Multiplex communications – Pathfinding or routing – Combined circuit switching and packet switching
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-28
2004-07-06
Ton, Dang (Department: 2661)
Multiplex communications
Pathfinding or routing
Combined circuit switching and packet switching
C370S352000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06760326
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for transmitting multimedia data including audio data in real time on the internet protocol (IP) network typically represented by Ethernet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recently, a LAN communicating apparatus—including at least one telephone and allowing voice communication through local area network (LAN) or the internet—has been permeated in the market.
FIG. 11
is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a conventional LAN communicating apparatus. A LAN telephone communicating apparatus
1110
comprises the following elements:
(a) a telephone interface
1104
for hooking up a telephone
1108
;
(b) a voice-processor
1102
for providing a voice stream from the telephone-interface
1104
with processes such as echo-cancellation, coding and exchanging;
(c) a voice IP processor
1101
for IP packetizing the voice stream supplied from the voice-processor
1102
; and
(d) an upstream LAN interface
1106
for coupling LAN communicating apparatus
1110
to an upstream LAN
1107
(e.g. a private branch exchange (PBX) LAN).
For instance, a user in an office has a LAN terminal
1109
(e.g. a personal computer including a 10 BASE-T terminal) and a telephone
1108
. When the user hooks up both these apparatuses to the upstream LAN
1107
, the telephone
1108
is hooked up to the LAN communicating apparatus
1110
, and the LAN terminal
1109
is either hooked up directly to the LAN
1107
or hooked up to a LAN coupling device
1103
such as a repeater hub or a switching hub.
In the LAN communicating apparatus
1110
structured above, a larger traffic in the upstream LAN
1107
delays voice data substantially, and this interferes with the communication, because the LAN
1107
cannot control which traffic goes first, the data traffic or the voice traffic.
In other words, the conventional structure hooks up the LAN terminal and the LAN communicating apparatus to the upstream LAN on equal terms with each other. Therefore, a priority control over the LAN terminal and the LAN telephone communicating apparatus, i.e. which traffic goes first, fully depends on a router, or a switching hub such as a media-access-control (MAC) frame switcher. In particular, when an entrance of the upstream LAN is coupled to a shared-type network such as a repeater hub, the priority control over those two, i.e. which traffic goes first, is impossible.
When a user wants to hook up both the LAN terminal and the telephone to the upstream LAN, each connection requires respective connectors and wires in conventional manner. This increases the cost and makes the operation, as well as maintenance complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims to solves the problems discussed above in coupling both a LAN terminal and a telephone to a LAN.
A LAN communicating apparatus of the present invention—hooking up a telephone and a LAN terminal—for communicating between the LAN and the telephone or the LAN terminal, comprises the following elements:
(a) a telephone interface for hooking the telephone;
(b) a downstream LAN interface for hooking up the LAN terminal on a down stream side; and
(c) a bridge processor for providing voice data from the telephone interface and data sent through the downstream LAN interface with a bridge process.
This structure allows the voice data to be sent to the upstream LAN advantageously over data-packet supplied from the LAN terminal. Therefore, if the LAN terminal belonging to the downstream LAN sends volume of data, voice data from the telephone can be transmitted without delay.
Further, a traffic controller is added to the structure discussed above so that the controller can monitor flow-in volume and a sender's address of MAC frames supplied from the upstream LAN. When determining that the flow-in volume substantially affects the voice traffic from the telephone, the controller instructs the sender to regulate the volume of MAC frames to be sent out. As a result, delay of voice data due to data congestion between the LAN communicating apparatuses on the LAN can be avoided.
Another LAN communicating apparatus of the present invention comprises the following elements:
a LAN interface;
a telephone interface; and
a hybrid interface.
The hybrid interface is formed of an N-conductor connector, and the pins used for the LAN terminal out of N-pins are connected to the LAN interface, and the other pins not used for the LAN terminal are connected to the telephone interface. This N-conductor connector thus hooks up both of the LAN terminal and the telephone.
As a result, the wiring cost to the LAN terminals can be reduced and such unified connector allows the operation and maintenance of the system to be substantially easy.
The present invention also provides a distribution connector which can couple both the LAN terminal and the telephone to the LAN—operating based on the same principal as discussed above.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5682386 (1997-10-01), Arimilli et al.
patent: 5841778 (1998-11-01), Shaffer et al.
patent: 6463051 (2002-10-01), Ford
patent: 6600734 (2003-07-01), Gernert et al.
patent: 09-135241 (1997-05-01), None
Shingae Kenichi
Takeda Yutaka
RatnerPrestia
Ton Dang
Wilson Robert W.
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