Local area network above telephony infrastructure

• US 20060193313A1
• Filed: 02/25/2005
• Published: 08/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Telkonet Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Telkonet Incorporated
• Inventors: Landry, James F., Pozsgay, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US11/064,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20060193313A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/062 using different frequency bands for speech and other data

Abstract

A method and apparatus for modifying a telephone network to create a local area network over telephony (LAN/T) communication system network is disclosed. By coupling a broadband communication gateway and one or more client access devices to a wired telephone network, the telephone network can act as a LAN without interfering with ongoing telephony traffic.

Claims

1. A device for implementing a shared communication system over a wired telephone network installed in a building, the device comprising:

a communication gateway; and

a coupling device coupled to the communication gateway and configured to be coupled to at least a portion of the wired telephone network;

wherein the communication gateway is configured to transmit and receive first communication signals to/from the wired telephony network via the coupling device, the first communication signals being in a frequency band above a frequency band containing telephony traffic on the wired network; and

wherein the first communication signals use a LAN protocol.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the first communication signals use an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) protocol.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the first communication signals use a collision avoidance protocol.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the first communication signals use a protocol capable of addressing the hidden node problem.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the communication gateway is configured to communicate over the wired telephone network using a substantially full spectral bi-directionality protocol.

6. The device of claim 2, wherein the first communication signals comply with the Homeplug 1.0 communication standard.

7. The device of claim 2, wherein the first communication signals are power-adjusted in such a way as to not distress telephony components on the wired network.

8. The device of claim 2, wherein the first communication signals comply with the Homeplug A/V communication standard.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the communication gateway provides a communication interlink between an external Internet Service Provider (ISP) and at least one computer-based device coupled to the wired telephone network.

10. The device of claim 9, further comprising one or more client access points electrically coupled to the wired network, each access point having a computer-based device capable of communicating with the gateway via the wired network.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein each client access point includes a bridge capable of translating between the LAN protocol of the wired telephony network and a respective computer-based device.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein each client access point includes a coupler capable of receiving telephony signals from a respective telephonic device, receiving LAN signals from a respective bridge, and injecting both the telephony and LAN signals onto the wired network.

13. The device of claim 1, wherein the telephony traffic on the wired network includes Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)-based signals.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein the telephony traffic on the wired network includes Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)-based signals.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the wired telephone network is one of a Private Branch eXchange (PBX) system or Private Automated Branch eXchange (PABX) system.

16. The device of claim 1, wherein the coupling device includes a low-pass filter electrically placed between the communication gateway and a telephonic external access device, the low-pass filter being configured to substantially isolate LAN communication signals residing on the wired telephone network from the telephonic external access device.

17. A device for implementing a shared communication system over a wired telephone network installed in a building, the device comprising:

a broadband communication device coupled to the wired network and configured to transmit and receive first communication signals to/from the wired telephony network via a coupling device, the first communication signals being in a frequency band above a frequency band containing telephony traffic on the wired network; and

wherein the first communication signals use a LAN protocol, and wherein the first communication signals use an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexed (OFDM) protocol.

18. A method for communicating over a wired telephony network, comprising:

transmitting a broadband communication signal having embedded information onto the wired-telephony network, the embedded information being derived from a signal provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP);

wherein the broadband communication signal is compliant with a local area network protocol.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the broadband communication signal is substantially compliant with a Homeplug communication standard.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising receiving the broadband communication signal via the wired-network, then extracting the embedded information from the broadband communication signal.

21. A Local Area Network (LAN), comprising:

a gateway;

a plurality of high-frequency broadband communication devices in communication with the gateway, wherein each communication device is coupled to a respective twisted-wire-pair, and wherein each twisted-wire-pair is capable of carrying a separate low-frequency telephonic signal; and

wherein the broadband communication devices communicate using a local area network protocol without interfering with low-frequency telephonic signals.

22. The Local Area Network of claim 21, further comprising:

a gateway;

wherein each of the plurality of high-frequency broadband communication devices can communicate with the gateway via its respective twisted-wire-pair.