JPH06276222A - Electronic mail generating device for multi-medium information and multi-medium information transfer method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Purpose] Transmission is performed without considering the type of receiving terminal and which media can be played. [Structure] The information is a component mail for each medium, each reproduction trigger, and each reproduction position. On the screen at time t0, text 1, reproduction triggers t0 and t1, reproduction position 40 × 30 + 0
+60 parts mail, still image 1, reproduction triggers t0, t1
, A component mail with a reproduction position of 80 × 30 + 0 + 10, a moving image, a reproduction timing t0, a component mail with a reproduction position of 40 × 30 + 70 + 60, a voice, and a component mail with a reproduction timing t1. Each component mail includes a mail identifier and its data. It consists of size information. The correspondence table of the mail identifiers and file names of each component mail, the trigger for reproducing each file, and the position data are transmitted as a set of the control mail and the component mail. The receiving terminal reproduces the data in the component mail from the control mail by using the corresponding trigger and position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for transferring information composed of a plurality of types of media such as texts, voices and images, and an apparatus for creating an electronic mail suitable for the transfer method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A multimedia electronic mail system in the prior art is operated on the assumption that there is only one type of information medium stored in one electronic mail. FIG. 13 shows the configuration of a conventional multimedia electronic mail system. The multimedia data 12 created by the sending terminal 11 is stored in one e-mail 13 and sent to the e-mail center 14. The multimedia data 12 is only allowed to take the form of any one of a plurality of predetermined media.

In the e-mail center 14, when the e-mail delivery device 15 determines the receiving terminal 16 for receiving the e-mail, whether the receiving terminal 16 can directly receive the multimedia data 12 stored in the e-mail. If the media conversion device 17 in the e-mail center 14 can convert the multimedia data 12 into a medium that can be directly received by the receiving terminal 16, it is used for the multimedia conversion. The media data 12 is converted into multimedia data 18, which is a medium that can be directly received by the receiving terminal 16, is stored in the electronic mail 19, and is transmitted to the receiving terminal 16.

[0004]

Conventional terminals have a one-to-one relationship between terminals and media types, such as voice for telephones, still images for faxes, and text for personal computers.
However, with the advent of high-performance terminals such as high-performance personal computers that can simultaneously handle multiple types of media such as still images, moving images, and audio in addition to text, there is a one-to-one correspondence between terminals and media.
The relationship between is no longer valid. Furthermore, as the types of media used in one terminal have increased, it has become impractical to predefine all of the media used by electronic mail systems. However, since there are still terminals that can handle only a single conventional media, the problem of media compatibility becomes more serious.

For example, as shown in FIG.
Let us consider a case in which an e-mail is sent to two persons, the recipient 22 and the recipient 23. In the electronic mail center 14, the multimedia information 25 created by the personal computer 24 which is the terminal 11 of the sender 21 is composed of text data 26 and still image data 27. In the prior art, this multimedia information 25 is stored in one electronic mail 13 and transmitted to the electronic mail center 14.

The recipient 22 who has a personal computer 28 having the same function as the personal computer 24 used to create the multimedia information 25 as a communication terminal does not have to go through the media conversion device 17, but receives the e-mail from the e-mail delivery device 14. 13 can be received as it is. The media conversion device 17 can convert the text data into voice, which is the only medium that can be received by the telephone 29, which is the communication terminal of the recipient 23. However, since the multimedia data 25 stored in the electronic mail 28 is not only text data, it cannot be converted into voice data. Therefore, the terminal 29 of the recipient 23 cannot receive the multimedia information 25 at all.

In order to solve this problem, 1) the sender 21 sends the multimedia data 25 in two parts, an electronic mail containing only text data and an electronic mail containing only still image data. It is possible to do it. However, this method a) forces the sender 21 and the receiver 22 to perform the transmission / reception processing twice, which is supposed to be performed only once. b) Information related to the media (for example, the display position of the still image with respect to the text in this case) is lost. c)
The sender 21 needs to divide the multimedia data 25 in consideration of the types of e-mail media that can be received by the terminals 22, 29 owned by the recipients 22, 23. For these reasons, the convenience of the sender 21 and the receiver 22 is significantly impaired. 2) By expanding the function of the media conversion device 17 of FIG.
From the multimedia information 25 stored by analyzing the electronic mail 28, the text data 26 and the still image data 2
It is also possible to extract 7 and 7 and send the text data 26 or the still image data 27 according to the type of the destination terminal.

In this method, the media conversion device 17 needs to know all the media in advance, which greatly limits the types of media forming the multimedia data. Also, analyzing all e-mails and dividing them by media greatly increases the work amount of the e-mail center. Even if the sending terminal and the receiving terminal are both PCs, the performance is different, and if all of the various media contained in the email created by the sending terminal cannot be played by the receiving terminal, The same problem arises.

[0009]

According to the invention of claim 1, original information composed of one or a plurality of types of media such as text, voice, and image is reproduced, the type of the medium, the timing of reproduction, and reproduction. A control mail having means for separating the parts mail for each position, a list of the parts mails forming the original information, media type information of each parts mail, reproduction trigger information, and reproduction position information is created. Then, the control mail and the means for forming the electronic mail by using the set of the component mails forming the original information as a set constitute the electronic mail creating apparatus.

According to the multimedia information transfer method of the second and subsequent inventions, an electronic mail is created by the electronic mail creating apparatus of the first invention at the sending terminal or the electronic mail center, and the electronic mail is received from the sending terminal. After sending directly to the terminal or storing the e-mail at the e-mail center, the arrival of the e-mail is notified to the receiving terminal. The receiving terminal receives the e-mail directly or receives the notification from the e-mail center, and receives the media type information of each component mail indicated by the control mail in the e-mail, the reproduction trigger information, and the reproduction. The content of the component mail is reproduced based on the position information.

When receiving the notification, the control mail in the electronic mail may be received, and only the component mail reproducible by the self-reception terminal may be received from the contents. Further, the electronic mail center holds the management information of each receiving terminal and sends only the component mail reproducible by the receiving terminal to the receiving terminal.

[0012]

If the multimedia information is divided for each medium and transmitted as a plurality of component mails, for a terminal having a low function and capable of receiving only specific media, it is sufficient to receive only component mails that can be reproduced by its own terminal. These are no different from the transfer of multimedia data by the conventional electronic mail system. At this time, the mail divided for each medium may include a plurality of data having different reproduction triggers / reproduction positions on the same medium or may be limited to only one.

As a result, not only the compatibility of terminals having low functions can be ensured to the maximum extent, but also the electronic mail center does not need to manage and control the media type of the information stored in the sent electronic mail. The processing of the mail center can be kept low. However, if the multimedia information is simply divided and transmitted, the information between the media (reproduction trigger and reproduction position) is lost and
Even if this method is not used, the convenience of the owner of the terminal that can receive the multimedia information may be impaired. Therefore, in addition to the component mail group including the information for each medium, a control mail including the information for managing and controlling these is additionally transmitted to the component mail group. A terminal that is highly functional and capable of handling various types of media receives control mail, and if multiple part mails containing information for each media are received and played back according to the control information in the control mail, users of this terminal will be notified of each media. It is possible to design terminal software for exchanging multimedia information without paying attention to dividing and transmitting information to the terminal.

If the format of the multimedia information is known to an electronic mail center that relays electronic mail, the multimedia information is divided for each medium into a plurality of component mails. Not only the sending terminal but also the component mail group including "," and the control mail including information for managing and controlling these may be carried out not only at the sending terminal but also at this electronic mail center. By creating this e-mail at the e-mail center, a sending terminal that cannot create this e-mail can also perform the multimedia information transfer of the present invention.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The electronic mail created by the present invention comprises a component mail and a control mail, and a component mail is created for each media type, each reproduction trigger, and each reproduction position. (1) Reproduction Trigger Information FIG. 1A shows an example of the structure of the reproduction trigger information. 32 is a time chart of the reproduction of each data shown in the description example 31 of the reproduction trigger information. In this example, the reproduction of the text A starts at the absolute time tx and ends at tz, and the tx and tz serve as reproduction trigger information. The moving image A starts reproduction at the absolute time ty, but the reproduction end time is not specified. Therefore, the reproduction is ended according to the reproduction information of the moving image A itself, and the reproduction trigger information is only ty. The still image A is reproduced for the same period as the moving image A, and the reproduction trigger information is the same moving image A. The sound A starts to be reproduced after the end of the moving picture A, and since the reproduction end time is not specified like the moving picture A, the reproduction is ended according to the reproduction information of the sound A itself, and the reproduction timing information is after
Video A. (2) Playback Position Information FIG. 1B shows a configuration example of the playback position information. The reproduction position on the display screen 34 of the still image A shown by the description example 33 of the reproduction position information is shown. That is, the first w × h in the reproduction position information 33 indicates the width w and the height h of the still image A, and the next x is the display screen 3
The horizontal position from the upper left end of 4 and the next y indicate the vertical position from the upper left end, and the upper left end of the still image A is located at this x, y position. (3) Example of Configuration of Multimedia Information FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of multimedia information. A of FIG. 2 shows a reproduction position and B of FIG. It consists of three screens. Still image 1 is displayed on the upper half of the screen at absolute time t0, text 1 is displayed on the left half of the lower half of the screen, and moving image 1 of length L is displayed on the right half of the lower half of the screen. And the reproduction of voice 1 are started at the same time.

The display of the still image 1 and the text 1 is completed at the absolute time t1, the text 2 is displayed on the left half of the upper half of the screen, the still image 2 is displayed on the right half of the upper half of the screen, and the text is displayed on the left half of the lower half of the screen. Display 3 respectively. Video 1 is still playing in the lower right half of the screen. At the same time, the reproduction of the voice 2 is started (the reproduction of the voice 1 is already finished). The reproduction of the moving image 1 ends after L hours from the absolute time t0. Here, the display of the text 2, the text 3, and the still image 2 is finished, and the text 4 is displayed in the upper half of the screen and the still image 3 is displayed in the lower half of the screen.
Are displayed respectively. (4) Data format of multimedia information In the present invention, multimedia information is provided for each media.
In addition, a component mail is created separately for each playback trigger and for each playback position, and a control mail for managing and controlling the component is created. For example, various information necessary for creating these is filed as follows. .

FIG. 3 shows an example of a data format in which the multimedia information shown in FIG. 2 is separated for each medium.
This is composed of a file 35 storing management information of the entire multimedia information of FIG. 2 and files 36 to 39 storing data of each individual medium. The management information itself stored in the management information storage file 35 is represented by text media, and the type of media that the entire multimedia information has (text, still image, video, audio in this example).
The number of data for each medium, that is, in this example, there are four texts, so the number of data is 4, and since there are three still images, the number of data is 3. It includes a file name in which each data is stored, a reproduction trigger in each data, and reproduction position information. The description of the reproduction trigger information and the reproduction position information is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
According to the format shown in. When the file name in which the text 1 is stored is the text 1, the reproduction trigger information is t0 and t1 from FIG. 2, and the reproduction position information is 40 × 30 + 0 + 60 from the t0 screen of FIG. 2A. Similarly, reproduction trigger information and reproduction position information regarding each of the other media files are also described.

The media file 36 is a file for storing text data, in which the file name text 1 is stored at the beginning of the file, the media name text is stored next, and the text length information 300 is stored subsequently. After that, the data of the text is stored. The media file 37 is a file that stores still image data. Still image 1 having a file name at the beginning of the file, a still image having a media name, and information 4 indicating the height and width of the still image.
0 and 80 are stored respectively, and thereafter the image data of the still image is stored.

The media file 38 is a file for storing moving picture data. A moving picture 1 having a file name and a moving picture having a media name are provided at the beginning of the file, and information 40, 40 indicating the height and width of each frame of the moving picture. Next, the information 60 indicating the presentation time, and thereafter the moving image data is stored. The media file 39 is a file for storing audio data. The audio 1 of the file name and the audio of the media name are provided at the beginning of the file, information 30 indicating the presentation time, information 22 indicating the audio sampling rate, and the audio thereafter. Data is stored.

Similarly, other media, text 2,
Media files for 3, 4, still images 2, 3, and audio 2 are created. (5) Parts mail / control mail As described above, according to the present invention, the parts mail is created separately for each medium, and the control mail for managing and controlling them is created, but the data format shown in FIGS. 4 and 3 is used. 2A shows a configuration example of a control mail created for the multimedia information of FIG. 2A based on FIG. File 3 in Figure 3
Since the entire management information in 5 is expressed in text, the medium of this control mail is also text. The sender information storage unit 4 is included in the control mail 41.
2, receiver information storage 43, mail identifier storage 44,
There is a body information storage unit 45, and a control that clearly indicates that this mail is a control mail is stored in the mail identifier storage unit 44. In the body information storage unit 45, the entire management information 46 in the file 35 shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the management information storage unit 45a as it is, but in the terminal, individual data is identified by the file name. Since the email identifier is used in the electronic mail system, a correspondence table (list) 47 of file names of individual data and email identifiers in the overall management information 46 is stored in the parts email management information in the body information storage unit 45. It is stored in the section 45b. The left side of the correspondence table 47 shows the file name, and the right side shows the identifier of the mail in which the data of the file name is stored.

FIG. 5 corresponds to a configuration example of the control mail 41 shown in FIG. The structural example of the component mail which stored the data for every individual media in the multimedia information of FIG. 2A is shown. The text component mail 48 is a still image component mail 49, the moving image component mail 51, and the voice component mail 52 is a transmission source information storage unit 53, a reception destination information storage unit 54, a mail identifier storage unit 55, and a body text information storage unit. 5
6 respectively, parts mail 48, 49, 51, 52
The text identifiers, still images, moving images, and voices are stored in the respective mail identifier storage units 55, and the file names in the corresponding media files in FIG. 3 and the data other than the media names are stored in the respective body information storage units 56. Is stored. Another Example of Component Mail / Control Mail Configuration FIG. 6 shows another example of a component mail and control mail configured for the multimedia information of FIG. 2A based on the data format shown in FIG. This is an example of using the function of the electronic mail system having the enclosed function capable of handling a plurality of electronic mails as a set of one electronic mail. For this reason, it is not necessary for the component mail / control mail to have individual sender information and recipient information. Further, although the mail identifier is not necessary, it has an enclosed mail identifier to distinguish it from other enclosed mails. Since it suffices to maintain uniqueness only in the enclosed mail, the file name storing the data for each individual medium shown in FIG. 3 can be used as it is.

The enclosed mail 57 includes a sender information storage section 58, a recipient information storage section 59, and a mail identifier storage section 6.
1. There is an enclosed mail information storage unit 62 and an email storage unit 63, and the enclosed mail information storage unit 62 corresponds to the enclosed order (body part) and the identifier indicating the medium in the email. A table (enclosed mail information) 64 is stored. The enclosed mails 65, 66, ... Are stored in the mail storage unit 63. Emails 65 and 6
6, an enclosed mail identifier storage unit 71 and a body information storage unit 72 are provided, and mails 65, 66, 67, 68,
The enclosed mail identifier storage unit 71 of 69 stores control, text 1, still image 1, moving image 1 and voice 1 respectively, and the body text information storage unit 72 stores management information 46, respectively.
The same information as the body information in each body information storage unit 56 in the component mails 48, 49, 51, 52 of FIG. 5 is stored. (6) Control mail / parts mail creation device From the multimedia information of FIG. 2A based on the data format shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 7, the control mail 41 and parts mails 48, 49 and 51 shown in FIGS. , 52 are generated. The structural example of a control mail / component mail generation apparatus is shown. E-mail generating device 74 in this device 73
When the start signal is input, the sender information input unit 7
5, recipient information input unit 76, mail identifier input unit 77,
An e-mail that can be transmitted is created using the information input to the text information input unit 78.

The transmission source information generation device 79 and the reception destination information generation device 81 respectively output transmission source information and reception destination information that can be used as inputs to the electronic mail generation device 74. The date generator 82 outputs the absolute time. The control mail generation controller 83 has a function of storing the history of the mail identifier input from the component mail generation controller 84.
This is erased by inputting a reset signal.

Now, the media files 36 to 3 shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the data for each medium having the data format shown in 9 is input and the creation start signal is input. At this time, the component mail generation device 85 and the electronic mail generation device 74 perform the following operation and output the component mail shown in FIG. 1) As shown in FIG. 3, since the data for each medium stores the file name and the medium name, the media classification device 87 extracts this information and the component mail generation control device 84 stores the remaining data. The text is input to the text information input unit 78 of the electronic mail generating device 74. 2) From the input file name, media name, and output of the date generation device 82, the component mail generation control device 84
A character string composed of “media name”, “file name” and “date” is generated and input to the mail identifier input unit 77 of the electronic mail generating device 74 and the control mail generating device 83. 3) The component mail generation control device 84 sends a start signal to the electronic mail generation device 74. 4) The electronic mail generating device 74 is the component mail generating device 8
5, the mail identifier input unit 77 and the body information input unit 7
8 and the source information generation device 7
9. The reception destination information generation device 81 generates an electronic mail using the information input to the transmission source information input unit 75 and the reception destination information input unit 76, respectively.

Now, it is assumed that the management information 46 having the data format shown in FIG. 3 is input to the management information input unit 88 of the control mail generation device 83, and the creation start information is input. At this time, the control mail generation device 83 and the electronic mail generation device 74 perform the following operations and output the control mail 41 shown in FIG. 1) The control mail generation control device 89 inputs the history of the mail identifiers of the stored component mails to the component mail management information generation device 91 at the time of the previous component mail generation. 2) The component mail management information input device 91 creates the component mail management information shown in FIG. 4, that is, the correspondence table 47 from the history of the inputted mail identifiers, and inputs it to the control mail generation control device 89. 3) The control mail generation control device 89 outputs the component mail management information generation device 91 and the management information input unit 88.
The text information shown in FIG. 4 is created from the information 46 input to the text information and input to the text information input unit 78 of the electronic mail generating device 74. 4) The control mail generation control device 89 generates a character string composed of “control” and “date” from the output of the date generation device 82, and inputs it to the mail identifier input unit 77 of the electronic mail generation device 74. 5) The control mail generation control device 89 sends a start signal to the electronic mail generation device 74. 6) The electronic mail generating device 74 uses the information input to the mail identifier input unit 77 and the body information input unit 78 by the control mail generating device 89, and the sender information generating device 79 and the receiver information generating device 81, respectively. An electronic mail is generated using the information input to the sender information input unit 75 and the receiver information input unit 76.

As a result of the above operation, the device 73 is operated as shown in FIG.
When the multimedia information shown in is input, the control mail 41 and the parts mail 4 shown in FIGS.
.. is output. Another example of component mail / control mail creating apparatus generates control mail 65, component mails 66, 67 ... Shown in FIG. 6 from the multimedia information of FIG. 2A based on the data format shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the control mail / parts mail generation device 92.
The same symbols are attached to the portions corresponding to.

When the start signal is input, the electronic mail generating device 74 receives a sender information input section 75, a recipient information input section 76, a mail identifier input section 77, an enclosed mail information input section 93, and an enclosed mail input section 94. Create an enclosed e-mail that can be sent using the information entered in. The enclosed mail information generation device 95 has a function of generating enclosed mail information having the format shown in FIG. 6 from the enclosed mail identifier output from the enclosed mail generation device 96. The enclosed mail information is composed of "enclosed order" and "enclosed mail identifier". When the reset signal is input, the current enclosed mail information is erased and the enclosed order is set to 0.

Now, it is assumed that the multimedia data having the data format shown in FIG. 3 is input to the multimedia data input section 98 of the component mail / control mail generating apparatus 97 and the creation start signal is input. At this time, the component mail / control mail generation device 97 and the electronic mail generation device 74 perform the following operation, and output the enclosed mail 57 shown in FIG. 1) The control device 99 sends a reset signal to the enclosed mail information generation device 95 to clear the enclosed mail information and set the enclosed order to 0. 2) The enclosed mail generating device 96 receives the management information 46 having the format shown in FIG.
Is selected, the enclosed mail identifier is input to the enclosed mail information generation device 95, and the mail 65 is input to the enclosed mail input unit 94 of the electronic mail generation device 74. 3) The enclosed mail information generation device 95 creates a character string of "enclosed order 0" and "control" using the input enclosed mail identifier and stores it as enclosed mail information. 4) The enclosed mail generating device 96 creates the other mails 66, 67, ... Shown in FIG. 6 for all the data left in the multimedia data input unit 98, and sets each enclosed mail identifier to the enclosed mail. Email 6 to the information generator 95.
6 and 67 ... Enclosed mail input unit 9 of the electronic mail generation device
Enter in 4. 5) The enclosed mail information generation device 95 sequentially creates a character string of “enclosed order” “enclosed mail identifier” for the input enclosed mail identifier, and adds it to the enclosed mail information. 6) When all the data are processed, the enclosed mail information generation device 95 inputs the created enclosed mail information, that is, the correspondence table 64, into the enclosed mail information input unit 93 of the electronic mail generation device 74, and the control device 99. Sends a start signal to the electronic mail generating device 74. 7) The electronic mail generating device 74, the component mail / control mail generating device 97, the information respectively input to the enclosed mail information input unit 93 and the enclosed mail input unit 94, the sender information generating device 79, and the recipient information generating device. Device 8
1. The mail identifier generation device 101 generates an electronic mail using the information input to the sender information input unit 75, the receiver information input unit 76, and the mail identifier input unit 77, respectively.

By the above operation, when the multimedia information shown in FIG. 3 is input, the device 92 outputs the electronic mail 57 enclosing the control mail and the component mail shown in FIG. (6) Playback Control Device At the terminal that has received the electronic mail including the component mail and the control mail as described above, the playback control device 102 shown in FIG. 9, for example, plays back the medium.

The event list generation device 103 is a table showing the event list shown in FIG. 10 based on the management information 46 stored in the control mail input unit 104, that is, the medium to be displayed and the reproduction position information at each absolute time. To create. At this time, if necessary (such as requesting the end time of the video), the component mail is also referred to. Media classification device 1
Reference numeral 05 classifies the component mail input to the component mail input unit 106 by media and inputs the classified component mail to the corresponding display / reproduction device. The text display device 107, the still image display device 108, and the moving image display device 109 are instructed by the control device 111 to be positioned at arbitrary positions on the display at arbitrary times.
The media classification device 105 starts / ends display of text data, still image data, and moving image data stored in each device, and the screen compositing device 112 combines the outputs of these display devices 107 to 109 to produce an actual image. It is displayed on the display 113. The audio reproducing device 114 reproduces / reproduces the audio data stored from the media classifying device 105 on the speaker 115 at an arbitrary time according to an instruction from the control device 111.
finish.

Now, when the control mail 41 having the structure shown in FIG. 4 is inputted to the control mail input unit 104 and the component mails 48, 49 ... Having the structure shown in FIG. 5 are inputted to the component mail input unit 106. To do. At this time, the reproduction control device 102 performs the following operation to reproduce the multimedia data. 1) The event list generation device 103 uses the control mail 41 stored in the control mail input unit 104.
The information 46 in the management information storage unit 45a of FIG.
The event list 110 shown in FIG. When deciding the reproduction end time of the moving image and sound, the presentation time of the moving image and sound may be required. This information is part mail 51, 5
Since the information is only possessed by 2, the management information 46 and the component mail management information 47 are collated to identify the component mails 51 and 52, and the required component mail 5 from the component mail input unit 106.
It is obtained by inputting 1, 52 and extracting necessary information. 2) The media classification device 105 analyzes the information 47 in the component mail management information storage unit 45b of the control mail 41 stored in the control mail input unit 104, and stores the component mails 48 and 4 stored in the component mail input unit 106.
Are classified according to media and input to the corresponding display / playback devices 107, 108, 109, 114. 3) The control device 111 follows the event list 116
An instruction is given to each display / reproduction device 107 to 109, 114 to display the data.

By the above operation, when the control mail 41 and the component mails 48, 49 ... Shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are input, the apparatus 102 displays the original information of these mails as shown in FIG. 2A. Play the indicated multimedia information. It should be noted that the part mail / with the configuration shown in FIG.
The control mail (enclosed mail) 57 is input, and the configuration of the apparatus for reproducing the multimedia information shown in FIG. 2A can be the same as the configuration example shown in FIG. (7) Transfer of multimedia information Using the control mail / parts mail generation device 73 or 92 and the reproduction control device 102 described above, an embodiment of a method for transferring multimedia information according to the present invention will be described in the following two cases. .

The multimedia data of FIG. 2A is reconfigured by the sending terminal into a component mail / control mail (enclosed mail) 57 having the structure shown in FIG. 6, and is directly sent to the receiving terminal. The receiving terminal receives this and reproduces all the transmitted media. Transmission terminal 12 in this case
1 shows a configuration example of the receiving terminal 122. In the transmission terminal 121, the multimedia data generation device 123 generates the multimedia information shown in FIG. 2A in the data format shown in FIG. 3, and sends the control mail / parts mail generation device 92 shown in FIG. Is entered. At this time, the transmitting terminal 121 and the receiving terminal 122 perform the following operations to transfer and display the multimedia data. 1) The control mail / parts mail generation device 92
The operation described in FIG. 8 is performed, and the part information and the control mail having the format shown in FIG. 6 are enclosed from the multimedia information having the data format shown in FIG. 3 input from the multimedia data generating device 123. The electronic mail 57 is generated and input to the electronic mail transmitting device 124. 2) The electronic mail transmitting device 124 transmits the input electronic mail 57 to the receiving terminal 122 according to the information in the receiver information storage section. 3) The e-mail receiving device 125 of the receiving terminal 122 receives the e-mail 57 transmitted by the e-mail transmitting device 124, and receives the part mail / control mail classifying device 126.
To enter. 4) Parts mail / control mail classification device 126
Uses the information 64 stored in the enclosed information storage unit 62 to classify the mail enclosed in the input electronic mail 57 into a component mail and a control mail, and inputs the classified mail to the reproduction control device 102. 5) The reproduction control device 102 performs the operation described in FIG. 9, reproduces individual media data stored in each component mail according to the control information 46 of the control mail,
As a result, the multimedia information shown in FIG. 2A is reproduced.

The multimedia information of FIG. 2A is reconfigured into a component mail / control mail having the configuration shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 at the transmitting terminal, and text display is performed via the electronic mail center, but an image is displayed. It cannot be sent to the receiving terminal. The receiving terminal selects and receives only the component mail of the text media from among them and displays it.
FIG. 12 shows a configuration example of each of the sending terminal 121, the electronic mail center 127, and the receiving terminal 122. The control mail / parts mail generation device 73 in the transmission terminal 121 is the device already described with reference to FIG. 7, and the electronic mail delivery device 128 in the electronic mail center 127 is a) in the electronic mail storage device 129. A function of creating and outputting a list of sender information and mail identifiers of emails addressed to the receiving terminal indicated by the input recipient information, b) email storage device 1
It has a function of outputting an electronic mail having the input mail identifier in 29.

The electronic mail receiving device 1 in the receiving terminal 122
In response to an instruction from the reception control device 130, 25 outputs the destination information and the mail identifier of the receiving terminal 122 for the electronic mail delivery of the electronic mail center 127, and outputs the output of the electronic mail delivery device 128 respectively. 1
30, output to the text data reproducing device 131. now,
Multimedia data generating device 12 in transmitting terminal 121
3 generates the multimedia information shown in FIG. 2A in the data format shown in FIG. 3, and the creation start signal is input to the control mail / parts mail creating apparatus 73. At this time, the sending terminal 121, the electronic mail center 127, and the receiving terminal 122 perform the following operations to transfer the multimedia information, and only the text data among them is displayed on the text data reproducing device 131 of the receiving terminal 122. 1) Multimedia transmission control device 1 in the transmission terminal 121
32 is a control mail / parts mail generation device 73
A reset signal is sent to and the history of mail identifiers up to that point is erased as described with reference to FIG. 2) The multimedia transmission control device 132 sends a component mail creation start signal to the control mail / component mail generation device 73. As a result, the control mail / parts mail generation device 73 performs the operation described in FIG. 7 and creates a parts mail. 3) The electronic mail transmitting device 124 transmits the input component mail to the electronic mail center 127. 4) E-mail receiving device 13 of the e-mail center 127
3 stores the received component mail in the electronic mail storage device 129.
To store. 5) The multimedia transmission control device 132 sends a control mail creation start signal to the control mail / component mail generation device 73. As a result, the control mail / parts mail generation device 73 performs the operation described in FIG. 7 and creates the control mail 41. 6) The electronic mail transmitting device 124 transmits the input control mail 41 to the electronic mail center 127. 7) E-mail receiving device 13 of the e-mail center 127
3 stores the received control mail 41 in the electronic mail storage device 129. 8) The reception control device 130 of the receiving terminal 122 issues an instruction to the electronic mail receiving device 125, and the electronic mail center 12
7, the self-reception terminal 12 in the e-mail storage device 129
Obtain a list of sender information and email identifiers of emails addressed to 2. 9) As explained in FIG. 7, since the component mail and control mail 41 created in 2) and 5) have the same date in their identifiers, they are created from the same multimedia information by combining with the sender information. List of E-mail identifiers for the component mails and control mails
7 can be created, and the reception control device 130 creates this. 10) As described in FIG. 7, the mail identifier storage unit 55 of the component mail created in 2) contains the medium of the data stored in the component mail. The reception control device 130 creates a list of mail identifiers of only component mails having text data from the list 47. 11) The reception control device 130 inputs to the electronic mail reception device 125 the list of mail identifiers of only component mails having the text data created in 10). 12) The electronic mail receiving device 125 receives the electronic mail having the input mail identifier from the electronic mail center 127, and the text information is received by the text data reproducing device 131.
To enter. 13) The text data reproducing device 131 displays the input text data.

As described above, the separation into the component mails and the generation of the control mails are not limited to being performed by the sending terminal, but may be performed by the electronic mail center. When receiving the electronic mail, after receiving the control mail, the component mail reproducible by the own receiving terminal may be taken out from the electronic mail center. Alternatively, the control mail and all its component mails may be taken out from the electronic mail center and only the necessary component mails may be reproduced. Further, the management information of the receiving terminal is held in the electronic mail center, and only the component mail that the receiving terminal can receive according to the type of the receiving terminal is notified by the electronic mail center, or only the component mail is sent to the receiving terminal. You may send it.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, multimedia data is separated for each medium and reconstructed into a component mail having only one medium.
By sending the control that has the information for managing the set of these component mails with the information that can be distinguished from other component mails, 1) the sender does not consider the function of the receiver's terminal. Multimedia information can be sent. 2) In the multimedia information sent to the recipient,
You can select and receive only those that you can use. 3) The email center is not required to do any special processing regarding this. The effect will occur.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is an example of reproduction trigger information and its time chart, B
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing reproduction position information and the position of the image.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of multimedia information composed of a text, a still image, a moving image, and a sound, and B is a diagram showing a time chart of each medium.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data format showing the multimedia information shown in FIG. 2A.

4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a control mail created for the multimedia information of FIG. 2A based on the data format shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a component mail storing data for each medium of FIG. 2A corresponding to the control mail shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example in which the multimedia information of FIG. 2A based on the data format shown in FIG. 3 is reconfigured into a component mail and a control mail.

7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control mail / parts mail generation device 73 for generating the control mail and parts mail shown in FIGS.

FIG. 8 is a control mail / parts mail generation device 9 for generating the control mail and the parts mail shown in FIG.
The block diagram which shows the structural example of 2.

9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an apparatus which receives multimedia information based on the data format shown in FIG. 3 and reproduces it according to its management information.

10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an event list output by the event list generation device 103 in FIG.

11 is a structural example of a transmitting terminal for reconstructing and transmitting the multimedia information into the control mail and component mail shown in FIG. 6, and a structural example of a receiving terminal for receiving the multimedia information and reproducing the multimedia data. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a configuration example of a sending terminal that reconfigures and sends the multimedia information to the control mail and component mail shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, an example of the configuration of an electronic mail center that delivers the multimedia information, and the sent information. The block diagram which shows the structural example of the receiving terminal which selects and receives only the thing which stores text data among component mails, and displays it.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a conventional multimedia transfer system.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram for explaining a problem when text data and still image data are transmitted by a conventional method.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A means for separating original information composed of one or a plurality of types of media such as text, voice, and image as a type of the media, a reproduction trigger, and a part mail for each reproduction position, A control mail having a list of the part mails forming the original information and medium type information of each part mail, reproduction trigger information, and reproduction position information is created, and the control mail and the part mails forming the original information are created. An electronic mail creating apparatus for multimedia information, comprising: means for composing an electronic mail with a set as a set. 2. A multimedia information transfer method for transmitting and receiving information composed of a plurality of types of media such as text, voice and image between terminals, wherein the step of creating the electronic mail by the electronic mail creating device according to claim 1. And a step of notifying the receiving terminal of the created e-mail, and the receiving terminal which has received the notification, and media type information of each component mail indicated by the control mail in the notified e-mail, And a step of reproducing the content of the component mail based on the reproduction trigger information and the reproduction position information. 3. The multimedia information transfer method according to claim 2, wherein the notification of the electronic mail is performed by directly sending the electronic mail itself. 4. The multimedia information transfer method according to claim 2, wherein the notification of the electronic mail is a notification that the electronic mail has arrived from an originating terminal to an electronic mail center. 5. The multimedia information according to claim 2, wherein the electronic mail is created at an electronic mail center, and the notification of the electronic mail is a notification that original information has arrived from a sending terminal. Transfer method. 6. A multimedia information transfer method for transmitting and receiving information composed of a plurality of types of media such as text, voice and images via an electronic mail center, wherein the electronic mail center holds management information of receiving terminals. The electronic mail center receives and stores the electronic mail created by the electronic mail creating apparatus according to claim 1 at the sending terminal, or the original information received from the sending terminal is sent by the electronic mail creating apparatus according to claim 1. A method of transferring multimedia information, characterized in that a mail is created and stored, and only the component mail that can be reproduced by the receiving terminal is transferred.