Apparatus and method for communication control

• US 7,293,062 B2
• Filed: 01/03/2002
• Issued: 11/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Communications Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Communications Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Masao, Akimoto, Matsutoshi, Murata
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn; Nathan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Joo; Joshua
• Application Number:
  US10/034,372
• Publication Number:
  US 20030005063A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,133 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709245-246, 709/230, 358/1.15
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0024 Converting image communication control signals, e.g. group 3 facsimile protocol signals, to non-image communication control signals or vice versa
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0065 Converting image data to a format usable by the connected apparatus or vice versa
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0086 Image transceiver H04N2201/0093 and H04N2201/0094 take precedence

Abstract

An internet facsimile apparatus (IFAX) can normally function even on a network managed by the HTTP protocol, in a system where an e-mail communicator receives e-mail from an IFAX according to the SMTP protocol, an HTML processor converts the e-mail data into an HTML data, an URL converter converts the destination address of the e-mail data into a URL format, and an HTML communicator transmits the HTML data to the converted URL according to the HTTP protocol.

Claims

1. A communication control apparatus, comprising:

a first communicator configured to be connected to a network;

a second communicator configured to be connected to a receiving Internet facsimile apparatus, the receiving Internet facsimile apparatus receiving, from a transmitter via the communication control apparatus, an e-mail to which image data is attached and printing the image data attached to the received e-mail; and

a controller configured to;

receive, from the transmitter via the first communicator, URL data according to a HTTP protocol while performing preparatory operations for a mail transmission according to a SMTP protocol via the second communicator;

convert the received URL data into an e-mail address of the receiving Internet facsimile apparatus;

receive, from the transmitter via the first communicator, HTML data according to the HTTP protocol;

convert the received HTML data into e-mail data; and

transmit to the receiving Internet facsimile apparatus, via the second communicator, the converted e-mail data, based on the e-mail address according to the SMTP protocol when the preparatory operations for the mail transmission are completed.

2. The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller converts the URL data to the e-mail address of the receiving Internet facsimile apparatus by deleting a “

HTTP;

//”

in the received URL and converting a dot in the received URL into an @ mark.

3. A communication control method using a communication control apparatus, the communication control apparatus being connected to a receiving Internet facsimile apparatus, the receiving Internet facsimile apparatus receiving, from a transmitter, an e-mail to which image data is attached and printing the image data attached to the received e-mail, the communication control method comprising:

receiving, from a transmitter, URL data according to a HTTP protocol while performing preparatory operations for a mail transmission according to a SMTP protocol;

converting the received URL data into an e-mail address of the receiving Internet facsimile apparatus;

receiving, from the transmitter, HTML data according to the HTTP protocol;

converting the received HTML data into e-mail data; and

transmitting, to the receiving Internet facsimile apparatus, the converted e-mail data, based on the e-mail address, according to the SMTP protocol when the preparatory operations for the mail transmission are completed.