Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
  • H04M1/253—Telephone sets using digital voice transmission
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
  • H04M1/64—Automatic arrangements for answering calls; Automatic arrangements for recording messages for absent subscribers; Arrangements for recording conversations
  • H04M1/65—Recording arrangements for recording a message from the calling party
  • H04M1/6505—Recording arrangements for recording a message from the calling party storing speech in digital form
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q11/00—Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems
  • H04Q11/04—Selecting arrangements for multiplex systems for time-division multiplexing
  • H04Q11/0428—Integrated services digital network, i.e. systems for transmission of different types of digitised signals, e.g. speech, data, telecentral, television signals
  • H04Q11/0435—Details
  • H04Q11/0471—Terminal access circuits
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/103—Memories
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/175—Other signals
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/176—Common channel signalling
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/337—Picturephone
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04Q—SELECTING
  • H04Q2213/00—Indexing scheme relating to selecting arrangements in general and for multiplex systems
  • H04Q2213/377—Recorded announcement

Definitions

• Subscriber connection device for a broadband communication network
• the invention relates to a subscriber line device for a broadband communication network, each having at least one video channel for incoming and outgoing video signals, each having at least one audio channel for incoming and outgoing audio signals and having at least one signaling channel for the transmission of signaling signals , furthermore with a control which evaluates the signaling signals for establishing a connection and a connection clearing down between subscriber stations of the broadband communication network and which connects the video and / or audio channels with the corresponding channels of the called subscriber station.
• the signals of the signaling channel can be transmitted separately from the video and audio signals, for example via a separate line, or together with this.
• broadband communication signals with a large bandwidth can be transmitted, so that a broadband dialogue in the form of telephony, video conferencing, fast data transmission, etc. is possible between the subscriber stations.
• devices for teletex, fax, screen text, image services, data transmission and others are also considered as subscriber stations for broadband communication.
• the voice signals and low-frequency data signals are transmitted via audio channels
• the image signals and high-frequency data signals are transmitted via video channels.
• Such a communication network is, for example, the predecessor broadband communication network of the Deutsche Bundespost or ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network).
• the signaling signals required for the establishment and disconnection between the subscriber stations are transmitted in the broadband communication network via a signaling channel.
• This channel works bidirectionally, ie it transmits the character signals in both transmission directions.
• the control has its own signaling channel. This is necessary in order to be able to implement the large number of new types of services and monitoring functions and the associated increased signaling effort.
• the control of the connection opening and connection clearing takes place in the broadband communication network in a manner different from that in conventional telephone networks according to new control procedures which are defined, for example, for the ISDN in the D-channel protocol.
• subscriber line devices with answering machine functions have been used for several years. With these devices, a text stored as an announcement is output to a caller.
• Such devices have proven to be very useful in practice, so that it would be desirable to implement answering machine functions with regard to image and voice information also in the broadband communication network.
• the methods used in subscriber line equipment for conventional telephony cannot be used for this purpose, since in the broadband communication network the useful signals, ie the audio and video signals, and the signaling signals are transmitted on other transmission paths and the control according to other control procedures is working.
• the controller depending on a predetermined number of incoming call signals from a calling subscriber contained in the signaling signals, instead of a subscriber station, has a first storage unit for delivering a predetermined amount of information switches an outgoing video channel and / or an outgoing audio channel.
• the first storage unit which can be implemented, for example, by a video recorder or an image storage device, voice, image and data gnale saved. These signals are supplied to the caller via the channels mentioned without the called party having to intervene in the process. This makes it possible to inform the caller of the absence of the called subscriber, to provide him with service information or to ask him to repeat his call at a later time.
• the quantity of information stored in the first memory unit can be changed and updated by the called subscriber, so that the caller can also be informed about current events, for example about the stock exchange or the current weather situation.
• the amount of information can be changed locally, ie in the vicinity of the storage unit, by an operator operating the first storage unit to record an announcement. However, it can also be carried out remotely, in that the subscriber transmits coded control signals to the controller, which evaluates them to control the first memory unit for recording a voice / image announcement.
• the authorization to change the amount of information stored can be controlled by an access code.
• the invention uses existing channels on the subscriber side to connect the first storage unit to the outgoing video and / or audio channels.
• Subscriber connection equipment can be added to a conventional one by simply adding additional modules
• Subscriber connection device can be set up without having to intervene to a large extent in the latter.
• the additional modules contain e.g. the first
• This control part can be combined with the rest of the control of the subscriber line device to form a single control unit. This leads to a further reduction in hardware expenditure.
• a preferred development of the invention provides that the controller switches a second memory unit for storing incoming signals to an incoming video and / or audio channel after the information has been delivered from the first memory unit, and that the controller controls the storage process as a function of one end signal generated by it interrupts.
• the controller In order not to make the storage process unnecessarily long, the controller generates an end signal which causes the message recording to be terminated.
• the end signal can be generated depending on various conditions, as will be explained in the following.
• the end signal is generated after a predetermined storage time has elapsed. If the caller is advised of this limited storage time when making the announcement, he will adapt his message to be saved to this time and make it short accordingly. This ensures that a large number of messages from different callers can be recorded with a limited maximum storage amount.
• Another embodiment of the invention provides that the end signal is generated as a function of a connection termination signal contained in the signaling signals.
• This connection abort signal is generally generated by the control of the calling subscriber line device when the caller aborts the communication with the called subscriber station.
• Such an abort signal can, however, also be generated and output by other controllers in the communication network if the connection between the participants is disturbed or interrupted.
• the above-mentioned measure ends the recording of messages with the occurrence of the abort signal, so that memory space in the second memory unit is not unnecessarily wasted.
• a single video recorder with a forward / reverse control is provided as the first and as the second memory unit.
• the first and second storage units are realized in a single structural unit, as a result of which a particularly economical solution is achieved.
• the memory content of the video recorder is advantageously divided into two memory areas.
• the information for the announcement is stored in a first storage area.
• the second memory area is used to record the caller's message.
• the forward / reverse control optionally accesses one of the memory areas in order to deliver an announcement to the caller or to record an announcement or to reproduce the recorded message.
• the forward / reverse Control of the video recorder is in turn controlled by the control of the subscriber line equipment.
• a further advantageous development of the invention is characterized in that the incoming audio signal is fed to a decoder module which detects and filters out double tone signals according to the multi-frequency method, and that the memory content of the first memory unit is changed or changed depending on these double tone signals Delivery of information from the first or the second storage unit is repeated.
• FIG. 1 shows a conventional subscriber line device with a network termination unit and several subscriber stations and
• FIG. 2 shows a subscriber line device according to FIG. 1 which has been expanded to include features according to the invention and which can perform answering machine functions.
• 1 shows a subscriber line device in a basic circuit diagram which is connected to the preliminary broadband network VBN of the Deutsche Bundespost.
• a broadband network termination unit 10 forms the interface between the communication network VBN and a subscriber A.
• For the transmission of information between this and other subscribers to the communication network VBN there is a video channel Vi for incoming video signals and a video channel Vo for outgoing video signals , an audio channel Ai for incoming audio signals and an audio channel Ao for outgoing audio signals are provided.
• the network termination unit 10 is connected via a separate signaling channel Z to the communication network VBN, via which signaling information is transmitted in both directions.
• the control ST1 contains a program-controlled microprocessor unit with a work and a program memory as well as with input and output modules.
• An operator station 12 is connected to the network termination unit 10 and combines several communication modules in a single device, such as a handset for telephoning, a loudspeaker, a hands-free device, a call organ, a dialing keypad, a control panel with a function keypad, an optical status display and an alphanumeric display field for phone numbers and texts.
• the function keyboard can be used to generate signals which reach the control ST1 via a control line 14 and control radio signals there. trigger functions, such as connecting additional subscriber stations for communication or connecting several stations for a conference circuit.
• the audio signals i.e. Data and voice signals which are received and output by the operator station 12 are transmitted to the network termination unit 10 via two audio channels 26, 28.
• the respective direction of transmission of the channels 26, 28 is indicated by arrows.
• a document camera 30, a conference camera 32 and a monitor 34 are connected to the network termination unit 10 via video channels 16, 18, 20 as further subscriber stations. Functions such as video telephony and image transmission can be implemented with the aid of these devices 30, 32, 34.
• an external sound device 36 is connected to the network termination unit 10 via two audio channels 22, 24, which is used for the reproduction and recording of sound signals.
• the subscriber-side channels 16 to 28 are connected to the network-side channels Vo, Vi, Ao, Ai by channel switches S1, S2, S3, S4 contained in the network termination unit 10.
• the switch S1 makes it possible to switch either signals from the document camera 30 or the conference camera 32 to the outgoing video channel Vo.
• the channel switch S2 can on the one hand establish a connection between the incoming video channel Vi and the monitor 34, on the other hand the signals generated by the cameras 30, 32 can be fed to the monitor 34 in the other switch position shown in broken lines. The latter is often used to to check the settings of the cameras 30, 32 and to correct them if necessary.
• the channel switches S3, S4 can be used to switch between the sound devices of the control panel 12 and the external sound device 36.
• the switch positions of the channel switches S1 to S4 are controlled by the control ST1, which in turn receives control information via the signaling channel Z or the control line 14.
• the channels and channel switches shown in FIG. 1 and later also in FIG. 2 are shown as logical switching symbols. Physically, the channels are realized by 2-wire or multi-wire lines, on which signals are transmitted continuously or according to the time-division multiplex method.
• the channel switches are implemented by electronic switches.
• the participant A communicates with a further participant on the broadband communication network BKN via the subscriber stations operator station 12, monitor 34 and conference camera 32.
• the respective switch position of the channel switches S1 to S4 can be changed by pressing function keys of the operator station 12, so that further stations can participate in the communication or certain stations can be excluded from this.
• a subscriber line device in which the invention is implemented is shown in a block diagram in FIG.
• the subscriber line device according to the invention is based on the one shown in FIG. 1 shown conventional subscriber line equipment. the parts with the same designations are not explained again.
• the channels 16, 20, 22 and 24 are fed to an additional module 40 which, as will be explained, carries out functions of an audio / video answering machine.
• the additional module 40 contains a video recorder 42 for a video announcement and a further video recorder 44 for a video recording.
• the additional module 40 also contains a control ST2, which receives control signals from the control ST1 via a control channel 41 and from a manually operated input unit 50.
• the video recorders 42 and 44 are connected via a line 56 to the control ST2 v 5. exchange status and control signals via these.
• the control ST2 also controls the switch positions of channel switches S5, S6, S7, S8.
• a decoder module 52 is connected to the control ST2 via a line 54 and outputs control signals to it.
• Channel switches S1 to S8 both the network termination unit 10 and the additional module 40 are in an active state, in which communication with a subscriber in the predecessor broadband network VBN can take place.
• a video signal emitted by the video recorder 42 reaches the outgoing video channel Vo via the channel switch S5, channel 16 and channel switch S1.
• an audio signal emitted by the video recorder 42 reaches the outgoing audio channel Ao via the channel switch S6, the channel 22 and the channel switch S3.
• An announcement information stored in the video device 42 can be given to the calling subscriber via the two signal paths mentioned. For incoming messages, the signals of which consist of audio and video signals, two signal paths are also switched.
• the video signal arriving via video channel Vi arrives via channel switch S2 and channel 20 at the video input of video recorder 44.
• the audio signal arriving via audio channel Ai arrives via channel switch S4, channel 24 and decoder module 52, the function of which will be explained later , to the audio input of the video recorder 44. It is thus possible for the incoming message to be recorded on a video tape by the video recorder 44.
• the video signal arriving at the video recorder 44 and the audio signal are looped through it, i.e. the signals are still available at the output of the video recorder 44 after passing through the tapping points 46 and 48. It is thus possible to supply the audio signal to the sound device 36 via the channel switches S8 and S7 and to convert it into an acoustic signal there.
• the video signal is also fed to the monitor 34.
• the controller ST1 In the "automatic recording" operating mode, the controller ST1 generates signaling characters for establishing a connection after the input of a predetermined number of call signals from the calling subscriber via the signaling channel Z. These characters are in turn transmitted via the same signaling channel Z to a switching device upstream of the subscriber line device and contained in the predecessor broadband network VBN. This builds the connection between the participant meranschluß worn and the calling subscriber. For this purpose, the controller ST1 switches the channel switches S3 and S4 from the positions shown in broken lines, which are normally the rest positions of the channel switches S3 and S4, to the position shown in FIG. 2.
• control ST 1 sends a start signal to the control ST2 via the control channel 41. Triggered by this signal, the control ST2 in turn generates further signals which it outputs via line 56 to the video recorders 42 and 44 and which control their start, stop, forward, reverse, record and playback functions. These functions are not described in more detail below, since they are generally known for video recorders in the form of video home devices or studio devices. Furthermore, the control ST2 controls the switch positions of the channel switches S5 to S8.
• the control ST2 causes the video recorder 42 to be played in order to deliver a video announcement to the caller. After the announcement, the video recorder 42 is stopped and, if necessary, rewound. Then the video recorder 44 is switched on in order to record a message from the caller. Recording is ended by outputting an end signal on line 56.
• This end signal is generated as a function of various events, for example after a predetermined recording time has elapsed or when a maximum storage amount of the video recorder 44 has been reached. Another possibility is to switch off the end signal after a waiting % time generate in which no information was contained in the signals to be stored or the information content in the incoming signals no longer changed. For this purpose, a not shown in FIG.
• the electronic module used compares the actual state of the audio and / or video signals with previous signals. If signal changes can no longer be determined, there is a high probability that there is a transmission error or the caller has interrupted the communication without the connection being disconnected in accordance with the regulations. Furthermore, an end signal is generated when the connection between subscriber A and the caller is broken off. Such an abort is signaled by abort signs which reach the control ST1 via the signaling channel Z. This in turn signals the controller ST2 that the connection has been terminated, which generates the end signal, whereupon the recording or, if appropriate, the announcement is terminated.
• a calling subscriber can view the recorded messages. retrieve them yourself.
• the known multi-frequency method is used for this.
• double-tone signals are transmitted in the audio signal and are filtered out by the decoder module 52.
• the double-tone signals are coded according to a predetermined code, for example according to the I-out-of-4 code, with which a number of control commands, for example 16 single commands, can be represented.
• control commands are recognized by decoder module 52 and communicated to control ST2 via line 54. This controls the channel switches S5 to S8 and the video recorders 42 and 44 in such a way that the stored messages are transmitted to the calling subscriber or he can change the announcement.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=6408202

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Families Citing this family (3)

Citations (3)

• 1990
  • 1990-06-11 DE DE19904018685 patent/DE4018685A1/de active Granted
• 1991
  • 1991-06-05 WO PCT/EP1991/001030 patent/WO1991020146A1/de unknown

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (3)

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