Voice and data exchange over a packet based network

• US 7,933,227 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2008
• Issued: 04/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mitchell, Ross, Kwan, Kenny C., Stevenson, Shawn, Enns, David M., Nicol, Jordan J., Tackin, Onur, Unger, Ken, Payton, John, Boora, Bill, LeBlanc, Wilf, Li, Henry
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOM, SHICK C
• Application Number:
  US12/203,620
• Publication Number:
  US 20090109881A1
• Time in Patent Office: 965 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/278
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/90 Pitch determination of speech signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/23 using a replica of transmitted signal in the time domain, e.g. echo cancellers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/234 using double talk detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0093 Point-to-multipoint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5671 Support of voice
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/6481 Speech, voice
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2027/0028 at passband only
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2027/0034 using hypothesis testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2027/0053 Closed loops
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/03044 using fractionally spaced delay lines or combinations of fractionally integrally spaced taps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/0012 arrangements for identifying the type of modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/11 Identifying congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/263 Rate modification at the source after receiving feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/28 in relation to timing considerations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/1438 Negotiation of transmission parameters prior to communication modified according to link quality H04L1/0001
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/103 : in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1036 : at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/104 : in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 : Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 : Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 : Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 : Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 : Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 : taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/027 : extracting the synchronising or clock signal from the received signal spectrum, e.g. by using a resonant or bandpass circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0278 : Band edge detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/062 : using different frequency bands for speech and other data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 : using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/52 : Telephonic communication in combination with fax communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2027 : Live party detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2066 : Call type detection of indication, e.g. voice or fax, mobile of fixed, PSTN or IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/002 : Applications of echo suppressors or cancellers in telephonic connections in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/08, echo suppressors or cancellers per se H04B3/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2209 : for lines also used for data transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2272 : Subscriber line supervision circuits, e.g. call detection circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 : Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0069 : comprising a residential gateway, e.g. those which provide an adapter for POTS or ISDN terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/125 : Details of gateway equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/45 : using multi-frequency signalling H04Q1/46 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A signal processing system which discriminates between voice signals and data signals modulated by a voiceband carrier. The signal processing system includes a voice exchange, a data exchange and a call discriminator. The voice exchange is capable of exchanging voice signals between a switched circuit network and a packet based network. The signal processing system also includes a data exchange capable of exchanging data signals modulated by a voiceband carrier on the switched circuit network with unmodulated data signal packets on the packet based network. The data exchange is performed by demodulating data signals from the switched circuit network for transmission on the packet based network, and modulating data signal packets from the packet based network for transmission on the switched circuit network. The call discriminator is used to selectively enable the voice exchange and data exchange.

Claims

1. A signal processing system, for interfacing telephony devices with packet-based networks, the system comprising:

a voice exchange for exchanging voice signals between a first network and a packet based network;

a full duplex data exchange for exchanging data signals from the first network with data signals from the packet based network, wherein the full duplex data exchange demodulates the data signals from the first network, outputs the demodulated data signals to the packet based network, remodulates demodulated data signals from the packet based network, and outputs the remodulated data signals to the first network; and

a resource monitor that monitors processor resources during a call used by one or both of the voice exchange and the data exchange, and that dynamically enables and disables signal processing functionality used by the one or both of the voice exchange and the data exchange in the exchange of one or both of the voice and data signals of the call, to control processor computational load.

2. The signal processing system of claim 1 wherein the data signals from the first network are modulated by a voiceband carrier, and the data exchange comprises a data pump for demodulating the data signals from the first network for transmission on the packet based network and remodulating the data signals from the packet based network with the voiceband carrier for transmission on the first network.

3. The signal processing system of claim 2 wherein the data exchange comprises a jitter buffer for receiving packets of the data signals of varying delay from the packet based network and compensating for the delay variation of the data signal packets.

4. The signal processing system of claim 3 wherein the jitter buffer outputs an isochronous stream of the received data signals.

5. The signal processing system of claim 3 wherein the data pump transmits the received data signals to the first network at a transmit rate.

6. The signal processing system of claim 1 wherein the voice exchange comprises a jitter buffer for receiving packets of the voice signals of varying delay from the packet based network and compensating for the delay variation of the voice signal packets.

7. The signal processing system of claim 6 wherein the jitter buffer outputs an isochronous stream of the received voice signals.

8. The signal processing system of claim 6 wherein the jitter buffer comprises a voice queue which buffers the received voice signals for a holding time, and a voice synchronizer which adaptively adjusts the holding time of the voice queue.

9. The signal processing system of claim 1, wherein processor resources comprise one of memory, processing capacity, and power consumption.

10. The signal processing system of claim 1, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises selecting from a plurality of levels of functionality of an algorithm.

11. The signal processing system of claim 1, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises one or more of changing an amount of time between filter adaptations, bypassing or disabling an echo canceller, and/or bypassing or disabling a filter.

12. A method of processing signals, comprising:

exchanging voice signals between a first network and a packet based network;

demodulating data signals from a second network for inputting to the packet based network;

remodulating demodulated data signals from the packet based network for inputting to the second network;

simultaneously exchanging the demodulated data signals from the second network with remodulated data signals from the packet based network; and

dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality during a call used in the exchange of one or both of the voice and data signals of the call, to control processor computational load.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises selecting from a plurality of levels of functionality of an algorithm.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises one or more of changing an amount of time between filter adaptations, bypassing or disabling an echo canceller, and/or bypassing or disabling a filter.

15. A method for interfacing a plurality of telephony devices with a packet based network, the packet based network adapted for transmission of packetized signals, the method comprising:

depacketizing an incoming packetized signal from the packet based network, the depacketized signal having an associated type;

identifying the type of the depacketized signal as one of voice signal, fax signal, or data signal;

if the type of the depacketized signal is voice signal, performing a voice mode signal processing on the depacketized signal;

if the type of the depacketized signal is fax signal, performing a fax relay mode signal processing on the depacketized signal;

if the type of the depacketized signal is data signal, performing a data modem relay mode signal processing on the depacketized signal;

transmitting the depacketized processed signal to a corresponding type of telephony device of the plurality of telephony devices; and

dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality during processing of the depacketized signal, to control processor computational load.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of telephony devices include one or more of analog and digital telephones, ethernet telephones, internet protocol telephones, analog fax machines, data modems, cable modems, interactive voice response systems, and private branch exchange systems.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the packet based network is the internet.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises selecting from a plurality of levels of functionality of an algorithm.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises one or more of changing an amount of time between filter adaptations, bypassing or disabling an echo canceller, and/or bypassing or disabling a filter.

20. A method for integrated interfacing of a plurality of telephony devices to a packet based network, the packet based network adapted for transmission of packetized signals, the method comprising:

estimating a pitch period of a voice band signal using an autocorrelation function;

comparing the estimated pitch period to a plurality of thresholds;

packetizing a voice signal, a fax signal, or a data signal in a packetization engine to generate a packetized signal, based upon the comparing the estimated pitch period to a plurality of thresholds and at least one power measurement of the voice band signal; and

transmitting the packetized signal over the packet based network to a far end telephony device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the estimate of pitch period of the voice band signal is calculated by applying an autocorrelation function and a plurality of power measurements to the voice band signal.

22. A signal processing system, the system comprising:

a demodulator for receiving a data signal at a receive rate from a packet based network and demodulating the data signal to produce a first plurality of packets, wherein the data signal had been modulated and transmitted on a digital cellular network;

a jitter buffer for receiving the first plurality of packets and compensating for a delay variation of the first plurality of packets by holding one or more packets of the first plurality of packets;

a processor for performing a voice exchange by formatting the first plurality of packets into a first voice signal and formatting a second voice signal into a second plurality of packets, thereby enabling an exchange between the digital cellular network and the packet based network, wherein a modulator modulates the second plurality of packets and transmits the modulated second plurality of packets at a transmit rate over the digital cellular network to the packet based network;

a resource monitor that monitors the processor resources during a call used by one or both of the voice exchange and a data exchange, wherein the resource monitor dynamically enables and disables processing functionality used by one or both of the voice exchange and the data exchange to control processor computational load; and

a clock synchronizer for adaptively adjusting the number of packets held in the jitter buffer and varying one or both of the receive rate of the demodulator and the transmit rate of the modulator.

23. The signal processing system of claim 22 wherein the jitter buffer comprises a voice queue which buffers received voice signals for a holding time, and a voice synchronizer which adaptively adjusts the holding time of the voice queue.

24. The signal processing system of claim 22, wherein processor resources comprise one of memory, processing capacity, and power consumption.

25. The signal processing system of claim 22, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises selecting from a plurality of levels of functionality of an algorithm.

26. The signal processing system of claim 22, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises one or more of changing an amount of time between filter adaptations, bypassing or disabling an echo canceller, and/or bypassing or disabling a filter.

27. A signal processing system, the system comprising:

at least one processor for communicatively coupling to a wireless network and a packet based network, the at least one processor is operable to, at least;

produce a first plurality of packets from data demodulated from a received data signal at a receive rate from the packet based network, wherein the data signal had been modulated by a voiceband carrier and transmitted on the wireless network;

compensate for a delay variation of the first plurality of packets by holding one or more packets of the first plurality of packets in a jitter buffer;

perform a voice exchange by formatting the first plurality of packets into a first voice signal and formatting a second voice signal into a second plurality of packets, thereby enabling an exchange between the wireless network and the packet based network, wherein the second plurality of packets are modulated and transmitted at a transmit rate over the wireless network to the packet based network;

monitor processor resources used by one or both of the voice exchange and a data exchange, during a call, wherein the at least one processor dynamically enables and disables processing functionality used by one or both of the voice exchange and the data exchange to control processor computational load, wherein the at least one processor varies one or both of the receive rate of a demodulator and the transmit rate of the modulator; and

adaptively adjust the number of packets held in the jitter buffer.

28. The signal processing system of claim 27 wherein the jitter buffer comprises a voice queue which buffers received voice signals for a holding time, and wherein the at least one processor adaptively adjusts the holding time of the voice queue.

29. The signal processing system of claim 27, wherein processor resources comprise one of memory, processing capacity, and power consumption.

30. The signal processing system of claim 27, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises selecting from a plurality of levels of functionality of an algorithm.

31. The signal processing system of claim 27, wherein dynamically enabling and disabling signal processing functionality comprises one or more of changing an amount of time between filter adaptations, bypassing or disabling an echo canceller, and/or bypassing or disabling a filter.