Abstract: A communications system that facilitates the provision of differentiated quality of service is disclosed, including a marker for receiving a packet of data from an application (110), for examining the packet for predefined criteria, for setting the value of QoS bits in the packet based on the predefined criteria, and for forwarding the packet to a multiple Virtual Circuit (multi-VC) bridge (300). The multi-VC bridge (300) is connected to the marker and selects an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) (120, 122, 124) over which to transmit the packet by mapping the value of the QoS bits to a PVC in a mapping table and forwards the packet over the selected PVC to a destination address.

Abstract: A network interface device includes a first interface operable to receive at least two incoming calls over a subscriber line, and a second interface operable to facilitate communication between the first interface and a first telephone line and between the first interface and a second telephone line. The second interface is also operable to generate one or more first ring voltages on the first telephone line and one or more second ring voltages on the second telephone line. The network interface device also includes a processor coupled to the first interface and the second interface. The processor is operable to instruct the second interface to generate the first and second ring voltages in response to receiving the incoming calls. The processor is also operable to allocate the first and second ring voltages among the first and second telephone lines to ensure that a total instantaneous load placed on the second interface does not exceed a determined threshold level.

Abstract: Methods and systems disclosed facilitate the prioritization and transmission of packets of data by overriding Quality of Service (QoS) bits in the packets based on predefined criteria. In one embodiment, a method includes the steps of receiving a packet from an application (111, 112, 113) in a data processing system (100) by a marker (305); examining the packet for predefined criteria; overriding the value of QoS bits in the packet based on the predefined criteria; and forwarding the packet for further transmission in a communications system (300) based on the value of the QoS bits.

Abstract: A communications system that facilitates the provision of differentiated quality of service is disclosed, including a marker for receiving a packet of data from an application (110), for examining the packet for predefined criteria, for setting the value of QoS bits in the packet based on the predefined criteria, and for forwarding the packet to a multiple Virtual Circuit (multi-VC) bridge (300). The multi-VC bridge (300) is connected to the marker and selects an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) (120, 122, 124) over which to transmit the packet by mapping the value of the QoS bits to a PVC in a mapping table and forwards the packet over the selected PVC to a destination address.