JP2001028654A - Communication device, its method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device by which a document can easily and secondarily be utilized by a transmission destination and to provide a method. SOLUTION: A transmission destination is discriminated in the transmission (S201), and when an opposite device is a PC, a document analysis output format DAOF file is generated by applying area division or the like to a transmission image (S203), and the file is transmitted according to a file transfer protocol (S204). When the transmission destination is not the PC, the opposite device is discriminated to be a facsimile terminal and the file is transmitted by a facsimile protocol (S206).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and method for transmitting a read image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a means for easily transmitting document information to a remote place, a facsimile apparatus has been widely used. The document information is read as a pixel image by a facsimile machine, and is written in ITU-T Recommendation T.30. MH method, MR specified in 4
It is compressed by a method, MMR method or the like and transmitted to the partner device. The partner device decompresses the received compressed data into pixel data and prints it with a printer.

In recent years, computer terminals such as personal computers have been equipped with facsimile modems,
It is possible to perform facsimile communication. Accordingly, the destination of the image is often a computer terminal. In the computer terminal, the received image is stored on a hard disk or the like, and is appropriately displayed or printed on a CRT by an operation of an operator.

[0004]

However, there is a problem in the above-mentioned conventional example in terms of secondary use of the received document on the side receiving the image. For example, in order to use a document received by the facsimile procedure on a computer terminal, re-input while looking at the receiving paper, or
Scan the received image to a computer terminal with a scanner and
R processing was required. Especially in the case of facsimile images, the resolution is as low as 200 dpi at most, so there is a limit in improving the recognition rate in OCR.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a communication apparatus and a communication method capable of easily secondary use of a document at a transmission destination.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a first invention of the present application provides an input device for inputting image data, a determination device for determining a device type of a transmission destination,
Converting means for analyzing the image data in a region and converting the image data into a data format subjected to processing according to the attribute of each region; and converting the image data by the converting means when transmitting the image data input by the input means. Control means for controlling whether or not this is the case based on the result of the determination by the determination means.

[0007] The second invention of the present application is the first invention of the present application.
The invention according to the first aspect is characterized by further comprising changing means for changing an input resolution of the input means based on a result of the judgment by the judging means.

[0008] The third invention of the present application is a third invention of the present application.
In the first invention, the determining means determines at least whether the transmission destination is a facsimile machine or a computer terminal, and the control means executes the conversion means when the transmission destination is a computer terminal, and the transmission destination is In a facsimile apparatus, the conversion means is not executed.

[0009] The fourth invention of the present application is the fourth invention of the present application.
The invention according to the third aspect, further comprising changing means for changing an input resolution of the input means based on a determination result of the determining means, wherein the changing means inputs the data at a facsimile resolution when the transmission destination is a facsimile apparatus, When the terminal is a computer terminal, the input is performed at a resolution higher than the facsimile resolution.

[0010] The fifth invention of the present application is the fifth invention of the present application.
In any one of the first to fourth inventions, the conversion means performs a character recognition process on a character area to convert the character area into character data.

[0011] The sixth invention of the present application is the sixth invention of the present application.
In any one of the first to fifth inventions, the conversion unit includes:
It is characterized in that the table area is subjected to table analysis processing and converted into table data.

Further, the seventh invention of the present application is a seventh invention of the present application.
In any one of the first to sixth inventions, the conversion unit includes:
It is characterized in that an image area is subjected to compression processing by a predetermined method and is converted into compressed data.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inputting step of inputting image data, a determining step of determining a device type of a transmission destination, an area analysis of the image data, and an analysis of the image data according to the attribute of each area. A conversion step of converting the data into a processed data format, and, when transmitting the image data input in the input step, controlling whether or not to convert the image data in the conversion step, based on a determination result of the determination step. And a control step of performing the control.

A ninth invention of the present application is the eighth invention of the present application, further comprising a changing step of changing an input resolution of the input step based on a result of the determination in the determining step. And

According to a tenth invention of the present application, in the eighth invention of the present application, the determining step determines at least whether a transmission destination is a facsimile apparatus or a computer terminal. When the transmission destination is a computer terminal, the conversion step is executed, and when the transmission destination is a facsimile apparatus, the conversion step is not executed.

The eleventh invention of the present application is the tenth invention of the present application, further comprising a changing step of changing an input resolution of the input step based on a result of the determination in the determining step. Is input at a facsimile resolution when the transmission destination is a facsimile device, and is input at a resolution higher than the facsimile resolution when the transmission destination is a computer terminal.

According to a twelfth invention of the present application, in any one of the eighth to eleventh inventions of the present application, the converting step performs a character recognition process on a character area to convert the character area into character data. It is characterized by being.

According to a thirteenth invention of the present application, in any one of the eighth to twelfth inventions of the present application, the conversion step performs a table analysis process on the table area to convert the data into table data. It is characterized by being.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the eighth to thirteenth aspects of the present invention, the converting step includes performing a compression process on the image area by a predetermined method to convert the image area into compressed data. It is characterized by that.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inputting step of inputting image data, a determining step of determining a device type of a transmission destination, an area analysis of the image data, and an analysis of the image data according to the attribute of each area. A conversion step of converting the data into a processed data format, and, when transmitting the image data input in the input step, controlling whether or not to convert the image data in the conversion step, based on a determination result of the determination step. And a computer-readable storage medium storing a program code for executing a control step.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, a program code for executing a change step of changing an input resolution of the input step based on a result of the determination step is further stored. .

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
8 controls the entire apparatus. Reference numeral 1 denotes a communication line, and CCU 2 denotes a communication control unit that controls transmission and reception operations via the communication line 1. 3 is a printer for printing received documents, 5
Is a RAM, and 6 is a ROM in which program codes for controlling the apparatus are stored. Reference numeral 4 denotes an operation panel for instructing various operations, a numeric keypad for dialing,
A one-touch dial key, a transmission key for starting transmission, and the like are arranged. Reference numeral 7 denotes a scanner, which can read a document with a resolution in a predetermined range (for example, 50 dpi to 600 dpi). A scanner scans a document one line at a time to read pixel data, and a so-called sheet reading type in which the reading unit is fixed and the document is moved to read, or a so-called book reading in which the document is fixed and the reading unit is moved by the reading unit. Although there is a type, etc., it is not particularly limited to these. Further, the reading resolution can be made variable by appropriately adjusting the unit movement amount of the document or the reading unit and the reading timing of one line.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of a destination table storing correspondence between transmission destinations and device types according to the embodiment of the present invention. The device type 402 (telephone number) is stored in the table 400 corresponding to the destination telephone number 401. The device type 402 stores whether the destination is a facsimile machine (FAX) or a computer terminal (PC). This destination table is stored in the RAM 5
And is created and updated by the operator registering from the operation panel. Also, the destination table is
It can also be used together with a storage table such as a so-called one-touch dial or abbreviated dial. In this case, the device type is stored together with the telephone number of the destination and the name of the destination corresponding to the one-touch dial number (or the speed dial number).

According to the present invention, when the transmission destination is a computer terminal, the received image data is analyzed and the layout description,
The data is transmitted as a data file which is divided into regions, such as a character recognition description, a table structure description, and an image description, and subjected to a process suitable for each region. The data is in an intermediate format that can be converted (converted) by any application or system at the destination computer terminal. SGML format and PDF (Page Descriptor)
Ption Format) is one example, and such an intermediate format is hereinafter referred to as DAOF (Docu).
ment Analysis Output Formata
t). The data structure of DAOF will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 501 denotes a header section, which holds information on document image data to be processed. In the layout description data section 502, the TE in the document image data
XT (text), TITLE (title), CAPTIO
N (caption), LINEART (line drawing), PIC
TURE (natural image), FRAME (frame), TABLE
It holds attribute information of each block recognized for each attribute such as (table) and its rectangular address information. In the character recognition description data section 503, TEXT, TITLE, CAPTION
And the like, and holds a character recognition result obtained by character recognition of a TEXT block such as. In the table description data section 504, TABL
The details of the structure of the E block are stored. Image description data section
Reference numeral 505 stores image data of a block such as PICTURE or LINEART from the document image data.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of the processing executed in the embodiment of the present invention. First, step S
At 602, a layout recognition process is performed. More specifically, black pixels in the document image data are detected, and a rectangular frame of black pixel blocks is created by contour tracing or labeling. Next, based on the black pixel density in the rectangular frame, the presence or absence of the adjacent rectangular frame, the aspect ratio of the rectangular frame, and the like,
A block is recognized for each attribute such as an image block such as a TABLE block and a PICTURE block and a TEXT block. Processing corresponding to each block of each attribute recognized by the layout recognition processing is performed.

If the TEXT block is recognized (step S603), a character recognition process is performed in step S604. As one method of the character recognition processing performed in step S604, there is a feature vector extraction comparison method. For example, assume that the character "book" is present in the document image data. On the other hand, as a first step, a character cutout process is performed. This is a process of cutting out a rectangle of one character, and is obtained by detecting the state of black pixel continuity. As a second step, one character is cut into m × n blocks. For example, 64 × 64. Then, the distribution direction of the black pixels is extracted from the block using a 2 × 2 window (direction vector information). The 2 × 2 windows are shifted to obtain several tens of direction vector information. This vector information is the feature of the extracted character. The feature vector is compared with a character recognition dictionary prepared in advance, and characters are extracted in order from the character closest to the feature vector. The closest character is the first candidate, followed by the second,
Become the third candidate. The closeness of the feature vector is a closeness of the distance to the character, and this is a numerical value of the similarity.
If the similarity is close, the character has higher accuracy.

In the above-described layout recognition processing, T
When an ABLE block is recognized (step S60)
5) In step S606, a table analysis is performed. When an image block such as a PICTURE block is recognized in the above-described layout recognition processing (step S60)
7) In step S608, an image is cut out. Next, in step S609, it is determined whether to compress the cut-out image. When compressing (Y in step S609)
ES), and the process advances to step S610 to compress the cut image. On the other hand, when compression is not performed (step S609)
NO), and proceeds to step S612. In the above-described layout recognition processing, the above-described TEXT block, TAB
When a block other than the LE block and the image block is recognized (step S611), the block is held as it is.

In step S612, based on the data obtained by the processing performed for each block of each attribute recognized by the layout recognition processing, the DA shown in FIG.
Create an OF file.

<First Embodiment> In the first embodiment,
When the transmission destination is a computer terminal, the data is transmitted as a DAOF format file, and when the transmission destination is a facsimile apparatus, the transmission is performed as a facsimile image.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the transmission operation of the communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. CPU
7 is a program code based on this flowchart R
Read from OM6 and execute. The original to be transmitted is set on the scanner 7, the telephone number of the other party is input from the operation panel 4 using a numeric keypad or the like, and the transmission key is pressed to start the transmission operation. When one-touch dialing or abbreviated dialing is used, a desired one-touch dialing number or abbreviated dialing number is specified from the operation panel, and then the transmission key is pressed. In step S201, the destination is determined. This is the destination telephone number 401 of the destination table 400.
, The device type 402 stored corresponding to the other party's telephone number equal to the input telephone number is read out. When both the destination table 400 and the one-touch dial (or abbreviated dial) storage table are used, the device type 402 stored corresponding to the designated one-touch dial number (or abbreviated dial number) is read. You just have to put it out. Step S2
In 02, it is determined whether the other party is a computer terminal (PC), and if it is a PC, the process proceeds to step S203,
The image read by the scanner 7 is divided into regions by the processing described with reference to FIGS.
Create a file. The file created after the above compression processing is transmitted from the CCU 2 by selecting the file transfer protocol in step S205. Here, as the file transfer protocol, for example, FTP (File Tr
ansfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Pro)
A standard file transfer protocol such as tocol) is used. The BFT (Bin) recommended by the ITU-T
The file may be transmitted by using an "ary File Transfer" function. According to this BFT function, together with the file contents, the attribute information of the file (ITU-T Recommendation T.43)
4), the attribute information is set to a DAOF file, and the DAOF file is transmitted.

If it is determined in step S202 that the relay destination is not a PC, the destination is a facsimile machine.
After compression by the R method (or the MH method or the MR method), a facsimile protocol is selected in step S206 and transmitted from the CCU 2.

Also, whether or not the other party is a computer device can be determined by looking at the terminal identifier during negotiation between the present device and the destination.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the transmission destination is a computer terminal, the data is transmitted in a DAOF format file, so that the transmission destination can easily use the received data again.

<Second Embodiment> In the second embodiment,
When the transmission destination is a computer terminal, the original is read at a high resolution and then transmitted as a DAOF format file. When the transmission destination is a facsimile apparatus, the original is read at a facsimile resolution and transmitted as a facsimile image.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the transmission operation of the communication device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, portions different from the first embodiment will be described.

In step S302, it is determined whether the other party is a computer terminal (PC). If the destination is a PC, the flow advances to step S303 to read the original at a high resolution (for example, 400 dpi, 600 dpi, etc.) by the scanner 7. After that, in step S304, a DAOF file is created (same processing as step S204), and step S305 is performed.
, The file transfer protocol is selected and transmitted from CCU2 (the same processing as in step S205).

If it is determined in step S302 that the relay destination is not a PC, the destination is a facsimile machine, and the process proceeds to step S306, where the scanner 7 converts the document to a facsimile resolution (for example, 200 dp).
i), and is compressed by the MMR method (or MH method or MR method) in step S307 (step S20).
After that, the facsimile protocol is selected in step S206 and transmitted from the CCU 2 (same processing as step S206).

In the above-described second embodiment, 200 dpi is taken as an example of the facsimile image reading resolution. However, in a general facsimile apparatus, the resolution can be designated as standard (100 dpi), fine (200 dpi), or the like. It is possible. Therefore, when the partner device is a PC, the reading may be performed at a plurality of levels, such as reading at 200 dpi when the standard designation is performed and reading at 400 dpi when the fine designation is performed.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, when the transmission destination is a computer terminal, the original is read at a high resolution and transmitted as a DAOF format file. Secondary use is easy.

In this embodiment, one device such as a communication device (for example, a facsimile device, a multi-function copying device, and a multi-function printer device) has been described. However, the present invention is applicable to a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer). , A scanner, a printer, etc.).

It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus. In that case, the program code for achieving the present invention stored in the storage medium is transferred to the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus.
The object of the present invention is achieved by executing the reading.

[0043]

As described above, according to the invention of the present application, the data is transmitted in a reusable file format according to the destination device type (computer terminal or facsimile terminal). There is an effect that secondary use of received data can be easily performed.

In particular, according to the fourth and eleventh aspects of the present invention, when the transmission destination is a computer device, the transmission original is read at a high resolution, so that the accuracy of the image character recognition processing, table analysis processing, and the like can be improved. There is an effect of further improving.

According to the fifth and twelfth aspects of the present invention, the character area of the relay image is subjected to character recognition processing and converted into character data and transmitted. Thus, there is an effect that labor such as inputting by an operator or reading by a scanner and performing OCR processing can be omitted.

Further, according to the sixth and thirteenth aspects of the present invention, the table area of the relay image is subjected to the table analysis process and converted into the table data and transmitted.
This has the effect of eliminating the need for the operator to input based on the received image or to perform OCR processing by scanning with a scanner.

Further, according to the seventh and fourteenth aspects of the present invention, since the image area of the relay image is subjected to compression processing, converted into compressed data and transmitted, the effect of suppressing the load on the network can be reduced. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission operation of the communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission operation of a communication device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of a destination table in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a DAOF in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of DAOF data generation in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Communication line 2 Communication control part 3 Printer 4 Operation panel 5 RAM 6 ROM 7 Scanner 8 Microprocessor

Claims (16)

[Claims] An input unit for inputting image data, a determination unit for determining a device type of a transmission destination, an area analysis of the image data, and conversion into a data format in which a process according to an attribute of each area is performed. Conversion means, and control means for controlling whether or not to convert the image data by the conversion means when transmitting the image data input by the input means, based on a determination result of the determination means. Characteristic communication device. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising a change unit that changes an input resolution of the input unit based on a result of the determination by the determination unit. 3. The determining means determines at least whether the transmission destination is a facsimile machine or a computer terminal. When the transmission destination is a computer terminal, the control means executes the conversion means, and determines whether the transmission destination is a computer terminal. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit is not executed when the communication device is a facsimile device. 4. An image processing apparatus further comprising: changing means for changing an input resolution of the input means based on a result of the determination by the determining means,
4. The communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the change unit inputs the data at a facsimile resolution when the transmission destination is a facsimile device, and inputs the data at a resolution higher than the facsimile resolution when the transmission destination is a computer terminal. . 5. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit performs a character recognition process on a character area to convert the character area into character data. 6. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit performs a table analysis process on the table area to convert the table area into table data. 7. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit performs a compression process on the image area by a predetermined method to convert the image area into compressed data. 8. An inputting step of inputting image data, a determining step of determining a device type of a transmission destination, an area analysis of the image data, and conversion into a data format which has been processed in accordance with an attribute of each area. And a control step of controlling whether to convert the image data in the conversion step when transmitting the image data input in the input step, based on a result of the determination in the determination step. Characteristic communication method. 9. The communication method according to claim 8, further comprising a change step of changing an input resolution of the input step based on a result of the determination in the determination step. 10. The determining step determines at least whether the transmission destination is a facsimile machine or a computer terminal. The control step executes the conversion step when the transmission destination is a computer terminal, and determines whether the transmission destination is a computer terminal. 9. The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the conversion step is not performed when the apparatus is a facsimile apparatus. 11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a changing step of changing an input resolution of the input step based on a result of the determination in the determining step, wherein the changing step includes inputting at a facsimile resolution when the transmission destination is a facsimile apparatus. 11. The communication method according to claim 10, wherein when is a computer terminal, input is performed at a resolution higher than the facsimile resolution. 12. The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the converting step performs a character recognition process on a character area to convert the character area into character data. 13. The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the conversion step includes performing a table analysis process on the table area to convert the table area into table data. 14. The communication method according to claim 8, wherein the converting step includes performing a compression process on the image area by a predetermined method to convert the image area into compressed data. 15. An input step of inputting image data, a determining step of determining a device type of a transmission destination, an area analysis of the image data, and conversion into a data format which has been subjected to processing according to the attribute of each area. And a control step of, when transmitting the image data input in the input step, controlling whether or not to convert the image data in the conversion step, based on a result of the determination in the determination step. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program code. 16. The computer-readable computer according to claim 15, further comprising a program code for executing a change step of changing an input resolution of said input step based on a result of said determination step. Storage media.