JP3774574B2 - Image communication system and image communication method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image communication system that communicates image data and the like via a network, for example.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When a certain image file is on the user side, and there is information related to the image file in a server that can be connected via a communication path, and the information is obtained from the server using the user side image, specifically,
-Get a whole image file on the server side from a partial image file-Get the latest updated image on the server side from a certain image file-Search another image similar to it from a certain image file- When searching for bibliographic information related to an image file, the relationship between the image file on the user side and the image (or server) that is the information search target is
・ The user memorizes or records the relevance ・ Data for managing it (for example, data in Hyper Link format such as HTML) is prepared by the user or server data manager It was necessary to show by a method such as.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in any of the methods, since the description of the relationship between the image data on the user side and the data to be searched or the server is outside the image file, the relationship between the image data alone cannot be maintained. Therefore, there is a problem that, for example, when the information on the relationship is lost or forgotten, the relationship is lost.
[0004]
The present invention embeds an ID in a duplicate image file generated from all or part of the original image file on the image communication server, and maintains the correspondence between the ID and the original image on the server, An object of the present invention is to enable association with an original image file on an image communication server and easily obtain information about the original image on the image communication server from an image communication client program based on the duplicate image file.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is, an image communication system including an image communication server and an image communication client, wherein the image communication server stores an original image file including original image data and non-image information, and holds by the holding unit generating a duplicate image data from all or a portion of the original image data to be, and a generation unit for generating a replication time of performing copy processing and replication image identifier for said replication image data, replica generated by the generation means An adding means for adding an image identifier and a duplication time to the duplicate image data; a correspondence storage means for storing a correspondence relation between the duplicate image identifier and the original image data; and the duplicate image identifier from the image communication client; receiving means for receiving including a replication time request, the double contained in the received request by the receiving means Based on the image identifier, it said specifying means for specifying the original image data from the correspondence relationship stored in the storage means corresponding relationship, from the original image file for the particular original image data are present in the image format non The image communication client includes an extraction unit that extracts image information and a transmission unit that transmits the non-image information extracted by the extraction unit to the image communication client. The image communication client includes a duplicate image added to the duplicate image data. have a takeout means for taking out the identifier and replication time, and request means for requesting the non-image information for the original image data and the sending the duplicated image identifier and replication time extracted by the extraction unit to the image communication server, wherein image the transmitting means of the communication server, corresponding to the duplicated image identifier included in the request from the image communication client That those non-image information relating to the original image data is transmitted to the image communication client, the sending the information to the image communication client if the original image file after replication time is updated original image file Indicates that it has been updated .
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an image communication server 101 is a server that provides an image communication service according to the present invention. The storage device 102 is a storage device for recording an image file provided by the image communication server 101, and is connected to the image communication server 101.
[0013]
An image communication server program p101 and a duplicate image generation program p102 are operating in the image communication server 101, and a duplicate image file is stored in an arbitrary storage area that can be referred to by both the image communication server program p101 and the duplicate image generation program p102. A correspondence table t101 indicating the correspondence between the ID and the original image is held.
[0014]
Image files are stored in the storage device 102. For example, the operator can select a desired image file as the original image file d101.
[0015]
The image communication client 111 is a device serving as a client of the image communication service, and an image communication client program p111 is operating therein.
[0016]
A storage device 112 is connected to the image communication client 111. A duplicate image file d111 is stored in the storage device 112. The duplicate image file d111 is generated from the original image file d101 by the duplicate image generation program p102, and has an ID inside the image file. The duplicate image file d111 is assumed to have been transferred from the image communication server 101 to the image communication client 111 by some means such as communication or exchange of a recording medium.
[0017]
Furthermore, the image communication server 101 and the image communication client 111 are connected by an information communication path 121 so that they can communicate with each other. The information communication path 121 is an arbitrary communication path through which the server and the client can communicate with each other, and is generally a wired connection such as an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable, a telephone line, or RS232C. Other connection methods such as wireless connection or a combination of these connection methods may be used. The communication path 121 may be connected via a plurality of devices and programs (for example, a communication relay program such as a communication relay device or a proxy program).
[0018]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the process flow of the duplicate image generation program p102.
[0019]
The duplicate image generation program p102 is a program for generating a distribution duplicate image file d111 from the original image file d101 held in the storage device 102. First, a duplicate image file is created from all or part of the original image file d101. Generate (s501). Next, an ID to be given to the duplicate image file is generated (s502). The duplicate image file ID may be a simple string of letters or numbers, or includes information regarding the location of the image communication server 101 on the communication path 121 such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or a telephone number. It may be a shape. Next, the generated duplicate image file ID is embedded in the duplicate image file (s503). Further, the relationship between the duplicate image file ID and the original image d101 is registered in the correspondence table t101 (s504).
[0020]
Here, the processing of s501 to s504 has been described in such a stage and order for convenience of explanation. However, the order of these steps is changed, or some of these steps are processed in one step. It does not matter. There is also a method in which an ID is embedded in the original image file in advance, and the ID embedded in the original image file in the duplicate image file generation step (s501) is copied to the duplicate image file as a duplicate image file ID. There is also a method of adding some data (for example, a character string or the like) to the ID of the original image file, or adding an ID synthesized by performing an appropriate operation to the duplicate image file as a duplicate image file ID.
[0021]
It is assumed that the duplicate image file d111 generated by the above processing is transferred to the image communication client 111 by some means. Some means may be delivered to the user who operates the image communication client in a form recorded on a medium such as a flexible disk or CD-ROM, or on the information communication path 121 or other information communication path. Stored in the image communication server 101 or another server, and may be stored in the storage device 112 by referring to the image communication client 111, or on the information communication path 121 or other information communication path. It may be stored in the image communication server 101 or another server, and may be stored in the storage device 112 by referring to the image communication client 111, or another method may be used.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing flow on the image communication client program p111 side.
[0023]
The image communication client program p111 running on the image communication client 111 first refers to the duplicate image file d111 stored in the storage device 112 and extracts the duplicate image file ID embedded therein (s201). . Next, based on the duplicate image file ID extracted in s201, a request including the duplicate image file ID is generated (s202), and the request is transmitted to the image communication server 101 (s203). This request is issued to request information relating to the original image file d101 itself and the original image file. At this time, even if there is no information on the location of the image communication server 101 in the duplicate image file ID, a request can be made by incorporating information on the location of the image communication server 101 on the communication path 121 in the image communication client program p111 in advance. Can be generated and sent.
[0024]
The series of processing of the image communication client program p111 is processing within the image communication client program p111 and does not require the user to be aware of it one by one. It is only necessary to present the file d111 and perform an operation as a trigger for starting the request processing from the client.
[0025]
FIG. 6 is an example of a graphical representation of the interface for presenting the duplicate image file d111 and request processing start trigger. In the case of this example, the graphical interface 601 of the image communication client program p111 presents the contents of the duplicate image file 111 in the image display area 602, and performs request processing triggered by the user pressing the button 603.
[0026]
FIG. 7 shows an example in which the interface for presenting the duplicate image file d111 and the start trigger for request processing is a character-based interface such as a command line. In FIG. 7, the character string “imgsrch” is an example of a command that should instruct activation of the client program p111, and activation of the client program p111 is an example of a trigger for starting request processing. Also, “xxxxxxxx.img” is a name that means the duplicate image file d111, which is a file name in, for example, MS-DOS or UNIX (registered trademark) system, and is given as an argument of the command “imgsrch”. Thus, the copy image file d111 is instructed.
[0027]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the flow of processing on the image communication server program p101 side.
[0028]
After being activated, the image communication server program p101 has a request from a client program (for example, the image communication client program p111) (s301). When the request is received (s302), the image copy file ID of the copy image file d111 is extracted from the request (s303). Next, an original image d101 having a correspondence relationship with the duplicate image file ID is specified with reference to the correspondence relationship table t101 (s304). Next, the image communication server program p101 creates information related to the original image file d101 based on the original image file d101 specified in s304 (s305), and transmits it to the image communication client p111 (s306).
[0029]
In s307, the end processing of the server program is determined. This is a step described for generalization, and in the case of a normal server program, the determination formula of s307 is always set to false and the processing is returned to s301 and again. It is common to have a request.
[0030]
The information related to the original image file d101 is, for example, the following information.
・ Information on how to import or refine digital data (File Source)
・ Copyright information (Intellectual property)
・ Information (Content description) about the contents of the image (persons and places in the image)
・ Camera information about the camera used for shooting
・ Information on camera settings (exposure, shutter speed, focal length, flash use, etc.) at the time of shooting (Per Picture camera setting)
・ Digital camera characterization
-Information such as film manufacturer name, product name, type (negative / positive, color / black and white) (Film description)
・ Information on the type and size when the original is a book or print (Original document scan description)
-In the case of scanned images, information about the scanner and software used, and the person who operated it (Scan device)
These pieces of information exist as non-image information in the image format considered in this embodiment. This information is extracted from the original image file d101 by the image communication server 101 in response to a request from the image communication client 111 and returned to the image communication client 111.
[0031]
As described above, by using the duplicate image file d111 having the duplicate image file ID, it is possible to easily access the image communication server 101 and take out information related to the original image file d101 that is the source.
[Second Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, in the information generation step s305 of the server program p111 in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment, for example, a second duplicate image file duplicated from the whole or part of the original image file 101 is created, and step S306 is performed. Then, it is returned to the image communication client program p111. As a result, a copy image of the entire original image or another partial image can be searched from a part of the copy images of the original image.
[Third Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, as the original image file d101 of the second embodiment, an image file in a multi-frame format such as a multi-frame image data file in a Tiff format is used. Of course, the copy image file d111 is not limited to the Tiff format, and may be an image file generated from arbitrary image data among a plurality of frame image data included in the original image file d101. At this time, it is not particularly necessary that the image format of the duplicate image file d101 or the second duplicate image file is the same as that of the original image file d101. As a result, the original image or a part of the original image can be searched from a part of the image data of the multi-frame image.
[Fourth Embodiment]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the concept of a hierarchical image file having a plurality of identical images having different resolutions such as the FlashPix format. In FIG. 4, image data 411, 412, and 413 representing the same image at three different resolutions are included in one image file 401.
[0032]
In the second embodiment, as the original image file d101, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a hierarchical image file having a plurality of identical images with different resolutions can be applied. In this case, the duplicate image file d111 may be an image file generated from arbitrary image data among a plurality of image data of the original image file d101. At this time, it is not particularly necessary that the image format of the duplicate image file d101 or the second duplicate image file is the same as that of the original image file d101.
[0033]
Thereby, it is possible to search for image data of other resolutions based on the image data of a certain resolution passed to the client.
[Fifth Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, as an original image file d101, for example, an image file of a progressive encoding method of a JPEG image encoding method defined by ISO / IEC 10918, or a JBIG image encoding defined by ISO / IEC 11544 is used. It is also possible to apply an image file that holds an image with a hierarchical difference structure, such as a system image file. In this case, the duplicate image file d111 may be an image file generated from image data sufficient to constitute an image of an arbitrary hierarchy possessed by the original image file d101. At this time, it is not particularly necessary that the image format of the duplicate image file d101 or the second duplicate image file is the same as that of the original image file d101. Thereby, based on the image data of a certain resolution passed to the client, the difference information necessary for generating the image data of another resolution can be searched.
[Sixth Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, the original image file d101 is an image file that is updated automatically or manually over time, such as a weather image transmitted by a weather satellite.
[0034]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of processing of the image communication client program. The process according to the flowchart of FIG. 8 is obtained by adding one step (step S802) to the process of the image communication client program according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 2, and only the added part will be described.
[0035]
According to FIG. 8, the image communication client program extracts the duplicate image file generation time information from the duplicate image file after extracting the ID from the duplicate image file d111 (s802). The duplicate image file generation time information is information indicating the time when the duplicate image file d111 was generated from the original image file d101 as the name suggests, and can simply be the time stamp of the duplicate image file d111. In addition, when the image file generation time field is included in the image format, for example, the FlashPix format, the field may be referred to. Further, if the duplicate image generation program embeds the information of the time at which the duplication processing is performed in the ID generation in the ID generation step in s502 of FIG. 5, in the processing in s802, the time from the duplicate image file ID extracted in s801. This is a process for extracting information. Next, the image communication program generates a request from the copy image file ID and the copy image file generation time information (s803), and transmits the request to the image communication server (s804).
[0036]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of processing of the image communication server program. The process according to the flowchart of FIG. 9 is obtained by adding several steps (s904, s906) to the process of the image communication server program according to the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. To do.
[0037]
According to FIG. 9, the image communication server program receives the request from the image communication client program, extracts the duplicate image file generation time information after extracting the request from the request to the duplicate image file ID (s903). Next, the generation time information of the original image file, simply the time stamp of the original image, or the corresponding image depending on the image format, is extracted from the corresponding field, and compared with the previously extracted copy image file generation time information, the copy image file generation time Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the original image file has been updated (s906). If it is determined in step s906 that the original image file has been updated, the process proceeds to step s907, and information is transmitted to the image communication client program. On the other hand, if it is determined that it has not been updated, the process proceeds to an end determination process in step s909.
[0038]
This makes it easy to update the duplicate image when the original image is updated.
[Seventh Embodiment]
An image database is added to the system in the first embodiment, and further, for example, a search related to the original image file 101 is performed in the information generation step processing s305 of the server program p111. As a result, for example, a keyword added to the original image file 101 And other information may be information related to the original image. Thereby, it is possible to search for data related to the original image, not only the image data, from the duplicate image.
[0039]
[Other Embodiments]
Note that the present invention can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), or a device (for example, a copier, a facsimile device, etc.) including a single device. You may apply to.
[0040]
In addition, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the storage medium. This can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in.
[0041]
In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.
[0042]
As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.
[0043]
Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. A case where part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.
[0044]
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. This includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, an ID is embedded in a duplicate image file generated from all or part of an original image file on an image communication server, and the correspondence between the ID and the original image is held on the server. Thus, it is possible to easily search for an original image on the image communication server based on the duplicate image from the image communication client having the duplicate image file.
[0046]
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing of a client program.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of server program processing.
FIG. 4 is an image file conceptual diagram having images having different resolutions in a hierarchical manner.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing of a duplicate image generation program.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interface of a client program.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interface of a client program.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of processing of a client program.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of server program processing.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 image communication server 102 storage device 111 image communication client 112 storage device 121 information communication path p101 image communication server program p102 duplicate image generation program p111 image communication client program d101 original image file d111 duplicate image file t101 correspondence table

Claims (4)

An image communication system comprising an image communication server and an image communication client,
The image communication server is
Holding means for storing an original image file including original image data and non-image information;
Generating a duplicate image data from all or a portion of the original image data held by said holding means, and generating means for generating a replica time of performing copy processing and replication image identifier for said replication image data,
Adding means for adding the duplicate image identifier and the duplication time generated by the generation means to the duplicate image data;
Correspondence storage means for storing the correspondence between the duplicate image identifier and the original image data;
Receiving means for receiving a request including the duplicate image identifier and the duplication time from the image communication client;
Based on the duplicate image identifier included in the request received by the receiving means, specifying means for specifying original image data from the correspondence stored in the correspondence storage means;
Extraction means for extracting non-image information existing in an image format from an original image file for the specified original image data;
Transmission means for transmitting the non-image information extracted by the extraction means to the image communication client;
The image communication client is:
Taking- out means for taking out a duplicate image identifier and duplication time added to the duplicate image data;
Requesting means for requesting non-image information for original image data to the image communication server by transmitting the duplicate image identifier and the duplication time extracted by the extracting means ;
Wherein the transmitting means of the image communication server, wherein the non-image information relating to the original image data corresponding to the duplicated image identifier included in the request from the image communication client which transmitted to the image communication client, after the replication time An image communication system , wherein when the original image file is updated, the information is transmitted to the image communication client to indicate that the original image file is updated .   2. The image communication system according to claim 1, wherein the non-image information is information relating to a copyright of original image data or information relating to a camera used for photographing the original image data. An image communication method in an image communication system comprising an image communication server and an image communication client,
In the image communication server,
Duplicate image data is generated from all or part of the original image data held by the holding means for saving the original image file including the original image data and the non-image information , and the duplicate image identifier and the duplication processing for the duplicate image data are performed. A generation step for generating a replication time, and
An adding step of adding a duplicate image identifier and a duplication time generated by the generating means to the duplicate image data;
A storage step of storing a correspondence relationship between the duplicate image identifier and the original image data in a correspondence relationship storage unit;
Receiving a request including the duplicate image identifier and the duplication time from the image communication client;
A specifying step of specifying original image data from the correspondence stored in the correspondence storage unit based on the duplicate image identifier included in the request received by the receiving step;
An extraction step of extracting non-image information existing in an image format from an original image file for the specified original image data;
A transmission step of transmitting the non-image information extracted by the extraction step to the image communication client,
In the image communication client,
An extraction step of retrieving a duplicate image identifier and a duplicate time attached to the duplicate image data;
A requesting step of requesting non-image information for original image data to the image communication server by transmitting the duplicate image identifier and the copy time extracted by the extraction means ;
Wherein in the image Contact Keru of the transmission to the communication server process, intended to transmit the non-image information relating to the original image data corresponding to the duplicated image identifier included in the request from the image communication client to the image communication client, the replication An image communication method , wherein when the original image file is updated after the time, the information is transmitted to the image communication client to indicate that the original image file is updated .   4. The image communication method according to claim 3, wherein the non-image information is information relating to copyright of original image data or information relating to a camera used for photographing the original image data.

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