Patent ID: 7009977

Claim:
A system for expanding the delivery of telecommunication services, comprising: a master unit, coupled to a wide area network (WAN) comprising an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)-compatible network, operable to process telecommunication service signals comprising ATM cells for communication with the WAN and with a fixed number of telecommunication service interfaces at the master unit, the master unit comprising: the fixed number of telecom service interfaces; a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) interface, coupled to a Digital Line Carrier (DLC) system, for exchanging POTS signals between the DLC system and the master unit; a controller for processing the ATM cells; a T1 interface, coupled to the ATM-compatible network, for exchanging the ATM cells between the ATM-compatible network and the controller; a plurality of local ATM-compatible interfaces for communicating the ATM cells and POTS signals to subscribers serviced by the master unit; and an expansion function, coupled to the controller, the ATM-compatible interfaces and an expansion port, for communicating the ATM cells in the upstream and the downstream directions via the expansion port and for communicating the ATM cells with the local ATM-compatible interfaces; an expansion unit, coupled via an expansion link to the master unit, comprising an expansion set of telecommunication service interfaces, the expansion unit operable to transmit telecommunication service signals in the upstream direction via the expansion link for processing by the master unit and to receive telecommunication service signals in the downstream direction from the master unit via the expansion link for delivery to the expansion set of telecommunication service interfaces.