Element management system for a digital subscriber line access multiplexer

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring first to FIG.
1, a digital subscriber line (DSL) communications network into which the preferred embodiment of the present invention may be implemented will first be described.
The preferred embodiment of the invention will be described in connection with a DSL network, as it is contemplated that the present invention is particularly beneficial when applied to DSL communications; of course, it is to be understood that the present invention may also have applicability to other types of communications, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having reference to this specification.
Further, the particular DSL network of FIG.
1 is described herein by way of example only, it being contemplated that those skilled in the art having reference to this specification will be readily able to realize the benefits of the present invention in DSL networks according to other arrangements and, as noted above, also in data communication according to other technologies.
The DSL communications network of FIG.
1 includes multiple client locations H, each of which may correspond to a home or an office client location.
In this DSL arrangement, exemplary client location H.
sub.
0 includes a DSL modem 2.
sub.
0 which handles communications to and from client computer 4.
sub.
0.
Telephone handset 6.
sub.
0 is connected in parallel with DSL modem 2.
sub.
0 to splitter 8.
sub.
0 which, as is conventional in the art, provides the appropriate filtering operation to forward voice communications to handset 6.
sub.
0 and data communications to DSL modem 2.
sub.
0.
Splitter 8.
sub.
0 is connected to one of local telephone network facilities TWP, each of which may be realized by way of conventional twisted-pair copper wires.
Others of client locations H may be similarly constructed, or realized in such other fashion as is known in the art.
The example of FIG.
1 corresponds to the type of DSL communications in which analog voice signals travel at a lower frequency than data communications, permitting the simultaneous overlay of the two classes of traffic on the same telephone network facilities