Lucent Technologies Inc.

At+t Corp.

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Thomas H Daugherty

Dennis L DeBruler

David J Hodgdon

Daniel S Greenberg

Douglas J Murphy

Yong-Kwan Park

Venkataraman Swaminathan

Naresh Chand

Dale Eugene Stone

Wouterus Muys

Cary A Strohecker, Sr

Lyla R Meader

S Mark Klerer

Rand J Edwards

Gary M Berkowitz

Barbara J Daugherty

This invention is a new communication system in which multichannel broadcast digital services are distributed to each user with the broadcast services signal riding in the passband above a digital baseband signal. The system can deliver more than 1 Gbps additional bandwidth to each subscriber. The passband bandwidth will accommodate growth in downstream services including video on demand, higher speed web downloads including improved streaming audio and video, HDTV, interactive video, and personalized video. The invention requires only a single fiber path and a single optical receiver for each user or group of users. A single fiber, single optical receiver system is much less expensive than two systems, one transmitting baseband and the other passband. A single receiver is greatly cost beneficial to achieving economical fiber to the home.

Optical communication system optically combining both baseband and passband signals

An operations facility is provided for administering unsubscribed telephone lines and conserving the use of the phone numbers associated with such lines by associating a plurality of unsubscribed lines with the same telephone number and same switch line termination point. Advantageously, then, a plurality of unsubscribed lines may be inexpensively provisioned with soft dial tone, thereby allowing a potential telephone subscriber to interactively subscribe to and activate telephone service from an unsubscribed line. Moreover, the application of soft dial tone may be used to identify a network access endpoint that is being used by a customer, and thus improve the accuracy of the contents of databases used by the operations facility in the provisioning of telephone service by identifying incorrect data.

Method for dynamically provisioning telephone service

An improved topsheet for use in absorbent articles such as sanitary pads. The topsheet comprises a three-dimensional hydrophilic formed film having a plurality of openings leading from a surface of the topsheet to an absorbent core. The topsheet presents a more comfortable and dryer surface which contacts the wearer and a clean, dry appearance to the wearer. The clean, dry appearance is obtained by employing an opacifying agent in the film. The openings comprise tapered capillaries having a base in the surface plane of the topsheet and an apex remote from the surface plane of the topsheet. Each apex is in intimate contact with the absorbent core. In a preferred arrangement, the hydrophilic polymer film topsheet comprises Nylon 6, Nylon 6 and polyetheramide, or other resins having chemistries similar to nylon.

Apertured hydrophilic polymer film topsheet with improved absorbency and

A communications switch communicates a message to a particular access network endpoint by forwarding an identification of that endpoint along with the message, link-by-link, through the access network, the forwarding being accomplished by using previously stored routing information identifying, at the switch and at each cross-connection point, a particular downstream link over which the endpoint can ultimately be reached. The links connecting the cross-connection points are multiplexed links supporting digital loop carrier and fiber-in-the-loop communications. The routing information is generated and stored automatically by having each network element report information about itself upstream into the network.

Method and apparatus for establishing connections in a communications

A communications switch communicates a message to a particular access network endpoint by forwarding an identification of that endpoint along with the message, link-by-link, through the access network, the forwarding being accomplished by using previously stored routing information identifying, at the switch and at each cross-connection point, a particular downstream link over which the endpoint can ultimately be reached. The links connecting the cross-connection points am time-division-multiplexed links supporting digital loop carrier and fiber-in-the-loop communications. The routing information is generated and stored automatically by having each network element report information about itself upstream into the network.

Communications access network routing

A digital subscriber loop transmission system is disclosed through which a number of remote subscribers are serviced with a smaller number of time division channels. The digital transmission system includes an automatic channel testing unit which selects digital channels one at a time and in sequence for a series of automatic tests. Channels which fail these tests are withdrawn from service. One such test involves ringing and automatic number identification circuits by means of which subscribers' telephones are rung and the off-hook subscriber on a two-party line is identified, both by the use of supervisory codes in the digital pulse stream. These supervisory codes are used to test the supervisory circuits themselves and, incidentally, large portions of the overall system.

Testing of digital systems

Growing community of inventors

Succasunna, NJ, United States of America

Thomas H Daugherty