Network distributed fax device

• US RE42,995 E1
• Filed: 08/03/2005
• Issued: 12/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Joffe, Neil Raymond, Umansky, Ilya
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, II, Jerome
• Application Number:
  US11/197,723
• Time in Patent Office: 2,316 Days
• Field of Search: 358/400, 358/403, 358/405, 358/407, 358/426.11, 358/426.12, 358/435, 358/436, 358/438, 358/443, 358/1.15, 358/402, 358/404, 358/406, 358/468, 379/100.01, 379/100.15, 379/102.02, 379/100.03, 379/100.06, 379/100.08, 379/100.12, 379/100.05, 455/88, 455/91, 455/557, 709/206
• US Class Current: 358/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• 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 1/00244 with a server, e.g. an internet server fax-servers or the like for store and forward H04N1/324
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/33338 adapting to particular facsimile group, e.g. G3
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/33346 adapting to a particular standardised protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0093 Facsimile machine H04N2201/0094 takes precedence

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention includes a fax communication system for communicating fax information transmitted from a sending fax device to a fax recipient through a packet switching network. The sending fax device includes a data pump for modulating and demodulating fax information and a protocol subsystem for encoding and decoding the modulated fax information. The fax sending fax device modulates the fax information prior to transmission thereof. At least one access server is coupled between the sending fax device and the fax recipient and within the packet switching network At least one of the access servers receives modulated fax information from the sending fax device and demodulates the received fax information. The fax relay server is responsive to the demodulated fax information and operative to decode the received demodulated fax information for transmission thereof to the fax recipient, wherein the at least one access server and fax relay server function as a network distributed fax device allowing for expansion of fax functionality throughout the network while preserving the reliability and robustness of the network.

Claims

1. A fax communication system for communicating fax information between at least two fax devices, through a packet switching network and from one point of the network to another point using any fax relay protocol adopted as a standard by the industry, each fax device including a data pump for modulating and demodulating fax information and a protocol subsystem for encoding and decoding the modulated fax information comprising:

multiple access servers including a sending access server, coupled to a sending fax device, for receiving modulated fax information therefrom, in packet form, for transmission thereof through the packet switching network to a receiving fax device, said sending access server including a data pump for demodulating the received modulated fax information prior to transmission thereof; and

only one fax relay server, coupled to said multiple access servers, for receiving the demodulated fax information and decoding the same, said multiple access servers further including a receiving access server, coupled to the receiving fax device, for receiving the decoded fax information and re-modulating the same prior to transmission thereof to the receiving fax device, said fax relay sewer responsive to packets of fax information in accordance with the T.38 protocol and further operative to convert the T.38 packets of fax information to T.30 packets of information, the T.30 packets of information including T.4/T.6 information and the fax relay further operative to decode the T.4/T.6 information,

wherein the functions of a fax device transmitting fax information through a packet switching network environment is distributed to multiple access servers and only one fax relay server within the network.

2. A fax communication system for communicating fax information, transmitted from a sending fax device to a fax recipient, through a packet switching network, from one point of the network to another point using any fax relay protocol adopted as a standard by the industry, the sending fax device including a data pump for modulating and demodulating fax information and a protocol subsystem for encoding and decoding the modulated fax information, the fax sending fax device for modulating the fax information prior to transmission thereof comprising:

multiple access servers including a particular access server, coupled between the sending fax device and the fax recipient, and being located within the packet switching network, the particular access server for receiving modulated fax information from the sending fax device and for demodulating the received fax information; and

only one fax relay server, coupled to the multiple access servers, and responsive to the demodulated fax information and operative to decode the received demodulated fax information for transmission thereof to the fax recipient, said fax relay server further for storing the received demodulated fax information for later delivery of the same the fax relay server responsive to packets of fax information in accordance with the T.38 protocol and further operative to convert the T.38 packets of fax information to T.30 packets of information, the T.30 packets of information including encoded T.4/T.6 information and the fax relay server further operative to decode the T.4/T.6 information,

wherein the multiple access servers and the only one fax relay server function as a network distributed fax device allowing for expansion of fax functionality throughout the network while preserving the reliability and robustness of the network.

3. A fax communication system as recited in claim 2 wherein the multiple access servers includes a voice feature card for demodulating the received fax information.

4. A method for operating a fax relay server for use in a packet switching network, from one point of the network to another point using any fax relay protocol adopted as a standard by the industry, for communicating fax information between two or more devices comprising:

receiving fax information encoded according to a T.30 fax encoding protocol from an access server included among multiple access servers;

decoding the received fax information, which is received in packets of fax information in accordance with the T.38 protocol;

converting the T.38 packets of fax information to T.30 packets of information, the T.30 packets of information including T.4/T.6 information;

decoding the T.4/T.6 information;

determining the destination of the decoded fax information pursuant to the content of the decoded fax information; and

transmitting the decoded fax information to the determined destination.

5. A method of operating a fax relay server as recited in claim 4 wherein after the determining step, if the destination of the decoded fax information is determined to be a receiving fax device and the receiving fax device is busy, storing the decoded fax information for subsequent transmission.

6. A fax communication system for communicating fax information transmitted from a sending fax device to a fax recipient, through a packet switching network, from one point of the network to another point using any fax relay protocol adopted as a standard by the industry, the sending fax device including a data pump for modulating and demodulating fax information and a protocol subsystem for encoding and decoding the modulated fax information, the fax sending fax device for modulating the fax information prior to transmission thereof comprising:

multiple access servers including a particular access server coupled between the sending fax device and the fax recipient and being located within the packet switching network, the particular access server for receiving modulated fax information from the sending fax device and for demodulating the received fax information for transmission to a fax relay server for decoding of the received fax information, the particular access server including a voice feature card for demodulating the received fax information; and

only one fax relay server, coupled to said multiple access servers, within the packet switching network, for storing the fax information and for decoding the demodulated fax information, said fax relay server responsive to packets of fax information in accordance with the T.38 protocol and further operative to convert the T.38 packets of fax information to T.30 packets of information, the T.30 packets of information including T.4/T.6 information and the fax relay further operative to decode the T.4/T.6 information,

wherein the functions of a fax device are distributed within the network thereby allowing for expansion of fax functionality throughout the network while preserving the reliability and robustness of the network.

7. A method comprising:

receiving, with a fax relay server, one or more data packets including fax information from an access server over a packet-switched network, wherein the fax information includes fax transmission control data encoded according to a T.30 fax encoding protocol and includes fax content encoded according to a T.4 or T.6 fax encoding protocol;

extracting the fax information from the one or more data packets with the fax relay server;

decoding, with the fax relay server, the fax transmission control data according to the T.30 fax encoding protocol and decoding, with the fax relay server, the fax content according to the T.4 or T.6 fax encoding protocol; and

transmitting, with the fax relay server, the decoded fax content towards a destination device identified based on the decoded fax transmission control data.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising when the destination device is determined to be a receiving fax device that is busy, storing the decoded fax content and the decoded fax transmission control data for subsequent transmission towards the receiving fax device when the receiving fax device is available to receive fax transmissions.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising when the destination device is determined to be a printer, forwarding the decoded fax content from the fax relay server to the printer.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising when the destination device is determined to be an email recipient device, converting the decoded fax content into a data file, and forwarding the data file from the fax relay server to the email recipient device in an email message.

11. A system comprising:

a fax relay server;

a first access server that is communicatively coupled to the fax relay server and a network, the first access server configured to receive a fax message that is modulated according to a T.30 and a T.4/T.6 protocol, configured to demodulate the fax message, configured to convert the demodulated fax message into a packetized fax message according to a fax relay protocol, and configured to transmit the packetized fax message;

a second access server that is communicatively coupled to the fax relay server and the network, the second access server configured to receive the packetized fax message, configured to convert the packetized fax message into the fax message, configured to remodulate the fax message according to the T.30 and the T.4/T.6 protocol, and configured to transmit the modulated fax message; and

a protocol subsystem to extract the T.30 and T.4/T.6 fax information from the packetized fax message.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first access server includes the protocol subsystem.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first access server further comprises a temporary storage medium coupled to the protocol subsystem, the temporary storage medium configured to store the T.30 and T.4/T.6 fax information.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the fax relay server includes the protocol subsystem.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the fax relay server further comprises a storage medium configured store the T.30 and T.4/T.6 fax information.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the network includes an Internet.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the network includes a wide area network (WAN).

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the fax relay protocol comprises a T.38 protocol.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the fax relay server is configured to communicate with a mail server.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the network includes an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network.

21. The system of claim 11, wherein the network includes a frame relay network.

22. A method comprising:

receiving, with an access server, a modulated fax message over a circuit-switched network from a first fax machine, wherein the fax message includes fax transmission control data encoded according to a T.30 fax encoding protocol and includes fax content encoded according to a T.4 or T.6 fax encoding protocol;

demodulating, with the access server, the fax message and generating at least one data packet that includes the demodulated fax message, wherein the at least one data packet is generated according to a fax relay protocol that allows the at least one data packet to traverse over a packet-switched network;

determining, with the access server, whether a second fax machine is a destination of the fax message and is available to receive the fax message;

when the second fax machine is unavailable to receive the fax message or when the fax relay server is associated with the destination of the fax message, transmitting, with the access server, the at least one data packet to a fax relay server over the packet-switched network, wherein the fax relay server is configured to decode the fax transmission control data according to the T.30 fax encoding protocol and decode the fax content according to the T.4 or T.6 fax encoding protocol, and wherein the fax relay server is configured to transmit the decoded fax content towards a destination device identified based on the decoded fax transmission control data.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein when the destination device is determined to be the second fax machine, the fax relay server is configured to store the decoded fax content and the decoded fax transmission control data for subsequent transmission towards the second fax machine when the second fax machine is available to receive fax transmissions.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein when the destination device is determined to be a printer, the fax relay server is configured to forward the decoded fax content from the fax relay server to the printer.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising when the destination device is determined to be an email recipient device, the fax relay server is configured to convert the decoded fax content into a data file, and forward the data file to the email recipient device in an email message.

26. A fax relay device comprising:

a network interface device to receive one or more data packets including fax information from an access server over a packet-switched network, wherein the fax information includes fax transmission control data encoded according to a T.30 fax encoding protocol and includes fax content encoded according to a T.4 or T.6 fax encoding protocol; and

a protocol subsystem to extract the fax information from the one or more data packets with the fax relay server, wherein the protocol subsystem is configured to decode the fax transmission control data according to the T.30 fax encoding protocol and decode the fax content according to the T.4 or T.6 fax encoding protocol, wherein the network interface device is configured to transmit the decoded fax content towards a destination device identified based on the decoded fax transmission control data.

27. The device of claim 26, further comprising a memory device to store the decoded fax content and the decoded fax transmission control data for subsequent transmission when the destination device is determined to be a fax machine, wherein the network interface device is configured to forward the decoded fax content and the decoded fax transmission control data towards the fax machine when the fax machine is available to receive fax transmissions.

28. The device of claim 26, wherein when the destination device is determined to be an email recipient device, the protocol subsystem is configured to convert the decoded fax content into a data file, and the network interface device is configured to forward the data file from the fax relay server to the email recipient device in an email message.