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`
`U5006038295A
`
`United States Patent
`Mattes
`
`[191
`
`[11] Patent Number:
`
`6,033,295
`
`[451 Date of Patent:
`
`Mar. 14, 2000
`
`1541
`
`APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR
`RECORDING, COMMUNICATING ANI)
`ADMINISTERING DIGITAL IMAGES
`
`[25]
`
`Inventor: Heinz Matias. Munich, Germany
`
`[23] Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschafi, Munich,
`Germany
`
`[21] App}. No: 082822,488
`
`[22
`
`Filed:
`
`Jun. 12, 1992
`
`[30]
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`
`Jun. 12, 1996
`
`[DIE]
`
`(icrmany ........................... 196 24 128
`
`Int. CI.7 .................................................... H04M 11200
`[51|
`[52] U.S. Cl.
`........................ 329293.25; 3482211; 7042270
`[58]
`Field of Search ................................ 348214—12, 211,
`3482223, 232, 231, 2, 239, 522; 4552418420;
`329288—89, 93.21. 93.25; 20223—5, 10;
`39522.66; 2042220; 3962283
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5.063,582 11219.91 Semasa el al.
`329253
`5,182,265
`121993 Ishii at al.
`.....
`.. 329288
`
`5,260,989
`1121993 Jenness el al.
`.. 329259
`
`5.526.259
`1121996 Kawaniura elal.
`.
`343223}
`
`3482232
`5,594.236
`121992 Tatsunii et al.
`
`5,633,628
`521992 Panllski cl al.
`3432231
`
`621992 Makiyama et al.
`5,640,198
`...... 348212
`
`921992 I’aruiski el al.
`3482211
`5.066,159
`
`3482232
`5,689,303
`1121992 Kuroiwa
`
`.. 343213
`5,221,822
`221998 lfigan cl :1].
`............................. 3482211
`5,232,491
`421998 Allen Cl 31.
`
`5,232.592
`5,248,841
`5,248,898
`
`421998 Nguyen cl al.
`............................. 20224
`
`521998 Morin et all.
`. 39522.66
`521998 Ueda ........................................... 34822
`
`FOREIGN l’A’I'IiNT DOCUMENTS
`
`(J 624 968
`0 202 490
`41 26 105
`44 08 238
`195 42 122
`44 41 685
`6 268582
`
`European Pat. OIT.
`11th 11206
`1121994
`European Pat. Ofl.
`..
`II04N 2214
`321996
`
`. 1I04M 11200
`221993 Germany ..........
`
`921995 Germany
`”(MM 112th
`
`..
`521996 Germany
`I-I04M 3242
`
`621996 Germany
`1104M 11200
`
`.................... HIHN 52225
`921994
`Japan
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Japanese Abstract, vol. 15, No. 35], 3—136482, Jun. 11,
`1991.
`
`low—cost—Digitalkameras, Canon: Power-
`Marklfihersich:
`Shol 600, MACup Apr. 1996, pp. 100—101.
`
`Prirttorjv Examiner—Paul Loomis
`Assistant Examiner—George Eng
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Hill & Simpson
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A communication system includes at least one telephone
`unit. a transmission system for communicating from the
`telephone unit, and a server for receiving information via the
`transmission system. The telephone unit includes a digital
`image pick up by which images are recorded, transmitted to
`the server. and storcd in the server depending upon ctassi—
`licalion information which characterizes the digital images
`and which is associated with the digital image data. ‘l'he
`classification information is determined by an analysis unit
`in the server.
`
`26 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`TE LEPHONE
`UNITS
`(—(I‘I'F.
`j\i\
`
`
`
`
`
`TR ANSMISSIDN
`SYSTEM
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`RECEPTION
`UNIT
`
`NAGE
`ANALYSIS
`, UNIT
`
`-—V‘/
`
`ANALYSIS
`._/ UNIT
`
`.. VOICE
`ANALYSIS
`UNIT
`
`MEMORY
`
`SPEECH
`JSYNTHIESIS
`UNIT
`
`CONTROL
`*--'-" UNIT
`
`
`
`0001
`0001
`
`Apple/Twitter
`Apple/Twitter
`Ex. 1006
`Ex. 1006
`IPR1 of U.S. Pat. No. 7,765,482
`IPRl of U.S. Pat. No. 7,765,482
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.14,2000
`
`Sheet 1 of 4
`
`6,038,295
`
`TELEPHONE
`UNITS
`TE
`
`FIG. 1
`
`us
`
`SERVER
`
`TRANSMISSION
`SYSTEM
`
`IMAGE
`ANALYSIS
`UNIT
`
`BAE
`
`ANALYSIS
`UNIT
`
`VOICE
`ANALYSIS
`UNIT
`
`MEMORY
`
`SPEECH
`-__......-
`SYNTHESIS
`UNIT
`
`CONTROL
`UNIT
`
`ST
`
`RECEPTION
`UNIT
`
`0002
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.14,2000
`
`Sheet 2 of 4
`
`6,038,295
`
`ANTENNA
`
`FIG. 2
`
`A
`
`FLASH
`
`BL
`
`LI
`
`LENS
`
`su
`
`HM
`l
`(
`
`EARPHONE
`
`TE
`
`MEMORY
`RAM
`
`(
`
`KEYPAD
`
`MZ
`
`TELEPHONE
`UNIT
`MEMORY
`
`PROCESSOR
`
`CLASSIFICATION
`INFORMATION
`ALLOCATOR
`
`BE
`l
`
`\
`OPERATING
`FIELD
`
`l
`
`LS
`(
`MICROPHONE
`
`AL
`
`TRIGGER
`
`VOICE
`RECOGNITION
`
`0003
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Mar.14,2000
`
`Sheet 3 of 4
`
`6,038,295
`
`FIG. 3
`
`RECORD AN
`IMAGE
`
`STORE IMAGE
`AS DIGITAL
`FORM
`
`TRANSMIT DATA CONTAINING DIGITAL
`IMAGE TO SERVER VIA TRANSMITSSION
`UNIT
`
`RECEIVE DATA
`
`EXTRACT CLASSIFICATION
`INFORMATION FROM RECEIVED DATA
`
`STORE DIGITAL IMAGE TAKING INTO
`CONSIDERATION THE CLASSIFICATION
`INFORMATION
`
`0004
`
`

`

`OM
`
`FIG. 4
`
`CLASSIFICATION
`INFORMATION
`
`TIME
`AND DATE
`
`I I TELEPHONE
`
`NUMBER
`
`MEMORY
`LOCATION
`
`I
`
`KEYPAD
`ENTERED
`DATA
`
`403
`
`404
`
`405
`
`406
`
`401
`
`AUDIO
`DATA
`
`SPEECH
`
`402
`
`d •
`\Jl
`•
`~
`~ ......
`~ = ......
`
`~
`~ :-:
`'"""'
`~,J;;..
`
`N c c c
`
`'JJ. =-~
`~ .....
`,J;;..
`0 ......,
`,J;;..
`
`0\
`....
`8
`00
`....
`N
`\C
`Ul
`
`0005
`
`

`

`6,038,295
`
`1
`APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR
`RECORDING, COMMUNICATING AND
`ADMINISTERING DIGITAL IMAGES
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for
`recording of a digital image, communicating the digital
`image from the recording device to a storage device, and to
`administering the digital image in the storage device. The
`present invention also relates to a method for recording,
`communicating and administering the digital image.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`In the field of telecommunications, data of a wide variety
`of data types is transmitted from a sender to a receiver, either
`unidirectionally or bidirectionally. The data which is trans(cid:173)
`mitted may be, for example, voice signals, image signals, or
`written characters which have been converted into digital
`signals. Video conferencing systems are used to transmit
`spoken data in combination with image data and/or written
`character data. These systems share the operation of various
`applications. Video conferencing systems require a high
`performance, expensive and bulky computer with an exter(cid:173)
`nal video camera at both the sender end as well as at the
`receiver end.
`Digital image cameras are currently available on the
`market, as known, for example, from the publication "Mar(cid:173)
`ket Over View: Low-Cost Digital Cameras, Canon: Power(cid:173)
`shot 600", MACup, pages 100-101, No. 4, 1996.
`So called cellular telephones may be utilized for image
`transmission, as is known, for example, from the U.S. Pat.
`No. 5,260,989, entitled "Method and System for Enhanced
`Data Transmission in a Cellular Telephone System".
`An arrangement with a television camera and a telephone 35
`which provides for audio data and image data to be trans(cid:173)
`mitted in common through a telephone line is known, for
`example, from the U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,587 entitled "Trans(cid:173)
`mission System for Still-Picture T.V. Telephone". The dis(cid:173)
`closed apparatus makes it possible to digitize, compress and
`transmit individual still pictures, such as photographs.
`When a large number of digital images are recorded and
`are to be archived in a central computer unit, then the
`organization of the data base becomes a problem. In
`particular, the problems of locating the data of an image data
`file increase as the number of images to be archived
`mcreases.
`A book by S. Naumann et al. entitled "Parsing", Teubner
`Verlag, Stuttgart, 1st Edition, ISBN 3-519-02139-0, pages
`155-166, 1994 discloses devices referred to as parsers.
`An image and audio communication system having a
`graphical annotation capability is disclosed in the European
`Patent document EP 0 64 968 A2 in which voice, data and
`image communications are used in telephone systems. The
`circuit arrangement provides that still pictures and/or mov(cid:173)
`ing pictures can be recorded during a voice and data com(cid:173)
`munication on a picture screen of a PC (personal computer)
`in parallel to the data displayed on the screen.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention addresses the problem of a com(cid:173)
`municating and administering digital images by providing
`for recording, administration and archiving of digital images
`simply, fast and in such way that the information therefor
`may be easily tracked. Furthermore, the present invention
`simplifies transmission of digital images which have been
`
`5
`
`2
`recorded, optimizes the communication of the image data
`and provides a method for administering the storage of the
`digital images, which is simple, fast and surveyable so that
`the digital images may be archived.
`These problems are solved by a communication system
`for recording and administering the digital images which
`includes at least one telephone unit that in addition to a
`telephone function has a digital image pick up unit for
`recording images, a telephone memory for storing the digital
`10 images, and a processor for processing the digital images.
`The telephone unit may associate classification information
`with the digital images. A transmission system is coupled to
`the telephone unit and to a server for transmitting of the data
`which includes the digital images and potentially the clas(cid:173)
`sification information from the telephone unit to the server.
`15 The server has a receiving unit for receiving the data sent by
`the telephone unit, and an analysis unit for analyzing the
`data with respect to the classification information which
`characterize the digital images, and a memory in which the
`digital images may be archived, taking into consideration
`20 the classification information during the archiving step.
`Specifically, the communication system has at least one
`telephone unit, a server and a transmission system for
`transmitting the data from the telephone unit to the server.
`The telephone unit has a telephone portion and at least one
`25 digital image recorder which has the function of a digital
`camera, a telephone unit memory for storing the digital
`images taken by the digital camera and a data processor for
`processing the digital image data. The server includes a
`reception unit, an analysis unit which analyzes the data that
`30 is sent from the telephone unit with respect to classification
`information, also referred to as order features, as well as a
`memory for storing the digital images. The order features, or
`classification information, characterize the digital images
`and are taken into consideration as the images are stored.
`As the method of the present invention, the digital images
`are recorded and administered by, first, recording the images
`by a digital image pick up unit which is included in the
`telephone unit, converting the images to digital form as
`digital images and possibly stored, transmitting data which
`40 contains the digital images as well as classification infor(cid:173)
`mation which characterize the digital images to a server,
`receiving the data in the server, extracting the classification
`information from the data, and storing the digital images in
`the server taking into consideration the classification infor-
`45 mation during the storing step.
`The communication system of the present invention
`exhibits a number of advantages. The present communica(cid:173)
`tion system can transmit speech as in a standard telephone
`system using the telephone unit and can additionally trans-
`50 mit still picture, in other words photographs, over this same
`communication system. The telephone unit which records
`the digital images in the digital image pickup also transmits
`the data which contains these digital images using the
`telephone functions. Addition data may be transmitted with
`55 the digital image data as well. Classification information
`which is found in the transmitted data is extracted in the
`analysis unit and are used for storing the digital images in
`such a way that they can be easily relocated, even when a
`great number of digital images are stored and administered.
`60 In this way, it is possible to implement an automated
`archiving of digital images in the server. Since the storing
`step depends upon the extracted classification information
`that characterize the individual digital images, a simple, fast
`and surveyable archiving of the digital images is automati-
`65 cally carried out.
`According to the present method, the images are acquired
`and stored in digital form as digital images. Data is trans-
`
`0006
`
`

`

`6,038,295
`
`5
`
`3
`mitted from the telephone unit to the server, the data
`containing at least the digital images. The classification
`information which characterize the digital images is
`extracted in the server and the digital images is stored in the
`server taking into consideration the classification inform a-
`tion.
`In a development of the present invention, the telephone
`unit is a wireless telephone which wirelessly transmits the
`data over the transmission system. In other words, the
`telephone is a mobile telephone unit, which makes it pos- 10
`sible to immediately register the image and voice informa(cid:173)
`tion and to have this information available at any arbitrary
`location. It is, thus, possible to distribute image and voice
`information over the mobile telephone quickly and possibly
`to distribute it to multiplied locations.
`It is within the framework of the present invention that the
`user may provide the classification information which is
`allocated to the digital images and which identify the digital
`images. The communication system of the present invention
`provides a means for allocating this classification inform a(cid:173)
`tion as prescribed by the user of the present device to the
`digital images. The communication system provides that
`additional information about the recorded image may be
`attached at the time of the image acquisition directly by the
`individual implementing the recording of the image. This
`avoids additional information editing which may potentially
`be required for the digital images at the server end. Another
`advantage is that the individual who records the image
`probably best understands the information which describes
`the image and can easily allocate that description to the
`image data.
`As a further development of the communication system,
`a speech recognition unit is provided in the telephone unit.
`The recognized speech data can be easily transmitted with
`the image data since the compression rate for recognized
`speech data (which is in the form of text) is greater than for
`the audio information.
`According to the various embodiments of the present
`communication system, the classification information may
`have different embodiments containing different informa(cid:173)
`tion. It is advantageous in one development of the invention
`that the classification information includes audio data. The
`archiving of such data is very simple and user friendly since
`the user merely has to speak the information describing the
`recorded image into the telephone unit as in a telephone
`conversation. In addition to speech, the audio data included
`with the image data may provide other classification infor(cid:173)
`mation for the image. For example, it is envisioned that
`specific sounds or noises which characterize the image data 50
`or freely selectable music passages be included as classifi(cid:173)
`cation information in the transmitted data. The classification
`information may contain at least the time and/or time of day
`at which the image was recorded or at which the image data
`was transmitted to the server. As a result, the classification 55
`information may be extracted in a very simple way in the
`server and can be directly converted into information about
`the location in the memory at which the digital image should
`be stored. By converting the time and date information into
`a form usable by the server, the received digital images may 60
`be stored in lists or directories in the server which are
`classified according to the time at which the image was
`acquired or the time of the transmission of the digital image,
`which information is transmitted along with the digital
`image to the server or obtained upon transmission.
`As a further development, the classification information
`may contain at least the telephone number of the telephone
`
`4
`unit and/or the telephone number of the server in the data
`accompanying the digital image. This permits the particular
`telephone unit or server to be identified by the classification
`information included with the digital image.
`The classification information, according to an advanta(cid:173)
`geous development, may directly contain particular infor(cid:173)
`mation about the location in the server memory where the
`digital images should be stored. For example, a direct path
`indication of the directory in the server in which the digital
`image is stored may be included as the particular informa(cid:173)
`tion accompanying the digital image. This simplifies the
`analysis of the classification information so that the method
`of the present invention can be implemented considerably
`faster and the communication system can be realized with
`15 less outlay for hardware.
`A data bank system may be provided as a server in the
`present communication system in a preferred embodiment.
`It is advantageous to provide an image analysis unit in the
`server to determine the quality of the digital images so that
`20 the relationship between the required image quality and the
`data transmission rate in the transmission system may be
`improved. When the image quality which is required is
`higher than the image quality which is supplied, then a
`higher image resolution for the digital images may be
`25 requested by the server from the telephone unit according to
`yet another development of the present invention. When, on
`other hand the image quality transmitted by the telephone
`unit is higher than that required in the server, then a lower
`data transmission rate can be set and a lower image quality
`30 can be requested from the telephone unit. Thus, the present
`communication system may include a control unit in the
`server for controlling the resolution of the digital images in
`the telephone unit and/or for controlling the transmission
`rate of the data to be used in the transmission system. The
`35 transmission rate and the costs for the transmission of the
`digital images can thereby be reduced.
`Further, features of the present invention provide for a
`speech analysis unit for analyzing parts of speech and a
`40 extracting therefrom information for the classifying infor(cid:173)
`mation to be included with the image signals. In another
`development, the server may include a speech synthesis unit
`for generating speech signals to transmit to the telephone
`unit. It is contemplated that the telephone unit may be
`45 connected to the server via the internet.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system
`including a plurality of telephone units according to the
`principles of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a plan view of a telephone unit to be used in the
`communication system of the present invention;
`FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the method steps
`according to the method of the present invention; and
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing various classification
`information, or order features, which may be associated with
`the image data according to the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`The communication system according to the present
`invention as shown in FIG. 1 including as components an
`arbitrary number of telephone units TE, a server S, and a
`transmission system US that is coupled to the telephone
`65 units TE as well as to the server S and that is used for
`transmitting data between the telephone units TE and the
`serverS.
`
`0007
`
`

`

`6,038,295
`
`10
`
`5
`The server S is a computer system which serves for
`organizing a database which includes a large number of
`digital images as well as classification information OM
`which may potentially be allocated to the digital images. The
`server S includes at least the following components, an
`receiving unit EE for receiving the data that is sent from the
`telephone unit TE via the transmission system US and an
`analysis unit AE that is coupled to the receiving unit EE and
`which extracts the classification information from data
`received by the server S. Various possible embodiments for
`the analysis unit AE will be described later. In addition, a
`memory SP for storing the data as well as the digital images
`which is contained in the data is provided in the server S.
`In one embodiment, the servers includes an image analy(cid:173)
`sis unit BAE which determines the quality of the digital
`image that is provided to the serverS. For example, the noise
`level within the digital image is determined by the image
`analysis unit BAE and the quality of the image is estimated
`depending upon the amount of noise which is detected.
`In addition, a control unit ST is provided in the server S
`in one embodiment of the communication system. The
`control unit ST controls the image resolution of the digital
`images using the image compression in the telephone unit,
`for example. In particular, image compression methods
`utilize a control parameter to set the image compression 25
`level for the digital images such as the quantizing factor in
`a JPEG Qoint photographic expert group) image date com(cid:173)
`pression. The control unit ST determines this quantizing
`factor to be used to obtain the desired image quality.
`The control unit ST also controls the transmission rate 30
`during transmission of the data via the transmission system
`US.
`Further developments of the present communication sys(cid:173)
`tem provide for including a means for analysis of voice
`signals which are spoken into the telephone unit TE, from
`which the classification information OM may be extracted.
`In a preferred development, this voice analysis means is
`provided in the image analysis unit BAE. It is also contem(cid:173)
`plated in the present invention to provide a speech synthesis
`unit in the server S. The speech synthesis unit includes
`digitally stored voice information which is converted into
`speech which is then presented to a user of the present
`communication system as a natural language output.
`The server S is configured with an arbitrary data bank
`system in which the digital images may be administered.
`The analysis unit AE provides the administering function,
`which will be described in greater detail here and after.
`Although the present communication system is envi(cid:173)
`sioned as including a plurality of telephone units TE, the
`communication system will be described hereinafter with
`reference to only a single telephone unit TE for simplicity
`and without limiting the scope of the present invention. The
`single telephone unit TE is shown in FIG. 2. The telephone
`unit includes the standard features of a telephone unit 55
`including, for example, an earphone HM, a keypad TA
`which serves as an operating field for the telephone unit TE,
`as well as a microphone LS. The telephone unit also includes
`a digital image pick up unit for recording images, the digital
`image pick up unit being integrated into the telephone unit 60
`TE. In FIG. 2, the telephone unit TE includes a lens LI and
`a view finder SU and may possibly include a photoflash BL.
`As an alternative to an integrated image pick up unit and
`telephone unit, the image pick up unit may be spatially
`separated from the telephone unit but connected to one 65
`another via a connection such as a line connection, a
`plug -type connection or a radio link.
`
`6
`The digital image pick up unit operates as a digital photo
`camera of the type which is known. A telephone unit
`memory TS is provided for storing the images registered by
`the digital image pick up unit in digital form in the telephone
`5 unit TE. The digital images may be compressed using still
`picture image data compression methods such as JPEG. The
`compression method is implemented using a data processor
`P which includes a memory RAM. The data processor P
`serves for processing the digital images. However, the
`processor P can be used for other processing tasks as well
`including, for example, pattern recognition or voice recog(cid:173)
`nition within the telephone unit TE.
`The telephone unit TE can be used as a "normal tele(cid:173)
`phone" to make calls or as an image recording device with
`15 its expanded functionality. It is provided, according to one
`development of the invention, to provide a mode key MT by
`which the operating mode of the telephone unit TE is
`switched such as between operation as a normal telephone or
`as an image pick up and transmitting unit according to the
`20 present communication system. When set to operate as an
`image pick up unit, a separate trigger, or shutter button, AL
`is provided for recording of the images by the image pick up
`unit.
`The various functions provided by the present telephone
`unit TE may be controlled and/or displayed in an operating
`field BE. For instance, the operating field BE may be utilized
`in the allocation of speech spoken by the user to individual
`digital images. The telephone unit thus temporarily func(cid:173)
`tions as a "dictating machine", with control via the operating
`field BE. While the various controls such as the mode key
`MT, the shutter AL and the operating field BE are shown as
`separate controls, they need not be fashioned as separate
`keys but may be integrated in terms of their various func(cid:173)
`tions into the keypad TA for the telephone unit TE by using
`35 key combinations.
`The present telephone unit may be operated via a tele(cid:173)
`phone line or may alternately be operated wirelessly as a
`mobile telephone using an antenna A for transmission and
`reception of data. Thus, the telephone unit TE is fashioned
`40 as a mobile telephone (a so called cellular phone) or as a
`cordless telephone.
`In the illustrated embodiment, a means MZ is provided in
`the telephone unit TE for allocating the classification infor(cid:173)
`mation OM which are prescribed by the user to the digital
`45 images and thus characterizing the digital images. In terms
`of its function, the allocation means MZ may be integrated
`into the keypad TA, for example, by using key combinations.
`The telephone unit TE also includes a speech recognition
`unit which converts open speech into text. The text can then
`50 be allocated to the digital images and transferred with the
`digital image data. Referring to FIG. 4, the various possi(cid:173)
`bilities for the classification information OM are illustrated.
`The classification information OM which are unambigu-
`ously allocated to the digital images serve to characterize the
`digital images so that a surveyable, unambiguous storage of
`the digital images in the serverS may be carried out in such
`a way that the digital images can be quickly relocated in
`their stored locations. The following classification inform a(cid:173)
`tion OM is not intended to be all inclusive but only as
`examples of information which may be included as classi(cid:173)
`fication information. The classification information OM may
`be implicitly contained in the digital image itself, such as
`being derived from the image content such as identifying a
`specific building in the photo, identifying a specific recorded
`landscape, or a specific recorded vehicle type. The analysis
`unitAE of the server serves to analyze the image content and
`record the image according to the meaning derived from the
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`6,038,295
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`7
`image analysis. When the classification information OM are
`implicitly contained in the digital image, then the analysis
`unit AE includes a pattern recognition unit which searches
`the image for specific, predetermined features in the digital
`image.
`The classification information OM may also be included
`in the transmitted data as forwarded from the telephone unit
`TE to the server S with the digital images. Such information
`may be the address or the telephone number of the telephone
`unit TE which transmits the data. Furthermore, the time of
`recording of the respective digital image and/or the time of
`transmission of the digital image to the server may be
`provided as classification information for the image data.
`When this is the case, the analysis unit AE is fashioned such
`the this time and date, or address, or telephone number
`information can be extracted from the transmitted data. This
`information can be included as a header field provided with
`the transmitted message that contains the image data and, as
`such, analysis thereof is quite simple.
`In a preferred embodiment, the classification information 20
`OM as shown in FIG. 4 include the following types of data:
`an arbitrary form of audio data 401 such as melodies,
`songs, noises, or speech 402 which is spoken into the
`telephone unit TE by the user;
`the time of day and/or the date of the recording of the
`image and/or the time of day and/or the date of the
`transmission of the data 403;
`the telephone number of the telephone unit TE which
`obtained and transmitted the image data and/or the
`telephone number of the server S 404 which received
`the data, or some other type of identification of the
`telephone unit TE and/or of the server S such as an
`unambiguous address for the telephone unit TE or for
`the server S;
`some particular information about the location in the
`memory at which the digital image should be stored
`405. This may be an unambiguous path indication
`which indicates the location in memory or in the
`directory structure and the server S at which the respec- 40
`tive digital image should be stored; and
`other alphanumeric data which may be input into the
`telephone unit TE via the key pad TA in, for example,
`an ASCII format 406.
`The analysis unitAE is fashioned so that it may extract the
`classification information OM from the data received by the
`server S and, as such, it is fashioned in accordance with the
`expected classification information OM. Various realizations
`of the analysis unit AE may be utilized including in a type
`of parser with which the respective information is extracted.
`A parser may be of the type which is known.
`The classification information OM which are transmitted
`with the digital image or which are allocated to the digital
`image are used for archiving the images in the server
`memory.
`A method according to the present invention is illustrated
`in FIG. 3, including a first step 301 in which images are
`recorded with the digital image pick up unit that is integrated
`into the telephone unit TE. According to the step 302, the
`images are stored in digital form in the telephone unit 60
`memory TS as digital images. The images are transmitted in
`step 303, either in compressed form or non-compressed
`form, from the telephone unit TE to the server S via the
`transmission system US. The data is received at step 304 at
`the server S and the classification information OM which 65
`characterize the digital images are extracted at step 305 from
`the data received in the server. The digital images and
`
`8
`possibly the classification information OM and potentially
`further information that characterize or described the digital
`images are stored at step 306 in the server. During the storing
`step, the classification information OM is taken into con-
`s sideration.
`The classification information OM may be prescribed by
`a user of the telephone unit TE, for example, by simply
`speaking the information into the microphone LS of the
`telephone unit TE or by inputting a character sequence into
`the key pad TA.
`As a development of the method, the spoken language by
`the user may be recognized and stored in a compressed form,
`for example, as text. This achieves a further reduction in the
`transmission rate for the digital image with accompanying
`classification information. Also included in a development
`15 according to the present invention is the identification of the
`quality of the image and the control of the required or
`available transmission rate in the transmission system US by
`which the data is transmitted, the controlled being dependent
`upon the quality of the image desired. When the quality of
`the image is classified as too low in the server, a
`re-transmission of the digital images requested from the
`telephone unit with the newly transmitted image exhibiting
`a higher quality or high resolution.
`To determine the quality of the image, the noise in the
`25 digital image is estimated using, for example, the image
`analysis unit BAE. The noise in the image serves as a
`criterion for estimating the quality of the image.
`It is a particular advantage to utilize the present invention
`in conjunction with the connection to the Internet. For
`30 example, the images may be automatically stored or
`archived on the basis of the classification information OM in
`either a public or p