Distributed communication device and architecture for balancing processing of real-time communication applications

Abstract

A device, architecture and system that efficiently supports voice, video, and non-real-time data streams between networks and/or devices in one or more multiple protocol environments. Several interconnected functional blocks that are programmably configuable to perform portions of processing appurtenant to one or more of the protocol environments. A function allocator, associated with the plurality of functional blocks, allocates portions or processing among the functional blocks based on an identity of one or more of the protocol environments. The device may be employed in many data communication-processing environments, I/O processors in computers, and is especially well suited as gateway device for processing real-time communication as well as bursty data between networks and customer premise equipment.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.