Communication system for detecting an unauthorized intruder terminal unit

• US 5,926,529 A
• Filed: 11/12/1996
• Issued: 07/20/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Andreas, Michael, Kawczyk, Jost, Kiessling, Axel, Hache, Wilfried
• Primary Examiner(s): Loomis, Paul
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, DUC MINH
• Application Number:
  US08/737,545
• Time in Patent Office: 980 Days
• Field of Search: 379/114, 379/188-189, 379/191, 379/193, 379/195-196, 379/197-200, 379/91.01, 379/91.02, 379/144-145, 379/7, 379/35, 379/22, 379/24, 379/26-27, 379/31 , 379/33, 379/387, 379/412, 379/399, 379/442-445, 379/48, 379/32, 379/201
• US Class Current: 379/114.14
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/66 with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32

Abstract

The invention relates to a communication system comprising a station (2) for charge metering of a connection point. This station comprises a monitoring circuit (7) for detecting a request for a connection set-up from the connection point (3), either for establishing the absence of a message after a given period of time, or for evaluating the contents of a message that has arrived from the connection point (3) after the request for a connection set-up has arrived, and for rejecting the request for a connection set-up if invalid parameters of the connection point (3) are established.

Claims

1. Communication system comprising:

a. a station (2) for charge metering of a connection point (3), which station comprises a monitoring circuit (7) for;

detecting a request for a connection set-up from the connection point (3);

either establishing the absence of a message after a given period of time or evaluating the contents of a message that has arrived from the connection point (3) after the request for a connection set-up has arrived;

rejecting the request for a connection set-up if invalid parameters of the connection point (3) are established; and

b. a terminal unit (1) connected to the connection point (3), said terminal unit being assigned an evaluation circuit (6) which circuit, once it has detected the intrusion of an unauthorized terminal unit at the connection point (3), sends out an error message to the monitoring circuit (7), said monitoring circuit (7) designating the error message as an invalid parameter.

2. Communication system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a second controller (21) included in the monitoring circuit (7) sends out a demand for an identification to the connection point (3) after the request for a connection set-up has been detected and in that, if a message from the connection point (3) is absent after a given period of time, the second controller (21) designates the absence of the message as an invalid parameter.

3. Communication system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a second controller (21) included in the monitoring circuit (7) disconnects the connection point (3) if it establishes the reception of an invalid parameter.

4. Communication system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a current detector (9, 18) as well as a voltage detector (8, 17) occur both in the monitoring circuit (7) and in the evaluation circuit (6), and in that both the first and second controllers (12, 21) establish a request for a connection set-up if a certain current measured by the current detector (9, 18) and a certain voltage measured by the voltage detector (8, 17) is detected on the connection lines (4, 5) between connection point (3) and station (2).

5. Communication system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the first controller (12) establishes a intrusion of an unauthorized terminal unit at the connection point (3) via an evaluation of the current measured by the current detector (9) and the voltage measured by the voltage detector (8).

6. Communication system comprising:

a. a station (2) for charge metering of a connection point, which station comprises a monitoring circuit (7) for;

detecting a request for a connection set-up from the connection point (3);

either establishing the absence of a message after a given period of time or evaluating the contents of a message that has arrived from the connection point (3) after the request for a connection set-up has arrived;

rejecting the request for a connection set-up if invalid parameters of the connection point (3) are established; and

b. a terminal unit (1) connected to the connection point (3) is assigned an evaluation circuit (6) which comprises a first counter (13) for counting metering signals and a first controller (12) for forming a message containing a count of the first counter (13) for the monitoring circuit (7), said monitoring circuit (7) comprising a second counter (22) for counting the metering signals and a second controller (21), which second controller evaluates the message that has arrived from evaluation circuit (6) and designates the count of the first counter (13) as an invalid parameter if the two counts of the two counters differ.

7. Station (2) for charge metering of a connection point (3), which station comprises a monitoring circuit (7) for:

detecting a request for a connection set-up from the connection point (3),

either establishing the absence of a message after a given period of time or evaluating the contents of a message that has arrived from the connection point (3) after the request for a connection set-up has arrived, and

rejecting the request for a connection set-up if invalid parameters of the connection point (3) are established;

one of said invalid parameters comprising an error message sent by an evaluation circuit to the connection point (3) upon the detection of the intrusion of an unauthorized terminal unit at the connection point.