Abstract:
A network device configured to be coupled to a network includes a plurality of input/output ports configured to be coupled to a plurality of input sources and receive a plurality of input data items. The network device includes an input device for entering destination information and output format information for each of the plurality of input data items. An interface bridge coupled to the plurality of input/output ports receives the plurality of input data items from the plurality of input/output ports and outputs the plurality of input data items using a single output protocol. A controller coupled to the interface bridges receives the plurality of input data items. The controller automatically converts each of the input data items to an output data item based on the entered destination and output format information, and automatically outputs the output data items to the network.

Description:
THE FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to computer networks, and more particularly to a network device for receiving input data items in a plurality of formats and automatically transferring the input data items to a computer network. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Currently, there are limited options for transferring information to a network such as the Internet. One option is to couple a personal computer (PC) to the network. Numerous internal or external devices may be connected to the PC, such as disk drives, CD-ROM drives and scanners, allowing data with different data formats from different media to be input into the PC. Typically, numerous software applications are associated with each device connected to the PC, making the process of entering data from each device into the PC complex, with numerous steps required to enter the data and have it transmitted to the network. For example, to send a document via e-mail using a PC, the document typically has to be scanned using a first software application, and then stored in a file on the PC. An e-mail application then has to be opened up, and the stored file has to be attached to a new e-mail message. The PC must then connect to an exchange server before the e-mail message with the attached file is finally transmitted. 
     In addition to using a PC for transferring data to a network, another option for transferring information to a network is a “digital sender”. Hewlett-Packard Company makes a couple of different models of digital senders. Information regarding Hewlett-Packard digital senders is publicly available via Hewlett-Packard&#39;s website at www.hp.com. Information regarding Hewlett-Packard&#39;s digital senders is also provided in “HP 9100C Digital Sender User Guide,” 1 st  ed., 1998, Pub. No. C1311-90910, and “HP 9100C Digital Sender Administrator Guide,” 1 st  ed., 1998, Pub. No. C1311-90915, which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     A digital sender is a network device that converts paper-based documents into electronic data. A digital sender includes a scanner for scanning in paper documents. The digital sender can send the electronic data by several methods, including via Internet e-mail, via facsimile (Fax) either through a network fax server or an Internet fax service provider, and via “JetSend” to other JetSend enabled network devices. JetSend is a Hewlett-Packard communications technology built into some printer and scanner firmware and computer software. JetSend enabled devices can connect, “talk” to each other, and exchange information directly through the network. The JetSend capability is independent of servers and programs, and uses simple addressing such as TCP/IP addresses and host names. 
     A digital sender allows data to be transferred to the Internet with fewer steps than that required by a PC. The digital sender includes a keypad that allows a user to enter an e-mail address. A user can scan in a document, enter one or more e-mail addresses for the desired destinations, press a send button, and the digital sender automatically e-mails the information to the various destinations. The digital sender automatically logs onto an exchange server, and transmits an e-mail message with the scanned document attached, without any further user input required. Thus, a digital sender provides a more efficient means for transferring paper-based source information to the Internet. 
     It would be desirable for a single network device to provide an “on-ramp” onto a network for all types of data and content, regardless of the scope or format of the data, or the type of input media, and without requiring numerous manual steps as in prior art methods. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a device and method for automatically transferring data received in a plurality of input formats from a plurality of input sources to a computer network in a plurality of output formats without requiring a user to input the data into a personal computer. A network device configured to be coupled to a network having an e-mail server receives a plurality of input data items from a plurality of input sources in a plurality of input formats. The network device outputs a plurality of output data items in a plurality of output formats to the network. The network device includes a plurality of input/output ports configured to be coupled to the plurality of input sources. The plurality of input data items are received by the network device through the plurality of input/output ports. The network device includes an input device for entering destination information and output format information for each of the plurality of input data items. An interface bridge is coupled to the plurality of input/output ports. The interface bridge receives the plurality of input data items from the plurality of input/output ports and outputs the plurality of input data items using a single output protocol. A controller is coupled to the interface bridge. The controller receives the plurality of input data items from the interface bridge. The controller automatically converts each of the input data items to an output data item based on the entered destination and output format information, and automatically outputs the output data items to the network. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a first perspective view of a network on-ramp device according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a second perspective view of a network on-ramp device according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a diagram of a network, including a network on-ramp device according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an electrical block diagram of a network on-ramp device according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate perspective views of a network on-ramp device according to the present invention. Network on-ramp device  10  includes display  18 , keyboard  24 , input/output (I/O) ports  14 A- 14 C (collectively referred to as I/O ports  14 ), SCSI docking port  16 , network ports  22 A- 22 D (collectively referred to as network ports  22 ), and power cord  26 . On-ramp device  10  does not require a PC to connect to a network, but rather hooks directly into a network via one of network ports  22 . 
     In one embodiment, I/O ports  14  and network ports  22  are plug-in modules that may be inserted in or removed from on-ramp device  10 . By using plug-in modules for I/O ports  14 , all types of input devices, whether currently existing or to be developed, may be easily coupled to on-ramp device  10 , regardless of the input/output port type used by the input device. By using plug-in or removable modules for network ports  22 , many different types of network connections can be made. In one embodiment, SCSI docking port  16  is also a plug-in module. 
       FIG. 1  also shows input device  50 , which is a flatbed scanner in the embodiment shown. Input device  50  is preferably any type of device that can transmit and/or receive electronic data to and from network on-ramp device  10 , including a floppy disk drive, digital camera, personal digital assistant (PDA) device, smart card reader, memory card reader, scanner, microphone, printer, or other input device. In one embodiment, input device  50  is coupled to on-ramp device  10  via SCSI docking port  16 . In other embodiments, input device  50  is coupled to on-ramp device  10  via one of I/O ports  14 . Multiple input devices  50  may be connected to network on-ramp device  10  at the same time. On-ramp device  10  accepts full media, including voice data, image data, personal digital assistant (PDA) data, or any other type of data from virtually any type of input source device  50 . 
     I/O ports  14  preferably include one or more of the following types of ports: IR port, IEEE 1394 port, USB port, serial port, Centronics port, ATA port, and an IDE port. Other I/O ports  14  may also be used. I/O ports  14  are capable of communicating in multiple protocols, including IEEE 1394 (firewire), IEEE 802.11, and JetSend. Other protocols may also be used. IEEE 802.11 and Jetsend are both protocols for infrared communications. Network ports  22  include one or more of the following types of ports: Phone port, coaxial cable port, IR port, and an RF port. Network ports  22  are capable of communicating in multiple protocols, including TCP/IP, Ethernet, and token ring. Other protocols may be used. 
     Data is entered into on-ramp device  10  by a user via keyboard  24 . Data is displayed by on-ramp device  10  via screen  18 . Alternative methods of data entry and display may be used, including a touch screen display. Power is supplied to on-ramp device  10  via power cord  26 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a diagram of a network including a network on-ramp device according to the present invention. Network  100  includes communication line  102 , on-ramp software  104 , third-party application software  105 , computer  106 , on-ramp device  10 , light-weight directory access protocol (LDAP) server  108 , e-mail server  110 , Internet  112 , Internet fax service provider  114 , network printer  116 , JetSend device  118 , fax server software  120 , computer  122 , phone line  124 , computer  126  and link software  128 . Computers  106  and  122  are preferably servers running on-ramp software  104 . Computer  126  is preferably a PC running on-ramp software  104  and link software  128 . E-mail server  110  preferably supports simple mail transport protocol (SMTP). In one embodiment, a permanent TCP/IP network connection exists between network on-ramp device  10  and e-mail server  110 . Software for performing the functions provided by on-ramp software  104 , fax server software  120  and link software  120  are commercially available, or are within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art to develop. These functions are discussed below. 
     In one embodiment, network on-ramp device  10  is not server-based, which allows easier installation and configuration. Network on-ramp device  10  operates as a standalone unit on network  100  and does not require network privileges to administer. Network on-ramp device  10  is network operating system (NOS) independent. Network on-ramp device  10  runs on any TCP-IP network, including Ethernet (10Base-T, 100Base-T or 10Base-2) or token ring. Network on-ramp device  10  is coupled to network  100  via one of network ports  22 . An appropriate network port module  22  is inserted into network on-ramp device  10  based on the type of network configuration (e.g., Ethernet or token ring). Network  100  is discussed in further detail below. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an electrical block diagram of network on-ramp device  10 . Network on-ramp device  10  includes I/O ports  14  and  16 , interface bridge  200 , keyboard  24 , file processor  202 , CPU  204 , memory  206 , network ports  22 , network bridge  210 , and display  18 . 
     The operation of I/O ports  14  and  16  was discussed above with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Interface bridge  200  is a standard network device that communicates with I/O ports  14  and  16 , and CPU  204 . I/O ports  14  and  16  use a variety of communication protocols. Interface bridge  200  converts the communications from I/O ports  14  and  16  to a single protocol for use by CPU  204 . Interface bridge  200  also converts communications received from CPU  204  to an appropriate protocol for the desired one of I/O ports  14  and  16 . 
     An input data item to be transferred to network  100  is provided to on-ramp device  10  from an input device  50  coupled to one of I/O ports  14  or  16 . The input data item is received by interface bridge  200  and passed on to CPU  204 , which stores the input data item in memory  206 . Memory  206  also stores on-ramp software  104  for operation of on-ramp device  10 . CPU  204  may also include its own on-board memory. Memory  206  preferably includes both nonvolatile memory, such as ROM, PROM, EEPROM or other non-volatile memory, and temporary or volatile memory such as RAM. 
     Destination information and output format information for input data items are entered by a user via keyboard  24 . The user may also enter sender information identifying the sender, such as a name or e-mail address, and subject information identifying a subject of input data items. Based on the destination information and output format information entered by a user, file processor  202  performs appropriate conversions on an input data item and generates an output data item. 
     File processor  202  performs various processing tasks on input data items. File processor  202  processes many different file types, including HTML, MOV, AVI, MPEG, PDF, MP3, JPEG, MTIFF, WAV, ZIP, e-mail, as well as other file types, and includes the capability to convert file types to other file types. The functions performed by file processor  202  are controlled by CPU  204  based on destination information and output format information provided by a user via keyboard  24 . Functions performed by file processor  202  include file compression/decompression, formatting a file for the web, passing a file through unchanged, generating an e-mail with an input data item added as an attachment, converting an input text communication to a fax communication, converting an input speech communication to a text document, formatting text for printing, as well as other processing functions. Software and hardware for performing the functions provided by file processor  202  are commercially available, or are within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art to develop. 
     Network bridge  210  is a standard network device that converts data received from CPU  204  to an appropriate protocol for a selected one of the network ports  22 . In one embodiment, network bridge  210  uses TCP/IP in addition to either an Ethernet or token ring protocol. Network bridge  210  also converts data received from network ports  22  to an appropriate protocol for CPU  204 . 
     CPU  204  outputs output data items generated by file processor  202  to network bridge  210 . Network bridge  210  outputs the output data items to one of network ports  22 , for transfer of the output data items to one or more destinations on network  100 . In one embodiment, the destinations for an output data item include an Internet e-mail address, a fax phone number, a computer on the network, a printer on the network, a JetSend device, a software program installed on a computer on the network, and a device coupled to network on-ramp device  10  via one of I/O ports  14  and  16 . Each of these types of destinations are discussed below. The destination information entered by a user may specify multiple destinations for input data items. 
     In one embodiment, an output data item generated by file processor  202  takes the form of an e-mail message. An e-mail message generated by file processor  202  preferably includes two parts. The first part is a header, which contains sender and destination information. The second part is a digitized document attachment. File processor  202  generates the digitized document by converting an input data item into a document format, such as PDF or TIFF format. The type of document format is specified in the output format information entered by a user. The types of conversions that are performed by file processor  202  depend upon the format of the input data item and the output format information entered by a user. For example, if the input data item is a voice communication and the output format information indicates that the input data item is to be transmitted over the network as a PDF attachment to an e-mail message, the voice communication is converted into a text document. The text document is then converted into a PDF file. The PDF file is attached to an e-mail message by file processor  202 . File processor  202  preferably uses multipart Internet message encoding (MIME) to encode e-mail messages. 
     Keyboard  24  of network on-ramp device  10  allows any e-mail address to be typed in, or selected and retrieved from an internal address book stored in memory  206  of network on-ramp device  10 . In addition, network on-ramp device  10  also supports LDAP queries, which provides the ability of real-time address queries. The LDAP capabilities are provided by LDAP server  108  (shown in  FIG. 3 ). 
     Network on-ramp device  10  includes the capability to send faxes. In order to provide fax capabilities, computer  122  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) includes fax server software  120 . Computer  122  also includes phone line  124  to transmit faxes received from network on-ramp device  10 . Network on-ramp device  10  sends digitized documents via communication line  102  to computer  122 , which handles outbound dialing to transmit the documents over phone line  124 . Again, the digitized documents are generated by file processor  202  by converting an input data item, regardless of the format, into a document format. Fax numbers may be entered through keyboard  24  on network on-ramp device  10 , or they can be retrieved from an internal fax address book stored memory  206 . 
     Network on-ramp device  10  is also capable of sending faxes via the Internet. To provide Internet fax capabilities, the user must subscribe to an Internet fax service provider service. As shown in  FIG. 3 , e-mail server  110  provides Internet fax capabilities using Internet fax service provider  114 . In order to transmit a document via Internet fax, file processor  202  first converts an input data item into a document format. Network on-ramp device  10  transmits the document via communication line  102  to e-mail server  110 , which handles the Internet fax transmission. 
     Network on-ramp device  10  communicates with any “JetSend” enabled device reachable through a known IP address on network  100 . File processor  202  converts an input data item to an output data item based on destination information and output file format information entered by a user. The output data item is then transmitted from on-ramp device  10  to JetSend device  118  via communication line  102  of network  100 . 
     Network on-ramp device  10  includes the capability to send documents back to a user&#39;s PC  126  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) or other PC, for further manipulation or archiving of the documents. Such documents are sent directly from network on-ramp device  10 , with point-to-point TCP/IP communication between the network on-ramp device  10  and the destination PC  126 . This process is accomplished through peer-to-peer transmission. In one embodiment, addresses of destination computers are predefined in registered user profiles stored in memory  206 . Users enter such profiles in on-ramp device  10  through keyboard  24 . In order to provide the capability to transmit documents to a PC  126 , the PC  126  runs link software  128 . In one embodiment, link software  128  is a software driver that shows a tray icon on the windows task bar, and which enables PC  126  to receive data from network on-ramp device  10 . The documents sent to PC  126  are received in the tray as PDF or TIFF files, although other formats may be used. 
     If a desktop application is installed on PC  126 , such as Adobe Circulate, the application is executed automatically by link software  128  each time a new document arrives in the tray, and the document is automatically routed to the opened application. Adobe Circulate may be used to receive, store, view, organize, distribute and manipulate documents. Link software  128  preferably includes a control panel applet that allows a user to provide settings for the program, such as where to store scanned documents until they are opened in a program on the computer. The storage location is known as the default inbox location, and the program in which the documents are opened is known as the target program. From the control panel applet, a user can set which program is the target program. In one embodiment, the target program can be either the Adobe Circulate program or another program capable of accepting PDF or multipage TIFF files. 
     Network on-ramp device  10  includes a “copy” feature, which allows direct point-to-point communication with network printer  116  (shown in  FIG. 3 ), to print out copies of an input data item. File processor  202  converts an input data item into printing data in an appropriate printing control language for network printer  116 . The printing data is then output by on-ramp device  10  to network printer  116  via communication line  102  of network  100 . A user selects a printer to “copy” to from keyboard  24  on network on-ramp device  10 . 
     Network on-ramp device  10  also includes the capability to transfer documents to a specific “network share”. A network share is defined as the network address of a computer  106  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) running on-ramp software  104 , plus a path to a directory on that computer  106 . A document transferred to a network share can easily be imported into a third-party application  105 . On-ramp software  104  handles the receipt of documents transmitted from on-ramp device  10 , and provides the ability to automatically import the documents into a specified third-party application  105 . Using this capability, input data items may be transmitted directly to a specified web page. File processor  202  converts an input data item to an output data item appropriate for a specified network share based on destination information and output format information entered by a user. The destination information specifies one or more particular network shares. A document transmitted from network on-ramp device  10  to computer  106  is preferably delivered as a PDF or TIFF file, although other formats may be used. 
     In addition to specifying destinations on network  100 , destination information entered by a user may also specify a device  50  coupled to on-ramp device  10  via one of I/O ports  14  and  16 . For such destinations, file processor  202  converts an input data item to an output data item based on entered destination and output format information, and then outputs the output data item to interface bridge  200 . Interface bridge  200  outputs the output data item to the I/O port  14  or  16  coupled to the specified device  50  using an appropriate communication protocol. 
     It will be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that functions performed by on-ramp device  10  may be implement in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. It will also be understood that on-ramp device  10  may easily be modified to work with communication protocols, file types, and data formats, other than the specific examples provided, whether currently existing or to be developed. In one embodiment, on-ramp device  10  is always on, and always ready to transfer data to a network, and provides a means for simply and efficiently transferring input data items in a variety of input formats to a variety of destinations in a variety of output formats. 
     Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those with skill in the chemical, mechanical, electromechanical, electrical, and computer arts will readily appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of embodiments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the preferred embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.