Title of Invention

A METHOD OF FACSIMILE COMMUNICATION OVER DATA NETWORKS

Abstract

The proposed invention enables facsimile communication over data network via file exchange method either offline or in realtime.The invention is na alternative method of transmission and reception of facsimile over data network othetr than T.37 and T.38 ITU-T recommendations.The invent5ion uses a simple,easy-to-implement and light weight file exchange mechanism.The fax device proposed in the invention includes a user interface unit for handling user input inmformation.The invention comprises of two steps i.e.fax transmission and fax reception.fax transmission basically on t6he obtained address information and transmission of scanned document alongt with cover header using any of the file transfer protocols in the selected format which can be either one of the capability set obtained or defaul.The fax reception involves detection of user information and upon authentication,the capability set is sent to the remote fax transmission device.This is followed by fax reception and printing of fax data.

Full Text

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY This invention relates to a method of facsimile communication over data networks. Further this invention relates to a facsimile communication using any network enabled facsimile devices. More particularly this invention encompasses a method or process to enable the transmission and reception of facsimile document over data network through file exchange method. PRESENT STATE OF ART With the increasing familiarity of business people with computers, more computer-based tasks are being performed by more people in office environments. Facsimile devices are quite popular in office environments as well as in other remote places for facsimile data communication. The existing facsimile communication methods relate to transmission and reception of fax documents either by realtime fax procedure using call set-up and call termination or by store and forward method wherein facsimile data is sent as an attachment in an email. Currently, facsimile is transmitted or received mainly in two ways over Internet, 1) ITU-T T.38 Realtime Fax; and 2) ITU-T T.37 Store and Forward method. T.38 realtime fax procedure is defined by the ITU-T recommendation T.38 which uses ITU-T recommendation H.323 for call set-up, capability exchange, establishment of logical channel and call termination. In case of T.37 store and forward method of facsimile transmission and reception, protocol like SMTP, ESMTP and POPS are used and the facsimile data is sent as an attachment in e-mail. LIMITATIONS The existing methods of facsimile communication viz. realtime transmission method as well as store and fonvard method have many disadvantages as mentioned below: • ITU-T recommendation T.37 describes a method of facsimile transmission which is not an online transmission. The facsimile is stored and forwarded using electronic mail system. • ITU-T recommendation T.38 describes a method of facsimile transmission which is an online transmission. This recommendation uses ITU-T recommendation H.323 or SIP for call set-up, capability exchange and establishment of logical channels. All this makes implementation and maintenance of T.38 bulky and expensive. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is the primary object of the invention to invent a unique method of facsimile communication over data networks through file exchange method. It is another object of the invention to invent a method that enables transmission and reception of facsimile document over data network in relaltime or offline It is another object of the invention to provide a file exchange method, which is light-weight and easy to implement. It is another object of the invention to invent a method by which the present difficulty of transmission and reception of facsimile over data networks in realtime or offline is overcome. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The purpose of this invention is to enable transmission and reception of facsimile document over data network in realtime or offline. This invention provides an alternative way for transmission and reception of facsimile data over the data networks other than T.37 and T.38 ITU-T recommendations. The invention comprises of a File Transmission Agent (FTA) and File Reception Agent (FRA) running on any data network enabled fax device. Users can log-on to the remote fax device running file transmission sub system and file reception sub system from his local fax device and enable transfer of facsimile data between the remote and the local fax devices over the data network by file exchange method. Accordingly the present invention relates to a method or process to enable transmission and reception of facsimile document over data network in real time or offline characterized in that the transmission and reception of facsimile document is communicated over data network by File Exchange Method as herein described. A File exchange method is one in which a document is scanned on the transmitting facsimile device and stored in internal memory in file format and then the device establishes a connection with receiving facsimile device using FTP protocol and transfers the file using the FTP protocol. The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and the detailed description as follows: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a Fax Device Set-up diagram. Figure 2 is a flow chart depicting an overview of facsimile communication method of present invention. Figure 3 shows a schematic block diagram of facsimile communication via file exchange. Figure 4 is a flow chart of facsimile communication waiting for user input in transmission scenario. Figure 5 is a flow chart of fax communication for authentication with remote fax device. Figure 6 is a flow chart of getting capability set and choosing a capability. Figure 7 shows a tear down of network connection on error. Figure 8 is a flow chart for documents scanning, file creation and transmission in the selected format. Figure 9 shows a user notification after successful transmission. Figure 10 is a flow chart for reception of facsimile via file transfer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises of Transmission sub-system (TSS) and Reception sub-system (RSS) for fax communication. The present invention comprises a fax system connected to a data network for facsimile communication via file exchange method. Generally the individual fax system contains a user interface for accepting user information, a fax device for scanning and printing of facsimile documents and a file system block for establishment of network connection and transfer of files via file exchange method as shown in Figure 1. Figure 2 illustrates an overview of the facsimile communication of the proposed invention in the form of flowchart. The first step is to receive address and the user information of the fax recipient at the remote end and upon obtaining this information, network connection with the remote fax device is established. The user information is authenticated with the remote fax device. The authentication is done by referencing a lookup table on the receiving device. The lookup table consisting of valid user id and passwords can be configured by the device administrator. Whenever a remote facsimile device establishes connection with another facsimile to transfer file through network, it will first send its user id and password using FTP protocol commands and these will be validated by the receiving facsimile device by referencing its lookup table. The capability set of the remote fax device is obtained as a file and a format chosen from the capability set. If there is a failure in getting the capability of the remote fax device, a default format is used. Identification of default format can be achieved by any desired procedure. The hard copy of the document is scanned and a cover header is created with the scanned document The cover header and the scanned document is delivered to the fax recipient at the remote end associated with the address and the user information The fax received by the fax recipient is printed with the cover header. Figure 3 shows the basic block diagram of the facsimile communication scheme of the invention. The fax device comprises a transmission sub-system, a user interface sub-system and a reception sub-system. The transmission sub-system consists of a scan device, scanner service agent and a transmission agent. The file transmission agent accesses the data network via network interface. Reception sub-system consists of a print device, print agent and a file reception agent. The File reception agent is a server program which can accept incoming connection from remote client using FTP protocol, authenticate the client and accept facsimile data in file format from remote client. The file reception agent accesses the data network via network interface. During the transmission of fax, the transmission sub-system is activated by the user from fax user interface agent. This user interface agent gathers the required information from user input interface unit and transfers it to the transmission subsystem. The reception sub-system is activated when a remote fax device activates a network connection. The sub-system receives the facsimile over data network and activates printing of received facsimile. Upon successful reception of facsimile the reception sub-system activates the print agent to facilitate printing of facsimile. OPERATION OF THE INVENTION The overall operation of the proposed facsimile communication scheme involves a sequence of steps in fax transmission as well as fax reception as explained below: Fax Transmission Fax transmission basically involves establishing network connection with the remote fax machine based on the obtained address information and transmission of scanned document along with cover header using any of the file transfer protocols in the selected format which can be either one of the capability set obtained or default. The various steps involved in the fax transmission are explained below: • User initiates the transmission sub-system and inputs remote fax device address and user information. (Refer figure 4 and figure 5) • Transmission sub-system establishes a network connection to the remote fax device. (Refer figure 5) • Transmission sub-system then sends the user information to the remote fax device for authentication.( Refer figure 5) • Once authentication is successful, transmission sub-system gets the capability set of the remote fax device. The capability set is in the form of file of pre-decided format. • Transmission sub-system chooses a format from the capability set. If the transmission sub-system fails to get the capability of the remote fax device it uses the default format. • Transmission sub-system creates the file using cover header, scanned data. The format of fax file is chosen from remote capability set or default format information. (Refer figure 8). • The created file in fax format is transmitted over the data network. • After successful transmission of fax, file transmission sub-system activates the print agent to print send report. (Refer figure 9) Fax reception Figure 10 illustrates the reception of facsimile via file transfer. The fax reception basically involves detection of user information and upon authentication, the capability set is sent to the remote fax transmission device. This is followed by fax reception and printing of fax data. The major steps involved in the fax reception are explained below: • Reception sub-system is always active and waits for network connection from remote fax device. The remote fax device initiates network connection and the file reception agent accepts the connection if the fax device is free. • This network connection indicates the start of fax reception. • The user information is authenticated. If authentication is successful the communication progresses to next stage else it does not. • The fax device sends the capability set information to the remote fax device on request. • The reception of facsimile starts after the sending of capability set. • The fax file is received. If fax file is received successfully, the reception subsystem activates the print agent to print the facsimile. • The print agent handles all functions of printing fax file. Only authorized users can avail of this application. Guest user access can also be enabled but only by the fax device administrator. The proposed invention also addresses some additional features in the facsimile communication scheme as mentioned below: If the user knows the information about the facsimile stored on remote fax device in prior, the transmission fax device can be activated to receive the facsimile. This is known as polling. The polling mode of fax reception can be automated/scheduled to receive the scanned document at regular intervals if required information is provided. If the facsimile is stored in the fax device, the user can remotely send a request to the transmission fax device to transmit the document. A protocol like HTTP can be used to send the address of remote fax device and the user information to transfer the fax file either in fax transmission mode or polling. The remote transmission request can use user-password authentication to validate authorized user request. While the invention has been particulariy described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. WE CLAIM 1. A method or process to enable transmission and reception of facsimile document over data network in real time or offline characterised in that the transmission and reception of facsimile document is communicated over data network by file exchanged method, as herein described. 2. The method or a process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Transmission Sub System (TSS) consists of Scan Device, Scanner Service Agent and File Transmission Agent. 3. The method or a process as claimed in claim 2, wherein the file transmission agent accesses the data network through network interface. 4. The method or a process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Reception Sub System consists of Print Device, Print Agent and File Reception Agent. 5. The method or a process as claimed in claim 4, wherein the File Reception Agent as herein described accesses the data network through network interface. 6. The method or a process as claimed in the preceding claims wherein the Transmission Sub System is activated by the user from fax user interface agent, which gathers the required information from the user input interface unit and transfers it to the Transmission Sub System. 7. The method or process as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the Reception Sub System is activated when a remote fax device activates a network connection. 8. The method or a process as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the activated Reception Sub System activates the print agent to facilitate printing of facsimile. 9. The method or a process as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the facsimile is transmitted in any desired format provided the location information of at least one of the capability sets is known in prior to the transmission. 10. The method or a process as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the user information obtained from the remote fax device is authenticated as herein described. 11. The method or a process as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the facsimile is transmitted in the default format when the identity of any capability set is failed. 12. The method or a process as claimed in claim 11 wherein the identification of the default format can be achieved by any desired procedure. 13. The method or a process as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein Facsimile communication by polling method is also supported. 14. A method or a process to enable transmission and reception of facsimile document over data network through file exchange method is substantially described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

986-che-2003-abstract.pdf

986-che-2003-claims duplicate.pdf

986-che-2003-claims original.pdf

986-che-2003-correspondence others.pdf

986-che-2003-correspondence po.pdf

986-che-2003-descripition (complete) duplicate.pdf

986-che-2003-descripition (complete) original.pdf

986-che-2003-drawings.pdf

986-che-2003-form 1.pdf

986-che-2003-form 19.pdf

986-che-2003-form 26.pdf