Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-19
2004-04-27
Trost, William (Department: 2746)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S556100, C455S557000, C379S100010, C379S093010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06728534
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a radio communication apparatus, having combined functions as a terminal adapter, a digital radio communication apparatus, a facsimile communication apparatus and so on, for being connected to a digital public communication line.
Lately, as the ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is widely adopted, a data terminal such as a personal computer or the like is connected to ISDN via a terminal adapter for data communication.
In this case, the data terminal (hereinafter referred to as PC) is connected to the terminal adapter by a cable, e.g., RS
232
C, and transmits data to the terminal adapter according to an asynchronous scheme at the transmission speed of, e.g., 2400 bps, 4800 bps, 9600 bps, 19.2 Kbps, 38.4 Kbps and so forth. The terminal adapter converts the transmission speed of the received data to 64 Kbps according to the CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) Standard Recommendation V. 110, I. 460, and transmits the converted data to ISDN.
Since the terminal adapter is connected to ISDN which serves as a public communication network, other media such as the telephone, facsimile and the like which are used to communicate audio data or image data, are generally connected to an analogue port of the terminal adapter.
FIG. 17
is a block diagram showing a system construction using a conventional terminal adapter.
Referring to
FIG. 17
, reference numeral
2101
denotes a terminal adapter;
2102
, a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) master unit connected to a first analogue port of the terminal adapter;
2103
, a PHS slave unit;
2104
, a personal computer (PC) connected to the terminal adapter by RS
232
C cable;
2105
, a scanner connected to the PC by a cable;
2106
, a printer connected to the PC by a cable;
2107
, a facsimile apparatus connected to the second analogue port of the terminal adapter; and
2108
, ISDN.
FIG. 18
is a block diagram showing an internal structure of the conventional terminal adapter.
Referring to
FIG. 18
, reference numeral
2201
denotes a CPU (microcomputer);
2202
, a memory;
2203
, a data bus;
2204
, an ISDN interface unit including DSU (Digital Service Unit);
2205
, a B-channel serial signal;
2206
, an HDLC (High-level Data Link Controller) which assembles/disassembles data frames transmitted through ISDN;
2207
, an RS
232
C interface unit; and
2208
, an analogue port to which a terminal connectable to an analogue public communication line is connected.
FIGS. 19 and 20
show communication sequences when data is transmitted/received via a conventional terminal adapter.
Steps of performing data communication using a conventional terminal adapter are now described.
First, when data communication is performed by using PC
2104
, a communication command (e.g. AT command transmitted between a communication unit and a data terminal) outputted by the PC
2104
, is received by the serial communication interface unit
2207
. The serial communication interface unit
2207
outputs an interruption request to the CPU
2201
, and in the interruption processing executed in response to the interruption request, the serial communication interface unit
2207
notifies the CPU
2201
that the data has been received. The CPU
2201
transfers the received data transmitted by the PC
2104
via the serial communication interface
2207
to the memory
2202
. When the CPU
2201
analyzes the AT command sent by the PC
2104
and recognizes that the transmission is addressed to ISDN, the CPU
2201
starts-up the ISDN interface unit
2204
to perform transmission processing. Upon receiving a response message from ISDN, the AT command is transmitted to the PC
2104
via the serial communication interface unit
2207
, and notifies the PC
2104
that the called party has responded.
Then, the PC
2104
starts data transmission through the terminal adapter. The data subjected to transmission is stored in the memory
2202
similar to the AT command. Next, the CPU
2201
writes the data stored in the memory into the HDLC controller
2206
. The data is assembled into an HDLC frame format by the HDLC controller
2206
, and is transmitted by the CPU
2201
to ISDN.
Conversely, data reception from ISDN is detected by the HDLC controller
2206
and stored in the memory
2202
. The CPU
2201
writes the stored data into the serial communication controller
2207
and outputs it to the PC
2104
through the RS
232
C cable.
Meanwhile, the PHS master unit
2102
, facsimile apparatus
2107
and the like can be connected to the analogue port of the terminal adapter
2101
. If the PHS master unit
2102
, which has received a transmission request from the PHS slave unit
2103
, performs transmission processing (inversion), the CPU
2201
detects the transmission request via the analogue port
2208
of the terminal adapter
2101
, and performs transmission processing to ISDN. Accordingly, communication using PHS is realized. The same description applies to a facsimile apparatus.
However, the above-described terminal adapter is connected to a PC only by a cable, e.g., the RS
232
C cable. Therefore, the PC must be placed near the terminal adapter. If the PC is set far from the connection portion of the public communication line, a long cable is necessary, requiring wiring works.
Further, since the public communication line is shared by the telephone unit, facsimile apparatus and terminal adapter and further the PC is connected to the terminal adapter, printer and scanner, line connections are complicated and require a large set-up area.
Furthermore, in the conventional system, each of the resources (devices), e.g., the PHS system connected to the terminal adapter
2101
, scanner
2105
connected to the PC
2104
, printer
2106
, facsimile apparatus
2107
and so on, cannot efficiently be used in the entire system, result being wasteful, where similar functions are separately provided by plural devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to improve a radio communication apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication system where a PC can be connected to a public communication line, even in a case where the PC is not connected to a terminal adapter by a cable, by utilizing the digital radio communication technology which is widely used recently.
Moreover, another object of the present invention is to provide a terminal adapter including functions for a printer, scanner, facsimile and telephone to be controlled integrally, so as to improve operability, save space and reduce cost.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to adopt a structure using multiple CPUs and a shared register, which enable to add the functions of terminal adapter and PHS master unit to the conventional facsimile apparatus without requiring large changes, so as to realize a highly-expandable radio communication apparatus.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.
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Izumi Michihiro
Kagaya Naoto
Tabeta Hideya
Uchimi Akihiro
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Ferguson Keith
Morgan & Finnegan , LLP
Trost William
LandOfFree
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