Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
118 words
A digital switch module for time division switching of data between digital channels used for input and output, the switching occurring in time slots, the digital channels having corresponding encoding laws and carrying digitized voice signals; said module comprising: conversion memory means for converting the digitized voice signals on the digital channels from a first digital encoding law directly to a second digital encoding law using conversion data previously stored in said conversion memory means; and control memory means for designating the conversion data used by said conversion memory means during each of the time slots in dependence upon the corresponding encoding laws of the digital channels used for input and output during each of the time slots.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
118 words
A digital switch module for time division switching of data between digital channels used for input and output, the switching occurring in time slots, the digital channels having corresponding encoding laws and carrying digitized voice signals; said module comprising: conversion memory means for converting the digitized voice signals on the digital channels from a first digital encoding law directly to a second digital encoding law using conversion data previously stored in said conversion memory means; and control memory means for designating the conversion data used by said conversion memory means during each of the time slots in dependence upon the corresponding encoding laws of the digital channels used for input and output during each of the time slots.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
62 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 1, wherein said conversion memory means comprises: first input means for receiving at least part of the digitized voice signals from the digital channels used for input; and output means for outputting digitized voice signals to the digital channels used for output after conversion using the conversion data designated by said control memory means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
119 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 2, wherein said input means receives the at least part of the digitized voice signals from the digital channels used for input as a first partial address, wherein said control memory means outputs control data designating the conversion data used for converting the digitized voice signals during each of the time slots, and wherein said conversion memory means further comprises second input means for receiving the control data as a second partial address, the first and second partial addresses completely specifying output data to be output from said output means as a single digitized voice signal on one of the digital channels used for output during each of the time slots.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
57 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 3, wherein said output means comprises: a read only memory operatively connected to said first and second input means; and output signal means, operatively connected to said read only memory and the digital channels used for output, for transmitting the output data to the digital channels used for output.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
36 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 1, further comprising a control unit, operatively connected to said control memory means and said conversion memory means, for controlling switching and conversion in said digital switch module.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
89 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 5, wherein said control unit generates a write address and control data to be written in said control memory means at the write address, and wherein said digital switch module further comprises: read address counter means for generating a read address which sequentially changes in synchronism with changes in the time slots; and selector means for selecting between the read address and the write address, said control memory means designating the conversion data when said selector means selects the read address.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
94 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 1, wherein the conversion data previously stored in said conversion memory means converts from the first digital encoding law to the second digital encoding law when the first digital and second encoding laws are different and performs no conversion when the first and second digital encoding laws are identical, and wherein said digital switch module also switches non-voice digital signals from the digital channels used for input to the digital channels used for output without conversion, using one of the conversion data which performs no conversion.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
49 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 1, wherein said conversion memory means further previously stores level attenuation data and said control memory means includes means for designating an attenuation value indicating which of the level attenuation data is to be used during each of the time slots.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
62 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 8, wherein said conversion memory means comprises: first input means for receiving at least part of the digitized voice signals from the digital channels used for input; and output means for outputting digitized voice signals to the digital channels used for output after conversion using the conversion data designated by said control memory means.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
119 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 9, wherein said input means receives the at least part of the digitized voice signals from the digital channels used for input as a first partial address, wherein said control memory means outputs control data designating the conversion data used for converting the digitized voice signals during each of the time slots, and wherein said conversion memory means further comprises second input means for receiving the control data as a second partial address, the first and second partial addresses completely specifying output data to be output from said output means as a single digitized voice signal on one of the digital channels used for output during each of the time slots.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
57 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 10, wherein said output means comprises: a read only memory operatively connected to said first and second input means; and output signal means, operatively connected to said read only memory and the digital channels used for output, for transmitting the output data to the digital channels used for output.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
36 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 8, further comprising a control unit, operatively connected to said control memory means and said conversion memory means, for controlling switching and conversion in said digital switch module.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
89 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 12, wherein said control unit generates a write address and control data to be written in said control memory means at the write address, and wherein said digital switch module further comprises: read address counter means for generating a read address which sequentially changes in synchronism with changes in the time slots; and selector means for selecting between the read address and the write address, said control memory means designating the conversion data when said selector means selects the read address.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
94 words
A digital switch module as recited in claim 8, wherein the conversion data previously stored in said conversion memory means converts from the first digital encoding law to the second digital encoding law when the first and second digital encoding laws are different and performs no conversion when the first and second encoding laws are identical, and wherein said digital switch module also switches non-voice digital data signals from the digital channels used for input to the digital channels used for output without conversion, using one of the conversion data which performs no conversion.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
106 words
A method for switching digital data from input channels to output channels, the input and output channels having corresponding encoding laws and carrying at least digitized voice signals, said method comprising the steps of: (a) storing conversion data in a conversion data memory prior to performing any switching; and (b) switching the digital data from one of the input channels to one of the output channels with conversion of a digital first encoding law corresponding to the one of the input channels to a second digital encoding law corresponding to the one of the output channels in accordance with the conversion data in an all-digital process.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
106 words
A method for switching digital data from input channels to output channels, the input and output channels having corresponding encoding laws and carrying at least digitized voice signals, said method comprising the steps of: (a) storing conversion data in a conversion data memory prior to performing any switching; and (b) switching the digital data from one of the input channels to one of the output channels with conversion of a digital first encoding law corresponding to the one of the input channels to a second digital encoding law corresponding to the one of the output channels in accordance with the conversion data in an all-digital process.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method as recited in claim 15, wherein step (a) comprises the step of storing every possible combination of encoding law conversion including cases in which the first digital encoding law is identical to the second digital encoding law.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising the step of (c) specifying a type of conversion in dependence upon the first and second digital encoding laws.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
83 words
A method as recited in claim 17, wherein said method is performed in a digital switch module for time division switching during time slots, and wherein said method further comprises the steps of: (d) forming a first partial address in the conversion memory using the digital data from one of the input channels; and (e) forming a second partial address from the type of conversion specified in step (c), the first and second partial addresses identifying a single location in the conversion memory.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
50 words
A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the digital data includes digitized voice signals and non-voice signals, and wherein step (b) comprises the steps of; (c) identifying the digitized voice and non-voice signals in the digital data; and (d) performing conversion of encoding laws only for digitized voice signals.