Method and apparatus for communicating data over a telephone line using an acoustic modem
First Claim
1. An acoustic modem comprising:
- a first transducer operable as a receiving unit under a first condition and as a transmitting unit under a second condition;
a second transducer operable as a transmitting unit under the first condition and as a receiving unit under the second condition; and
a controller capable of selectively determining the presence of a one of the first condition and the second condition.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods for the communication of data over telephone lines. A handset orientation tolerant bi-directional acoustic modem according to the invention includes a first transducer operable as a receiving unit under a first condition and as a transmitting unit under a second condition, a second transducer operable as a transmitting unit under the first condition and as a receiving unit under the second condition, and a controller capable of determining the presence of one of the first and the second condition. The presence of the first condition or second condition depends on how the microphone and the speaker of a telephone handset are aligned with respect to the two transducers. The acoustic modem determines the alignment by listening for a detectable dial tone, and then under the first or the second condition, the acoustic modem automatically transmits data to a central site for analysis.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. An acoustic modem comprising:
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a first transducer operable as a receiving unit under a first condition and as a transmitting unit under a second condition;
a second transducer operable as a transmitting unit under the first condition and as a receiving unit under the second condition; and
a controller capable of selectively determining the presence of a one of the first condition and the second condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of detecting an orientation of a telephone handset with respect to a first transducer and a second transducer of an acoustic modem, the method comprising:
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sampling the first transducer for a detectable dial tone;
sampling the second transducer for a detectable dial tone;
determining if a dial tone was detected;
ceasing the sampling of the first transducer and the second transducer when a dial tone is detected;
using the first transducer as a receiving unit and the second transducer as a transmitting unit when a dial tone is detected in the first transducer; and
using the second transducer as a receiving unit and the first transducer as a transmitting unit when a dial tone is correctly detected in the second transducer. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
recording a loudness of the dial tone detected by the first transducer;
recording a loudness of the dial tone detected by the second transducer; and
comparing the loudness of the dial tone detected by the first transducer with the loudness of the dial tone detected by the second transducer when a dial tone is detected by both the first transducer and the second transducer.
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18. A method as set forth in claim 17, and further comprising:
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using the first transducer as a receiving unit and the second transducer as a transmitting unit when the loudness of the dial tone detected by the first transducer is greater than the loudness of the dial tone detected by the second transducer; and
using the second transducer as a receiving unit and the first transducer as a transmitting unit when the loudness of the dial tone detected by second transducer is greater than the loudness of the dial tone detected by the first transducer.
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19. A method as set forth in claim 15 wherein a controller cycles between sampling the first transducer for a first duration and sampling the second transducer for a second duration.
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20. A method as set forth in claim 19 wherein the controller cycles back and forth between sampling the first transducer and the second transducer until a dial tone is detected.
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21. A method as set forth in claim 20 wherein the controller ends the cycling back and forth after the second transducer has been sampled the same number of times as the first transducer.
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22. A method as set forth in claim 19 wherein the first duration is equal to the second duration.
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23. A method as set forth in claim 19 wherein the first duration is half a second.
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24. A method as set forth in claim 19 wherein the second duration is half a second.
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25. A method as set forth in claim 15 wherein the first transducer is a piezo film transducer.
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26. A method as set forth in claim 15 wherein the second transducer is a piezo film transducer.
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27. A method of communicating data over a telephone line from a data source located at a remote location to a receiving station located at a central site, the telephone line including a first end at the remote location coupled to a telephone having a microphone and a speaker, and a second end coupled to the receiving station at the central site, the method comprising:
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orientating the microphone and the speaker of the telephone over two transducers of an acoustic modem at the remote location;
determining the orientation of the microphone and the speaker of the telephone with respect to the two transducers;
utilizing a first transducer of the two transducers of the acoustic modem as a receiving unit under a first condition and as a transmitting unit under a second condition based on the step of determining the orientation;
utilizing a second transducer of the two transducers of the acoustic modem as a receiving unit under a second condition and as a transmitting unit under a first condition based on the step of determining the orientation; and
communicating the data over the telephone line using the acoustic modem. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification