Computer-to-telephone interface

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

Computer phone interface Field of invention The present invention is in the area of computer systems, especially portable systems, and the like. Devices and methods for interfacing such systems to telephone devices .. Description of prior art Dial devices are dual-tone frequency division multiplexing (DT) propagated by telephone lines. MF) A switch used to generate audio signals and guide phone calls Used to operate the The small portable dial device has a circular key. -Equipped with an electronic sound generator that is combined with the structure. They are generally computer type It has a transistor integrated circuit and has a high-sensitivity microphone in a plastic holder. Both are housed. Such dialing devices are replaced by transmitting elements in the handset. Is done. At the top of a typical dialing device is a set of pushbuttons, or touchtones (T). Equipped with an ouchtone) (trade name) keypad, which automatically assigns a phone number Can generate DTMF signals to dial to (touch tones are American (Trademark registered by Telephone and Telegram). Digit 0 No There are 12 keypads with up to 9, a star symbol (*), and a pound symbol (#). Some dialing devices have four additional keys: A, B, C, and D. The touch tone dialing of the DTMF system is an international standard. Use a quasi-type frequency combination. Table 1 shows 16 sentences of the complete keypad placement. A matrix showing the high frequency and low frequency pairs required for each character in Hz. .. Each character on the touch tone keypad is represented by two sets of acoustic frequency signals. And when it is sent together, the other phone as a peculiar display of the letters on the keypad Recognized by the child device.<img file="JPH09501546A_D0001.tif" /> Businessmen are often referred to as tone dial converters as described above. Have an ear device and access a branch computer from a rotating (pulse) line To do. Until recently, tone dial transducers have been used in many telephone outlets. And was used in the hobby store. Today, most public Phones have been replaced with touch-tone devices, which are commonly used Absent. However, the DTMF tone conversion technology they perform is another important application. May have. To combine one computer with another located apart Usually you need some type of modem. The modem modulates the carrier and digitizes Compute Taldata by analog communication line, typically by telephone line It is a circuit that enables propagation from data to a computer. Modulation is a digital value Carrier frequency, amplitude, with respect to time, based on known protocols associated with And change one or more of the phases. The receiving modem is another computer or computer Carriers in digital data for use by puttered receivers Reconvert (demodulate). The main type of modem is the voice band, that is, the public telephone line for voice (dial call). What is used in (also known as a modem), an acoustic coupler, ie used Person dials a phone number, hears a signal from the other end of the line, and an acoustic cup Those that can press the handset into a cup with two cushions on the la , And a direct connection, that is, a direct plug into the telephone network. Often plugged into a telephone jack or required electrical connection in a public place It is not possible for the user to set up a coupler or modem due to the limitation of It is difficult, if not present. When actually spending on data transmission and / or reception It is not uncommon to spend more time making the necessary electrical connections than in between. All you need is no need to set up a modem and physically secure the phone line connection Portable computer via telephone network It is a means of easy communication by using a putter. Also, of DTMF Tone conversion technology is currently a 16-key toe on the touch tone pad of a phone. Limited to Converting DTMF tones containing the entire set of ASCII codes , Direct computer with such a portable computer phone interface Includes data code transfer. A brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 shows an interface of a portable computer telephone based on an embodiment of the present invention. It is an isometric view. FIG. 2A shows the start menu screen of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B shows a screen for calling input according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2C shows a screen of a dial list according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2D shows an edit screen of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2E shows a setting screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows an acoustic enhancer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3B is a schematic view showing the internal functional elements of the acoustic enhancement device of FIG. 3A. FIG. 4 shows an external speaker attached to the portable computer according to the embodiment of the present invention. Is shown. FIG. 5 shows a telephone handset used as an external speaker according to an embodiment of the present invention. .. FIG. 6 shows a physical interface for blocking external noise according to an embodiment of the present invention. Indicates Figure 7 shows a copy from one computer to another. It is the schematic of the Example of this invention including the transfer of the information which has been made into the form. FIG. 8 shows the ASCII code and DTMF communication for the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. The matrix of the relationship with the issue is shown. Figure 9 shows the day for selecting the data transfer mode from the scroll list mode. Shows the transfer screen. FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary mode of message operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Shows the sage screen. Outline of the invention A telephone dialing system is provided based on a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is long Phone number including distance carrier access number and user's credit card number Memory means for storing ear data and calling phone number including area code It is provided with a selection means for selecting an issue. Call phone number, long-distance credit Long-distance carrier access number with consecutive numbers for dialing card numbers And a search method to combine with the user's credit card number and the combined ream Generates dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) corresponding to serial numbers and credits Interface phone voice handset for dialing card calls Further, an audio output means for driving the speaker is provided. In a preferred embodiment, the telephone dial system is a computer display screen. Possible with control routines that give the user interface by the menu above It is equipped with a portable general-purpose computer, and its menu is dialed with a data input field. Gives a start signal for. In another aspect of the invention, in addition to dialing, the operation of the computer Possible code produces ASCII coded data, ASCII code Associates the combined DTMF tone, sends the combined DTMF tone, Converting the tone back to ASCII data and decoding it on the receiving computer Propagated by voice quality telephone lines. Of the combined DTMF tones An additional card is provided to receive and rewrite the coded data. In yet another embodiment, the acoustic enhancer is a low-end device in current portable computers. Quality of speaker quality, enough to ensure that the touchtone telephone device works Equipped to improve quality. The present invention provides a special "dial device" that is unique in some ways. It is a modem or coupler or line connection between a computer and a telephone A means of communication from a remote computer to a computer that does not require either I will provide a. The DTMF audio signal is simply the output from your computer's speakers. It is collected by a receiver held adjacent to the speaker. Furthermore, the present invention The concept of DTMF tone generation, as used by the dialing device described. American standard for information exchange for information exchange by expanding its control routine Includes the ability to convert code (ASCII) to DTMF tone signals, voice quality electricity It provides a whole new way of propagating computer code by talking. Description of valid examples FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a notebook computer according to an embodiment of the present invention. To. A general-purpose computer system using an embodiment of the dial device of the present invention has been conventionally used. A portable notebook, wrap, like a notebook computer 11 A top or palmtop computer is preferred. Of the present invention The enhanced control routine includes a user interface display device 16. Envoy The user identifies the call number or other information by using the keyboard 17. You can choose. Some portable computers are trackballs 19. It has a built-in pointer device, which is described in more detail below, Select a new item and use the screen car saw on the interface display device of the present invention. Move the le. In order to make a call using this example, the user inputs to keyboard 17. Therefore, the dial device is urged. Then the user selects the calling number and in The call is started from the surface display device 16. The control routine of the present invention is a memo. Pre-programmed user credit card information and selected calls And call the number again. The system dials digital data, numbers Convert to the corresponding DTMF signal required for. 12 standard DTMF signals Button touch tone It is generated from the telephone keypad (conventional technique of the invention). See the description of the technique). In this example, a series of DTMF signals are from a computer. Out by speaker 13 Collected through mouth 21 of a telephone transmitter that is powered and held near the speaker Then make a call by dialing. A computer-driven "dial device" based on this embodiment is line-connected to a telephone. You don't have to. The user is close to the computer speaker to make the call It just holds the mouthpiece of the transmitter. This allows in development "Portable computer users can use telephone booths, motel phones, and Conveniently dial in other situations that are currently not possible without a modem You will be able to communicate. For travelers, have an electrical connection to the telephone network Often use it because of the complexity of having to set up a modem to do It will be blocked. What's more, many motel rooms and payphones have phone differences There is no entrance. Therefore, the dialing device of the present invention is quite suitable for computer users. In a pay phone without a telephone outlet, no wiring settings are required. Can be used. An important feature of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is the user interface display device. 16 to easily operate and edit various information for dialing devices Flexible interface. The interface is in this example Given by the menus shown in Figures 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2E. Is done. FIG. 2A is an image format for a start menu in an embodiment of the present invention. The start menu is an application of the dialing device from the operating system by the user's signal When activated Shown. In the display, the user moves the cursor 41 by the pointer device 19. Move the cursor by doing or using the arrow keys on your keyboard Direct and select by pressing the &lt;Enter&gt; or &lt;Return&gt; keys to make a selection Can be done. When the user selects a box that has an input field, that field is To accept keyboard input in the way that is done in editing or word processing Works on. These operating mechanisms are well known to those of skill in the art. Box 43 of the "manual dial" is where the user wants to manually enter the calling number. You can choose any. The input field 45 reacts and displays the input number. Exact number Is displayed, the user selects the dial click box 53. You can start the call. With automatic dialing, the user is asked to dial list menu 63 (in connection with Figure 2C). Message to select the number to call using (described in more detail below) Directed by 49. Additional items in the Start menu (see Figure 2A) include Date 55 , Local time 51, help option 57, and exit option 59. Other uses Help is given in other embodiments as menu items. Along the top of the image in Figure 2A, there are four menu selections, namely call information 61, There are auto-dial 63, edit 65, and settings 67. By these choices, the user Gives you the means to quickly enter and change call information and hardware settings Elu. The user clicks the mouse on the name of the menu By or by typing the first letter of the name in the menu to access. The display screen is started by selecting from the menu bar, This is shown in Figures 2B-E. Figure 2B shows the call information menu initiated by selecting 61 in Figure 2A. Show new, it identifies the user or the user's phone credit card It changes the information. The user can see "ATT" and "MCI" on line 69. , Or select one of the major carriers like "SPRINT". Another fruit In the example, the list of carriers can be expanded. The system is 1-800 Respond by automatically determining a carrier access number, such as a number, and later Combined with other data when dialing. Other than the user listed If you have a carrier of, the user selects the "Other" box 71 and the box You can enter the carrier access number in 72. The user is "credit car" Enter the user's calling credit card identification number on line 73 of the "ID". Lup Option 75 is also available. User selects cancellation option 79 This allows you to abandon the menu and change its items at any time. Envoy The user selects OK option 77 to save the entered caller information. To. Specific carrier access numbers and credit card identification numbers are in the invention. In this embodiment, it is valid unless it is changed in the calling information menu. Figure 2C shows that 63 is selected in the menu of Figure 2A. Therefore, the menu of the dial list to be activated is shown. This menu is for the user Display a list of phone numbers currently stored in your computer's memory and call Allows you to select the number to be issued. The list is of the call in this example Accessed by area code. The user first said Area Co., Ltd. on Line 81. Enter the desired area code in "do". In another embodiment, the area code is squeezed. It is displayed in a list to be displayed, and the user can select from the list. User Call by selecting the number display box 83 or the name display box 85 For area codes selected by number or by alphabetical name And the stored number can be displayed. Names and phone numbers are regular Appears in scroll list 82 operated by the roll bar. 5 phone numbers Number and name pairs are displayed in numerical order at about the same time. The name is a personal name (first name, last name) , Company name, or code distinguished name, the user identifies the party to be called To choose for. The user moves the scroll arrow up and down with the pointer device or keyboard. Scroll the list by letting. The user selects the number to dial And the selected number and name pair is emphasized. Help option 87 is also available is there. When the user exits the dial list menu, OK option 89 is selected To. The screen will select the dialed number by selecting the cancel option 91 End without change I can finish it. The system returns the user to the start menu (see Figure 2A). .. Figure 2D is shown by selecting 65 on the Start Menu screen shown in Figure 2A. Shows the edit menu that will be activated and the user can call for a specific area code And to be able to add, delete, or change names. The user is the most First, type the area code in "Area code:" on line 93. The edit menu is Displayed by phone number or name by the user selecting box 95 or 97 can do. 5 numbers and names or names and number pairs are scroll lists Displayed at 96. To add a new pair, the user selects Add Box 99 and says Phone Number: Enter the phone number and name in the "and" name: "fields 92 and 94, respectively, and enter &lt; &gt; Or press &lt;Return&gt;. New numbers and names are listed in scroll list 96 Appears in. To change the name and / or number, the user selects change box 101 Then select the appropriate pair to change from scroll list 96. The selected pair is Highlighted, numbers and names appear in columns 100 and 102 below the change box. The user then edits the information in the field and selects &lt;Enter&gt; or &lt;Return&gt;. Weird Further points appear in scroll list 96. If you make a mistake in the input, the user Just reselect the phone number and name pair and fix it with the change option do it. A similar method is used to eliminate number-name pairs. The user erases Select x 105 and then select the pair to be erased in scroll list 96 .. The system pops up whether the user really wants to erase the pair Ask a question on the dough. The user can select "yes" or "no". When "yes" is selected, the pair no longer appears in the scroll list. here The pop-up window for confirmation is not shown. Help option 107 is available in the edit menu 107. Phone number What are the changes to the issue and name by selecting the cancel option 111? It can be abandoned at any time. The user is OK to save all changes Select option 109. Figure 2E begins by selecting menu item 67 on the screen of Figure 2A. Shows the settings screen that allows the user to form specific hardware settings Giving a step, the user will use it with the dialing device of the present invention. use One can choose from three computer and telephone configurations. Box 113 Select to set the mode and present the invention on a computer with built-in speakers. Use the tone dial device of. Used by selecting box 117 One can connect to a traditional modem phone with a touch tone dial, Kus 119 When selected, the user can use the pulse dial to connect to a conventional modem and telephone. Can be used. One additional mode selected by Box 121 is Computer Check It is equipped with a means to send a possible code to a remote computer, as shown in Figure 7. It is described in detail below with reference. Help 125, OK127, and Cancel 129 , Available in the settings menu. Many portable computers have the appropriate embedded devices to achieve the functionality of the present invention. Has a peaker, which outputs DTMF tones through the speaker and swipes the phone Activate the ching device. However, some computers are of poor quality It has a built-in speaker. An additional embodiment of the present invention is a sound as shown in FIG. 3A. It is equipped with a sound enhancing device 133. Device 133 is on the computer's built-in speaker 130. It is configured to be located in. Suction cup interface or other effective equipment Since the device 131 can be used between the acoustic enhancement device and the computer, the device can be used. Accurately couples with the speaker of the computer. Figure 3B shows the main configuration of the acoustic enhancement device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the element. Sound enhancement device is computerized through microphone 135 The DTMF tone is taken from the speaker tone of the data and passed through the amplifier circuit 137. It transmits tones and gives an enhanced signal to the device's high quality output speaker 139. If the computer does not have a speaker, another embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. In the example, the acoustic jack 141 and the key through the computer's audio output port 142. It is equipped with an external speaker 144 connected to the table 143. Instead, it is shown in Figure 5. So, the acoustic jack 146 and the cable 147 are compu Connect the audio output port 145 of the data to the headset mounting device 148 to connect the speaker. To make it work. External speed with telephone transmitter mouthpiece to block irrelevant noise Reliable mounting of power is desirable. This is an interface, as shown in Figure 6. A speaker 151 is attached to the external speaker 149, resulting in the speaker being the mouthpiece of the telephone transmitter. Firmly interfaced to 153, external noise at the interface Can be achieved by weakening. This additional feature is the airport, conference Call in a lively, noisy environment, such as a room or a telephone booth on a busy street Desirable when using. In another embodiment, the control routine DTs the code, as shown in FIG. Portable computer and telephone interface described in MF tone 15 Unique to send from 7 to remote computer 161 over telephone line 148 It is equipped with various means. The remote device of this embodiment has a DTMF tone from the telephone line. Receives data and uses it as an American standard code for exchanging information (ASCII) Decoding function that converts to a digital display that can be deciphered as a computer code of Have. Figure 8 shows the DTMF toe assigned to each character in the ASCII set. A matrix showing the values of The decoder is the input DTMF in this example It is installed in a remote device for receiving data. The decoder is a computer By an additional card connected to the telephone line by the telephone and telephone jack 159 Can be made. In the data transfer embodiment, the user selects box 121 in the image in Figure 2E. Then the system displays the selected image shown in Figure 9. The selected image is day Has a scroll list 163 of formats for transfer, each format Each is unique for a particular purpose. Such a format implements this Give the dialing device application in one example, or edit in another embodiment The device may be provided to create a new application. An example of a data transfer format is the scroll list message in Figure 9. Omat 165. To configure this format, the user is a former If you select, it will be highlighted in the crawl list and then OK Select box 166. The system then displays the message format shown in Figure 10. -Display a matte image. In this message format, the system Give the user an input field 167 for the action scroll, and the text is a text editing device or Can be entered by a word processor. Checkbox 171 creates input field 175 Go and enter the file name for the message and it will be sent to the receiving station It is stored as the file name. In addition, check box 173 is entered Activate field 177 and enter the recipient's ID or destination for the message. Message is decoded at the receiving end to direct the message to a specific recipient Is used. Satisfied with the text and other input sent by the user, OK Select box 169 and the start menu shown in Figure 2A Is displayed. The user simply selects a number and dials like any other example Just Select "remote device" when the number is dialed and a connection is made If is done on the screen shown in Figure 2E, the system is based on the table in Figure 8. The text will be transferred by the DTMF code. In this embodiment, continuous data transfer is required and the remote device comes in. Has a receiving modem for decoding TMF tones and the receiving computer's bus Supply the data generated above. The modem solves two DTMF tones at the same time A readable receiver, a processor to manage the operation, and as shown in Figure 8. Search table and control routines to instruct the CPU when managing the modem Have. There are an infinite variety of transfer applications that can be performed in the data transfer mode of the present invention. The message mode is just one of these. Day to database Many other modes, such as input, order format, and the like Yes, they will be equally effective. To those skilled in the art, to the examples described without departing from the technical scope of the invention. It will be clear that a relatively large number of changes can be made. some Additional and alternative examples have been described above. For example, a compilation without speakers Measures are taken against computers or computers with inferior speakers In the first case, the installation of an external speaker is added, and in the second case the odor External speakers and phones interact with specific gasket connections The external noise around the output speaker is reduced, thereby digital communication. Improve the quality of the issue. Another embodiment extends the concept of the invention as described above. In addition, the dialing device of the present invention remotely complies the computer code with a telephone line. Allows you to send to the tutor. This other embodiment is for performing various tasks. More effective for making remote commands and other inputs to a remote computer Can be expanded. The ASCII / DTMF matrix is also exactly the present invention. Used to relate two models for data transfer within the technical scope of It is one of many such matrices that are possible.