Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
158 words
A circuit for framing data in a digital transmission line comprising: a buffer coupled to an input signal, said input signal including data and flaming information bits, wherein said buffer is operative to output an output signal derived from said input signal in accordance with an external output clock; a frame aligner coupled to said input signal, wherein said frame aligner is operative to determine which of said data and framing information bits are flaming information bits and to recognize a flaming format created by said framing information bits, said framing format being one of a plurality of predetermined framing format, and wherein said frame aligner is operative to output a frame aligning signal when a framing format is recognized; and an output counter coupled to said frame aligning signal operative to count said data and framing information bits and output a frame synchronization signal in accordance with said output clock when a framing information bit is counted.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
158 words
A circuit for framing data in a digital transmission line comprising: a buffer coupled to an input signal, said input signal including data and flaming information bits, wherein said buffer is operative to output an output signal derived from said input signal in accordance with an external output clock; a frame aligner coupled to said input signal, wherein said frame aligner is operative to determine which of said data and framing information bits are flaming information bits and to recognize a flaming format created by said framing information bits, said framing format being one of a plurality of predetermined framing format, and wherein said frame aligner is operative to output a frame aligning signal when a framing format is recognized; and an output counter coupled to said frame aligning signal operative to count said data and framing information bits and output a frame synchronization signal in accordance with said output clock when a framing information bit is counted.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
A circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said frame aligner includes a plurality of pattern recognizers, each pattern recognizer being operative to recognize at least one of said predetermined framing formats on said input signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
33 words
A circuit as recited in claim 1 further comprising storage means coupled to said frame aligner for storing a count of said data and said framing information bits that identifies said framing information.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
A circuit as recited in claim 3 wherein said input signal includes an input clock portion and an input data portion.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
76 words
A circuit as recited in claim 4 wherein said buffer includes elastic storage means having a write address input coupled to said input clock portion of said input signal, a read address input coupled to an output clock and having a data input coupled to said input data portion, said elastic storage means operative to store a portion of said data and framing information bits to provide said output signal in synchronization with said output clock.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
74 words
A circuit as recited in claim 3 wherein said data and framing information bits are organized into frames of equal amounts of bits, and wherein said storage means maintains a count of bits matched to a pattern associated with each of said framing formats, wherein a plurality of said counts are simultaneously maintained, and wherein said frame aligner utilizes said counts to distinguish framing information bits from data information bits in said input signal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
83 words
A frame alignment apparatus as recited in claim 6 wherein said organization of said data and framing bits into frames of equal amounts of bits is such that each of said frames includes a predetermined number of data and framing bits such that a bit stream is provided for each bit position of said frames, and wherein one of said counts is stored for each of said bit streams of said input signal and for each of said plurality of predetermined framing formats.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
20 words
A circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said output counter is reset when said frame aligning signal is received.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
A circuit as recited in claim 8 wherein said output counter resets after a predetermined number of counts.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
A circuit as recited in claim 9 wherein said output counter outputs said frame synchronization signal when said output counter is reset.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
32 words
A circuit as recited in claim 1 further comprising a frame follower coupled to said frame aligner operative to monitor said input signal and check for errors in said framing information bits.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
A circuit as recited in claim 11 wherein said frame follower includes an input counter coupled to said frame aligning signal for counting said data and said framing information bits and outputting a frame reference signal.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
44 words
A circuit as recited in claim 12 wherein said frame follower includes a frame monitor coupled to said input counter by said frame reference signal and coupled to said input signal, said frame monitor being operative to detect errors in said framing information bits.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
36 words
A circuit as recited in claim 11 further comprising a plurality of input signals and a plurality of frame followers corresponding to said input signals, each of said frame followers coupled to said frame aligning signal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
30 words
A circuit as recited in claim 1 further comprising a signal extractor coupled to said output counter and said output signal for extracting signal information from said framing information bits.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
22 words
A circuit as recited in claim 1 wherein said predetermined framing formats include Superframe, Extended Superframe, T1 Data Multiplexer, and SLC-96 formats.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
23 words
A frame alignment apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein an indication of said recognized flaming format is output in said outputting step.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
154 words
A digital reception apparatus for framing data in a digital transmission line, the apparatus comprising: a buffer coupled to an input signal, said input signal including data bits and framing information bits, wherein said data bits are organized in flames and said framing information bits designate successive flames of said data bits, and wherein said buffer is operative to output data bits derived from said input signal in accordance with an external output clock; a frame aligner coupled to said input signal, said frame aligner being operative to determine one of a plurality of possible framing formats from said data and flaming information bits by determining which of said data and flaming information bits are flaming information bits; and an output counter coupled to said frame aligner for counting said data and framing information bits and for outputting a frame synchronization signal, said frame synchronization signal identifying said flames of said output data bits.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
154 words
A digital reception apparatus for framing data in a digital transmission line, the apparatus comprising: a buffer coupled to an input signal, said input signal including data bits and framing information bits, wherein said data bits are organized in flames and said framing information bits designate successive flames of said data bits, and wherein said buffer is operative to output data bits derived from said input signal in accordance with an external output clock; a frame aligner coupled to said input signal, said frame aligner being operative to determine one of a plurality of possible framing formats from said data and flaming information bits by determining which of said data and flaming information bits are flaming information bits; and an output counter coupled to said frame aligner for counting said data and framing information bits and for outputting a frame synchronization signal, said frame synchronization signal identifying said flames of said output data bits.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
68 words
A digital reception apparatus as recited in claim 18 further comprising: a buffer for receiving data and flaming bits in a plurality of simultaneous input signals, each input signal including data and flaming bits; and a corresponding plurality of output counters and buffers for counting and outputting bits for said plurality of input signals, wherein said frame aligner determines a framing format for each of said input signals.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
67 words
A digital reception apparatus as recited in claim 18 wherein said frame aligner stores and simultaneously maintains a plurality of counts, each count associated with a bit position of said frames, wherein a count is incremented when said associated bit position in successive frames of said input signal matches a predetermined pattern associated with one of said plurality of framing formats associated with each of said counts.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
55 words
A digital reception apparatus as recited in claim 20 wherein said frame aligner compares values of said counts to a predetermined threshold such that a first of said counts to be incremented to said threshold identifies a framing bit position in said input signal and determines said framing format of said data and framing bits.