Telephonic communications – Diagnostic testing – malfunction indication – or electrical... – Testing of subscriber loop or terminal
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-08
2004-06-22
Tieu, Binh (Department: 2643)
Telephonic communications
Diagnostic testing, malfunction indication, or electrical...
Testing of subscriber loop or terminal
C379S026020, C379S027010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06754310
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications and, in particular, to a telephony interface device for providing status and diagnostic information to a telephone operatively coupled to the telephony interface device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Since the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell over 100 years ago, various systems have been implemented to allow a homeowner, for example, to transmit and receive information. The communication service that most people have used on a daily basis typically includes copper wires that are routed from a Local Exchange Carrier (your local telephone company) to a small gray box mounted on the side of the home (commonly referred to as a Network Interface Device). This small gray box connects the copper wires of the “local loop” to the telephone wiring inside the home and the RJ-11 (telephone jacks) connection points also within the home. The traditional Network Interface Device that has been used for many years typically has no digital components or microprocessor-based intelligence. It is simply an electronic circuit that detects current and voltage changes that are a result of the switching activity (i.e., open circuit, closed circuit) at either end of the copper wires. Voice is carried as an analog signal over the copper wires and is electrically coupled to a common telephone on one end, and Local Exchange switching equipment at the other.
There are many disadvantages to this conventional arrangement. For example, problems arise when attempting to diagnose various failures that may occur with these conventional Network Interface Devices. Typically, these conventional Network Interface Devices may include a plurality of LED's that are intended to allow customers and/or field technicians to diagnose system and/or network element status. However, the LEDs are not very useful to customers and/or field technicians in diagnosing system or network element status. In particular, the use of LEDs requires the oftentimes non-intuitive interpretation of LED light combinations to determine the operational status of the system. Moreover, an extra terminal port interface (i.e., a dumb terminal) may be used to provide field technicians with a means to diagnose system or network element status. However, diagnostic terminal port interfaces typically required a high level of familiarity from a trained technician. Moreover, diagnostic terminal port interfaces and LEDs typically provide no information to the end-user when the Network Interface Device is mounted outside of the house. Finally, remote terminal diagnostics have been used in the past by a network operator, but only if network conductivity is available or is intact. As a result, remote terminal diagnostics may not be available when network conductivity problems arise.
Within the last decade or so, advances in communication technology have enabled the use of alternate media as a replacement for the copper wires in the “local loop.” Today, one of these alternate access technologies utilizes the widely deployed Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) systems that have traditionally carried only Cable Television transmissions to residential areas. Many of these HFC systems have recently been enhanced to provide multimedia services (video, voice, and high-speed data) by incorporating advanced communication technologies in equipment that is connected to the HFC cable. HFC cable networks are typically organized such that there are aggregation points where the physical cable is fanned out into a number of residential areas. These aggregation points are known as “head ends.” Media content is formatted and combined by computer-based communication equipment at these “head ends” for delivery to customers along the HFC distribution network, which spans the residential areas that are served. Network routing and bridging equipment is also provided at these “head ends,” which provide bi-directional interconnection between the access network (which provides residential access for users) and the Service Provider Network (which provides access to the existing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the public Internet). At each residence of a paying subscriber, a similar computer-based communication device (hereafter referred to as a Residential Gateway) must be connected to the HFC cable. The Residential Gateway decodes the media content and delivers the transmissions to residential devices in the home (television sets, etc.). In the past, since HFC networks generally carried only video media content, these Residential Gateways were better known as “set-top boxes” or “cable boxes.” Today, these HFC communication devices can handle more than video media content. As a result, the Residential Gateway device has been enhanced to provide interfaces to multiple networks in the home including, for example, cable TV wiring and telephone wiring.
Traditional telephony voice services have evolved to provide many enhanced features above and beyond the basic two-party phone call. These services have traditionally been implemented in the switching equipment of the service provider or in adjunct devices that reside at the Local Exchange Office. Users are able to enable and configure some of these features through configuration “menus” that prompt the user through the playout of tones or voice messages delivered by the Local Exchange Equipment. User input is then accepted, which is typically in the form of Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) digits generated by the user handset or spoken words received by the handset. However, as set forth above, there is at least one major drawback to these conventional services. In particular, the enablement and configuration of these features (and the service, in general) depends upon on the integrity of the connection between the Local Exchange Equipment and the Network Interface Unit (at the user's home), which bridges the user's home phone wiring. For example, in existing telephony systems, aural diagnostics and status information (in the form of voice prompts) are played and controlled from a Class 5 switch, and therefore depend upon the access network being intact (assuming the technician is at someone's home).
Conventional Residential Gateway devices such as, for example, the Aplio/Phone device allows users to make telephone calls via the internet. The device acts as a gateway between the user's phone network in the home and an access network (ISP dialup, or Ethernet connection to a broadband interface device i.e., Cable Modem, DSL modem, etc.) that provides a connection to the public internet. The Aplio/Phone is a simplistic device that does not require the use of a computer for setting up configuration parameters or for making or receiving phone calls. It provides a configuration function that uses the telephone handset and it's DTMF keypad as the configuration user interface. Pre-recorded voice messages are played to prompt the user for DTMF input for various functions, and to provide confirmation of user entry. For example, the DTMF keypad may be used as a DTMF input to, for example, configure the mode of the device, select language, select ISP preferences, enable and disable features, initiate software upgrades, enter numbers, logins, passwords, etc. However, these voice prompts are only used to configure the unit for initial use and do not provide any status or diagnostic information once configuration is complete.
Voice prompts have been used in certain navigation systems to inform the operator of the status of various systems and relay various instructions via pre-recorded voice messages. For example, in certain automobile applications, voice prompts such as “your door is ajar” or “check engine” have been used to relay information to the driver. Similarly, in certain aircraft applications, voice prompts such as “Pull up! Pull up!” have been used in ground proximity warning applications to warn pilots when encountering dangerously low altitudes. However, these systems are closed systems (i.e., th
Rao Arvind P.
Rojas George D.
Steinbrenner Kurt W.
3Com Corporation
Baniak Pine & Gannon
Taylor Barry W
Tieu Binh
LandOfFree
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