Multiplex communications – Pathfinding or routing – Switching a message which includes an address header
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-19
2004-01-20
Olms, Douglas (Department: 2661)
Multiplex communications
Pathfinding or routing
Switching a message which includes an address header
C370S352000, C370S356000, C370S492000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06680940
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to data communication systems and more particularly relates to a system for transporting Ethernet frames over Very high speed Digital Subscriber Lines (VDSL).
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There is a growing need among both individuals and enterprises for access to a commonly available, cost effective network that provides speedy, reliable services. There is high demand for a high-speed data network, one with enough bandwidth to enable complex two-way communications. Such an application is possible today if, for example, access is available to a university or a corporation with sufficient finances to build this type of network. But for the average home computer user or small business, access to high speed data networks is expensive or simply impossible. Telephone companies are therefore eager to deliver broadband services to meet this current explosion in demand.
One of the problems is that millions of personal computers have found their place in the home market. Today, PCs can be found in over 60% of all United States households, many of which have more than one computer networked together, and over 50% of United States teenagers own computers. Virtually every PC sold today is equipped with a modem, enabling communication with the outside world via commercial data networks and the Internet. Currently, people use their PCs to send and receive e-mail, to access online services, to participate in electronic commerce and to browse the Internet. The popularity of the Internet is such that there are over 100 million users around the globe. These figures indicate that in the past few years the personal computer has fueled a dramatic increase in data communications and the corresponding demands on the data networks that carry the traffic.
The Internet serves as a good example of the increased demands that have been placed on data networks. At first, Internet access consisted of text only data transfers. Recently, with the popularity of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the construction of numerous sites with high quality content, coupled with the development of Internet browsers such as Mosaic, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, the use of graphics, audio, video and text has surged on the Internet. While graphics, audio and video make for a much more interesting way to view information as opposed to plain text, bandwidth consumption is significantly higher. A simple background picture with accompanying text requires approximately 10 times the bandwidth needed by text alone. Real-time audio and streaming video typically need even more bandwidth. Because of the increased requirement for bandwidth, activities such as browsing home pages or downloading graphics, audio and video files can take a frustratingly long period of time. Considering that the multimedia rich World Wide Web accounts for more than one quarter of all Internet traffic, it is easy to see why the demand for bandwidth has outpaced the supply. In addition, the creative community is pushing the envelope by offering audio and full motion video on numerous sites to differentiate themselves from the millions of other sites competing for user hits.
As use of the Internet and online services continues to spread, so does the use of more complex applications, such as interactive video games, telecommuting, business to business communications and videoconferenceing. These complex applications place severe strains on data networks because of the intensive bandwidth required to deliver data-rich transmissions. For example, a telecommuter who requires computer aided design (CAD) software to be transported over the data network requires a high-bandwidth data pipeline because of the significant size of CAD files. Similarly, a business to business transaction in which large database files containing thousand of customer records are exchanged also consumes large amounts of bandwidth. The same is true for users seeking entertainment value from sites offering high quality video and audio. The lack of available bandwidth in today's data networks is the primary barrier preventing many applications from entering mainstream use. Just as processing power limited the effectiveness of early PCs, bandwidth constraints currently limit the capabilities of today's modem user.
Most computer modem users access data through the standard telephone network, known as plain old telephone service (POTS). Equipped with today's speediest modems, dial up modems on a POTS network can access data at a rate of 28.8, 33.6 or 56 Kbps. Dial up modem transmission rates have increased significantly over the last few years, but POTS throughput is ultimately limited to 64 Kbps. While this rate may be acceptable for some limited applications like e-mail, it is a serious bottleneck for more complex transactions, such as telecommuting, videoconferenceing or full-motion video viewing. To illustrate, full motion video compressed, using the Motion Picture Entertainment Group (MPEG)-2 standard requires a data stream of approximately 6 Mbps, or roughly 208 times the throughput of a 28.8 Kbps modem. Thus, using today's dial up modems, it would take more than 17 days to capture two hours of video. As bandwidth demands continue to grow, providers search for better ways to offer high speed data access. Further complicating the problem is the need to deliver all these complex services at an affordable price.
Today's most popular data access method is POTS. But as discussed previously, POTS is limited when it comes to large data transfers. An alternative to POTS currently available is Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). In the past few years, ISDN has gained momentum as a high-speed option to POTS. ISDN expands data throughput to 64 or 128 Kbps, both from the network to the home and from the home back to the network, and can be technically made available throughout much of the United States and in many other parts of the globe. Similar to POTS, ISDN is a dedicated service, meaning that the user has sole access to the line preventing other ISDN users from sharing the same bandwidth. ISDN is considered an affordable alternative, and in general, ISDN is a much better solution for applications such as Web browsing and basic telecommuting. However, like POTS, it severely limits applications such as telecommuting with CAD files and full-motion video viewing. The latter requires roughly 39 times the throughput than that provided by ISDN. Multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS), a terrestrial microwave wireless delivery system, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS), such as DirecTv and US Satellite Broadcasting (USSB), are wireless networks. They both deliver high bandwidth data steams to the home, referred to as downstream data, but neither has a return channel through which data is sent back over the network, referred to as upstream data. Although it is a relatively affordable system to deploy for broadcast applications, because it requires no cable wires to be laid, it falls short in interactive access. In order to use a wireless system for something as basic as e-mail, an alternate technology such as a telephone line must be used for the upstream communications.
Another network delivery system is asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL). Offering a downstream capacity of 6 Mbps or more to the home, ADSL has the downstream capacity to handle the most complex data transfers, such as full motion video, as well as an upstream capacity of at least 500 Kbps. However, due to its limitation of downstream bandwidth capacity, it essentially is a single service platform. Also, since it has to overcome the challenge of reusing several thousand feet of twisted pair wiring, the electronics required at each end of the cable are complex, and therefore currently very expensive.
Hybrid fiber coax (HFC), a network solution offered by telephone and cable companies, is yet another option for delivering high bandwidth to consumers known in the art. However, HFC has limitations. HFC networks pr
Lewin Amit
Mann Eytan
Poddobny Yuri
Sfadya Yackov
3Com Corporation
Nguyen Van Kim T.
Olms Douglas
Zaretsky Howard
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