Image Communication Apparatus Server-Based Fax Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image communication apparatuses require users to designate both fax numbers and mail addresses for destinations, leading to increased communication costs and user workload when transmitting images of multiple pages.
Innovation Solution
An image communication apparatus that communicates with a server and external devices via a public network, generating and transmitting access information along with low-resolution image data to allow high-resolution image data acquisition from a server, reducing communication costs and user workload by allowing only fax number designation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If fax number and mail address are designated for destination, then image data can be transmitted to destination, but user workload increases and communication cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the mail address designation requirement from the transmission process. The system now only requires fax number designation, while the server automatically retrieves corresponding mail address information from stored correspondence data, eliminating the need for users to manually input mail addresses and reducing both user workload and communication overhead
Solution Approach 2:
The server acts as an intermediary between the image communication apparatus and the destination. It stores and manages the correspondence between fax numbers and mail addresses, automatically resolving the destination information based on the designated fax number, thereby simplifying the user interface and reducing communication cost
2Manufacturing precision
If high-resolution image data is transmitted over public network, then image quality is maintained, but communication cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image data transmission process into two parts: high-resolution image data is stored on the server with full quality, while only access information (URL) and necessary control data are transmitted over the public network. The destination apparatus retrieves the full high-resolution data from the server, thus maintaining image quality while minimizing public network transmission volume and cost
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy of the high-resolution image data storage location (access information/URL) and transmits this copy over the public network instead of the actual large-volume image data. The destination uses this access information to retrieve the full high-resolution data from the server, reducing communication cost while preserving image quality
Data Source
AI summary
An image communication apparatus configured to communicate with a server on a network, and configured to communicate with at least one external apparatus through a public network, includes: a destination receiving unit receiving a designation of a destination;a reading unit reading a document; a first generating unit generating first image data based on the document read by the reading unit; a first transmitting unit transmitting the first image data generated by the first generating unit to the server; a transmission-data generating unit generating transmission data including access information and second image data having a smaller amount of data than that of the first image data, the access information being for acquiring the first image data from the server, and a second transmitting unit configured to transmit the transmission data generated by the transmission-data generating unit, to the destination through the public network.