Method and apparatus for sending secure facsimile transmissions and ...

1. A method for sending an original document from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

encrypting a first series of digital data values representing the original document to create an encrypted set of data;

formatting the encrypted set of data into at least one data box containing a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels an said at least one data box having a frame with alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides and with pixels in corners in the frame to determine vertical and horizontal spacing between rows and columns of pixels within said at least one data box;

sending the encrypted set of data over a communications network to the second site;

printing the encrypted set of data at the second site on a piece of paper to produce an encrypted representation of the original document; and

decrypting the encrypted representation to produce a second series of digital data values; and

fixing the second series of digital data values in a tangible medium to create a reconstructed version of the original document.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the step of encrypting comprises the steps of entering a key, and performing encryption on the first of digital data values according to the key entered.

3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the step of decrypting comprises the steps of scanning the paper to produce an encrypted series of data values, entering a second key and decrypting the encrypted series of data values according to the second key.

4. The method defined in claim 1 where the step of fixing the second series of digital data values comprises the step of printing the second series of digital data values on a piece of paper.

5. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of decrypting the encrypted set of data to produce a decrypted version of the first series of digital data values at the second site after the encrypted set of data has been received and encrypting the decrypted version of the first series of digital data values to produce the encrypted set of data values to be printed.

6. The method defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of scanning the original document.

7. A method for sending an original document from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

acquiring the original document as a first series of digital data values at a first site;

encrypting the first series of digital data values to create an encrypted set of data;

formatting the encrypted set of data into at least one data box having a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels, wherein the step of formatting includes framing said at least one data box with alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box;

sending the encrypted set of data over a communications network to the second site;

printing the encrypted set of data at the second site on a piece of paper to produce an encrypted representation of the original document; and

decrypting the encrypted representation to produced a second series of digital data values; and

fixing the second series of digital data values in a tangible medium to create a reconstructed version of the original document at the second site.

8. The method defined in claim 7 wherein the step of encrypting comprises the step of entering a key, wherein the first series of digital data values are encrypted according to the key entered.

9. The method defined in claim 7 wherein the step of decrypting comprises the step of scanning the plain paper to produce an encrypted series of data values, entering a second key and values according to the second key.

10. The method defined in claim 7 where the step of fixing the second series of digital data values comprises the step of printing the second series of digital data values on a piece of paper.

11. The method defined in claim 7 further comprising the step of decrypting the encrypted set of data to produce a decrypted version of the first series of digital data values at the second site after the encrypted set of data has been received and encrypting the decrypted version of the first series of digital data values to produce the encrypted set of data values to be printed.

12. The method defined in claim 7 wherein the step of acquiring comprises scanning the original document.

13. A method for sending an original document from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

scanning the original document into a first series of digital data values at a first site;

sending the series of digital data values over a communications network to the second site;

encrypting the first series of digital data values to create an encrypted set of data;

formatting the encrypted set of data into at least one data box having a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels, wherein the step of formatting comprises framing said at least one data box with alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box;

printing the encrypted set of data at the second site on a piece of paper to produce an encrypted representation of the original document; and

decrypting the encrypted representation of the original document to produce a second series of digital data values; and

fixing the second series of digital data values in a tangible medium to create a reconstructed version of the original document.

14. A method for sending an original document from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

scanning the original document into a series of digital data values at a first site, wherein the step of scanning comprises formatting said series of digital data values into at least one data box having a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels of encrypted data, and framed with alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides for identifying vertical separations between the plurality of rows of data and having pixels in corners in the frame to determine horizontal spacing between pixels within said at least one data box;

sending the series of digital data values over a communications network to the second site;

printing the encrypted set of data at the second site onto a piece of paper to produce an encrypted representation of the original document; and

decrypting the encrypted representation of the original document to produce a first series of digital data values; and

fixing the second series of digital data values in a tangible medium to create a reconstructed version of the original document.

15. A facsimile transmission system for securely transmitting a facsimile of an original document, said system comprising:

a communications channel;

a first facsimile machine coupled to the communications channel, wherein the first facsimile machine comprises

a scanner to scan the original document to produce a first plurality of data values,

an encryption mechanism coupled to receive the first plurality of data values to encrypt the first plurality of data values into a second plurality of data values,

a formatter coupled to receive and format the second plurality of data values into at least one data box containing a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels an said at least one data box having a frame with alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides and with pixels in corners in the frame to determine vertical and horizontal spacing between rows and columns of pixels within said at least one data box,

a transmitter for transmitting the second plurality of data values on the communications channel once formatted;

a second facsimile machine coupled to the communications channel, wherein the said facsimile machine receives the second plurality of data values and prints the second plurality of data values onto a first piece of paper; and

a third facsimile machine configured to receive and scan the first piece of paper to reproduce the second plurality of data values, wherein the third facsimile machine includes a decryption mechanism to decrpyt the second plurality of data values into the first plurality of data values, said third facsimile machine printing the first plurality of data values onto a second piece of paper.

16. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the second facsimile machine and third facsimile machine are the same, such that the first piece of paper is re-inserted into the facsimile machine that generated the first piece of paper.

17. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the first facsimile machine includes a keypad for entering a first key, wherein the encryption mechanism of the first facsimile machine encrypts the first plurality of the data values according to the first key being entered on the keypad.

18. The system defined in claim 15 wherein the third facsimile machine includes a keypad, wherein the decryption mechanism of the third facsimile machine decrypts the second plurality of data values generated from scanning the first piece of paper to produce the first plurality of data values.

19. The facsimile machine defined in claim 18 wherein the first facsimile machine further comprises a keypad, wherein the encryption mechanism operates to encrypt data in the storage location in response to a key being entered on the keypad.

20. A facsimile transmission machine comprising:

a scanner;

a storage device coupled to the scanner, wherein the scanner scans in documents that are stored in the storage location;

a channel port coupled to a communications channel for receiving and sending of data from and to the communications channel respectively, wherein the channel port stores data received from the communications channel in the storage location or sends data that is stored in the storage location over the communications channel;

a printer coupled to the storage device for printing data stored in the storage device;

a controller coupled to the scanner, channel port, storage location and the printer to provide control to the scanner, storage location and printer;

an encryption mechanism coupled to the controller and to the storage location for providing encryption to documents being input for transmission by the facsimile machine, wherein the controller controls the scanner to produce a series of digital data values that are encrypted by the encryption mechanism; and

a formatter coupled to the encryption mechanism to format each series of digital data values into at least one data box containing a plurality of contiguous rows and a plurality of contiguous columns of pixels an said at least one data box having a frame with alternating pixels along at least two opposite sides and with pixels in corners in the frame to determine vertical and horizontal spacing between rows and columns of pixels within said at least one data box, which are then sent over the channel when performing a facsimile transmission.

21. The facsimile machine defined in claim 17 further comprising a decryption mechanism coupled to the storage location and the controller, wherein decryption mechanism performs decryption on data in the storage location received from the communications channel.

22. The facsimile machine defined in claim 21 wherein the facsimile machine further comprises a keypad, wherein the decryption mechanism operates to decrypt data in the storage location in response to a key being entered on the keypad.

23. A method for producing a reconstructed version of an original document from a previously transmitted encrypted copy of the original document comprising the steps of:

scanning the previously transmitted encrypted copy into a series of digital data values using a scanner of a facsimile machine;

entering a first key;

the facsimile machine sending an indication to a location designated by the encrypted copy in response to the first key; and

decrypting the encrypted copy to produce the reconstructed version of the original document.

24. The method defined in claim 23 further comprising the step of obtaining a decryption key from the location which is sent in response to the indication, and wherein the encrypted copy is decrypted using the decryption key.

25. A method for producing a reconstructed version of an original document from a previously transmitted encrypted copy of the original document comprising the steps of:

scanning the previously transmitted encrypted copy into a series of digital data values using a scanner of a facsimile machine;

entering a first key into the facsimile machine;

the facsimile machine generating a request to a location designated by the encrypted copy in response to entering the first key;

receiving a decryption key from the location in response to the request;

decrypting the series of digital data values using the decryption key to generate the reconstructed version of the original document.

26. The method defined in claim 25 further comprising encrypting the request.

27. The method defined in claim 26 wherein the request is encrypted using a private key of the facsimile machine and a public key of the location.

28. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the request includes an identifier specifying the facsimile machine as originating the request.

29. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the step of receiving comprises the steps of:

receiving a response from the location; and

decoding the response to obtain the decryption key.

30. A method for transmitting a document from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving the facsimile transmission at the second site of an encrypted series of data values representing the document from the first site;

decrypting the encrypted series of digital data values into a reconstructed version of the document by entering the facsimile transmission into a facsimile machine, wherein the step of decrypting comprises sending an indication to a location designated in the series of digital data values.

31. The method defined in claim 30 wherein the step of sending the indication occurs after receiving of the series of digital data values at the second site and prior to generating the reconstructed version.

32. The method defined in claim 31 further comprising the step of receiving an acknowledgment from the first site after sending the indication, wherein the reconstructed version is not generated until after the acknowledgment from the first site is received.

33. The method defined in claim 30 wherein the step of sending the indication occurs after generating the reconstructed version of the document.

34. The method defined in claim 30 wherein the step of sending the indication comprises sending the indication to a location designated in the series of digital data values.

35. The method defined in claim 34 wherein the location comprises the first site. comprises a clearinghouse.

36. The method defined in claim 34 wherein the location comprises a site other than the first site.

37. The method defined in claim 30 wherein the step of encrypting the document comprises encrypting only a portion of the document and the step of decrypting comprises decrypting the portion of the document.

38. The method defined in claim 30 further comprising the step of encrypting the indication.

39. A method for transmitting a document from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

digitizing the document at the first site into a first series of digital data values;

encrypting at least a portion of the first series of digital data values to produce a second series of digital data values;

transferring the second series of digital data values to the second site; and decrypting at least a portion of the second series of digital data values to generate the reconstructed version of the document, and further wherein the step of decrypting comprises sending an indication to a location designated in the series of digital data values.

40. The method defined in claim 39 wherein the step of sending the indication occurs after receiving of the series of digital data values at the second site and prior to generating the reconstructed version.

41. The method defined in claim 40 further comprising the step of receiving an acknowledgment from the first site after sending the indication, wherein the reconstructed version is not generated until after the acknowledgment from the first site is received.

42. The method defined in claim 39 wherein the step of sending the indication occurs after generating the reconstructed version of the document.

43. A method for generating a reconstructed version of a document sent as a series of digital data values from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

a facsimile machine sending a decoding request to a location designated in the series of digital data values in response to an encoded version of the document being scanned into the facsimile machine;

the facsimile machine receiving an acknowledgment signal;

decoding the series of digital data values to create the reconstructed version of the document in response to the acknowledge signal.

44. The method defined in claim 43 wherein the series of digital data values include encoded information, and the method further comprises the step of receiving a key to enable decoding of the series of digital data values.

45. The method defined in claim 43 wherein the location comprises the first site.

46. A method for generating a reconstructed version of a document sent as a series of digital data values from a first site to a second site, said method comprising the steps of:

a facsimile machine sending a request signal to a location designated in the series of digital data values in response to an encoded version of the document being scanned into the facsimile machine;

the facsimile machine receiving at least one decoding key from the location;

decoding a portion of the series of digital data values using said at least one decoding key to create the reconstructed version of the document.

47. The method defined in claim 46 wherein said at least one decoding key comprises a decryption key.

48. The method defined in claim 46 wherein the step of decoding comprises sending the series of digital data values to the location for decoding; receiving decoded data from the location; and generating the reconstructed version of the document from the decoded data.