Method using low spectrum selectively for providing both ADSL and POTS service

• US 6,404,774 B1
• Filed: 02/12/1999
• Issued: 06/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Siemens Information And Communication Networks, Inc.
• Inventors: Jenness, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Hsu, Alpus H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHAND, ROBERTA A
• Application Number:
  US09/249,925
• Time in Patent Office: 1,215 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/461, 370/463, 370/465, 370/353, 370/354, 370/466, 370/469, 370/487, 375/219, 375/220, 375/222, 379/395
• US Class Current: 370/465
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/023 Multiplexing of multicarrier modulation signals multicarrier modulation H04L27/2601
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/143 for modulated signals H04L5/1469 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/04 for time-division multiplexing H04Q11/0001 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13034 A/D conversion, code compression/expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13039 Asymmetrical two-way transmission, e.g. ADSL, HDSL
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13106 Microprocessor, CPU
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13107 Control equipment for a part of the connection, distributed control, co-processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1319 Amplifier, attenuation circuit, echo suppressor
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13292 Time division multiplexing, TDM
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13305 Transistors, semiconductors in general
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1332 Logic circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13396 Signaling in general, in-band signalling

Abstract

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) data service and Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) are provided over a subscriber loop by an ADSL transceiver and a control processor located in a local communication center, and a subscriber ADSL modem at the subscriber location. The control processor is responsive to a detection of an origination of a POTS call for generating a first control signal that causes the ADSL transceiver to load ADSL data into tone bins which are only in a frequency band above a predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call for data transmissions over the subscriber loop. The control processor is also responsive to a detection of a termination of a POTS call for generating a second control signal that causes the ADSL transceiver to load ADSL data into tone bins which are in both the predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call and the frequency band thereabove for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop. The subscriber ADSL modem is responsive to third and fourth control signals received from the control processor and multiplexed into the ADSL data transmissions, to load ADSL data into tone bins which are only in a frequency band above a predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call, and load ADSL data into tone bins which are in both the predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call and the frequency band thereabove for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop, respectively.

Claims

1. A method of providing both Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) data service over a common subscriber loop providing a predetermined frequency spectrum for transmission purposes, where the ADSL data service makes use of a multiplicity of quadrature modulated tones separated in frequency from one another across the predetermined frequency spectrum, and POTS makes use of only a portion of said predetermined frequency spectrum, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) using the portion of the predetermined frequency spectrum for POTS while a POTS call is in progress;

(b) excluding the ADSL data service from at least the portion of the predetermined frequency spectrum and reducing the number of tones while a POTS call is in progress; and

(c) expanding the ADSL data service into the portion of the predetermined frequency spectrum and increasing the number of tones while a POTS call is not in progress.

2. A method of providing bidirectional Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) data service and Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) over a subscriber loop comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving ADSL data from a remote source by an ADSL transceiver located in a local communication center for loading the received ADSL data into predetermined tone bins for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop to subscriber data equipment;

(b) receiving ADSL data transmissions from the subscriber loop in the predetermined tone bins by the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center for processing the ADSL data for data transmissions to the remote source;

(c) detecting an origination of a POTS call for causing a control processor in the local communication center to generate a first control signal that causes the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center to load ADSL data into tone bins which are only in a frequency band above a predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop; and

(d) detecting a termination of a POTS call for causing the control processor in the local communication center to generate a second control signal that causes the ADSL transceiver to load ADSL data into tone bins which are in both the predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call and the frequency band thereabove for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

in performing step (d), performing the additional step of;

(e) generating a fourth control signal in the control processor in the local communication center for transmission to the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center when a termination of a POTS call is detected, the fourth control signal forming part of the ADSL data in the tone bins being transmitted over the subscriber loop to the subscriber modem at the subscriber end of the subscriber loop to cause the subscriber modem to load ADSL data into tone bins which are in both the predetermined frequency band used for the POTS call and the frequency band thereabove for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop to the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein:

in performing step (c) performing the additional step of;

(f) generating a third control signal in the control processor in the local communication center for transmission to the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center when an origination of a POTS call is detected, the third control signal forming part of the ADSL data in the tone bins being transmitted over the subscriber loop to a subscriber modem at the subscriber end of the subscriber loop to cause the subscriber modem to load ADSL data into tone bins which are only in the frequency band above the predetermined frequency band used for the POTS call for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop to the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center.

5. The method of claim 4 comprising the further steps of:

(g) receiving both ADSL data signals and the third or fourth control signal from the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center generated in steps (f) and (e), respectively, at an ADSL transceiver in the subscriber modem, and generating therefrom separate data output signals and a third or fourth control output signal;

(h) generating a fifth control signal in a control processor in the subscriber modem in responsive to the third control output signal from the subscriber modem ADSL transceiver for causing the subscriber modem ADSL transceiver to unload the ADSL data received in the tone bins which are only in a frequency band above a frequency band used for a POTS call for data transmissions to a subscriber data equipment, and to load data from the subscriber data equipment into tone bins which are only in a frequency band above a frequency band used for a POTS call for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop to the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center; and

(i) generating a fifth control signal in a control processor in the subscriber modem in responsive to the third control output signal from the subscriber modem ADSL transceiver for causing the subscriber modem ADSL transceiver to unload the ADSL data received in the tone bins which are in both the frequency band for a POTS call and the frequency band thereabove for data transmissions to the subscriber data equipment, and load ADSL data into tone bins which are in both the frequency band used for the POTS call transmissions and the frequency band thereabove for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop to the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center.

6. The method of claim 2 comprising the further steps of:

(e) receiving ADSL data from the subscriber loop in an ADSL transceiver located at a subscriber location for unloading the received ADSL data from predetermined tone bins for data transmission to subscriber data equipment;

(f) receiving data transmissions from the subscriber data equipment by the ADSL transceiver at the a subscriber location for loading the data into predetermined tone bins for providing ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop to the ADSL transceiver in the local communication center;

(g) detecting an origination of a POTS call for causing a control processor at the subscriber location to generate a first control signal that causes the ADSL transceiver at the subscriber location to load ADSL data into tone bins which are only in a frequency band above a predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop; and

(h) detecting a termination of a POTS call for causing the control processor at the subscriber location to generate a second control signal that causes the ADSL transceiver at the subscriber location to load ADSL data into tone bins which are in both the predetermined frequency band used for a POTS call and the frequency band thereabove for ADSL data transmissions over the subscriber loop.