Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-14
2002-09-17
Nguyen, Lee (Department: 2683)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S556200, C455S557000, C375S222000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06453175
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates generally to telecommunication networks and, more particularly, to a multi-function coding element which performs voice, fax and data coding and is suitable for use in an associated telecommunications network
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In
FIG. 1
, the reference numeral
10
designates a conventional telecommunications network
10
. As illustrated herein, the telecommunications network
10
includes a wireless system, for example, a cellular network and a wireline system, for example, the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”). The wireless system of the telecommunications network
10
further includes a mobile terminal. As illustrated herein, the mobile terminal
12
is a voice/fax/data terminal capable of operating in first, second and third modes in which voice, facsimile and data messages may be respectively transmitted or received.
The wireless system of the telecommunications network
10
also includes a base station
13
to which the mobile terminal
12
is coupled by an airlink. The base station
13
includes a base station controller
14
configured to transmit voice, fax and data messages to, and receive voice, fax and data messages from, the mobile terminal
12
. While the wireless system illustrated in
FIG. 1
shows a sole base station
13
, it should be clearly understood that wireless systems typically include plural base stations, each having a base station controller incorporated therein. The base station controller
14
includes a voice coding (“vocoder”) element
16
which performs digital-to-analog (“D/A”) conversions on packets of digital voice data to produce analog voice tones. The vocoder element
16
also performs analog-to-digital (“A/D”) conversions on analog voice tones to produce packets of digital voice data. More specifically, when set to operate in voice mode, the mobile terminal
12
will first advise the base station controller
12
to prepare to receive a voice message. The mobile terminal
12
will then transmit packets of digital voice data to the base station controller
34
. There, the vocoder element
16
converts the received packets of digital voice data into analog voice tones for transmission to a mobile switching center (“MSC”)
20
coupled thereto. The vocoder element
16
may be embodied within a digital signal processor (“DSP”) which performs the D/A and A/D conversions of digital voice data and analog voice tones in accordance with respective sequences of instructions maintained thereby.
The MSC
20
directs the received analog voice tones to its destination which, for example, may be a second wireless terminal (not shown) coupled to the MSC
20
, a wireless terminal coupled to a second MSC (also not shown), or, as illustrated herein, to a wireline terminal
26
located within the PSTN and coupled to the MSC
20
by an interexchange carrier (or “IXC”)
22
and a local exchange carrier (or “LEC”)
24
. As illustrated herein, the wireline terminal
26
, like the mobile terminal
12
, is a multi-mode terminal configured to transmit and receive voice, fax and data messages. Furthermore, while the wireline terminal
26
is shown as the destination of the voice signal originating at the mobile terminal
12
, it should be further understood that the analog voice signal may be directed via other IXCs (not shown) and LECs (also not shown) of the PSTN to any of the multitude of wireline terminals included as part of the PSTN.
When set to operate in fax or data mode, the mobile terminal
12
will advise the base station controller
14
to prepare to receive a fax or data message. The mobile terminal
12
will then transmit either a digital facsimile message or a digital data message to the base station controller
14
. In turn, the base station controller
14
transfers the received digital fax or digital data message to an interworking function (“IWF”)
18
which is coupled to the base station controller
14
and the MSC
20
and may be embodied as a DSP. If the IWF
18
receives packets of digital fax data from the base station controller
14
, the IWF
18
converts the received digital fax data into analog modem tones. If, however, the IWF
18
receives a stream of digital data from the base station controller
14
, the IWF
18
converts the received stream of digital data into an analog stream of digital data. The IWF
18
then passes the converted analog modem tones or analog data stream on to the MSC
20
where the message is handled in the manner previously described.
Voice, fax and data messages originating elsewhere on the telecommunications network
10
and having, as its destination, the mobile terminal
12
, are handled in a reverse manner. Specifically, upon receiving analog voice tones destined for the mobile terminal
12
or other mobile terminal coupled to the base station controller
14
, the MSC
20
will transmit the analog voice tones to the base station controller
14
where the vocoder element
16
will convert the analog voice tones signal into digital form. The resultant digital voice data produced thereby is then forwarded by the base station controller
14
to the mobile terminal
12
. Conversely, when the MSC
20
receives analog modem tones or an analog data stream which originated elsewhere on the telecommunications network
10
and has, as its destination, the mobile terminal
12
, the MSC
20
transfers the receive analog modem tones or analog data stream to the IWF
18
for conversion into digital format. After converting the received information into digital format, the IWF
18
transmits the resultant digital signal to the mobile terminal
12
via the base station controller
14
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a base station controller which includes a call control resource manager, a first coding resource and a second coding resource. The call control resource manager controls exchanges of messages between at least one mobile terminal and a mobile switching center (“MSC”). The first coding resource performs digital-to-analog (“D/A”) and analog-to-digital (“A/D”) conversions for a first message type while the second coding resource performs D/A and A/D conversions for a second message type. In one aspect thereof, the base station controller may also include a third coding resource which performs D/A and A/D conversions for a third message type and, in a further aspect thereof, the first, second and third message types may be voice, facsimile and data, respectively. The coding resources may be embodied as software modules which reside on a multi-function coding element, which itself may be embodied as a digital signal processor.
In still further aspects of this embodiment, as well as in other embodiments thereof, the call control resource manager may receive digital messages from the mobile terminal, determine the message type for that digital message, call a selected one of the coding resources to perform a D/A conversion on the message and transmit the converted analog message to the MSC. The call control resource manager may also receive analog messages from the MSC, determine the message type for that analog message, call a selected one of the coding resources to perform an A/D conversion on the message and transmit the converted digital message to a selected mobile terminal.
In another embodiment, the present invention is directed to a telecommunications network which includes first and second mobile terminals, each configured for transmission and receipt of digital messages in at least one of voice, facsimile and data modes, a base station controller coupled to the first and second mobile terminals by respective airlinks and an MSC configured for transmitting analog messages to, and receiving analog messages from, the base station controller in each of the voice, facsimile and data modes. The base station controller includes a multi-function coding element which converts digital voice messages into analog voice messages, analog voice messages into digital voice messages, digital facsimile messages into analog
Fisher Kent
Lauson David
Lewis Larry D.
Mizell Jerry L.
Haynes and Boone LLP
Nguyen Lee
Nortel Networks Limited
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