The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 13, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 17, 1997
Donald M. Bellenger, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);
3Com Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for connecting a plurality of subscriber loops to a pool of modem resources in a way that limits the amount of modem resources that are required. The present invention uses statistical multiplexing, such as is used in Ethernet (instead of a fixed time slot TDM as is used in a telephone system) to connect the plurality of subscriber loops to the modem resources. In order to implement the statistical multiplexing, communications between a plurality of remote modems coupled to a plurality of subscriber loops and modem resources within a central site modem must be flow controlled at the carrier layer, as is done in an Ethernet.