JP2584191B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus for automatically performing a plurality of retransmissions when transmission is impossible in facsimile communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as the use of facsimile communication has increased, the storage and broadcasting function has been increasingly used.

A conventional facsimile apparatus of this type temporarily stores a broadcast message received from a terminal and performs a broadcast process in accordance with the control contents of the message.
When transmitting a broadcast message, if the terminal device on the other side enters an abnormal state due to power off, running out of recording paper, busy, or abnormal line, etc., it is determined that transmission is impossible, and retransmission processing is repeated multiple times. It has become.

[0004] In this retransmission process, the interval until a recall is always constant. That is, retransmission is started after waiting for a predetermined interval (time).

[0005]

It should be noted that the conventional facsimile apparatus requires a recovery time from the cause of transmission failure,
Despite the length of the cause, the interval between recalls was always set constant.

[0006]

To SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, the present invention is a transmission processing unit that performs a plurality of times of re-transmission processing time was impossible transmitted to the specified destination terminal, the calling number
Is less than a predetermined number, the first call interval and the number of calls
A calling interval memory for storing a second calling interval after reaching a predetermined number of times; and a retransmission process for a destination terminal to which transmission was impossible when the number of calls is determined. Is the place
If the fixed number of times has been reached, the calling interval is set to the first calling interval.
To the second calling interval, the second calling interval
And control means for performing retransmission processing after the elapse of .

[0007] In addition, if the number of recalls is limited (generally three times in the past), there is a problem that the broadcast message is not delivered.

Therefore, the present invention provides a method for determining the calling interval in detail by taking into account the cause of transmission failure, the calling pattern of each terminal, the number of recalls, and the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of reducing the utilization efficiency of the number of times and the non-delivery rate of a broadcast message.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention transmits image information to a designated destination terminal and, when transmission to the destination terminal is impossible, makes a plurality of repetitions. A transmission processing unit for performing a transmission process, a call interval memory in which a call interval corresponding to the number of times of the retransmission process is stored in advance, and a call interval stored in the call interval memory when performing the retransmission process Control means for performing a retransmission process to the destination terminal based on the

[0010]

According to the above arrangement, the number of recalls can be reduced to a predetermined number.
When it reaches, the previous call interval is changed from the first call interval to the second
Since the call interval has been changed to 2, it is proportional to the passage of time
To the same destination terminal while reducing the number of calls
The ratio of unsent messages can be reduced, and line utilization efficiency can be reduced.
Improvement can be achieved. Further, since the calling interval for each recall interval in the memory is preset in the facsimile apparatus, no special communication procedure is required.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing one embodiment of a broadcast system including a facsimile apparatus of the present invention, in the _{figure, FAX 1, FAX 2 ...... FAX} n is a conventionally known transmission and reception shared Facsimile terminal devices (although some may be dedicated reception-only devices), S is each facsimile terminal device F
AX ₁ ~FAX _n connected via the facsimile communication line the switch, M is the facsimile apparatus of the present invention connected via a (two-line in the illustrated example) the switch S and a plurality of receive and transmit lines . M _IN is a connection end of the reception line, and Mout is a connection end of the transmission line.

In this embodiment, a known broadcast instruction mark sheet (although an OCR sheet or the like may be used) as an input means of control information for controlling the broadcast communication.
Is used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus M includes a facsimile reception control unit (increases or decreases according to the number of lines) 1 for controlling facsimile reception, a reception channel control unit 2 for controlling the entire reception channel, A message reception management unit 3 for receiving and managing the broadcast message, a message storage unit 4 for storing the content of the broadcast message, and a message management information storage for storing and managing information other than the content of the broadcast message, for example, the reception date and time. Unit 5, a message distribution management unit 6 for extracting a broadcast message when transmission is required, a transmission channel control unit 7 for controlling the entire transmission channel, and facsimile transmission for controlling transmission of the broadcast message to a destination. A control unit 8, a mark sheet recognizing unit 9 for recognizing control information necessary for broadcast from information on a broadcast instruction mark sheet input together with a broadcast message, and terminal information (described later). In addition to the terminal information storage unit 10 for accumulating the information, the call interval (time) according to the situation when the broadcast communication could not be performed in advance (the cause of the transmission failure) and the number of recalls ) Is stored, and a call pattern number (prestored in the terminal information storage unit 10 as described later) when broadcast transmission is not possible from the call interval storage unit 11 And a call interval control unit 12 for extracting a call interval at the time of recall processing determined by the cause of transmission failure and the number of recalls.

As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal information storage unit 10 is composed of a plurality of storage units 10a, 10b,... , Etc., so that each storage unit can be searched.

Each of the storage units 10a, 10b,...
Terminal number (each FAX _{1 to} FAX _n number) storage unit,
A terminal name (distribution destination name, management unit name, etc.) storage unit, a telephone number storage unit, a calling pattern number storage unit, and the like,
The other party's ground information of the broadcast is stored and managed in each of these storage units.

The destination information of each of the storage units 10a, 10b,..., 10n is taken into the message reception management unit 3, the message distribution management unit 6, and the mark sheet recognition unit 9 as required.

In particular, the call pattern number (counterparty information) in the call pattern number storage unit is taken in by the call interval control unit 12 as described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the calling interval control section 11 associates each of the calling pattern numbers stored in the terminal information storage section 10 with the same number of storage sections 11a, 11a.
.., 11n are arranged in series, and are configured to be able to sequentially search these storage units.

Each of the storage units 11a, 11b,... 11n is appropriately determined according to the number of times of recall and the cause of the failure of the broadcast transmission (for example, classified into busy, line abnormality, communication error, etc.). call interval N ₁₁ to N _nm which is determined is previously stored for each calling pattern number.

The calling interval can be further finely corrected by subdividing the number of recalls and the cause of the failure. This enables more efficient broadcast communication.

Here, when the calling interval determined by the number of recalls is set to be widened each time the number is repeated,
Or the reverse case is conceivable. Further, the same calling interval may be set up to the first few times, and another interval (wider or narrower than the initial interval) may be set when the number exceeds a predetermined number. Further, the calling interval may be determined according to the cause of failure and the number of recalls as in the present embodiment, but the calling interval may be controlled only according to the number of calls at the time of retransmission.

Next, the operation of the facsimile machine M having the above configuration will be described. Now, suppose that FAX ₁ shown in FIG.
When the user sets the broadcast instruction mark sheet and the broadcast message and performs a transmission operation, these messages are received as image information by the facsimile reception control unit 1 via the exchange S in accordance with a general-purpose facsimile transmission procedure.

The received image information is input to the message storage unit 4 and the message management information storage unit 5 via the reception channel control unit 2 and the message reception management unit 3 line by line, and at the same time, the mark sheet recognition unit 9 Is input to

Based on the input data input to the mark sheet recognizing section 9, the recognizing section 9 detects the presence or absence of a mark, that is, the presence or absence of control information necessary for broadcast communication. When the presence of the control information is recognized, the terminal number information of the destination is extracted from the control information, and the terminal number information is compared with each information (terminal number) in the terminal information storage unit 10.

As a result of the comparison, when it is determined that the two information do not match, information indicating that the information has not been registered is returned to the transmitting side, and when it is recognized that they match, the broadcast communication is performed. The possible information is output from the mark sheet recognition unit 9 to the facsimile reception control unit 1.

The facsimile reception control unit 1 having received the broadcast enabling information transfers the broadcast message to the message reception management unit 3 via the reception channel control unit. Then management unit 3
Accumulates the contents of the broadcast message in the message storage unit 4 and, at the same time, stores information such as the reception date and time other than the message contents in the message management information storage unit 5. Here, a series of reception operations ends.

When transmission is required, the message distribution management unit 6 retrieves terminal information (terminal number, terminal name, telephone number, etc.) from the terminal information storage unit 10 and sends it to the reception channel control unit 7. Facsimile transmission control unit 8
Transfer to Hereinafter, a broadcast message is sent from the transmission control unit 8,
In accordance with the transmission procedure based on the broadcast control unit, the data is sequentially or simultaneously transmitted to the destination (FAX _{2 to} FAX _n ).

On the other hand, when the transmission has failed, the cause of the failure in transmission (busy, line error, communication error, etc.) is transmitted from the transmission control unit 8 to the message distribution management unit 6 via the transmission channel control unit 7. .

The message distribution management unit 6 further transmits the transmitted cause to the call interval control unit 12. Upon receiving this, the calling interval control unit 12 extracts the calling pattern number of the other party from the terminal information storage unit 10 and stores the calling interval number corresponding to the calling pattern number in the storage unit of the calling interval storage unit 11 (for example, the storage unit). From 11a), a call interval (for example, N ₂₂ ) determined by the cause of the transmission failure and the number of recalls is derived, and transmission is suspended during the call interval (time).

Thereafter, the calling interval control unit 12 supplies a re-calling start signal to the message distribution management unit 6. Thereafter, the broadcast message is transmitted again to the destination according to the above procedure.

In the present embodiment, a facsimile broadcasting apparatus for broadcasting a message to a plurality of destination terminals has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even if the present invention is implemented.

[0032]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention , the first calling interval and the calling time when the number of calling times is within the predetermined number of times.
The second call interval after the number of times reaches the predetermined number is described.
Provided the memory of the calling interval that was memorized,
When performing retransmission processing to the destination terminal, the number of calls is determined and the
If the number of calls has reached the predetermined number, the calling interval is set to the
From the first call interval to the second call interval, and
By performing the retransmission processing after the elapse of the calling interval of 2,
If you reduce the number of calls that increase in proportion to the passage of time,
Both reduce the ratio of unsent to the same destination terminal
Can improve line utilization efficiency
The effect described above can be obtained. Further, since the calling interval for each re-calling interval in the memory is preset in the facsimile apparatus, no special communication procedure is required, and the above-described effect can be obtained with a very simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration according to an embodiment of a broadcast communication system including a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal information storage unit in the device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a calling interval storage unit in the device.

[Description of Signs] FAX _n facsimile terminal device S exchange M facsimile device according to the present invention 10 terminal information storage unit 11 call interval storage unit 12 call interval control unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Miki 2-3-8 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo Matsushita Electric Transmission Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-58-1554963 (JP, A) 58-14653 (JP, A) JP-B 5-1700 (JP, B2)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A transmission processing unit for performing retransmission processing a plurality of times when transmission to a designated destination terminal is impossible ;
The first call interval and the number of calls when the number is within a predetermined number
A calling interval memory for storing a second calling interval after the predetermined number of times has been reached, and a retransmission process for a destination terminal to which transmission was impossible when the number of calls is determined. The count is
If the predetermined number of times has been reached, the calling interval is set to the first calling interval.
From the second calling interval to the second calling interval.
A facsimile apparatus comprising: a control unit for performing a retransmission process after a lapse of an interval .