JP2011087096A - Communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device that overcomes poor efficiency of overall transmission based on a redial function. <P>SOLUTION: A facsimile device X is provided with: a transmission start scheduled time memory unit 11 which memorizes a transmission start scheduled time of a plurality of communication data including a first communication data that is not transmitted on a way; a transmission finish scheduled time calculation unit 13 which calculates transmission finish scheduled time of respective communication data; a communication start scheduled time change unit 14 which compares the transmission finish scheduled time of a second communication data whose transmission start scheduled time is later than the transmission start scheduled time of the first communication data and transmission finish scheduled time of the first communication data, and if the second communication finish scheduled time is earlier, changes the transmission start scheduled time of the first communication data later than the transmission start schedule of the second communication data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device that transmits images, and more particularly to a technique for changing the transmission order of communication data when transmitting a plurality of accumulated communication data.

Generally, a facsimile that transmits and receives image information such as a document transmits communication data to a destination in accordance with the order of reading images to be transmitted and the order of designated transmission start times.
In such a facsimile machine, if the destination line of the communication data to be transmitted first is in use, redial the destination at a predetermined time interval and connect to the other party's line, and then send again. . At this time, since transmission processing of communication data to be transmitted later is performed after transmission processing of communication data to be transmitted first is completed, there is a problem that the transmission completion time of communication data to be transmitted later is delayed.
Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1, in a facsimile machine having a plurality of calling means (G3 / G4, etc.), the redialing interval is shortened by switching to a different calling means when redialing, and transmission of all communication data is performed. It has been proposed to shorten the time until completion.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-32630

However, since the method described in Patent Document 1 transmits communication data to a destination in accordance with the order of reading images and the order of designated transmission start times, the amount of communication data to be transmitted is large and the transmission time is long. In the case of a task, there is a problem that transmission of a task with a short transmission time becomes slow even if the task has a small amount of communication data to be transmitted later and a short transmission time.
In particular, since a task that has failed once is likely to fail again, there is an inconvenience that if the task to be redialed many times is waited for, the overall transmission efficiency is lowered.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication apparatus that can eliminate the poor transmission efficiency based on the redial function.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a communication having a redial function for transmitting communication data in the order in which the scheduled transmission start time has arrived and for transmitting again the first communication data that could not be transmitted but was interrupted. A transmission start scheduled time storage means for storing each of the plurality of communication data scheduled transmission start times including the first communication data, and each transmission start schedule stored in the transmission start scheduled time storage means Based on the redial function from the scheduled transmission completion time calculating means for calculating the transmission completion scheduled times of the plurality of communication data based on the time, and from the scheduled transmission completion time of each communication data calculated by the scheduled transmission completion time calculating means. The scheduled transmission start time is later than the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data to be transmitted again. And the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data, and if the transmission completion scheduled time of the second communication data earlier than the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data is found, The communication apparatus includes: a scheduled transmission time changing unit that changes the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data to a time later than the scheduled transmission start time of the second communication data.
In the communication apparatus according to the present invention, when transmitting again based on the redial function, the data amount of the first communication data to be transmitted first is considerably larger than the data amount of the second communication data to be transmitted later In this case, by changing the transmission order of the first communication data and the second communication data, the transmission waiting time of the second communication data with a small amount of data can be shortened.
More preferably, when the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data is earlier than a time obtained by subtracting a predetermined time from the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data, the transmission completion of the second communication data is completed. It is conceivable that the scheduled time is earlier. As a result, when the scheduled completion time of the second communication data is slightly earlier than the scheduled completion time of the first communication data transmission (when transmission is completed at a time exceeding the predetermined time). Since the effect of shortening the transmission waiting time of the second communication data due to the change of the transmission order is small, the transmission process of the first communication data is performed by changing the transmission order according to the original transmission order without changing the transmission order. It is possible to prevent the scheduled transmission completion time from becoming too late.
The time required for transmission by the transmission completion scheduled time calculation means can be obtained by dividing the data amount of the communication data by the transmission speed for transmission. The transmission completion time is calculated by adding the transmission time thus obtained to the transmission start scheduled time.

In addition, it further includes a transmission speed storage means for each transmission destination that stores a transmission speed for each transmission destination that has transmitted the communication data, and the transmission completion scheduled time calculation means is stored by the transmission speed storage means for each transmission destination. It is conceivable to calculate the scheduled transmission completion time based on the transmission speed for each transmission destination. This is because the transmission line and transmission speed used for each transmission destination may be different, so that the transmission speed is calculated for each communication data by storing the transmission speed for each transmission destination. This is to save time.
In addition, when transmitting communication data, the communication data further includes transmission state determining means for determining whether transmission is normally completed or interrupted in the middle of transmission, and the transmission completion scheduled time calculating means includes the transmission state determining means. When it is determined that the communication data is interrupted during transmission, the transmission completion schedule of the communication data is scheduled based on the transmission speed obtained by dividing the data amount of the communication data successfully transmitted by the transmission time. It is conceivable to calculate the time. Accordingly, the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data to be transmitted again based on the redial function due to a transmission error is calculated according to the latest transmission status, and the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data is ensured. Can increase the sex.

By the way, some communication devices are connected not only to one line but also to a plurality of lines, and simultaneously transmit a plurality of communication data. Therefore, the communication device of the present invention uses a plurality of destinations that can simultaneously transmit communication data to a plurality of destinations using a plurality of lines, and when the communication data is transmitted by the plurality of destination transmission means. Transmission line changing means for changing one of the lines used for the other to the other line, and the transmission start schedule storage means is transmitted for each of the plurality of lines by the plurality of destination transmission means. Further storing the scheduled transmission start times of the plurality of communication data including the first communication data, and the transmission completion scheduled time calculating means is stored for each of the plurality of lines by the transmission completion scheduled time calculating means. A transmission completion scheduled time when transmitting a plurality of the communication data is further calculated based on a transmission start scheduled time, and the transmission line changing means is calculated by the transmission completion scheduled time calculating means. A scheduled transmission completion time of one or a plurality of second communication data, which is later than a scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data from a scheduled transmission completion time of each communication data calculated for each line; The transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data is compared, a transmission completion scheduled time of the second communication data earlier than the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data is found, and the other communication line is found. When the other first communication data is not found, the line for transmitting the second communication data may be changed from one line to the other line.
In this way, the second communication data used for transmission after the completion of transmission of the first communication data is changed from one line to the other line, thereby transmitting the second communication data. The scheduled completion time can be advanced, and the time at which all transmissions of the first communication data and the second communication data are completed can be advanced.

  Facsimile communication failure also occurs when the other party's facsimile is busy or when the communication line is abnormal. In the case of an error based on such a cause, even if redialing, it does not always recover immediately. Therefore, redialing may be repeated many times. According to the present invention, under certain conditions, communication data that is scheduled to be transmitted after the communication data to be redialed is transmitted first, so that an error task that cannot be recovered indefinitely blocks the communication path. Inconvenience that normal transmission is hindered is avoided, and the transmission waiting time can be shortened.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus X that is an example of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of transmission processing in the facsimile machine X. The flowchart figure which shows an example of the transmission completion scheduled time calculation process in the facsimile apparatus X. The figure which shows an example (A) of communication data which competes, and an example (B) of a transmission start scheduled time change. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a facsimile machine X1 that is an example of a communication apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention. The timing chart figure which shows an example of the line change process in the facsimile apparatus X1.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

First, the configuration of the facsimile apparatus X according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the schematic configuration diagram shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile machine X includes a communication control unit 10, an operation unit 21, a main control unit 22, a scanner unit 23, a communication data storage unit 24, an RTC 25, and the like. In addition to the components shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile machine X includes components included in a general facsimile device, but the description is omitted here.
The communication control unit 10 includes a transmission start scheduled time storage unit 11, a transmission speed storage unit 12, a transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13, a transmission start scheduled time change unit 14, and a transmission / reception unit 15.
The scanner unit 23 includes, for example, an image sensor such as a contact image sensor (CIS: Contact Image Sensor), reads an image from a document by the image sensor, and stores it in the communication data storage unit 24 as communication data.
The communication data storage unit 24 is a non-volatile memory configured by, for example, a flash memory or an EEPROM, and stores communication data to be transmitted and received.
The operation unit 21 includes an input interface that accepts an operation input by the user, and includes an operation for causing the scanner unit 23 to read an image from an original or communication data. The information of the destination telephone number to be transmitted and the scheduled transmission start time is received.
An RTC (Real Time Clock) 25 is a clock of the facsimile machine X and keeps the current time even when the power is turned off.

The transmission / reception unit 15 includes an NCU (Network Control Unit), a modem, and the like, performs dial-up and negotiation processing for determining a communication method with a communication partner (partner station), and communicates with other facsimile apparatuses via a line. Data is transmitted and received.
The scheduled transmission start time storage unit 11 stores the communication data to be transmitted again after a predetermined time has elapsed from the occurrence of an error based on the scheduled transmission start time of communication data acquired in advance by input from the operation unit 21 or the redial function. The scheduled transmission start time is stored for each communication data. The scheduled transmission start time storage unit 11 is an example of a scheduled communication start time storage unit.
The transmission speed storage unit 12 stores a transmission speed at the time of transmitting data for each transmission destination. The transmission speed storage unit 12 is an example of a transmission speed storage unit.
The scheduled transmission completion time calculation unit 13 adds the transmission time obtained by dividing the data amount by the transmission rate stored in the transmission rate storage unit 12 for each communication data to be transmitted to the scheduled transmission start time, Calculate the time. The transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13 is an example of a communication completion scheduled time calculation unit.
When there is first communication data to be transmitted again based on the redial function, the transmission start scheduled time changing unit 14 starts transmitting the first communication data when the second communication data satisfying the following change conditions is found. The scheduled time is changed to a time later than the scheduled transmission start time of the second communication data. This change condition is that the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data that is later than the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data to be transmitted again based on the redial function is the transmission completion of the first communication data. It is earlier than the scheduled completion time. The scheduled transmission start time changing unit 14 is an example of a scheduled communication start time changing unit.
The main control unit 22 includes a CPU and a ROM. The CPU is a calculation means for performing various controls and calculations of the entire facsimile apparatus X. The ROM is a control program or calculation program executed by the CPU. It is a memory that stores data and the like to be referred to when executing a program. The main control unit 22 is also an example of a transmission state determination unit, and determines whether transmission is normally completed or interrupted during transmission.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an example of processing for transmitting communication data will be described with the main controller 22 of the facsimile apparatus X as the center. Note that S11, S12,... Shown below represent identification codes of processing procedures (steps).
First, an image to be transmitted by the user is set in the scanner unit 23, and a destination telephone number and a scheduled transmission start time are input by the operation unit 21. The input destination and the scheduled transmission start time are assigned an identification number by the main control unit 22 and then stored in the scheduled transmission start time storage unit 11 (step S11). The image set in the scanner unit 23 is read, assigned an identification number corresponding to the transmission destination and the scheduled transmission time, and stored in the communication data storage unit 24 (step S12). Then, the main control unit 22 acquires the current time from the RTC 25 and determines whether or not the scheduled transmission start time has arrived (step S13). If the scheduled transmission start time does not arrive (step S13; NO), the standby state is maintained as it is. When the scheduled transmission start time arrives (step S13; YES), the transmission / reception unit 15 reads out communication data corresponding to the identification request between the transmission destination and the scheduled transmission completion time from the communication data storage unit 24, and sends the transmission data to the transmission destination. Transmission processing is performed (step S14).
Next, the main control unit 22 determines whether or not the transmission process has ended normally (step S15). When the transmission process is normally completed (step S15; YES), the transmitted communication data is deleted from the communication data storage unit 24, and the transmission destination and the transmission start scheduled time are deleted from the communication start scheduled time storage unit 11. (Step S16).

If the transmission process is not normally completed (step S15; NO), the main control unit 22 sets the communication data as the first communication data, and sets the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data as a predetermined redial. According to the rule based on the function, it is changed to the time for transmission again (step S21). Further, according to an instruction from the main control unit 22, the transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13 calculates the transmission completion scheduled time based on the transmission start scheduled time (step S22). Details of the process for calculating the scheduled transmission completion time will be described later.
Subsequently, the main control unit 22 uses other communication data whose transmission start scheduled time is later than the transmission start scheduled time of the first communication data and whose transmission completion scheduled time is earlier than the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data. It is determined whether there is any second communication data (step S23). When it is determined that there is second communication data (step S23; YES), the transmission completion scheduled time change unit 14 sets the transmission start scheduled time of the first communication data to the second in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 22. The communication data is changed to a time later than the scheduled transmission start time (step S24).
When the communication data, the transmission destination, and the scheduled transmission start time are deleted after normal transmission processing (step S16), when it is determined that there is no second communication data (step S23; NO), and the scheduled transmission start time is If changed (step S24), it is determined whether transmission of all communication data has been completed (step S17).
If transmission of all communication data has not been completed (step S17; NO), the main control unit 22 waits until the scheduled transmission start time arrives again. When transmission of all communication data is completed (step S17; YES), the transmission process is terminated.
Thus, under certain conditions, the second communication data scheduled to be transmitted after the first communication data to be redialed is transmitted first, so that a task in an error state that cannot be recovered indefinitely passes the communication path. It is possible to avoid inconveniences such as blocking and preventing normal transmission. In addition, when the data amount of the first communication data to be redialed is much larger than the data amount of the second communication data scheduled to be transmitted later, transmission of the first communication data and the second communication data is performed. By changing the order, the transmission waiting time of the second communication data with a small amount of data can be shortened. In particular, when there are a plurality of second communication data, the number of tasks waiting for transmission can be reduced, and deterioration of the overall transmission efficiency based on the redial function can be prevented.

Next, based on FIG. 3, the calculation process of the scheduled transmission completion time in step S22 will be described.
First, the main control unit 22 adds the redial interval time to the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data, and changes the scheduled transmission start time (step S221). Subsequently, the main control unit 22 determines whether or not the first communication data has been successfully transmitted halfway (step S222). Here, “successfully transmitted halfway” means that communication is established and data transmission is performed for a predetermined time. If the transmission time is too short, it is not suitable for calculating the transmission speed using the data amount and time, so the same processing as when the other party could not transmit at all due to a call or the like is performed.
When the transmission is normally completed halfway (step S222; YES), the transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13 divides the data amount that has been successfully transmitted by the transmission time according to the instruction of the main control unit 22, The transmission speed of communication data 1 is calculated (S223). If the transmission cannot be normally completed halfway (step S222; NO), the transmission speed is read from the previous history of the same destination in the transmission speed storage unit 12, or the standard transmission speed is set if there is no history. The data is read and set as the transmission speed of the first communication data (step S224).
Next, in accordance with an instruction from the main control unit 22, the transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13 calculates a transmission time by dividing the data amount of the first communication data by the transmission speed (step S225). A transmission time is added to the transmission start scheduled time of the first communication data, and a new transmission completion scheduled time is calculated and stored in the transmission start completion time storage unit 11 (step S226).

As described above, according to the facsimile apparatus X of the present invention, the transmission waiting time of the second communication data transmitted after the first communication data transmitted again based on the redial function is shortened. Is possible.
In particular, it is effective when the amount of first communication data to be transmitted first is large or when the number of a plurality of second communication data to be transmitted later is large.
Furthermore, since the first communication data is transmitted again based on redialing, there is a high possibility that the first communication data will fail again without being able to connect to the other party than with normal transmission. Therefore, by changing the transmission order of the communication data, the transmission waiting time of the second communication data can be shortened without being affected by the delay of the transmission completion time due to the transmission failure of the first communication data.

As described above, the transmission condition of the scheduled transmission start time changing unit 14 is such that the transmission start time of the second communication data is later than the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data to be transmitted again based on the redial function. The case where the scheduled completion time is earlier than the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data has been described.
When the above change conditions are satisfied, the communication data that is scheduled to be transmitted after the redialed communication data is transmitted first, so a task in an error state that does not recover forever blocks the communication path and is normal. Inconveniences such as hindering transmission are avoided, and the transmission waiting time can be shortened.
The change condition may be that the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data is earlier than a time obtained by subtracting a predetermined time from the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data. As a result, when the scheduled completion time of the second communication data is slightly earlier than the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data (when transmission is completed at a time exceeding the predetermined time), redialing is performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data from being excessively delayed.
The predetermined time may be an arbitrary value determined on the basis of a predetermined time interval until re-transmission based on the redial function or the necessity of transmitting the first communication data quickly.
Here, a process for changing the scheduled transmission start times of the first communication data and the second communication data will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4A, for the first communication data, the scheduled redial start time is 0:00:00, the data amount is 100 Kbytes, the transmission speed at the time of transmission is 4800 bps, and the second communication data The scheduled redial start time is 0:01:00, the data amount is 10 Kbytes, and the transmission speed at the time of transmission is 14400 bps.
When the scheduled transmission completion time is calculated for the case where there is no communication data to be interrupted, the transmission time for the first communication data is (100 × 1024 × 8) ÷ 4800≈170 (seconds), so the transmission is completed. The scheduled time is 0:02:50. For the second communication data, the transmission time is (10 × 1024 × 8) ÷ 14400 (≈5.6) ≈6 (seconds), so the scheduled transmission completion time is 0:01:06.
As shown in FIG. 4A, when communication data is transmitted in the order in which the scheduled transmission start time arrives as in a general facsimile machine, the communication data after the transmission processing of the previous communication data is completed. Since the communication process is executed, the scheduled communication completion time of the first communication data becomes 0:02:50, and the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data becomes 0:02:56. On the other hand, when the transmission order is changed by the facsimile apparatus X according to this embodiment, the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data becomes 0:01:06, and the scheduled communication completion time of the first communication data becomes It becomes 0:03:56. As described above, the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data is delayed, but the transmission waiting time of the second communication data can be shortened. The number of second communication data that must be waited for completion of transmission of the first communication data, particularly when the amount of the first communication data is large and there are a plurality of second communication data with a small data amount. (Number of users) can be reduced.
Also, in the case of an error based on the fact that the other party is busy, the line cannot be established no matter how many times redialing is performed, so the transmission completion time of the second communication data may be delayed as much as possible. However, as in this embodiment, such inconvenience can be avoided by giving priority to the transmission of the second communication data on condition that the change condition is satisfied.
That is, since the first communication data is transmitted again based on redialing, it is impossible to connect to the other party and the transmission fails again compared to the case where other communication data is transmitted to the other party. There is a high possibility of doing. Thus, when the transmission of the first communication data fails to transmit again, the transmission data of the second communication is transmitted when the transmission data is transmitted in the order in which the scheduled transmission start time arrives as in a general facsimile machine. Although the scheduled transmission completion time is considerably delayed from 0:02:56 to 0:05:56, when the transmission order is changed by the facsimile apparatus X according to this embodiment, the first communication data The transmission completion time is not affected by the transmission failure and the transmission completion scheduled time remains 0:01:06, and the overall waiting time is greatly reduced.
There may be a plurality of second communication data, and the scheduled transmission start time of the second communication data is not limited to the time of re-transmission based on the redial function, but may be a time designated by the user. .

In the above embodiment, the case where there is one line connected to the facsimile apparatus X has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the communication control unit 10A is connected to a plurality of lines and simultaneously transmits a plurality of communication data. Anything that can be done.
As shown in FIG. 5, the facsimile machine X1 includes a communication control unit 10A, an operation unit 21, a main control unit 22, a scanner unit 23, a communication data storage unit 24, an RTC 25, and the like. The communication control unit 10A includes a transmission start scheduled time storage unit 11A, a transmission speed storage unit 12, a transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13A, a transmission / reception unit 15A, and a transmission line change unit 16. 1 and 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same components is omitted.
The transmission / reception unit 15A has two configurations of the transmission / reception unit 15 and is connected to the line A and the line B. At the same time, the transmission / reception unit 15A can transmit / receive communication data to / from two facsimile apparatuses through the lines A and B. The transmission / reception unit 15A is an example of a multi-destination transmission unit.
Similar to the scheduled transmission start time storage unit 11, the scheduled transmission start time storage unit 11 A for each of the lines A and B detects the occurrence of an error based on the scheduled transmission start time of communication data acquired in advance and the redial function. The scheduled transmission start time of communication data to be transmitted again after a predetermined time has elapsed is stored for each communication data.
The transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13A, for each of the lines A and B, similarly to the transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 13, sets the data amount for each communication data to be transmitted at the transmission speed stored in the transmission speed storage unit 12. The transmission completion time is calculated by adding the transmission time obtained by the division to the transmission start scheduled time.
If there is first communication data to be redialed on a certain line and there is second communication data that satisfies the following change condition, the transmission line change unit 16 selects the line used for transmission of the second communication data. Change to another line. The transmission line changing unit 16 is an example of a transmission line changing unit.
The change condition of the transmission line changing unit 16 is that the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data, which is later than the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data to be redialed, is the first communication data. This is a case where there is no first communication data to be redialed to the other line earlier than the scheduled transmission completion time.
Next, description will be made based on a specific example shown in FIG. The first communication data and the second communication data (a) to be redialed in sequence are scheduled to be transmitted through the line A, and the second communication data (b) is scheduled to be transmitted through the line B. In this case, since the above condition is satisfied, the line used for transmission of the second communication data (a) is set so that the second communication data (a) scheduled to be transmitted via the line A is transmitted via the line B. Change from line A to line B. With this change, the transmission completion scheduled time of the second communication data (b) originally transmitted through the line B is extended from 0:02:30 to 0:03, but the transmission of the second communication data (a) is completed. The scheduled time is as early as 0:02:00. As described above, the transmission completion scheduled time of the second communication data (b) transmitted through the line B is delayed, but the transmission waiting time of the second communication data (a) transmitted through the line A can be shortened. . In particular, when there is a plurality of second communication data (a) in which the amount of first communication data is large and the amount of data is small, the second communication that must wait for the transmission of the first communication data to be completed The number of data (a) (number of users) can be reduced.
Further, since the transmission order of the second communication data (a) and the second communication data (b) is in the order of the scheduled transmission start time, the scheduled transmission start time of the second communication data (b) is the second. Even if the communication data is slower than the communication data (a), there is no big problem. Further, the delay of the scheduled transmission start time of the second communication data (b) is the second communication data (a) of the scheduled transmission start time earlier than the scheduled transmission start time of the second communication data (b). It is extremely limited because it is limited to cases.
Thus, the overall waiting time can be shortened by changing the line for transmitting the second communication data (a) on condition that the above change condition is satisfied.
The transmission line changing unit 16 has a change condition in which the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data is earlier than the time obtained by subtracting a predetermined time from the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data, There may be no first communication data to be transmitted again based on the redial function. As a result, when the scheduled completion time of the second communication data (a) is slightly earlier than the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data (when transmission is completed at a time exceeding the time that is back by the predetermined time). In addition, since the transmission of the second communication data (b) of the other line B is prioritized, it is possible to prevent the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data (b) from being excessively delayed. The predetermined time may be an arbitrary value determined on the basis of a predetermined time interval until redialing or the necessity of quickly transmitting the second communication data (b) through the other line B.
In the above description, the case where the facsimile apparatus X1 transmits communication data to two facsimile apparatuses simultaneously via two lines A and B has been described. However, simultaneous communication to three or more facsimile apparatuses via three or more lines is possible. It may be capable of transmitting data.

X, X1: Facsimile device (an example of a communication device)
10, 10A: Communication control unit 11, 11A: Transmission start scheduled time storage unit 12: Transmission speed storage unit 13, 13A: Transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit 14: Transmission start scheduled time change unit 15, 15A: Transmission / reception unit 16: Transmission Line change unit 21: operation unit 22: main control unit (an example of transmission state determination means)
23: Scanner unit 24: Communication data storage unit 25: RTC

Claims (6)

A communication device having a redial function for transmitting communication data in the order in which the scheduled transmission start time has arrived and for transmitting again the first communication data that could not be transmitted but was interrupted.
A transmission start scheduled time storage means for storing a plurality of scheduled transmission start times of the communication data including the first communication data;
A transmission completion scheduled time calculation means for calculating a plurality of communication data scheduled transmission completion times based on each transmission start scheduled time stored in the transmission start scheduled time storage means;
One or more scheduled transmission start times that are later than the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data to be transmitted again based on the redial function from the scheduled transmission completion time of each communication data calculated by the scheduled transmission completion time calculation means The scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data is compared with the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data, and the second communication data of the second communication data earlier than the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data is compared. A scheduled transmission time changing means for changing the scheduled transmission start time of the first communication data to a time later than the scheduled transmission start time of the second communication data when a scheduled transmission completion time is found;
A communication apparatus comprising:   If the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data is earlier than the time obtained by subtracting a predetermined time from the scheduled transmission completion time of the first communication data, the scheduled transmission completion time of the second communication data The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein is an early time.   2. The transmission completion scheduled time calculating means calculates a transmission completion scheduled time by adding a transmission time obtained by dividing the data amount of the communication data by a transmission speed for transmission to the transmission start scheduled time. 3. The communication device according to any one of 2. Further comprising transmission speed storage means for each transmission destination for storing the transmission speed for each transmission destination that has transmitted the communication data;
4. The transmission completion scheduled time calculation unit calculates a transmission completion scheduled time based on the transmission speed for each transmission destination stored by the transmission speed storage unit for each transmission destination. Communication device. When transmitting communication data, further comprising a transmission state determining means for determining whether the transmission is normally completed or interrupted in the middle of transmission,
When the transmission completion scheduled time calculating means determines that the communication data has been interrupted in the middle of transmission by the transmission state determining means, it is obtained by dividing the data amount of the communication data that has been normally transmitted by the transmission time. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a scheduled transmission completion time of the communication data is calculated based on the transmission speed. A multi-destination transmission means capable of simultaneously transmitting communication data to a plurality of transmission destinations using a plurality of lines;
Transmission line changing means for changing one line used for transmitting the communication data by the plurality of destination transmission means to another line;
Further comprising
The transmission start schedule storage means further stores a plurality of scheduled transmission start times of the communication data including the first communication data transmitted for each of the plurality of lines by the plurality of destination transmission means,
The transmission completion scheduled time calculation means further determines a transmission completion scheduled time when transmitting a plurality of the communication data based on each transmission start scheduled time stored for each of the plurality of lines by the transmission completion scheduled time calculation means. Calculate
The transmission line changing means has a transmission start scheduled time from a transmission completion scheduled time of each communication data calculated for each of the plurality of lines by the transmission completion scheduled time calculating means from a transmission start scheduled time of the first communication data. The transmission completion scheduled time of the late one or more second communication data is compared with the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data, and the second earlier than the transmission completion scheduled time of the first communication data. When the scheduled transmission completion time of the communication data is found and no other first communication data is found on the other line, the line for transmitting the second communication data is changed from one line to the other. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the communication device is changed to the line.

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