Integrated telephone central office systems for integrating the internet with the public switched telephone network
First Claim
1. For use in a telephone central office system of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a central office system, comprising:
- (a) a switching system providing telephone service to client subscriber devices for placing and receiving telephone calls on the PSTN;
(b) connection means associated with said switching system for receiving a connection from the PSTN to place and receive telephone calls;
(c) a central office switching system interface device for providing Internet and telephony services to client devices capable of placing or receiving calls on the PSTN, said interface device providing an interface between said client devices of said interface device and said switching system;
(d) a plurality of said interface devices integrated into an assembly of interface devices comprising an integrated interface device system, said integrated interface device system further comprising;
(i) a messaging communications circuit connected to each of said interface devices and to said switching system;
(ii) an IP protocol router function (a router) connected to said interface devices, and having means for connecting to the Internet;
(iii) telephone call-carrying connectivity to Integrated Devices, said Integrated Devices being client devices of said integrated interface device system, and said Integrated Devices being user communications devices incorporating a display screen, having an associated telephone number, and having a connection to the Internet with an associated IP address, said Internet connectivity provided by said router function;
(iv) said telephone call-carrying connectivity to said Integrated Devices arranged such that connections between calling and called devices are established telephonically by one Integrated Device dialing said associated telephone number of another Integrated Device on the PSTN;
(v) said Integrated Devices having a data messaging connection to said integrated interface device for carrying call setup and call control messages, said messages being arranged to carry telephone number and IP address information associated with said Integrated Devices;
(vi) a telephony communications channel connected to each of said interface devices and to said switching system, said telephony communications channel carrying telephone calls between client devices of said interface devices and said switching system; and
(vii) a records system for maintaining service records of said client devices of said interface devices of said integrated interface device system, said records including telephone number and IP address information of said client devices, and said records system being available to at least one of said interface devices of said integrated interface device system;
(e) said central office system having means for enabling a calling device to establish an Internet communication with a called device by dialing its telephone number, wherein either of said calling and called devices are an Integrated Device and are a client of one of said interface devices or of said switching system; and
(f) wherein said means for enabling a calling device to establish an Internet communication with a called device by dialing its telephone number is a messaging communications means, operating with said messaging communications circuit, said messaging communications means conveying call setup and call management messages to include Internet Protocol (IP) address information of a calling or called device and said messaging means interfacing to the PSTN SS7 messaging system which further conveys said call setup and call management messages to other switching systems on the PSTN.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Telephone central office-switching system integrated interface devices such as those for DSL, Voice over IP, cable-TV, fixed wireless, and Internet capable wireless cellular are further integrated into integrated interface device systems. Such systems share common facilities including a router function, messaging function, and a common voice communications channel. The messaging function is arranged to provide call setup and associated messages which enable a calling device which calls an Integrated Device to establish an Internet communication simply by dialing the telephone number of the Integrated Device. Integrated Devices have both an Internet connection and a telephone number; the Internet connection has an associated IP address. Call setup messages include telephone numbers and IP addresses. The integrated router function is enabled to edge route Internet data traffic within the system and to and from other such systems, without the data traversing further into the Internet. Further integration is achieved by incorporating the associated central office switch into the integrated assembly, forming an integrated central office system. Conversion of the switch into a pure packet switch which packetizes analog voice traffic into IP format enables voice, data, and inter-system messaging traffic to be edge routed via the integral routing function, transforming the PSTN to a network based entirely on Internet protocols.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. For use in a telephone central office system of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a central office system, comprising:
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(a) a switching system providing telephone service to client subscriber devices for placing and receiving telephone calls on the PSTN; (b) connection means associated with said switching system for receiving a connection from the PSTN to place and receive telephone calls; (c) a central office switching system interface device for providing Internet and telephony services to client devices capable of placing or receiving calls on the PSTN, said interface device providing an interface between said client devices of said interface device and said switching system; (d) a plurality of said interface devices integrated into an assembly of interface devices comprising an integrated interface device system, said integrated interface device system further comprising; (i) a messaging communications circuit connected to each of said interface devices and to said switching system; (ii) an IP protocol router function (a router) connected to said interface devices, and having means for connecting to the Internet; (iii) telephone call-carrying connectivity to Integrated Devices, said Integrated Devices being client devices of said integrated interface device system, and said Integrated Devices being user communications devices incorporating a display screen, having an associated telephone number, and having a connection to the Internet with an associated IP address, said Internet connectivity provided by said router function; (iv) said telephone call-carrying connectivity to said Integrated Devices arranged such that connections between calling and called devices are established telephonically by one Integrated Device dialing said associated telephone number of another Integrated Device on the PSTN; (v) said Integrated Devices having a data messaging connection to said integrated interface device for carrying call setup and call control messages, said messages being arranged to carry telephone number and IP address information associated with said Integrated Devices; (vi) a telephony communications channel connected to each of said interface devices and to said switching system, said telephony communications channel carrying telephone calls between client devices of said interface devices and said switching system; and (vii) a records system for maintaining service records of said client devices of said interface devices of said integrated interface device system, said records including telephone number and IP address information of said client devices, and said records system being available to at least one of said interface devices of said integrated interface device system; (e) said central office system having means for enabling a calling device to establish an Internet communication with a called device by dialing its telephone number, wherein either of said calling and called devices are an Integrated Device and are a client of one of said interface devices or of said switching system; and (f) wherein said means for enabling a calling device to establish an Internet communication with a called device by dialing its telephone number is a messaging communications means, operating with said messaging communications circuit, said messaging communications means conveying call setup and call management messages to include Internet Protocol (IP) address information of a calling or called device and said messaging means interfacing to the PSTN SS7 messaging system which further conveys said call setup and call management messages to other switching systems on the PSTN. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. For use in a telephone central office system of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a central office system, comprising:
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(a) a switching system providing telephone service to client subscriber devices for placing and receiving telephone calls on the PSTN; (b) connection means associated with said switching system for receiving a connection from the PSTN to place and receive telephone calls; (c) a central office switching system interface device for providing Internet and telephony services to client devices capable of placing or receiving calls on the PSTN, said interface device providing an interface between said client devices of said interface device and said switching system; (d) a plurality of said interface devices integrated into an assembly of interface devices comprising an integrated interface device system, said integrated interface device system further comprising; (i) a messaging communications circuit connected to each of said interface devices and to said switching system; (ii) an IP protocol router function (a router) connected to said interface devices, and having means for connecting to the Internet; (iii) telephone call-carrying connectivity to Integrated Devices, said Integrated Devices being client devices of said integrated interface device system, and said Integrated Devices being user communications devices incorporating a display screen, having an associated telephone number, and having a connection to the Internet with an associated IP address, said Internet connectivity provided by said router function; (iv) said telephone call-carrying connectivity to said Integrated Devices arranged such that connections between calling and called devices are established telephonically by one Integrated Device dialing said associated telephone number of another Integrated Device on the PSTN; (v) said Integrated Devices having a data messaging connection to said integrated interface device for carrying call setup and call control messages, said messages being arranged to carry telephone number and IP address information associated with said Integrated Devices; and (vi) a telephony communications channel connected to each of said interface devices and to said switching system, said telephony communications channel carrying telephone calls between client devices of said interface devices and said switching system; (e) said central office system having means for enabling a calling device to establish an Internet communication with a called device by dialing its telephone number, wherein either or both of said calling and called devices are a client of one of said interface devices or of said switching system; and (f) wherein said means for enabling a calling device to establish an Internet communication with a called device by dialing its telephone number is a messaging communications means said messaging communications means conveying call setup and call management messages to include Internet Protocol (IP) address information of a calling or called device, wherein said switching system and said integrated interface device system are further assembled into an integrated central office system, and said central office system further comprises; (g) a messaging communications circuit connected to each of said interface devices and to said switching system and being operational with said messaging communications means; (h) an IP protocol router function (a router) connected to said interface devices and to said switching system, and having means for connecting to the Internet; (i) a telephony communications channel connected to said interface devices and to said switching system, for carrying telephone calls between client devices of said interface devices and said switching system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification