Abstract:
A telecommunications converter module is disclosed. The telecommunications converter module includes a connection port configured to connect to a wireless communication device and an interface to a land-line communication network. The telecommunications converter module further includes a processor, in communication with said data port and said interface, that is configured to convert wireless telecommunication signals to land-line telecommunication signals and to convert land-line telecommunication signals to wireless telecommunication signals.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is an original patent application based on provisional application Ser. No. 60/519,099, filed Nov. 12, 2003, and derives its priority therefrom. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to a communications system for transmission and reception of voice and/or data over a wireless network using conventional land-line telephone equipment. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Cellular, Personal Communications Systems (PCS) and other types of wireless telephones that receive and transmit telephone calls on wireless networks have become commonplace. Indeed, wireless telephones have become so popular that some people have discontinued their conventional land-line home telephone service in favor of just having a wireless telephone service. In this way, users reduce their costs by eliminating their conventional land-line telephone service. However, drawbacks to eliminating the conventional home land-line service exist. For example, health concerns may be associated with extended periods of using a wireless telephone in close proximity to a user&#39;s body. Further, some users find it inconvenient not to have multiple telephones in various places of their home, as with conventional land-line telephone systems. Additionally, wireless telephone signals sometimes experience interference in various places of a house as the wireless telephone is moved from place to place. For these and other reasons, many people continue to maintain both a wireless telephone service (primarily for use outside of the home) and a conventional land-line telephone service for use at home. 
     The embodiments described hereinafter were developed in light of these and other disadvantages of existing communication systems. 
     SUMMARY 
     A converter device is disclosed for enabling conventional land-line communication equipment, including land-line telephones, modems, etc., to place and receive calls over a wireless telephone network. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of a communications system, according to an exemplary embodiment, having a converter device that enables conventional land-line communication devices to place and/or receive calls on a wireless network; and 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary block diagram of the communications device of  FIG. 1 , according to an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a communications system  10  is illustrated that includes a land-line network  12  and a wireless network  14 . As described in detail below, land-line network  12  is connected to wireless network  14  through converter  24 . Land-line network  12  is the hard-wired telephone network that is commonplace in most residential homes. In  FIG. 1 , land-line network  12  is illustrated as having two conventional telephone wall jacks  18  and a telephone  16  plugged into one of the wall jacks  18  via conventional telephone wire  26 ( a ). Of course, land-line network  12  may include any number of wall jacks  18  distributed throughout the home and networked in a conventional manner. Any number of land-line telephones  16  (corded or cordless), modems (not shown) or other types of communication devices can be plugged into wall jacks  18 . 
     Wireless network  14  may be a cellular, PCS, or any other type of wireless communication network used for wireless telephone communications. In a conventional manner, wireless telephone  22  communicates with other wireless telephones, e.g., wireless telephone  23 , through a base station  20 . Specifically, wireless telephone  22  can be used to send and receive telephone calls with other wireless telephones and with conventional land-line phones on the plain old telephone system (POTS), in manners known in the art, when the wireless telephone  22  is not connected to converter  24 . When wireless telephone  22  is connected to converter  24  (as shown in  FIG. 1 ), wireless telephone  22  and converter  24  together enable conventional land-line communication equipment (e.g., telephones) to place and receive telephone calls over the wireless network  14 . 
     Converter  24  provides an interface between the hard-wired telephone network  12  in a user&#39;s home to a wireless network  14 . Converter  24  is illustrated in  FIG. 1  as being connected to the hard-wired home telephone network by simply connecting a line interface  24 ( d ) of converter  24  to a conventional wall jack  18  via telephone wire  26 ( b ), though other means for connecting converter  24  to the hard-wired home telephone network are envisioned and within the scope of the invention. An input/output port  24 ( a ) of converter  24  is detachably connected to wireless telephone  22  via wire  27  to provide a communication path between wireless telephone  22  and converter  24 . In some embodiments, converter  24  is connected to wireless telephone  22  through an existing data input/output connection on the wireless telephone  22 . Wire  27  may be a serial, USB, or other appropriate connecting cable. Preferably, converter  24  is located within a building (e.g., residential home) where the wireless signal is strongest and the wireless telephone  22  receives the clearest signal. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a detailed block diagram of converter  24  is shown. As illustrated, converter  24  includes an input/output (I/O) port  24 ( a ), a central processing unit (CPU)  24 ( b ), RAM and ROM memory  24 ( c ) and  24 ( d ), an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter  24 ( e ), a line interface  24 ( f ), radio frequency (RF) transceiver  24 ( g ), data bus  24 ( h ), and power supply  24 ( i ). Other embodiments of the converter  24  are envisioned and within the scope of the invention. In this embodiment, CPU  24 ( b ) provides the processing capabilities of converter  24 . For example, CPU  24 ( b ) converts wireless telephone signals to conventional analog telephone signals and vice versa. CPU  24 ( b ) communicates with RAM memory  24 ( c ) and ROM memory  24 ( d ) in conventional manners to store and retrieve data and operating instructions. CPU  24 ( b ) communicates with wireless telephone  22  via I/O port  24 ( a ) over two-way data bus  24 ( h ). Specifically, CPU receives wireless telephone communications from wireless telephone  22  and sends wireless telephone communications to wireless telephone  22  via data bus  24 ( h ) and I/O port  24 ( a ). Similarly, CPU  24 ( b ) communicates with the hard-wired telephone network  12  through A/D converter  24 ( e ) and line interface  24 ( f ). Specifically, line interface  24 ( f ) provides the interface connection to connect a telephone wire  26 ( b ) between converter  24  and wall jack  18 . A/D converter  24 ( e ) converts analog voice/data signals from the hard-wired telephone network  12  to digital signals used by the CPU  24 ( b ) and visa versa. As shown in  FIG. 2 , CPU  24 ( b ) may additionally communicate to the hard-wired telephone network  12  in a wireless manner via RF transceiver  24 ( g ). Either as a supplement to or in place of hard-wiring converter  24  to hard-wired network  12  (via line interface  24 ( f )), converter  24  may communicate directly to cordless land-line telephone devices (not shown) through RF transceiver  24 ( g ). Specifically, RF transceiver  24 ( g ), if employed, can receive and transmit wireless radio frequency signals to/from cordless hand-held telephone units in much the same manner that known 900 Mhz, 2.4 Ghz, and 5.8 Ghz base units currently communicate with cordless hand-held telephone units. Power supply  24 ( i ) powers the circuitry of converter  24  and further provides the line voltage and ringing current used by the line interface  24 ( f ) to generate rings in the land-line network  12 . 
     Now, exemplary methods of processing telephone calls using converter  24  will be discussed. First, the situation where a phone call is initiated from a third-party (e.g., telephone  23 ) to a residence using a converter  24  is described. A call initiated from telephone  23  is routed through base station  20  and received by wireless telephone  22  in a conventional manner. Though  FIG. 1  shows telephone  23  as a wireless telephone, a call initiated from a conventional land-line telephone would similarly be routed through base station  20  to wireless telephone  22  in a known manner. When wireless telephone  22  receives the call, wireless telephone  22  generates a ring signal, which is conveyed to converter  24  via I/O port  24 ( a ). Converter  24  converts the wireless ring signal to a conventional ring signal for a land-line telephone system, which is output via line interface  24 ( f ) and/or RF transceiver  24 ( g ). This causes land-line telephones (e.g., telephone  16 ) connected to the hard-wired land-line network  12  to ring. When the user answers one of the land-line phones, an off-hook signal is generated. Converter  24  receives the off-hook signal through line interface  24 ( f ) and/or RF transceiver  24 ( g ) and converts it to a wireless telephone format, which is conveyed to wireless telephone  22 . Then, wireless telephone  22  is placed into off-hook mode and the call is connected. Wireless voice/data signals are received from the calling party by wireless telephone  22 . Converter  24  converts those wireless voice/data signals to analog voice/data signals and conveys them to land-line network  12 . Similarly, land-line telephone  16  sends analog voice/data signals to converter  24 , which converts them to wireless voice/data signals and conveys them to wireless telephone  22 . Wireless telephone  22  sends the wireless voice/data signals to the third-party caller in a conventional wireless manner. In this way, two-way communication is established between a conventional land-line telephone and a third-party caller (calling from either a wireless telephone or conventional land-line phone) via a wireless network. 
     Now, a method where a user of the land-line network  12  initiates a call to a third-party will be described. When a user initiates a call by picking up a land-line telephone (e.g., telephone  16 ) (either corded or cordless phone), a conventional off-hook signal is generated. Converter  24  receives the off-hook signal through line interface  24 ( f ) and/or RF transceiver  24 ( g ). Converter  24  converts the off-hook signal to a wireless network format compatible with the wireless network  14 . Wireless telephone  22  receives the off-hook signal and goes into an off-hook mode. The user then dials the desired number on the land-line phone  16 , which is also converted to the wireless network format by converter  24 . Wireless telephone  22 , in response to the signals, dials the corresponding number that is routed through base station  20  to the called party (e.g., wireless telephone  23 ). When the called party picks up, the call is completed between the land-line phone  16  and the called party via the wireless network. 
     In an alternative embodiment, a cell phone cartridge or “clone” cartridge can be used in place of wireless telephone  22  in the system to achieve the same end result. A clone cartridge is a device that is capable of sending and receiving wireless voice/data signals like a normal wireless telephone. However, a clone cartridge does not have any buttons, so the only means of input and output with a clone cartridge is through an I/O interface of the clone cartridge, which, when used with converter  24 , is connected to I/O port  24 ( a ) through wire  27 . The use of a clone cartridge would allow the converter  24  to have the full functionality described hereinabove without the need to connect the user&#39;s wireless telephone  22  to the system. This arrangement would provide the benefit of maintaining the functionality of the land-line system as described above while the wireless telephone  22  is away from the house. Moreover, it provides the additional convenience of not having to constantly plug and unplug the wireless telephone  22  into the system. 
     The above-described embodiment provides a system where conventional land-line telephones and other communication devices can place and receive calls via a wireless network. In the described system, the user does not have to directly use the wireless telephone  22 , thereby reducing some of the possible health concerns associated with wireless telephones. Further, the system allows a user to locate converter  24  where the wireless signal reception is strongest, thereby consistently providing a strong connection to third-party callers. In this way, users can enjoy many of the benefits of a land-line telephone without the expense of two telephone service billings. The user is billed only for use of wireless which connects to the non-user party and is not billed for use of user&#39;s landline telephone which connects only to the user&#39;s wireless telephone or clone. One skilled in the art, in light of this disclosure, will recognize other benefits associated with the described embodiments. 
     Various other modifications to the present invention may occur to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Other modifications not explicitly mentioned herein are also possible and within the scope of the present invention. For example, the foregoing description refers to communications received and/or initiated by the user utilizing a telephone as the land-line device  16 . It is recognized however, that the above systems and processes are equally applicable to communications received and/or initiated by a computer or any other device capable of communicating on the land-line network  12 . Accordingly, it is the following claims, including all equivalents, which define the scope of the present invention.