Patent US4698806A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
← Back to Patent Explorer
US4698806A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Frame alignment of tributaries of a t.d.m. bit stream

Assignee: Nortel Networks Ltd
•
Filing: 1986-01-24
•
Granted: 1987-10-06
•
Expires: 2006-01-24
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A frame alignment method and apparatus are disclosed for aligning the t.d.m. frames of tributaries, each including channel bytes synchronously multiplexed with a frame synchronizing byte, which are byte-interleaved to form overall t.d.m. frames identified by a frame synchronizing word, the tributaries having arbitrary frame phases with respect to one another. A channel counter is reset in response to the frame synchronizing word, and for each tributary in response to the frame synchronizing byte the count of the channel counter is used to determine an offset value which is stored in a memory. Each byte of each tributary is stored in a RAM at an address determined by substracting the respective tributary offset from the current count of the channel counter, whereby the tributaries are stored in the RAM in a frame-aligned manner. Reading of the tributary bytes can be effected sequentially or via a connection memory providing a time switching function.

Inventors

  • 👤 Alan F. Graves
  • 👤 Paul A. Littlewood

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-26 20:00
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04J; H04J3/00; H04J3/02; H04J3/06; H04J3/0602; H04J3/062; H04J3/0626; H04J3/0629

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 116 words
A method of aligning t.d.m. frames of a plurality of byte-interleaved tributaries which are multiplexed together with arbitrary relative frame phases in t.d.m. frames each including a frame synchronizing word, each tributary including a frame synchronizing byte which includes frame synchronizing information for the tributary, comprising the steps of: for each tributary, determining an offset of the frame synchronizing byte of the tributary relative to the frame synchronizing word; and storing each byte of each tributary in a memory at an address determined by the position of the byte in the t.d.m. frame modified by the offset for the tributary; whereby the bytes can be read sequentially from the memory with the tributary t.d.m. frames aligned.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 116 words
A method of aligning t.d.m. frames of a plurality of byte-interleaved tributaries which are multiplexed together with arbitrary relative frame phases in t.d.m. frames each including a frame synchronizing word, each tributary including a frame synchronizing byte which includes frame synchronizing information for the tributary, comprising the steps of: for each tributary, determining an offset of the frame synchronizing byte of the tributary relative to the frame synchronizing word; and storing each byte of each tributary in a memory at an address determined by the position of the byte in the t.d.m. frame modified by the offset for the tributary; whereby the bytes can be read sequentially from the memory with the tributary t.d.m. frames aligned.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 112 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of determining the offset for each tributary comprises the steps of: counting bytes of the multiplexed tributaries; detecting the frame synchronizing word; resetting the count to a predetermined value in response to detection of the frame synchronizing word; and in response to the frame synchronizing byte of each tributary, storing a value which is dependent upon the current count and which represents the offset for the tributary; the method including the step of producing an address, for storage of each byte of each tributary in the memory, from the current count and the stored value representing the offset for the respective tributary.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 46 words
A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the step of producing the address for storage of each byte of each tributary comprises the step of subtracting the offset represented by the stored value for the respective tributary from the current count to produce said address.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 51 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 and including the steps of: providing addresses for reading bytes sequentially from the memory; addressing a connection memory with said addresses to read out modified addresses from the connection memory; and addressing the first mentioned memory with said modified addresses for reading bytes therefrom.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 166 words
Frame alignment apparatus comprising: a random access memory for storing, at respective addresses, bytes of a t.d.m. frame of byte-interleaved tributaries, each tributary comprising a t.d.m. frame including a frame synchronizing byte having an arbitrary phase with respect to the other tributaries; counting means for counting bytes of the t.d.m. frame of byte-interleaved tributaries; means for detecting a frame synchronizing word of the t.d.m. frame of byte-interleaved tributaries and for resetting the counting means in response to such detection; memory means responsive to the frame synchronizing byte of each tributary for storing for the respective tributary a value which is dependent upon the current count of the counting means and which represents an offset of the respective frame synchronizing byte relative to the frame synchronizing word; and means for reading the respective stored value from the memory means and subtracting the corresponding offset from the current count of the counting means to provide an address for each byte of each tributary in the random access memory.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 166 words
Frame alignment apparatus comprising: a random access memory for storing, at respective addresses, bytes of a t.d.m. frame of byte-interleaved tributaries, each tributary comprising a t.d.m. frame including a frame synchronizing byte having an arbitrary phase with respect to the other tributaries; counting means for counting bytes of the t.d.m. frame of byte-interleaved tributaries; means for detecting a frame synchronizing word of the t.d.m. frame of byte-interleaved tributaries and for resetting the counting means in response to such detection; memory means responsive to the frame synchronizing byte of each tributary for storing for the respective tributary a value which is dependent upon the current count of the counting means and which represents an offset of the respective frame synchronizing byte relative to the frame synchronizing word; and means for reading the respective stored value from the memory means and subtracting the corresponding offset from the current count of the counting means to provide an address for each byte of each tributary in the random access memory.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 38 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 and including: means for providing sequential addresses; and memory means responsive to said sequential addresses for supplying modified addresses for addressing the random access memory for reading bytes of said tributaries therefrom.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 50 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein the means for reading and subtracting provides an address for storage of each byte of each tributary in the randon access memory, whereby the bytes of the tributaries are stored at successive addresses in the random access memory in a frame aligned manner.
Claim 10
Independent Claim 141 words
A method of aligning t.d.m. frames of a plurality of byte-interleaved tributaries which are multiplexed together with arbitrary relative frame phases in t.d.m. frames each including a frame synchronizing word, each tributary including a frame synchronizing byte which includes frame synchronizing information for the tributary, comprising the steps of: for each tributary, determining an offset of the frame synchronizing byte of the tributary relative to the frame synchronizing word; storing each byte of each tributary in a memory; and reading the bytes from the memory with the tributary t.d.m. frames aligned; wherein one of the storing and reading steps is effected sequentially for the respective bytes and the other of the storing and reading steps is effected for each byte at an address determined by the position of the byte in the t.d.m. frame modified by the offset for the tributary.
Claim 11
Independent Claim 141 words
A method of aligning t.d.m. frames of a plurality of byte-interleaved tributaries which are multiplexed together with arbitrary relative frame phases in t.d.m. frames each including a frame synchronizing word, each tributary including a frame synchronizing byte which includes frame synchronizing information for the tributary, comprising the steps of: for each tributary, determining an offset of the frame synchronizing byte of the tributary relative to the frame synchronizing word; storing each byte of each tributary in a memory; and reading the bytes from the memory with the tributary t.d.m. frames aligned; wherein one of the storing and reading steps is effected sequentially for the respective bytes and the other of the storing and reading steps is effected for each byte at an address determined by the position of the byte in the t.d.m. frame modified by the offset for the tributary.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3676599A Cited
US3790716A Cited
US3798378A Cited
US4135060A Cited
US4531210A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1990-10-05 1991-04-06 1991-10-06 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1994-10-05 1995-04-06 1995-10-06 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1998-10-05 1999-04-06 1999-10-06 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag