WO1997026753A1 - Systeme de transmission par telecopie sur internet - Google Patents

Systeme de transmission par telecopie sur internet Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1997026753A1
WO1997026753A1 PCT/US1997/000730 US9700730W WO9726753A1 WO 1997026753 A1 WO1997026753 A1 WO 1997026753A1 US 9700730 W US9700730 W US 9700730W WO 9726753 A1 WO9726753 A1 WO 9726753A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
facsimile
receiving
internet
faxengine
originating
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1997/000730
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
T. Clay Wilkes
Alex Radulovic
Original Assignee
I-Link Worldwide, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by I-Link Worldwide, Inc. filed Critical I-Link Worldwide, Inc.
Priority to AU17497/97A priority Critical patent/AU1749797A/en
Publication of WO1997026753A1 publication Critical patent/WO1997026753A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00204—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server
    • H04N1/00209—Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
    • H04N1/00212—Attaching image data to computer messages, e.g. to e-mails
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L9/00—Cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communications; Network security protocols
    • H04L9/40—Network security protocols
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00204—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00204—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server
    • H04N1/00209—Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32037—Automation of particular transmitter jobs, e.g. multi-address calling, auto-dialing
    • H04N1/32064—Multi-address calling
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32358—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device using picture signal storage, e.g. at transmitter
    • H04N1/324—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device using picture signal storage, e.g. at transmitter intermediate the transmitter and receiver terminals, e.g. at an exchange
    • H04N1/32406—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device using picture signal storage, e.g. at transmitter intermediate the transmitter and receiver terminals, e.g. at an exchange in connection with routing or relaying, e.g. using a fax-server or a store-and-forward facility
    • H04N1/32411—Handling instructions for routing or relaying
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32358—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device using picture signal storage, e.g. at transmitter
    • H04N1/324—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device using picture signal storage, e.g. at transmitter intermediate the transmitter and receiver terminals, e.g. at an exchange
    • H04N1/32406—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device using picture signal storage, e.g. at transmitter intermediate the transmitter and receiver terminals, e.g. at an exchange in connection with routing or relaying, e.g. using a fax-server or a store-and-forward facility
    • H04N1/32427—Optimising routing, e.g. for minimum cost
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/0008—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus
    • H04N2201/0015—Control of image communication with the connected apparatus, e.g. signalling capability
    • H04N2201/002—Selecting or switching between an image communication channel and a non-image communication channel
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/0077—Types of the still picture apparatus
    • H04N2201/0086—Image transceiver
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/0077—Types of the still picture apparatus
    • H04N2201/0093—Facsimile machine
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N2201/00—Indexing scheme relating to scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, and to details thereof
    • H04N2201/32—Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N2201/3201—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
    • H04N2201/3204—Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title of data relating to a user, sender, addressee, machine or electronic recording medium

Definitions

  • This invention pertains generally to communication between devices which are not typically Internet-ready because they lack the required Internet communication protocols. More specifically, this invention enables communication between fax machines over the Internet as opposed to using conventional long-distance switched telephone network lines.
  • DARP A consisted of a computer network which did not rely on any single node for its existence. On the contrary, it was specifically designed to provide multiple pathways for communication to flow from a source to a destination.
  • the successor to the DARPA project is now the better known and widely used Internet.
  • the most widely recognized communication product of the Internet is referred to generically as electronic mail (email) .
  • Email like a facsimile transmission, also communicates by the written word, but without a hard or paper copy being needed at the source of transmission or the destination.
  • the message arrives encoded in a type of binary format in computer memory for retrieval and display on a computer monitor.
  • a comparison of data transmission by facsimile and by email reveals several important differences other than the paper versus the paperless distinction described above.
  • a facsimile transmission is traditionally accomplished via the switched public telephone networks. Therefore, a long distance facsimile transmission costs the same as a long distance voice telephone call. At today's facsimile transmission and reception speeds, the cost can be prohibitive when the source and destination are far apart or on different continents.
  • email transmitted over the Internet provides a very different cost structure associated with it.
  • a user accesses a local provider to the Internet by dialing to a site with a dedicated Internet connection. There is usually a monthly flat fee for unlimited access through the provider. Consequently, there are typically no long distance telephone charges involved in sending or receiving email.
  • U.S. Patent No. 5,410,416 by Amberg et al. apparently teaches that multiple low-speed facsimiles can be bundled together into a single facsimile for transmission to a common distribution point, and then the single facsimile is transmitted as a high-speed facsimile to the distribution point where it is unbundled and dispersed as multiple low-speed facsimiles.
  • U.S. Patent Nos. 5,287,199 by Zoccolillo, 5,404,231 by Bloomfield, and 5,459,584 by Gordon et al. apparently teach varying methods of distributing, routing and otherwise increasing facsimile throughput on a publicly switched telephone network.
  • a further object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for translating a facsimile into an email message format for delivery to an electronic mail address on the Internet.
  • Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for translating an email message originally transmitted via the Internet to a facsimile format for delivery to a fax machine on a switched telephone network.
  • Still a further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for redirecting incoming facsimiles to an alternative fax machine, facsimile modem or Internet email address.
  • Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for providing a local switched telephone network number which provides access to an Internet device capable of redirecting facsimiles received at that location to a receiving fax machine located a long distance telephone call away from the local number via the Internet.
  • Still yet another object is to provide a method for encryption of a facsimile transmitted over the Internet such that the facsimile is at least as secure as one transmitted over a switched telephone network.
  • the apparatus consists of at least two FaxEngines to act as translator and Internet conduit.
  • a FaxEngine is a device which is coupled simultaneously to the Internet and to a publicly or privately switched telephone network and provides the ability to encapsulate a facsimile into Internet packets using an appropriate Internet communication protocol, or do the reverse and decode Internet packets back into the original facsimile.
  • the method consists of a subscriber a) dialing a local FaxEngine number on a publicly or privately switched telephone network, b) entering the destination facsimile number or numbers, and c) pressing the start key to begin facsimile transfer.
  • the FaxEngine a) receives the facsimile, b) encapsulates it into Internet packets using an Internet communication protocol such as TCP/IP, c) encrypts the message, d) transmits the message over the Internet to a second FaxEngine which is preferably only a local publicly or privately switched telephone network call from the receiving fax machine, e) the second FaxEngine extracts the receiving fax machine telephone number from the message, f) the receiving fax machine is then called by the second FaxEngine via the switched telephone network, and if the receiving fax machine answers, g) the second FaxEngine decrypts the facsimile, h) translates the message into a facsimile format, and i) the message is transmitted to the receiving fax machine.
  • an Internet communication protocol such as TCP/IP
  • One advantage to the method and apparatus of the preferred embodiment described above is that the connect time to a FaxEngine is reduced if the same facsimile is intended for delivery to a plurality of fax machines.
  • the invention requires transmission of the facsimile only once to the FaxEngine.
  • the FaxEngine stores the facsimile until it has been successfully transmitted to all intended fax machines. This not only eliminates long distance phone charges, but it also enables the sender to make other use of a telephone line after sending the facsimile to the FaxEngine instead of tying up a line by repeatedly sending the same facsimile to each of the multiple facsimile recipients.
  • Another advantage of the invention is that if a FaxEngine is not a local telephone call from the sending or receiving fax machine, the system still enables transmission of facsimiles at a reduced rate as opposed to normal long distance telephone rates which the sender would be billed. This is accomplished by taking advantage of high volume long distance telephone contracts. This enables the present invention to always make long distance facsimile transmission less expensive than a conventional long distance direct dialed call.
  • the present invention By providing facsimile to Internet email translation, the present invention also bridges an important communication gap between the expanding number of users on the Internet and the large majority of people and businesses which still rely on facsimiles.
  • This translation ability also enables redirection and forwarding of facsimiles which are typically not capable of being rerouted in the same way that voice messages can be routed.
  • a receiver By translating facsimiles into an email format, a receiver can more easily access facsimile transmissions from remote locations that would otherwise have to wait until the receiver returned to the original facsimile destination.
  • a business using the FaxEngine can also set up a virtual fax machine at a site where many clients are located.
  • a client need only dial the local fax machine number which is instead a local fax machine number
  • the present invention advantageously enables transmission of data between devices which are not considered Internet capable by providing an Internet translation medium and a plurality of Internet access sites such that the majority of telephone calls are local. Even when the Internet cannot be utilized to send the message entirely at a local telephone rate, the present invention is still more cost effective by taking advantage of high volume long distance telephone contracts.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the main components of the present invention which enables transmission of a facsimile via the Internet.
  • FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the steps followed by the subscriber when sending a facsimile transmission via the Internet.
  • FIG. 3 is a breakdown in block diagram form of the main hardware components of a FaxEngine built in accordance with the parameters of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operating process of the FaxEngine.
  • FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the decision process followed by a FaxPort portion of a FaxEngine when receiving a facsimile transmission via a switched telephone network.
  • FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the decision process followed by a FaxPort portion of a FaxEngine when sending a facsimile transmission via a switched telephone network.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the decision process followed by an I/O Engine Receive portion of a FaxEngine when receiving a facsimile transmission from the Internet.
  • FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the decision process followed by an I/O Engine Send portion of a FaxEngine when transmitting a facsimile to the Internet.
  • FIG. 9 illustrates the block diagram components of the present invention required to implement the FaxCC function whereby the same facsimile is transmitted to a selectable number of different fax machines.
  • FIG. 10 illustrates the block diagram components required to implement Long Distance Delivery of facsimile transmissions.
  • FIG. 11 illustrates the block diagram components required to implement FaxMail, or the ability to redirect and forward a facsimile to another facsimile, facsimile modem or email address.
  • FIG. 12 illustrates the block diagram components required to implement Virtual Fax machine, or the ability to dial a local number as if it were a receiving fax machine, and have the facsimile sent long distance via the Internet to the actual receiving fax machine.
  • FIG. 13 illustrates the block diagram components required to implement FaxBroadcast to multiple receiving fax machines without the copy limitations of FaxCC.
  • FIG. 14 illustrates the block diagram components required to implement Facsimile to Email Gateway.
  • FIG. 15 illustrates the block diagram components required to implement Email to Facsimile Gateway. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  • the present invention enables a subscriber to avoid long distance telephone charges which are normally incurred when sending a facsimile (fax) transmission over long distances on a switched telephone network.
  • a large part of business is conducted by facsimile over conventional switched telephone networks.
  • a user dials the receiving fax machine. If the number is not busy, the user transmits the facsimile to the receiving fax machine.
  • many fax machines read printed documents and transmit the information as facsimile formatted data across telephone lines.
  • a modified facsimile system can now take advantage of facsimile boards or modems which enable a subscriber to transmit a document saved electronically on a computer as a facsimile without having to first print the document, thereby saving paper.
  • the sender must still call the receiving fax machine over a switched telephone network, and thus incur long distance phone charges.
  • FIG. 1 shows how the present invention provides a different price structure and avoids costly long distance phone charges by taking advantage of the local access provided to most users of the Internet.
  • a facsimile transmission is now possible by using an originating fax machine 10 to call a preferably and advantageously local originating FaxEngine 12 which will send the facsimile via the Internet 14 to a receiving FaxEngine 16 which is preferably but not necessarily local to the receiving fax machine 18.
  • the receiving FaxEngine 16 ideally makes a local call to the receiving fax machine 18 to complete the facsimile transmission.
  • FIG. 2 shows the steps to be followed by the subscriber.
  • FaxEngines are accessed by dialing a preferably local FaxEngine access number which provides switched telephone network access to a FaxEngine, as shown in step 20.
  • Step 22 is necessary for determining if the subscriber is calling from a preprogrammed and authorized subscriber. If the subscriber is calling from a preprogrammed number, the subscriber only has to enter the receiving fax machine telephone number as in step 24.
  • the process of the present invention requires password verification if the dialing number is not one which the FaxEngine recognizes, as shown in step 26. After password verification, the subscriber continues to step 24.
  • the process advantageously enables a subscriber to select the option of sending the same facsimile transmission to other fax machines in step 28. If desired, the subscriber simply continues to enter additional facsimile destination numbers into the originating fax machine in step 30. This process of adding destination fax machine numbers continues until all desired numbers are entered. The process is completed when the subscriber presses the SEND or START button on the originating fax machine 10 in step 32.
  • the entire process above is precisely the same process used in transmitting an ordinary facsimile using conventional methods, with two important distinctions.
  • the first number is preferably a local FaxEngine access number.
  • the second number is the destination fax machine. Therefore, regardless of where the facsimile will go in the world, the present invention advantageously avoids most long distance telephone charges through the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 whereby a call to a local Internet provider provides an Internet access path for the facsimile.
  • FIG. 3 is a breakdown in block diagram form of the main hardware components of a FaxEngine 40 built in accordance with the objects of the present invention.
  • the FaxEngine 40 is the originating FaxEngine 12 as well as the receiving FaxEngine 16 shown in FIG. 1.
  • a box 42 is shown drawn around components of the FaxEngine 40 to illustrate divisions in function.
  • the FaxEngine itself is a dedicated interrupt driven computer system.
  • the computer is an Intel-based Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) computer system.
  • CISC Complex Instruction Set Computer
  • RISC Reduced Instruction Set Computer
  • the computer system is controlled by an Operating System (OS) , and has been implemented in this invention under Windows NT Version 3.5 (44) . Again, this does not eliminate the use of other OSes such as UNIX or any of its variant forms. What is important to the present invention is that the OS have the capability of providing a multitasking operating environment.
  • OS Operating System
  • the FaxEngine 40 may be functionally considered as being comprised of a plurality of FaxPorts 46, a Facsimile queue 48, and an Input/Output (I/O) Engine 50.
  • the FaxPorts 46 provide the FaxEngine 40 with communication access to switched telephone network lines 52 for both transmitting and receiving facsimiles.
  • the I/O Engine 50 provides the FaxEngine 40 with Internet access for transmitting and receiving facsimiles which are encapsulated as Internet packets for Internet 14 travel. It should also be mentioned that the Facsimile queue 48 can be eliminated from the FaxEngine 40 entirely by transmitting the facsimile immediately, but has been implemented here in a preferred embodiment.
  • the FaxPorts 46 have a dual function as mentioned above. They both send and receive facsimiles via a switched telephone network. Communication to a FaxPort from the telephone lines 52 occurs on a thread 56, each thread 56 being capable of both sending and receiving. Each FaxPort 46 is also physically coupled to one Fax Board 54 by way of this . FaxPort thread 56. A typical implementation would use the Brooktrout Fax Board.
  • a Fax Board 54 provides a connection of up to 8 switched telephone network lines 52, with the computer system typically supporting, at present, up to 6 FaxPorts 46 for a total access to forty eight switched telephone network lines 52 by the FaxEngine 40.
  • the FaxEngine 40 is controlled by a Main FaxEngine Process 38 as shown in FIG. 4. This process 38 enables the FaxEngine 40 to act as a central processor for the control and management of the FaxEngine 40 and the requisite sub-processes to be described.
  • the Main FaxEngine Process 38 Upon startup, the Main FaxEngine Process 38 initializes all of the hardware as required and is shown as step 70. Step 72 involves activation of the FaxPorts 46, the FaxPort threads 56, the I/O Engine 50 and the I/O Engine thread 58. These threads 56, 58 manage all Facsimile Boards 54 and Internet interface connections 60.
  • the Main FaxEngine Process 38 remains in a loop waiting for event notification 76. After receiving a notification from any of the processes it has started, a signal 78 is sent to initiate a check of the notification signal. First, the computer system verifies in step 80 that the notification is valid and not a hardware induced error. This verification 80 can be done in many ways and is not the subject of this patent. If there is no error, the process 38 goes back into a loop to wait for another event notification 76.
  • an event notification alarm might be a system alert indicating that diagnostic software is to be executed.
  • the next step 82 is to test and diagnose hardware. Step 82 could either be accomplished automatically by the system with automatic diagnostic software, or a message or other indicator could alert a computer system administrator that the system needed servicing. If the diagnostic step 82 is automatic, the failed hardware is disabled by the computer system so as not to interfere with the computer system operation.
  • step 72 activates FaxPort and I/O Engine subprocesses.
  • the FaxPort 46 process is actually two separate processes, sending 99 and receiving 98.
  • the Sending Process 99 is defined as the steps which occur in the receiving FaxEngine 16 when it has received an encrypted facsimile via the Internet 14, and what must occur to send it to a receiving fax machine 18.
  • the Receiving Process 98 is defined as the steps which occur in the originating FaxEngine 12 when it receives a facsimile from an originating fax machine 10 and must transmit it via the Internet 14 to the receiving FaxEngine 16.
  • the first process to be described is the Facsimile Receiving Process 98. Facsimiles are sent and received via the switched telephone network 52 as shown in FIG. 3.
  • FIG 5 illustrates as a flow chart the process 98 to be described.
  • the first step 100 comprises resetting the phone lines 52 and configuring the Fax Board 54 hardware as necessary.
  • the FaxPort thread 56 then waits in a loop for one of two events.
  • the first event 98 is an incoming call arriving from the switched telephone network lines 52.
  • the second event is a notification that a facsimile needs to be sent 99.
  • the FaxPort thread 56 enters a continuous loop 102 by waiting for notification from hardware that a call has been received. This loop continues, in a preferred embodiment, for about 20 seconds. After 20 seconds, the loop times out and the process 98 determines in step 104 whether a call has bee received. If no call has been received, the process 98 determines whether there are any outgoing facsimiles to send in step 106. If there are waiting facsimiles, the process goes to the FaxPort Send Process 99 to be discussed in FIG. 6.
  • the FaxPort thread 56 authenticates the subscriber to the network. Authentication 108 involves retrieving the originating fax machine number from the Fax Board 54 using Automatic Number Identification (ANI) . Alternatively, authentication can be accomplished by attachment of a device to the telephone line of the originating fax machine 10 which transmits the number automatically. If the originating fax machine 10 is calling from a known number 110 (one that has been preconfigured) , then the subscriber of the originating fax machine 10 is prompted to provide the phone number of the destination fax machine 18 in step 112. The subscriber is then able to select additional facsimile destination machines 18 in step 114 if the same facsimile will be sent more than once.
  • ANI Automatic Number Identification
  • step 116 requests the originating fax machine 10 to input a password, in a preferred embodiment, via a touch tone telephone or alternately by a DTMF signal. If the password is verified as correct in step 118, the subscriber is allowed to proceed to step 112 where fax machine recipients are selected. If, however, the password is invalid, the system determines how many attempts have been made in step 120 to input a correct password. If some predetermined attempt limit is exceeded, the subscriber is informed by a prerecorded message that the password attempt limit is exceeded in step 122.
  • step 124 The system then hangs up the line and is reset for use in step 124. If the limit was not exceeded in step 120, a prerecorded message informs the subscriber that the password was incorrect and the subscriber is prompted to re-enter the password again in step 116.
  • the subscriber of the originating fax machine 10 presses START or SEND.
  • the FaxEngine 12 is directed to negotiate communication parameters such as transmission speed with the originating fax machine 10 in step 126. If the correct features are negotiated in step 128, the FaxPort thread 56 receives the facsimile into memory or a buffer in step 130. If no errors were detected by the FaxEngine 12 in step 132, the facsimile is encrypted in step 134, for example, using the R ⁇ A encryption algorithm by RSA Data Security, Inc. The encrypted facsimile is then sent to a queue in step 136, it is logged to accounting in step 138, and the line hangs up and is reset in step 140.
  • step 106 a determination was made by the FaxPort receive process 98 of whether any facsimiles were waiting to be transmitted to a receiving fax machine 18. This occurs because the originating FaxEngine 12 can simultaneously and advantageously function as a receiving FaxEngine 16. If facsimiles are waiting, the FaxPort send process 99 proceeds as shown in FIG. 6.
  • the first step 170 of FIG. 6 is shown to be a loading and locking of the facsimile to be sent from the receiving FaxEngine 16 to the receiving Fax machine 18.
  • Step 172 shows that the FaxPort process 99 instructs the FaxEngine 16 to open a switched telephone line 52.
  • FIG. 3 shows that a FaxPort
  • FaxPort thread 56 opens one of eight telephone lines 52 controlled by a single Fax
  • the FaxPort process 99 instructs the FaxEngine 16 to dial, via the switched telephone network, the number of the receiving fax machine 18.
  • the FaxEngine 16 determines if the receiving fax machine 18 answered the line in step 178. If there is no answer or if the line was answered but it was not the receiving fax machine 18, a failure is logged in step 180. Furthermore, the lock on the facsimile is released in step 182, and the FaxPort 46 determines if there have been too many failed attempts (exceeded a predetermined limit) to reach the receiving fax machine 18 in step 184. If the failure limit is not exceeded, the line is hung up and reset in step 186. However, if the failure limit is exceeded, the FaxPort 46 generates a facsimile to the sender of the facsimile in step 188; the facsimile explaining why the failure occurred. If it is determined that the receiving fax machine 18 did answer the telephone line in step 178, the Fax Board 54 negotiates communication parameters with the receiving fax machine 18 in step 190.
  • the FaxEngine 16 and receiving fax machine 18 do not negotiate successfully as determined in step 192, the failure is logged and the FaxPort 46 executes steps step 180 to 186. If the negotiation is successful, the facsimile is now decrypted. The reason for waiting to decrypt the facsimile until the receiving fax machine 18 is ready to receive is very practical. For example, if the receiving fax machine 18 cannot be reached, the facsimile will obviously not be sent. However, if the facsimile was already decrypted earlier, the time and resources of the FaxEngine 16 have been wasted. Furthermore, if the message is decrypted, the facsimile loses protection against prying electronic fingers, and facsimile security is needlessly placed in jeopardy.
  • the facsimile is delivered to the Fax Board 54 for transmission to the receiving fax machine 18 in step 196.
  • the FaxEngine 16 queries the Fax Board 54 in step 198 to determine if delivery of the facsimile was successful. A failure produces another error log entry in steps 180 through 186. However, if successful, a log entry is entered in step 200 and the line is hung up and reset in step 202.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates the I/O Engine process 206 executed by the receiving I/O Engine 50.
  • the receiving I/O Engine 50 waits for incoming data from the Internet 14.
  • the I/O Engine 50 starts a receiving I/O Engine thread 58 as shown in FIG. 3 and illustrated by step 212.
  • step 218 shows that the facsimile is queued in anticipation of initiation of the FaxPort send process 99 which will transmit the facsimile to the receiving fax machine 18.
  • the queue process is essentially storage of the facsimile in volatile memory or on a hard disk until it is ready to be sent to a receiving fax machine 18.
  • the I/O Engine thread 58 is also released so that other incoming facsimiles may be received.
  • FIG. 8 has more activities to control than the receiving process 206 of FIG. 7.
  • the I/O Engine 12 receives the facsimile from the originating fax machine 10, the process being controlled by the FaxPort receive process 98. After an event notification is generated from the FaxPort receive process 98 that a facsimile is being received, the I/O Engine send process
  • step 204 initiates an I/O Engine thread 58 in step 230.
  • the process 204 then waits for the facsimile to arrive at the incoming facsimile queue in step 232.
  • step 234 indicates that the recipient list is loaded based upon the information received from the originating fax machine 10.
  • Selection of one or more receiving FaxEngines 16 in step 236 is based upon the switched telephone network area code and the first three digits of the seven digit telephone number.
  • Step 237 If a receiving FaxEngine 16 is not remote relative to the originating FaxEngine 12 as determined in step 237, the facsimile transmission process is simplified by proceeding directly to step 238 which loads the local facsimile into the outgoing facsimile queue where the FaxPort send process 99 of FIG. 6 contacts the receiving fax machine 18. However, if the receiving fax machine 18 is remote, the facsimile must travel over the Internet 14.
  • Step 240 shows that the FaxEngines 12, 16 must authenticate as described previously, the facsimile is encapsulated into Internet packets using an appropriate Internet protocol such as TCP/IP in step 242, and the facsimile is transmitted in step 244.
  • Step 246 indicates that the process of steps 236 through 248 must be repeated for each receiving fax machine 18 whose telephone number was entered by a subscriber on the originating fax machine 10, where step 248 consists of the telephone number of the next receiving fax machine 18 being loaded into memory for determination of whether the recipient is local or remote.
  • step 250 a status check is made to determine whether the facsimile transmission to all receiving fax machines 18 was successful. If not, the facsimile is queued for transmission in step 252 in the outgoing facsimile queue. However, if successful, the facsimile is removed from memory in step 254, and the process 204 is complete for that particular facsimile.
  • An important feature of the present invention is the two-step process for handling errors or failures in transmissions. These events trigger an accounting log to record the event, and more importantly, provide feedback to an operator such as the sender of the facsimile that the process has failed. Notification is typically done by facsimile to the appropriate party.
  • the accounting log is able to indicate where the failure occurred in the process. If the failure is local or remote, it might be repaired through self diagnostic procedures of the FaxEngine 12 or 16. If the failure is at a fax machine 10 or 18, repair to the originating fax machine 10 or a call to the receiving fax machine 18 owner might solve the problem. The key issue is that the subscriber is not left wondering where the process has failed so that appropriate repair procedures might be implemented.
  • FaxEngine Another feature which bears greater explanation are the FaxEngine components.
  • the FaxEngine is shown in FIG. 3 as being controlled by a Main FaxEngine Process 38 which oversees operation of the hardware described as the FaxPorts 46, the Facsimile queue 48 and the I/O Engine 50. It is important to observe again that it is not essential to implement a Facsimile queue 48 in the FaxEngine 40.
  • Alternative embodiments allow for immediate transmission of the facsimile instead of implementing a queue structure.
  • the facsimiles might also be stored on a hard disk in random order.
  • the facsimiles are logged with a time/date stamp in order to process facsimiles in the order received. This change may be implemented without having to change the Main FaxEngine Process 38 itself.
  • FaxCC Long Distance Delivery
  • FaxMail Virtual FaxMachine
  • Facsimile Broadcast Email to Facsimile Gateway
  • Facsimile to Email Gateway The FaxCC service is illustrated in FIG. 9, and provides the ability to transmit the same facsimile to multiple destination sites (up to five) without having to dial each individual receiving fax machine 18. Instead, the facsimile is transmitted only one time to the originating FaxEngine 12.
  • the FaxEngine 12 is tasked with distributing the facsimile to the multiple destinations as entered by the subscriber from the originating fax machine 10.
  • the Figure is illustrated as shown to indicate that there may be more than one receiving FaxEngine 16 in order to reach up to five different receiving fax machines 18.
  • the functionality of the FaxCC service differs from the prior art in significant aspects. Most importantly, long distance telephone charges are avoided entirely if the receiving fax machines 18 are a local telephone call from any FaxEngine 16 site when the facsimile is transferred via the Internet and then by switched telephone network. Furthermore, there are advantageous accounting and error logging and sender informing services to assist the sender.
  • the Long Distance Delivery service illustrated in FIG. 10 is for those receiving fax machines 18 which are located further than a local switched telephone network call away from all FaxEngines 16. While this circumstance will ideally be rare, it is certainly possible. Therefore, the present invention will compensate by determining the location of the FaxEngine 16 which will be billed the lowest rate for making the long distance call 260 to the receiving fax machine 18.
  • the long distance telephone charge is further reduced by contracting with long distance telephone providers to obtain a lower cost, high volume contract than can be obtained by single parties. This guarantees to the sender that the facsimile will be transmitted at a cost that is always less than if the sender were to transmit the facsimile directly, bypassing the Internet 14.
  • FaxMail An optional service which can be provided to subscribers of the present invention is FaxMail as illustrated in FIG. 11.
  • FaxMail is analogous to call forwarding, but a facsimile is transmitted to a new location instead of a telephone call.
  • the advantages of this service are not only that a facsimile can be forwarded, but the format of the facsimile can be altered. That is it say, the facsimile can be forwarded to another fax machine, to a facsimile modem, and with the present invention, to an electronic mail address by using the Facsimile to Email Gateway feature to be explained.
  • the ability to receive a facsimile in an electronic (paperless) format is an especially great advantage to mobile people and businesses because of the increasing popularity of email over the Internet 14.
  • the necessary elements of the system are then a redirected receiving FaxEngine 262 and then either a redirected receiving fax machine 264 or a redirected receiving email address 266 on the Internet 14.
  • the Virtual FaxMachine as illustrated in FIG. 12 provides a subscriber with the ability to be accommodating to clients or other people who either lack the resources for making expensive or significant numbers of long distance phone calls, or to just provide another convenience.
  • a subscriber "creates" a virtual fax machine 268 which is a local telephone call from an originating fax machine 10.
  • the new fax machine 268 is actually just a local FaxEngine.
  • the FaxEngine 268 has a system for mapping a telephone phone called by an originating fax machine 10 to access the FaxEngine 12.
  • the FaxEngine 268 will then have instructions associated with the telephone by which it was accessed such that it will transmit the facsimile via the Internet 14 to the subscriber' s receiving fax machine 18. This way, the FaxEngine 268 does not require pre-programming with every client's originating fax machine telephone number which might call. For example, Business in New York wants to allow a number of small clients in Los Angeles to be able to send it facsimiles by dialing a local Los Angeles telephone number. The local Los Angeles FaxEngine 268 can be called by dialing 555-0123. The FaxEngine 268 maps any calls to the number as being directed to Business 's receiving fax machine 18.
  • the FaxEngine 268 immediately forwards the facsimile to Business' s receiving fax machine 18 in New York.
  • the client only makes a local telephone call, and Business is not charged for the long distance facsimile transmission.
  • the Facsimile Broadcast illustrated in FIG. 13 is an optional service which allows the subscriber to send a facsimile to many receiving fax machines simultaneously. This is opposed to the FaxCC service which is limited in its scope of multiple deliveries. Furthermore, each of the receiving facsimile machines' telephone numbers does not have to be entered at the originating fax machine 10. Instead, a list of telephone numbers of receiving fax machines 18 is provided to a service which enters the numbers for the subscriber. This greatly simplifies the process of mass faxing.
  • the last two services to be described herein are the Email to Facsimile Gateway and the Facsimile to Email Gateway functions of the present invention.
  • the services are rather self explanatory in that the present invention bridges the gap between exclusively facsimile and exclusively email technology.
  • the Facsimile to Email Gateway is the service which allows FaxMail to receive a facsimile and then forward it as email to a remote location for the receiver as shown in FIG. 14.
  • This service is provided by enabling the facsimile sender to indicate an email address as the intended destination of the facsimile. There are several methods to implement this function.
  • the sender can send the facsimile from a facsimile modem such that the paperless facsimile can have encoded in it the email address 270 in an easily readable electronic format.
  • Another method usable with FaxMail is to have the receiving FaxEngine preprogrammed with the email address 270 such that any incoming facsimiles are forwarded automatically without the sender having to provide it.
  • the originating email message 272 provides the ability to specify the Internet address of a receiving FaxEngine 16.
  • the email message also contains within it the telephone number of the receiving fax machine 18.
  • the FaxEngine 16- simply retrieves the receiving fax machine telephone number and the facsimile is transmitted as described before.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Computing Systems (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Facsimiles In General (AREA)
  • Facsimile Transmission Control (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un système de transmission par télécopie sur Internet qui permet à des dispositifs tels que des télécopieurs (10 et 18), qui sont, d'ordinaire, dans l'impossibilité de communiquer sur Internet (14) en raison de l'absence des protocoles requis, d'envoyer et de recevoir des données par le canal d'Internet (14) et, partant, d'éviter des modifications de réseaux téléphoniques commutés longue distance. L'appareil est principalement constitué de deux moteurs télécopies (12 et 16), un moteur télécopie étant un dispositif qui est couplé simultanément à Internet et à un réseau téléphonique public ou privé commuté et donne la possibilité d'encapsuler des données de télécopie dans des paquets Internet en utilisant un protocole d'Internet approprié, ou traduit des paquets Internet en données de télécopie.
PCT/US1997/000730 1996-01-16 1997-01-14 Systeme de transmission par telecopie sur internet WO1997026753A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

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AU17497/97A AU1749797A (en) 1996-01-16 1997-01-14 Facsimile internet transmission system

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US58562896A 1996-01-16 1996-01-16
US08/585,628 1996-01-16

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EP0920159A1 (fr) * 1997-11-28 1999-06-02 Sagem Sa Procédé de transmission d'une télécopie entre deux télécopieurs standards à travers un réseau informatique tel que l'Internet et télécopieurs-passerelles pour la mise en oeuvre du procédé
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US7898675B1 (en) * 1995-11-13 2011-03-01 Netfax Development, Llc Internet global area networks fax system
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US9031058B2 (en) 1996-03-06 2015-05-12 Bear Creek Technologies, Inc. System for interconnecting standard telephony communications equipment to internet
US8995434B2 (en) 1996-03-06 2015-03-31 Bear Creek Technologies, Inc. System for interconnecting standard telephony communications equipment to internet
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WO1998058492A3 (fr) * 1997-06-19 1999-06-03 Cmr Communications Ltd Systeme et procede de telecopie en temps reel
WO1998058492A2 (fr) * 1997-06-19 1998-12-23 Cmr Communications Ltd. Systeme et procede de telecopie en temps reel
EP0887995A3 (fr) * 1997-06-25 1999-04-28 Murata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha Dispositif terminal de communication ayant la capacité de courrier électronique et procédé de communication de courrier électronique
EP0887995A2 (fr) * 1997-06-25 1998-12-30 Murata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha Dispositif terminal de communication ayant la capacité de courrier électronique et procédé de communication de courrier électronique
US6101244A (en) * 1997-06-25 2000-08-08 Murata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha Electronic mail-capable communication terminal device and electronic mail communication method
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US8582140B2 (en) 1997-08-01 2013-11-12 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Communication system and communication apparatus building the system
US7106473B2 (en) 1997-08-01 2006-09-12 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Communication system and communication apparatus building the system
EP0898410A3 (fr) * 1997-08-21 1999-12-15 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Système de communication d'image utilisant un courrier électronique et procédé de commande pour ceci
US6775705B2 (en) 1997-08-21 2004-08-10 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Image communication system using electronic mail and control method therefor
US6603569B1 (en) * 1997-10-15 2003-08-05 Howard K. Johnson, Jr. Device, method and system for facsimile transmission over a computer network
EP0920181A3 (fr) * 1997-11-25 2000-08-23 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Dispositif de communication et support d'enregistrement
EP0920181A2 (fr) * 1997-11-25 1999-06-02 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Dispositif de communication et support d'enregistrement
EP0920159A1 (fr) * 1997-11-28 1999-06-02 Sagem Sa Procédé de transmission d'une télécopie entre deux télécopieurs standards à travers un réseau informatique tel que l'Internet et télécopieurs-passerelles pour la mise en oeuvre du procédé
FR2771883A1 (fr) * 1997-11-28 1999-06-04 Sagem Procede de transmission d'une telecopie entre deux telecopieurs standards a travers un reseau informatique tel que l'internet et telecopieurs-passerelles pour la mise en oeuvre du procede
US6195348B1 (en) * 1998-01-22 2001-02-27 Dialogic Corporation Dynamic realtime protocol for facsimile and the like
DE19802221C2 (de) * 1998-01-22 2000-02-24 Thomas Wagner Einrichtung und Verfahren zum Dokumentenversand
DE19802221A1 (de) * 1998-01-22 1999-08-05 Thomas Dr Wagner Vorrichtung und Verfahren zum verbesserten Dokumentenversand und Dokumentenempfang
EP0944236A1 (fr) * 1998-03-16 1999-09-22 Alcatel Procédé de réception de messages facsimilé autre que par fax, ainsi que le dispositif de réception de facsimilés, le serveur et le réseau pour ceci
EP0951171A1 (fr) * 1998-04-17 1999-10-20 Sagem Sa Procédé de communication d'un télécopieur à travers un réseau informatique de type internet, télécopieur et serveur passerelle pour la mise en oeuvre du procédé
FR2777724A1 (fr) * 1998-04-17 1999-10-22 Sagem Procede de communication d'un telecopieur a travers un reseau informatique de type internet, telecopieur et serveur passerelle pour la mise en oeuvre du procede
US6671061B1 (en) * 1999-01-08 2003-12-30 Cisco Technology, Inc. Fax broadcast from a single copy of data
US8254404B2 (en) 1999-04-13 2012-08-28 Broadcom Corporation Gateway with voice
GB2396515B (en) * 1999-04-22 2004-08-04 Ameritech Corp Method and system for providing facsimile service over a digital subscriber line
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US6987821B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2006-01-17 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with scaling error compensation
US7082143B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2006-07-25 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with DTMF
US7092365B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2006-08-15 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with AGC
US7423983B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2008-09-09 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network
US7443812B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2008-10-28 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with AGC
US6504838B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2003-01-07 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with fax relay spoofing
US7529325B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2009-05-05 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with timing recovery
US7653536B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2010-01-26 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with voice detection
US7773741B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2010-08-10 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with echo cancellation
US7835407B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2010-11-16 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with DTMF
US7894421B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2011-02-22 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network
US7161931B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2007-01-09 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network
US7924752B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2011-04-12 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with AGC
US7933227B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2011-04-26 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network
US8085885B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2011-12-27 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with timing recovery
US6549587B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2003-04-15 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with timing recovery
US6990195B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2006-01-24 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with resource management
US6980528B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2005-12-27 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with comfort noise generation
US6967946B1 (en) 1999-09-20 2005-11-22 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with precise tone plan
US6850577B2 (en) 1999-09-20 2005-02-01 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with timing recovery
US7468992B2 (en) 1999-12-09 2008-12-23 Broadcom Corporation Voice and data exchange over a packet based network with DTMF
US7007061B1 (en) * 2000-08-07 2006-02-28 Cisco Technology, Inc. Communicating data using facsimile protocols

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