Patent ID: 6775232
Filing Date: 2004-08-10
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method for scheduling cells associated with a plurality of communications channels on a digital subscriber line comprising:determining an available bandwidth of the line; determining a required bandwidth for the communications channels; comparing the required bandwidth and the available bandwidth; selecting a first mode of operation or a second mode of operation based on the comparison; in the first mode of operation, scheduling the communication of the cells using an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) communications protocol; and in the second mode of operation, scheduling the communication of the cells using a high priority queue in combination with the ATM communications protocol, wherein scheduling the communication of the cells using the high priority queue in combination with the ATM communications protocol comprises: assigning a communications channel for voice communications to the high priority queue; determining traffic shaping parameters for remaining communications channels not assigned to the high priority queue; determining a traffic schedule based on the traffic shaping parameters; scheduling cells from communications channels assigned to the high priority queue for communication before other cells from the remaining communications channels; and scheduling the communication of the other cells according to the traffic schedule.