JPS63221760A - Communication adaptor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send the result of output of a host device to an opposite facsimile equipment automatically and to attain the transmission with high quality by interposing the adaptor in case of sending a signal to the host device and a remote facsimile equipment. CONSTITUTION:A host device 2 sends a transmission request when an adaptor 1 is possible of processing at first. Receiving a transmission request end an opposite dial number from the host device 2, an interface section 11 of the adaptor 1 adds a received dial number to the reply of the transmission request and replies the host device 2. In case of confirming the returned dial number, the host device 2 sends the facsimile data block to the adaptor 1. The adaptor 1 uses the image processing section 12 to check the content of a facsimile data block received and generates a transmission image to an image buffer section 13. While applying a data conversion at a compression/expansion section 14, the data is sent to the opposite facsimile equipment via a MODEM in a line interface section 15.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a communication adapter that is connected between a host device such as a computer and a telephone line, and that enables communication between the host device and a remote 7 axis device. It is related to the device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, when attempting to output documents, figures, images, etc. created on computers, workstations, word processors, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "1st high-level device") to a facsimile machine at a remote location, each high-level device A method is used in which the results are output once by the device, manually set in the facsimile device, and then transmitted to the other party's facsimile device.

In this case, when characters and images are mixed, the actual situation is that each output result is manually cut and stretched to create a single manuscript.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the above method has a drawback in that data transfer between the host device and the remote facsimile device requires human labor. In particular, it takes a lot of effort to combine the character code output results and the image output results.

Furthermore, in a facsimile machine, the accuracy of reading by the input unit has a great effect on the print quality, but the above method has the disadvantage that the quality at the time of creation in the host device is often impaired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a communication adapter device that eliminates the above-mentioned disadvantages of the need for manual labor and quality deterioration, and has excellent operability and output quality to a facsimile machine.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention relates to a communication adapter device connected between various higher-level devices and lines, and in order to solve the problems of the prior art described above, interface processing with the higher-level devices is provided. The first thing to do is
an image processing section that creates image data to be transmitted page by page according to instructions from the higher-level device; and an image data storage section that stores the transmission image data created by the image processing section page by page. a conversion unit that converts the transmitted image data stored in the image data storage unit into code data for facsimile communication; and a conversion unit that performs automatic dialing to call the other party's facsimile device according to dial information given from the host device, and converts the transmission image data stored in the image data storage unit into code data for facsimile communication. A second interface section is provided for transmitting code data from the facsimile device to the other party's facsimile device via a line.

(Operation) When transmitting data from a host device to a remote facsimile device, the first interface section receives an instruction from the host device, and based on the instruction, the image processing section converts the image data to be sent by character code expansion function, layout function,
Create each page using an image compositing function, etc. The image data storage unit stores the created image data for each page. The second interface 72-2 performs automatic dialing to call the other party's facsimile machine according to the dial information given from the host device via the first interface. When connected to the other party's facsimile machine,
While the converting section compresses the image data to be transmitted in the image data storage section, the second interface section transmits the data to the other party's facsimile device. Therefore, the output result of the host device can be automatically transmitted to the other party's facsimile device, and the transmission can be performed with high quality, thus solving the problems of the prior art.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The adapter device 1 is provided between the host device 2 and the telephone line 3, and includes a host device interface section 11, an image processing section 12, an image buffer section 13, a compression/expansion section 14,
It is composed of a line interface section 15 and a main control section 16.

The higher-level device interface unit 11 is a part that performs interface processing with the higher-level device 2, and facilitates connection with various higher-level devices 2 by using a standard physical interface such as GPIB or R8-232C, for example. . The image processing section 12 creates transmission image data in page units in the image buffer section 13 according to instructions from the host device ft2. Here, we will develop character codes (Kanji codes, ANK codes, external character codes, etc.) into sending images (including functions such as character enlargement, vertical/horizontal conversion, rotation, indentation, indentation, underlining, etc.) and page assembly (
Ensuring the pitch between characters and lines, combining character data and image data in rectangular units, layout functions, etc.)
It can be performed. The image buffer section 13 stores the image data processed by the image processing section 12 and transmitted to the destination facsimile machine in units of pages. The compression/expansion section 14 converts the transmitted image data from the image buffer section 13 into code data used for facsimile communication. The line interface section 15 performs dog dial calling, data serial/parallel conversion, modulation/demodulation, etc. using an AA type NCU (network control unit) and modem. The main control section 16 is a section that controls the entire communication adapter device 1, and also executes communication procedures with the host device 2 and the other party's facsimile device.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an overview of the interface between the host device 2 and the adapter device 1.

First, the host device 2 issues a transmission request when the adapter device 1 is capable of processing.

When the interface unit 11 of the adapter device 1 receives the transmission request and dialed number from the higher-level device 2, it adds the received dialed number to the transmission request response and returns the response to the higher-level device 1. When the host device confirms the returned dial number, it transfers the facsimile data block to adapter device 1.
send to The interface section 11 of the adapter device 1 passes the received facsimile data block to the image processing section 12 (the contents of the facsimile data will be described later). The image processing section 12 checks the contents of the data and creates an image in the image buffer section 13 to be transmitted to the facsimile machine. When the data processing is completed, an axis data transmission response is returned to the host device 2 through the interface section 11. When the host device 2 confirms a normal response, it repeats the above operation of sending the next facsimile data block. After receiving and receiving the final block of the page, processing the data, and returning a transmission response, the main control section 16 of the adapter device 1 performs off-hook and dial operations using the line interface section 15 to call the other party's facsimile device. When the other party's facsimile machine responds, the data in the image buffer unit 13 is converted by the compression/expansion unit 14 according to the facsimile procedure, and is transmitted to the other party's facsimile machine via the modem in the line interface unit 15. When the page transmission is completed, the main control unit 16 of the adapter device 1 notifies the host device 2 of the completion of page transmission. When the host device 2 receives the completion of page transmission, it starts transmitting the data block of the next page. Note that the line interface unit 15 transmits dummy data from the end of transmission of the previous page to the start of transmission of the next page. When the adapter device 1 finishes transmitting the final page, the line ink face section 15 disconnects the line and notifies the host device 2 of the completion of the transmission.

Next, the structure of facsimile data will be explained. Third
The figure shows the general structure of facsimile data. Facsimile data is data for transmitting and receiving attributes of document files and data necessary for editing, and consists of the following five types of data units.

■ Document profile: Specifies the attributes of the entire document (text only, graphics only, text and graphics mixed).

■ Page attributes 2 Specify the attributes within the page (text, graphics, mixed text and graphics, page size).

■ Block attribute: the block (one section within the page)
Specify the attributes (text, graphics).

■ Text unit: Consists of specification of text data attributes and data strings.

■ End of page: Specifies that the data within one page has ended.

As shown in Figure 4 (,a) to (C), the combinations of attributes in facsimile data include those that have only a document profile (level O), and those that have a document profile and page attributes (level 1). There are three types: , one with document profile, page attributes, and block attributes (level 2).

In the level 0 facsimile data shown in FIG. 4(a), the adapter device 1 edits all pages based on the attributes of the document profile, so the host device 11t2 receives the text unit following the document profile. .

In the level 1 facsimile data shown in FIG. 4(b), since each page has a page attribute and page-specific editing is performed, the host device 2 receives the page attribute and text unit following the document profile.

According to the level 2 facsimile data shown in FIG. 4(c), a plurality of blocks can be set in a page, each block has attributes and text data, and block-specific editing can be performed. Therefore, in level 2 facsimile data, characters and images can coexist.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Various host devices with standard interfaces can be connected to the other party's facsimile device through a telephone line.

(2) With the character code expansion function and page assembly function, it is possible to send documents of any configuration including kanji with high quality.

(3) Characters and images can be combined in rectangular units.

(4) Since it has a page buffer, it is possible to easily realize repeat communication by simply receiving and receiving new dial information from a host device.

(5) Documents and the like created on a host device can be sent to the other party's facsimile device without human intervention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication adapter device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an interface between a host device and the adapter device, and FIG. 3 is a general configuration of facsimile data. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of combinations of attributes in facsimile data, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an output in which characters and images are mixed. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Communication adapter device, 2... Upper device, 3... Telephone line, 11... Upper device interface section, 12... Image processing section, 13... Image buffer section, 14... - Compression/expansion section, 15... Line interface section, 16... Main control section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A first interface unit that performs interface processing with a higher-level device; an image processing unit that creates image data to be transmitted page by page according to instructions from the higher-level device; an image data storage unit that stores created transmission image data in page units; a conversion unit that converts the transmission image data stored in the image data storage unit into code data for facsimile communication; A communication adapter device comprising: a second interface section that performs automatic dialing according to dialing information to call a destination facsimile device, and transmits code data from the conversion section to the destination facsimile device via a line.