Patent ID: 8908500

Claim:
A method, comprising the steps of: bonding a plurality of subscriber lines via a first bonding engine of a first module such that first fragments of a first data packet fragmented by the first bonding engine are transmitted across each of the plurality of subscriber lines, the plurality of subscriber lines including at least a first subscriber line and a second subscriber line; detecting an operational problem associated with the first module; bonding the plurality of subscriber lines via a second bonding engine of a second module in response to the detecting step such that second fragments of a second data packet fragmented by the second bonding engine are transmitted across each of the plurality of subscriber lines; transmitting at least one of the first fragments from the first bonding engine via a chassis backplane to an access module terminating at least the first subscriber line; transmitting the at least one of the first fragments from the access module across the first subscriber line; transmitting at least one of the second fragments from the second bonding engine via the chassis backplane to the access module; transmitting the at least one of the second fragments from the access module across the first subscriber line; inserting the first module into a slot of a chassis; connecting the first module to a backplane of the chassis; inserting the second module into a slot of the chassis; connecting the second module to the backplane; inserting the third module into a slot of the chassis; connecting the third module to the backplane; inserting a fourth module into a slot of the chassis; connecting the fourth module to the backplane; receiving a first plurality of data packets at the third module, each of the first plurality of data packets having an address identifying communication equipment at a customer premises; transmitting each of the first plurality of data packets from the third module across the backplane to the first module based on configuration settings that map the address to the first module; fragmenting, via the first bonding engine, each of the first plurality of data packets into fragments for transmission across at least each of the first and second subscriber lines; updating the configuration settings in response to the detecting step such that the updated configuration settings map the address to the second module; receiving a second plurality of data packets, each of the second plurality of data packets having the address; transmitting each of the second plurality of data packets from the third module across the backplane to the second module based on the updated configuration settings; and fragmenting, via the second bonding engine, each of the second plurality of data packets into fragments for transmission across at least each of the first and second subscriber lines.