Abstract: A message scheduler uses two thresholds to place cells into a queue. One determines, for a non-full queue, where to place high-delay-priority cells in relationship to low-delay-priority cells, and the other determines, for a fall queue, which low loss-priority cells to push out to make room for a high-loss-priority cell.

Abstract: A method of inputting one or more items of information to a data destination (21). The method comprises generating the item(s) of information at one or more data sources (25-28); and for each item of information transmitting the item of information to the data destination in a data packet; calculating a time stamp value in accordance with the time delay between generating the item of information and transmitting the data packet; encoding the time stamp value in the data packet; decoding the data packet at the data destination to retrieve the time stamp value; and calculating the time delay associated with the data packet in accordance with the retrieved time stamp value.

Abstract: A system for adjusting or establishing transmission fees based on delay and/or jitter. A network element may evaluate transmission delay and/or jitter over a given transmission system, which may be or is in effect for a particular real-time media transmission. A determination may then be made whether the delay and/or jitter exceeds a predetermined threshold, which may suggest that the transmission quality would be lower than desired. If so, then the fees that a billing entity would charge for the transmission may be decreased in view to account for the lesser quality of service. Conversely, where the delay and/or jitter is lower than a predetermined threshold, then the billing entity may increase its fees accordingly. Other fee schedules based on delay may be established as well.

Abstract: A twisted pair and/or coaxial cable fed, integrated residence gateway controlled set-top device provides a plurality of services. One service is lifeline service which may be provided over the coaxial cable via a cable modem of the integrated residence gateway or over the twisted pair facility. An integrated residence gateway is coupled to either or both of the coaxial cable or twisted pair and distributes the bandwidth facilities available over either service vehicle to customer devices including a set top box.

Abstract: A method and system for Connection Admission Control (CAC) in a communications network, such as an ATM formatted B-ISDN network, is provided. Using end-to-end virtual path structures and class-of-service separation, various network virtual connections may be administered using a connection server based on a weighted round robin or similar connection-serving algorithm. Network users aware of the network structure and the means by which queue lengths are determined may easily calculate a Sustainable Cell Rate (SCR) for the traffic they wish to introduce into the network path for transmission to a given destination. The user declared SCR, in addition to other user declared traffic parameters, determines the queue lengths allocated in the network switches, such that a required level of Quality of Service is maintained.

Abstract: A baseband signal demodulating apparatus in a mobile radio communication system capable of solving the channel increase problem due to the increase of subscribers by sharing correlators and accumulators used in a base station receiver by a time division multiplexing method. The apparatus includes a plurality of front end rake receivers for demodulating oversampled baseband signals to restore the original signal, buses for sharing demodulated signals from the front end rake receivers by the time division multiplexing method, and a despreding section for despreding the signals from the buses.

Abstract: Voice conversations by way of communications devices are conducted by transmitting symbols representative of a user's voice from a transmitting communications device (101.1, 101.2) and recreating the user's voice at a receiving communications device (101.1, 101.1). The communications devices (101) each include a processing engine (104) responsive to a user's voice input (110) for generating speech sample data (112) indicative of predetermined portions of the user's voice. A storage device (106) is coupled to the processing engine (104) and stores the speech sample data (112). The processing engine (104) also includes a communication module (200, 300, 400) that generates transmission data, indicative of the user's voice spoken during a communication session as a function of the speech sample data (112) and causes transmission of the transmission data to a remotely located recipient of the communication session.

Abstract: A process for detecting upstream congestion within an ATM switch. The switch includes several junctions linked together by a cross-connector. In each input junction, the number of incoming cells bound for a same specified output port of a junction are counted. Results of the count supplied by the input junctions are transferred to the output port. Results of the counts in the output junction are aggregated and a congestion is declared in the output port if the aggregate number of cells is greater than a specified threshold value.

Abstract: A tunneling optimization is described in which packets are forwarded from a home agent to a mobile device by co-locating a foreign agent corresponding to a mobile device at the mobile device. When a mobile device acquires a new foreign agent, the mobile device notifies the home agent as to the corresponding foreign agent address. A packet received at the home agent having the mobile device as a packet header destination address is parsed and the foreign agent address is substituted for the mobile device address, and the packet is forwarded to the foreign agent. The foreign agent, upon receiving the packet, removes the foreign agent address and replaces the mobile device address as the packet header destination address. The packet is then forwarded to the mobile device.

Abstract: An ATM concentrator connects (m×n) input highways to n output highways and performs a full priority control. The ATM concentrator has output cell buffers for respective quality classes. Cells are read from the output buffers of the quality classes and the number of valid cells thereof is checked. A quality class c is determined with respect to which an accumulated value of the numbers of valid cells calculated successively from quality classes of higher priority is maximum within the total number of the output highways. The ATM concentrator outputs only cells of the highest priority class if the quality class c is the highest priority class. When the quality class c is not the highest priority class, the ATM concentrator writes valid cells of next priority class through the quality class c over cells that are not valid cells in the highest priority class.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for saving power during punctured transmission in a CDMA mobile communication system. The apparatus comprises a baseband device, a mixed signal portion, a radio frequency (RF) frontend and a power supply. The baseband device comprises a variable rate voice coder (vocoder) which reduces the rate of voice data transmission to the mixed signal portion when voice activity by a user is low during a two-way conversation. When the rate of voice data transmission is reduced, there are one or more periods in which no voice data is transmitted. The system provides a signal from the baseband device to power OFF certain portions of the mixed signal portion during the periods of transmission with no voice data. This reduces the amount of power consumed by the mixed signal portion and enhances the life of the power supply.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for multiplexing data received from a plurality of sources to a communication channel. Each of the sources is assigned to one of at least two scheduling layers based in part upon one or more bit rate characteristics of the sources.

Abstract: A connection device connects a radio network and a cabled network communicating respectively by way of messages encapsulated according to radio and cable protocols, and includes a storage module containing a routing table, and a processing module for managing exchanges of data as a function of the routing table. The processing module includes a management module capable on the one hand of disencapsulating a message received from the radio network, in order to extract routing information therefrom and then to compare this information with the routing table in order to choose at least one re-sending network for the message, and on the other hand of re-encapsulating the message in the radio network format or according to a mixed radio format, having radio and cable capsules, depending on whether the re-sending network chosen is the radio network or the cabled network, with a view to re-sending it in the chosen re-sending network segment.

Abstract: Router for initiating a data flow control comprises a receiving protocol stack, a controller and an operating system. The controller is programmed to respond to receipt of a congestion message from a fast packet network such as a frame relay or cell relay network to generate a pass through packet message requesting the opening of a virtual data flow control channel between layer N and layer N+2, where typically layer N is layer 2 of a frame relay protocol and layer N+2 is layer 4 of a TCP protocol. Layer 4 may refuse to open the channel, but once a channel is opened, data flow control may be initiated between destination intelligent terminals when congestion is sensed in the fast packet network. Data packets for presentation to a data network can be advantageously stored in buffer memory, which preferably includes unused or otherwise available video display memory.

Abstract: A method for scheduling delivery of digital objects over a network, in accordance with the invention, includes the steps of providing a user interface for selecting objects to be transmitted thereto, selecting at least one object to be transmitted to the user interface, identifying and receiving in-progress object transmissions corresponding to the at least one selected object, identifying portions of the at least one object not yet received to request transmission of the portions of the at least one object not yet received and receiving remaining portions of the at least one object during additional in-progress transmissions. A system is also included.

Abstract: A distributed packet-based audio conferencing system, method for packet-based audio conferencing, and a transceiver for use in such conferencing are disclosed. The system uses a collection of transceivers, with each conference participant connected to a local transceiver. When a participant speaks, the local transceiver is responsible for relaying the speaker's voice over a packet network by multicast transmission to transceivers local to each other conference participant. If multiple participants speak simultaneously, a multicast talk stream may originate from each speaker's local transceiver. The total number of simultaneous speakers, however, is limited by an arbitration function resident in each transceiver. The system reduces the costs associated with an always-up communication system.

Abstract: An RM cell extractor extracts an RM cell, and outputs the RM cell to the CPU. The CPU computes a transmission-rate control parameter (for example, ICR) using the PCR, etc. set in the RM cell, and outputs the result to an RM cell inserter. The RM cell, inserter compares the transmission-rate control parameter sen in the RM cell with the transmission-rate control parameter input from the CPU, and rewrites the transmission-rate control parameter in the RM cell when it is larger than the transmission-rate control parameter input from the CPU.

Abstract: A method of obtaining cell specific information for a dual-mode mobile station (MS) operating in an overlaid network operating on different frequency bandwidths and time slot structures such as a combined D-AMPS and EDGE described in the ETSI Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) specification. The combined networks operating on 30 kHz and 200 kHz respectively having a combined circuit switched and packet switched capability. An MS camping in packet mode is able to perform cell selection/reselection on a particular network by scanning and reading the appropriate control channels of the associated network. For example, in a first aspect of the invention, the MS periodically scans both the control channels on the 30 kHz network to read related cell information and the control channels of the 200 kHz network to read related cell information associated therewith.

Abstract: Router apparatus for initiating a control channel within a protocol stack comprises a receiving protocol stack, a controller and an operating system. The controller is programmed to respond to receipt of a message, for example a congestion message, from a fast packet network such as a frame relay or cell relay network to generate a pass through packet message requesting the opening of an upward control channel between layer N and layer N+2 of the protocol stack, where typically layer N is layer 2 of a frame relay protocol and layer N+2 is layer 4 of a TCP protocol. Layer 4 may refuse to open the channel but once a channel is opened, for example, in the presence of congestion, a data flow control may be initiated between destination intelligent terminals when congestion is sensed in the fast packet network. The data flow control channel may have the purpose of segmentation control, compression control or data presentation rate control.

Abstract: A method and system for Connection Admission Control (CAC) in a communications network, such as an ATM formatted B-ISDN network, is provided. Using end-to-end virtual path structures and class-of-service separation, various network virtual connections may be administered using a connection server based on a weighted round robin or similar connection-serving algorithm. Network users aware of the network structure and the means by which queue lengths are determined may easily calculate a Sustainable Cell Rate (SCR) for the traffic they wish to introduce into the network path for transmission to a given destination. The user declared SCR, in addition to other user declared traffic parameters, determines the queue lengths allocated in the network switches, such that a required level of Quality of Service is maintained.