Patents by Inventor Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.

Forrest L. Pierson, Jr. has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7161959
    Abstract: A method and system for improving the passage of silent or unused status of Ds0 channel to a data switch with a Ds0 switching capacity. The method allows the Ds0 channel source to be the only equipment that must engage a digital signal processor to remove silent and unused Ds0 channels from a Ds0 channel carrying data packet. The method provides for the Ds0 channel source, the intermediate nodes (data switches with Ds0 switching matrixes included) and Ds0 channel destination to recognize a simple and efficient means of passing suppression status of a Ds0 channel through the entire network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2007
    Assignee: MCI, LLC
    Inventor: Forrest L Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6683869
    Abstract: A system and method for moving voice telephone calls through a data network. More particularly, the system and method are directed to the efficient operation of a novel port card for installation in present and future versions of data switches. Together port cards and data switches form nodes. The port card receives and transmits out signals through respective ports connected to links between nodes. The method provides for voice data to be switched in a Ds0 switching matrix, which is resident on the port card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2004
    Assignee: WorldCom, Inc.
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6633566
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product of interfacing a time-domain multiplexed (TDM) link with a cell-switched network. The TDM link supports one or more active channels and one or more idle channels and supplies TDM frames with a sample of each channel in a dedicated timeslot. The TDM link is terminated at a first network node. One or more idle timeslots are removed from each TDM frame to create a compressed TDM frame, where each idle timeslot carries a sample of an idle channel. One or more compressed TDM frames are loaded in a cell that is sent over the cell-switched network to a second network node. The compressed TDM frames are unloaded from the cell. Idle timeslots are inserted in the compressed TDM frames to restore the compressed TDM frames to complete TDM frames. The bandwidth of the cell switched network is efficiently utilized because idle channel samples are not carried over the cell-switched network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6621833
    Abstract: A method and system for improving the passage of silent or unused status of Ds0 channel to a data switch with a Ds0 switching capacity. The method allows the Ds0 channel source to be the only equipment that must engage a digital signal processor to remove silent and unused Ds0 channels from a Ds0 channel carrying data packet. The method provides for the Ds0 channel source, the intermediate nodes (data switches with Ds0 switching matrixes included) and Ds0 channel destination to recognize a simple and efficient means of passing suppression status of a Ds0 channel through the entire network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Assignee: World Com, Inc.
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6558190
    Abstract: An electrical box including a hollow container defining an interior space, as well as neutral and hot exterior connectors mounted on an exterior surface of the container, and ground, neutral, hot, and alternate hot interior conductive members mounted on an interior surface of the container which define a single circuit of the electrical box. The exterior connectors receive electrical power from a multi-conductor electrical cable and transfer the power to an electrical unit connected to the internal conductive members without the multi-conductor electrical cable entering the interior space of the electrical box. The exterior connectors are preferably insulation displacement connectors (IDCs) and are mounted to exterior bus bars that contain high current screw holes that, for alternative use, also accept high current wire connectors used where the electrical power is higher than the current capacity of the IDCs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2003
    Assignee: WorldCom, Inc.
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6544049
    Abstract: An electrical unit including a body having a device surface and a mating surface. An electrical device configured to provide an electrical function to a user is arranged on the device surface, and neutral and hot contacts configured to receive respective neutral and hot conductive members of an electrical box are mounted on the mating surface. The electrical device may be any one of an outlet, a switch, circuit breaker, or any combination of these devices. In addition to the neutral and hot contacts, ground and alternative contacts may be provided on the mating surface and each contact may be a rigid electrical socket oriented in a keyed configuration so as to electrically connect to the respective conductive members without the use of connecting wires when the electrical unit is mated with the electrical box.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: WorldCom, Inc.
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6487198
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and system for unloading one or more T1 payloads from a target ATM cell where a target ATM cell has traveled over an ATM network that is emulating a T1 link. A plurality of ATM cells are stored in a cell buffer at a first rate. A buffer controller selects the target ATM cell from the bottom of the cell buffer. The buffer controller sends the T1 payloads carried in the target ATM cell to an elastic store buffer. The elastic buffer sends a plurality of timeslots in each T1 payload to a switch matrix at a second rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6272128
    Abstract: A method and system of emulating a T1 link over an ATM network. A T1 line carrying a stream of T1 frames is terminated at a first ATM Data Terminating Equipment (DTE). T1 frames are loaded into ATM cells and sent over an ATM network to a second ATM DTE. The T1 frames are unloaded at the second ATM DTE, and sent to a switch matrix to be de-multiplexed. In one example of T1 emulation, two T1 payloads are inserted in each ATM cell payload. The corresponding T1 frame bits replace the two least significant bits in the VCI field of the ATM cell header. For quasi-fractional T1 emulation, three or four quasi-fractional T1 payloads can be carried in the ATM cell payload. For fractional T1 emulation, multiple fractional T1 payloads are carried in a fractional payload field, and a frame bit field is created in the ATM cell payload to carry the T1 frame bits. The use of a T1 framer at the second DTE is avoided by insuring the T1 frame bit positions are constant over successive ATM cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2001
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6195346
    Abstract: A method and system for processing a High level Data Link Control (HDLC) message despite the occurrence of a frame slip event in an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) receiver avoiding re-transmission of an HDLC message when a frame slip event occurs during reception of an HDLC message. In one embodiment, an ATM receiver receives an ATM cell, where the ATM cell carries one or more T1 payloads. Each T1 payload contains a plurality of timeslots, including an HDLC timeslot. The HDLC timeslot is read for each T1 payload prior to unloading each T1 payload from the ATM cell. The plurality of timeslots within each T1 payload are sent to a switch matrix, where the timeslots are de-multiplexed. The HDLC message is carried in the HDLC timeslot over a plurality of ATM cells and the HDLC message is processed despite the occurrence of a frame slip event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Assignee: MCI Communications Corporation
    Inventor: Forrest L. Pierson, Jr.