Patents by Inventor Bruce Levens

Bruce Levens has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus for securing telephone passwords
    Publication number: 20020076039
    Abstract: DTMF tones used to enter a password reflected by an answering machine or voice mail system can be masked using a jamming signal generator. When an answering machine or voice mail system is accessed with a cellular phone, the DTMF tones used for the password can be reflected back over the cellular network, which compromises security. A method and apparatus are disclosed which detects tones on an input line and outputs a jamming signal on the output line to mask the reflected tones.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2000
    Publication date: June 20, 2002
    Inventor: Bruce Levens
  • DTMF tone detection and suppression with application to computer telephony over packet switched networks
    Patent number: 6396851
    Abstract: A method of facilitating telephony communications over a packet-switched network includes detecting signaling tones in an audio stream and blocking them from the stream in response to the detecting. After the blocking, the audio stream is sent over an undependable channel in the packet-switched network. The detected signaling tones can be sent over a dependable channel instead of the undependable audio channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2002
    Assignee: NMS Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Bruce Levens, Paul R. Kerr, William S. Hoge, Daniel F. Daly
  • DTMF tone detection and suppression with application to computer telephony over packet switched networks
    Patent number: 6226303
    Abstract: A method of facilitating telephony communications over a packet-switched network includes detecting signaling tones in an audio stream and blocking them from the stream in response to the detecting. After the blocking, the audio stream is sent over an undependable channel in the packet-switched network. The detected signaling tones can be sent over a dependable channel instead of the undependable audio channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: Natural MicroSystems Corporation
    Inventors: Bruce Levens, Paul R. Kerr, William S. Hoge, Daniel F. Daly