Network system having different attributes of terminal equipment devices
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A network system, comprising:
- a plurality of terminals, including a source terminal and a destination terminal, classified into a plurality of groups, each of the groups including terminals having the same attribute, and each of the plurality of terminals having a plurality of attributes and belonging to a plurality of groups;
network means for selectively connecting said plurality of terminals to each other; and
control means, operatively coupled to said network means, for receiving a call indicating one of said groups from said source terminal which is one of said plurality of terminals and for coupling, through said network means, said source terminal to said destination terminal which is one terminal included in said one of the groups, said destination terminal and said source terminal having identical attributes.
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Abstract
A network system includes a plurality of terminals classified into a plurality of groups, a network for selectively connecting the plurality of terminals to each other, and a control part for receiving a call indicating one of the groups from a source terminal which is one of the plurality of terminals and for coupling, through the network, the source terminal to a destination terminal which is one terminal included in one of the groups which has an attribute identical to that of the source terminal.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A network system, comprising:
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a plurality of terminals, including a source terminal and a destination terminal, classified into a plurality of groups, each of the groups including terminals having the same attribute, and each of the plurality of terminals having a plurality of attributes and belonging to a plurality of groups; network means for selectively connecting said plurality of terminals to each other; and control means, operatively coupled to said network means, for receiving a call indicating one of said groups from said source terminal which is one of said plurality of terminals and for coupling, through said network means, said source terminal to said destination terminal which is one terminal included in said one of the groups, said destination terminal and said source terminal having identical attributes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A network system, comprising:
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a plurality of terminals, including a source terminal and destination terminals, classified into a plurality of groups, each of the groups including terminals having the same attribute, and each of the plurality of terminals having a plurality of attributes and belonging to a plurality of groups; network means for selectively connecting said plurality of terminals to each other; and control means, operatively coupled to said network means, for receiving a call indicating one of said groups from the source terminal which is one of said plurality of terminals and for coupling, through said network means, said source terminal to all destination terminals, each of which is one terminal included in said one of the groups and which destination terminals have an attribute which is identical to that of said source terminal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A network system for communicating with an external network through a line, comprising:
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a plurality of terminals classified into a plurality of groups; network means for connecting said plurality of terminals to each other, for connecting said plurality of terminals to the line from the external network, and for receiving an incoming call having a telephone number designating one of said plurality of groups; first determining means, operatively coupled to said network means, for determining, when the telephone number of the incoming call designates one of said plurality of groups, whether or not an attribute of said incoming call coincides with an attribute of any terminal included in said one of the plurality of groups; and second determining means, operatively coupled to said network means and said first determining means, for determining whether or not there is any terminal which is included in said plurality of groups other than said one of the plurality of groups which has an attribute identical to that of said incoming call when said first determining means determines that there is no terminal in said one of the plurality of groups, and for terminating said incoming call at the terminal which is included in said plurality of groups other than said one of the plurality of groups which has the attribute identical to that of said incoming call when said first determining means determines that there is no terminal in said one of the plurality of groups. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for connecting a calling terminal in a network system, comprising the steps of:
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determining whether a called terminal has a same attribute as the calling terminal; connecting the calling and called terminals if the calling and called terminals have the same attributes; referring to a table containing a plurality of groups if the calling and called terminals do not have the same attributes, each one of the groups having a plurality of terminal addresses and respective attributes of the terminals therein, at least one of the groups corresponding to the calling terminal; checking the at least one of the groups corresponding to the calling terminal to find each terminal which as the same attribute as the calling terminal; and connecting the calling terminal to one of the terminals in the at least one of the groups corresponding to the calling terminal based on said checking step.
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21. A method for obtaining an address of at least one terminal, and for connecting a calling terminal and the at least one terminal, comprising the steps of:
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storing a plurality of addresses and attributes of a plurality of terminals which correspond to an identity of a calling terminal; receiving the identity of the calling terminal; determining whether the attribute of at least one terminal which corresponds to the identity of the calling terminal is identical to the attribute of the calling terminal; and outputting the address of the at least one terminal having that attribute identical to the calling terminal if such terminal is found in said determining step. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A method for connecting an incoming call, comprising the steps of:
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determining, when the incoming call having a telephone number designating a first one of the plurality of groups is supplied, whether an attribute of the incoming call is identical to an attribute for any terminal included in the first one of the plurality of groups; providing connection between the calling terminal and a terminal having the attribute identical to the calling terminal if any such terminal is found in the first one of the plurality of groups; determining whether any terminal exists which is included in a second one of the plurality of groups, which terminal has the attribute identical to that of the incoming call if no terminal exists which has the attribute identical to that of the incoming call in the first one of the plurality of groups; and terminating the incoming call at the terminal included within the second one of the plurality of groups if such terminal is found.
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24. A network system, comprising:
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a plurality of terminals, including a source terminal and a destination terminal, classified into a plurality of groups; network means for selectively connecting said plurality of terminals to each other; and control means, operatively coupled to said network means, for receiving a call indicating one of said groups from said source terminal which is one of said plurality of terminals and for coupling, through said network means, said source terminal to said destination terminal which is one terminal included in said one of the groups, said destination terminal and said source terminal having identical attributes, each of said plurality of terminals having an address, and said control means including; memory means for storing information about an attribute of each terminal and the address thereof in each of said plurality of groups; seeking means for seeking said destination terminal which is included in said one of the groups and which has the attribute identical to that of said source terminal, and for outputting the address of said destination terminal; and coupling means for receiving the address of said destination terminal from said seeking means and coupling said source terminal to said destination terminal corresponding to the address. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification