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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. An information communication system for providing a requested
information service, comprising:
processing means for providing a first information service to a user via at
least two first service processing ports and a second information service
to a user via at least two second service processing ports, the first and
second information services being different types of services;
digital switching means for connecting the user to a selected one of said
at least two first service processing ports and said at least two second
service processing ports; and
control means for selecting an available one of said at least two first
service processing ports and said at least two second service processing
ports in response to the requested information service, and causing said
digital switching means to connect the user to the selected one of said at
least two first service processing ports and said at least two second
service processing ports to provide the requested information service.
2. An information communication system set forth in claim 1, wherein the
first information service is an audio information service and wherein the
second information service is a data information service.
3. An information communication system as set forth in claim 2, wherein:
said at least two first processing ports comprise voice processing ports
and the first information service is a voice mail service, and
said at least two second service processing ports comprise facsimile
processing ports and the second information service is a facsimile
service.
4. An information communication system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said at least two first processing ports comprise voice processing ports
and the first information service is a voice mail service, and
said at least two second processing ports comprise facsimile processing
ports and the second information service is a facsimile service.
5. A system as set forth in claim 1, wherein:
said digital switching means comprises means for routing information to one
of said at least two first service processing ports and said at least two
second service processing ports; and
said control means comprises means for controlling the routing by said
digital switching means.
6. An information communication system, comprising:
at least two first application processing units for providing a first type
of information service to a user;
at least two second application processing units for providing a second
type of information service to a user, the first and second types of
information services being different from one another;
digital switching means for connecting the user to a selected one of said
at least two first application processing units and said at least two
second application processing units; and
means for selecting an available one of said at least two first application
processing units and said at least two second application processing units
in response to the requested information service, and for causing said
digital switching means to connect the user to the selected one of said at
least two first application processing units and said at least two second
application processing units to provide the requested information service.
7. An information communication system as set forth in claim 6, wherein the
first type of information services is an audio information service and the
second type of information service is a data information service.
8. An information communication system as set forth in claim 7, wherein:
said at least two first application processing units comprise voice
processing units and the first type of information service is a voice mail
service, and
said at least two second application processing units comprise units and
the second type of information service is a facsimile service.
9. An information communication system as set forth in claim 6, wherein:
said at least two first application processing units comprise voice
processing units and the first type of information service is a voice mail
service, and
said at least two second application processing units comprise facsimile
processing units and the second type of information service is a facsimile
service.
10. An information service processing method using a digital switching
system, at least two first application processing ports coupled to the
digital switching system for providing a first type of information
service, and at least two second application processing ports coupled to
the switching system for providing a second type of information service,
comprising the steps of:
a) selecting an available one of the at least two first application
processing ports and the at least two second application processing ports
in response to a call;
b) controlling the digital switching system to route the information to the
selected one of the at least two first application processing ports and
the at least tow second application processing ports; and
c) processing the call through the selected one of the at least two first
application processing ports and the at least two second application
processing ports to provide the requested information.
11. An information service processing method according to claim 10, wherein
said step (a) includes determining the type of information being requested
by the call.
12. An information service processing method according to claim 11, wherein
said determining step includes determining whether the call has requested
an audio information service or a data information service.
13. An information service processing method according to claim 12, wherein
said determining step comprises detecting whether the requested
information service is a voice mail message service or a facsimile
processing service.
14. An information service processing method according to claim 10, wherein
said step (a) includes automatically detecting whether the call is from a
facsimile machine and selecting an available one of the at least two first
application processing ports if the call if from a facsimile machine.
15. An information service processing method according to claim 14, wherein
said step (c) includes storing the facsimile received from the facsimile
machine and confirming receipt of the facsimile.
16. An information service processing method according to claim 10, wherein
said step (c) includes:
(c1) attempting to store the facsimile received from the facsimile machine;
and
(c2) reattempting to store the facsimile received from the facsimile
machine up to a predetermined number of times if there is a failure to
store the facsimile in said substep (c1).
17. An information service processing method according to claim 14, wherein
said step (c) includes substeps of:
(c1) attempting to transmit a restored facsimile to a specified facsimile
machine; and
(c2) reattempting to transmit the stored facsimile up to a predetermined
number of times if there is a failure to transmit the facsimile in said
substep (c1).
18. An information communication system for providing a requested
information service, comprising:
processing means for providing a first information service to a user via at
least two first service processing ports, a second information service to
a user via at least two second service processing ports, and a third
information service to a user via at least two third service processing
ports, the first, second and third information services being different
types of services;
digital switching means for connecting the user to a selected one of said
at least two first service processing ports, said at least two second
service processing ports and said at least two third service processing
ports; and
control means for selecting one of said at least two first service
processing ports, said at least two second service processing ports and
said at least two third service processing ports in response to the
requested information service and causing said digital switching means to
connect the user to the selected one of said at least two first service
processing ports, said at least two second service processing ports and
said at least two third processing ports to provide the requested
information service.
19. An information communication system as set forth in claim 18, wherein:
said at least two first service processing ports comprise voice processing
ports and the first information service is a voice mail service;
said at least two second service processing ports comprise facsimile
processing ports and the second information service is a facsimile
service, and
said at least two third service processing ports comprise E-mail processing
ports and the third information service is an E-mail service. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 393,270, filed
Aug. 10, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,199, which is assigned to the
assignee of the subject application.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated services platform for a
telephone communication system, which handles a plurality of information
services, including a voice mail message service and a facsimile
processing service, and more particularly, to such a platform which
provides a tightly coupled distributed architecture that allows
substantially increased efficiency of equipment utilization, increased
subscriber capability, modular expansion capability and low access
blockage for subscribers and non-subscribers.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are available a number of telephone communication systems for
offering a single type of information service to users. For example,
copending U.S. application Ser. No. 393,270, filed Aug. 10, 1989 by Jones
et al. discloses a voice mail message system having multiple voice
processing units which are used to process a high volume of calls, so as
to provide a high quality voice mail messaging service to a large number
of subscribers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,722 to Duehren et al. discloses a method for sending a
facsimile message from a first location to a remote location accessible
from the first location via the public switched telephone system.
While there are a number of existing communication systems which are
capable of providing a single type of information service, there is a need
for a telephone communication system which is capable of integrating a
plurality of different types of information services on a single platform
and which is also capable of adding new types of information services as
they become available. In particular, there is a need for a telephone
communication system which is capable of providing both a voice mail
message service and a facsimile processing service which are integrated on
a single platform.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an integrated services
platform for a telephone communication system which is capable of
integrating a plurality of different types of information services on a
single platform, and which is also capable of adding new types of
information services as they become requested by potential users, or as
they become available.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an
integrated services platform for a telephone communication system which
provides a voice mail message service and a facsimile processing service
on a single platform.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an integrated
services platform having a modular expansion capability, so that
additional information services such as videotex, speech synthesis,
E-mail, speech recognition and telex may be added to an existing platform
having a voice mail message service and a facsimile processing service.
The above objects can be accomplished by an information communication
system which includes a processing system having at least first and second
application processing ports for providing first and second types of
information services, respectively, to a user. The first and second
information services are of different types, for example, the first may be
a voice mail message service, while the second is a facsimile processing
service. A switching and control system selects one of the first and
second application processing ports in response to a request for one of
the types of information services, and connects the user to the selected
one of the application processing ports. The selected application
processing port provides the requested information service in response to
the user's request.
The present invention is specifically designed for use with a telephone
company central office or for a very large corporate user. In addition,
the high capacity nature of the present invention will allow entire
metropolitan areas to be served by the present invention. However, an
exchange such as a private business exchange can take advantage of the
high availability characteristics of the present invention in situations
where there are a large number of information service requests, such as
telephone shopping. Thus, the present invention serves as an adjunct to
current switching technology in public and private switched networks. The
distributed architecture used in the invention allows the system to be
configured presently up to a total of 1536 ports which may be broken down
into any desired arrangement of service channels such as voice channels,
fax channels, videotex channels, telex channels, E-mail channels, etc. The
system will provide service for approximately 100,000 subscribers
(including e.g., voice mailboxes, fax mailboxes, videotex mailboxes, etc.)
in a mixture of available service capacity which is equivalent to
approximately 70 gigabytes of storage. The architecture allows the present
invention to simultaneously run multiple applications while keeping the
underlying system totally transparent to the end user. The caller and/or
subscriber can send, reply to, or redirect information at will,
irrespective of which application processing port stores particular
information or which application processing port is handling a call.
The various computer programs executed within the distributed architecture
are preferably written in the "C" programming language or Intel 386
assembly language. Each processor in the distributed architecture
preferably employs an operating system such as Xenix or Unix system V,
which allows multiple real time tasks. In this connection, any operating
system can provide an environment where the low level device drivers can
encapsulate the necessary real time capabilities if the operating system
itself does not provide them.
These together with other objects and advantages which will be subsequently
apparent, reside in the details of construction and operation as more
fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer
to like parts throughout.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an integrated services platform for a
telephone communication system in accordance with the present invention,
with illustration of the connection to a central office of a telephone
company;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the integrated services
platform in accordance with the present invention, wherein plural voice
processing units and plural facsimile processing units are used as the
application processing units;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the components of a facsimile processing unit;
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram for illustrating the processes executed under the
control of the master control unit and the flow of messages and data;
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for illustrating the modified portion of the
program for the master control process 80 which is required to operate
plural information services, including a voice mail message service and a
facsimile processing service;
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram for illustrating the FAX process of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a flow diagram for illustrating the RECV-FAX process of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram for illustrating the RECORD-FAX procedure of FIG.
7;
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram for illustrating the OUT-FAX process of FIG. 6;
FIG. 10 is a flow diagram for illustrating the SEND-FAX procedure of FIG.
9;
FIG. 11 is a flow diagram for illustrating the FAXMAIL process of FIG. 5;
FIG. 12 is a flow diagram for illustrating the fm-review procedure of FIG.
11;
FIG. 13 is a flow diagram for illustrating the fm-send procedure of FIG.
12;
FIG. 14 is a flow diagram for illustrating the fm-cleanup procedure of FIG.
11;
FIG. 15 is a flow diagram for illustrating the fm-options procedure of FIG.
11;
FIG. 16 is a diagram for illustrating how messages are stored; and
FIG. 17 is a diagram for illustrating a doubly linked list used to output
messages to a subscriber.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention is an enhancement of the telephone communication
system disclosed in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/393,270, filed
Aug. 10, 1989, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by a
reference.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an integrated services platform for a
telephone communication system in accordance with the present invention.
The integrated services platform is illustrated as being connected to a
central office 20 and optionally to other database services 22 running one
or more computers (e.g., mainframes, mini-computers and personal
computers). While FIG. 1 illustrates a central office 20, in practice,
this could be any portion of the public telephone switching network. That
is, while a calling station 21 and a called station 23 are illustrated as
being connected to the central office 20, more typically, the calling
station 21 will be connected to a different central office in the public
telephone switching network.
The integrated services platform includes a master control unit 24 and a
digital switching system or digital switch 26, both of which are connected
to the central office 20. The master control unit 24 is formed by one or
more computers which are capable of communicating over the telephone
network to provide traffic reporting and remote administration (e.g.,
Engineering and Administrative Data Acquisition Systems
(EADAS)--performance data, traffic data, reporting options, Automatic
Traffic Statistics (ATS)), call routing information (e.g., SMDI or SS7),
service order generation, alarming (e.g., Service Control Center System
(SCCS), remote maintenance, diagnostics) and billing (e.g., Automated
Message Accounting (AMA) billing, call detail records, transmission
options). The digital switch 26 is coupled to the central office 20 by a
transmission medium such as T-1 or (Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN) Primary Rate Interface (PRI). The digital switch 26 is coupled to a
multiplicity of application processors 30.sub.1 to 30.sub.n which are
specially adapted to provide the various information services under the
control of the platform. Thus, in the context of the subject application,
the term "information services" is meant to include any type of service
which may be carried over a telephone communication link (e.g., a standard
telephone wire, fiber optic line or radio communication).
In FIG. 1, application processor 30.sub.1 includes one or more speech
recognition processing units, application processor 30.sub.2 includes one
or more facsimile processing units, application processor 30.sub.3
includes one or more E-mail processing units, application processor
30.sub.4 includes one or more speech synthesis processing units,
application processor 30.sub.5 includes one or more voice processing
units, and application processor 30.sub.6 includes one or more videotex
processing units. The application processors 30.sub.1 to 30.sub.n are
coupled to the master control unit 24 via an internal data bus 32.
Assignment of an incoming request for service (e.g., a call from a calling
station 21 to a called station 23) by the master control unit 24 to an
application processing unit (APU) in one of the application processors
30.sub.1 to 30.sub.n, occurs over the internal bus or network 32 which
includes both a data bus and an information bus. The bus 32, rather than
being a traditional bus, can be a network of any topology such as a star
or token ring. Control data and messages between the MCU 24 and the APUs
or between the APUs, is routed over the data bus of the internal bus 32,
while requested information services are routed between the APUs over the
information bus of the internal data bus 32. It is preferred that the
internal bus 32 be a standard bus such as is provided by an Ethernet. The
information and data logical buses can be implemented as a single physical
bus over the Ethernet or as separate Ethernets when interprocessor service
or data communication is high. Thus, each of the APUs acts as a processing
means for providing a specified type of information service to a user. The
master control unit 24 and high speed digital switch 26 operate as
switching and control means for selecting one of the APUs in response to
the requested information service and for connecting the user to the
selected APU so that the selected APU can provide the requested
information service to the user. Of course, it is not necessary that each
of the application processors 30.sub.1 -30.sub.n or even each of the
application processing units be devoted to providing a single type of
information service. That is, each application processing unit could be
programmed to provide multiple information services, with a specified
information service being assigned to a predetermined port on the
application processing unit.
The integrated services platform in accordance with the present invention
can also include a database translator 34 which provides for connection
between the platform and one or more other database services 22 which
desire to provide their services via the central office 20. Alternatively,
the database translator 34 may be omitted and the other database services
22 may be connected directly to the bus 32.
FlG. 2 is a block diagram of a specific implementation of an integrated
services platform 36 in accordance with the present invention, which is
capable of providing both an audio information service (i.e., a voice mail
message service) and a data information service (i.e., a facsimile
processing service). In the integrated services platform 36 of FIG. 2, the
master control unit 24 includes a primary master control unit (MCU) 38 and
a standby master control unit (MCU) 40 which control switching by the
digital switching system 26. The master control unit 24 also includes a
switch 42 which is controlled to actuate either the primary MCU 38 or the
standby MCU 40. The primary MCU 38 typically coordinates the routing of
service requests (e.g., calls), based on conventional Simplified Message
Desk Interface (SMDI) information packets from the central office 20,
through the digital switching system 26 to application processing units
44.sub.1, 44.sub.2, 44.sub.3 . . . 44.sub.L, 44.sub.M, 44.sub.N. However,
the called number may be received in a number of different formats in
different ways, for example, in-band protocols such as direct inward
dialing (DID) may be used. For example, the MCU 38 may receive routing
information based on the DID line digits collected by a voice application
fax card in the APU which would then notify the MCU.
The number of application processing units 44 which can be provided on the
platform 36 will vary depending on the type of services offered. In the
FIG. 2 embodiment, a combination of voice processing units (application
processing units 44.sub.1 -44.sub.C) and facsimile processing units
(application processing units 44.sub.D -44.sub.N) are employed in some
combination. For example, depending on the service requirements, the
platform 36 could include 75% VPUs and 25% FPUs. As an option, each of the
APUs 44 may provide both types of information services, so that each APU
44 would be a combined VPU/FPU have specified ports assigned to voice
messaging and facsimile processing.
Assignment of an incoming call by the MCU 24 to an APU occurs over the
internal bus or network 32 that includes both the control data bus and the
information bus. Control data and messages between the MCU 24 and the
APUs, or between the APUs, is routed over the control data bus of the
internal bus 32, while the service information is routed between the APUs
over the information bus of the internal bus 32.
It is preferred that the digital switching system 26 be connected to one or
more central offices 70 through one or more multi-line hunt groups (MLHG)
46. It is also preferred that a digital central office 20 be used so that
digital voice samples can be passed between the central office 20 and the
digital switching system 26. However, if the central office 20 is an older
switch, such as an AT&T 1A-ESS, an optional telephone network interface
circuit 50, including a channel bank 48, can be provided for converting
incoming analog signals to digital packets. Communications between the MCU
24 and the central office 20 may be via conventional serial modems 52 and
54, preferably using the SMDI communication format. Alternatively, other
formats such as in-band automatic number identification (ANI) protocols
(e.g., DID or MF signalling) or any proprietary or public protocol used by
PBXs can be used.
During operation, when a subscriber or non-subscriber at a calling station
21 calls a subscriber at a called station 23, the call is switched
normally through the central office 20, so that a ringing signal is sent
to the called station 23 and a ring back tone is returned to the calling
station 21. After a predetermined number of rings (for example 5) or
immediately if the line is busy, the call is forwarded to the multi-line
hunt group 46 by the central office 20. When the central office 20
determines that a line is available, the central office 20 causes the
group 46 to ring one of the ports of the digital switching system 26. If a
line is available to the digital switching system 26, a message packet,
preferably in SMDI format, is sent from the message desk of the central
office 20 to MCU 24 through modems 52 and 54. The packet contains the
message desk identification number, the trunk ID indicating which port of
the digital switching system 26 will receive the call, the called number
and the calling number.
In the present invention, although other options are possible, the called
number acts as an information mailbox address (for example, for a voice
mailbox or a fax mailbox) and of course, a translation can occur between
the called telephone number and the mailbox address. The central office
20, after transmitting the SMDI packet, places the call on the designated
port of the digital switching system 26. The digital switching system 26,
when it receives the call, informs the MCU 24 of a call arrival via link
56 and indicates on which port the call has arrived. The MCU 24, if a
packet arrives prior to a call at the digital switching system 26, waits
for a predetermined time, for example 12 seconds, and if the call does not
arrive at the digital switching system 26, discards the packet. If a call
arrives at the digital switching system 26 without the packet arriving
within 6 seconds (an atypical situation) the call is assigned to the first
available VPU and the digital switching system 26 is switched accordingly.
The VPU makes a request for the mailbox number, receives the number from
the caller (unless the caller is a fax machine) and provides the number to
the MCU 38 in a simulated SMDI packet. A similar procedure can be employed
if the called number is for a DID line.
If a matching SMDI packet and call port on the digital switching system 26
arrive, or after a telephone number has been entered, the MCU 24 accesses
the mailbox data base and determines whether the requested mailbox is a
voice mail mailbox, a fax mailbox or some other type of information
mailbox. If it is determined that a fax mailbox is requested, processing
is carried out in the manner described in detail later in this
application. If a voice mailbox is requested, the MCU 24 determines which
of the VPUs is the "home" VPU and, if the home VPU is available, the MCU
38 instructs the digital switching system over the link 56 to route the
call to the home VPU (e.g., APU 44.sub.1). A conventional T1 channel (time
slot) to channel (time slot) connection command is provided to the digital
switching system 26 from the MCU 24 to effect the routing desired.
The routing of calls to "home" or "remote" VPUs to process and store voice
mail messages is described in detail in copending application Ser. No.
07/393,270, filed Aug. 10, 1989 and will not be repeated here. This
copending application also describes in detail the transmission of voice
mail messages to the subscriber. Further, FIG. 2 of this copending
application describes in detail the components that allow communication
between the MCU 24 and the central office 20.
Each facsimile processing unit (FPU) includes the components illustrated in
FIG. 3. Each FPU is essentially an IBM AT type computer with special
communications cards mounted on the back plane. A CPU 58 is based on the
Intel 80386 processor and an appropriate unit is available from Sigma
Design of Freemont, Calif. as Model No. CPA3820BACX. The CPU 58 stores
temporary data structures, messages, and the FPU control programs to be
executed, in a memory unit 60 configured for 8 megabytes of random access
memory. A suitable memory unit 58 is available from Sigma Design of
Freemont, California as Model No. CMA380K00N, while the memory chips for
the unit can be obtained from Centon of Wilmington, Mass. The CPU 58 has
direct access to the memory 60 via a conventional 32 channel bus 62.
Facsimile messages are stored on two hard disk drives 64 and 66, each
having a 760 megabyte storage capability which is equivalent to
approximately 12,000 pages of fax. Alternatively, the hard disk drive may
have a 380 megabyte storage capability which stores approximately 5600
pages of fax. The hard disk drives 64 and 66 can store different
information to extend storage capability or they can store the same
facsimile information and other information using a technique
conventionally called mirror image storage. This operation is controlled
by a disk controller 68. The | | |
