Patent ID: 7826387

Claim:
A method for adapting a digital subscriber line (DSL) communications duplexing scheme to meet user application needs, comprising: determining, for a new DSL loop communication, a required upstream bit rate and a required downstream bit rate for the user application; dividing the required upstream bit rate by the required downstream bit rate to obtain a desired duplexing ratio for the new DSL communication; and adapting a duplexing scheme implemented by a DSL modem in support of the new DSL loop communication to at least approximate the desired duplexing ratio, comprising: selecting a band of plural adjacent upstream subcarriers numbering less than a total available band of upstream subcarriers on a DSL loop to handle the determined required upstream bit rate; and selecting a band of plural adjacent downstream subcarriers numbering less than a total available band of downstream subcarriers on the DSL loop to handle the determined required downstream bit rate; such that a ratio of a number of plural adjacent upstream subcarriers in the upstream band to a number of plural adjacent downstream subcarriers in the downstream band approximates the desired duplexing ratio.