Method and apparatus for providing a private communication system in a public switched telephone network
First Claim
1. In a communication system in which users communicate through a switched telephone network, a private communication network for facilitating communication among a plurality of member user telephone sets said private communication network comprising:
- a network call manager including;
a telephone network interface for establishing a telephone connection with each of said plurality of member users over a plurality of channels of said switched telephone network, respectively,a switch matrix, coupled to said telephone network interface, for providing an information signal received by said telephone network interface over one of said plurality of channels simultaneously to a plurality of others of said channels via said telephone network interface, anda controller for configuring said switch matrix in response to talk request signals received over a selected one of said plurality of channels; and
a plurality of eligible member user telephone sets disposed for simultaneous communication over said plurality of channels, each of said eligible member user telephones sets including means for generating one of said talk request signals, at least some of said eligible member user telephone sets being connected to the private communication network through a wireless communications system.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A private communication network through which a plurality of member users communicate using the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is disclosed herein. Each member user utilizes either a modified land line telephone directly connected to PSTN, or uses a modified mobile telephone operatively coupled to the PSTN through a wireless communication system. The private communication network includes network call manager having a telephone network interface for establishing a telephone connection with each of a plurality of telephone lines of the PSTN. Each of the plurality of telephone lines is associated with one of the plurality of member users. The network call manager further includes a switch matrix, coupled to the telephone network interface, for providing an information signal received from an active member user over a selected telephone line to the remaining non-active member users. A network call manager controller identifies the active member user the basis of push-to-talk (PTT) request signals received from the member users'"'"'telephones over the plurality of telephone lines. The telephone set of each member user will typically be capable of both standard telephone operation as well as of PTT operation over the private communication network. The security of the PTT private network may be enhanced by configuring each telephone set for encryption of all such reverse link transmissions, as well as for corresponding decryption of the forward link information from the active member user.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. In a communication system in which users communicate through a switched telephone network, a private communication network for facilitating communication among a plurality of member user telephone sets said private communication network comprising:
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a network call manager including; a telephone network interface for establishing a telephone connection with each of said plurality of member users over a plurality of channels of said switched telephone network, respectively, a switch matrix, coupled to said telephone network interface, for providing an information signal received by said telephone network interface over one of said plurality of channels simultaneously to a plurality of others of said channels via said telephone network interface, and a controller for configuring said switch matrix in response to talk request signals received over a selected one of said plurality of channels; and a plurality of eligible member user telephone sets disposed for simultaneous communication over said plurality of channels, each of said eligible member user telephones sets including means for generating one of said talk request signals, at least some of said eligible member user telephone sets being connected to the private communication network through a wireless communications system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. In a communication system in which users communicate through a switched telephone network, a network call manager for facilitating private communication simultaneously among a plurality of member user telephone sets, at least some of said member user telephone sets being connected to the private communication network through a wireless communications system, said network call manager comprising:
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a telephone network interface for establishing a telephone connection with each of a plurality of said member user telephone sets, including at least a plurality of said member user telephone sets that are connected to the private communication network through the wireless communications system, over a corresponding plurality of channels of said switched telephone network; a switch matrix, coupled to said telephone network interface, for providing an information signal received over a selected one of said plurality of channels simultaneously to other ones of said plurality of channels via said telephone network interface; and controller means for configuring said switch matrix in response to control information received over at least one of said plurality of channels. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In a private communication network system in which users communicate through a switched telephone network, a method for facilitating private communication among a plurality of eligible member user telephone sets, at least some of said eligible member user telephone sets being connected to the private communication network through a wireless communications system, said method comprising the steps of:
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establishing a telephone connection between a network call manager and each of a plurality of telephone channels of said switched telephone network, each of said plurality of telephone channels being associated with one of said plurality of eligible member user telephone sets; providing an information signal received at said network call manager over a selected one of said plurality of telephone channels from an active one of said eligible member user telephone sets simultaneously to a plurality of other ones of said eligible member user telephone sets over other ones of said plurality of telephone channels; generating talk request signals substantially simultaneously at a plurality of said eligible member telephone sets for transmission to said network call manager via said switched telephone network; and choosing said active eligible member user telephone set on the basis of said talk request signals received at said network call manager. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In a communication system in which users communicate through a switched telephone network, a private communication network for facilitating communication among a plurality of member user telephone sets, said private communication network comprising:
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a network call manager including; a telephone network interface for establishing a telephone connection with each of a plurality of telephone lines of said switched telephone network, each of said plurality of telephone lines being associated with one of said plurality of member user telephone sets, a switch matrix, coupled to said telephone network interface, for providing an information signal received over a selected one of said plurality of telephone lines simultaneously to other ones of said plurality of telephone lines via said telephone network interface, and controller means for configuring said switch matrix in response to talk request signals received over said plurality of telephone lines; and a plurality of eligible member user telephone sets, at least some of said eligible member user telephone sets being connected to the private communication network through a wireless communications system, disposed for simultaneous communication over said plurality of telephone lines, each of said eligible member user telephone sets including means for generating one of said talk request signals. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification