Bi-diredctional wire-line to local area network interface and method

• US 5,796,742 A
• Filed: 01/14/1997
• Issued: 08/18/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: US Robotics Corporation (UNICOM Global, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pecen, Mark, Klotzbach, David, Knueven, Michael, Favreau, Keith
• Primary Examiner(s): Jung, Min
• Application Number:
  US08/783,539
• Time in Patent Office: 581 Days
• Field of Search: 370/466, 370/469, 370/474, 370/476, 370/537, 370/542, 370/401, 370/402, 379/93.01, 379/93.09, 379/93.15, 395/200.79, 395/200.8
• US Class Current: 370/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/168 specially adapted for link layer protocols, e.g. asynchronous transfer mode [ATM], synchronous optical network [SONET] or point-to-point protocol [PPP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/169 Special adaptations of TCP, UDP or IP for interworking of IP based networks with other networks protocols for interworking, protocol conversion H04L69/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A bi-directional wire-line to local area network interface, used between a remote host on a local area network (LAN), and a wire-line carrier system. A LAN media access control and physical interface converts outgoing LAN data from a LAN to an outgoing-data packet with a machine readable format. A LAN transmission control protocol and internet protocol stack identifies a protocol type of the outgoing-data packet from the LAN-MAC and physical interface. When the outgoing-data packet does not have a modem control command, a protocol converter correlates the outgoing-data packet to a channel number and depacketizes the outgoing-data packet into outgoing-binary data. Using the channel number, a connection controller and signal transform polls the outgoing-binary data and transforms the outgoing-binary data to a digitized representation of an analog signal having pulse code modulation (PCM). A wire-line carrier interface uses the channel number for multiplexing the digitized representation of the analog signal with frame bits, and also multiplexes any alarm conditions and signalling bits, as an outgoing-wire-line carrier signal. The wire-line carrier interface sends the outgoing-wire-line carrier signal over the wire-line carrier system.

Claims

1. An interface used between a remote host on a local area network (LAN), and a wire-line carrier system comprising:

a LAN media access control (LAN-MAC) and physical interface for converting data from said local area network to an outgoing-data packet with a machine readable format;

a LAN transmission control protocol and internet protocol stack, coupled to said LAN-MAC and physical interface, for identifying a protocol type of the outgoing-data packet from the LAN-MAC and physical interface and for correlating the outgoing-data packet to an incoming-data packet;

a protocol converter coupled to said LAN transmission control protocol and internet protocol stack for correlating the outgoing-data packet to a channel number and depacketizing the outgoing-data packet into outgoing-binary data;

a connection controller and signal transform subsystem coupled to said protocol converter, responsive to the channel number for polling the outgoing-binary data and for transforming, without using an analog signal, the outgoing-binary data to a digitized representation of an analog signal having pulse code modulation (PCM); and

a wire-line carrier interface, coupled to said connection controller and signal transform subsystem, responsive to the channel number, for multiplexing the digitized representation of the analog signal as an outgoing-wire-line carrier signal and sending the outgoing-wire-line carrier signal over said wire-line carrier system.

2. The interface as set forth in claim 1 wherein said LAN-MAC and physical interface includes a decoder for converting Manchester encoded data from said local area network to the outgoing-data packet.

3. The interface as set forth in claim 1 wherein said LAN transmission control protocol and internet protocol stack includes an address resolution protocol device responsive to the outgoing-data packet having an address resolution protocol for returning the outgoing-data packet to the remote host for inserting on the outgoing-data packet an internet protocol.

4. An interface used between a wire-line carrier system and a remote host on a local area network (LAN), comprising:

a wire-line carrier interface, coupled to said wire-line carrier system, for demultiplexing the incoming-wire-line carrier signal as demultiplexed PCM data and for associating the demultiplexed PCM data with a channel;

a connection controller and signal transform subsystem, coupled to said wire-line carrier interface, for transforming the demultiplexed PCM data to incoming-binary data;

a protocol converter, coupled to said connection controller and signal transform subsystem, responsive to a channel number associated with the incoming-binary data, for correlating the incoming-binary data and channel number to a telnet session number and packetizing the incoming-binary data as an incoming-data packet;

a LAN transmission control and internet-protocol stack, coupled to said protocol converter, for transferring the incoming-data packet over the internet protocol (IP) layer as an IP packet and for inserting a physical address field of said remote host; and

a LAN media access control (LAN-MAC) and physical interface, coupled to said LAN transmission control and internet-protocol stack, for converting the IP packet to LAN data and sending the LAN data to said remote host.

5. The interface as set forth in claim 4 wherein said LAN transmission control and internet-protocol stack includes a link layer control module for routing the incoming-data packet by type to an appropriate media access control layer.

6. The interface as set forth in claim 4 wherein said LAN-MAC and physical interface include an encoder for encoding the incoming-data packet with Manchester encoding.

7. An interface used between a remote host on a local area network (LAN), and a wire-line carrier system comprising:

means for converting LAN data from said local area network to an outgoing-data packet with a machine readable format;

means for identifying a protocol type of the outgoing-data packet and correlating the outgoing-data packet to an incoming-data packet;

means for depacketizing the outgoing-data packet into outgoing-binary data;

means for polling the outgoing-binary data and for transforming the outgoing-binary data to a digitized representation of an analog signal having pulse code modulation (PCM); and

means for multiplexing the digitized representation of the analog signal as an outgoing-wire-line carrier signal and sending the outgoing-wire-line carrier signal over said wire-line carrier system.

8. The interface as set forth in claim 7 wherein said converting means includes a decoder for converting Manchester encoded data from said local area network to the outgoing-data packet.

9. The interface as set forth in claim 7 wherein said identifying means includes an address resolution protocol device responsive to the data packet having an address resolution protocol for returning the data packet to the remote host for inserting on the data packet an internet protocol.

10. An interface used between a wire-line carrier system and a remote host on a local area network (LAN), comprising:

means, responsive to frame bits in a wire-line carrier signal from the wire-line carrier system for demultiplexing the wire-line carrier signal, and for associating the demultiplexed wire-line carrier signal with a channel number;

means for transforming the demultiplexed wire-line carrier signal to incoming binary data;

means, responsive to the channel number, for correlating the incoming-binary data and channel number to a telnet session number and packetizing the incoming-binary data as an incoming-data packet;

means for transferring the incoming-data packet over the internet protocol (IP) layer as an IP packet and for inserting a physical address field of said remote host; and

means for converting the IP packet to LAN data and sending the LAN data to said remote host.

11. The interface as set forth in claim 10 wherein said transferring means includes a link layer control module for routing the incoming-data packet by type to an appropriate media access control layer.

12. The interface as set forth in claim 10 wherein said converting means includes an encoder for encoding the incoming-data packet with Manchester encoding.

13. A method used between a remote host on a local area network (LAN), and a wire-line carrier system comprising the steps of:

converting LAN data from said local area network to an outgoing-data packet with a machine readable format;

identifying a protocol type of the outgoing data packet from the LAN-MAC and physical interface;

correlating the outgoing-data packet to an incoming-data packet and to a channel number;

depacketizing the outgoing-data packet into outgoing-binary data;

polling, using the channel number, the outgoing-binary data;

transforming the outgoing-binary data to a digitized representation of an analog signal having pulse code modulation (PCM);

multiplexing, using the channel number, the digitized representation of the analog signal as an outgoing-wire-line carrier signal; and

sending the outgoing-wire-line carrier signal over said wire-line carrier system.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13, wherein the step of converting includes the step of converting Manchester encoded data from said local area network to the outgoing-data packet.

15. The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein the step of identifying includes the step of returning, in response to the data packet having an address resolution protocol, the data packet to the remote host for inserting on the data packet an internet protocol.

16. A method used between a wire-line carrier system and a remote host on a local area network (LAN), comprising the steps of:

demultiplexing, using frame bits in a wire-line carrier signal from the wire-line carrier system, the wire-line carrier signal;

associating the demultiplexed wire-line carrier signal with a channel number;

transforming the demultiplexed wire-line carrier signal to incoming-binary data;

correlating the binary data and the channel number to a telnet session number;

packetizing, using the channel number, the binary data as an incoming-data packet;

transferring the incoming-data packet over an internet protocol (IP) layer as an IP packet;

inserting, in the IP packet, a physical address field of said remote host; and

converting the IP packet to LAN data and sending the LAN data to said remote host.

17. The method as set forth in claim 16 wherein the step of transferring includes the step of routing the incoming-data packet by type to an appropriate media access control layer.

18. The method as set forth in claim 16 wherein the step of converting includes the step of encoding the incoming-data packet with Manchester encoding.