Dynamically configurable telephone

US4928306A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

• Gautam Biswas · Austin, US
• David Christopher Black · Thornton, US
• Michael G. Duncan · Clinton, US
• Gary R. Key · Round Rock, US
• Gordon D. Leak · Austin, US
• Robert D. Whittington · Austin, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 28, 1989
• Grant date: May 22, 1990
• Expiry date: Feb 28, 2009

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04Q3/625
• WIPO field: Telecommunications
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A dynamically configurable telephone 10 has an intelligent controller 42 which implements a communication protocol to receive commands and parameters and to transmit status indicative of particular phone features. Upon receipt of the parameters, the controller translates the parameters into configuration settings for the telephone and also stores the parameters in a non-volatile memory 44 if such is installed. The telephone accommodates many different country-specific requirements without hardware or firmware changes being made to the phone itself. The controller returns solicited or unsolicited status messages, or events, to a PABX 14 over a bit serial digital data link 12. An event can be indicative of error conditions, such as data packet errors, timeouts, or data storage errors. An event can also be a reply to a previously received command, such as configuration status, internal test results, a phone serial number or a controller firmware revision level.