High-level Description of the Patents

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Patent Number

Description

6,704,305

“Integrated Device For Integrating The Internet With The Public Switched Telephone Network”
This patent describes telephone devices such as screen phones that support audible and visual communications across the Internet simply by dialing a telephone number. These “Integrated” phones have both a telephone connection and an Internet connection.  By using digital call control messages that are sent to and from the local telephone central office, an “Integrated” telephone can set up an Internet MultiMedia call to a compatible phone. If the called phone is not Internet capable, a standard phone call is established.

6,700,884

“Integrating the Internet With The Public Switched Telephone Network”
This patent describes a system for a telephone device as described in 6,704,305 to be able to create an Internet call.  The system includes a mechanism for correlating the telephone number of a calling or called device with its associated IP address.  That information could be stored in the telephone itself, in a record system of the local central office, or in one or more central registries.

6,697,357

“Call Management Managing System For Integrating The Internet With The Public Switched Telephone Network”
This patent describes a digital call management messaging system, that could be thought of as an extension of ISDN and SS7, that enables an “Integrated” telephone device to communicate across the Internet.  When one of these telephones places a call, it sends a digital message to its serving central office switching system. That message includes its telephone number and IP address, as well as the telephone number of the called party.  By sending a compatible message to the central office serving the called party, the originating central office can determine if the called party is capable of an Internet call.  If so, once the called device receives the call setup message, it has the Internet IP address of the calling device, and can then establish a connection across the Internet.

6,928,070

“Integrating The Internet With The Public Switched Telephone Network”
This patent describes a sophisticated system which greatly enhances the privacy, secrecy, and security of Internet calls.  This system enables the telephone switching network to dynamically assign an IP address to both the calling and called device, and route the resulting Internet call through an intermediate proxy server.  Internet phones require more than just “unlisted number” capability since a called party can easily determine the geographic location of a caller, and thus putting the life of some individuals at risk (such as a battered spouse).  With this invention, the proxy servers can be in other geographic regions to cloak a device’s actual geographic location. Furthermore, the Internet call can be split into two unidirectional streams, and each of those streams can be routed through a separate pair of proxy servers.  Since the proxy servers can be dynamically selected for each call, the true location of an “Integrated” phone can be protected.

7,327,720

“Integrated Telephone Central Office Systems For Integrating The Internet With the Public Switched Telephone Network”
This patent describes a telephone central office switching system having a digital messaging capability to send and receive call setup and management messages to and from compatible phones.  These call management messages can initiate and control a communications session transpiring across the Internet.  The central office switching system can communicate similar digital messages to other central offices and central office systems to create and manage end-to-end Internet communications.