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US5778313A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Pre-paid cellular telephone system

Assignee: Cellexis International Inc
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Filing: 1995-12-08
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Granted: 1998-07-07
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Expires: 2015-12-08
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Abstract

Abstract A pre-pay service unit uses pseudo-numbers to identify subscribers and substitutes actual numbers to complete a call after verification of authenticity and verification of a positive balance in a subscriber's account. The service unit and the cellular telephone exchange data in the process of authentication. For outgoing calls, a cellular telephone first transmits an "800" number and an ANI. The "800" number is the telephone number of the pre-pay service unit, which then requests number actually dialed. The cellular telephone responds with dialed digits, a security code, and status data. If the information is correct, the dialed digits are then passed to a local exchange carrier to complete the call. For incoming calls, a pseudo-number directs the call to the pre-pay service unit, which converts the pseudo-number to the actual telephone number of a subscriber's cellular telephone.

Inventors

  • 👤 Douglas V. Fougnies

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-29 13:10
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04W; H04W4/00; H04W4/24; H04M; H04M17/00; H04M2215/00; H04M2215/20; H04M2215/2026; H04M2215/32

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim 138 words
A pre-paid, cellular telephone system comprising: a plurality of subscriber cellular telephones, each telephone capable of auto-answer and silent ring and including internal memory, a microprocessor, and means for transmitting data from said memory; wherein each of said cellular telephones is programmed to transmit a predetermined first telephone number instead of dialed digits, followed by a unique ANI code, on outgoing calls and is programmed to transmit the dialed digits upon request and to include a unique security code with the dialed digits; a pre-pay service unit including a plurality of telephone communication channels; wherein said pre-pay service unit is identified by said first telephone number and wherein said pre-pay service unit is programmed to request said dialed digits for completing an outgoing call after recognizing a subscriber cellular telephone by said ANI code and said security code.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 138 words
A pre-paid, cellular telephone system comprising: a plurality of subscriber cellular telephones, each telephone capable of auto-answer and silent ring and including internal memory, a microprocessor, and means for transmitting data from said memory; wherein each of said cellular telephones is programmed to transmit a predetermined first telephone number instead of dialed digits, followed by a unique ANI code, on outgoing calls and is programmed to transmit the dialed digits upon request and to include a unique security code with the dialed digits; a pre-pay service unit including a plurality of telephone communication channels; wherein said pre-pay service unit is identified by said first telephone number and wherein said pre-pay service unit is programmed to request said dialed digits for completing an outgoing call after recognizing a subscriber cellular telephone by said ANI code and said security code.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 21 words
The pre-paid, cellular telephone system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for transmitting data includes a DTMF encoder/decoder.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 20 words
The pre-paid, cellular telephone system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means for transmitting data includes a modem.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 24 words
The pre-paid, cellular telephone system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said subscriber cellular telephone scrambles the dialed digits with said security code.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 25 words
The pre-paid, cellular telephone system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said subscriber cellular telephone transmits said dialed digits and said security code seriatim.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 70 words
The pre-paid, cellular telephone system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the subscriber cellular telephones are each identified by a unique pseudo-DID number for incoming calls and wherein said pre-pay service unit stores the actual MIN numbers of the subscriber cellular telephones and converts the pseudo-DID digits into the actual MIN of a subscriber cellular telephone to complete an incoming call to the subscriber cellular telephone using the MIN.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2001-07-06 2002-01-05 2002-07-07 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2005-07-06 2006-01-05 2006-07-07 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2009-07-06 2010-01-05 2010-07-07 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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