Patent ID: 6963561

Claim:
An apparatus for transporting a plurality of Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) streams over an asynchronous Ethernet network, comprising: an ingress buffer for storing TDM data before encapsulation into Ethernet frames; an egress buffer for storing TDM data after received Ethernet frames are segmented; encapsulation means for retrieving TDM data from said ingress buffer, assembling Ethernet frames therefrom, inserting therein a first timestamp related to said TDM data and forwarding said assembled Ethernet frames to an Ethernet interface; segmentation means for receiving Ethernet frames from said Ethernet interface, extracting TDM data and a second timestamp therefrom and storing said TDM data in said egress buffer; and a processor comprising means for: receiving TDM data from a plurality of TDM ports; storing received TDM data in a queue within said ingress buffer wherein all TDM data to be encapsulated within an Ethernet frame is stored together; and retrieving TDM data from said egress buffer and generating a plurality of synchronous TDM data streams therefrom.