Inventors:
Raymond Ian Millet - Bowie MD, US
R. Andrew Poole - Round Hill VA, US
N. Sharon Embrey - Alexandria VA, US
Robert D. Farris - Sterling VA, US
David Harold Cave - Fairfax VA, US
John M. Carman - Alexandria VA, US
Faye M. Smith - Alexandria VA, US
Lin H. Kerns - Springfield VA, US
Kyle Vincent Evans - Dallas TX, US
Dale Lee Bartholomew - Vienna VA, US
Assignee:
Verizon Communications Inc. - New York NY
International Classification:
H04L012/28
US Classification:
379219, 37922101, 379229, 379230
Abstract:
For communications interface across the line of demarcation between the customer premises media and a link of a public digital broadband communication network, a network interface device is “soft” in that it is adaptable to different service applications and readily programmable from both the network-side and the customer-side. A network-side interface provides a communications connection to a broadband network link at an edge of the digital broadband network. A customer-side interface provides communications connection to one or more media in the customer premises, for example, to telephone and LAN wiring within the premises. The soft network interface device also includes a data processing system, for controlling at least some of the communications through the interfaces. The data processing system is capable of being programmed with network service provisioning data from the public network as well as with user programming received from the customer premises.