Appeal No. 2002-1997 Page 2 Application No. 08/828,549 The use of a faulty modem by the ISP, however, can impede such a connection. Because the ISP may be unaware of the fault until it receives complaints from its users, the faulty modem can be in use for a long time. (Id. at 3.) Furthermore, it may remain in use until repaired or replaced. (Spec. at 2.) In contrast, the invention uses a telephone exchange, such as a private branch exchange ("PBX"), to connect a remote computer to an Intranet without an ISP. (Appeal Br. at 3.) More specifically, the remote computer 48 is connected via a public switched telephone network ("PSTN") 12 to a PBX 10. An incoming call from the computer 48 is routed via the PBX's switch core 40 and network connector 44 to an Intranet 14. A further understanding of the invention can be achieved by reading the following claim. 18. Method of connecting a computer to a computer network via a telephone exchange comprising the steps: receiving, in the telephone exchange, data signals sent from the computer, wherein the data signals are sent from the computer over a public switched telephone network; converting, by a signal processing means in a network connection device, the signal structure of the data signals to data packets having a signal structure suitable for data communication; supplying these data packets to the computer network;Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007