JP2002044401A - Communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a sender of image data to comprehend in detail the error state which has occurred during communication. SOLUTION: A facsimile machine 20 is a device for transmitting image data received from a relay requesting machine or a relay machine as a transmission requesting machine to a facsimile machine as a prescribed destination. When communication between the facsimile machine 20 and the facsimile machine as a destination is interrupted because of trouble during communication, a main controller 1 of the facsimile machine 20 transmits information about the trouble, including history information of communication procedure such as protocol trace as shown in the Fig. 5, to a return destination of the report (which corresponds to the relay box number in a relay destination table 7a) as a relay requesting machine or a relay machine (step S34 in Fig. 8). In this case, the information about the trouble contains a character message showing the causes of the trouble.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication terminal device such as a facsimile device having a failure information transmission function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional relay broadcasting system of a facsimile relay network, as shown in FIG. 2, image data is transmitted from a facsimile device 30 of a relay requesting machine to a facsimile of a relay having a function of relaying image data. Device 20a
And temporarily stores the image data in the image memory of the repeater, and then stores the stored image data in a facsimile machine 40-1 or 40-40 of a relay distribution destination registered in advance.
2, 40-3. This facsimile relay network
For example, in one company, corresponding to the head office, branch, and sales office,
By installing a relay requesting machine, a relay machine, and a terminal device of a relay distribution destination, facsimile communication is made more efficient and communication costs are reduced.

In this conventional example, the relay distribution destination is stored in the memory of the facsimile machine 20a of the repeater in advance, and the group designation signal including the group number is transmitted from the facsimile machine 30 of the relay requester to the facsimile of the repeater. By transmitting the image data for relay distribution together with the image data for relay distribution to the device 20a, the facsimile device 20a of the repeater is configured to transmit the image data for relay distribution to the relay distribution destination of the group designated by the group designation signal. I have.

[0004]

However, when a communication error occurs in the middle of communication and image data cannot be transmitted in this conventional relay broadcasting system or the like,
There has been a problem that a transmitting side including a transmission requesting machine such as a relay requesting machine cannot grasp the state of the error in detail.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a communication terminal device capable of grasping in detail the state of an error occurring during communication on the image data transmitting side.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal device for transmitting image data received from a transmission requesting machine to a predetermined destination terminal device. A means for transmitting failure information including communication procedure history information to the transmission requesting device when communication is interrupted due to a failure in the above.

Further, a communication terminal device according to the present invention, which performs communication with a destination terminal device using a predetermined communication procedure, is provided when a communication is interrupted due to a failure during communication with the destination terminal device. Means for transmitting failure information including communication procedure history information to the destination terminal device.

[0008] In the above-mentioned communication terminal apparatus, the failure information preferably includes a text message indicating a cause of the failure.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile machine 20 of a relay requester or a relay having a relay broadcast distribution function according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Yes, the facsimile machine 20 of the present embodiment
Will be described as having both functions of a relay requester and a relay for convenience of explanation.

The facsimile machine 20 of this embodiment has
The main control unit 1 of the facsimile device 20 is a device that transmits image data received from a relay request device or a relay device that is a transmission request device to a facsimile device at a predetermined transfer destination.
When the communication is interrupted due to a failure during the communication with the facsimile machine of the transfer destination, failure information including communication procedure history information such as a protocol trace as shown in FIG. (Corresponding to the relay box number in the relay destination table 7a) (step S34 in FIG. 8).
Here, the failure information includes a text message indicating the cause of the failure.

In FIG. 1, a facsimile machine 20 comprises
It has a facsimile communication function of the conventional G3 system and the like, and a relay broadcasting function. The main control unit 1 is specifically constituted by a CPU, is connected to the following hardware units via a bus 13, controls them, and executes various software functions to be described later. The image reading unit 2 reads an original with a scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs dot image data converted to binary black and white. The image recording unit 3 is a printer device of an electrophotographic system or the like, and prints out and records image data received from another facsimile device by facsimile communication as a hard copy. The display unit 4 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display, and displays an operation state of the facsimile machine 20, and displays image data of a document to be transmitted and received image data. .

An operation unit 5 includes character keys, dial numeric keys, and dial keys necessary for operating the facsimile machine 20.
It has speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, and various function keys. In addition, by making the above-mentioned display unit 4 a touch panel type, this operation unit 5
A part or all of the various keys may be substituted.

The ROM 6 stores in advance various software programs necessary for the operation of the facsimile machine 20 and executed by the main control unit 1. Here, the programs include at least the programs shown in FIGS. Includes relay processing program. The RAM 7 is composed of an SRAM, a flash memory, or the like, and is used as a working area of the main control unit 1 and stores temporary data generated when a program is executed. When a flash memory is used as the RAM 7, even if the power is cut off due to a power failure, a movement of the apparatus, or the like, the contents of the data are not lost. The image memory 8 is composed of a DRAM or the like, and stores image data to be transmitted or received image data. Note that the RAM 7 and the image memory 8 may be constituted by a hard disk memory.

The fax modem 10 is connected to a public telephone line L
And demodulates the data of the outgoing telephone number information received as the FSK signal and outputs it to the main control unit 1. NCU (Network control circuit: Net
A work control unit 11 is a hardware circuit that performs a closing / opening operation such as a DC loop of the analog public telephone line L and has an automatic dial function. The fax modem 10 is connected to the public telephone line L as necessary. Connecting. Here, the NCU 11 detects an ID receiving terminal activation signal and a normal telephone call signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service, and transmits a primary response signal and a secondary response signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service as necessary. can do. In addition, the NCU 11 is connected to a digital line (for example, a baseband transmission system) via a predetermined terminal adapter and a DSU (Digital Service Unit).
(ISDN line).

The facsimile apparatus 20 of the present embodiment configured as described above has a relay broadcast function in addition to a normal facsimile communication function of the G3 system or the like. In the facsimile communication function, dot image data read by the image reading unit 2 is encoded by software in accordance with an encoding system such as MH, MR, MMR, etc. defined in the standard of facsimile communication, and then the other party's facsimile apparatus. On the other hand, the encoded data received from the other party's facsimile machine is also decoded into image data by software and output from the image recording unit 3 as a hard copy. The image memory 8 stores the image data as needed, and outputs the stored image data as needed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the relay destination table 7a in the RAM 7 of FIG. Relay destination table 7a
As shown in FIG. 3, the telephone number of the relay distribution destination and the telephone number of the report return destination are stored for each box number stored in the SUB signal. The RAM 7 has
In addition to the relay destination table 7a, a trace memory 7b for storing a protocol trace of the facsimile executed by the facsimile machine 20 and a message memory 7c for storing an error message when an error occurs.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a SUB signal transmitted and received by the facsimile machine 20 of FIG.
The SUB (sub address) signal transmitted / received by the facsimile machine 20 operated by the relay distribution function stores a relay box number referred to in the relay destination table 7a.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a communication error notification report generated and transmitted by the facsimile machine 20 of FIG. In the communication error notification report, as is clear from FIG. 5, (a) the message "Fax communication to the following destination did not end normally." (B) Destination telephone number. (C) Error occurrence page. (D) Number of all pages. (E) Communication start date and time. (F) Communication end date and time. (G) An error code predetermined by the facsimile machine 20. (H) Error message. (I) Manufacturing company. (J) Model number. (K) Protocol trace of a facsimile communication procedure executed between the own machine and the other machine.

FIGS. 6 to 8 are flowcharts showing the relay processing executed by the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the repeater shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, first, it is determined in step S1 whether or not an incoming call has been received, and the processing in step S1 is repeated until the answer is YES. When the answer is YES, the SUB including the relay box number is determined in step S2. The signal, the DCS signal, and the training signal are received, and the CFR signal is transmitted in step S3. Next, in step S4, the image data is received and stored in the communication memory 8, and in step S5, the EOP signal is received.
After transmitting the F signal and receiving the DCN signal, step S
At 6 the line is released. Then, in step S7, the protocol trace is started so that the subsequent transmission and reception facsimile procedure signals are sequentially stored in the trace memory 7b with time. Next, in step S8, the user dials the relay distribution destination in the relay destination table 7a corresponding to the box number in the SUB signal, and proceeds to step S8.
9, the DIS signal is detected, and step S1 in FIG.
Proceed to 1.

In step S11 of FIG. 7, a TSI signal, a SUB signal including a relay box number, a DCS signal, and a training signal are transmitted. In step S12, it is determined whether a CFR signal is detected. It is determined in step S13 whether a DCN signal has been detected. If NO, the process returns to step S11.
If YES in step S12, step S14
In step S15, image data is read out from the image memory 8 and transmitted. In step S15, an EOP signal is transmitted. In step S16, it is determined whether an MCF signal is detected. If YES in step S16, step S1
On the other hand, if NO, the process proceeds to step S21. In step S17, a DCN signal is transmitted, and in step S18
Ends the protocol trace in step S19.
And the relay processing is terminated. on the other hand,
If YES in step S13, step S20
8 is selected and stored in the message memory 7c. Then, the line is opened in step S23, and the line is opened in step S23 in FIG. S3
Proceed to 1. Further, in step S21, an error message "No response to post message (EOP signal) after image data is transmitted" is selected and stored in message memory 7c. In step S22, protocol trace is terminated. In step S23, the line is released, and the flow advances to step S31 in FIG.

In step S31 of FIG. 8, dial the report reply destination corresponding to the relay box number in the relay destination table 7a, receive the DIS signal in step S32, send out the DCS signal and the training signal in step S33, Detect the CFR signal. Next, image data of a communication error notification report including the error message selected in step S34 and stored in the message memory 7c and the protocol trace stored in the trace memory 7b is generated and transmitted. Further, in step S35, an EOP signal is transmitted, and M
A CF signal is detected, a DCN signal is sent out, and step S3 is performed.
In step 6, the line is released, and the relay processing ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 interrupts the communication due to a failure during the communication with the destination facsimile machine, as shown in FIG. The failure information including the history information of the communication procedure such as the protocol trace is transmitted to the report return destination (corresponding to the relay box number in the relay destination table 7a) which is the relay requester or the relay (FIG. 8).
Step S34). Therefore, the communication status including the history information of the communication procedure between the relay device and the next destination can be understood in detail by the relay request device, which is the transmission request device, and for example, when an error occurs, the failure analysis is performed based on the cause of the error. As a result, a predetermined accurate treatment can be performed quickly.

Here, the fault information includes a text message indicating the cause of the fault. Therefore, detailed information that cannot be understood from the history information of the communication procedure can be notified in characters, and even a novice user can easily understand the cause of the error.

<Second Embodiment> In the first embodiment, the case of the relay distribution function has been described, but in the second embodiment, other cases such as transfer, circulation, and normal reception will be described. I do. The configuration of the facsimile apparatus 20 of FIG. 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and differences from the first embodiment will be described in detail below.

Facsimile machine 2 according to second embodiment
Reference numeral 0 denotes a device that communicates with the other party's facsimile apparatus using a predetermined communication procedure such as a facsimile communication procedure, and the main control unit 1 of the facsimile apparatus 20 has a failure during communication with the other party's facsimile apparatus. When the communication is interrupted in step (1), failure information including communication procedure history information such as a protocol trace is transmitted to the facsimile machine of the other party (step S84 in FIG. 13). Here, the failure information includes a text message indicating the cause of the failure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the transfer destination table 7d in the RAM 7 used in the second embodiment according to the present invention. The transfer destination table 7d is provided in the RAM 7 instead of the relay destination table 7a according to the first embodiment, and for each box number stored in the SUB signal, a transfer destination telephone number and a report return destination telephone number And are stored.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a format of a SUB signal transmitted and received by the facsimile apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, a transfer box number is stored in the SUB signal transmitted and received by the facsimile machine 20.

FIGS. 11 to 13 are flowcharts showing the receiving process executed by the main controller 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the transfer machine according to the second embodiment.

It is determined in step S41 of FIG. 11 whether or not a call has been received, and the processing in step S41 is repeated until the answer is YES.
At 42, a protocol trace is started so that the subsequent transmission and reception facsimile procedure signals are sequentially stored in the trace memory 7b with time. Next, in step S43, a DIS signal is transmitted, and in step S4
In step S45, a TSI signal, a SUB signal, a DCS signal, a training signal, and a TCF signal are received.
In, it is determined whether or not the SUB signal is an instruction of a box number for transfer. If YES in step S45, the process proceeds to step S46, whereas if NO, the process directly proceeds to step S46.
Go to 52. In step S46, it is determined whether or not there is a box number in the SUB signal. If YES, the process proceeds to step S47, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S48. Further, in step S47, it is determined whether or not there is a free space in the image memory 8, and if YES, the process proceeds to step S52, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S5.
Go to 0. Further, it is determined in step S52 whether or not the training is OK. If YES, the process proceeds to step S53, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S54. Further, it is determined in step S53 whether or not the training detection before image data transmission is successful. If YES, the process proceeds to step S61 in FIG. 12, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S55.

In step S48 branched from step S46 by NO, a DCN signal is transmitted, and
After selecting the error message "transfer box number mismatch" in 49 and storing it in the message memory 7c, the protocol trace is ended in step S57, the line is opened in step S58, and the process proceeds to step S81 in FIG.

In step S50 branched from NO in step S47, a DCN signal is transmitted, and in step S51, an error message "No image memory available" is selected and stored in the message memory 7c. To end the protocol trace, release the line in step S58, and proceed to step S81 in FIG.

Further, in step S54 branched from step S52 by NO, the FTT
After transmitting the signal, the process returns to step S44.

Further, in step S55 branched from NO in step S53, a DCN signal is transmitted, and in step S56, an error message "Training detection failure before transmission of image data" is selected and stored in the message memory 7c. Thereafter, the protocol trace is ended in step S57, the line is opened in step S58, and the process proceeds to step S81 in FIG.

In step S61 of FIG. 12, it is determined whether or not a transfer instruction has been issued based on the received SUB signal. If YES, the process proceeds to step S62, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S63. In step S62, after receiving the image data for transfer and storing it in the image memory 8, the process proceeds to step S64. On the other hand, step S6
In step 3, it is determined that normal facsimile reception is performed, and the image of the received image data is printed using the image recording unit 3, and the flow advances to step S64. In step S64, the EOP signal is received. In step S65, it is determined whether the image quality is OK. If YES, the process proceeds to step S66.
If NO, the process proceeds to step S70. In step S66, the MCF signal is transmitted, the DCN signal is transmitted in step S67, the protocol trace is terminated in step S68, the line is opened in step S69, and the receiving process is terminated.

On the other hand, in step S70 branched in step S65 by NO, an RTN signal is sent out.
It is determined in step S71 whether or not a printer error has occurred. If YES, the process proceeds to step S72. If NO, the process returns to step S44 in FIG. Step S72
Then, a DCN signal is transmitted, an error message "Printer Error" is selected in step S73, and stored in the message memory 7c. Then, the protocol trace is ended in step S57 in FIG.
In step, the line is released, and the flow advances to step S81 in FIG.

In step S81 of FIG. 13, it is determined whether there is a report reply destination in the transfer destination table 7b. If YES, the process proceeds to step S82, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S83. In step S82, dial the call to the report return destination in the transfer destination table 7b corresponding to the box number specified by the SUB signal, make a call, and proceed to step S84. On the other hand, in step S83, since the report return destination is not registered in advance, dial the telephone number of the transmitting terminal identification number in the received TSI signal to make a call and proceed to step S84. Step S
At 84, image data of a communication error notification report (for example, as shown in FIG. 5) including the selected error message stored in the message memory 7c and the protocol trace stored in the trace memory 7b is generated and transmitted. Then, in step S85, the line is released, and the reception process ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the main control unit 1 of the facsimile apparatus 20 performs the communication procedure such as the protocol trace when the communication is interrupted due to the failure during the communication with the destination facsimile apparatus. The failure information including the history information is transmitted to the destination facsimile machine (step S84 in FIG. 13). Therefore, the communication state including the history information of the communication procedure with the receiver side can be understood in detail on the transmitter side, and for example, when an error occurs, a failure analysis can be performed based on the cause of the error. Accurate treatment can be performed quickly.

Here, the fault information includes a text message indicating the cause of the fault. Therefore, detailed information that cannot be understood from the history information of the communication procedure can be notified in characters, and even a novice user can easily understand the cause of the error.

<Modification> In the above embodiment, an example of the facsimile apparatus 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is connected to a public network such as a public telephone network or a public digital network. For example, the present invention can be applied to a communication terminal device including a data communication device.

[0042]

As described above in detail, according to the communication terminal device of the present invention, in the communication terminal device for transmitting image data received from a transmission requesting device to a predetermined destination terminal device, Means for transmitting failure information including communication procedure history information to the transmission requesting machine when communication is interrupted due to a failure during communication with the transmission requester. Therefore, the communication status including the history information of the communication procedure between the transmission requesting device and the next destination can be understood in detail by the transmission requesting device, and for example, when an error occurs, a failure analysis can be performed based on the error cause,
As a result, it is possible to quickly perform a predetermined accurate treatment.

Further, according to the communication terminal device of the present invention, in the communication terminal device which performs communication with the destination terminal device using a predetermined communication procedure, the communication is interrupted by a failure during the communication with the destination terminal device. In this case, there is provided means for transmitting failure information including history information of the communication procedure to the destination terminal device. Therefore, the communication state including the history information of the communication procedure with the receiver side can be understood in detail on the transmitter side, and for example, when an error occurs, a failure analysis can be performed based on the cause of the error. Accurate treatment can be performed quickly.

In the communication terminal device, the failure information preferably includes a text message indicating the cause of the failure. Therefore, detailed information that cannot be understood from the history information of the communication procedure can be notified in characters, and even a novice user can easily understand the cause of the error.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile machine 20 of a relay requester or a relay having a relay broadcast distribution function according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a relay broadcast distribution system of a conventional facsimile relay network.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a relay destination table 7a in a RAM 7 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a SUB signal transmitted and received by the facsimile machine 20 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication error notification report generated and transmitted by the facsimile machine 20 of FIG. 1;

6 is a flowchart showing a first part of the relay processing executed by the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the relay machine in FIG.

7 is a flowchart showing a second part of the relay processing executed by the main controller 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the relay machine in FIG.

8 is a flowchart showing a third part of the relay processing executed by the main controller 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the relay machine in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a RAM used in the second embodiment according to the present invention;
7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transfer destination table 7d in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a facsimile apparatus 2 according to a second embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format of a SUB signal transmitted and received at 0.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a first part of a reception process executed by the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the transfer machine according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a second part of the reception processing executed by the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the transfer machine according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a third part of the reception processing executed by the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of the transfer machine according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main control part, 6 ... ROM, 7 ... RAM, 7a ... Relay destination table, 7b ... Trade memory, 7c ... Message memory, 7d ... Transfer destination table, 8 ... Image memory, 10 ... Fax modem, 11 ... NCU, 13: Bus, 20: Relay machine facsimile device, 30: Relay request machine facsimile device, 40-1, 40-2, 40-3: Relay destination facsimile device, L: Public telephone line.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A communication terminal device for transmitting image data received from a transmission requesting device to a predetermined destination terminal device,
A communication terminal device, comprising: means for transmitting failure information including history information of a communication procedure to the transmission requesting machine when communication is interrupted due to a failure during communication with the transfer destination terminal device. 2. A communication terminal device for performing communication with a destination terminal device using a predetermined communication procedure, wherein when the communication is interrupted due to a failure during communication with the destination terminal device, a failure including history information of the communication procedure is performed. A communication terminal device comprising means for transmitting information to the destination terminal device. 3. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the failure information includes a text message indicating a cause of the failure.