JPH04315366A - Picture communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the picture communication equipment efficiently controlling plural communication reservations regardless of the communication mode such as direct transmission and memory transmission. CONSTITUTION:The equipment is provided with a communication queue for the memory transmission mode and a communication queue for the direct transmission mode, and in the case of the presence of a communication reservation (step S2), any of the modes is alternately selected in response to the state of a flag Q-flg (steps S3-S7). Communication reservation information being a content of each queue is used sequentially by the rotation of the queue (step S10). Moreover, the communication reservation management information whose communication is finished entirely is deleted from the queue (step S11). Since the independent queue for direct transmission is provided, the direct transmission is executed as fast as possible to open an original platen for a succeeding reservation and to prevent congestion of the memory transmission reserved in advance.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an image communication device, in particular, the identification data and image data of a partner station to be communicated with are registered in a communication queue in a storage means as management information, and the management information registered in the communication queue is This invention relates to an image communication device that communicates with a partner station in a predetermined order by sequentially and cyclically using the following.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In a facsimile machine that stores original images in an image memory and then transmits them, a plurality of people can make transmission reservations one after another. Conventionally, a system has been used in which a call for communication with the next person is not made until the first person's communication call is established or redial timeout occurs.

[0003] However, if the first person's communication is to multiple destinations, such as broadcasting, the next person's communication will be significantly delayed, which is undesirable.

[0004] As a solution to this problem, for example,
As in No. 268347, communication processing is performed according to the number of destination stations to which image data should be transmitted, the communication priority specified by the operator, the number of pages of image data, and/or the characteristics of the image data to be transmitted, such as the capacity of image data. A method for determining the order has been proposed.

According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-268347, the number of pages of each communication reservation stored in the image memory is checked, and priority control is performed to terminate communication that occupies a large amount of memory as soon as possible. There is.

Furthermore, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-268347, even if the first person's communication is redialed, if there is another communication reservation, the call can be made efficiently.

[0007] In this way, a method for efficiently communicating by storing originals sent by multiple people in memory in advance is as follows.
This is extremely effective for frequently used facsimile machines.

[0008]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, as mentioned above, with the method of storing the transmission original in memory and then transmitting it (hereinafter referred to as memory transmission), it is not easy to know when the original was sent, which makes it uneasy. There are many users who like it. Normally, such a user sends a document by reading it one by one while transmitting the document (hereinafter referred to as direct transmission).

In the case of direct transmission, it can be easily determined whether the original has been sent or not based on whether the document has been read and ejected or whether it is placed on the document table without being read yet.

However, when direct transmission becomes redial, the document table is occupied until the call is established, and the next person's transmission reservation cannot be accepted.

[0011] Therefore, in the conventional device, in order to quickly release the document table, it is preferable to take control such that calls for other communication reservations are suspended until the direct transmission call is established or the redial time-out. Although it is normal, this method has the drawback that other people's transmission reservations stored in memory become stagnant.

[0012] A method has also been proposed in which ``when direct transmission results in redial, the document is stored in an image memory and thereafter a call is made as memory transmission.'' According to this method, the document table is opened quickly, improving communication processing efficiency, but some users who choose direct transmission have concerns about memory transmission as described above. Considering that, this is not necessarily the best method.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide an image communication device that can efficiently control multiple communication reservations regardless of communication modes such as direct transmission and memory transmission.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, identification data and image data of a partner station to be communicated with are registered in a communication queue in a storage means as management information, and communication In an image communication device that communicates with a partner station in a predetermined order by sequentially and cyclically using management information registered in a queue, a plurality of separate communication queues are provided for each different communication condition, and the plurality of communication A configuration was adopted in which the queues are switched in a predetermined order, and the management information in the communication queue is sequentially and cyclically used to communicate with the other station in a predetermined order.

[0015]

[Operation] According to the above configuration, a plurality of separate communication queues provided for different communication conditions are switched in a predetermined order, and management information in the communication queues is sequentially and cyclically used to communicate with the other station. Since communication is performed in a predetermined order, it is possible to determine an appropriate communication order according to communication conditions.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in detail below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a facsimile machine employing the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a control section comprised of a microprocessor or the like, which controls each section of the apparatus and performs image communication in accordance with a program, which will be described later, stored in a ROM 1a.

The reading section 2 reads the original to be sent, and is composed of a CCD line sensor, an original conveyance system, and the like.

The recording section 3 records received images and the like, and is composed of a thermal printer or the like.

The operation section 4 is used by the operator to operate the device, and is composed of a keyboard consisting of a numeric keypad and various function keys for inputting a telephone number, a display device used to display the telephone number, time, etc. be done.

The communication section 5 performs modulation/demodulation of procedure signals and image signals and line control, and is composed of a modem, an NCU, and the like.

The memory 6 has a large capacity and is composed of a RAM, a magnetic disk device, etc., and is used to store image data reserved for transmission.

The memory 7 is used as a work area for the control section 1, and is also used to store management information of the image memory 6 and call information such as communication destinations. The line 8 is connected to the device via the communication section 5.

The facsimile communication system may be G1 to G3 systems for analog transmission, G4 system for digital transmission, etc., depending on the system of the line 8.

First, in FIG. 1, a destination station is specified using the operation unit 4 and the facsimile machine is activated.

At this time, the operator specifies direct transmission or memory transmission by operation (for example, by pressing a predetermined key on the operation unit 4, specifying the partner station, and selecting direct transmission, etc.).

When memory transmission is activated, the reading unit 2 reads the original and the image is stored in the memory 6.

Thereafter, as shown by reference numeral 20 in FIG. 3, management information necessary for making a call to the other party is formed in the memory 7 in the form of a table.

In FIG. 3, the "communication mode" field defines the mode of communication to be called, and stores information such as direct transmission, memory transmission, timer communication, etc. The "destination information" field stores information such as the telephone number of the other party. Note that the destination can be a single destination or multiple destinations (for example, in the case of broadcasting).
There are cases where

The "call information" field stores a call interval timer, a redial counter, and the like. In addition, in the case of memory transmission, address information of the memory 6 in which the transmitted image is stored is also stored in a predetermined field of the memory 7.

The communication reservation management information shown in FIG. 3 is created in the memory 7 one by one for each communication reservation. That is, when communication reservations A, B, C, and D are made, corresponding management information is formed in the memory 7 as indicated by reference numeral 21 in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, these communication reservations are registered in a communication queue and call origination is controlled.

For example, reference numeral 10 in FIG. 4 indicates that the order of communication reservations is A, B, C, and D.

The symbols A, B, C, and D are control codes for searching the communication reservation management information shown in FIG. 3. The x mark is a code indicating the end of the queue, and is set so as not to overlap with the above code. Furthermore, each reservation may be for a single destination or for multiple destinations.

[0036] This communication queue (queue) is stored in the memory 7.
the control code formed in a predetermined area within;
A pointer pointing to the communication reservation management information of A to D (...)
address data).

The control section 1 causes the communication section 5 to make a call for the reservation at the head of the queue, and after the completion of the call, the control section 1 circulates the queue and proceeds to make a call for the next reservation.

[0038] First, when A's call is finished, a symbol 1 appears in Fig. 4.
As shown in FIG. 1, communication reservation management information A is moved to the end of the queue, and in this case, B is placed at the head of the queue.

When the call corresponding to the communication reservation management information B is completed, the communication reservation management information B is moved to the end of the queue, and the communication reservation management information C is moved to the head of the queue, as shown by reference numeral 12 in FIG. Thus, the switching of calls is controlled by cycling the queue.

Now, the destination of reservation A made by a certain user is {A1, A2, A3}, and the destination of reservation B is {B1, B2}.
}, the destination of reservation C is {C1, C2, C3, C4}, and the destination of reservation D is {D1}. In the above, one {
} indicates a communication reservation for multiple or single partner stations. As a result, the aforementioned communication reservation management information A to D is formed in the memory 7.

[0041] Calls are made from A1, B1, C1, as shown in FIG.
This is done in the order of D1. This is communication reservation management information A-D
The call is made to the first destination.

[0042] Here, since the communication reservation management information D is for a single destination, it is deleted from the queue when the call to the destination D1 is established and the communication is completed (numerals 43 → 44 in FIG. 4).
.

If the call to the destination D1 is not established, the communication reservation management information D is placed at the end of the queue for redialing (43→45 in FIG. 4).

[0044] When the number of redials is finally exceeded, it is deleted from the queue (reference number 4 in Fig. 4).
3 → 44 (or 13 → 14)).

Regarding other communication reservation management information A, B, and C, calls are made in the order of A2, B2, and C2, and when there are no more destinations waiting to be called, they are deleted from the queue.

In this embodiment, two queues as described above are provided in the memory 7, one for direct transmission and one for memory transmission, as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 40 in FIG. 6 indicates a queue for direct transmission, and reference numeral 41 indicates a queue for memory transmission. It is assumed that the direct transmission queue allows only one reservation.

[0047] This will be explained below using the flowchart shown in FIG. The procedure in FIG. 2 shows the flow of the transmission control program of the control unit 1 stored in the ROM 1a.

First, in the standby state, the judgment loop of step S2 is executed. Here, key inputs on the operation unit 4 are constantly monitored, and when a sending operation is performed, communication reservation management information is created as shown in FIG. If there is a reservation, the process advances to step S3.

Flag Q_flg in step S3
is a control variable (flag) provided in the memory 7 in FIG. 1 for determining the transmission queue from which communication reservation management information is to be obtained. If Q_flg=1, communication reservation management information is acquired from the memory transmission queue.

When the above-mentioned transmission operation is performed, the flag Q_flg=0 is set if it is a direct transmission, and the flag Q_flg=1 is set when a memory transmission operation is performed.

If the flag Q_flg=0 in step S3, the process advances to step S4, and communication reservation management information is acquired from the direct transmission queue. Furthermore, step S5
Then, the flag Q_flg is set to 1, and the reservation is set to be obtained from the memory transmission queue next time.

Furthermore, in step S3, the flag Q_flg=
If it is 1, the process advances to step S6 and a reservation is acquired from the memory transmission queue. Then, in step S7, the flag Q_
Set flg to 0 so that next time a reservation will be obtained from the direct transmission queue.

In this way, the direct transmission queue and the memory transmission queue can be alternately selected.

[0054] Thereafter, in step S8, the communication unit 5 makes a call and communicates, and in step S9, it is determined whether or not the call has been completed to all the destinations of the reservation (whether the call is established to all the destinations of the reservation). Check whether the number of redials has exceeded.

If there are any remaining destinations, the memory transmission queue (or direct transmission queue) is rotated in step S10 to switch to the next communication reservation management information. On the other hand, if all destinations have been reserved, the reservation is deleted from the direct transmission queue and the memory transmission queue in step S11.

According to the above embodiment, a communication queue for memory transmission reservation and a communication queue for direct transmission are provided, and these are alternately switched and used. That is, for direct transmission, Because of the use of independent communication queues, direct transmissions can be finished as quickly as possible, freeing up the scanner glass for the next reservation and preventing already reserved memory transmissions from getting stuck. can. In this embodiment, direct transmission is not automatically switched to memory transmission, so even users who are concerned about memory transmission can use direct transmission without delaying other communications.

Note that, instead of alternating the switching timing as in the above embodiment, control is performed so that, for example, the direct transmission queue is selected twice in a row, and then the memory transmission queue is selected once. By doing so, it may be possible to give more weight to direct transmission and terminate direct transmission more quickly.

In addition to the communication queue for memory transmission reservation and the communication queue for direct transmission shown above, multiple queues such as for timer transmission are added.
Control such as sequential switching may also be performed. By appropriately weighting the switching of these queues as described above, a desired priority order can be set for each queue. For setting this priority order, a fixed value determined at the time of shipment may be used, or the user may be able to program it using the operation unit 4.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the communication reservation switching within the memory transmission queue is performed according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-26834.
As shown in No. 7, the number of destination stations to which image data should be transmitted, the communication priority specified by the operator, the number of pages of image data, and/or image data capacity, etc. You may prioritize accordingly.

In the above description, image transmission was exemplified, but it goes without saying that it is also possible to register a polling reception reservation in the memory transmission queue.

[0061]

As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, the identification data and image data of the partner station to communicate with are registered in the communication queue in the storage means as management information, and the data are registered in the communication queue. In an image communication device that communicates with a partner station in a predetermined order by sequentially and cyclically using management information, a plurality of communication queues are provided for each different communication condition, and the plurality of communication queues are arranged in a predetermined manner. The system employs a configuration in which the management information in the communication queue is sequentially and cyclically used to communicate with the other station in a predetermined order. By switching queues in a predetermined order and using the management information in the communication queue in a cyclical manner to communicate with the other station in a predetermined order, it is possible to determine an appropriate communication order according to the communication conditions. , it is possible to provide an excellent image communication device that can efficiently control multiple communication reservations regardless of communication conditions.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile machine employing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a control unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the format of communication reservation management information formed in the memory of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing control inside a communication queue formed in a memory.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing control of multiple communication reservations.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a communication queue for direct transmission and a communication queue for memory transmission.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Control section 2 Reading section 3 Recording Department 4 Operation section 5　Communication Department 6 Memory 7 Memory 8 Line

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: Identification data and image data of a partner station to communicate with are registered as management information in a communication queue in a storage means, and the management information registered in the communication queue is sequentially and cyclically used to communicate with the partner station. In an image communication device that performs communication in a predetermined order, a plurality of separate communication queues are provided for each different communication condition, the plurality of communication queues are switched in a predetermined order, and management information in the communication queues is sequentially transferred. An image communication device characterized in that it is used cyclically and communicates with a partner station in a predetermined order. 2. The image communication device according to claim 1, wherein different communication queues are provided for different image transmission modes.