Method for maintaining channels and a subscriber station for use in an ISDN system

In an ISDN system for performing various communication tasks including transferring ISDN data between subscriber stations over a plurality of ISDN circuit-switched channels, each of the channels having a known bandwidth, at least one of the subscriber stations including apparatus comprising:

• a computer having an internal bus and at least one ISDN terminal adapter for coupling the channels to the internal bus;
• linking means associated with the computer for linking several of the plurality of channels into a single logical connection;
• synchronizing means associated with the computer for synchronizing the channels of the single logical connection to permit the ISDN data to be transferred to a second subscriber station at a first rate greater than the rate available on any one of the linked ISDN circuit-switched channels;
• and
• data input means associated with the computer for inputting selection data to the computer representative of a desired communication bandwidth, said linking means being responsive to said selection data for linking the several of the plurality of channels into the single logical connection.

In an ISDN system for performing various communication tasks including transferring ISDN data between first and second subscriber stations over a plurality of ISDN circuit-switched channels, each of the channels having a known bandwidth, each of the first and second subscriber stations including apparatus comprising:

• a computer having an internal bus and at least one ISDN terminal adapter for coupling the channels to the internal bus;
• linking means associated with the computer for linking several of the plurality of channels into a single logical connection;
• synchronizing means associated with the computer for synchronizing the channels of the single logical connection to permit the ISDN data to be transferred between the first and second stations at a rate greater than the rate available on any one of the linked ISDN circuit-switched channels;
• and
• data input means associated with the computer for inputting selection data to the computer representative of a desired communication bandwidth, said link means being responsive to said selection data for linking the several of the plurality of channels into the single logical connection.