US6178185B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Network interface device, method and article of manufacture for providing high bit rate access over robbed bit
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1997-11-25
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Granted: 2001-01-23
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Expires: 2017-11-25
Abstract
Abstract A method, apparatus and article of manufacture are described. In particular two network interface devices that are connected over a path that includes a digital trunk using robbed-bit signaling use a technique to identify the presence of robbed-bit signaling. The network interface devices synchronize to bytes that are subject to robbed-bit signaling. The network interface devices must synchronize to the robbed-bit signaling to avoid transmitting information or receiving information in these signaling positions. The network interface devices then take advantage of the least significant bit positions of frames that are not used for robbed-bit signaling. This results in an increase in data carrying capacity from 56 kps to 62.7 kps.
Inventors
- 👤 Laurence Victor Marks
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 17:21
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04J; H04J3/00; H04J3/02; H04J3/12; H04J3/125; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04Q11/0435; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/13176; H04Q2213/13199; H04Q2213/13202; H04Q2213/13209; H04Q2213/13213; H04Q2213/13214; H04Q2213/13215; H04Q2213/13216; H04Q2213/13292; H04Q2213/13305; H04Q2213/1332; H04Q2213/13322
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
118 words
A method of operating a network interface device comprising the steps of: generating a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every outbound frame; sending a test pattern over a network connection, each frame of the test pattern including a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; receiving a message containing zero, one or more synchronization values; and, sending data over the connection in a seven bit payload frame when the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values, otherwise sending data using an eight bit payload frame.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
118 words
A method of operating a network interface device comprising the steps of: generating a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every outbound frame; sending a test pattern over a network connection, each frame of the test pattern including a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; receiving a message containing zero, one or more synchronization values; and, sending data over the connection in a seven bit payload frame when the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values, otherwise sending data using an eight bit payload frame.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: receiving connection type information from the connection; tailoring the test pattern using the connection type information.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
96 words
A method of operating a network interface device, comprising the steps of: generating a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every inbound frame; receiving a test pattern from a network connection; synchronizing the repeating sequence using the received test pattern; detecting which frames of the received test pattern contain robbed-bit signaling, storing the synchronization value of each frame in which robbed-bit signaling is detected, sending the stored synchronization values; receiving data from the connection and discarding a LSB from the received frame whenever the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
96 words
A method of operating a network interface device, comprising the steps of: generating a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every inbound frame; receiving a test pattern from a network connection; synchronizing the repeating sequence using the received test pattern; detecting which frames of the received test pattern contain robbed-bit signaling, storing the synchronization value of each frame in which robbed-bit signaling is detected, sending the stored synchronization values; receiving data from the connection and discarding a LSB from the received frame whenever the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
142 words
A network interface device comprising: an network interface adapted for providing access to a network, the network interface adapted for establishing a connection; a sequence generator for generating a repeating sequence, the sequence advancing with every outbound frame; a transmitter for transmitting a test pattern over the frame aligned connection, each frame of the test pattern including a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; a receiver for receiving a synchronization message, the synchronization message including zero, one or more synchronization values; wherein user data is transmitted using a seven bit payload frame when the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the received synchronization values; otherwise transmitting user data using an eight bit payload frame.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
142 words
A network interface device comprising: an network interface adapted for providing access to a network, the network interface adapted for establishing a connection; a sequence generator for generating a repeating sequence, the sequence advancing with every outbound frame; a transmitter for transmitting a test pattern over the frame aligned connection, each frame of the test pattern including a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; a receiver for receiving a synchronization message, the synchronization message including zero, one or more synchronization values; wherein user data is transmitted using a seven bit payload frame when the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the received synchronization values; otherwise transmitting user data using an eight bit payload frame.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
45 words
The network interface device of claim 4 further including: a host interface for receiving a user data stream; an encoder for encoding the user data stream into an output data stream; a counter which is synchronized to the occurrence of robbed-bits in an output stream.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
16 words
The network interface device of claim 5 wherein the sequence generator is a modulo N counter.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
The network interface device of claim 6 wherein the synchronization values are counter values generated by the modulo N counter.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
38 words
The network interface device of claim 6 wherein the synchronization values are obtained using the counter values generated by the modulo N counter to access a table wherein the accessed table entries are used as the synchronization values.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
158 words
A network interface device comprising: an network interface adapted for providing access to a network, the network interface adapted for establishing a connection; a sequence generator for generating a repeating sequence, the sequence advancing with every inbound frame; a receiver for receiving a test pattern, each frame of the test pattern having a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; a synchronizer for synchronizing the sequence generator using the received test pattern; detecting which frames of the test pattern were affected by robbed bit signaling, storing the synchronization values of each frame in which robbed-bit signaling is detected, a transmitter for transmitting the synchronization values; and wherein user data is received by discarding a LSB from the received frame whenever the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
158 words
A network interface device comprising: an network interface adapted for providing access to a network, the network interface adapted for establishing a connection; a sequence generator for generating a repeating sequence, the sequence advancing with every inbound frame; a receiver for receiving a test pattern, each frame of the test pattern having a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; a synchronizer for synchronizing the sequence generator using the received test pattern; detecting which frames of the test pattern were affected by robbed bit signaling, storing the synchronization values of each frame in which robbed-bit signaling is detected, a transmitter for transmitting the synchronization values; and wherein user data is received by discarding a LSB from the received frame whenever the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
45 words
The network interface device of claim 9 further including: a host interface for receiving a user data stream; an encoder for encoding the user data stream into an output data stream; a counter which is synchronized to the occurrence of robbed-bits in an output stream.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
135 words
A method of operating a network interface device comprising the steps of: establishing a connection to first destination through a network; requesting the highest possible bit rate communication; sending a test pattern, the test pattern designed to determine if robbed-bit signaling is utilized on the connection; receiving a notification indicating if robbed-bit signaling was detected by the first destination and in which positions of the test pattern; starting a counter that synchronizes the sending of data with the robbed-bit signaling, if robbed-bit signaling is detected; and, transmitting data stream using eight bits of a byte format, unless the counter indicates that a robbed-bit position is present in which case information is transmitted using the 7 most significant bits of an eight bit byte format with the least significant bit position unused reserved for robbed-bit sampling.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
135 words
A method of operating a network interface device comprising the steps of: establishing a connection to first destination through a network; requesting the highest possible bit rate communication; sending a test pattern, the test pattern designed to determine if robbed-bit signaling is utilized on the connection; receiving a notification indicating if robbed-bit signaling was detected by the first destination and in which positions of the test pattern; starting a counter that synchronizes the sending of data with the robbed-bit signaling, if robbed-bit signaling is detected; and, transmitting data stream using eight bits of a byte format, unless the counter indicates that a robbed-bit position is present in which case information is transmitted using the 7 most significant bits of an eight bit byte format with the least significant bit position unused reserved for robbed-bit sampling.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
170 words
A method of operating a network interface device comprising the steps of: accepting a connection to first destination through a network; exchanging capability information requesting the highest possible bit rate communication including an indication that the first destination is digitally connected; receiving a test pattern, the test pattern designed to determine if robbed-bit signaling is utilized on the connection; determining from the test pattern wether robbed-bit signaling is present and at which positions of the test pattern; sending a notification indicating if robbed-bit signaling was detected and in which positions of the test pattern using a clock derived from the received test pattern; starting a counter that synchronizes the reception of data with the robbed-bit signaling on the connection, if robbed-bit signaling is detected; and, receiving information in all eight bits of a byte format, unless the counter indicates that a robbed-bit position is present in which case information is received from the 7 most significant bits of an eight bit byte format with the least significant bit position ignored.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
170 words
A method of operating a network interface device comprising the steps of: accepting a connection to first destination through a network; exchanging capability information requesting the highest possible bit rate communication including an indication that the first destination is digitally connected; receiving a test pattern, the test pattern designed to determine if robbed-bit signaling is utilized on the connection; determining from the test pattern wether robbed-bit signaling is present and at which positions of the test pattern; sending a notification indicating if robbed-bit signaling was detected and in which positions of the test pattern using a clock derived from the received test pattern; starting a counter that synchronizes the reception of data with the robbed-bit signaling on the connection, if robbed-bit signaling is detected; and, receiving information in all eight bits of a byte format, unless the counter indicates that a robbed-bit position is present in which case information is received from the 7 most significant bits of an eight bit byte format with the least significant bit position ignored.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
138 words
An article of manufacture comprising a processor useable medium having a processor readable program embodied in said medium, wherein the processor readable program when executed on a processor causes the processor to: generate a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every outbound frame; send a test pattern over a network connection, each frame of the test pattern including a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; receive a message containing zero, one or more synchronization values; and, send data over the connection in a seven bit payload frame when the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values, otherwise sending data using an eight bit payload frame.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
138 words
An article of manufacture comprising a processor useable medium having a processor readable program embodied in said medium, wherein the processor readable program when executed on a processor causes the processor to: generate a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every outbound frame; send a test pattern over a network connection, each frame of the test pattern including a synchronization value representing the sequence value or an indication of the position of the sequence value within the sequence and at least one bit for determining which frames are affected by robbed bit signaling; receive a message containing zero, one or more synchronization values; and, send data over the connection in a seven bit payload frame when the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values, otherwise sending data using an eight bit payload frame.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
38 words
The article of manufacture of claim 13 , wherein the processor readable program when executed on a processor causes the processor to: receive connection type information from the connection; tailor the test pattern using the connection type information.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
116 words
An article of manufacture comprising a processor useable medium having a processor readable program embodied in said medium, wherein the processor readable program when executed on a processor causes the processor to: generate a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every inbound frame; receive a test pattern from a network connection; synchronize the repeating sequence using the received test pattern; detect which frames of the received test pattern contain robbed-bit signaling, storing the synchronization value of each frame in which robbed-bit signaling is detected, send the stored synchronization values; receive data from the connection and discarding a LSB from the received frame whenever the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
116 words
An article of manufacture comprising a processor useable medium having a processor readable program embodied in said medium, wherein the processor readable program when executed on a processor causes the processor to: generate a repeating sequence of values, advancing the sequence with every inbound frame; receive a test pattern from a network connection; synchronize the repeating sequence using the received test pattern; detect which frames of the received test pattern contain robbed-bit signaling, storing the synchronization value of each frame in which robbed-bit signaling is detected, send the stored synchronization values; receive data from the connection and discarding a LSB from the received frame whenever the repeating sequence corresponds to one of the stored synchronization values.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-01-23 | 2004-07-24 | 2005-01-23 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-01-23 | 2008-07-24 | 2009-01-23 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-01-23 | 2012-07-24 | 2013-01-23 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |