`
`Ex. GOOG 1009
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`EX. GOOG 1009
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`United States Statutory Invention Registration [19]
`[11] Reg. Number:
`[45] Published:
`
`Partridge, III
`
`H1714
`Mar. 3, 1998
`
`[54] AUTOMATIC STILL INIAGE TRANSMISSION
`UPON CALL CONNECTION
`
`[75] Inventor: Iljfjwaring Partridge, III. Far Hills.
`
`[73] Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
`
`[21] Appl No . 434 079
`'
`"
`’
`[22] Filed:
`May 3, 1995
`
`6
`[51] Int. Cl. ..................................................... .. H04N 7/14
`[52] US. Cl. ......................... .. 348/14; 348/ 13; 379193.01;
`379/93'17
`15. 16-
`of Search ................................ ..
`348/17. 18. 19; 379/96. 100. 93. 94. 98.
`97
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U_S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`gagiont‘ltlal‘ """""""""""" "
`4’962321 ‘0/1990 K e
`' "" "
`"
`379/53
`,
`omatsu et a1. .
`379,53
`5,042,061
`31199] Kaneko etal
`348/14
`5,046,079
`9/1991 Hashimoto
`379/100
`5,192,999
`3/1993 Graczyk et a1. ..
`5,282,243
`l/1994 Dabbaghi et a1. .................... .. 379/201
`
`5,305,097
`4/1994 Sato et a1. ............................... .. 348/14
`5,412,418
`5/1995 Nishinmra et a1. ..
`.... .. 343/14
`5,414,457
`5/1995 Kadowaki et a1. ..................... .. 348/14
`Primary Examiner_B?mm E Gregory
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`
`The present disclosure describes a system and method for
`selecting and transmitting a still image in a telephone
`network. A series of images is stored in at least one storage
`unit coupled to the network. each image associated with a
`particular customer in the network. Upon the placement of
`a can the system will automatically select and transmit um
`caning pm’s mg‘: to the called party’s video ml?phom or
`terminal prior to or during the ringing sequence. or after the
`cajling
`has answered.
`
`20 Claims, 1 Drawing Sheet
`
`A statutory invention registration is not a patent. It has
`the defensive attributes of a patent but does not have the
`enforceable attributes of a patent. No article or adver
`tisement or the like may use the term patent, or any term
`,
`_
`suggestlve of a patent, when referring to a statutory
`invention registration- For more Speci?c inform??on on
`the rights associated with a statutory invention registra
`tion see 35 U.S.C. 157.
`
`12
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`Ex. GOOG 1009
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`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Mar. 3, 1998
`
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`EX. GOOG 1009
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`Ex. GOOG 1009
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`

`

`H1714
`
`1
`AUTOMATIC STILL IMAGE TRANSMISSION
`UPON CALL CONNECTION
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates to image transmission in a telecom
`munications network. and more particularly to automatic
`still image selection and transmission upon the placement of
`a call to a video telephone or terminal.
`Various forms of video telephones. multimedia terminals
`and related image transmission systems have been intro
`duced in recent years and are in use today using standard
`telephone networks. Customers with the right equipment
`(voice/camera/screen units) can communicate by image as
`well as by voice. although often with some compromise in
`picture resolution or image transmission speed due to band
`width limitations in some areas of the network. A video
`telephone system is disclosed. by way of example. in
`Komatsu et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4.962.521.
`To partially compensate for limitation in network
`bandwidth. various data compression and other schemes
`have bee proposed. Nevertheless. image “jerkiness" and
`some delay are still the characteristics of today’s video
`telephones. In addition. the called party normally is not able
`to view the image of the calling party before the call is
`answered. which means that calls cannot be screened on the
`basis of incoming visual information. Brandon et al. US.
`Pat. No. 4.924.303 discloses a system for interactive
`retrieval of still frame video images. but the system requires
`the use of a separate television transmission system and
`standard television receivers to view the image. and is not
`designed to display the image immediately upon telephone
`call connection.
`
`15
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`35
`
`Although “caller ID” equipment now permits call screen
`ing based on the calling party’s number. a useful extension
`of this concept would be a system that permitted call
`screening based upon the calling party’s image. whether it
`be the image of a person. a corporate logo or other image
`preselected by the calling party as a type of telephonic
`“calling card”.
`A further useful extension of caller ID and related features
`would be a system located within a telephone network
`(either in a central ol?ce or elsewhere) that stored and
`maintained for immediate transmission a large data base of
`images preselected by all users in the network. which system
`would automatically select and transmit to the called party
`an appropriate image (such as of the calling party) as soon
`as an initial connection has been established.
`In accordance with the present disclosure. customers with
`telecommunication equipment that can receive images are
`provisioned to receive an image in association with a call.
`The image is delivered from an image node within a
`telecommunication network Each image is associated with
`the telephone number of a customer in the network.
`In one embodiment. upon detection of an initiated call. the
`telecommunication system accesses the image node. selects
`an image associated with the calling party. and transmits the
`selected image to the called party. as appropriate. The
`transmission occurs before. during or after the called party’s
`terminal has begun to ring. In this way. the image appears (or
`at least begins to appear) at the called party’s terminal even
`before the called party has taken the receiver off-hook or
`otherwise answered the call. After the called party has
`answered. the calling party’s image may continue to be
`
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`transmitted. if necessary. until maximum resolution at the
`called party’s terminal has been reached.
`If the calling party’s equipment has image transmission
`capability. as the call continues. the image may be periodi
`cally or continually refreshed with “live” image data
`received from the calling party’s terminal.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the
`invention.
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the
`invention.
`
`DETAJLED DESCRlPI'ION
`
`FIG. 1 shows a simpli?ed version of a conventional
`telephone network including central o?ice switches 20 and
`25. Terminals 10 and 80. which may be equipped with a
`screen and which may also include a camera 12. 82.
`respectively. and a local image memory unit 14. 84.
`respectively. for storing still frame images captured by the
`camera. are connected to switches 20 and 25 respectively.
`None of the elements 12. 14. 82 and 84 is required.
`As used in this disclosure. “image” means any visual
`material capable of being depicted on a screen.
`Once switching and other circuitry within a central o?ice
`has identi?ed the calling terminal and called terminal. an
`available path then is located and a connection is established
`between both terminals. which may then be followed by the
`generation and transmission of a ring signal to the called
`terminal. If both terminals are capable of image
`communication. a direct image connection will then nor
`mally be established as soon as the called party answers. It
`is important. however. to note that the present disclosure
`does not require the establishment of a direct visual com
`munication link between the two terminals; only the estab
`lishment of a visual link to the called terminal.
`In accordance with the present disclosure. at least one
`image processor 60 is included within the network of FIG.
`1. The location within the network is not critical; processor
`66 could be located almost anywhere. either as a stand-alone
`unit or within one of the central of?ces. as long as a visual
`communication link can be established between the proces
`sor that services the calling terminal and the called terminal
`80. Processor 60 is described in more detail below.
`Also. in accordance with the present disclosure. coupled
`to processor 60 is an image storage unit 50 for storing a
`database of preselected. digitized images. Storage unit 50
`may be any conventional mass storage memory device such
`as a disk drive or server. and the images may be any still
`(video or otherwise) images.
`In normal operation. it is anticipated that image storage
`unit 50 will contain a database of images preselected by the
`customers served by processor 60. For example. each cus
`tomer may preselect an image that he. she or it wishes to be
`stored in the database as a “telephone calling car " or
`greeting card that may be used to identify the caller. In
`addition. a corporate customer may desire to store a corpo
`rate logo or other image to identify the corporate entity upon
`the placement of a call. More than one image. such as a
`corporate presentation slide show. may. of course. be
`selected by each customer and stored in the database
`depending on the capabilities of the image storage unit 50
`and processor 60. It is anticipated that images typically will
`be stored in the database at the customer‘s direction either
`prior to the placement of a call or perhaps at an “0E peak"
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`Ex. GOOG 1009
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`

`H1714
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`3
`time when no particular call is being placed but the customer
`desires to update his. her or its image for future use.
`The image transmission system (processor 60 with image
`storage 50 or otherwise) would. most likely. be closely tied
`to the manner of generating the electronic signals that
`represent the image in an electronic image ?le. One readily
`available mechanism (and associated coding and protocol) is
`facsimile (fax). Either black-and-white or color fax can be
`used to create the electronic image ?le. Another mechanism
`is electronic mail for sending a ?le previously created by a
`document! image scanner. For example. a conventional
`photograph of a customer could be scanned by the customer
`(either personally or by a third party) and then sent to the
`image transmission system. or the customer could make
`other arrangements for a digitized image (perhaps generated
`by an electronic camera) to be sent.
`Of course. any conventional facsimile or electronic mail
`format can be employed to transmit the image data to the
`image transmission system. and such data can be kept in the
`image storage 50 either in the transmitted fonnat or in some
`other preselected format.
`Also. just as image sequences can be stored. as indicated
`above. to provide a slide shown. a selectable plurality of
`images can be stored which allows each user to customize
`his. her or its image(s) to the called party. Selection of
`images is achieved by the calling party sending a control
`signal. for example at the end of the called number sequence.
`The sequence may be. for instance. “#9" for business atu're
`and “#8" for beach attire. With another controlled sequence.
`such as “#99”. the customer can cause processor 60 to block
`transmission of all images.
`The data contained within database 50 need not be only
`image data. For example. associated with each image could
`be test characters such as the name of the person associated
`with the image. the telephone number or other identifying
`information. or a visual or voice greeting. In addition.
`associated with a corporate logo image could be an adver
`tising message or some other corporate “calling card” type
`message that would appear on the screen of the called party
`upon call connection. Such a message could also be aural.
`Returning to processor 60 (FIG. 1). this element. in a
`preferred embodiment. comprises a general purpose digital
`computer. a microprocessor or digital signal processor that
`performs several functions. First. processor 60 generates a
`unique signal immediately upon detection of an incoming
`call from central o?ice 20 that identi?es the particular
`calling terminal (in this case terminal 10). The processor
`could either make such determination directly using auto
`matic number identi?cation (ANI) or “caller 1])" means. or
`processor 60 could generate a signal in response to a
`number-identi?cation signal generated elsewhere in the
`network. such as by an ANI unit in central o?ice 20. In either
`case. the signal generated by processor 60 is used to locate
`the address of the customer image data. stored in image
`storage unit 50. that is associated with the particular calling
`terminal. Such image data could be unique to that particular
`terminal. or could be shared among several terminals. Once
`located. the data is read out of the image storage unit by
`processor 60 and automatically sent through the network to
`the called terminal 80 immediately upon the establishment
`of an available path (network line) to called terminal 80 by
`switching circuits in central o?ice 20 or 25. Data may be
`read out directly. or encoded in some fashion. depending
`upon the capabilities of the receiving terminal and of the
`network. Processor 60 could be programmed to begin trans
`mission of the image data at any of several times in the
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`calling sequence. such as (1) immediately upon the estab
`lishment of an available path to the called terminal (even
`prior to ?rst ring); (2) simultaneously with the transmission
`of the first ring signal; (3) some period of time before or after
`the transmission of the ?rst ring‘. (4) immediately upon
`detection of an elf-hook condition at the receiving terminal
`(i.e.. upon answer); or (5) some period of time after off-hook
`has been detected.
`Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 2.
`In FIG. 2. a central o?ice 20 of a conventional telephone
`network contains conventional telephone switching circuits
`35 for voice and data transmission over the network. A
`plurality of individual customer video telephones. personal
`computers or other conventional voice/ image terminals 10.
`80 are connected to the central ot‘n‘ce. As in FIG. 1. it is
`assumed that terminal 10 is a calling party’s terminal and
`terminal 80 is a called party's terminal.
`A voice/ data switching circuit 35 for establishing a
`connection between the calling terminal and the called
`terminal. and an automatic number identi?cation (ANI) unit
`30. for identifying the particular phone number of an incom
`ing call to the central ot?ce. are typically found within the
`central o?ice 20. In addition. a ring generator 40 typically
`will be coupled to the switching circuit to generate a
`conventional ringing signal as soon as the switching circuit
`has established a connection to a called party's terminal 80.
`In accordance with the embodiment of FIG. 2. there is
`also located within the central o?ice an image storage unit
`50 for storing a database of digitized images. Each customer
`or terminal may be assigned at least one image. Such images
`could either be preselected by customers. or could be
`selected from a set of acceptable or pre-approved alterna
`tives. It should also be understood. that storage unit 50 need
`not be physically located within the central o?ice but may be
`elsewhere in the network. as in FIG. 1.
`Coupled to storage unit 50 and to AN1 30 is an image
`select and refresh unit 55. Image select and refresh unit 55
`may be a conventional table look-up or other addressing
`device under hardware or software control. the primary
`function of which is to address the storage unit 50. upon
`receipt of a signal fromANI 30 and under control of at least
`one processor 60. to select a particular portion of image data
`that is associated with the telephone number identified by
`ANI 30.
`A secondary function of image select and refresh unit 55
`is to cause current or “live" image data to be written into
`storage unit 50 upon receipt of a signal from the calling party
`at terminal 10. Such data could. for example. represent a
`recent still frame image captured by camera 12 during a
`conversation. or could represent a different image in a series
`of preselected images. such as in a slide show during a
`corporate presentation.
`As shown in FIG. 2. coupled to the input of image select
`and refresh unit 55 is an optional image encoder 65. The
`function of image encoder 65 is to encode or convert the
`customer images into compact or compressed digital data
`sets that are better suited to transmission over a telephone
`network of limited bandwidth. Image encoder 65 may. for
`example. be comprised of a system such as that shown in
`Bheda et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4.943.855. which is hereby
`incorporated by reference. Decoding of the data stream may
`be accomplished at the called party’s terminal 80 to recon
`struct the image. Image encoder 65 is not. of course.
`required if network bandwidth and terminal capacity are
`such that image transmission can take place without com
`pression.
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`H1714
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`5
`Further elements of FIG. 2 include a multiplexer 70
`coupled to image encoder 65 and switching circuits 35. and
`a processor 60 coupled to the image encoder. to image select
`and refresh unit 55. to ANI 30. to switching circuits 35 and
`to ring generator 40. The function of processor 60 is to
`control the sequence and timing of image data addressing.
`refreshing. encoding. and transmission. as will be described
`in more detail below. The function of multiplexer 70 is to
`enable the multiplexed transmission of image data with the
`ring and voice signals. as will be described in more detail
`below.
`The operation of the present disclosure will now be
`described. with particular attention to FIG. 2. First. a calling
`party at terminal 10 places a call in an attempt to reach a
`party at terminal 80. In conventional fashion. incoming
`dialed digits are received within the cenn'al o?ice 20. Upon
`completion of the dial sequence. the incoming number is
`identi?ed by ANI unit 30. the dialed terminal 80 is identi?ed
`by switching circuits 35. and the switching circuits attempt
`to locate an available path and establish a network link to the
`dialed terminal. Upon locating an available path and deter
`mining that the dialed terminal is connected and in an
`on-hook condition. the switching circuits initiate a ring
`sequence through ring generator 40. which sequence con
`tinues until the called party answers.
`In accordance with FIG. 2. as soon as the number of the
`calling terminal has been identi?ed by ANI unit 39. a signal
`is sent to image select and refresh unit 55 that initiates an
`addressing sequence to locate within image storage unit 50
`the appropriate portion of image data (whether one frame or
`a series of frames) that is associated with the calling number.
`This addressing sequence may take place simultaneously
`with. before or after the network link has been established
`and the ringing sequence has begun. In a preferred
`embodiment. the addressing sequence is begun immediately
`upon identi?cation of the calling terminal’s number. so that
`the processing of image data may begin as quickly as
`possible.
`Upon locating the image data associated with the calling
`terminal. image select and refresh unit 55. under the conn'ol
`of processor 60. reads the data out of storage unit 50 for
`sending over the network
`As soon as an available path has been located and a
`connection to the called terminal has been established by
`switching circuit 35. a ring sequence is normally initiated by
`ring generator 40. In accordance with the present disclosure.
`as soon as processor 60 detects that switching circuits 35
`have established a link between the calling and called
`terminals. processor 60 begins to transmit. or to prepare the
`image data for transmission. over the link. This transmission
`could begin even before ring generator 40 transmits the ?rst
`ring signal to called terminal 80. or it could be done
`simultaneously with the ?rst ring or after a preselected
`number or rings. In one embodiment. image transmission is
`begun prior to the ?rst ring. to enable an image to be formed
`at the called terminal as quickly as possible. In another
`embodiment. processor 60 multiplexes the image data with
`the ring signal through multiplexer 70 over the connected
`line to terminal 80. beginning with the ?rst ring. After the
`called party has answered. and if the image data has not yet
`been completely transmitted. the image data will be multi
`plexed with voice signals. and will continue to be
`transmitted. under the control of processor 60.
`At or prior to the beginning of the ringing sequence.
`processor 60 begins transmitting data in conjunction with
`the ring signal generated at ring generator 40 through
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`multiplexer 70 to the called party at terminal 80. Depending
`upon available bandwidth in the network. the received
`image initially may have a course resolution. and then later
`become ?ner and ?ner. Alternatively. a ?ne-resolution image
`may appear at the called terminal at a speed compatible with
`the available bandwidth. As the ringing continues. the image
`received at terminal 80 may be updated with refreshed
`image data. if such data has been received into image storage
`unit 50 from the calling terminal or another source in the
`interim. This refreshed image may. unless blocked by the
`calling party. be a series of still images continuously or
`periodically transmitted from the calling party’s terminal 10
`to database 50. The refresh rate is. of course. dependent upon
`the bandwidth of the network as well as the speed of the
`processor 60 and image encoder 65.
`In another embodiment of the invention. an image post
`processor (not shown) may be coupled between processor 60
`and an optional multiplexer 70 in FIG. 2 to add additional
`image processing functions prior to transmission over the
`network. For example. the image may be translated or
`reformatted so as to be compatible with the particular
`transmission media being employed at the time. In addition.
`data may be added to or subtracted from the image under the
`control of processor 60. such as a voice greeting. a name.
`phone number or a visual greeting. Also. the image may or
`may not be sent in conjunction with a ring signal.
`One of the advantages of the present disclosure is the
`ability of the system to alert the called party to the image of
`the calling party very early in the calling sequence. The
`image could be displayed at the calling party's terminal even
`before the ?rst ring is sounded at the calling party’s terminal.
`Alternatively. the image could appear on the screen simul
`taneously with the ?rst ring or with some subsequent ring.
`at some predetermined interval after the ringing has begun.
`or after the called party has answered. This allows the called
`party to screen the call depending upon the particular image.
`which advantageously permits the called party to dispense
`with the need to memorize the telephone numbers of calling
`individuals. In addition. by starting image transmission prior
`to or during ringing. it is likely that. by the time the called
`party has answered the call. enough time will have elapsed
`to permit the system to transmit and reconstruct a relatively
`high-resolution image at the called terminal. even if network
`bandwidth is limited.
`Thus. there is disclosed a system for selecting and trans
`mitting a still image in response to an incoming call from a
`terminal or video phone and transmitting such image to the
`called party immediately upon the establishment of a net
`work link between the calling party to the called party. It
`should. of course. be understood that while the present
`disclosure has been described in reference to illustrative
`embodiments. other arrangements may be apparent to those
`of ordinary skill in the art. For example. image storage unit
`50 could be located anywhere in the network or even within
`the called terminal 80 or the calling terminal 10. depending
`upon the amount of memory available. Such local storage
`could store a subset of images customized for that particular
`terminal. such as images of frequent callers.
`I claim:
`1. An image transmission system comprising:
`memory for storing image data;
`at least one processor coupled to said memory; and
`connection means interposed between said processor and
`a telecommunications network to which a called party
`and a calling party are coupled. that is adapted to
`transmit signals from said memory to said called party.
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`10
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`7
`where said proees sor. in response to signals received from
`said calling party that request connection to said called
`party. retrieves image data from said memory and
`forwards said image data to said connection means.
`2. The system of claim 1 in which said called terminal
`comprises a video telephone.
`3. The system of claim 1 in which said network comprises
`a telephone network.
`4. The system of claim 1 in which said image data
`comprises preselected portions of data. each portion asso—
`ciated with a calling terminal.
`5. The system of claim 4 in which each said portion is
`transmitted to said memory via facsimile.
`6. The system of claim 4 in which each said portion is
`transmitted to said memory via electronic mail.
`7. The system of claim 1 in which said transmission of
`said image data occurs simultaneously with a ring signal.
`8. The system of claim 1 in which said transmission of
`said image data occurs prior to a ?rst ring signal.
`9. The system of claim 1 in which said image data is
`selected by said calling party prior to transmission to said
`called party.
`10. The system of claim 9 in which said image data is
`selected by the calling party using a predetermined code.
`11. The system of claim 1 in which said image data is
`stored in said memory in a preselected facsimile format.
`12. The system of claim 1 in which said image data is
`stored in said memory in a preselected electronic mail
`format.
`13. An image selection and transmission system compris
`rng:
`identifying means coupled to a telephone network for
`identifying a calling terminal and a called terminal;
`switch means coupled to said network for establishing a
`ring connection to said called terminal and a visual
`communication connection between said calling termi
`nal and said called terminal;
`storage means coupled to said network for storing prese
`lected portions of image data. each portion associated
`with one said calling terminal;
`selector means coupled to said identifying means and to
`said storage means for selecting a portion of said image
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`data associated with said calling terminal upon receipt
`of a signal from said identifying means; and
`processor means coupled to said coding means. to said
`identifying means and to said switch means for auto
`matically initiating a ?ow of said data stream to said
`called terminal upon the establishment of said ring
`connection. and for continuing the ?ow of said data
`stream upon the establishment of said communication
`connection.
`14. The system of claim 13 in which said ?ow of said data
`stream is initiated prior to the generation of a ?rst ring signal
`during said ring connection.
`15. The system of claim 13 in which said ?ow of said data
`stream is completed prior to the generation of a ?rst ring
`signal during said ring connection.
`16. The system of claim 13 further including coding
`means coupled to an input of said selector means for
`encoding said image data prior to storage in said storage
`means.
`17. The system of claim 13 in which said calling terminal
`is arranged to permit a calling party to block transmission of
`said data stem
`18. A method of selecting and transmitting an image to a
`terminal over a telephone network. comprising the steps of:
`storing images in a database. each image associated with
`a terminal in said network;
`identifying a terminal that is attempting to establish a
`connection to another terminal in said network;
`selecting the image that is associated with said calling
`terminal;
`establishing a connection between said calling terminal
`and said called terminal; and
`initiating transmission of said data stream to said called
`terminal ovm' said network upon the establishment of
`said connection.
`19. The method of claim 18. in which said transmission of
`said data stream precedes the transmission of a ringing
`signal.
`20. The method of claim 18 further including the step of
`encoding said images prior to storing said images in said
`database.
`
`Ex. GOOG 1009
`
`