Patent ID: 7903638

Claim:
A digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) comprising: a network termination device operatively coupled to a communication network through a network communication link; a plurality of transceivers for transmitting communication traffic on respective sets of at least one access communication link, each access communication link comprising a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) communication link; and a plurality of line termination devices, operatively coupled to the network termination device and to respective subsets of the plurality of transceivers, each line termination device comprising a respective apparatus for managing transfer of communication traffic between the network termination device and the respective subset of the plurality of transceivers, the apparatus of each line termination device comprising: a communication link bonding manager implemented in a processor adapted to configure a plurality of the access communication links of the transceivers to which the line termination device is operatively coupled, as an access group for providing a respective aggregate group communication traffic rate on the network communication link, and to allocate the aggregate group communication traffic rate among the plurality of access communication links; and a bonding module implemented in a processor adapted to distribute the communication traffic received on the network communication link for transmission on the plurality of access communication links in accordance with the allocation of the respective aggregate group communication traffic rate; and an interface for receiving user inputs including a mode parameter specifying eligibility of the communication link for inclusion in the access group, a Management Information Base (MIB) comprising a bonding link table comprising an array of table entries for each access communication link modified by the communication link bonding manager, each table entry of the array of table entries including an identifier for the access communication link, wherein one access communication link identifier from the access group is chosen as a group identifier and access communication links associate with the access group by adding the group identifier to the respective table entry, wherein the communication link bonding manager of at least one of the line termination devices configures the access group by storing information in the Management Information Base (MIB) responsive to the user inputs.