Non real-time facsimile system for a computing device

Details Non real-time facsimile system for a computing device Non real-time facsimile system for a computing device

2001-07-03

2004-09-28

Chan, Wing (Department: 2683)

Telephonic communications

Telephone line or system combined with diverse electrical...

To produce visual-graphic copy

C379S100010, C358S407000, C710S072000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06798870

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to a dynamic facsimile (“fax”) transmission system and method that enables the non-real time transmission of faxes from a computing device. More precisely, the present invention is directed to a non-real time or semi-real time fax transmission system and method in which the associated computing devices, either locally or across a network, emulate a class 1 or class 2 facsimile machine and modem, and store the emulated facsimile/modem sessions for transmission at a later time. The present invention is also directed to means by which a modem spoofer software component may be used in retrieving facsimile transmissions from either a facsimile/modem device, where the facsimile/modem session is stored in the fax/modem device or in a memory of the computing device.
2. Related Art
Many conventional computer systems employing a facsimile/modem device are connected to the fax/modem device by a single band-limited connection, such as a serial port. Attempts have been made to read or write class 1 or class 2 fax commands and data to an attached fax device over an IEEE 1284 parallel port on a designated extended capability port (“ECP”) protocol. The ECP protocol provides a high performance bi-directional communication path between the first adapter and designated peripheral and, thus, provides both data cycle and command cycle paths in both forward and reverse directions.
Accordingly, using a parallel port is problematic if data traffic is travelling over the port on other channels. Additionally, the IEEE 1284 specification allows delays for signals to change, and additional time is needed to switch the ECP channel. These delays make it difficult to meet the real time requirements of class 1 or class 2 fax/modems in a personal computer (“PC”)-based fax application.
Additionally, telephone lines or PC-to-fax communications often have limited bandwidths for response time, thereby making it difficult to send or receive a fax in real time using common fax applications, such as WinFax®, LaserFax®, or HotFax®.
The success or failure of any fax transmission based upon a simple dedicated PC-to-fax communication is dependent on the speed of the communication link between the PC and the fax device. Additionally, the success or failure of any fax transmission is dependent on the timing requirements of the associated fax application or any other embedded fax interface associated with another type of application, such as the “print-to-fax” options found in many popular software applications.
Finally, many conventional fax/modem devices do not have storage means for the fax data in the fax device when an attached PC is busy. Accordingly, an incoming fax will fail to transmit when the PC is busy and unable to upload the fax at the time of reception. Additionally, the PC will not be able to respond to the incoming fax reception at a later time, as the communication channel has been closed to the incoming reception.
Many other problems, disadvantages, and deficiencies of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5404231 (1995-04-01), Bloomfield
patent: 6370239 (2002-04-01), Le et al.

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