JPH0464232B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The present invention is equipped with a plurality of sets of input/output adapters, a buffer memory and an image memory provided correspondingly to each input/output adapter, and a single encoder encodes data stored in the image memory. Conventionally, in a facsimile connection device configured to encode data and send it to the outside via a buffer memory,
If the amount of data after encoding is large and exceeds the capacity of the buffer memory, the data in the buffer memory is sent to the line to create an empty area, and the remaining data in the image memory is stored there. Since the encoder remains captured,
There was a problem in that processing efficiency was significantly reduced because data could not be sent to other lines.

In order to solve these conventional problems, the present invention has a system in which when the amount of encoded data is too large to be stored in the buffer memory at once, the encoding process of the system is temporarily interrupted to free up the encoder. This disclosure discloses a control method that allows other input/output adapter systems to use the same.

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to the control of a facsimile connection device that distributes the processing results of an information processing device to a facsimile device, and in particular, the present invention relates to the control of a facsimile connection device that distributes processing results of an information processing device to a facsimile device. The present invention relates to a control method that does not cause the inconvenience that a device is occupied by the system for a long time and cannot execute processing of other systems.

[Prior Art] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the positions of facsimile connection devices in a system, in which 50 is an information processing device, 51 is a facsimile connection device, and 52 ₁ to 52 are facsimile connection devices.
52 ₄ is an input/output adapter, 53 is a network control unit (NCU), 54 is a telecommunications network, 55 ₁ -
55n each represent a facsimile device.

In FIG. 4, to explain the case where output data from the information processing device 50 is distributed to a facsimile device, the facsimile connection device 51 transmits data from the information processing device 50 to the input/output adapter 52.
Image memory _{( 4th}
(not shown in the figure), encodes it (hereinafter also referred to as compression), sends it out to the telecommunications network 54 again via the input/output adapter, and sends it to the facsimile network 54 connected to it. Deliver to device. At this time, the network control device 5
3. In response to instructions from the information processing device 50, operations such as generating and transmitting a dial signal for establishing a connection with a destination facsimile device are performed.

FIG. ₅ is a diagram explaining data compression in a conventional facsimile connection device.
6 ₄ are input/output adapters, 57 ₁ to 57 ₄ are buffer memories, 58 is an encoder, 59 ₁
-59 ₄ each represent an image memory. In FIG. 5, data (HOST ₀ to HOST ₃ ) sent from the information processing device to the input/output adapters 56 ₁ to 56 ₄ is sent to the image memory via buffer memories 57 ₁ to 57 ₄ corresponding to the respective input/output adapters. 59 ₁ to 59 ₄ . When transferring this to a facsimile device, the data in the image memories 59 ₁ to 59 ₄ is compressed by the encoder 58 and transferred to the buffer memory 57 .
₁ to ₅₇₄ , and then sent out from input/output ports ₅₆₁ to ₅₆₄ toward the line side (FAX ₀ to FAX ₃ ).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In FIG. 5, image memories 59 ₁ to 59 ₄
One of them has a capacity that can accommodate all the data on the screen to be sent at one time to a facsimile (for example, 768KB for an A4 screen size).

In contrast, buffer memory often has a capacity of about 256KB, for example.

When data on the image memory is encoded to be transmitted to a facsimile device, if the compressed data exceeds the capacity of the buffer memory, the data stored in the buffer memory is sent to the facsimile device, and the data is transferred to the buffer memory. Store it until it becomes empty. Therefore, the buffer memory area is usually divided into blocks of about 4KB and managed.

The amount of data after compression of the data in the image memory varies depending on the original data pattern, and in the case of a pattern with a low compression effect, the amount of data becomes considerably large and cannot be accommodated in the buffer memory at once.

In such a case, as mentioned above, the data in the buffer memory is sent out, leaving an empty area to store the encoded data. Since only one unit is provided for this purpose, it is exclusively used by the relevant system until the processing of data on the relevant image memory is completed. Therefore, processing requests from other image memories cannot be accepted.

Data transfer via a line is considerably slower than the internal processing speed, so having the encoder exclusive to a specific system in this way significantly reduces the processing efficiency of the facsimile connection device. will occur.

In view of these conventional problems, the present invention has been developed so that even if there is only one encoder, it is not used exclusively by a specific system for a long time, and therefore has high processing efficiency and is economical. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a facsimile connection device that can be realized in a practical manner.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, the above object, as described in the claims, includes a plurality of sets of input/output adapters, and a buffer memory and an image provided corresponding to each input/output adapter. In a facsimile connection device that is equipped with a memory and one encoder and is configured such that data on an image memory is encoded by the encoder and sent out via a buffer memory, the amount of encoded data is counted. means for managing the usage state of the buffer memory, and means for concatenating the divided encoded data and transmitting it to the outside as image data for one page. To enable use of the encoder by other input/output adapter systems by temporarily suspending subsequent encoding processing and releasing the encoder when the amount of data is deemed to exceed the capacity of available buffer memory. This is achieved by an encoded data processing method characterized by:

[Embodiment] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and shows a configuration in which four lines can be controlled simultaneously (the number of lines is not limited to four, but can be any number of lines). good). In FIG. 1, 1 ₁ to _{1 4} are line controllers (LCA), which control the line interface between the host and the facsimile machine (FAX), and at the same time exchange information with the image data processing unit 3 via the DMAC 2. It is an input/output adapter that performs sending and receiving. Microprocessor (MPU)
controls the entire image data processing section 3. A memory (MM) 5 is used to store programs and data for operating the MPU 4. A character controller (CGC) 6 converts a designated character code into corresponding dot data and writes it into an image memory 8 (IM) via an image memory controller 7 (IMC). IMC7
is the controller of IM (image memory) 8. There are 4 IMs from 0 to 3, but physically it is 1
It is a plain memory and cannot operate simultaneously. A decompressor (DEC) 9 decompresses the compressed data and writes the decompression result to the image memory 8 via the IMC.

10 is a compressor that converts the contents of the image memory 8 into G
It has the ability to compress into fax data format.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the main parts related to data compression of the facsimile connection device according to the present invention.
In Figure 2, memory 5 (MM) is a four-part section (BUF0 to BUF0) corresponding to the image memory channels.
3) and other parts. There is also a buffer manager 11 who manages buffers 0 to 3.
(BUFM) exists. In FIG. 2, IMO data is converted to compressed data via the CMP 10 and stored in BUF0. The compressed data stored in BUFO is read by LCA0 and output to FAX0. Similarly, the data for IM1 to 3 are
Stored as compressed data in BUF1~3, read by LCA1~3 respectively, and FAX1~
Output to 3.

Line controller 1 ₁ ~ 1 ₁ (LCA0 ~ LCA3)
are each controlled by a built-in microprocessor.

When compressing data, first, all data for one page is compressed, and when the MPU 4 determines that the compressed result exceeds the capacity of the buffer memory (this determination is based on where the address of the buffer memory is currently pointing). Therefore, it can be easily determined),
MPU4 divides the original data into multiple parts, and
Compression is performed by assigning a compressor to each block.

Then, when compression of one block is completed, the compressor is temporarily released and assigned to another buffer.

At this time, the timing of restarting compression of each block of the buffer once released becomes a problem, but it can be controlled so that it is performed when the free space managed by the buffer management section exceeds a certain amount. Buffer management will be easier if it is done after all the compressed data of the previous block has been taken from LCA, but since the data output from LCA to fax must not be interrupted within one page, buffer management control is essential. It is.

When transferring the contents of buffer to LCA, 1
It is necessary to add information that identifies whether the compressed data of a page is composed of a single piece of compressed data or a plurality of pieces of compressed data. Otherwise, LCA will not be able to determine how much data is on one page and will not be able to control the fax.

These controls are performed by setting identification information in the header of data sent to LCA.

Next, a method for concatenating compressed data in LCA will be explained.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a compressed data management system, in which (a) shows the storage state of compressed data, and (b) shows an image data management table.

As shown in FIG. 3, in LCA, an image data management table is provided on the LCA memory, and the start address (in memory) and the length (number of bytes) of each line are managed for each line. Compressed data has a code called EOL (000000000001) set at the beginning of the line, so it can be managed using this information.

Note that the number of lines of compressed data stored in LCA0 to LCA3 is determined by the state in which the image data processing unit attempts to acquire a compressor (encoder) for processing the corresponding input/output adapter system, that is, ,
Even when a certain amount of free space is available on the buffer,
For example, 20 lines are stored (unless RIC, which is a code indicating the end of one page, is added), so no breaks occur within one page.
In other words, since the processing speed of the encoder is much faster than the data transfer rate, in most cases, the encoder is available and there is free space in the buffer memory. When you do, you can immediately start the next encoding process.
It is possible to control so that no breaks occur within one page.

At the end of one block of compressed data, there is a code called RTC (PTC consists of six consecutive EOLs).

If one page is compressed data with multiple blocks,
If this RTC code is not deleted, there is a problem that the fax side that receives it will judge that one page has ended as soon as it receives the RTC.
RTC can also be easily deleted at the time of creating the management table.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the method of the present invention, in a facsimile connection device having only one encoder, compressed data to be transferred to the facsimile device can be stored in the buffer memory at once. Even in the case where the encoder is not used exclusively for a specific system (channel) for a long period of time, there is an advantage that a facsimile connection device with high processing efficiency can be realized economically.

Currently, there are already a large number of facsimile machines installed in Japan, and their use is expected to become even more widespread in the future. Therefore, it is desired to realize an economical facsimile connection device that can control multiple lines simultaneously. Even if the present invention can fully satisfy these objectives, it will still have great effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the main parts related to data compression of a facsimile connection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining a compressed data management system. , FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the position of the facsimile connection device in the system, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining data compression in the conventional facsimile connection device. 1 ₁ to 1 ₄ ... line controller, 2 ...
DMAC, 3... Image data processing section, 4...
Microprocessor, 5...Memory, 6...Character controller, 7...Image memory controller 8,59 ₁ to 59 ₄ ...Image memory, 9...
Decompressor, 10... Compressor, 11... Buffer manager, 50... Information processing device, 51... Facsimile connection device, 52 ₁ to 52 ₄ , 56 ₁ to 56 ₄ ...
...I/O adapter, 53...Network control device, 54...
...Telecommunications network, 55 ₁ to 55n... Fax machine, 57 ₁ to 57 ₄ ... Buffer memory, 5
8...Encoder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device comprising a plurality of sets of input/output adapters, a buffer memory and an image memory provided corresponding to each input/output adapter, and one encoder, and converts data on the image memory into the encoder. In a facsimile connection device configured such that the data is encoded by a device and transmitted via a buffer memory, a means for counting the amount of encoded data, a means for managing the usage state of the buffer memory, and a means for connecting divided encoded data are provided. means for transmitting the data to the outside as image data for one page; means for determining whether the amount of encoded data exceeds the capacity of the usable buffer memory during data encoding processing; When it is determined by the means for determining whether the amount of data after encoding exceeds the available buffer memory capacity, the encoding process for the corresponding data is temporarily interrupted. 1. An encoded data processing device comprising means for releasing an encoder and making it possible for another input/output adapter system to use the encoder.