Patent ID: 7760624

Claim:
A network access device, comprising: a plurality of line cards coupled to a plurality of subscriber lines, each of the subscriber lines coupled to communication equipment for servicing a customer, the communication equipment at a single customer premises, each of the line cards having a transceiver coupled to a respective one of the subscriber lines; a line card having a backup transceiver coupled to a backup subscriber line for backing up each of the plurality of subscriber lines, the backup subscriber line coupled to the communication equipment for servicing the customer; and logic configured to switch communication from one of the subscriber lines to the backup subscriber line in response to a detection of an error condition for the communication occurring over the one subscriber line, wherein the line card having the backup transceiver is coupled to the communication equipment for servicing the customer via a single subscriber line, wherein each of the plurality of line cards is coupled to the communication equipment for servicing the customer via a single respective subscriber line, wherein the backup subscriber line extends from the network access device to the communication equipment for servicing the customer thereby providing a first data path from the network access device to the communication equipment, wherein the one subscriber line extends from the network access device to the communication equipment servicing the customer thereby providing a second data path from the network access device to the communication equipment, and wherein the first data path is separate from the second data path.