# US 2016/0366283 A1 · Systems and Methods for Connecting and Disconnecting to a Ring Network or Linear Network

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- Number: US 2016/0366283 A1
- Document ID: US20160366283A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/246,670
- Filed: 2016-08-25
- Published: 2016-12-15
- Earliest claimed: 2014-02-28
- Assignees: Genesis Technical Systems Corp.
- Applicants: Genesis Technical Systems Corp.
- Inventors: Stephen Cooke; Nick Pike; Sreejith N. Santhanu
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20160366283A1

## CPC

- H04M 11/062: {using different frequency bands for speech and other data}
- H04L 12/437: Ring fault isolation or reconfiguration {(for SDH/SONET ring networks H04J3/085)}
- H04L 41/0803: Configuration setting
- H04M: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION (circuits for controlling other apparatus via a telephone cable and not involving telephone switching apparatus G08)
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)

## Abstract

Systems and methods for connecting and disconnecting to a DSL ring are provided. A cross connect node is used to connect multiple endpoints into a DSL ring. When a given endpoint is powered down, a cross connect bypasses that endpoint such that the ring is maintained. POTS service is provided irrespective of whether the endpoint is bypassed for the purpose of the ring. The status of a bypassed node can be ascertained using baseband signalling.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus for connecting a plurality of ADNs (add drop nodes) in a ring network or linear network, the apparatus comprising:
a cross connect node having a plurality of ADN interfaces each for connection to a respective ADN;
the cross connect node configured to form the ring network or linear network by selectively including or bypassing each ADN interface.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a traffic switch for adding broadband traffic to the ring or linear network and receiving broadband traffic from the ring or linear network.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising:
a status detector that detects whether there is an in service ADN connected to a bypassed ADN interface;
wherein the cross connect node includes a previously bypassed ADN interface in the ring network or linear network as a function of whether the status detector detects that there is an in service ADN connected to the ADN interface.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

An apparatus of claim 1 wherein the cross connect node comprises:
a plurality of cross connect elements, each cross connect element for connection to a respective ADN of said plurality of ADNs, and for each cross connect element:
i) the cross connect element having a first interface and a second interface for use in connecting the cross connect elements in a ring or linear formation;
ii) the cross connect element providing one of said plurality of ADN interfaces, the ADN interface having a third interface connectable to the respective ADN and having a fourth interface connectable to the respective ADN;
iii) the cross connect element having a first state in which the ADN interface is included such that signals are passed between the first interface and the third interface, and signals are passed between the second interface and the fourth interface;
iv) the cross connect element having a second state in which the ADN interface is bypassed such that signals are passed between the first interface and the second interface without being passed to either of the third and fourth interfaces;
a cross connect controller that controls the state of each of the cross connect elements.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
at least one misconnection detector that detects whether connections from an ADN to the third and fourth interfaces of a CCE have been reversed.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
for each of at least one cross connect element, at least one reverse polarity detector that detects whether tip and ring connections from an ADN to the third interface of the CCE have been reversed and detects whether tip and ring connections from an ADN to the fourth interface of the CCE have been reversed.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
at least one baseband modem connectable to ascertain status of an ADN connected to a cross connect element in the second state of said plurality cross connect elements.

### Claim 8 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
a status detector for ascertaining status of an ADN connected to a cross connect element in the second state of said plurality of cross connect elements.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the status detector comprises:
switching circuitry for selecting a cross connect element in the second state of said plurality of cross connect elements to be the ADN for which status is to be ascertained.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9 wherein:
the status detector comprises a baseband modem connectable to any ADN of the plurality of ADN through the switching circuitry;
while in the second state, the fourth interface of each cross connect element is connected to the switching circuitry;
wherein the cross connect controller:
controls the switching circuitry so as to select the fourth interface of which cross connect element is connected to the baseband modem;
attempts to obtain ascertain status of an ADN from the connected fourth interface via the baseband modem; and
controls the state of each of the cross connect elements based on the ascertained status.

### Claim 11 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising:
a shared network interface;
each cross connect element has an interface for connection to the network interface and a CCE-network interface for connection to an upstream network element, wherein the CCE-network interface for connection to an upstream network element office is connected to the third interface.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The apparatus of claim 11 wherein in each cross connect element:
the CCE-network interface is selectably connected or disconnected to the shared network interface such that when the CCE-network interface is connected to the shared network interface, the connection to an upstream network element is available for use by the shared network interface, and when the CCE-network interface is disconnected to the shared network interface, the connection to an upstream network element is not available for use by the shared network interface.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The apparatus of claim 12 wherein when a given CCE-network interface is disconnected from the shared network interface, and the given CCE is not part of the ring network or linear network, POTs and broadband services can be provided to a connected ADN over the CCE-network interface.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:
a filter between the shared network interface and the third interface that blocks broadband frequencies and passes baseband telephony frequencies.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising in each cross connect element:
a switch having a first state and a second state;
in the first state, the interface for connection to an upstream network element being connected to the third interface through the filter;
in the second state, the interface for connection to an upstream network element being connected to the third interface without passing through the filter.

### Claim 16 (depends on 9)

The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the switching circuitry comprises a respective switch in each cross connect element.

### Claim 17 (depends on 2)

The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the traffic switch and the cross connect elements are interconnected as part of the ring network or linear network;
for a cross connect element in the first state, the cross connect element passes traffic to and from a connected ADN in which case the connected ADN is part of the ring network or linear network;
for a cross connect element in the second state, the cross connect element does not pass traffic to or from a connected ADN, if present, in which case, a connected ADN, if present, is not part of the ring network or linear network;
traffic received at the shared network interface is passed to the traffic switch for transmission on the ring network or linear network.

### Claim 18

An add drop node comprising:
a first broadband modem and a second broadband modem;
a status indicator;
a first telephone line interface;
a second telephone line interface in communication with the status indicator and the second broadband modem;
a POTS interface;
a filter to isolate the POTS interface from the second broadband modem;
a switch having a first state and a second state;
the switch while in the first state connects the first telephone line interface to the POTS interface to enable a POTS signal to pass between the first telephone line interface and the POTS interface without passing through the filter;
the switch while in the second state connects the first telephone interface to the POTS interface through the filter to enable a POTS signal to pass between the first telephone line interface and the POTS interface, and connects the first telephone interface to the first broadband modem to enable a broadband signal to pass between the first telephone line interface and the first broadband modem;
the status indicator and the second broadband modem connected to the second telephone line interface.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The add drop node of claim 18 for connection via the first and second telephone line interface to a cross connect element of a plurality of cross connect elements for connecting a plurality of ADNs in a ring network or linear network, wherein:
the add drop node has a first operational state in which the apparatus is unable to participate in the ring network or linear network and having a second operational state in which the apparatus is able to participate the ring network or linear network by passing traffic between the two modems;
at least while in the second operational state, the add drop node being configured to indicate a status of the add drop node via the second telephone line interface.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The add drop node of claim 19 wherein:
the status indicator comprises a baseband modem;
while in the second operational state, the add drop node being configured to indicate a status of the add drop node by responding to a signal received by the baseband modem.

### Claim 21 (depends on 19)

The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising:
an ADM (add drop multiplexer) connected to the first broadband modem and the second broadband modem such that while in the second operational state:
as a function of an address of a packet demodulated by the first broadband modem, the ADM drops the packet from the ring network or linear network for further processing by the ADN or passes the packet on to the second broadband modem so as to continue on the ring network or linear network;
as a function of an address of a packet demodulated by the second broadband modem, the ADM 63 drops the packet from the ring network or linear network for further processing by the ADN or passes the packet on to the first broadband modem so as to continue on the ring network or linear network.

### Claim 22

A method comprising:
providing broadband service to a plurality of endpoints with a ring network;
using a cross connect node to control whether any of the endpoints are bypassed from the ring network.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22 further comprising:
ascertaining a status of a bypassed endpoint, and as a function of the ascertained status, deciding whether or not to add the bypassed endpoint back into the ring network.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23 wherein:
providing broadband service to a plurality of endpoints comprises delivering traffic to each endpoint via respective first and second connections that are connected to the ring network while the endpoint is not in a bypassed state;
the method further comprising:
connecting POTS service to an endpoint via the first connection whether or not the endpoint is bypassed the DSL ring;
selectively bypassing an endpoint from the ring by disconnecting the first and second connection from the ring network;
while an endpoint is bypassed from the ring network, using the second connection to ascertain status of the endpoint.

### Claim 25 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23 further comprising:
for a given endpoint, using a twisted pair to provide POTs connectivity;
selectively using the twisted pair as part of a broadband backhaul connection.