Interfacing system for an international-type pay-telephone
First Claim
1. An apparatus for providing central-office functions locally at a pay-phone terminal, comprising:
- an international-type pay-telephone;
interfacing means coupled to said pay-telephone for providing two-way communications between said pay-telephone and a telephone network;
said interfacing means comprising means for storing tarrifing information by which the cost of a call made on said pay-telephone may be determined;
first tone-detector means for receiving tone-signals from the telephone network;
tone-burst generating means for periodically generating a tone-burst to said pay-telephone by which the money-collection of a call is achieved; and
computer means coupled to said means for storing tariffing information, to said tone-detector means, and to said tone-burst generating means for controlling the operations thereof.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interface unit for coupling an international-type pay-telephone to a land-based or cellular telephone system. The interfacing unit of the invention has a microcomputer, and an associated EPROM in which is stored the exchanges of the telephone numbers that are accessible by that local payphone-terminal, which EPROM also stores a table indicative of the tariffing rates associated with the respective exchanges called. The invention also includes the tone-detectors for detecting the dialed DTMF digits of the pay-telephone, for the conversion thereof for storage in the microcomputer for the determination of a valid telephone number dialed in order to determine the associated tariffing rates. The tone detectors also detect the tone-signals received from the telephone system. The invention also includes "isolating" switching circuitry for isolating the coin-operated pay terminal from its couplement to the telephone system until the telephone call has been connected. After a call has been made according to the invention, the microcomputer, after having determined the tariffing schedule for that particular call made, will generate 12K to 16K tone-bursts to the international-type payphone terminal required for debiting the required amount from the coins or credit initially inserted into the payphone.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing central-office functions locally at a pay-phone terminal, comprising:
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an international-type pay-telephone; interfacing means coupled to said pay-telephone for providing two-way communications between said pay-telephone and a telephone network; said interfacing means comprising means for storing tarrifing information by which the cost of a call made on said pay-telephone may be determined;
first tone-detector means for receiving tone-signals from the telephone network;
tone-burst generating means for periodically generating a tone-burst to said pay-telephone by which the money-collection of a call is achieved; and
computer means coupled to said means for storing tariffing information, to said tone-detector means, and to said tone-burst generating means for controlling the operations thereof. - 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. In an international-type pay-telephone, which international-type pay-telephone charges a customer in response to the reception of periodic tone-bursts, wherein the improvement comprises:
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interfacing means coupled to said pay-telephone for providing two-way communications between said pay-telephone and a telephone network; said interfacing means comprising means for storing tariffing information by which the cost of a call made on said pay-telephone may be determined;
tone-detector means for receiving tone-signals from the telephone network;
tone-burst generating means for periodically generating a tone-burst to said pay-telephone by which the money-collection of a call is achieved; and
computer means coupled to said means for storing tariffing information, to said tone-detector means, and to said tone-burst generating means for controlling the operations thereof. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for providing central-office functions locally at a pay-phone terminal, comprising:
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an international-type pay-telephone; interfacing means coupled too said pay-telephone for providing two-way communications between said pay-telephone and a telephone network; a cellular transceiver; and a cellular interface coupling said cellular transceiver too said interfacing means, whereby calls may be made over the cellular system on said international-type of pay-telephone. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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- 28. The apparatus for providing central-office functions at a pay-telephone according to claim 227, wherein said interfacing means further comprises means for isolating said international-type pay-telephone during call-origination from said cellular telephone system and for coupling said pay-telephone to said cellular system after the call has been determined to have been answered.
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30. A method of making a call using an international-type pay-telephone, comprising:
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a) inputting a telephone number into an international-type pay-telephone; b) determining the last digit input; c) storing the number in a computer; d) determining the validity of the telephone number input; e) thereafter, transmitting a valid telephone number to a telephone system for completing the call; f) isolating the international-type pay-telephone from the telephone system until the called number has answered; g) coupling the international-type pay-telephone to the telephone system when the called number has answered. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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- 33. The method according to claim 331, wherein said step (f) comprises coupling the international-type pay-telephone to tone-detectors in order to allow the user of the pay-telephone to hear signals generated by the telephone system during call-progress monitoring.
Specification