Patent ID: 7010026

Claim:
A voice and data communication system comprising a customer premises equipment (CPE) element and a line card for transferring communication signals between a subscriber and a network, said line card comprising: a broadband analog front end for coupling said line card to said CPE through a transmission medium; a digitizer for digitizing received voice signals; a packetizer for packetizing said digitized voice signals, wherein said packetizer performs at least one of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and voice over asynchronous transfer mode (VoATM) packetization; a modem for transmitting voice and data packets to said CPE; and a system interface for coupling said line card to at least one network; wherein said line card digitizes and packetizes said voice signals upon failure of said CPE, wherein said CPE comprises: a digitizer for digitizing received voice signals; a packetizer for packetizing said digitized voice signals, wherein said packetizer performs at least one of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and voice over asynchronous transfer mode (VoATM) packetization; a modem for transmitting voice packets; and a switch for bypassing said packetizing system to a Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) terminal, wherein said switch is a relay for switching between said packetizer and said POTS system, wherein the position of said switch is determined by a signal, said signal indicating the status of the connection between said CPE, and said line card.