JPH0435570A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the time of unnecessary communication, to reduce the cost, and to improve the use efficiency by transmitting data related to the page data capacity of a transmission document to accept a communication interrupting request due to a memory full of data on the reception side not in the middle of transmission of one page but on the boundary of each page by the transmission side. CONSTITUTION:A ROM 72 where the program of a main CPU 74 for control of the whole of an equipment is stored, a RAM 73 where data handled by the CPU 74 is stored, a filing hard disk 720, and a printer 719 which outputs a picture with one page as the unit are provided. Since data related to the page data capacity of the transmission document is transmitted from the transmission side to the reception side, the transmission side accepts the communication interrupting request due to the memory full of data on the reception side not in the middle of transmission of a page but on the boundary of each page. Thus, communication interruption in the middle of a page is avoided to eliminate a need of double transmission of the interrupted page or the like, and the time of unnecessary communication is shortened, and the line cost is reduced, and the use efficiency is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a facsimile machine having a page unit processing type printer section and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in an image storage type facsimile machine having a page-by-page processing type printer, negotiation of memory capacity (auxiliary storage capacity) between the transmitter and receiver was performed on a document-by-document basis. Memory capacity was defined as the amount of image data to be communicated.

Note that the above-mentioned page unit processing type printer is a printer that requires an image memory to hold image data for one page when outputting an image.

Furthermore, if the receiving side is full of memory and communication is interrupted, the sending side uses a timer to resend the document after a certain period of time has elapsed, and in some cases retransmits the document several times.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional example described above, memory capacity negotiation between the transmitter and receiver is performed on a document-by-document basis, and thus transmission and reception are performed without notifying the amount of data of each page.

Therefore, if memory capacity negotiation is enabled, if the remaining memory on the receiving side is less than the amount of data for all pages on the sending side, communication will be interrupted, or it will be interrupted at which page. Communication will continue without knowing whether this is the case.

As a result, if communication is interrupted, some pages will not be communicated at all even though they can be received, and if communication is continued, the memory will become full in the middle of the page. Since communication is interrupted at this point, there is a drawback that communication time and line costs for that page are wasted.

In addition, since the memory capacity to be negotiated is defined as the capacity of image data to be communicated, in an image storage type facsimile machine with an auxiliary storage device and a page unit processing type printer, images that exceed the reception output buffer size , the communication has to be interrupted in the middle of the page, which wastes communication time and line costs for this page.

Furthermore, if the memory on the image receiving side is full and communication is interrupted, the sending side will resend the document several times at regular intervals, but it cannot be determined whether the memory on the receiving side will be free at this retransmission timing. However, if the memory remains full at all retransmission timings, or if there is not enough memory space, the document may be undelivered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that can perform appropriate processing when the memory becomes full on the receiving side.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a facsimile machine having an auxiliary storage device for storing images and a page printer unit, by transmitting data regarding the page data capacity of a transmitted document from the transmitting side to the receiving side. The present invention is characterized in that the transmitting side accepts a communication interruption request due to the receiving side's memory being full, not in the middle of page transmission, but at the boundary of each page.

The present invention also provides a facsimile device having an auxiliary storage device for storing images and a page printer unit, which compares the maximum page data capacity of a transmitted document with the reception output buffer capacity of a receiving side when transmitting an image, and determines whether the former is smaller than the latter, one communication is interrupted.

Furthermore, in a facsimile apparatus having an auxiliary storage device for image storage and a page printer section, when the auxiliary storage device becomes memory full on the receiving side and communication is interrupted, the auxiliary storage device It is characterized by polling the transmitting side when it is free, and performing the remaining communications.

[Operation] According to the present invention, communication interruption in the middle of a page can be avoided by exchanging information regarding the page data capacity of the transmitted document, the received output buffer capacity, or the free memory capacity of the auxiliary storage device between the transmitting and receiving terminals. This eliminates the need for duplicate transmission of interrupted pages, reduces wasted communication time and line costs, and increases the efficiency of use of the facsimile machine.

In addition, by providing a memory full polling function that responds to the free space of the auxiliary storage device of the receiving terminal, retransmission of documents that have been interrupted due to the receiving terminal's memory being full can be performed more reliably than conventional timer-based processing. This makes it possible to prevent the occurrence of undelivered documents.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This facsimile machine has a CPU 7 that controls the entire machine.
4, a ROM 72 that stores the program of this embodiment executed by the CPU 74, and a RAM 73 that stores data handled by the CPU 74.

In addition, the I
An SDN interface (I/F) 721, a G3CCU 714 that controls G3 facsimile communication, a 04CCU 715 that controls G4 facsimile communication, an image memory 716 as an image buffer, and its controller 7
17, an encoder 78 that encodes the transmitted image data,
It has a decoder 79 for decoding received image data, an image converter 710, a character generator 711, a hard disk (auxiliary storage device) 720 for filing, and a hard disk I/F 713.

Furthermore, a scanner 718 inputs image data on the document.
, a scanner I/F 77, a printer 719 that outputs images page by page, a printer I/F 712, an operation panel 76 with a display on which the operator performs various inputs, a panel I/F 75, and a system bus 71. are doing.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing portions related to the session layer and document layer in the G4 document transmission protocol.

Below, CSS (Session Start Command) and R5
We will mainly discuss 5P(N) (session start affirmative/indeterminate response).

C3S23 includes the N5C (non-standard function) of the transmitting side 21, which will be described later, and thereby the NS of the transmitting side 21.
C parameters are sent to the receiver 22.

RS S P 24 (described later) Receiving side 22 (7)
This includes the NSC contents (non-standard functions), whereby the NSC parameters of the receiving side 22 are transmitted to the transmitting side 21.

CDS (document start command) 25 is for setting a control document (CDI) 26, and the control document is activated by the document type identifier in this command. The chondral document (CDI) 26 transmits the page attribute list) 11 to the sending side 22.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the page attribute list 11. The page attribute list 11 includes the document data capacity 12 of the transmission document, the number of pages 13, the data capacity of each item 14, etc.
It consists of 16.

Returning to FIG. 2, the CD 527 is for setting a normal document, and activates the normal document based on the document type identifier in this command.

Further, in the RDPBP (Document Page Boundary Acknowledgment Response) 211 in the sequence 210 for page n, the reception side 22 has set the reception capability limit (RAJ) parameter to 1.

CDFB (Document Page Boundary Command) 212 and RDPBN (Document Page Boundary Negation Response)
213 is a protocol in which no CDUI (document user information command) is exchanged and is used as a private protocol in page attribute list exchange mode on the sending and receiving sides.
This indicates to the sending side that the session cannot be continued.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of N5C (non-standard function) parameters of C3S23.

The NSC parameters include 4 supplier commands, a class command (G4 class 1, FAX) 42, a model command 43, a protocol function descriptor 44, an application capability 45, and a page attribute list exchange specification code 46.
and a designated parameter 47.

This specification parameter 47 instructs the receiving side 22 whether to specify memory full polling and receive buffer size check.

In addition, the NSC parameters of C3S23 include the sending document page data capacity (DPmax) parameter 48 of the page attribute list exchange specification code 46, and the first page page data capacity (PDlmax) of the page attribute list exchange specification code 46.
) parameter 49 and page attribute list exchange specification code 46
Transmission document data capacity (DD aX) parameter 41
0 is provided.

Figure jlG5 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the NSC parameters of R55P24.

The NSC parameters include a supplier command 81, a class hood (04 class 1, FAX) 82, a model command 83, a protocol function descriptor 84, an application capability 85, a page attribute list exchange specification code 86, It has a reception output buffer capacity (PObuf) parameter 87 of this page attribute list exchange specification code 86.

The l7s6 diagram shows R55N sent from the receiving side to the transmitting side.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the NSC parameters of (session start negative response).

This R35N is the reception output buffer capacity (POb
uf) and maximum page data capacity (PI
)+ax) on the receiving side, and PObuf>PD
laX, or the page data capacity of the first page (P
Dl) and the free space of the auxiliary storage device on the receiving side (HDre■)
When PDI>HD re■, the data is sent from the receiving side to the transmitting side.

Each parameter 61-67 is similar to parameters 81-87 shown in FIG. 5, respectively.

In addition, the reason for denial 68 is that among the two conditions mentioned above, P
Obuf>PD Otori a! If PDI>HDrem, "02H" is stored.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the image communication operation between the facsimile machines configured as described above.

First, when a call is established between the document sending side 21 and the document receiving side 22, the document sending side 21 sends out a C3S 23 with an NSC added thereto as shown in FIG.

The receiving side 22 should judge whether the NSC is included in the C3S23 (591), and if it is not included, the above T, 62
The normal mode processing is performed according to (S912).

Also, if C3S23 includes NSC, that NS
C is analyzed (S92), the supplier code 41 is checked (S93), and if it is not the predetermined supplier code 41, the process of step 5912 is performed.

If the supplier code 41 is the predetermined one, the class code 42 is checked (S94), and if it is C57.
1. FAX) 't' lever, process 5912.

Also, the class code 42 is (class l.

FAX), check the model code 43 (S95), and if the model code 43 does not match, 591
Perform process 2.

Furthermore, if the model code 43 matches, a check is made to see if page attribute list exchange is specified in the application capability 45 (S96), and if it is not specified, other application capabilities 45 are analyzed (5913). )
.

In addition, if page attribute list exchange is specified, the reception buffer size is checked and the maximum page data capacity (PD■aX) of the transmission document is compared with the reception output buffer capacity (PObuf) (S97), and the reception buffer size is checked. There is a size check, and PDmax > POb
If it is uf, the reason for rejection (OIH: Insufficient reception output buffer capacity) is specified in R55N including the 6th rIl NSC, and sent to the document sending side 21 (5911).

Also, there is no receive buffer size check, and PDmax
>PObuf, the presence or absence of memory full polling designation 47, which is the content of the NSC of C3S in FIG. 4, is stored (398), and the maximum page data capacity 48 of the transmitted document is stored (399).

Next, the page data capacity 49 of the first page should be secured in the auxiliary storage device 720 (5914), and if it cannot be secured, R3
Reason for rejection by 5N NSC (02H: Insufficient auxiliary storage capacity)
is specified and sent to the document sending side 21 (5911).

In addition, if it can be secured, the NSC shown in the ts5 diagram can be installed on the R35P.
24 and sends it to the document sending side 21 (5910).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document sending side 21 which has received R35P24 from the document receiving side 22.

When the document receiving side 22 receives the R35P, it checks whether there is an NSC (S101), and if there is no NSC, it shifts to 1 normal processing (S111).

Also, if there is an NSC, its analysis process is started (5
102) and checks the supplier code 81 (510
3) If it is not the predetermined code, perform the process of 5ill above.

Furthermore, if the supplier code 81 is a predetermined code,
The class code 82 is checked (S104), and if the class code 82 is not (class I, FAX), 5i
ll processing is performed.

If the class code 82 is (class 1.FAX), the model code 83 is checked (5105), and if it does not match, 5llll processing is performed.

Further, if the taS code 83 matches, a page attribute list exchange designation code 86 is checked in the application capability 85 (SIOS), and if there is no page attribute list exchange designation, 5ill processing is performed.

If one-page attribute list exchange is specified, a control document is specified as the document type parameter and the CD525 is activated to exchange the page attribute list (S107).
CDI) 26 to the document receiving side.

Next, it is checked whether the receive buffer size check is specified in the parameter 47 (5108), and if it is, the process moves to normal transmission processing (S112).

In addition, if the receive buffer size check is specified, the maximum page data capacity of the transmitted document FD layer ax48 and the receive output buffer capacity P Obuf87 are compared (S109), and if PDmax > P Obuf is not satisfied, the result is 5112. Shift to processing.

Also, if P D wax > P Obuf, a check is made to see if memory full polling is specified in parameter 47 (5113), and if not specified, P Obuf is
Shift to transmission processing with lower resolution for pages exceeding uf (
SIIO).

Further, if specified, the transmission process in which the resolution of the page exceeding P Obuf is lowered is shifted to a standby process for being polled by the document receiving side 22 (S114).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the document transmitting side 21 that receives R35N from the document receiving side 22.

In FIG. 9, in steps 5121 to 5126, when the document sending side 21 receives the document R35N from the receiving side 22, it performs the same process as 5lot-S106 in FIG. Performs processing when receiving R55N (5133
).

Next, the rejection reason 67 of the NSC of R55N is checked (S127), and if the reason is "insufficient reception output buffer", after communication termination processing (5131), the reception output bar/77 capacity P Obut 67 is exceeded. The process then proceeds to retransmission processing with a lowered resolution for the page that was downloaded (S132).

On the other hand, if the rejection reason 67 of the R55N NSC is "insufficient free space on the auxiliary storage device", check whether memory full polling is specified in the parameter 47 (5128), and if not, perform communication termination processing (5134). , moves to retransmission processing (5135).

If memory full polling is specified, one communication end process is performed (5129), and the process shifts to polling standby process from the document receiving side 22 (S130).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document sending side 21 during image transmission, and FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document receiving side 22 during image reception.

After the document sending side 21 activates the CD527.

Initialize the transmission page serial number TxPg of the transmission page 5201),
Send the image of the TxPg page 5202), and when the data sending of this page is completed, send the CDPB 214 (
5203).

Next, receive a response from the 1-document receiving side (5204)
, if it is RDPBN213, it will move to abnormality processing in S2.
13) If it is RDPBP211, check the parameters of the command 5206), and if no reception capacity limit is specified, increment the transmission page serial number TxPg 3216), and check whether this page exceeds the last page N. Please check 5217), if it is not exceeded,
5218) to move on to communication termination processing, and if it exceeds T
xPg page transmission processing is performed (5202).

On the other hand, if the limit of the reception capability is specified for the RDPBP 211 in 5216, a dummy CDFB for page TxPg is sent as a private procedure in the page attribute list exchange specification mode (5207), and then from the document receiving side 22 to the RDPBN.
213 is received (5208), and the presence or absence of memory full polling specification is checked using parameter 47 (S
209).

If there is no specification, after the abnormality processing (5214),
A retransmission process is performed (S215).

Also, if memory full polling is specified, check 521 whether there is insufficient free space in the 3 auxiliary storage device 1720.
0), if there is no shortage of free space, after abnormal processing (3214
), retransmission processing is performed (S215).

Furthermore, if the auxiliary storage device 720 lacks free space, after abnormality processing (3211), the process shifts to polling standby processing for the document from the document receiving side (5212).

Next, the processing on the receiving side 22 will be explained.

After receiving the CD 527, the receiving side 22 initializes the received page serial number i of the received page (5301), and after receiving the first image (
5302), upon receiving a CDE (document end command) (S303), performs communication end processing (530
8).

On the other hand, upon receiving CDPB212 (5303), from the page attribute list 11 in FIG.
The page data volume JIPDf + 1 minute of the page is stored in the auxiliary storage device 72.
5304), and if possible, RDPBP
211 to the document sending side (5309), the received page serial number is incremented (S310), and the image of the f-th page is received (S302).

Also, if it cannot be secured with 5304, RD PBP21
Set the reception capability limit (RAJ) parameter to 1 and send it (5305), then send the CDP from the document sending side 21.
After receiving B214 (S 306), "memory overflow" is added? , send RDPDN21353
07), the process moves to communication abnormality processing (3311).

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the protocol between the document sending side 31 and the document receiving side 32 during memory full polling service, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing the contents.

That is, when the document receiving side 32 is designated for memory full polling, the auxiliary storage device 720 of the receiving side 32 runs out of free space, communication is interrupted in the middle of document reception, and after that, the auxiliary storage device 720 becomes empty. When this happens, the memory full polling service is performed on the document sending side 21.

Each parameter 51 to 55 in FIG.
This is similar to parameters 41 to 45 shown in the figure. Further, the polling code 56 is a code for specifying a polling service, and the parameter 57 is a parameter for specifying the type of polling.
OOH) or memory full polling (OIH) is specified, and in this example, memory full polling (OIH) is specified.
IH) is specified.

Further, the reception output buffer capacity 58 is the same as the reception output buffer capacity 67 in FIG.

Furthermore, this NSC is provided with parameters such as a document reference number 59 and a checkpoint reference number 510.

Below is document sending side 3 during memory full polling service.
1 and the operations of the document receiving side 32 will be described.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing of the memory full polling calling side, that is, the document receiving side 32.

First, in other processing (S410), it is checked whether the file has been deleted (5401), and if the file has not been deleted, other processing is performed (5410).

Also, if there is a file deletion, check whether there is a memory full poll wait (5402), and if there is no memory full poll wait, check 5402).
410 processing is performed.

In addition, if there is a wait for memory full polling, the page n+1 (suspended page 213) of the page attribute list (Figure 3) of the document waiting for memory full polling (7) The file for the page data capacity PDn+1 is transferred to the auxiliary storage ai720.
5403), and if it cannot be secured, the above 54
10, and if it can be secured, send the NSC shown in FIG. 13 to the document sending side 31 using the C3S33 (5404).
After receiving R55P34 (S405) and sending out a cscc (session change control command) 35 for reversing the transmission right (S406), it receives an RSCCP (session change control positive response) 36 (5407).

Next, after negotiating the transmission and reception capabilities, the CDC 37 is received (5408), and the process moves to image reception processing (S40).
9).

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the processing of the memory full polling called side, that is, the document sending side 31.

First, the C3S33 is received (3501), the contents of the NSC of this command are analyzed (S502), and if the polling service is not specified by the polling code 56, the process moves to another application process (S511).

Also, if the polling service is specified and it is normal polling (00B) from parameter 57, 1
Performs normal polling processing (S512), and if memory full polling (OIH), stores polling-related parameters 57 to 510 in R55P34 (
S505).

After sono, send R55P34, (5506), csc
c 5507), and after sending RSCCP (3
508), performs transmission/reception capability negotiation, and then sends the document reference number 59 and checkpoint reference number 510 stored in 5505 to the CDC (
This is activated as a parameter of the document continuation command (5509), and the process moves to sending the image to the document receiving side 32 @thermal (5510).

Next, the flow of the above-mentioned control document data, image data (normal document), and command/response will be explained based on the hardware configuration diagram shown in FIG.

First, the control document data is 1 line, l5
DNI/F721. G4CCU715/G3CCU71
4. Exchanged between the CPU 74 and RAM 73/ROM 72 devices.

The same applies to commands/responses.

On the other hand, image data is sent and received via line, I5DNI/F.
721. The image data is exchanged between the G4CCU 715/G3CCU 714, the image memory 716, the encoder 78, the decoder 79, the image converter 710, the hard disk I/F 713, and the auxiliary storage device 720. Image data is input by the scanner 718, the scanner The image data is exchanged between the I/F 77, the image converter 710, the encoder 78, and the image memory 716, and the output of image data is sent to the image memory 716, the image converter 710, the decoder 79, and the printer I/F. The information is exchanged between the F712 and the printer 719.

Although the above embodiments have mainly been described with respect to 64 facsimile, G3 facsimile can also be implemented in the same manner, although there are differences in the protocol.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, by exchanging information regarding the page data capacity of a transmitted document, the received output buffer capacity, or the free memory capacity of the auxiliary storage device between the transmitting and receiving terminals, This has the effect of avoiding communication interruptions, reducing wasted communication time and line costs, and increasing the efficiency of use of the facsimile machine.

In addition, by providing a memory full polling function that responds to the free space of the auxiliary storage device of the receiving terminal, retransmission of documents that have been interrupted due to the receiving terminal's memory being full can be performed more reliably than conventional timer-based processing. There is an effect that can be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing protocols related to the session layer and document layer in the 04 document transmission of the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the page attribute list in the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the NSC parameters of C5S in the same example. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the NSC parameters of R55P in the same example. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the NSC parameters of R35N in the same example. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the image communication operation in the same embodiment. FIG. 8 shows the R55P from the document receiving side in the same embodiment.
3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a document sending side that receives a document. FIG. 9 shows the R55N from the document receiving side in the same embodiment.
3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a document sending side that receives a document. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document sending side during image sending in the same embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the document receiving side during image reception in the same embodiment. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the protocol during the memory full polling service of the same embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the contents of the NSC added to the C8S for performing the memory full polling service in the same embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing on the calling side of memory full polling in the same embodiment. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the process of memory full polling on the called side in the same embodiment. 72...ROM, 73...RAM, 74...CPU. 6... Image memory, 720... Auxiliary storage device.

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) In a facsimile machine that has an auxiliary storage device for storing images and a page printer unit, the sending side can send data regarding the page data capacity of the transmitted document to the receiving side, so that the sending side can fill up the memory of the receiving side. A facsimile apparatus is characterized in that a communication interruption request is accepted at the boundary of each page rather than during the transmission of one page. (2) In claim (1), before receiving each page, the receiving side secures a file for the page on the auxiliary storage device, and if this cannot be secured, requests to interrupt communication. A facsimile machine with special features. (3) In a facsimile machine that has an auxiliary storage device for image storage and a page printer section, by receiving the reception output buffer capacity from the receiving side when transmitting an image,
The facsimile apparatus compares this buffer capacity with the maximum page data capacity of a document to be transmitted, and if the former is smaller than the latter, the communication is interrupted. (4) In a facsimile machine that has an auxiliary storage device for storing images and a page printer unit, by transmitting the maximum page data capacity of the transmitted document from the sending side to the receiving side, the receiving side can receive the maximum page data capacity as described above. A facsimile device is characterized in that it compares the capacity of its own reception output buffer and requests a communication interruption if the latter capacity is smaller. (5) The facsimile apparatus according to claim (4), further comprising means for specifying from the transmitting side whether or not the receiving side should compare and determine the maximum page data capacity and the reception output buffer capacity. (6) In a facsimile machine that has an auxiliary storage device for image storage and a page printer section, if the auxiliary storage device becomes full on the receiving side and communication is interrupted,
Thereafter, when the auxiliary storage device becomes vacant, the facsimile device polls the sending side and performs the remaining communications. (7) The facsimile apparatus according to claim (6), further comprising means for specifying from the transmitting side whether or not to perform the polling.