Each unit also includes decoding means responsive to the presence of synchronizing patterns in an incoming data stream to produce signals for synchronizing the operation of that unit with the pre-established timing of the incoming stream. Such units may be circuit cards having mounted thereon encoding and decoding means in the form of semiconductive integrated circuits and including binary counters used to implement the encoding and decoding functions.

Synchronization related to data streams

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Convent Station, NJ, United States of America

Peter Allen Dempsey