JPH08265497A - Facsimile system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To shorten the transmission time of information from a facsimile(FAX) body to a FAX communication equipment and to inform the occurance of at error at data transmission to the FAX body. CONSTITUTION: In the FAX system consisting of the FAX communication equipment 2 and the FAX body 1 connected to the equipment 2 so as to communicate with the equipment 2, plural signals to which signal recognition numbers are respectively allocated are collectively transmitted from the body 1 to the equipment 2 at the time of FAX transmission, and when an error i.s detected in any one of the plural signals received by the equipment 2, a resending request signal including the signal recognition number of the signal generating the error is transmitted to the body 1 and only the signal generating the error is resent by the use of respective communication parts 7A, 7B respectively built in the body 1 and the equipment 2.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention connects one or a plurality of facsimile main bodies or personal computers to a facsimile communication device by wireless communication means or the like, and communicates with a partner device via the facsimile communication device. The present invention relates to a facsimile system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of facsimile communication, a facsimile main body or a personal computer having no communication means is connected via a facsimile communication device having only communication means to communicate with other facsimile devices. Facsimile system for performing is provided. In the above, the communication between the facsimile main body and the facsimile communication device is generally based on a unique protocol, for example, at the time of facsimile transmission, the facsimile main body transmits to the facsimile communication device a transmission request signal, a transmission condition, image information, etc. In response to each of the above signals, a reception signal or an error signal is transmitted from the facsimile communication device to the facsimile main body. Further, in the facsimile apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-270559, the facsimile main body is often contacted by the user by separating the facsimile main body from the facsimile communication apparatus and connecting the two by wireless communication means. Is installed near the user or is configured to be freely movable.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional facsimile system, the signal transmitted from the facsimile body to the facsimile communication device is divided into predetermined lengths, and the signal is normally received by the facsimile communication device at each division. The data is transmitted sequentially while confirming whether or not it has been done. That is, when the facsimile communication device receives a signal of one segment, whether the signal is normally received or an error is received.
Will be notified. If a signal reception error is detected in the facsimile communication device, an error signal is transmitted to the facsimile main body to request the signal retransmission. Therefore, the conventional facsimile system has a problem that it takes a long time to transmit. In addition,
The conventional facsimile system presented in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-270559 does not disclose any communication protocol between the facsimile main body and the facsimile communication device.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems in the conventional facsimile system as described above, and shortens the information transmission time from the facsimile main body to the facsimile communication device and transmits the information. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile system configured so as to be able to notify the main body of the error if there is an error in the information.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises:
As a first means, in a facsimile system including a facsimile communication device and a plurality of facsimile main bodies communicatively connected to the facsimile communication device, a plurality of signals including the terminal number are collectively transmitted from the facsimile main body. When an error is detected in any of the plurality of signals received by the facsimile communication device, the first communication unit is provided in the facsimile main body so as to request the facsimile main body of the terminal number to retransmit the error signal. Further, each of the facsimile communication devices is provided with a second communication unit. According to a second means, in a facsimile system including a facsimile communication device and a facsimile main body communicatively connected to the facsimile communication device, a plurality of signals each having a signal identification number are transmitted from the facsimile main body to the facsimile communication device. When an error is detected in any of a plurality of signals received by the facsimile communication device by transmitting all at once, a resend request signal including a signal identification number of the signal in which the error is detected is transmitted to the facsimile main body, and the facsimile main body transmits the signal. The facsimile main body is provided with a first communication section, and the facsimile communication apparatus is provided with a second communication section so as to retransmit only an error signal. In a third means, in each of the above facsimile systems, the first communication unit and the second communication unit are configured to limit the retransmission request when an error occurs within a preset number of times. In the fourth means, in the third means, the first communication unit in the facsimile main body is configured to increase the power of the transmission output signal each time retransmission is repeated or every predetermined number of times. In a fifth means, in each of the facsimile systems, the first communication unit in the facsimile main body is configured to start retransmission after a lapse of a predetermined time if the error is not recovered even after retrying a predetermined number of times. Sixth
In a facsimile system including a facsimile communication device and a facsimile main body communicatively wirelessly connected to the facsimile communication device, communication means for communicating with the other wireless device is added to the facsimile communication device. The switch and the memory for temporarily storing the facsimile image information are provided, and the antenna is switched and used during communication with the facsimile main body and during communication with another wireless device.

[0006]

With the above construction, the first means
The facsimile main body side can continuously transmit the next signal without waiting for a response from the facsimile communication device, and when an error occurs in the signal received from the facsimile main body in the facsimile communication device, a plurality of facsimiles are transmitted. From the main body, the facsimile main body which has sent the signal at that time can be selected, an error signal can be transmitted, and a request for resending the signal can be made. According to the second means, the facsimile main body may collectively transmit a plurality of signals to the facsimile communication device, and when an error occurs in the transmitted signals, only the error signal may be retransmitted.

According to the third means, even if an error occurs in the transmission from the facsimile body to the facsimile communication device, if the number of error occurrences is within a predetermined number, the error state is automatically recovered and the operation is continued. You can In the fourth means, since the output power is sequentially increased, the probability of error recovery at the time of retransmission is high. In the fifth means,
Since the data is retransmitted after a certain period of time, there is a high probability that there will be no transmission signals from other terminal devices that interfere, and the success rate of transmission will increase.

In the sixth means, one antenna enables communication with the facsimile main body and communication with other communication devices.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile system showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view thereof. In the embodiment shown in the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a facsimile main body (including information equipment such as a personal computer), and an antenna 8 for transmitting and receiving a signal to and from the facsimile communication device 2 and a signal through the antenna 8 A radio transceiver 9 for transmitting a signal or receiving a signal from an antenna 8 and a handset 10 for making a call.
A modem 11 that modulates transmission data or demodulates a reception signal; a system control unit 12 that has a built-in CPU and controls and manages the entire facsimile body according to a program in ROM 15; and encodes (compresses) transmission data. Alternatively, an encoding / decoding unit 13 that decodes (decompresses) the received data, and an RA that temporarily stores the transmitted data, the received data, and the like.
M14 and plotter 16 that outputs received data on recording paper
An operation key 17 for performing an operation at the time of transmission, a display unit 18 for displaying a message for the operation, a scanner 19 for reading a transmission original, and the like. The wireless transceiver 9, the modem 11, the system control unit 12, and the encoding / decoding unit 13 constitute a communication unit 7A that communicates with a facsimile communication device.

The facsimile communication device 2 has an antenna 8 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the facsimile body 1.
And a radio transceiver 21 which outputs a reception signal to the antenna 8 or inputs a signal from the facsimile main body 1.
(Including a modem equivalent to the modem 11), a memory 22 that temporarily holds digitized transmission / reception data, and the like,
Standard facsimile protocol (eg G3 protocol)
Communication control unit 23 for performing facsimile transmission / reception control according to
(Including low-speed and high-speed modems for G3, for example)
And a network connection unit 24 for controlling connection to a telephone line. In addition, the wireless transceiver 21, the memory 22,
The communication control unit 23 constitutes a communication unit 7B that communicates with the facsimile body.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of a transmission protocol for communication between the facsimile main body 1 and the facsimile communication apparatus, and FIG. 4 is an operation flow chart showing an operation example of this embodiment. The operation will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, a transmission original is set on the scanner 19 of the facsimile main body 1, and when the transmission conditions such as the destination terminal number and the linear density are input by the operation keys 17, the original is read by the scanner 19 and temporarily stored in the RAM 14. Then, the system control unit 12 follows the protocol shown in FIG. 3, for example, a plurality of transmission start signals, transmission condition signals, terminal numbers, transmission data (image information), data transmission end signals, connection disconnection request signals, etc. as shown in the figure. The signal group a consisting of the signals is transmitted to the facsimile communication device in the above-described order (S1). In FIG. 3, TX indicates the image information transmitting side, and RX indicates the receiving side. As shown in FIG. 3, a signal identification number is added to each signal so that the facsimile communication apparatus can identify each signal. For example, in the case of FIG. 3, signal recognition numbers such as 01, 02, ... 06 are added to the six signals in order from the top.

The signal group a is collectively transmitted, and the facsimile communication device 2 continuously transmits each signal without interposing a response signal such as an acceptance signal or an error signal. In this case, a time interval may be provided between the signals, or the signals may be continuous without any interval. In the above signal group, the transmission condition signal is a destination terminal number or the line density of image information, the terminal number is its own terminal number, and the data is an encoding / decoding unit for the data stored in the RAM 14. This is the image information to be transmitted, which is encoded in 13. The modem 11 may be the same as the G3 modem in the communication control unit 23 or may be different. Each signal is modulated by the modem 11 and further superimposed on the carrier wave by the wireless transceiver 9,
It is transmitted to the facsimile communication device 2 via the antenna 8.

In the facsimile communication device 2, the signal from the facsimile main body is received by the antenna 8, demodulated by the wireless transceiver 21, and digitized data is stored in the memory 22.
To be stored. Then, the communication control unit 23 receives the received memory 22.
Check the data inside, and if there is no error, send a no error signal b (acceptance signal) (see FIG. 3) to the facsimile main body 1
(S2). The no-error signal is modulated by the wireless transceiver 21, superimposed on the carrier wave, and transmitted to the wireless transceiver 9 of the facsimile main body 1 via the antenna 8. When the main body of the facsimile receives the carrier wave, it is demodulated by the transceiver, converted into a digital signal by the modem 11, and then passed to the system control unit 12. Upon receiving the no-error signal, the system control unit 12 of the facsimile main body 1
As described above, the transmission end signal is transmitted to the facsimile communication device 2 and the transmission is ended (S3).

Further, the facsimile communication device is provided with a memory 22.
When each signal (data) passed from the facsimile main body 1 stored in No error is no error, the facsimile transmission to the destination facsimile apparatus is performed based on each signal (data) according to the facsimile standard protocol. At this time, the encoded (compressed) image information in the memory 22 is modulated by the high speed modem in the communication control unit 23. On the other hand, in the above, each signal (data) passed from the facsimile main body 1
If any one of them has an error, the communication control unit 23
Transmits an error signal as a response signal to the facsimile body 1 instead of the no-error signal (acceptance signal).

The facsimile communication apparatus 2 of the present invention is shown in FIG.
It is possible to support a plurality of facsimile main bodies as shown in FIG. The terminal number in the signal group a shown in FIG. 3 can be used as a signal for identifying which of the facsimile main bodies 1 out of the plurality of facsimile main bodies has transmitted the signal group a. Even if a time interval is provided between the signals of the signal group a, the facsimile communication device 2 does not accept the transmission start signal from the other facsimile main body 2 in the gap, and thus the plurality of facsimile devices are provided. The signal group a from the main body is not mixed. According to this method
The facsimile communication device 2 can transmit a response signal such as a no-error signal (acceptance signal) or an error signal to the facsimile main body 1 having the terminal number acquired from the signal group a.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the sequence of the present invention. In the control example shown in this example, an error is detected from any signal in the signal group a received by the facsimile communication apparatus 2 from the facsimile main body 1. When it is detected, the signal recognition number of the signal in which the error is detected is notified to the facsimile main body 1, and only the signal is retransmitted to shorten the transmission time.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of control when an error occurs. In the example shown in this figure, when an error is detected in the facsimile communication apparatus 2, the retransmission is performed a preset number of times. To retry. In the example shown in the figure, the number of retries is three. That is, when the signal group a is transmitted to the facsimile communication apparatus 2 (S11), the communication control unit 23 in the facsimile communication apparatus 2 checks each signal in the signal group a (S12), and if there is no error, a no error signal is sent. Is sent (S13), and if an error occurs, retry is repeated a preset number of times, in this example, three times or more (S15).
(S18) An error signal having a signal identification number of the signal in which the error has occurred is transmitted to the facsimile main body 1 (S18).
In the embodiment in which all the signal groups a are retransmitted, no signal identification number is added. Receiving the resend request signal, the facsimile body 1 resends the designated identification number accordingly (S19). When the error occurs more than three times (S17), the fact is notified to the facsimile main body and the transmission is terminated (S14).

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment shown here, the transmission power output from the wireless transceiver 9 of the facsimile main body 1 as the number of retries increases. Is increased and re-sending is performed. The flow chart shown in FIG. 8 differs from the flow chart of FIG. 7 in that S29 is added. That is, when the facsimile main body 1 receives the error signal (S28), the output power of the wireless transceiver 9 is increased (S29) and the instructed retransmission is performed (S30).

Generally, an error is often caused by a decrease in the S / N ratio of the wireless communication line. However, if the output power of the transmission signal is increased, the S (signal level) will increase and the S /
N is improved. Therefore, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, the probability of eliminating the error is increased by retrying several times. It should be noted that the modification to repeat the operation of increasing the output power when an error occurs even after performing the retry for the set number of times is also effective in quickly achieving the error elimination.

Further, in the above, if the output power setting of the transceiver 9 is restored after the transmission is completed, it does not interfere with other communication. FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing still another embodiment. In this embodiment, if the error is not resolved even after the retransmission is performed a preset number of times, the transmission is repeated after a predetermined pause time. Controlled by. That is, S40 and S41 are added to the flowchart of FIG. 7 or FIG. By doing so, the probability of executing retransmission again after the environmental conditions have changed such as the termination of other communication that interferes is increased, so that the success probability of communication due to retransmission is increased. It should be noted that the resending after the suspension for the predetermined time may be performed from S31 as shown in FIG. 9, or only the signal in which the error has occurred may be resent.

FIG. 11 is an embodiment showing an external view of the facsimile apparatus of the present invention. In this example, instead of the facsimile communication apparatus 2 directly connected to the line shown in FIG. 2, the line is connected via a wireless station. A facsimile communication device 2a to be connected is provided. As shown in the configuration block diagram of FIG. 10, the facsimile communication device 2a includes a memory 22a and a switch 25. The switch 25 is connected as shown in the figure to connect the facsimile main body 1 to the antenna 8, the switch 25 and the wireless transceiver 21a. After receiving the signal group a through the memory 22a and storing it in the memory 22a and completing the communication with the facsimile main body 1 according to the protocol shown in FIG. 3 etc., the switch 25 is switched to the state shown by the dotted line in the figure. The wireless transceiver 21a, the memory 22a, and the communication control unit 23a constitute a communication unit 7B that communicates with the facsimile body. After that, the facsimile communication device 2a is controlled by the communication control unit 23a, and according to the G3 protocol, for example, the memory 22a
The transmission data therein is transmitted to the destination facsimile machine via the wireless device 26, the switch 25 and the antenna 8 and further via another mobile station or a public line.

The facsimile communication device 2a shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 can also be used as a mobile phone, and if it is a mobile phone system itself which has been widely spread in recent years or a mobile phone to which a necessary memory device is added. It is possible to deal with it sufficiently. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a block configuration of the facsimile communication device shown in FIG.
For example, equipped with a handset 10 and configured to make a call with a partner telephone connected to the line via the radio 26 and the antenna 8 when the switch 25 is switched to the state shown by the dotted line in the figure Is.

In the above, the destination facsimile machine is installed in the same premises as the facsimile communication apparatus 2a,
It is also possible to directly perform facsimile communication with the facsimile communication device 2a without going through a wired line. In this case, the destination facsimile machine also includes the antenna 8a and the wireless device 26a, and the antenna 8 of the facsimile communication apparatus 2a is included.
The radio wave output from the antenna 8a is directly received by the antenna 8a, the signal is demodulated from the carrier wave by the wireless device 26a, and the carrier wave on which the signal is superimposed by the wireless device 26a is inversely transmitted to the antenna 8 of the facsimile communication device 2a from the antenna 8a. It is necessary to have a function to output. In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
26 is provided with a function capable of communicating with the radio transmitting / receiving means of another mobile station. As described above, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, communication with the facsimile main body is performed via one antenna 8.
Since both communication with the mobile station is possible, the cost of the device can be reduced. Although the case where the communication between the facsimile main body and the facsimile communication device is connected using the wireless communication line has been described above, it is not necessary to limit the communication between these to the wireless communication, and the present invention is similarly applied to the wired communication. It goes without saying that you can do it.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
First, the facsimile main body side can continuously transmit the next signal without waiting for a response from the facsimile communication device, and when the signal received from the facsimile main body has an error, the facsimile communication device can generate a plurality of facsimiles. From the main body, select the facsimile main body that sent the signal at that time, send an error signal to it, and request the signal resend, so you can shorten the transmission time to the facsimile communication device shared by multiple facsimile main bodies, Moreover, it is possible to deal with an error.

Secondly, since the facsimile main body collectively transmits a plurality of signals to the facsimile communication device, and when an error occurs in the transmitted signals, only the signal in which the error occurs is retransmitted. It is possible to shorten the retransmission time at the time of error. Thirdly, even if an error occurs in the transmission from the facsimile main body to the facsimile communication device, if the number of error occurrences is within a predetermined number, the error state is automatically recovered and the operation is continuously executed, so that the operation is easy. become.

Fourthly, when the output power is increased at the time of re-sending, or the error is not resolved even after re-sending a predetermined number of times,
In the configuration in which the packet is paused for a predetermined time and retransmitted, the probability of successful transmission increases. Fifthly, in a facsimile communication apparatus configured to perform facsimile communication with a partner facsimile apparatus via wireless communication, one antenna is used to communicate between the facsimile main body and the facsimile communication apparatus and between the facsimile communication apparatus and the partner facsimile apparatus. Since it can be performed, it is possible to achieve higher functionality, smaller size, and lower cost of the facsimile communication device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a facsimile system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a facsimile system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a protocol explanatory diagram of a main part of a facsimile system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a main part of a facsimile system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is another overall configuration diagram of a facsimile system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a protocol of a main part of a facsimile system showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of a main part of a facsimile system showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an operation flow diagram of a main part of a facsimile system showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operational flowchart of a main part of a facsimile system showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a configuration block diagram of a main part of a facsimile system showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an external view of a facsimile system showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Facsimile main body, 2 ... Facsimile communication device, 7
A ... 1st communication part, 7B ... 2nd communication part, 8 ... Antenna, 9
... wireless transceiver, 11 ... modem, 12 ... system control unit, 13 ... encoding / decoding unit, 21 ... wireless transceiver, 22 ...
Memory, 23 ... communication control unit, 24 ... network connection unit, 25 ... switch, 26 ... radio.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile system comprising a facsimile communication device and a plurality of facsimile main bodies communicatively connected to the facsimile communication device, wherein a plurality of signals including a terminal number of the facsimile main body are collectively transmitted from the facsimile main body. When an error is detected in any of a plurality of signals transmitted to the communication device and received by the facsimile communication device, the first communication is performed by the facsimile main body so as to request the facsimile main body of the terminal number to retransmit the error signal. And a second communication unit in the facsimile communication device. 2. A facsimile system comprising a facsimile communication device and a facsimile main body communicatively connected to the facsimile communication device, wherein a plurality of signals each having a signal identification number are provided from the facsimile main body to the facsimile communication device. When an error is detected in any of the plurality of signals received by the facsimile communication device, a resend request signal including the signal identification number of the signal in which the error is detected is transmitted to the facsimile main body, and the facsimile main body is transmitted. First, in order to retransmit only the error signal from
A facsimile system comprising a communication section, and the facsimile communication apparatus including a second communication section. 3. The first communication unit and the second communication unit are configured to limit a retransmission request when an error occurs within a preset number of times. 2. The facsimile system described in 2. 4. The first communication unit in the facsimile body is configured to increase the power of a transmission output signal every time retransmission is repeated or every predetermined number of retransmissions. Facsimile system described. 5. The first communication unit in the facsimile body is configured to start retransmission after a lapse of a predetermined time if the error is not recovered even after retrying a predetermined number of times. The facsimile system according to 2, 3, or 4. 6. A facsimile system comprising a facsimile communication device and a facsimile main body wirelessly connected to the facsimile communication device so that the facsimile communication device can communicate with another wireless device, and an antenna. It is equipped with a switch added to and a memory for temporarily storing facsimile image information, and is configured to switch and use the antenna during communication with the facsimile body and during communication with other wireless devices. Characteristic facsimile system.