Patents by Inventor Iris Y. Chen

Iris Y. Chen 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).

  • Patent number: 5533107
    Abstract: The present invention is a method that enables a business with multiple locations within a LATA to use a single number for its service. All callers dial the same number to reach the subscriber's business, and a network routes the calls to the most appropriate subscriber location based on the geographic location of the caller, time of day, day of week, and/or percent distribution among subscriber locations. The geographic location of the caller is determined using the calling party number (NPA-NXX-XXXX) and either mapping this number to a wire center (using the NPA-NXX) or to a block group (using the entire NPA-NXX-XXXX). An advantage of Area Number Calling is the granularity of block group routing. Block groups are defined by the Census Bureau and typically encompass a much smaller geographic area than a wire center. Block groups are defined by the Census Bureau for the entire United States. Block groups tend to encompass four to twelve blocks, and they honor natural boundaries, like rivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 2, 1996
    Assignee: BellSouth Corporation
    Inventors: Janine M. Irwin, James M. Seymour, Iris Y. Chen, James M. Davis, David C. Sowell, Nailesh B. Desai, Julia B. Torbert