Telephone system with peripheral device

A telephone system includes a base station (2), at least one mobile station (3), and a special peripheral device (6) which is adapted to cooperate with a TV set (4) in a hands-free telephone mode and includes audio signal processing means and means (8) for communicating with the base station by radio. The peripheral device has a cord (9) for connection to the TV set (4) via a SCART connector, for using at least the loudspeaker of the TV set in the hands-free telephone mode, and it further includes a microphone (12) provided with an anti-Larson device, and a detector (13) for receiving infrared signals from a special remote control device (5) capable of controlling both the peripheral device (6) itself and the TV set (4).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a telephone system comprising a first 
stationary part called the base station, for emitting/receiving signals 
and adapted to be coupled to a telephone line, and at least one part 
accommodated in a mobile housing, called the mobile station, which mobile 
station includes audio signal processing means and means for communicating 
with the base station by radio. 
The invention also relates to a special peripheral device for a telephone 
system of the type defined above. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Cordless telephone sets have been known for several years. Owing to the 
radio link between the mobile handset and the base station in the user's 
home these sets provide a high flexibility because they permit incoming or 
outgoing calls to be made in a range of some tens of meters around the 
base station. 
Apart from the greater freedom in making telephone calls, this new type of 
product from now on also enables other technical problems, which may occur 
under special conditions of use of the telephone, to be solved at low 
cost, which is the aim of the present invention. 
One of these special conditions of use is the wish to make telephone calls 
or to be ready to receive a call while watching television and listening 
to it. The operations to be carried out in such a case is to turn down the 
volume of sound of the television set and to access the telephone set. The 
invention proposes to solve this general technical problem with the least 
possible inconvenience, it being assumed that the user has a multi-channel 
cordless telephone. 
From the Japanese Patent 6-14370 (A) a cordless telephone is known by means 
of which the above-mentioned problem can be solved. For this purpose, one 
of the mobile handsets also comprises an infrared remote control device 
for a television receiver. 
The present invention proposes an additional advance in order to solve the 
afore-mentioned technical problem. 
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the invention to enable incoming or outgoing telephone 
calls to be made by means of an infrared remote control device. 
Another object is to utilize the loudspeaker and the screen of a television 
set, without the need to modify them, in order to achieve telephone 
communication with the highest degree of convenience. 
These objects are achieved and the drawbacks of the prior art are mitigated 
owing to the fact that the system of the type defined in the opening 
paragraph is characterized in that it comprises a second stationary part, 
called the peripheral device, comprising audio signal processing means and 
means for communicating, on the one hand, with the base station and, on 
the other hand, with a television receiver, called the TV set, for at 
least using the loudspeaker of the TV set in a hands-free mode, said 
peripheral device further comprising a microphone and means for receiving 
infrared signals from a special remote control device capable of 
controlling both said peripheral device and said TV set. 
The remote control device to be used is of a universal type, i.e. which not 
only enables the television set but also a special peripheral device of 
the television receiver to be controlled, by actuation of a "telephone" 
button, which peripheral device essentially has the structure of a hand 
set of a cordless telephone. In particular, the digit keys of the remote 
control device for the selection of television programs also serve for 
dialing telephone numbers, while remote control of any other peripheral 
device of the television receiver, such as for example a video recorder, 
remains possible. The construction of the special remote control device 
for carrying out the present invention is obvious to those skilled in the 
art. 
The peripheral device may have batteries or rechargeable batteries for its 
electrical power supply. Preferably, it comprises an electrical cord to be 
connected to the electric mains for its power supply. It can also be 
integrated either in the base station or in the television receiver. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the peripheral device comprises 
a modulator adapted to supply a preprogrammed ringing signal to said 
loudspeaker of the TV set in response to an incoming telephone call. 
In another preferred embodiment of the invention the peripheral device 
comprises first means for displaying information about the caller identity 
on the screen of said TV set. 
In another preferred embodiment of the invention the peripheral device 
comprises second display means for displaying on the screen of said TV set 
information relating to the configuration of the operation of the 
telephone as selected by the user, to the telephone directory of the user, 
or to the sound control of an anti-Larson device. 
How the invention can be carried into effect will be more fully understood 
by means of the following description with reference to the accompanying 
drawing, given by way of non-limitative example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The elements necessary for carrying out the invention are shown in FIG. 1. 
These include, to the right of the broken line 1, a multi-channel cordless 
telephone set, for example Philips TD 9203, of which the base station 2 
and one of the mobile handsets 3 are shown, the base station and the 
handset each having an antenna for communication by radio waves. Shown to 
the left of the line 1 is a television receiver 4 having a SCART connector 
(not shown in the Figure), with its infrared (IR) remote control device 5 
and a peripheral element 6 of the television receiver, hereinafter 
referred to as the peripheral device. The known elements 2, 3 and 4 are 
assumed to be already at the disposal of a potential user and they are 
typically assumed to be situated at different locations, i.e.: in the 
house for the handset 3, in one room for the base station 2 and in another 
room for the television receiver 4, as indicated symbolically by means of 
the broken lines 1 and 7. 
As is shown in FIG. 1, the peripheral device 6 has an antenna 8, a cord 9 
provided with a SCART connector 11 to be connected to that of the 
television receiver 4, a microphone 12 and a central IR receiver 13. For 
its power supply, which can be provided by batteries or rechargeable 
batteries, the peripheral device 6 preferably comprises an electric cord 
14 to be connected to the electric mains. 
The remote control device 5 is of a universal type, i.e. it not only 
enables the television set but also a special peripheral element of the 
television receiver, the peripheral device 6, to be controlled, by 
actuation of a "telephone" button 15, which peripheral device in the 
present case essentially has the structure of a handset of a cordless 
telephone. In particular, the digit keys of the IR remote control device 5 
for the selection of television programs also serve for dialing telephone 
numbers, while remote control of any other peripheral device of the 
television receiver 4, such as for example a video recorder, remains 
possible. The construction of the special remote control device for 
carrying out the present invention is readily apparent to those skilled in 
the art. 
The microphone 12 of the peripheral device 6, which is intended for 
telephone communication in a hands-free mode, preferably comprises an 
anti-Larson device which can be constructed by those skilled in the art. 
The peripheral device 6 essentially has the structure of the mobile handset 
3 described hereinafter with reference to FIG. 2. 
The handset 3 comprises a transmit-receive antenna 8, a radio signal 
processing block 21, a microprocessor 22 with an analog interface 23, and 
a keyboard 24 by means of which the telephone functions can be 
implemented. A microphone 25 and a loudspeaker 26 are connected to the 
interface 23, which comprises an anti-sidetone device. When lit, a LED 27 
indicates that the line is engaged. A power supply 28 supplies the 
necessary power to the blocks 21 and 22. 
In FIG. 3, which shows the peripheral device 6 with its IR remote control 
device 5, the principal elements of FIG. 2 can be found with the same 
functions: 8, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28. The power supply 28, however, is 
preferably connected to the electric mains by a cord. 
In FIG. 3, however, the keyboard has been transferred, the commands being 
given at the IR remote control device 5, which is also the remote control 
device of the television receiver 4. At 23' the microphone 12 comprises a 
hands-free anti-Larson device, not shown. The peripheral device 6 further 
comprises an additional block 30 connected to the power supply 28, which 
serves as a two-way interface between the microprocessor 22 and the male 
part 11 of the SCART connector, whose female part 31 is situated on the 
television receiver 4. 
The handset of FIG. 3, which includes at least the loudspeaker 32 of the 
television receiver 4, is adapted to operate in the hands-free mode by 
means of the IR remote control device 5. 
In an embodiment which is compatible with the preceding one, the ringing 
signal of an incoming call can be routed to the loudspeaker 32 in that in 
the interface block 30 a ringing signal modulator 33 is added whose output 
signal is transferred to the loudspeaker 32 via an audio input channel of 
the SCART connector. 
For an incoming call the functions, which can be realized very easily by 
means of the handset shown in FIG. 3, which handset can also be realized 
readily by those skilled in the art on the basis of the present level of 
disclosure, are: 
the ringing function by routing this special telephone information to the 
loudspeaker 32 via the elements: 8, 21, 22, 30, 11-31, 
connection to the line in that the user presses the "telephone" button 15 
of the IR remote control device 5 and subsequently the button "off-hook" 
(not shown). The connection to the line causes the LED 27 to light up, 
while at the same time the loudspeaker 32 is switched from the television 
receiver to the telephone. Now communication is possible in a hands-free 
mode. Speech is transmitted via the microphone 12 under control of the 
"hands-free" anti-Larson device. To hang-up it suffices to press the 
button "television" on the device 5, as a result of which the entire 
device is reset to the initial state, i.e. to the "television mode and the 
telephone section of the system shown in FIG. 3 is reset to the standby 
state. An outgoing call is just as ergonomic as an incoming call: 
pressing the button 15 on 5, 
dialling the desired number on 5, 
connection to the line may subsequently result in the LED 27 being lit and 
the voice of the person answering the call being reproduced by the 
loudspeaker 32, in the same way as for an incoming call, 
at the end of the communication hanging-up off in the same way as for an 
incoming call. 
The handset shown in FIG. 3 may advantageously be provided with video 
functions using display on the screen 34 of the television receiver. These 
functions can be implemented by means of a dedicated microprocessor 22, an 
optional block 35 display control belonging to the interface block 30 and 
the video input channels of the SCART connector. The video technique used 
for display on the screen 34 is preferably the OSD (On Screen Display) 
technique, which enables text to be displayed on a part of the screen 34. 
For this purpose, the block 35 includes for example a circuit PCA 8515/003 
manufactured by the Philips company, by means of which up to 192 
characters can be displayed; this circuit in 35 should be used in 
conjunction with a sync extraction circuit, for example Philips TDA 4691, 
which receives the composite video signal from the television receiver 4 
via the SCART connector 31-11. 
The video functions to be performed may include: 
incoming call with caller identification (Caller ID), 
personal notebook, stored at 35, in the peripheral device 6, 
management of the personal notebook, 
programming of the options selected by the user for the configuration of 
the operation of his telephone system, such as ringing (yes or no), 
ringing rhythm; anti-Larson setting. . . . 
It is to be noted that for an optimum operation of the devices with the 
video functions described above the base station 2 requires a modem for 
decoding the caller identification (caller ID). 
For further information about the video functions which can be controlled 
by means of an IR remote control device in the case of on-screen display 
on the TV screen, reference is made to French Patent 2,710,807. 
The hands-free cordless telephone which can be controlled by means of the 
infrared remote control device and which incorporates a television 
receiver is particularly useful for persons tied to a wheelchair or bound 
to stay in the room. 
The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, several 
other variants being possible. In particular, the peripheral device 6, 
which in the foregoing has been described as a separate element, can also 
be integrated either in the television receiver or in the base station 2. 
In the case that the peripheral device is integrated in the base station, 
the radio link between them is no longer necessary but, in order maintain 
the possibility of controlling the peripheral device from the infrared 
remote control device 5, it is necessary that the television receiver and 
the base station are situated in the same room. In the alternative case 
that the peripheral device is integrated in the television receiver, the 
cord 9 with a SCART connector and the electric cord 14 are no longer 
necessary.