JP2004147128A - Communication method, communication device, and control program for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provided a means for data communication which performs high-speed data communication by easy calling using the telephone numbers as the media and is superior in general use and can be installed easily and inexpensively. <P>SOLUTION: A first communication device 105 acquires an IP address of a second communication device 107 from an SIP proxy server 103 on the basis of a telephone number and requests data communication to the second communication device 107, and the communication device on the data reception side out of the first and second communication devices 105 and 107 requests data transmission to the communication device on the transmission side on the basis of a data transmission/reception protocol conforming to the HTTP, and communication data is transmitted and received on an IP network 101 on the basis of the data transmission/reception protocol. In the reception device, WWW communication functions for browsing, jumping to another link, recording output, forwarding, etc. are used for the data of a WWW server 102 as well as the data received in this manner. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication method for transmitting and receiving communication data by IP communication between communication devices identified by a telephone number, a communication device, and a control program for the communication device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, broadband communication lines that can perform high-speed data transmission, such as ADSL, have become widespread. ADSL is characterized in that the same metallic cable as the telephone line is used for the subscriber line, so that the same line can be used for both the analog telephone service and the network connection service. That is, by inserting a filter for frequency division called a splitter between a communication line and a communication terminal, it is possible to separate a line for transmitting an audio band signal and a line for transmitting digital data.
[0003]
When the same line is used for analog telephone service, various configurations such as ADSL modem + splitter + computer, ADSL modem + splitter + router, etc. can be considered as the configuration of the subscriber's equipment. As the ADSL gateway, for example, a configuration in which the above-described ADSL modem + splitter portion is integrated can be considered.
[0004]
In such an ADSL gateway, for example, a modular jack is provided so that an analog telephone can be connected to a line for transmitting a voice band signal, and a communication device such as a telephone or a facsimile can be connected here for communication.
[0005]
For high-speed digital communication, the ADSL gateway is provided with a connection interface of CSMA / CD (for example, Ethernet (trade name)). By connecting a PC (personal computer) or the like to the CSMA / CD interface, data can be downloaded at high speed from a WWW server or the like. However, not only CSMA / CD but also an interface such as USB is used for an interface with a network device such as a PC.
[0006]
A terminal connected to a server, such as a PC, can perform high-speed communication, but performs real-time transmission / reception with a partner terminal via a circuit switching network (analog communication path), such as a telephone or a facsimile. The terminals used the analog band. In the analog facsimile procedure, there is a case where there is no problem with about black and white binary image data, but a long communication time is required when transmitting large-capacity color image data (in the JPEG format or the like) photographed by a digital camera or the like. There was a problem.
[0007]
In order to transmit communication data such as image data at high speed, the facsimile is connected to the CSMA / CD interface, and the image data is packetized and uploaded to a file server (for example, using a protocol such as FTP or HTTP). It is also possible to realize high-speed transmission by taking the procedure of downloading from the server by the partner terminal. However, in this case, the receiving side needs to access the server in order to receive the data, and there is a problem that the real-time communication is lost. Also, if the server notifies the server of the destination address of the receiving side or downloads data under the initiative of the receiving side, it is necessary to notify the receiving side of data upload to the receiving side. However, it has been difficult to realize communication by a simple operation of simply specifying the telephone number of the other party.
[0008]
In view of this point, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-107938 (Patent Document 1) discloses a technique for performing image communication via a server on an IP network. In other words, the first terminal on the image transmission side calls the server including the first terminal, connects the first terminal to the computer network via the server including the first terminal, and transmits the image. A second terminal to be a receiving side is designated, a server of a network including the second terminal calls the second terminal, and the first terminal transmits the image data to the computer network in a format suitable for the computer network. The data is sent to the server including the second terminal via the network, and the server including the second terminal converts the image data in a format suitable for the computer network into facsimile image data, and transmits the converted data via the public line. 2 terminal, and the second terminal reproduces an image from the facsimile image data.
[0009]
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-247334 (Patent Document 2 below) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-133767 (Patent Document 3 below), an Internet address of a transmission destination is input so that an e-mail format is used. Many methods for transmitting images have been proposed.
[0010]
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-354127 (Patent Document 4 below) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-197279 (Patent Document 5 below) disclose ITU-T Recommendation T. 38, a method of relaying facsimile image transmission in real time on the Internet has been proposed.
[0011]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-107938
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-9-247334
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-10-133967
[Patent Document 4]
JP 2000-354127 A
[Patent Document 5]
JP 2001-197279 A
[0012]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described Patent Document 1, it is necessary to input a terminal number of a transmission destination after performing a login process including an authentication procedure and the like by performing a dial-up connection with a server at a transmission source terminal. Therefore, unlike the conventional facsimile, image transmission cannot be performed only by inputting a telephone number.
[0013]
Further, in Patent Documents 2 and 3, when transmitting via the Internet, it is necessary to input a mail address. Further, since an image is transmitted as an e-mail, there is a problem that image data is stored in a server, and the receiving side needs to access and receive the server using an e-mail reading protocol such as a POP (Post Office Protocol).
[0014]
Further, Patent Documents 4 and 5 disclose ITU-T Recommendation T. In addition to the need for a dedicated gateway for processing 38 protocols and the use of a normal telephone line between the terminal and the Internet, the transmission speed is limited to that of facsimile communication using a conventional telephone switching network. Was the same as
[0015]
Further, conventional communication technologies have been independently developed in respective fields such as facsimile and IP communication, and there is a problem that integration is not sufficient. For example, a user has been separately required to be proficient in an operation specific to a facsimile device if the device is a facsimile device, and to be proficient in an operation specific to a PC for various IP communications. Also, from the point of view of a manufacturer that provides hardware / software, it is necessary to provide completely different hardware / software for data communication that is not so different in each field such as facsimile and IP communication. there were. In this sense, the necessary parts of technologies in various fields, such as facsimile and IP communication, should be integrated in a graceful manner so that data communication that is easy to operate, excellent in versatility, and can be implemented easily and inexpensively can be performed. Is desired.
[0016]
An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a means of data communication which can perform high-speed data communication by a simple call operation via a telephone number, is excellent in versatility, and can be implemented easily and inexpensively. It is in.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a communication method for transmitting and receiving communication data by IP communication between communication devices identified by telephone numbers, a communication device, and a control program for the communication device. The device obtains the IP address of the second communication device from a predetermined server based on the telephone number of the second communication device, makes a data communication request to the second communication device, and The communication device on the data receiving side among the two communication devices makes a data transmission request to the communication device on the data transmitting side based on the data transmission / reception protocol based on HTTP, and transmits / receives communication data over the IP network based on the data transmission / reception protocol. Configuration was adopted.
[0018]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the configuration of the image communication device will be exemplified as an example of the communication device.
[0019]
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a network system to which the present invention can be applied. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an IP network, 102 denotes a WWW (HTTP) server, 103 denotes a VoIP SIP proxy, 104 denotes a DNS server, and 105 denotes a first image communication device (private IP address: 192.168.0.2). ), 106 are ADSL gateways (global IP address: 192.196.0.1, private IP address: 192.168.0.1), 107 is the second image communication device (private IP address: 192.168.0) ., 2) and 108 are ADSL gateways (global IP address: 192.198.0.1, private IP address: 192.168.0.1). Reference numerals 109 and 111 are analog telephone interfaces, and reference numerals 110 and 112 are CSMA / CD interfaces. In the following, the image communication devices 105 and 107 will be described as image communication devices. However, the present invention is not limited to image communication devices that transmit and receive image data, and is replaced by communication devices that can transmit and receive data suitable for communication using an IP network. The techniques shown in are applicable.
[0020]
Although the details of the configuration of the ADSL gateways 106 and 108 will be described later, the contract of both subscribers is of a shared type of telephone and IP communication, and the image communication devices 105 and 107 are connected to the ADSL gateway 106 as described above. And 108, analog telephone interfaces 109 and 111 and CSMA / CD interfaces 110 and 112 as network interfaces (however, the network interface is not limited to CSMA / CD).
[0021]
The image communication devices 105 and 107 can use the analog telephone interfaces 109 and 111 and the CSMA / CD interfaces 110 and 112 for communication with the ADSL gateways 106 and 108, respectively.
[0022]
The analog telephone interfaces 109 and 111 are used for telephone calls and ITU-T Recommendation T. The present invention can be used for analog facsimile communication and the like based on ITU-T 30 (hereinafter referred to as "recommendation T.30" or simply "T.30" unless confusion arises). The signals of the analog telephone interfaces 109 and 111 are routed from the central office to a circuit switching network (not shown).
[0023]
In addition, in the line by the CSMA / CD interfaces 110 and 112, a connection with an ISP (Internet Service Provider) is established by a predetermined protocol such as PPPoE (PPP on Ethernet (trade name)), and the WAN side described above is established. The global IP address and the private IP address on the LAN side are determined. In this state, the image communication apparatuses 105 and 107 can use any services on the IP network 101 (for example, services on TCP (UDP) / IP such as FTP, HTTP, and Voip).
[0024]
In the present invention, the image communication device (see FIG. 1) is partially used on the IP network 101 by partially using a VoIP (Voice over IP: ITU-T Recommendation H.323) protocol and a SIP (Session Initiate Protocol: RFC2543). In the example, 105 and 107) are connected to perform communication, so that high-speed image communication can be performed. Details of VoIP and SIP used in the present invention will be described later.
[0025]
FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the image communication apparatus (105 or 107 in FIG. 1) embodying the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 201 denotes a CPU, which controls the entire image communication apparatus according to a program stored in a ROM 202. The CPU 201 is also responsible for TCP / IP protocol processing, and assembling of image data into TCP / IP frames is performed under the control of the CPU 201. Reference numeral 203 denotes a RAM, which is used as a work memory at the time of executing a program, and is used for buffering image data to be transmitted and received.
[0026]
Reference numeral 204 denotes a key operation unit, which includes dials, operation buttons for facsimile transmission and reception, and the like. Reference numeral 205 denotes a liquid crystal display unit.
[0027]
Reference numeral 206 denotes a CIS (Contact Image Sensor), which converts an image of a document into an analog signal. A read control unit 207 converts an analog signal output from the CIS into digital data. The converted digital data is transferred to the RAM 203 under the control of the CPU 201.
[0028]
Reference numeral 208 denotes an MH encoding / decoding processing unit which, when transmitting an image, subjects the read image data to MH encoding and compresses the data. At the time of reception, the MH-encoded image data is decoded.
[0029]
Reference numeral 209 denotes a FAX modem, which modulates MH-coded data at the time of transmission and converts the data into an analog signal in a voice band that can be transmitted through an analog line. At the time of reception, the received analog signal is demodulated and MH encoded data is output.
[0030]
Reference numeral 210 denotes an NCU, which is connected to the analog telephone interface 109 (111) as an interface of an analog communication line.
[0031]
Reference numeral 211 denotes a card interface to which a memory card storing a JPEG image captured by a digital camera can be connected. The standard of the memory card is arbitrary, but a card standard such as PCMCIA may be used.
[0032]
Reference numeral 212 denotes a JPEG processing unit, which is used to encode (compress) an image of another format input via a card interface into a JPEG image and decode (expand) received JPEG image data.
[0033]
A LAN controller 213 is connected to the above-mentioned CSMA / CD interface 110 (112) and performs data transmission / reception based on the CSMA / CD protocol.
[0034]
Reference numeral 214 denotes a recording processing unit that converts received image data into print raster data and prints it. The recording method of the recording processing unit 214 is arbitrary, and an electrophotographic method or an ink jet method can be used.
[0035]
FIG. 3 shows the internal configuration of the ADSL gateway (106 or 108 in FIG. 1). In FIG. 3, reference numeral 215 denotes a splitter which is connected to an ADSL communication line and separates a voice band signal and a voice outside band signal. An ADSL modem 216 has a function of converting digital data into a signal format that can be transmitted through an ADSL line.
[0036]
Reference numeral 217 denotes a CPU, which performs processing such as packet assembly / disassembly of voice / data input to the ADSL gateway, communication procedure processing with a VoIP server, and the like. A ROM 218 stores a program for operating the ADSL gateway, and a RAM 219 is used for buffering data transmitted and received by the ADSL gateway and executing the program.
[0037]
Reference numeral 220 denotes a CSMA / CD interface, which performs a frame assembling / disassembling process when transmitting / receiving digital data to / from an image communication apparatus. The CSMA / CD interface 220 is connected to the aforementioned CSMA / CD interface 110 (112).
[0038]
The ADSL gateway according to the present embodiment also supports VoIP. That is, the code 221 is a voice coding processing unit, which codes and decodes voice based on a voice coding scheme used in VoIP (see ITU-T recommendations such as G.711 and G.729). .
[0039]
Reference numeral 222 denotes a changeover switch, which switches an audio path depending on whether the audio terminal connected to the ADSL gateway is transmitted in the audio band or transmitted as digital data outside the audio band.
[0040]
Reference numeral 223 denotes an analog telephone interface to which a voice terminal such as an analog telephone can be connected, and a voice signal can be transmitted to and received from the voice terminal. The analog telephone interface 223 is connected to the above-described analog telephone interface 109 (111).
[0041]
Next, communication control in the above configuration will be described. In the following, a process when an image is transmitted from the first image communication device 105 to the second image communication device 107 and a process when the second image communication device downloads an image from the WWW server 102 are described. Give an explanation. In the present embodiment, a case will be mainly described in which an image to be transmitted is JPEG format image data (for example, JPEG image data captured by a digital camera).
[0042]
Next, the operation in the above configuration will be described.
[0043]
6 and 7 show a communication control procedure executed by the image communication device (105 or 107). The illustrated procedure is stored in the ROM 203 as a control program for the CPU 201, and is executed by the CPU 201. However, the storage location of the program that implements the communication control procedure of the present embodiment is not limited to the ROM, and the supply path is also stored in the ROM 203 from the beginning, or via another storage medium, or It may be supplied and updated via a network.
[0044]
FIG. 4 shows a communication sequence realized by the communication control of FIGS. 6 and 7, and the numbers of the steps corresponding to the respective processes of FIGS. 6 and 7 are given.
[0045]
<Image transmission from first image communication device to second image communication device>
When a destination telephone number is input by the key operation unit 204 of the image communication apparatus 105 (step S401), a transmission request packet including telephone number information is transmitted to the ADSL gateway via the CSMA / CD interface 108 (step S401). Step S402). As the destination address of the transmission request packet, the private IP address 192.168.0.1 of the ADSL gateway 106 is designated and transmitted.
[0046]
The ADSL gateway 106 that has received the transmission request packet transmits a session request message (INVITE message) of SIP (Session Initiate Protocol) to the SIP proxy 103 of the VoIP service provider (step S403). This session request message is configured based on the SIP specification, and the destination in the header includes the telephone number information input in step S401 and the telephone number information of the ADSL gateway as transmission source information. Further, the IP address of the SIP proxy 103 is stored in the destination IP address of the IP packet storing the session request message, and the IP address of the ADSL gateway 106 is stored in the source IP address. Also, application / sdp is described as Content-Type in the header of the session request message, indicating that the message body contains data based on SDP. The SDP data of the message body describes that the medium is image / jpeg, so that the ADSL gateway 108 can recognize that a JPEG image will be transmitted and received.
[0047]
The SIP proxy 103 sets the telephone number in the header of the received session request message to 8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1. e164. It is developed into a URL (URI) format such as arpa (step S404), and a search request is sent to the DNS server 104 (step S405).
[0048]
Upon receiving the IP address of the destination ADSL gateway 108 from the DNS server 104 (step S406), the SIP proxy 103 converts the destination IP address in the packet received from the ADSL gateway 106 into the global IP address of the ADSL gateway 108 received from the DNS. After replacing the IP address with the IP address of the SIP proxy 103, the session request message is transmitted to the ADSL gateway 108 (step S407).
[0049]
The ADSL gateway 108 that has received the session request message transmits an incoming message to the image communication device 107 (Step S501 in FIG. 7). Since the incoming message includes the media type information described in the session request message received from the ADSL gateway 106, the image communication device 107 transmits the JPEG image (from the image communication device 107, ) Is required.
[0050]
Here, based on the media type information described in the session request message, the image communication device 107 can recognize that transmission of a JPEG image (reception from the viewpoint of the image communication device 107) is requested. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the confirmation response in step S409 described later, a request for transmission of a JPEG image (reception from the viewpoint of the image communication apparatus 107) may be notified, or after the confirmation response in step S409, Before obtaining "GET / index.html HTTP / 1.0" as an HTTP data acquisition message, a request for transmission of a JPEG image (reception as viewed from the image communication apparatus 107) may be notified.
[0051]
At the same time, the ADSL gateway 108 sends a calling message to the SIP proxy 103. The destination in the header of the calling message stores the source telephone number information described in the header of the received session request message, and the destination IP address is the source IP address of the session request message. The IP address of the SIP proxy 103 is stored. The SIP proxy 103 that has received the calling message exchanges the destination IP address with the IP address of the ADSL gateway 106 and the source IP address with the IP address of the SIP proxy 103, and transmits the message. It receives (step S408).
[0052]
The image communication device 107 receives the incoming message, and sends a response message to the ADSL gateway 108 if the incoming call can be received (step S502 in FIG. 7).
[0053]
When the ADSL gateway 108 receives the response message, the ADSL gateway 108 transmits the response message to the SIP proxy 103 in the same manner as the previous ringing message. In the SIP proxy 103, only the destination IP address is converted to the IP address of the ADSL gateway 106 and transmitted, and the ADSL gateway 106 receives the response message (step S409 in FIG. 6).
[0054]
Subsequently, a response message is transmitted from the ADSL gateway 106 to the image communication device 105 (step S410). Since the ADSL gateway 106 can recognize the IP address of the ADSL gateway 108 from the source IP address in the received response message, the ADSL gateway 108 (from the image communication) thereafter does not pass through the SIP proxy 103 directly. It becomes possible to transmit the packet to the device 107) (step S411).
[0055]
The image communication device 105 that has received the response message transmits a response confirmation message to the image communication device 107 (step S413), and can start transmission and reception of image data between the image communication device 105 and the image communication device 107. .
[0056]
As described above, since the IP address between the transmitter and the receiver (the global IP address of the ADSL gateways 106 and 108) is already known to both parties, any data transmission / reception protocol on TCP (UDP) / IP will be used thereafter. To transmit and receive image data. As a data transmission / reception protocol on the TCP (UDP) / IP, generally used FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), or a method using them (dedicated method, HTTP encryption) As the version, for example, a protocol such as IPP or IPPFAX based on HTTP or HTTP defined by IEEE can be used. Hereinafter, a method of transmitting and receiving image data using the HTTP protocol will be described.
[0057]
The image communication apparatus 107, which has recognized from the previous session request message that the image communication apparatus 105 is about to transmit JPEG image data, establishes an HTTP connection (exchange of SYN / ACK), and transmits the HTTP data as an HTTP data acquisition message. A message “GET / index.html HTTP / 1.0” is transmitted to the image communication apparatus 105 (steps S502 and S503 in FIG. 7).
[0058]
Upon receiving this message (step S414 in FIG. 6), the image communication apparatus 105 transmits a message “HTTP / 1.1 200 OK” to the image communication apparatus 107 as a response message (step S415 in FIG. 6). The Content-Type in this message describes "image / jpeg", indicating that JPEG image data is to be transmitted.
[0059]
Upon receiving the response message, the image communication device 107 (step S504) transmits a JPEG image transmission request message “GET / image.jpeg HTTP / 1.0” as a message for requesting transmission of a JPEG image (step S504). S505). As described above, since HTTP is used, the format is such that the image communication device 107 requests an image from the image communication device 105.
[0060]
The image communication apparatus 105 that has received the message (step S416) transmits a response message “HTTP / 1.0 200 OK” (step S417 in FIG. 6, step S506 in FIG. 7). The image communication device 105 starts transmitting JPEG image data following the response message.
[0061]
The image data is assembled into a TCP / IP frame and transmitted. The IP address of the ADSL gateway 108 is added to the destination address. The TCP / IP packet sent to the ADSL gateway 108 has its destination address converted to the private IP address of the image communication device 107 at the ADSL gateway 108 and is transmitted to the image communication device 107.
[0062]
In the image communication apparatus 105, the CPU 201 reads the JPEG data stored in the memory card via the card interface 211 (Step S418), and transfers the read data to the LAN controller 213. The LAN controller packetizes a fixed amount of data, adds the previously received IP address 192.198.0.1 of the partner ADSL gateway 108 as a header, and transmits the packet (step S419 in FIG. 6).
[0063]
When receiving the image data, the ADSL gateway 108 converts the IP address as described above and transfers the IP address to the image communication device 107. The image communication apparatus 107 that has received the image data (step S507 in FIG. 7) starts processing necessary for recording the received JPEG image by the recording processing unit 214. That is, the LAN controller 213 deletes the header and starts processing such as storing JPEG data in the RAM 203 to be passed to the recording processing unit 214 through appropriate scheduling.
[0064]
When all the JPEG data has been transmitted from the image communication device 105 to the image communication device 107 (step S420 in FIG. 6, step S508 in FIG. 7), the image transmission ends. The JPEG data is decompressed in the JPEG processing unit 212 (step S509), converted into four-color data of CMKY in the recording processing unit 214 (step S510), and recorded and output (step S511).
[0065]
According to the above procedure, high-speed image transmission becomes possible. Assuming that the data size of the JPEG image photographed by the digital camera is 300 Kbytes and the upload transmission speed of the ADSL line is 1 Mbps, the time required for the transmission is at most 300 K ÷ (1000 K ÷ 8) = 2.4 seconds.
[0066]
In the above description, transmission of a JPEG format image between the image communication devices 105 to 107 has been considered. However, a G3 format or TIFF / G3 format image file (or non-image data may be used). ) Can be transmitted under almost the same communication control as described above. Considering the case of transmitting an image in the G3 format, the transmission speed on the analog communication path in this case is only about 56 kbps at the maximum, and in practice, the transmission speed of the T.3 format is not so large. Considering that the effective speed is further reduced by executing the 30 protocol, facsimile communication can be remarkably speeded up if the above communication procedure is used for G3 format image transmission.
[0067]
When the G3 data (or other format data) is received, the receiving side process in steps S509 to S511 in FIG. 7 naturally decodes the G3 format data (or other format data) (S509). Needless to say, processing such as color conversion should be performed if necessary (S510), and replaced with processing for reproduction (S511).
[0068]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image communication apparatus 105 performs high-speed image communication on the IP network without using an analog communication path with the image communication apparatus having a function of connecting to the VoIP network. Transmission and reception can be performed. The operation on the calling side is very simple, as in the case of a conventional PSTN connection type facsimile machine or the like, only by inputting a telephone number.
[0069]
In the image communication on the IP network according to the present embodiment, by partially utilizing the SIP protocol used in the VoIP network, the IP address and port number of the other party are known, and a specific service on TCP (or UDP) / IP is used. (Hereinafter, HTTP), image data can be transmitted at high speed.
[0070]
In addition, the user on the transmitting side only needs to input a telephone number to specify the other party, and whether or not the destination is via the VoIP network can be simply specified by the prefix of the telephone number. There is no need to do.
[0071]
In the above embodiment, the IP address of the transmission destination is added to the packet of the image data to be transmitted, and the packet is transmitted. However, the same effect can be obtained by a process in which the transmission source image communication apparatus adds the IP address of the SIP proxy and transmits the image, and the SIP proxy converts the IP address to the destination IP address.
[0072]
<Image transmission from WWW server to (second) image communication device>
In the above embodiment, HTTP is used for transmitting communication data. As is well known, HTTP is widely used for downloading all kinds of data files from WWW servers on the Internet.
[0073]
On the other hand, the image communication device according to the above embodiment can be configured as a facsimile device (corresponding to a network) or a so-called composite image processing device. Not only is it useful, but the image communication device can function as a WWW browser terminal (or a general-purpose Internet terminal).
[0074]
In order to show this, the state of communication between the WWW server and the second image communication apparatus embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram in the same manner as in FIG. 4, and each sequence is denoted by a step number corresponding to that position in FIG. In addition, among the processing of the image communication apparatus in FIG. 6, the processing after step S415 is equivalent to the processing of the WWW server, and hence the processing after step S415 will be referred to as the processing of the WWW server.
[0075]
When printing (or display) of the content downloaded from the WWW server is instructed by the key operation unit 204 of the image communication apparatus 107 and the URL of the access destination is input (step S512), if necessary at this stage (step S512) If the image communication apparatus 107 is not connected to the IP network 101 via the ADSL gateway 108), a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) connection is established via an access server of the ISP or the like.
[0076]
Then, an HTTP connection (usually, port 80 is used) is established with the WWW server 102 registered (or arbitrary) in the image communication device 107 (step S513). When establishing a PPP connection, an authentication process for collating an ID and a password is performed with an ISP access server, and when establishing an HTTP connection, with the WWW server 102 if necessary. . When establishing an HTTP connection, the image communication apparatus 107 refers to the DNS server 104 if necessary.
[0077]
When the HTTP connection is established, the image communication device 107 transmits an HTTP data acquisition message (step S503). For example, if the URL of the access destination is http: // www. canon. com / index. html, a message "GET / www.canon.com / index.html HTTP / 1.0" is transmitted.
[0078]
The WWW server 102 that has received this message (step S414 in FIG. 6) transmits a message “HTTP / 1.1 200 OK” to the image communication device 107 as a response message (step S415). The Content-Type in this message describes "image / jpeg", indicating that JPEG image data is to be transmitted.
[0079]
The image communication device 107 that has received the response message (step S504 in FIG. 7) transmits a JPEG image transmission request message “GET / image.jpegHTTP / 1.0” as a message for requesting transmission of a JPEG image. (Step S505). However, the data to be acquired does not need to be a JPEG image, and the “/image.jpeg” part of each of the above HTTP messages may be any file name in any format.
[0080]
The WWW server 102 that has received the above message (step S416 in FIG. 6) transmits a response message “HTTP / 1.0 200 OK” (step S417 in FIG. 6, step S506 in FIG. 7).
[0081]
Subsequently, the image data (or any file data) is assembled into a TCP / IP frame and transmitted to the image communication device 107 (step S507 in FIG. 7). At this time, the global IP address of the ADSL gateway 108 is used as the destination address. When the TCP / IP packet sent to the ADSL gateway 108 receives the image data in the HTTP packet format, the ADSL gateway 108 converts the destination global IP address into the private IP address as described above, and then converts the destination IP address into the private IP address. Transfer to Upon receiving the image data, the image communication device 107 starts preparations for recording the received JPEG image. That is, the LAN controller 213 deletes the header and stores the JPEG data in the RAM 203.
[0082]
When all the JPEG data is transmitted from the WWW server 102 to the image communication apparatus 107 (step S508 in FIG. 7), the JPEG data is expanded in the JPEG processing unit 212 (step S509), and the CMKY data is The data is converted into four-color data (step S510), and recorded and output (step S511). Here, an example of recording output is shown, but an output (reproducing) method such as displaying on a display can of course be used.
[0083]
As described above, a JPEG image data file or any other data file can be downloaded from the image communication apparatus WWW server and output (reproduced).
[0084]
As is clear from the above description, it is understood that the transmission of the image data according to the present invention is performed in exactly the same procedure as the above-described normal HTTP download processing. That is, the image communication apparatus according to the present invention has both the functions of a WWW browser terminal (or general-purpose Internet terminal) and the functions of a (network-compatible) facsimile apparatus, composite image processing apparatus, and the like by a simple and inexpensive hardware / software configuration. There is an excellent merit that you can.
[0085]
In the above embodiment, it is assumed that the image data to be transmitted and received is recorded and output. However, the data transmission technology of the present invention can be applied in the same manner as described above even when outputting by other methods such as display output. Can obtain the same effect as described above.
[0086]
When image (or other format) data is transmitted by HTTP, the image communication device (or WWW server) on the transmission side transmits the image data in association with a markup language such as HTML. The image communication device on the receiving side that has received the markup language and the image data can display the markup language and the image data received from the WWW server in the same procedure as when displaying the markup language and the image data. At this time, if a user interface (GUI) similar to a normal WWW browser is used, image (or other format) data is printed and stored by the same user operation as the WWW browser, or transferred to another terminal by e-mail. , Etc., the same data operations as those generally performed by WWW browsers are possible. Of course, if the HTML downloaded from the WWW server includes a tag indicating printing or saving a file and a reference tag (link) to other data, a display corresponding to the tag is performed. With a user interface (GUI) similar to the WWW browser, the user can perform printing, saving a file, jumping to other data, and the like according to these tags.
[0087]
The processing that can be performed on the data of the WWW server is performed in the same manner on the data transmitted from the image communication apparatus on the transmission side according to the data configuration (the configuration of the tag, the MIME identifier, and the like). Can be. This eliminates the need for the user to learn completely different operations each time image communication or reference to WWW data is performed.
[0088]
In the above embodiment, the image communication devices (105, 107) and the ADSL gateways (106, 108) are assumed to be physically independent devices. However, the ADSL gateway is integrated with the image communication device. Thus, a similar effect can be obtained. According to this integration, since the ADSL gateway can connect the image communication device with a dedicated bus instead of the CSMA / CD interface, there is no need to exchange commands between the image communication device and the ADSL gateway, thereby improving communication efficiency. It becomes possible to do.
[0089]
The configuration of the line interface shown as the ADSL gateway in the above embodiment is not limited to the configuration of the ADSL modem + splitter described above, but also includes a router for sharing the IP connection with other network terminals. May be used. In addition, gatekeepers for VoIP and Recommendation T. Thirty-eight facsimile gateway functions may be included in the line interface portion shown as an ADSL gateway.
[0090]
Further, in the above, ADSL is considered as a network communication service, but the technology of the present invention, in particular, the transfer technology using VoIP / SIP in the first half of communication and using HTTP or the like in the second half is not limited to ADSL. In addition, as long as the network communication environment can use VoIP / SIP, the present invention can be implemented in almost the same manner in a network such as FTTH or ATM. Even if the network is different from ADSL such as FTTH or ATM, only the network interface on the WAN side (ADSL modem 216 in FIG. 2) needs to be changed to one corresponding to the network. It may be the same as the embodiment. If it is necessary to use an analog communication path, in that case, in addition to the IP communication means between the line interface (the ADSL gateway in the above example) and the image communication means (the image communication apparatus in the above example), some other method is used. If there is an analog communication means (a VoIP gate keeper, a facsimile gateway of ITU-T Recommendation T.38, etc.), it can be carried out in the same manner as described above.
[0091]
In the above description, an example in which image data is transmitted from the calling side has been described. However, it goes without saying that the procedure of the present invention can be used even when the transmission direction of image data is reversed, that is, when polling transmission / reception is performed. That is, when HTTP is used for data transmission, the data transmitting side may have a function as the HTTP server side, and the data receiving side may have a function as the HTTP server side. This is because it is irrelevant to which device it is. Then, the data transmission by HTTP in the latter half of the communication can be realized only by exchanging the HTTP messages in the direction opposite to the above.
[0092]
In the above-described embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, explanations of authentication and security measures are omitted. However, in the case of using HTTP for data transmission as in the above embodiment, it is not preferable that the image communication apparatus on the transmission side always keeps the HTTP port open to an unspecified number of parties, so some authentication or security considerations are imposed. It is necessary to take measures. For example, at the stage of establishing an HTTP connection (step S414 in FIG. 6, step S503 in FIG. 5, FIG. 7), a user ID and / or a password (all of which are assigned to the image communication apparatus in advance or a user is determined) Only during the data transmission period (steps S414 to S420 in FIG. 6 and steps S503 to S507 in FIG. 7), the image communication apparatus on the transmission side obtains the IP address of the reception side obtained by the preceding SIP communication. For example, a method of opening an HTTP port only for such a port (such port control or packet filtering can be performed not only by the image communication apparatus but also by a gateway (ADSL gateway)) can be considered.
[0093]
As described above, according to the present invention, the communication device on the calling side transmits a data communication request by SIP using the input telephone number, and then starts an HTTP-compliant communication procedure. The device on the calling side only needs to perform a simple user operation via the telephone number, and the communication device on the data receiving side has a WWW browsing function using HTTP and a one-to-one (PTP) between a transceiver having real-time properties. : Peer-to-Peer) data receiving function can be implemented simply and inexpensively, and even when connecting to a line service such as ADSL, data communication is performed in a voice band as in a conventional facsimile machine. Thus, the problem that the throughput is significantly reduced can be avoided.
[0094]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in a communication method for transmitting and receiving communication data by IP communication between communication devices identified by telephone numbers, a communication device, and a control program of the communication device, A communication device that obtains an IP address of the second communication device from a predetermined server based on a telephone number of the second communication device, makes a data communication request to the second communication device, A communication device on the data receiving side among the second communication devices makes a data transmission request to the communication device on the data transmitting side based on a data transmission / reception protocol based on HTTP, and transmits communication data on an IP network based on the data transmission / reception protocol. The transmission / reception configuration allows the calling device to perform simple user operations via the telephone number, and also receives data. It is possible to easily and inexpensively implement both a WWW browsing function using HTTP and a one-to-one (PTP: Peer to Peer) data receiving function between a transmitter and a receiver having real-time characteristics in the communication device of the present invention. High-speed data communication can be performed on the IP communication path by the data transmission / reception protocol. That is, according to the present invention, there is obtained an excellent effect that a high-speed data communication can be performed by a simple call operation via a telephone number, and a communication system that is excellent in versatility and can be mounted easily and inexpensively can be provided. Can be
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network system including an image communication device employing the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the image communication device of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the ADSL gateway of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a data transmission / reception sequence for transmitting an image by IP communication using VoIP / SIP.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a data transmission / reception sequence by HTTP.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of communication processing on the image transmission side.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of communication processing on the image receiving side and the flow of data reception processing based on the HTTP protocol.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 IP network
102 WWW (HTTP) server
103 VoIP SIP Proxy
104 DNS Server
105, 107 image communication device
106, 108 ADSL gateway
201 CPU
207 Reading control unit
209 FAX modem
213 LAN controller
214 Recording control unit

Claims (8)

In a communication method for transmitting and receiving communication data by IP communication between communication devices identified by telephone numbers,
A first communication device that obtains an IP address of the second communication device from a predetermined server based on a telephone number of the second communication device, makes a data communication request to the second communication device,
A communication device on the data receiving side among the first and second communication devices makes a data transmission request to the communication device on the data transmitting side based on a data transmission / reception protocol based on HTTP, and transmits a data transmission request to the IP network based on the data transmission / reception protocol. A communication method, characterized in that communication data is transmitted and received by using. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined server is a SIP proxy server, and the first communication device acquires an IP address of the second communication device from the SIP proxy server based on a SIP protocol. Communication method. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein a communication device on the data receiving side among the first and second communication devices browses data of a WWW server using a data transmission / reception protocol conforming to HTTP, jumps to another link, records output, transfers, and the like. A communication method having a WWW communication function for performing the above-mentioned processing, and receiving communication data from a communication device on the data transmission side using the WWW communication function. 4. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the communication device on the data receiving side among the first and second communication devices browses the communication data received from the communication device on the data transmitting side using the WWW communication function, and switches to another link. A communication method characterized by performing processes such as jump, record output, transfer, and the like. A communication device that operates as the first or second communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A communication device that operates as the communication device on the data transmission side or the data reception side according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A control program for a communication device for controlling an operation of the first or second communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A control program for a communication device for controlling an operation of a communication device on a data transmitting side or a data receiving side according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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