JP2654394B2 - Communication device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device, and more particularly to a communication device for performing data communication and automatic voice communication of a predetermined system via a telephone line.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a facsimile machine as the most common data communication device connected to a telephone line. In recent years, the functions of facsimile machines have become more sophisticated, and devices that integrate functions with a telephone or devices that further integrate an answering machine function and the like have been proposed.

A facsimile machine equipped with an answering machine function automatically switches between automatic facsimile reception and automatic voice message transmission when answering. There is known a configuration in which a facsimile automatic reception is performed when a call tone indicating that no call tone is detected is received, and when this is not received, an automatic voice response using a recorded voice message is performed for the first time.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the method of switching between automatic facsimile reception and automatic voice response by detecting a CNG signal as described above, a waiting time for detecting the CNG signal is always required for several seconds. However, when a human is making a call, the voice message is answered after a delay corresponding to the above-mentioned waiting time, which causes a problem that the caller is uncomfortable. Although it is conceivable to immediately respond to the voice message, in this case, the signal of the predetermined band included in the voice message may cause the procedure signal detector of the partner station or the own station to malfunction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to reliably switch between data communication and voice message response without causing a malfunction of a data communication device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a predetermined voice message is transmitted to the telephone line in response to an incoming call from the telephone line, and while the voice message is being transmitted. A communication device that performs data communication when a signal related to data communication of a first frequency is detected from the telephone line; a first filter that removes a frequency component of the first frequency; and a higher frequency than the first frequency. A second filter for removing a frequency component of a second frequency that is lower than the upper limit of the pass band of the telephone line; and a pass band of the telephone line at a frequency lower than the first frequency. And a third filter that removes a frequency component of a third frequency that is higher than the lower limit of the first, second, and third filters. Means for transmitting the voice message to the telephone line with the frequency component of the first, second and third frequency components on the telephone line being transmitted during the transmission of the voice message to the telephone line. Signals, respectively, and the first frequency component is detected,
When the second and third frequency components are not detected,
A configuration is employed in which it is determined that the signal relating to the data communication has been received, and the means for starting the data communication in accordance with the determination.

[Operation] In the above configuration, a voice message is transmitted by removing components of the second frequency higher than the first frequency and the third frequency lower than the first frequency, and is received from the telephone line. The signals of the first, second and third frequencies are detected. Here, when the first frequency signal is detected and the second and third frequency signals are not detected, it is determined that a signal related to data communication has been detected, and data communication is started.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a line connection unit of a facsimile apparatus with an answering machine function employing the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a telephone line, and the telephone line 1 is connected to an NCU (network control device) 2 as a line interface circuit.

The NCU 2 switches the line connection between the handset 2a 'for speech and line control and the facsimile machine after the modem 3, and holds the line loop. Also, NCU2 is
An incoming call detection circuit for detecting a call signal (C1) transmitted from the exchange via the telephone line 1 is included.

The NCU 2 includes a known hybrid circuit for distributing transmission / reception signals to the signal lines 2a and 3a (input / output signal lines for the NCU 2), a speech network circuit for voice communication, and the like.

As a member for inputting / outputting an analog signal to / from the telephone line 1 via the NCU 2, a modem 3 and a voice response circuit 4 are connected to the NCU 2. Here, a connection circuit of the modem 3 and the voice response circuit 4 will be described.

The input / output signal lines 2a and 3a between the NCU 2 and the modem 3 or the voice response circuit 4 are naturally analog signal lines, and the modem 3 demodulates a signal input from the signal line 2a. Input from a facsimile circuit consisting of an image recording unit, encoding / decoding unit, etc. (image signal, etc.)
Is modulated and output to the signal line 3a.

Further, the modem includes a detection circuit for detecting a tone signal, various facsimile procedure signals having a binary configuration, and the like, which are input from the NCU 2 via the signal line 2a, and thereby controlling facsimile communication.

In particular, the modem 3 transmits a CNG signal (a calling tone indicating that the calling station is a non-voice terminal: normally repeated every 3 seconds) when a call is made from the facsimile apparatus.
It has a function of detecting the band component of a 5 second 1100 Hz tone signal).

Further, in this embodiment, the modem 3 has a function of detecting not only the band component of the CNG signal but also predetermined frequency components f1 and f3 above and below it. Although this frequency component is determined in relation to the characteristics of the filter circuit 5 described later, 300 <f1 <f2 <f3 when the frequency of the CNG signal is 1100 Hz (referred to as f2).
Set to satisfy <3400 (Hz). Here 300-3
400 Hz is the lower and upper limit of the pass band guaranteed by the telephone line. However, f1 and f3 are set so as not to be too close to f2 so that the detection can be performed reliably.

The presence or absence of the band components f1, f2, and f3 is determined by the 3-bit flags FD1 to FD.
It is assumed that the modem 3 notifies the control unit 7 according to the state of D3.

On the other hand, the voice response circuit 4 is composed of a known LSI or the like, and the signal line 2a is also connected to the voice signal input section of the voice response circuit 4, and the voice response circuit 4 converts the received analog signal into a PCM signal or the like. Can be used to record.

Further, when performing an answering machine operation, it is necessary to output a pre-recorded voice message from the voice response circuit 4 to the signal line 3a, but it is necessary to select an output signal of the voice response circuit 4 or an output signal of the modem 3. The switch 6 is inserted in the signal line 3a. The neutral contact of switch 6 is NC
The contact b is connected to the modem 3 side, and the contact a is connected to the voice response circuit 4 side.

Further, a filter circuit 5 is inserted between the contact a and the audio output terminal of the audio response circuit 4. As is well known, the filter circuit 5 is a narrow band elimination filter. In the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
100 Hz) and f3 components are removed.

FIG. 1 shows a control unit 7 including a microprocessor or the like as a main control unit of a facsimile apparatus having an answering machine function. The control unit 7 includes
A ROM 7a storing a program to be described later is connected to a RAM 7b used as a work area of the control unit 7, an image memory, and the like.

 Next, the operation in the above configuration will be described.

In the present embodiment, when there is an incoming call from the telephone line 1 with the answering machine function set, the voice response circuit 4 selects the voice response or the facsimile communication on the condition that the CNG signal is detected as in the related art. Instead, the voice response by the voice response circuit 4 is performed unconditionally. At this time, the presence or absence of predetermined band components f1 to f3 in the response voice is determined by the modem 3 by the control described later, and the facsimile communication or the answering machine operation by the voice response circuit 4 is selected according to the result.

FIG. 3 shows a receiving control procedure by the control unit 7 in a state where the automatic facsimile receiving mode and the answering machine function are set. The procedure of FIG. 3 is stored in the ROM 7a of FIG.

At a predetermined timing in the standby state, the control unit 7 first determines in step S1 whether there is an incoming call by checking the output of the call signal detection circuit of the NCU 2 or the like.

If there is an incoming call, the process proceeds to step S2, and the connection of the switch 6 is switched to the contact a side.

Next, in step S3, the voice response circuit 4 is activated to generate a voice message recorded in advance. The voice signal output from the voice response circuit 4 is passed through a filter circuit 5 to f1, f2 (CNG signal component: 1100 Hz) and f3
2 is removed as shown in FIG.
Is input to the NCU 2 via the. At this time, the signal component transmitted to the partner station is sent via the path a in the NCU 2, but the signal returns to the modem side as the path b due to the wraparound of the speech network or the like in the NCU 2.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, or FIG. 6, even if the partner station is a facsimile (FIG.
(FIG. 5), even a telephone (FIGS. 5 and 6) transmits a recording message as indicated by reference numeral 31 in both figures. 4th
FIG. 6 to FIG. 6 show transmission signals on the calling side and the called side, respectively, on the left and right of the central vertical line.

Subsequently, in step S4, reference numeral 32 in FIGS.
The other station responds as indicated by. Numeral 32 denotes a CNG signal when the partner station is a facsimile, 33 and 34 indicate humans, and 33 indicates a state in which the voice message 31 has ended and then 34 has been overlaid on the voice message. ing.

In step S5, the flags FD1 to FD3 output by the modem 3
Is determined. Here, in order to make the control easier to understand, step S5 is placed after S4, but actually, the determination in step S5 is made only during the transmission of the voice message 31 in FIGS.

In step S5, the modem 3 sets the band component f1
When any one of? F3 to? F3 is detected, the corresponding flag FD1 to FD3 is set to logical value 1 independently. If the corresponding band component cannot be detected, the flags FD1 to FD3 are set to the logical value 0. The flags FD1 to FD3 are set to the logical value 1 when the corresponding band component is detected even once.

As shown in FIG. 4, the partner station is a facsimile machine,
When transmitting the CNG signal, the band component input to the modem 3 includes f2 (1100 Hz). But at the same time NCU2
Since the components of f1 and f3 have been removed by the filter circuit 5 from the voice message 31 being transmitted which wraps around the path b, only the band component f2 is received, and the result flag (FD
1, FD2, FD3) take a logical value of (0, 1, 0).

Therefore, in this case, the process proceeds to step S6, and a known facsimile transmission / reception operation is performed. That is, when the CNG signal of the recording message 31 is received as shown in FIG.
An IS (digital identification) signal 35 is transmitted to the partner station, and thereafter facsimile communication is performed.

On the other hand, during transmission of the voice message 31 as shown in FIG. 5, if the other party does not respond, only the voice message 31 that goes around the route b of the NCU 2 is input to the modem 3. As described above, since the band components f1 to f3 have been removed from this signal, the flags (FD1, FD2, FD3) take a logical value of (0, 0, 0).

Also, as shown in FIG. 6, when the partner station starts talking during the transmission of the voice message 31, the flags (FD1, FD2, FD3) are set by the band components f1 to f3 included in the voice of the partner station. The logical value of (1, 1, 1) is taken. Therefore, the flag (FD
1, FD2, FD3) is (0, 0, 0) to (1, 1, 1)
In this case, the flow shifts to step S7 to continue the operation in the well-known answering machine mode. That is, as indicated by reference numeral 41, a voice message to be recorded by the voice response circuit 4 is transmitted from the partner station. This voice message is input to the voice response circuit 4 via the NCU 2 and the signal line 2a, and is recorded by a procedure similar to the conventional one.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, if the answering machine mode is set, a voice message recorded in advance is unconditionally transmitted immediately after an incoming call, so that the other party is using a telephone to call a human. Even in this case, the message can be transmitted immediately without the unpleasant waiting time as in the related art.

Moreover, the pre-recorded voice message 31 is CN
The filter circuit 5 removes the band of the G signal and the band for the determination above and below, and is input to the contact a of the switch 6 and transmitted through the NCU 2 to filter out the received signal.
Since an appropriate communication method is selected depending on the presence or absence of the band for removing the modem, the appropriate communication method can be selected without fail, and the modem 3 can be selected based on the CNG signal component in the voice signal as in the related art.
(Or the partner station) does not malfunction. In particular, as shown in FIG. 6, even when the partner station responds by voice over the voice message 31 being transmitted, the CNG
Since there is no malfunction due to the band component of the signal,
Regardless of how the other station responds, reliable communication system control is always possible.

In the above description, two components other than the band of the CNG signal are removed by a filter and the presence or absence of those components is detected. However, only one component is removed outside the band of the CNG signal and the presence or absence of the component is determined. May be detected. Even in such a case, the case shown in FIG. 6 can be reliably handled.

Further, in the above description, the facsimile communication is exemplified as the data communication method. However, it is needless to say that the same technique can be implemented even when another communication method is combined with a voice message response.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the above configuration, a voice message is transmitted by removing components of a second frequency higher than the first frequency and a third frequency lower than the first frequency, and transmitting the voice message from the telephone line. Detecting the received first, second and third frequency signals, wherein the first frequency signal is detected, and
When the frequency signal of the first frequency is not detected, it is determined that the signal relating to the data communication is detected, and the data communication is started. Therefore, while transmitting the voice message, the signal relating to the data communication of the first frequency is transmitted. Is detected, a signal relating to data communication can be reliably detected without erroneously detecting a voice signal or the like from the other party as a signal relating to data communication.

In particular, the first message included in the voice message
Erroneous detection of reception of a signal relating to data communication with a signal of a frequency component of the first frequency component can be prevented. For example, when the other party is a person, the signal of the first frequency component included in the audio signal from the other party Can be prevented from being erroneously detected as reception of a signal related to data communication.

That is, according to the present invention, not only the first frequency but also the frequency components of the second and third frequencies are removed to transmit a voice message, and the first frequency signal is detected from the telephone line.
When the second and third frequency signals are not detected, it is determined that a signal relating to data communication has been received. Therefore, when the other party is a person, not only the first frequency signal but also the second and / or second signal is used. A signal of frequency 3 will also be detected,
It is possible to prevent the signal of the first frequency component included in the audio signal from the other party from being erroneously detected as a signal related to data communication.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile apparatus employing the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the pass characteristics of the filter circuit of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a control procedure of the CPU of FIG. 4 to 6 are explanatory diagrams showing a response operation at the time of receiving a call by the apparatus of FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Telephone line, 2 ... NCU 3 ... Modem, 4 ... Voice response circuit 5 ... Filter circuit 6 ... Switch, 7 ... Control unit 7a ... ROM, 7b ... RAM

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-18862 (JP, A) JP-A-60-226265 (JP, A) JP-A-49-41002 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A predetermined voice message is transmitted to the telephone line in response to an incoming call from the telephone line, and when a signal related to data communication of a first frequency is detected from the telephone line during transmission of the voice message. In a communication device for performing communication, a first filter for removing a frequency component of the first frequency, and a second filter having a frequency higher than the first frequency and lower than an upper limit of a pass band of the telephone line. A second filter for removing a frequency component of a second frequency, and removing a frequency component of a third frequency that is lower than the first frequency and higher than a lower limit of a pass band of the telephone line. And transmitting the voice message, from which the first, second, and third frequency components have been removed, to the telephone line by using a third filter. Means for detecting signals of the first, second, and third frequency components on the telephone line while transmitting the voice message to the telephone line, and detecting the first frequency component. , When the second and third frequency components are not detected, it is determined that a signal related to the data communication has been received,
A communication device comprising means for starting data communication in accordance with the determination.