Patent ID: 8462618

Claim:
A communication system comprising: at least two links to carry signals; a first communication unit comprising: at least two ports, each port configured to transmit and receive signals; and a logic unit to process the signals transmitted and received by the at least two ports; and a second communication unit comprising: at least two ports, each port configured to transmit and receive signals and coupled to one of the at least two ports in the first communication unit via one of the at least two links, wherein each of the at least two ports in the second communication unit is a member of a respective connection pair with one of the at least two ports in the first communication unit; a programmable logic unit to process the signals transmitted and received by the at least two ports; and a processor to program the programmable logic unit for crossover operation of the at least two ports in the second communication unit when a crossover connection between the connection pairs is detected based on an analysis of a pair identifier field in a received message, the pair identifier field identifying a connection pair of the port in the first communication unit from which the message was received; wherein the processor programs the programmable logic unit to switch timeslots assigned to a first port of the at least two ports to a second port of the at least two ports and to switch timeslots assigned to the second port to the first port to compensate for the crossover connection.