Source: http://www.google.ca/patents/US20060002379
Timestamp: 2017-10-22 19:33:43
Document Index: 143311117

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 31', 'art 32', 'art 35', 'art 33', 'art 34', 'art 36']

Patent US20060002379 - Packet communication system - Google Patents
The packet communication system enables communication between a communication unit connected in a conventional telephone network and a communication unit in a packet mode network. A device for exclusively selecting the connection network is provided so that, at the time of transmission of a signal from...http://www.google.ca/patents/US20060002379?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20060002379 - Packet communication system
Publication number US20060002379 A1
Application number US 11/210,804
Priority date 12 May 1994
Also published as US5654957, US6563815, US7139265, US20030227910, US20110216764
Publication number 11210804, 210804, US 2006/0002379 A1, US 2006/002379 A1, US 20060002379 A1, US 20060002379A1, US 2006002379 A1, US 2006002379A1, US-A1-20060002379, US-A1-2006002379, US2006/0002379A1, US2006/002379A1, US20060002379 A1, US20060002379A1, US2006002379 A1, US2006002379A1
Inventors Toshiaki Koyama
Patent Citations (36), Referenced by (1), Classifications (25)
Packet communication system
US 20060002379 A1
The packet communication system enables communication between a communication unit connected in a conventional telephone network and a communication unit in a packet mode network. A device for exclusively selecting the connection network is provided so that, at the time of transmission of a signal from one communication unit to another, the connection path is selected according to the kind of the network to which the other communication unit belongs. At the time of signal reception, the communication unit is connected to only one of the conventional telephone network and the packet mode network. The packet communication system includes a packet processor for converting an information signal, such as speech, inputted from an input unit (for example, a transmitter microphone of a handset) into the form of a packet
19. A voice communication apparatus, comprising:
a packet processor connected to a packet communication network, said packet processor converting a voice signal from/to a packet data bilaterally to enable communication of the packet data to said packet communication network,
a telephone controller connected to a telephone network to enable communication of the voice signal on said telephone network;
a switch connected with a voice input and output unit and which connects said packet processor or said telephone controller with said voice input and output unit; and
a controller connected with said switch
wherein in a case where said packet processor receives the packet data transmitted from a transmission source connected to said packed communication network or said telephone controller receives a signal transmitted from a transmission source connected to said telephone network, said controller determines by received information whether said transmission source unit is connected to said packet network or said telephone network, to control said switch and connect said voice input and output unit to one of said packet processor and telephone controller exclusively, and
wherein, in a case where said packet processor is connected to said voice input and output unit, said telephone controller produces a signal indicating busy status of said input and output unit to be transmitted to said telephone network when said telephone controller receives a signal to be transmitted to said voice input and output unit from said transmission source connected to said telephone network.
20. A voice communication apparatus, comprising:
a packet processor connected to a packet communication network, said packet processor converting a voice signal from/to a packet data bilaterally to enable communication of the packet data to said packet communication network;
a controller connected with said switch,
wherein in a case where said packet processor receives the packet data transmitted from a transmission source connected to said packet communication network or said telephone controller receives a signal transmitted from a transmission source connected to said telephone network, said controller determines by received information whether said transmission source unit is connected to said packet network or said telephone network, to control said switch and connect said voice input and output unit to one of said packet processor and telephone controller exclusively, and
wherein, in a case where said telephone controller is connected to said voice input and output unit, said packet processor produces a packet data indicating busy status of said input and output unit to be transmitted to said packet communication network when said packet processor receives a packet data to be transmitted to said voice input and output unit from said transmission source connected to said packet communication network.
This is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 10/396,824, filed Mar. 26, 2003; which is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/238,160, filed Jan. 28, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,815); which is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 08/827,054, filed Mar. 26, 1997 (now abandoned); which is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 08/486,183, filed May 9, 1995 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,957).
With the recent progress of the architecture of a LAN (local area network), the network system connecting small size computers, such as, personal computers using the LAN is also increasing. Thus, an attempt is now being made for integration of communications by permitting voice communication on the LAN in addition to a conventional telephone network (including a PBX network that is a private branch exchange network).
As an example of such an attempt, there is a “voice communication system” as shown in FIG. 4. This voice communication system is composed of telephones connected to a convention telephone network, packet communication units connected to a packeted speech signal communication network (referred to hereinafter as a packet communication network), and a communication gateway used to realize mutual connections between the telephones and the packet communication units. A network carrying such a speech packet on the LAN described above is an example of the packet communication network.
Referring to FIG. 4, the reference numerals 21 and 22 designate telephones connected to a private branch exchange network (a PBX network) 13 and a public telephone network 20, 104 designates a subscriber line of the private branch exchange network 13, 105 designates a subscriber line of the public telephone network 20, and they have the same interface. On the other hand, the reference numeral 101 designates a packeted speech signal transmission network in the form of, for example, a LAN based on the CSMA/CD (carrier sense multiple access with collision detection) scheme according to the standards defined in the IEEE 802.3. A plurality of packet communication units 14, 15 and 16 are connected to this LAN 101.
Further, when the packet communication unit is newly provided for the user possessing his telephone already, the same user possesses both the telephone and the packet communication unit. As a result, the cost inevitably increases, and such a problem arises that the user cannot deal with simultaneous occurrence of a communication request from both the telephone and the packet communication unit The same applies also to the case where the telephone is newly provided for the user who possesses the packet communication unit only.
FIG. 1 shows the system structure of an embodiment of the packet communication system using the packet communication unit according to the present invention, and like reference numerals are used in FIG. 1 to designate like parts appearing in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 30 designates a packet communication unit having a function of connection both of a conventional telephone network and a LAN 101 that is a packet communication network. The packet communication unit 30 is provided with a connection path for connection to the LAN 101 and a connection interface line 103 for connection to a private branch exchange network 13 that is the conventional telephone network. The connection interface line 103 provides the same interface as that for subscriber lines connected to telephones 21 and 22. The connection interface line 103 may be connected to a public telephone network 20 instead of the private branch exchange network 13. However, for the convenience of description, it is supposed herein that the connection interface line 103 is connected to the private branch exchange network 12.
FIG. 2 shows in detail the structure of the packet communication unit 30. The packet communication unit 30 is composed of a processor part 31 executing overall control, a display part 32 displaying various kinds of messages, for example, arrived messages, scenes, for example, address input scenes, etc., viewed by the user for the selection of the other party, a keyboard/mouse part 35 inputting information required for operation, a speech packet processor part 33 processing a speech input and a speech output to and from a handset 19 so as to transmit and receive a speech packet to and from the LAN 101, a telephone interface control part 34 controlling the subscriber line interface of the conventional telephone network, and a switch part 36 switched over to select whether the speech stream to the handset 19 is to be supplied from the side of the LAN 101 or from the side of the private branch exchange network 13 therefor. These parts are interconnected with each other by a bus 301.
The packet communication unit 30 incorporated in this embodiment uses a communication path 121 when it communicates with, for example, a packet communication unit 14 located on the LAN 101, while it uses another communication path 123 when it communicates with the telephones 21 and 22 connected to the conventional telephone network. Whether the communication unit of the other party is located on the LAN 101 or connected to the private branch exchange network 13 is decided on the basis of whether an identifier specifying the communication unit of the other party is a network address or a telephone number. Then, on the basis of the result of decision, the packet communication unit 30 selects the connection path.
The packet communication unit 14 in the prior art packet communication network must use the communication path 122 extending through the communication gateway 12 when it makes communication with the telephones 21 and 22 connected to the conventional telephone network only, as shown in FIG. 4. The practical mode in which the packet communication unit 30 is newly introduced to be provided for the user who possesses the existing telephone already will now be considered. In the case of the illustrated embodiment, a bypass route in the from of the connection interface line 103 directly connecting the packet communication unit 30 and the telephones 21 and 22 to the private branch exchange network 13 is provided as shown in FIG. 1, so that the load imposed on the communication gateway 12 can be greatly lightened.
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International Classification H04M7/12, H04Q11/04, H04M3/42, H04M3/00, H04M3/533, H04M3/428, H04M1/253, H04M7/00, H04L12/66
Cooperative Classification H04M3/533, H04L2012/6481, H04M7/006, H04L12/6418, H04M7/0069, H04M7/0057, H04M7/12, H04M3/428, H04M3/42323, H04M1/2535
European Classification H04M7/00M8R, H04M3/42P2, H04M7/00M, H04M7/00D18, H04L12/64B