JP2634933B2 - Composite terminal device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a compound terminal device connected to a communication line and performing communication control by handling both image data and character data.

(Prior Art) In recent years, personal computers and facsimile machines have been widely used not only by companies but also by individuals.

When a personal computer is used as an information terminal device, the personal computer is connected to a communication line such as a public telephone line via a modem to perform character mode communication using character data. On the other hand, a facsimile machine transmits image data read by an image reader or the like through a communication line.
Communication in the image data mode for transmission is performed according to a predetermined protocol.

Therefore, when these devices are used for information processing, it is necessary to provide a facility plan that takes advantage of the respective characteristics.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in various service operations, along with the diversification of the service system, so-called online information provision services, reception services, and the like using this type of information terminal device have become active. ing. These services include tasks suitable for character mode communication and tasks suitable for image data mode communication. In such a case, it is extremely costly and space-intensive to prepare all the various devices in order to receive these services in ordinary households and micro enterprises. Also, usually
In general households, only one telephone line is usually used, and it is not practical to increase the telephone line in order to install these information devices in terms of cost burden.

On the other hand, the public telephone line is usually accessible from anyone and anywhere on the information terminal device side and the service providing side. Therefore, when an operation such as an automatic reception mode widely used in the information terminal device is performed, there is a problem that unnecessary information is unnecessarily received. In the case of important information, a defense system against hackers and computer viruses is also required. For example, this kind of problem becomes important when depositing / dispensing processing for connecting a general household with a bank online system, or for practical use such as catalog shopping using a public telephone line.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above points, and provides a highly reliable composite terminal device which does not impose a large burden in terms of space and price, and which can sufficiently protect against various communication disturbances and the like. It is intended to provide.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A composite terminal device of the present invention is connected to an image data input / output unit, a character data input / output unit, and a telephone,
An image data input / output unit, a character data input / output unit, an image data communication control unit for controlling image data mode communication using image data, and a character A character data communication control unit that controls character mode communication using data, a mode switching unit that connects one of the image data communication control unit and the character data communication control unit to a communication line by a mode switching signal, A control unit that switches to character data mode after image data mode communication when character data is input during mode communication, and a memory that stores the telephone number and terminal ID number of the communicable partner and receives in image mode If the other party's phone number is Matches or equal or not the items, it is determined to be the same receives image data from the other party,
If it is determined that they are not the same, the reception of image data is prohibited, and when communicating in character mode, it is checked whether the stored terminal ID number is the same as the ID number transmitted from the other party, and the same A destination selection unit having a destination selection circuit that performs data communication when it is determined to be present and performs data communication when it is not the same is provided.

(Operation) The device of the present invention enables input and output of both image data and character data, and can freely select between image data mode and character mode communication by the operation of the mode switching unit. Further, when receiving in the image mode, it is checked whether or not the telephone number of the other party is the same as the stored telephone number. If it is determined that the telephone number is the same, the image data from the other party is received, If it is determined that the reception of the image data is prohibited and the communication is performed in the character mode, it is checked whether or not the stored terminal ID number and the ID number transmitted from the other party are the same. When it is determined, data communication is performed, and when they are not the same, data communication is not performed, and thus communication with limited communication destinations is enabled. This eliminates various communication disturbances and improves communication reliability. Such confirmation of the other party can also be performed when switching from the image data mode to the character mode or in the reverse direction.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a composite terminal device according to the present invention.

Before explaining the configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a use form of the apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram using the apparatus of the present invention.

In the figure, a composite terminal device 10 according to the present invention
It is configured to be able to connect to the public telephone line 12 with the connection 11.

Note that a composite terminal device having the same configuration as the composite terminal device 10
10 ′ is also provided on the host device side,
0 ′ is the personal computer 13 and the disk device 1
4 is connected. In addition, a host computer 15 is connected to the host device.

Here, the composite terminal device 10 and the telephone 11 are installed in, for example, a general home, and the host device provides various information services using the personal computer 13 or uses the host computer 15 to perform the composite terminal device. It is configured to transmit and receive data to and from 10 in character mode and perform various data processing.

For example, if the higher-level device is a system that provides a catalog shopping service, the catalog is distributed to ordinary households by mail or the like, while transaction information is transmitted by facsimile as necessary, and the customer and the public telephone line 12 An operation of receiving the order in the character mode and processing it by the host computer 15 is performed.

Note that a telephone number, an ID number, and the like for customer confirmation are registered in the disk device 14 on the host device side.

The composite terminal device used in the above system is
Specifically, the configuration is as shown in FIG.

That is, this device includes an image data input / output unit 101, a character data input / output unit 102, a destination selection unit 103, and a control unit 104 in the main unit 100. Also, between the main unit 100 and the communication line 207, the modems 201 and 202, the mode switching unit
203, signal extraction transformer 204, dial pulse generator
There are provided circuits such as 205, a hook-off detection relay 206, a ring detector 208, a telephone connection relay 209, a hook-off detection buffer 210, and the like.

Here, the modem 201 is hereinafter referred to as an image data communication control unit 201, which is a circuit for controlling communication in an image data mode using image data. The modem 202 is hereinafter referred to as a character data communication control unit 202, and is a circuit that controls character mode communication using character data. Each of them exchanges input / output serial data with the main unit 100, and a mode switching unit.
It is connected to a communication line 207 via 203.

The mode switching unit 203 is a circuit that performs mode switching so as to connect either the image data communication control unit 201 or the character data communication control unit 202 to the communication line 207 according to a mode switching signal input from the main unit 100. . The signal extracting transformer 204 is a transformer for cutting off the DC component on the communication line 207 side and connecting the main unit 100 and the communication line 207. The dial pulse generator 205 is
According to the automatic dial signal output from 00, the communication line
A circuit for transmitting a dial pulse to 207. The hook-off detection relay 206 is a circuit for detecting a hook-off of the telephone (TEL) 211 and notifying the main body 100 via the hook-off detection buffer 210. Ring (RIN
G) The detector 208 is a circuit for detecting an incoming call signal input through the communication line 207. Telephone connection relay 209
Is a circuit that opens and closes in response to a TEL enable signal output from the main unit 100, and operates to connect or disconnect the telephone (TEL) 211 to or from the communication line 207.

On the other hand, the image data input / output unit 101 of the main unit 100 is a circuit for processing image data for performing facsimile communication and the like.
It comprises a circuit such as a keyboard for inputting character data in order to transmit and receive character data. The contents of these circuits will be described more specifically with reference to FIG.

Further, the destination selection unit 103 determines whether the other party connected via the communication line 207 is a preset communicable destination or not, and in the case of another destination, prohibits communication and the like. Circuit that performs the above operation. The control unit 104 is a circuit for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus.

The configuration of the main body 100 will be described more specifically with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a specific block diagram of the apparatus main body of the present invention.

The circuit shown is connected to a central processing unit (C
Read only memory (ROM) 1 connected to PU 11
12, font ROM113, random access memory (RA
M) 114, clock unit 115, dictionary unit 116, I / C card cassette 11
7. Image processing unit 118, image sensor 119, thermal head 120, reading / printing mechanism unit 121, image memory 122, liquid crystal display (LCD) 123, keyboard 130, card reader 125, communication processing unit 126, and I / O interface 127 It is composed of

The read only memory 112 is a memory that stores an operation program of the central processing unit 111. Font ROM1
Reference numeral 13 denotes a memory that stores font data for converting character codes into image data, and outputs the font data to the image memory 122. The random access memory 114 is provided as a working area of the central processing unit 111, and is a memory used for storing other data buffers, telephone numbers of communicable partner stations, and the like. Incidentally, the random access memory 114 is backed up by a battery 114a in order to retain its storage contents. The clock unit 115 is used to measure the start time when data is automatically transmitted at a set time. In addition, the clock unit 115 performs control such as displaying time on the liquid crystal display 123 when the apparatus is not used. It is. Dictionary section
Reference numeral 116 denotes a memory that stores a dictionary for converting kana characters to kanji.

The I / C card cassette 117 includes an interface for mounting an IC card and the like. This IC card stores, for example, the telephone number and ID number of a communicable partner station. Also, if necessary, the central processing unit
An application program for the operation of 111 is stored and loaded into the random access memory 114 at the time of startup.

The image processing unit 118 is a circuit provided for controlling image data necessary for communication in the image data mode or printing. The image sensor 119 reads an image on a document and obtains image data, and the thermal head 120 is used to print out the image data received from the image processing unit 118 on printing paper. The reading / printing mechanism 121 includes a platen for transporting printing paper and other mechanisms. The image memory 122 includes a random access memory used for temporarily storing image data to be transmitted and received. Liquid crystal display
Reference numeral 123 is used to display data input from the keyboard 130, guidance for operation, or various communication results.

The card reader 125, for example, when permitting only a specific person to operate the multi-terminal device, only sets the ID card for identity verification and reads it only when it is read.
This is for enabling an operation such as activation of the device. The communication processing unit 126 includes the modems 201 and 2 described with reference to FIG.
02 is an interface circuit for transmitting and receiving input / output serial data. I / O interface 127
Is a circuit used to connect another external I / O (not shown) to this device.

 FIG. 4 shows an external view of a main part of the apparatus of the present invention.

Using this figure, the keyboard 130 of the device according to the invention
Is specifically described.

In the left corner of this device is the liquid crystal display
123 are located. In the right corner, the card reader 125 described above is arranged. The numeric keypad 131 is provided on the front keyboard 130. The numeric keypad 131 is used not only for inputting numerical values but also for inputting kana. Whether to perform kana input or numeric input is selected by pressing either the kana key 132 or the numeric key 133.

Further, the registration mode key 134 indicates that
This key is used for mode switching when performing processing such as registration on the C card. The registration key 135 is a key that is pressed when the registration is designated. The load key 136 is pressed when loading an application program stored in an IC card or the like. Start / Send key 139
Is a key that is pressed when transmission preparations and the like are completed and transmission and the like are started. The stop key 140 is a key that is pressed when a transmission operation or the like is stopped. The key 141 is a key used for one-touch dialing or the like for calling the other party with one-touch.

The keyboard 130 is provided with a registration display lamp 137 that flashes during a registration operation, and an alarm lamp 138 that is displayed when a warning is issued.

By the way, the image data input / output unit 10 shown in FIG.
1 is an image processing unit 118 and an image sensor 11 of the apparatus shown in FIG.
9, the thermal head 120, the reading / printing mechanism 121, etc., and the character data input / output unit 102 refers to the keyboard 130, the liquid crystal display 123, etc. Further, the control unit 104 refers to the central processing unit 111 and other control circuits, and in this case, the partner selection unit 103
It refers to an IC card or the like mounted on the card cassette 117.

Here, with reference to FIG. 5, the contents of the data for limiting the opposing hands will be described.

FIG. 5 is a telephone number table of a communicable partner.

As shown in the figure, the table 150 includes a destination name 151 and a corresponding telephone number 152.

That is, when there is a connection request from the other party to the composite terminal device, first, it refers to this telephone number table and confirms whether or not the telephone number of the other party is registered. If there is no registration, communication with the other party is prohibited. Whether or not the communication is prohibited depends on the mode setting at that time.

The communicable destination can be freely increased or decreased by using the registration mode key 134 or the registration key 135 described with reference to FIG.

 By the way, confirmation of the destination is performed as follows.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a facsimile control frame.

As shown in the figure, according to the conventional facsimile communication procedure defined in CCITT Recommendation T.30, when facsimile communication is started, a facsimile control frame as shown in FIG. 6 is received. This control frame 160
Is composed of a preamble 161 and binary code information 162.

The binary code information 162 includes the non-standard function frame 163.
, A called terminal identification frame 164, and a digital identification frame 165. The digital identification frame 165
Are flags 167 and 168, an address 169, a control unit 170, a facsimile control field 171, a facsimile information field 172, a frame check sequence 173, and a flag 174.
Consists of The facsimile information field 172 contains the telephone number of the other party.

In the image data mode, the apparatus of the present invention performs an operation of limiting the destination using this information.

FIG. 7 shows a sequence chart of an example of a facsimile communication procedure.

This is a communication procedure shown in CCITT Recommendation T.30 described above, and includes four phases, Phase A to Phase D.

In the phase A, the called station is identified by the calling station (step). In the next phase B, function identification is performed (step), and command information is transmitted from the calling station to the calling station (step). This includes the control frame described above. Then, training is performed (step),
Reception confirmation is performed at the calling station (step).
Next, in the phase C, a message to be transmitted is transmitted from the calling station (step), and in the phase D, a message end process is performed (step). Thereafter, when the calling station confirms the message (step), the communication ends.

 The device of the present invention having the above configuration operates as follows.

The operation of the apparatus of the present invention will be described separately for the case of the image data mode and the case of switching to the character mode.

FIG. 8 is an image data mode operation flowchart.

In the figure, first, at the start of the operation, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to restrict reception and restrict reception of other communications (step S1). If such reception restriction is not required, the reception restriction mode is cleared (step S2),
The process proceeds to the ring detection process on the calling side (step S3). When an incoming call is detected by the ring detector 20 shown in FIG.
A message is received by the facsimile communication procedure described above, and after all the messages have been received, a completion process is performed (step S4).

On the other hand, if reception restriction is required, the reception restriction mode is set (step S5). In this case, prior to the start of reception, for example, the load key 136 shown in FIG.
The communicable destination telephone number table as shown in FIG. 5 stored in the card is stored in the random access memory 114 shown in FIG. In this way, the called telephone number that enables reception is registered, and the reception mode is started (step S6).

Thereafter, ring detection is performed for the call from the upper side (step S7). This is a process similar to step S3.

When ring detection is performed, as described above, in the B phase of the facsimile communication procedure, the calling party information of the control frame is obtained to obtain the telephone number of the partner station (step S8). Here, it is checked whether the telephone number of the partner station is the same as the one set by the initial registration (step S9). This check collation (step S10)
If it is determined that the communication partner is a partner other than the communicable partner, the process proceeds to step S11, where reception error processing is executed, and the process returns to the initial state.

 That is, in this case, communication is prohibited.

On the other hand, if the check collation is OK, the process proceeds to the next communication procedure of the facsimile, and receives the training signal (step S12). Then, a message is further received (step S13). When the reception is completed, all the procedures are completed (step S14). This operation is as described above with reference to FIG.

As described above, the apparatus of the present invention can operate in the image data mode so as to communicate only with the other party registered in the telephone number table of the other party with which communication is possible.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the character mode switching operation.

In this example, when it is necessary to switch to the character mode in the image data mode, it is determined whether or not the communication partner is available and the communication is performed. Such an operation is used, for example, in catalog shopping or the like when data is transferred in character mode to a host computer using the multifunction terminal device according to the present invention. Of course, even when communication is started in the character mode from the beginning, such a destination check can be performed.

In this case, unlike facsimile transmission, it is not possible to confirm the telephone number of the partner station, so the ID registered on the host side
Of the ID number and the ID number transmitted from the compound terminal
A determination is made as to whether or not the communication partner is available based on the mismatch.

First, in step S1 of FIG. 9, during the operation of the image data mode, data necessary for communication with the host computer is input from the keyboard (step S2).
It is determined whether the input has been completed (step S3). Then, the start / send key 139 described in FIG.
Is pressed down (step S4), it is determined whether or not facsimile transmission is in progress (step S5). That is, it is determined here whether the character mode is the image data mode. If it is operating in the image data mode, after confirming the end of the operation, it switches to the character mode and executes the next operation. In other cases, the process immediately proceeds to step S6. Next, it is determined whether the telephone is busy (step S6). This detection is performed using the output of the hook-off detection buffer 210 shown in FIG. If the telephone is not busy, during the following communication operation, the TEL enable signal is turned off to prohibit the use of the telephone (step S
7). As a result, the telephone connection relay 2 shown in FIG.
09 operates and the telephone 211 is disconnected.

Also, by turning off the mode switching signal shown in FIG. 1 (step S8), the mode switching unit 203 operates, disconnects the image data communication control unit 201 from the communication line 207, and communicates with the character data communication control unit 202. Connect to line 207. In this state, the dial pulse generator 205 is operated to call the other party (step S9). In response to this call, the other party sends out a carrier or sends out an answer tone which is a function of the modem. Receiving this,
It is determined whether the other party has appeared (step S10).

Thereafter, a terminal ID number is transmitted to mutually confirm whether or not the terminal is communicable (step S11). This terminal ID number is set in advance in the IC card for each multi-terminal device using the key 130 or the like shown in FIG. 4, and the contents are stored in the disk device 14 shown in FIG. Also register.

When using an IC card with a processor,
It is possible to use an encrypted terminal ID number, which ensures extremely high security.

In step S12 of FIG. 9, the host ID number is received from the host (step S12), and the received ID is received.
It is checked whether the number matches the one registered in the IC card (step S13). If this check is OK (step S14), data communication with the host is started, and processing as a terminal is performed (step S1).
Five). Then, it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed (step S16). When the processing has been completed, the character mode switching signal is turned off (step S17). Further, the TEL enable signal is turned on (step S18), the telephone is connected, and the image data mode is set (step S1).
9).

If the check is not OK in step S14, abnormal processing is performed (step S20), and
The process before 17 will be passed.

By the above-described processing, even in the character mode, the calling side and the called side mutually confirm the ID numbers, determine whether or not the communication is possible, and secure communication reliability.

Further, in the above embodiment of the present invention, when communication is performed in the image data mode, when data input in the character mode is to be transmitted, if the transmission key is pressed, the mode is automatically switched to the character mode. When the switching is performed and the transmission is completed, the mode automatically returns to the original image data mode again. The operability is improved by such an operation.

 The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments.

Switching between the operation in the image data mode and the operation in the character mode can also be performed manually by pressing an appropriate key.

(Effects of the Invention) The above-described composite terminal device of the present invention enables communication between the image data mode and the character mode to be switched by the operation of the mode switching unit. If the phone number is the same as the stored phone number and it is determined that the phone number is the same, the image data from the other party is received, and when communicating in character mode, the stored terminal ID number and the other party's phone number are compared. If the ID number sent from is checked to determine whether they are the same or not, a destination selection unit for data communication is provided to limit the communicable destinations. Can be made smaller and cheaper,
Further, highly reliable communication can be performed by the process of confirming the other party. In addition, by loading an application program using an IC card, expandability of the device can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a composite terminal device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system block diagram using the device according to the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the apparatus main body of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an external view of a main part of the apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a telephone number table of a communicable partner, and FIG. 6 is a facsimile control frame. FIG. 7 is a sequence chart of a facsimile communication procedure example, FIG. 8 is an image data mode operation flowchart, and FIG. 9 is a character mode switching operation flowchart. 100 body unit 101 image data input / output unit 102 character data input / output unit 103 destination selection unit 104 control unit 201 image data communication control unit 202 Character data communication control unit, 203: Mode switching unit, 207: Communication line.

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-61-57168 (JP, A) JP-A-2-11060 (JP, A) JP-A-63-228851 (JP, A) JP-A-2-75255 (JP) , A)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An image data input / output unit, a character data input / output unit, and an image data mode communication using image data are provided in a composite terminal device connected to a telephone and communicating data via a communication line. An image data communication control unit for controlling; a character data communication control unit for controlling character mode communication using character data; and a mode switching signal for communicating one of the image data communication control unit and the character data communication control unit. A mode switching unit that connects to the line, and a control unit that switches to character data mode after image data communication when character data is input during image data mode communication. When storing in the memory to store in the image mode If the phone number of the other party is the same as the stored phone number, it checks whether the phone number is the same as the stored phone number. If it is the same, it receives the image data from the other party. And
When performing communication in the character mode, the stored terminal ID number and the ID number transmitted from the other party are compared to determine whether or not the same, and if determined to be the same, data communication is performed,
A composite terminal device comprising a destination selection unit having a destination selection circuit that does not perform data communication when judging that they are not the same. 2. The composite terminal according to claim 1, wherein said destination selection unit includes means for mounting an IC card, and an IC card comprising said destination selection circuit and said memory. apparatus.