Bluetooth interface between cellular and wired telephone networks
DCFirst Claim
1. A interconnect device for coupling a cellular telephone to at least one wired telephone via a wired telephone network, said interconnect device comprising, in combination,a first short-range radio transceiver for exchanging voice and data signals with a second short-range radio transceiver in said cellular telephone,an interface connected between said wired network and said first short-range transceiver for emulating a wired line connection from said wired telephone to a telephone central office, said interface including means for handling an outgoing call from said wired telephone via said cellular phone comprising:
- means for indicating the availability of an idle line when said first and second transceivers are within communicating range of one another and said cellular telephone is not already in use,means for receiving a telephone number to be called via said wired network from said wired telephone, andmeans for transmitting said telephone number via said first and second transceivers to said cellular telephone to initiate said outgoing call, andmeans for handling an incoming call to said cellular phone from an outside caller comprising;
means for applying a ringing signal to said wired network when an incoming call is detected by said cellular phone,means responsive to said wired telephone thereafter going off-hook for establishing an audio transmission channel between said cellular phone and said wired telephone via said wired network and said first and second transceivers, andmeans responsive to said wired telephone thereafter going on-hook for disconnecting said audio transmission channel and for signaling said cellular phone to terminate the connection via said cellular telephone to said outside caller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interconnect device for connecting a Bluetooth compliant cellular telephone to one or more wired telephones on an existing wired network. The interconnect device includes an interface to the wired network that emulates the behavior of a standard trunk line to a central office and includes a Bluetooth transceiver which communicates via short-range radio signaling with a Bluetooth transceiver in the cellular telephone. The interconnect device permits an outgoing call to be placed via the cellular telephone network from a conventional wired telephone by sending dial tone to the wired telephone when the cellular telephone is in range and not in use, accepting a called number from the wired telephone to the cellular telephone to initiate an outgoing call, and establishing a voice link between the wired telephone and the remote answering party via the Bluetooth transceivers and the cellular network. Incoming calls to the cellular phone are intercepted by the interconnect device which applies ringing signals to the connected wired telephones, any of which may be taken off-hook to answer the incoming cellular call.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A interconnect device for coupling a cellular telephone to at least one wired telephone via a wired telephone network, said interconnect device comprising, in combination,
a first short-range radio transceiver for exchanging voice and data signals with a second short-range radio transceiver in said cellular telephone, an interface connected between said wired network and said first short-range transceiver for emulating a wired line connection from said wired telephone to a telephone central office, said interface including means for handling an outgoing call from said wired telephone via said cellular phone comprising: -
means for indicating the availability of an idle line when said first and second transceivers are within communicating range of one another and said cellular telephone is not already in use, means for receiving a telephone number to be called via said wired network from said wired telephone, and means for transmitting said telephone number via said first and second transceivers to said cellular telephone to initiate said outgoing call, and means for handling an incoming call to said cellular phone from an outside caller comprising; means for applying a ringing signal to said wired network when an incoming call is detected by said cellular phone, means responsive to said wired telephone thereafter going off-hook for establishing an audio transmission channel between said cellular phone and said wired telephone via said wired network and said first and second transceivers, and means responsive to said wired telephone thereafter going on-hook for disconnecting said audio transmission channel and for signaling said cellular phone to terminate the connection via said cellular telephone to said outside caller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for coupling a cellular telephone to at least one wired telephone on a wired telephone network comprising, in combination, the steps of:
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connecting an interface device between said wired telephone network and a first short-range radio transceiver for exchanging voice and data signals with a second short-range radio transceiver in said cellular telephone, employing said interface device to handle an outgoing call from said wired telephone via said cellular phone by performing the substeps comprising; indicating the availability of an idle line to said wired telephone when said first and second transceivers are within communicating range of one another and said cellular telephone is not already in use, receiving a telephone number to be called via said wired network from said wired telephone, transmitting said telephone number via said first and second transceivers to said cellular telephone to initiate said outgoing call, and establishing an audio transmission channel between said cellular telephone and said wired telephone via said wired network and said first and second transceivers after said outgoing call is initiated, disconnecting said audio transmission channel and for signalling said cellular phone to terminate the connection via said cellular telephone to said outside caller when said wired telephone goes on-hook, and employing said interface device for handling an incoming call to said cellular phone from an outside caller by performing the substeps comprising; applying a ringing signal to said wired telephone network when said incoming call is detected by said cellular phone, establishing an audio transmission channel between said cellular phone and said wired telephone via said wired network and said first and second transceivers when said wired telephone goes off-hook, and disconnecting said audio transmission channel and for signaling said cellular phone to terminate the connection via said cellular telephone to said outside caller when said wired telephone goes on-hook. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification