Computer-based multifunction personal communications system

• US 5,452,289 A
• Filed: 01/08/1993
• Issued: 09/19/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Multi-Tech Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Multi-Tech Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Young, Steve, Thanawala, Ashish, Davis, Jeffrey P., Li, Ping, Sharma, Raghu, Gunn, Timothy D., Maitra, Sidhartha
• Primary Examiner(s): Olms, Douglas W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Chau T.
• Application Number:
  US08/002,467
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 370/24, 370/31, 370/32.1, 370/74, 370/81, 370/83, 370/110.1, 370/111, 370/112, 370/118, 370/69.1, 370/61, 370/94.2, 375/7, 375/8, 379/89, 379/88, 379/67, 379/207, 379/235, 379/90, 379/93, 379/96-98, 379/110, 379/201, 395/275, 348/13-15, 348/473
• US Class Current: 370/286
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/04 using predictive techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6424 Access arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6427 Subscriber Access Module; Concentrator; Group equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6459 Multiplexing, e.g. TDMA, CDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6475 N-ISDN, Public Switched Telephone Network [PSTN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6481 Speech, voice
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6491 Echo cancellation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6494 Silence suppression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/3416 in which the information is carried by both the individual signal points and the subset to which the individual points belong, e.g. using coset coding, lattice coding, or related schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/247 Telephone sets including user guidance or feature selection means facilitating their use user interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones H04M1/724
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2473 Telephone terminals interfacing a personal computer, e.g. using an API (Application Programming Interface) details of API H04M7/0021
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2477 for selecting a function from a menu display H04M1/2474 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/253 Telephone sets using digital voice transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 : Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6033 : for providing handsfree use or a loudspeaker mode in telephone sets arrangements for preventing acoustic echo H04M9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6505 : storing speech in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 : Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/06 : Simultaneous speech and data transmission, e.g. telegraphic transmission over the same conductors
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/064 : Data transmission during pauses in telephone conversation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/068 : using time division multiplex techniques; integrated services digital networks H04Q11/0428
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4509 : Unified messaging with single point of access to voicemail and other mail or messaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/002 : Applications of echo suppressors or cancellers in telephonic connections in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/08, echo suppressors or cancellers per se H04B3/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 : Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 : Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 : for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 : Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 : Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0027 : Collaboration services where a computer is used for data transfer and the telephone is used for telephonic communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0057 : Services where the data services network provides a telephone service in addition or as an alternative, e.g. for backup purposes, to the telephone service provided by the telephone services network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 : Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1295 : Details of dual tone multiple frequency signalling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 : with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00206 : Transmitting or receiving computer data via an image communication device, e.g. a facsimile transceiver H04N1/00236 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/908 : Multimedia

Abstract

A personal communications system is described which includes components of software and hardware operating in conjunction with a personal computer. The user interface control software operates on a personal computer, preferably within the Microsoft Windows® environment. The software control system communicates with hardware components linked to the software through the personal computer serial communications port. The hardware components include telephone communication equipment, digital signal processors, and hardware to enable voice, fax and data communication with a remote site connected through a standard telephone line. The functions of the hardware components are controlled by control software operating within the hardware component and from the software components operating within the personal computer. The major functions of the system are a telephone function, a voice mail function, a fax manager function, a multi-media mail function, a show and tell function, a terminal function and an address book function. The telephone function allows the present system to operate, from the users perspective, as a conventional telephone using either hands-free, headset or handset operation. The telephone function is more sophisticated than a standard telephone in that the present system converts the voice into a digital signal which can be processed with echo cancellation, compressed, stored as digital data for later retrieval and transmitted as digital voice data concurrent with the transfer of digital information data.

Claims

1. A multifunction communication system for use with a personal computer, the personal computer having a processor, memory, and a peripheral data store, comprising:

a communications module connected to the personal computer, the module comprising;

communications interface means connected for communicating to the personal computer for transferring data between the personal computer and the communications module;

telephone line interface means for connection to a telephone line and for full duplex digital communication over the telephone line;

telephone voice interface means for receiving local voice signals from a local user and for conveying remote voice signals from a remote user to the local user;

full-duplex conversion means for converting the local voice signals into outgoing digital voice data and for converting incoming digital voice data into the remote voice signals;

compression means for compressing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and for decompressing compressed incoming digital voice data packets into the incoming digital voice data, each of the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets having headers and each of the compressed incoming digital voice data packets having headers;

main control means for receiving the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets from the compression means, for receiving outgoing computer digital data packets from the personal computer through the communications interface means, for multiplexing the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and the outgoing computer digital data packets to produce multiplexed outgoing digital data and for sending the multiplexed outgoing digital data to the telephone line interface means for digital transmission over the telephone line;

the main control means further for receiving multiplexed incoming digital data from the telephone line interface means from the telephone line, the multiplexed incoming digital data containing incoming computer digital data packets multiplexed with the compressed incoming digital voice data packets, for demultiplexing the incoming computer digital data packets and the compressed incoming digital voice data packets, and for sending the incoming computer digital data packets to the personal computer through the communications interface means and for sending the compressed incoming digital voice data packets to the compression means, each of the incoming computer digital data packets having headers;

the personal computer operable for executing software to communicate with the communications module through the communications interface and operable for initiating a telephone call to a remote site in response to the commands by the local user and for causing the main control means of the communications module to perform multiplexing and demultiplexing; and

the personal computer further operable for receiving and storing the incoming computer digital data packets received from the communications module over the communications interface and for transmitting the outgoing computer digital data packets to the communications module over the communications interface.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications module further includes acoustic echo cancellation means for removing at least a portion of the incoming digital voice data from the outgoing digital voice data for acoustic echo cancellation.

3. The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications module further includes line echo cancellation means for removing at least a portion of the outgoing digital voice data from the incoming digital voice data for line echo cancellation.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the main control means is further operable for receiving incoming fax data from the telephone line through the telephone line interface means and forwarding the incoming fax data to the personal computer through the communications interface means and for receiving outgoing fax data from the personal computer through the communications interface means and sending the outgoing fax data to the telephone line through the telephone line interface means.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications interface means is connected for communicating to a communications port of the personal computer for transferring data between the personal computer and the communications module.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications interface means is connected for communicating directly to a bus of the personal computer for transferring data between the personal computer and the communications module.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein the main control means is further operable for receiving the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets from the compression means and for forwarding the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets to the personal computer;

and

the personal computer is further operable for receiving and storing the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets received from the communications module over the communications interface and for storing the compressed outgoing digital voice data on the peripheral data store.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein the main control means is further operable for receiving the compressed incoming digital voice data packets and for forwarding the compressed incoming digital voice data packets to the personal computer;

and

the personal computer is further operable for receiving and storing the compressed incoming digital voice data packets received from the communications module over the communications interface and for storing the compressed outgoing digital voice data on the peripheral data store.

9. The system according to claim 8 wherein the personal computer is further operable for retrieving the compressed incoming digital voice data from the peripheral data store, for modifying the compressed incoming digital voice data to create modified compressed incoming digital voice data and for storing the modified compressed incoming digital voice data onto the peripheral data store.

10. The system according to claim 1 wherein the telephone line is an analog telephone line and the telephone line interface means is further operable for modulating the multiplexed outgoing digital data into a modulated analog signal for full duplex digital communication.

11. The system according to claim 1 wherein the telephone line is a digital telephone line and the telephone line interface means is further operable for sending the multiplexed outgoing digital data over the telephone line as unmodulated digital data for full duplex digital communication.