The present invention relates to a communications and service terminal for use in public and semi-public places.

The only real communications terminals in public places are public telephones. Public telephones are only used for speech communication and are designed particularly for this purpose.

As community communications increase, so does the need of communication forms other than speech communication. The transmission of data between computers with the aid of the telecommunications network is an example of this need.

One problem in this regard is the lack of public communica¬ tion terminals. A problem related with the establishment of public communication terminals is that communication and transmission of information takes place over many different media and with the use of a number of different so-called communication protocols.

The present invention solves this problem and provides a flexible communications terminal which because of its flexibility is well-suited for installation in public and semi-public places.

The present invention thus relates to a communications terminal which is designed for communication purposes and for the transmission of information and for installation in public places, and which is constructed for connection to the telephone network and includes a user interface, wherein the terminal is characterized in that the interface includes a display screen, a keyboard, a card reader and a telephone receiver for voice-based communication; in that the terminal includes a base module which includes a processor and associated memory in which software constituting a basic system is stored, and hardware and software for external

commun cation; in that the terminal is constructed for the connection of hardware and software modules configured on top of the basic system, said modules being intended for differ¬ ent types of communication; and in that the basic system is designed to control user activated modules.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplifying embodiment thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which

Figure 1 is a block schematic presenting an overview of the invention; and

Figure 2 illustrates by way of example the external design of an inventive terminal.

Figure 2 illustrates by way of example the external design of a communications terminal intended for communication and the transmission of information. The terminal is intended to be installed in public places and to be connected to the telephone network. The terminal includes a user interface.

Any member of the general public may be a terminal user. By public places is meant places to which the general public has access, such as different public localities, hotel lobbies, airport terminals, restaurants, etc. The terminal may also be installed in "outdoor" locations. It is conceivable, and in many cases desirable, to replace an existing public telephone with an inventive terminal.

According to the invention, the user interface 24 includes a display screen 1, a keyboard 2, a card reader 3, 4 and a telephone receiver 5 for voice-based communication, as illustrated in Figure 2. The card reader may comprise two readers 3, 4 for different types of card, for instance one reader for a card that carries a magnetic strip, such as a credit card, and the other a smart card reader.

The terminal will preferably also include a telephone keypad 6. However, the keypad may optionally be excluded and the keyboard used instead for entering telephone numbers and the like.

The inventive terminal also includes hardware in the form of a base module (Figure 2) which includes a processor 11 and associated memory 12 in which software constituting a basic system is stored, and hardware and software 13 for external communication.

As shown in Figure 1, the terminal also includes hardware and software 14 for (terminal management and control), and hardware and software 15 for different terminal applications and related services (application and service). These compo¬ nents are referenced 14 and 15 and are included in the basic module.

Another important feature of the invention is that the terminal is constructed for the connection of hardware and software modules which are configured on top of the basic system, said system being designed to control these modules. The modules are intended for different types of communica¬ tion. The basic system is also designed to control user activated modules.

The hardware and software modules include known electronics and software for one, two or more of the functions: data communication over the wire-connected telephone network; data communication over a wireless or cordless telephone network; the establishment of connections between the terminal and existing data network; voice-based telecommunication; and functions for the interactive exchange of data with data bases.

The hardware reguired for each of these modules is intended to be installed in the terminal in card positions 16 provided

therefor. The illustrated embodiment has ten electronic card positions.

According to one preferred embodiment, the terminal includes a communications module which includes an electronic card 25 having different communication protocols for communication with one or more networks, and communication standards. This module enables the user to choose between different communi¬ cation protocols in keeping with the information transfer or data communication that the user desires, for instance from a portable computer carried by the user to the terminal. The module chosen may be a module which contains a certain service, such as flight-time information and through which plane tickets can be booked, such as module 26. When choosing this service, the basic system selects the communication protocol appropriate for communication with the data base for aircraft traffic.

For instance, the communications module may include the following standards and protocols: PSTN, ISDN; GSM, NMT, TACS, ETACS; ER ES, POCSAC Wide Area Paging; X.25; TCP/IP; Internet; V.21, V.22, V.23, V.36, V.42.

According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the terminal includes means for connecting the terminal to the wire-connected telephone network.

According to another embodiment, the terminal includes a transmitter and receiver antenna 17 for connection to a wireless or cordless part of a telephone network. When the terminal shall be capable of communicating over the GSM network for instance, one module is comprised of a GSM electronic card 27 inserted m one of the card positions 16.

In another embodiment, the terminal includes a receiver antenna 18 for receiving broadcasted information, such as teletext information. When the terminal shall be capable of

displaying teletext information, there is provided a receiver electronic card 28 which is inserted in one of the card positions 16.

The services provided by the inventive terminal can be chosen from all of the services that are generally available over different types of data networks, such as different types of information services, different types of sales services, etc. , etc.

In addition to different types of data communication, the communications services afforded by the inventive terminal may include text telephony, picture telephony, telefacsimile messages, E-mail, etc. When the terminal includes a picture telephony service, a video camera lens 22 will be installed in the terminal.

The number of services conceivable in the present regard is too large to be recounted in this document. Neither is the present invention restricted to any particular combination of services.

The concept of the invention lies in the provision of a communications terminal which includes the aforesaid basic system to which hardware and software can be added in the form of modules in accordance with desired applications and services, wherein both the basic system and the card posi¬ tions are prepared for connecting a selected module to the terminal.

This enables the terminal to be constructed with, or loaded with, the modules for which a need is found, among other things in view of where the terminal is located. Naturally, the combination of modules in one and the same terminal can be changed when the aforesaid need changes.

The invention is thus implemented with hardware and software

modules that can be configured on top of a basic system, i.e. hardware and software for internal control and execution of communications routines and management of all card modules and service applications.

All modules are built from or are comprised of standard components. An open architecture is applied, so that the terminal is able to use any application from any supplier or information donator.

The intelligence in the basic system adapts the terminal to the service desired of the terminal by the terminal owner.

The terminal may operate as a stand-alone terminal or be incorporated in a network.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the terminal includes electric ports 19, 20 for connection to a portable computer. The terminal may also include a diskette drive 23 for data-carrying diskettes.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the terminal includes a card reader, as before mentioned, wherein the card reading procedure constitutes at least a part of a user authorization check and wherein activation of the terminal for communication purposes is not effected until the user is accepted as being authorized.

This authorization check may involve the user presenting a credit card or smart card to the terminal prior to use, whereupon the terminal checks the validity of the card in question by connecting with a card checking data base in a known manner. The user is able to commence using the terminal only when the card is found to be valid.

When the terminal is constructed to accept credit cards, the user is billed for the use of the terminal on the basis of

the credit card number.

The terminal may also be constructed to operate on the basis of a special authorization card, wherewith after having initially been given access to the terminal the user is able to disclose which account shall be billed for the services and other applications that the user will later utilize.

In another preferred embodiment, the terminal forms one or more vital user interface parts that are not made accessible until a user is considered to be authorized. For instance, the terminal may be constructed so that only the card reader is accessible while the remaining part of the terminal is covered by a protective armoured glass plate or the like. The arrangement may be such as to move up the glass plate to an extent sufficient to expose the keyboard and other vital parts of the user interface when the user is considered to be authorized.

It is also conceivable to install the terminal in a terminal booth similar to a telephone booth and provided with a lockable door. The card reader may therewith be placed outside the booth and the door unlocked when the authoriza¬ tion check is accepted.

The terminal will preferably be of robust construction, so as to withstand normal vandalism for instance. An appropriate mechanical standard in this regard is the standard that applies for the mechanical construction of modern public telephones.

In a further preferred embodiment, the terminal is provided with an internal fault checking and monitoring module 21 designed to communicate with a monitoring centre for issuing fault messages, fire messages, break-in messages, etc.

Although the invention has been described with reference to

various embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the exterior of the terminal can be constructed in other ways. It will also be understood that services and communication facilities other than those enumerated explicitly in the aforegoing can be implemented.

The present invention shall not therefore be considered to be restricted to the aforedescribed exemplifying embodiments thereof, since variations and modifications can be made within the scope of the following Claims.