System for transporting Ethernet frames over very high speed digital subscriber lines

• US 8,031,707 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2006
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Far North Patents, LLC
• Original Assignee: Spinel Ektronix LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Poddobny, Yuri, Sfadya, Yackov, Mann, Eytan, Lewin, Amit
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu; Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): OTT, FREDERICK R
• Application Number:
  US11/484,797
• Publication Number:
  US 20070014309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,911 Days
• Field of Search: 370/389, 370/466, 370/493
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2881 IP/Ethernet DSLAM
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2212/00 Encapsulation of packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/062 using different frequency bands for speech and other data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/007 Access interface units for simultaneous transmission of speech and data, e.g. digital subscriber line [DSL] access interface units DSL access multiplexers H04Q11/0478, and H04L12/2856

Abstract

An apparatus for and method of encapsulating Ethernet frames over a Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) transport facility. The VDSL frames are transmitted over a point to point VDSL link where they are subsequently extracted and forwarded as standard Ethernet frames. The VDSL facility transport system comprises an Ethernet to VDSL Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) coupled to a DSL Access Multiplexor (DSLAM) over a VDSL transport facility. The Ethernet to VDSL CPE functions to receive a 10BaseT Ethernet signal and encapsulate the Ethernet frame into a VDSL frame for transmission over the VDSL facility. The DSLAM is adapted to receive VDSL frames, extract Ethernet frames therefrom and generate and output a standard Ethernet signal. Ethernet frames are encapsulated within VDSL frames and transmitted on the wire pair without regard to the state of the SOC signals.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an Ethernet transceiver configured to receive an Ethernet frame from a source;

a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) transceiver configured to transmit on at least one VDSL link, wherein a VDSL protocol for the VDSL link defines a fixed size for each VDSL frame to be transmitted on the VDSL link; and

an encapsulation unit coupled to the Ethernet transceiver and the VDSL transceiver, wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to encapsulate the Ethernet frame in a corresponding frame, and wherein the corresponding frame exceeds the fixed size defined in the VDSL protocol, and wherein the VDSL transceiver is configured to transmit the corresponding frame on the VDSL link even though the corresponding frame exceeds the fixed size.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to convert a serial input bitstream received from the Ethernet transceiver to a parallel stream.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to transfer frames ready for transmission to the VDSL transceiver.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 3 wherein the encapsulation unit further comprises:

a memory unit; and

a data processor coupled to the memory unit, the first input circuitry, and the first output circuitry, wherein the data processor is configured to store data received from the first input circuitry in the memory unit and to forward the stored data to the first output circuitry.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 4 wherein the encapsulation unit is further configured to:

convert a parallel stream received from the Ethernet transceiver into a serial bitstream; and

receive frames from the VDSL transceiver;

wherein the data processor is configured to store data received from the second input circuitry in the memory unit and to forward stored data received via the second input circuitry to the second output circuitry.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the Ethernet transceiver comprises a 10BaseT Ethernet transceiver configured to communicate with a 10BaseT Ethernet source.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the Ethernet transceiver comprises a 100BaseT Ethernet transceiver configured to communicate with a 100BaseT Ethernet source.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 further comprising an Ethernet switch coupled between the Ethernet transceiver and the encapsulation unit, wherein the Ethernet switch is configured to switch between a plurality of 10BaseT Ethernet channels and at least one 100BaseT Ethernet channel.

9. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the VDSL transceiver is configured to detect a start of a frame on the VDSL link by detecting a preamble of the frame.

10. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to resynchronize after an error is detected in a received frame from the VDSL link.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a first transceiver configured to receive a plurality of first frames from a source, wherein a given first frame has a size within a range of potential sizes;

a second transceiver configured to transmit on a link, wherein a protocol for the link defines a fixed size for each frame to be transmitted on the link; and

an encapsulation unit coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver, wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to encapsulate each first frame in a corresponding second frame, and wherein, for at least one of the plurality of first frames, the corresponding second frame exceeds the fixed size defined in the protocol, and wherein the second transceiver is configured to transmit each corresponding second frame on the link, even in a case that the corresponding second frame exceeds the fixed size.

12. The apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to encapsulate two or more first frames in the corresponding second frame if a total size of the two or more first frames is less than the fixed size.

13. The apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein the link is defined to include a start of cell signal, and wherein the second frame is transmitted by the second transceiver independent of the start of cell signal.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein the second frame comprises a preamble, and wherein a receiver on the link is configured to detect the second frame responsive to the preamble.

15. The apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein the second frame further comprises a length field subsequent to the preamble and indicating a length of the encapsulated first frame.

16. An apparatus comprising:

a first transceiver configured to receive a plurality of first frames from a source, wherein a given first frame has a size within a range of potential sizes;

a second transceiver configured to transmit on a link; and

an encapsulation unit coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver, wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to encapsulate two or more first frames in a second frame if a total size of the two or more first frames does not exceed a fixed size specified for frames on the link, and wherein the second transceiver is configured to transmit the second frame on the link, and wherein the second frame comprises a length field, and wherein a length value in the length field is equal to the total length of the two or more first frames.

17. The apparatus as recited in claim 16 wherein the first transceiver is an Ethernet transceiver.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 17 wherein the encapsulation unit is configured to encapsulate up to four first frames in the second frame if the first frames are minimum-size Ethernet frames.

19. The apparatus as recited in claim 17 wherein the minimum-size is 64 bytes.

20. The apparatus as recited in claim 19 wherein the fixed size is 256 bytes.

21. The apparatus as recited in claim 20 wherein the link is a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) link.

22. The apparatus as recited in claim 16 wherein the second frame comprises a preamble prior to the length field.

23. A system comprising:

a customer premises equipment (CPE) comprising an Ethernet transceiver configured to receive an Ethernet frame from a source, an encapsulation unit configured to encapsulate the Ethernet frame in a first frame that exceeds a fixed size specified for very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) frames on a VDSL link according to a VDSL protocol on the VDSL link, and a VDSL transceiver configured to transmit the first frame on the VDSL link even though the first frame exceeds the fixed size; and

a DSL access multiplexor (DSLAM) configured to receive the first frame from the VDSL link, extract the Ethernet frame, and transmit the Ethernet frame on an Ethernet interface.

24. The system as recited in claim 23 wherein the DSLAM is coupled to one or more additional VDSL links.

25. The system as recited in claim 24 further comprising one or more additional CPEs, wherein the one or more additional VDSL links are coupled to respective additional CPEs.

26. The system as recited in claim 25 wherein the DSLAM is configured to switch between Ethernet frames extracted from frames from the CPEs for transmission on the Ethernet interface.

27. The system as recited in claim 23 wherein the source is a customer computer.

28. An Ethernet encapsulation/extraction (EEE) unit comprising:

first circuitry configured to interface to an Ethernet transceiver;

second circuitry configured to interface to a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) transceiver; and

third circuitry coupled to the first circuitry and the second circuitry, wherein the third circuitry is configured to encapsulate an Ethernet frame received from the Ethernet transceiver in a first frame, and wherein the third circuitry is configured to convey the first frame to the second circuitry for transmission, and wherein the first frame exceeds a fixed size specified for VDSL frames according to a VDSL protocol, and wherein each VDSL frame transmitted according to the VDSL protocol has a length equal to the fixed size, and wherein the third circuitry is configured to convey the first frame for transmission even though the first frame exceeds the fixed size.

29. The EEE unit as recited in claim 28 wherein the first circuitry is configured to convert a serial input bitstream from the Ethernet transceiver to a parallel stream.

30. The EEE unit as recited in claim 29 wherein the second circuitry is configured to transfer frames ready for transmission to the VDSL transceiver.

31. The EEE unit as recited in claim 28 wherein the third circuitry comprises:

a memory unit; and

a data processor coupled to the memory unit, the first circuitry, and the second circuitry, wherein the data processor is configured to store data received from the first circuitry in the memory unit and to forward the stored data received to the second circuitry.

32. An apparatus configured to encapsulate an Ethernet frame in a first frame and to transmit the first frame on a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) transport facility, the first frame exceeding a fixed size defined for VDSL frames on the VDSL transport facility according to a VDSL protocol for at least some sizes of the Ethernet frame, and wherein each VDSL frame has a length equal to the fixed size, and wherein the apparatus is configured to transmit the first frame even in a case that the first frame exceeds the fixed size.

33. The apparatus as recited in claim 32 further configured to extract a second Ethernet frame from a received frame, wherein the received frame is received from the VDSL transport facility.

34. The apparatus as recited in claim 33 further configured to transmit the second Ethernet frame on an Ethernet facility.

35. The apparatus as recited in claim 32 further configured to encapsulate a plurality of Ethernet frames in respective frames to be transmitted on the VDSL transport facility, wherein the plurality of Ethernet frames are variable length.

36. An apparatus configured to extract an Ethernet frame from a first frame received from a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) transport facility, the first frame exceeding a fixed size defined for VDSL frames on the VDSL transport facility according to a VDSL protocol for at least some sizes of the Ethernet frame, and wherein each VDSL frame has a length equal to the fixed size, and wherein the apparatus is configured to extract the Ethernet frame from the first frame even in the case that the first frame exceeds the fixed size.

37. The apparatus as recited in claim 36 further configured to receive the first frame from the VDSL transport facility.

38. A customer premises equipment (CPE) configured to receive an Ethernet frame from a source, encapsulate the Ethernet frame in a first frame, and transmit the first frame on a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) link, wherein the first frame exceeds a fixed size defined for VDSL frames on the VDSL transport facility according to a VDSL protocol, the first frame exceeding the fixed size for at least some sizes of the Ethernet frame, and wherein the CPE is configured to transmit the first frame even in the case that the first frame exceeds the fixed size.

39. A digital subscriber line access multiplexor (DSLAM) configured to receive an Ethernet frame from a source, encapsulate the Ethernet frame in a first frame and to transmit the first frame on a very high speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) transport facility, the first frame exceeding a fixed size defined for VDSL frames on the VDSL transport facility according to a VDSL protocol, the first frame exceeding the fixed size for at least some sizes of the Ethernet frame, and wherein the DSLAM is configured to transmit the first frame on the VDSL transport facility, and wherein the DSLAM is configured to transmit the first frame even in the case that the first frame exceeds the fixed size.