Abstract:
An autonomous multi-services card provides internal control over communications, so that host computer control input is not required. Communications performance is improved, especially for real time communications such as telephone conversations, because the autonomous multi-services card does not wait on late or failed control input from the host computer. The autonomous multi-services card is comprised of a communications processing system connected to a network interface, telephone interface, video interface, and computer interface. The communications processing system controls: 1) the exchange of voice signals with a telephone connection , 2) the exchange of video signals with a video connection, 3) the exchange of data with a host computer connection, and 4) the exchange of the data, video signals, and voice signals with a network connection.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention is related to the field of communications, and in particular, to an autonomous multi-services card that connects to a host computer and a telephone device to a communications network. 
     2. Statement of the Problem 
     A network interface card fits into the slot of a host computer. The network interface card allows the host computer to communicate with a communications network. Typically, the host computer provides control input to the network interface card. Unfortunately, communications performance is adversely affected by using the host computer to control the network interface card. 
     The host computer typically executes an operating system and a variety of software applications. Thus, host computer processing time is shared across multiple software components. Communications performance suffers as a result because the host computer may not provide control input to network interface card in a timely manner. Since many forms of communication are real-time in nature, such as a telephone conversation, the lack of timely host computer control can severely disrupt communications. In addition one of the software applications may cause the host computer to crash, so that no control input is provided to the network interface card. In this case, communications would cease altogether. 
     SUMMARY OF THE SOLUTION 
     The invention solves the above problem with an autonomous multi-services card that can fit into the slot of a computer, but that provides internal control over communications so that host computer control input is not required. Communications performance is improved, especially for real time communications such as telephone conversations, because the autonomous multi-services card does not wait on late or failed control input from the host computer. 
     The autonomous multi-services card is comprised of a communications processing system connected to a computer interface, telephone interface, network interface, and video interface. The computer interface is coupled to a host computer by a host computer connection and exchanges data with the host computer connection. The telephone interface is connected to a telephone device by a telephone connection and exchanges voice with the telephone connection. The video interface is coupled to a video device by a video connection and exchanges video signals with the video connection. The network interface is connected to a communications network by a network connection and exchanges the data, video signals, and voice signals with the network connection. 
     The communications processing system controls: 1) the exchange of voice signals with the telephone connection, 2) the exchange of video signals with the video connection, 3) the exchange of data with the host computer connection, and 4) the exchange of the data, video signals, and voice signals with the network connection. Communication paths connect the communications processing system with the computer interface, the telephone interface, the network interface, and the video interface. 
     The autonomous multi-services card is comprised of a substrate that is connected to the computer interface, the telephone interface, the network interface, the video interface, the communications processing system, and the communication paths. The substrate physically attaches to a slot in the host computer. The host computer connection typically includes a contact/socket type connection. 
     It should be noted that although the autonomous multi-services card may receive power from the host computer connection, the communications processing system can control the exchange of voice or video signals without any control input from the host computer. This represents a distinct advantage over prior systems that rely on the host computer for control input. In these prior systems, communications between the telephone device and the communications network would suffer or fail if the control input from the host computer was delayed. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an autonomous multi-services card configuration and environment in an example of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of an autonomous multi-services card configuration in an example of the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of an autonomous multi-services card central controller in an example of the invention. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a protocol stack used by the autonomous multi-services card in an example of the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an autonomous multi-services card enclosure in an example of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Autonomous Multi-Services Card Configuration and Environment—FIG.  1   
     FIG. 1 depicts an autonomous multi-services card  100 . The autonomous multi-services card  100  is comprised of a communications processing system  101 , computer interface  102 , telephone interface  103 , network interface  104 , and video interface  105 . Communication paths connect the communications processing system  101  to the computer interface  102 , the telephone interface  103 , the network interface  104 , and the video interface  105 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that some conventional elements of the autonomous multi-services card  100  have been omitted for clarity. 
     The autonomous multi-services card  100  is comprised of a substrate  106  that is connected to the communications processing system  101 , computer interface  102 , telephone interface  103 , network interface  104 , the video interface  105 , and the respective inter-connecting communication paths. The substrate  106  physically attaches to the host computer  150  by fitting into a slot  151  in the host computer  150 . Computer card substrates that physically attach within host computer slots are well known. 
     The computer interface  102  is coupled to a host computer  150  by a host computer connection  152 . The host computer connection  152  typically includes a contact/socket type connection. The telephone interface  103  is connected to a telephone device  170  by telephone connection  172 . The network interface  104  is connected to a communications network  180  by a network connection  182 . The video interface  105  is coupled to a video device  190  by a video connection  192 . If desired, the telephone connection  172  and the video connection  192  could be the same physical connection, and the telephone interface  103  and the video interface  105  could be integrated together. 
     The computer interface  102  could be any circuitry and logic that can be coupled to the host computer connection  152  and that exchanges data with the host computer connection  152 . The telephone interface  103  could be any circuitry and logic that can be coupled to the telephone connection  172  and that exchanges voice signals with the telephone connection  172 . The video interface  105  could be any circuitry and logic that can be coupled to the video connection  192  and that exchanges video signals with the video connection  192 . The network interface  104  could be any circuitry and logic that can be coupled to the network connection  182  and that exchanges the data, video signals, and voice signals with the network connection  182 . The communications processing system  101  could be any circuitry and logic that controls: 1) the exchange of voice signals with the telephone connection  172 , 2) the exchange of video signals with the video connection  192 , 3) the exchange of data with the host computer connection  152 , and 4) the exchange of the data, video signals, and voice signals with the network connection  182 . 
     The host computer  150  communicates with the communications network  180  through the computer interface  102 , the communications processing system  101 , and the network interface  104 . The telephone device  170  communicates with the communications network  180  through the telephone interface  103 , the communications processing system  101 , and the network interface  104 . The video device  190  communicates with the communications network  180  through the video interface  105 , the communications processing system  101 , and the network interface  104 . 
     It should be noted that although the autonomous multi-services card  100  may receive power from the host computer connection  152 , the communications processing system  101  can control the exchange of voice or video signals without any control input from the host computer  150 . This represents a distinct advantage over prior systems that rely on the host computer  150  for control input. In these prior systems, communications between the telephone device  170  and the communications network  180  would suffer or fail if the control input from the host computer  150  was delayed. 
     Specific Autonomous Multi-Services Card Implementation—FIGS.  2 - 4   
     FIGS. 2-4 depict a detailed example of an autonomous multi-services card. The invention is not restricted to this specific example, and is only restricted by the claims following this description. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various features and functions described below can be combined with the invention as described above to provide multiple implementations of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 depicts an autonomous multi-services card  200 . The autonomous multi-services card  200  is comprised of: bus interface  210 , Modulator/Demodulator (modem) port  211 , Ethernet port  212 , Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) port  213 , Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) port  214 , telephone port  215 , video port  216 , controller memory  217 , battery terminal  218 , and central controller  220 . Each port  211 - 216  could be comprised of a single port or could include multiple ports of the type shown. Those skilled in the art will recognize that some conventional elements of the autonomous multi-services card  200  have been omitted for clarity. 
     The central controller  220  is connected to the bus interface  210  by a path  240 . The central controller  220  is connected to the modem port  211  by a path  241 . The central controller  220  is connected to the Ethernet port  212  by a path  242 . The central controller  220  is connected to the DSL port  213  by a path  243 . The central controller  220  is connected to the ATM port  214  by a path  244 . The central controller  220  is connected to the telephone port  215  by a path  245 . The central controller  220  is connected to the video port  216  by a path  246 . The bus interface  210  can be coupled to the host computer connection  152 . The network connection  182  can be coupled to the modem port  211 , Ethernet port  212 , DSL port  213 , or ATM port  214 . The telephone port  215  can be coupled to the telephone connection  172 . The video port  216  can be coupled to the video connection  192 . 
     The bus interface  210  could be a conventional interface, such as Ethernet, ATM, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), or Small Computer System Interface (SCSI). The modem port  211  could be conventional serial to an analog network, such as a telephony modem, RF cable modem, or RF wireless modem. The ports  212 - 216  could be conventional components for their respective protocol. 
     The autonomous multi-services card  200  receives power from the host computer connection  152  through the bus interface  210 . Power could also be supplied from another source, such as a battery connected to the battery terminal  118 . A battery power option is required if telephone service is desired when the host computer  150  is not fully operational, such as during a power outage to the host computer  150 . 
     The central controller  220  allows the autonomous multi-services card  200  to operate autonomously from the host processor in the host computer  150 . Thus, the autonomous multi-services card  200  does not require any control input from the host computer  150  to operate with robust functionality. The central controller  220  includes processing circuitry to execute software to control the exchange of various communications between the ports  211 - 216 . Thus, communications can be exchanged from any of the ports  211 - 216  or the bus interface  210  to any of the other ports  211 - 216  or the bus interface  210 . For example, a video device may communicate with a computer through the video port  216 , central controller  220 , and bus interface  210 . Communications include modem, Ethernet, ATM, DSL, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), telephony, and video. The central controller  220  also controls the exchange of data through the bus interface  210 . The controller memory  217  stores some of the software executed by the central controller  220 . 
     FIG. 3 depicts the central controller  220 . The central controller  220  is comprised of: a modem controller  221 , Ethernet controller  222 , DSL controller  223 , ATM controller  224 , telephone controller  225 , video controller  226 , processor memory  227 , and processing core  230 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that some conventional elements of the central controller  220  have been omitted for clarity. 
     The processing core  230  is connected to the modem controller  221 , Ethernet controller  222 , ATM controller  224 , telephone controller  225 , video controller  226 , and processor memory  227 . The modem controller  221  is connected to the Ethernet controller  222  and the ATM controller  224 . The DSL controller  223  is connected to Ethernet controller  222  and the ATM controller  224 . The modem controller  221  is connected to the path  241 . The Ethernet controller  222  is connected to the path  242 . The DSL controller  223  is connected to the path  243 . The ATM controller  224  is connected to the path  244 . The telephone controller  225  is connected to the path  245 . The video controller  226  is connected to the path  246 . The processing core  230  is connected to the path  240  and the path  247 . 
     The controllers  221 - 226  are conventional circuitry that are operational to transfer communications in their respective protocols through their respective ports under the control of the central processing core  230 . The controllers  221 - 224  include conventional auto-sensing functionality to process their own respective protocol and ignore other protocols. The telephone and video controllers  225 - 226  include digital signal processors that include coder/decoder (codec) functionality to convert between analog and digital signals. These digital signal processors also include functionality to provide compression and echo cancellation. 
     The processing core  230  includes circuitry to execute application software, typically stored in the processor memory  227  or controller memory  217 . The processing core  230  directs the exchange of communications among the controllers  221 - 226  and the bus interface  210 , and arbitrates access to the network  180 . The processing core  230  also executes TCP/IP software to exchange communications in the TCP/IP format and provide a routing/bridging function. To support video, the processing core  230  implements the International Telecommunications Union H.321 and H.323 video-conferencing standards. 
     To support voice, the processing core  230  executes application software to implement Voice over IP and Voice over ATM standards. The processing core  230  responds to in-coming and out-going calls by executing Telecommunications Information Network Architecture Consortium (TINA-C) Service Architecture Provider Agent application software. The telephone controller  225  provides an analog telephony interface to the path  245  under the control of the processing core  230 . The analog telephony interface in the telephone controller  225  detects off-hook conditions, on-hook conditions, Multi-Frequency (MF) tones, and Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones; and provides dial tone, ring current, ringback tones, busy tones, and other standard telephony signaling tones. An example of a provider agent and analog telephony interface is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/128,944, entitled “Telecommunications Provider Agent”, filed on Aug. 5, 1998, and which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application. 
     FIG. 4 depicts one example a protocol stack for the autonomous multi-services card  200 . The various mappings described below indicate the protocol combinations that can be used. At layer  1 , ATM, modem, DSL, Ethernet, bus interface, analog telephone, and analog video are available. ATM, modem, and DSL layer  1  map to ATM layer  2 . DSL layer  1  also maps to Ethernet layer  2 . Ethernet layer  1  maps to Ethernet layer  2 . Modem layer  1  also maps to Ethernet layer  2  and serial line layer  2 . Bus interface layer  1  maps to bus interface layer  2 . Analog telephone layer  1  and analog video layer  1  map to codecs layer  2 . 
     At layer  2 , ATM layer  2  maps to ATM layer  3  and TCP/IP layer  3 . Ethernet layer  2  maps to TCP/IP layer  3 . Serial line layer  2  maps to TCP/IP layer  3 . Bus interface layer  2  maps to bus interface layer  3 . Codecs layer  2  map to codecs layer  3 . At layer  3 , ATM, TCP/IP, bus interface, and codecs map to the Application Programming Interface (API) at layer  4 . 
     The API layer  4  maps to the applications at layer  4 . The API includes conventional API software for each layer  3  protocol. The applications at layer  4  include the software executed by the processing core  230 . 
     It should be appreciated from the above description that the autonomous multi-services card  200  can handle voice, video, and data using a variety of communications protocols. Although the autonomous multi-services card  200  fits into a host computer slot, it is not dependent on the host computer for control input. The autonomous multi-services card  200  can handle video and telephone communications between a local telephone or video device and the communications network without any control input from its host computer. The autonomous multi-services card  200  can also handle data communications, including TCP/IP communications, between the host computer and the communications network. 
     Autonomous Multi-Services Card Enclosure—FIG.  5   
     FIG. 5 depicts the autonomous multi-services card  100  connected to the connections  172 ,  182 , and  192  as in FIG.  1 . Note that the autonomous multi-services card  100  is not physically attached to the slot  151  in the host computer ISO. Instead, the autonomous multi-services card  100  is physically attached to a slot  561  in an enclosure  560 . The slot  561  in the enclosure  560  and the slot  151  in the host computer  150  are both designed to emulate a standard computer slot for a network interface card. Thus, the autonomous multi-services card  100  is compatible with the slot  151 , the slot  561 , and a standard computer slot. The physical configuration of these types of slots is well known in the art. 
     The enclosure  560  could be a conventional plastic or metal box, such as the type typically used to house electronic components. The slot  561  is configured to connect the computer interface  102  on the autonomous multi-services card  100  to a host computer connection  552 , such as a conventional SCSI or USB cable, that is connected to the host computer  150  (not shown). The slot  561  is configured to connect the computer interface  102  on the autonomous multi-services card  100  to a battery terminal  562  for an alternate power supply. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate variations of the above-described embodiments that fall within the scope of the invention. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific examples and illustrations discussed above, but only by the following claims and their equivalents.