Patent ID: 8693314

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: plurality of subscriber lines; a first network termination unit (NTU) having a port, a plurality of transceivers, and a bonding engine, the plurality of transceivers coupled to the plurality of subscriber lines, the bonding engine configured to bond the plurality of subscriber lines thereby forming a bonding group, wherein the bonding engine is configured to receive a data packet from the port and to fragment the data packet into a plurality of fragments, the bonding engine further configured to transmit the fragments to the plurality of transceivers such that the fragments are transmitted by the plurality of transceivers across the plurality of subscriber lines, wherein the first NTU further comprises logic configured to determine a parameter indicative of a communication performance of the bonding group, wherein the determined parameter is based on a communication performance of each of the plurality of subscriber lines in the bonding group, and wherein the first NTU is configured to disable the port based on the parameter when at least one of the plurality of subscriber lines is active; a switching element configured to receive a data stream and to forward the data stream to the port, wherein the data stream comprises the data packet; and a second NTU having a port and at least one transceiver coupled to at least one subscriber line, wherein the switching element is configured to switch the data stream from the port of the first NTU to the port of the second NTU such that data packets of the data stream are transmitted across the at least one subscriber line coupled to the second NTU when the port of the first NTU is disabled by the logic.