Patent ID: 7376142

Claim:
A communication device disposed at a telephone customer premises, comprising: a processor; a digital subscriber line modem, connected to said processor, and further connected to a telephone network central office by a twisted-pair wire connection; one or more communication interfaces, connected to said processor, and further connected to a plurality of pieces of customer premises equipment located at the telephone customer premises; wherein said processor is configured to: multiplex outgoing digital data from said plurality of pieces of customer premises equipment for transmission on said twisted-pair wire connection by said digital subscriber line modem in a digital portion of a frequency spectrum of said digital subscriber line modem; facilitate communication from a first one of said plurality of pieces of customer premises equipment to a second one of said plurality of pieces of customer premises equipment both the first and second pieces located at the same telephone customer premises; monitor a use status of one or more of said plurality of pieces of customer premises equipment; and redirect incoming data traffic in accordance with said use status; and an analog telephone connected to said digital subscriber line modem by a lifeline connection, whereby analog telephone service may continue to be provided in the event of a power failure at the telephone customer premises.