Appeal No. 1999-1697
Application No. 08/550,270 Page 9
In addition, we observe that appellants’ specification
discloses (pages 2-4) that appellants' invention relates to an
adapter for providing data communications between a computer and
other remote data communications systems having various data
communications platforms, such as an integrated services digital
network (ISDN) for use at the office, or an analog public
switched telephone network (PSTN) to be used from home. One
solution has been to have an adapter designed for each type of
telecommunication facilities. Another solution in the prior art
was to have a hybrid adapter which combined several discrete
functions in a single adapter, but this brute force approach does
not save much when compared to separate adapters. Appellants add
that it would be desirable to provide a single adapter which
performs several functions by utilizing common hardware, which
would be capable of transferring data to different communications
systems, and would have the convenience of a hybrid adapter and a
price comparable to a single adapter.
Blackwell similarly discloses (col. 2, lines 37-58) that
corporations may employ digital networks for internal
communications, while continuing to need analog services for
external communications such as allowing an employee to enter the
system from a remote location over the PSTN. Blackwell notes
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