Adapter unit and method
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In one aspect of the invention, emergency modes of operation for an adapter unit comprising a channel transmitter/receiver unit, a data packet transmitter/receiver unit, and a data insertion/data retrieval unit which inserts signaling data transmitted by the channel receiver unit into data packets and forwards the same to the data packet transmitter unit while retrieving signaling data from the data packets received by the data packet receiver unit and forwarding the same to the channel transmitter unit is provided. The adapter unit especially allows terminals of a branch to be connected in a fail-safe and simple manner to a central telecommunication system.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1-17. -17. (canceled)
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18. An adapter unit operatively connected to an Internet Protocol (IP) phone, comprising:
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a channel send-receive unit that sends signaling data to an exchange of a circuit-switched telecommunications network and receives signaling data from the exchange;
a data packet send-receive unit that sends data packets via a data packet transfer network towards a first telecommunication system and receives data packets from the first telecommunication system via the data packet transfer network, the data packets sent and received during a normal operating mode;
a data insertion-extraction unit that inserts the signaling data received by the channel send-receive unit into a data packet and forwards the packet to the data packet send unit and that extracts signaling data from a data packet received by the data packet receive unit and forwards the extracted signaling data to the channel send unit, the data inserted and extracted during the normal operating mode; and
an operating mode switchover unit that switches over from the normal operating mode to an emergency operating mode if a fault occurs on the side of the data packet transfer network, wherein the emergency operating mode ensures telecommunication via the circuit-switched telecommunications network, and wherein the signaling data is not processed by the adapter during the normal operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for operating a telecommunications system, comprising:
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receiving signaling data of a circuit-switched telecommunications network;
providing a normal operating mode, comprising;
tunneling the received signaling data via a data packet transfer network from the adapter unit to a first telecommunication system, wherein a signaling protocol in the received signaling data is not processed by the adapter, and processing the tunneled signaling data in the first telecommunication system in accordance with the signaling protocol; and
providing an emergency operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 35, 36, 37)
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31. The method according to claim 31, wherein the emergency operating mode further comprises:
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forwarding the signaling data from a channel receive unit of an adapter to a second telecommunication system, the second telecommunication system having performance features more restrictive than the first telecommunication system used in the normal operating mode, forwarding signaling data from the second telecommunication system to the channel send unit, and wherein the functions of the telecommunication system performed by a first IP telephone. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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38. A method for operating a telecommunications system, comprising:
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providing an adapter unit operatively connected to a circuit-switched telecommunications network, operatively connected to a telecommunication system via a data network and operatively connected to an IP telephone, receiving a first signaling data of the circuit-switched telecommunications network by the adapter unit, the first signaling data having a circuit-switched-signaling protocol, and providing a normal operating mode, comprising;
tunneling the first signaling data via the data packet transfer network from the adapter unit to the first telecommunication system, wherein the received circuit-switched-signaling protocol is not processed by the adapter, processing the circuit-switched-signaling protocol in the telecommunication system in accordance with the signaling protocol, detecting a failure of the data packet transfer network or of the first telecommunication system, and automatically switching over into an emergency operating mode after the detection of the failure; and
providing an emergency operating mode;
converting the received circuit-switched-signaling protocol to a data-packet-signaling protocol to form a first data packet, sending the first data packet to the IP telephone, receiving by the adapter unit a second data-packet having the data-packet-signaling protocol, converting the data-packet-signaling to the circuit-switched-signaling protocol forming a second-circuit-switched data, sending the second-circuit-data to the circuit switched network, detecting a reactivation of the data packet transfer network or of the first telecommunication system, and automatically switching over into an normal operating mode after the detection of the reactivation. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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Specification