JPH08204703A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To attain communication even when data format differs by sending hardware and software information of the equipment prior to the communication, to compare data format for the communication and resource information of a receiver side and sending data after the data conversion as required. CONSTITUTION: Data to be sent are set and a transmission destination is set. A transmission request is given to the transmission destination. When the connection is successful, resource information of a terminal equipment being a transmission opposite party is received. The user references a conversion table 8 to allow an input section 21 to select an optical conversion method and discriminates whether or not the conversion is made possible. When the conversion is disable, it is displayed on a display section 1 and the communication is terminated. When the conversion is made possible, the user converts data so as to allow a receiver side to decode the data and sends the converted data and then the communication is terminated. The receiver side awaiting a transmission request accepts the transmission request and when the connection is not set up, the receiver side awaits the reception again. When the connection is set up, the receiver side sends its resource information and the receiver side receives data of a form to be decoded and then the communication is terminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device, and more particularly to data such as characters, images and voices on a public line network, LAN,
The present invention relates to a communication device that transmits and receives via a network such as infrared communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in data communication using a network, the transmitting side knows in advance the data processing capability and function of the receiving side, and sends data in accordance with the capability. For example, in television broadcasting, the broadcasting station side transmits a signal in a format suitable for the capability of the terminal (television). This method has no problem when a single data format can be assumed, but has a problem that reception cannot be performed when there are many kinds of formats and the device can interpret only some of them. This is because even if the device on the transmitting side transmits data assuming a predetermined format, the receiving side may not understand the format.

Further, there is a facsimile as a format advanced from the television. This involves exchanging information such as what communication speed is possible in the negotiation part, and then transmitting and receiving at a communication speed and protocol that can be handled by both parties. This method selects the communication protocol, but does not change the data format. Therefore, the problem of different data formats cannot be solved.

In order to solve this problem, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 260260/1993 when the data to be handled is limited to color still images. This is done by conducting negotiation before data communication, converting the data into a format that can be processed by the receiving device on the transmitting side, and then sending the data.

[0005]

However, in the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-260242, the data handled is only a color still image. There is no method for communication of data other than still images. Further, even for a color image, only the handling of the color is described, and the difference in image size is not mentioned.

Considering an example of character data, for example, a word processor usually has a model-specific format for storing texts and figures, and some conversion is required when attempting to communicate with a model having a different format. Similarly, a personal mobile terminal has a unique format for storing addresses and schedules. Ideally, these should be unified into a single common format, but if that is practically difficult, some means of conversion is needed. The same applies to other data. In the case of moving images, in addition to standard formats such as MPEG1 and MPEG2, AVI of Microsoft
Formats and Apple's QuickTime format are available. In music, even when the waveform itself is sent, there is room for selection such as the sampling frequency and the bit precision of one sample, and there are also cases where it is sent as symbol information such as MIDI. It is desirable that the communicating devices have the ability to interpret the same format, but this assumption does not always hold when trying to communicate between other types of models. Therefore, it is desirable that the transmitting side and the receiving side negotiate prior to data communication, and the transmitting device converts the data into a format that the receiving side can handle before transmitting. Even if the format can be transmitted, the storage capacity of the receiving side may be a problem.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication device capable of communicating even if the data format is different.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the aforementioned object is a communication device for transmitting and receiving information including character, image, graphic, voice and music data, and hardware for processing the data. And resource information storage means for storing information on resources consisting of software and other communication on the receiving side to determine whether or not another communication device on the receiving side has the same resource before transmitting data. When the negotiation means for communicating with the device and the other communication device on the receiving side do not have the same resource, the data to be transmitted is converted into data that can be processed by the resource of the other communication device on the receiving side. And a data conversion unit that performs data conversion based on a conversion table describing the conversion unit.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is to perform performance evaluation value storage means for storing a performance evaluation value indicating the calculation performance of the communication device, performance evaluation value of the communication device and other communication on the receiving side. And a performance comparison means for comparing performance evaluation values of the device, comparing the performance evaluation value of the communication device and the performance evaluation value of the other communication device on the receiving side, and the communication device having a superior performance evaluation value This is achieved by the communication device of claim 2 which performs data conversion.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is to store an original address storing means for storing where each piece of original data exists, and information about where the original data exists at the time of communication. An original address adding means for adding the original data to the original data, and if the other communication device on the receiving side wants to obtain the original data, the original data is obtained from another communication device having the original data based on an instruction from the user. This is achieved by the communication device according to item 3.

According to the present invention, the aforementioned object is achieved by the communication device according to claim 4, wherein the conversion table and the resource information storage means are rewritable media.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is a conversion requesting means for requesting data conversion to a third communication device different from the communication device or the other communication device on the receiving side,
Conversion receiving means for receiving conversion from another communication device, and when the communication device cannot convert into data that can be processed by the other communication device on the receiving side, the third device
The communication device according to claim 5, wherein the communication device is requested to convert the data, and the converted data is sent to another communication device on the receiving side.

According to the present invention, the above object is to provide a communication time estimating means for estimating a time required for data transfer when various data conversions are performed, and an estimated value of the communication time at the time of transmitting and receiving data. 7. The communication device according to claim 6, further comprising: an image display unit for displaying each data conversion, and a selection unit for selecting an arbitrary method based on information of the type of data conversion and communication time displayed on the image display unit. To be done.

According to the present invention, the above object is provided with an output information storage means for storing information including software for processing the data which is currently to be transmitted,
The information is transmitted together with the data when the other communication device on the receiving side does not have information including software for processing data and the communication device on the transmitting side has the information. Achieved by a communication device.

[0015]

According to the communication device of the present invention, the resource information storage means stores the hardware and software information of the device, and the negotiation means determines whether or not the receiving side has the same resource before transmitting the data. This conversion table describes conversion means for communicating with the receiving side to make a judgment, and when the receiving side does not have the resource for processing the data to be transmitted by the conversion table, the receiving side resource can process the data. The data conversion means performs data conversion based on the above. This absorbs the differences in hardware, software, and data formats between the devices, so that the user can always receive or transmit the best data without worrying about the differences.

According to another aspect of the communication device, the performance evaluation value storage means stores the performance evaluation value indicating the calculation performance of the device, and the performance comparison means stores the performance evaluation value on the transmission side and the performance evaluation value on the reception side. It is compared, and when the conversion of the data format is necessary in the communication and the conversion can be performed by both the transmitting side and the receiving side, the calculation performances are compared, and the conversion is performed by the device having the superior performance. Thereby, the communication time including format conversion can be shortened.

According to the communication device of claim 3, the original address storage means stores where the original data for each data exists, and the original address adding means stores information about where the original data exists at the time of communication. Is added, and when the receiving side device wants to obtain the original data of the data, the original data is obtained from the device having the original data based on the instruction.

According to the communication device of the fourth aspect, the conversion table and the resource information storage section can be rewritten. This makes it easy to add new resources.

According to the communication device of claim 5, the conversion requesting unit requests the conversion to the third device different from the transmitting or receiving device, and the conversion receiving unit receives the conversion from the other device, and the transmission is performed. If the data cannot be converted into a format that the receiving device can interpret, the third device is requested to perform the conversion, and the conversion result is sent to the receiving device. As a result, format conversion that cannot be performed on the transmitting side and the receiving side can be performed. .

According to the sixth aspect of the communication apparatus, the communication time estimating means estimates the time required for data transfer when various conversions are performed, and the image display means estimates the communication time during data transmission / reception. The estimated value is displayed for each data conversion, and an arbitrary method is selected by the selection means based on the information on the type of conversion and communication time displayed on the image display means. Therefore, the user can select an appropriate conversion method.

According to another aspect of the communication device of the present invention, the output information storage means stores information including software for processing the data currently to be transmitted, and the output information communication means stores the output information. When the receiving side does not have information including software for data output or processing and the transmitting side has the information, the information is transmitted and received together with the data. Therefore, the data can be processed without conversion.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the communication device according to claim 1 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication device of this embodiment has a control unit 4 as a control means for controlling each unit, and the control unit 4 is a text still image through a bus line 20. , A display unit 1 as an image display unit for displaying a moving image, a voice output unit 2 as a voice output unit for outputting music and voice, and communication for communicating with other devices through a public line, LAN, infrared communication, etc. Communication unit 3 as means
And an input unit 21 as a selection means for inputting an instruction and the like are connected. Further, the bus line 20 includes a resource information storage unit 5 as a resource information storage unit that stores what format data the device can handle, and a storage unit 6 that stores communication data. A conversion table that is connected to a data conversion unit 7 as a data conversion unit that converts data so that the communication partner can interpret it, and stores whether or not the data currently held can be converted into a format that the communication partner can interpret. A conversion table 8 as a means, a conversion means storage unit 9 as a conversion means storage means for storing an actual conversion means, and a negotiation means for determining what the resource information of the other device is. The negotiation unit 10 of FIG.

In the above configuration, the received data is supposed to be viewed or heard by a person, but it is not particularly necessary to output it to a person, and the processing section may be used instead of the output section. . Also, the received data is voice,
Not limited to music, images, and characters, spreadsheet data and CAD (C
computer Aided Design) and LSI
It may be wiring data. In this case, the audio output section in the block diagram of FIG. 1 is replaced with the data processing section.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1, the data to be transmitted is set, and in step S2, the destination is set. In step S3, a transmission request is issued to the transmission partner set in step S2, and in step S4,
It is determined whether the connection was successful. If the connection fails, the communication is terminated. If the connection is successful, the resource information of the terminal of the transmission partner is received in step S5, and the user refers to the conversion table 8 and selects an arbitrary conversion method by the input unit 21 in step S6. In step S7, it is determined whether there is a selected conversion method. Of course, if conversion is not required, it is determined that conversion is possible. In step S8, when there is no conversion means, the fact is displayed on the display unit 1 and the communication is ended. In this case, communication has ended, but if different formats are used in one data, for example, if characters and still images are mixed, some of them will be communicated (only characters will be communicated). It is also possible. In this case, it may be possible to send only those that can communicate without ending the communication. If there is the selected conversion method, the data is converted in step S9 so that it can be interpreted by the receiving side. If no conversion is needed, do nothing. The converted data is transmitted in step S10, and the communication ends in step S11.

The receiving side waits for the transmission request in step S12, and in step S13 the transmission request is accepted and it is determined whether the connection is established. When the connection is not established, it waits for reception again. In step S14, the resource information of the receiving side terminal is transmitted, in step S15, data in a form interpretable by the receiving side is received, and in step S16, the communication is ended.

In the above-mentioned flow, the data conversion is performed on the transmitting side, but the data conversion may be performed on the receiving side. Further, in this flow, it is described that the side which issues the call sends the data, but the side which issues the call may naturally receive the data. This also applies to the following examples. In addition, if the resource information of the communication partner is stored even after the communication is completed, it is not necessary to perform negotiation from the next time. In this case, when the resource of the other party is changed for some reason, it is necessary to notify it. In addition, there is a function that simulates the output format of other models, and if the resource information of the other party is stored, it is possible to check what format the other party will output before or after transmission. It will be possible.

FIG. 3 shows an example of transmission data. In this example, sentences (TEXT1, TEXT2), still images (IMA
GE1) and music (SOUND1) are included. In this case, the data is transmitted in the format shown in Table 1, for example. In this example, the format is specified following the ## key. The first data in this example is described as EUC TEXT, and there is a sentence written in EUC code.
Next is JPEG still image data, then MIDI
Format music data, and finally EUC format sentences are stored again.

[0030]

[Table 1]

In the example after being converted by the above-mentioned conversion method, as shown in Table 2, the text is converted from EUC code to SJI.
S (shift JIS) code is converted, and JPEG data is converted to bitmap data. MIDI remains unchanged and is not converted.

[0032]

[Table 2]

Table 3 shows an example of the resource information file of the device. In this example, EUC text, BITMAP,
It shows that MIDI etc. can be interpreted. That is, only those that can be interpreted can be communicated. As mentioned in this example, it is desirable to register address data, schedule data, etc. as resource information.
By creating a conversion program, it is possible to convert addresses, schedule formats, etc., which differ depending on the model, without making the user aware.

[0034]

[Table 3]

Table 4 shows an example of the conversion table. In this example, the description is given in the format before conversion: convertible format 1, convertible format 2, ...

[0036]

[Table 4]

The "*" before the format name indicates irreversible conversion. A lossy conversion is A
When B is converted to B and B is converted to A again, the original A shows a conversion that cannot be completely restored. In other words, a transformation in which some of the original information is lost when the transformation is performed. In the invention of claim 1, it does not matter whether the conversion is irreversible. Here, the term "conversion" refers to an operation of creating another data by using the original data or information attached to the original data, such as a file name, a creation date and time, and a creation device address. The operation that replaces the original data that is an image with only the address of the machine where the original data is, the file name of the image, and the vertical and horizontal sizes of the image is also called conversion. Similarly, the operation of creating data in which one or several still images are extracted from moving image data is also conversion.

Next, an embodiment of the communication apparatus according to claim 2 will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the same components as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, the communication apparatus of the present embodiment is sent from a performance evaluation storage unit 11 as a performance evaluation value storage unit showing the conversion performance of the model, and the model and the model of the communication partner. The performance comparison unit 12 is provided as a performance comparison means for comparing the received performance evaluations.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S21, the data to be transmitted is set, and in step S22, the destination is set. In step S23, a transmission request is issued to the transmission partner set in step S22, and in step S24, it is determined whether or not the connection is successful. If the connection has failed, the communication is terminated in step S34. If the connection is successful, in step S25,
The resource information of the terminal of the transmission partner is received, and in step S26, the performance evaluation value of the communication partner is received. In step S27, the conversion method is selected by the input unit 21 with reference to the conversion table, and in step S28
At, it is determined whether there was a selected conversion technique. Of course, if conversion is not required, it is determined that conversion is possible. If there is no conversion means in step S29, the user is notified of that fact and the communication is terminated. In this case, communication has ended, but if different formats are used in one data,
For example, when characters and still images are mixed, it is possible that some of them can communicate (only characters can communicate). In this case, it is possible to send only those that can communicate without ending the communication. In step S30, the performance evaluation value of the model is compared with the performance evaluation value of the communication partner, and in step S31, it is determined whether the performance of the model is better than the communication partner. In step S32,
Since the model has high performance, the data is converted so that the model can interpret on the receiving side. If no conversion is needed, do nothing. The converted data is transmitted in step S33, and the communication is ended in step S34.

On the other hand, on the receiving side, in step S35, the transmission request is waited, and in step S36, the transmission request is accepted and it is determined whether or not the connection is established. When the connection is not established, it waits for reception again. In step S37, the resource information of the receiving terminal is transmitted, and in step S38, the performance evaluation value is transmitted. In step S39, the data is received and in step S40 the resource information is compared with the format of the current data to determine if conversion is required. Conversion is performed in step S41, and communication is ended in step S42.

In the above-described flow, the performance evaluation value is received before selecting the conversion method, but it is naturally possible to receive the performance evaluation value after it is determined that conversion is possible. Further, it is more desirable to store the performance evaluation value for each conversion method rather than a single value. Depending on the model performance,
Some conversions can be relatively fast compared to other models, while others can be relatively slow. If the performance is stored for each conversion method, it becomes possible to compare the conversion speed with respect to the conversion currently required, and the processing can be performed more efficiently. Further, in this example, the performance evaluation value is preliminarily measured and set by a speed measurement program or the like, but the present load of the device, for example, a plurality of programs are running and the load on the CPU is large. It is also possible to change the performance evaluation value dynamically. In this case, conversion work is not performed as much as possible in a model with a heavy load. It is also possible for the user to specify which conversion is to be performed by the CPU performance regardless of the size of the load. In this case, it is possible to inquire the user without fail when both the devices can be converted, and such things as "if the other device is X, the other device converts it" are stored in advance. It is also possible to keep it.

Next, an embodiment of the communication apparatus according to claim 3 will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the same components as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the communication apparatus of this embodiment includes an address / identifier storage unit 22 as an original address storage unit for storing where the original data is with respect to the data received in the past, The address / identifier storage unit 22 is provided with an address / identifier adding unit 23 as an original address adding unit that adds an address of the transmitting side device to the data to be currently transmitted and an identifier for specifying the data. , If the data currently stored is exactly the same as the original, or if the original data can be restored by some conversion,
Nothing is stored in the address / identifier.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S51, the data to be transmitted is set, and in step S52, the destination is set. In step S53, a transmission request is issued to the transmission partner set in step S52, and in step S54, it is determined whether or not the connection is successful. If the connection has failed, the communication is ended in step S63. If the connection is successful, in step S55,
The resource information held by the terminal of the transmission partner is received, and in step S56, the conversion table is referred to and the input unit 21 is referred to.
The conversion method is selected by, and in step S57,
It is determined whether there was a selected conversion method. Of course, if conversion is not required, it is determined that conversion is possible. If there is no means for converting in step S58, the user is notified to that effect and the communication is terminated. In this case, the communication is terminated, but if different formats are used in one data, for example, when characters and still images are mixed, some of them can be communicated (only characters can be communicated. ) It is also possible. In this case, it is possible to send only those that can communicate without ending the communication. Conversion is performed in step S59, and it is determined in step S60 whether the conversion performed in step S59 is lossless conversion or irreversible conversion. In step S61, when the conversion performed in step S59 is an irreversible conversion, the original address of the data and the data identifier are added to the transmission data. The determination of lossless conversion or lossy conversion can be realized by describing in advance in the conversion table of Table 4. The address is a communication address for accessing the device having the original data before conversion. The identifier is a code for specifying which data in the device that holds the original data. It can be a directory path and file name if it is a normal file system.
However, the path and file name cannot be found just by renaming the file, so it is desirable to use a code that always matches the data. It is also desirable to add format information of the original data at the same time. The converted data is transmitted in step S62, and the communication is ended in step S63.

On the other hand, on the receiving side, in step S64, the transmission request is waited, and in step S65, the transmission request is accepted and it is determined whether or not the connection is established. When the connection is not established, it waits for reception again. In step S66, the resource information of the receiving terminal is transmitted, in step S67, the data is received, and in step S68, the communication is ended.

The present invention is applied as follows, for example. Assume three types of devices, A, B, and C. It is assumed that the devices A and C are devices having the same ability, for example, a personal computer, and the device B is one having inferior performance to the devices A and C, for example, a mobile terminal. Data X exists in the device A. When this is sent to the device B, the device B does not have the ability to interpret the data X, so that the data X is converted to a different format by the device A or the device B. Let the converted data be X ′. If the conversion performed here is irreversible conversion, according to the present invention, the address of the device A holding the original data and the identifier for identifying X in the device A are added to the data X ′. It Device B
Then, X'is interpreted and output (display) is performed. Furthermore,
Consider that device B sends the data to device C. When the device C interprets the data X ′, but also has the ability to interpret the format of the data X, the user may desire the data X rather than the data X ′ having the reduced information amount. In this case, according to the present invention, since the data X'includes the address of the device A in which the data X exists and the identifier for identifying the data, the device C can request the device A to transmit the data X. It will be possible. For example, the data X is a color image compressed by JPEG, and the data X ′ is black and white bitmap data. When the device C outputs the data X ′, it is desirable that a display indicating that another original data exists is displayed at the same time, and the device C can output the original data by communicating with the device A with one touch. Also, in this example, it is described that only one original address is added, but the addresses of all the devices that have passed through as a history of transmission may be added. All e-mails on the Internet have the address of the computer they passed through.

In the above description, the original data cannot be obtained if the data is erased in the device that has performed the irreversible conversion, but if the transmission history is all added, even if the data is erased. It becomes possible to request data from another device. Further, even when irreversible conversion is performed, it is possible to transmit the original data before conversion together with the converted data. In this case, the amount of data increases, but since the original data is always saved, there is no need to newly communicate when the original data is needed.

Next, an embodiment of the communication device according to claim 4 will be described with reference to the drawings.

A feature of the communication apparatus of this embodiment is that the conversion table 8 and the conversion means storage unit 9 of FIG. 1 are composed of rewritable media. By doing so, even if a new format is created, a means for converting the format into an existing interpretable format can be added later, and it becomes possible to support the new format.

Next, an embodiment of the communication apparatus according to claim 5 will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the same components as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 8, the communication device of the present embodiment sends a conversion request to a third device, which is not the current communication partner, as a conversion request unit for requesting format conversion, and a conversion request. A conversion request receiving unit 25 as a conversion receiving unit for receiving is provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S71, the data to be transmitted is set, and in step S72 the destination is set. In step S73, a transmission request is issued to the transmission partner set in step S72, and in step S74, it is determined whether or not the connection is successful. If the connection fails, the communication will be terminated. When the connection is successful, the resource information of the terminal of the transmission partner is received in step S75, and the conversion table is referred to in step S76 to select the conversion method by the input unit 21. In step S77, it is determined whether there is a conversion method. Of course, if conversion is not required, it is determined that conversion is possible. In step S78, if there is no means for conversion on the transmission / reception side, conversion is requested to the third device. This request will be described later. In step S79, it is determined whether or not the result of the conversion request is successful, and in step S80, if the conversion is unsuccessful, a message indicating that conversion is impossible is displayed and the communication ends (step S83). In step S81, since the model has high performance, the data is converted so that the model can interpret it on the receiving side. If no conversion is needed, do nothing. The converted data is transmitted in step S82, and the communication is ended in step S83.

On the other hand, the receiving side waits for the transmission request in step S84, and in step S85 the transmission request is accepted and it is determined whether or not the connection is established. When the connection is not established, it waits for reception again. In step S86, the resource information of the receiving side terminal is transmitted, and in step S87, the data in a form interpretable by the receiving side is received. In step S88, communication is ended.

Here, the conversion request of step S78 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S91, the transmission data is set, and in step S92, the conversion request destination is set. In step S93, the conversion request destination device is called. In step S94, it is determined whether the connection has been established. In step S95, the conversion request is transmitted. The conversion request describes a format before conversion and a format after conversion.
In step S96, the result of whether the requested device can perform the requested conversion is received. Step S97
In step S98, it is determined whether or not conversion is possible, and in step S98, conversion impossible is set as a result of the conversion request. In step S99, a message that conversion is impossible is displayed, and the communication ends (step S103). If it is determined in step S97 that conversion is possible, the data for conversion is transmitted in step S100, and the converted data is received in step S101. In step S102,
Conversion success is set as the conversion request result. In step S103, the communication is ended.

On the other hand, the receiving side waits for a transmission request from another device in step S104, and
At 105, it is determined whether communication has been established. In step S106, the sender's request is received. In step S107, it is determined whether the reception request is a conversion request. If the request is other than the conversion request in step S108, another predetermined process is performed. In step S109, it is determined whether the sent conversion request is possible. If it is determined in step S110 that the conversion is not possible, the conversion impossible is transmitted. In step S111, convertible is transmitted. In step S112, the data for conversion is received. In step S113, the conversion process is actually performed. In step S114, the converted data is transmitted.

In the above-mentioned flow, the conversion request is issued to another device during the transmission process. However, of course, the first communication is interrupted once, and then the conversion request is issued to another device to perform the conversion. It is desirable to call the first sender again after the above. The present invention provides a third device, for example, in the case where two mobile terminals of different models exchange data and the mobile terminals themselves have no conversion means.
For example, it is used to issue a conversion request to a personal computer and perform the conversion. The flow describes that the device on the transmission side issues a conversion request, receives the conversion result, and sends the conversion result to the receiving device. But, of course,
It is also conceivable that the conversion device sends the conversion result directly to the reception side without returning it to the transmission side. In this case, it is necessary to simultaneously send the destination address to the conversion side device when the conversion request or the data is transmitted. In addition, it is possible to convert multiple data in a single conversion request.
It is desirable to be able to issue conversion requests to multiple devices instead of one.

Next, an embodiment of the communication device according to claim 6 will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the same components as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 11, the communication apparatus of the present embodiment comprises a communication time estimating section 26 as a communication time estimating means for estimating the communication time including the data conversion time.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S121, the data to be transmitted is set. In step S122, the destination is set. In step S123, step S1
A transmission request is issued to the transmission partner set in 22. In step S124, it is determined whether the connection is successful. If the connection has failed, the communication is ended (step S137). If the connection is successful, step S1
At 25, the communication speed is determined. This is because the communication speed may change depending on the line status. In modems, training usually determines the communication speed. Therefore, after training, the communication speed can be estimated roughly. However, since the error rate is not completely known, it is an approximate value. In step S126, the resource information held by the terminal of the transmission partner is received. Step S
In 127, the conversion table is referred to and the input unit 21
Selects the conversion method. In step S128, it is determined whether there is a conversion method. Of course, if conversion is not required, it is determined that conversion is possible. In step S129, a message that conversion is impossible is displayed and the communication is terminated (step S137). When it is determined that conversion is possible, the time required for conversion is estimated in step S130. Even in this case, it is difficult to make a complete estimation depending on the conversion method and the type of data. Therefore, a method is conceivable in which the time required in the case of a standard data size is estimated from a numerical value stored in advance for each conversion method and the current data amount. In step S131, the converted data capacity is estimated. Although it is completely difficult as in step S130, rough values can be roughly estimated from standard numbers. In step S132, an approximate time required for the current data communication is obtained by an expression such as “data capacity after conversion / communication speed + conversion time”. In addition, by storing the information for billing, it is possible to present the user with an approximate communication charge required for communication.

In step S133, step S1
The time taken obtained at 32 is shown, confirming whether the data may be sent to the user. Step S13
At 4, it is determined whether the user has allowed the transmission. When it is determined that the data is permitted, data conversion is performed in step S135. In step S136, the data is transmitted. In step S137,
Communication is terminated.

On the other hand, on the receiving side, the transmission request is awaited in step S138, and in step S139 the transmission request is accepted and it is determined whether the connection is established.
When the connection is not established, it waits for reception again. When the connection is established, the resource information of the receiving side terminal is transmitted in step S140. In step S141, the data that can be interpreted by the receiving side is received.
In step S142, the communication ends.

When there are a plurality of conversion methods, it is desirable to display all or some of them and let the user select one. When the transmission data includes different types of data such as characters and images, it is possible to send only the information for obtaining the original data. For example, if you try to send data including text and video using a telephone line,
If the user determines that it takes too long to send the video over the phone, the text sends all the information,
It is possible to send only the data identifier etc. in the moving image as the address information for obtaining the original data.
In this case, the positional relationship between the character and the image (coordinate information)
When sent together, it is possible to show the user on the receiving side at which position the image is displayed when the character is displayed. Further, according to the above-described embodiment of claim 3, when moving image data is desired, the data is obtained by issuing a transmission request. When asking the user to make a decision, it is possible to describe the condition in advance. In this case, the user inputs settings such as "do not perform communication for 10 minutes or more" or "do not perform communication for 100 yen or more" in advance, select a conversion that matches the condition, and perform communication. It is possible to Further, when transmitting data including a plurality of information such as characters, images, and music, it is desirable to transmit the data with the smallest data amount.

Empirically, since the character data has a smaller data amount than the image data and the information amount per unit (byte) is large, when the communication is interrupted by transmitting the data with the smaller data amount. It is highly possible that a lot of information has arrived. Further, since it is considered that the demand that the image data is important differs depending on the usage, it is desirable that the user can set which data is desired to be communicated first.

Next, an embodiment of the communication apparatus according to claim 7 will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the same components as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 13, the communication apparatus of this embodiment has an output information storage section 27 as an output information storage means for storing information (for example, output software) for outputting or processing data. And the output information storage unit 27
The output information communication unit 28 is provided as an output information communication unit that sends the information stored in 1. to another device or obtains the output information from another device. It should be noted that the output information storage unit 27 is assumed to exist as a part of the display unit and the voice processing unit in the above embodiment.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S151, the data to be transmitted is set. In step S152, the destination is set. In step S153, step S1
A transmission request is issued to the transmission partner set in 52. In step S154, it is determined whether the connection was successful. If the connection has failed, the communication is terminated (step S164). If the connection is successful, step S15
In 5, the resource information of the terminal of the transmission partner is received. It is assumed that the resource information in this case also records the model of the receiving device. In step S156,
Whether the output or processing is possible in the device on the receiving side is determined using the resource information. When the output is not possible, in step S157, since the output is impossible on the receiving side, it is determined whether or not the transmitting side stores the output information for the receiving device. The model information in the resource information is used for this determination. When it is determined that the transmitting side stores the output information for the receiving device, step S158
At, a request for transmitting output information is issued to the receiving device. In step S159, it is received whether transmission is possible. In step S160, it is determined whether transmission is possible. When it is determined that the output is possible, the output information is transmitted in step S161. In step S162, data transmission is requested. In step S163, the data is transmitted.
In step S164, the communication is ended.

On the other hand, on the receiving side, the transmission request is awaited in step S165. In step S166, it is determined whether the transmission request is accepted and the connection is established. When the connection is not established, it waits for reception again. When the connection is established, the resource information of the receiving side device is transmitted in step S167. In step S168, the transmission request is received. In step S169, it is determined whether the transmission request is for data or output information. When it is determined that the output information is output information, it is determined in step S170 whether the output information is received. This may be determined by the memory capacity of the receiving side or the like, or can be realized by inquiring the user whether or not to receive. When it is determined that the reception is impossible, the reception impossible is transmitted in step S171. When it is determined that the reception is possible, reception is transmitted in step S172. In step S173, the output information is received.

If it is determined in the above step S169 that the transmission request is for data, the data is received in step S174, and step S1
At 75, communication is terminated.

Now, it is assumed that the transmitting side wants to transmit the data X and there is no information for outputting or processing the data X on the receiving side. In this case, if the present invention is used, the information for outputting the data X can be automatically sent from the transmission side device to the reception side device, and the information for output need not be prepared in advance in the reception side device. , It becomes possible to output data. For example, by storing all the information to be output by the mobile terminal in one personal computer, the mobile terminal automatically installs the software when receiving data from the personal computer without installing the output software individually. Will be done. Of course, since a copyright problem arises here, the output information is set with a flag indicating that copying is possible or impossible, and only those for which the enabling flag is set are targeted. Further, it is possible to have a copy-disabled flag so that software once copied cannot be copied again.

[0077]

According to the communication device of the first aspect, by transmitting the hardware and software information (resource information) of the device prior to the communication, the data format to be currently communicated and the resource information on the receiving side are transmitted. Are compared, and if conversion is necessary, data conversion is performed before transmission, so that communication can be performed even if the data format is different.

For example, consider connecting a mobile terminal and a personal computer (PC) through a public telephone line.
The music held on the PC side is in the MIDI format, but the mobile terminal cannot interpret the MIDI data format,
Suppose that only WAVE format can be output. According to the present invention, it is possible to convert the MIDI format into a format and send it on the PC side (or the mobile terminal side) by determining each resource in this case as well.

Similarly, even if the format of the schedule data held on the PC side does not match the schedule format of the portable terminal, which format can be automatically handled by each machine only by preparing the conversion program. Is automatically determined and converted, and the user can send and receive data without being aware of the conversion.

According to the communication device of the second aspect, in the case of conversion, if both the transmitting side and the receiving side are capable of conversion, the performance of the devices is compared, and the conversion is performed by the device with good performance. Therefore, the communication time including conversion can be shortened. In the above-described example of claim 1, whether the conversion is performed on the PC side or the mobile terminal side depends on the mounting method. If the conversion time on the mobile terminal is extremely slow compared to the conversion on the PC, the conversion on the mobile terminal is inefficient.
In the present invention, in this case, by comparing the conversion performance of the PC and the conversion performance of the mobile terminal, the conversion is performed with the better performance.

According to the communication device of the third aspect, when the original information is lost by the conversion, the original data can be easily obtained by adding the information indicating where the original data is. In the example of claim 2 described above, when the MIDI format is converted to the WAVE format, it becomes impossible to restore the MIDI format. This means that if the mobile terminal holds the WAVE format, even if the image is sent to another PC, that PC cannot obtain the MIDI format.

With the present invention, the original MIDI format can be retained along with the WAVE format, or
By keeping track of where the MIDI format was, even if you wanted the original MIDI format,
It can be called with a simple operation.

According to the communication device of the fourth aspect, the resource information is stored in the rewritable storage medium, so that the resource can be easily added by purchasing a new peripheral building or adding new software. You can

According to the communication device of the fifth aspect, since it has a function of requesting data conversion to a third device different from the transmitting side and the receiving side, it becomes possible to perform format conversion which cannot be performed by the transmitting and receiving devices. . In the above-mentioned example of claim 1, when neither the transmitting PC nor the receiving portable terminal is able to convert from MIDI to WAVE, the data is converted using the third machine (for example, workstation or PC). be able to. By automatically requesting the third machine to perform format conversion, data transmission / reception can be performed without the user being aware.

According to the communication device of the sixth aspect, when there are a plurality of types of conversion, the estimated value of the communication time when the conversion is performed is presented to the user prior to the conversion, and the user selects an appropriate method. Can be selected.

According to the communication device of the seventh aspect, when the receiving side does not hold information such as software for processing the data, the information is obtained from the transmitting side, and therefore the data is processed without conversion. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the communication device according to claim 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of transmission data.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to claim 2;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the communication device according to claim 2;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to claim 3;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the communication device according to claim 3;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to claim 5;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the communication device of claim 5;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the communication device of claim 5;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to claim 6;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the communication device of claim 6;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a communication device according to claim 7;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment of the communication device of claim 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Display unit 2 Audio output unit 3 Communication unit 4 Control unit 5 Resource information storage unit 6 Data storage unit 7 Data conversion unit 8 Conversion table 9 Conversion means storage unit 10 Negotiation unit 11 Performance evaluation storage unit 12 Performance comparison unit 21 Input unit 22 Address / identifier storage unit 23 Address / identifier addition unit 24 Conversion request unit 25 Conversion request reception unit 26 Communication time estimation unit 27 Output information storage unit 28 Output information communication unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Characters, images, figures, voices, music data,
And a communication device for transmitting and receiving information including all kinds of digitalized data or a part thereof, resource information storage means for storing information about resources consisting of hardware and software for processing data, and data. Prior to the transmission, the negotiation means for communicating with the other communication device on the receiving side to determine whether the other communication device on the receiving side has the same resource, and the other communication device on the receiving side are the same. Data conversion means for performing data conversion based on a conversion table describing conversion means for converting data to be transmitted into data that can be processed by resources of the other communication device on the receiving side when there is no resource A communication device comprising: 2. A performance evaluation value storage means for storing a performance evaluation value indicating the calculation performance of the communication device, and a performance for comparing the performance evaluation value of the communication device with the performance evaluation value of another communication device on the receiving side. The comparison means is provided, Comparing the performance evaluation value of the said communication apparatus and the performance evaluation value of the other communication apparatus of the said receiving side, The said data conversion is performed by the communication apparatus with a superior performance evaluation value. Communication device. 3. An original address storing means for storing where the original data exists for each data, and an original address adding means for adding information about where the original data exists during communication. 3. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising: when the other communication device on the receiving side wants to obtain the original data, the original data is obtained from the other communication device having the original data based on an instruction from the user. . 4. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the conversion table and the resource information storage unit are rewritable media. 5. A conversion request unit for requesting data conversion to a third communication device different from the communication device or another communication device on the receiving side, and a conversion acceptance unit for accepting conversion from the other communication device. If the communication device cannot convert into data that can be processed by the other communication device on the receiving side, the third communication device is requested to convert the data, and the converted data is The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is sent to another communication device on the receiving side. 6. A communication time estimation means for estimating a time required for data transfer when various data conversions are performed, and a display means for displaying an estimated value of the communication time at the time of data transmission / reception for each data conversion. 6. The communication device according to claim 1, further comprising: a selection unit that selects an arbitrary method based on the information about the type of data conversion and the communication time displayed on the display unit. 7. Software for processing data to another communication device on the receiving side, comprising output information storage means for storing information including software for processing data currently to be transmitted. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which transmits the information together with the data when there is no information including wear and the communication device on the transmitting side has the information.