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:
May. 30, 2006
Filed:
Jul. 14, 2000
Chris R Noel, Acton, MA (US);
Corey Simons, Waltham, MA (US);
Joseph D Kidder, Arlington, MA (US);
Nicholas a Langrind, Carlisle, MA (US);
Brian Branscomb, Hopkinton, MA (US);
Jonathan D Madsen, Arlington, MA (US);
Chris R Noel, Acton, MA (US);
Corey Simons, Waltham, MA (US);
Joseph D Kidder, Arlington, MA (US);
Nicholas A Langrind, Carlisle, MA (US);
Brian Branscomb, Hopkinton, MA (US);
Jonathan D Madsen, Arlington, MA (US);
CIENA Corporation, Linthicum, MD (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides an upper layer network device with one or more physical layer data test ports. The data supplied to the test ports reflects the data received by the network device with minimal modification and no upper layer translation or processing, and supplying the data to the test ports does not impact or disrupt the service provided by the network device. Only a small portion of the network device need be operable to send data to the test ports. In addition, the test ports are programmable while the network device is operating and without impacting its operation. Moreover, because the test ports are programmable—that is, they are not dedicated—they may be re-programmed for normal device operation.