CA2100962A1

CA2100962A1 - Cordless telephone system having remote message centers

Info

Publication number: CA2100962A1
Application number: CA002100962A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Jaime A. Borras
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Motorola Solutions Inc
Priority date: 1991-02-25
Filing date: 1992-02-10
Publication date: 1992-08-26
Also published as: FI933672A; FI933672A0; EP0573594A4; AU1540792A; WO1992015168A1; EP0573594A1; MX9200705A

Abstract

A cordless telephone communication system is provided which includes a plurality of subscriber cordless telephones (12) capable of communicating with a PSTN (16) through a plurality of remotely located public base stations (20). Each public base station (20) has a message center which includes accesary devices such as facsimile machines and printers, for providing services which are generally available in an office environment. The subscriber may use the message upon validation of a billing account which incurs charges associated with the usage of the message center.

Description

V~ 92~1516~ PCr/US92/01~50 6 ~?

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"CORDLESS TELEPHONE SYSTE:M HAVING REM~TE MESSAGE CENTERS"
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Teçhnioal Fi~id This invention relates generally to the ~ield of communication sys~ems and in particular to a cordless telephone communication system.

Backnround Conventional cordless telephone systems include cordless ~:
teiephones which operats with private bass stations at users' homes, offices or other locations which are connec~ed to a public switching telephone network ~PSTNj. Each private base station is typically meant to be used by one subscriber. The next generation of cordless telephone systems (called CT-2 systems, ~/x~
~or cordless telephone-2) include cordless telephones which ~r!
operate with plurality o f public base stations (located at a n umber of remote telepoints). In CT-2 systems, the cordless telephones may also operate with ths private-base stations. rhe communication betwsen the ~ord!ess tslephone and the PSTN :!.
may be established once the subscriber is within range of a pu~ base statlon which are generally scattered throughout a cov~rago area. Accofdingly, the subscriber, when in rang~, may remotely place a ~11 through the pubiic base stations without the inconveniences associated wl~h using present public telephone ' - .
booths. Placing such a Gall w~ not: present much dif~iculty, but !

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WO 92/1~ PCl'tUS92/01150 r~ 2 receiving calls through public base stations will present some probtems because the subscriber unit may not be located within the access range of the public base stations at any given tim0.
Therefore, th~ cordless telephones may also operate as a paging ~t receiver for paging the subscriber.
The present invention addresses the desirability of providing the subscriber with office services such as facsimilies, etc., at the remote telepoints which are generally available in an office environment.

Sumrnarv_of the Inven~ion Briefly, according to the inventiont a communication system is provided which includes cordless telephones which -communicate with a telephone network through a plurality of public base stations located at remote points. The public base station include means for providing a wireless communication with the cordless telephones. The public base station includes a message center having message transfer accessory devices for transferring and retrieving information, ima~e, or voice accessory -messages. ~:

Brief Description of the Dr~winqs hgure 1 illustrates block diagram of communication system of the present invention.
Figlure 2 illustrates a block diagram of a public base station according to the present invention.
Figure 3 itlustrates block diagram of cordless teiephone according to the present invention.
Figure 4 Illustrates op~ration flow chart of communication ~ `~
system of Figure ~ according to the present invention. ~:

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Referring to Figure 1, a communication system 100 for providing services to a plurality of subscribers (not shown3, comprises a plurality of public base sta~ions 20 and a plurality of cordless telephones 12, and a public switching telephone network (PSTN) 16. Th0 pre~erred embodiment of the communication systern 100 of the present invention utilizes a well known time division multiplexed CT-2 (cordless telephone second generation) communication system. In the communication system 100, the public base stations 2û are connected to the PSTN 16 to allow cordless telephones 12 to communicate with o~her wired telephone users. The public base stations 20 are located at remote points, referred to as telepoints, which are scattered through out a coverage area.
Though the CT-2 communic~tion system is well knQwn in the art, its operation wiil be briefly described in order to help in understanding of the present invention. In the CT-2 communication system, a subscriber may place a call from the cordless telephone 12 when the subscriber is in a sufficiently close proximity of the telepoint (approxima~ely a ~ew hundred yards). Tha subscribers are assigned a subscnber account ~or a personal identification number) which incurs charges due to system usage. The call may be initiated by transmitting a call request wh;ch includes ~he subscriber personal identification number. When the subscribe account is Yalidated a CT-2 link is established between the public base 20 station and th~ cordless telephone 12 on cne of available CT-2 channels. Once the communication is tarminated, the subscriber accoun~ is bill~d accordingly.
Referring to Figure 2, the block ciiagram of the public base station 20 includes a suitable RF transceiver block 212 capable of providing wireless communication between the cordless - `;
telephone 12 and the public oase sta~ion 20. The RF transceiver .,.. ',' .

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212 comprises a well known conven~ion~l transceiver ~or receiving and/or transmitting voice and data information on the CT-2 channels via an antenna 210. The RF transceiver 212 is couplecl to a time division duplex circuitry 216 which provides time division multiplexed channel forrllat~ing of the communicated information and the CT-2 link~ Voice information are processed by an adaptive differential pulse code modulation/ coder decoder (ADPCivl/CODEC) block 218 which among otherthings expands and compresses the voice inforrnation to provide the timing for a duplex communication. A PSTN interface 222 which is coupled to the ADPCM/CODEC biock 218 provides for proper transfer of information between the public base station 20 and the PSTN 16 A controller ~14 provides the operational control for the entire public base station 20 in a well-known manner including the taking of steps to achieve the CT-2 link.
In one aspect of tho present invention, the base station 20 includes a message center 240 which provides the subscribers with a variety of services, such as facsimile machines, printers, video displays, and etc. Ther0fore, the invention allows a subscriber to perform most if not all office functions from a telepoint provided that the public base station includes a message center. The messag~ center 240 may include a ~acsimile machinc 241, a printer 242, a personal computer 243, a vid~o display 244, and a voice mail 24~ which hereinafter will collectively be raferred to as message transfer accessory devices.
Thc message transfer accessory devices in ih~ msssage center 20 are capable of transferring accessory voice, clata, and image messages to and from the subscriber. Tho accessory massa~es as re~erred to herein compris~ messagas that ar~ communicated by utilizing the message center 20's aecessory devices, such as FAX machines, etc. The accessory messages are communicated by means of a message center controller 224 WlliCil also provides communication po~s ~or coupling ~o a number of accessory ; .

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devices. The message center controller 224 interact with the controller 214 in a known manner for communicating the accessory messages between the message oenter 240 and the PSTN 16. A subscriber billing block 226 keep track of the occurred charges due to the utitization of the accessory devices as well as providing the signal to the message center controller to enable the subscriber to use the message center 240 once the subscriber account is validated.
Referring to Figure 3, the biock diagram of ths cordless telephone 12 of the present invention is shown. The cordless telephone 12 includes a well-known RF ~ransceiver 312 for transmitting and receiving RF communication signals via an antenna 310. A TDD circuitry 316 operates in a similar manner as TDD circuitry ?16 of FIG. 2 and providss for the formatting of the messages and the CT-2 link. An ADPCM/CODEC 318 receives voice signals generated by a microphone 321 and ;~
processes them for transmission. The ADPCM/CODEC 381 also provides voice signals to be rendered audible via an speaker 322. A controller 314 which is pro~rammed in a known manner provides operational control for the cordless telephona 12. The subscriber interacts with the cordless telephone 12 Yla a keypad 324 for enabling operational features of the communication system 100. The keypad 324 is also used to enablc the features ;;
of the messag~ center 20. Alternatively, a well knswn word reco~nizer 331 may be used to reco~nize command words uttered by the subscriber for operating ~he m~ssage center. A
display block 326 provides visual interaction rneans for th0 subscrlber. Accordingly, thc k~y pad 324, th~ voice recogni~er 331 and the display block 326 comprise means for cparatively interacting with the message transfer accessory devices. A code plug stores the assigned personal identific~tion number based on which A subscriber billing account is charged. A memory 332 -provides for temporary storage of data. ~ ~

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In another aspect of the invention, the memory 332 may be utilized to store accessory messages from a public base s~ation which dose not have the accessory devices for immediate retrieval of a message directed to the subscriber. The cordiess telephone 12 may receive the accessory messages either through the RF transceiver 312 or an external port 329 and store them in the memory 332. In this arrangement, stored accessory messages may be later retrieYed from the cordless telephone 12 via the externai port 329 by a suitable accessory device in another message center or in the office. For example, if one of the message centers 20 does not include a FAX machine, the FAXed data may be downloaded into the memory 332 upon access by the subscriber which can later be retrieved by pluggin~ the cordless telephone 12's external port 329 to an available FAX
machine.
Referring to FIG. 4, the operational block diagram of the communication system according to the present invention is shown. It may be appreciated that steps taken to achieve the purpose of the invention are programrned into the public base station's controllers 214 and 224 and ~he cordless telephone 1 2's controller 314 utilizing well known programming techniques.
When the cordless telephone is in the idle mode, block 401, ~he subscriber may choose a service from a displayed menu through the key pad 324 or the word recognizer 331 of FIG. 3, block 403.
The CT-2 link is established and the desired subscriber request is procsssed, block 405. Then a decisions is made as to lhe validity of the subscribers billin~ account, block 407. If the validity of the subscriber's billing account is not verified the user is prevented from using the message center services, block 411. However, if the subscriber's billing account is validated the rnessage center is enabled and the subscriber may utilize the desired services.
Then the CT-2 channel is ~r~ed, block 413, and the subscrlber may operate the aFcesso~ d-vices in the message center 20, - ' ` . ~ ' .

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block 415. Finally, the subscriber's billing aocount is charged for the time the subscriber uti1ized the message center, block 417.
It may be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the cordless tetephone of the present invention may also operate~ ~-as a pager for receiving paging si~nals and alerting the subscriber.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the cordiess telephone 12 rnay receive a paging signal transmitted by a paging tr~nsmitter. In this arrangement, a person wishing to leave a message must know the subscribers vicinity at a particular time. For exampie by knowing the subscriber will be at the airport a~ a par~icular time, tns person may direct an accessory message to the message center of an airport telepoint.
Upon receiving ~he page signal the subscriber is alerted to the :
location and ~ype of an accessory message. The subscriber may `;
then retrieve his or her message from the message center at the airport telepoint either immediately through the accessory devices in the messa~e center 20 or later by retrieving the accessory messags in the cordless telephone 1 2's memoly 332. - ~ ;
Accordingly, the communication system 100 allsws the subscribers to perform many of the office ~unctions through , .
message centers contemplated by the present invention.
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What is claimed is:
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Claims

1. A communication system, comprising:
a plurality of cordless telephones;
a plurality of public base stations located at remote points, including:
transceiver means for providing communication between said cordless telephones and a telephone network; and a service center located at said remote points including office equipment for performing office related activities means for enabling the use of said office equipment when the validity of a subscriber billing account is verified.

2. The communication system of claim 1, further including means for billing said subscriber account number for charges incurred by the use of said service center.

3. The communication system of claim 1, wherein said subscriber unit includes means for operatively interacting with said office equipment.

4. The communication system of claim 1, wherein said public base station further includes means for transferring accessory messages to said subscriber unit.

5. The communication system of claim 4, wherein said subscriber unit includes means for storing said accessory messages.

6. The communication system of claim 4, further includes means for directing the accessory messages to a message center included in a particular public base station of said plurality of public base stations.

7. In a communication system capable of providing communication between a cordless telephone and a telephone network through at least one public base station at a remote point, wherein said public base station includes a service center having office equipment for performing office related activities, comprising:
transceiver means for communicating messages between said cordless telephone and said public base station; and means for operatively interacting with said office equipment at said service center.

8. The communication system of claim 7, wherein said communication system includes memory means for receiving and storing accessory messages.