Patent ID: 6137836
Filing Date: 2000-10-24
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A method of communicating pictorial data, the method being suitable for communicating the pictorial data, at least partially, via a reduced-bandwidth communication channel having a bandwidth less than a bandwidth of a voice telephony channel, the method comprising steps of:representing the pictorial data as a composite image of a set of primitive pictures;identifying each of said primitive pictures by a set of parameters wherein each of said parameters can be expressed as an alphanumeric character in digital format, said parameters identifying shape, size, and location of a respective one of the primitive pictures for a display region; andcommunicating said sets of parameters for respective ones of the primitive pictures by said reduced bandwidth communication channel from a first terminal to a second terminal of said channel, said step of communicating including an ordering of the parameters in each parameter set in a predetermined sequence for a coding of respective ones of said sets of parameters, the parameters in a sequence of sets of parameters being transmitted as a string of digits;wherein, in an individual one of said parameter sets having an identification of the shape of a primitive picture, an alphanumeric character identifies the shape and serves also to designate the number of alphanumeric characters to be employed in establishing the size and the location of the primitive picture, thereby to enable an extracting of parameter sets of respective ones of said primitive pictures from said string of digits upon reception of the pictorial data.