Combined telephone PBX and computer data router with pooled resources
View Patent ↗System resources are pooled and allocated in an optimal manner to handling telephone voice traffic or to handling computer data traffic. A combination of mechanisms is used to achieve higher statistical multiplexing on a network interface by dynamically adjusting the multiplexing. The system: 1) Provides homogeneous access to DS0 trunk resource by both voice and data traffic, resulting in a larger resource pool. 2) Partially normalizes the class of service characteristics of data traffic to make it more predictable and can dynamically adjust the bandwidth such that requests for resources can be honored with a higher success rate, and 3) Maintains multiple qualities of service for multiple voice and data streams drawing from a single resource pool. Data traffic is normalized into flows, each of which has an assigned priority and bandwidth is allocation to each of the flows.
1. A system for interconnecting telephones and computers, said system including
trunk interconnection resources that can be used for either computer data traffic or telephone traffic, said trunk interconnection resources providing a total amount of bandwidth that can be allocated to said computer data traffic or to said telephone traffic,
data traffic generating devices for generating data traffic,
said data traffic requiring bandwidth and being normalized with respect to specified classes of service,
voice traffic generating devices for generating voice traffic,
said voice traffic requiring bandwidth and having specified classes of service,
means for dynamically adjusting the amount of said total bandwidth allocated to said data traffic and to said voice traffic in a multiplexed data stream depending upon the class of service of said data traffic and said voice traffic.
2. A system for interconnecting telephones and computers, said system including a pool of trunk interconnection resources that can be used for either computer data traffic or telephone traffic, said interconnection devices providing a total amount of bandwidth,
data traffic generating devices for generating data traffic,
said data traffic requiring an amount of bandwidth and being normalized with respect to specified classes of service,
voice traffic generating devices for generating voice traffic,
said voice traffic requiring an amount of bandwidth and having specified classes of service,
means for dynamically managing said total amount of bandwidth for multiple streams of data traffic and for multiple streams of voice traffic drawing from said pool of trunk interconnection resources in a multiplexed data stream based upon the class of service of said streams of data traffic and said streams of voice traffic.