Data transmission arrangement

• US 4,969,184 A
• Filed: 02/02/1989
• Issued: 11/06/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dialogic, Inc. (Enghouse Systems Limited)
• Original Assignee: Alphanet Technology Corporation
• Inventors: Gordon, Alastair T., Reichmann, Michael H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ng, Jin F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chan, Wing F.
• Application Number:
  US07/305,113
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• Field of Search: 379/93, 379/96-98, 379/100, 379/58, 358/402, 358/403, 358/407, 358/435
• US Class Current: 379/100.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/00 Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32 Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device H04N1/38, H04N1/387 take precedence

Abstract

An improved data transmission system which uses the telephone system for transmitting information between data transmitting/receiving devices via a process intermediary is taught wherein at least some of the data transmitting/receiving devices can be actuated by a non-telephone actuation signal controlled by the process intermediary. Telephone number addresses are obtained by the process intermediately and assigned to uniquely identify non-telephone actuatable data transmitting/receiving devices. The telephone number addresses when used to transmit data to the assigned data transmitting/receiving device results in the transmitted data being received by the process intermediary and forwarded to the appropriate data transmitting/receiving device by actuating the device by means of a non-telephone actuation signal. This actuation signal causes the device to initiate a telephone communication with the process intermediary and thereby receive the transmitted data. In this way, the transmission of data to the data transmitting/receiving device identified by a telephone number address is essentially transparent to the originating data transmitting/receiving device.

Claims

1. A data transmission system having a host of data transmitting and receiving devices and a process intermediary unit for sending data at least partially by a telephone system between an originating data transmitting/receiving device and a destined data transmitting/receiving device via the process intermediary unit;

at least some of said data transmitting/receiving devices including means for receiving a non-telephone actuation signal and means for initiating a telephone communication with the process intermediary unit upon receipt of the actuation signal; and

wherein said process intermediary unit includes

(a) means for receiving communications destined for one of said data transmitting/receiving devices identified by a telephone number or telephone number address, and

(b) means for producing and transmitting an appropriate non-telephone actuation signal when a communication is received and the identified data transmitting/receiving device is one of said data transmitting/receiving devices capable of being actuated by said non-telephone actuation signal;

said process intermediary unit including a plurality of allocated telephone number addresses which are individually assigned to data transmitting/receiving devices to be used for receiving data and wherein each of the individual data transmitting/receiving devices having an assigned telephone number address is capable of being actuated by means of the non-telephone actuation signal whereby data sent to an individual data transmitting/receiving device via the assigned telephone number address is received by the process intermediary unit and subsequently delivered by the process intermediary unit to the particular data transmitting/receiving device to which the telephone number address has been assigned, the process intermediary unit delivering the data by actuating the individual data transmitting/receiving device via the non-telephone actuation signal and the actuated data transmitting/receiving device initiating a telephone communication with said process intermediary unit through which the dats is delivered to the transmitting/receiving device.

2. A data transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said process intermediary unit includes information associated with each data transmitting/receiving device having an assigned telephone number address whereby data destined for a particular data transmitting/receiving device in a format which cannot be received by said particular data transmitting/receiving device is appropriately translated by the process intermediary unit and transmitted to said particular data transmitting/receiving device in an appropriate format.

3. A data transmission system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data transmitting/receiving devices having assigned telephone number addresses are facsimile machines.

4. A data transmission system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the process intermediary unit can receive and store both the telephone number address and the data to be received by the destined facsimile machine.

5. In long distance transmission of data between transmitting/receiving devices via a process intermediary unit wherein the transmission of data uses an existing public switched telephone network for transmitting data from an originating transmitting/receiving device to the process intermediary unit and from the process intermediary unit to a destined transmitting/receiving device, the improvement comprising said process intermediary unit including a number of local nodes which are interconnected by a digital data transmission network by means of which data, to be transmitted a long distance, received by the process intermediary unit at a local node, is transmitted to another appropriate local node, and wherein at least some of said data transmitting/receiving devices associated with the process intermediary unit each have a unique telephone number address which when used results in a telephone connection with said process intermediary unit with said telephone number address being recorded and used by the process intermediary unit to identify the receiving device for which the data is destined.

6. A plurality of data transmitting/receiving terminals, each terminal having a non-telephone actuation means which when actuated causes said data transmitting/receiving terminal to complete a telephone connection with a process intermediary unit by means of existing telephone networks, said process intermediary unit having a host of telephone number addresses which are assigned to uniquely identify each of said data transmitting/receiving terminals and when any of the telephone number addresses are used a telephone connection is made with the process intermediary unit,

wherein said process intermediary unit upon receipt of a communication for a particular telephone number address transmits a non-telephone actuation signal which is received by a destined transmitting/receiving terminal identified by the telephone number address which actuates said destined transmitting/receiving terminal to effect a telephone connection with the process intermediary unit and by means of which data destined for the receiving terminal is transmitted thereto by the process intermediary unit.