JP3457254B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which selects a communication speed from a plurality of communication speeds set in stages and transmits / receives data at the selected communication speed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Facsimile machines whose main function is to send and receive image data to and from other facsimile machines are usually operated in a stepwise manner when transmitting predetermined image data to a receiver of a desired destination. It is configured to automatically or manually determine an appropriate communication speed based on the communication capacity of the facsimile device and the communication capacity of the destination receiver from among the plurality of communication speeds that have been set. There is.

When a communication error occurs,
When re-communication is repeated several times, and when the number of times of re-communication reaches a predetermined number, various signals are transmitted and received according to a predetermined communication protocol, and fallback control is performed to reset the communication speed to the low speed side. It is like this.

However, for example, when a situation such as a poor line condition occurs, the above fallback control is repeated a plurality of times, which takes a lot of time. Therefore, in recent years, the same receiver receiver is used. When sending and receiving image data again, set to perform communication at the communication speed at the time of the last successful communication (when sending and receiving data) in the communication with that receiver to prevent frequent occurrence of fallback control as described above. It may have been.

[0005]

However, in the above technique, for example, since the line condition at the time of the previous successful communication was poor, a low communication speed was set by the fallback control. However, even if this state is temporary and the line condition improves after the communication ends, there is a possibility that the communication speed can be higher than the previous communication speed. Instead, the communication is performed at the previous communication speed set to the low speed side.
As a result, even if it is configured to prevent frequent occurrence of fallback control, the time required for data transmission / reception itself may increase, and as a result, communication capacity may not improve that much.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to configure a facsimile apparatus to perform communication at a higher communication speed while suppressing frequent occurrence of fallback control.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided storage means for storing a communication speed at the time of transmission / reception of image data for each destination receiver, and image data stored in the selected destination receiver. Before starting the transmission, an acquisition means for receiving a predetermined signal from the destination receiver and acquiring the maximum communication speed information of the destination receiver from this signal, and the acquisition means. Of the maximum communication speed that the destination receiver can communicate and the maximum communication speed that the facsimile device can communicate, the indexing means for indexing the maximum communication speed on the low speed side, and the indexing means for the low speed side indexed by this indexing means The maximum communication speed is compared with the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time read from the storage means, and the communication speed initial value at the time of communication start in this communication is
And a setting means for setting the highest speed which is less than the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver.

According to the present invention, the calculated maximum communication speed on the low speed side is compared with the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time, which is read from the storage means, and the current communication is performed. The communication speed initial value at the start of communication in
It is set to the highest speed below the maximum communication speed at which the destination receiver can communicate. As a result, if the condition that communication can be performed at the fastest speed below the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver can be established, such as when the poor line condition at the time of the previous communication has improved, this communication speed will be used. Image data is transmitted and received. As a result, frequent fallback control is suppressed, and communication is performed at a high communication speed.

According to a second aspect of the invention, storage means for storing the communication speed at the time of transmitting and receiving the image data for each destination receiver, and before starting the transmission of the image data to the selected destination receiver. An acquisition means for receiving a predetermined signal from the transmission destination receiver and obtaining maximum communication speed information of the transmission destination receiver that can be communicated from the signal, and the transmission destination receiver obtained by the acquisition means. Of the maximum communicable communication speed and the communicable maximum communication speed of the facsimile machine, the indexing means for indexing the maximum communication speed on the low speed side, the maximum communication speed on the low speed side determined by this indexing means, and According to the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time read from the storage means, the communication speed initial value at the time of starting the communication in this communication is set to the maximum communicable value of the destination receiver. Communication A setting means for setting a higher speed than the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception within a range not exceeding the speed, the above-mentioned setting means is capable of the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver to communicate this time and the communication of the facsimile device concerned. Among the maximum communication speeds, it stores a table in which the communication speed at this time is preset with the maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver communicating this time as parameters. The communication speed initial value at the start of communication in this communication is set by referring to the above table.

According to the present invention, the current communication is performed according to the determined maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time read from the storage means. The communication speed initial value at the start of communication in
It is set to a higher speed than the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception within a range not exceeding the maximum communication speed at which the destination receiver can communicate. As a result, when the condition for enabling communication at the communication speed set for this high speed side is satisfied, such as when the poor line condition at the time of previous communication is improved, image data is transmitted and received at this communication speed. It will be. As a result, frequent fallback control is suppressed, and communication is performed at the higher communication speed.

At this time, the setting means sets the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver to communicate this time and the maximum communication speed of the low speed side among the maximum communication speeds of the facsimile apparatus concerned, and the transmission to communicate this time. Stores a table in which the communication speed at this time of communication is preset using the communication speed at the time of previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver as a parameter, and refers to the above table for the initial value of the communication speed at the time of communication start at this time of communication. It may be configured to set.

At this time, as in the invention according to claim 3, as the table, for example, the speed difference between the maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception, which is indexed by the indexing means, is set. When the predetermined value is exceeded, the communication speed initial value at the time of starting communication in this communication is set to be higher than the communication speed at the time of previous transmission / reception.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, storage means for storing the communication speed at the time of transmitting / receiving the image data for each destination receiver, and before starting the transmission of the image data to the selected destination receiver. An acquisition means for receiving a predetermined signal from the transmission destination receiver and obtaining maximum communication speed information of the transmission destination receiver that can be communicated from the signal, and the transmission destination receiver obtained by the acquisition means. Of the maximum communicable communication speed and the communicable maximum communication speed of the facsimile machine, the indexing means for indexing the maximum communication speed on the low speed side, the maximum communication speed on the low speed side determined by this indexing means, and According to the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time read from the storage means, the communication speed initial value at the time of starting the communication in this communication is set to the maximum communicable value of the destination receiver. Communication A setting means for setting a higher speed than the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception within a range that does not exceed the speed, the setting means reads out the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver from the storage means. Calculate the speed difference between the communication speed during transmission and reception and the maximum communication speed on the low speed side calculated by the indexing means, and start communication in this communication only when the calculated speed difference between the communication speeds exceeds a specified value. The initial value of the communication speed at the time is set to a higher speed side than the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception.

According to the present invention, the current communication is performed according to the determined maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time read from the storage means. The communication speed initial value at the start of communication in
It is set to a higher speed than the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception within a range not exceeding the maximum communication speed at which the destination receiver can communicate. As a result, when the condition for enabling communication at the communication speed set for this high speed side is satisfied, such as when the poor line condition at the time of previous communication is improved, image data is transmitted and received at this communication speed. It will be. As a result, frequent fallback control is suppressed, and communication is performed at the higher communication speed.

At this time, the setting means reads the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver from the storage means, and the communication speed at the previous transmission / reception and the low speed side determined by the indexing means. The speed difference from the maximum communication speed is calculated, and only when the calculated speed difference between the communication speeds exceeds a predetermined value, the communication speed initial value at the start of communication in this communication is set to a higher speed side than the communication speed at the previous transmission / reception. It may be configured to set.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile machine 1
The image reading unit 2, the image recording unit 3, the image memory 4, the operation unit 5, the display unit 6, the communication processing unit 7, and the control unit 8 are provided.

The image reading unit 2 reads a document to be transmitted to another FAX (hereinafter referred to as a receiver) 10. The image reading unit 2 has an automatic document feeding unit that automatically feeds a set document, an image capturing unit including a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) line image sensor, and an image processing unit. A document is automatically fed so that it is scanned in a line, the document is converted into an image signal line by line, and the image signal is subjected to predetermined signal processing (level correction, γ correction, A / D conversion, etc.). The data is sequentially output to the control unit 8.

The image recording unit 3 reads the image data read by the image reading unit 2 and the image data transmitted from the receiver 10 via the telephone line 9 (hereinafter referred to as received image data).
Is recorded on paper. The image recording unit 3 is composed of, for example, a laser printer, irradiates the photoconductor with laser light modulated by image data to form a latent image of the image formed of the image data, and electrostatically applies toner to the latent image. Then, the image is formed by adhering it to the surface of the paper and transferring it to the paper.

The image memory 4 is a memory for storing image data and received image data, and is a large-capacity memory capable of storing, for example, about 100 A4 size standard originals.

The operation unit 5 is used to perform various input operations (input of image data transmission destination information (FAX No., etc.) and instructions for starting / stopping facsimile transmission by the facsimile apparatus 1 to perform image data transmission processing. , One-touch keys or registration of abbreviated No. and various modes such as communication mode and setting of conditions) are performed. The operation section 5 has various key switches such as a numeric keypad and a one-touch key, and a start key 51 for instructing the start of processing such as facsimile transmission processing.

The display unit 6 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).
play) and an LED (Light Emitted Diode), and various states such as a line connection state, a transmission state, and a communication state with the receiver 10, and information on the destination of image data (FAX).
No. ) Etc. are displayed on the LCD by character information, and the presence / absence of communication error, setting mode, received image quality, necessity of memory reception and maintenance, etc. are displayed by LED.

The communication processing unit 7 is for performing transmission / reception processing of image data by facsimile. Communication processing unit 7
Has an encoding / decoding unit 71, a modulation / demodulation unit 72, and a network control unit 73. The encoder / decoder 71 compresses and encodes data (image data) to be transmitted by facsimile, and expands and decodes data (image data) received by facsimile. Modulator / Demodulator 7
Reference numeral 2 is for modulating compressed / encoded image data into an audio signal and demodulating a signal (audio signal) received by facsimile into image data. The network control unit 73 is N
It corresponds to a CU (Network Control Unit) and controls the connection of the telephone line 9 to the receiver 10 which is a transmission / reception partner.

The control unit 8 is composed of a microcomputer, and controls the operations of the respective units 2 to 7 to control the facsimile function of the facsimile apparatus 1. The control unit 8 is a ROM (Read) in which a communication program for performing a processing procedure for performing transmission / reception processing of image data by the facsimile apparatus 1 and various processing data are recorded.
Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) for performing predetermined arithmetic processing according to the above processing program.
Have and.

In addition to the above configuration, the control unit 8 of the facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, has a maximum communication speed acquisition unit 81, a communication speed storage unit 82, and a communication speed determination table storage. It has a unit 83, an indexing unit 84, and a communication speed determination unit 85, and these units 81 to 85 perform the communication speed initial value determination processing which is a characteristic part of the present invention. That is, in the past, the communication speed at the previous communication was always set as the communication speed at the start of the current communication, but in the facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention, from the value of the communication speed at the previous communication, If it is assumed that the line condition is poor, etc., during the previous communication, the communication speed at the start of this communication will be set higher than the communication speed at the previous communication. There is a feature in doing it.

The maximum communication speed acquisition unit 81 reads the maximum communicable communication speed of the receiver 10 from the DIS signal (digital identification signal) transmitted from the receiver 10 before transmitting the image data and temporarily stores it. To do.

The communication speed storage unit 82 stores the communication speed at the time of previous successful communication (hereinafter referred to as the previous communication speed) for each receiver.

The communication speed determination table storage unit 83 is shown in FIG.
The communication speed determination table T as shown in FIG. This communication speed determination table T is the communication speed of the slowest communication speed (hereinafter, the maximum communication speed of the facsimile device 1 and the maximum communication speed of the receiver 10).
From the minimum communication speed of 2400 (bps) to 2 depending on the maximum communication speed) and the communication speed at the time of previous successful communication.
The communication speed for this communication, which is set stepwise every 400 (bps), is set in a table format,
This table T is referred to when determining the initial value of the communication speed of this communication.

According to this table T, in the present embodiment, when the speed difference between the previous communication speed with the receiver 10 and the maximum communicable speed exceeds the reference value 2400 (bps), the line condition is bad. Assuming that a situation such as a state has temporarily occurred, the communication speed is set to a higher speed than the communication speed at the time of previous successful communication in accordance with the speed difference. When the speed difference is equal to or lower than the reference value 2400 (bps), the same communication speed as the communication speed of the previous communication is set.

The indexing section 84 is for indexing the slowest communication speed of the maximum communication speed of the facsimile apparatus 1 and the maximum communication speed of the receiver 10.

The communication speed determination unit 85 determines the communication speed at the start of the current communication with reference to the table T, based on the previous communication speed and the maximum communicable speed with the receiver 10 which is currently communicated. It is a thing.

Then, the control unit 8 controls the ITU-T recommendation T.264.
According to the communication protocol of 30, communication is controlled to start with the receiver 10 at the determined communication speed initial value. If communication is possible at this communication speed, image data is transmitted and received at this communication speed. If communication is not possible at the communication speed, the communication speed determination unit 85 sets the communication speed to one step (2400 ( bps)) is set to the communication speed on the low speed side.

Next, the image data transmission process of the facsimile apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the communication procedure of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the operator places a document on the document table (not shown) of the facsimile apparatus 1 and operates the start key 51 (YES in step S1), the document sensor not shown is shown. It is determined whether or not a document is set on the document placing table (step S2), and when it is determined that there is no document because the document is not placed or the document is not placed normally (step S2). N in S2
O), a predetermined error process such as displaying a message of no document on the display unit 6 is performed (step S3).

If the original is placed on the original table (YES at switch S2), the original is sequentially fed to the image reading section 2 to capture the image data of the original, and the image data is stored in the image memory 4. (Step S4). When the acquisition of the image data is completed, the control unit 8 causes the receiver 1 to
A RING signal (call signal) is sent to 0 (step S5).

Subsequently, when a DIS signal is transmitted from the receiver 10 in response to this RING signal and this DIS signal is received (step S6), the maximum communication possible of the receiver 10 included in this DIS signal. The communication speed is read and temporarily stored (step S7).

The slowest communication speed of the maximum communication speed of the facsimile apparatus 1 and the maximum communication speed of the receiver 10 is determined (step S).
8) Moreover, the communication speed of the previous communication performed with the receiver 10 is read (step S9), and the communication speed initial value of the current communication is determined by referring to the table T (step S10). For example, as shown by an arrow A in FIG. 2, the communication speed at the time of previous successful communication with a receiver is 4800 (bp).
s), assuming that the maximum communicable speed is 14400 (bps), the communication speed initial value of this communication is 12000.
(Bps).

After that, DCS (Digital Command signa
l) Signal (digital command signal) and TCF (Training chec)
k) signal (training check signal) is transmitted in this order (steps S11 and 12), and CFR (Confirmation to receiv) transmitted from the receiver 10 in response to this.
e) Receive a signal (reception preparation signal) (step S1)
3) and the image data is read from the image memory 4, and a FAX MSG (Facsimile m) containing the image data is read.
receiver 1 is an assage signal (fax message signal)
0 (step S14). Then, when all the image data is transmitted, the EOP (End of
procedure) signal (procedure end signal) is transmitted (step S15), and MCF (Message confirmation) signal (message confirmation signal) transmitted in response to the EOP signal is received from the receiver 10 (step S16), Further, a DCN (Disconnect) signal (disconnection command signal) is transmitted to the receiver 10 to end the communication processing (step S1).
7).

On the other hand, in step S13, the response signal is CFR.
When the FTT signal (training failure signal) is received instead of the signal, the processes of steps S8 to S12 are repeated.

In this way, the communication speed is set to be higher than the previous communication speed (in the above example, the maximum communicable speed is 14400 (bps) and the previous communication speed is 4800).
(Bps), the initial value of the communication speed of this communication is set to 12000 (bps)).
When the speed difference is 2400 (bps) or less, the initial value of the communication speed is set to the previous communication speed, so that frequent fallback control is suppressed. be able to. As a result, it is possible to perform communication at a higher communication speed while suppressing frequent occurrence of fallback control.

In the above embodiment, the communication speed set in the table T is not limited to the values shown in FIG. 2 and can be changed as appropriate.

Even if the table T as in the above embodiment is not prepared, the speed difference between the previous communication speed with the receiver 10 and the maximum communicable speed is calculated, and this speed difference is, for example, the above. When the reference value 2400 (bps) is exceeded, the communication speed initial value for the current communication may be set to a higher speed side than the communication speed for the previous communication.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the calculated maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time read from the storage means are compared, In this communication, the initial value of communication speed at the start of communication is
It is set to the highest speed below the maximum communication speed at which the destination receiver can communicate. As a result, if the condition that communication can be performed at the fastest speed below the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver can be established, such as when the poor line condition at the time of the previous communication has improved, this communication speed will be used. Image data is transmitted and received, and as a result, it is possible to perform communication at a high communication speed while suppressing frequent occurrence of fallback control.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a facsimile apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a table for communication speed initial value determination processing of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission procedure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a transmission operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Facsimile machine 8 control unit 81 Maximum communication speed acquisition unit (acquisition means) 82 Communication speed storage unit (storage means) 83 Communication speed determination table storage unit 84 Indexing section (indexing means) 85 Communication speed determination unit (setting means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masaru Sato 1-2-2, Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Kyocera Mita Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigeaki Nakamura 1-2-2 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka Kyo Inside the CERAMITA Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroyuki Takaishi 1-228 Tamazo, Chuo-ku, Osaka City KERARAMITA CO., LTD. (56) Reference JP-A-11-74983 (JP, A) JP-A-5- 199387 (JP, A) JP-A-4-223668 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/32-1/36 H04N 1/42-1/44

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. Storage means for storing a communication speed at the time of transmission / reception of image data for each destination receiver, and from the destination receiver before starting transmission of image data to the selected destination receiver. Obtaining means for receiving a predetermined signal and obtaining from the signal the maximum communication speed information of the destination receiver, and the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver obtained by the obtaining means, and The indexing means for indexing the maximum communication speed on the low speed side out of the maximum communicable speeds of the facsimile machine, the maximum communication speed on the low speed side, which is indexed by this indexing means, and read from the storage means. The communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver to be communicated this time is compared, and the communication speed initial value at the start of communication in this communication is set to the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver.
A facsimile apparatus comprising: a setting unit that sets the highest speed of the following . 2. A communication speed at the time of transmitting / receiving image data is transmitted.
Storage means for each destination receiver and selected destination receiver
Before sending image data to the receiver,
Receiving a predetermined signal from the receiver and sending this signal to the above destination
Obtaining the maximum communication speed information of the receiver
And the destination receiver obtained by the obtaining means.
Maximum communication speed of the
Of the maximum communication speeds that can be
Indexing means for indexing and indexing by this indexing means
The maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the data read from the storage means
Communication speed at the time of previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver that communicates this time
Communication speed at the start of communication in this communication
The initial value is the maximum communication speed that the destination receiver can communicate with.
Within the range that does not exceed
Setting means for setting, wherein the setting means is the maximum communication speed of the destination receiver to communicate this time and the maximum communication speed on the low speed side of the maximum communication speed of the concerned facsimile apparatus, and the current communication speed. It stores a table in which the communication speed at this time of communication is preset with the communication speed at the time of previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver as the parameter, and the communication speed initial value at the time of communication start at this communication is stored in the above table. Referring to off Akushimi <br/> Li device you and sets a. 3. The table is used for communication start at this communication when the speed difference between the maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the communication speed at the previous transmission / reception calculated by the indexing means exceeds a predetermined value. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the communication speed initial value is set to be higher than the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception. 4. A communication speed at the time of transmitting / receiving image data is transmitted.
Storage means for each destination receiver and selected destination receiver
Before sending image data to the receiver,
Receiving a predetermined signal from the receiver and sending this signal to the above destination
Obtaining the maximum communication speed information of the receiver
And the destination receiver obtained by the obtaining means.
Maximum communication speed of the
Of the maximum communication speeds that can be
Indexing means for indexing and indexing by this indexing means
The maximum communication speed on the low speed side and the data read from the storage means
Communication speed at the time of previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver that communicates this time
Communication speed at the start of communication in this communication
The initial value is the maximum communication speed that the destination receiver can communicate with.
Within the range that does not exceed
Setting means for setting, wherein the setting means reads the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception with the destination receiver from the storage means, and the communication speed at the time of the previous transmission / reception and the low speed indexed by the indexing means. The speed difference from the maximum communication speed of the communication side is calculated, and only when the calculated speed difference between the communication speeds exceeds a specified value, the communication speed initial value at the start of communication in this communication is set higher than the communication speed at the previous transmission / reception. off Akushimiri device you and sets to the side.