Patent ID: 8605747

Claim:
A method comprising: determining, by a network device, whether a first upstream channel, of a plurality of upstream channels, comprises a first type of upstream channel or a second type of upstream channel, the first type of upstream channel providing initialization opportunities, the second type of upstream channel providing no initialization opportunities, and data being provided via the second type of upstream channel while the first type of upstream channel provides the initialization opportunities; initializing, by the network device and when the first upstream channel comprises the first type of upstream channel, the network device; determining, by the network device and when the first upstream channel comprises the second type of upstream channel, whether a second upstream channel, of the plurality of upstream channels, comprises the first type of upstream channel based on an upstream channel descriptor corresponding to the second upstream channel, the upstream channel descriptor being received by the network device via a downstream channel; and initializing, by the network device and when the second upstream channel comprises the first type of upstream channel, the network device.