General access system
First Claim
1. An access system for access to communication services, including telecommunication, data communication, and distribution of TV and radio transmissions, the access system comprising:
- a number of service providing networks providing a plurality of communication services;
a number of physical terminals, said physical terminals including communication devices with capabilities for handling data streams and/or control signaling;
a connectivity network that transports information in a transparent manner between the number of service providing networks and physical terminals;
a network terminal connected between said physical terminals and said connectivity network; and
a number of access adapters each connected between a respective service providing network and said connectivity network, said access adapters and said network terminal requesting services of said connectivity network, each access adapter including terminating means for terminating of service protocols of the services provided by the respective service providing networks, for extracting service providing network service primitives, and for forming a set of service access points, at which said service providing network service primitives are available, and first connectivity network adaptation means for adapting said selected set of service primitives to the transport service of the connectivity network and for transport of said selected set of service primitives transparently over said connectivity network to/from the network terminal;
wherein the network terminal includes second connectivity network adaptation means which extracts the transported service primitives and offers them to a distributed service access point in the network terminal, and a number of applications that use service primitives of the service access points and offer them at a set of terminal access points at which said communication devices with suitable capabilities are connected to the network terminal to provide each of the physical terminals with access to each of the plurality of communication services from any of the service providing networks.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention discloses a general access system for access to communication services, such as telecommunication, data communication and distribution of TV and radio. The access system comprises a connectivity network, a number of access adapters connected to the communication network, a number of service providing networks, each connected to access adapters, a number of network terminals connected to the connectivity network and to a number of terminals. Service access points of the service providing networks are distributed to all the network terminals which belongs to subscribers of that particular service. Applications in the network terminals enhance and/or combines the services from different service providing networks and offers them to users via the terminals.
91 Citations
50 Claims
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1. An access system for access to communication services, including telecommunication, data communication, and distribution of TV and radio transmissions, the access system comprising:
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a number of service providing networks providing a plurality of communication services;
a number of physical terminals, said physical terminals including communication devices with capabilities for handling data streams and/or control signaling;
a connectivity network that transports information in a transparent manner between the number of service providing networks and physical terminals;
a network terminal connected between said physical terminals and said connectivity network; and
a number of access adapters each connected between a respective service providing network and said connectivity network, said access adapters and said network terminal requesting services of said connectivity network, each access adapter including terminating means for terminating of service protocols of the services provided by the respective service providing networks, for extracting service providing network service primitives, and for forming a set of service access points, at which said service providing network service primitives are available, and first connectivity network adaptation means for adapting said selected set of service primitives to the transport service of the connectivity network and for transport of said selected set of service primitives transparently over said connectivity network to/from the network terminal;
wherein the network terminal includes second connectivity network adaptation means which extracts the transported service primitives and offers them to a distributed service access point in the network terminal, and a number of applications that use service primitives of the service access points and offer them at a set of terminal access points at which said communication devices with suitable capabilities are connected to the network terminal to provide each of the physical terminals with access to each of the plurality of communication services from any of the service providing networks. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A network terminal for providing access to a plurality of communication services, including telecommunication, data communication, and distribution of TV and radio transmission, the network terminal comprising:
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a plurality of physical interfaces coupling a plurality of physical terminals to a connectivity network, the connectivity network transporting information in a transparent manner between the physical terminals and a plurality of service providing networks providing a plurality of communication services, at least one of said physical interfaces having access to service access points of the connectivity network, wherein said plurality of physical interfaces include a physical interface that carries a plurality of link protocols to a plurality of connectivity networks so as to make services of the plurality of connectivity networks available to the network terminals;
an application infrastructure in including processor means with an operating system, a plurality of applications, and memory means; and
a communication infrastructure connecting the physical interfaces to the application infrastructure, and connecting the connectivity network to the application infrastructure, said communication infrastructure comprising;
a plurality of protocol stacks; and
address mapping means functionally integrated with the protocol stacks, said stacks and mapping means providing communication between the physical terminals and the applications, between the connectivity network and the applications, for intercommunication between the applications, and for intercommunication between the physical terminals, wherein said physical interface having access to service access points of the connectivity network provides each of the physical terminals with access to each of the plurality of communication services from any of the service providing networks.
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45. A network terminal for providing access to a plurality of communication services, including telecommunication, data communication, and distribution of TV and radio transmission, the network terminal comprising:
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a plurality of physical interfaces coupling a plurality of physical terminals to a connectivity network the connectivity network transporting information in a transparent manner between the physical terminals and a plurality of service providing networks providing a plurality of communication services, at least one of said physical interfaces having access to service access points of the connectivity network, wherein said plurality of physical interfaces include several physical interfaces, each of which connects to a different connectivity network, so as to make services of several connectivity networks available to the network terminal;
an application infrastructure including processor means with an operating system, a plurality of applications, and memory means; and
a communication infrastructure connecting the physical interfaces to the application infrastructure, and connecting the connectivity network to the application infrastructure, said communication infrastructure comprising;
a plurality of protocol stacks; and
address mapping means functionally integrated with the protocol stacks, said stacks and mapping means providing communication between the physical terminals and the applications, between the connectivity network and the applications, for intercommunication between the applications, and for intercommunication between the physical terminals, wherein said physical interface having access to service access points of the connectivity network provides each of the physical terminals with access to each of the plurality of communication services from any of the service providing networks. - View Dependent Claims (46)
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47. A network terminal for providing access to a plurality of communication services, including telecommunication, data communication, and distribution of TV and radio transmission, the network terminal comprising:
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a plurality of physical interfaces coupling a plurality of physical terminals to a connectivity network, the connectivity network transporting information in a transparent manner between the physical terminals and a plurality of service providing networks providing a plurality of communication services, at least one of said physical interfaces having access to service access points of the connectivity network;
an application infrastructure including processor means with an operating system, a plurality of applications, and memory means, wherein the applications include communication applications in the form of software stored in said memory means and/or in the form of hardware means; and
a communication infrastructure connecting the physical interfaces to the application infrastructure, and connecting the connectivity network to the application infrastructure, said communication infrastructure comprising;
a plurality of protocol stacks; and
address mapping means functionally integrated with the protocol stacks, said stacks and mapping means providing communication between the physical terminals and the applications, between the connectivity network and the applications, for intercommunication between the applications, and for intercommunication between the physical terminals, wherein said physical interface having access to service access points of the connectivity network provides each of the physical terminals with access to each of the plurality of communication services from any of the service providing networks. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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Specification