FR2769157A1 - Communications network facsimile transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

The facsimile terminal is adapted to be compatible with the standard MINITEL (TM) terminal system, allowing information interchange over the INTERNET with other terminals, and the transmission of facsimile messages, to the second MINITEL (TM) system and screen display and storage.

Description

Multi-service communication network
and server and fax machine for such a network.

Communication networks, initially dedicated to a single service, such as telephony for the PSTN switched telephone network, tend to offer an increased range of services for terminals of various types.

In this field, L'INTERNEZ has the advantage of having a global influence which makes it possible to overcome the distances separating users who want to communicate with each other in the field of writing.

The basic communication mode is text mode since personal computers are used. It is thus possible to send a text message to the mailbox of a correspondent and the latter retrieves it by regularly checking his mailbox.

In addition, through the RTC, the terminals of the protected brand
MINITEL can also exchange text messages with each other or with a MINITEL server. A MINITEL server can also now have a connection to the INTERNET, so that it also acts as an access provider, or concentrator, to the INTERNET.

However, these various services are essentially confined to text mode, even if video images from INTERNEZ servers can be received on a PC.

The present invention aims to add the fax service to a communication network.

To this end, the invention relates first of all to a multi-service communication network comprising the INTERNET network and a server for MINITEL terminals to which it is connected, characterized in that the server is arranged to process and transmit faxes.

Thus, the network of the invention has global coverage and allows the routing of faxes, in addition to the already existing text services.

Preferably, the MINITEL server is arranged to process text messages including, as an attachment, a fax.

The fax is thus encapsulated in a text message in the classic INTERNET format and goes into transparent mode, since the encapsulation protects it from any analysis, which therefore eliminates any constraint as to its presentation format.

In other words, to transmit a fax, we use the layers
OSI (Open Systems) relating to the text mode and it is only after arrival at destination that we return to the OSI layers of the fax application to restore the fax according to the "presentation" fax layer. The text transmission channel of the NETNET is thus used without modification, by a simple adaptation at the end of the channel.

The invention also relates, as such, to a MINITEL server for the network of the invention, characterized in that it is arranged to process and transmit faxes.

The invention also relates to a fax machine designed to be connected to a multi-service communication network comprising the network.
INTERNET and a server, connected to it, for MINITEL terminals arranged to process and transmit faxes, facsimile machine characterized by the fact that it comprises processing means arranged to communicate with the server.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description of the network of the invention, and of the associated terminals, with reference to the appended drawing, in which - FIG. 1 schematically represents the network and the terminals, and - FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the facsimile machine and the server of the invention.

The multiple service network shown comprises the INTERNET network 1 and a MINITEL server 2 to which it is connected, server 2 arranged to also process and transmit faxes. The server 2 is connected, through the switched telephone network PSTN 3, to conventional MINITEL stations like 4 and to a fax machine 5 adapted to dialogue according to the MINITEL protocol of the server 2, by means of a keyboard 51 and a screen 52 of reduced size. A sequencer processing block 53 manages the man-machine relationships 51, 52 as a function of the MINITEL protocol and adapts the data to be exchanged with the server 2. The facsimile machine 5 also comprises a time base 50 and a saved random access memory 54.

INTERNET 1 has a mailbox 1 1 assigned here to a personal computer, PC 6, arranged to process text as well as fax messages. The PC 6 has substantially the same functionality as the facsimile machine 5 with regard to the messages transmitted through the INTERNET 1 and will therefore not be described specifically.

The operation of the network and of the terminals will now be explained.

The fax machine 5 can first of all function like the classic MINITEL 4, that is to say consult classic MINITEL servers and exchange messages, text and mosaic, with MINITEL 4 terminals.

Then, the facsimile machine 5 can automatically transmit sequences of access control codes (log-on) to the conventional MINITEL servers, or databases, which it calls. These sequences are stored in memory 54 which block 53 accesses, which, in turn, issues a command, recognizes a corresponding response from the called MINITEL server and then issues the appropriate command. The MINITEL server access protocol is thus managed automatically. It may further be provided, in block 53, to store a date and time of call from a determined server. When the time base 50 provides a similar indication, a comparator in block 53 then initiates the activation of the desired sequence to call the server.

Finally, the facsimile machine 5 can here send faxes through the INTERNET 1. For this, the facsimile machine 5 calls the server 2 and transmits to it, with the address of the mailbox 11, a text message, in the format provided for the INTERNET. The text message includes a facsimile part, which has been made compatible with the text data format of INTERNET 1.

This compatibility can result from an appropriate transcoding, with a reverse transcoding on reception. Here, this compatibility is established by a simple fax inclusion operation, as such, to form an inclusion in the text message, known as an attachment, consisting of a fax message. The fax message was generated conventionally, by a scanner or by transformation into pixels (bit-map) of an electronic document.

The fax message can thus have a heterogeneous presentation compared to the text format provided by the INTERNET since it is not interpreted when crossing it.

In the PC 6, after reading the mailbox 11, the fax message as an attachment is then extracted to be processed according to the fax protocol by a processing block 61. This comprises the upper OSI layers for the application fax and in particular the presentation layer allowing to restore the fax, on a screen, a printer or in a memory.

The flowchart in Figure 2 illustrates the transmission of a fax through INTERNET 1.

In a step 21, the facsimile machine 5 calls the server 2, using the keyboard 51. In a step 22, the connection is established by sending a signal at a frequency determined by the server 2 and by activation in response to a key "connection" of the facsimile machine 5 or by automatic command with similar effect by the block 53. In a step 23, the server 2 sends a request for identification of the facsimile machine 5 as a MINITEL terminal. In a step 24, the facsimile machine 5 sends in response the name of its manufacturer, the type of hardware (facsimile machine) and the version of its software, stored in a ROM read only memory.

In a step 25, the server 2, having recognized that it is a fax machine, transmits a welcome screen, which is temporarily stored in the fax machine 5 and which scrolls on the few lines of the screen 52, constituting a reading window.

For a transmission, the home page scrolls, in a step 31, in the window to the zone for entering the message to be transmitted (e-mail). In a step 32, the user enters the email address, subject and text according to the screen presented then activates a "send" key, which causes the reading of the fax document to be sent, by the block 53, in a step 33 In a step 34, the block 53 constitutes the text message by including the fax message there as an attachment, in a field provided for this purpose, here in TIFF-F type format, and sends it to the server 2 .

In a step 35, the server 2 interprets the text message with fax attachment to transmit everything to the mailbox 11.

In the case of a reception, in a step 41, the home screen scrolls in the window 52 until the electronic message attachment message is displayed. In a step 42, the block 53 retrieves the attachment in TIFF-F format and interprets it as a fax in order to use it by display, printing or storage, according to the upper OSI layers of the fax application, in particular the presentation of data.

Claims (11)

INTERNET (1) and a server (2), connected to it, for MINITEL terminals (4; 5) arranged to process and transmit faxes. CLAIMS 1. - Multi-service communication network comprising the network 2. Network according to claim 1, in which the MINITEL server (2) is arranged to process text messages comprising, as an attachment, a fax. 3.- MINITEL server (2) for a network according to claim 1, characterized in that it is arranged to process and transmit faxes. 4. - Server according to claim 3, arranged to transmit faxes as an attachment to a text message. 5.- Fax machine arranged to be connected to a multi-service communication network comprising the INTERNET network (1) and a server (2), connected to it, for MINITEL terminals (4, 5) arranged to process and transmit facsimile, facsimile characterized in that it comprises processing means (53) arranged to communicate with the server (2). 6. Fax according to claim 5, wherein the processing means (53) are arranged to process a message in text mode. 7. A fax machine according to claim 6, wherein the processing means (53) are arranged to insert a fax message in an attachment field of a text message. 8. Fax according to one of claims 6 and 7, wherein the processing means (53) are arranged to extract a fax message from an attachment field of a message in text mode. 9.- Fax machine according to one of claims 5 to 8, in which the processing means (53) are arranged to manage the scrolling of a dialog screen page with the server (2), on a display (52 ) reduced in size. 10.- Fax machine according to one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the processing means (53) are arranged to use a stored sequence of commands to access the server (2). 11. Fax machine according to claim 10, wherein the processing means (53, 50) are arranged to store an activation date of the sequence and activate it in due time.