JPH04134965A - Picture communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the waiting time of an operator substantially by providing a control means stopping a transmitting operation at one destination unit by the indication of an indicating means indicating an interruption and executing the storage operation of an interrupting original optionally while transmitting picture information stored in a storage means storing transmitting picture information to the plural destinations. CONSTITUTION:A control panel 7 where the operator executes the indication of a transmission reserve and the like to a device, a communication unit control part 10 controlling a modem 8 and a network controller 9, a main control part 11, a RAM 12 for a control storing the control information of the main control part 11 such as priority reserve information and a program read on memory (a program ROM) 13 storing the control program of the main control part 11 are equipped. In this case, when the plural destinations are specified to the picture information allude stored, to the interruption of the next transmitting original, this transmission is stopped temporarily at the point of time when the transmission to certain destination is finished, the interrupting original is received, and a transmission process is restarted in accordance with the priority order of the communication. Thus, even while the device is under a multi-address communication, the transmission reserve of the interrupting original can be done, and it is possible to reduce the waiting time of the operator substantially.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication device having a communication reservation function.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of device, when a monthly report communication operation is being performed for one document, the encoding circuit, etc. is in a state of exclusive use, so that reception of the next transmitted document is prohibited. It was common.

In addition, by providing multiple encoding/decoding circuits independently, even if one encoding/decoding circuit is in exclusive use, another independent encoding/decoding circuit can be used. , even if a circular message was in progress, the next manuscript to be sent would be accepted.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Conventionally, in a device having a single encoding/decoding circuit, when broadcast communication is specified for image information stored in memory, it is difficult to broadcast to all destinations. Until the transmission is completed, the encoding/decoding circuit is exclusively used, so
There was a problem in that the next transmission document was prohibited from being accepted, and the operator was forced to wait during this time.

This problem can be solved by providing a plurality of encoding/decoding circuits, respectively.

However, this encoding/decoding circuit is an expensive component;
It is difficult to apply it to low-cost popular machines.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and even if the relay communication of image information that has already been stored is in progress, the next transmission document can be stored without waiting for the communication to all destinations to be completed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image communication device that can perform interrupt operations such as transmission reservation and transmission reservation without providing a plurality of encoding/decoding circuits.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has the following objectives: When multiple destinations are specified for image information that has already been stored, a certain destination is The system is configured to interrupt the transmission once the transmission to the terminal is completed, accept the interrupt document, and restart the transmission process in accordance with the communication priority order.

Effect of the Invention With the above-described configuration, the present invention allows reservation of interruption manuscript transmission even when the apparatus is in the process of broadcast communication, and it becomes possible to significantly reduce the operator's waiting time.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an image communication apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a scanner that reads the transmitted document;
is a printer that records images; 3 is a scanner/printer control unit that controls the input/output of image information of both the scanner 1 and the printer 2; 4 is a scanner/printer control unit that controls image information that is input/output to/from the scanner/printer control unit 3; , an encoding/decoding control unit 5 that encodes or restores encoded image information using a run-length code or the like, and performs encoding that is compatible with the receiving side image transmitting device as necessary; Encoding/decoding control unit 4
An image random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM) that stores image information compressed by 6 is an image RAM 5
Image RA that controls the input and output of image information stored in
M control unit, 7 is an operation panel through which the operator instructs the device to make transmission reservations, 8 is a modem that modulates and demodulates image information and communication control information, 9 is a network control device that serves as an interface with the line, and 10 is a a communication unit control section 11 that controls the modem 8 and the network control device 9; a main control section 11 that controls all these components and controls the entire device such as transmission/reception control;
1 is a control RAM that stores control information for the main control unit 110 such as priority reservation information, and 13 is a program read only memory (hereinafter referred to as program ROM) that stores a control program for the main control unit 110.

The operation of the image communication apparatus of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the transmission operation of this device.

First, the operator sets the document I on the scanner 1 and selects memory transmission from the transmission menu using the operation panel 7 (Sl). Further, the operator uses the operation panel 7 to set the transmission destinations (■, ■, ■) for the previous document, and presses the start button.

By this operation, the destinations ■, ■, and ◎ are stored in the control RAM 12 (S2). When the start button is pressed, the original I is read by the scanner 1, encoded by the encoding/decoding control unit 4, and the encoded image information is sent to the image R.
It is stored in AM5 (S3゜In addition, the image RAM5 is
As shown in Figure (a), it is comprised of a management area 21 for storing management information of stored documents, document areas 22 and 23 for storing actual image information, and a blank area 24. At the same time, the management information for each page of the stored document is stored such that the linear density, start address, and end address for each page are stored, and the linear density of the 1st page of stored document I, the image R
Area 25 for storing the start address and end address of AM5, linear density of page 2 of accumulated document I, and RA for images
Area 26 for storing the start address and end address of M5, linear density of page 3 of accumulated document I, image RAM
Area 27 for storing the start address and end address of 5, linear density of page 1 of stored document], image RAM 5
Area 28 for storing the start address and end address of , Area 2 for storing the linear density of page 2 of the stored document H, and the start address and end address of the image RAM 5
It consists of 9.

When the storage of the image information of the original I is completed, the control RAM 12
From among the transmission destinations stored in , destination ■ is first called to the calling area (S5). At this time, input to the operation panel 7 is open, and it is possible to schedule transmission of a new document by interruption.

The network control section 9 receives the instruction from the communication unit control section 10 and starts calling the destination (S6).

When a line is connected to the destination (2), the image information stored in the image RAM 5 is converted by the encoding/decoding control section 4 using an encoding method suitable for the destination. Furthermore, the communication unit control section 10 determines a transfer rate suitable for the destination (2) and transfers it.

The modem 8 that receives the image information modulates the image information according to the transfer rate. The modulated image information is then sent to the network control section 9.
is sent to the line (S7).

When the transmission to the destination is completed, the main control unit 11
determines whether transmission has been completed to all destinations (
S8). At this time, if transmission to all destinations has been completed, the program ends, that is, this transmission operation is completed. In addition, if there is an untransmitted destination, it is determined in step 5 whether or not an interruption document transmission reservation has been made during the transmission operation.
(S9).

If no transmission reservation has been made, the process moves on to calling the next destination (S10).

If a transmission reservation for an interrupt original has been made, it is determined whether the transmission reservation is for memory transmission or original transmission (S11). In the case of document transmission, the process moves to calling the destination (S10), and when transmission to all destinations is completed, the document (2) scheduled for interrupt transmission is transmitted (S10).

If the transmission reservation is memory transmission, the image information and management information are stored in the temporary image RAM 5 at the time when the transmission of the transmission I to the destination currently being communicated is completed (S14). Then send I
In order to resume processing, processing for document H is temporarily suspended (S15). Then, the information to that effect is stored in the control RAM 1.
At the same time, the suspended transmission I is restarted (516) and a call is made to the destination ■ (S10). Thereafter, when the transmission to all destinations is completed, the document ■ scheduled for interruption transmission is transmitted (S10). At this time, the stored document ■ in S7 and the transmission I in 88 become stored documents ■ and transmission ■, respectively.

As described above, according to this embodiment, even if a low-cost image communication device has only one encoding/decoding circuit, when the device is in the process of broadcast communication, it can accept an interrupt document and encode/decode it. Since the decoding circuit can be accessed, the operator's waiting time can be significantly reduced.

In addition, if the transmission ■ is a document that should be sent urgently, the operator can input from the operation panel 7 to give priority to the transmission ■, and this will be stored in the control RAM 12, and the transmission ■ can be given priority. .

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in addition to the three normal transmission originals, two interruption originals are set, but if further interruptions are reserved, they are sequentially transferred to the empty area 24 of the image RAM 5. Needless to say, it is sufficient to store the management information for each page in the management area 21 at the same time.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention allows even an image communication device equipped with a single encoding/decoding control unit to accept an interrupt for the next transmission document and perform encoding/decoding. By enabling access to the circuit, it is possible to reserve the transmission of an interrupt document even when the device is communicating, thereby achieving the effect of significantly reducing the operator's waiting time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an image communication device showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the transmission operation of this device, and FIG. Figure 2 (continuation of 1...scanner, 2)
...Printer, 4...Encoding/decoding control unit,
・Image RAM, 8...modem, 9...NCU section,
10... Communication unit control section, 11... Main control section. Figure Figure (α Figure (α) Figure <b) Accumulated Document 1 $3 Figure (0) Accumulated Document 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A reading means for reading image information from a transmission document, a single encoding means for encoding the image information, a storage means for storing image information to be transmitted to a plurality of destinations, and a storage means for storing image information stored in the storage means. An image communication apparatus comprising an instruction means for instructing an interruption during transmission, and a control means for interrupting the transmission operation for each destination and arbitrarily executing an interruption document storage operation according to the instruction of the instruction means.