U.S. patent application number 13/573618 was filed with the patent office on 2013-01-31 for network scanner for global document creation, transmission and management.
The applicant listed for this patent is Eric Morgan Dowling, Robert Abe Westerlund. Invention is credited to Eric Morgan Dowling, Robert Abe Westerlund.
Application Number | 20130027738 13/573618 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36125203 |
Filed Date | 2013-01-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130027738 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Dowling; Eric Morgan ; et
al. |
January 31, 2013 |
Network scanner for global document creation, transmission and
management
Abstract
A network scanner, communication protocols, and client and
server programs and are provided which provide an improved way to
transmit legally binding documents, obviating the need for
outmoded, legacy fax transmissions. Using the network scanner, a
document may be scanned and transferred directly into any shared
folder inbox residing on any computer attached to the Internet.
Enhanced server systems and network communications and messaging
protocols are provided that are more practical to use than email
for sending documents such as executed legal documents or other
documents requiring robust integrity and authenticatability.
Similarly, the inventive network scanner, server systems and
communication protocols provide improved ways to perform large file
transfers and to manage bandwidth to minimize problems associated
with uploading/downloading large files as attachments to/from email
servers and for enabling user control over VoIP quality during file
transmission sessions.
Inventors: |
Dowling; Eric Morgan;
(Escazu, CR) ; Westerlund; Robert Abe; (Jupiter,
FL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Dowling; Eric Morgan
Westerlund; Robert Abe |
Escazu
Jupiter |
FL |
CR
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
36125203 |
Appl. No.: |
13/573618 |
Filed: |
September 28, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10948213 |
Sep 24, 2004 |
7672003 |
|
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13573618 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
358/1.14 ;
358/1.15 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 1/44 20130101; H04L
63/126 20130101; H04N 2201/327 20130101; H04N 1/4486 20130101; H04N
1/00217 20130101; H04L 63/0272 20130101; G06F 21/606 20130101; H04N
2201/3233 20130101; H04N 1/00209 20130101; H04L 63/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
358/1.14 ;
358/1.15 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/00 20060101
G06F015/00 |
Claims
1-22. (canceled)
23. A network scanner, comprising: a scanner system configured to
scan a document comprised of one or more sheets of paper to create
an image file; a network interface that enables the network scanner
to be connected to a network; a display; and, a GUI, viewable
through a surface of the display, which enables a user of the
network scanner to select a destination folder accessible via the
network from a computerized device that is external to the network
scanner and that is connected to the network; wherein the network
scanner is configured to send the image file to a user-selected
destination folder.
24. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the user-selected
destination folder is contained in a local storage of the network
scanner.
25. The network scanner of claim 24, wherein the local storage of
the network scanner is accessible to the computerized device
external to the network scanner via the network.
26. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the user-selected
destination folder is contained in a storage device associated with
the computerized device external to the network scanner.
27. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the local storage of
the network scanner is accessible to a plurality of computerized
devices external to the network scanner via the network.
28. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the GUI allows the
user to select the user-selected destination folder to be contained
in any one of a plurality of computerized devices external to the
network scanner.
29. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the GUI allows the
user to select a plurality of user-selected destination folders to
be contained in different ones of a plurality of different
computerized devices external to the network scanner.
30. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the user-selected
destination folder is associated with a target user who is not the
same as the user.
31. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network scanner is
coupled to the computerized device external to the network scanner
via the network interface.
32. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network interface
comprises an Ethernet interface.
33. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network interface
comprises a WiFi interface.
34. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network interface
comprises a Bluetooth interface.
35. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network interface
comprises a wireless interface.
36. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network interface
comprises a wired interface.
37. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the GUI further
enables the user to select a destination e-mail address, wherein
the network scanner is configured to send the image file to the
selected e-mail address as an e-mail attachment.
38. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the image file
comprises a .pdf file format
40. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the image file
comprises a .tif file format
41. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the computerized
device external to the network scanner comprises a computer.
42. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the computerized
device external to the network scanner comprises a cellular
phone.
43. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the computerized
device external to the network scanner comprises as wireless
handheld device.
44. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network scanner
comprises a multifunction machine that includes a plurality of
functions selected from a group comprised of a printer function, a
copier function, and a fax function.
45. The network scanner of claim 44, wherein the multifunction
machine further comprises a scan-to-email function.
46. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network is a
member of the group consisting of a local area packet switched
network and a Global Internet.
47. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network comprises
a wireless LAN.
48. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the GUI further
enables the user to enter a PIN, and wherein further, the network
scanner is configured to send the image file to the user-selected
destination folder only if the PIN is an authorized PIN.
49. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the user-selected
destination folder comprises a network shared folder accessible to
a plurality of different computerized devices external to the
network scanner.
50. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the user-selected
destination folder is not contained in a host computer tethered to
the network scanner.
51. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the GUI enables the
user to select a destination folder located on any one of a
plurality of computerized devices external to the network
scanner.
52. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network scanner is
configured to allow the user-selected destination folder to be
located on any one of a plurality of computerized devices external
to the network scanner.
53. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network scanner is
coupled to the Internet, and the computerized device external to
the network scanner comprises a remote computerized device coupled
to the network scanner via the Internet.
54. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network interface
includes a TCP/IP interface for coupling the network scanner to the
Internet, and the computerized device external to the network
scanner comprises a remote computerized device coupled to the
network scanner via the Internet.
55. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network comprises
the Internet.
56. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the network comprises
an Intranet.
57. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the GUI enables the
user to select the destination folder from a plurality of possible
destination folders.
58. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the user-selected
destination folder is personal to the user.
59. The network scanner of claim 23, wherein the user-selected
destination folder comprises a network folder that is shareable by
the user and a plurality of other users.
60. A network scanner, comprising: a scanner system configured to
scan one or more sheets of paper to create an image file; a network
interface that enables the network scanner to be connected to a
network; a display; and, a GUI, viewable through a surface of the
display, which provides a menu which enables a user of the network
scanner to invoke either a scan-to-email function or a
scan-to-folder function, wherein in response to user selection of
the scan-to-email function, the GUI enables the user to select a
destination e-mail address, wherein in response to user selection
of the scan-to-folder function, the GUI enables a user of the
network scanner to select a user-selected destination folder
accessible via the network, wherein the network scanner is
configured to send the image file as an e-mail attachment to the
destination e-mail address in the event the scan-to-email function
is invoked, wherein the network scanner is configured to send the
image file to the user-selected destination folder in the event
that the scan-to-folder function is invoked.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of
parent application Ser. No. [not yet received] [docket number
EMD/BAW.001], filed Sep. 1, 2004, for an invention entitled
"Methods, Smart Cards, and Systems for providing portable Computer,
VoIP, and Application Services", by the present inventors, the
disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its
entirety. Applicants hereby claim the benefit of the earlier filing
date of the above-referenced parent application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to electronic document
creation, storage, transmission, and management. More particularly,
the invention relates to methods and systems for inputting printed
paper ("hard copy") documents by scanning them into an electronic
format and sending the resultant electronic documents to local
storage and/or to a remote location.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Fax technology has been in use now for several decades and
allows paper documents to be scanned, digitized, and transported
via analog telephone connections using the G3 fax protocols and
modem technology. As the Internet grew to become ubiquitous,
Internet based fax server technology was introduced in order to
allow faxes to be received and forwarded to recipients via
email.
[0004] Internet fax services, generically known as "efax" services,
add many benefits beyond standard analog fax machines. Using these
services, people can fax documents to a recipient's fixed published
fax telephone number, but the fax can be received and printed out
from any location in the world that provides Internet access.
Further, such efax transmissions received over a broadband Internet
connection do not tie up a telephone line during the reception of
the fax, although the transmitting fax still ties up a telephone
line and experiences the per-page telephonic transmission delay.
Yet further, as long as the efax user has access to a scanner, efax
services eliminate the need for a fax machine, provide superior
image quality, and provide a host of other user/worker
productivity/efficiency advantages. For example, with efax
services, the user/worker need not worry about replacing the fax
machine ink cartridge, reloading a document feeder tray, fax
machine maintenance and repair, downtime due to fax machine
malfunction, clearing paper jams, etc. In general, efax technology
provides a faster, cheaper, superior, and more efficient way to
create and transmit documents throughout the entire world, as
compared to using conventional fax machines.
[0005] While efax technology is typically used to receive faxes
(inbound technology, also known as "fax-to-email"), efax technology
can also be used to send faxes (outbound technology, also known as
"email-to-fax"). With email-to-fax technology, a subscriber
typically sends an email with a scanned image file attachment
(e.g., .tif or .pdf), to a subscriber's outbound fax-to-email
address. When the email is received at this address, the server
inspects the subject field for a telephone number and causes an
outbound telephone call to be made to a fax machine, and the fax is
transmitted via standard G3 fax signals to a recipient fax machine
across the telephone network. The email-to-fax server system may be
distributed and route the fax as an email to a local point of
presence (POP) and make a local outbound fax call to minimize
telephone toll charges.
[0006] A somewhat hybrid offshoot of the above technologies is
called Emate technology. With Emate technology, special fax
machines are used that allow a user to enter an email address into
a fax machine, make a telephone call to a fax-to-email server, and
transmit the fax using standard G3 type analog fax signals. A
fax-to-email type server then receives the fax call, extracts the
email address therefrom, converts the fax to an image file format
(like .tif or .pdf), attaches the image file to an email, and sends
the resultant efax to the specified recipient email address. Among
other reasons, because the Emate solution requires a special type
of fax machine, and further, still requires a fax-to-email server,
this technology has not been widely adopted. Instead, fax-to-email
services prevail in the marketplace, and users interested in
receiving faxes as emails subscribe to such services, e.g., those
offered by j2 Global Communications, Inc.
[0007] Throughout this application, it should be noted that an
"image file" generally refers to a file in an image file format,
such as a .pdf file or a .tif file. Often the image file is a bit
mapped file (.bmp file). If OCR (optical character recognition) is
used, the image file can be stored with less bits than a bit-mapped
image, and can also be made searchable and computer
manipulable.
[0008] Another presently available technology is a multifunction
fax machine. A multifunction fax machine can be used as an ordinary
fax machine to send fax messages using the G3 fax protocol across
standard telephone lines. Similarly, the multifunction fax machine
can be used as a printer, and also as a scanner. Typically, the
resolution for copies is not as good as a standard copy machine,
but this is an implementation issue. Multifunction fax machines
find use mainly in small office/home office (SOHO) environments
because there is typically limited space to house separate copy
machines, printers and fax machines.
[0009] While these various hybrid Internet fax solutions have
extended the life of fax technology, it has become apparent to the
present inventors that fax technology is, in and of itself, dated
and cumbersome. What is needed is a universal network-based
scanning technology that can eliminate the need for fax machines
altogether, enabling a new generation of enhanced document
creation, delivery and management systems.
[0010] Modern computer technology offers many ways to attach
electronic documents of all kinds to emails and to globally
transmit them to end-user email accounts, and/or using FTP or other
protocols. However, current computer technology is lacking in
certain ways, and this void is still being filled by fax
technology. Fax technology is still the accepted way of remotely
and electronically executing legally binding documents like
contracts, agreements and purchase orders. Using existing
technology, scanners can be used to scan documents, and the scanned
document can be attached to en email and sent from a computer to a
destination email address. However, because computer technology can
readily be used to alter documents in electronic form and is
susceptible to hacking and spoofing, such documents are not as well
trusted as documents faxed by legacy analog fax machines.
[0011] A recent addition to the field is a scanner system (or
combined scanner system with any combination of the following extra
functions: copier/printer/fax) where a user can drop a document
into a paper feeder, enter a destination email address, and
transmit the scanned document to the destination email address.
This new functionality is called "scan-to-email." While such
functionality is a step in the right direction, it is lacking in
many ways. First of all, the scanner often creates large bitmap
files. Bitmap files are often desired for electronically
transmitted legal documents because they are not as readily
computer manipulable as text based documents and therefore are
perceived as being more secure.
[0012] When sending bitmapped images, the files rapidly become too
large to be processed by an email server, so that, for example, a
sender sending twenty or so color pages from a magazine, might have
to break the scan job into fifteen separate email transmissions. If
a large contract needs to be executed, even though it is in black
and white, it would not be acceptable to break it into many pieces
to make it fit through email. Because time is so expensive, a
technology that requires both a sending operator and a recipient to
wait long times for uploads and downloads may in some ways be worse
than fax. At least with fax, the recipient can be doing something
else while the fax comes in, assuming no paper jams and/or other
fax machine malfunction and/or communication link failure occurs
during the transmission.
[0013] Other important features are also missing from modern
scanners that can be attached to networks and which have a
scan-to-email capability. While user authentication is used to
allow a user to enter an email account and other types of user
accounts, no user authentication techniques have been combined with
the scanner to positively identify a user and link the
positively-identified user with a particular scanned document.
There is a long-felt need for an improved computerized system for
transmitting legally binding documents via electronic means other
than costly and cumbersome fax technology, and this need is as yet
unfilled, even by the current generation scan-to-email technology.
Rather, legacy fax machines which are slow, costly, and of
relatively poor image quality are still used to transmit documents.
Fax machines allow a recipient to know where the fax came from
(caller ID log), and also allow the sender to dial a telephone
number, hear it ring, hear it pick up, hear the machines handshake,
and see a transmission report message that indicates that all the
pages were sent properly. The recipient exercises physical control
over a hard copy document sent by analog fax means that went
straight from paper to telephone signals and now to his/her fax
paper output, so the user is more or less sure the fax was not
altered electronically. Hence conventional analog fax transmissions
are typically more trusted than scanned email attachments and,
therefore, fax transmissions are still required by most companies
to execute agreements, to send or receive purchase orders or
purchase order modifications, and other documents which have
evidentiary value and/or require a high level of document
integrity.
[0014] For these reasons, in current practice, fax machines are
often used to execute legal documents such as contracts. When the
fax is received, the faxed signature is accepted as legally
binding. However, in reality, this provides only a light form of
security. For example, a signature could be taken from a first
contract and pasted onto a second contract, copied, and then faxed.
By simply cutting, pasting, and copying with a copy machine, a
document can be easily forged and faxed. With the older analog fax
technology, nobody really knows who actually created and/or faxed
the document being transmitted. Also a forger can easily enter a
false sending-fax telephone number to be printed on each received
fax page. That is, while analog fax technology is accepted as
legally binding, the inventors recognize that this is out of
historical necessity for lack of a better technology, not for
technical reasons.
[0015] In addition to the above-described drawbacks and
shortcomings of current scan-to-email technology, such as the lack
of sender authentication and the inefficiencies of large bitmap
files, email is not an ideal medium for important business
transactions because a user is never really sure the email ever got
to its destination. Too many times a large attachment is sent and
some email server along the way simply deletes it and never sends
it on to its intended destination. Therefore no one can ever sure
an email will get through to its intended destination, especially
if there is a big file attachment. Nobody wants to send a fifty
page contract and have no idea whether it was received without
having to call the recipient and ask. Also, large documents often
experience long email delays, so that even calling and asking for
confirmation of receipt is not always effective.
[0016] Consider trying to file an IDS with the USPTO with 150 pages
of references using scan-to-email technology as opposed to fax
technology. With fax technology, this process would be so slow and
onerous that most people would just send it though the mail.
However if someone did spend the time to fax it, at least they
would know, if there were no paper jams and/or communications
glitches along the way that made them start over, that all the
pages were received by the USPTO and would be filed. However, if
scan-to-email technology were used and a USPTO email address were
supplied to accept incoming documents, the sender would have no way
to be sure the USPTO ever received the large email attachment.
Although an auto-reply email function can be used to indicate
receipt of the email message, there is presently no mechanism for
the email recipient to automatically confirm receipt of any email
attachment. Again, the practitioner would rather use regular mail
than scan-to-email for this reason. Hence, there are significant
improvements that need to be made before a technology like
scan-to-email can receive widespread acceptance and ultimately
become a global standard for document creation and delivery to
replace fax technology in the marketplace.
[0017] What is missing in the art is a technology that can be used
to securely scan documents and seamlessly transmit resulting image
files to any location across the globe without the need to convert
them to analog fax signals and to transmit them across the public
switched telephone network (PSTN). It would be advantageous to be
able to supply such functionality without the need to employ
expensive fax server systems that use special purpose boards to
receive fax signals via telephone lines and to convert the fax
signals to image format files or FoIP (fax-over-IP) signals. It
would be advantageous to be able to securely send laser quality
documents to any point in the world. It would be advantageous to
have a technology to securely execute documents to enter into legal
contracts remotely. It would also be advantageous to have a
technology which would enable the creation of a remotely
transmittable electronic document having evidentiary integrity from
a hard copy input document, preferably without the need for
specialized infrastructure and/or specialized services for
performing e-mail-to-fax and/or fax-to-e-mail conversions remotely
of the point of creation of the transmittable document. It would be
further advantageous to have a new technology that does not merely
convert lower quality fax transmissions to image files and transmit
them as attachments to emails, but rather starts from the ground up
to provide a fully integrated global document creation and delivery
system that uses existing Internet and/or other communications
network transport protocols and new inventive application programs
and protocols to integrate document creation and delivery with
modern computer technology. It would be desirable to vastly improve
upon the newly introduced scan-to-email technology to make it more
convenient to use by providing improved user interfaces, improved
network transmission methodology, confirmation of receipt by the
recipient, and integrated document authentication, sender
authentication, and security functions. It would be yet further
advantageous to implement such a new technology in a
network-sharable device, such as a "network scanner".
[0018] In sum, there presently exists in the art a need for an
electronic document creation and delivery method which overcomes or
minimizes the drawbacks and shortcomings of the presently available
technology, and which provides some or all of the advantageous
features described above which are presently missing from the art.
The present invention addresses this need in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0019] In one of its aspects, the present invention encompasses a
network scanner which includes an optical document scanning
arrangement with a scanning surface for document scanning, an image
digitizing subsystem operative to produce an image file from a set
of one or more scanned pages, and a computerized subsystem
including a processor, a memory, a network interface, an optional
smart card interface, and computer software resident in the memory,
such as application and communications software. A GUI is provided
for facilitating human-machine interactions, including, for
example, GUI functions which enable a user to control and manage
the creation and transmission of electronic documents from source
hard copy input documents. A network interface is provided for
communicating across a computer network.
[0020] The present invention, in another of its aspects,
encompasses inventive document transmission protocols which enable
the provision of a new service, hereby dubbed "scan-to-folder",
that allows a user to scan a document and have it inserted directly
into a file folder in a computer located anywhere in the world.
Among other advantages, this novel scan-to-folder service relieves
the recipient of the need to wait for the scanned file to be
downloaded from an email server and eliminates the uncertainty of
email transmission due to the failure of intermediate email servers
to properly forward or route the scanned file to the intended
destination. The transmitted scanned file may be positively
authenticated with a digital signature of the person sending the
document to provide stronger sender authentication security than
that provided by a fax caller-ID log. Also, in accordance with a
preferred aspect of the inventive scan-to-folder protocols, a
recipient protocol entity, after having received the document,
sends back a confirmation report indicating the number of pages
properly received, or optionally computes a cryptographic hash
function (preferably using public-private key cryptology
procedures) on the document and sends back a reduced size hash so
the sender can be 100% sure the scan-to-folder document was
received intact at the distant end and did not get "lost in the
email" or corrupted or modified during transit.
[0021] The GUI preferably allows a user to specify a destination
application layer Internet address such as an email or FTP or SIP
address to which to send the scanned image via the network
interface. A smart card interface is preferably also provided to
accept a smart card that includes user authentication data. This
allows users to digitally sign documents, log into VPN protected
networks, and/or to supply user-specific data to the network
scanner. For example a user may wish to access his/her personal
email account and have access to address books and the like while
operating the network scanner. A biometric security device may also
or alternatively be incorporated into the network scanner to
provide virtually inviolable authentication of the sender
positively linked to documents transmitted by the authenticated
sender for evidentiary and/or security purposes. Also,
smartcardless embodiments are possible by having a user provide a
user name and a password in order to facilitate access to
user-specific information normally held on the smart card from a
networked storage account.
[0022] The present invention solves many fundamental problems
latent in the prior art. The network scanner of the present
invention is especially useful in environments where broadband
access is available. For example, the network scanner can be used
in any environment where network access is available, such as in
corporate LANs, home networked environments, or public WiFi
hotspots. With the network scanner, a document can be loaded into a
paper feeder, scanned, and transmitted to a local storage area,
uploaded to a server, sent as an email attachment to a recipient,
and/or can be coupled via a secure network session (over any wired
or wireless communications network) to any type of server, PC,
handheld device, workstation, storage-equipped Internet appliance,
device, or equipment coupled to the Internet. Various
authentication methods such as the use of smart cards, biometric
IDs, server side certificate accounts requiring user name and
password, digital signatures, and encryption may be seamlessly used
to verify to the recipient that the scanned document was inserted
into the scanner and/or sent by the person who correctly executed
the scanned document. Hence, the present invention provides a much
more secure and efficient way to execute legally binding documents
remotely and electronically than is possible with prior art fax
and/or scan-to-email based solutions. The alternate file, folder
and document transmission protocols and methods disclosed herein
will cut billions of hours per year that people would otherwise
spend downloading file attachments from email servers or sending
them via fax. Additionally, other aspects of the present invention,
such as the security and receipt confirmation techniques, can be
employed to vastly improve current scan-to-email systems, and to
render such electronic document creation and delivery systems
suitable for applications and uses which are currently only being
met by conventional, analog fax technology, with all of its many
drawbacks, disadvantages, and shortcomings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0023] The various novel features of the invention are illustrated
in the figures listed below and described in the detailed
description which follows.
[0024] FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing a network scanner
constructed in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
[0025] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method that allows a
network scanner to provide an enhanced form of document
communication that is similar in ways to facsimile communications,
but much more secure and convenient.
[0026] FIG. 3 is a block diagram representing the architecture of
inventive unified client software that allows users to manage both
emails and scan-to-folder data messages.
[0027] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a transport service
preferably used and controlled by the inventive unified client
software illustrated in FIG. 3.
[0028] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a direct session
server used in some embodiments to help transfer documents from a
remote computer to a target computer.
[0029] FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a network application program
used to remotely execute legally binding contracts and agreements
between two or more parties.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0030] This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of the
presently pending U.S. patent application entitled "METHODS, SMART
CARDS, AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING PORTABLE COMPUTER, VOIP, AND
APPLICATION SERVICES", by Dowling and Westerlund, filed on Sep. 1,
2004 [Docket Number EMD/BAW.001], the disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. All of the
disclosure of the present application is explicitly combinable with
the disclosure of the parent application to form various
combinations of systems whereby the network scanner takes the place
of or operates in conjunction with the VoIP or FoIP device in the
parent application. Likewise, any of the network and server
functions described in the parent application may be used to
augment the network based systems and methods described herein.
[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the network
scanner apparatus 100 ("network scanner") of the present invention.
The network scanner 100 includes a scanner engine 105 which is
implemented using a scanning surface with any known optical
document scanning technology as used in presently available
scanners, fax machines, and copy machines. Preferably, a high
resolution scanner is used, and most preferably, one that is
capable of both black and white and color scanning. In a preferred
embodiment, a paper feeder tray 110 (automatic document feeder) is
provided and the scanning surface is also accessible to scan book
pages and the like that can not be processed through the paper
feeder tray. In some embodiments, the scanning surface is thin
rectangular like present day fax machines and only paper input via
the paper feeder may be scanned. The output of the scanner engine
105 is a digitized scanned bit-mapped image, which is fed to a
computerized subsystem. The computerized subsystem includes one or
more processors 115 coupled to one or more memory devices
(collectively referred to as "the memory" 120). In some
embodiments, the scanner engine 105 itself has a dedicated
processor to aid in the image digitization process and, in other
embodiments, a single processor is used to assist in the
digitization operations and to support other software
functions.
[0032] A network interface 125 and an optional smart card interface
130 are coupled to the computerized subsystem. The network
interface 125 may be an Ethernet connector, a WiFi/802.11 wireless
network interface, or any other type of network interface (e.g.,
LAN). In some embodiments, the network interface 125 may provide a
WiFi gateway access function as well as, for example, an Ethernet
connection for coupling to the Internet. The smart card interface
130 may be a smart card slot reader, or may communicate via similar
personal communications or computerized devices like PDAs capable
of holding user-specific data. In some embodiments, the smart card
interface 130 may be replaced by or augmented with a biometric
scanner such as a fingerprint scanner. For further details,
reference can be made to the parent application that is
incorporated herein by reference. The smart card reader and/or
biometric sensor allows a user to provide strong authentication of
the user's identity. For example, the user inserts his/her smart
card, enters a user name and password or a PIN, and/or provides a
biometric indication or input, such as a thumbprint, into a
biometric sensor or biometric security device provided in some
embodiments. The smart card preferably includes public and private
encryption keys and a digital signature for user authentication.
With such a system, a user may be positively identified and
positively linked to a particular document scanned and transmitted
at a specific time. As discussed previously, any discussion herein
relating to functionality of a smart card could alternatively be
implemented via a wirelessly connected PDA type device or a
password protected network storage based user account.
[0033] The memory 120 is used to store data and to hold a set of
computer programs such as an operating system 135, communication
software (protocol stacks) 140 to run the network interface 125 and
the smart card interface 130, and upper layer software like TCP/IP
software. Also contained in the memory 120 are a set of application
programs 145 described hereinafter. In some embodiments the memory
120 may include mass storage for document and file storage and
remote access.
[0034] The user interface preferably includes a GUI 150 that allows
a user to manipulate graphical objects, windows, and menus.
Depending on the embodiment, keyboard inputs, pen type inputs
and/or voice inputs with speech recognition can be used. GUI
interfaces similar to those that run on current day PDAs are
envisioned as being preferable. In some multifunction embodiments
(primarily for SOHO applications), a printer may be incorporated
into the apparatus as well to provide both scanning and printing
capabilities from the same housing. In office environments, the
present invention may be built into a large multifunction unit also
acting as a printer and a high capacity copy machine.
[0035] In many preferred embodiments, the network scanner of the
present invention looks like a conventional fax machine. In such
embodiments, a VoIP telephone may optionally be built in to allow
both telephone calls and document calls to be made, thereby
providing an integrated scanner/VoIP device that has the look and
feel of a conventional fax machine but uses indigenous broadband
network access and Internet transport technologies. Since at least
some of the same components and/or circuitry can be used for
implementing both the scanner and VoIP telephony functionality
(e.g., the same processor(s), memory(ies), and possibly, the same
call-setup application layer programs and communication protocols),
the integrated scanner/VoIP device can be made more compact and at
a significantly lower cost, as compared to separate, standalone
scanner and VoIP devices. In order to further reduce the footprint
of the integrated scanner VoIP device, the scanning surface may be
designed to be small so that only documents loaded into the paper
feeder can be scanned. Alternatively, standard WiFi access
interface may be provided by the network scanner that allows the
network scanner to interface with handheld wireless VoIP enabled
telephone handsets (to include cordless type handsets and cellular
phones that have the ability to roam onto WiFi networks.
[0036] Notably, the same endpoint-to-endpoint connection or
communications path ("communications link") that is established
when placing a VoIP telephone call may be used to transmit a
scanned electronic document to the same party, so that the sending
party can be speaking with the receiving party while the document
is being transmitted. For example, a TCP/IP control channel can be
established by first sending a UDP message to a distant end via the
Internet. In some case the UDP (or a different TCP/IP) address may
be obtained by a SIP server. A first and second call channel may
then be established to carry the outgoing and incoming VoIP media
streams, and a third media channel can be established for
transmitting the electronic document. This multi-channel connection
can be implemented using various technologies to include the H.323
series of VoIP standards used to setup and maintain calls that
carry voice, video and other data types. Preferably, when
establishing a multimedia call, the user, e.g., via the GUI 150,
can selectively vary the bandwidth allocated to each socket or
channel. For example, when document transmission speed is more
important than voice quality, the user could increase the bandwidth
allocated for the document transmission channel or socket, and,
alternatively, if voice quality is more important than document
transmission speed, then the user could increase the bandwidth
allocated for the VoIP telephony channel or socket. Of course, a
document-only call could use a similar setup procedure to transfer
the document via an established point-to-point transport pipe (e.g.
TCP/IP data channel connection) without the need to establish a
VoIP connection. Also, the SIP protocol may be used to determine
the initial UDP or TCP/IP address needed to set up the call and/or
control channel by looking up an address like eric@aol.com and
generating an active IP address (or mobile IP address)
therefrom.
[0037] The protocol stacks 140 are preferably provided as a portion
of the software and/or firmware to allow the network scanner 100 to
communicate with external computers, servers, and networks. For
example, the network scanner 100 may be connected to an Ethernet
LAN, an Ethernet connection to a router, an Ethernet connection to
a cable modem, to a WiFi network (e.g., 802.11), Bluetooth, USB,
wireless USB, FireWire, or any other protocol. In some particular
embodiments, the network scanner 100 may be coupled directly to a
single computer, and in other particular embodiments, the network
scanner 100 may have its own link layer address on a LAN, and may
also have its own Internet (IP) address, for example, an IP address
assigned to it by a domain controller (a DNS and/or DHCP
controller). In a preferred embodiment, the protocol stack 140 also
includes transport and network software layers and is coupled to an
application software layer, e.g., to application programs 145.
[0038] The application programs 145 include user input-output
functions and capabilities accessed via the GUI 150. For example,
the application programs 145 allow a user to use a Windows
Explorer.TM. type application to view a file system located on a
remote computer connected to the network scanner 100 via any
suitable wired or wireless communications network or coupling, for
example, via a direct coupling, via a LAN coupling via a TCP/IP
connection to the Internet, or via a corporate Intranet. The GUI
150 can also support specialized email client software designed to
run directly on the network scanner 100. Additionally, the GUI 150
can support user authentication functions and can support a set of
GUIs used to implement the application program methods described
hereinbelow. In general, the GUI functions enable a user to control
and manage the creation and transmission of electronic documents
scanned from source hard copy input. Other types of application
programs implement new types of document, security, and
communication protocols that allow network based scanners to
provide enhanced functionality as described hereinbelow.
[0039] In a preferred embodiment, the application programs 145
include software for image and/or document compression. Many known
compression algorithms are used to compress documents, images, and
other kinds of data files. In a preferred embodiment, the software
resident in the network scanner 100 implements a compression
algorithm so that the resultant electronic document can be
transmitted using fewer bits of data (and thus, using less
bandwidth). Preferably, lossless compression is used and any
authentication data such as digital signatures are not altered by
the compression algorithm, or the authentication and/or encryption
algorithm may be applied directly to the compressed document. Also,
different resolution levels may be intelligently selected to reduce
bandwidth needs. For example, a black and white document would need
fewer bits to represent than a scanned color photograph.
[0040] It can be recognized that the network scanner 100 of the
present invention uses fairly standard computerized hardware.
Scanners are well known in the art, as is network interface
hardware, smart card hardware, operating systems, and GUI
interfaces. However, the present invention, among other things,
encompasses a novel combination and configuration of such
conventional hardware elements, as well as novel software, to
implement the novel configurations and methodologies employed by
the network scanner of the present invention. One of ordinary skill
in the art (e.g:, a computer programmer) can easily implement the
described program functionality given the hardware architecture
described above and the software and system level operational
functionality described below, in numerous ways that would each
fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
[0041] Referring now to FIG. 2, a method 200 constituting an
exemplary embodiment of an aspect of the present invention is
illustrated in flow chart form, and particularly depicts a
preferred embodiment of how the application software 145, the GUI
150 and the protocol stacks 140 interact with the rest of the
hardware to implement aspects of the scan-to-folder document
communication protocols of the present invention. As is described
below, many of the aspects of the invention may also be used to
provide enhanced scan-to-email technologies as well. It should be
noted that in the method 200, the functional blocks can be
rearranged in various configurations. All orderings and
configurations of the functional blocks in practicing the method
200 that result in operative embodiments are contemplated, but for
simplicity and ease of discussion, only one representative
ordering-embodiment of the method is described.
[0042] The method 200 is typically implemented using a network
scanner such as the network scanner 100. To understand the method
200, envision an embodiment where the network scanner 100 looks
just like a current day fax machine, except that the user interface
150 looks more like a modern day PDA GUI that supports keyboard
entry, mouse and/or pen entry, and a display surface that can
provide a Windows.TM.-type set of windows, menus, icons, dialog
boxes and the like.
[0043] In accordance with the method 200, a user ID is accepted
from a user at a step 205. As discussed in the examples below, this
step can be accomplished by the user inserting a smart card in a
smart card reader integrated into the network scanner 100 (or
coupled thereto) and entering a PIN, entering a user name and
password into a dialog box, pressing a thumb onto a fingerprint
sensor, and/or any other input means. Once the user has been
identified, at step 210, the network scanner 100 associates the
user with a document to be scanned and/or a user account. The
association of the user with the user account allows scanned
documents to be placed in preferably secure storage areas
associated with the positively identified user. Also, once the user
is identified, a set of user preferences may be accessed from the
local scanner memory 120, downloaded from a networked computer or
file server that holds user preference and
customization/personalization data, or can be read from a smart
card or wireless PDA type device carried by the user. For example,
a customized GUI may be presented and the user may be granted
access to a set of remote network resources and accounts such as
email accounts and/or other types of document transmission accounts
where address books and such are kept to facilitate electronic
document transfer to various possible recipients.
[0044] The network scanner 100 may also connect to an external
computer or server to access a storage area associated with a user
account in order to write the scanned document to a particular
location associated with the particular user who is using the
network scanner. Similarly, the memory 120 may include sufficient
mass storage that the network scanner 100 may associate the user
with a designated area in local storage 120. This way the network
scanner 100 can write a scanned document into a local storage area
associated with the user, and the user can later retrieve the
scanned file remotely using client software running on his/her PC
or workstation located across a network connection.
[0045] In an optional step 215, a user identifies one or more
destination locations to place the scanned document. The
destination location may be identified as a file folder on the
user's computer using a network wide file folder user interface to
allow the user to specify to place the document in a particular
folder within his/her own file directory structure. Alternatively,
or in addition, the user may want to send the scanned document to
one or more inboxes ("shared folders" adapted to accept external
transmissions from other parties) associated with one or more
recipients. If the optional step 215 is not performed, the scanned
file can be stored locally within the memory 120 in an area where
it can be retrieved remotely by the user, once authenticated across
the network. Likewise, the file may automatically be scanned to a
pre-designated scan-input directory associated with the user but
located on the user's computer or a file server where the user's
files are stored. In this type of embodiment, the user may need to
go back to his/her computer to complete the other steps of the
method.
[0046] Next, in step 220, the document is scanned. A set of one or
more cryptographic algorithms may be optionally applied to the
document to positively identify it with the user who scanned the
document or who will send the document. As discussed below, digital
signature keys stored on a user's smart card may be applied to
verify the identity of the user via digital signature. This way, if
a user scans a signed document or a note asking for a change or the
like, the user's digital signature may be used to ensure the
recipient that the signed document was not altered or otherwise
forged. This optional step provides much higher security than is
provided by present day fax technology.
[0047] In step 230, a file transfer is performed using a
communication protocol. Preferably, the user is presented (via the
GUI 150) a menu giving the user a choice of different communication
protocol options. Scan-to-email is one option, but the
scan-to-folder protocols described in more detail below may also be
used, with the latter protocols being presently contemplated as the
preferred protocols. For example, the file may be scanned and
placed into a file folder located in the user's file directory
structure on a remote computer or file server, or may be
transported across the Internet to a shared folder area on any
third party computer located anywhere in the world. As discussed
below, various technologies such as FTP, SIP, and remote
control/remote access computer software (e.g., GoToMyPC.TM. like
software) may be used to gain access to a writeable area in a
directory structure on a remote computer associated with the
recipient (which could be the sender's own computer or a computer
associated with a third party). The writeable area could be
"public" or "private". Access to a private storage area could be
controlled using filters, user authentication controls, access
controls, and any other suitable private file access scheme or
protocol. Access to a public storage area could be controlled using
lighter filters and access controls, could be subscription-based
and/or could be controlled, if at all, using any other suitable
public file access scheme or spam filtering-like protocol.
[0048] As discussed in connection with examples below, the
transmission step 230 may be carried out via a secure channel like
a VPN connection (virtual private network), an SSL (secure sockets
layer) session, and/or additional security functions may be applied
to the document itself by one or more of the application programs
145. Hence a full range of authentication, encryption, and access
controls may be applied seamlessly to provide much higher level
security and a more user friendly user interface than is provided
by legacy fax technology.
[0049] In an optional step 240, a peer protocol entity in the
computer associated with the recipient analyzes the received
document and sends back a confirmation of receipt token. For
example, the document may be analyzed at the recipient computer and
the recipient computer may send back a reply message (preferably
digitally signed by the recipient computer) stating that, for
example, a document of 21 pages was successfully received. In a
preferred embodiment, a cryptographic hash function is applied at
the recipient computer to provide verifiable proof that the
document was received intact and unaltered. Transmission integrity
algorithms are well known in the art and are often implemented
using public-private key algorithms. Transmission integrity
algorithms enable independent verification that the received
document is identical to the transmitted document. It will be
appreciated that public-private key encryption algorithms have the
salutary effect of authenticating both the sender and recipient of
the document, since only the sender and intended recipient would
have possession of the proper private key required to encrypt and
decrypt the document, respectively.
[0050] Alternatively, or in addition to such document
encryption/decryption schemes, in accordance with another novel
aspect of the present invention, the intended recipient could be
prompted to authenticate himself/herself before being allowed
access to the transmitted document (e.g., before being allowed to
receive or open the transmitted document). For example, such
recipient authentication could be accomplished by means of the
intended recipient inserting a smart card into a smart card reader
coupled to or built into the intended recipient's computer (or
network scanner), and then transmitting the user ID/authentication
information from the smart card to a remote server and/or to the
transmitting party to facilitate verification that the receiving
party is indeed the intended recipient. Alternatively, the intended
recipient could be required to apply his/her thumbprint to a
biometric sensor coupled to or built into the intended recipient's
computer (or network scanner) in order to positively identify the
intended recipient. The thumbprint information could then be
transmitted, preferably over a secure network or transport pipe,
such as a VPN transport pipe (to avoid identity theft), to a remote
server and/or to the transmitting party to facilitate verification
that the receiving party is indeed the intended recipient.
Alternatively, application software could be provided to be
installed on the recipient's computer to perform this recipient
authentication function. This type of recipient access control adds
a further layer of security to the document management system of
the present invention.
[0051] In a final step 250, a report or token is sent from the
recipient computer back to the network scanner. The report or token
can be logged in an appropriate reception log file in the recipient
computer file directory. At the network scanner 100, the report can
be displayed to the user via the GUI 150 and/or can be logged into
a transmission log file to tag a transmitted document as having
been verified as received by the recipient or the recipient's
computer. Such reports or tokens could also be stored in an
outbound log or electronic outbound file cabinet so a user could
have a record of all documents sent along with confirmation of
receipt. This way, much like fax technology, the sender has
confirmation that the document was received, and the recipient has
confirmation the document came from where it was sent unaltered.
However, the present invention can transmit laser quality documents
anywhere in the world without the need to use costly telephone
lines. In addition to superior image quality and significant cost
savings, document transmission security and document integrity is
much improved over the presently available technology. Whereas
faxed signatures can be easily forged and manipulated, the digital
signature embedded into the scanned document cannot.
[0052] In an alternative embodiment, an additional report can be
sent back when the specified recipient user actually opens the
document. For example, a peer application layer protocol entity at
the distant end can send back a user specific receipt token once
the actual recipient opens the document. In this manner, the sender
not only can have confirmation that the document was received, but
that it was received and opened by the specific recipient. In
applications like electronic filing at the USPTO, where a sender
may wish to know when the documents he/she sent were processed, but
may not care by whom, the protocol entity at the distant end can
send back a message verifying the document was opened, but not
necessarily verify the specific person who opened it. However, if
the USPTO, for example, wanted to hold individuals accountable for
mistakes or otherwise wanted to know the person who handled a
particular document, the token might identify the particular person
who received the document. Additionally, a digital signature can be
applied to the report or token sent from the recipient computer
back to the network scanner to further ensure that the party who
actually received the document was the intended recipient.
[0053] It should be appreciated that a cryptographic hash function
and/or other document receipt verification function can also be
used in conjunction with presently available scan-to-email systems
in order to enhance the utility and acceptance thereof. For
example, users of presently available scan-to-email systems
typically choose to scan hard copy documents into bitmap format
(.bmp) electronic documents because bitmap documents are not
readily computer manipulable and are therefore regarded as more
"secure". As discussed previously, the use of a bitmap image file
format increases the document transmission bandwidth requirements
and/or the document transmission time, which significantly detracts
from the utility and acceptance of the scan-to-email system.
However, once a digital signature or other form of robust document
integrity/security (e.g., a biometric sensor input) is applied
prior to transmission of the electronic document in accordance with
the methodology of the present invention, then the particular image
file format used does not affect the security/integrity of the
transmitted document, because if someone later attempts to edit,
alter, or otherwise electronically manipulate the received document
at the recipient computer, the cryptographic hash will be
destroyed, and thus, it can be determined that the integrity of the
document has been compromised. Also, edit-resistant and edit-proof
document formats may be used that do not allow the document to be
modified. Thus, a compressed image file format can be used in lieu
of a bitmap image file format for creating and transmitting the
scanned documents, thereby decreasing the required document
transmission bandwidth and/or document transmission time, while at
the same time actually enhancing the document integrity/security
afforded by the scan-to-email system, thereby significantly
enhancing the utility and acceptance of the scan-to-email system.
Similarly, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a
return receipt email message may preferably be automatically sent
back to the sender when the recipient email server receives the
document and/or when the recipient downloads and/or opens the
attached document.
[0054] To illustrate the operation of a preferred embodiment of the
present invention by way of example, consider a situation where a
network scanner in accordance with the present invention is located
in a corporate environment that has a plurality of PCs and/or
workstations and possibly file servers and peripherals like
networked printers attached to a switched LAN. Moreover, assume the
LAN is connected to a router so that all of the computers in the
corporate environment are connected via a corporate intranet. Now
suppose a first user, "user A", walks down the hall to an area
where the network scanner is located. User A interacts with the
network scanner via the GUI and/or a smart card interface. For
example, when the user enters either his/her username and password
or inserts his smart card and enters a PIN into the network
scanner, the GUI recognizes the user and shows a directory
structure that corresponds to user A's directory structure as
maintained on a corporate file server. User A then uses the
Window's Explorer.TM. type GUI to navigate to a particular folder
where he/she would like to store the document in his/her directory
structure. Next he/she presses a button or clicks a mouse, and runs
the document through the feeder, so it can be scanned, digitized
and stored as an image file. Next, the image file is routed to the
networked file server and stored in the selected sub-directory
(folder) in user A's account. Similarly, a user B can walk down the
hall from a different office, interact with the GUI, scan a
document, and store the document in a subdirectory of user B's
account selected by user B.
[0055] Much like a network based printer can be attached to a local
area network and accept print jobs from multiple users, the network
scanner of the present invention can be attached to a local area
network and can be used to scan in a document, generate an image
file and send the image file to be stored in a computer file folder
(file system directory) associated with a particular user's
computer account. As discussed below, this is but one use. Another
is global document communications between different users located
in diverse geographical locations.
[0056] It can be readily appreciated that with this configuration,
the networked scanner can be shared by many users similar to a
networked printer. While the networked printer needs no GUI because
the users send files to the printer from their desktops (i.e., the
GUI for managing printer operations is located at the desktop), the
networked scanner does need a user interface because the direction
of travel is from the peripheral back to the individual user's
computer file systems (computer accounts). In some SOHO
applications, the networked scanner can be made simpler and the
client software can actually run on the single computer to which it
is attached. However, a networked scanner with a GUI can also be
useful in a single-computer SOHO environment as well, as will
become apparent from the discussion below. Also, in certain
embodiments, a smart card reader is desirable, and this may or may
not be available on the PC. Hence, in all embodiments, the GUI
discussed herein is desirable, although at least certain functions
may be controlled from an attached or networked PC, as discussed
below.
[0057] Next, consider a global communications application more akin
to a fax function than the shared scanner function described above.
In such an application, user A wishes to send a document to user B.
There are several ways this can be done, but first consider an
email embodiment. In this scenario, user A walks up to the
networked scanner, enters his/her user name and password or inserts
his/her smart card (user authentication is an optional feature that
can be implemented with or without smart cards), and launches a
communications application such as a scan-to-email client or a
scan-to-folder client.
[0058] In the case where a scan-to-email client is used, the client
application now connects to a remote email server just like a
normal email client that runs on a PC. For example, the email
server used by user A may be Hotmail.com.TM.. The user then
accesses his/her address book or types in the user B's email
address. Now, user A inserts the document into the paper feeder,
the pages are scanned, an image file is created, and the image file
is then sent via email as an attachment to user B's email account.
In some embodiments, user A can type an email message to be sent
along with the attachment in the body of the email message.
Otherwise, a standard HTML page may be sent, or any other fixed or
user-selected message may be sent along with the attachment. In
general, any upload technology may be equivalently used whereby the
user A uploads the document to a server and the recipient (user B)
later downloads the document from the server to his/her local
computer or file server.
[0059] In the case where a scan-to-folder client is used, the
client application may alternatively connect directly to a
recipient's computer, file server, or Internet Appliance via a
transport session using for example, a VPN, an SSL session, or a
SIP session, and/or H.323-like set of channels, possibly in
combination with a remote PC/LAN access application like the
modified version of GoToMyPC.TM. described below. Now, user A
inserts the document into the paper feeder, the pages are scanned,
an image file is created, and the image file is then sent via a
direct session pipe or direct session link to a computer resource
or storage file associated with user B. In some embodiments, the
user can type in a message to augment the directly transmitted
document, basically attaching a text message to the file to be
transferred, a reverse of the concept of an email attachment, but
similar. In general, any transport technology may be equivalently
used whereby the user A causes a packet transport pipe to be
coupled directly to a computerized resource controlled by the
recipient (e.g., user B). As discussed in connection with the
method 200, user B and/or user B's computer system preferably sends
a confirmation of receipt back to user A.
[0060] In the context discussed above, the document call looks much
like a SIP call or an H.323 call whereby at least one media type
used in the call corresponds to a data media type. In this
application, the data media type corresponds to a file such as an
image file, preferably one that has been compressed and to which
user authentication information such as a digital signature has
been embedded. As such, native Internet type protocols are used to
provide an enhanced fax-like service that never need to traverse
the telephone network nor be converted to analog fax signals like
G3 fax signals. Notably, the above-described network scanner allows
high quality image files to be sent anywhere in the world via email
(scan-to-email) or via direct transport pipes (scan-to-folder).
Never is the document converted to a fax and sent over the
telephone lines. Never is image quality reduced by converting the
document to a G3 fax protocol, nor are any telephone toll charges
incurred. No fax boards are needed at a fax-to-email server. In
this type of embodiment, all that is needed is a standard email
account and an email client that is accessible via the GUI provided
by the networked scanner apparatus.
[0061] As previously discussed, scan-to-folder technology can be
used in a corporate network environment, and/or FTP or any other
file transfer or communications protocols may be used to send
scanned documents directly from the network scanner to a directory
in a file system controlled by a target recipient. Just like email
clients, inventive messaging clients with message mailbox style
GUIs can be used to allow users to look at inboxes associated with
incoming file transfers and outboxes of transmitted files. In
accordance with the scan-to-folder aspect of the present invention,
a messaging mailbox interface is provided, and documents can be
pushed directly to a recipient's computer or to a file server. When
a user receives a pushed document, the user sees a mailbox style
interface and can access and manage the messages that have been
pushed into his/her inbox. The above-described strong user
authentication, document transmission integrity, and confirmation
of receipt features of the system of the preferred embodiment of
the present invention make this system much more secure than
presently available fax technology or presently available
scan-to-email technology, e.g., for executing legal documents. The
novel transport mechanisms of the present invention, especially
scan-to-folder, are cheaper to use than telephone fax transmissions
(to include email-to-fax) and do not require the recipient to wait
for long file downloads and to hang up an email client while a file
uploads at the sending side.
[0062] In alternate embodiments, some of the features described
herein can be implemented on the network scanner and other features
implemented on a networked PC. For example, if the GUI and/or smart
card interface is provided, a particular user can enter his/her
user name and password or strong authentication data and a PIN, and
this could allow the scanner to be associated with a particular
user. In this type of embodiment, the document is scanned, and is
placed into a selected directory belonging to the particular user,
and the particular user can then launch a specialized client such
as a scanner-to-email and/or scanner-to-folder application program
from his/her PC.
[0063] The present invention allows a user of the network scanner
to identify himself/herself, and to have the network scanner then
possibly accept further commands from the user, and route the
document to a particular location in internal scanner memory (e.g.,
implemented as disk or RAM storage) or to any file server on a
local or remote network (such as a file in a networked directory
structure). With this capability, other inventive protocols and
functions disclosed herein may be implemented in a remote PC. So
long as the network scanner associates the scanned document with a
user account, the user can perform further processing on the
scanned document from a remote location.
[0064] To enable such mixed or hybrid embodiments in which some of
the client software resides on a networked PC and other client
software resides on the network scanner, the required functions are
distributed amongst the software components accordingly. The
network scanner preferably has at least a user interface to
identify a user who is inputting a document for scanning. In a
preferred embodiment, the user enters a user name and password, a
smart card and a PIN, or an equivalent thereof or alternative
thereto, such as a wireless PDA and a PIN. Once the network scanner
knows the identity of the user, a scanned document can be
associated with that user, and any function executed from that time
forward can be performed using a client that resides either on the
network scanner or the networked PC. For example, after scanning a
document, the scanner can store it and associate it with the user,
and the user can go back to his/her PC to access the scanned
document across the network and move it into his/her file directory
and/or send it to a remote location using any of the methods
described herein.
[0065] In some embodiments, the user can, once back at his/her PC,
insert a smart card into his/her PC, and/or apply an input to a
biometric sensor and implement any of the security algorithms
discussed herein. Likewise, the scan-to-folder software could run
on the user's PC in some alternative embodiments. The
scan-to-folder clients are preferably available both from the
network scanner GUI 150 and also at the PC or workstation operated
by the user. Typically, a user will maintain his/her inboxes and
outboxes from his/her PC. Thus, having versions of the
scan-to-email and the scan-to-folder clients located both on the
client PC and the network scanner 100 is preferred. However, as
long as the user can identify himself/herself to the network
scanner so the network scanner can associate the scanned document
with one of a plurality of possible users who share the networked
scanner, the other software components of the invention may be
located on the network scanner and/or on a computer resource
coupled to the network scanner via a LAN, VPN, or other network
connection. Similarly, the file transmission and handshake
protocols discussed herein may also be implemented using a
networked computer resource.
[0066] To improve security over the light form of security provided
by current fax technology and to improve the way business and legal
transactions are performed, another aspect of the invention
involves improved sender-authentication security. In a variation of
the method 200, a user walks up to the network scanner with a
signed contract in hand. The user then enters his/her smart card
into the network scanner in step 205. A smart card reader in the
network scanner communicates with the smart card and asks for the
user to enter a PIN, much like an ATM card. The network scanner
then accepts the user's PIN, also in step 205, and if correct,
grants secure access to the user in addition to performing the step
210. As discussed previously, user preferences may be loaded from
local storage of the network scanner based on a user account, from
a network server resident user account database, or from the smart
card inserted into the network scanner to provide a customized GUI.
Once the user has been identified, the user causes a scan-to-email
or scan-to-folder client to be launched (or it is launched and
logged into automatically based on a user preference setting),
and/or a direct file transfer unified messaging client is launched
similar to the one discussed in FIGS. 3-4.
[0067] Using the appropriate client, the user then selects a
recipient from his/her address book or enters the email address
manually. In this example, the user then selects strong
authentication and also selects strong encryption. In one
embodiment, application software 145 preferably resident in the
network scanner then causes a digital signature and a public key to
be read from the inserted smart card by the smart card reader to be
applied to a scanned image file (generated in step 220).
Alternatively, the scanned image file is sent to the smart card and
an encryption/authentication application on the smart card applies
an appropriate set of cipher algorithms (step 225) to be applied to
the document. In this manner, the smart card does not need to
reveal the user's private key to the network scanner which is in
general less secure (susceptible to software hacking) than the
smart card itself. The basic idea of streaming a document through a
smart card so that a digital signature may be embedded therein may
also be executed on a PC with a smart card reader and applied to
any file type prior to transmission of the file to another user via
email or a document call type as described herein.
[0068] Hence, in a preferred embodiment, the scanned image file is
streamed to the smart card which applies the cipher(s) to
authenticate and/or encrypt the image file. The image file is then
streamed back to the network scanner. Once the image file is
received, it can be sent via an email server, a remote control
access server, or via any type of direct point-to-point file
transfer protocol (including document calls as described herein) to
any other local or remote computer, file server, or networked
printer as discussed below. With this type of system, the received
image document may be positively identified as being sent by the
same person who signed the document. Simple fax type forgeries are
not possible. The user who signed the document must be physically
located at the network scanner in order to send the digitally
signed document. In an aspect of the invention, a bar code or
digital watermark is preferably added by the smart card to be
printed, e.g., in a header and/or a footer on each page of the
received document.
[0069] Also, in the electronic version of the document, a digital
signature is preferably applied to the data so the entire contents
of the document can be digitally authenticated. This way, each page
of the document is positively signed by the signatory, and there is
no way pages can be changed out. For example, with current fax
technology and even standard copier technology, a fifty page
contract is typically signed only on the last page. It is
cumbersome for each party to initial each and every page, so this
is not typically done. But when a signatory enters his/her smart
card and authentication data in the network scanner, it is trivial
to add a digital signature watermark to each and every page and to
authenticate each and every bit of the electronic document with a
digital signature. It will be appreciated that many other types of
document authentication, encryption, and security schemes can be
utilized without departing from the spirit and scope of the present
invention. Preferably, whatever scheme is selected ensures that
each page of the scanned document can be verified by the recipient
to have been created (scanned) and/or transmitted by the person who
is identified to the recipient as having done so (e.g., the
signatory to the document).
[0070] Another embodiment of the network scanner 100 and the method
200 are provided for use in public places or to allow a first user
to borrow and customize/personalize a device owned by a third
party. Reference can be made to the disclosure of the parent
application incorporated herein by reference for background and
further options of the embodiment discussed in this and the next
paragraph. For example, a user is in an airport or at a hotel and
has recently executed a contract while visiting a client. The user
walks up to a public network scanner device and inserts his/her
smart card. In any of the embodiments described herein, a user's
PDA or other wireless device that contains the same type of
information that is on the smart card but uses a wireless interface
instead of a physical smart card interface may take the place of
the smart card. For ease of description, suppose the user is using
a smart card and inserts the smart card into the network scanner.
After any additional user authentication such as a user PIN is
provided, the network scanner presents a GUI screen that indicates
the user has access to the public network scanner. An application
on the smart card (or wireless device) then interacts with the
scanner and provides either credit card information, debit card
information, or a form of digital cash. Then an application on the
smart card provides user settings and preferences information to
the public network scanner.
[0071] After having received the smart card in the public network
scanner, the public network scanner can take on a personality of
the user. That is, user customized data relating to a user's email
account, scan-to-folder account, address books, and other
information may be seamlessly accessed without the user needing to
log into multiple servers. Now the user can place his/her document
into the feeder tray and use the GUI-supplied address book to send
the document, with or without a digital signature, to an intended
recipient, using either an email server, an FTP server, or by means
of a direct session transfer, to a recipient's computer
(destination).
[0072] In the parent application, an alternative embodiment is
disclosed wherein the user preferences and settings are supplied by
a remote network server. The user enters a username and password,
and the remote network server then supplies the same services as
the smart card. This allows systems to be implemented in which the
user need not carry a smart card, but can nevertheless receive
similar benefits and services. These types of embodiments may also
be used with the network scanner of the present invention. In
embodiments of the present invention in which the method 200 is
practiced in public environments, a final step is preferably added
to the method 200 whereby the smart card is charged via a user
subscriber account, credit account, a debit account, or via digital
cash certificates to pay for the use of the publicly available
scanner.
[0073] In an aspect of the present invention, the scan-to-folder
client is similar to an email client or a unified messaging client.
In the unified messaging embodiment, the scan-to-folder inboxes and
outboxes can be integrated with an email client. That is, a single
unified messaging client can be used to view incoming and outgoing
emails as well as incoming and outgoing scan-to-file documents.
[0074] Referring now to FIG. 3, a unified messaging client
application 300 is illustrated in block diagram form. The
application 300 includes a unified messaging mailbox GUI 305 that
can be used to manage one or more message types such as email
messages (possibly having attachments) and scan-to-folder type
messages used for direct point-to-point document transfer. It is
noted that the unified messaging client of the present invention
may only support, for example, document calls, but also may
preferably support email, document mail server access, VoIP and
video messaging data types in different embodiments.
[0075] In an exemplary embodiment of such a client, an email
services component 310 and a background transport services
component 315 are both accessible via the unified messaging mailbox
GUI 305. The email services component 310 is coupled via a protocol
stack 320 to an email server and implements client-side email
functions as are known in the art. The background transport
services component 315 is also coupled to the protocol stack 320
and manages remote file transfers in a point-to-point fashion with
remote computers to send and receive files using a protocol like
FTP, SIP, and/or via a remote control server application such as a
GoToMyPC.TM. server-side program that has been modified in
accordance with the present invention as discussed above to
communicate with computer systems belonging to other users or
entities.
[0076] In a preferred embodiment, the background transport services
component 315 includes a background process forking mechanism. That
is, when a user wishes to send a document, a process is forked in
the background. This way, a user's mailbox is freed up so the user
can access email and perform other messaging tasks instead of
having to wait for a file to upload or download. Preferably, the
GUI allows the user to control the amount of bandwidth that the
background transport services can use. Preferably, the bandwidth
control can also be applied to email uploads and downloads and a
preferred embodiment of the client allows background tasks to be
forked for email uploads and downloads as well. The optional
bandwidth control component 330 is desirable because it allows
documents to be uploaded, downloaded, and to be sent to and
received from remote computers without tying up all the bandwidth
resources and causing a user to have to sit and wait while a file
uploads, downloads, or is transmitted or received from a remote
computer.
[0077] Also, it is noted by the present inventors that often VoIP
quality is seriously impaired as a file is being downloaded from a
shared connection. In order to enable a user to exercise some
control over the quality of a VoIP telephone call while uploading
or downloading files or otherwise communicating over a shared
connection, in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the
present invention, the user, via the bandwidth control component
330 (e.g., accessed via the GUI 150), can selectively vary the
bandwidth allocated to one or more types of communication. For
example, when document transmission speed and/or document quality
(e.g., image resolution) is more important to the user than is
voice quality, the user could increase the bandwidth allocated for
the document transmission communication, and, conversely, if voice
quality is more important to the user than is document transmission
speed and/or document quality, then the user could increase the
bandwidth allocated for the VoIP telephony communication.
[0078] Further, the bandwidth control component 330 may be
implemented as a hardware or software component in a VoIP device.
When the VoIP device recognizes that a broadband connection is
being used for large file transfers and there is bandwidth
contention, the VoIP device preferably causes the bandwidth control
component 330 implemented therein, or communicates with the
bandwidth control component 330, to cause the upload, the download,
or the point-to-point file transfer through the transport pipe 315
to be throttled back to maintain a specified voice quality. While
giving voice packets priority over data and/or video packets is
known in the art of network routers, no presently available
technology enables a user (e.g., in a SOHO environment) to control
the bandwidth of file transfers to maintain a desired VoIP quality.
Currently, the VoIP quality becomes unintelligible during a file
transfer, and the user is not provided with any mechanism to
prevent this from happening and/or to regulate the amount of
bandwidth allocated to the VoIP call. As mentioned earlier, the
VoIP functionality may be built into the network scanner, or the
network scanner can act as a WiFi gateway or cordless base station
for a cordless handset or a wireless VoIP phone. In such cases, and
in embodiments where external VoIP access is provided in the same
local area network, bandwidth controls of the present invention may
be applied to optimize the sharing of the broadband connection used
to carry the various media types (file upload/download, VoIP calls,
and document calls and media types).
[0079] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a
user can use the unified messaging GUI to indicate whether the file
transfer should throttle back to maintain voice quality or whether
it should have precedence. For example, if the user is talking over
the VoIP phone, and the person on the other end sends a file that
is to be discussed, it might make better sense to wait and allow
the file to come in, and then discuss it. In other cases, the user
may want to talk and perform certain functions at the same time,
like download a file from a different user. In such cases, the VoIP
quality would be given precedence. In the present invention, it is
also preferable to allow the user to either set a fixed bandwidth
allocation preference or to have the ability to throttle back
scan-to-folder type messages coming in the background and give
preference to other channels such a VoIP connection and/or a file
download connection.
[0080] Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment of transport services
component 400 is discussed. The transport services component 400
may be used as a background process and forked by the background
transport services component 315. In a preferred embodiment, the
transport services component 400 is accessible and controllable via
the unified message mailbox GUI 305 and the bandwidth controls
discussed above may be set by the user to manage local broadband
bandwidth so the transport services component 400 can operate
alongside email upload/download applications and VoIP services.
Similarly, the transport bandwidth (input and/or output) of the
transport services component 400 may preferably be throttled
automatically by a desktop gateway configured to maintain a quality
of service (QoS), e.g., in accordance with adjustable user
preferences/settings.
[0081] The transport services component 400 includes a file
transport service component 405 that manages file transfers and
network connections. An optional SIP component can be coupled to
the transport service component 405. The SIP component may
implement the SIP (session initiation protocol) or any other
protocol used to set up sessions between remote computers (e.g.,
SSL, VPN, etc.). In some embodiments, the SIP component
communicates with a network side SIP server or a mobile IP server,
for example. The network side SIP server or mobile IP server can
convert a standard application layer address to a network address
like an Internet address where a user or service identified by an
address such as a SIP address or a mobile IP address can be located
on a network like the Internet. As discussed previously, a
connection server, possibly with SIP capabilities or H.323 call
setup capabilities may be used to set up calls using a document or
file transfer media type.
[0082] Also coupled to the transport service component 405 is an
optional remote control client (RCC) component 415. The RCC
component 415 may be used to gain access to a remote computer, much
like a telnet service or a GoToMyPC.TM. service. The RCC component
415 often communicates with a server side entity that allows a
remote computer system or LAN to be accessed remotely. In some
cases, VPN (virtual private network technology) is used to provide
the access. The RCC client 415 is used to allow the host computer
or scanner on which the transport services component 400 resides to
communicate directly with a file system or other computer resources
located at a remote location such as a corporate LAN, a corporate
intranet, or an internal home network or "always on" PC, coupled to
the Internet via a broadband connection like a cable modem or DSL
connection. The RCC component may be used to cause documents, files
and folders to be moved to another user's computer or to remotely
access documents transferred to a machine controlled by the user
himself/herself.
[0083] A file transfer component 420 is used to implement a file
transfer protocol such as FTP or any other network file transfer
protocol. It is the job of the SIP server and/or the RCC component
415 to locate and gain access to a remote storage system located on
a remote target computer belonging to a recipient of a
scan-to-folder or other type of file transfer. The file transfer
component performs a file transfer to push the file directly to the
remote computer file system. A peer protocol entity resident in the
recipient's computerized device generally is used to interact with
the file transfer component 420. Preferably, the file transfer
component 420 is responsive to a user-controlled bandwidth
regulation input so that the file transfer can operate in the
background while other services like email upload/download and/or
VoIP telephony occur in the foreground. Alternatively, the file
transfer component 420 could be given a high priority and allowed
to consume a larger amount of bandwidth when a fast document
transfer is desired.
[0084] Also connected to the file transport service 420 is an
optional verification component 425. The verification component is
operative to receive verifications from remote computers verifying
that the transferred file has been received by the computer system
and/or opened by the specific recipient. The verification component
425 also is operative to provide verifications when files are
received from remote computers. In this type of embodiment, the
file transfer component is used to receive a document, and once the
document is received, the verification component 425 either
performs a file verification operation, a page count verification,
a checksum verification, and/or a cryptographic hash function
verification. The result of the verification is sent back to the
sender. Similarly, the verification component can send a message
when the file is opened by the recipient user. That is, the system
400 includes both transmission and reception side protocol entities
and can be used to both transmit and receive document calls as
discussed herein. Similarly, the optional remote control portion
can be used to allow a user to store documents in other user's
computers and/or can be used to remotely access documents pushed by
other users into the user's computer.
[0085] All of the components 410, 415, 420, and 425 communicate
with a protocol stack 430 in order to communicate via a network
such as a LAN, intranet, or the Internet with external computers
and computer resources like file servers. Various types of
embodiments are envisioned, and any sub-combination of the
components 410, 415, 420, and 425 may be included in a particular
embodiment.
[0086] The transport services component 400 may be used to both
transmit and receive documents. It should be noted that the
transport services component 400 may be used to transmit and
receive other types of information like entire CD-ROMs that carry
multimedia information, or which carry directory structures. For
example, the file transfer mechanisms of the file transport service
can be used to move either files or entire folders. The user can
preferably drag and drop any file or folder into an output GUI area
and have the file or folder transported to the remote computer
using this feature of the present invention. That is, for example,
the SIP component could set up a call, and the call could be used
to send an entire CD-ROM, including its hierarchical directory
structure, to a recipient's computer or appliance that is adapted
to receive document type calls. This service is similar to an FTP
service, and once it is integrated into a unified messaging
environment in accordance with the present invention, it opens up
new, much more convenient, secure, and efficient means of global
document transfer than is possible with any presently available
technology. The recipient computer could use filters and access
controls to ensure it is not bombarded with large amounts of
questionable, undesirable, or potentially harmful data.
[0087] The various above-described methods of the present invention
can be executed in a client side computer. The method could provide
a mailbox-style GUI having inboxes and outboxes. The method could
also provide one or more types of data communications services,
such as an email messaging service and/or a direct file transfer
service. The method can provide a bandwidth control input that
allows a user to throttle the amount of bandwidth used in at least
one of a file upload to an email server, a file download from an
email server, a direct point-to-point file transfer to a remote
computer, and a direct point-to-point file transfer from a remote
computer. For cases where source-to-target file transfers are to be
used, the method can also provide a mechanism for receiving an
input from a user indicative of a static application layer address
and interacting with a network server to obtain a dynamic Internet
address associated with the static application layer address. The
dynamic Internet address can be a mobile IP address or an Internet
address that can change, e.g., when a user moves, when power is cut
from a cable modem service for a period of time, when a DHCP
controller assigns a new IP address to a user, or when the IP
address changes for any other reason. The method preferably also
provides a mechanism for forking a background process, and in the
background, causing a file to be transferred via a packet switched
data network to the target computer in accordance with the
bandwidth control input. The method optionally provides a mechanism
for receiving a verification token back from the target computer
indicating that the document has been received by the target
computer. Finally, the method can provide a mechanism for
indicating in an outbox entry of the unified messaging GUI that the
file was successfully received at the target computer in response
to receipt of the verification token.
[0088] The system 300/400 of the present invention may be
implemented, in some embodiments, on a computer attached to the
scanner rather than in the scanner itself. For example, if the
scanner is attached to a PC, and the PC is attached to a network
(e.g., a cable modem connection to the Internet), then PC-resident
software can perform many of the same basic functions as described
by the networked scanner provided it is equipped with
scanner-to-email and/or scanner-to-FTP and/or scanner-to-DSS
software, etc. It is noted that with presently available
technologies, the scanner is typically directly cabled (or
wirelessly via Bluetooth) to a single PC. However, the present
invention allows the networked scanner to operate with multiple
PCs, e.g., attached to the same LAN or VPN. Also, the optional
smart card interface on the networked scanner provides very strong
verification that a signatory to a document is the true signatory
of the document. Alternatively, smart card readers and/or biometric
scanners can be built directly into a PC, so that the scanned
document or other types of files or directory sub-trees could be
sent using the same basic protocols from networked PCs once the
network scanner has scanned the document and made it available to a
user via the network connection 125.
[0089] As discussed above, point-to-point file transfers often
involve network server technology in different ways. For example, a
user can use a network server such as an ASP (application service
provider) to store his/her files and can enter a user name and
password to access his/her file system. In some cases, the
application service provider also supplies a set of application
programs the user can access remotely. In accordance with the
parent patent application, a user can enter a smart card into a
machine in order to gain access to the user's personal file
system.
[0090] To illustrate a method that can be used with the present
invention, suppose user B maintains a server-side file system. For
example, the server-side file system can be a file system on a
corporate LAN file server, or may be an account, for example on an
email server or any type of server that maintains disk space on
behalf of a client. Consider an example where an application
program on the networked scanner acts as an FTP client. If user A
wants to send user B a document, user A can enter an FTP address
associated with the server account maintained by user B. This FTP
address can be selected from an address book or entered via the GUI
150 or the client 300 much like an email address can be entered
using email client software. Now, instead of sending the document
to user B via email, the document can be sent or uploaded directly
to a file folder in user B's server-side file system account.
[0091] The various above-described methods of the present invention
can also be executed in the network scanner 100. In one network
scanner method, a set of authentication data is accepted to
identify a particular user who is using the network scanner. A
mailbox style GUI is presented including at least one inbox and at
least one outbox. At least a direct file transfer service is
provided for use with the inbox and the outbox. An input is
received from a user indicative of a static application layer
address. One or more sheets of paper are then scanned to create an
image file. A connection is made via a path through the global
Internet to a remote computer associated with the static
application layer address and a file transfer session is thereby
established with the remote computer. Finally, the image file is
transmitted to the remote computer via the file transfer session.
In some embodiments, the static application layer address is
converted by an external server to a dynamic IP address. In other
cases, the static address may be similar to a URL or a URI, and no
SIP-type address translation or mobile-IP database lookup is
needed. With any of the methods described herein, the static
application layer address can be a fixed URL, URI, SIP address or a
generalized multimedia call enabled email address that is published
like a present day fax number and is constantly available to
receive files such as scan-to-folder file transfers.
[0092] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a
special FTP client is employed that behaves similar to an email
client. When user B logs into his/her server-side ASP, he/she is
notified of new documents in his/her in-box. Much like a unified
messaging system, user B can look at his/her inbox and locate any
files that have been uploaded directly into his/her inbox folder
that are accessible for writing from external networked devices.
User B can optionally limit access to his/her document in-box using
an access control list, or any form of spam filter. Also, user B
could set a filter to allow documents to be received from user A,
but could further require they be hard-authenticated with a digital
signature before they are accepted.
[0093] It is recognized by the present inventors that many
corporations and SOHO environments use broadband connections. For
example, in a SOHO environment, a user may use a cable modem
connected to a WiFi router to provide service to a number of
computers and networked peripherals. In an aspect of the present
invention, a service such as the J2 Global Communications
"GoToMyPC.TM." is used to access SOHO local area networks and
computers. Such services allow users to access their home computer
remotely from any location in the world via an Internet connection.
In an aspect of the present invention, the scanner has installed
therein a client side software application that acts as a client to
an expanded inventive GoToMyPC.TM. type service used for
user-to-user communications. The expanded service allows a first
user to remotely access documents received via the scan-to-folder
protocol and also allows the first user to write documents
(including other types of files or directory system hierarchies)
into a shared folder in a second user's computer.
[0094] Referring now to FIG. 5, a novel service termed herein a
"direct session service" (DSS) is introduced. A DSS Server 500
includes a protocol stack 505 to interface with remote computer
systems. The DSS server preferably includes or is coupled via an
external network connection to a SIP database (not shown). The SIP
database is used, for example, to map static application layer
addresses similar to email addresses to Internet Protocol (IP)
addresses or higher layer port or session addresses where a
computer or computer resource or process can be found on a packet
switched communication network such as the Internet. A connection
server 530 is used to accept requests from remote computers and to
control the various components of the DSS server to initiate
connections to target computers, e.g., mobile computers or home
computers whose IP address structure may change due to IP address
reallocations or for other reasons. The DSS server can preferably
be used to set up "document calls" using the SIP, H.323, SSL, or
VPN protocols, or any other protocol that can be used to set up
point-to-point connections across the Internet.
[0095] To support the concept of document calls, legacy
fax-to-email servers can be replaced by a document call setup
server in accordance with various server embodiments as represented
by FIG. 5. Such servers preferably provide document buffering
capabilities and remote access features and services for use when a
recipient cannot receive a document call. This is much like a voice
mail feature provided by current VoIP server technology. If a user
is able to receive a document call, the document call server sets
up a connection and the document is transported to the recipient
using a document call. If, on the other hand, no user-controlled
device is able to receive a document call, then the server sends
the document to the equivalent of voice mail. For example, the
document call setup server can store the document for a subscriber
of the document calling service. The server can then send an email
notification and/or a wireless notification message to the user's
cell phone indicating that a document message has been received.
The buffered document can be pushed to the user via email, a
wireless multimedia messaging service (MMS), and/or can be stored
by the server so that the user can log in via a web browser and
download the received and stored document, using, for example, a
multimedia messaging client in accordance with other aspects of the
present invention. For further details of server embodiments see
the discussion of FIG. 5.
[0096] In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of another aspect
of the present invention, a server can implement a feature herein
dubbed "document mail" as follows. A server first receives via the
global Internet a request to set up a point-to-point document call
from an originating network scanner device or client PC or handheld
device. The document call is intended to be set up to a destination
device that can belong to an organization or can be associated with
a particular user. The request comprises an application layer
address associated with an intended destination for the document
call. Depending on the embodiment, the destination may correspond
to a fixed destination computerized system, or may correspond to a
follow-me type address associated with an individual user or an
individual user's mobile IP device. The server next performs a
database search to determine whether the destination device (or a
device in use by the individual user) is presently connected to the
global Internet. If the user or the destination device is connected
to the Internet, the server looks up an Internet address associated
with the destination device and couples it back to the originating
device. This, possibly together with other protocol level
handshaking, is used to provide the originating node with a
destination address it can use to send a scanned document or other
type of file through a "document call" (packet switched
point-to-point transport path) to the destination device. If the
database search is unsuccessful, the server preferably sends a
message to the originating device to indicate the destination
device could not be reached. In such cases, the server can also
send back an indication to complete the document call to the server
so that the server can store the document in "document mail," i.e.,
a designated buffer area from which the document can later be
pushed to the destination user or from which the destination user
can log in and download the document, for example, using a web
browser.
[0097] In the type of embodiment described above, the server may
optionally be configured to send back an Internet address
corresponding to a server port adapted to receive document calls in
a document mail system. Moreover, the document server can implement
the receiver side of the method 200 and send back a receipt token
to the document call origination device. When the user finally
receives the document mail message with the document, a second
token may preferably be sent from either the server or the
recipient to the document call originating device in order to
confirm that the user finally received the document. If the
originating device is not connected to the Internet at the time the
receipt token is generated, the server is preferably configured to
attempt to determine when the originating device is again available
and to push the receipt token to the originating device when the
originating device is again connected to the Internet. In such
embodiments, the server also may need to store a receipt token sent
back from the destination in the buffer area until the originating
device is available. In this case the document mail system
functions similarly but in the reverse direction from the
destination back to the origination point. If the origination point
is not a subscriber to the server, the token may be sent via email
and an email plug-in at the originating node may be used to log the
receipt token in an outgoing document call log.
[0098] The DSS server 500 also includes or is coupled to a remote
control server (RCS server) that communicates with a remote client
and also with a target computer so that the remote client can,
depending on the embodiment, store and/or retrieve documents
to/from the target computer, much like a VPN access connection or a
GoToMyPC.TM. type system. Also included is a storage area 520 used
to buffer file transfers. This is used primarily for cases where
the target computer cannot be reached, e.g., due to the computer
being shut off, a power failure, or a temporary network connection
dropout. The optional storage area is used to buffer received
documents for such cases. The connection server 530 preferably
periodically checks to see if the target computer is back online or
receives a report from the target computer when the target computer
is back online. The server 500 may be optionally configured to push
the received document to the target computer once the connection
server 530 is able to complete the connection to the target
computer. Email and/or wireless multimedia messaging type
notifications and user logon to a user mailbox for document access
and downloading may also be supported. At the time the file is
received at the target computer, a message is sent from the target
computer back to the sending computer to confirm receipt. Email
notification may also be used for this purpose.
[0099] The DSS server 500 is preferably implemented similar to the
GoToMyPC.TM. server. However, instead of or in addition to going to
the user's PC for document retrieval and access, the DSS server
connects user A into user B's computer. In this manner, when user A
scans the document, the document can be sent directly to user B's
computer. An input folder is preferably provided to accept input
documents from external users, and unified messaging type client
software is preferably used to notify user B that the document was
placed in his/her inbox. Alternatively, the document can be sent
straight to a networked printer inside user B's internal network. A
skilled artisan familiar with the implementation of the
GoToMyPC.TM. service can readily appreciate that the same
technology can be used to send documents to other subscribers'
computers instead of allowing a particular user to access only
his/her own PC. The application software on user B's computer
preferably provides access control to only allow documents to be
written in a particular inbox directory, and to limit access to
authorized users on an authorized access list (e.g., designated
users who are properly authenticated), as well as also preferably
performing virus scanning and/or other harmful or malicious file
detection functions to minimize the risk of harmful files
infiltrating user B's computer due to files transferred from user A
or other third parties via the DSS server.
[0100] As can be seen from the above, there are several ways
scanned documents or other files or folders can be sent directly to
users without using telephone lines at all, i.e., as email
attachments, via direct FTP type connections to server side
messaging accounts that can accept uploads from other users,
uploads to a user's network side ASP-supplied file system via FTP
(or other file transfer protocol), or can be sent directly to a
user's computer via Internet transfer using a redirection and
session initiation service like the user-to-user version DSS
service described above. Various remote control-PC access systems
can similarly be converted to data communication systems embodying
various aspects of the present invention by allowing this type of
software to be write-restricted to allow user A to write into user
B's computer system or to a storage device located on a private LAN
controlled by user B.
[0101] A SIP database 510 is used to set up a session pipe between
endpoint computers. SIP services may involve mobile users as well.
For example, a mobile user may connect a laptop in Texas, get on a
plane and later plug in his/her laptop in Florida. A SIP server can
be used to translate a static application layer address like
eric@aol.com to a physical Internet address assigned by a DHCP or a
mobile IP server for example. Using this technology, the network
scanner can behave similar to a fax. A user can send a file
directly to a destination computer, and directly to mobile and even
wireless devices, e.g., using a mobile IP addressing scheme. This
allows the present invention to provide direct point-to-point
document transfer services like current fax technology. The
recipient can be located anywhere and a single email address or
email-type address can be used to locate the user, with the help of
the SIP server, anywhere in the world. With broadband connections,
many computers have an "always on" connection, and would thus be
able to receive documents around the clock. To implement this
functionality, the SIP server is used to set up a call between
endpoints, and peer protocol entities such as the client software
400 in the endpoints are used to implement document call protocols
as discussed herein.
[0102] Also optionally included in the server system 500 is a user
authentication database 535. The user authentication database 535
is used to hold smart card information like user public and private
key pairs and certified or trusted certificates so that users
without smart cards can enter a user name and password and have the
cryptographic algorithms that preferably execute on the smart card
execute on the server instead. Alternatively, the cryptographic
keys used for digital signatures can be sent via an encrypted path
to a client side network scanner or PC so the digital encryption
algorithms involving the user keys used to digitally sign the
document are applied at the client side network scanner or PC. In
some embodiments, the user authentication records may be used to
augment the capabilities of users with smart cards, for example to
update keys and to thereby seamlessly keep security data such as
key from becoming old and out of date.
[0103] Also optionally supplied on the server system 500 is a
server-side transmission log 540. The server side transmission log
is supplied to allow a third party such as the server 500 keep
track of all document transmissions sent and/or received at a given
subscriber endpoint. This allows a subscriber to have a third party
legal record log of all document transmissions and receptions so
that a user can prove whether a document was sent or received (and
by whom, including sender/receiver authentication data) should the
need ever come up to resolve a dispute or misunderstanding and/or
to adduce evidence for use in judicial, administrative, or
regulatory proceeding.
[0104] Also optionally supplied on the server 500 is a transmission
archive 545. The transmission archive is a storage service offered
by the server 500 to keep track of some or all of the documents
transmitted to and/or received at a given subscriber endpoint. The
archive service allows subscribers to keep third party records of
all document transfers, again, mainly for legal reasons, and future
dispute settlement, but also for ease of record keeping and for
secure archival purposes. A subscriber would have online access to
the transmission log and would be able to obtain third party
verification of any transmitted or received documents. In some
cases, a subscriber may wish to mark certain documents for archive
at transmission time or at some time after they are received. In
such cases, the GUI in the client software 300 is preferably
equipped with a way to mark documents to be transmitted for
server-side archival. Also, the client-side GUI 305 also allows
messages in the inbox to be marked for server-side archival. In
such case, once a document is marked, it is sent to the server 500
for archival. If digital signatures are used, the document's
digital signature and the message log entry can be maintained at
the archive to maintain the record. In other cases all
transmissions to/from an endpoint are archived. Documents received
at the subscriber endpoint can be automatically uploaded to the
server for archive, or a multicast protocol can be used to ensure
the server and the endpoint both receive the same file.
[0105] When digital signatures are used, especially in combination
with embedded time stamps, both the time of scanning and/or
transmission time can be encoded into the document itself.
Likewise, the identity of the scanning station, such as a scanner
serial number, a fixed MAC address, or an application layer sending
SIP address or other type of fixed network address corresponding to
the sending station can be added to the document and the digital
signature applied to the document containing the transmission
stamp. Likewise, the sending station can digitally sign a document
that has a time stamp included and both the sender's and
recipient's network addresses appended. Also, the archive can store
a copy of the return receipt so that the document is stored as is a
receipt report that may include a cryptographic hash verifying
receipt at the subscriber endpoint. All of these techniques and any
sub-combination thereof may be used for implementing third party
archival services at the server.
[0106] Because of the use of digital signatures and hard
authenticated data, undeniable and trusted transmission logs and
document archives may also be maintained at the subscriber endpoint
itself. To lower storage requirements, instead of storing each
transmitted and received document, only a document transmission log
entry and a cryptographic hash of the document need be stored. In
the future, using the transmission log entry and the cryptographic
hash, a particular document can be positively matched to a
corresponding transmission log entry without the need to store the
entire document in the transmission archive. This technique can
also be used for document archival at the server. That is,
transmission log entries including a reduced cryptographic hash of
the full documents are stored in the transmission log along with
digitally signed receipt token so the transmission can be matched
to the transmitted document in the future should the need arise to
properly verify transmission and receipt.
[0107] Many other types of Internet appliance endpoint devices can
be implemented to support the above and various other aspects of
the present invention, new printers or other. For example, Internet
appliances according to the present invention may be implemented
with storage and with an "always on" broadband Internet connection
so that they could have the capability to accept incoming documents
essentially at all times. A networked computer could be used to
view any documents that were accepted by the enhanced printer or
standalone Internet appliance configured to accept incoming
documents around the clock. Such an appliance could be integrated
into the network scanner or could be used for document reception
and possibly printing only. Alternatively, an email server or a
messaging server could be used to eliminate the need to have a
device that has an "always on" broadband connection to receive a
document. These server systems could be implemented as email
servers or could replace current generation fax-to-email
servers.
[0108] In many cases a user will need special access privileges in
order to be granted access across a firewall to perform a direct
file transfer. For example, home users and large corporations alike
may use firewall technology and access control technology to
protect their local computing environment. As such, the network
scanner or the client system 300/400 can use the smart card's hard
authentication data and encryption data, together with the user
entering his/her PIN, to create a VPN (virtual private network)
connection to an access point of a private network. Once the user
is authenticated, the user can enter a secured area via a VPN
tunnel and can then have access to a protected file system. The
user then can use the Windows Explorer.TM. type GUI to select a
folder or a resource like a network printer and send the document
thereto.
[0109] Note that the direct file transfer protocols can be useful
because they provide additional privacy. However, direct session
links and server based solutions can both be used. Because of the
hard encryption offered by the use of smart card technology,
security becomes much less of an issue, and the user can select a
server side method or a remote computer access method or a document
call to achieve the same result. The user can receive documents at
a single application layer network address and can retrieve and
access the documents from anywhere in the world. By integrating all
the authentication, encryption, and access control technology into
a seamless GUI client interface coupled with smart card technology,
global document transfer and retrieval is greatly simplified and
enhanced.
[0110] In another aspect of the invention, the scanner uses a
combination of a direct file transfer protocol and email
notification. In this embodiment, the direct file transfer
techniques discussed above are used, and an email notification is
sent to notify the user that a document has been inserted into
his/her input file folder. Other types of notifications like pager
notifications or messages sent to 3G or 4G wireless devices are
contemplated.
[0111] Many of the client side software systems and methods
described herein can be used for other reasons besides the scanning
of documents. For example, if a user wished to send an entire CD
worth of data to include a hierarchical directory structure to
another user, the same types of user interfaces could be used to
send the information. As such, a CD-ROM or DVD reader may be
optionally included in the network scanner, and an entire CD-ROM or
DVD of information can be sent to a recipient using the same user
interfaces and protocols as described herein, or equivalents
thereof. Moreover, such interfaces can be incorporated into client
PC software to make PC-to-PC direct file transfers more
convenient.
[0112] In some embodiments, the network scanner of the present
invention may be configured to send a document as an email
attachment or by means of a point-to-point file transfer to an
email-to-fax server. This may be needed at times to interface with
older fax machines. The GUI on the scanner preferably allows a user
to enter text into a subject field, which could include a field for
entry of a destination fax number. When the scanned document is
received at the email-to-fax server, the email-to-fax server makes
an outbound fax call to a legacy fax machine. While this embodiment
is not preferred, it may be useful while the technology transition
from legacy fax machines to the current technology progresses.
[0113] FIGS. 1-5 and the discussion thereof teach and illustrate a
class of methods that can be implemented on client computers,
network scanners, and network servers. To help better understand
this class of methods, several explicit variations are illustrated
in the paragraphs below.
[0114] A method for use in a network scanner involves accepting a
set of authentication data to identify a particular user who is
using the network scanner and offering a mailbox style GUI
including at least one inbox and at least one outbox to the user.
Also offered is at least a direct file transfer message type for
use with the inbox and the outbox. The method receives a VPN logon
address input from a user indicative of a static application layer
address. The method also involves interacting with a remote VPN
logon portal to obtain remote VPN access to one or more resources
located on a private network to include a particular file folder
associated with a recipient inbox. Next, the method establishes a
VPN connection tunneled across the global Internet to a remote
computer associated with the static application layer address and
creates a file transfer session through the VPN tunnel to the
remote computer. Either before or after creating the connection,
typically before, one or more sheets of paper are scanned to create
an image file. The image file is then transmitted to the remote
computer via the file transfer session. The file can be transferred
to an inbox storage area associated with a recipient user or
organization at the remote computer.
[0115] A similar method for use in a network scanner involves
accepting a set of authentication data to identify a particular
user who is using the network scanner. The same GUI mailboxes and
direct file transfer services are provided. A remote computer
system logon address is received from a user indicative of a static
application layer address. This could be a URL, URI, or a SIP
address, for example. The method also involves interacting with a
remote control server across the global Internet to obtain remote
access to one or more resources located on a private network to
include a particular file folder associated with a recipient inbox.
Again, the method also involves scanning a document to generate an
image file (usually, but not necessarily, before the network
connection is set up), and transmitting the image file to the
remote computer via the remote control server.
[0116] A similar method is the same as the above, except the static
application layer address corresponds to the remote control server,
whereby a destination address is provided to the remote control
server so that the remote control server can identify and access a
recipient's computer system in order to gain access thereto for
purposes of carrying out the remaining steps of the method.
[0117] Another version of the method for use in a network scanner
involves accepting a set of authentication data to identify a
particular user who is using the network scanner, scanning one or
more sheets of paper to create an image file, and offering a
similar mailbox style GUI and the direct file transfer services as
described above. This version of the method involves receiving from
the particular user an application layer address associated with a
remote computer reachable though a path across the global Internet.
The destination of the path is defined by the application layer
address. Again, the method also involves transmitting the image
file to the remote computer via the path across the global
Internet.
[0118] In any of the methods above, the steps 225, 240 and 250 may
optionally be employed to apply authentication (e.g., a digital
signature) and/or encryption to the image file, to receive a
receipt token (possibly generated via cryptographic hashing to
confirm integrity), and to mark the outbox of the GUI mailbox
system to indicate when the file was received by the destination
computer and/or opened by the intended recipient. Depending on the
particular implementation of the inventive method, an intermediate
server may be involved for static-to-dynamic address translation or
remote control access to a home computer or private network. Also,
static addresses like URLs and URIs and other types of application
layer addresses may be used with the help of application layer to
network and transport layer lookups (from client side tables or
server side databases) to locate the destination computer on the
network and to set up a point-to-point transport path thereto
across the Internet, an intranet, or some other type of network
like a wireless data network or a Mobile IP network.
[0119] As discussed above, any of the scanner methods described
herein can also be implemented on a combination of the network
scanner 100 and a network connected PC running client side
software. For example, the PC can have a built-in smart card
reader, and the user identification and scanner related steps can
be performed at the scanner and the strong authentication steps and
the transmission and protocol interaction steps can be performed at
the networked PC. Also, in any of the methods above, user
authentication can be substituted with user identification if a
lower level of security is acceptable. Again, the authentication
steps described herein can be performed at the PC and PC smart card
reader prior to transmission as opposed to being performed by the
client that operates on the scanner.
[0120] Referring now to FIG. 6, a method 600 according to another
embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in flow chart
form. In a first step 605, a first party (user A) performs a logon
procedure similar to steps 205, 210, at a network scanner.
Preferably, user A inserts a smart card into the scanner in the
step 205. Next, a legally binding signed/executed document is
inserted into the paper feeder and scanned, in a step 610. In a
step 615, a set of one or more cryptographic algorithms are then
applied to the document and a digital signature (embedded in the
document as a cryptographic hash function and/or applied to each
page as printable digital watermark or 2D bar code, for example) is
applied to the document to verify the user identity and/or encrypt
the document according to a cryptographic system such as
public-private key cryptography. The encryption algorithms may be
preferably applied by streaming the document (or file or folder) to
and from (through) the smart card as previously described.
[0121] Next, in a step 620, the document is transmitted to a
computer or email account associated with a second party (user B).
In a step 630, user B performs a similar logon procedure as user A
did in step 605. Next, user B prints out either the whole document
or just the signature page and signs it and rescans one or more
pages, at step 635. Next, the scanned document is reassembled and
user B's cryptographic algorithm(s) are applied to authenticate
and/or encrypt the document according to user B's cryptographic
information 640 similar to the procedure described above with
respect to user A. At this juncture, the document contains both
user A and user B's electronic signatures and each page optionally
contains a digital watermark or 2D cryptographic bar code. In a
step 645, if applicable, the document is transmitted to a next
party and the same basic procedure (steps 625-645) is repeated
until all signatories have executed the document.
[0122] Further elaboration of this method is made with reference to
the following example. The smart card preferably includes a digital
signature application program that is particularly adapted to
facilitate execution of legal documents having
judicially-acceptable evidentiary value. For example, suppose a
contract is to be signed by three parties. Once the parties have
agreed on the contract, a first party signs the contract and uses
the network scanner to send it to a second party. The network
scanner sends the document to the user's smart card where private
keys are applied to generate and apply a digital signature to the
entire document, and to optionally add the digital watermark or 2D
bar code of the first party in a footer. Next, the authenticated
signed document is transmitted to a network address such as an
email address or a special application layer address like an FTP
address that corresponds to a second party to the contract. The
second party preferably launches a local copy of the inventive
application program. The second party then prints out the signature
page, signs the signature block, and scans the signature page back
in. Now the signature page has two signatures. The application
program then preferably adds the signature page to the original
document. The second user's smart card and PIN are entered through
the second user's smart card so his/her digital signature and
optional digital watermarks can be added to the document. Next, the
second user transmits the electronic document to the third user who
repeats the process and sends the fully executed document back to
the first and second parties. In this manner, even large,
multi-party contracts can be efficiently executed in an electronic
manner, and the final document is much more secure than even a
document that has an original signature of every party on every
page.
[0123] In a preferred embodiment, the cryptographic algorithms are
applied by a processor located on each user's smart card. The
document is either sent in bulk or is streamed to the smart card
and processed in blocks or sequentially due to the potentially
limited storage on the smart card. In some cases, multiple passes
may be needed to apply the cryptographic algorithms to the entire
document, but block applications of the encryption algorithm to
portions of the document work just as well and are more efficient.
In this manner, the private key information never leaves the smart
card. At the end of the process, a perfectly secure document exists
that is much more secure than a fax executed document and is even
harder to forge than a document with original pen and ink
signatures. While the baseline cryptographic technology to
implement such a document execution system has existed for some
time, until now the lack of an integrated solution for document
input, authentication, transmission and output has been lacking,
and consequently, the existing cryptographic technology has not
achieved widespread acceptance, and fax and regular mail or courier
services are still regularly used to execute legal documents.
[0124] In another aspect of the invention, the concept of a
networked printer is expanded to provide new services. A networked
printer may be assigned an email address, an FTP address, or any
other type of application layer address. In this aspect of the
invention, the networked printer may be configured to print out
received image files sent by networked scanner devices. For
example, a user may scan a document and instead of sending it as an
email attachment to a user's email address, the user may send it to
a special address analogous to a fax telephone number. A user
inserts the document into the network scanner, the document is
scanned, and the destination address corresponds to a networked
printer located at a remote home or office. In this manner, a
fax-type message can be received and printed, for example, by a
printer attached to a router in someone's home or at an office.
[0125] In another aspect of the present invention, a user or
corporate entity may have a published address that serves the same
purpose as a fax number. For example, an address such as
"documentReceipt@company.com" may be used similar to a fax number.
If an image file is received at this address, it can be
automatically routed to a network printer located in the
"company.com" domain and printed out. However, it is recognized
that unwanted spam uses up paper and toner resources. Therefore, in
accordance with an aspect of the present invention, anti-spam or
filtering software could be used to ensure that only image files
received from a list of pre-approved sending addresses and/or from
strongly authenticated individuals would be automatically printed.
(Of course, it will be readily appreciated that many other
anti-spam and/or filtering criteria could be additionally or
alternatively employed.) All other received documents could be
routed for electronic retrieval and printed only if desired. While
presently available fax machines have no defense against fax-based
spam advertising, the present invention allows any type of spam
filter to be used. Also, with the present invention, received
documents need not be printed as soon as they are received, but
could be stored electronically and viewed on a computer screen and
only printed out if a paper copy is needed. Accordingly, the
network scanner of the present invention greatly reduces the need
to make paper copies when compared to analog fax based technology
and is another step toward the longstanding goal of the paperless
office.
[0126] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to specific embodiments, other embodiments may occur to
those skilled in the art without deviating from the intended scope.
Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention herein
encompasses all such embodiments which do not depart from the
spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended
claims.
* * * * *