Patents by Inventor Thomas L. Ballard

Thomas L. Ballard 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: 7031346
    Abstract: Relatively low cost asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service and auxiliary POTS service are delivered over extended distances (e.g., at least 20–25 kft), by a hybrid ADSL-SDSL architecture insertable between central office and remote sites of an ADSL system. Central office and remote site transceivers employ trellis coded pulse amplitude modulation and a data rate that conforms with the signal transport capability of an extended distance symmetric DSL (SDSL) loop, while providing a 64K POTS channel. The central office and remote site transceivers controllably insert idle asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells in upstream and downstream ADSL channels to compensate for timing differences with ADSL equipment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2006
    Assignee: Adtran, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin W. Schneider, Thomas L. Ballard, III, John B. Wilkes, Jr., Philip David Williams, Gary M. Willoughby, Mark Jeffries Ogden, Michael Scott Sansom, W. Stuart Venters
  • Patent number: 6775550
    Abstract: An upstream transceiver, coupled to an upstream end of a long haul, single digital subscriber loop of an extended range asymmetrical digital subscriber line communication system, ‘spoofs’ a (co-located) digital subscriber line access multiplexer to reduce its downstream data rate over a short haul loop to the upstream transceiver. The reduced downstream data rate is compatible with the data rate that can be supported by the long haul loop and also accommodates an auxiliary (64K) POTS channel thereover. The reduced data rate may be derived by preliminary signal quality measurements upon the long communication loop conducted between the upstream transceiver and a downstream transceiver coupled to a remote end of the long haul loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2004
    Assignee: Adtran, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas L. Ballard, III, John B. Wilkes, Jr., Kevin W. Schneider
  • Patent number: 6539081
    Abstract: An autobaud mechanism is executed by transceivers coupled to opposite ends of a communication loop, such as an extended range SDSL loop, to resolve the maximum data rate that can be supported by the loop, using signal power and quality measurements to first estimate the length of the SDSL loop and thereafter iteratively adjust baud rate and/or number of bits/per baud, as necessary, to realize an SDSL baud rate that will ensure error-free transmission over the loop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: Adtran Inc.
    Inventors: Jon Thomas Zakrzewski, Robert Allen Barrett, Thomas L. Ballard, III, John B. Wilkes, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20030016694
    Abstract: Relatively low cost asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) service and auxiliary POTS service are delivered over extended distances (e.g., at least 20-25 kft), by a hybrid ADSL-SDSL architecture insertable between central office and remote sites of an ADSL system. Central office and remote site transceivers employ trellis coded pulse amplitude modulation and a data rate that conforms with the signal transport capability of an extended distance symmetric DSL (SDSL) loop, while providing a 64K POTS channel. The central office and remote site transceivers controllably insert idle asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells in upstream and downstream ADSL channels to compensate for timing differences with ADSL equipment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Publication date: January 23, 2003
    Applicant: ADTRAN, INC.
    Inventors: Kevin W. Schneider, Thomas L. Ballard, John B. Wilkes, Philip David Williams, Gary M. Willoughby, Mark Jeffries Ogden, Michael Scott Sansom, W. Stuart Venters
  • Publication number: 20030016797
    Abstract: An autobaud mechanism is executed by transceivers coupled to opposite ends of a communication loop, such as an extended range SDSL loop, to resolve the maximum data rate that can be supported by the loop, using signal power and quality measurements to first estimate the length of the SDSL loop and thereafter iteratively adjust baud rate and/or number of bits/per baud, as necessary, to realize an SDSL baud rate that will ensure error-free transmission over the loop.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Publication date: January 23, 2003
    Applicant: Adtran, Inc.
    Inventors: Jon Thomas Zakrzewski, Robert Allen Barrett, Thomas L. Ballard, John B. Wilkes
  • Publication number: 20030016736
    Abstract: An upstream transceiver, coupled to an upstream end of a long haul, single digital subscriber loop of an extended range asymmetrical digital subscriber line communication system, ‘spoofs’ a (co-located) digital subscriber line access multiplexer to reduce its downstream data rate over a short haul loop to the upstream transceiver. The reduced downstream data rate is compatible with the data rate that can be supported by the long haul loop and also accommodates an auxiliary (64K) POTS channel thereover. The reduced data rate may be derived by preliminary signal quality measurements upon the long communication loop conducted between the upstream transceiver and a downstream transceiver coupled to a remote end of the long haul loop.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Publication date: January 23, 2003
    Applicant: ADTRAN, INC
    Inventors: Thomas L. Ballard, John B. Wilkes, Kevin W. Schneider
  • Patent number: 5245560
    Abstract: A secure modem (151) sequence detector (101) may be programmed to detect the presence of various predetermined sequences in a bit stream (103). When detecting an escape ("ESC") sequence, the detector performs a fast pre-qualifying test to detect the presence of an ESC sequence. When an ESC sequence is detected, a second validation/placement routine is executed which validates the ESC sequence, and determines the bit position in the ESC sequence where the ESC sequence was detected. The second routine requires only a half-ESC sequence search for validation and placement. The detector may also be programmed to detect a start of message ("SOM") sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 14, 1993
    Assignee: Universal Data Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Kathy L. Cunningham, Thomas L. Ballard, III, William B. Waldron, Jr.