Method and apparatus for determining availability of a public base unit for communicating with a cordless telephone in a public cordless telephone system
First Claim
1. A cordless telephone public base unit for operation in a public cordless telephone system, the public base unit being connectable to a telephone line for communicating with a central office and the telephone system including a plurality of cordless handset units for establishing communications with the public base unit over a plurality of communication channels occupyable by both the public base unit and a non-public base unit, the public base unit comprising:
- means for communicating with a first one of the plurality of cordless handset units over one of the plurality of communication channels; and
means for inserting a signal in said one of the communication channels while communicating with said first one of the plurality of cordless handset units for providing to other of the plurality of cordless handset units identifying information for detection by said other of the plurality of cordless handset units while searching for an available communication channel, said identifying information being indicative of a public base unit communicating over said one of the communication channels.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A public cordless telephone system includes an arrangement for informing a public handset unit when it is within the reception range of a public base unit even though all communication channels are then occupied or all public base units in the reception area are then busy communicating with other handset units. In operation, each public base unit while communicating with any public handset unit inserts in the communication channel it is then occupying spectrum energy such as is provided either by a pilot signal or a frequency shift keying (FSK) signal. By providing this additional spectrum energy along with normal voice signal energy in the communication channel, a public handset unit while searching for an available channel and interrogating this channel will be able to determine, even though the channel is occupied, that there is a public base unit within its reception range. If no available communication channel is found and a signal from one or more public base units is detected, the handset unit generates a first alerting signal for its user thereby informing the user of the one or more public base units in the area even though a telephone call may not be initiated due to all of the communication channels then being occupied. If an available communication channel is found, an attempt to establish communication with a public base unit is initiated by the handset unit over this available channel. If no response is received from a public base unit and if a signal from one or more public base units is detected, the handset unit generates a second alerting signal which thereby informs the user of the one or more public base units in the area even though a telephone call may not be initiated due to all of these public base units then being busy.
70 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A cordless telephone public base unit for operation in a public cordless telephone system, the public base unit being connectable to a telephone line for communicating with a central office and the telephone system including a plurality of cordless handset units for establishing communications with the public base unit over a plurality of communication channels occupyable by both the public base unit and a non-public base unit, the public base unit comprising:
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means for communicating with a first one of the plurality of cordless handset units over one of the plurality of communication channels; and means for inserting a signal in said one of the communication channels while communicating with said first one of the plurality of cordless handset units for providing to other of the plurality of cordless handset units identifying information for detection by said other of the plurality of cordless handset units while searching for an available communication channel, said identifying information being indicative of a public base unit communicating over said one of the communication channels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A cordless telephone handset unit for operation in a public cordless telephone system, the telephone system including at least one public base unit connectable to a telephone line for communicating with a central office and to the handset unit over a plurality of communication channels, and wherein the communication channels are occupyable by both the public base unit and a non-public base unit, the handset unit comprising:
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means for receiving a signal on at least one of the plurality of communication channels; and means for detecting the presence of said public base unit occupying at least one of the plurality of communication channels while searching for an available communication channel, the detecting means being responsive to base-unit-type identifying information inserted in the signal on each one of the plurality of channels occupied by said public base unit while communicating with another handset unit. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A cordless telephone handset unit for operation in a public cordless telephone system, the telephone system including at least one public base unit connectable to a telephone line for communicating with a central office and for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from the handset unit over a plurality of communication channels occupiable by both the public base unit and, a non-public base unit, the handset unit comprising:
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means for interrogating the plurality of communication channels, the interrogating means identifying both an available channel from among the communication channels and the presence of a public base unit operating on at least one of any occupied ones of these communication channels; means for generating a service request signal on each identified available channel for establishing communications with said public base unit; and means for inhibiting the service request signal generating means after the generation of a predetermined number of service request signals, the interrogating means, responsive to the inhibiting means, interrogating the remainder of the plurality of communication channels only for identifying said public base units operating on the occupied ones of these communication channels. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of operating with a cordless telephone public base unit in a public cordless telephone system, the public base unit being connectable to a telephone line for communicating with a central office and the telephone system including a plurality of cordless handset units for establishing communications with the public base unit over a plurality of communication channels occupyable by both the public base unit and a non-public base unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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communicating in the public base unit with a first one of the plurality of cordless handset units over one of the plurality of communication channels; and inserting a signal in said one of the communication channels occupied by the public base unit while said public base unit is communicating with said first one of the plurality of cordless handset units for providing to other of the plurality of cordless handset units identifying information for detection by said other of the plurality of cordless handset units while searching for an available communication channel, said identifying information being indicative of a public base unit communicating over said one of the communication channels. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of operating for a cordless telephone handset unit in a public cordless telephone system, the telephone system including at least one public base unit connectable to a telephone line for communicating with a central office and to the handset unit over a plurality of communication channels, and wherein the communication channels are occupyable by both the public base unit and a non-public base unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving in the handset unit a signal on at least one of the plurality of communication channels; and detecting in the handset unit the presence of base-unit-type identifying information in the signal while searching for an available communication channel, the identifying information detected in each communication channel being indicative of a public base unit communicating thereon with another handset unit. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of operating for a cordless telephone handset unit in a public cordless telephone system, the telephone system including at least one public base unit connectable to a telephone line for communicating with a central office and for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from the handset unit over a plurality of communication channels occupiable by both the public base unit and a non-public base unit, the method comprising the steps of:
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interrogating the plurality of communication channels for identifying an available channel from among the communication channels and for identifying the presence of a public base unit operating on at least one of any occupied ones of these communication channels; generating a service request signal on each identified available channel for establishing communications with said public base unit; and inhibiting the service request signal generating step after the generation of a predetermined number of service request signals, the interrogating step, responsive to the inhibiting step, interrogating the remainder of the plurality of communication channels only for identifying said public base units operating on the occupied ones of these communication channels. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification