Patent ID: 7733848
Filing Date: 2010-06-08
Classification: H04L,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method of delivering substantially in real-time a fax call from a gateway to an Internet Protocol (IP) network, wherein the fax call comprises: (a) analog signals of fax negotiation and control belonging to a first type of fax signals, and (b) half-duplex analog signals modulated according to a modulation scheme selected by fax terminals for fax image transfer belonging to a second type of fax signals, the method comprising: distinguishing between the first type of signals which are received at the gateway and the second type of signals which are received at the gateway; transferring signals belonging to said first type by said gateway to said IP network after being demodulated in said gateway, and transferring signals of said second type by said gateway to said IP network either after being demodulated or after being Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) encoded based on a predetermined condition, wherein the determining how to process the sampled input fax signal is performed on per-signal basis, wherein the transferring signals belonging to said second type after either being demodulated or PCM encoded is selected on per-fax-call basis, wherein, if PCM encoding is used in the delivering of a fax signal, then the method comprises autonomously initiating the PCM encoding by the gateway, wherein the gateway is to autonomously switch, within a fax relay session, from or to utilizing a PCM-encoded signal stream, to or from, respectively, utilizing a demodulated data stream.