Dat storage back-up and modem apparatus

Claim 2

A streamer apparatus for transferring data between a first storage device of a computer system having serial interface transmit and receive ports for transmitting and receiving serial data, respectively, and a digital audio player/recorder having an audio line-in port and an audio line-out port, wherein said digital audio player/recorder utilizes a recording medium selected from a group consisting of digital audio tape and recordable compact disc, said streamer apparatus comprising: data path means for transferring first data stored in said first storage device through said serial interface transmit port to said audio line-in port of said digital audio player/recorder, said digital audio player/recorder for storing a back-up copy of said first data, said digital audio player/recorder recording at a predetermined level; amplifier means coupled to said audio line-out port of said digital audio player/recorder for receiving and amplifying second data from said digital audio player/recorder by a predetermined factor; first level converter means coupled to said amplifier means and said serial interface receive port for level-converting said second data to be compatible with said serial interface receive port, said first level converter means transferring the level-converted second data to said first storage device through said serial interface receive port; remote control means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder for controlling the operation of said digital audio player/recorder, said remote control means being preprogrammed to provide control of said digital audio player/recorder by a user; programmable liquid-crystal display means coupled to said remote control means for providing a plurality of visual display signals indicative of the status of said digital audio player/recorder, said plurality of visual display signals being generated based on a plurality of preprogrammed status indicators; audio signal generator coupled to said remote control means for providing a plurality of preprogrammed voice signals indicative of the status of said digital audio player/recorder.

Claim 3

A streamer apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a universal power supply unit for supplying a range of voltages to be consumed by said streamer apparatus.

Claim 4

A streamer according to claim 1, wherein said digital audio player/recorder is a digital audio tape (DAT) player/recorder.

Claim 5

A streamer apparatus for transferring data between a first storage device of a computer system having serial interface transmit and receive ports for transmitting and receiving serial data, respectively, and a digital audio player/recorder having an audio line-in port and an audio line-out port, wherein said digital audio player/recorder utilizes a recording medium selected from a group consisting of digital audio tape and recordable compact disc, said streamer apparatus comprising: data path means for transferring first data stored in said first storage device through said serial interface transmit port to said audio line-in port of said digital audio player/recorder, said digital audio player/recorder for storing a back-up copy of said first data, said digital audio player/recorder recording at a predetermined level, wherein said serial interface transmit and receive ports are implemented on one of an RS-232 interface and an RS-422 interface, said serial interface transmit and receive ports having transmit-data (TD) and receive-data (RD) pins, respectively, and said data path means connects the TD pin of said serial interface transmit port to said digital audio back-up storage device; amplifier means coupled to said audio line-out port of said digital audio player/recorder for receiving and amplifying second data from said digital audio player/recorder by a predetermined factor; first level converter means coupled to said amplifier means and said serial interface receive port for level-converting said second data to be compatible with said serial interface receive port, said first level converter means transferring the level-converted second data to said first storage device through said serial interface receive port; remote control means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder for controlling the operation of said digital audio player/recorder, said remote control means being preprogrammed to provide control of said digital audio player/recorder by a user; programmable liquid-crystal display means coupled to said remote control means for providing a plurality of visual display signals indicative of the status of said digital audio player/recorder, said plurality of visual display signals being generated based on a plurality of preprogrammed status indicators; audio signal generator coupled to said remote control means for providing a plurality of preprogrammed voice signals indicative of the status of said digital audio player/recorder.

Claim 6

A streamer apparatus for transferring data between a first storage device of a computer system having serial interface transmit and receive ports for transmitting and receiving serial data, respectively, and a digital audio player/recorder having an audio line-in port and an audio line-out port, wherein said digital audio player/recorder utilizes a recording medium selected from a group consisting of digital audio tape and recordable compact disc, said streamer apparatus comprising: data path means for transferring first data stored in said first storage device through said serial interface transmit port to said audio line-in port of said digital audio player/recorder, said digital audio player/recorder for storing a back-up copy of said first data, said digital audio player/recorder recording at a predetermined level, wherein said serial interface transmit and receive ports are implemented on one of an RS-232 interface and an RS-422 interface, said serial interface transmit and receive ports having transmit-data (TD) and receive-data (RD) pins, respectively, and said data path means connects the TD pin of said serial interface transmit port to said digital audio back-up storage device; amplifier means coupled to said audio line-out port of said digital audio player/recorder for receiving and amplifying second data from said digital audio player/recorder by a predetermined factor; first level converter means coupled to said amplifier means and said serial interface receive port for level-converting said second data to be compatible with said serial interface receive port, said first level converter means transferring the level-converted second data to said first storage device through said serial interface receive port; remote control means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder for controlling the operation of said digital audio player/recorder, said remote control means being preprogrammed to provide control of said digital audio player/recorder by a user; programmable liquid-crystal display means coupled to said remote control means for providing a plurality of visual display signals indicative of the status of said digital audio player/recorder, said plurality of visual display signals being generated based on a plurality of preprogrammed status indicators; audio signal generator coupled to said remote control means for providing a plurality of preprogrammed voice signals indicative of the status of said digital audio player/recorder.

Claim 7

A streamer apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said amplifier means comprises an LM741 operational amplifier coupled to said digital audio player/recorder.

Claim 8

A streamer apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said first level converter means comprises Motorola MC1488 line driver and said second level converter means comprises Motorola MC1489 line receiver circuits.

Claim 9

A streamer apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said DAT player/recorder records at -1 dB.

Claim 12

A streamer apparatus for transferring data between a first storage device of a computer system having serial interface transmit and receive ports and one of a digital audio player/recorder having an audio line-in port and an audio line-out port and a remote data processing system, wherein said digital audio player/recorder utilizes a recording medium selected from a group consisting of digital audio tape and recordable compact disc, said streamer apparatus comprising: data path for transferring first data stored in said first storage device through said serial interface transmit port to said audio line-in port of said digital audio player/recorder; amplifier means coupled to said audio line-out port of said digital audio player/recorder for receiving and amplifying second data from said digital audio player/recorder; first level converter means coupled to said amplifier means and said serial interface receive port for level-converting said second data to be compatible with said serial interface receive port, said first level converter means transferring the level-converted second data to said first storage device through said serial interface receive port; second level converter means coupled to said serial interface transmit port for level-converting said first data from said serial interface transmit port; remote communication means coupled to said second level converter means for transferring the level-converted first data from said serial interface transmit port to said remote data processing system through a telephone line; third level converter means coupled to said remote communication means for level-converting third data from said remote computer system and transferring said third data to said serial interface receive port; remote control means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder for controlling the operation of said digital audio player/recorder by a user; and switching means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder and said remote control means, said switching means activating one of said remote communication means and said digital audio player/recorder.

Claim 13

A streamer apparatus for transferring data between a first storage device of a computer system having serial interface transmit and receive ports and one of a digital audio player/recorder having an audio line-in port and an audio line-out port and a remote data processing system, wherein said digital audio player/recorder utilizes a recording medium selected from a group consisting of digital audio tape and recordable compact disc, said streamer apparatus comprising: data path for transferring first data stored in said first storage device through said serial interface transmit port to said audio line-in port of said digital audio player/recorder; amplifier means coupled to said audio line-out port of said digital audio player/recorder for receiving and amplifying second data from said digital audio player/recorder; first level converter means coupled to said amplifier means and said serial interface receive port for level-converting said second data to be compatible with said serial interface receive port, said first level converter means transferring the level-converted second data to said first storage device through said serial interface receive port; second level converter means coupled to said serial interface transmit port for level-converting said first data from said serial interface transmit port; remote communication means coupled to said second level converter means for transferring the level-converted first data from said serial interface transmit port to said remote data processing system through a telephone line; third level converter means coupled to said remote communication means for level-converting third data from said remote computer system and transferring said third data to said serial interface receive port; remote control means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder for controlling the operation of said digital audio player/recorder by a user; and switching means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder and said remote control means, said switching means activating one of said remote communication means and said digital audio player/recorder.

Claim 14

A streamer apparatus for transferring data between a first storage device of a computer system having serial interface transmit and receive ports for transmitting and receiving serial data, respectively, and a digital audio player/recorder having an audio line-in port and an audio line-out port, wherein said digital audio player/recorder utilizes a recording medium selected from a group consisting of digital audio tape and recordable compact disc, said streamer apparatus comprising: data path means for transferring first data stored in said first storage device through said serial interface transmit port to said audio line-in port of said digital audio player/recorder, said digital audio player/recorder for storing a back-up copy of said first data, said digital audio player/recorder recording at a predetermined level; amplifier means coupled to said audio line-out port of said digital audio player/recorder for receiving and amplifying second data from said digital audio player/recorder by a predetermined factor; first level converter means coupled to said amplifier means and said serial interface receive port for level-converting said second data to be compatible with said serial interface receive port, said first level converter means transferring the level-converted second data to said first storage device through said serial interface receive port; second level converter means coupled to said data path for level-converting said first data from said serial interface transmit port; remote communication means coupled to said second level converter means for transferring the level-converted first data from said first storage device of said computer system to at least one remote computer system through a telephone line; third level converter means coupled to said remote communication means for level-converting third data from said remote computer system and transferring said third data to said serial interface receive port.

Claim 15

A streamer apparatus for transferring data between a first storage device of a computer system having serial interface transmit and receive ports for transmitting and receiving serial data, respectively, and a digital audio player/recorder having an audio line-in port and an audio line-out port, wherein said digital audio player/recorder utilizes a recording medium selected from a group consisting of digital audio tape and recordable compact disc, said streamer apparatus comprising: data path means for transferring first data stored in said first storage device through said serial interface transmit port to said audio line-in port of said digital audio player/recorder, said digital audio player/recorder for storing a back-up copy of said first data, said digital audio player/recorder recording at a predetermined level; amplifier means coupled to said audio line-out port of said digital audio player/recorder for receiving and amplifying second data from said digital audio player/recorder by a predetermined factor; first level converter means coupled to said amplifier means and said serial interface receive port for level-converting said second data to be compatible with said serial interface receive port, said first level converter means transferring the level-converted second data to said first storage device through said serial interface receive port; second level converter means coupled to said data path for level-converting said first data from said serial interface transmit port; remote communication means coupled to said second level converter means for transferring the level-converted first data from said first storage device of said computer system to at least one remote computer system through a telephone line; third level converter means coupled to said remote communication means for level-converting third data from said remote computer system and transferring said third data to said serial interface receive port.

Claim 16

A streamer apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising: remote control means coupled to said digital audio player/recorder for controlling the operation of said digital audio player/recorder, said remote control means being preprogrammed to provide control of said digital audio player/recorder to a user.

Claim 17

A streamer apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a switching means coupled to said remote communication means and said remote control means, said switching means activating one of said remote communication means and said digital audio player/recorder.

Claim 18

A streamer apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said remote communication means comprises a modem circuit for transferring the level-converted first data from said first storage device of said computer system to at least one remote computer system through a telephone line.

Claim 19

A streamer apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said remote communication means further comprises a facsimile means for transferring the level-converted first data from said first storage device of said computer system to at least one remote facsimile system through a telephone line.