A method of creating a signal encoded with a message for transmission from a line unit to a switch unit in a network element of a communication network includes arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous bytes of traffic and arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling wherein there is one nibble of signaling for each byte of traffic.
1. A method of creating a signal comprising a message for transmission from a line unit to a switch unit in a network element of a communication network, the method comprising:
arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous bytes of traffic; and
arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling;
wherein there is one nibble of signaling for each byte of traffic; and
wherein the nibbles of signaling are different from one another, and the nibbles are equal in number to the bytes.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the message is 64-bytes in length.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the nibbles of signaling comprise at least 12 bytes.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the nibbles of signaling comprises at least 15 bytes.
5. A method of creating a signal comprising a message for transmission from a line unit to a switch unit in a network element of a communication network, the method comprising:
arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous bytes of traffic;
arranging in the message a plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling wherein there is one nibble of signaling for each byte of traffic; and
including at least one control byte immediately following the plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
including in the message a header preceding the bytes of traffic.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the header comprises a frame sequence number byte such that the frame sequence number byte identifies the position of the signal within a 6 millisecond superframe.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the header comprises at least 16 bytes.
9. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
including at least one pad byte immediately following the control byte.
10. The method of claim 5 wherein each byte of traffic is a B-channel.
11. The method of claim 9 wherein the bytes of B-channel traffic comprise at least 24 bytes.
12. The method of claim 9 wherein the nibbles of signaling immediately follow the B-channels.
13. A method of creating a signal comprising a message, the method comprising:
arranging in said signal a plurality of contiguous B-channels, wherein each B-channel is a byte of a voice sample;
placing in said signal a plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling immediately following the B-channels wherein there is one nibble of signaling for each B-channel;
wherein the nibbles of signaling are different from one another and the nibbles are equal in number to the bytes;
wherein a header precedes the B-channels; and
wherein the message is 64-bytes.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the message further comprises:
at least one frame sequence field such that the frame sequence field identifies a position of the signal within a 6 millisecond superframe and wherein the frame sequence field is located between the header and the B-channels; and
at least one control byte immediately following the plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling.
15. A process for creating a payload of a message, the process comprising:
arranging a plurality of contiguous B-channels, wherein each B-channel is a byte of a voice sample;
placing a plurality of contiguous nibbles of signaling immediately following the B-channels;
wherein the nibbles of signaling are different from one another and the nibbles are equal in number to the bytes
preceding the B-channels with a header; and
locating at least one byte containing a frame sequence field between the header and the B-channels.
16. The process of claim 15 wherein: the frame sequence field is located to identify a position of a signal within a 6 millisecond superframe.
17. The process of claim 16 further comprising: including at least one control byte immediately following the signaling.
18. The process of claim 16 further comprising:
using a 6 bit frame count that changes monotonically in the frame sequence field to determine if all frames are received.
19. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
including in the message a header preceding the bytes of traffic.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the header comprises a frame sequence number byte that identifies a position of the signal within a superframe.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the header comprises at least 16 bytes.
22. The method of claim 16 wherein the message is 64-bytes in length.
23. The method of claim 16 wherein the nibbles of signaling comprise at least 12 bytes.