Method and system for small office and home office telephone private branch exchange allowing simultaneous data and voice communications

• US 6,167,043 A
• Filed: 02/17/1998
• Issued: 12/26/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intelect Communications, Inc. (TeraForce Technology Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Intelect Communications, Inc. (TeraForce Technology Corp.)
• Inventors: Frantz, Robert Heflin
• Primary Examiner(s): Kizou, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tsegaye, Saba
• Application Number:
  US09/024,706
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 370/353, 370/354, 370/355, 370/356, 370/401, 379/93.1, 379/93.2, 379/93.3, 379/93.4, 379/93.5, 379/93.6, 379/93.7, 709/202, 709/249
• US Class Current: 370/356
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1036 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• 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 1/715 using two or more extensions per line cordless telephones H04M1/725
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42314 in private branch exchanges
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals

Abstract

By coupling the functionality of an Internet Telephony function in a personal computer, an Internet Voice Gateway, and a small-office/home-office (SOHO) private branch exchange (PBX), and through inventive coordination of the functions of these units, a SOHO telecommunications system and method are realized which allow use of PBX extension telephones while all PBX outbound telephone lines are occupied by Internet data communications sessions.

Claims

1. A method for allowing a small-office/home-office (SOHO) private branch exchange (PBX) to receive an inbound telephone call and an active Internet client to simultaneously use a single telephone line, comprising the steps of:

an Internet user commanding his personal computer (PC) to establish a dial-up connection with an Internet Service Provider Point-of-Presence (ISP POP), at which time said PC seizes a first telephone line of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), thus occupying said telephone line and blocking it from inbound calls, said PC being equipped with multimedia means, Internet browsing and communication means, Internet Telephony means, and line-sharing SOHO PBX control and communications means;

said PC thereby establishing a communications path to an Internet via said ISP POP;

said PC Internet communications means receiving an Internet address from said ISP POP;

said PC communicating to an Internet Voice Gateway said Internet address via said Internet communications path, said Internet Voice Gateway being communicably connected to said Internet and a second telephone line of said PSTN, said Internet Voice Gateway having capability to transcode Internet audio messages to PSTN audio and PSTN audio to Internet audio message, said received Internet address being stored in a local memory associated with telephone number of said first telephone line to the PSTN;

said PSTN then forwarding all calls originally destined for said first telephone line to the Internet Voice Gateway via said second telephone line, said transfer of call being accompanied by information indicating the original destination telephone number of said first telephone line;

said Internet Voice Gateway retrieving said Internet address from memory associated with the telephone number of said first telephone line;

said Internet Voice Gateway sending a line-ringing control message to said PC software using the Internet address retrieved from memory when a transferred call is received which was originally destined for said first telephone line;

said PC Internet communications means receiving said line-ringing control message and generating in response to receipt thereof a ring-all-phones control message to a line-sharing SOHO PBX via said SOHO PBX control and communications means, thereby causing a plurality of extension telephones of a SOHO PBX to ring;

said PC Internet communications means receiving an extension-answered control message from said SOHO PBX via said SOHO PBX control and communications means;

said PC communicating full-duplex audio via said PC multimedia means to a line-sharing SOHO PBX modulation interface device, said modulation interface device being capable of full-duplex audio communications with the SOHO PBX extension telephones over said first telephone line; and

establishing a full-duplex audio communications path between said second telephone line from the PSTN at the Internet Voice Gateway and a SOHO PBX telephone.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the information of the telephone number originally dialed is delivered to the Internet Voice Gateway using a Dialed Number Information Service (DNIS) protocol.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the transcoding of voice signals by the Internet Voice Gateway uses the International Telecommunications Union recommendation G.723.1 vocoding technique for the Internet audio.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the SOHO PBX control and communications means is a channelized frequency modulation technique.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the method of establishing communications between the PC and the ISP POP is Printer Access Protocol (PAP).

6. A system for allowing a line-sharing small-office/home-office (SOHO) private branch exchange (PBX) to receive an inbound telephone call while an active Internet client simultaneously uses a shared telephone line, comprising:

a personal computer (PC), said PC being equipped with multimedia means, Internet browsing and communication means, Internet Telephony means, and line-sharing SOHO PBX control and communications means, said Internet browsing means having an electrical connection to a first telephone line of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), said SOHO PBX control and communications means sharing said electrical connection to said first telephone line;

an established a data communications session with an Internet Service Provider Point-of-Presence (ISP POP), occupying said first telephone line and blocking it from receiving traditional inbound calls,

an Internet Voice Gateway, said gateway also being equipped with Internet communications means, and further equipped with Internet Telephony to standard telephony transcoding means and an electrical connection to a second telephone line of said PSTN;

a means disposed within said PSTN for transferring all calls originally destined to said first telephone line at said PC to said second telephone line at the Internet Voice Gateway, said transfer of call including a means for indicating the identity of said first telephone line; and

a coordination and control means disposed in said PC which allows said SOHO PBX communications and control means and said PC Internet Telephony means to interoperate such that the established Internet session is utilized for continued browsing for handling of inbound telephone traffic simultaneously.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein means for communicating the identity of the originally dialed first telephone line is a Dialed Number Information Service (DNIS) protocol.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the transcoding means of voice signals by the Internet Voice Gateway uses the International Telecommunications Union recommendation (ITU) G.723 vocoding technique for the Internet audio.

9. The system of claim 6 wherein the SOHO PBX control and communications means is a channelized frequency modulation technique.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein said SOHO PBX control and communications means further comprises:

a SOHO PBX terminal emulation device, said terminal emulation device having a bidirectional connection to said first telephone line, a microphone-level output, a speaker-level input, and a bidirectional RS-232 serial data control interface, said terminal emulation device providing audio translation between modulated channels of said SOHO PBX and said speaker input and microphone output;

a software control component installed in said PC for coordinating functions of the SOHO PBX and the Internet Telephony means, said software control component receiving and sending SOHO PBX control messages via said a serial port on said PC connected to said bidirectional data control interface of the SOHO PBX terminal emulation device; and

a voice data communication means within said PC which routes audio data between said Internet Telephony means and multimedia speaker output and microphone inputs of said PC multimedia means, said multimedia speaker output being electrically connected to said terminal emulation speaker-level input, and said multimedia microphone input being electrically connected to said terminal emulation microphone-level output, thereby providing an audio path between said SOHO PBX and said Internet Telephony means.

11. A method for allowing a small-office/home-office (SOHO) private branch exchange (PBX) to make an outbound telephone call and an active Internet client to simultaneously use a single telephone line, comprising the steps of:

an Internet user commanding his personal computer (PC) to establish a dial-up connection with an Internet Service Provider Point-of-Presence (ISP POP), at which time said PC seizes a first telephone line of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), thus occupying said telephone line and blocking it from making outbound calls, said PC being equipped with multimedia means, internet browsing and communication means, Internet Telephony means, and line-sharing SOHO PBX control and communications means sharing said first telephone line;

said PC thereby establishing a communications path to an Internet via said ISP POP;

said SOHO PBX control and communications means receiving an initiate-outbound-call control message from a line-sharing SOHO PBX via said first telephone line, said initiate-outbound-call control message containing a telephone number to which connection is desired;

said SOHO PBX control means commanding said Internet Telephony means to initiate an Internet Telephone call, thus causing an Internet Voice Gateway to seize a second telephone line to the PSTN and dialing the indicated telephone number from the initiate-outbound-call control message, said Internet Voice Gateway being communicably connected to said Internet and the second telephone line of said PSTN, said Internet Voice Gateway having capability to transcode Internet audio to PSTN audio and PSTN audio to Internet audio; and

said SOHO PBX control and communication means establishing a full-duplex audio connection between said Internet Telephone call and said SOHO PBX, thereby establishing a full-duplex end-to-end audio path between an extension telephone of said SOHO PBX and a telephone connected to said PSTN via the Internet Voice Gateway.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said Internet Telephony means and said Internet Voice Gateway employ ITU Recommendation G.723 internet voice encoding and decoding schemes.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein communication between said SOHO PBX control and communications means and a SOHO PBX uses a channelized frequency modulation scheme.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the method of establishing communications between the PC and the ISP POP is Printer Access Protocol (PAP).

15. A system for allowing a line-sharing small-office/home-office (SOHO) private branch exchange (PBX) to make an outbound telephone call and an active Internet client to simultaneously use a single telephone line, comprising:

a personal computer (PC), said PC being equipped with multimedia means, Internet browsing and communication means, Internet Telephony means, and line-sharing SOHO PBX control and communications means for interfacing to a SOHO PBX via a first telephone line;

an established dial-up connection with an Internet Service Provider Point-of-Presence (ISP POP) with said PC via said first telephone line to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), thus occupying said first telephone line and blocking it from inbound and outbound calls, said ISP POP and established dial-up connection enabling said Internet browsing and communications means to access an Internet;

an Internet Voice Gateway, said Internet Voice Gateway being communicably connected to said Internet and a second telephone line of said PSTN, said Internet Voice Gateway having capability to transcode Internet audio messages to PSTN audio and PSTN audio to Internet audio message;

a SOHO PBX initiate-outbound-call control message from a line-sharing SOHO PBX to said PC SOHO PBX control and communications means, said initiate-outbound-call control message containing a telephone number to which connection is desired;

a SOHO PBX command to said Internet Telephony means to initiate an Internet Telephone call, which causes the Internet Voice Gateway to seize said second telephone line to the PSTN and dialing the indicated telephone number from the initiate-outbound-call control message; and

a further capability of said SOHO PBX control and communication means to establish a full-duplex audio connection between said Internet Telephone call and said SOHO PBX, thereby establishing a full-duplex end-to-end audio path between an extension telephone of said SOHO PBX and a telephone connected to said PSTN via the Internet Voice Gateway.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein said Internet Telephony means and said Internet Voice Gateway employ ITU Recommendation G.723 internet voice encoding and decoding schemes.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein communication between said SOHO PBX control and communications means and a SOHO PBX uses a channelized frequency modulation scheme.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the method of establishing communications between the PC and the ISP POP is Printer Access Protocol (PAP).