Abstract:
A switch based feature that allows subscribers to adjust their incoming or outgoing audio signal strength. The value of the transmit or receive pad values on the subscriber line card are adjusted to control the strength of the audio signal transmitted to, or received from, the network. The subscriber controls the feature by sending a hook flash to the switch, entering the DTMF keypad feature code and transmit or receive volume parameters, and then returning to the call.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to controlling the handset volume of a telephone call, and more particularly to user control of the speech volume transmitted by the central office switch by adjusting the line card transmit and receive pad values. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     When using a telephone, there may be several reasons that a different handset audio volume level is desired. For example, a hearing impaired individual may require a higher volume in order to hear the conversation. The listener may be located in a noisy environment that interferes with his ability to hear the conversation. A poor connection may result in an attenuated signal. One or more off-hook extension telephones may attenuate the signal such that hearing the conversation is difficult for all of the parties. Also, the handset audio volume may need to be lowered if the received telephone signal is too strong, or the speaker is talking particularly loud. 
     There also may be a desire to control the mouthpiece volume on the outgoing signal of a telephone user. For example, an individual may speak at a low volume making it difficult for the listener to hear, and desire to increase the transmit volume of his handset. Also, a participant in a conference call may be in a noisy environment that is disrupting the conference call or even causing his line to inadvertently gain control of the call, and the participant desires to reduce the transmit volume of the handset. 
     Many telephones have volume and mute controls that let the listener control the handset audio volume. This solution requires purchasing a specially equipped phone. Another suggested solution to control the handset audio volume uses centrally located digital network transmission components, such as echo cancelers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,806), or digital signal processors found in encoding/decoding components (U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,431). Another suggested solution uses a separate control circuit that is added to a trunk circuit that allows a user of the trunk circuit to control the volume through DTMF tones (U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,695). This circuit requires the user to hold a DTMF key for more than one second to allow the control circuit to intercept the tone. This method interferes with other services the user may subscribe to that require the entry of keypad tones, and requires the addition of a separate control circuit for each trunk circuit. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that will allow a subscriber to control the audio volume of a telephone call that uses existing central office switch circuitry. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system such that it will not interfere with other services the subscriber may have. 
     The invention of Applicant is a switch based feature that allows subscribers to adjust their incoming or outgoing audio signal strength. The invention adjusts the value of the transmit pad or receive pad on the subscriber line card to adjust the strength of the audio signal transmitted to, or received from, the network. The subscriber controls the feature by first sending a switch-hook flash to the switch, entering the DTMF keypad feature code and transmit or receive volume parameter, and then returning to the call. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The FIGURE shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The FIGURE shows a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Digital signal processors  2 A and  2 B reside on a line card of a central office switch (CO), such as a GTD-5 (Registered Trademark of Verizon Communications) EAX Central Office Switch by AG Communication Systems, and perform functions associated with the transmit and receive paths, respectively, for a subscriber  1 . DSPs  2 A and  2 B are coupled to subscriber  1  via subscriber loop  6 , and are coupled to the time-space-time matrix  5  of the CO via connection  7 . TST matrix  5  is coupled to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) over trunk connections  10 . A DTMF receiver  4  is connected to TST matrix  5  over connection  9 , and is used by the CO to collect digits when a call is initiated, or during a call when a switch feature is requested by a telephone user. A switch processor  3  controls the operation of DSPs  2 A and  2 B, TST matrix  5 , and DTMF receiver  4  via control path  8 . 
     Central office switches use pads to introduce attenuation into the analog portion of a telephone call to control echo on the line. Calls between stations separated by long distances experience a delay effect heard by the caller as an echo of the caller&#39;s voice. This effect can be corrected by inserting a small loss in the circuit. Almost all switches can be engineered to automatically insert loss into a line-to-line, trunk-to-line, or line-to-trunk connection using a digital pad. In the preferred embodiment, the GTD-5 pads are normally configured with 0 dB, 3 dB, 5 dB, and 6 dB values, however the GTD-5 is engineered with the capability to support a range of 20 digital pad values. Pad values are subtracted from the signal in a PCM format to arrive at the desired padded signal. A 0 dB loss pad value is engineered within a digital call path, i.e., a line or trunk having digital terminations at both ends, to ensure data integrity. Each line and trunk of the switch is assigned a digital pad value based primarily on the line or trunk length. For example, a trunk that connects to a switch that is at a great distance will be engineered with a higher pad value than a trunk that connects to a relatively close switch. In the preferred embodiment, line padding can be controlled during call processing by processor  3 . 
     Many switch based features require that the user signal his desire to use a specific feature by first flashing the switch hook. The hook flash signals the switch to suspend the call currently in progress, and attach a receiver to the user line and provide a special dial tone to the user. The user can then enter DTMF tones from the telephone keypad to signal what feature is desired and the feature parameters as needed. The CO can then resume the call and release the DTMF receiver. Intercepting the flash hook allows isolation of the DTMF tones so that they are not heard by the other party nor interfere with certain online functions that the user may be performing, such as online banking. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, DSPs  2 A and  2 B, among other functions they perform, perform the line card digital pad functions associated with subscriber loop  6 . These pad functions are controlled by processor  3  via control path  8 . In support of the receive and transmit volume control feature of the present invention, DSPs  2 A and  2 B are separately engineered to support a range of pad values as required to make the feature operate effectively and as desired by the service provider. This allows the service provider to specify the number of pad values that the subscriber can increment or decrement, and to limit the range of amplification or attenuation that the subscriber may insert into the call to limit adverse affects (e.g., excessive echo, inability to hear anything, etc.). 
     In operation, the feature is invoked by subscriber  1  by sending a flash hook either during a call in progress, or after receiving dial tone but before entering any digits. The subscriber&#39;s line card detects the hook flash and signals processor  3  via control path  8 . Processor  3  then suspends the call, attaches DTMF receiver  4  to user line  7  via TST matrix  5  and connection  9 , and provides a special dial tone to subscriber  1 . Subscriber  1  then enters digits via the DTMF keypad on the subscriber&#39;s telephone indicating the feature code for the receive and transmit volume control feature of the present invention, whether to change the transmit or receive volume, and whether to increase or decrease the volume. The feature and parameter digit strings are determined by the service provider. The entered digits are passed by DTMF receiver  4  to processor  3 . Processor  3  interprets the digits and adjusts the DSP  2 A or  2 B pad values as indicated by the entered digits. Processor  3  then resumes the call and releases DTMF receiver  4  from the line. A subscriber can change the transmit or receive volume as often as needed during a call. 
     Since the feature is invoked by a flash hook and suspension of the call, entered digits are not heard by listeners at the far end. Also, since the feature takes advantage of the ability of the switch to control line card pad values through processor control, no special equipment is required to be added to the central office switch or the subscriber&#39;s telephone or line. 
     While a preferred embodiment of the receive and transmit volume control invention of Applicant has been particularly shown and described, it is not intended to be exhaustive nor limit the invention to the embodiment disclosed. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications to the present invention can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, the control functions of processor  3  that control the pad values of DSPs  2 A and  2 B may be distributed among sub-processors of the switch. While a digital pad using DSPs  2 A and  2 B is shown, an analog pad having a sufficient number of pad values and allowing processor control during call processing may also be used. While a DTMF receiver  4  is shown, other receivers may be used, such as pulse receivers and IVR systems. In an ISDN environment, a D-channel signal processing function serves the same purpose as DTMF receiver  4  of the preferred embodiment, i.e., to collect the DTMF digits entered by the subscriber and pass this information to processor  3 . It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.