Broadband communications access device

Broadband communication access device

References that cross related applications. The present invention enjoys the priority of the US provisional patent application No. 60/179,942 filed on January 31, 2000 and the provisional patent application No. 60/189,870 filed on March 16, 2000. Both The contents of the document are incorporated into this application by quoting here.

This interest is driving the evolution of home communications from narrowband communications to broadband communications. As is well known in the art, broadband communication includes communication signals, and these communication signals are usually transmitted through independent incoming and outgoing channels. The network devices in the broadband network are connected by copper wires, coaxial cables, optical cables or wireless methods, which carry data, voice and video signals at the same time. Broadband communications can perform high-speed operations (such as operating at speeds of several million bits per second (Mbps)).

But providing broadband communications to the home environment involves some problems. One problem is that before the advent of digital subscriber lines, broadband access through local area network (local area network) sharing, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) or other broadband communication services was only used in commercial or commercial environments. Most communications from the outside world to the home use narrowband or Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) or analog modems.

Another problem is that broadband communication is very complicated to operate. Broadband communication usually includes a large number of broadband communication parameters, which must be set before using broadband communication. The services provided also require the use of broadband communications. As known in the art, the services provided include the allocation, setting, and maintenance of multiple transmission channels and virtual communication paths used for broadband communications.

Normally, in a commercial or commercial environment, well-trained professionals are required to handle these complex matters. However, these well-trained professionals are not needed to manage the home network. At the same time, home users are not required to have sufficient network experience to set up and provide broadband communications in a home environment.

Another problem is that it is becoming common for home users to have a small office or home office network. Such a home network usually contains one or more personal computers, printers, fax machines, mobile phones or personal data assistance systems. These devices are connected inside the home and connected to external networks such as the Internet. A home network usually requires a channel, a router, or a link function, so that devices connected to the home network can communicate with other devices connected to the Internet by forming a data connection (such as an Internet protocol).

As is known in the art, different network protocols and/or channels operating under different transmission capabilities are used to connect computer networks. The information received and transmitted by the road traveler, and the information is sent to their destination through the most effective path available. Linking devices use the same protocol to connect the networks so that information can be transferred from one network device to another.

Such channel, road tour or link function usually requires setting, initialization and management of various channel tables, road tour tables or link tables. It is also not necessary for home users to have sufficient network experience to set up, initialize and manage these tables in the home environment.

Another problem is that many home users do not have the natural space to accommodate additional modules or equipment used as home channels. Home users do not have additional wired or wireless connection methods to connect to the home channel (such as having redundant telephone lines).

Another problem is that although many home users want to use the home channel function, these users already have an existing telephone system. Many current telephone systems are not compatible with products that can provide any type of home channel function, or cannot be used for these products.

Another problem is that many devices used in home networks are wireless. It is often necessary to connect these wireless devices to broadband communication paths.

Another problem is that most broadband communication devices can realize the networking of the outside world to the home, but cannot realize the networking of the home network devices. What is usually needed is broadband communication that can realize networking from the outside world to the home and the home.

Therefore, it is hoped that a certain device can provide broadband communication to the home environment, which can solve the problems mentioned in this article and other problems related to the provision of broadband communication to the home.

The telephone-based integrated home channel includes the home channel interface, communication interface, processor, display interface, and wireless communication. The channel interface is used to initialize the setup and provision of broadband communication devices, and is used to provide road trips or Link, the communication interface is used to connect one or more networks, and is used to provide data communication, broadband communication, and narrowband communication including voice communication; the processor processes the information from one or more networks; the display interface Used to display information from one or more networks; the wireless communication interface is used to connect to external wireless devices. The telephone-based integrated home channel system may also include a portable multifunctional hand-held device. But the telephone-based integrated home channel system is not limited to the above-mentioned interface.

However, the phone-based home channel interface may also use more, fewer or equivalent components, and the present invention is not limited to these components.

The telephone-based integrated home channel system described herein can be used for conventional telephone devices, broadband home channels, wireless local loop home channels, cable TV set-top boxes, and other communication functions as an integrated device. The telephone-based integrated home channel system implied data (such as Internet protocol) and broadband (such as digital subscriber lines, (Cable, wireless, etc.) service settings and the complexity of the provision, so that home users can not see these complexities.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will become clearer through the following more detailed description. A detailed description will be given below in conjunction with the drawings.

Figure 2 shows the module diagram of the asynchronous digital subscriber line in the telephone-based home channel system.

Figure 3 shows the module diagram of a telephone-based integrated home channel system.

Figure 4 shows the module diagram of a telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system.

FIG. 5 shows a module diagram of the wireless integrated home channel system based on the telephone in FIG. 4 and the wireless networking mode from the outside to the home.

Figure 6A shows a block diagram of a typical telephone-based integrated home channel interface structure.

Figure 6B shows a block diagram of a typical telephone-based wireless integrated home channel interface structure.

Figure 7 shows the module diagram of a typical telephone-based home channel interface software structure.

Figure 8 shows a block diagram of the software structure of a typical dialogue time management program.

Figure 9 shows a module diagram of the software structure of a typical service management program.

Figure 10 shows a block diagram of the software structure of a typical interface management program.

Figure 11 shows the software structure module diagram of a typical display management program.

Figure 12 shows the module diagram of the telephone-based integrated home channel conversion system under the current telephone system.

Figure 13 shows the flow chart of the home channel interface communication initialization method.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment Typical telephone-based home passage system Figure 1 shows a typical telephone-based home passage system 10 in a typical embodiment of the present invention. As is known in the art, channels use different network protocols and/or different transmission capabilities to connect computer networks. A typical telephone-based home channel system 10 includes a local area network 12 (local area network), the local area network with one or more network devices 14 and 16, these two devices and the phone-based home channel interface 18 with optional Portable mobile phone 20. If this optional portable mobile phone 20 is not used, the phone-based home channel interface 18 includes a speaker with a microphone and a speaker for sending and receiving voice information. The network devices 14, 16 include personal computers, printers, personal data auxiliary systems, network equipment and other electronic devices, but are not limited to these devices and devices.

The telephone-based home channel interface 18 is connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 22 through one or more strands of twisted copper wires, coaxial cables, fiber optic cables, other connection means, or other connection interfaces such as wireless interfaces. The public switched telephone network 22 is a public switched telephone network provided by AT&T, GTE, Sprint, MCI, and other companies. The telephone-based home channel interface 18 can also be connected to other computer networks 24, such as the Internet, an intranet, and so on. The connection can be achieved through coaxial cables, fiber optic cables, other connection means, or other connection interfaces such as wireless interfaces.

The telephone-based home channel interface 18 can also be connected to other telephone networks through a wireless local loop. The network devices 14, 16 use the RJ-11 interface 24 to connect to the local area network. As known in the art, the RJ-11 interface is a 4-wire or 6-wire connector, which is mainly used for connection between network devices and telephone settings or local area networks.

However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and more, fewer or equivalent devices can also be used in the telephone-based home channel system 10. In addition, the telephone-based home channel interface 18 is considered to be a device independent of the network devices 14,16. However, the telephone-based home channel interface 18 may also be an internal component of the network devices 14, 16.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes network devices and home channel interfaces. These network devices and home channel interfaces fully or partially comply with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the International Telecommunications Union Telecommunications Standardization Department, the Internet Engineering Task Force, the American National Standards Institute, and the wireless application protocol. The standard proposed by the Forum, Bluetooth Forum, or Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line Forum. However, network devices based on other standards can also be used. The standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers can be found on the website "www.ieee.org". The standards of the International Telecommunications Union (formerly CCITT) can be found in "www.itu.ch", the standards of the Internet Engineering Task Force can be found in "www.ietf.org"; the standards of the American National Standards Institute can be found Find it in "www.ansi.org". The files of the Bluetooth Forum can be found at "www.bluetooth.com". The files of the Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line Forum can be found at "www.adsl.com".

The operating environment of the network device and the home channel interface of the present invention includes a processing system with one or more high-speed central processing units and memory.

Unless otherwise specified, the following description of the present invention will be based on the practice of those skilled in the computer programming field, combined with the operations performed by the processing system and the actions of the instructions and symbol descriptions. These actions and operations or instructions are referred to as being "executed by the computer, "executed by the central processing unit or "executed by the processor.

It should be understood that these actions and operations or instructions represented by symbols include electrical signal operations performed by the central processing unit. The electrical system provides data bytes, which transform or compress electrical signals, and keep the data bytes in the memory location of the memory system, where the operations of the central processing unit and other signal processing procedures are reset or changed. The memory location of a valid data byte is a physical location that contains special electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to the data byte.

Data bytes can also be stored on computer readable media, such as magnetic disks, optical disks, organic memory, other transient random access memories, or non-transient bulk storage systems readable by the central processing unit. Computer-readable media include computer-readable media that operate together or are interconnected. Such media may exist alone in a processing system or distributed in multiple interconnected processing systems. These processing systems may be local or remote. Processing system.

The telephone-based home channel interface 18 provides broadband communications at megabits per second or higher. The telephone-based home channel interface 18 also provides a road tour or link for networked communication, and an automatic initialization function for communication service settings and protocol communication services.

As it is known in the art, the router is an intermediary device in the communication network, and the router accelerates the transmission of information. The router device transmits the signal through the most effective path available and sends the signal to the correct destination. A link is a device that uses the same communication protocol to connect networks so that information can be sent from one network device to another network device.

The telephone-based home channel interface 18 is connected to the public switched telephone network 22 through one or more high-speed telephone interfaces and/or one or more low-speed telephone interfaces; the high-speed telephone interface provides broadband communications, and the low-speed telephone interface provides other telephone communications. The telephone-based home channel interface 18 can also be connected to the Internet 24 or other computer networks through one or more data interfaces. The data interface includes an Internet protocol interface, which can provide data communication.

As is known in the art, the Internet Protocol is a road tour protocol whose purpose is to specify communication paths within and between networks. The Internet protocol is described in RFC-791 of the Internet Engineering Task Force, which is included in the references of this article. However, the present invention is not limited to the Internet Protocol data interface, and other data interfaces can also be used.

The telephone-based home channel interface 18 can allow multiple home users to access the Internet, other computer networks and content services, allowing households to conduct e-commerce activities, receive content news, perform on-demand entertainment, perform audio and video communications, and perform Radio communication or home office. The phone-based home channel interface 18 can realize the networking within the home and the network from the outside to the home. The phone-based home channel interface 18 enables the devices in the home to share resources through existing telephone lines, wireless methods, coaxial cables or optical cables.

Figure 2 is a block diagram 26, which shows the asymmetric digital subscriber line component 28 in the telephone-based home channel interface 18. The asynchronous digital subscriber line component 28 is integrated with the telephone-based home channel interface 18 in the figure. However, the asynchronous digital subscriber line component 28 can also be external to the telephone-based home channel interface 18 or a separate component.

As known in the art, asynchronous digital subscriber line is a communication technology that transmits asymmetric data streams through traditional twisted-pair copper telephone lines. The data transmission rate of asynchronous digital subscriber line from the telephone exchange to the user is usually higher than the transmission speed from the user to the exchange. The common rate of asynchronous digital subscriber line is 1.5 million bits/second to 9 million bits/second, and the return rate from the user to the telephone exchange is usually 16 kbit/s to 640 kbit/s.

However, the telephone-based home channel interface 18 may also include symmetrical communication components or other equivalent communication components. The present invention is not limited to the use of asynchronous digital subscriber line components 28. The asynchronous digital subscriber line component 28 enables the telephone-based home channel interface 18 to provide broadband transmission or to transmit data at a higher speed than can be achieved through an analog modem on a conventional telephone line.

Asynchronous digital subscriber line systems usually contain two asymmetric devices, which are connected by conventional twisted-pair copper wires. One of them is the asynchronous digital subscriber line central transmission unit, which is located at the connection end of the asynchronous digital subscriber line of the telephone or other exchanges on the public switched telephone network 22 or other networks. The other is an asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit, which is located at the other connection end of the asynchronous digital subscriber line at the location of the user or customer. Asynchronous digital subscriber line connection can use splitter or not.

Now returning to FIG. 2, the telephone-based home channel interface 18 includes an asynchronous digital subscriber line terminal unit 28 which is used to connect the telephone-based home channel interface 18 with the local area network 12. In another embodiment of the present invention, the local area network 12 may also include a 10/100T basic Ethernet local area network as shown in FIG. 2. As is known in the art, 10/100T is based on the Ethernet standard that uses twisted-pair cables for local area networks to transmit data at 10 to 100 million bits per second. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and other or equivalent local area networks can also be used. Via the peripheral component interconnection bus 30 or the unified series connection bus 32, the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 28 can also be used to connect the network devices 14 and 16 with the public switched telephone network 22.

As is known in the art, the interconnection of peripheral components is a local bus standard. Most contemporary computers contain interconnecting busbars 30 for peripheral components. Although it is often used as a 32-bit bus, the peripheral component interconnection bus is a 64-bit bus. As is known in the art, the unified series bus 32 is an external bus standard that supports data transmission at a rate of 12 million bits per second or higher. A single unified series bus port can connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems, and keyboards. The unified series bus also supports the installation that runs immediately after installation and the live insertion. Running after installation refers to the ability of the computer to automatically set up expansion boards and other devices without having to consider the setting of DIP switches, jumpers, and other hardware and software setting units. Typical Telephone-Based Integrated Home Channel System The block diagram in FIG. 3 shows a telephone-based integrated home channel system 34. The phone-based integrated home channel system 34 includes a phone-based integrated home channel interface 36. The phone-based integrated home channel interface 36 can have an optional wireless phone 38, a display screen 40, a chain base 42, a communication interface 44, Home phone line network adapter assembly 50, Bluetooth assembly 52 and optional video camera assembly 54. The communication interface 44 includes a digital subscriber line component 46 and an analog component 48. The telephone-based integrated home channel system 34 also includes one or more processors, one or more memory banks, and one or more software modules (not shown in FIG. 3). However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the telephone-based integrated home channel system 34 can also use more, fewer, or equivalent components. The telephone-based integrated home channel system 34 can realize "inside the home networking and "from the outside to the home networking in terms of voice, video images, and data.

The phone-based integrated home channel interface 36 includes one or more physical buttons or controllers to select the functions of the base station. The display screen 40 may also include one or more graphic buttons or control functions. The telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36 is modular, allowing the aforementioned components to be easily interchanged with other or equivalent types of components.

The phone-based integrated home channel interface 36 may have an optional portable wireless telephone handset 38, and the user can use the phone 38 near the phone-based integrated home channel interface 36. In one embodiment of the present invention, the mobile phone 38 is a 4-in-1 phone, which contains the radio functions of a cordless phone, a mobile phone, an Internet phone (that is, voice transmission over the Internet protocol), and a walkie-talkie. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and other or equivalent mobile phones can also be used. In addition, the mobile phone 38 can only provide 1, 2, and 3 functions of the 4-in-1 phone function.

If the optional portable wireless phone 38 is not used, the communication interface 44 includes a speaker phone, and a microphone and a speaker for sending and receiving voice information are built in the speaker phone. Regardless of whether a portable wireless mobile phone 38 is used, the communication interface 44 may have a speaker phone.

The telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36 can also provide road tour and link functions for networked communications including voice, video images, and data communications; and coordinate the establishment, provision, and initialization of broadband and narrowband data communications parameters and channels. In one embodiment of the present invention, the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36 provides this function in the manner of the software module shown in FIGS. 7-11. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and this function can also be provided by using hardware or software or a combination of both.

The display screen 40 may be a conventional computer display screen, a liquid crystal display screen, or other types of display screens, including a touch screen. The LCD screen has color, black and white or gray adjustment functions. The display screen 40 is used to display and access voice, video images, data, and other Internet information (such as e-mail). In an embodiment of the present invention, the display screen 40 is a replaceable module that can be used as a portable wireless handheld device (such as infrared, Bluetooth, other wireless devices, etc.), in the vicinity of the phone-based integrated home channel interface 36 use. In one embodiment of the present invention, the display screen 40 is used to display at least one line of real-time stock quotes, weather reports, important news, community news, electronic addresses, or other information from the Internet 24. The optional camera component 54 is used to collect and send data in environments such as visual conferences and visual e-mails.

The key base 42 includes a phone key base, other numeric key bases, letter key bases, other dedicated key bases, keyboards, or other alpha-numeric data input devices. The key base 42 may include a physical device and a graphical representation of the key base; the graphical representation can be obtained on the display screen 40.

The communication interface 44 includes a digital subscriber line component 46 and an analog component 48. The digital subscriber line component 46 provides broadband services. The digital subscriber line component 46 may include a digital subscriber line device including one of the following interfaces: asymmetric digital subscriber line, symmetric digital subscriber line, high bit rate digital subscriber line, or ultra-high bit rate digital subscriber line. The digital subscriber line component 46 is located inside the phone and is integrated with the phone. It can provide regular telephone connections with broadband networks, the Internet, or other computer networks; it can also form a permanent connection with broadband networks, the Internet, or other computer networks. The analog component 48 may be an analog modem, such as a V.90 56 kbit/s modem or other modems operating at different speeds, or a modem that uses a different communication protocol from the digital subscriber line component 46. In an embodiment of the present invention, the analog component 48 uses ordinary old telephone service. For the purpose of providing channel redundancy, broadband service and its settings, the analog component 48 is also placed in the telephone set, and is integrated with the telephone set. Become one.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the communication interface 44 is connected to a plain old telephone service splitter, so that the digital subscriber line module 46 and the analog module 48 can use the same twisted-pair telephone line (see Figure 6). The ordinary old telephone service splitter can also be used to provide broadband and other higher bandwidth services (such as asynchronous transmission mode, optical transmission, integrated service digital network, account relay, etc.) and lower bandwidth services (such as ordinary old telephone service).

The home phone network adapter component 50 can connect the computer and peripheral devices to the network flexibly and conveniently, including the function of running immediately after installation. The home telephone network adapter assembly 50 can also use existing telephone lines to access the broadband network. In addition, the home phone network adapter can connect voice over Internet Protocol phones with Ethernet connectors to non-Ethernet broadband connectors. Figure 3 shows the network device 14.16, these two devices have a small home network connected to the home phone network adapter 50 through the RJ-11 interface 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In addition, the network devices 14 and 16 can also be connected using the peripheral component interconnection 30 or the unified series bus 32 connector as described above (as shown in FIG. 2).

The Bluetooth component 52 simplifies the data synchronization and data transmission between the short-range wireless protocol network device and the local area network 12. As is known in the art, Bluetooth is a short-range radio frequency technology whose purpose is to simplify the communication within and between network devices. Bluetooth wireless technology supports both short-range point-to-point connections and short-range point-to-multipoint connections. References include the Bluetooth technical specification of version 1.0 in 1999. In another embodiment of the present invention, any other type of short-range radio interface component can be used to replace the Bluetooth component.

In one embodiment of the present invention, wired and wireless home electronic devices or other electronic devices, such as WEB base 56, mobile phone 58, laptop or notebook computer, desktop personal computer 60, PDA 62, smart device 64, alarm The system 66, the home video monitoring device 68, etc., can be connected to the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36 through a modular interface (such as an RJ-11 or home phone network adapter interface) or a Bluetooth wireless interface. Using the Bluetooth component 52, the wireless device can be connected to the Bluetooth piconet network 70 or the phone-based integrated home channel interface 36 on the Bluetooth decentralized network.

As is known in the art, a "pico network" is a network in which any server device can be designated to communicate with the dominant radio controller in a device such as a channel. A pico network is usually limited to a certain range, and wireless devices nearby must be able to operate (for example, a few feet to a few miles away from the dominant radio controller). Several pico networks can be established in a decentralized network, and these few pico networks can be connected to enable communication between these several pico networks; these several pico networks can provide continuous and flexible settings.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the communication interface 44 is connected to the local exchange 72 of the public switched telephone network 22 through an RJ-11 socket. The RJ-11 socket 24 provides narrowband (such as voice) and broadband communication and data communication through the public switched telephone network 22 and the Internet 24. The local exchange 72 is connected to a digital subscriber line access multiplexer 74, which in turn communicates with other telephone equipment through the public switched telephone network 22. As is known in the art, digital subscriber line access multiplexers concentrate individual voice lines into TI lines, wireless antenna points, independent branch switching systems, optical network units, or other delivery systems. The digital subscriber line access multiplexer 74 can also be connected to the regional broadband network 76, or other broadband voice, video image or data networks, and can also be connected to narrowband voice, video image or data networks; conversely, these networks Communicate with other network devices via the Internet 24.

The telephone-based integrated home channel system 34 provides channel functions, broadband communications, and normal voice phone functions to the home environment. The telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36 is a modular and flexible home network device, and is a narrowband or broadband telephone and data communication device. It has the functions of intra-home networking and external-to-home networking. Typical telephone-based wireless integrated home channel Figure 4 is a block diagram, which shows the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system 78. In this embodiment, the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system 78 is usually directly connected to any other network device without any wires. In an embodiment of the present invention, all connections are wireless, including the connection to the public switched telephone network 22 and the Internet 24, too. In another embodiment of the present invention, all connections to the network device are wireless, but the connection to the public switched telephone network 22 and/or the Internet 24 may be wired, as shown in FIG. 4. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system 78 can be used in various other connection methods.

The telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system 78 includes a telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system interface 80 and an optional portable wireless telephone handset 82. The phone-based wireless integrated home channel system interface 80 includes the same components as the phone-based integrated home channel interface 36 described above. In addition, the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system interface 80 includes an additional plug-in wireless frequency interface 84.

In one embodiment of the invention, the radio frequency interface 84 is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standard 802.116 wireless interface. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and other wireless interfaces can also be used. As is known in the art, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.116 standard defines a wireless interface, which stipulates that the wireless interface can transmit data to and from the wireless interface at a rate of up to 11 million bits per second. References include the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.116 standard.

As known in the art, the radio frequency home version is a standard that is used for voice, data and transmission media and wireless networked access devices for local content and the Internet in a home environment. More information about the home version of RF can be found on "www.homerf.org." The RF Home Edition includes a shared wireless access protocol. The shared wireless access protocol technical description defines a new type of common interface protocol that supports wireless voice and data networking in the home. The references in this article include the March 1998 RF Home Edition Shared Wireless Access Protocol technical specification.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the radio frequency interface 84 is a short-range radio frequency interface that communicates with wireless devices through a wireless pico network 86 or a decentralized network using a wireless communication protocol. In another embodiment of the present invention, the radio frequency interface 78 is a remote radio interface (such as a wireless access protocol interface), which is used to communicate with wireless devices on the wireless network outside the range of the wireless pico network 80. However, the radio frequency interface 78 may actually be any other or equivalent form of short-range or long-range radio frequency interface, and the present invention is not limited to the use of the short-range or long-range radio frequency interface described herein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the connection 88 from the outside to the home with the wireless integrated home channel system 78 based on the telephone. The telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system 78 can be used to provide remote wireless networking from the outside world to the home, and can also use wireless protocols to implement remote wireless networking within the home.

For example, the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system interface 80 can communicate with the wireless access protocol channel 90; through the wireless wide area network 94, this can realize the remote wireless networking of the wireless access protocol activated device 92 or other remote wireless devices with the home . The references in this article include the "Technical Description of Wireless Application Protocol Structure" formulated by the Wireless Application Protocol Forum in April 1998. The wireless wide area network 88 can enable devices outside a certain range (for example, more than a few miles or outside the range of a pico network) to communicate with the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system interface 80.

The telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system 78 provides channel functions, broadband communication, short-range and/or long-range wireless communication, and normal voice phone functions to the home environment. The telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system interface 80 is a modular and flexible home network device, as well as a broadband telephone and data communication device. It provides near and long-distance wireless networking within the home and from the outside to the home. Hardware structure of a typical integrated home channel system based on telephone FIG. 6A is a block diagram, which shows a typical integrated home channel interface hardware structure 100 based on a telephone. Figure 6B shows a typical wireless integrated home channel interface hardware structure 100' based on a telephone. The typical phone-based integrated home channel interface structure 100 shown in FIG. 6A is used with the phone-based integrated home channel interface 36 (FIG. 3). The typical telephone-based wireless integrated home channel interface hardware structure 100' is used together with the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel system interface 80 (FIG. 4).

A typical telephone-based home channel interface structure 100 includes a receiving and transmitting buffer or transceiver buffer 102, an asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104, a splitter 106, a plain old telephone service telephone module 108, and an RJ-11 interface 110. The separator 106 includes high-pass and low-pass filters. An extension header (not shown) can be used between the asynchronous digital subscriber line teletransmission unit 104 and the radio transceiver buffer 102.

The ordinary old telephone module 108 may include an analog V.90 59K modem, other analog or digital modems, and/or a 900MHz to 2.4GHz cordless phone module (not shown in FIG. 6A). The ordinary old telephone module 108 is connected to the unified asynchronous receiving transmitter 112, which in turn is connected to the integrated communication microcontroller 114.

An asynchronous digital subscriber line system generally includes one or more splitters 106. The separator 106 is a filter that separates high-frequency telephone signals from low-frequency telephone signals. The splitter can be integrated with the asynchronous digital subscriber line teletransmission unit 104, or can be separated from the asynchronous digital subscriber line teletransmission unit 104, and can be distributed between the high-pass and low-pass functions in the manner shown in FIG. 6A.

In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 is used together with the splitter 106, and the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 complies with the American National Standards Institute ANSI-T1, 413-1995 standard "Network and User Installation Interface-Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line Metal Interface" and conforms to the International Telecommunications Union G.992-1-1999 Standard "Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line Radio Transceiver". The references in this article include the contents of these two standards.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the asynchronous digital subscriber line teletransmission unit 104 is used in an environment without the splitter 106. The downstream bandwidth of an asynchronous digital subscriber line system without a splitter is usually around 1.4 million bits per second, but it is not very sensitive to noise and other transmission problems often encountered in an asynchronous digital subscriber line system using a splitter. The asynchronous digital subscriber line standard without splitter is called "G.Lite". In the implementation without the splitter, the asynchronous digital subscriber line teletransmission unit 104 complies with the American National Standards Institute T1.413-1995 standard and the International Telecommunications Unions "Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line Radio Transceiver Without Splitter". The references include the content of the above-mentioned standards.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 can be replaced by the high-speed wireless interface 107 shown in FIG. 6B. This high-speed wireless interface 107 provides a "wireless local loop", which is used in the telephone-based wireless integrated home channel interface 84 (FIG. 4) to provide wireless networking within the home and from the outside to the home. In one embodiment of the invention, the high-speed wireless interface is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 802.11b wireless interface. However, the present invention is not limited to this wireless interface, and the high-speed wireless interface 107 includes other or equivalent short-range or long-range wireless interfaces.

In this embodiment, the high-speed wireless interface 107 is used in an environment where there is no asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104, but the use environment contains the RJ-11 interface 110 and the ordinary old telephone module 108. In this embodiment, the RJ-11 interface 110 and the ordinary old telephone module 108 are used to provide services and voice calls through the public switched telephone network 22; the public switched telephone network 22 can be connected to other wireless devices through the high-speed wireless interface 107 . In this embodiment, the high-speed wireless interface 107 is also connected to an ordinary old telephone module 110.

In another embodiment of the present invention (not shown in FIG. 6), the high-speed wireless interface 107 is used together with the asynchronous digital subscriber line teletransmission unit 94, the RJ-11 interface 108, and the ordinary old telephone module 110, which can be used with Wireless and wired connection of telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36. For those skilled in the art, the various combinations of wired and wireless components described herein can also provide data and voice communications in a telephone-based home channel system.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the integrated communication microcontroller 114 contains StrongARMSA-110 manufactured by Intel Corporation. StrongARMSA-110 is a high-performance low-power processor, which is used in portable wireless multimedia devices. However, other or equivalent microprocessors can also be used, and the present invention is not limited to the use of such Intel microprocessors.

The telephone-based home channel interface structure 100 also includes one or more memory banks, such as synchronous dynamic random access memory 116, synchronous mask read-only memory 118, cache memory 120, static random access memory 122, and one or more Connect the RS-234 interface 124 of the series device. The memories 116, 118, 120, 122 and the RS-232 interface 124 are all connected to the integrated communication microcontroller 114.

As known in the art, the synchronous dynamic random access memory 116 is a type of dynamic random access memory, and its operating speed is higher than that of a conventional dynamic random access memory. The synchronous dynamic random access memory is connected to the receiving and transmitting buffer 102. The synchronous overwrite read-only memory 118 is a read-only memory that can be accessed using a bit mask, and the capacity of the bit mask is usually 32 bits. The cache memory 120 is a special type of removable programmable read-only memory. The memory can be deleted or reprogrammed in one block instead of being deleted or reprogrammed one bit at a time. The static random access memory 122 is a kind of random access memory; it stores information, but only if it has enough capacity to run a certain device. The RS-232 interface 124 standard defines the special circuits and signal characteristics used by the serial communication controllers, and standardizes the transmission of serial data between devices.

A typical set memory 116, 118, 120, 122 contains a memory block of 64 megabits to 512 megabits. The memories 116, 118, 120, 122 can be set or have different shapes and capacities.

The integrated communication microcontroller 114 is connected to one or more high-speed serial ports 126, or to a high-speed serial bus (not shown); the high-speed serial port 126 and the high-speed serial bus lead to a black-and-white gray scale or color liquid crystal display component 128; The display screen 40, the Bluetooth radio module 130, the sub-data combination module 132, the home phone network adapter module 134, one or more audio/video codec modules 136, and one or more computer memory card international association interface modules 138 will call black and white Gray scale or color liquid crystal component 128; wherein the Bluetooth radio module 130 is included in the Bluetooth component 52, and the home phone network adapter module 134 is included in the home phone network adapter component 50.

As known in the art, the sub-data combination module 132 is used to synchronize data and transmit the data through sub-light waves; the module is also used to provide short-range wireless connections. Audio/Video CODECS136 is a programming/decoder, which realizes the conversion of audio or video signals between analog and digital forms; it is also a compression/decompressor, which can compress and decompress audio and video data.

In one embodiment of the invention, an Animation Expert Group (MPEG-2) codec is used. As known in the art, MPEG-2 is a set of audio and video compression standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrical Council Joint Technical Committee for information technology. The original MPEG audio and video information access standard was designed for CD-ROM technology. MPEG-1 defines data unit coding rules for the media bandwidth of 1.5 million bits per second, dual audio channels, and non-interlaced video images. MPEG-2 is an extended version of MPEG-1, which is used in broadcast television, including in the field of high-definition television. MPEG-2 defines a higher bandwidth of up to 40 million bits per second, 5 audio channels, wider frame sizes, and interlaced video images.

The JTC1/SC29/WG11 standard of the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrical Council provides a general definition of MPEG-2, and its title is "Animation and Audio Coding Rules". This standard is included in the references in this article. The H.222.0 standard of the International Telecommunications Union also defines MPEG-2. The title of the H.222.0 standard is "Common Coding Rules for Animation and Related Audio Information", which is included in the references in this article. However, other audio/video data encoding and decoding methods can also be used, and the present invention is not limited to the use of the MPEG encoding and decoding methods.

During audio/video conference calls or voice calls, audio signals are usually provided by audio equipment (such as mobile phones, microphones/speakers, speaker microphones, etc.), which use audio codec methods to capture audio information. For example, these audio The encoding and decoding methods comply with the International Telecommunications Union's G.711, G.722, G.723, G.728, and G.729 standards, which are included in the references in this article. However, other audio coding and decoding methods can also be used, and the present invention is not limited to the use of this audio coding and decoding method.

For small credit card peripherals and slots for credit cards, one or more personal computer memory card international association interfaces 148 are standard interfaces; the aforementioned slots mainly refer to laptops, palms and other portable devicesofnotches; these devices include smart electronic devices. As is known in the art, the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association interface 138 involves multiple manufacturers and retailers, and their collaboration has led to a universal standard for PC card-based peripherals.

This article uses several special components to describe the phone-based home channel interface structure 100 and the phone-based wireless home channel interface structure 100'. However, the present invention is not limited to the use of these dedicated components; the phone-based home channel interface structure 100 and the phone-based wireless home channel interface structure 100' can also use more, fewer, or equivalent components. Software structure of a typical home channel interface FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the software structure 140 of a typical home channel interface. The family channel interface software structure 140 includes a conversation time management program 142, a service management program 144, an interface management program 146, and a display management program 148. However, more, fewer or equivalent software components can be used, and the present invention is not limited to the use of these software components. In FIGS. 7-11, the external communication path; that is, the communication path between the components in the software structure 140 and the outside is indicated by a double-headed arrow in the figure. The internal communication path, that is, the communication path between components in the software structure 140, is represented by a line without arrows. But the internal communication path can also provide two-way communication.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the software structure 150 of the typical conversation time management program 142. The conversation time management program 142 includes a conversation time control module 152 that sends status information to the service management program 144 and receives status information from the service management program 144. The dialogue time control module 152 also sends interface information to the interface management program 146 and receives interface information from the interface management program 146; sends data information to the display management program 148 and receives data information from the display management program 148. The dialogue time control module 152 also cooperates with the supply management module 164 (in FIG. 9) in the service management program 144 to assist in the initialization of the data interface, such as the initialization of the Internet Protocol interface.

The dialogue time control module 152 also sends and receives status information from the transport layer 154 to the transport layer 154; the transport layer 154 communicates with the network layer 156.

As is known in the art, the open system interconnection reference model is a hierarchical structure that standardizes the service level and interaction types of computer information exchange through communication networks. The open system interconnection reference model distributes network device-to-network device communication into 7 communication protocol layers or levels, and each layer or level is established according to the standards contained in the next layer and operates on this standard. . The open system interconnection reference model includes the physical layer, data connection layer, network layer, transfer layer, dialogue time layer, display layer or application layer; the physical layer is the lowest and the application layer is the highest. The lowest of these 7 layers only involves connections between hardware; the highest layer deals with software interactions at the application level.

The transfer layer 154 is the fourth layer of the 7-layer structure in the open system interconnection reference model. The delivery layer is usually responsible for the quality of services and the accurate delivery of information. The tasks performed at this level include error monitoring and error correction.

The delivery layer 154 transmits the delivery layer protocol data unit to the network layer 156 and receives the delivery layer protocol data unit from the network layer. As known in the art, the protocol data unit is a data packet structure with a data concentration area and a data payload. The transfer layer 154 also sends and receives the dialog time control and status information from the dialog time control module 152 to the dialog time control module 152, and sends and receives the interface control and status information from the interface management program 146 to the interface management program 146.

The network layer 156 is the third layer in the seven-layer structure. The network layer 156 is located above the data connection layer, and the network layer 156 ensures that the information reaches the destination of the information. The network layer 156 sends the network layer protocol data unit to the latency management module 158. The waiting time management module 158 manages the information waiting time on the network layer 156. The waiting time management module 158 sends and receives protocol data units from the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 and/or the radio frequency module 107 to the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 and/or the radio frequency module 107.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the dialogue time control module 152 uses the supply management module 164 in the service management program 144 (in FIG. 9) to provide road trips and link functions for networked communications, and coordinate broadband communication service settings and Initialization of the supply. In this embodiment, the conversation time control module 152 in the conversation time management program 142 initializes the road tour and link tables of the telephone-based home channel interfaces 36 and 80, and maintains this table. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the road tour and link functions can also be provided by other hardware and software components in the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a typical service management program 144 in the software structure 160. The service management program 144 includes a device management module 162 that sends and receives status information to and from the conversation time management program 142, and sends and receives service and voice information to and from the display management program 146.

The device management module 162 also sends and receives service registration information to and from the supply management module 164. The supply management module 164 sends and receives service initialization information and service conversation time information to and from the public switched telephone network 22 through the ordinary old telephone module 108. The ordinary old telephone module 108 helps to handle service supply requirements and to process voice calls via the public switched telephone network 22, including voice calls using Internet Protocol. The supply management module 164 also sends the broadband service conversation time information and the data conversation time information to the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 or the wireless module 107, and receives the broadband service conversation time from the asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 or the wireless module 107 Information and data dialogue time information. The asynchronous digital subscriber line remote transmission unit 104 or the wireless module 107 also processes data communication through the public switched telephone network 22, the Internet, the wireless wide area network 94, and the like.

As known in the art, the asynchronous delivery mode system can use the high-speed service in the asynchronous digital subscriber line system as the physical layer to transmit data packets. Asynchronous delivery mode is a high-speed parcel delivery system. The asynchronous transfer mode divides the data communication into short, fixed-length units, which are called "units", and the asynchronous transfer mode will multiplex these "units". One unit is 53 octects, 5 octects are used for the header part of the unit, and the other 48 octects are used for the unit data. The asynchronous delivery mode provides four service categories, which can use constant bit rate, variable bit rate, available bit rate and unspecified bit rate services. These 4 service levels can be used to provide quality functions of service. The supply management module 164 is used to set the virtual channel connection in the asynchronous delivery mode and other types of virtual connection or data session time.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the software structure 166 of the typical interface management program 146. The interface management program 146 includes an interface module 168. The interface module 168 sends and receives interface information to and from the dialogue time management program 142, and sends and receives service information to and from the display management program 148.

The interface module 168 also sends and receives Bluetooth data and management information to and from the Bluetooth baseband module 170. The Bluetooth baseband module 170 transmits and receives Bluetooth radio information to and from the Bluetooth radio module 130.

The interface module 168 also sends and receives home phone network adapter data and management information to and from the home phone network adapter interface module 172. The home phone network adapter interface module 172 sends and receives home phone network adapter information to and from the home phone network adapter module 134.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the software structure 174 of the typical display management program 148. The display management program 148 includes a content management module 176. The content management module 176 sends and receives data information to and from the dialogue time management program 142, sends and receives service and voice information to and from the service management program 144, and sends and receives service and voice information to the interface management program 146 and manages from the interface The program 146 receives service information.

The content management module 176 also sends and receives information from the liquid crystal display module 178 and the storage processing module 180 to and from the liquid crystal display module 178 and the storage processing module 180. The liquid crystal display module 178 sends and receives display information to and from the liquid crystal module 128. The storage processing module 180 sends and receives storage information from the memories 116, 120, and 122 to and from the memories 116, 120, and 122.

Figure 1-5 shows a typical stand-alone telephone-based integrated home channel system. However, in many cases, home users already have the phone system currently in use, but want to use the integrated or wireless functions of the phone-based integrated home channel system described in this article. In another embodiment of the present invention, the phone-based integrated home channel system includes the phone-based integrated home channel conversion system, but does not include the display screen 40, the key base 42, the optical video camera 54, and the like.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a telephone-based integrated home channel conversion system 182. The phone-based integrated home channel conversion system 182 includes a phone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184, and the phone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184 is used together with the existing phone system 186. In an embodiment of the present invention, the phone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184 is roughly the same size and shape as the current phone system 182; the phone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184 contains multiple RJ-11 sockets, home phones The network adapter 50 connector and other communication components described above for the telephone-based home channel system 34, 78. Multiple RJ-11 sockets and home telephone network adapter 50 connectors can connect the current telephone system 186 to the telephone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184, other devices on the local area network 12 in the small office or home office network, and public telephones On the switched network 22 and/or the Internet 24.

Since the phone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184 is roughly the same in size and shape as the current phone system 182, the phone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184 can be used with the current phone system 182 without occupying a lot of extra user use. Space. The telephone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184 shown in the figure is slightly larger than the current telephone system, which is only for the purpose of graphical representation. The telephone-based integrated home channel conversion module 184 includes the wired connectors and/or wireless connectors 190 described above for the integrated and wireless integrated home channel systems 34, 78. Initialization process of a typical home channel interface FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a method for initializing the communication of the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80. In step 194, one or more narrowband communication channels are automatically established with the public switched telephone network 22. In step 198, the data communication interface automatically initializes the data network 24 of the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80. In step 200, the road tour and link form are automatically initialized on the phone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80. In step 202, through the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80, broadband communication service settings and provisioning are automatically initialized.

By automatically establishing communication channels and providing automatic initial communication and networking setting parameters, Method 192 conceals the complexity of data and broadband settings and service provision. This article describes the method 192 in conjunction with a typical embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and other or equivalent embodiments may also be used.

In this embodiment, in step 194, one or more narrowband communication channels, such as the analog communication channel 48 used in the plain old telephone system 108, are attached to the public telephone exchange network 22 of the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80 Together are automatically created.

In a certain embodiment of the present invention, the narrowband communication channel is used as a traditional wired voice channel, communication channel redundancy; also used to provide automatic broadband service provision and settings. In this embodiment, the narrowband communication channel is also used to help initialize other components of the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

In step 196, one or more broadband communication channels, such as the asynchronous digital subscriber line 104, the asynchronous transmission mode on the asynchronous digital subscriber line 104, or other broadband communication channels are automatically established with the public switched telephone network 22. In an embodiment of the present invention, a broadband communication channel is used to provide broadband voice, video or data communication on the public switched telephone network 22 or the Internet 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

In step 198, the data communication interface, such as the Internet communication protocol interface used by the Internet, is automatically initialized. Automatic initialization includes the initialization of URLs, such as the initialization of Internet communication protocols and other types of URLs; automatic initialization also includes the initialization of data network setting parameters. The automatic initialization process implies the complexity of initializing and setting the home channel interface, so that users cannot see this complexity.

In step 200, the road tour and link table in the communication interface 44 are automatically initialized. As is known in the art, a road tour table is an information table that contains hardware (linker and road tourer) in the direction that needs to transfer data packets to other network locations. The information contained in the road tour table differs depending on how it is called by the linker or the road tour device.

The linker decides where and how to send a package based on the source (i.e. start) and end address. The road traveler will decide where and how to send a package based on the destination address and the information in the form; the information in the form will give the jump or several jumps between the road traveler and between the road traveler and the destination Possible paths. The road tour table or link table can also provide website translation for the integrated family channel interface 36 and 80 based on the telephone. In an embodiment of the present invention, the road tour and link table are initialized by the conversation time management program 142. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The road tour and link form can be initialized with the help of other components or modules in the phone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80 and/or the presence or absence of remote applications. .

In step 202, the broadband communication service setting and provision are automatically initialized via the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80. In an embodiment of the present invention, the conversation time management program 142 and the supply management module 164 in the service management program 148 coordinate this task. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Narrowband communication channels are used to automatically initialize broadband communication services, such as asynchronous digital subscriber lines, asynchronous transmission modes, and other services.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method 192 is used by sending and receiving telephone initialization and supply signals to and from the public switched telephone network 22 and sending and receiving data communication protocol initialization sequence to and from the Internet 24. In the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80, to provide and establish narrowband and broadband communication channels and initialize the narrowband and broadband communication channels; and automatically fill in the road tour and link form.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the narrowband communication channel is used to call a certain free number (such as 800, 888, etc.) to establish communication with the special remote software application; the special remote software application helps to automatically fill in the road tour and link form , Provide and establish communication channels from and to the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80, and initialize this channel. In this embodiment, the remote application may be included in the local exchange 72, or another location on the public switched telephone network 22 or the Internet 24 (such as in the main address of Aeptech on the Internet).

In this embodiment, the remote application is particularly helpful for setting and initializing the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80 using two-way dynamic communication at any time when the home user wishes to set and initialize the interface 36, 80. The dynamic two-way communication on the narrowband communication channel is used to help automatically fill the road tour and link form, and to provide and establish other communication channels from/to the telephone-based integrated home channel interface 36, 80, and initialize these channels .

In another embodiment of the present invention, a remote application can send a static configuration file, which can then be used by the telephone-based integrated home access interface 36 to automatically fill in the road tour and link form, and provide and establish the to/from based Other communication channels of the integrated home channel interface 36 and 80 of the phone; and initialize these channels. By regularly contacting the remote application and submitting an update request, the configuration file can be dynamically updated.

However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and other or equivalent embodiments may also be used. In addition, when implementing the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the application of remote software is not necessary.

The telephone-based home channel interface described herein can be used as a set-top box for broadband home channels, wireless local loop home channels, and cable TV access. The telephone-based home channel interface is a modular, flexible installation that is a moving home channel. This home channel interface conceals the complexity of filling road tours and link forms, data (such as IP), and providing and setting broadband services by automatically filling in road tour and link forms, establishing communication channels, and providing and initializing communication channel parameters. Make home users invisible to this complexity.

It should be understood that, unless otherwise specified, the programs, processes, methods, and systems described herein do not involve nor are limited to any specific type of computer or network system (hardware or software). A combination of ordinary, dedicated, or equivalent computer components; including hardware, software, firmware, and combinations thereof, can be used for operations related to the content described herein or can perform operations related to the content described herein.

Considering that the principles of the present invention can be applied to various embodiments, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are only exemplary and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present invention. For example, the steps in the flowchart may not be performed in the order described, and more, fewer, or equivalent components may be used in the flowchart.

The claims should not be considered limited to the order or components described, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, all implementations and equivalents in the scope and principle of the following claims are the content claimed by the claims of the present invention.