Patent Application
20060132846
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multi-function imaging machines, and, more particularly, to a method and system of faxing through a modem of a multi-function imaging machine via an attached host computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer peripheral equipment provides various desired functionality to an attached computer, such as faxing, scanning, printing, etc. To save space, cost, etc., it has become more common to include multiple functions in a single peripheral device. These are often referred to as multi-function machines (MFM) or all-in-one machines (AIO), which terms are used interchangeably herein. Some of the AIO machines provide the ability to send and receive faxes. When the AIO is attached to a host personal computer (PC), a fax application running on the PC has the ability to send a fax using the fax modem on the AIO. The implementation associated with sending a fax in this manner is commonly referred to as “print-to-fax”. This name is also used in other contexts, for example, for the case where a fax application faxes through the modem on a PC. But as used herein, print-to-fax represents the capability of faxing from the PC through the AIO's modem.
The print-to-fax label is derived from the manner in which the fax interface between the host and the AIO is implemented. In its basic form, the host builds a fax job from electronic documents stored on the PC and/or by scanning documents from the AIO. During the creation of the fax job, a fax driver converts the file and/or scan data into fax data. Via the operating system (OS) in the print processor path, the host printer driver wraps the fax data with additional headers or tags that identify the print job as a fax job. The header contains information about the fax necessary for the AIO to run the fax operation, such as number of pages and destination phone number. These tags also mark the individual pages in the fax job as well as the end of the fax job. The tags are defined as part of the printer command interface between the host and AIO. The host then submits this job as a print job to the AIO through the OS-provided spooler facility that is used for any host print job. When the AIO device receives this “print job” from the host, it analyzes the printer command header and determines that the submitted job is actually a fax job. The AIO processes this job accordingly as a fax job and routes the job through its Fax Scheduler. The Fax Scheduler then manages the integration of the host fax data with the appropriate modem command set (AT commands), inserting AT commands at the appropriate places in the fax job. It then sends the AT-modified fax job to the modem device and manages any negotiation with the destination fax machine as well as the low-level modem transport layer.
There are limitations to the “print-to-fax” solution that constrain its usefulness to the end user:
1. No feedback mechanism to the host. Essentially, print-to-fax operates as a “fax-and-forget” model. Status and fax job completion are not available to the host.
2. No integrated fax logging, otherwise known as fax activity reporting. The host does not have the ability to query the AIO's fax log and integrate AIO log information with host log information.
3. Limitations to the size of the fax job. AIOs are more resource constrained than PCs. This constraint becomes more apparent since the entire fax job must be present on the AIO before the job can be faxed. As a result, the size of the fax job is limited by the available memory resource on the AIO. This constraint limits the user's ability to fax large fax jobs and to fax to multiple recipients even though the host PC has the capacity to support such jobs.
4. No access to host image processing. The fax software on the host PC provides additional image processing capability, such as dithering, that is not present on the AIO.
5. No broadcast capability. There is no facility in the print-to-fax architecture to send a fax to multiple recipients. Instead, the same fax job must be sent to the AIO for each recipient.
6. Inability to negotiate. Since the AIO manages negotiation with the destination modem, the host fax application must format the fax job to the least common denominator in order to ensure that the negotiation is successful. As a result, the host is unable to determine the capabilities of the destination modem, such as the ability to support color faxes, nor can the host make use of other features, such as the use of dithering to diffuse interpolation errors.
7. Contention with the OS spooler. Since a fax job is ultimately routed to the OS spooler, the host PC loses control over when the fax job actually reaches the AIO, based on other spooler work that may be in progress. Similarly, the host has no control over when the AIO actually starts transmission of the fax to the destination modem. Thus, the host must log the fax sending time as the time that the fax job is spooled rather than the actual transmission time to the destination fax machine.
The present invention moves significant portions of the fax operation from the AIO to the host PC and defines an associated Host/AIO command interface that allows the host to manage the fax operation at the AT-command level. By relocating this functionality and splitting the host/AIO responsibilities accordingly, a more robust integration of PC and AIO fax capability is delivered and, as a result, enhances the usefulness of print-to-fax to the end user.
The present invention provides a multi-function imaging machine with a modem which can be controlled either by firmware in the multi-function imaging machine or by software and a processing means in an attached computer. The attached computer can query a remote modem attached to the modem in the multi-function machine as to status, printing capabilities, etc. and generate a fax job accordingly for receipt at the remote modem.
The invention comprises, in one form thereof, a method of operating a multi-function imaging machine in combination with a computer, the multi-function imaging machine comprising a printer section, a fax section, a modem associated with the fax section, and a first processing means in communication or coupled with each of the printer section, the fax section and the modem, the computer including a second processing means in communication with the multi-function imaging machine; including the steps of using the first processing means to control the modem during a direct fax from the multi-function imaging machine; and using the second processing means to control the modem during a remote fax from the computer.
The invention comprises, in another form thereof, a method of operating a multi-function imaging machine in combination with a computer, further including the steps of: generating AT commands with the second processing means; transmitting the AT commands from the second processing means to the modem; connecting the modem with a remote modem; transmitting a query from the second processing means to the remote modem; and receiving a response to the query from the remote modem at the second processing means.
In yet another form, in a system comprising a multi-function imaging machine in communication with a host computer, the multi-function imaging machine comprising a printer section, a fax section, a modem associated with said fax section, a first buffer and a first processing means coupled with each of said first buffer, said printer section, said fax section and said modem, the computer comprising a second buffer and second processing means in communication with said second buffer and said multi-function imaging machine, a method of facsimile operation of said system, comprises: using said first processing means to control said modem during a direct fax from said multi-function imaging machine; using said second processing means to control said modem during a remote fax from said computer; generating modem command set data with said second processing means; transmitting said modem command set data from said second processing means to said modem; connecting said modem with a remote modem; transmitting a query from said second processing means to said remote modem; and receiving a response to said query from said remote modem at said second processing means.
With the present invention the modem in the multi-function machine can be controlled by the processing circuit in either the multi-function machine or an attached computer. Also, the host computer or PC can manage the flow of fax data from the host computer to the multi-function imaging machine, thereby reducing buffer memory requirements in the multi-function imaging machine. Further. the computer can be connected to the multi-function imaging machine through a number of different type connections and still provide the desired functionality, such as through a USB connection, network connection, etc. Because portions of the fax operation are moved to the host PC environment the PC's resources are now available to create and manage a fax job. As a result, larger fax jobs, broadcasts and other resource intensive fax operations are now available to the user.
With the invention, the host PC fax application interacts directly with the AIO's modem, allowing the PC fax application to manage the fax operation. The AIO maintains ownership of the modem device. As a result, the PC fax application now has visibility to ongoing fax and modem status as well as the result of the fax operation. This information can be provided to the user. The invention permits the host PC to manage negotiation with the remote/destination modem, and the capabilities of the destination fax machine are accessible to the host PC fax application. The PC fax application can apply enhancements such as color and dithering when the receiving fax machine supports such options, providing a more robust fax solution to the end user
Additionally, unlike existing print-to-fax solutions, the method of the present invention can be easily extended to the fax receive-to-host case as well as to a networked environment.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein
Referring now to
Multi-function imaging machine 12 includes a plurality of functional components, such as a printer section 18, scanner section 20, fax section 22 and modem 24. Modem 24 may be incorporated into fax section 22, or separately electrically coupled with fax section 22 as indicated by dashed line 26. Each of printer 18, scanner 20, fax 22 and modem 24 are coupled with a first electrical processing circuit 28, which may include electrical hardware, firmware and/or software. First electrical processing circuit 28 preferably includes a buffer memory 30 for receiving and temporarily storing image data from host PC 14, such as print image data or fax image data.
Host PC 14 includes a second electrical processing circuit 32, typically a microprocessor based circuit, which carries out usual functions on host PC 14. Second electrical processing circuit 32 is also configured, however, to communicate directly with modem 24 in multi-function imaging machine 12 and manage fax operation of multi-function imaging machine 12 at the AT command level. Second electrical processing circuit 32 is therefore shown in
Although processing circuits 28 and 32 are described as being an electrical circuit, it should be understood that the functionality provided by these circuits can also be implemented using software or firmware, or a general purpose processor and software or by an ASIC or combinations of the foregoing. Circuits 28 and 32 are in more general terms processing means
Modem 24 is coupled with a destination/remote modem 36 via a suitable connection line 38, such as a telephone line, or a dial-up or broadband connection to a network to which remote modem 36 is connected. Connection line 38 preferably allows two-way communication with remote modem 36, such as transmitting fax data and receiving a query response.
In contrast with the print-to-fax approach described above, the method of the present invention includes the following operational enhancements:
1. The fax job constructed by the host software is no longer a disguised print job. Instead, the host software builds the actual fax data, as before, but without the need for special printer command tags. The host then assumes responsibility for building and managing the AT command stream as well as managing the fax data stream with the AIO modem.
2. The AIO firmware now feeds the AT command stream and/or data directly to the AIO modem device. Unlike the existing print-to-fax solution, where the AIO firmware must look for the fax header and other tags, there is no need for the AIO firmware to examine or otherwise snoop the host data stream. Likewise, the AIO maintains a buffer 30 containing response data from the remote/destination modem 36 and returns this information to host PC 14 without snooping. With this approach, the AIO firmware is isolated from the interaction between the host and the AIO modem. This simplifies firmware implementation within first electrical processing circuit 28 and avoids duplicating command interpretation/construction between the host application software and the AIO. This approach also clearly delineates the host's fax responsibilities and functionality from the AIO's.
3. A robust host/PC-to-AIO command interface is defined and is used to:
4. Responsibility for generating AT command streams and modem negotiation is moved to host PC 14. Modem device and transport management remains on the AIO so that the division of responsibility between host PC 14 and AIO 12 is at the AT command layer. AIO 12 also retains responsibility for any error correction, transparently to host PC 14.
5. Host fax features such as broadcast and image processing remain on host PC 14 and are accessible to the end user through the host application software, providing a more robust overall fax support than the existing print-to-fax solution. The user can also create large fax jobs containing multiple attachments as well as better exploit color faxing since these potentially resource-intensive features are now managed on host PC 14.
The method of the present invention can be extended to host-based receiving of faxes from the AIO. Although this would require additional AIO command interface definition, the basic concept of direct communication with the AIO's modem from the host applies to the receive case.
The method of the present invention is also extendable to network-attached AIOs. In this case, the host continues to construct fax data and manage AT command interaction with the modem. The transport mechanism is then provided through a network protocol such as TCP/IP rather than USB. For certain applications, the fax AIO commands/data are passed over the network to the Ethernet adapter (ENA), which then passes the command stream through to the AIO using the USB connection between the ENA and the AIO.
While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
