Telephone system having multiple sources and accessories therefor
First Claim
1. A system in a building for connecting at least a first telephone set to an Internet Protocol (IP)-based telephone network, for use with a Cable Television (CATV) network connected for carrying video channels in a video band and telephone signals for providing video and telephony services, and being operated by a first telephone service provider, and for use with a second IP-Based telephone service network external to the building for carrying Voice over IP (VoIP) packets and operated by a second telephone service provider different from the first telephone service provider, said system comprising:
- a CATV coaxial cable that forms a part of a home network, is at least in part in walls of the building and is accessible at an outlet cavity or outlet opening, said coaxial cable being connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band that is distinct from the video band, the digital data signal containing one or more digitized telephone signals;
a gateway connected to said coaxial cable at a first connection point, said gateway being couplable to the CATV network and to the IP-Based telephone service network, and being operative to pass the one or more digitized telephone signals between the IP-Based telephone service network and said coaxial cable; and
a first adapter housed in a single enclosure and connected to said coaxial cable at a second connection point distinct from said first connection point and connectable to the first telephone set, said first adapter being operative for converting between analog and digital telephone signals and for coupling a first digitized telephone signal carried over said coaxial cable to the first telephone set.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In conjunction with a data communication network carrying multiple telephony signals and allowing for connection of telephone sets, a system and method in which two external feeders connect to the data network at two distinct points via two distinct devices. The data network can be based on dedicated wiring or can use existing in-premises medium such as telephone, powerlines or CATV wiring. In the latter case, the wiring can still carry the original service for which it was installed. The external telephone connections can be based on the traditional PSTN, CATV network, cellular telephone network or any other telephone service provider network, using specific adapter for any medium used. In the case of connection to a POTS telephone signal, VoIP gateway (or any other converter) is required.
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Citations
56 Claims
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1. A system in a building for connecting at least a first telephone set to an Internet Protocol (IP)-based telephone network, for use with a Cable Television (CATV) network connected for carrying video channels in a video band and telephone signals for providing video and telephony services, and being operated by a first telephone service provider, and for use with a second IP-Based telephone service network external to the building for carrying Voice over IP (VoIP) packets and operated by a second telephone service provider different from the first telephone service provider, said system comprising:
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a CATV coaxial cable that forms a part of a home network, is at least in part in walls of the building and is accessible at an outlet cavity or outlet opening, said coaxial cable being connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band that is distinct from the video band, the digital data signal containing one or more digitized telephone signals;
a gateway connected to said coaxial cable at a first connection point, said gateway being couplable to the CATV network and to the IP-Based telephone service network, and being operative to pass the one or more digitized telephone signals between the IP-Based telephone service network and said coaxial cable; and
a first adapter housed in a single enclosure and connected to said coaxial cable at a second connection point distinct from said first connection point and connectable to the first telephone set, said first adapter being operative for converting between analog and digital telephone signals and for coupling a first digitized telephone signal carried over said coaxial cable to the first telephone set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A device for coupling a digitized telephone signal carried over a CATV coaxial cable to a telephone set, the coaxial cable being at least in part in walls of a building and being accessible at an outlet cavity or outlet opening, the coaxial cable being connected to a CATV network carrying video channels in a video frequency band and telephony signals, the CATV network being operated by a first telephone service provider, the coaxial cable being further connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band that is distinct from the video frequency band, the digital data signal containing one or more digitized telephone signals coupled to an IP-Based telephone service network external to the building, the IP-Based telephone service network being connected for carrying Voice over IP (VoIP) packets and being operated by a second telephone service provider different from the first telephone service provider, said device comprising:
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a coaxial plug for connecting to the coaxial cable;
a coaxial cable modem operable for bidirectional digital data communication with one or more additional modems of the same type as said coaxial cable modem over the coaxial cable;
a band pass filter coupled between said coaxial cable modem and said coaxial plug for substantially passing only signals in the digital data frequency band;
a telephone connector for connecting to the telephone set;
a multiport unit coupled to pass a digitized telephone signal between said telephone connector and said coaxial cable modem;
a converter for converting between analog and digital telephony signals coupled between said telephone connector and said multiport unit; and
a single enclosure housing said coaxial plug, said coaxial cable modem, said band pass filter, said telephone connector, said multi-port unit and said converter, wherein said device is operative to connect the telephone set to a telephone service provided by the second telephone service provider. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A gateway in a building for connecting a telephone set in the building to an Internet Protocol (IP)-Based telephone network other than a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) via a home network that includes a CATV coaxial cable, for use with a CATV network carrying video channels in a video frequency band and telephone signals and being operated by a first telephone service provider, the IP-Based telephone service network being external to the building, and the IP-Based telephone service network being connected for carrying one or more digitized telephone Voice over IP (VoIP) signals and being operated by a second telephone service provider different from the first telephone service provider, the CATV coaxial cable being at least in part in walls of the building, being accessible at an outlet cavity or outlet opening, and being connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band that is distinct from the video frequency band, and the digital data signal containing one or more digitized telephone Voice over IP signals, said gateway comprising:
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a coaxial connector for connecting to the coaxial cable in the building; and
a port for connecting to the IP-Based telephone service network external to the building to be coupled to one or more digitized telephone signals wherein said gateway is operative to pass one or more digitized telephone signals between the IP-Based telephone service network and the coaxial cable. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A system for connecting a telephone set in a building to multiple Internet Protocol (IP)-based telephone networks external to the building via a home network, said system comprising:
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a first IP-Based telephone service network external to the building and connected for carrying at least a first digitized telephone signal in Voice over IP (VoIP) packets and operated by a first telephone service provider;
a second distinct IP-Based telephone service network external to the building and connected for carrying at least a second digitized telephone signal in Voice over IP (VoIP) packets and operated by a second telephone service provider different from the first telephone service provider;
a CATV coaxial cable connected to carry video channels in a video band and forming a part of the home network and that is at least in part in walls of the building, said cable being accessible at a CATV outlet cavity or outlet opening, said coaxial cable being coupled to said first and second IP-Based telephone service networks for concurrently carrying the first and second digitized telephone signals, said coaxial cable further being connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band that is distinct from the video band, a first adapter housed in a first single enclosure and connected to said coaxial cable, said first adapter being connectable to a first telephone set and being operative for converting between analog and digitized telephone signals and being operative to couple a first digitized telephone signal carried over said coaxial cable to the first telephone set and to couple a second digitized telephone signal carried over said coaxial cable to the first telephone set. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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Specification