Provisional Application No. 60/136,214, filed May 26,1999, entitled"Concurrent Access to Internet and Atm Networks Using Twisted Pair Cable,"which is incorporated herein by reference.

Background of the Invention The present invention pertains to network communications, and particularly to wiring and connector technologies for facilitating access to Internet, ATM, and other networks.

A PC, workstation, or other intelligent appliance is often connected to a network for the exchange of information, frequently by a cable containing multiple conductors, such as a twisted-pair cable (e. g., UTP category 5 cable). Signal sets which are commonly carried over such cables include those compatible with ethernet, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and other network link er protocols.

Laying cable through an office or home environment to create a network is both expensive and disruptive. When changing an entire system from an Ethernet network to an ATM network (or vice versa), existing cables can sometimes be reused to avoid this procedure. However, existing cabling infrastructure cannot generally be used for concurrently carrying signal sets compatible with multiple network protocols. For example, IP-based and ATM-based signal sets cannot normally be carried over the same cable, because these signal sets are conventionally carried on overlapping sets of conductors. If it is desired to access the Internet, via ethernet, and ATM networks simultaneously (or other combinations of networks), multiple cables must be used.

An object of this invention is to provide improved wiring and connector apparatus and methods for network communications.

A further object is to provide such apparatus and methods as facilitate carrying multiple network signal sets with minimal capital outlay.

Still yet a further object of this invention is to provide such apparatus and methods as permit the transfer of multiple network signal sets in a manner compatible with existing communications equipment.

Summarv of the Invention The present invention addresses the foregoing needs by providing concurrent access to multiple network signal sets (e. g., for Ethernet and ATM networks) using a single twisted pair cable. This is achieved by mapping the signals into non- overlapping conductor sets within the same twisted pair cable.

In one aspect, the invention provides a cable system for carrying at least two signal sets that normally use overlapping sets of conductors. The system includes four connectors coupled to a common cable, two for each signal set. The connectors have pins carrying the signal sets, which are connected to nonoverlapping sets of conductors in the common cable. The conductors of the common cable may share a common sheath, as in a typical twisted pair cable such as UTP category 3 or category 5 cable.

In one configuration according to the invention, the system is designed to provide concurrent access to IP and ATM networks by carrying Ethernet signal sets and ATM signal sets over a single common cable. The system includes four connectors and a common cable. Two of the four connectors have pins that carry the Ethernet signal set and are coupled to a first set of conductors of the cable, and the other two of the connectors have pins that carry the ATM signal set and are coupled to a second set of conductors of the cable. The two sets of conductors are nonoverlapping; that is, they have no conductors in common.

The invention further provides connectors for coupling to a cable according to similar schemes. Each such connector comprises two connections: one for coupling pins carrying each signal set to conductors in the cable, where the normal pins for carrying the signal sets overlap, but the connector couples them to nonoverlapping sets of conductors in the cable. The connections may take a variety of physical forms, such as jacks, sockets, patch cords, cables, and other connectors.

In addition, the invention comprises a kit for connecting two or more intelligent appliances to multiple networks, where the kit includes two or more connectors of the type described above.

The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent aspects of the present invention. These aspects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, other aspects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description.

Brief Description of the Drawing The invention is described with reference to the several figures of the drawing, in which, Figure 1 depicts the typical configuration of connecting a PC to two network access points using two separate twisted pair cables; Figure 2 shows the wiring diagram for connecting a PC to an Ethernet switch or hub using twisted pair cable; Figure 3 depicts the wiring diagram for connecting a PC to an ATM switch using twisted pair cable; Figure 4 shows the preferred embodiment of a PC with concurrent access to an Ethernet switch or hub and an ATM switch using a single twisted pair cable; and Figure 5 depicts the preferred embodiment of the wiring diagram for concurrent access of an Ethernet switch or hub and an ATM switch.

Detailed Description This invention provides apparatus and methods of local access that allow the concurrent access to two or more network services (e. g., IP and ATM) using a single twisted pair cable. It can be used for connecting any type of electronic device (intelligent appliance), including, but not limited to, desk-top personal computers, laptops, digital telephones, digital televisions, and video-conferencing equipment, to the Internet or to ATM networks. For the sake of brevity, however, the invention will be described in the context of a networked desktop computer system only, with reference to a combination of IP and ATM based networks, using UTP category 5 cable, and 10/lOOBase-TX and ATM-25/155 UTP cabling schemes. It is easily understood that any combination of the above can be used for concurrent access to two or more networks of the same or different types.

Figure 1 shows a representative embodiment of a PC that includes network connections for interfacing with the Internet and/or ATM network. The PC also includes display screen 20 for displaying information to the user, keyboard 22 for inputting text and user commands, mouse 24 for positioning a cursor on display screen and inputting user commands, and disk drive 26 for reading from and writing to floppy disks installed therein. The PC may also have one or more peripheral devices (not shown) attached thereto for inputting text, graphics images, or the like, and a printer attached thereto for outputting images.

When using twisted pair technologies, local access to the Internet or an IP network via an Ethernet 14 hub or switch or XDSL modem is realized with a wiring scheme as depicted in Figure 2. Typical access rates are l OMb/s or 100 Mb/s but higher rates such as 1 Gb/s are also possible.

ATM local access using twisted pair cable is realized by a wiring scheme as depicted in Figure 3. Typical access rates are 25Mb/s and 155 Mb/s are used although other rates are also available.

As evident from Figures 2 and 3, concurrent local access to IP and ATM- based networks has not conventionally been thought to be possible using a single twisted pair cable. This is because wire pair A, using wires denoted 1 and 2, is used by both the Ethernet and ATM access to these networks. Systems in accord with the invention overcome this.

In an embodiment of this invention, circuit board pinouts or other connections (e. g., on NICs), jacks, plugs, sockets, patch cords, connectors or other apparatus are utilized to route multiple network signals to non-overlapping conductors in a common cable, e. g., a UTP category 3 or category 5 cable. This facilitates coupling with a single cable PCs or other apparatus, e. g., employees'workstations, to multiple centralized network servers, e. g., residing in an MIS or IT department. Through use of such apparatus, for example, an office wired for Ethernet access can be readily equipped to provide ATM access, as well, without running separate cabling for the additional network.

Figure 4 depicts a system utilizing the invention. In the system, two NICs 10,12 are present: one connects the PC to the Internet and the other to an ATM network. The local access to the Ethernet switch 14 and ATM switch 16, depicted in Figure 4, is based on four wires each 28,30 that are mapped into an eight wire (4 pairs) twisted pair cable 32. This allows the concurrent access of an intelligent appliance such as a PC or a workstation to IP and ATM-based networks.

The detailed wiring diagram is shown in Figure 5. It can be embodied in circuit board pinouts or other connections (e. g., on NICs), jacks, plugs, sockets, patch cords, connectors or other apparatus, e. g., at each end of a common cable. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, wire pairs A (wires 1 and 2) and B (wires 3 and 6) are used for access to IP network services whereas wire pairs C (wires 4 and 5) and D (wires 7 and 8) are used for access to ATM network services. These wire pairs are coupled to the standard pins on external connectors for each of the Ethernet and ATM signal sets. (As used herein, the term"pin"includes any of the many structures known in the art for electrically connecting to a single conductor of a cable).

In a preferred embodiment for use with UTP category 5 cable, wiring within the connector is twisted on a per-pair basis. For example, the wires forming wire pair A must be twisted together, as must those forming each of pairs B, C and D.

Other wiring schemes can also be used as long as two pairs are reserved for access to IP networks and two pairs for access to ATM networks. Furthermore, not only concurrent access to IP and ATM can be accommodated, but also combination of access to two IP-based or two ATM-based access networks. Finally, any application specific pair assignments that uses two pairs, such as 8802-3 (lOBase-T), 8802-5 (Token-Ring), FDDI (TP-PMD), ATM 25.6Mbps UTP and ATM 155.52 Mbps UTP, 100Base-TX (802.3u) can be combined together to form concurrent network access.

IP networks provide transport and signaling services as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) whereas ATM networks provide transport and signaling services as defined by the ATM Forum. Concurrent access to ATM and IP services greatly increases the potential of ATM and IP-based networks. This potential can be realized by exploiting the synergies of the two networks. For example, signaling services for controlling ATM switching resources can be supported using the IP networking infrastructure. A case in point is a system whereby signaling information to set ATM Virtual Circuits is transported by IP channels.

The typical embodiment of the invention allows for the following combination of transport: 10 Mb/s Ethernet with 25 Mb/s ATM, and 100 Mb/s Ethernet with 155Mb/s ATM. Other combinations, such as 100 Mb/s Ethernet and 25Mb/s ATM can obviously be accommodated as well. Thus, by way of non-limiting example, the invention can be applied to the transport over a single cable of any combination of signal sets according to the following protocols 8802-3 (lOBase-T), 8802-5 (Token-Ring), FDDI (TP-PMD), ATM 25.6Mbps UTP and ATM 155.52 Mbps UTP, and 100Base-TX (802.3u).

As can be seen from Figure 5, other wire combinations that result in the same effect of supporting concurrent access to two different networks are possible. The

only requirement is to use one set of cable conductors for the first network access and similarly a different, nonoverlapping set of cable conductors for the second network access.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the specification or practice of the invention disclosed herein.

Thus, by way of non-limiting example, it will be appreciated that the conductor pair labels, colors and numbers described above are merely examples, and that other combinations can be used instead, in accord with the corresponding standards. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is: