Computer-based multifunction personal communication system

• US 5,673,257 A
• Filed: 04/25/1995
• Issued: 09/30/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Multi-Tech Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Multi-Tech Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Davis, Jeffrey P., Li, Ping, Young, Steve, Sharma, Raghu, Gunn, Timothy D., Maitra, Sidhartha, Thanawala, Ashish
• Primary Examiner(s): Safourer, Benedict V.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Chau T.
• Application Number:
  US08/428,904
• Time in Patent Office: 889 Days
• Field of Search: 370/31, 370/32.1, 370/76, 370/81, 370/83, 370/94.1, 370/94.2, 370/112, 370/118, 379/88, 379/89, 379/67, 379/90, 379/93, 379/207, 379/235, 395/2, 395/2.2, 395/2.21, 395/2.28, 395/2.3, 395/2.31, 375/245, 375/246
• 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 communications device, comprising:

1.) a voice compression section having means for

a.) receiving local voice signals from a local user,

b.) conveying remote voice signals to the local user;

c.) converting the local voice signals into outgoing digital voice data;

d.) converting incoming digital voice data into the remote voice signals;

e.) compressing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data frames,

f.) placing the compressed outgoing digital voice data flames into a memory,

g.) receiving compressed incoming digital voice data flames from the memory,

h.) decompressing the compressed incoming digital voice data frames into the incoming digital voice data;

2.

3. memory. 2. The communications device according to claim 1 wherein the means of the voice compression section 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.

4. The communications device according to claim 1 wherein the means of the voice compression section 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.

5. The communications device according to claim 3 further including a microphone and a speaker connected to the means of the voice compression section and farther includes acoustic path echo cancellation means for removing at least a portion of the outgoing digital voice data from the incoming digital voice data for acoustic path echo cancellation.

6. The communications device according to claim 4 further including digital gain means within the means of the voice compression section for providing user-selectable gain or automatic gain control to the incoming digital voice data.

7. The communications device according to claim 1 wherein the means of the voice compression section is further operable for compressing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data by performing the steps of:

a.) removing any DC bias in the outgoing digital voice data to produce a normalized outgoing digital voice signal;

b.) pre-emphasizing the normalized outgoing digital voice signal to produce a pre-emphasized outgoing digital voice signal;

c.) dividing the pre-emphasized outgoing digital voice signal into segments to produce a current segment and a past segment;

d.) predicting the pitch of the current speech segment to form a pitch prediction;

e.) calculating the gain of the pitch of the current speech segment to form a prediction gain;

e.) reconstructing the past speech segment from a compressed past segment to produce a reconstructed past segment;

f.) finding the innovation in the current speech segment by comparing the pitch prediction to the reconstructed past segment to produce an error signal;

g.) determining the maximum amplitude in the current speech segment;

h.) quantizing the error signal using a code book generated from a representative set of speakers and environments to produce a minimum mean squared error matching the form of an index into the code book; and

i.) recording the pitch prediction, the prediction gain, the maximum amplitude and the index into the code book in a frame as the compressed outgoing digital voice data frame.

8. The module according to claim 1 wherein the means of the voice compression section is further operable for detecting silent periods in the outgoing digital voice data and for producing in response thereto a silence flag and wherein the means of the data transmission section is further operable for placing only the outgoing computer digital data packets into the multiplexed outgoing packet stream when the silence flag indicates the absence of voice information.

9. The communications device according to claim 1 wherein the means of the data transmission section includes a cellular telephone link and wherein the means of the data transmission section is further operable for periodically transmitting a cellular supervisory packet on the communication line and for maintaining the link to a remote site over the communication line if the remote site acknowledges receipt of the cellular supervisory packet within a predetermined period of time and for dropping the link to the remote site over the communication line if the remote site fails to acknowledges receipt of the cellular supervisory packet within a predetermined period of time.

10. The communications device according to claim 1 wherein the means of the data transmission section is further operable for receiving fax data from the personal computer and for transmitting the fax data over the communication line.

2. ) the memory connected to the voice compression section and to a data transmission section;

and

3.) the data transmission section having means for

a.) receiving the compressed outgoing digital voice data frames from the memory,

b.) receiving outgoing computer digital data from a personal computer,

c.) placing the compressed outgoing digital voice data frames into compressed outgoing digital voice data packets,

d.) placing the outgoing computer digital data into outgoing computer digital data packets,

e.) multiplexing the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and the outgoing computer digital data packets to produce a multiplexed outgoing packet stream,

f.) transmitting the multiplexed outgoing packet stream over a communication line;

g.) receiving a multiplexed incoming packet stream from the communication line,

h.) demultiplexing the multiplexed incoming packet stream to produce incoming computer digital data packets and compressed incoming digital voice data packets,

i.) producing incoming computer digital data from the incoming computer digital data packets,

j.) producing incoming compressed digital voice data flames from the compressed incoming digital voice data packets,

k.) sending the incoming computer digital data to the personal computer through a communications interface, and

l.) sending the compressed incoming digital voice data flames to the

11. A method of communicating voice packets between a voice compression system and a communication system, comprising the steps of:

receiving local analog voice information from a user;

digitizing the local analog voice information to create local digital voice data;

compressing the local digital voice data to create compressed local digital voice data;

framing the compressed local digital voice data to create compressed local digital voice data frames;

placing the compressed local digital voice data frames into a memory device;

receiving local computer data from a personal computer and receiving the compressed local digital voice data frames from the memory device;

packetizing the compressed local digital voice data frames to produce compressed local digital voice data packets;

packetizing the local computer data to produce local computer data packets;

multiplexing the compressed local digital voice data packets with the local computer data packets to create an outgoing packet stream;

transmitting the outgoing packet stream;

receiving an incoming packet stream;

demultiplexing the incoming packet stream to create compressed remote digital voice data packets and remote computer data packets;

producing remote computer data from the remote computer data packets;

sending the remote computer data to the personal computer;

producing compressed remote digital voice data frames from the compressed remote digital voice data packets

placing the compressed remote digital voice data flames into the memory device;

removing the compressed remote digital voice data flames from the memory device;

producing compressed remote digital voice data from the compressed remote digital voice data;

decompressing the compressed remote digital voice data to create remote digital voice data;

converting the remote digital voice data into remote analog voice information; and

sending the remote analog voice information to the user.