Telephone circuit monitoring system

Claim 2

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits to determine call disposition comprising: separate input means for connection to each of said telephone circuits and for receiving call-state signals on the associated telephone circuit; means responsive to different address signals respectively associated with said telephone circuits for detecting call-state signals on said input means associated with the addressed one of said telephone circuits, including means for detecting linear signal frequencies and the direct signal characteristics forming call-state signals appearing on said telephone circuits, and for producing corresponding signals representative of the detected signal frequencies and direct signal characteristics; and means responsive to said representative signals for directing the generation of said address signals to control the operation of said detecting means for detecting said call-state signals.

Claim 3

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits as recited in claim 1 wherein said means for directing the generation of said address signala is also responsive to seizure control signals on said telephone circuits.

Claim 4

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits as recited in claim 2 wherein said address signal generating means includes means for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling seizure control signals on said telephone circuits to identify those of said circuits having calls initiated and for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling other call-state signals on a plurality of said telephone circuits having initiated calls identified.

Claim 5

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits as recited in claim 1, wherein said means for detecting and for producing corresponding representative signals includes means for producing representative digital signals, and said means responsive to said representative signals includes a digital processor with a variable program control.

Claim 6

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits as recited in claim 3, wherein said digital processor includes a plurality of call registers each of registering signals representative of the successive call-states of a different telephone call being monitored, and means for directing the selection of the linear signal frequencies and direct signal characteristics to be detected based on the registered call-states of call being monitored.

Claim 7

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: separate input means for connection to each of said telephone circuits and for receiving call-state signals on the associated telephone circuit; means responsive to different address signals respectively associated with said telephone circuits for sampling call-state signals on said input means associated with the addressed one of said telephone circuits, including means for producing corresponding signals representative of the sampled call-state signals; and means responsive to said representative signals and also responsive to seizure control signals on said telephone circuit for directing the generation of said address signals to control the operation of said sampling means; said address signal generating means including means for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling seizure control signals on said telephone circuits to identify those of said circuits having calls initiated and for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling other call-state signals on some of said telephone circuits having initiated calls identified; said means for producing signals representative of said sampled call-state signals including means for standardizing said sampled signals, and a plurality of separate means respectively responsive to a plurality of signals of different audio control frequencies associated with said telephone circuits for producing signals identifying the presence of said audio signals; and said means responsive to said representative signals including means responsive to said audio identifying signals for identifying said call-state signals.

Claim 8

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: separate input means for connection to each of said telephone circuits and for receiving call-state signals on the associated telephone circuit; means responsive to different address signals respectively associated with said telephone circuits for sampling call-state signals on said input means associated with the addressed one of said telephone circuits, including means for producing corresponding signals representative of the sampled call-state signals; and means responsive to said representative signals and also responsive to seizure control signals on said telephone circuit for directing the generation of said address signals to control the operation of said sampling means; said address signal generating means including means for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling seizure control signals on said telephone circuits to identify those of said circuits having calls initiated and for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling other call-state signals on some of said telephone circuits having initiated calls identified; said means for producing signals representative of said sampled call-state signals including means for standardizing said sampled signals, and a plurality of separate means respectively responsive to a plurality of signals of different audio control frequencies associated with said telephone circuits for producing signals identifying the presence of said audio signals; and said means responsive to said representative signals including means responsive to said audio identifying signals for identifying said call-state signals.

Claim 9

Monitoring apparatus as recited in claim 6 wherein representative signal producing means further includes means for restoring said standardizing means and said plurality of means for producing identifying signals to a reference condition at the beginning of a sampling operation.

Claim 10

Monitoring apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein said means for restoring is rendered operative upon the generation of said address signals for sampling said other call-state signals.

Claim 11

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits as recited in claim 6, wherein said means for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling other call-state signals includes means for connecting said plurality of separate audio frequency means for producing identifying signals to receive sampled signals from a telephone circuit being monitored over a sampling period shorter than the period of said other call-state signals.

Claim 12

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: separate input means for connection to each of said telephone circuits and for receiving call-state signals on the associated telephone circuit; means responsive to different address signals respectively associated with said telephone circuits for sampling call-state signals on said input means associated with the addressed one of said telephone circuits, including means for producing corresponding signals representative of the sampled call-state signals; and means responsive to said representative signals and also responsive to seizure control signals on said telephone circuit for directing the generation of said address signals to control the operation of said sampling means; said address signal generating means including means for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling seizure control signals on said telephone circuits to identify those of said circuits having calls initiated and for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling other call-stage signals on some of said telephone circuits having initiated calls identified; said means for producing signals representative of said sampled call-state signals including means for standardizing said sampled signals, and a plurality of separate means respectively responsive to a plurality of signals of different audio contol frequencies associated with said telephone circuits for producing signals identifying the presence of said audio signals; said telephone circuits including a pair of signal lines, and said representative signal producing means including means for obtaining signals in accordance with the difference between the control signals on the pair of lines of said telephone circuits, and said signal standardizing means including means for removing direct current signals, and means for developing uniform amplitudes for the remaining alternating current signals.

Claim 13

Apparatus for monitoring signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: separate input means for connection to each of said telephone circuits and for receiving call-state signals on the associated telephone circuit; means responsive to different address signals respectively associated with said telephone circuits for sampling call-state signals on said input means associated with the addressed one of said telephone circuits, including means for producing corresponding signals representative of the sampled call-state signals; and means responsive to said representative signals and also responsive to seizure control signals on said telephone circuit for directing the generation of said address signals to control the operation of said sampling means; said address signal generating means including means for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling seizure control signals on said telephone circuits to identify those of said circuits having calls initiated and for repeatedly directing the generation of address signals for sampling other call-stage signals on some of said telephone circuits having initiated calls identified; said means for producing signals representative of said sampled call-state signals including means for standardizing said sampled signals, and a plurality of separate means respectively responsive to a plurality of signals of different audio contol frequencies associated with said telephone circuits for producing signals identifying the presence of said audio signals; said telephone circuits including a pair of signal lines, and said representative signal producing means including means for obtaining signals in accordance with the difference between the control signals on the pair of lines of said telephone circuits, and said signal standardizing means including means for removing direct current signals, and means for developing uniform amplitudes for the remaining alternating current signals.

Claim 14

Monitoring apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein said plurality of audio signal identifying means each separately includes a filter circuit tuned to the associated audio control frequency, a rectifier circuit, and means for generating binary signals representative of the presence and absence of said audio signals.

Claim 15

Monitoring apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein said means for developing uniform amplitudes for the alternating current signals includes means for variably attenuating said alternating current signals, and means responsive to the amplitude of the attenuated signals for controlling the attenuation of said attenuating means to develop a substantially uniform amplitude.

Claim 16

Monitoring apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein said attenuation controlling means is further responsive to the rate of rise of said attenuated signals for controlling said attenuation.

Claim 17

Monitoring apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein said means for producing signals representative of said sampled call-state signals includes means responsive to the low frequency components thereof to generate separate signals representative of the amplitude and polarity of said low frequency components.

Claim 18

The process of monitoring control signals, including seizure and other call-state signals, on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits, and upon detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly and discontinuously sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, including varying the repetition rate of said sampling in accordance with the call-state signals that have been sampled.

Claim 19

The process of monitoring control signals, including seizure and other call-state signals, on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits, and upon detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly and discontinuously sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, including varying the repetition rate of said sampling in accordance with the call-state signals that have been sampled.

Claim 20

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits as recited in claim 15, wherein the step of repeatedly and discontinuously sampling includes varying the duration of said sampling in accordance with the relation of successive samples.

Claim 21

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits as recited in claim 15, and further comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits.

Claim 22

The telephone circuit monitoring process of claim 17, and further comprising: upon detecting the initiation of a call on another of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals of said other circuit having a detected call.

Claim 23

The telephone circuit monitoring process of claim 18 wherein said sampling of other call-state signals alternates among a plurality of at least two circuits having detected calls.

Claim 24

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and identifying the sampled call-state signals, and comparing the identified call-state signals of one sample with the call-state signals of a preceding sample to determine if they are the same, and if not the same, obtaining another sample of said call-state signals.

Claim 25

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and identifying the sampled call-state signals, and comparing the identified call-state signals of one sample with the call-state signals of a preceding sample to determine if they are the same, and if not the same, obtaining another sample of said call-state signals.

Claim 26

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and identifying the sampled control signals, and comparing the identified control signals of said samples with a predetermined set of criteria for valid control signals to determine consistency therewith.

Claim 27

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and identifying the sampled control signals, and comparing the identified control signals of said samples with a predetermined set of criteria for valid control signals to determine consistency therewith.

Claim 28

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and identifying the sampled control signals, and comparing the identified control signals with a predetermined set of criteria for call dispositions to determine the disposition of said call.

Claim 29

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and identifying the sampled control signals, and comparing the identified control signals with a predetermined set of criteria for call dispositions to determine the disposition of said call.

Claim 30

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, comprising the sampling of signal elements including frequencies and direct signal characteristics associated with said telephone circuits, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and registering the states of the detected call with the development thereof, and selecting the next of said call-state signal elements to be sampled based on the registered call-states of said detected call.

Claim 31

The process of monitoring control signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits; after detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, comprising the sampling of signal elements including frequencies and direct signal characteristics associated with said telephone circuits, and repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of said telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on others of said telephone circuits; and registering the states of the detected call with the development thereof, and selecting the next of said call-state signal elements to be sampled based on the registered call-states of said detected call.

Claim 32

The process of monitoring control signals, including seizure and other call-state signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits, upon detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly and discontinuously sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, identifying a sampled call-state signal from a plurality of discontinuous samples, and repeating the call-state signal sampling and signal identifying to identify the signals of a sequence of call-state signals, and comparing said sequence of identified signals with predetermined criteria for different sequences of call state signals to identify the sequence of sampled call-state signals.

Claim 33

The process of monitoring control signals, including seizure and other call-state signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: repeatedly sampling the seizure control signals of the telephone circuits to detect the initiation of calls on said circuits, upon detecting the initiation of a call on one of said telephone circuits, repeatedly and discontinuously sampling other call-state signals and said seizure control signals on said one circuit having the detected call, identifying a sampled call-state signal from a plurality of discontinuous samples, and repeating the call-state signal sampling and signal identifying to identify the signals of a sequence of call-state signals, and comparing said sequence of identified signals with predetermined criteria for different sequences of call state signals to identify the sequence of sampled call-state signals.

Claim 34

The telephone circuit monitoring process of claim 24, wherein said call-state signal sampling is varied with said call-state signal sequence.

Claim 35

Apparatus for monitoring linear signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: separate input means for connection to each of said telephone circuits and for receiving call-state signals on the associated telephone circuit; means responsive to different address signals respectively associated with said telephone circuits for sampling and detecting call-state signals on said input means associated with the addressed one of said telephone circuits, including: means for standardizing said sampled signals, a plurality of separate means respectively responsive to a plurality of signals of different audio control frequencies associated with said telephone circuits for producing signals identifying said audio signals, and means for restoring said standardizing means and said plurality of means for producing identifying signals to a reference condition at the beginning of a sampling operation.

Claim 36

Apparatus for monitoring linear signals on a plurality of telephone circuits comprising: separate input means for connection to each of said telephone circuits and for receiving call-state signals on the associated telephone circuit; means responsive to different address signals respectively associated with said telephone circuits for sampling and detecting call-state signals on said input means associated with the addressed one of said telephone circuits, including: means for standardizing said sampled signals, a plurality of separate means respectively responsive to a plurality of signals of different audio control frequencies associated with said telephone circuits for producing signals identifying said audio signals, and means for restoring said standardizing means and said plurality of means for producing identifying signals to a reference condition at the beginning of a sampling operation.