Patent ID: 6343074
Filing Date: 2002-01-29
Classification: H04L,H04M,H04Q

Abstract:
A communication system coupled to a wide area communication network comprising a plurality of network resources, the communication system controlling voice and data communications in an office and comprising:a host processor; at least a first packet bus adapted for transferring packetized data and coupled to the host processor; at least one time division multiplex (TDM) bus selectively coupled to the first packet bus and the host processor and the wide area communication network; a buffer and framer unit coupled between the host processor and the TDM bus, the buffer and framer unit including a plurality of circuits for processing data in accordance with communication protocols; a plurality of computing devices coupled to the first packet bus for initiating or receiving data communications in the office; and a plurality of telephony devices coupled to the TDM bus for initiating or receiving voice communications in the office; wherein the host processor comprises hardware and software selectively allocating resources within the communication system, wherein the host processor determines a communication path from one or more communication paths in the communication system for each of the voice and data communications in the office based on available network resources, type of communication, and/or usage patterns in the office, wherein voice communications that stay in a circuit-switched form in the communication system occur over the TDM bus and the wide area communication network.