JPH01229543A - Facsimile store and forward exchange equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the throughput of the title equipment and to minimize the quantity of picture signals (page quantity) to be lost for an original composed of plural pages when one memory breaks down by distributing the picture signals to respective memories so that every prescribed number of picture signals out of the picture signals for every prescribed number of pages can be stored in each of the memories. CONSTITUTION:For example, the picture signals set from facsimile equipment 2001 are stored in disk units 121, 122,... so that every prescribed number of the picture signals out of the picture signals for every one page of the original can be stored in each of the disk units, and the picture signals are distributed in this manner. Thus, as long as the speed of a CPU13 is fast enough, access to the plural disk units 12 can be executed simultaneously, input/output queuing can be minimized even when plural incoming picture signals from plural pieces of facsimile equipment 200 are received, or plural outgoing picture signals to the plural pieces of facsimile equipment 200 are transmitted, and the throughput can be improved. Further, for example, even when one of the disk units 12 breaks down, ordinarily, only the picture signals for one page of the original are lost for one destination, and a danger that the whole pages are lost can be eliminated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to a facsimile storage and forwarding device that temporarily stores an incoming image signal in a storage device and then transmits it to a destination facsimile device. I'll go.

(Prior Art) A conventional facsimile storage and forwarding device was constructed as shown in FIG. That is, the facsimile storage and forwarding device 100 communicates with the facsimile devices 2001 and 2001 through the network.
00., 2001+1 to 2ooo are connected. For example, from facsimile device 200 to facsimile device 200 . When both signals addressed to . Store it in. In this case, when the image signal is stored in the image disk device 1021 and the image disk device 1021 is filled with the image signal, the image signal is then stored in the image disk device 1022, and the image disk device 1022 is filled with the image signal. Image signals were stored in such a way that when the disk device was filled with signals, the next image disk device was used.

Therefore, when image signals are sent from multiple facsimile devices 200 at the same time, only one image disk device can be accessed, resulting in input/output waiting, which becomes an obstacle to improving processing performance. Ta. In addition, if one of the image disk devices breaks down, there is a high possibility that all the image signals related to the document to be transmitted from one facsimile machine to another facsimile machine will be lost, and the facsimile machine will not be able to receive any distribution at all. There was also the problem that there were many

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, according to the conventional facsimile storage and forwarding device, image signals are stored in one image disk device until the same image disk device is overwhelmed with image signals. As a result, input/output waits occurred, which became an impediment to improving processing capacity.

Furthermore, if the image disk device fails, there is a high possibility that all the image data received in one communication will be lost, and there is a problem in that many facsimile devices cannot receive any distribution at all.

The present invention was made to solve the problems of the conventional facsimile storage and forwarding device, and its purpose is to:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile storage and exchange device that can improve processing performance and reduce the effects of failure of a device that stores image signals.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention includes a plurality of storage devices that store image signals, and the above-mentioned TL that stores the image signals when the image signals are sent from the facsimile machine. ! ! An image signal storage management means is provided to manage storage of image signals by sequentially changing the device for each predetermined page, and temporarily stores the transmitted image signal in the storage device and then transmits it to the destination facsimile device. The facsimile storage and forwarding device was configured as follows.

(Function) According to the above configuration, the image signals of a predetermined page are sequentially stored in the plurality of storage devices that store image signals, and the plurality of storage devices are used equally, so that the image signals can be sent from multiple facsimile devices at the same time. In addition, even if a storage device fails, only a portion of the image signals (for a given page) related to the original sent in one communication is saved. It may not be erased.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile system using a facsimile storage and forwarding device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the same components as in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their explanations will be omitted. When the CPU receives an image signal, it temporarily stores this image signal in the main memory 11, and then sequentially changes the storage destination disk device 12 (storage device) for each image signal corresponding to one page of the original. We will continue to do so. Specifically, the image signal of the first page of the document is stored in the disk device 121, the image signal of the second page of the document is stored in the disk device 122, and so on, each time the page changes. We will continue to change. Then, the disk device 12 that has finished storing the image signal sent from one facsimile device 200 is transferred to the next disk device 12, and then a new facsimile device 200 is stored.
Stores image signals related to transmission.

The specific configuration of such a system is shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 13 denotes a CPU that stores image signals in the disk device 12 based on the program in the main memory 11, and conversely reads out image signals from the disk device 12. A that functions as a storage management means
Reference numeral 14 denotes a communication control unit (CCE), which processes facsimile communication, origination, and reception via the exchange 6. The main memory 11 stores a program of a flowchart as shown in FIG. 3, and the CPU 13 executes this program to manage the storage of image signals.

That is, the facsimile storage and forwarding device 1 is started up, and the third
When starting as shown in the figure, the CPU 13 detects whether it is sending or receiving based on the status given from the CCE 14 (
301.302). Here, for transmission, CCE
14 or the CPU 13 manages the transmission time for each transmission destination, and when the transmission time arrives, the transmission status is set to active, and in the case of reception, when the CCE 14 detects an incoming call, the reception status is set to active. . When reception is detected, c p U 13 stores main memory 1
With reference to the pointer 141 in 1 (Fig. 4), the number of the disk device 12 in which the image signal is to be stored is retrieved, and the start address of the empty area of this disk device 12 is read (303). It is detected whether the disk device 12 has the capacity to store image signals of one page or more of the original (304). Here, if it is detected that there is no capacity, the pointer 141 indicating the number of the disk device 12 is updated (1 is added to NO), and the process returns to step 303 (3
05).

On the other hand, in the capacity detection in step 304, if the disk storage capacity is less than the specified disk storage capacity, the image signal of the first page of the document is stored in the corresponding area of the disk device 12, and is also stored in the disk management table 142 in the main memory 11. ,
As shown in FIG. 4, the number, start address, and length (data length) of the disk device 12 that stores the image signal for each page of the original are saved along with the source data and destination data (306). , updates the pointer 141 (307), and detects whether there is a next page in the image signal of the received document (308). Here, if there is a next page, the process returns to step 303 and the operation is continued; if there is no next page, the operation is ended.

On the other hand, in the case of transmission, the destination data for transmission is generated by other means, so the CPU 13 receives it and stores it in the main memory.
401), search the disk management table 142 shown in FIG. Based on this, the image signal is read out from the disk device 12 and sent to the destination facsimile device @2.
00 (402). Note that the CCE 14 makes the call based on the destination data. When the transmission of the image signals for one page is completed, the disk management table 142 in the main memory 11 is referred to again, and it is detected whether there is an image signal for the next page to be transmitted (403). . Here, if there is an image signal for the next page, step 40
1 and subsequent pages, image signals for the second and subsequent pages are transmitted, and when there are no more image signals to be transmitted, the operation ends.

According to the facsimile storage device 1 configured as described above, for example, the image signal sent from the facsimile device 2001 is sent to the disk device 12 for each page of the document.
1.122. ... will be stored and distributed. Therefore, as long as the speed of the CPU 13 (or DMA controller, not shown) is sufficient, multiple disk drives 12 can be accessed simultaneously, and multiple facsimile machines @ 20 can be accessed simultaneously.
Even if a call is received from 0 or sent to a plurality of facsimile machines 200, input/output waiting time can be reduced and processing capacity can be improved. Further, for example, the disk device 12,
- Even if the stand fails, normally only one page of the original image signal will be lost for one destination, and there is no risk of all pages being lost.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, image signals for a plurality of original pages are distributed to each storage device for each predetermined page, so input/output waiting time is reduced and processing capacity is increased. In addition, when one storage device fails, the amount of image signals lost per destination (page amount) can be kept to a small level.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile system including an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of the facsimile system of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an operation of the facsimile storage and forwarding device of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of main parts of the facsimile storage and forwarding device shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a facsimile system using the conventional facsimile storage and forwarding device. 1...Facsimile storage and forwarding device 11...Main memory 121-12. ...Disk device 13...CPU 14...CCE
141...Pointer 142...Disk management table 2001-200. ...Facsimile machine agent Patent attorney Nori Chika Ken Yushu Sanno - J] FuT7 Shimino ■ Kyuko I! Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of storage devices that store image signals, and a screen that manages storage of image signals by sequentially changing the storage devices that store the image signals for each predetermined page when image signals are sent from a facsimile machine. 1. A facsimile storage/exchange device, further comprising a signal storage management means, which temporarily stores a transmitted image signal in the storage device and then transmits it to a destination facsimile device.