JPH0884213A - Facsimile equipment with host connection function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a facsimile equipment with a host connection function capable of effectively using each function of the facsimile equipment corresponding to a host from plural hosts. CONSTITUTION: The facsimile equipment has separate function sections and combines properly them to process jobs from plural host devices or the like simultaneously in parallel. A control section 2 of the facsimile equipment is made up of a job execution measurement section 21 managing a job, a priority registration section 23 registering the priority for each job kind by a setting command or revision command from an input section or a host device or the like, and a queue registration section 22 registering the priority by each job kind to a proper position of the queue corresponding to the priority of each job kind. Through such a constitution, the job with higher priority is processed at all times simultaneously in parallel sequentially with a high efficiency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a single facsimile machine having a simultaneous and parallel processing function, and particularly effectively processes each function of the facsimile machine when accessed from a plurality of hosts via a network. The present invention relates to a facsimile machine with a host connection function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a conventional facsimile apparatus has a reading section for reading an original, a transmitting section for transmitting the read original data as transmission data, a receiving section for receiving the received data, and a receiving section for receiving the received data. And a recording unit for recording data. In the facsimile apparatus, the original cannot be received (recorded) while the original is being read by the reading unit when the original is being transmitted, while the original (when the original is being received is being recorded by the recording unit when the original is being received). Transmission data) cannot be transmitted. That is, when one of the reading unit and the recording unit is operating, the other cannot be operated. Therefore, there is a problem that the operating efficiency of the facsimile device is very poor. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-285853 has been proposed. A facsimile device disclosed in this publication has a reading unit for reading a document, a recording unit for printing data received from a communication partner, and a storage unit provided in the reading unit for storing the read document data as transmission data. A, a storage unit B provided in the recording unit for storing reception data, and a control unit for storing transmission data in the storage unit A and storing reception data in the storage unit B. Has been done.

With the above structure, the reading section and the recording section can be operated simultaneously. For example,
While the reading unit is reading an original and transmitting the original as transmission data via the communication unit, the transmission data from the storage unit A or the reception data from the storage unit B is printed in the recording unit, When the communication unit is transmitting the transmission data stored in the storage unit A, new transmission data read by the reading unit is stored in the storage unit A,
The received data stored in the storage unit B can be printed by the recording unit. When storing the received data in the storage unit B while receiving the received data, the document read by the reading unit is stored in the storage unit A as the transmission data, or the transmission data is printed in the recording unit. be able to. Furthermore, even if the received data is received while the transmission data from the storage unit A is being printed by the recording unit, by storing the received data in the storage unit B, it is not necessary to stop the printing operation. . Further, in a conventional network such as a LAN, one printer may be used by a plurality of hosts as is well known. In this case, the host gives priority to the job (for example, "normal" or "priority"), and outputs the job to another host or peripheral device according to the priority.

[0004]

In the conventional apparatus described in the above publication, a plurality of jobs can be executed in parallel, but the processing corresponding to the jobs is performed only in the order of input jobs. Even if the jobs that have already been input are low in importance and the jobs that are input after that are low in importance, the jobs that have been input earlier are processed and the importance of jobs is increased. Even if it is processing, there is a problem that the processing of the job cannot be performed. Further, since the printer connected to the network has a single function, it only processes the given jobs in that order, and the printer cannot give priority to the jobs. Therefore, there is a problem that the load on the host is large.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, connect a plurality of hosts and a facsimile apparatus having a simultaneous parallel processing function via a network, and cope with jobs from a plurality of hosts. Another object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile machine with a host connection function that can effectively use each function of the facsimile machine.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is such that a control section is provided with a job execution management section for managing the execution of a job, and an input section or a host or the like. By setting or changing instructions,
A priority registration unit for registering the priority of each job type, and queue registration for registering a job waiting to be executed at an appropriate position in the queue according to the priority registered in the priority registration unit. It is characterized in that it has a section. The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the priority order is registered for each host. The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that the priority order is registered for each job type of each host. The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that the priority is registered for each line.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the job execution management unit manages whether or not jobs can be executed in parallel, and the job registration is performed according to the priority of each type of job registered in the priority registration unit. The queue registration unit can register a job waiting to be executed at an appropriate position in the queue. Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the priority order registration unit can register the priority order for each host. According to the invention of claim 3, the priority order registration unit can register the priority order for each job type of each host. Further, according to the invention of claim 4, the priority order registration unit can register the priority order for each of the lines.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a facsimile machine with a host connection function.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a facsimile machine with a host connection function that performs processing corresponding to access from a plurality of hosts 10 via a network, 2 controls the facsimile machine 1, job types, job types for each host, The control unit determines the priority of the line 11 and executes jobs and manages a queue. Reference numeral 3 is a host connection unit for connecting the facsimile device 1 and the host 10, 4 is a memory unit capable of reading and writing in parallel for a plurality of independent accesses, and 5 is a printer unit for printing data on paper. Reference numeral 6 is a scanner unit for reading an original or the like into the facsimile apparatus 1, reference numeral 7 is a method of using the facsimile apparatus 1,
A display unit for displaying the current state, document data, etc., 8 is an input unit for inputting various instructions by the operator, for example, setting or changing the priority order for each type of job,
A communication unit 9 connects the facsimile device 1 to another network or a facsimile device via a plurality of lines 11 or the like.

The facsimile apparatus 1 is composed of the functional units indicated by the reference numerals 2 to 9 and the host 10 can be constructed by appropriately combining the functional units 2 to 9.
A job request from the machine, a job started in the facsimile apparatus 1, a job requested via the line 11, and the like are simultaneously processed in parallel. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of the function of the control unit 2. In the figure, 21 indicates whether or not each job can be executed,
A job execution management unit for managing the job, 22 is a queue registration unit for registering the job in an appropriate position in the queue in association with the priority order, and 23 is the input unit 8 or the host 10 or the like. Is a priority order registration unit for registering the priority order for each job type, each host-type job type, or each line 11 according to the setting or change instruction.

Next, the job first-come-first-served execution operation of the facsimile apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. If the host accesses, for example, a transmission job, a copy job, and a scan job to the facsimile device 1 in this order, the functional units 2 to 9 in the facsimile device 1 operate as shown in FIG. .

First, when the transmission job is started and the host connection unit 3 operates, the host and the memory unit 4 are connected and the transmission data is written in the memory unit 4. When this writing is completed, the transmission data written in the memory unit 4 is read out and the operation of sending to the communication unit 9 is started. Almost at the same time when the writing of the transmission data to the memory unit 4 is completed, the copy job is started, the host connection unit 3 operates, and the host and the memory unit 4 are connected, the transmission data is transmitted from the memory unit 4. Is read to the communication section 9 and the copy data is simultaneously written in the memory section 4 in parallel. When this writing is completed, the copy data is read from the memory unit 4, sent to the printer unit 5, and the printing of the copy data is started. Almost at the same time when the writing of the copy data to the memory unit 4 is completed, the scan job is started, the scanner unit 6 starts reading the original, and the original data is written in the memory unit 4. When this writing is completed, the host connection unit 3 operates to connect the host to the memory unit 4, and the original data can be read from the memory unit 4 to the host. As described above, the facsimile machine 1 can simultaneously execute a plurality of jobs.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the facsimile apparatus with a host connection function of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation for activating a job. In step S1, the host 10
The priority order of the job started from the above is read from the priority order registration unit 23, and the priority order of the job is set in the job management information area in the priority order registration unit 23 in step S2. In step S3, it is determined whether the job can be executed. At this time, of the functions 2 to 9 in the facsimile apparatus 1, even one of the functions required to execute the job is used by another job, and if the job cannot be executed, the process proceeds to step S4. . On the other hand, if the determination is positive in step S3, step S3
The process proceeds to step 6 to execute the started job. In step S5, it is determined whether there is a job in the queue.

In step S4, the started job is registered at an appropriate position in the queue according to the priority of the job in the queue and the started job. The job registration process will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. In step S5, it is searched whether or not there is a job in the queue. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S7, and if the determination is negative, the work is terminated. In step S7,
It is determined whether or not the job at the head of the queue can be executed. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S6,
The job is executed. If the result of the judgment is negative, the functions 2 to 3 corresponding to the processing of the job can be executed until the processing of the job can be executed.
The job waits until the processing operation 9 is completed. At this time, there is a job having a priority order next to the current job (waiting job), and if the job can be executed, it may be executed prior to the current job.

If the determination in step S5 is affirmative, the operations in steps S5 to S7 are repeated, and as shown in FIG. 3, jobs in the queue and jobs newly activated from the host 10 are simultaneously executed. Processes in parallel and ends. As described above, according to the preset priority order, the priority of the job accessed and activated by the host 10 or the like and the job in the queue is determined, that is, the job with the high priority, that is, The important jobs can be processed in parallel efficiently in sequence.

Next, the operation of registering a job in the queue will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In order to make the description easier to understand, for example, the priority of the job type is set to send job = 1, copy job = 2, print job =
It is assumed that 2, scan job = 3, management job = 4 are set, and the jobs are activated in order of “scan job”, “send job”, and “print job” from some hosts 10.

First, in step S11, it is judged whether or not a job, that is, a "scan job" is started. If this judgment is affirmative, step S1 is executed.
The process proceeds to step 2, and if the result is negative, the job registration process ends.
In step S12, it is determined whether or not the job is registered in the queue of the queue registration unit 22. At this time, since no job has been registered in the queue yet, the process proceeds to step S13, the "scan job" is registered at the head of the queue, and the process ends.

Next, when the "transmission job" is activated, the process proceeds to steps S11, 12, and 14, and the step S
At 14, the "scan job" is noted. Step S
In step 15, the priority of the job to be registered and the priority of the top job are compared. That is, the priority order of the "transmission job" and the "scan job" is compared, and it is determined that the "transmission job" has a higher priority order from the above-mentioned priorities. Register the "send job" to.

Subsequently, when the "print job" is activated, the same processing as the processing for the "transmission job" is performed, and the "transmission job" currently at the head of the queue is determined in step S15. Compare the priority with the "print job" that was activated this time. This decision is
Since the priority of the "print job" is lower, the determination is negative, and the process proceeds to step S17. In step S17, it is determined whether or not there is a next job in the queue. This judgment is made by "Scan Job" next to "Send Job"
Therefore, the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S19, and the next job that is currently focused, that is, the "scan job" is focused. Subsequently, in step S15, the "print job" and the "scan job" are compared, and based on the result, the "print job" is registered immediately before the "scan job" in step S16, and the process ends and ends.

If the determination in step S17 is negative, it means that the job of interest is the lowest priority, and the process advances to step S18 to register the job at the end of the queue. . As described above, even when each of the functional units (2 to 9) is executing a job, each job that has been activated can be sequentially registered in an appropriate position in the queue in descending order of priority. . Further, when each of the functional units (2 to 9) can execute the job, the jobs having higher importance can be sequentially processed according to the priority order of each job.

Next, as a second embodiment of the facsimile apparatus with host connection function of the present invention, in the first embodiment, the priority is set for each type of job, while a plurality of hosts are used. The priority may be set for each of the ten. In this way, for a specific host that manages the entire network,
If the priority is set high, the network can be efficiently managed by the host, and efficient operation of the entire system can be achieved.

As the third embodiment of the facsimile apparatus with host connection function of the present invention, the first and second embodiments are as follows.
Although the priority is set for each job type and each host, the priority may be set for each job type of each host. For example, one host can prioritize job processing that each host needs most, such as send jobs, some host print jobs, and so on.

The users of the respective hosts 10 connected to the network generally have different duties. For example, in the case of a company in which users perform a plurality of businesses, the user of a certain host 10 is in charge of purchasing business, and the communication with the outside frequently sends documents as the main business. Further, the user of another host 10 is in charge of the manual preparation work, and there are cases in which documents are frequently printed and copied. In such a case, a transmission job activated by the host 10 in charge of purchasing business, and a print job and a copy job activated by the host 10 in charge of manual creation business are respectively registered as priority jobs. As shown in FIG. 3, the transmission job, the print job, and the copy job of the facsimile device 1 can be executed in parallel at the same time, so that the facsimile device 1 can be effectively used.

As a fourth embodiment of the facsimile apparatus with host connection function of the present invention, the first to third embodiments are
Although the priority order is set for each job, each host, or each job type of each host, the priority order may be set for each line 11. In this way, from the free lines with the highest priority,
Jobs output to the line can be sequentially processed, and the line can be used efficiently. According to this embodiment, by setting the priority of a specific line to be low, this line can be reserved for reception or for line-specified transmission. Further, when a plurality of types of lines (for example, telephone network, DDX network, ISDN, etc.) are used, the usage fee varies depending on the type of the line, but according to the present embodiment, the priority of the line with the cheap charge is given. By increasing the value, it is possible to reduce the communication cost.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the invention of claim 1, it is possible to manage whether or not jobs can be executed in parallel by the job execution management unit, and to register them in the priority order registration unit. The queue registration unit can register the job waiting to be executed at an appropriate position in the queue according to the priority order of each type of the executed job. Therefore, according to the priority order for each type of job, the priority of the job started from the host and the jobs in the queue is determined, and the jobs having the higher priority are sequentially and efficiently parallelized in parallel. Can be processed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the priority order registration unit can register the priority order for each host. Therefore, if you give a high priority to a specific host that manages the entire network, the host can efficiently manage the network and ensure efficient operation of the entire system. It can be carried out. According to the invention of claim 3, the priority order registration unit can register the priority order for each job type of each host. Therefore, the job processing most required by each host can be given priority.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, the priority order registration unit can register the priority order for each line. Therefore, it is possible to sequentially process jobs output to the line having the highest priority among the available lines, and the line can be used efficiently. Also, by lowering the priority of a particular line, this line can be reserved for reception or for line designated transmission.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a facsimile machine with a host connection function.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of a function of a control unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a job first-come-first-served parallel execution operation of the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation for activating a job.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of registering a job in a queue.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Facsimile device, 2 ... Control unit, 3 ... Host connection unit, 4 ... Memory unit, 5 ... Printer unit, 6 ... Scanner unit,
7 ... Display unit, 8 ... Input unit, 9 ... Communication unit, 10 ... Host,
11 ... Line, 21 ... Job execution management unit, 22 ... Queue registration unit, 23 ... Priority order registration unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile machine connected to a plurality of hosts via a network is capable of independently controlling each function so that jobs from a plurality of hosts connected to the host connection unit can be handled. In a facsimile device with a host connection function, which performs processing in parallel in parallel by appropriately combining the functional units, a control unit of the facsimile device includes a job execution management unit for managing job execution, A priority registration unit for registering the priority for each job type according to a setting or change instruction from the input unit or the host, and an execution wait depending on the priority registered in the priority registration unit. A facsimile apparatus with a host connection function, comprising: a queue registration unit for registering a job at an appropriate position in a queue. 2. The facsimile apparatus with host connection function according to claim 1, wherein the priority order registration unit is configured to register a priority order for each host. 3. The facsimile apparatus with host connection function according to claim 1, wherein the priority order registration unit registers the priority order for each job type of each host. 4. The facsimile apparatus with host connection function according to claim 1, wherein the priority order registration unit is configured to register a priority order for each of the lines.