Out-of-band embedded overhead architecture for a transmission network
First Claim
1. An interface for formatting a first link having N channels to fit into a second link having N+M channels, wherein N and M are both integers, said first link transmitting first information and comprising at least one primary rate carrier link having a payload portion that normally transmits payload information and an overhead portion that normally transmits overhead information, and said second link comprising at least two primary rate carrier links, said interface comprising:
- means for routing the first information to a set of N of the N+M channels of said second link;
means for adding supplemental overhead information to be transmitted with the first information over said second link; and
means for routing the supplemental overhead information to at least one added overhead channel chosen from the remaining M channels of said second link, said at least one added overhead channel occupying a payload portion of at least one of the primary rate carrier links of said second link.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interface is disclosed that formats a first link (a source link--e.g., a T1 link) having N channels to fit into a second link (a source link--e.g., a PCM-30 or a doubled T1 link) having N+M channels. Each of the first and second links are implemented with primary rate carrier links, and have a standard payload portion and a standard overhead portion. A mechanism is disclosed for routing information between the first link and the second link, so that information being transported over the first link can also be transported over the second link. An adding mechanism is also disclosed for routing supplemental overhead information to at least one added overhead channel within the second link, wherein the added overhead channel occupies a standard payload portion of the second link. An overhead information bit is disclosed, which transmits information within a (k)th bit of an (l)th channel of each frame of the second link. An information bit signal is formed with at least five consecutive of the (k)th bits. Using the formed information bit signal, information is conveyed regarding the communications link. A path overhead byte is provided for transportation within the added overhead channel of the second link, and includes various overhead bits, including, e.g., the information bit noted above, for performing several maintenance and performance monitoring functions. Four of the bits within the path overhead byte are essentially equivalent to bits within an overhead byte provided for SONET networks.
105 Citations
44 Claims
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1. An interface for formatting a first link having N channels to fit into a second link having N+M channels, wherein N and M are both integers, said first link transmitting first information and comprising at least one primary rate carrier link having a payload portion that normally transmits payload information and an overhead portion that normally transmits overhead information, and said second link comprising at least two primary rate carrier links, said interface comprising:
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means for routing the first information to a set of N of the N+M channels of said second link; means for adding supplemental overhead information to be transmitted with the first information over said second link; and means for routing the supplemental overhead information to at least one added overhead channel chosen from the remaining M channels of said second link, said at least one added overhead channel occupying a payload portion of at least one of the primary rate carrier links of said second link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An interface for formatting a first link having N channels to fit into a second link having N+M channels, wherein N and M are both integers, said first link transmitting first information, each of the first and second links comprising at least one primary data carrier link having a payload portion that normally transmits payload information and an overhead portion that normally transmits overhead information, said interface comprising:
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means for routing the first information to a set of N of the N+M channels of said second link; means for adding supplemental overhead information to be transmitted with the first information over said second link; and means for routing the supplemental overhead information to at least one added overhead channel chosen from the remaining M channels of said second link, said at least one added overhead channel occupying a payload portion of at least one primary rate carrier link of said second link; wherein said second link comprises means for transmitting a first sub-link and a second sub-link, wherein each of the first and second sub-links comprises a portion of the N channels of said first link, and wherein said interface further comprises means for generating said supplemental overhead information, said supplemental overhead information comprising signalling bits for controlling the routing of each of the first and second sub-links over said second link. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. An interface for formatting a first link having N channels to fit into a second link having N+M channels, wherein N and M are both integers, said first link transmitting first information, each of the first and second links comprising at least one primary rate carrier link having a payload portion that normally transmits payload information and an overhead portion that normally transmits overhead information, said interface comprising:
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means for routing the first information to a set of N of the N+M channels of said second link; means for adding supplemental overhead information to be transmitted with the first information over said second link; and means for routing the supplemental overhead information to at least one added overhead channel chosen from the remaining M channels of said second link, said at least one added overhead channel occupying a payload portion of at least one primary rate carrier link of said second link; wherein a portion of said supplemental overhead information is compatible with at least one overhead bit of a SONET link.
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19. An interface for formatting a first link having N channels to fit into a second link having N+M channels, wherein N and M are both integers, said first link transmitting first information, each of the first and second links comprising at least one primary rate carrier link having a payload portion that normally transmits payload information and an overhead portion that normally transmits overhead information, said interface comprising:
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means for routing the first information to a set of N of the N+M channels of said second link; means for adding supplemental overhead information to be transmitted with the first information over said second link; and means for routing the supplemental overhead information to at least one added overhead channel chosen from the remaining M channels of said second link, said at least one added overhead channel occupying a payload portion of at least one primary rate carrier link of said second link; wherein said supplemental overhead information comprises a path overhead byte having several overhead bits being used to convey overhead parameter information of the second link, and further wherein said means for routing the supplemental overhead information comprises means for processing said path overhead byte, said several overhead bits comprising a mode switching bit for switching the second link between several signalling modes. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A method for enhancing a first primary rate carrier link having N channels, comprising:
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emulating the first link with a second link having N+M channels, wherein both N and M are integers, said second link comprising at least two primary rate carrier links that each have a payload portion and an overhead portion for normally transmitting payload and overhead information, respectively; and providing at least one supplemental overhead channel within at least one additionally available channel of the second link, said at least one additionally available channel comprising a portion of the payload portion of at least one of the primary rate carrier links of said second link. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for enhancing a first primary rate carrier link having N channels, comprising:
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emulating the first link with a second link having N+M channels, wherein both N and M are integers; and placing at least one supplemental overhead channel within at least one additionally available channel of the second link; wherein when said at least one supplemental overhead channel is placed within said at least one available channel of the second link, said supplemental overhead channel is routed to at least one out-of-band channel of a remaining set of M channels of the second link.
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36. A method for enhancing a first primary rate carrier link having N channels, comprising:
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emulating the first link with a second link having N+M channels, wherein both N and M are integers; and placing at least one supplemental overhead channel within at least one additionally available channel of the second link; said method further comprising assigning one memory to be a first link memory and assigning another memory to be a second link memory, storing bytes of information received from the first link and bytes of information to be transmitted over the first link into said first link memory, and storing bytes of information received from the second link and bytes of information to be transmitted over the second link into said second memory, said method further comprising placing supplemental overhead information into said second link memory, and removing supplemental overhead information from said first link memory.
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37. A method for transmitting information within a communications link that comprises a digital bit stream, the bit stream comprising superframes, frames, channels, and bits, each superframe comprising a predetermined number of frames, each frame comprising a predetermined number of channels, and each channel comprising a predetermined number of bits, said method comprising:
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forming an information bit signal with a (k)th bit of an (l)th channel of each frame, wherein l and k are both integers, said information bit signal comprising at least five consecutive (k)th bits; and conveying information regarding the communications link within at most five of the at least five consecutive (k)th bits, said conveying comprising indicating one of several first operational states of the communications link, indicating one of several second operational states of the communications link, and indicating a particular position along the digital bit stream of the communications link. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification