Communication system and method for linking data terminals and their host computers through a satellite or other wide area network
First Claim
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1. A wide area communication network comprising:
- a central network for establishing a data link to any one of a plurality of host computers each of which has resident data related to remote data service requests, the central network having a central satellite transmitter/receiver;
at least one remote network terminal having a plurality of data terminals for initiating data service requests and a remote satellite transmitter/receiver for communicating with the central satellite transmitter/receiver of the central network via a satellite link with an orbiting communications satellite;
each of said data terminals having a detector for detecting the identity of one host computer of said plurality of host computers from a data service request and for generating an output data signal representing an address of the corresponding identified one of said plurality of host computers;
a circuit in communication with said data terminals for receiving host computer address signals from said data terminals and for directing a representation of a received host computer address signal through said satellite link to said central network to establish a data flow connection between said respective data terminal and the addressed host computer;
said circuit further having a modem, said modem having a demodulator for demodulating data being sent from said respective data terminal to said addressed host computer through said satellite link and said central network after said data flow connection is established;
said modem additionally having a modulator for modulating data being sent from said addressed host computer through said central network and said satellite link to said respective data terminal after said data flow connection is established; and
a microprocessor, wherein said modem includes means for applying said host computer address signals received from said data terminals and said microprocessor includes means for translating a received host computer address signal to a network address format of said satellite link.
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Abstract
A satellite wide area communications network (10) includes a remote transmitter/receiver (28A) that is coupled through a modem unit (30A) to multiple card readers (12A-1 to 12A-n). A master transmitter/receiver (26) is satellite linked to the remote transmitter/receiver and is coupled through a central packet network (16) to multiple host computers (18-1 to 18-j). A network host computer address is determined for each transaction card inserted in the card readers, and the network address is processed to establish a direct link to the host computer for the card through the modem unit, the satellite link (22A, 20, 24), and the central packet network.
110 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A wide area communication network comprising:
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a central network for establishing a data link to any one of a plurality of host computers each of which has resident data related to remote data service requests, the central network having a central satellite transmitter/receiver; at least one remote network terminal having a plurality of data terminals for initiating data service requests and a remote satellite transmitter/receiver for communicating with the central satellite transmitter/receiver of the central network via a satellite link with an orbiting communications satellite; each of said data terminals having a detector for detecting the identity of one host computer of said plurality of host computers from a data service request and for generating an output data signal representing an address of the corresponding identified one of said plurality of host computers; a circuit in communication with said data terminals for receiving host computer address signals from said data terminals and for directing a representation of a received host computer address signal through said satellite link to said central network to establish a data flow connection between said respective data terminal and the addressed host computer; said circuit further having a modem, said modem having a demodulator for demodulating data being sent from said respective data terminal to said addressed host computer through said satellite link and said central network after said data flow connection is established; said modem additionally having a modulator for modulating data being sent from said addressed host computer through said central network and said satellite link to said respective data terminal after said data flow connection is established; and a microprocessor, wherein said modem includes means for applying said host computer address signals received from said data terminals and said microprocessor includes means for translating a received host computer address signal to a network address format of said satellite link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A subsystem in a wide area network for coupling remote data transactions to a central network to establish a data link to any one of a plurality of host computers each of which has resident data related to particular remote data transactions, said subsystem comprising:
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a plurality of data terminals adapted for initiating data service requests through a public telephone service line, each of said data terminals having means for detecting the identify of one host computer of said plurality of host computers from an input data service request and for generating an output data signal representing a host computer address; a circuit for receiving host computer address signals from said data terminals and for generating a representation of a received host computer address signal to establish a network link through the central network to the addressed host computer; means for simulating a public telephone service line to said data terminals and for coupling said data terminals and said circuit for data flow therebetween; said circuit further having a demodulator for demodulating data being sent from a connected data terminal to the addressed host computer through said central network after the network link is established; and said circuit additionally having a modulator for modulating data being sent from the addressed host computer through said central network to the connected data terminal after the network link is established. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for operating a wide area communication network, the steps of said method comprising:
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operating a central network which has a central satellite transmitter/receiver to establish a data link to any of multiple host computers each of which has resident data related to particular remote data service requests received at the transmitter/receiver; operating at least one remote network terminal having a plurality of data terminals for initiating data service requests and a remote satellite transmitter/receiver for communicating with the central satellite transmitter/receiver via a satellite link with an orbiting communications satellite; detecting at the data terminals the identity of any of said multiple host computers from input data service requests initiated at the corresponding data terminal and generating output data signals representing addresses to said host computers for which an identity has been detected; operating a circuit to receive host computer address signals from the data terminals and to direct representations of received host computer address signals to the central network via the satellite transmitter/receiver to establish a direct network link to the addressed host computer; demodulating data being sent from a connected data terminal to the addressed host computer through the central network after the direct network link is established; and modulating data being sent from the addressed host computer through the central network to the connected data terminal after the direct network link is established. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method for communicating over a wide area network comprising:
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receiving an input data service request from a data terminal at a remote network terminal, the request including a host computer identification; detecting the host computer identification and generating a host computer address therefrom; transmitting the input data service request and the host computer address from the remote network terminal to a central network via an orbiting satellite using a remote network satellite transmitter/receiver and a central network satellite transmitter/receiver; further transmitting the input data service request via the central network to a host computer corresponding to the host computer address and establishing a satellite link between the remote network terminal and the host computer. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification