System and method for providing bandwidth management within a small office, home office network

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In light of the foregoing, the present invention provides a system and method for providing bandwidth management within a SOHO network for the efficient transmission of information associated with the SOHO network.
Generally, the system modifies the spectrum allocation for ADSL and LAN signals in accordance with bandwidth requirements of the SOHO network for communication within the SOHO network and with a WAN.
After initiation of modems within the SOHO network, a handshake procedure, such as G.
HS, is performed between the SOHO network and a central office (CO) located within the WAN.
During the handshake procedure the SOHO network discloses bandwidth requirements for the SOHO network to perform local communication between LANs.
The CO then informs the SOHO network as to whether LANs within the SOHO network can increase the bandwidth used for local communication.
The SOHO network may also be informed to decrease bandwidth used for local communication so that bandwidth used for communication between the SOHO network and the WAN may be increased.
The combination of these two scenarios assures that maximum bandwidth allocation is provided in accordance with bandwidth need.
The invention has numerous advantages, a few of which are delineated hereafter as examples.
Note that the embodiments of the invention, which are described herein, possess one or more, but not necessarily all, of the advantages set out hereafter.
One advantage of the invention is that the bandwidth management system provides an efficient means of maximizing SOHO network performance.
Another advantage is that the invention can relocate transmissions in the LAN to minimize interference with other services, thereby providing flexibility for future unanticipated devices, and allowing a proprietary network to operate without regard to the same spectral allocation rules required in a PSTN.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one of reasonable skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description