Multi-line modem interface

Details Multi-line modem interface Multi-line modem interface

1997-09-05

2001-07-10

Kuntz, Curtis (Department: 2643)

Telephonic communications

Telephone line or system combined with diverse electrical...

Having transmission of a digital message signal over a...

C379S093070, C379S100120

Reexamination Certificate

active

06259775

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electrical circuits for modems and more particularly relates to a multi-line interface circuit and method for automatically and transparently interfacing a modem with multiple phone lines.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is common today for homes and/or businesses to have multiple phone lines to accommodate telephone communications, facsimile transmissions and/or computer modems. In prior art systems, each component (a telephone, facsimile machine or modem) would typically have its own dedicated telephone line so that when operating the phone line was in use and otherwise went unutilized. This required multiple telephone lines although the multiple lines were seldom needed at the same time. This resulted in an undesirably large number of telephone lines which resulted in incurring high costs.
One prior art solution to the above problem was to create a user-operated switching box that allowed multiple components to share a single telephone line. In such a system, a user could select which component would occupy (utilize) the telephone line and the switching box operated as a multiplexer to selectively couple the telephone, facsimile machine or modem to the telephone line to make an outgoing connection. This prior art solution, however, had limitations since, for outgoing calls, the manual switching of the various components to the desired telephone line was often inconvenient and took additional time. This made the solution undesirable. In addition, in multi-line applications, the switching box could not automatically switch the call to an available line if an incoming call was made to a line already in use.
Accordingly, there is a strong need in the art for a system that allows for an automatic, transparent interface between multiple telephone lines and a modem within a home or business.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a system and method for interfacing multiple telephone lines with a conventional modem, fax modem or voice modem. The modem may be a stand alone component or part of another component (e.g., facsimile machine) which typically includes a modem. The invention provides automatic, transparent interfacing with the multiple lines to allow access to multiple telephone lines without requiring a user to manually switch internal lines onto or off of a particular telephone line. The invention further provides user flexibility by allowing a user to dictate connection preferences if multiple available interfacing options exist. The present invention further allows some lines to preclude transmissions altogether.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an interface circuit couples multiple incoming telephone lines to a modem and internal telephone lines. When an incoming communication occurs, the interface circuit detects the incoming call, checks its user-defined preferences, checks for internal line availability and automatically couples the call to an internal line in response to its analysis. Likewise, when an outgoing transmission is conducted via a modem, the interface circuit detects the outgoing transmission, checks its user-defined preferences and external line availability and automatically couples the call to an external line. If multiple external lines are available, the interface automatically and transparently couples the modem to the preferred external line dictated by the user-defined preferences.
The present invention is applicable to standard modem circuitry and may even be utilized in conjunction with off-the-shelf modems. In addition, the interface circuit also employs variable sensitivity monitoring circuitry to sense the status of the external telephone lines.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail one or more illustrative embodiments of the invention.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5127041 (1992-06-01), O'Sullivan
patent: 5511115 (1996-04-01), Bayerl et al.
patent: 5530951 (1996-06-01), Argintar
patent: 5636034 (1997-06-01), Ishikawa

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