Abstract: A chassis for telecommunication gear including horizontal circuit boards includes an enclosure forming a front-accessible circuit board slot for receiving horizontal circuit boards. The circuit board slot has first connectors for receiving mating second connectors on the circuit boards, and multiple circuit board guides for guiding and securing horizontal circuit boards inserted into the slot. Adjacent pairs of the guides are spaced to receive circuit boards of predetermined widths, and at least one of the guides is removable so that it can be re-positioned within the slot for changing the spacing between adjacent pairs of the guides to receive circuit boards of different widths. The circuit boards may be telecommunication line cards.

Abstract: Systems and methods described herein may facilitate scalability while permitting quick deployment and customization of web sites. In some embodiments, customization may involve associating custom software modules, content, and pre-compiled content templates with web-sites that are being served by a web-server application using a database. Systems and methods disclosed facilitate software maintenance, scalability, content sharing, and customization using the custom software modules and templates associated with the web-sites to serve content associated with the web site to users.

Abstract: A method of fault notification in a carrier Ethernet having the capability of generating and transmitting OAM packets having flag fields, comprises inserting a bit in one of the flag fields to indicate the presence of service-affecting information in the OAM packets, detecting the presence of the inserted bit at the end of a data path, and performing a service protection action in response to the detection of the inserted bit prior to parsing the information in the message. One type of service protection action is protection switching.

Abstract: A method of controlling the flow of data packet traffic from a first point to at least two second point in an Ethernet telecommunications network having a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by multiple network links, comprises monitoring the level of utilization of a link between the first and second points, generating flow control messages representing the level of utilization and transmitting the control messages to the first point, and using the states represented in the flow control messages as factors in controlling the rate at which the packets are transmitted from the first point to the second point.

Abstract: A system is provided for controlling the flow of data-packet traffic through an Ethernet telecommunications network having a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by multiple network links. Incoming data-packet traffic from multiple customer connections are received at a first node for entry into the network via the first node. Flow control messages are generated to represent the states of the first node and, optionally, one or more network nodes upstream from the first node, and these states are used as factors in controlling the rate at which the incoming packets are admitted to the network. Alternatively, the flow control messages may be used to control the rate at which packets generated by a client application are transmitted to the first node.

Abstract: A telecommunications system includes a network for transporting packets on a path between selected subscriber end points. The network has multiple nodes connected by links, with each node (a) pairing the forward and backward paths of a connection and (b) allowing for the injection of messages in the backward direction of a connection from any node in the path without needing to consult a higher OSI layer. A system is also provided for protecting connection paths for transporting data packets through an Ethernet telecommunications network having a multiplicity of nodes interconnected by a multiplicity of links. Primary and backup paths are provided through the network for each of multiple connections, with each path including multiple links.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus improving availability of voice services controlled via IP signaling links provisioned over converged ATM and Ethernet converged network infrastructure are provided. A media gateway network element implements a Layer-2 signaling link end-to-end monitoring via heartbeat messages formulated at the ATM end to traverse the converged network infrastructure to the Ethernet end. The media gateway is provided with SPVC connectivity information and is made aware of network bridging in order to perform a Layer-2 switchover to a standby signaling link in re-establishing signaling link connectivity with a media gateway controller should a communications fault be detected. The advantages include codeployment with previous media gateway controller implemented techniques, and providing a reduction of overheads for media gateway controller implemented techniques while increasing availability by reducing exposure to service outages.