Patent ID: 6963547

Claim:
An apparatus comprising a local multipoint distribution system wherein the local multipoint distribution system comprises: a central office unit for multiplexing a downstream data stream having an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell structure, or demultiplexing an upstream data stream having the ATM cell structure; and a head-end unit for modulating the multiplexed downstream data stream having the ATM cell structure provided from the central office unit, and demodulating the upstream data having the ATM cell structure into a data stream and forwarding the data stream to the central office unit, wherein one of the central office unit or the head-end unit establishes a virtual channel between the central office unit and the head-end unit to enable bi-directional communication in a communication network, and provides a medium access control (MAC) protocol for routing a data, including the data stream, the downstream data stream, and the upstream data stream, to a corresponding destination, wherein the central office unit comprises a network connection unit for multiplexing the downstream data stream, demultiplexing the upstream data stream, and routing the data stream to a corresponding terminating party, and wherein the network connection unit comprises: a signal processor for setting a virtual channel and a channel speed, and providing an ATM service corresponding to the virtual channel; and a call processor having a MAC controller for controlling user modems according to MAC instructions when the signal processor is operating.