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AssigneeExtel Corporation
InventorsJoseph F. Berg, Rudolf P. Chalupa, Prabhakar Pokala
Estimating the term…
A data communication station comprises a first and second data terminals operating under first and second transmission standards, and a selective switching means to connect those terminals to a single communication line; the first data terminal is usually a teleprinter or other character-by-character terminal capable of operating under applicable standards such as those for Economy Telex or for DDD (Direct Distance Dialing) ASCII transmissions, whereas the second data terminal may be a facsimile machine or other graphics terminal operating under the CCITT T-series standards. In one embodiment the switching means is a free-standing control unit that may be connected to virtually any conventional data terminals; in another version the switching means is incorporated in an input/output board in one data terminal and utilizes a part of the logic of that data terminal. The switching means normally maintains the two data terminals connected to the communication line with each in its on-hook condition; in response to the ring signal of an incoming call, both data terminals initially go off-hook. The switching means then disconnects one terminal (usually the facsimile terminal) from the line while maintaining an off-hook condition for the line, and monitors the line for occurrence of a recognition signal for the other terminal in a procedure that connects the line to only one of the data terminals to complete the call, depending on the monitoring function.
In the operation of a data communication station comprising a first data terminal operating under a first transmission standard under which an incoming call starts with a preliminary ring signal and a subsequent recognition signal, a second data terminal operating under a second, different transmission standard under which an incoming call starts with a preliminary ring signal and may include a subsequent recognition signal, and selective switching means for connecting a telephone line or like communication line to either of the data terminals for completion of an incoming call that starts with a ring signal, in which station the switching means normally maintains at least one of the data terminals connected to the communication line in on-hook condition prior to initiation of a call, the method of operation, for an incoming call, comprising:
A control for selectively switching a telephone line or like communication line to serve both a first data terminal, operating under a first transmission standard under which an incoming call starts with a preliminary ring signal and a subsequent recognition signal, and a second data terminal, operating under a second transmission standard under which an incoming call starts with a preliminary ring signal and a subsequent recognition signal, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.