JPH07273791A - Multimedia electronic mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve response and make an effective use of the memory resources by performing the delivery of the electronic mail according to the memory capacity of the terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:A repeating device 1 is provided with a terminal information database 9. A terminal equipment 2 stores acceptable media information. The repeating device 1 checks whether or not the media system can be accepted on the terminal equipment of the address when an electronic mail is accepted. The repeating device 1 inquires the idle capacity of the memory of the terminal equipment 2 of the address. Based on these information, one part of or all of the mail device is thinned to deliver the electronic mail.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multimedia electronic mail system, and more particularly to an electronic mail system including a plurality of terminal devices and a relay device for relaying these terminals and an external line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of the configuration of a conventional text electronic mail system will be described below with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The relay device 1 connected to the external line has a plurality of terminal devices 2, 2
... and is connected via a communication path. When the mail delivery means receives an e-mail sent from the outside, the relay device 1 temporarily stores it in the mail spool 5 and then sends it to the destination terminal device 2. The mail spool 5 is a buffer for sequentially receiving and transmitting the mail delivery means 3. The terminal device 2 is a mail receiving means, which temporarily stores the mail in the mail box 6 and displays it on the display means 7.

In such a text electronic mail, the capacity of the mail box 6 composed of a memory is generally small, and in the case of a multimedia electronic mail including image information, it cannot be supported as it is, and it is necessary to increase the memory capacity, which results in cost reduction. Increase is inevitable. Further, if the terminal devices 2, 2 ... With different capacities of the mailboxes 6, 6 ... Are mixed, there will be mails that cannot be received by the terminal device 2 having the small capacity mailbox 6.

As a prior example of an electronic mail system for handling multimedia electronic mail, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-260083. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the multimedia electronic mail system disclosed therein. Sites A and B connected by a communication line have the same configuration, and have transmission function blocks 51A and 51B, reception function blocks 52A and 52B, and media source storage units 53A and 53B.
Consists of. The sending function block 51A (51B) is the mail body (media data) stored in the media source storage means.
Processing to edit the layout of the email and send it as an email, processing to resend the corresponding email body when there is a change in the email body and when a detailed information request command is received from the other site, and the receiving function block 52A (52B) A process of sending a detailed information request command is performed according to an instruction. The receiving function block 52A (52B) displays the received e-mail, sends the detailed information request command to the sending function block 51A (51B), and according to the detailed information request command received from the other site A process of giving a retransmission instruction to the transmission function block 51A (51B) of the same site is performed.

Next, the operation will be described. Site A
When the mail body is input to the send function block 51A, the send function block 51A first arranges the input mail body on the e-mail and forms a hypermedia format with the mail body stored in the mail body storage means 53A. Edit the linking (format that links each email body so that they can be referred to related information). When the editing is completed, the layout and link relationship of the mail body on the electronic mail are registered in a database (not shown), and the mail body is stored in the media source storage means 53A.

[0006] Furthermore, the address and date added to the arrangement and link relationship of the mail body on the electronic mail are transmitted to the site B as an electronic mail. Site B receives the e-mail at reception function block 52B. Receiving function block 52B sends a request command when displaying the mail body related to the received e-mail. Function block 51B
The request command is transmitted from the transmission function block 51B to the reception function block 52A of the site A. The receive function block 52A sends the request command to the send function block 51A. The sending function block 51A retrieves the mail body corresponding to the request command from the media source storing means 53A,
Send to site B receive function block 52B. The reception function block 52B displays the received mail body.

[0007]

Since such a multimedia electronic mail system stores the mail body in the sender, the request is sent to the sender of the email whenever the mail body needs to be displayed. At the same time, the mail body is sent to the e-mail destination. This means that if the receiving side site has a large memory capacity, useless communication is performed, resulting in a decrease in response and an increase in communication cost. This is because, if the message receiving site has a large memory, the mail body may be sent to the receiving site for storage.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and can be used reasonably according to the memory capacity of the receiving side, there is no waste of memory resources, and regardless of the media form. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multimedia electronic mail system that can be received, has a quick response, and has a low communication cost burden.

[0009]

A multimedia electronic mail system of the present invention is a system for receiving at least a multimedia electronic mail having a header part including a destination and media form information and a mail body, and a received electronic mail. A plurality of terminal devices each having a memory for storing, and receiving an e-mail addressed to any one of the terminal devices, temporarily storing the e-mail, and then delivering the e-mail to the destination terminal device. A multimedia electronic mail system including a relay device, wherein the relay device comprises:
Means for storing information about receivable media forms of each terminal device, means for inquiring the terminal device about the free space of the memory, the information about the terminal device of the destination of the received e-mail, and the terminal device Delivery availability determination means for determining availability of delivery of the email to the terminal device, based on the information on the free space obtained by the inquiry, the media form information of the email, and the information amount of the email body, When the delivery availability determining means determines that the delivery is possible, the means for delivering the received and temporarily stored e-mail to the terminal device, and the search information to be specified when the delivery availability determining means determines no A means for creating and storing and deleting a part or all of the mail body from the received e-mail and delivering it to the terminal device. The relay device further comprises means for creating information and transmitting the information to the relay device, wherein the relay device further specifies the temporarily stored electronic mail based on the search information transmitted from the terminal device, and sets the mail body of the electronic mail to the terminal. It is characterized by comprising means for delivering to the device.

[0010]

When the relay device receives the e-mail, the relay device checks the form of the media and the free space of the memory that can be received by the destination terminal device of the e-mail, and if possible, sends all of the mail body to the destination terminal device. To ship. If the capacity is insufficient, only the information in the header part or a part of the mail body is delivered to the destination terminal device.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a multimedia electronic mail system according to the present invention. An external line is connected to the relay device 1, and a plurality of terminal devices 2, 2, ... Are connected via a communication path. The relay device 1 includes a mail delivery means 3 that controls sending and receiving of electronic mail, a mail spool 5 that temporarily stores electronic mail, a terminal information database 9 that stores information about the terminal devices 2, 2, ... Media information section of email (email body)
It has a media information database 8 for registering and a memory 10 used when sending an electronic mail.

The terminal devices 2, 2 ... Receive the electronic mail,
A mail receiving means 4 for controlling display, a mail box 6 for storing electronic mail, a display means 7 for displaying electronic mail, and the like are provided. FIG. 2 is a format diagram of a multimedia electronic mail. Email is the destination,
The first header section 11 including the sender, the message ID and the title, the media information section 13,13 ... which contains the mail body of the mail, and the respective media information section 13,13 ... A second header section (coding information section) 12, 12 ... Consisting of a media format, a compression method, and an encoding rule showing the distinction of the formats such as images.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the stored contents of the terminal information database 9. It is possible to receive 1 for each of the plurality of terminal devices 2, 2 ... Connected to the relay device 1.
Maximum capacity per media information part and whether it can receive audio, video, still image, text and other media
Stores (on / off) information.

Next, the operation of the multimedia electronic mail system according to the present invention will be described. FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing a process in which the relay device 1 transfers an electronic mail to the terminal device 2. When the electronic mail is transmitted, the relay device 1 receives the electronic mail by the mail delivery means 3 and stores the electronic mail in the mail spool 5 as one file. The mail delivery means 3 sets the capacity of the received e-mail in the "scheduled transmission capacity" (S1). Next, the destination is read from the first header section 11 of the received email (S
2). At the same time, the media form is read from the second header sections 12, 12 ... (S3).

Then, by searching the terminal information database 9 for the destination and media form of the electronic mail, whether or not the destination terminal device 2, 2 ... Can receive the media information part 13, 13 ,. To judge
(S4). When the terminal device 2, 2, ... Of the destination can receive the media information part, the destination, the media type and the capacity of the media information are stored in the memory 10 as one file (S6).

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of the stored contents of the list stored in the memory 10. The stored contents are composed of the order in the received electronic mail of the media information section, the media form and the capacity. If the destination terminal device 2 cannot receive the media information part, the media information part is registered in the media information database 8 (S5). Step S5, S
After step 6, it is determined whether the e-mail has a media information section (S7). If it still remains, return to step S3.

If no media information section remains,
The e-mail destination mail receiving means 4 is inquired about the available storage capacity of the mailbox 6 (S8). When the free space of the storage capacity of the mail box 6 is received from the mail receiving means 4, the "scheduled transmission capacity" is compared with the free space (S9). When the “scheduled transmission capacity” is smaller than the free space, the entire electronic mail is addressed to the terminal device 2, 2, ...
Send to (S14). When the planned transmission capacity is larger than the free space, the media information portions 13, 13, ... Are thinned out and transmitted.

First, a list of the memory 10 is referred to select which media information portion is thinned out from an electronic mail, and is selected based on the capacity and the type of media (S10). This selection criterion is selected in the order of large capacity and moving image → still image → sound → text. When any one of the media information parts is determined as the thinning target, it is registered and stored in the media information database 8 (S11), and the data of the media information part is deleted from the memory 10 (S12). Then, the sum of the capacities of the remaining media information sections (scheduled transmission capacity) is compared with the free capacity (S13). If the planned transmission capacity is smaller than the free capacity, all the first and second header sections are thinned out. The missing media information section is transmitted (S14). If the planned transmission capacity exceeds the available capacity, the process returns to step S10 for further thinning.

FIG. 7 shows a media information part corresponding to the second header part 12 of B showing the electronic mail received by the terminal device 2.
(Email body) has been thinned out. When the terminal device 2 sends an electronic mail, the mail receiving means 4 receives the electronic mail and stores it in the mail box 6. When an operator requests an e-mail reference by operating a keyboard (not shown), the mail receiving means 4 sequentially takes out the e-mails requested to be referred from the mailbox 6.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the contents of the processing in the terminal device 2 thereafter. It is determined whether the second header section 12 and the media information section 13 included in the retrieved e-mail are paired (S21). If they are paired,
The contents of the media information section 13 are displayed on the display means 7 (S
twenty five) . When there is only the second header part, the search information including the first header part of the e-mail and the number of the second header part is created by keyboard operation, and the search information is created by the relay device. Send to 1 (S22).

On the relay device 1 side, the mail delivery means 3 receives the search information, retrieves the media information section having the search information as a file name from the media information database 8 and sends it to the terminal device 2. When the mail receiving means 4 of the terminal device 2 receives the media information section (S23), it displays it via the display means 7 (S24). It is judged whether it is the end of the e-mail for which the reference request is made (S25).
Repeat the operation of S1 to S25.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, prior to transmitting a multimedia electronic mail to a destination terminal device, the media form that the destination terminal device can receive and the free space of the mailbox of the terminal device Judging from the above, the entire e-mail is transferred, or part or all of the media information part (mail body) is thinned out and sent. Therefore, the terminal device can receive information according to its function and memory capacity, and after that, it can refer to the lacking part by using the information of the header part as needed. Therefore, the reception can be performed according to the memory capacity of the terminal device, the capacity is insufficient, and the relay device is accessed only when information is required, so that the response deterioration of the entire system is minimized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multimedia electronic mail system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a format diagram of an electronic mail.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of an information database.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of electronic mail transfer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of electronic mail transfer.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of stored contents of a memory.

FIG. 7 is a format diagram of an electronic mail received by the terminal device.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing until the terminal device displays an electronic mail.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a conventional multimedia electronic mail system.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a conventional multimedia electronic mail system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 relay device 2 terminal device 3 mail delivery means 4 mail receiving means 5 mail spool 6 mail box 7 display means 8 media information database 9 terminal information database

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A system for receiving at least a multimedia electronic mail having a header part including a destination and media form information and a mail body, and a plurality of terminal devices having a memory for storing the received electronic mail, and the terminals. A multimedia electronic mail system, comprising a relay device connected to a device, receiving an electronic mail addressed to any terminal device, temporarily storing this, and delivering the electronic mail to the destination terminal device, The relay device stores means for storing information about receivable media types of each terminal device, means for inquiring the terminal device about the free space of the memory, the information about the terminal device to which the received e-mail is addressed, Free space information obtained by inquiry to the terminal device, media form information of the e-mail, and e-mail Delivery availability determination means for determining availability of delivery of the electronic mail to the terminal device based on the amount of body information, and received and temporarily stored when the delivery availability determination means determines A means for delivering an electronic mail to the terminal device, and when the delivery possibility determining means determines negative, creates and stores search information for specifying, and a part or all of the mail body from the received email. Means for deleting and delivering to the terminal device, the terminal device comprising means for creating search information and transmitting the search information to the relay device, wherein the relay device further includes the search information transmitted from the terminal device. A multimedia electronic mail system comprising means for identifying an electronic mail temporarily stored on the basis of the above and delivering the mail body to the terminal device.