Data interface connected in line between a keyboard and a keyboard port of a personal computer

• US 5,940,485 A
• Filed: 06/12/1997
• Issued: 08/17/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: TriVium Systems, Inc. (Provana LLC)
• Original Assignee: TriVium Systems, Inc. (Provana LLC)
• Inventors: Sapra, Vipin C., Olsen, Luke M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Barnie, Rexford N.
• Application Number:
  US08/874,609
• Time in Patent Office: 796 Days
• Field of Search: 364/188, 364/189, 364/190, 364/705.05, 341/22, 379/90.01, 379/142, 379/428, 379/434, 379/440, 379/93.17, 379/354, 379/399, 395/800.01, 395/800.26, 395/501
• US Class Current: 379/142.15
• 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 1/57 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 15/06 Recording class or number of calling , i.e. A-party or called party , i.e. B-party

Abstract

A telecommunications data interface (24) installs in line between a PC keyboard (20) and a PC (10) and transparently transfers data between the keyboard and the PC. The keyboard has a relatively slow manual data rate at which the keyboard data are synchronously transferred into the PC by a clock line (46). Caller ID data bytes extracted from a telephone line (34, 36) are preceded by a tag byte, impressed on a keyboard data line (44), and synchronously transferred into the PC using the same clock line. Keyboard device driver software installed in the PC separates the keyboard data from the caller ID data and transfers both to appropriate locations for processing and storage. The caller ID interface substantially eliminates the data conflicts and interrupt availability problems that are possible in prior RS-232 based caller ID interfaces. Processors (50, 52) and a memory (62) in the caller ID interface provide self-testing, caller ID data processing, stand alone operation, and inbound and outbound telephone call record storage. Call records include caller ID logging, call origination date and time, and call duration timing.

Claims

1. Apparatus for conveying data to and from a personal computer that bidirectionally communicates with a keyboard through a keyboard port, comprising:

at least a first bidirectional data line;

a data interface unit coupled to at least the first bidirectional data line for conveying the data; and

a keyboard interface unit electrically connected in line between the keyboard and the keyboard port for transparently transferring keyboard data bidirectionally between the keyboard and the keyboard port of the personal computer, the keyboard interface further electrically connected to the data interface unit for transferring the data between the data interface unit and the personal computer, each byte of the data accompanied by a tag byte.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the data are telecommunication data, the first bidirectional data line is a telephone line, and the data interface unit is a telecommunications interface unit.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further including at least a second telephone line and in which the telecommunications interface unit is coupled to at least the first and second telephone lines for detecting the telecommunications data.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 further including a caller identification ("ID") detector interconnected between the first telephone line and the telecommunications interface unit and in which the telecommunications data include caller ID data associated with an inbound telephone call.

5. Apparatus for detecting telecommunications data on at least a first telephone line and transferring the telecommunications data to a personal computer that bidirectionally communicates with a keyboard through a keyboard port, comprising:

a telecommunications interface unit coupled to at least the first telephone line for detecting the telecommunications data; and

a keyboard interface unit electrically connected in line between the keyboard and the keyboard port for transparently transferring keyboard data bidirectionally between the keyboard and the keyboard port of the personal computer, and the keyboard interface electrically connected to the telecommunications interface unit for transferring the telecommunications data between the telecommunications interface unit and the personal computer.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 further including at least a second telephone line and in which the telecommunications interface unit is coupled to at least the first and second telephone lines for detecting the telecommunications data.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 further including a caller identification ("ID") detector interconnected between the first telephone line and the telecommunications interface unit and in which the telecommunications data include caller ID data associated with an inbound telephone call.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 further including a dual tone multi-frequency ("DTMF") detector and a hook detector interconnected between the first telephone line and the telecommunications interface unit and in which the telecommunications data include at least one of DTMP data and hook state data associated with an outbound telephone call.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the keyboard interface unit differentiates the telecommunications data from the keyboard data by inserting a tag byte ahead of each data byte in the telecommunications data.

10. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the telecommunications interface unit further appends time and date stamp data to the telecommunications data.

11. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the keyboard interface unit and the telecommunications interface unit are implemented by at least one microprocessor.

12. The apparatus of claim 5 further including a memory in data communications with the keyboard interface unit and the telecommunications interface unit, the memory storing the telecommunications data for transfer to the personal computer at a time when the keyboard data are not being transferred to the personal computer.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 in which the telecommunication data include a call record associated with each telephone call detected on at least the first telephone line, each call record including at least one of an inbound call identifier, an outbound call identifier, a telephone line identifier, a call time stamp, a call date stamp, a call duration stamp, an inbound call caller ID, and an outbound call telephone number.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 further including a display associated with the keyboard interface unit for displaying at least one call record stored in the memory.

15. A method of installing and operating a caller ID interface on a personal computer that bidirectionally communicates with a keyboard through a keyboard port, comprising the steps of:

unplugging the keyboard from the keyboard port;

plugging the keyboard into a first passthrough port on the caller ID interface;

connecting a second passthrough port of the caller ID interface into the keyboard port;

tagging with a tag byte caller ID data detected by the caller ID interface; and

installing a device driver in the personal computer, the device driver normally processing keyboard data transparently passed through the caller ID interface and detecting and logically redirecting caller ID data tagged by the tag byte.

16. The method of claim 15 in which the device driver further executes the step of tagging with the tag byte control data directed to the caller ID interface.

17. The method of claim 15 further including storing the caller ID data in a memory and transferring the stored caller ID data to the personal computer when no keyboard data are passing through the caller ID interface.

18. The method of claim 15 in which the caller ID interface further executes the steps of:

monitoring at least one telephone line;

detecting the caller ID data on an inbound call received on at least the one telephone line;

appending the caller ID data to a call record; and

storing the call record in a memory in the caller ID interface.

19. The method of claim 15 in which the caller ID interface further executes the steps of:

monitoring at least one telephone line;

detecting telephone number data on an outbound call transmitted on at least the one telephone line;

appending the telephone number data to a call record; and

storing the call record in a memory in the caller ID interface.

20. The method of claim 15 in which the caller ID interface further executes the steps of:

monitoring at least one telephone line;

generating real-time clock data;

detecting telephone hook state data associated with a telephone call monitored on at least the one telephone line;

processing the hook state data and the real-time clock data to compute call duration data associated with the telephone call;

appending the call duration data to a call record; and

storing the call record in a memory in the caller ID interface.