Patent ID: 7408888

Claim:
A method for the automatic configuration of a DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) modem connected to an analog telephone line, comprising: automatically determining available communication resources on said analog telephone line, comprising automatically detecting if a DSL communication circuit exists on said analog telephone line, including establishing a first connection between a first pair of wires of said analog telephone line and the DSL modem; ascertaining whether a DSL communication circuit exists on the first connection; generating a second connection between a second pair of lines of the analog telephone line and the DSL modem; testing whether a DSL communication circuit exists on the second connection; and storing results of the ascertaining and testing as at least a part of the available communication resources; and automatically identifying a virtual communications route for communications between the DSL modem and a communications network, including transmitting a plurality of Virtual Path Identifier/Virtual Channel Identifiers (VPI/VCIs) to the communications network; acquiring a response cell from the communications network, the response cell being the first response cell received in response to the transmission of the plurality of VPI/VCIs; matching the VPI/VCI of the response cell to one of the transmitted VPI/VCIs; using the matched VPI/VCI to communicate between the DSL modem and the communications network; and automatically configuring the DSL modem based on the determined available communication resources.