Wireless image transfer from a digital still video camera to a networked computer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A portable image transfer system comprising:
- a digital still camera, at a remote station, which captures images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory;
a cellular telephone transmitter;
a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the camera memory and the cellular telephone transmitter, wherein the CPU controls the camera memory to cause it to output data representing an image and the CPU controls the cellular telephone transmitter to cause a cellular telephone to transmit the data output from the camera memory;
a receiving station coupled to the cellular telephone transmitter by a cellular network to receive image data;
means, at the receiving station, for image processing;
means for resetting the camera memory to be reused for subsequent images once an image is transmitted to the receiving station;
a return link for sending commands from the receiving station to the CPU, wherein the commands are directions for obtaining further images as needed by the means for image processing; and
an image storage device coupled to the receiving station to store images received by the receiving station.
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Abstract
A portable image transfer system includes a digital still camera which captures images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory, a cellular telephone transmitter, and a central processing unit (CPU). The CPU controls the camera memory to cause it to output data representing an image and the CPU controls the cellular telephone transmitter to cause a cellular telephone to transmit the data received from the camera memory. A receiving station is coupled to the cellular telephone transmitter by a cellular network to receive image data and store the images.
35 Citations
72 Claims
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1. A portable image transfer system comprising:
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a digital still camera, at a remote station, which captures images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory;
a cellular telephone transmitter;
a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the camera memory and the cellular telephone transmitter, wherein the CPU controls the camera memory to cause it to output data representing an image and the CPU controls the cellular telephone transmitter to cause a cellular telephone to transmit the data output from the camera memory;
a receiving station coupled to the cellular telephone transmitter by a cellular network to receive image data;
means, at the receiving station, for image processing;
means for resetting the camera memory to be reused for subsequent images once an image is transmitted to the receiving station;
a return link for sending commands from the receiving station to the CPU, wherein the commands are directions for obtaining further images as needed by the means for image processing; and
an image storage device coupled to the receiving station to store images received by the receiving station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A portable image transfer system comprising:
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a digital still camera, at a remote station, which captures images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory;
a cellular telephone transmitter;
a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the camera memory and the cellular telephone transmitter, wherein the CPU controls the camera memory to cause it to output data representing an image and the CPU controls the cellular telephone transmitter to cause a cellular telephone to transmit the data output from the camera memory;
a receiving station coupled to the cellular telephone transmitter by a cellular network to receive image data;
means, at the receiving station, for image processing;
means for resetting the camera memory to be reused for subsequent images;
a return link for sending commands from the receiving station to the CPU, wherein the commands are directions for obtaining further images as needed by the means for image processing; and
an image storage device coupled to the receiving station to store images received by the receiving station. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A portable image transfer system comprising:
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a digital still camera, at a remote station, which captures one or more images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory;
a cellular telephone transmitter for communication with a receiving station, the receiving station having an image processor;
a central processing unit (CPU); and
a return link for receiving commands from the receiving station to the CPU to obtain further images as needed by the image processor, the CPU being coupled to the camera memory and the cellular telephone transmitter, the CPU being configured to control the camera memory to produce output data representing the images formatted as one or more electronic mail messages, the CPU further being configured to control the cellular telephone transmitter to transmit the output data from the camera memory to the receiving station. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A portable image transfer system comprising:
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a digital still camera, at a remote station, which captures one or more images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory;
a cellular telephone transmitter for communication with a receiving station, the receiving station having an image processor;
circuitry to produce information relating to the location of the portable image transfer system;
a central processing unit (CPU); and
a return link for receiving commands from the receiving station to the CPU to obtain further images as needed by the image processor, the CPU being coupled to the camera memory, to the circuitry, and to the cellular telephone transmitter, the CPU being configured to control the camera memory to produce output data representing a combination of the images and the location information, the CPU further being configured to control the cellular telephone transmitter to transmit the output data from the camera memory to the receiving station. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A portable image transfer apparatus comprising:
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a cellular telephone transmitter component;
an image capture component for producing digital images;
a memory operatively coupled to the image capture interface to receive and store one or more digital images;
a controller coupled to the memory and to the cellular telephone transmitter component, the controller configured to produce output data representing the images, the controller further configured to control the cellular telephone transmitter component to communicate with a receiving station to transmit the output data from the memory to the receiving station, the receiving station having image processing means; and
a return link for receiving commands from the receiving station, wherein the output data is transmitted to the receiving station when the receiving station transmits a first command to the portable image transfer apparatus to obtain further images needed by the image processing means. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A telecommunication system comprising:
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a communication component for receiving image data originating from a cellular telephone device;
an image data store for storing the image data;
a return link for sending commands to the cellular telephone device; and
a controller coupled to the communication component and to the image data store, the controller configured to process the image data and to communicate the image data over the Internet to a receiving station, the receiving station having image processing means, wherein the image data is transmitted to the receiving station when the receiving station transmits a first command to the cellular telephone device to obtain further images needed by the image processing means. - View Dependent Claims (46)
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47. A portable image transfer system comprising:
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a digital still camera, at a remote station, which captures one or more images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory;
a cellular telephone transmitter for communication with a receiving station, the receiving station having means for image processing;
a central processing unit (CPU); and
a link for receiving data from the receiving station to the CPU, the CPU being coupled to the camera memory and the cellular telephone transmitter, the CPU being configured to control the camera memory to produce output data representing the images formatted as one or more electronic mail messages, the CPU further being configured to control the cellular telephone transmitter to transmit the output data from the camera memory to the receiving station, wherein the output data is transmitted to the receiving station when the receiving station transmits a first command to the portable image transfer system to obtain further images needed by the means for image processing. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A portable image transfer system comprising:
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a digital still camera, at a remote station, which captures one or more images in digital form and stores the images in a camera memory;
a cellular telephone transmitter for communication with a receiving station, the receiving station having means for image processing;
circuitry to produce information relating to the location of the portable image transfer system;
a central processing unit (CPU); and
a link for receiving data from the receiving station to the CPU, the CPU being coupled to the camera memory, to the circuitry, and to the cellular telephone transmitter, the CPU being configured to control the camera memory to produce output data representing a combination of the images and the location information, the CPU further being configured to control the cellular telephone transmitter to transmit the output data from the camera memory to the receiving station, wherein the output data is transmitted to the receiving station when the receiving station transmits a first command to the portable image transfer apparatus to obtain further images needed by the means for image processing. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A portable image transfer apparatus comprising:
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a cellular telephone transmitter component;
an image capture component for producing digital images;
a memory operatively coupled to the image capture interface to receive and store one or more digital images;
a controller coupled to the memory and to the cellular telephone transmitter, the controller configured to produce output data representing the images, the controller further configured to control the cellular telephone transmitter to communicate with a receiving station to transmit the output data from the camera memory to the receiving station, the receiving station having an image processor; and
a link for receiving data from the receiving station, wherein the output data is transmitted to the receiving station when the receiving station transmits a first command to the portable image transfer apparatus to obtain further images as needed by the image processor. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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Specification