Adapter for interfacing a computer to a multichannel digital network, with port for a telephone

US5530894A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

• Joseph K. Farrell · Boca Raton, US
• Jeffrey Seymour Gordon · Niskayuna, US
• Robert V. Jenness · Boca Raton, US
• Daniel Kuhl · Frankfurt, DE
• Timothy V. Lee · Cary, US
• Tony E. Parker · Boca Raton, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 2, 1995
• Grant date: Jun 25, 1996
• Expiry date: May 2, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04Q2213/392
• WIPO field: Telecommunications
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Disclosed is an arrangement for "seamlessly" integrating telephone services relative to primitive analog telephone equipment into general purpose computer systems. The integration is effected through present "secondary" adaptation of data link control adapter devices which are adapted primarily for coupling such computer systems to high speed data communication links for transmission and reception of digital data. This permits general resources of the computer system (keyboard, memory, disk drives, etc.) to be used for specific applications associated with telephone services. Presently described link control devices have a telephone attachment port which couples through analog-to-digital conversion circuits to a primitive analog telephone (no dial or keys). Such devices operate normally in time division multiplex to process communication data between a computer (host) system and data link ports. The present adaptation includes a host programmable time division switch circuit within the control device, which can be conditioned dynamically to route digitized telephone signals directly between its data link and telephone ports, whereby telephone signals can be transmitted isochronally…