Programmable telephone interface device

A programmable telephone interface device for connection to a telephone subscriber line to automatically control the operation of facsimile equipment and telephone equipment comprising:

• a microprocessor in said programmable interface device having integral ring signal generating means, memory means, and stored programs for receiving and interpreting digital signals and carrying out operations in response thereto including selecting a port to receive a ring signal;
• a transformer in said programmable telephone interface device having a primary winding coupled to a first line and a second line of the telephone subscriber line, and said transformer having a secondary winding with one side of said secondary winding grounded and its other side connected with said microprocessor through an analog hybrid circuit which processes both incoming analog signals and digitized or analog outgoing messages;
• a plurality of ports on said programmable telephone interface device connected with said microprocessor and said first and second lines of the telephone subscriber line including;
• at least one telephone port for connecting a telephone, at least one telephone answering device port for connecting a telephone answering device, and at least one facsimile port for connecting said facsimile equipment;
• ring detection means connected with said microprocessor and the telephone subscriber line for detecting AC ring voltage representing an incoming telephone call;
• DC pulse detecting means connected with said microprocessor and the telephone subscriber line for detecting a loop subscriber cancellation pulse on the telephone subscriber line;
• signal detecting means connected with said microprocessor and the telephone subscriber line for detecting the presence of various signals on the telephone subscriber line including;
• a facsimile transmission signal, and DTMF tones;
• said signal detecting means comprises signal filter and decoding means for filtering and decoding said DTMF tones and converting them to digital signals to be interpreted by said microprocessor and band pass filter means for filtering said facsimile transmission signal and converting it to digital signal to be interpreted by said microprocessor;
• recording and playback means connected with said microprocessor and the telephone subscriber line for recording an outgoing message and playing said recorded outgoing message over the telephone subscriber line;
• and
• ring voltage generating means connected with said ring signal generating means of said microprocessor and said plurality of ports for generating and sending a ring voltage signal to a selected one of said plurality of ports;
• whereby
• upon an AC ringing voltage on said telephone subscriber line representing said incoming telephone call being detected by said ring detection means, the type signal on the telephone subscriber line is detected by said signal detecting means and is filtered, decoded, and converted to digital signals, and the digital signals are interpreted by said microprocessor, and said microprocessor selects one of said plurality of ports corresponding to the type of signal detected and causes said ring voltage generating means to generate and send a ring voltage signal to said corresponding port to activate said telephone, said telephone answering device, or said facsimile equipment connected with said corresponding port;
• one type of ring voltage signal being sent to said facsimile port if the detected signal is the facsimile transmission signal or a predetermined DTMF tone representing said facsimile port, another type of ring voltage signal being sent to said telephone port or said telephone answering device port if said signal detecting means does not detect the presence of the facsimile transmission signal or if the detected signal is a predetermined DTMF tone representing a particular port.