Detecting signals within a passband on a telephone line

• US 4,540,855 A
• Filed: 05/14/1984
• Issued: 09/10/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1982
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Inventions, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Melita Electronic Labs Incorporated
• Inventors: Szlam, Aleksander, Quinn, Chester P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Application Number:
  US06/609,925
• Time in Patent Office: 484 Days
• Field of Search: 179/81 R, 179/81 B, 179/81 C, 179/84 R, 179/84 A, 179/84 L, 179/84 SS, 179/84 T, 179/84 VF, 179/89
• US Class Current: 379/377
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/82 Line monitoring circuits for call progress or status discrimination for detecting caller identity H04M1/573

Abstract

An improved combination of a hardware and digital signal processing filter for detecting pick-up of a telephone call, solely through audio information on the telephone line. The apparatus employs a high gain band pass filter (28) with no automatic gain control, the output of which goes to a window comparator (30). The output from the window comparator (31) goes to a digital high pass filter (32) and from there to an integrator 37 for providing a digital output signal (40) indicative of the presence or absence on the telephone line of a signal exceeding a predetermined magnitude within the filter pass band. The digital signal is then processed by an intelligent digital filter having a set of predetermined threshold values of durations for states of the digital output signal, by which determinations of pick-up are made. The digital filter is adaptive and learns the durations high and low states of the digital output signal as they occur, subsequently checking for deviations from previously learned valid values. The digital filter includes a digital phase lock loop which will lock into a periodic but asymmetric pattern in the digital output signal and declare pick-up when lock is lost.

Claims