SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ESTABLISHING A DIAGNOSTIC TRANSMISSION MODE AND COMMUNICATING OVER THE SAME

• US 20110103443A1
• Filed: 01/11/2011
• Published: 05/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TQ Delta LLC (Techquity Capital Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Aware Incorporated (Crowley Holdings Preferred LLC)
• Inventors: Pizzano, Robert Edmund JR., Krinsky, David M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,634,449 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/222
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/46 Monitoring; Testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0001 Systems modifying transmission characteristics according to link quality, e.g. power backoff adaptive data allocation for multicarrier modulation H04L5/0044; controlling transmission power for radio systems H04W52/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0061 Error detection codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/18 Automatic repetition systems, e.g. Van Duuren systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/24 Testing correct operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/245 by using the properties of transmission codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/3461 in order to transmit a subchannel
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/1438 Negotiation of transmission parameters prior to communication modified according to link quality H04L1/0001
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2209 for lines also used for data transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2227 Quality of service monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/28 Automatic routine testing ; Fault testing; Installation testing; Test methods, test equipment or test arrangements therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/30 for subscriber's lines , for the local loop
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/304 and using xDSL modems xDSL line qualification H04M3/306

Abstract

Upon detection of a trigger, such as the exceeding of an error threshold or the direction of a user, a diagnostic link system enters a diagnostic information transmission mode. This diagnostic information transmission mode allows for two modems to exchange diagnostic and/or test information that may not otherwise be exchangeable during normal communication. The diagnostic information transmission mode is initiated by transmitting an initiate diagnostic link mode message to a receiving modem accompanied by a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). The receiving modem determines, based on the CRC, if a robust communications channel is present. If a robust communications channel is present, the two modems can initiate exchange of the diagnostic and/or test information. Otherwise, the transmission power of the transmitting modem is increased and the initiate diagnostic link mode message re-transmitted to the receiving modem until the CRC is determined to be correct.

Claims

1. A diagnostic link system for communicating data between modems using multicarrier modulation comprising:

an initiate diagnostic mode trigger that instructs a transmitting modem to forward an initiate diagnostic mode message to a receiving modem;

a message determination device that determines a diagnostic link message; and

a receiving modem diagnostic device that receives the diagnostic link message and determines the accuracy of the diagnostic link message.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a power control device that increases a transmission power of the diagnostic link message if the received diagnostic link message is inaccurate.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic link message is re-transmitted a predetermined number of times.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic link message comprises at least one of test and diagnostic information.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the diagnostic link message comprises at least one of a version number of a diagnostic link mode, a length of the diagnostic information, a communications standard, a chipset type, one or more vendor identifications, an ATU version number, a time domain received reverb signal, a frequency domain reverb signal, an amplifier setting, a CO transmitter power spectral density, a frequency domain received idle channel, a signal to noise ratio, bits and gain information, and upstream and downstream transmission rates.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the accuracy is determined based on at least one of an error detecting scheme, a bit error detection and a cyclic redundancy check.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the trigger is based on at least one of an initialization failure, a bit rate failure, a CRC error in an initialization message, a CRC error during a normal steady state transmission mode, a forward error correction error, a user request, a central office modem request and a remote terminal modem request.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting modem completes a portion of a modem initialization sequence before forwarding the initiate diagnostic mode message.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitting modem is at least one of a central office modem and a remote terminal modem.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiving modem is at least one of a central office modem and a remote terminal modem.

11. A method for communicating data between modems using multicarrier modulation comprising:

instructing a transmitting modem to forward an initiate diagnostic mode message to a receiving modem;

determining a diagnostic link message;

transmitting the diagnostic link message; and

determining the accuracy of the transmitted diagnostic link message.

12-43. -43. (canceled)