US5452289A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Computer-based multifunction personal communications system
Assignee: Multi Tech Systems Inc
•
Filing: 1993-01-08
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Granted: 1995-09-19
•
Expires: 2013-01-08
Abstract
Abstract A personal communications system is described which includes components of software and hardware operating in conjunction with a personal computer. The user interface control software operates on a personal computer, preferably within the Microsoft Windows® environment. The software control system communicates with hardware components linked to the software through the personal computer serial communications port. The hardware components include telephone communication equipment, digital signal processors, and hardware to enable voice, fax and data communication with a remote site connected through a standard telephone line. The functions of the hardware components are controlled by control software operating within the hardware component and from the software components operating within the personal computer. The major functions of the system are a telephone function, a voice mail function, a fax manager function, a multi-media mail function, a show and tell function, a terminal function and an address book function. The telephone function allows the present system to operate, from the users perspective, as a conventional telephone using either hands-free, headset or handset operation. The telephone function is more sophisticated than a standard telephone in that the present system converts the voice into a digital signal which can be processed with echo cancellation, compressed, stored as digital data for later retrieval and transmitted as digital voice data concurrent with the transfer of digital information data.
Inventors
- 👤 Raghu Sharma
- 👤 Jeffrey P. Davis
- 👤 Timothy D. Gunn
- 👤 Ping Li
- 👤 Sidhartha Maitra
- 👤 Ashish Thanawala
- 👤 Steve Young
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 03:07
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N1/00; H04N1/00127; H04N1/00204; H04N1/00206; H04L; H04L12/00; H04L12/64; H04L12/6418; H04L27/00; H04L27/32; H04L27/34; H04L27/3405; H04L27/3416; H04L65/00; H04L65/1066; H04L65/1069; H04L65/60; H04L65/75; H04L65/762; H04L65/80; H04L69/00; H04L69/04; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; H04M; H04M1/00; H04M1/247; H04M1/2473; H04M1/2477; H04M1/253; H04M1/60; H04M1/6033; H04M1/66; H04M1/663; H04M11/00; H04M11/06; H04M11/064; H04M11/068; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/436; H04M3/50; H04M3/53; H04M3/5307; H04M3/533; H04M3/56; H04M3/567; H04M7/00; H04M7/0024; H04M7/0027; H04M7/0057; H04M7/12; H04M7/1205; H04M7/1295; G; G10; G10L; G10L19/00; G10L19/04; H04L2012/6424; H04L2012/6427; H04L2012/6445; H04L2012/6459; H04L2012/6475; H04L2012/6481; H04L2012/6491; H04L2012/6494; H04L65/1101; H04M1/57; H04M1/64; H04M1/65; H04M1/6505; H04M2203/00; H04M2203/45; H04M2203/4509; H04M3/002; H04M7/006; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S379/00; Y10S379/908
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
451 words
A multifunction communication system for use with a personal computer, the personal computer having a processor, memory, and a peripheral data store, comprising: a communications module connected to the personal computer, the module comprising: communications interface means connected for communicating to the personal computer for transferring data between the personal computer and the communications module; telephone line interface means for connection to a telephone line and for full duplex digital communication over the telephone line; telephone voice interface means for receiving local voice signals from a local user and for conveying remote voice signals from a remote user to the local user; full-duplex conversion means for converting the local voice signals into outgoing digital voice data and for converting incoming digital voice data into the remote voice signals; compression means for compressing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and for decompressing compressed incoming digital voice data packets into the incoming digital voice data, each of the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets having headers and each of the compressed incoming digital voice data packets having headers; main control means for receiving the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets from the compression means, for receiving outgoing computer digital data packets from the personal computer through the communications interface means, for multiplexing the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and the outgoing computer digital data packets to produce multiplexed outgoing digital data and for sending the multiplexed outgoing digital data to the telephone line interface means for digital transmission over the telephone line; the main control means further for receiving multiplexed incoming digital data from the telephone line interface means from the telephone line, the multiplexed incoming digital data containing incoming computer digital data packets multiplexed with the compressed incoming digital voice data packets, for demultiplexing the incoming computer digital data packets and the compressed incoming digital voice data packets, and for sending the incoming computer digital data packets to the personal computer through the communications interface means and for sending the compressed incoming digital voice data packets to the compression means, each of the incoming computer digital data packets having headers; the personal computer operable for executing software to communicate with the communications module through the communications interface and operable for initiating a telephone call to a remote site in response to the commands by the local user and for causing the main control means of the communications module to perform multiplexing and demultiplexing; and the personal computer further operable for receiving and storing the incoming computer digital data packets received from the communications module over the communications interface and for transmitting the outgoing computer digital data packets to the communications module over the communications interface.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
451 words
A multifunction communication system for use with a personal computer, the personal computer having a processor, memory, and a peripheral data store, comprising: a communications module connected to the personal computer, the module comprising: communications interface means connected for communicating to the personal computer for transferring data between the personal computer and the communications module; telephone line interface means for connection to a telephone line and for full duplex digital communication over the telephone line; telephone voice interface means for receiving local voice signals from a local user and for conveying remote voice signals from a remote user to the local user; full-duplex conversion means for converting the local voice signals into outgoing digital voice data and for converting incoming digital voice data into the remote voice signals; compression means for compressing the outgoing digital voice data into compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and for decompressing compressed incoming digital voice data packets into the incoming digital voice data, each of the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets having headers and each of the compressed incoming digital voice data packets having headers; main control means for receiving the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets from the compression means, for receiving outgoing computer digital data packets from the personal computer through the communications interface means, for multiplexing the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets and the outgoing computer digital data packets to produce multiplexed outgoing digital data and for sending the multiplexed outgoing digital data to the telephone line interface means for digital transmission over the telephone line; the main control means further for receiving multiplexed incoming digital data from the telephone line interface means from the telephone line, the multiplexed incoming digital data containing incoming computer digital data packets multiplexed with the compressed incoming digital voice data packets, for demultiplexing the incoming computer digital data packets and the compressed incoming digital voice data packets, and for sending the incoming computer digital data packets to the personal computer through the communications interface means and for sending the compressed incoming digital voice data packets to the compression means, each of the incoming computer digital data packets having headers; the personal computer operable for executing software to communicate with the communications module through the communications interface and operable for initiating a telephone call to a remote site in response to the commands by the local user and for causing the main control means of the communications module to perform multiplexing and demultiplexing; and the personal computer further operable for receiving and storing the incoming computer digital data packets received from the communications module over the communications interface and for transmitting the outgoing computer digital data packets to the communications module over the communications interface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications module further includes acoustic echo cancellation means for removing at least a portion of the incoming digital voice data from the outgoing digital voice data for acoustic echo cancellation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications module further includes line echo cancellation means for removing at least a portion of the outgoing digital voice data from the incoming digital voice data for line echo cancellation.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
75 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the main control means is further operable for receiving incoming fax data from the telephone line through the telephone line interface means and forwarding the incoming fax data to the personal computer through the communications interface means and for receiving outgoing fax data from the personal computer through the communications interface means and sending the outgoing fax data to the telephone line through the telephone line interface means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications interface means is connected for communicating to a communications port of the personal computer for transferring data between the personal computer and the communications module.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the communications interface means is connected for communicating directly to a bus of the personal computer for transferring data between the personal computer and the communications module.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
82 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the main control means is further operable for receiving the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets from the compression means and for forwarding the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets to the personal computer; and the personal computer is further operable for receiving and storing the compressed outgoing digital voice data packets received from the communications module over the communications interface and for storing the compressed outgoing digital voice data on the peripheral data store.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
78 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the main control means is further operable for receiving the compressed incoming digital voice data packets and for forwarding the compressed incoming digital voice data packets to the personal computer; and the personal computer is further operable for receiving and storing the compressed incoming digital voice data packets received from the communications module over the communications interface and for storing the compressed outgoing digital voice data on the peripheral data store.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
57 words
The system according to claim 8 wherein the personal computer is further operable for retrieving the compressed incoming digital voice data from the peripheral data store, for modifying the compressed incoming digital voice data to create modified compressed incoming digital voice data and for storing the modified compressed incoming digital voice data onto the peripheral data store.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
41 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the telephone line is an analog telephone line and the telephone line interface means is further operable for modulating the multiplexed outgoing digital data into a modulated analog signal for full duplex digital communication.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
44 words
The system according to claim 1 wherein the telephone line is a digital telephone line and the telephone line interface means is further operable for sending the multiplexed outgoing digital data over the telephone line as unmodulated digital data for full duplex digital communication.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-09-18 | 1999-03-20 | 1999-09-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-09-18 | 2003-03-20 | 2003-09-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-09-18 | 2007-03-20 | 2007-09-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |