Adtran Gmbh

Walter Stuart Venters

Troy Wayne White

Richard Lee Goodson

David Perkinson

Daniel Patrick Day

Methods, systems, and apparatus for preserving timing domains of different communications types of signals in a telecommunications network are disclosed. In one aspect a network element (NE) includes a receiver configured to receive communications signals of two different communications types. The NE can include a timing analyzer configured to obtain a local reference clock (LRC), detect two different received reference clocks (RRCs) corresponding to the two different communications types, and for each received communications signal, determine a quantized value (QV) based on a difference between the LRC and the RRC. The NE can include a timing generator configured to generate, for the received communications signal, a transmit reference clock (TRC) that is referenced to, but different from, each of the LRC and the QV. The NE can include a transmitter configured to output an output signal based on the received communications signal and the TRC for the received communications signal.

Timing preservation for network communications

An interworking function (IWF) is coupled to a switch of a packet network and communicates with the network switch based on an Ethernet clock signal or some other type of clock signal. A primary reference clock (PRC) of the network generates a PRC signal, and a timing analyzer determines timing information indicative of timing relationships between the Ethernet clock signal and the PRC signal. The timing analyzer periodically transmits such timing information, and the IWF uses the timing information to generate a PRC signal that is traceable to the network PRC signal.

Systems and methods for enabling clock signal synchronization

A binary decision tree-based arbitration scheme executable by a control processor of a time division multiplex (TDM)-based communication system is operative to select the next packet to be transmitted from a plurality of virtual circuits, any number of which may have one or more packets awaiting transmission over a serialized digital communication link. The transmission priority scheme contains N+1 sets of nodes containing 2&#x2212;1 nodes. A respective ith set of nodes comprises 2nodes, wherein i is greater than or equal to 1, and less than or equal to N+1. The nodes of a given set are connected to those of an adjacent set by binary-split branches. For each of the 2leaf nodes of the decision tree, information is stored representative of the transmission priority of a packet awaiting transmission from its associated communication port. In addition, associated with each node branching to respective pairs of downstream nodes (toward the virtual circuit ports) is a 'pointer' code that points to whichever one of its two branched nodes is associated with a higher packet transmission priority. As one traverses the decision tree along sequentially split branch paths from the highest priority leaf node toward the root node, the pointer code of the next immediately adjacent upstream node will always point to the node-branch path leading to the highest priority leaf node. Thus, the root node will point to the leaf node having the highest transmission priority.

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Huntsville, AL, United States of America

Walter Stuart Venters