Intercommunication system
AssigneePalomar Products, Inc.
InventorsIad Al-Dahleh, Pierre Charbonneau, Scott Coleman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An intercommunication system includes one or more modular units utilizing a standards-based audio-over-IP configuration. The modularity of the system provides improved scalability. For instance, a number of audio channels is not limited by physical constraints (e.g. number and type of ports) of a central switch. Accordingly, the addition of audio channels may not require swapping one central switch for a larger switch. Moreover, security applications may be layered onto the standards-based audio-over-IP configuration to implement security requirements often found with intercommunications systems.
Claims19
An intercommunication system, comprising:
- an interface unit coupled to a baseband audio source and communicatively coupled to a network, the interface unit configured to provide a network interface to the baseband audio source;
- a record/playback unit having a storage device and communicatively coupled to the network, the record/playback unit configured to capture audio on the network for storage on the storage device and playback audio stored on the storage device to the network;
- and
- a digital crew unit coupled to at least one of an audio input device or an audio output device, the digital crew unit having a user interface and being communicatively coupled to the network, the digital crew unit configured to transmit audio captured by the at least one audio input device via the network or to receive audio from the network for output via the at least one audio output device,
- wherein each of the interface unit, the record/playback unit, and the digital crew unit is configured to at least one of transmit or receive an audio stream multicasted via the network, and
- wherein each unit of the interface unit, the digital crew unit, and the record/playback unit include:
- a processor;
- a communication interface to communicatively couple the unit to the network;
- and
- a component interface to couple the unit to a peripheral device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.