JPH06197188A - Radio facsimile system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a radio facsimile system capable of preventing the degradation of transmission accuracy and maintaining sufficient picture quality even when a radio channel is interposed between a facsimile equipment and a public line when the public line to be used is an analog line. CONSTITUTION:Since a main control part 10 alternately switches and connects analog radio equipments 4 and 5 and digital radio equipments 7 and 8 by a switch 13 at a prescribed time and optional information is transmitted/received for a line side equipment 20 connected to the public line 40 by the switched and connected radio equipments, by transmitting/receiving TCF signals and PIX signals for influencing the picture quality through the digital radio equipments 7 and 8 between the facsimile equipment 1 and the line side equipment 20, the degradation of the picture quality can be suppressed while preventing the degradation of the signals and maintaining the transmission accuracy.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine using a digital radio.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are two methods for connecting a facsimile machine to a public line.

First, there is a method of connecting communication between a facsimile device and a public line via a wired line. This method is generally used, but relocation of a facsimile machine once installed is extremely troublesome because of wiring.

On the other hand, there is a method of connecting communication between a facsimile device and a public line via a wireless line (hereinafter referred to as a wireless system). This wireless system is very convenient because it can be installed anywhere in the facsimile device as long as it is within a wireless range. The concept of this wireless system is shown in FIG. The analog radios 4 and 5 are general cordless telephones,
The analog wireless device 5 is connected to the public line 40, and the analog wireless device 4 is connected to the facsimile device 1 via the acoustic coupler 3.
Connected to. The public line 40 is a general analog line.

In this facsimile apparatus 1, since the image signal or communication control signal read by the scanner is a DC signal, it is converted into an AC signal via the modem 2 and this signal is output to the acoustic coupler 3. Next, the communication procedure of the facsimile apparatus 1 is shown in FIG.

First, a prescribed communication procedure is started when an incoming signal of 16 hertz is transmitted from the calling side to the called side and the called side goes off-hook. In this communication procedure, signals transmitted and received can be roughly classified into two types. They are the image signals of the TCF signal 35 and the PIX signal 37, and communication control signals such as the CNG signal 31 other than these image signals. Then, with reference to FIG. 4, a process of transmitting the image signals of the TCF signal 35 and the PIX signal 37 to the public line 40 will be described.

First, the image information generated by reading a document by a scanner (not shown) in the facsimile apparatus 1 is a DC signal. This DC signal is converted into an AC signal via the modem 2 so that it can be sent to the public line 40. The AC signal is converted into an audio signal via the acoustic coupler 3 so that the AC signal can be input to the analog radio device 4. Then, in order to transmit to the analog wireless device 5 via a wireless line, the analog wireless device 4 FM-modulates the above-described audio signal. On the other hand, the FM modulated signal is demodulated by the analog wireless device 5 which has received the FM modulated signal transmitted from the analog wireless device 4, and is sent to the public line 40 as an AC signal.

By the way, generally, the image quality is affected by the transmission accuracy, and under the condition that the transmission accuracy is poor, it is necessary to reduce the transmission speed in order to maintain the image quality. However, lowering the transmission rate wastes time resources.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned wireless system requires FM modulation / demodulation of the signal transmitted / received between the facsimile apparatus 1 and the public line 40, and therefore the number of signal conversions is large, which deteriorates the signal. However, the transmission accuracy was sometimes reduced. Therefore, as described above, the conventional wireless system has a problem that signal deterioration due to a large number of signal conversions reduces transmission accuracy and image quality.

[0010]

As described above, in the conventional wireless system, since it is necessary to perform FM modulation / demodulation of the signal transmitted / received between the facsimile device and the public line, the number of signal conversions is large. This signal may be deteriorated and the transmission accuracy may be reduced, resulting in a problem that the image quality is degraded.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates this inconvenience, and provides a wireless facsimile system capable of maintaining sufficient image quality without lowering transmission accuracy even when a wireless line is provided between a facsimile device and a public line. It is provided.

[0012]

To achieve the above object, in the present invention, a line side device connected to a wired line and a line side device are physically separated from each other, and an image reading means and a recording means are provided. In a wireless facsimile system including a facsimile device having a wireless communication unit and a wireless unit that connects the facsimile device and the line side device via a wireless line, the wireless line is an analog wireless line. Line and digital wireless line,
The facsimile device controls the wireless means to selectively connect the analog wireless line and the digital wireless line to each other, and control for switching connection by the switching means at a predetermined time. And means.

[0013]

According to the present invention having such a structure, the control means is
At a predetermined time, switching means selectively switches and connects the analog radio line and the digital radio line, and the arbitrary information is transmitted / received to / from the line side device connected to the wired line by the radio means. Since the image information signal that affects the image quality is transmitted and received between the facsimile device and the line side device via the digital wireless line, deterioration of the signal is prevented and the image quality is reduced while maintaining the transmission accuracy. Can be suppressed.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a block diagram of a wireless facsimile system according to the present invention is shown in FIG. This configuration comprises a facsimile machine 1, a line side device 20, analog radios 4, 5 and digital radios 7, 8.

The facsimile apparatus 1 stores a scanner 11 for reading image information of a document, an encoder 18 for encoding a digital image signal (hereinafter referred to as an image signal) output from the scanner 11, and a communication control signal. Memory 1
7 and a modem 2 for converting the communication control signal output from the memory 17 into a signal form that can be transmitted by the public line 40.
A switch 13 for selectively transmitting and receiving image signals and communication control signals, a signal line 32 for image signals and a signal line 31 for communication control signals, which are individually connected to the switch 13, The main control unit 10 is provided that is responsible for overall processing within the facsimile apparatus 1.

On the other hand, the line side device 20 includes a modem 16 for converting an image signal into a signal form that can be transmitted through the public line 40,
Signal line 33 for image signal and signal line 34 for communication control signal
It has and. Further, the acoustic coupler 3 connected to the facsimile apparatus 1 via the signal line 31 for communication control signal.
Are combined with the analog radio 4.

This analog radio is an analog radio 5
Send and receive analog signals to and from each other. The analog wireless device 5 is connected to the line side device 20 via a signal line 34. Note that 6a and 6b are antennas.

Similarly, the digital radios 7 and 8 send and receive digital signals to and from each other. The facsimile device 1 and the line side device 20 are connected on the line via the digital radios 7 and 8 and the signal lines 32 and 33.

Next, the communication procedure of this embodiment will be described. The communication procedure between the calling side and the called side facsimile machines via the public line 40 is the same as the conventional one, as shown in FIG. In the following description, the communication procedure is performed as the processing operation of the main control unit 10. First, FIG. 2 briefly shows a case where the facsimile device 1 is a transmission side (a transmission side of an image signal).

The main controller 10 transmits the CNG signal 31 (step 101). However, since the switch 13 selects the analog radio 4 side, the radio line to be used is an analog line.

Next, CED32 and DIS from the receiving side
After detecting 33 signals (steps 102 and 103), the main control unit 10 transmits the DCS signal 34 (step 1).
04). Then, the main control unit 10 commands the switch 13 to select the digital wireless device 7 side (step 105).

After this command, the main controller 10 transmits the TCF signal 35 (step 106). However, since the switch 13 selects the digital radio 7 side, the radio line used is a digital line. Further, the main control unit 10 commands the switch 13 to select the analog radio 4 side (step 107).

When the main controller 10 detects the CFR signal 36 (step 108), it instructs the switch 13 to select the digital radio 7 side (step 109). By the processing of the main control unit 10 described above, the facsimile apparatus 1 is ready to send a document.

Then, the main controller 10 reads the image information from the document through the scanner 11, generates the PIX signal 37 (image signal) (step 110), and transmits it (step 111). When this transmission is completed, the process moves to the next step (step 112). The main control unit 10 selects the analog radio 4 side with respect to the switch 13,
Instruct (step 113).

Next, the main controller 10 transmits the EOP signal 38 (step 114), detects the MCF signal 39 (step 115), and transmits the DCN signal 40,
The transmission process ends.

On the other hand, a case where the facsimile apparatus 1 is the receiving side (image signal receiving side) is briefly shown in FIG. Also in this case, the main control unit 10 causes the image signal (for example, the TCF signal 35).
And PIX signal 37) from the digital radio 7,
The switch 13 is selectively switched so as to receive other communication control signals (for example, the CNG signal 31) from the analog radio device 4.

In this embodiment, all signals received from the public line 40 are communicated with both the digital radio line and the analog radio line, and the main control unit 10
The reception process is alternatively performed only by the switch 13. However, it is fully conceivable to provide a switch inside the line side device 20 to selectively select a wireless line for communication, and as a result, communication efficiency is improved.

Specifically, two methods can be considered. First, the line side device 20 is provided with a control unit and a means for detecting a signal type, and the means for detecting the signal type described above detects a signal type for a signal received from the public line 40, and the controller outputs the output signal. Is a method of performing switch switching processing.

Secondly, a control unit is provided in the line side device 20, and this control unit is the main control unit 10 of the facsimile apparatus 1.
Is a method of switching the switch in the line side device in accordance with the command of. In this method, since the main control unit 10 controls the facsimile device 1 as a whole, it is possible to easily adjust the switch switching timing of the line side device 20, like the switch 13. The digital radios 7 and 8 may be used for communication between the main control unit 10 of the facsimile apparatus 1 and the control unit of the line side device 20.

As described above, according to the present invention, even in a wireless facsimile system using an analog public line network with many general subscribers as a transmission line network, a signal of image information affecting image quality does not occur. By transmitting and receiving between the facsimile device and the line side device via the digital wireless line, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the signal and maintain the transmission accuracy while suppressing the deterioration of the image quality.

In particular, although a digital radio is used, since the transmission line network uses an analog public line network with many general subscribers, a highly versatile wireless facsimile system can be constructed.

Further, the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention is
Since the image information read from the document by the scanner 11 is transmitted as a digital signal through the digital wireless device, the deterioration of the signal in the communication between the facsimile device 1 and the line side device 20 can be suppressed.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the control means selectively switches and connects the analog wireless line and the digital wireless line by the switching means at a predetermined time, and the wireless means connects to the wired line. Since the arbitrary information is transmitted / received to / from the connected line side device, a signal of image information which affects the image quality is transmitted and received between the facsimile device and the line side device via a digital wireless line. It is possible to prevent deterioration of the image quality and suppress deterioration of image quality while maintaining transmission accuracy.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a main control unit 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a main controller 10 in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a wireless facsimile system in a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a communication procedure between a transmitting side facsimile machine and a receiving side facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention and a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Facsimile device, 2 ... Modem, 3 ... Acoustic coupler, 4 ... Analog radio, 5 ... Analog radio, 6a ...
6d ... Antenna, 7 ... Digital radio, 8 ... Digital radio, 10 ... Main control unit, 11 ... Scanner, 13 ... Switch, 16 ... Modem, 17 ... ROM, 18 ... Encoder, 2
0 ... Line side device, 40 ... Public line, 31-34 ... Signal line

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A line side device connected to a wired line, a facsimile device physically separated from the line side device and having an image reading means and a recording means, and the facsimile device and the line side device. In a wireless facsimile system including a wireless unit connected via a wireless line and transmitting and receiving arbitrary information, the wireless line is an analog wireless line and a digital wireless line, and the facsimile device is the wireless unit. On the other hand, there is provided switching means for selectively switching and connecting the analog wireless line and the digital wireless line, and a control means for performing switching connection by the switching means at a predetermined time. Means for selectively switching and connecting the analog radio line and the digital radio line by a switching means at a predetermined time. Radio facsimile system wherein the transmitting and receiving said arbitrary information to connected line-side device to more the wire line.