Abstract:
An apparatus for obtaining and displaying call progress information of a telephone call on the monitor of the television, including means for communicating control signals that flow in either direction between the apparatus and a set top box that controls the television.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/110,498, filed Apr. 20, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,133,507 which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/732,001, filed Dec. 10, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,206 issued Jul. 19, 2005, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/193,455, filed Jul. 10, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,707,893, issued Mar. 16, 2004. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to telephone service over a cable network. 
     For many years, telecommunication service in the United States has been offered primarily through a network having wire pairs extending to customer homes. More recently, cellular telephony has taken off, and efforts are being made to similarly expand the telecommunication offerings through hybrid fiber-coax cable (HFC). 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,653 describes an illustrative system, not unlike the one depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , that provides telephone service through a cable network, as well as Internet service through the cable network. In  FIG. 1 , a fiber-coax cable  100  extends from head-end station  110  to a plurality of customers, such as customers  200  and  300 , which tap into the cable. Cable  100  is representative of an entire network of cables that extend from head-end station  110 . Station  110  obtains television signals from some source (for example, the antenna depicted with station  110 ), modulates those signals into preselected frequency bands, and forwards the signals downstream by means of HFC cable  100 . Within a customer&#39;s premises, cable  100  signal is received in a set-top box, such as box  210 , the set-top box demodulates the received signal in accordance with instructions provided to box  210  by a user, resulting in a specific channel (frequency band) being applied to television monitor  170  at the frequency band to which the tuner within television  170  is set. Thus the user receives a television signal from the specific channel. This is, basically, a one-way broadcast communication arrangement, from head-end  110  to all of the customers on cable  100 . 
     Internet service is provided to PC  150  of customer  200  by interposing cable modem  220  between cable  100  and PC  150 . To accommodate such a service, cable  100  and head-end  110  must be adapted to allow two-way communication between the PCs of the various customers that are connected to cable  100  and possess a cable modem, and head end  110  or, more specifically, a data point-of-presence (POP)  120  that is connected to head-end station  110 . Relative to Internet service, POP  120  may be an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that is connected to the Internet. Information flows between POP  120  and cable modem  220  in IP packets that, while flowing through cable  100 , are modulated onto a carrier. 
     Telephony service is provided also through cable modem  220 , head-end station  110 , and POP  120 , by carrying the service also through IP packets that flow through cable  110 . Thus, modem  220  is more than just a cable modem because it is adapted to handle telephone signals, and POP  120  is more than just an ISP because it is adapted to be connected to local switch  140  of the PSTN, through packet gateway  130 , which converts between the analog signals of switch  140  and the IP packets signals of POP  120 . 
       FIG. 2  depicts the structure of cable modem  220 , essentially as illustrated in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,653. Viewed macroscopically, it includes Internet module  700  and a telephony module  600 . In module  700 , tuner  760  receives signals in the frequency band devoted to IP packet communication and applies its received signal to demodulator  735 , which demodulates the received signal to recover a sequence of received TCP/IP or UDP/IP frames and applies them to framer  730 . The latter provides a stream of packets to CPU  725 , which is a stored-program controller with associated memory  705 . CPU  725  provides timing, synchronization and error handling controls to framer  730 . CPU  725  also provides IP packets to PC  150  via interface  745 . In the upstream direction, packets from PC  150  are applied to framer  730  via interface  745  and CPU  725 , and thence to transmitter  740 , which provides error correction/detection coding such as Reed-Solomon coding and forms a modulated intermediate frequency (IF) carrier signal. The IF signal is applied to radio frequency (RF) modulator  750 , which up-modulates its input signal to the proper frequency bands and forwards the modulated signal to cable  100 . Thus, a path is provided for IP packets to flow back and forth between PC  150  and POP  120 . 
     Telephony module  600  comprises a controller that is composed of digital signal processor (DSP)  620  and associated memory  625 . The module further comprises analog-digital converter  610 , and subscriber-line-interface-circuit (SLIC)  605 . The controller performs all of the necessary control telephony functions, converter  610  provides the interface between the digital signals of DSP  620  and the analog signals of SLIC  605  and telephone  160 , and SLIC  605  provides the tip/ring interface to telephone  160 , such as the ability to sense off-hook, provide loop current, provide dial tone, detect dialing (pulse or DTMF), provide a ringing signal, etc. DSP  620  is coupled to CPU  725  to provide a two-way communication path of digitized telephony signals (IP packets) between telephone  160  and cable  100 . 
     Perusing U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,653 may provide additional insights. 
     The above described arrangement provides telephony service for telephone  160 , digital communication (Internet) service for PC  150  (which has computing capability as well as audio and video capability), and entertainment programming service for TV  170  (which also has audio and video capability)—but all of these services are independent, and do not commingle. We realized that an advance in the art can be attained by allowing these to commingle. 
     In a related art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,231 describes an arrangement for enhancing a customer premises message-recoding device. The enhanced recording device has the ability to store caller ID information arriving from the telephone network in association with the incoming call that is recorded, as well the ability to ascertain the call duration and other information. This information is stored in association with the stored message. Through a remote controller that connects to the enhanced recording device through an IR link, a user can retrieve the stored messages and the stored associated information. To display the retrieved information, the conventional cable-TV connection between the set-top box and the TV monitor is looped through the enhanced recorder, and the retrieved information is displayed on the TV monitor though a video interface connector that is connected to the TV monitor. 
     What the U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,231 suggests is the notion of storing caller ID and other data that is provided by the telecommunication network in association with an incoming call that is recorded, so that thereafter, the information is retrieved by a user and displayed by the user on a TV monitor. However, the patent does not teach how the incoming information is modified to a format suitable for a television monitor, or how the video interface connector interacts with the cable from the set-top box to inject its signal so that it may be displayed on the TV monitor. Moreover, the arrangement is not interactive, in the sense that the enhanced recording device stores information, but the user can only retrieve it. The user cannot control the call progress, or any other interaction with the telecommunication network, based on real time information obtained from the TV monitor. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An advance in the art is realized in an environment where a cable provides programming information to a television monitor as well as telephony service. In the disclosed method, call progress information of a telephone call is displayed on the television monitor, and means are included in the arrangement for sending control information upstream over the cable in connection with the call progress, for example to obtain additional information. Thus, when call progress information comes from a cable&#39;s head end, a determination is made as to whether it is sufficient, and if not, a query is forwarded upstream to the head end. The head end obtains information that is responsive to the query and sends it downstream, where received additional information is combined with the previously received information and a display on the television monitor is created of the combined information. In this environment, apparatus is disclosed for obtaining and displaying call progress information of a telephone call on the monitor of the television, including means for communicating control signals that flow in either direction between the apparatus and a set top box that controls the television. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  presents a block diagram of a prior art cable telephony arrangement; 
         FIG. 2  presents details of the cable modem in the  FIG. 1  arrangement that is adapted for telephony service; 
         FIG. 3  presents the block diagram of one illustrative embodiment in accord with the principles disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of another illustrative embodiment in accord with the principles disclosed herein; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of a call progress; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates two call progress menus; and 
         FIG. 7  presents yet another embodiment in accord with the principles disclosed herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 3  presents a block diagram of one illustrative embodiment in accord with the principles disclosed herein, where elements with labels that are the same as elements in  FIG. 2  perform the same respective functions.  FIG. 3  comprises HFC cable  100  that is connected to set-top box  50  and to cable modem  222 . Cable modem  222  may be identical to cable modem  220 , except for lead  223  that interconnects DSP  621  of modem  222  with set-top box  50 . The signal flowing from DSP  620  provides information regarding that which set-top box  50  is to display on TV  55 . The signal flowing from set-top box  50  provides telephony control information. DSP  612  is identical to DSP  620  of  FIG. 2 , except that the set of programs that are resident in memory  625  that is associated with DSP  621  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) includes modules to accommodate the functionalities for which lead  223  is included. 
     Set-top box  50  comprises numerous elements that, individually, are well known in the art. A signal from cable  100  is received in modulator  54  where, under direction of controller  51 , element  54  modulates the incoming signal to shift a particular television broadcast channel in the input signal (specified by a user) to a specific frequency band; for example, the frequency band corresponding to channel  3  in the monitor&#39;s internal tuner. The particular desired broadcast channel that is shifted into the specific frequency band is applied to receiver element  55 , where it is decomposed to form a baseband video signal and a corresponding audio signal. These two signals are applied to combiner element  56 , which, in the absence of any signals from frame &amp; sound generation element  53 , transfers its video and audio input signals to its outputs, unchanged. Transmitter element  57  recomposes the baseband video and audio signals to form a TV signal not unlike the one that is applied to element  55 , and applies its output signal to TV monitor  55 . 
     Controller  51  is coupled to frame &amp; sound generation element  53 . Element  53  is adapted to create various video images and/or sounds under direction of controller  51 . Illustratively, element  53  may comprise a memory with a pre-stored collection of video signals (effectively, a large database), and controller  51  merely specifies the particular video signal that is to be retrieved and applied to combiner element  56 . Alternatively, element  53  may include a processing capability, which permits use of a much smaller memory of pre-stored video signals. For example, element  53  may have a “curser” image that is stored, and a processing capability that can create a video image of a curser pointing at whatever x,y coordinate of the TV monitor&#39;s screen that the controller desires. In such an embodiment, controller  51  might, for example, send the command “curser,  65 ,  75 ” to element  53 , and in response thereto element  53  creates a video signal that, when displayed on the screen of monitor  55 , shows a curser that is 65% (of the screen&#39;s width) away from the left edge of the screen and 75% (of the screen&#39;s height) away from the top edge of the screen. 
     When an audio signal is generated by element  53 , it is applied to combiner  56 , wherein the generated audio signal is simply added to the audio signal provided by element  55 , thereby creating the audio signal provided by combiner  56  to element  57 . In an analogous manner, the video signal generated by element  53  is combined with the video signal provided by element  55 . Video combining can be effected in numerous manners, as is well known in the art. Illustratively, the video image created by element  53  can be arranged to replace the video image provided by element  55  by having whatever pixel in the image generated by element  53  that is not a “black pixel,” replace the pixel provided by element  55 . Black pixels leave the video pixels provided by element  55  unchanged. 
     A user (not shown) can direct controller  51  through conventional remote controller unit  60  that sends commands to controller  51  by outputting an infrared (IR) signal. (A functionally equivalent controller is often also found integral to the television monitor.) The IR signal is accepted by IR receiver  58 , and forwarded to controller  51 . Conventionally, such a command might direct controller  51  to change the channel that is modulated by element  54  into the specific frequency band, to display a menu, e.g., to change the time shown on a clock of set-top  50  (not shown), to move a curser that is shown on monitor  55  pursuant to instructions from controller  51 , as described above, etc. The very same commands of unit  60  can be used for the purposes of this invention. 
     In accord with the principles disclosed herein, two-way communication is established between DSP  621  in telephony module  600  and controller  51  to enable the user, through remote controller  60 , to display telephony information on monitor  55  and to control telephony functions related to telephone  160 . 
     It may be noted that cable modem  220  is drawn with an Internet module  700  and a telephony module  660 . This is done solely to make the  FIG. 3  arrangement resemble the  FIG. 2  arrangement as closely as possible. If a computer interface to the Internet is not needed, a number of elements in the Internet module can be coalesced into the telephony module to form a compact design. Indeed, markedly different embodiments can also be employed without departing from the spirit of that which is disclosed herein. 
       FIG. 4  presents one such other embodiment in accord with the principles disclosed herein, where, again, elements with labels that are the same as elements in  FIGS. 2 and 3  perform the same respective functions. In  FIG. 4 , the point of connection of HFC cable  100  to equipment at the customer&#39;s premises is broadband telephone interface (BTI) module  65 . 
     Within BTI  65 , the signal of cable  100  is coupled to an arrangement comprising tuner  760 , receiver  755 , framer  730 , transmitter  740 , and RF modulator  750  in the same manner as these elements are connected in  FIG. 2 . Framer  220  is connected to DSP  622 , with associated memory  625 , which serves the functions of CPU  725  and DSP  621 . DSP  622  is connected to interface circuit  745 , which provides a port for PC  150 , and to an arrangement that includes analog to digital conversion module  610  and SLIC module  615 , where the latter provides a port for telephone  160 . 
     Module  40  in  FIG. 4  is the set-top box that provides television signals to TV monitor  55 . In  FIG. 3 , the television signal is provided to set-top box  50  directly from cable  100 . In contradistinction, in  FIG. 4  the television signal is provided to set top box  50  through interposed BTI  65  and, more specifically, through interposed “piggy-back” (PB) element  61  within BTI  65 . The purpose of circuit  61  is to eliminate the need for the separate line  223  that is employed in the  FIG. 3  arrangement (which connects DSP  621  to controller  51 ). Set-top box  40  is identical to set-top box  50  of  FIG. 3 , except that it includes PB element  59  that is interposed between the input of set-top box  40  and controller  51 . Thus, other than the significant benefit of eliminating a wire connection between the set-top box that connects to the television monitor and the BTI (which in a customer&#39;s home might be at the point of entry into the home) and the concomitant burden of using elements PB  61  and PB  59 , the  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  embodiments are quite similar. 
     The function of the PB elements is to provide a signaling channel for communicating back and forth between controller  51  and DSP  622 . This can be achieved in any of numerous ways that are well known to skilled artisans. One simple arrangement employs baseband digital signals that are added by PB  61  into the cable  100  signal that flows from PB  61  to PB  59 , and a low-pass filter in PB  59  extracts the baseband digital signal. Communication in the reverse direction can take place in a similar manner. If necessary, a filter in inserted in PB  61  to insure that no undesirable baseband signals pass from HC  100  through PB  611  and, conversely, that no baseband signals that are applied to PB  61  or PB  59  are transmitted to HFC  100  toward the cable network&#39;s head end  110 . 
     With reference to the arrangement depicted in  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 5  presents a signaling flow diagram for a call that is incoming to telephone  160 . Conventionally, when a call arrives at the public switched telephone network (PSTN)  10  that is destined to telephone  160 , the local exchange carrier (LEC) that receives the call appends to caller ID to call setup message that it forwards, through the signaling network (e.g., the SS7 network) to switch  140 , which may belong to a LEC that is other that the LEC that originates the call. LEC  140  determines whether telephone  160  is busy, and if it is not, sends a ringing signal to packet gateway  130 . This is shown in  FIG. 5  by line  21 . Gateway  130  recognizes the ringing signal and sends a corresponding control packet through POP  120  and head end  110  to HFC  100 . This is shown by line  22 . The packet is addressed (e.g. with IP address 199.222.104.160) so that only DSP  622  of BTI  65 , which is programmed to be sensitive to address 199.222.104.160, accepts the packet. This is shown by line  23 . DSP  622  ascertains that the packet represents a ringing signal, and proceeds to direct SLIC  615  to apply a ringing signal to telephone  160 . This is shown by line  24 . 
     Between the first ringing interval and the second ringing interval switch  140  outputs caller ID information is accordance with a standardized signaling format. This information is appropriately structured and formatted by gateway  130 , POP  120 , head end  110 , tuner  760 , receiving element  755  and framer  730 , to arrive at DSP  622 . This is shown in  FIG. 5  by lines  25 ,  26 , and  27 . At step  28 , DSP  622  ascertains whether the information received from switch  140  contains either an indication that the calling party consciously elected to not have its caller ID provided, or both the calling party&#39;s name and the calling party&#39;s telephone number are present. When only the calling party&#39;s telephone number is present, DSP  622  sends a request—upstream toward head end  110 —to a server (not shown) that is accessible over the SS7 signaling network. The request provides the calling party&#39;s telephone number, and seeks a name to correspond to the provided number. More specifically, DSP creates a packet that addresses the aforementioned server, which advantageously contains a national database of telephone numbers and associated names, and sends the packet, appropriately modulated by framer  730 , transmitter  740  and RF modulator  750 , to head end  110 . Head end  110  receives the information, sends the digital data to POP  120 , and POP  120  recognizes the request aimed at the SS7 server. This national database is likely controlled by an inter-exchange carrier (IXC), or by a governmental authority. POP  120  accordingly constructs an SS7 signaling message and forwards the request to the server. This is shown by line  30  in  FIG. 5 . It is noted that POP  120  that includes a capability to communicate with the SS7 signaling network includes a functionality that is not present in conventional Internet Service Provider&#39;s equipment, but that additional functionality is quite conventional in any other respect and is well within the scope of all skilled artisans. 
     In response to the request, the server on the SS7 network sends a message back to POP  120 , as shown by line  31 , POP  120  constructs a packet, and forwards it to DSP  622  via head end  110 , HFC  100 , and elements  760 ,  755 , and  730 . This is shown by line  32 . DSP  622  receives the name information and, armed with caller ID telephone number and caller name, in step  33  DSP  622  sends a message to controller  51  (via PB  61  and  59 ) to create a menu page. 
     Pursuant to the directive received from DSP  622 , and in conformance with information stored in its associated memory, controller  51  directs frame &amp; sound generator  53  to create a menu not unlike the one illustrated in the upper left hand portion of  FIG. 6 , as well as an associated curser. In the illustrated menu, the image on the screen of monitor  55  shows that an incoming call is present, and that the call is from a party that has a particular caller telephone number and name, as well as a variety of options that have been programmed into set-top box  40 . Illustrative in  FIG. 6 , the options are (a) causing telephone  160  to go off-hook in a speakerphone mode (presuming, of course, that set-top box  40  was programmed to offer this option because telephone  160  does have a speakerphone mode), (b) ignoring the call and muting the ringing—to remove the annoyance of repeated ringing, (c) immediately direct the call to an associated answering machine, and (d) transferring the call. Option (c) assumes that an answering machine is hooked up in parallel with telephone  160  and that it is one that is adapted to accept a control signal between ringing intervals (e.g., not unlike the manner in which caller ID information is communicated) that causes the answering machine to immediately go off-hook. Option (d)—the call transfer option—requires a capability to transfer a call, and requires additional information from the user if the destination of the call transfer is not known a priori. 
     By using the arrows keys on the conventional controller  60 , the user can point the curser to a particular option and press (illustratively) the “OK” button on controller  60  to decide on the desired option. For example, when the user chooses option (d)—the call transfer option—and presses the “OK” button, controller  51  directs frame &amp; sound generator  53  to create and apply to combiner  56  the second menu. The second menu illustrated in  FIG. 6  includes four options, illustrating four quite different transfer types. Option (a) “cell phone,” is a transfer to an instrument that may, or may not, be on the customer&#39;s premises, but is accessible via the PSTN. Option (b) “Tommy,” may be a “plain old telephone system” (POTS) phone in some room on the customer&#39;s premises, which has a different telephone number (“teen phone”). This phone may, or may not, be connected to PSTN via HFC cable  100 . Option (c) “Jane&#39;s phone,” may be an extension in, for example, Jane&#39;s home office within the customer&#39;s premises. This may be a phone that shares the same number as telephone  160 . Lastly, option (d) “office,” is a transfer to some other telephone connected to PSTN that, illustratively, is not connected to cable  100 . 
     Implementing options (a) and (d) requires communication with head end  110 . Option (b) can be implemented through communication with head end  110 , or locally if Tommy&#39;s telephone line is incorporated within BTI  65  with a separate port that is coupled to DSP  622  through a second element not unlike element  745 . Option (c) requires the ability to switch between telephone  160  and Jane&#39;s telephone, which implies a switching unit interposed between the output port of BTI  65  to which telephone  160  is shown to be connected and the two telephones (telephone  160  and Jane&#39;s telephone), or the creation of two ports out of DSP  622 . Creation of such ports is clearly within the scope of any skilled artisan, if not already well known. 
     In connection with the options that direct a call transfer to a unit that is accessible via the PSTN or via the PSTN followed by a cellular network, when controller  51  receives a signal that corresponds to such a request, it interacts with the user to identify the specific destination, if appropriate. In the menu illustrated in  FIG. 6  no such option is presented, but a skilled artisan can easily incorporate such an option. When controller  51  has sufficient information, it communicates its information to DSP  622 , and DSP  622  creates an information packet for switch  140 . This packet is communicated to head end  110  in the manner described above, and head end  110  transfers that packet to POP  120 . POP creates a call transfer instruction that includes the destination telephone number and forwards the instruction to switch  140 . Switch  140  executes the call transfer in a conventional manner. 
     In light of the above-disclosed two embodiments it should be realized that various other arrangements and methods are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. To illustrate one,  FIG. 7  presents an embodiment where the BTI and the set-top box are combined in a single hardware unit,  66 , where, the DSP  622  of  FIG. 4  and the controller  51  of  FIG. 4  are combined into a single DSP  623 . All other elements in  FIG. 7  that are numbered identically to like elements in  FIG. 4  perform the same function.