A TELEPHONE OUTLET FOR IMPLEMENTING A LOCAL AREA NETWORK OVER TELEPHONE LINES AND A LOCAL AREA NETWORK USING SUCH OUTLETS

摘要

An outlet for coupling at least one data unit to digital data carried over wiring that simultaneously carry a packet-based serial digital data signal and a power signal over the same conductors. The outlet includes: a wiring connector for connecting to the wiring; a transceiver coupled to the wiring connector for transmitting and receiving packet-based serial digital data over the wiring; a LAN connector coupled to the transceiver for bi-directional packet-based data communication with at least one data unit; a bridge or a router coupled between the transceiver and the LAN connector for passing data bi-directionally between the at least one data unit and the wiring; and a single enclosure housing the above-mentioned components. The enclosure is mountable into a standard wall outlet receptacle or wall outlet opening, and the transceiver and the bridge or router are coupled to the wiring connector to be powered from the power signal.