Remote control and control redundancy for distributed communication equipment

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for providing remote control and control redundancy for distributed communication equipment are disclosed. An expansion system in a distributed communication equipment architecture is controlled by a controller in a host system. Control information is exchanged between the host system controller and an expansion system in communication signals that are processed by one or more communication modules such as line termination cards in the expansion system. Communication signals are transferred to the communication module(s) through an expansion system control device, and control information is then transferred back to the control device. Control information may also be transferred from the expansion system control device to the host system through the communication module(s). This simplifies the design and lowers the cost of the control device, which does not process received signals. Control redundancy is provided in some embodiments by implementing multiple communication modules and corresponding communication links.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.