Patent ID: 6029203
Filing Date: 2000-02-22
Classification: H04L,H04M,H04Q

Abstract:
Apparatus for a network communication device which is connectable to both a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and a local area network (LAN) for simultaneously providing separate first and second communication channels over a common communication path between the PSTN to the device such that each of first and second host devices connected to the LAN can simultaneously communicate, through the communication device over the common communication path and via the first and second channels, with a different corresponding network service provider accessible through the PSTN, the apparatus comprising:a processor;a memory, connected to the processor, for storing executable instructions therein;communication circuitry, connected to and controlled by the processor, for establishing, over the common communication path, coincident first and second network connections between the communication device and the PSTN, and, via the LAN, the first and second host devices, respectively, wherein each of the connections is established over a different corresponding one of the first and second channels; anda source-based routing table (SBRT), stored within the memory, which specifies, for each of the first and second host devices, a different corresponding network service provider, which is then being accessed by said each host device, and which specific one of the first and second channels is to be used to carry packets, via the communication device and the PSTN, between said different corresponding network service provider and said each host device;wherein, in response to the executable instructions, the processor routes each one of a plurality of packets appearing on the LAN and originating from either the first or second host device via the specific one of the first and second channels as specified in the SBRT, given the source of said each packet, to the corresponding first or second network service provider that is to receive said each packet such that the communication device can simultaneously provide two separate packet connections, over the common communication path and via the PSTN, between the first and second host devices and corresponding different ones of the first and second network service providers.