Title of Invention

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REFORMATTING DATA

Abstract A converter for reformatting serial (e.g. TDM) data streams 530 into parallel (e.g. cell) data 540 is presented. Reformatting from cell to TDM format is also disclosed. Methods for reformatting between serial and parallel data formats are provided. In some applications, communication data streams of digital data 530, 550 may be captured, processed, and stored in one or more of the serial and cell data formats.
Full Text TECHNICAL HELD
[0001] The present application generally relates to data processing, and more
particularly, to systems and techniques for reformatting digital data.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In digital communication applications, for example, Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM) systems, voice data is converted from analog to digital form, and
binary digits (bits) are sent over a communication network. The bits of digitized voice
data are streamed serially over multiple physical communication network lines in
organized formats, understandable to devices coupled to the communication network
lines.
[0003] Figure 1 illustrates an example of TDM communication data in which serial
streams of digital voice data 100 are carried over a number of communication lines. Each
line or stream 100 is logically divided into a sequence of frames 110, and each frame 110
includes a sequence of channels 120. Information is delivered from source to destination
using bytes 102, each of which includes 8 bits 104 of data. A frame 110 contains 128
channels 120. The channels 120 are designated Channel 0, Channel 1,..., Channel 126,
and Channel 127. A given telephone conversation will occupy one of the channels, e.g.
Channel 1 of Stream No. 2. Note that each channel is allotted one byte in each frame 110
of its stream. Therefore, a conversation carried on a channel (e.g. Channel 1) is
segmented into byte-sized parts that share a same stream (e.g. Stream No. 2) as 127 other
conversations occupying the other 127 channels in the stream. In all, a system carrying
24 streams of data can handle (24 streams x 128 conversations/stream) = 3072
conversations at the same time, albeit not continuous. That is, for each streaming frame
of data 110,128 conversations are being carried (in real time to their participants) but are
physically sharing the frame 110 among the 128 channels 120. In one example, the data
transmission frequency is 8.192 MHz with a period of 122 nsec.
[0004] While TDM is a popular format for data transmission, it is not always possible
or convenient to receive digitized voice data according to the TDM serial streaming
format described above. In some cases the hardware receiving, forwarding, or processing

the data streams is not adapted for the TDM format. Accordingly, for any of several
reasons, it may be desirable to reformat the digital voice data streams into another useful
format.
SUMMARY
One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a system for reformatting at
least one stream of data into a data cell format, including an asynchronous queue,
receiving data from the at least one stream of data at a first clock rate, and providing an
asynchronous queue output at a second clock rate; a memory array receiving the output of
the asynchronous queue and providing a memory array output; and a register taking the
memory array output and providing a plurality of bits in parallel corresponding to the data
cell format.
Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a method for
reformatting at least one stream of data into a data cell format, receiving data from the at
least one stream of data at a first clock rate into an asynchronous queue, and providing an
asynchronous queue output at a second clock rate from the asynchronous queue; placing
the output of the asynchronous queue into a memory array, and providing a memory array
output from the memory array; and receiving the memory array output at a register, and
providing from the register a plurality of bits in parallel corresponding to the data cell
format.
Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a converter for
reformatting data from a first format into a second format, elements for receiving at least
one stream of serial data corresponding to the first data format; elements for storing the at
least one stream of serial data, a plurality of bits of the stream of serial data being stored
in parallel; and
elements for reading the stored data in the storing elements onto a parallel bus
corresponding to the second data format.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the present disclosure,
reference should be made to the following detailed description, in connection with the
accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used to indicate the
same or similar parts, wherein:
Figure 1 illustrates several frames of serial TDM data according to the related
art;
Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a serial-to-cell and cell-to-
serial converter according to the present invention;
Figure 3 illustrates an arrangement of RAM array devices;
Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary data cell format; and
Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary arrangement of data according to a read-
write configuration of the RAM arrays.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] As discussed briefly above, TDM voice data is transmitted in serial streams on
a plurality of lines. A system and method for reformatting the TDM data into another I /
useful format is presented in detaiTbelow, and opooifioally wife reference to a particular
exemplary embodiment. It should be appreciated that other formats and embodiments are
also possible using the same inventive principles, and such modifications and extensions
may be comprehended by those practiced in the field.
[0010] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a system for
converting serial TDM streams into cell data blocks, and cell data blocks into serial TDM
streams. Separate parts of the system 500 can be used for achieving each type of
reformatting. In the present example, circuit 510 reformats the data from serial TDM
streams into parallel cell format, and circuit 520 reformats data from parallel cell format
into serial TDM format. Each of the parts 510, 520 of the system 500 could be
implemented separately or disposed on individual circuit boards or integrated circuits.
The system 500 is suited for use in a communication system that interacts with other
systems using the TDM format, whereby TDM streams arrive at the ingress 530, are
converted to cell format, processed, then returned to TDM streams that are sent out the
TDM egress path 560.
[0011] Circuit 510 converts data arriving in TDM stream format at ingress 530 to cell
format at ingress cell path line 540. As described earlier with respect to Figure 1,24
streams of TDM data (in 24 separate serial streams) are presented at TDM ingress 530.

This is graphically represented in Figure 2 by the slash and the numeral "24" on the
ingress line. The incoming data at 530 is presented at a clock "CLK8" frequency of 8.192
MHz, i.e., 24 bits arrive every 122 nsec. Deinterleaver 501 provides two 12-bit streams
of data 503, one stream being for the odd numbered streams and another stream for the
even numbered input streams. The odd and even bit streams are placed into ingress
asynchronous queue 505.
[0012] Operations downstream of the ingress asynchronous queue 505 are carried out
at a higher frequency of 100 MHz ("CLK 100"). The 12-bit wide odd and even streams
507, now clocked at 100 MHz, are multiplexed by multiplexers 511 to provide a
corresponding pair of single output streams 513 that are delivered to RAM arrays 517
through parallel inputs 515. The first words read contain bit 7 of channel 0 of each of the
24 incoming TDM streams, and are written to sequential addresses of RAM array 517 at
bit position 6. The next words read contain bit 6 of channel 0 of all 24 TDM streams, and
are also written to sequential addresses of RAM array 517 at bit position 6. This process
is repeated until bits 0 of the TDM streams are written to sequential addresses of RAM
array 517 at bit position 0. Therefore, the TDM serial data at 530, which is taken in by
circuit 510 at 8 MHz, is delivered to RAM arrays 517 in serial fashion at 100 MHz.
RAM arrays 517 will be discussed in more detail below, and in some embodiments
provide space, cost, and other design savings and formatting advantages over traditional
flip-flop designs for converting data from a serial to a parallel format.
[0013] Using RAM arrays 517 provides a cost and space saving, which can be
important in integrated circuit applications. To perform the functions described above
without the RAM arrays 517 of the present invention, 96 flip-flops (12x8) would be
required for each RAM array according to conventional design methods. However, the
footprint of the RAM arrays 517 is much smaller, and is equivalent to the footprint of
about 8 flip-flops only, providing a substantial area savings according to the present
illustrative example. The RAM arrays may be loaded serially (written) and then read in
parallel. Of course, this process is adaptable for sizes of arrays and words other than
those given in this example.
[0014] RAM arrays 517 output odd and even bytes 521 to register 525, and the
contents of all RAM arrays 517 are read in parallel, and the bytes from the odd and even
sections are combined to form a 16-bit word. This word is combined with the output of

the following RAM read to create a 32-bit word that is sent to ingress synchronous queue
531 using register 525. Register 525 is a 32-bit (8x4) register, clocked at 100 MHz, and
provides 32 bits in parallel to ingress synchronous queue 531. Ingress synchronous queue
531 then outputs a 32-bit wide parallel cell of data at ingress cell path 540. The ingress
cell path 540 can be used to provide cell data to components of a communication system
that processes data in cell format rather that TDM format When such a communication
system has received or processed the cell data, it may return the cell format data to an
external network in TDM serial format using parallel-to-serial circuit 520.
[0015] Circuit 520 receives as input egress cells 550, which are 32-bit wide parallel
cells written into egress synchronous queue 536 at 100 MHz. Odd and even groups of
bytes 534 are provided to multiplexer pair 528. Multiplexers 528 output bytes of data 526
to a pair of RAM arrays 524. The bytes associated with odd and even streams are
separated and are written to RAM arrays 524 with a similar placement of bits as was used
in the ingress RAM array 517 paths. Each of the two 16x1 RAM word corresponding to
bit 7 is then read out starting at address 0 and ending at address 11, thus providing bit 7 of
channel 0 for each of the 24 data streams. This process is repeated for the remaining 7
RAM pairs in RAM arrays 524.
[0016] RAM arrays 524 output two bytes of data 522, which are multiplexed by
multiplexers 518 into two corresponding 1-bit streams 516. The 1-bit streams 516 are
provided through 12 line pairs 514 to 12-bit registers 512. Registers 512, clocked at 100
MHz, provide two 12-bit outputs to egress asynchronous queue 506. The cell number,
embedded in each cell, is compared with a local counter that tracks the number of the
next cell that must be output. If there is no match or the next cell has not arrived yet,
OxFF is sent out for both channels on all 24 streams and an interrupt is generated. Egress
asynchronous queue 506 then outputs the two sets (odd, even) of 12 bit data at 8MHz
onto output lines 504. An interleaver 502 places the 24 bits of data (12 odd, 12 even) in
the proper order onto egress TDM serial stream lines 560, which is available to as 24
frames to a TDM serial communication system. The TDM serial streams may be sent
through digital switches to voice processing systems.
[0017] The entire system 500 may be constructed in a field programmable gate array
(FPGA) device, or may be otherwise assembled from electronic components on one or
more circuit boards or integrated circuits. Also, the system may be enhanced or

augmented through the use of other auxiliary circuits and systems (not shown) and
accompanying software to operate, control, and process data through the system.
[0018] Figure 3 illustrates RAM arrays 517,524, whose function was described
above. The RAM arrays 517,524 in this example are 8-bits wide by 16-bits deep.
Compared to equivalent flip-flops, a RAM device takes up less space, and has its
addressing functionality built into the RAM array rather than being external to the device,
as in a flip-flop array. Eight RAM devices 610 are packaged in each RAM array 517,
524. The lines labeled "A" are a 4-bit addressing input to the array; the lines labeled
"WE" indicate write-enable; the lines labeled "WD" indicate write-data; and the lines
labeled "RD" indicate read-data. The RAM array also takes a clock "CLK" input (at 100
MHz in the present example). The fact that there are 12 10-nsec cycles of the fast (100
MHz) clock within the 122-nsec period of the slower (8.192 MHz) clock allows the steps
described to be carried out on the 24 sets of incoming TDM frames in real time.
[0019] Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary data cell format according to one
embodiment compatible with the present invention. Each cell 700 carries two
channels/bytes of data 720,730 from each of the incoming 24 TDM data streams. One
TDM frame is therefore carried by 64 cells according to the present exemplary cell
format. In the figure, "ST" denotes a stream number, and "CH" denotes a channel
number within the stream, with "n" being an even number starting with "0". A 2-bit
frame number and a 6-bit cell number identifying the cell within the frame are provided
in the first byte (byte 0).
[0020] Figure 5 illustrates an exemplary bit placement table for bits in the RAM
arrays 517,524. The cells are written as multiple 32-bit words into the egress
synchronous queue 536. The table 800 corresponds to the hardware described in the
previous figures, and includes 12 rows 810 and 8 columns 820. The table is filled with
the data as indicated by the stream "ST" and Bit numbers, with the order of filling being
in columns, from top to bottom (12 bits 830). Conversely, the RAM arrays are read in
rows from left to right (8 bits 840).
[0021] The system described above in one exemplary embodiment, and the methods
for reading, storing, and writing data from a serial TDM stream format to a cell format
and back to a serial TDM format are useful in communication applications in which TDM
and cell formats are used, and conversion from one form to the other is accomplished. It

should be understood that the examples provided are not limiting or inclusive, but rather,
the invention, as given by the claims which follow comprehends numerous modifications
and augmentations within the same scope.
What is claimed is:

We claim:
1. A system for reformatting at least one stream of data into a data cell format, comprising:
an asynchronous queue, receiving data from the at least one stream of data at a first clock rate,
and providing an asynchronous queue output at a second clock rate;
a memory array, receiving the output of the asynchronous queue in a serial fashion and
providing a memory array output in a parallel fashion; and
a register, taking the memory array output and providing a plurality of bits in parallel
corresponding to the data cell format.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second clock rate is faster than the first clock
rate.
3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is provided a multiplexer disposed between the
asynchronous queue and the memory array.
4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the memory array comprises at least one RAM
device having a plurality of bit places.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, having a synchronous queue that receives the plurality of bits
from the register and provides a data cell of output bits.
6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one stream of data comprises serial time
division multiplexed TDM data.
7. A method for reformatting at least one stream of data into a data cell format, comprising:
receiving data from the at least one stream of data at a first clock rate into an asynchronous
queue, and providing an asynchronous queue output at a second clock rate from the asynchronous
queue;


placing the output of the asynchronous queue into a memory array in a serial fashion, and
providing a memory array output from the memory array in a parallel fashion; and
receiving the memory array output at a register, and providing from the register a plurality of
bits in parallel corresponding to the data cell format.
8. A converter for reformatting data from a first format into a second format, comprising:
means for receiving at least one stream of serial data corresponding to the first data format;
means for storing the at least one stream of serial data, a plurality of bits of the stream of serial
data being stored in parallel; and
means for reading the stored data in the means for storing onto a parallel bus corresponding to
the second data format.
9. A system for reformatting digital data from a serial format to a cell format, the system
comprising:
an input processor that receives a plurality of input serial data streams at a first clock rate and
outputs a plurality of bits corresponding to the input serial data streams at a second clock rate, said
second clock rate being greater than said first clock rate;
a multiplexer taking an input from the output of the input processor and providing a sequential
multiplexer output;
a memory array sequentially taking an input from the output of the multiplexer;
a register coupled to the memory array and adapted to read at least one word of data content
from the memory array in parallel; and
an output processor that receives at least one word of data content from the register in parallel
and produces a cell formatted word of data corresponding to the plurality of input serial data streams.


A converter for reformatting serial (e.g. TDM) data streams 530 into parallel
(e.g. cell) data 540 is presented. Reformatting from cell to TDM format is also
disclosed. Methods for reformatting between serial and parallel data formats are
provided. In some applications, communication data streams of digital data 530, 550
may be captured, processed, and stored in one or more of the serial and cell data
formats.

Documents:

02570-kolnp-2005-abstract.pdf

02570-kolnp-2005-claims.pdf

02570-kolnp-2005-description complete.pdf

02570-kolnp-2005-drawings.pdf

02570-kolnp-2005-form 1.pdf

02570-kolnp-2005-form 3.pdf

02570-kolnp-2005-form 5.pdf

02570-kolnp-2005-international publication.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-(10-02-2012)-ASSIGNMENT.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-(10-02-2012)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-(10-02-2012)-FORM-16.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-(10-02-2012)-OTHERS.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-(10-02-2012)-PA-CERTIFIED COPIES.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-ABSTRACT.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-abstract1.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-AMENDED CLAIMS.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-assignment.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-CANCELLED PAGES.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-CERTIFIED COPIES(OTHER COUNTRIES) 1.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-CERTIFIED COPIES(OTHER COUNTRIES).pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-claim.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-CORRESPONDENCE 1.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-CORRESPONDENCE 1.2.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-correspondence.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-description (complete)1.1.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-drawing1.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-DRAWINGS.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-examination report.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-FOR ALTERATION OF ENTRY.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-form 1.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-FORM 1.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-form 18.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-FORM 2.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-form 3.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-FORM 3.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-form 5.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-FORM-27-1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-FORM-27.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-gpa.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-abstract.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-claims.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-description (complete).pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-drawings.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-form 1.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-form 2.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-letter patent.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-granted-specification.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-OTHERS.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-others1.1.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-PA.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-PCT PRIORITY DOCUMENT NOTIFICATION.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-PETITION UNDER RULE 137.pdf

2570-KOLNP-2005-REPLY TO EXAMINATION REPORT.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-reply to examination report1.1.pdf

2570-kolnp-2005-specification.pdf

abstract-02570-kolnp-2005.jpg


Patent Number 245216
Indian Patent Application Number 2570/KOLNP/2005
PG Journal Number 02/2011
Publication Date 14-Jan-2011
Grant Date 07-Jan-2011
Date of Filing 12-Dec-2005
Name of Patentee STARENT NETWORKS CORPORATION
Applicant Address 30 INTERNATIONAL PLACE, 3RD FLOOR, TEWSBURY, MA
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 ESHRAGHIAN HAMED 7 ROYAL CIRCLE, LEXINGTON, MA 02420-1325
PCT International Classification Number H04L 12/56
PCT International Application Number PCT/US2004/017287
PCT International Filing date 2004-06-03
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 60/475,521 2003-06-03 U.S.A.