Importance

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Abstract

The present invention relates to a telephone configured as a programmable microcomputer (telephone-computer) which operates in most circumstances through a standard telephone 12-key keypad input. The telephone-computer includes telephone electronics and a microprocessor unit operated in conjunction with other computer elements, including memory devices, and a programmable gate array (PGA) chip and enhanced integrity features, and has the overall appearance of a telephone. The PGA has the capability of being reconfigured to accommodate various types of softwares which require different hardware configuration, but without actually reconfiguring the hardware. The telephone-computer delivers data processing capabilities and services through an ordinary telephone instrument via conventional telephone lines with a network host computer which communicates with a vast panoply of service bureaus. Specifically, operating software is downloaded to the telephone-computer by the network host computer to reconfigure the PGA to format the microcomputer necessary to conform to the software format used by the service bureaus.

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First Claim