Patent ID: 6731641
Filing Date: 2004-05-04
Classification: H04L,H04Q

Abstract:
Method of transferring signaling cells between a circuit performing a physical layer function, and an apparatus processing and forming signaling cells in a broadband telecommunications system, comprising the steps of:providing an ATM switch including several input gates and several output gates; performing connection to the output gate of a signaling cell led to the input gate; providing ATM circuits which perform ATM layer functions and are connected functionally to the ATM switch and which process cell headings; providing physical layer circuits performing physical layer functions and each of which is connected on the one hand through an interface to the ATM circuits and on the other hand to a transmission line; providing a connection to the apparatus processing and forming signaling cells through the same interface to the ATM circuits, whereby the ATM circuits can see the apparatus processing and forming signaling cells as if they were a physical circuit; transferring signaling cells through the ATM switch between the physical layer circuits and the apparatus processing and forming signaling cells; modifying, in the output gate of the ATM switch, a first normal signaling cell arriving from the physical layer circuits into a modified signaling cell by replacing the information (VPI/VCI) identifying the first normal signaling cell with a first tag individualizing a physical layer circuit of said physical layer circuits and by adding a second tag indicating that the modified signaling cell must be led to the apparatus; modifying, in the output gate of the ATM switch, the modified signaling cell arriving from the apparatus into a second normal signaling cell by replacing the first tag of the modified signaling cell with information (VPI/VCI) identifying the cell as a normal signaling cell and by adding a third tag indicating that the second normal signaling cell must be led to the physical layer circuit of said physical layer circuits and performing the physical function.