JP2002057839A - Fax server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fax server by which received data can be easily managed by making a flexible contact with other servers. SOLUTION: When the picture data or electronic mail received by a FAX server does not correspond to the conditions on deciding a destination, the picture data or electronic mail is transferred to the server, if the server has been registered in the FAX server (S5). Whether or not there is a server in the same segment is inquired, even if the server has not been registered (S6). When there is a deliverable server, the picture data or electronic mail is transferred to the server (S8). Thus, in case that the picture data or electronic mail correspond to the conditions on deciding a destination in the deliverable server, the picture data or e-mail is to be delivered to the corresponding destination.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile server connected to a communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a communication network system in which a facsimile server, a mail server, a personal computer, and the like are connected to each other using a communication network has been spreading. For this reason,
A FAX server connected to a communication network can distribute data received from a dedicated line connected to a public line network or the Internet to each client.

[0003]

However, according to this distribution method, received data that cannot be distributed remains stored in the FAX server. That is, received data that cannot be distributed is accumulated in the FAX server. As a result, when a large amount of received data that cannot be distributed is accumulated, the communication network administrator must determine how to process the accumulated received data and appropriately process the received data. Therefore, when such a situation occurs, it is difficult to easily manage the received data.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to easily manage received data by flexibly cooperating with another server. To provide a facsimile server capable of performing such operations.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a facsimile server which determines a destination of received data and distributes the received data to the determined destination is provided. In the case where the distribution destination of the received data cannot be determined, a control means for transferring the received data to a predetermined server is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the destination of the received data is determined, and if the destination of the received data cannot be determined by the FAX server that distributes the received data to the determined destination, the communication network Control means for searching for another server.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile server according to the first or second aspect, the facsimile server further comprises recording means for recording the received data on a recording sheet, and the control means determines a destination of the received data. If not, the received data is recorded on recording paper by the recording means.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the FAX server according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network system comprises a facsimile server 1 having a telephone line L1, a gateway 2 connected to the Internet via a dedicated line L2, a mail server 3, a plurality of personal computers 4, and each device 1.
1 to 4, a hub (HUB) 5, a transceiver 6, an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable 7, an AUI cable 8, and a twisted pair cable 9.

[0010] The FAX server 1, gateway 2, mail server 3 and personal computer 4 are connected to a hub 5 via a twisted pair cable 9. The hub 5 is connected to the transceiver 6 via the AUI cable 8. The transceiver 6 is connected to another transceiver 6 via an Ethernet cable 7. The FAX server 1, the gateway 2, the mail server 3 and the personal computer 4 have a built-in interface for connecting to the twisted pair cable 9. Hub 5 is twisted pair cable 9 and A
It is provided to connect to the UI cable 8 and functions as a concentrator in connection with the communication network T. The transceiver 6 is provided for connecting the AUI cable 8 and the Ethernet cable 7.

The FAX server 1 has a mail address as a client of the mail server 3. The gateway 2 includes a communication protocol for controlling communication with other devices other than the communication network T. The gateway 2 also has a firewall function for preventing unauthorized entry into the communication network T.

The mail server 3 has a communication protocol (SMTP, POP3, etc.) used for electronic mail. When you send the e-mail with the image data attached,
Internet FAX can be realized. The mail server 3 has a mailbox for each client.

A plurality of personal computers 4 includes a control unit for controlling the entire personal computer 4, and an LCD for displaying various information.
And a storage unit such as a keyboard and mouse for inputting predetermined characters and the like, and a hard disk, etc., for instructing various information displayed on the display unit. In addition, the plurality of personal computers 4
A communication protocol for transmitting and receiving between the AX server 1, the gateway 2, the mail server 3 and another personal computer 4, and between the FAX server 1 or the mail server 3 and the external facsimile machine via the gateway 2 Have. The plurality of personal computers 4 have mail addresses as clients of the mail server 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the facsimile server 1 comprises a facsimile machine main body 1a and an option board 30. The facsimile machine body 1a is an MPU
11, ROM 12, RAM 13, reading unit 14, recording unit 1
5, an operation unit 16, a display unit 17, an image memory 18, a codec 19, a modem 20, an NCU 21, and an option board slot unit 22;
To 22 are respectively connected via a bus 23.

The MPU 11 controls each part of the FAX server 1. The ROM 12 stores a program for controlling the FAX server 1. RAM 13 is an FA
Various information related to transmission / reception and transfer of the X server 1 is temporarily stored.

The reading unit 14 reads image data on a document and outputs black and white binary image data. The recording unit 15 is formed of an electrophotographic printer, and records received image data or image data of a document read by the reading unit 14 on recording paper in a recording operation or a copying operation of received image data.

The operation unit 16 includes a numeric keypad (including the * and # keys) 16a for inputting a telephone number, an abbreviated key 16b for registering an abbreviated number or transmitting from an abbreviated number, a telephone number or a FAX number registered in advance. One-touch key 16c for designating a one-touch operation, a start key 16d for starting a document reading operation, and a "communication (FA)
X) Communication for setting "operation" or "copy" operation /
Various operation keys such as a copy key 16e are provided. LC
D, etc., of the facsimile apparatus body 1a
Various information such as the operating state of the device is displayed.

The image memory 18 is read by the received image data and the reading unit 14 and is binarized.
The image data encoded according to the R system is temporarily stored. The image memory 18 temporarily stores image data transmitted from the personal computer 4 via the option board slot unit 22.

The codec 19 encodes the image data read by the reading unit 14 in accordance with the MH, MR, MMR system or the like for transmission. The codec 19 decodes the received image data.

The modem 20 modulates and demodulates a facsimile transmission control procedure signal and image data. NCU21
Has a function of closing and opening the telephone line L1, detecting the transmission and reception of a dial signal corresponding to the fax number of the other party, and the like.

The option board slot section 22 has an option board 3 for connecting to the communication network T.
0 is equipped. That is, the option board 30
Is provided in the option board slot section 22, the connection to the communication network T becomes possible.

As shown in FIG.
Is composed of an MPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, an image memory 34, a data conversion unit 35, a PC card interface 36, a PC card type memory 37, a communication protocol control unit 38, and a network interface 39. Are connected via a bus 40.

The MPU 31 controls each component of the option board 30. The ROM 32 stores a program for controlling the option board 30. RAM
33 temporarily stores various information related to the option board 30. The image memory 34 stores the image data sent from the personal computer 4.

The data conversion unit 35 includes the TIFF and BM transmitted from the personal computer 4 via the communication network T.
Image data such as P, GIF, JPEG, PCX, DCX, etc. can be stored in MH, MR, MMR format, TIFF-MH, TIF
The image data is converted into image data of F-MR, TIFF-MMR or the like. Conversely, the MH, MR, MMR system, TIFF-MH, TIFF-
In order to convert image data such as MR, TIFF-MMR, etc. into a format that can be easily handled by a plurality of personal computers 4, a TIF
The image data is converted into image data such as F, BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, and DCX.

The PC card interface 36 is
The PC card type memory 37 is accessed via the PC card adapter 36a based on the control signal from the PU 31. The PC card type memory 37 is "PC Card Standard"
, And is constituted by, for example, a flash memory (EEPROM). The PC card type memory 37 has a data area 37a for each client, and stores image data transferred from the image memory 18 and data related to transmission / reception via the option board 30.

The communication protocol control unit 38 communicates with other devices on the communication network T via the network interface 39,
9 and a communication protocol for controlling communication with other devices other than the communication network T via the public line network or the like. More specifically, for example, SMTP (mail transmission protocol), POP3 (mail reception protocol), a salutation communication protocol defined by the Salutation Consortium, LDAP (Li
ghtweight Directory Access Protocol).

In this embodiment, the electronic mail addressed to the FAX server 1 received by the mail server 3
The X server 1 receives data at predetermined time intervals using the POP3 protocol.

Next, the operation of the FAX server 1 at the time of distribution and at the time of transfer will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This operation is executed under the control of the MPU 11 based on a program stored in the ROM 12.

The facsimile server 1 transmits image data by facsimile communication from the public line network via the telephone line L1 or e-mail from the Internet to the facsimile server 1 via the dedicated line L2, the gateway 2 and the mail server 3. Is received and the image data or the e-mail is stored in the image memory 18 or the PC card type memory 37, in step S1 shown in FIG.
The distribution destination client of the image data stored in the PC 8 or the e-mail stored in the PC card type memory 37 is determined. Here, in the distribution destination determination processing, the distribution destination of the image data or the e-mail is determined based on the distribution destination determination condition for determining the distribution destination stored in the RAM 13. That is, in the case of reception by facsimile communication, a destination determining process of image data is executed based on a source telephone number, a subaddress indicated by a SUB signal, or the like as a destination determining condition. On the other hand, in the case of receiving an e-mail, an e-mail distribution destination determination process is executed based on the header or the description in the text as a distribution destination determination condition.

In step S2, the aforementioned step S
In 1, it is determined whether or not the distribution destination of the image data or the e-mail has been determined. That is, the image data or the e-mail received by the FAX server 1 may be received if the image data or the e-mail does not correspond to the distribution destination determining condition. Therefore, it is determined whether the distribution destination of the image data or the e-mail has been determined. Then, when the distribution destination of the image data or the e-mail is determined, the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if the destination of the image data or the e-mail has not been determined, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S3, the step S
The distribution processing to the distribution destination determined in 1 is executed. Specifically, the image data stored in the image memory 18 or the e-mail stored in the PC card type memory 37 is delivered to the data area 37a for each client. At this time, the fact that the received image data or the e-mail has been distributed by facsimile communication is notified to the personal computer 4 of each client using a salutation communication protocol.

In step S4, the FAX server 1
It is determined whether there is a server registered in. That is, since the FAX server 1 cannot distribute the image data or the e-mail, it is determined whether or not there is a server registered in the FAX server 1. If there is a server registered in the FAX server 1, the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if there is no server registered in the FAX server 1, the process proceeds to step S6.

In step S5, the FAX server 1
The image data or the e-mail stored in the image memory 18 or the PC card type memory 37 is transferred to the server registered in. At this time, if the transfer target is image data, the source telephone number or SU
The subaddress indicated by the B signal is transferred to the registered server together with the image data. On the other hand, when the transfer target is an e-mail, the transfer is performed to a server in which a header or the like as a delivery destination determination condition is registered together with the text.

In step S6, an inquiry is made as to whether a server exists in the same segment. Specifically, it is inquired using LDAP whether or not a server exists in the same segment, that is, on the same communication network T.

In step S7, the aforementioned step S
Based on the result of the inquiry in 6, it is determined whether there is a server that can be delivered. If there is a server that can be delivered, the process proceeds to step S8. On the other hand, if there is no server that can be distributed, the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S8, the image memory 18 or P
The image data or e-mail stored in the C-card type memory 37 is transferred to a server that can deliver the image data or e-mail. At this time, if the transfer target is image data, a transmission source telephone number, a subaddress indicated by a SUB signal, and the like as distribution destination determination conditions are transferred together with the image data to a server that can be distributed in the same segment. On the other hand, when the transfer target is an e-mail, a header or the like as a delivery destination determination condition is transferred to a server which can be delivered in the same segment together with a text.

In step S9, the image memory 18
Alternatively, the image data or the electronic mail stored in the PC card type memory 37 is recorded on the recording paper by the recording unit 15. That is, since the distribution destination is unknown, the image memory 18 or the PC
The image data or e-mail stored in the card type memory 37 is recorded on recording paper by the recording unit 15. In the case of image data by facsimile communication, based on the sender's FAX number, or in the case of e-mail, based on the sender's address (from address), it is necessary to notify the sender that the destination is unknown. May be sent.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following operations and effects can be obtained. (1) When the image data or the e-mail received by the FAX server 1 does not correspond to the distribution destination determination condition,
If there is a server registered in the X server 1, image data or e-mail is transferred to that server.
At this time, if the transfer target is image data, a source telephone number or a subaddress indicated by a SUB signal as a distribution destination determination condition is transferred to a server in which the sub-address is registered together with the image data. On the other hand, when the transfer target is an e-mail, the transfer is performed to a server in which a header or the like as a delivery destination determination condition is registered together with the text. As a result, in the registered server, when the image data or the e-mail satisfies the distribution destination determination condition, the image data or the e-mail is distributed to the corresponding distribution destination. Therefore, by coordinating with other servers flexibly,
It is possible to easily manage received data. Therefore,
A flexible communication network can be built.

(2) In addition, even if no server is registered in the FAX server 1, it is asked whether a server exists in the same segment. In other words, it is searched whether a server exists in the same segment. Therefore, if there is a server that can be delivered based on the result of the inquiry, the image data or the e-mail is transferred to that server. At this time, if the transfer target is image data, a source telephone number, a subaddress indicated by a SUB signal, or the like as a distribution destination determination condition is transferred to a server that can distribute the image data together with the image data. On the other hand, when the transfer target is an e-mail, a header or the like as a delivery destination determination condition is transferred to a server that can deliver the message together with the text.
As a result, when the image data or the e-mail satisfies the distribution destination determining condition in the server capable of distribution, the image data or the e-mail is distributed to the relevant distribution destination. Therefore, the received data can be easily managed by flexibly cooperating with another server.

(3) Further, based on the result of the inquiry, if there is no server that can be distributed, that is, if the distribution destination is unknown image data or electronic mail, the recording unit 15 records it on recording paper. . Therefore, the image data or the e-mail whose distribution destination is unknown are stored in the image memory 18 of the FAX server 1.
Alternatively, it is not stored in the PC card type memory 37.
In addition, since the recording is performed on the recording paper by the recording unit 15, the recipient (recipient) can be easily specified based on the destination recorded on the recording paper. Therefore, it is not necessary for the communication network administrator to determine how to process the image data or the e-mail stored in the image memory 18 or the PC card type memory 37 and to perform the processing appropriately.

(4) At the same time, even if the server is not registered in the FAX server 1, it is asked whether a server exists in the same segment. For this reason,
Even if the FAX server 1 has a small capacity for registering a distribution destination and receives image data or e-mail that is not registered in the FAX server 1, the received image data or e-mail is reliably transferred or recorded. be able to. Therefore, the present invention can be effectively applied to the FAX server 1 having a small registered capacity of the distribution destination.

The above embodiment can be embodied with the following modifications. In the above-described embodiment, the case of facsimile communication and electronic mail via the Internet has been described. However, the present invention may be applied to distribution using a communication protocol for salutation. In this case, it goes without saying that, together with the image data, the user name and the transmission source FAX number are transferred to a registered server or a distributable server as the distribution destination determination condition.

In the above embodiment, the facsimile server 1
When transferring to a registered server, the image data or the e-mail may be transferred to the registered server by converting the image format to an image format suitable for the registered server. . Here, examples of the image format include conversion of an encoding method, image quality, and the like.

In addition, when the image data or the e-mail is distributed to the destination, the image data or the image format of the e-mail may be converted and distributed according to the capability of the destination. .

In the above-described embodiment, whether or not a server exists in the same segment is inquired using LDAP, but instead, whether a server exists in the same segment using broadcast is used. It may be configured to inquire whether or not it is not.

Further, technical ideas other than the claims grasped from the above embodiment and the like will be described below together with their effects. [1] The facsimile server according to claim 3, further comprising storage means for storing the received data, wherein the control means causes the recording means to record the received data on a recording sheet when the distribution destination of the received data cannot be determined. server. With such a configuration, received data whose destination is unknown is not accumulated in the storage unit.

[2] A condition storing means for storing a delivery destination determining condition, and a FAX server for determining a delivery destination of the received data based on the condition storing means and delivering the received data to the determined delivery destination, The control means is a facsimile server for transferring the received data to a predetermined server when the destination of the received data cannot be determined. With this configuration, by coordinating with other servers flexibly,
It is possible to easily manage received data.

[3] A condition storing means for storing a delivery destination determining condition, and a FAX server which determines a delivery destination of the reception data based on the condition storage means and distributes the reception data to the determined delivery destination, The control unit is a facsimile server that searches for another server in the communication network when the distribution destination of the received data cannot be determined. According to this configuration, the received data can be easily managed by flexibly cooperating with another server.

[4] Claims 1-3, [1]-
In the fax server according to any one of [3],
The control means is a facsimile server that converts the image format of the received data at the time of distribution according to the capability of the distribution destination and distributes the data to the distribution destination. With this configuration, the received data can be distributed according to the capability of the distribution destination. Therefore,
It is possible to prevent reception data from becoming unreceivable at the distribution destination.

[5] When the distribution destination of the received data is determined and the distribution destination of the received data cannot be determined by the computer on the recording medium in the FAX server that distributes the received data to the determined distribution destination, the received data is transmitted to the computer. A recording medium on which a program for causing a program to be transferred to a predetermined server is recorded. With this configuration, it is possible to provide a recording medium that can easily manage received data by flexibly cooperating with another server.

[6] When the distribution destination of the received data is determined and the distribution destination of the received data cannot be determined by the computer on the recording medium in the FAX server that distributes the received data to the determined distribution destination, the communication network A recording medium on which a program for causing another server to be searched is recorded. With this configuration, by coordinating with other servers flexibly,
A recording medium capable of easily managing received data can be provided.

[0052]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. According to the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, it is possible to easily manage received data by flexibly cooperating with another server.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the invention, received data whose destination is unknown is not accumulated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication network system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a FAX server.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an option board.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing operations at the time of distribution and at the time of transfer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 FAX server, 11 MPU constituting control means,
12: ROM constituting control means, 13: RAM constituting control means and condition storage means, 15: recording section as recording means, 18: image memory as storage means, 37 ...
PC card type memory as storage means, T ... communication network.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA13 AA35 AB02 AB10 AB17 AB22 AB25 AB38 AB41 AB43 AB44 AC02 AC04 AC22 AC28 AC29 AC43 AE02 AE08 AF01 AF02 5C075 AB90 CA14 CA15 CD09 CF05 5K030 GA11 GA17 HB04 KA01 KA06 LD

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A control for determining a distribution destination of received data and, when a facsimile server for distributing the received data to the determined distribution destination, determining a distribution destination of the received data, transferring the received data to a predetermined server. FAX server with means. 2. A facsimile server that determines a distribution destination of received data and distributes the received data to the determined distribution destination. If the distribution destination of the received data cannot be determined, another server in the communication network is searched. FAX server with control means. 3. The facsimile machine according to claim 1 or 2,
A facsimile server that includes a recording unit that records the received data on a recording sheet, and the control unit causes the recording unit to record the received data on the recording sheet when a distribution destination of the received data cannot be determined.