Systems and methods for switching multi-rate communications

A method for switching multi-rate communications, wherein a network system includes a first and a second timeslot interchange, and the first timeslot interchange outputs a first system data format (SDF) frame and the second timeslot interchange outputs a second SDF frame, said method comprising:

• filling a first set of p timeslots with p sets of data from a first data collection of a first type, wherein the first data collection includes m sets of data and p is less than m;
• loading at least one overflow timeslot with at least one overflow set of data from the first data collection, wherein the overflow set of data exceeds a size of the first set of p timeslots,
• deleting a first connection from the first SDF frame, wherein the first connection occupies p timeslots in the first SDF frame;
• and
• moving a second connection from the second SDF frame to the first SDF frame, wherein the second connection occupies p timeslots in the second SDF frame.

A method for switching multi-rate communications using a network system that includes a first and a second timeslot interchange, where the first timeslot interchange outputs a first system data format (SDF) frame and the second timeslot interchange outputs a second SDF frame, said method comprising:

• obtaining first, second and third data collections of a first data type, each of the first, second, and third data collections comprising m sets of data;
• allocating p timeslots, from frames of a communication format, to each of the first, second and third data collections, where p is less than m;
• providing at least one overflow timeslot, from the frames of the communication format, for use with the first, second, and third data collections;
• filling first, second, and third sets of p timeslots with p sets of data from the first, second, and third data collections, respectively;
• loading overflow timeslots with an mth set of data of the first data collection, an mth set of data of the second data collection, and an mth set of data of the third data collection;
• and
• initializing to perform a first call packing in a second SDF frame and then performing the first call packing in a first SDF frame if the third data collection is of a third type that is different than the first type and a second type.