System and method for providing ATM support for frame relay DTEs with a terminal adapter
First Claim
1. For use with a frame relay terminating equipment (FR DTE) and an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network having one or more communications units connected thereto, a terminal adapter for providing an interface to said ATM network for said FR DTE so that said FR DTE is able to communicate with said one or more communications units, said terminal adapter comprising:
- a mapping element;
a FR DTE interface connected to said mapping element, said FR DTE interface comprising means for receiving frame relay (FR) frames from said FR DTE and for conveying FR frames to said FR DTE, each FR frame comprising header and a trailer and a selected ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) service identifier for identifying one of a set of AAL services by which said FR frame is to be conveyed over said ATM network, means for building information packets by stripping the header and trailer off of each FR frame received from said FR DTE, means for conveying said information packets to said mapping element, means for receiving information packets from said mapping element, and means for building FR frames by adding a header and a trailer to each information packet to be conveyed to said FR DTE; and
an ATM network interface connected to said mapping element, said ATM network interface comprising means for receiving ATM cells from said ATM network and for conveying ATM cells to said ATM network, means for building protocol data units (PDUs) by reassembling ATM cells received from said ATM network, means for conveying said PDUs to said mapping element, means for receiving PDUs from said mapping element, and means for building ATM cells to be conveyed to said ATM network by segmenting said PDUs,said mapping element comprising means for receiving information packets from said FR DTE interface, means for examining said selected AAL service identifier and for identifying the selected AAL service, means for building PDUs based upon the contents of said information packets including said AAL service identifier, means for conveying PDUs to said ATM network interface, means for receiving PDUs from said ATM network interface, means for building information packets based upon the contents of said PDUs, and means for conveying information packets to said FR DTE interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The system and method of the present invention provide a seamless approach for providing ATM connectivity for a Frame Relay DTE using an intelligent Terminal Adapter (TA). Using the system and method of the present invention, an enhanced Frame Relay protocol runs between the DTE and the ATM TA, the Frame Relay DTE is provided with not only the connectivity to the ATM network but also the full advantages of ATM transport mechanism. For instance, the FR DTE can choose to transmit its data using ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) 1,3/4 or 5. Using the system and method of the present invention, a FR DTE may communicate with another FR DTE or to an ATM DTE through wide area or local area ATM network. The Frame Relay DTE can send data, image, voice, or video traffics across the ATM network via the FR/ATM terminal adapter.
155 Citations
32 Claims
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1. For use with a frame relay terminating equipment (FR DTE) and an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network having one or more communications units connected thereto, a terminal adapter for providing an interface to said ATM network for said FR DTE so that said FR DTE is able to communicate with said one or more communications units, said terminal adapter comprising:
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a mapping element; a FR DTE interface connected to said mapping element, said FR DTE interface comprising means for receiving frame relay (FR) frames from said FR DTE and for conveying FR frames to said FR DTE, each FR frame comprising header and a trailer and a selected ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) service identifier for identifying one of a set of AAL services by which said FR frame is to be conveyed over said ATM network, means for building information packets by stripping the header and trailer off of each FR frame received from said FR DTE, means for conveying said information packets to said mapping element, means for receiving information packets from said mapping element, and means for building FR frames by adding a header and a trailer to each information packet to be conveyed to said FR DTE; and an ATM network interface connected to said mapping element, said ATM network interface comprising means for receiving ATM cells from said ATM network and for conveying ATM cells to said ATM network, means for building protocol data units (PDUs) by reassembling ATM cells received from said ATM network, means for conveying said PDUs to said mapping element, means for receiving PDUs from said mapping element, and means for building ATM cells to be conveyed to said ATM network by segmenting said PDUs, said mapping element comprising means for receiving information packets from said FR DTE interface, means for examining said selected AAL service identifier and for identifying the selected AAL service, means for building PDUs based upon the contents of said information packets including said AAL service identifier, means for conveying PDUs to said ATM network interface, means for receiving PDUs from said ATM network interface, means for building information packets based upon the contents of said PDUs, and means for conveying information packets to said FR DTE interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for use in a terminal adapter connected between a frame relay terminating equipment (FR DTE) and an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network having one or more communications units connected thereto, said terminal adapter for providing an interface to said ATM network for said FR DTE so that said FR DTE is able to communicate with said one or more communications units, said terminal adapter comprising a mapping element, a FR DTE interface connected to aid mapping element and an ATM network interface connected to said mapping element, said method comprising the steps of:
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in said FR DTE interface, receiving flame relay (FR) frames from said FR DTE and conveying FR frames to said FR DTE, each FR flame comprising a header and a trailer and a selected ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) service identifier for identifying one of a set of AAL services by which said FR frame is to be conveyed over said ATM network, building information packets by stripping the header and trailer off of each FR frame received from said FR DTE, conveying said information packets to said mapping element, receiving information packets from said mapping element, and building FR frames by adding a header and a trailer to each information packet to be conveyed to said FR DTE; and in said ATM network interface, receiving ATM cells from said ATM network and for conveying ATM cells to said ATM network, building protocol data units (PDUs) by reassembling ATM cells received from said ATM network, conveying said PDUs to said mapping element, receiving PDUs from said mapping element, and building ATM cells to be conveyed to said ATM network by segmenting said PDUs, in said mapping element, receiving information packets from said FR DTE interface, examining said selected AAL service identifier and for identifying the selected AAL service, building PDUs based upon the contents of said information packets including said AAL service identifier, conveying PDUs to said ATM network interface, receiving PDUs from said ATM network interface, building information packets based upon the contents of said PDUs, and conveying information packets to said FR DTE interface. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. For use with in an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network having one or more communications units connected thereto, a system for communicating with said one or more communications units over said ATM network comprising:
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means for generating and conveying flame relay (FR) frames, each FR frame comprising a header and a trailer and a selected ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) service identifier for identifying one of a set of AAL services by which said FR frame is to be conveyed over said ATM network; a mapping element; an FR interface connected between said FR frame conveying means and said mapping element, said FR interface comprising means for receiving said FR frames from said FR frame conveying means, means for building information packets from each FR frame received from said FR frame conveying means, and means for conveying said information packets to said mapping element; and an ATM network interface connected to said mapping element, said ATM network interface comprising means for conveying ATM cells to said ATM network, means for receiving protocol data units (PDUs) from said mapping element, and means for building ATM cells to be conveyed to said ATM network by segmenting said PDUs, said mapping element comprising means for receiving information packets from said FR interface, means for examining said selected AAL service identifier and for identifying the selected AAL service, means for building PDUs based upon the contents of said information packets including said AAL service identifier, and means for conveying PDUs to said ATM network interface. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A frame relay terminating equipment (FR DTE) for communicating over an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network having one or more communications units connected thereto, via terminal adapter for providing an interface to said ATM network for said FR DTE so that said FR DTE is able to communicate with said one or more communications units, said terminal adapter comprising a mapping element, a FR DTE interface for receiving frame relay (FR) frames from said FR DTE, an ATM network interface connected to said ATM network for conveying ATM cells to said ATM network from said terminal adapter, a mapping element connected between said FR DTE interface and said ATM network interface for providing an interface therebetween, said FR DTE comprising:
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means for building frame relay (FR) frames, each FR frame comprising a beginning flag, an ending flag, a user data field, a frame check sequence field, and an address field, said address field comprising a data link connection identifier (DLCI), a forward explicit congestion notification (FECN) bit, a backward explicit congestion notification (BECN) bit, and a discard eligibility (DE) bit, the FECN bit, the BECN bit, and the DE bit comprising a selected ATM Adaptation Layer (AAL) service identifier for identifying one of a set of AAL services by which said FR frame is to be conveyed over said ATM network; and means for conveying said FR frames to said terminal adapter.
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Specification