Method and apparatus for a hands-free speaker phone

• US 5,764,627 A
• Filed: 04/23/1996
• Issued: 06/09/1998
• 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): PHILLIPS, MATTHEW
• Application Number:
  US08/636,582
• Time in Patent Office: 777 Days
• Field of Search: 370/271, 370/912, 370/389, 370/277, 370/286, 370/287, 370/288, 370/289, 370/290, 370/291, 370/292, 370/282, 379/420, 379/388, 379/410, 379/411, 379/406
• US Class Current: 370/271
• 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 unified messaging in packet switching networks H04L51/56
• 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 communication system, comprising:

a hands-free speaker phone operable for receiving local analog voice signals with a microphone and for playing remote analog voice signals though a speaker;

codec means connected to the hands free speaker phone for digitizing the local analog voice signals to produce local digital voice signals and for decoding remote digital voice signals to produce the remote analog voice signals;

means for placing the local digital voice signals into outgoing packets having headers and for removing the remote digital voice signals from incoming packets having headers; and

a modem connected to a telephone line for receiving the incoming packets from a remote site and for sending the outgoing packets to the remote site in full duplex communication mode.

2. The communication system according to claim 1 wherein the hands-free speaker phone includes a deskset microphone operable for receiving the local analog voice signals and a deskset speaker operable for playing the remote analog voice signals.

3. The communication system according to claim 2 further including an acoustic echo canceler connected to the codec means.

4. The communication system according to claim 3 further including line echo canceler connected to the codec means.

5. The communication system according to claim 1 wherein the hands-free speaker phone includes a headset microphone operable for receiving the local analog voice signals and a headset speaker operable for playing the remote analog voice signals.

6. The communication system according to claim 1 wherein the incoming packets and the outgoing packets comply with the CCITT V.42 communications packet standard.

7. A method of operating a full-duplex speaker phone, comprising the steps of:

receiving local analog voice signals at a local site;

digitizing the local analog voice signals to produce local digital voice signals;

placing the local digital voice signals into outgoing packets having headers;

sending the outgoing packets to a remote site over a telephone line using a modem;

receiving incoming packets through the modem from the remote site;

removing remote digital voice signals from the incoming packets;

decoding the remote digital voice signals to produce remote analog voice signals; and

playing the remote analog voice signals at the local site.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the step of placing the local digital voice signals into outgoing packets further includes placing the digital voice signals into packets complying with the CCITT V.42 communications packet standard.

9. The method according to claim 7 further including the step of acoustic echo canceling at the local site.

10. The method according to claim 9 further including the step of line echo canceling between the local site and the remote site.

11. A full-duplex speaker phone, comprising:

communication line interface connected to a communications line;

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;

conversion means connected to the voice interface means for converting the local voice signals into outgoing digital voice data and for converting incoming digital voice data into the remote voice signals;

means connected to the conversion means for compressing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data and for decompressing compressed incoming digital voice data into the incoming digital voice data,

a modem connected to the communication line interface, connected for receiving the compressed outgoing digital voice data from the means for compressing, and operable for

1) placing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data packets having headers;

2) sending the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets to the communication line interface for transmission over the communication line;

3) receiving compressed incoming digital voice data packets having headers from the communications line interface, and

4) sending the compressed incoming digital voice data packets to the means for compressing.

12. The communication module according to claim 11 wherein the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and the compressed incoming digital voice data packets comply with the CCITT V.42 communications packet standard.

13. A method of performing full-duplex hands-free speaker phone operation, comprising the steps of:

receiving local voice signals from a local user;

conveying remote voice signals from a remote user to the local user;

converting the local voice signals into outgoing digital voice data;

converting incoming digital voice data into the remote voice signals;

compressing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data;

decompressing compressed incoming digital voice data into the incoming digital voice data;

packetizing the compressed outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data packets;

placing headers on each of the compressed outgoing digital voice packets;

depacketizing the compressed incoming digital voice data packets into the compressed incoming digital voice data;

transmitting the compressed outgoing digital voice packets on a communication line using a modem; and

receiving the compressed incoming digital voice data packets from the communication line.