Patent ID: 6965565

Claim:
A system for communicating an event status across a data channel, comprising in combination: a data path to provide connectivity for a plurality of communication channels using data transport protocols; an originating device coupled to a first location on the data path, the originating device operable to set an event status indicator in a control portion of a data unit, the originating device operable to communicate a data signal as one or more data units on a data channel, the data channel being one of the plurality of communication channels supported on the data path, wherein the control portion is a SAR PDU header, and wherein the event status indicator is selected from a group consisting of an out of sequence SAR PDU header, a corrupted SAR PDU header, a corrupted and irrecoverable SAR PDU header, a parity bit in the SAR PDU header, a CRC field in the SAR PDU header, and a parity bit and CRC field in the SAR PDU header; and a receiving device coupled to a second location on the data path, the receiving device operable to detect the event status indicator in the control portion of the data unit, the receiving device operable to convert the one or more data units communicated on the data channel to a recovered data signal, the data path linking the originating device to the receiving device, the event status, wherein the event status is selected from the group consisting of a FIFO overflow condition, a FIFO underflow condition, and a line status, indicator identifying an event status, wherein the data signal and the recovered data signal include constant bit rate data, wherein the originating device and the receiving device are ATM devices and the data channel is an ATM channel, wherein the originating device further comprises an ATM encapsulation module operative to convert the data signal into the one or more data units, wherein the receiving device further comprises an ATM decapsulation module operative to convert the one or more data units into the recovered data signal, and wherein the data units are ATM cells, wherein the ATM encapsulation module includes an ATM AAL1 encapsulation block and the ATM decapsulation module includes an ATM AAL1 decapsulation block.