System and Method for Providing Lifeline Telecommunication Service

• US 20070127454A1
• Filed: 12/12/2006
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Genband US LLC (Ribbon Communications, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Bandwidth, Inc.
• Inventors: Whitcher, Robert, Renucci, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 8,861,534 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/356
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/062 using different frequency bands for speech and other data

Abstract

A system for providing lifeline telecommunication service includes a gateway, an analog signal service module, and an integrated access device. The gateway receives telecommunication information from a telecommunication switch and generates data packets for communicating the telecommunication information. The analog signal service module is remotely coupled to the gateway. The analog signal service module may receive the data packets from the gateway and generate a first analog telephone signal for communicating the telecommunication information over a local loop circuit. Coupled to the local loop circuit, the integrated access device may receive the first analog telephone signal from the analog signal service module and communicate the first analog telephone signal to a subscriber line in a first mode of operation. The integrated access device also may receive the data packets from the gateway, process the data packets to generate a second analog telephone signal communicating the telecommunication information, and communicate the second analog telephone signal to the subscriber line in a second mode of operation.

Claims

1. A gateway for providing lifeline telecommunication service to customer premises equipment, comprising:

a telecommunication interface operable to receive telecommunication information from a telecommunication switch;

a data packet service module coupled to the telecommunication interface and operable to receive the telecommunication information from the telecommunication interface and to generate data packets for communicating the telecommunication information, the data packet service module further operable to communicate the data packets to an analog signal service module in a first mode of operation and to communicate the data packets over a local loop circuit to customer premises equipment in a second mode of operation; and

an interface operable to communicate the telecommunication information as digital data not encapsulated in data packets in a third mode of operation.

2. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the data packet service module communicates the data packets over the local loop circuit to the customer premises equipment using a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM).

3. The gateway of claim 1, further comprising a management module operable to:

determine whether the data packet service module can communicate data packets with the customer premises equipment;

select the first or third mode of operation in response to determining that the data packet service module cannot communicate data packets with the customer premises equipment; and

select the second mode of operation in response to determining that the data packet service module can communicate data packets with the customer premises equipment.

4. The gateway of claim 3, wherein the management module determines that the data packet service module cannot communicate data packets with the customer premises equipment if the data packet service module cannot maintain a virtual circuit between the gateway and the customer premises equipment.

5. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the analog signal service module is remotely coupled to the telecommunication interface using a digital link.

6. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the analog signal service module is operable to process the data packets to generate an analog telephone signal for communicating the telecommunication information over the local loop circuit to the customer premises equipment.

7. A method of providing lifeline telecommunication service to customer premises equipment using a gateway, comprising:

receiving telecommunication information from a telecommunication switch;

generating data packets for communicating the telecommunication information in a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation;

communicating the data packets to an analog signal service module in the first mode of operation;

communicating the data packets over a local loop circuit to customer premises equipment in the second mode of operation; and

communicating the telecommunication information as digital data not encapsulated in data packets to the analog signal service module in a third mode of operation.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

processing the data packets to generate a first analog telephone signal at the analog signal service module; and

communicating the first analog signal over the local loop circuit.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

communicating the first analog telephone signal from the local loop circuit to a subscriber line in the first and third mode of operation; and

processing the data packets from the local loop circuit to generate a second analog telephone signal for communication to the subscriber line in the second mode of operation.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein communicating the data packets over the local loop circuit to the customer premises equipment further comprises using a digital subscriber line.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying a destination integrated access device (IAD) for the telecommunication information;

determining whether the gateway can communicate with the IAD using the data packets;

selecting the first or third mode of operation in response to determining that the gateway cannot communicate with the IAD using the data packets; and

selecting the second mode of operation in response to determining that the gateway can communicate with the IAD using the data packets.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the gateway can communicate with the IAD using the data packets further comprises determining whether the gateway can maintain a virtual circuit between itself and the IAD.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining that the gateway cannot communicate with the IAD using the data packets if the IAD loses powers, is disconnected from the local loop circuit, or has an internal failure.

20. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for determining that the gateway cannot communicate with the IAD using the data packets if the IAD loses powers, is disconnected from the local loop circuit, or has an internal failure.

14. A system for providing lifeline telecommunication service to customer premises equipment using a gateway, comprising:

means for receiving telecommunication information from a telecommunication switch;

means for generating data packets for communicating the telecommunication information in a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation;

means for communicating the data packets to an analog signal service module in the first mode of operation;

means for communicating the data packets over a local loop circuit to customer premises equipment in the second mode of operation; and

means for communicating the telecommunication information as digital data not encapsulated in data packets to the analog signal service module in a third mode of operation.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

means for processing the data packets to generate a first analog telephone signal at the analog signal service module; and

means for communicating the first analog signal over the local loop circuit.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

means for communicating the first analog telephone signal from the local loop circuit to a subscriber line in the first and third mode of operation; and

means for processing the data packets from the local loop circuit to generate a second analog telephone signal for communication to the subscriber line in the second mode of operation.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the means for communicating the data packets over the local loop circuit to the customer premises equipment includes using a digital subscriber line.

18. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

means for identifying a destination integrated access device (IAD) for the telecommunication information;

means for determining whether the gateway can communicate with the IAD using the data packets;

means for selecting the first or third mode of operation in response to determining that the gateway cannot communicate with the IAD using the data packets; and

means for selecting the second mode of operation in response to determining that the gateway can communicate with the IAD using the data packets.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for determining whether the gateway can communicate with the IAD using the data packets further includes means for determining whether the gateway can maintain a virtual circuit between itself and the IAD.