EP0641139A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Merging audio and telephone data for a computer
Assignee: HP Inc
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Filing: 1994-06-17
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-06-17
Abstract
Abstract A computer Input/Output (I/O) subsystem providing communication and control between a computer (100) and external audio (108) and telephone devices (106). The external signals include stereo audio input signals, stereo audio output signals for headphones, monaural audio microphone input signal, monaural audio output signal for a speaker, analog telephone lines and ISDN. Data to and from the multiple computer I/O ports (120, 122, 124) and data to and from the multiple external devices is all merged for communication over a single time-domain-multiplexed full-duplex serial bus (134). The telephone circuit is designed as an option and is either analog or ISDN. When the telephone circuit is installed, the serial bus is automatically reconfigured to accommodate the additional data and control information. The telephone circuit transparently merges serial telephone data and serial audio data. For example, MODEM data I/O can occur simultaneously with audio sample data.
Inventors
- 👤 Brian K. Arnold
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 12:07
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04Q; H04Q11/00; H04Q11/04; H04Q11/0428; H04Q11/0435; H04Q11/0471; H04M; H04M1/00; H04M1/253; H04Q2213/00; H04Q2213/13003; H04Q2213/13034; H04Q2213/13091; H04Q2213/13093; H04Q2213/13174; H04Q2213/13199; H04Q2213/13202; H04Q2213/13204; H04Q2213/13209; H04Q2213/13216; H04Q2213/13292; H04Q2213/13299; H04Q2213/13322; H04Q2213/13392
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
155 words
A computer system comprising: a computer (100); a first peripheral device (108); a second peripheral device (106); a first bus (138) that is full-duplex serial, connected to the first peripheral device; a second bus (134) that is full-duplex serial, connected to the computer, to the second peripheral device and to the first bus; the first peripheral device transferring first peripheral data over the first bus, the first peripheral data formatted into first data frames (502) having a first frame rate; the second peripheral device transferring second peripheral data over the second bus, the second peripheral data formatted into second data frames (514); and the computer transferring computer data over the second bus, the computer data formatted into computer data frames (500) being transferred over the second bus at the first frame rate, each of the computer data frames comprising one of the first data frames concatenated with one or more of the second data frames.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
44 words
A computer system as in claim 1: the computer data frames comprising one of the first data frames concatenated with more than one of the second data frames, the second data frames thereby being transferred at a rate higher than the first frame rate.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
A computer system as in claim 2: the first frame rate being an audio rate.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
234 words
A computer system as in claim 1: the computer having one or more computer interfaces (120, 122, 124); the second peripheral device having one or more peripheral data ports; each of the second data frames further comprising an address (518) , a plurality of data bits (514) and a ready bit (520), the address in each of the second data frames from the second peripheral device to the computer designating one of the computer interfaces, the address in each of the second data frames from the computer to the second peripheral device designating one of the peripheral data ports; wherein when one of the second data frames is being sent from the computer to the second peripheral device, another one of the second data frames is simultaneously being sent from the second peripheral device to the computer; and wherein the ready bit in each of the second data frames from the computer to the second peripheral device indicates whether one of the computer interfaces, designated by the address in the simultaneous data frame from the second peripheral device to the computer, is ready to receive data; and wherein the ready bit in each of the second data frames from the second peripheral device to the computer indicates whether the peripheral data port, designated by the address in the simultaneous data frame from the computer to the second peripheral device, is ready to receive data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
224 words
A computer system comprising: a computer (100); a first peripheral device (108); a second peripheral device (106) that is removable; a first bus (138) that is full-duplex serial, connected to the first peripheral device; a second bus (134) that is full-duplex serial, connected to the computer; wherein the second bus automatically connects the computer directly to the first bus if the second peripheral device is not present; wherein the second bus automatically connects the computer to the second peripheral device and to the first bus if the second peripheral device is present; the first peripheral device transferring first peripheral data over the first bus, the first peripheral data formatted into first data frames (502) having a first frame rate; the computer transferring computer data over the second bus, the computer data formatted into computer data frames (500) being transferred over the second bus at the first frame rate; the second peripheral device, if present, transferring second peripheral data over the second bus, the second peripheral data formatted into second data frames (514); each of the computer data frames comprising one of the first data frames if the second peripheral device is not present; and each of the computer data frames comprising one of the first data frames concatenated with one or more of the second data frames if the second peripheral device is present.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
138 words
A method of merging data on a first bus (138) with data on a second bus (134), the first bus connected to a first peripheral device (108), the second bus connected to a computer (100), to a second peripheral device (106), and to the first bus, the method comprising the following steps: (a) formatting data for the first peripheral device into first data frames (502); (b) transferring the first data frames over the first bus at a first frame rate; (c) formatting data for the second peripheral device into second data frames (514); (d) concatenating one of the first data frames with one or more of the second data frames to form each one of a plurality of computer data frames (500); and (e) transferring the computer data frames over the second bus at the first frame rate.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
238 words
A method for indicating a ready condition for communication between a computer (100) and a peripheral device (106), the computer and the peripheral device connected by a communications bus (134), the communications bus being full-duplex serial, the method comprising the following steps: (a) sending a computer address (518), corresponding to a computer interface, over the communications bus, from the peripheral device to the computer; (b) sending a peripheral address (518), corresponding to a peripheral data port, simultaneously with step (a), over the communications bus, from the computer to the peripheral device; (c) sending a first ready bit (520), over the communications bus, from the peripheral device to the computer, indicating whether the peripheral device is ready to receive data at the peripheral data port; (d) sending a second ready bit (520), simultaneously with step (c), over the communications bus, from the computer to the peripheral device, indicating whether the computer is ready to receive data at the computer interface; (e) sending data (514), over the communications bus, from the peripheral device to the computer if the computer indicated in step (d) that the computer was ready to receive data at the computer interface; and (f) sending data (514), simultaneously with step (e), over the communications bus, from the computer to the peripheral device, if the peripheral device indicated to the computer in step (c) that the peripheral device was ready to receive data at the peripheral data port.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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