Crossover operation in a 1+1 protection switching environment

1. A communication system comprising:

at least two links to carry signals;

a first communication unit comprising:

at least two ports, each port configured to transmit and receive signals; and

a logic unit to process the signals transmitted and received by

the at least two ports; and

a second communication unit comprising:

at least two ports, each port configured to transmit and receive signals and coupled to one of the at least two ports in the first communication unit via one of the at least two links, wherein each of the at least two ports in the second communication unit is a member of a respective connection pair with one of the at least two ports in the first communication unit;

a programmable logic unit to process the signals transmitted and received by the at least two ports; and

a processor to program the programmable logic unit for crossover operation of the at least two ports in the second communication unit when a crossover connection between the connection pairs is detected based on an analysis of a pair identifier field in a received message, the pair identifier field identifying a connection pair of the port in the first communication unit from which the message was received;

wherein the processor programs the programmable logic unit to switch timeslots assigned to a first port of the at least two ports to a second port of the at least two ports and to switch timeslots assigned to the second port to the first port to compensate for the crossover connection.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the processor detects the crossover connection based on an analysis of a pair identifier field in a received message.

3. The communication system of claim 2 , wherein the received message is received on an Embedded operations Channel (EOC).

4. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the first communication unit is a central unit and the second communication unit is a remote unit.

5. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the programmable logic unit is comprised of one of a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and a complex programmable logic device (CPLD).

6. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second communication units are G.SHDSL communication units.

7. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein one of the at least two links is an active link and another of the at least two links is a back-up link, wherein the first and second communication units switch from the active link to the back-up link when a switch event is detected.

8. The communication system of claim 7 , wherein a switch event comprises one of Loss of Sync Word (LOSW) alarm, errored second threshold, margin threshold crossing, loop attention, threshold crossing, and segment defect.

9. A communication unit comprising:

a first port;

a second port, each of the first and second ports configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from a respective port of another communication unit;

a programmable logic unit to process signals transmitted and received by the first and second ports; and

a processor to program the programmable logic unit for crossover operation of the first and second ports based on detection of a crossover connection between the first and second ports and the respective ports of the other communication unit;

wherein the processor programs the programmable logic unit for the crossover operation by programming the programmable logic unit to switch timeslots assigned to the first port to the second port and to switch timeslots assigned to the second port to the first port;

wherein the crossover connection is detected based on an analysis of a pair identifier field in a received message, the pair identifier field identifying a connection pair of the port in the other communication unit from which the message was received.

10. The communication unit of claim 9 , wherein the processor detects the crossover connection based on an analysis of a pair identifier field contained in a received message.

11. The communication unit of claim 9 , wherein the message is received over an Embedded Operations Channel (EOC).

12. The communication unit of claim 9 , wherein the programmable logic unit is one of a field-programmable logic array (FPGA) and a complex programmable logic device (CPLD).

13. The communication unit of claim 9 , wherein each of the first and second ports transmits and receives a copy of the same signals, wherein one port is designated as active and the other is designated as back-up and wherein the processor switches processing signals from the active port to signals from the back-up port when a switch event is detected.

14. The communication unit of claim 13 , wherein a switch event comprises one of Loss of Sync Word (LOSW) alarm, errored second threshold, margin threshold crossing, loop attention, threshold crossing, and segment defect.

15. The communication unit of claim 9 , wherein the communication unit is a G.SHDSL communication unit.

16. A method of providing crossover operation, the method comprising:

receiving a message containing a pair identifier field at a port in a first communication unit, the message transmitted from a port in a second communication unit;

extracting a pair ID from the pair identifier field, the pair ID identifying a connection pair of the port in the second communication unit, wherein a connection pair is a set of two ports, one port from each of the first communication unit and the second communication unit;

comparing the received pair ID to the pair ID of the port which received the message to detect a crossover connection, wherein a crossover connection is a connection of one port from a connection pair to a port of a different connection pair;

if the received pair ID is not the same as the pair ID of the port at which the message is received, thereby indicating a detected crossover connection, determining if the first communication unit is configured for crossover operation; and

if the first communication unit is not configured for crossover operation, configuring a programmable logic unit for crossover operation;

wherein configuring a programmable logic unit for crossover operation comprises configuring the programmable logic unit to switch timeslots such that timeslots corresponding to the connection pair identified by the pair ID of the received message are switched to the port which received the message.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein receiving a message comprises receiving a message over an Embedded Operation Channel (EOC).

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein configuring a programmable logic unit comprises setting a flag in a register inside the programmable logic unit which indicates that crossover operation is enabled.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising if the pair ID of the received message is the same as the pair ID of the port which received the message, determining if the communication unit is configured for crossover operation; and

if the communication unit is configured for crossover operation, configuring the programmable logic unit for non-crossover operation.