TRANSCEIVER FOR VARIOUS INFORMATION FORMATS

DISPOSITIF POUR RESTITUER ET EMETTRE DES INFORMATIONS DE DIFFERENTS FORMATS

English Abstract

The invention relates to a device, for example in the form of a telephone,
capable of transmitting and receiving information in various formats. The
device (TER) has a network interface (NET) for receiving and adapting various
information formats. Language information can optionally be converted into
text information and vice versa. Said device (TER) is capable of transmitting
and receiving both language amd text information.

French Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif, par ex. sous forme de téléphone, qui permet d'émettre et de recevoir des informations de différents formats. Ce dispositif (TER) est pourvu d'une passerelle (NET) pour recevoir et adapter des informations de différents formats. A cet effet, un message vocal peut être converti en message textuel et inversement, au choix. Le dispositif (TER) peut émettre et recevoir aussi bien des messages vocaux que des messages textuels.

Claims

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Claims
1. An apparatus (TER) for reproducing messages of
different formats transmitted over a communications
network (NN) and for sending messages of different
formats over the communications network (NN),
comprising:
an interface (S) for interfacing the apparatus (TER)
to the communications network (NN);
a device (NET) for adapting the transmitted messages
of different formats to the apparatus;
a voice recognition unit (REC) for recognizing a voice
message, a unit for converting the voice message into
text, and a monitor (MON) for displaying the text; and
a unit (SYN) for converting a text message into
speech, and a loudspeaker (L) for outputting the
speech.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
transmitted messages of different formats are messages
of a message distribution network and messages of a
telecommunications network.
3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, comprising
a first memory (MEM1) for storing transmitted voice
messages and a second memory (MEM2) for storing
transmitted text messages.

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4. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3
which is implemented in the form of a telephone.
5. Use of the apparatus claimed in any one of claims 1
to 4 for reproducing transmitted messages from the
Internet and for reproducing messages from a digital
telephone network.

Description

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TRANSCEIVER FOR VARIOUS INFORMATION FORMATS
This invention relates to an apparatus for reproducing
messages of different formats transmitted over a
communications network and for sending messages of
different formats over a communications network. In
particular, the invention relates to an apparatus for
reproducing messages coming from, and for sending
messages over, the Internet or the World Wide Web
(WWW) or the integrated services digital network
(ISDN).
Computer-telephone-integration (CTI) applications,
i.e., PC-assisted telephony, are known in the art.
Systems capable of turning a PC into a telephone look
as follows, for example:
The PC is connected to a telephone via the V.24
interface. From the telephone, or rather from the So
bus, a connection is established to an ISDN
communications system. The latter, in turn, connects
the PC and the telephone to the public network.
Another possibility is to connect the PC directly to
the public network via an ISDN card and the So bus.
To implement the telephone function in the PC, a
telephone is connected to the a/b interface. A

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headphone and a microphone are provided for listening
to messages via the PC and for entering voice messages
into the PC. The basis for such an integration is the
Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI), a
uniform interface for telecommunications programs.
Under TAPI, applications can cooperate with arbitrary
hardware, such as modems, ISDN cards, or private
branch exchanges. For the telephone technology, too, a
wide variety of offers is available. This includes
analog telephone technology as well as
ISDN or ATM.
Accordingly, TAPI represents a uniform programming
interface which provides a uniform user interface
independently of the communications hardware and the
method of transmission, such as ISDN or GSM.
Furthermore, TAPI permits mixed transmission of data
and speech and incorporates a fax/data/phone mode
switch for differentiating incoming calls.
This so-called Internet telephony, which permits
connections to be established at low cost, but with a.
relatively low quality, will in future be equipped
with so-called voice gateways. Then, the called party
will no longer need an Internet connection for his PC
(from: "Der PC als Telefon", "Funkschau 12/96", pages
24 - 31).
Further prior-art solutions describe how a personal
computer can be converted into an added-feature
telephone.~The reasons for the use of CTI are as
follows.
Through the use of computer-assisted telephony, the

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customer can be offered improved services. In such an
application, a personal computer, referred to herein
as "PC", is converted into an added-feature telephone
through the use of particular interfaces and software
(from: "Der Personal-Computer als Komforttelefon",
"Funkschau 14/96", pages 74 - 81).
The above-described prior-art solutions use particular
interfaces and software for converting a PC into an
added-feature telephone. Prerequisites for this are
that both a PC with a certain capacity and an
interface to a telephone network are present. Such a
solution offers a great number of service features and
is user-friendly, but requires considerable space for
the installation of a PC. It is not possible to move
around during "telephoning", and in order to simply
receive a message, a program must be started, which
requires certain basic knowledge. In professional
applications in an office environment, such a PC in
combination with an added-feature telephone
facilitates work, but at home, this is rather
impractical.
The invention has for its object to provide a terminal
which enables a user in his private environment to
receive and transmit messages of different formats.
According to the invention, this object is attained by
the teaching of claim 1.
One advantage of the invention is that the user of
such an apparatus can both receive and transmit
messages of different formats. By "messages of
different formats", a message from the Internet, e.g.,

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an E-mail, and a voice message is understood, for
example. The user can thus change in an advantageous
manner between text messages and voice messages, which
he can review in any form desired by him. Another
advantage is that for such an application, no PC need
be installed, and no complex software need be started
on the PC to make a telephone call. Nevertheless, a
similar function can be implemented with such an
apparatus in a simple manner.
Further advantageous aspects of the invention are
defined in the subclaims.
A particular advantage arises from subclaim 3,
according to which the transmitted voice messages or
the transmitted text messages are stored in associated
memories, so that they can be reviewed at a later time
or be converted to a different format. This increases
the flexibility of the system in an advantageous
manner.
The invention will now be explained in greater detail
with reference to the accompanying drawing, whose
single figure is a block diagram of the apparatus in
accordance with the invention.
An apparatus TER for reproducing messages of different
formats transmitted over a communications network NN
comprises an interface S for interfacing the apparatus
TER to the communications network NN. The
communications network NN is, for example, the
integrated services digital network (ISDN). The
interface S is connected, for example by a telephone
wire 3, to a further interface circuit 4, which

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contains a modem, for example. The apparatus TER
further includes a circuit 5 which serves to supply
power to the interface S. This may be a simple
battery, for example. The interface S and the
interface circuit 4 provide the connection between the
communications network NN and a microcontroller ~cC.
The microcontroller ~C contains a read-only memory.
Connected to the microcontroller are further,
nonvolatile memory devices MEM1, MEM2, for example
EPROMs or flash EPROMs.
The interface circuit 4 for adapting messages of the
communications network to the microcontroller ~C will
hereinafter be referred to as "modem". This modem
serves mainly to connect the apparatus TER to the
Internet or to the World Wide Web. This means that the
modem is capable of handling different bit rates,
e.g., 28,000 b/s. The modem may also take the form of
a digital interface of the ISDN type.
The apparatus TER for reproducing transmitted messages
of different formats further includes a device NET for
adapting the transmitted messages of different formats
to the apparatus.
Furthermore, the apparatus TER comprises a voice
recognition unit REC for recognizing a voice message.
Associated with the voice recognition unit REC is a
unit for converting the voice message to text. The
apparatus TER further includes a text-to-speech unit
SYN. A loudspeaker L is provided for outputting the
speech, and a monitor MON is provided for displaying
the text.

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Since this apparatus TER also serves to send spoken
messages over the communications network to another
user, a microphone M is provided.
In a further development of the apparatus TER, a
touch-sensitive monitor TC may be provided for
entering data. Means NAV may be provided which permit
a cursor to be moved on a monitor and on a menu
offered thereon. To control such an apparatus TER, an
infrared detector INF may be provided for initiating
and terminating functions.
The apparatus TER is used for the transmission of,
e.g., E-mails or voice messages. Under the
communications network NN, a message distribution
network is provided for the E-mails. This may be a
message distribution network of the Internet type, but
it can also be expanded into a message distribution
network according to the World Wide Web (WWW) format.
The apparatus TER can be designed in the form of an
added-feature telephone and should offer a11 service
features of such a telephone. Such service features
can also be made available via a card, such as a
PCMCIA card. To that end, a device PCMCIA is provided
in the apparatus for inserting the card.

Representative Drawing