JP2723245B2 - Facsimile storage and switching equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a facsimile storage and switching device that temporarily stores a transmitted image signal in a storage device and then transmits the image signal to a destination facsimile device. It is.

(Prior Art) A conventional facsimile storage and switching apparatus has been configured as shown in FIG. That is, the facsimile storage and switching apparatus 100 is connected to the facsimile apparatuses 200 ₁ to 200 _i , 20 via a network.
0 _{i + 1} to 200 _n . Then, for example, when an image signal addressed to the facsimile device 200 _n is sent from the facsimile device 200 _i to the facsimile storage and exchange device 100, the CPU (not shown) temporarily stores the image signal in the main memory 101, Are stored in the image disk devices 102 ₁ to 102 _i . In this case, to store the image signal in the image disk device 102 _1, the image disk unit 102 ₁ is filled with image signals, and stores the image signal to the next image disk unit 102 _2, an image disk unit 102 if ₂ is filled with the image signal and so using the next image disk unit, it has been performed storing an image signal.

For this reason, when image signals are sent from a plurality of facsimile apparatuses 200 at the same time, only one image disk device can be accessed. Was. Also, if one of the image disk devices fails, there is a high possibility that all the image signals relating to the original to be transmitted from one facsimile device to another certain facsimile device are lost, and there is a facsimile device that cannot receive distribution at all. There was also a problem that there were many.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, according to the conventional facsimile storage and exchange device, an image signal is stored in the same image disk device until one image disk device is filled with the image signal. Therefore, there is a problem that an input / output wait occurs, which hinders an improvement in processing capacity.

Further, when the image disk device breaks down, there is a high possibility that all image signals received in one communication are lost, and there is a problem that many facsimile devices cannot receive distribution at all.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the conventional facsimile storage and switching apparatus, and has as its object to improve the processing performance and to prevent the effect of the failure of the apparatus for storing image signals. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile storage and exchange device capable of reducing the number of times.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention described in claim (1), when an image signal is transmitted from a plurality of storage devices for storing an image signal and a facsimile device, the present invention is applied. Management means for managing the image signal transmitted by communication so as to be divided and stored in any two or more of the storage devices, and after temporarily storing the transmitted image signal in the storage device, The facsimile storage and switching device is configured to transmit to the destination facsimile device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when an image signal is transmitted from a facsimile apparatus and a plurality of storage devices for storing the image signal, the image signal transmitted by the one communication is transmitted every predetermined page. Management means for managing the divided image data to be stored in the storage device, and temporarily storing the transmitted image signal in the storage device, and then transmitting the image signal to the destination facsimile device. Configured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of storage devices for storing image signals, and when an image signal is transmitted from a facsimile apparatus, the image signal transmitted in one communication is transmitted by a predetermined amount. Management means for managing the divided image data to be stored in the storage device, and temporarily storing the transmitted image signal in the storage device, and then transmitting the image signal to the destination facsimile device. Configured.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, since the image signal transmitted by one communication is divided and stored in a plurality of storage devices, it is possible to receive the image signal within the total free space of all the storage devices.
Further, when image signals transmitted from a plurality of facsimile apparatuses are stored at the same time, the probability of occurrence of input / output waiting can be reduced.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile system using a facsimile storage and switching apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. 5, the same components as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. When an image signal is sent, the CPU temporarily stores the image signal in the main memory 11, and then sequentially changes the storage destination disk device 12 (storage device) for each image signal corresponding to one page of the document. I will do it. Specifically, the image signal of the document of the first page stored in the disk device 12 _1, the image signal of the document of the second page and so on stored in the disk device 12 _2, in turn, for each page is changed We change disk devices. And
There facsimile apparatus 200 the disk device has been completed the storage of image signals sent from the 12 _k of the next disk device 12 _{k + 1}
The image signal relating to the transmission by the new facsimile apparatus 200 is stored in the image data.

FIG. 2 shows a specific configuration of such a system. In the figure, reference numeral 13 denotes a CPU that stores an image signal in the disk device 12 based on a program in the main memory 11 and, conversely, performs a process of reading an image signal from the disk device 12;
It functions as image signal storage management means. Reference numeral 14 denotes a communication control unit (CCE), which performs facsimile communication via the exchange 6;
Perform outgoing and incoming calls. The main memory 11 stores a program of a flowchart as shown in FIG.
3 executes this program to store and manage image signals.

That is, when the facsimile storage and exchange apparatus 1 is started up and started as shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 13 detects transmission or reception based on the status given from the CCE 14 (301, 30).
2). Here, for transmission, the CCE 14 or the CPU 13 manages the transmission time for each transmission destination, and when the transmission time comes, the transmission status becomes active, and in the case of reception, when the CCE 14 detects an incoming call Set the reception status to active. If reception is detected, CPU13
Refers to the pointer (FIG. 4) 141 in the main memory 11, and
The number of the disk device 12 in which the image signal is to be stored is taken out, the head address of the empty area of the disk device 12 is read (303), and the image signal of the original of one or more pages is stored in the disk device 12. It is detected whether there is capacity (304). Here, when it is detected that there is no capacity, the pointer 141 indicating the No. of the disk device 12 is updated (1 is added to the No.), and the process returns to Step 303 (305).

On the other hand, in the capacity detection in step 304, when the storage amount is equal to or smaller than the prescribed disk storage amount, the image signal of the first page of the original is stored in the corresponding area of the disk device 12, and the disk management table 142 in the main memory 11 is stored. , Fourth
As shown in the figure, a disk device storing an image signal for each page of a document together with source data and transmission destination data
The No. of No. 12, its start address, and the length (data length) are saved (306), and the pointer 141 is updated (307).
It is detected whether there is a next page in the image signal of the received document (308). Here, if there is a next page, step 303
Then, the operation is continued by returning to the step. If there is no next page, the operation is terminated.

On the other hand, in the case of transmission, the transmission destination data is generated by other means, so the CPU 13 receives this and searches the disk management table 142 in the main memory 11 shown in FIG.
The number, start address, and length of the disk device storing the first page of the original of the image signal to the destination are read (401), and based on this, the image signal is read from the disk device 12, and the facsimile device of the destination is read. Send to 200 (40
2). The transmission is performed by the CCE 14 based on the destination data. When the transmission of the image signal for one page is completed, the disk management table 142 in the main memory 11 is referred to again to detect whether there is an image signal for the next page to be transmitted (403). Here, if there is an image signal for the next page, transmission of image signals for the second and subsequent pages is executed after step 401, and when there are no image signals to be transmitted, the operation ends.

According to the facsimile storage device 1 constructed as described above, for example, image signal sent from the facsimile apparatus 200 _1, for each one page of the document, the disk device 12 _1, 12
₂ , ... are stored and distributed. Therefore, CP
As long as the speed of U13 (or a DMA controller not shown) is sufficient, multiple disk devices 12 can be accessed simultaneously,
Even if an incoming call from a plurality of facsimile apparatuses 200 or a transmission to a plurality of facsimile apparatuses 200 occurs, input / output waiting can be reduced, and processing performance can be improved. Further, for example, even if one of the disk devices 12 fails, usually, only one page of the original image signal is lost for one destination, and there is no danger that all pages will be lost.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, an image signal transmitted by one communication is divided and stored in a plurality of storage devices, and therefore, the image signal within the total free space of all storage devices is stored. Can be received, and when image signals transmitted from a plurality of facsimile apparatuses are stored at the same time, the waiting time for input / output is reduced and the processing capability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile system including an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the facsimile system of FIG. 1 in detail, and FIG. 3 is an operation of the facsimile storage and switching apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a main part of the facsimile storage and exchange apparatus of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a facsimile system using a conventional facsimile storage and exchange apparatus. 1 facsimile storage and switching device 11 main memory, 12 _{1 to} 12 _i disk device 13 CPU, 14 CCE, 141 pointer 142 disk management table 200 ₁ to 200 _n facsimile apparatus

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image signal transmitted from a facsimile apparatus and a plurality of storage apparatuses for storing the image signal are divided into any two or more of the storage apparatuses. A facsimile storage and switching device, wherein the facsimile storage and switching device is provided with management means for managing the received image signal so that the image signal is temporarily stored in the storage device and then transmitted to the destination facsimile device. 2. When image signals are transmitted from a plurality of storage devices for storing image signals and a facsimile device, the image signals transmitted in one communication are divided into the storage devices for each predetermined page. A facsimile storage and switching device, comprising management means for managing the image data so that the image signal is temporarily stored in the storage device and then transmitted to a destination facsimile device. 3. When image signals are transmitted from a plurality of storage devices for storing image signals and a facsimile device, the image signals transmitted in one communication are divided into the storage devices by a predetermined amount. A facsimile storage and switching device, comprising management means for managing the image data so that the image signal is temporarily stored in the storage device and then transmitted to a destination facsimile device.