Branch exchange methods and apparatuses for switching telecommunication signals

1. A branch exchange, comprising:

at least one interface module coupled to a plurality of telecommunication connections including a first telecommunication connection and a second telecommunication connection;

a network interface controller (NIC) that processes at least one time division multiplexed (TDM) data stream within the branch exchange;

a converter coupled to the at least one interface module and the NIC, the converter configured to communicate the TDM data stream along with control information pertaining to the TDM data stream in a combined serial data stream prior to transmission to the NIC, between the converter and the at least one interface module, the converter further configured to packetize data from one of the telecommunication connections into a first plurality of data packets transmitted to the NIC by the converter; and

a branch exchange manager configured to receive the data from the NIC and cause the data to be transmitted over the second telecommunication connection.

2. The branch exchange of claim 1 , wherein the NIC, the converter and the at least one interface module reside on a system card interfaced with a computer.

3. The branch exchange of claim 1 , wherein the branch exchange manager is configured to transmit the data to the NIC, wherein the NIC is configured to packetize the data into a second plurality of data packet and to transmit the second plurality of data packets to the converter, and wherein the converter is configured to depacketized the second plurality of packets and to transmit the data to one of the interface modules.

4. The branch exchange of claim 1 , further comprising a personal computer interface (PCI) bus interfaced with the NIC, wherein the NIC is configured to transmit the TDM data stream over the PCI bus for access by the branch exchange manager.

5. A method for use in a branch exchange that is coupled to a first telecommunication connection and a second telecommunication connection, comprising:

step for receiving data from the first telecommunication connection;

step for transmitting the data via a time division multiplexed (TDM) data stream;

step for transmitting control information pertaining to the TDM data stream;

step for converting the TDM data stream along with the control information pertaining to the TDM data stream in a combined serial data stream, into a first plurality of data packets transmitted, in parallel, to a network interface controller (NIC), where the data packets include dummy information in a header of the data packet that allows the NIC to accept the data packet that would otherwise be discarded due to a bad frame check sequence of the data packet;

step for depacketizing, via the NIC, the first plurality of data packets thereby recovering the received data; and

step for causing the data to be communicated over the second communication connection.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the causing step comprises the step of transmitting the data to the NIC, the method further comprising:

step for packetizing, via the NIC, the data into a second plurality of data packets transmitted, in parallel, from the NIC; and

step for converting the second plurality of data packets into a TDM data stream.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the NIC is interfaced with a personal computer interface (PCI) bus.

8. A branch exchange that is coupled to a first telecommunication connection and a second telecommunication connection, comprising:

means for receiving data from the first telecommunication connection and for transmitting the data via a time division multiplexed (TDM) data stream;

means for receiving control information pertaining to the TDM data stream;

means for converting the data TDM stream along with the control information pertaining to the TDM data stream in a combined serial data stream into a first plurality of data packets;

a network interface controller (NIC) that processes the TDM data stream within the branch exchange, the NIC coupled to the converting means, the NIC configured to receive, in parallel, the first plurality of data packets from the converting means, the NIC configured to depacketize the first plurality of data packets thereby recovering the received data; and

means for transmitting the TDM data stream from the NIC over a personal computer interface (PCI) bus to the second communication connection.