Telephone system having multiple distinct sources and accessories therefor
First Claim
1. A system in a building for connecting a first telephone set to an Internet Protocol (IP)-based telephone network other than a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), for use with a PSTN suitable for providing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), the PSTN being operated by a first telephone service provider and comprising a local loop connecting a telephone wire pair in the building to the PSTN, and an 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 wireless home network utilizing radio-frequency propagation for connecting locations within the building to each other, the wireless home network being connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band, the digital data signal containing one or more digitized telephone signals;
a gateway coupled to said wireless home network, said gateway being couplable to the PSTN 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 wireless home network; and
a first adapter housed in a single enclosure connected to said wireless home network and connectable to the first telephone set, said first adapter being operative for converting between analog and digital telephone signals and to couple a first digitized telephone signal carried over said wireless home network to the first telephone set.
10 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.
101 Citations
58 Claims
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1. A system in a building for connecting a first telephone set to an Internet Protocol (IP)-based telephone network other than a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), for use with a PSTN suitable for providing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), the PSTN being operated by a first telephone service provider and comprising a local loop connecting a telephone wire pair in the building to the PSTN, and an 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 wireless home network utilizing radio-frequency propagation for connecting locations within the building to each other, the wireless home network being connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band, the digital data signal containing one or more digitized telephone signals;
a gateway coupled to said wireless home network, said gateway being couplable to the PSTN 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 wireless home network; and
a first adapter housed in a single enclosure connected to said wireless home network and connectable to the first telephone set, said first adapter being operative for converting between analog and digital telephone signals and to couple a first digitized telephone signal carried over said wireless home network to the first telephone set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A device for coupling a digitized telephone signal carried over a wireless home network to a telephone set in a building, telephone wire pair in the building being coupled to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) via a local loop, the PSTN being suitable for providing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) and being operated by a first telephone service provider, the wireless home network being connected for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data 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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an antenna for coupling to the wireless home network;
a radio frequency (RF) transceiver operable for bidirectional digital data communication with one or more additional transceivers of the same type as said transceiver over the wireless home network;
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 RF transceiver;
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 antenna, said RF transceiver, 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 (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 wireless home network, the gateway being for use with a PSTN suitable for providing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), the PSTN being operated by a first telephone service provider and comprising a local loop connected to a telephone wire pair in the building, and the gateway further being for use with an IP-Based telephone service network external to the building, the IP-Based telephone service network being connected for carrying one or more digitized Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone signals and being operated by a second telephone service provider different from the first telephone service provider, the wireless home network being coupled for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band, and the digital data signal containing one or more digitized Voice over IP telephone signals, said gateway comprising:
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an antenna for coupling to the wireless home network in the building; and
a port coupled to said antenna 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 wireless home network. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A system for connecting a telephone set in a building to multiple Internet Protocol (IP)-based telephone networks external to the building, 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 containing Voice over IP (VoIP) packets and operated by a first telephone service provider;
a second IP-Based telephone service network distinct from the first IP-Based telephone service network and external to the building and connected for carrying at least a second digitized telephone signal containing Voice over IP (VoIP) packets and operated by a second telephone service provider different from said first telephone service provider;
a wireless home network communicating with radio-frequency signals for connecting between locations within the building, said wireless home network being operative for carrying a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band, the digital data signal containing one or more digitized telephone signals;
a first adapter housed in a single enclosure and coupled to said wireless home network and connectable to a first telephone set, said first adapter being operative for converting between analog and digitized telephone signals, and being operative to couple first and second digitized telephone signals carried over said wireless home network to the first telephone set. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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Specification