Apparatus and method for transmitting a DS3 signal over multiple twisted pair conductors

A system for transmitting a high speed data stream over a plurality of twisted pair conductors comprising:

• a high speed data interface configured to receive said high speed data stream and to inversely multiplex said high speed data stream into a plurality of parallel data streams,
• a framer configured to receive one of said parallel data streams, and to generate a stream of packets, each packet having a packet index number,
• a plurality of modems configured to modulate each corresponding stream of packets onto a twisted pair conductor;
• and
• a processor configured to identify a loopback code in said high speed data stream, wherein said processor is further configured to pass through a first received loopback code to another device, and to enter a loopback mode if an nth subsequent loopback code is received without an intervening loop down code.

An apparatus for transmitting a high speed data stream over a plurality of twisted pair conductors comprising:

• a high speed data interface configured to receive said high speed data stream and to inversely multiplex said high speed data stream into a plurality of parallel data streams,
• a framer configured to receive one of said parallel data streams, and to generate a stream of packets, each packet having a packet number and stream identifier,
• a plurality of modems configured to modulate each corresponding stream of packets onto a twisted pair conductor, and
• at least one switch enabled to configure said apparatus as a repeater unit or a non-repeater unit, said apparatus being operable as a repeater when said high speed data interface thereof is connected to a second said high speed data interface of a second said apparatus to allow a high speed data stream to pass between the two said high speed data interfaces and data streams to be transmitted to and received from said plurality of modems of each of said apparatus and said second apparatus via twisted pair conductors, wherein, in each of said apparatus and said second apparatus, said plurality of modems demodulates a plurality of parallel signals received over said twisted pair conductors into a plurality of data streams each comprising a stream of packets, each said packet having a corresponding said stream identifier and said packet number, a deframer receives said parallel streams of packets and synchronizes said packets from said parallel streams based on said stream identifiers and said packet numbers, and said high speed data interface receives said plurality of synchronized parallel data streams and multiplexes said plurality of parallel data streams into a high speed data stream.

A system for receiving a DS3 data stream over a few twisted pair conductors comprising:

• a plurality of modems configured to demodulate a few parallel signals received over respective ones of four twisted pair conductors that each comprise an approximately 13 megabits per second (Mbps) stream into a few data streams each comprising a stream of packets, each packet having a stream identifier corresponding to its respective one of the parallel signals and a packet index number;
• a deframer configured to receive said parallel streams of packets, and to synchronize packets from said parallel streams based on said stream identifiers and said packet numbers;
• and
• a high speed data interface configured to receive said plurality of synchronized parallel data streams and to multiplex said plurality of parallel data streams into said DS3 data stream.

A system for receiving a high speed data stream over a plurality of twisted pair conductors comprising:

• a plurality of modems configured to demodulate a plurality of parallel signals received over said plurality of twisted pair conductors into a plurality of data streams each comprising a stream of packets, each packet having a stream identifier and a packet number;
• a deframer configured to receive said parallel streams of packets, and to synchronize packets from said parallel streams based on said stream identifiers and packet numbers;
• a high speed data interface configured to receive said plurality of synchronized parallel data streams and to multiplex said plurality of parallel data streams into said high speed data stream;
• and
• a processor configured to identify a loopback code in said high speed data stream, wherein said processor is further adapted to pass through a first received loopback code to another device, and to enter a loopback mode if an nth consecutive loopback code is received without an intervening loop down code.

A method of transmitting a DS3 data stream over a few twisted pair conductors comprising:

• receiving said DS3 data stream;
• inversely multiplexing said DS3 data stream into a four parallel data streams that each comprise an approximately 11 megabits per second (Mbps) stream;
• generating a stream of packets from each said parallel data stream, each packet having a stream identifier corresponding to its respective said parallel data stream and a packet number, and
• modulating each corresponding one of the four streams of packets onto a corresponding twisted pair conductor having a data rate of approximately 13 Mbps.

A method of transmitting a high speed data stream over a plurality of twisted pair conductors comprising:

• receiving said high speed data stream;
• inversely multiplexing said high speed data stream into a plurality of parallel data streams,
• generating a stream of packets from each said parallel data stream, each packet having a stream identifier and a packet number,
• modulating each corresponding stream of packets onto a corresponding twisted pair conductor,
• identifying a loopback code in said high speed data stream, and
• passing through a first received loopback code to another device and entering a loopback mode if an nth consecutive loopback code is received without an intervening loop down code.