US 4,393,495 AGranted

Message translation arrangement for telephony system with romote port groups

AssigneeStromberg-Carlson Corporation

InventorsEdgar R. Cray, Russell R. Davis, Maynard K. Knapp, Glenn L. Richards, Bernard H. Root, William W. Woodruff

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Abstract

A telephony network with a digital central office and one or more remotely located digital satellite units. Each digital satellite unit connects to a number of remote subscriber lines and monitors these lines to establish communications through interconnecting spans and a digital satellite interface at the digital central office. The digital satellite interface includes a programmed controller that communicates with the remote digital satellite units connected to it, with call processing equipment in the digital central office and with maintenance processing equipment in the digital central office. Supervisory information and voice data information, in digital form, pass through span equipment that interconnects port group highways in the digital central office and the interconnecting spans. The span equipment strips messages from and inserts messages into signalling time slots on the interconnecting span.

Claims38

Dependent claims

In a telephony system for selectively interconnecting telephone calls among a plurality of telephone lines that includes, at a first location, a plurality of port group highway means for receiving and transmitting signals that represent voice data and signals in a first format that represent supervisory data, and call processing means including a digital data processor and an input/output bus means for selectively interconnecting the plurality of port group highway means in response to certain of a plurality of commands interpreted by the digital data processor, said telephony system including, at a second location that is physically remote from the first location, port means for transmitting onto and receiving from certain of the telephone lines first port signals representing voice data and for transmitting and receiving second port signals representing voice data signals and supervisory data signals, the telephony system further comprising communications linkage means connected to the port means for conveying the second port signals in a predetermined format, the improvement of interfacing means comprising:

A. encoding means connected to the input/output bus means for encoding signals representing supervisory data signals in response to commands from the call processing means,
B. transfer means connected to a selected port group highway means, the communications linkage means and said encoding means for converting signals between the format of the signals at the port group highway means and said encoding means and the format of the signals on the communications linkage means, and
C. message generating means connected to said transfer means and to the input/output bus means for transmitting messages to the call processing means in response to certain signals representing supervisory data signals received in said transfer means from the communications linkage means.

A telephony system for selectively interconnecting telephone calls among a plurality of telephone lines comprising:

A. a plurality of port group highway means at a first location for conveying voice data signals and control data signals as signals in a first predetermined format,
B. call processing means including, at the first location, a digital data processor having an input/output bus for selectively interconnecting said plurality of port group highway means in response to certain of a plurality of commands interpreted by said digital data processor,
C. port means, at a second location that is physically remote from the first location, for transmitting onto and receiving from certain of the telephone lines first port signals representing voice data and for transmitting and receiving second port signals representing voice data and supervisory data signals,
D. communications linkage means connected to said port means for conveying the second port signals in a second predetermined format, and
E. interfacing means at the first location connected to a selected one of said port group highway means, to said input/output bus in said call processing means and to said communications linkage means, said interfacing means comprising:
i. encoding means connected to said call processing means for encoding signals representing supervisory data signals in response to commands from said call processing means,
ii. transfer means connected to said selected port group highway means, said communications linkage means and said encoding means for converting signals between the format of the signals at said port group highway means and said communications linkage means, and
iii. message generating means connected to said transfer means and to said input/output bus for transmitting messages to said call processing means in response to certain signals representing supervisory data signals received in said transfer means from said communications linkage means.

5 more elements

A telephony system for selectively interconnecting telephone calls among a plurality of telephone lines comprising:

A. a plurality of port group highway means at a first location for conveying voice data and control data as signals in a first predetermined format,
B. call processing means at the first location for selectively interconnecting said plurality of port group highway means, said call processing means including:
i. a digital data processor for interpreting a plurality of commands, said digital data processor having an input/output bus, and
ii. input/output bus interfacing means connected to said input/output bus,
C. port means, at a second location that is physically remote from the first location, for transmitting onto and receiving from certain of the telephone lines first port signals representing voice data and for transmitting and receiving second port signals representing voice data and supervisory data,
D. communications linkage means connected to said port means for conveying the second port signals in a second predetermined format, and
E. interfacing means at the first location connected to a selected one of said port group highway means, to said input/output bus in said call processing means and to said communications linkage means, said interfacing means comprising:
i. control means including a digital data processor for controlling the operation of said interfacing means,
ii. formatting means connected to said input/output bus interfacing means and said control means for converting signals between the format on the input/output bus of the call processing means and a format that is compatible with said control means, thereby to establish a communications path between said control means and said call processing means for supervisory data,
iii. buffer means connected to said formatting means and said control means for converting signals representing supervisory data between the format of said control means and the format on said communications linkage means,
iv. transmitter means connected to said buffer means, said selected port group highway means, and said communications linkage means for converting signals representing voice data and supervisory data between the formats of the signals at said port group highway means and said buffer means and the format of the signals at said communications linkage means, and
v. receiver means connected to said buffer means, said selected port group highway means, and said communications linkage means for converting signals representing voice data and supervisory data between the format of the signals at said communications linkage means and the formats of the signals at said port group highway means and said buffer means.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.