System and method for interfacing plain old telephone system (POTS) devices with cellular devices in communication with a cellular network
First Claim
1. A system for interfacing plain old telephone system (POTS) devices with cellular devices in communication with a cellular network, comprising:
- an interface configured to interface with a plurality of cellular telephones and a plurality of POTS devices, wherein the interface is configured to selectively convert a POTS compatible signal to one of a plurality of cellular network compatible signals, and wherein the interface is further configured to selectively convert a cellular network compatible signal to one of a plurality of POTS compatible signals; and
a plurality of POTS connectors configured to couple the plurality of POTS devices to the interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are presented for interfacing multiple plain old telephone system (POTS) devices with multiple cellular devices in communication with a cellular network to enable efficient communication among these devices. In a broad sense, the system includes an interface configured to function as a bridge between the POTS devices and the cellular devices. The interface selectively routes call attempts from a POTS device to one of a group of cellular devices which connect the calls from the POTS device over the cellular network. The interface may be configured to detect a key sequence for selecting a particular cellular device in the group during an outgoing call attempt from the POTS device. The interface then routes the outgoing call to the selected cellular device. The interface may also be configured to detect a telephone number entered into the POTS device during an outgoing call attempt and route the outgoing call to a particular cellular device based on criteria pre-programmed in the interface. The interface may also be configured to generate distinctive signaling, such as ring tones, for the POTS devices to distinguish incoming calls to the group of cellular devices.
48 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A system for interfacing plain old telephone system (POTS) devices with cellular devices in communication with a cellular network, comprising:
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an interface configured to interface with a plurality of cellular telephones and a plurality of POTS devices, wherein the interface is configured to selectively convert a POTS compatible signal to one of a plurality of cellular network compatible signals, and wherein the interface is further configured to selectively convert a cellular network compatible signal to one of a plurality of POTS compatible signals; and
a plurality of POTS connectors configured to couple the plurality of POTS devices to the interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for interfacing plain old telephone system (POTS) devices with cellular devices in communication with cellular networks, comprising:
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selectively converting a POTS compatible signal to one of a plurality of cellular network compatible signals; and
selectively converting a cellular network compatible signal to one of a plurality of POTS compatible signals. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to perform a method for interfacing plain old telephone system (POTS) devices with cellular devices in communication with cellular networks, the method comprising:
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selectively converting a POTS compatible signal to one of a plurality of cellular network compatible signals; and
selectively converting a cellular network compatible signal to one of a plurality of POTS compatible signals. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification