Patent ID: 6963641

Claim:
A digital subscriber line (xDSL) communications device comprising: a selector located in a housing; an attenuation device located in the housing and coupled to the selector, the attenuation device comprising: a resistive circuit having a first end and a second end; and a plurality of capacitive circuits coupled in series between the first end of the resistive circuit and the selector, the capacitive circuits comprising a plurality of resistive elements coupled in parallel to a plurality of capacitive elements, the capacitive circuits operable to permit normal operation of telephone services at a subscriber premises; a bi-directional variable gain amplifier located in the housing and coupled to the selector and the second end of the resistive circuit; a gain control circuit located in the housing and coupled to the amplifier; a processor located in the housing and coupled to the gain control circuit and the amplifier; a line interface coupled to the selector and the capacitive circuits, the interface operable to communicate over a twisted pair line; wherein the processor is operable to train the xDSL communications device at a data transmission rate; receive a measured signal strength from the gain control circuit of a data signal received from a remote location using the twisted pair line after the xDSL communications device trains; calculate an amplification for the data signal based on the measured signal strength; and communicate the calculated amplification to the gain control circuit, the gain control circuit operable to adjust the gain of the amplifier; and wherein the gain control circuit adjusts the gain of the amplifier by increasing the gain of the amplifier if the measured signal strength is below a first value; decreasing the gain of the amplifier if the measured signal strength is above the first value and below a second value; and eliminating the gain of the amplifier if the measured signal strength is above the second value.