KR20000034513A - Internet phone - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An internet phone is provided so that a processing speed can be increased by minimizing the burden of the software and processing an audio signal with a hardware. CONSTITUTION: An internet phone includes a handset (35) having a transmitter and receiver. An analog-digital converter (406) converts the transmitter's voice inputted from the handset into digital signal. A digital-analog converter (403) outputs an analog voice signal by converting the decoded digital voice data to the handset. A voice codec (402) codes the output of the analog-digital converter and decodes the voice data received for a network and outputs to the digital-analog converter. A USB interface unit (401), after converting the parallel data of the voice codec into serial data, outputs the serial data to the USB port according to the predetermined clock and after converting the serial data of the USB port into parallel data, provides the parallel data to the voice codec.

Description

Internet phone (A INTERNET PHONE)

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an internet phone that enables telephone service using the Internet, and more particularly to an internet phone that can be connected to a USB port.

Recently, as the number of Internet users is rapidly increasing year by year, and the data transmission speed in the Internet is increasing, interest in Internet telephony, Internet fax, and Internet broadcasting is increasing. In particular, Internet telephony has a merit that it costs only tens of percent or less compared to the existing telephone bill when making international calls, and thus, PC telecom operators, Internet service providers, and telephone providers provide Internet telephony services.

Examples of the configuration of a system that can use the Internet telephony service include a computer-to-computer connection (FIG. 1A), a computer-to-phone connection (FIG. 1B), and a telephone-to-phone connection (FIG. 1A to 1C). 1c). In FIG. 1A, the Internet telephone service method between the computer 102 and the computer 106 is to directly call the other party using an IP (Internet Protocol) address. If the other party is using the Internet 104, the call can be made immediately. If there is no other party, it can be delivered in the form of automatic voice e-mail. In FIG. 1B, the Internet telephony service method between the computer 112 and the phone 120 is connected to the gateway server 116 via the Internet 114 when a call is made on a computer connected to the Internet 114, where the public air of the countries of the world is again returned. It is connected to the general telephone 120 through the telephone network 118. This is the concept of the US's International Discount Telecommunications (IDT) Net2Phone (Internet Phone Service), which is cheap enough to cover some Internet and exchange fees. In FIG. 1C, when the Internet phone service method between the phone 132 and the phone 144 is dialed to a gateway server 136 or 140 from a regular phone, the gateway server delivers a voice signal to the other gateway server through the Internet 138. The receiving gateway server connects to the called party through the public telephone networks 134 and 142. It is a preferred form of Internet telephony, as the user has no difference from a regular telephone except by dialing a number to access a gateway server.

2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional Internet phone implemented using a computer 20. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the sound card 22 and the network card 23 are connected to the host computer system 21 through an input / output bus for the Internet phone function, and the microphone 25 and the speaker 26 are connected to the sound card 22. Is connected. The host system 21 carries a software driver for supporting an Internet phone function, processes the voice of the microphone 25 connected through the sound card 22, and transmits the voice to the Internet network 27 through the network card 23. Then, the voice data received from the Internet network 27 is received through the network card 23, and then reproduced by the sound card 22 to be heard through the speaker 26.

On the other hand, the convenience of computer users has been provided by applying the 'PLUG & PLAY' method in computer technology, but recently, USB (Universal Serial Bus) that can be applied to other external peripherals of the computer Technology has been developed and used. The USB is composed of a host controller and one or more hubs and a plurality of devices connected to the host controller through the hubs. In general, the host controller is installed in a computer and the hub is installed in a monitor. do.

Therefore, implementing an Internet phone so that it can be connected to a USB port may provide an easy-to-use benefit.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an Internet phone that can be connected through the USB port, which was devised to satisfy the above needs.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a computer system including a USB port and connected to the Internet to provide an Internet phone service, the apparatus comprising: a handset having a handset for making a call; An analog-to-digital converter for converting an analog voice of a talker input through the handset into digital; A digital-to-analog converter for converting decoded digital voice data into an analog voice signal and outputting the same to the handset; A voice codec (CODEC) for receiving the output of the analog-to-digital converter and performing voice encoding, decoding the voice data received from the network, and outputting the decoded voice data to the digital-analog converter; And a USB interface unit converting the parallel data of the voice codec into serial and outputting the serial data received from the USB port to the USB port according to a predetermined clock, and converting the serial data received from the USB port into parallel to the voice codec. It is characterized by.

1 is a diagram illustrating the concept of an Internet phone;

2 is a diagram showing a conventional Internet phone configuration implemented in a computer;

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which an Internet phone is installed using a USB port according to the present invention;

4 is a detailed configuration diagram of the Internet phone shown in FIG. 3.

* Names of symbols according to the main parts of the drawings

31: PC main body 32: keyboard

33: monitor 34: Internet phone

35: handset 36: USB hub

37a, 37b, 37c, 38a: USB port 38b: Handset port

38c: cable 401: USB interface unit

402: speech codec 403: digital-to-analog converter (DAC)

404: buffer 405: buffer

406: analog to digital converter

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Prior to explaining the present invention, a general USB (Universal Serial Bus) will be described in more detail.

As described above, the USB consists of a host controller, a hub and devices. Here, the host controller is generally embedded inside the computer and handles communication between the USB devices and the CPU of the computer, and detects whether or not the devices are mounted to process information, and transmits a communication address to the devices. By assigning this, seamless communication between the devices and the CPU is achieved.

In addition, when an error occurs during communication between the devices and the CPU, the CPU user is notified of the error so that necessary actions can be taken. In addition, the host controller is configured to supply a driving voltage of 5V to hubs or devices connected to the USB.

The hub may be connected to the host or another hub connected to the host, and may control upstream communication and process downstream data to transmit the data to a device requiring this data. do. In this case, the upstream means a communication flow with a host controller or another hub that is connected to the hub, and the downstream means a communication flow with a device or another hub connected to the hub.

The USB device includes an asynchronous device that is a low speed device and a medium speed device, and the low speed device includes a microphone, a keyboard, a joystick, a game controller, and the like. have.

3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which an Internet phone is installed using a USB port according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, an Internet phone 34 according to the present invention may be connected to an existing personal computer system including a computer body 31, a keyboard 32, and a monitor 33 via a USB hub 36 installed on the monitor. It is configured to be. At this time, the USB hub 36 is provided with a USB port 37a for upstream and USB ports 37b and 37c for downstream, and the handset 35 is connected to the Internet phone 34 through a handset port 38b. It is connected. As described above, the Internet phone 34 according to the present invention can be connected to the computer system through the USB port 37b, thereby providing an advantage of being easy to connect and easy to move.

FIG. 4 is a detailed configuration diagram of the Internet phone shown in FIG. 3. The Internet phone 34 has a port 38b for connecting the handset 35 and a cable 38c to the USB port 37b of the hub. A port 38a for connection, a USB interface unit 401, a voice codec 402, a digital-to-analog converter 403 (DAC), a reception buffer 404, a transmission buffer 405, an analog-to-digital converter 406: ADC).

4, handset 35 is connected through port 38b to function as a handset, transmit buffer 405 amplifies the analog voice received from the handset's handset, and analog-to-digital converter 406 The analog voice of the talker input through the handset 35 is converted into digital. The digital-to-analog converter 403 converts the decoded digital voice data into an analog voice signal and outputs it to the receiving buffer 404. The receiving buffer 404 amplifies it and delivers it to the handset of the handset.

The voice codec 402 receives the output of the analog-to-digital converter 406, performs voice encoding, decodes the voice data received from the network, and outputs the decoded voice data to the digital-analog converter 403. The USB interface unit 401 converts the parallel data of the voice codec 402 into serial and outputs it to the USB port 38a according to a predetermined clock, and converts the serial data received from the USB port 38a into parallel. The voice codec 402 is provided.

As described above, the present invention is easily installed in a computer system having a USB port to perform an Internet phone function, and is easy to install and move as necessary. In particular, in performing the functions of the Internet phone, it is possible to improve the processing speed by minimizing the software burden and processing voice signals in hardware.

Claims (1)

A computer system equipped with a universal serial bus (USB) port and connected to the Internet to provide Internet phone service, A handset 35 having a handset for the call; An analog-to-digital converter (406) for converting an analog voice of a talker input through the handset into digital; A digital-to-analog converter 403 for converting decoded digital voice data into an analog voice signal and outputting the same to the handset; A voice codec 402 for receiving an output of the analog-to-digital converter and performing voice encoding, decoding the voice data received from the network, and outputting the decoded voice data to the digital-analog converter; And And converting the serial data of the voice codec into serial and outputting them to the USB port according to a predetermined clock, and converting the serial data received from the USB port into parallel to provide the voice codec to the voice codec. Internet phone, characterized in that.