The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 16, 1993
Filed:
Oct. 05, 1990
Lawrence D Weiss, New York, NY (US);
Joseph C Kawan, Hollywood, CA (US);
Leslie Roth, Plainview, NY (US);
Jim R Vollmer, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Morris L Tucci, Van Nuys, CA (US);
Melvin M Takata, Hermosa Beach, CA (US);
Alfred S Samulon, Malibu, CA (US);
Dilip J Parekh, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Sarkis A Meguerdijian, Glendale, CA (US);
Harvey Marks, Canoga Park, CA (US);
Shan Lee, Hacienda Heights, CA (US);
Douglas W Caruthers, Redondo, CA (US);
Leo Ahlin, Rexdale, CA;
Leslie Moss, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Kenneth Krieger, Northport, NY (US);
Carol A Medine, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Truc Nguyen, Cerritos, CA (US);
Marjorie Engber, New York, NY (US);
Edward Chin, Dix Hills, NY (US);
Lucilla K Warren, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Joseph P Randolph, Winchester, MA (US);
Robert Haddock, New York, NY (US);
Transaction Technology, Inc., Santa Monica, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a telephone configured as a programmable microcomputer (telephone-computer) which operates in most circumstances through a standard telephone 12-key keypad input. The telephone-computer includes telephone electronics and a microprocessor unit operated in conjunction with other computer elements, including memory devices, and a programmable gate array (PGA) chip and enhanced integrity features, and has the overall appearance of a telephone. The PGA has the capability of being reconfigured to accommodate various types of softwares which require different hardware configuration, but without actually reconfiguring the hardware. The telephone-computer delivers data processing capabilities and services through an ordinary telephone instrument via conventional telephone lines with a network host computer which communicates with a vast panoply of service bureaus. Specifically, operating software is downloaded to the telephone-computer by the network host computer to reconfigure the PGA to format the microcomputer necessary to conform to the software format used by the service bureaus.