Telephone network having personal numbers for position-independent

• US 5,251,248 A
• Filed: 04/19/1991
• Issued: 10/05/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
• Inventors: Hattori, Takeshi, Tokunaga, Hiroshi, Yoshikawa, Noriaki, Kobayashi, Hidetsugu, Nohara, Tatsuo, Yasuda, Yoshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne D.
• Application Number:
  US07/663,932
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 379/58, 379/60, 379/62, 379/63, 379/67, 379/91, 379/142, 379/144, 379/216, 379/354, 379/355, 379/111, 379/112, 379/219, 379/220, 379/229, 379/242, 379/258, 379/308
• US Class Current: 379/114.27
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/36 Memories
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1091 Fixed mobile conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42229 Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location diverting calls from one subscriber to another subscriber, i.e. two different subscriptions H04M3/54; selecting arrangements in intelligent networks H04Q3/005
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13513 UPT - personal as opposed to terminal mobility, inc. number portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13527 protocols - X.25, TCAP etc.
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13532 mobile networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13547 subscriber, e.g. profile, database, database access
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/002 Details
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/005 Personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/47 using translators
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/28 Number portability ; Network address portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/903 Password
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/913 Person locator or person-specific

Abstract

This invention allows a subscriber of a telephone network to receive a call by a telephone registered under his/her personal telephone number no matter where he/she carries the telephone with him/her by maintaining a reference table of a personal telephone number assigned to each subscriber, a station number assigned to each telephone, and a subscriber loop address assigned to a telephone connection terminal of the network in a memory within the network. The reference table collates the station number of the telephone registered in correspondence with a personal telephone number with the subscriber loop address at which the particular telephone is being connected, and when a call for connection is made under the personal telephone number, the connection is made to the telephone by referring to the reference table, calling the loop address at which the telephone registered under the personal telephone number is currently connected, and connecting the call under control to the telephone registered under the particular personal telephone number. The station numbers are allocated to telephones respectively in the order of manufacture or distribution in accordance with a certain rule to avoid duplication.

Claims

1. A personal communication system wherein a subscriber is assigned a personal telephone number, a telephone is recorded with a station number in a mode readable as signals, a subscriber loop of the network is assigned a subscriber loop address and the subscriber loop or a terminal connected thereto is provided with a connection terminal for connection with said telephone, said system comprising:

a memory circuit which has a reference table of personal telephone numbers, station numbers registered under respective personal telephone numbers, and subscriber loop addresses at which the registered telephones are being connected stored therein,

connection controller means for connecting a call with said currently connected subscriber loop address when a call for a personal telephone number is generated by referring to said table,

reading means for reading out the station number of a telephone connected to the connection terminal of the subscriber loop address in accordance with the call and for collating the number with said reference table, said station number being recorded fixedly on the telephone either in the order of manufacture or distribution according to a certain rule in order to avoid duplication, and

registration means for writing in or modifying said reference table.

2. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said telephone is a terminal device having other functions than a telephone call.

3. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the personal telephone number is the same as the subscriber loop address thereof at his/her home position.

4. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein when the telephone is a movable radio telephone, said subscriber loop comprises radio circuits, and said subscriber loop address is the number for connecting the movable radio telephone within said public telephone system.

5. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said registration means includes a means which writes in or modifies said reference table by manipulation from a special keyboard.

6. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein history of connections is recorded in correspondence with respective personal telephone numbers for charging.

7. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the subscriber is an individual person or an organization.

8. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said public telephone network is provided with a means which transmits a pre-recorded message when a call is generated to a personal telephone number but connection therewith is not made.

9. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 8 wherein the system includes a means which records speech of a caller following the transmission of said message, a means which records the recording by said means, a means which notifies the recording when the system is accessed from a telephone registered under said personal telephone number, and a means which reproduces the content of the recording and transmits it to the telephone.

10. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said registration means includes a means which is actuated when a special number allocated for registration is dialed from a telephone connected to said terminal and reads the station number recorded therein, and a means which records in said reference table the station number thus read out by said means in correspondence with an appropriate personal telephone number.

11. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 10 wherein said personal telephone number to be registered is the subscriber loop address of said connection terminal to which the telephone having the dialed special number is connected.

12. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 10 wherein said personal telephone number to be registered is the number which has been inputted from the telephone from which said special number is dialed.

13. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 10 wherein an ID number is recorded in said reference table in correspondence with the personal telephone number thereof, and said registration means actuates said recording means only when the number inputted from the telephone connected to said terminal is collated with the corresponding ID number in reference to said table.

14. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 10 wherein said registration means includes a means which is actuated when a special number allocated for specifying relocating subscriber service is dialed from a telephone connected to said terminal to read the station number recorded in the telephone, and a means which records the subscriber loop address of the terminal in said reference table in correspondence with the personal telephone number corresponding to thus read out station number by said means.

15. The personal communication system as claimed in claim 14 wherein the special number allocated for specifying relocating subscriber service is the same number as the special number for registration.