MXPA01005474A - Method and system for combining wireless phone jack and rf wireless communications - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for communicating signals and data without the need for continuous telephone lines is described. This system provides a base unit connected to incoming signals, such as cable, satellite, PCS, cellular, fiber optics, XDSL, ISDN, etc, one or more extension units connected to the userstelephone or electronics equipment and a communication link between the base unit and the one or more extension units. The preferred communication link employs a combination of an A/C power line carrier and a wireless RF channel. This system provides for the communication signals from a variety of sources throughout a building or office without requiring either dedicated telephone lines or the availability of AC power outlets near the user's telephone extension equipment. This invention, in its preferred embodiments, is specifically adapted to meet the technical requirements of A/C power line communications, while taking advantage of RF communication within buildings or facilities.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM TO COMBINE WIRELESS TELEPHONE CONNECTION AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS RADIO FREQUENCY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to electronic communication systems for both data and voice signals. Specifically, the invention relates to the combination of technology of wireless telephone connections, using power lines as a communication channel and radiofrequency (RF) receivers. The combination allows a telephone user to establish a communication channel with a standard telephone extension through the power lines of a building or facility, without requiring the extension telephone to be directly connected to the power line.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND A variety of voice and / or data communication systems have been developed via power line and cordless telephone and are used to facilitate communication in places where there are few dedicated telephone / data cables or are not available. Although these approaches can address some of the problems encountered in power line or wireless communications, they typically do not provide the desirable feature of allowing the remote telephone extension to establish and maintain the communication link without being directly connected to any phone line or power line while still taking advantage of the power line channel to increase signal coverage within a building or facility. The following patent documents of E.U.A. They are preferred to the reader for general background. Each of these patents is incorporated herein by reference for the material contained therein. The patent of E.U. A. No. 3,949,172 discloses a telephone extension system that communicates with a conventional telephone line of the subscriber, wherein the telephone of the subscriber's line is located through available AC power cables carrying signals that can be RF carrier frequency modulations are coupled to the power lines. The patent of E.U.A. No. 4,058,678 discloses a remote transmission or reception device that communicates with a conventional subscriber's telephone through AC power cables carrying signals that can be modulations of RF carrier frequencies and that are coupled to power cables.

The patent of E.U.A. No. 4,471, 399 describes a communication system for transmitting digital signals of base bands on an electric power line. The patent of E.U.A. No. 4,475,193 discloses an energy line bearer telephone extension system for transmitting electrical signals between the telephone line and an extension telephone on the AC power line available on the premises of a telephone subscriber. The patent of E.U.A. No. 4,479,033 discloses a power line telephone extension system for carrying electrical signals between a telephone line of the subscriber of a conventional telephone communication system and the subscriber's remote transmitting-receiving device on the electric power cables of the subscriber. alternating current available to the subscriber. The patent of E.U.A. No. 4,495,386 discloses an energy line telephone extension system for carrying electrical signals between a subscriber's telephone line and the subscriber's remote telephone extension over electric power cords available to the subscriber. The patent of E.U.A. No. 4,514,594 discloses a line carrier telephone extension system for transmitting electrical signals between the telephone line and one or more extension telephones on the AC electric power line available in the premises of the telephone subscriber. The patent of E.U.A. No. 4,523,307 discloses an energy line carrier telephone extension system for transmitting electrical signals between the telephone line and an extension telephone on the electric power line available on the premises of the telephone subscriber. The patent of E.U.A. No. 4, 701, 945 describes a current carrier telephone system provided for buildings. The patent of E.U.A. No. 5,066,939 discloses a power line carrier communication system that operates on a conventional three-wire power line that uses more of the various radio frequency transmission lines that are defined by the three-wire power lines to improve communication between the units of the system. The patent of E.U.A. No. 5,319,634 discloses a method and system for conducting multiple simultaneous full-duplex telephone access communications either on the power lines of a building or using radio frequency transmission. The patent of E.U.A. No. 5,530,737 discloses a method and system for conducting full-duplex safe power line carrier communications over a building's power lines. The patent of E.U.A. No. 5,559,804 describes a wireless communication system that includes a plurality of wireless terminals and a base station for periodically generating a fixed length communication frame composed of an information field. The patent of E.U.A. No. 5,630,204 discloses a system for a method for providing interactive multimedia services to the subscriber premises using wireless and power line distribution within the premises of the subscriber. The patent of E.U.A. No. 5,706,191 discloses a method for bringing an apparatus and / or a mechanical electrical system from one residence to communication with another, or with a control device within the residence or with another source of communication outside the residence. The patent of E.U.A. No. 5,737,400, discloses a ring-free access telecommunications system that is connected to a subscriber's telephone line at the demarcation point between the public switched telephone network and the telephone line or at the utility measurement site on the premises of the subscriber or in a central office.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is convenient to provide a method and system for telephone communication within buildings or facilities that use energy line canaies and radiofrequency communication. In particular, it is desirable to provide a communications system that provides the means to communicate to an external telephone service, whether wired or wireless, within a building or structure where direct radio frequency signals are often isolated if the addition is required. of dedicated telephone cables. Wireless communication systems and AC line power provide many important advantages over wired telephone line systems. This is particularly the case where standard telephone connections are limited or not available, or where multiple devices require communication on the same channel. Many of the advantages are discussed in more detail in the aforementioned patent literature. Accordingly, a main object of that invention is to provide a telephone communication system that provides communication within buildings or other structures using the combination of the alternating current power line channel and a wireless radio frequency channel. Another object of this invention is to provide a telephone communication system that provides communication between a base unit, connected to both a standard telephone connection and the power line, and an extension unit, not connected to the power line or to the power line. telephone line. Another object of this invention is to provide a telephone communication system that provides communication between a base unit and an extension unit and wherein the extension unit uses a wireless radio frequency channel to communicate with the power line channel.

A further object of this invention is to provide a telephone communication system for the communication of signals using alternating current power lines and wireless radiofrequency signals where error correction is performed to maintain the integrity of the data. Objects, advantages and other additional features of this invention will be set forth in part in the following description and in part will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of this invention can be realized and achieved by the means and combinations particularly indicated in the appended claims. Other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description wherein the preferred embodiment of this invention is shown and described, simply by way of illustration of one of the best suitable modes for carrying out this invention. As will be seen, this invention may have other different modalities, and its different details, and specific electronic circuits, are capable of being modified in several aspects without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be considered illustrative and not restrictive in nature. To achieve the above objectives and other objectives, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, a base unit, an extension unit and, in the preferred embodiment, an AC power line for a radio frequency antenna is provided. . The base unit includes a line interface circuit; a signal processor and a data link transceiver. The extension unit includes a tranceptor, a signal processor, and preferably an antenna means for communication with a power line antenna. The preferred embodiment of the invention also has a power line antenna unit, which includes a power line interface, a signal converter of an RF tranceptor for communication with the extension unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The appended drawings, which are incorporated in and forming part of the specification, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Some alternative modalities, although not all, are described in the following description. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top-level functional diagram showing the interaction of the user with the main communication components of the invention. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the top-level components of the preferred embodiment of the invention. Figure 3 is a detailed block diagram showing the main component sections of the preferred base unit of the invention.

Figure 4 is a detailed block diagram showing the main component sections of the preferred signal enhancing component of the invention. Figure 5 is a detailed block diagram showing the main component sections of the preferred extension unit of the invention. Reference will now be made in detail to the currently preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the appended drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 shows a top-level functional diagram of the preferred embodiment of the invention. A construction or facility 101 is provided with the external telephone service 102. Said external telephone service 102 may be a service with traditional wire, a cable service such as a modem and / or internet service, or, alternatively, a wireless RF or satellite service. The external telephone service 102 is received on the subscriber telephone line 103 internally to the construction or installation 101. A power carrier base unit 104 is connected to the subscriber telephone lines 103 and the power lines of alternating current 105 within the construction or installation 101. Remotely from the base unit 104 but also connected to the AC power line 105, a signal increment unit 106 is preferably provided, to which it is connected. optionally and preferably an RF antenna 107. In a remote location of the base unit 104 and the signal increment 106 a user has access to the telephone equipment 110 which communicates with the base unit 104 by means of a unit of remote extension 109 which preferably has an antenna 108 in communication with the preferred optional antenna 107 connected to the signal enhancer. In this way the telephone communication with a construction or installation 101 is provided to a user who does not have convenient access to dedicated telephone lines or AC power lines. This invention makes use of RF communication channels and AC power line to provide voice and / or data communication links. Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the higher-level component sections of the preferred embodiment of this invention. The external telephone service 102 is electrically connected to the power line base unit (PLC) 104, which provides the communication interface to the central office (CO). The base unit PLC 104 provides the carrier modulation and the power line interface for sending and / or receiving signals on the power lines 105 in a construction or facility 101. The modulated bearer signal is transmitted along the power lines 105. Preferably adhered to the power lines 105 typically by a standard AC power connector and output, there is a signal enhancer 106, which converts, amplifies and transmits the signal from the base unit 104 and receives the signal from the extension unit 109, preferably using an external RF antenna 107. The RF signal transmitted from the antenna 107 radiates through the air within the construction or installation 101, where it is received by an extension antenna 108 and coupled to a remote extension unit 109. The remote extension unit 109 receives the transmitted RF signal and provides an interface to the remote telephone extension equipment of the subscriber 110. This interface allows bidirectional communication between the remote equipment of the subscriber 110 and the central office. Although the signal increment 106 is preferred, in some cases the signal energy radiating from the AC power lines 105 is sufficient to provide reliable communication between the power lines 105 and the remote extension unit 109, and in those cases the signal increment 106 and the adhered RF antenna 107 may not be necessary. Figure 3 provides a detailed block diagram of the main component section of the preferred base unit 104 of the invention. A standard connector, typically RJ-11, for a standard wall telephone outlet 301 electrically connects the base unit 104 to the external telephone service 102. A central office line interface circuit (COLIC) 302 receives the signal from the telephone service 102 and is adapted to send and receive telephone signals. Electrically bonded to the COLIC 302 is a hybrid circuit 303, which is provided to remove the signal received from the signal transmitted on the two-wire line interface. A transmission oscillator (XMIT OSC) is provided to receive the signal transmitted from the hybrid circuit 303 and to generate the carrier signal for the transmitter 305. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the XMIT OSC 304 includes a voltage controlled oscillator ( VCO). The transmitter 305 receives the frequency modulated (FM) signal from the XMIT OSC 304 and sends the FM signal for transmission through the power lines 105 via a power supply 306 and typically, a two-tailed power connector standard 307 on a standard alternating current power output. A receiver 308 is provided, preferably electronically connected to the AC power line 105, also by means of the power output 307, the power supply 306 and through the transmitter 305. This receiver 308 receives the power line signals from the extension unit 109. A filter 310 is provided, preferably a low pass filter to filter the signal received from the receiver 308. A digital controller 309 is also provided to control the functions of the base unit 104. The figure 4 shows the detailed block diagram of the preferred embodiment of the signal booster 106. A standard AC power connector 401 provides the interface to the AC power line 105. This AC power connector 401 provides power and communication to an energy supply 402. Electrically connected to the power supply 402 is a power line transceiver to 403. The power line transceiver 403 is connected to a signal converter 404, which in turn transfers, and receives, the communication signals to and from an RF transmitter / receiver 405. The RF transmitter / receiver 405 is electrically connected to an external antenna 107 to provide a communication channel with the extension unit 109. Figure 5 shows a more detailed block diagram of the preferred extension unit 109 where an external antenna 108 provides a communication link. between the extension unit 109 and the signal amplifier 106. The antenna 108 is electrically connected to an RF transceiver 501, which in turn is electrically connected to a controller 502, to control the functions of the extension unit 109. The controller 502 passes the signal to a subscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) 503, which interfaces between the extension unit 109 and the extension telephone equipment 110 The aforementioned description is of a preferred embodiment of the invention and has been presented for purposes of illustration and as a description of the best mode of the invention currently known to the inventors. It is not designed to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form, connections, or selection of described components. Other obvious modifications or variations are possible and predictable in light of the above teachings. This embodiment of the invention was selected and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby allow someone with ordinary skill in the art to use the invention in various modalities and with various modifications as suitable for the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the scope with which they have been legally, fairly and equitably titled.

Claims (6)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A system for communication of signals and data, comprising: (A) a base unit connected to an external telephone service; (B) an extension unit connected to the user extension telephone equipment; and (C) a communication link connecting said base unit to the extension unit, in which said communication link uses power line bearer and RF channels.

2. The system for communication of signals and data according to claim 1, further characterized in that said base unit further comprises a line interface adapted to send and receive signals from a variety of telephone service connections.

3. The system for communication of signals and data according to claim 1, further characterized in that said base unit additionally comprises an AC power line interface.

4. The system for communication of signals and data according to claim 1, further characterized in that said extension unit is provided with an RF interface.

5. - The system for communication of signals and data according to claim 1, further characterized in that said communication link further comprises an alternating current power line channel which radiates RF signals for reception by said extension unit.

6. The system for communication of signals and data according to claim 1, further characterized by additionally comprising a signal enhancer adapted to be connected to an AC power line and adapted to generate an RF signal for reception by said extension unit.