Telecommunication service providers have been providing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) to consumers for decades. A conventional POTS network architecture connects one or more telephones at a customer premise to a central office switch, sometimes referred to as a Class 5 switch, using a dedicated communication line such as e.g., a twisted pair of copper wires. The central office switch is connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). When a telephone is removed from its cradle (i.e., taken off-hook), a signal is transmitted to the central office switch across the dedicated communication line. In response to the signal, the central office switch generates and transmits an electrical signal that generates a dial tone at the telephone, indicating that the user can input digits to generate an outbound call.
In the United States, the phone(s) at the customer premise are identified by the conventional North America Numbering Plan (NANP) which specifies a ten-digit (NXX-NXX-XXXX) telephone number. Inbound calls destined for a specified telephone number are routed to the central office switch connected to the customer premise. The central office switch receives the call, rings the identified telephone number by transmitting an electrical signal across the dedicated communication line, and connects the call if a telephone at the specified telephone number transitions to an off-hook state in response to the ring signal. The introduction of overlay signaling networks such as, e.g., the SS7 network into the PSTN has made slight changes in the operation of the PSTN, but the basic network architecture and operations remain intact.
Broadband networks such as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks allow distribution of combined broadband data and video services with traditional narrowband voice transmissions. Numerous DSL standards exist to enable high data-rate communication over a variety of physical media and in a variety of network configurations.
Improved integration between conventional voice telecommunication services and broadband services may be beneficial to consumers.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds