JPH0715553A - Picture transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the transmission of a picture from a computer or the like to a printer at a remote location through a telephone line at low cost with less man-hours by using a mobile telephone system such as a simple portable telephone system. CONSTITUTION:Picture data outputted from a computer 1 are data described by a format (page description language) of a laser beam printer 6m and fed to a simplified portable handy phone system (PHP) 2. The picture data inputted to the PHP 2 are modulated into a radio signal and it is sent to a radio base station 3. The sent picture data are sent to a mobile communications control station 4 through a private line and then sent to an exchange station 5, in which a line of the laser beam printer 6 designated by the PHP 2 is selected and the picture data are outputted to the laser beam printer 6 connected to the selected line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image transmission system, and more particularly to an image transmission system via a mobile telephone device such as a portable telephone device.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is known in the art, image output devices (eg, the well-known laser beam printers) are connected one-to-one with a computer via standard interface cables, or local talk or It was used as a printer server on a local network such as Ethernet.

FIG. 8 shows a one-to-one correspondence between a computer and a printer.
It is a block diagram showing a conventional example connected by.

In FIG. 8, image data output from the computer 1 is a standard interface of the laser beam printer 6, for example, SCS which is a standard interface.
It is output to the data reception processing circuit 13 according to the I (Small Computer System Interface) protocol. The output image data is output to the command interpretation / data edit processing circuit 14 via the data reception processing circuit 13.

The command interpretation / data edit processing circuit 14 interprets the page description language and outputs image data to the drawing processing circuit 15 for each drawing processing. Then, in the drawing processing circuit 15, character code drawing processing, raster image drawing processing, and graphic drawing processing are separately processed,
After being multiplexed, it is developed as a bitmap image in the page memory 16. The image data output from the page memory 16 is developed according to the raster scan method of the printer engine 18, and the engine I / F
It is supplied to the control circuit 17.

Image data is output from the engine I / F control circuit 17 to the printer engine 18 in synchronization with a synchronization signal of the printer engine 18, and the printer engine 18
Outputs a hard copy of the image data.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, it is extremely difficult to connect a computer and a printer at a remote place both in terms of labor and cost, and it is necessary to connect the computer to be used and the printer in advance. There was a problem of having to stay.

That is, it is necessary to connect a computer at a remote place to a printer by radio or the like, and to use an existing communication line or the like in order to reduce the cost.

Therefore, in view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to
An object of the present invention is to provide an image transmission system capable of sending an image from a computer or the like to a printer via a telephone line by using a mobile telephone device such as a simplified mobile telephone device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is described in the form of the image output device in an image transmission system for transmitting image data to an image output device in a remote place. A mobile telephone device having a first input / output unit capable of inputting / outputting the image data and a second input / output unit capable of inputting / outputting the image data to / from the telephone line; An image having a modem that demodulates the modulated data, a video signal conversion unit that interprets the image data from the modem and converts the image data into a video signal suitable for the image output device, and a visualization unit that visualizes the video signal And an output device.

Here, the first input / output means and the second input / output means
It is preferable to have image data storage means between the input and output means.

It is also possible to have a compression / decompression means for compressing and decompressing the image data between the first input / output means and the image data storage means.

Further, the first input / output means and the second input / output means
It is also possible to have a means for adding a header as an identification label of the mobile telephone device between the input / output means and the input / output means.

[0014]

According to the above configuration of the present invention, since a mobile phone such as a simple portable telephone device can be used, it is extremely easy to transmit an image to a remote image output device via a telephone line. Become.

[0015]

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

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image data output from the computer 1 such as a personal computer or a workstation is image data described according to the format (page description language) of the laser beam printer 6. This image data is an image including a character, a line drawing, a natural image such as a photograph, etc., and is supplied to a simple mobile phone device (hereinafter referred to as PHP).

The image data input to PHP 2 is modulated into a radio signal and transmitted to the radio base station 3 as a radio signal. The transmitted image data is transmitted to the mobile communication control station 4 through the dedicated line and further transmitted to the exchange station 5.

The exchange 5 selects the line of the destination (laser beam printer 6) designated by the PHP 2 and outputs the image data to the laser beam printer 6 connected to the line. Then, in the laser beam printer 6, it is converted into raster scan type bitmap data and output as a hard copy of the image data.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the details of PHP 2 shown in FIG. Computer 1 and PHP 2
Is connectable by the above-mentioned SCSI, and the image data output from the computer 1 is interpreted by the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 and output to the selector 8 in accordance with a synchronization signal (not shown). . Further, the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 includes a computer 1 and a P
Detects the connection status with HP2, and the computer 1 and PHP
When 2 is connected, "H" is output to the AND circuit 11, and when it is not connected, "L" is output to the AND circuit 11.

On the other hand, the dial communication circuit 7 can dial the line of the printer to which the image data is to be output. When the connection to the printer is completed, "H" is output and the printer is connected to the printer. If not, “L” is output to the AND circuit 11.

In the selector 8, when the output from the AND circuit 11 is "L", the output from the dial communication circuit 7 is
When it is "H", the output from the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 is selected. That is, when the computer 1 and the PHP 2 are connected and the connection to the printer is completed by the dial communication circuit 7, the image data from the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 is output to the wireless signal transmission / reception circuit 9 via the selector 8. To be done. The output image data is modulated by the wireless signal transmission / reception circuit 9 and transmitted to the wireless control station 3 as a wireless signal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the details of the laser beam printer 6 shown in FIG. The modulated image data from the exchange 5 is demodulated in the modem 12 and output to the data reception processing circuit 13 according to a standard interface, for example, the above-mentioned SCSI protocol. The output image data is interpreted by the data reception processing circuit 13 as a SCSI command and output to the command interpretation / data editing processing circuit 14.

The command interpretation / data edit processing circuit 14 interprets the page description language and outputs image data to the drawing processing circuit 15 for each drawing processing. In the drawing processing circuit 15, the output image data is subjected to character code drawing processing, raster image drawing processing, and graphic drawing processing separately, and after being multiplexed, is expanded as a bitmap image in the page memory 16. The image data output from the page memory 16 is developed in accordance with the raster scan method of the printer engine 18, and the engine I
It is supplied to the / F control circuit 17.

Image data is output from the engine I / F control circuit 17 to the printer engine 18 in synchronization with the synchronization signal of the printer engine 18, and the printer engine 18
Outputs a hard copy of the image data.

In this embodiment, the computer 1 and the PH
Automatically detects the connection status of P2 and dial dial circuit 7 and S
Although the image data from the CSI input / output control circuit 10 is selected, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a select button may be provided on the PHP 2 and manually switched by the select button.

Further, in the above embodiment, the dial call circuit 7 and the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 are provided separately, but it is also possible to have the same configuration so that the computer 1 side can control the dial call. is there.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention, in which blocks having the same functions as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, a memory for storing input image data is added to the structure of the first embodiment.

The image data output from the computer 1 is interpreted by the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 as a SCSI command and output to the memory 19. Then, the output image data is stored in the memory 19.

The memory 19 can store image data of one page or more. For example, when the memory of three pages can be stored, until the image data of three pages is stored in the memory 19 from the computer 1. It is not necessary to output the image data to the selector 8.

In addition to the timing of image data output from the computer 1, until the image data for three pages is stored, the image data can be arbitrarily selected by the dial communication circuit 7 even if the number of pages is three or less. It is possible to output the image data stored in the memory 19 to the laser beam printer 6 at a remote place by dialing the line of the printer that wants to output.

The other functions are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

It is possible to output all pages of the image data of a plurality of pages stored in the memory 19 at once, or to output only arbitrary pages.

The memory 19 may be an IC memory or a hard disk (magnetic disk or the like).

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2
The blocks having the same functions as are given the same numbers.

In this embodiment, a compression / decompression circuit 20 for compressing / decompressing image data is added to the front stage of the memory 19 in the configuration of the second embodiment (see FIG. 4).

The image data output from the computer 1 is interpreted by the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 as a SCSI command and output to the compression / decompression circuit 20. The image data is compressed in the compression / expansion circuit 20 by, for example, the well-known run length encoding method or the JPEG encoding method, output to the memory 19 and stored.

The subsequent steps are the same as in the second embodiment. That is, the memory 19 can store image data of one page or more. For example, in the case of a configuration capable of storing memory of three pages, the image data from the computer 1 can be three.
It is not necessary to output the image data to the selector 8 until it is stored in the page memory 19.

In addition to the timing of outputting image data from the computer 1, until the image data for three pages is stored, the image data is arbitrarily transmitted by the dial communication circuit 7 even if the number of pages is three or less. It is possible to output the image data stored in the memory 19 to the laser beam printer 6 at a remote place by dialing the line of the printer that wants to output.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the details of the laser beam printer 6 from receiving the compressed image data transmitted from the PHP 2 to obtaining a hard copy.

The modulated compressed image data from the exchange 5 is demodulated in the modem 12 and output to the data reception processing circuit 13 according to a standard interface, for example, the above-mentioned SCSI protocol. In the output image data, the SCSI command is interpreted by the data reception processing circuit 13 and output to the decompression circuit 21.

In the decompression circuit 21, the input image data is decompressed by the decoding method according to the compression method of the compressed image data, and the command interpretation / data edit processing circuit 14 is executed.
Is output to. Command interpretation / data edit processing circuit 14
In step 1, the page description language is interpreted and image data is output to the drawing processing circuit 15 for each drawing process. In the drawing processing circuit 15, the output image data is subjected to character code drawing processing, raster image drawing processing, and graphic drawing processing separately, and after being multiplexed, is expanded as a bitmap image in the page memory 16.

The image data output from the page memory 16 is developed according to the raster scan method of the printer engine 18, and is supplied to the engine I / F control circuit 17. Image data is output from the engine I / F control circuit 17 to the printer engine 18 in synchronization with the synchronization signal of the printer engine 18,
Outputs a hard copy of the image data.

In the present embodiment, compression is performed for all page description languages. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the character line drawing portion and the image portion (natural image such as photograph) are separated, and the character line drawing portion includes run length or the like. The compression may be performed by a lossless encoding method, and the image portion may be compressed by a lossy encoding method which is optimal for natural images such as JPEG.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which blocks having the same functions as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, a header addition circuit is added to the rear stage of the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 in the configuration of the first embodiment (see FIG. 2).

The image data output from the computer 1 is interpreted by the SCSI input / output control circuit 10 as a SCSI command and output to the header addition circuit 22. In the header addition circuit 22, a header as an ID of PHP2 is added, and the radio signal transmission / reception circuit 9 is added via the selector 8.
Is output to. The output image data is modulated by the wireless signal transmission / reception circuit 9 and transmitted to the wireless control station 3 as a wireless signal.

As already described with reference to FIG. 3, the modulated image data from the switching center 5 is demodulated in the modem 12 and then the standard interface such as the SCSI described above is used.
Is output to the data reception processing circuit 13 according to the protocol. The output image data is the data reception processing circuit 13
SCSI command is interpreted in
It is output to the data edit processing circuit 14.

The command interpretation / data edit processing circuit 14 interprets the page description language and outputs the image data to the drawing processing circuit 15 for each drawing processing. At the same time,
The header attached to the image data is interpreted and PHP2
Of the drawing processing circuit 1
Output to 5.

In the drawing processing circuit 15, the character code drawing process, the raster image drawing process and the graphic drawing process are separately processed, and the text data of the supplied ID is image data in the character code drawing processing section. The image data and the ID text data which have been processed together with the drawing process are multiplexed and then expanded as a bitmap image in the page memory 16.

After that, the same processing as in the first embodiment is carried out, and finally a hard copy is obtained from the printer engine 18. As a result of the above processing, the ID of PHP2 is displayed on the same paper surface in the hard copy.

In this embodiment, the ID of PHP2 is displayed on the same paper surface as the image data, but it is also possible to display the ID of PHP2 on another paper surface before outputting the image data. Further, not only the ID but also the telephone number, the user, and the date may be displayed.

As a combination example of the above-described embodiments, a configuration in which the third and fourth embodiments are combined may be adopted, or a configuration in which the second and fourth embodiments are combined may be adopted.

In the present embodiment, the case where the image data output from the computer connected to the simple type portable telephone device by SCSI is output to the printer at the remote place is described.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to receive image data output from a computer at a remote place through a telephone line and output it to a printer connected to the simplified mobile telephone device by SCSI. Also, the interface is S
It is also possible to use RS232C or Centronics standard instead of CSI. Furthermore, the telephone line may be not only an analog line but also a digital line such as ISDN.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, an image can be sent from a computer or the like to a printer located at a remote place through a telephone line by using a mobile telephone device such as a simple portable telephone device. It is easy and labor-intensive and cost-effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image transmission system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing details of a portable telephone device (PHP) in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram showing details of the laser beam printer in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing details of PHP in the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing details of PHP in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block configuration diagram showing details of a laser beam printer in the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing details of PHP in a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a conventional example in which a computer and a printer are connected one-to-one.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Computer 2 PHP 3 Radio Base Station 4 Mobile Communication Control Station 5 Switching Station 6 Laser Beam Printer 7 Dial Communication Circuit 8 Selector 9 Radio Signal Transmitter / Receiver Circuit 10 SCSI Input / Output Control Circuit 11 AND Circuit 12 Modem 13 Data Reception Processing Circuit 14 Command Interpretation Data editing processing circuit 15 Drawing processing circuit 16 Page memory 17 Engine I / F control circuit 18 Printer engine 19 Memory 20 Compression / expansion circuit 21 Expansion circuit 22 Header addition circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image transmission system for transmitting image data to an image output device at a remote place, and a first input / output unit capable of inputting / outputting image data described in the format of the image output device. A mobile telephone device having a second input / output unit capable of inputting / outputting the image data to / from a telephone line; a modem for demodulating modulated data from the telephone line; and image data from the modem. Video signal conversion means for interpreting and converting to a video signal suitable for the image output device,
And an image output device having a visualization means for visualizing the video signal. 2. The image transmission system according to claim 1, further comprising image data storage means between the first input / output means and the second input / output means. 3. The image transmission system according to claim 2, further comprising a compression / expansion unit for compressing and expanding the image data between the first input / output unit and the image data storage unit. . 4. The device according to claim 1, further comprising means for adding a header as an identification label of the mobile telephone device between the first input / output means and the second input / output means. Image transmission system.