Patent EP0624968A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0624968A2
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EP
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Image and audio communication system having graphical annotation capability
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1994-04-13
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-04-13
Abstract
Abstract Telephone apparatus (101) enables the approximately simultaneous transmission and reception of audio (e.g. from 251) interleaved with image (e.g. from 231) and graphical annotation (e.g. from 233) signals, in data packet form, over an analog line (102) which connects the apparatus to a switched telephone network (103). The audio data packets are transmitted at a periodic rate, during a first time interval, and the image and annotation data packets are transmitted during a second time interval, following the first time interval, enabling the simultaneous output of voice, image and annotation data at the receiver site. Control data packets, as needed, are also transmitted during the second time interval for end-to-end apparatus control. One feature enables the transmission of audio data packets at a first periodic rate, when in an image transmission mode, and at a second periodic rate, faster than the first periodic rate, when not in the image transmission mode.
Inventors
- 👤 Anthony James Catanzaro
- 👤 Steven Charles Dzik
- 👤 Charles Hull
- 👤 Mahendra Pratap
- 👤 Jerome Prestinario
- 👤 Minakanagurki Venkataswamy Ranganath
- 👤 John Frank Ribera
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 06:47
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M11/00; H04M11/08; H04M11/085; H04N; H04N7/00; H04N7/14; H04N7/141; H04N7/148
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 10
Claim 1
Independent Claim
120 words
A telephone apparatus CHARACTERIZED BY means (440, 431, 439) for acquiring an audio signal, image signal and graphical annotation signal, first means for encoding (441) said acquired audio signal into a group of audio data packets for periodic transmission at a first rate over an analog line connected to said apparatus, second means for encoding (610) said acquired image signal, as a group of image data packets, and for encoding said acquired annotation signal, as a group of annotation data packets, and for transmitting said image data packets and annotation data packets interleaved with said audio data packets over said analog line such that the audio data packets are transmitted in approximate synchronization with the image and annotation data packets.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
43 words
The telephone apparatus of claim 1 CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said audio data packets are transmitted during a first time interval and FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said image and annotation data packets are transmitted during a second time interval following said first time interval.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
52 words
The telephone apparatus of claim 1 CHARACTERIZED BY means for generating (907-913) an annotation signal sample if said annotation signal changes within a predetermined time period and for forming an annotation data block for each annotation signal sample and wherein each annotation data packet includes a plurality of said annotation data blocks.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
57 words
A telephone apparatus CHARACTERIZED BY means for receiving (501-525) audio data packets interleaved with image data and graphical annotation data packets over an analog line connected to said apparatus and means for decoding (537, 549, FIG. 10) said received audio, image, and annotation data packets into, respectively, audio, image, and annotation signals for output from said apparatus.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
43 words
The telephone apparatus of claim 4 CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said audio data packets are received during a first time interval and FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said image and annotation data packets are received during a second time interval following said first time interval.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
56 words
A telephone apparatus CHARACTERIZED BY means for acquiring (440, 431, 439) an image signal. an audio signal and a graphical annotation signal and means for encoding (610) each of said acquired audio, image and annotation signals as a separate logical channel in data packets for simultaneous transmission over an analog line of a switched telephone network.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 6 CHARACTERIZED IN THAT said data packets are transmitted in an order which ensures approximate synchronization of said audio and annotation signals.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
99 words
A method of operating a telephone apparatus CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of acquiring (440, 431, 439) an audio signal, image signal and graphical annotation signal, encoding (441) said acquired audio signal into a group of audio data packets for periodic transmission at a first rate over an analog line connected to said apparatus, encoding (610) said acquired image signal, as a group of image data packets, and encoding said acquired annotation signal, as a group of annotation data packets, and transmitting said image data packets and annotation data packets interleaved with said audio data packets over said analog line.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
71 words
A method of operating a telephone apparatus CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of receiving (501-525) audio data packets interleaved with image data and annotation data packets over an analog line connected to said apparatus and decoding (537, 549, FIG. 10) said received audio, image, and annotation data packets into, respectively, audio, image, and annotation signals for output from said apparatus simultaneously, said telephone apparatus thereby providing simultaneous audio, image and annotation capabilities.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
59 words
A method of operating a telephone apparatus CHARACTERIZED BY the steps of acquiring (440, 431, 439) an image signal, an audio signal and a graphical annotation signal and encoding (610) each of said received audio, image and annotation signals as a separate logical channel in data packets for simultaneous transmission over an analog line of a switched telephone network.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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