IL129753A - Expanded home lan - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for expanding a home LAN comprising a home single telephone line supporting a number of terminal devices and a basic group of analog terminal devices, said system being capable of converting the home LAN into an expanded home LAN supporting at least one additional group of analog terminal devices; said system comprising: an RU module adapted to communicate with an access network via a DSL and utilizing a packetized data protocol, said RU module being adapted to demultiplex a multiplexed telecommunication signal received via said home single telephone line from said terminal devices, and transmitting the multiplexed signal to the access network; one or more NT modules, operative to connect all analog terminal devices of said at least one additional group to the home single telephone line wherein, each of said NT modules being capable of converting between the packetized data protocol utilized by said RU module and one or more said analog terminal devices connected to said NT module; the expanded home LAN thereby enabling concurrent connection of any combination of its terminal devices to the access network. 3594 כ" ו בכסלו התשס" ג - December 1, 2002

Description

r numm irira (LAN) jvmpn n¾n EXPANDED HOME LAN ECI TELECOM LTD. n"ya Dip'.o "X .'o .-x The Inventors: ZURI GUZIKEVITS γ ρ'ΤΐΛ ηκ .Dwsnnn NATHAN BERKOVITCH γ φ-α pa ECIP/A008/99 EXPANDED HOME L A N Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology for expanding a home or small office Local Area Network (LAN).

Background of the invention Various known technological architectures of home LAN enable functioning in the network of both legacy telephone equipment using analog lines of Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), and terminal devices utilizing data transmission (such as PCs, laser printers, digital telephones etc.).

A typical example of such an architecture is shown in Fig. 1, where one incoming communications line 10 ( POTS, ISDN or ADSL) entering a home or a small office LAN ( the right-hand portion of the drawing, indicated with 12) supports analog parallel telephones 14 and a fax machine 16, as well as a PC 18, PC 19 and a laser printer 20 which are provided with appropriate hardware and software to cooperate in the network for digital data communication. The homePNA standard (a standard for home phone network architecture) enables one POTS or ISDN (or ADSL) concurrent connection. In other words, no telephone calls can be made or received by the analog telephone line 14 when any of the computers 18 and 19 are connected to an Internet Service Provider ( not shown) via the line 10.

US Patent 5,621,731 describes an integrated services digital network (ISDN) private exchange device, winch includes connectors for connection to an ISDN local exchange, a plurality of ports for connection to respective analog telephone devices, a plurality of ports for connection to respective digital devices, and an ISDN digital port for connection to at least one additional ISDN terminal device. The private exchange device may include a pair of ports for connection to two different analog telephone devices, each having simultaneous access capability with the ISDN network. Further, the private exchange device may include four ports for connection up to four digital devices, which are each capable of simultaneously accessing the ISDN local exchange. The ISDN digital port can be connected with up to eight ISDN terminals or terminal adapters. The private exchange device may further include a detector for detecting whether the port connected to the local exchange is connected to an ISDN network or to a conventional network and for bypassing an ISDN control circuit if the system detects that it is connected to a conventional analog network.

It should be noted, however, that the above-described solution is quite expensive for small networks in offices and private homes.

Also, private customers are often interested in utilizing and developing the network which has been built in their premises based on the regular available POTS line(s), rather than in ordering an ISDN line(s) to organize a new net.

Object of the invention It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and comfortable architecture of a telephone line based expanded private network (e.g., home LAN), and a technology for expanding an existing telephone line based home LAN into the inventive architecture. A further object of the invention is to provide component units suitable for expanding such a home LAN.

Further objects and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art, from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

Glossary The terms which will often be used in the present description and claims are explained herein below: EU - a multiplexing/demultiplexing Exchange Unit situated at or in the vicinity of a local exchange; RU - a multiplexing/demultiplexing Remote Unit situated at remote subscriber's premises or in their vicinity; NT - a network termination module; in the present invention NT is capable of serving as adapter between logical and analog lines; TDM - Time Division Multiplexing; LAN - Local Area Network; Home LAN - this term should be understood to encompass a home and a small office LAN; HomePNA - Home Phone Network Architecture ;OAMP- Operation Administration Maintenance and Provisioning system of an access network; ISDN- Integrated Services Digital Network; DSL - Digital Subscriber Line; ADSL - asymmetric digital subscriber line; xDSL - a family of digital subscriber line technology; Group of analog terminal devices - (as defined in this description) comprises one or more legacy telephone devices connected to the same number.

In the meaning of the present description, the RU is proximal to the home LAN and forms a part thereof, while the EU is actually remote from the LAN.

Summary of the invention According to a first aspect of the invention, the above-mentioned main object can be achieved by providing a system for expanding a home LAN based on a home single telephone line and supporting a number of terminal devices and a basic group of analog terminal devices, said system being capable of converting die home LAN into an expanded home LAN supporting at least one additional group of analog tenninal devices; said system comprising: ■ an RU module adapted to communicate with an access network via a DSL and utilizing a packetized data protocol, said RU module being adapted to demultiplex a multiplexed telecommunication signal received via the DSL and to transmit the demultiplexed signal via said home single telephone line to the home LAN in a form comprising packetized data; said RU being also capable of multiplexing telecommunication signals received via said home single telephone line from said terminal devices, and transmitting the multiplexed signal to the access network; ■ one or more NT modules, operative to connect all analog terminal devices of said at least one additional group to the home single telephone line wherein each of said NT modules being capable of converting between the packetized data protocol utilized by said RU module and one or more said analog terminal devices connected to said NT module; the expanded home LAN thereby enabling concurrent connection of any combination of its terminal devices to the access network.

It is understood for those skilled in the art that in operation, at least one additional communication line is to be activated in the access network for supporting the respective additional group(s) of analog tenninal devices having a telephone number different from that of the basic group.

The mentioned DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) should be understood as a telecommunication path capable of delivering both digital data and speech. For example, the DSL may operate according to any system from the following non-exhaustive list which comprises ISDN and xDSL technologies. From the physical point of view, in the simplest case the DSL line may constitute a regular POTS pair of copper wire.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, the mcoming telecommunication signal is a TDM signal. However, it may be, for example, an ATM signal.

The term "home single telephone line" is not limited to any shape of physical wiring in the private apartment, and is just means originally constructed for supporting one telephone number in a home LAN. In practice, the home single telephone line may comprise a physical connection between the RU module and a telephone input/output jack in the private premises, to which all the tenninal devices are connected.

It should be noted, that a user may select any manner of connection of the NT modules suitable for the particular home LAN. For example, the NT module, winch is connectable at its one end to the home single telephone line, can be connected at its other end either to one or to a number of analog tenninal devices - especially if they are located close to each other.

Moreover, it is possible that the analog terminal device(s) of the basic group be also connected to the home single telephone line via associated said NT module(s), thereby converting the basic analog telephone line into a digital telephone line. This option will be discussed later on.

It is understood, that said "number of terminal devices" of any Home LAN usually includes one or more digital terminal devices which communicate with the RU module and with each other by packetized data signals.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is also provided an expanded home or small office LAN built on a home single telephone line and supporting a niunber of terminal devices including a basic group of analog terminal devices, said expanded home LAN also supports at least one additional group of analog terminal devices and comprises: ■ an RU module utilizing a packetized data protocol and capable of communicating with an access network via a DSL, said RU module being adapted to demultiplex a multiplexed telecommunication signal received via the DSL for transmitting the demultiplexed signal to the home LAN via said home single telephone line in a form comprising packetized data; said RU being also capable of multiplexing telecommunication signals received via said home single telephone line from said terminal devices, and of further transmitting the multiplexed signal to the access network; ■ one or more NT modules, connected between the home single telephone line and all tenninal analog devices of at least said one additional group; each of said NT modules serving as an adapter between the packetized data protocol utilized by said RU module and one or more said analog terminal devices connected to said NT module; the expanded home LAN thereby enabling concurrent connection of any combination of its terminal devices to said access network. It is understood for those skilled in the art that at least one additional phone line must be activated in the access network for supporting the respective additional group(s) of analog terminal devices.

In other words, according to one embodiment of the expanded home LAN, all analog terminal devices in the LAN can be provided with the mentioned NT modules, thus the purpose will be achieved by replacing the existing analog telephone line widi two or more logical telephone lines. The incoming telecommunication signal demultiplexed by said RU module will thereby comprise packetized data addressed both to the digital terminal devices of the LAN, and to the mentioned two or more logical telephone lines. Similarly, the telecommunication signals entering the RU module from the home LAN will represent packetized data.

In accordance with an alternative and the preferred embodiment, only the analog tenninal devices of said additional group(s) are connected to the home single telephone line via the NT modules, while the basic group of analog tenninal devices is left unchanged. Owing to that, the basic analog telephone line is retained and one or more additional logic telephone lines are prepaied. In this case, the incoming telecommunication signal, after being demultiplexed by the RU module, is transmitted to the home LAN in the form of packetized data combined with an analog signal (the latter intended for the basic group of the terminal devices). Similarly, the RU module is capable of multiplexing the packetized and analog telecommunication signals arriving from the home LAN, for transmitting thereof to the access network.

The RU module is preferably provided with home LAN software (SW) and hardware (HW) support capable of executing a HomePNA packetized protocol, and each of said NT blocks is configured to enable bridging between the homePNA protocol on the RU side and a protocol of POTS interface on the side of the analog telephone. The obtained expanded Home LAN is therefore capable of conversion between the HomePNA packetized protocol and analog POTS interface. Parallel connection of one or more NT modules to the home single telephone line thus enables adding phone lines without providing additional physical connection between the access network and the home.

In other words, the expanded home LAN, when provided with the novel system, is capable of supporting additional logical lines, which, being fitted with the respective NT modules, become adapted to support standard POTS telephones. The result achieved by the invention is owing to integration of a single telephone line based home network with a DSL in the form of a pair gain, line of ISDN, ADSL, etc. No physical line is required to be connected between the access network and the home for adding another phone line. Most important, no additional internal (home) phone line is required. Instead, an extra communication line is activated in the access network upon the subscriber's request, while the subscriber is instructed to purchase the appropriate NT module(s) and to connect thereof between specific analog telephone apparatus and the home single telephone line in the private net. The extra communication line in the access network can be activated in a number of ways. For example, an operator can provide it in the local access network, manually or remotely via its OAMP system. The access network may comprise an EU module which can be a standard analog POTS interface exchange unit (see Fig. 2a), However, a digital telephony interface, such as ISDN or El/Tl can also be used. Optionally, the EU may be provided with a data interface and a routing capability for effecting connections in the data network. (In this case, the RU should have a limited routing capability, to filter out local network traffic and allow for only relevant upstream data.) Optionally, the RU module may be adapted to perform some functions of the local exchange, so additional phone line(s) can be activated using the RU itself (see Fig. 2b); still, no additional internal phone line is required in the private premises.

It should be appreciated, that other embodiments of the access network are possible.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided an RU module with a single telephony user interface utilizing a packetized data protocol, for supporting a home LAN comprising a home single telephone line connected to a number of tenninal devices including at least two groups of analog tenninal devices; said RU module is capable of: demultiplexing a multiplexed signal received from an access network and transferring the demultiplexed signal to the LAN in a form comprising packetized data, multiplexing at least a portion of telecommimication signals entering the RU module from said home LAN, before transferring thereof to the access network, communicating by analog low frequency signals with no more than one of said groups of analog terminal devices, the RU module being thereby operative to provide concurrent connection of any combination of said tenninal devices to the access network.

According to the above definition, said RU module is adapted to communicate with all (or at least the remaining niunber) of said groups of analog terminal devices by packetized data. Again, it is understood, that the access network is readily supports all said groups of analog terminal devices.

In the expanded home LAN comprising the newly introduced NT modules, packetized signals created by these modules are to be recognized and distinguished from packetized signals of the digital terminal devices.

The RU module, as well as each of the NT modules possess its particular MAC address ( i.e., a network address like a network address assigned to a computer). The MAC address is factory defined, and is therefore unique for each NT module in a specific LAN. For multiple analog phones connected to one and the same number (e.g., for the mentioned group of analog terminal devices), the NT module can be adapted to support a secondary simple addressing setup feature. Such a feature will enable the subscriber to define the group of each NT, say, by setting a switch. During communication between an NT module and the RU module, the first informs the second to which group the first belongs, thereupon all relevant information is transmitted from the RU module to the particular group. In other words, the RU module will transmit the same telephony data to all members of the particular group and, accordingly, receive telephony data from any tenninal device of the group as data outgoing from the group.

In view of the above, packetized signals arriving from different terminal devices of the LAN can be recognized according to their particular sender and address, thereby the following functions can be performed by die RU module: a) the internal data traffic in the LAN i.e., the data traveling between the local digital tenninal devices can be prevented from flowing out of the LAN, b) data packages addressed by the local digital devices to remote recipients, as well as outside addressed analog telephony signals and/or data packages originated from the newly introduced analog terminal devices can be forwarded to the access network.

To this end, the RU module can further be provided with PBX ( Private Branch Exchange) functions ( c ), according to which one group of the analog terminal devices is able to make an internal call to another group of the analog terminal devices of the LAN, i.e. such calls can be recognized in the RU module and placed in the home LAN without applying to the access network.

The described RU module can be adapted to receive the incoming TDM telecommunication signal, and transmit the outgoing TDM telecommunication signal.

Preferably, the incoming telecommunication signal is transmitted via a single said DSL line. However, it ha been mentioned above that the RU module may be capable of partially performing functions of a local exchange. For example, an additional phone line(s) can be activated using said RU capability. According to this embodiment, the RU can be adapted to receive telecommunication signals from at least one additional telecommunication line connected to the access network, and to process all the received signals to transmit thereof to said home LAN via the home single telephone line so as to support more than one group of analog terminal devices of the LAN; the RU being also capable of processing telecommunication signals received from said home LAN for routing thereof to said DSL and said at least one additional telecommunication line. For example, the additional communication line may be a conventional POTS line.

Preferably, the RU module comprises a DSL interface block connected to a microprocessor adapted to process a TDM signal into a combined digital signal and vice versa; said microprocessor cooperating with a first RU block and a second RU block, wherein tlie first RU block is capable of deriving packetized data according to HomePNA protocol from high frequency components of the combined digital signal using, inter alia, MAC addresses of NT modules and digital terminal devices in the home LAN, and vice versa The second RU block is capable of analog to digital coding/decoding and interfacing low frequency components of digital/analog signals which are directly addressed to/sent by analog terminal devices of the home LAN.

The RU module is preferably provided with a power supply block capable of powering both tlie standard POTS equipment connected to tlie phone line, and the NT modules connected to the same line in all line conditions: off-hook, on-hook, ring, etc. The power supply block of RU module preferably draws its power from the DSL, but can be connected to a local power source if so desired.

As has already been mentioned, each of the NT modules is configured so as to enable bridging between the protocol on the HomePNA side and the protocol on the side of the analog POTS interface. According to a preferred embodiment, the NT module comprises a first and a second interconnected NT blocks being respectively similar by function to the first and the second blocks of said RU module from the point of converting tlie packetized (high frequency) data to an analog (low frequency) telecommunication signal and vice versa. The first NT module block (that is functionally similar to tlie first RU module block) is further capable of deriving, from tlie obtained packetized data, only the portion addressed to the particular group of analog terminal devices, to which the analog terminal device associated with said NT module belongs.

Preferably, the NT module is also provided with a power supply block connected to the internal phone line to draw power therefrom. Optionally, the NT power supply block may be fed from any local power source.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there is described a communication system enabling flexible connection of a home LAN to an access network (and further to WAN), the communication system comprising the home LAN provided with the above-described system for expanding thereof, and one or more additional telecommunication lines activated in the access network for supporting said expanded home LAN.

Based on the above, and according to an additional aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of expanding a home LAN built on a home single telephone line and supporting a basic group of analog terminal devices so, as to cause said LAN to support at least one additional group of analog terminal devices, the method comprising the following steps: ■ providing the above-described system for expanding the home LAN; ■ installing said RU module at a subscriber's premises or in the vicinity thereof; ■ undertaking measures for connecting said at least one additional group of analog terminal devices to said home single telephone line in a manner that all terminal devices from said additional group are connected to said home single telephone line via one or more said NT modules; ■ activating at least one additional telecommunication line in the access network for communication with the respective said at least one additional group of analog terminal devices.

The mentioned measures can be undertaken either by manually connecting the NT modules in the client's LAN, or by providing appropriate instructions to the client.

Brief description of the drawings.

The present invention will be further described and illiistratedwith reference to the following non-liraiting drawings, in which: Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a home LAN with the known architecture (prior art).

Fig. 2a illustrates a block-diagram of one example of interconnection between an embodiment of the expanded Home LAN according to the invention and an access network.

Fig. 2b shows another example of interconnecting the expanded Home LAN and an access network.

Fig. 3 is a block-diagram of one embodiment of the RU module according to the invention.

Fig. 4 is a block-diagram explaining an exemplary architecture of the NT module according to the invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Fig. 2a illustrates one embodiment of an expanded Home LAN 22 according to the invention, shown in cooperation with an appropriate access network 24. The home LAN comprises an RU module 26 located in the subscriber's private premises or in its vicinity. RU 26 actually interconnects the Home LAN 22 and the access network 24 which includes a DSL line 2«S in the form of ISDN, a pair gain, ADSL or the like. In this particular example, the access network comprises an exchange unit (EU) 30 cooperating with a Public Switchboard 32. Optionally, the EU can be interconnected with a Data Network 34. The DSL line 28 is responsible of carrying a TDM telecommunication signal from the EU 30 to the RU 26.

The home LAN 22 is built on a home single telephone line which is schematically shown and marked 36, to which a number of terminal devices are connected in parallel. A basic group of analog terminal devices connected to the same number is schematically marked 38; the group consists of three members - two parallel POTS telephones 38a, 38b and a POTS facsimile machine 38C. The above three parallel terminal devices are also marked to form a telephone line LI (i.e., a basic analog telephone line of the LAN which is actually the single internal telephone line 36). Two digital terminal devices: a computer 40 and a laser printer 41 are also connected to the internal line 36 to receive there from and transmit thereto data in the form of digital packetized telecommunication signals. Since the RU 26 performs de-multiplexing of the incoming TDM signal, the line 36 is capable of carrying there-through both analog signals intended for the basic group 38 of analog terminal devices, and the packetized signals for digital terminal devices 40 and 41. It is understood, that appropriate response signals or original "calls" can be transferred from the mentioned terminal devices via the line 36 to the RU 26, for processing, multiplexing and further transmitting thereof to the access network if the last is approved. Additional three POTS telephones 48a, 48b, and 48c are connected to the home single line 36 via NT modules 50, each serving as an adapter between the packetized protocol utilized on the internal phone line (for example, a HomePNA protocol), and analog signals from the side of the analog terminal device. It should be noted that if some of the additional telephones are located close to each other (for example, two telephones 48a and 48b of the same group in a small office), they may be switched to the line 36 via a common NT module 50. The telephones 48a, 48b and 48c belong to an additional group 48 of analog terminal devices which forms with the RU 26 an additional phone line L2. Owing to such an arrangement, the analog signal outgoing from any member of the group 48 is converted by the respective NT module 50 into a packetized signal, which is transferred to RU 26 and is processed therein accordingly. In this particular embodiment, the processed signal can be transmitted to the access network via the DSL line 28 among other fragments of a TDM signal outgoing from RU 26. However, the packetized signals outgoing from NT modules 50 are recognized by RU 26 for further routing thereof to a separate additional phone line which is to be activated (not shown) in the access network 24, for example between the EU 30 and the public switch 32.

Fig. 2b illustrates another embodiment of interconnecting an access network 54 to an expanded LAN 56 similar to that shown in Fig. 2a. As above, the home LAN comprises one internal phone line 58 (the home single telephone line in the form of POTS, which is marked POTS 1) supporting analog terminal devices 60a and 60b of a basic telephone line LI, digital terminal devices 62 and 64 and an additional analog terminal device (POTS telephone or fax) 66 forming an additional line L2. The phone 66 is connected to the internal line 58 via an NT module 68. In this embodiment of the home LAN, RU 70 partially performs functions of an access network and is connected both to the DSL line 72, and to an additional physical line 74 which can be a regular pair ( marked as POTS 2) that supports the additional line L2 of the LAN . It should be noted, that diough the additional physical line 74 is located in the vicinity of the subscriber premises and connected to RU module 70 (which may even be situated in the premises), no additional physical telephone line is required to be placed in the premises for connecting the additional phone 66 to the POTS 2. The function of interconnecting between the phone 66 and the separate line 74 is accomplished by RU 70, in addition to its basic function.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic block-diagram of one embodiment of the RU module 26 according to the invention. Its operation is bi-directional, though for the sake of simplicity it will be described for the direction of transmitting a telecommunication TDM signal from the access network to the home LAN.

A TDM signal incoming the RU from a DSL line 80 is received by a DSL interface 82 and transferred therefrom to a microprocessor/logic block 84. Upon processing, a so-called combined digital signal is received and is simultaneously forwarded both to a block 88 (CODEC+SLIC), and a block 86 (HomePNA PHY+MAC+TDM). Block 88 processes the combined digital signal received from block 84 to perform a coding/decoding operation and issue a low frequency analog signal intended for a basic telephone line (via SLIC - a subscriber line interface circuit). Block 86 comprises a physical interface and a logic circuitry capable of selecting those portions of the combined digital signal derived from the TDM signal, which are addressed to various digital terminal devices and to "quasi-digital" devices according to specific MAC addresses of NT blocks and computers in the home LAN. Before forwarding to the home LAN, the selected digital portions are to be converted into the form of high frequency analog signals (packetized data signal). This operation may be provided either in block 86 or, preferably, in block 88 using its CODEC circuitry. The low frequency analog signal (intended for the basic group of analog terminal devices), is finally transmitted to a homeLAN interface 90 together with the high frequency analog signals (packetized data). The home LAN interface 90 is connected to the internal phone line (not shown). The RU module is provided with a power supply block 92 drawing power from the DSL line via the interface 82. However, the power block 92 can be provided with an optional power input 94 connected to a local power source (not shown).

Fig. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the NT module according to the invention, say, an embodiment of the block 68 shown in Fig. 2b. The NT module 68 is connected to the internal phone line (a home single telephone line) 58 via a standard outlet RJ11. Keeping in mind, that telecommunication is a two-way process, operation of the NT module will be described for the receiving path only. A packetized signal entering the NT module 68 from the line 58 is received by a block 100 which, being generally similar to block 86 of the RU module shown in Fig. 3, further selects from the packetized data only the portion bearing the MAC address of this specific NT module (in the general case, the portion bearing the group's address feature). Block 100 is adapted to process signals derived from the TDM incoming telecoinmunication signal, though it is a specific embodiment suitable to the above-described RU module. The data, obtained in the digital form from the block 100, is then transferred to block 102 (CODEC+SLIC) where the signal overcomes digital to analog conversion and is further transformed to voice tones utilized in the additional phone 66. A power supply 104, powering blocks 100 and 102, is capable of drawing power from the RU via the internal phone line 58 and optionally from a local power source (not shown) via an input 106.

Operation of the RU and NT modules in the opposite direction, i.e. when performing telecommunications from the home LAN towards the access network, is analogous to that described above.

It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has thus far been described with respect to specific embodiments. Ratlier, the present invention is limited only by the claims which follow. When used in the following claims, the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", "including" or the like mean "including but not limited to".

Claims (17)

CLAIMS:

1. A system for expanding a home LAN comprising a home single telephone line supporting a number of tenninal devices and a basic group of analog teraiinal devices, said system being capable of converting the home LAN into an expanded home LAN supporting at least one additional group of analog tenninal devices; said system comprising: ■ an RU module adapted to communicate with an access network via a DSL and utilizing a packetized data protocol, said RU module being adapted to demultiplex a multiplexed telecommunication signal received via the DSL and to transmit the demultiplexed signal via said home single telephone line to the home LAN in a fonn comprising packetized data; said RU being also capable of multiplexing telecommunication signals received via said home single telephone line from said tenninal devices, and transmitting the multiplexed signal to the access network; ■ one or more NT modules, operative to connect all analog tenninal devices of said at least one additional group to the home single telephone line wherein each of said NT modules being capable of converting between the packetized data protocol utilized by said RU module and one or more said analog terminal devices connected to said NT module; the expanded home LAN thereby enabling concurrent connection of any combination of its tenninal devices to the access network.

2. The system according to Claim 1 , wherein said RU module is provided with home LAN software and hardware support capable of executing said packetized protocol being a HomePNA packetized protocol, and each of said NT blocks is configured to enable bridging between the homePNA protocol and a protocol of POTS interface.

3. An expanded home or small office LAN comprising a home single telephone line and supporting a number of tenninal devices including a basic group of analog tenninal devices, said expanded home LAN also supports at least one additional group of analog tenninal devices and comprises: ■ an RU module utilizing a packetized data protocol and capable of communicating with an access network via a DSL, said RU module being adapted to demultiplex a multiplexed telecommunication signal received via the DSL for transmitting the demultiplexed signal to the home LAN via said home single telephone line in a fonn comprising packetized data; said RU being also capable of multiplexing telecommunication signals received via said home single telephone line from said tenninal devices, and of further transmitting the multiplexed signal to the access network; ■ one or more NT modules, connected between the home single telephone line and all tenninal analog devices of at least said one additional group; each of said NT modules serving as an adapter between the packetized data protocol utilized by said RU module and one or more said analog tenninal devices connected to said NT module; the expanded home LAN thereby enabling concurrent connection of any combination of its terminal devices to said access network.

4. The expanded home LAN according to Claim 3, wherein said NT modules are connected to all analog terminal devices in the LAN.

5. The expanded home LAN according to Claim 3, wherein said NT modules are connected to the analog terminal devices of said additional group(s) only.

6. The expanded home LAN according to any one of Claims 3 to 5, wherein said RU module is provided with home LAN software and hardware support capable of utilizing the packetized protocol being a HomePNA packetized protocol, and each of said NT blocks is configured to enable bridging between the HomePNA protocol and a protocol of POTS interface.

7. The expanded home LAN according to any one of Claims 3 to 6, wherein said RU module and each of said NT modules has its particular MAC address enabling communication in the home LAN; the NT modules belonging to one and the same group of analog terminal devices are adapted to support a secondary addressing setup feature defining said group.

8. An RU module with a single telephony user interface utilizing a packetized data protocol, for supporting a home LAN comprising a home single telephone line connected to a number of terminal devices including at least two groups of analog terminal devices; said RU module is capable of: demultiplexing a multiplexed signal received from an access network and transferring the demultiplexed signal to the LAN in a form comprising packetized data, multiplexing at least a portion of telecommunication signals entering the RU module from said home LAN, before transferring thereof to the access network. communicating by analog low frequency signals with no more than one of said groups of analog terminal devices, the RU module being thereby operative to provide concurrent connection of any combination of said terminal devices to the access network.

9. The RU module according to Claim 8, provided with software and hardware for supporting the packetized protocol being a HomePNA packetized protocol.

10. The RU module according to Claim 8 or 9, further capable of selecting from said telecommunication signals, entering the RU module from the home LAN, those to be forwarded to the access network.

11. The RU module according to any one of Claims 8 to 10, further provided with PBX functions enabling internal calls between said groups of the analog terminal devices of the LAN.

12. The RU module according to any one of Claims 8 to 11 , further adapted to receive telecommunication signals from at least one additional telecommunication line connected to the access network, and to process all signals received from the access network for transmitting thereof to said home LAN via the home single telephone line; the RU being also capable of processing the telecommunication signals received from said home LAN for routing thereof to said DSL and said at least one additional telecommunication line, tliereby partially peifonniug functions of a local exchange.

13. The RU module according to any one of Claims 8 to 12, provided with a power supply block capable of powering all said groups of analog terminal devices of the home LAN via said home single telephone line by drawing power from said DSL.

14. The system for expanding a home LAN according to Claims 1 or 2, wherein said RU module is an RU module according to any one of Claims 8 to 13.

15. The expanded home LAN according to any one of Claims 3 to 7, wherein said RU module is an RU module according to Claims 8 to 13.

16. A communication system enabling flexible connection of a home LAN to an access network, the communication system comprising the home LAN provided with the system for expanding thereof according to Claim 1, 2 or 14, and one or more additional telecommiuiication lines activated in the access network for supporting said home LAN.

17. A method of expanding a home LAN comprising a home single telephone line and supporting a basic group of analog terminal devices so, as to cause said LAN to support at least one additional group of analog terminal devices, the method comprising the following steps: ■ providing the system for expanding the home LAN according to any one of Claims 3 to 7 or 14; ■ installing said RU module at a subscriber's premises or in the vicinity thereof; ■ undertaking measures for connecting said at least one additional group of analog terminal devices to said home single telephone line in a maimer that all terminal devices from said additional group are connected to said home single telephone line via one or more said NT modules; ■ activating at least one additional telecommunication line in the access network for communication with the respective said at least one additional group of analog terminal devices. A019/99.Spc.EL