JP2735015B2 - Digital communication device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an ISDN (Integrated Service
The present invention relates to a digital communication device connected to a digital communication network , and more particularly to a digital communication device that performs so-called bulk communication using two information channels simultaneously in parallel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art ISDN has an information channel for transmitting various information and a control channel for transmitting control information for controlling the information channel. ISDN
Provides two channels as information channels, and communication can be performed using both or one of them. Since the transmission time can be reduced by using two information channels at the same time, bulk communication is often performed particularly when a large amount of data is transmitted.

Various host devices such as a host computer and a facsimile are usually connected to an ISDN via a digital communication device for interfacing with a network. When receiving a bulk communication instruction from a higher-level device, the digital communication device makes two successive calls to secure two information channels. When two information channels are secured, bulk communication is performed between the higher-level devices. When one of the information channels cannot be secured, the digital communication device sends a notification indicating that transmission has failed. It is sent back to the host device.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-335534 discloses a facsimile apparatus for transmitting image information by bulk communication. In this facsimile apparatus, whether to transmit image information by bulk communication or one information channel is selected depending on whether or not the data amount of the encoded image information is equal to or more than a predetermined value. If the amount of data can be transmitted on one information channel within a fixed time, which is a unit of accounting, bulk communication is not performed.

[0005]

In bulk communication, even if only one of the two information channels is in use, communication cannot be performed, so that the probability of making a call failure is relatively high. In the conventional digital communication device, when two information channels cannot be secured and transmission fails, only the notification is sent to the higher-level device. Must be done by It is good if the host device has a function to make a call again, but if there is no such function, the operator has to perform a new call operation and the trouble is troublesome. There is. Further, even if a call is made to the same party immediately after the outgoing call has failed, it is relatively unlikely that the channel being used for communication with another device has changed to an empty state. For this reason, a call is made again after waiting for an appropriate time, and the trouble of re-calling is further complicated. Further, there is a problem that the time to start communication itself is delayed because the channel of the partner device becomes empty, and the time required to end the communication becomes longer even if the transmission is performed at high speed by bulk communication.

[0006] In the facsimile apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-335734, when the amount of data is large, bulk communication is selected to transmit at high speed. However, since communication cannot be performed when two information channels cannot be secured, the call to the same partner is performed again after a certain period of time has elapsed. For this reason, there is a problem that even if bulk communication is used, it takes a long time to complete transmission.

An object of the present invention is to provide a digital communication apparatus which can secure two information channels for bulk communication in a short time without performing a recall operation.

[0008]

The [Summary of invention of claim 1 wherein, (i) and address number registration means which is registered in the address number of the partner station communicating via Integrated Services Digital Network, the (b) the partner station and alternative station address number registration means for storing for each other station the address number of alternative stations, which may be a communication partner is registered in the address number register means, instead, a predetermined registered in (c) address number registration means To secure two channels of information for data transmission with the other station at the same time for bulk communication.
When receiving an instruction to do so, the partner station is continuously
A first calling means for making two calls, and (d) two information channels are simultaneously established by the first calling means.
When two calls are made to secure these two
When the information channel cannot be secured, two information channels are simultaneously secured to the station stored in the substitute station address number registration means as the substitute station of the partner station .
The digital communication device is provided with second calling means for making two successive calls .

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ISD
In bulk communication of N, if a call is made twice to the destination station registered in the address number registration means continuously and information channels for two channels cannot be obtained, the destination station is registered as an alternative station of the destination station. Call twice in succession
You. Since it is not necessary to wait until the information channel can be acquired with the partner station registered in the address number registration means by calling the substitute station, the information channel is secured in a relatively short time. be able to.

In the second aspect of the present invention, the alternative station address number registering means stores, for each partner station registered in the address number registering means, a plurality of alternative stations together with the priority to be set as the alternative station. The calling means is designed to call in order from the alternative station having the highest priority.

That is, in the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of alternative stations are stored together with their priorities, and calls to the alternative stations are made in descending order of their priorities.

[0012]

[0013]

According to the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an outgoing message receiving means for receiving, via a digital communication network, an outgoing message indicating a request for acquiring an information channel for transmitting data, and receiving the outgoing message by the outgoing message receiving means. Continuous transmission information detecting means for detecting whether or not the transmission message includes continuous transmission information indicating that transmission of the transmission message is performed again to acquire a plurality of information channels; and When transmission information is detected, a timer means for timing the passage of a predetermined time from the time, and a station different from the transmission source station of the transmission message in which the continuous transmission information is detected until the predetermined time elapses. And an incoming call rejecting means for rejecting the incoming call.

That is, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when an incoming call is received from a counterpart station for which two or more information channels are to be secured, incoming calls from other stations are rejected until a certain time elapses thereafter. It has become. Thereby, an information channel can be preferentially given to a station that intends to secure two or more information channels.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an outgoing message receiving means for receiving, via a digital communication network, an outgoing message representing a request to acquire an information channel for transmitting data, and the outgoing message receiving means receiving the outgoing message. Continuous transmission information detecting means for detecting whether or not the transmission message includes continuous transmission information indicating that transmission of the transmission message is performed again to acquire a plurality of information channels; and A waiting time measuring means for measuring a predetermined waiting time from the time when the transmission information is detected, and the same transmission station as the transmission source of the transmission message in which the continuous transmission information is detected until the waiting time elapses. When the next outgoing message is not received from the station, release the information channel already reserved with this station And it is provided in a digital communication device and a communication path opening means that.

That is, according to the invention described in claim 4 , when an incoming call is received from a counterpart station for which two or more information channels are to be secured, if no incoming call is received from the same station until a certain time elapses thereafter, The secured information channel is open. By releasing the information channel, it becomes easier to respond to an incoming call from another station.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of a communication system using a digital communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Host device 11 for generating or receiving data to be transmitted, such as a host computer or facsimile machine
Are respectively connected to an ISDN 13 as a digital communication network via a digital communication device 12. When receiving the call instruction and the address information indicating the communication partner from the host device 11, the digital communication device 12
A predetermined call request is transmitted through the control channel of the SDN 13.

FIG. 2 functionally shows the configuration of a digital communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The representative number registration unit 21 is a part for inputting a so-called telephone number, which is a destination address of a communication destination. From the representative number registration unit 21, a representative number as an address of a communication partner is stored.
With this number, when a call fails, a plurality of sub-numbers can be input as addresses to be called next. The representative number storage unit 22 is a unit that stores the representative number and the sub number input from the representative number registration unit 21. The representative number storage unit 22 can store a representative number and a corresponding sub-number for each of a plurality of communication partners.

The representative number transmission processing unit 23 has a function of reading out the representative number of the other party from the representative number storage unit 22 and making a call when making a call. In the case of a bulk communication call, the representative number transmission processing unit 23 transmits a transmission message with bulk information indicating that bulk communication is requested to the ISDN twice in succession. Further, when two information channels cannot be secured by calling with the representative number, the representative number storage unit 22
Are sequentially read and a call is made again to this address.

The upper interface unit 24 is a circuit device for controlling input and output to and from the upper device shown in FIG. The line control unit 25 is a device that performs an interface with an ISDN line. It mainly has a function of controlling a call control channel such as synchronization of layer 1 (physical layer), link control of layer 2 (link layer), and determining a communication path of an information channel. The bulk communication unit 26 has a function of distributing data to be transmitted to two information channels, and a function of arranging data received from a partner terminal through the two information channels in an appropriate order and delivering the data to the host device as a series of data. .

The bulk selection reception processing unit 27 sets the reception mode to the bulk mode when the outgoing message received from the partner terminal includes the bulk information. The bulk mode is a mode in which the calling terminal supports the terminal so as to secure two information channels.
Until a certain time elapses after the mode is set, an incoming call from a terminal different from the other party who has secured the first information channel is rejected. When a transmission message requesting the second information channel is not received even after a certain period of time has elapsed, the first channel is released and the bulk mode is released.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a circuit configuration of the digital communication apparatus shown in FIG. The digital communication device includes a CPU (central processing unit) 31 which performs a central function of various controls. Various circuit devices are connected to the CPU 31 via various buses 32 such as a data bus. Among them, the ROM (read only memory) 33 is a memory for storing programs and various fixed data. RAM (random access memory)
Reference numeral 34 denotes a memory for temporarily storing data required for executing the program. Non-volatile memory 35
Is a memory capable of holding the stored contents even when the power is turned off, and stores a representative number and a sub number. The operation unit 36 is an input device for inputting a representative number and a sub number. Here, various input keys are prepared in addition to numbers. The timer unit 37 is a circuit device that measures a set fixed time. The line controller 38 is an ISDN
And a higher-level interface device 39 is a circuit device that interfaces with a higher-level device (not shown).

FIG. 4 shows a flow of processing when a digital communication device makes a call for bulk communication. The CPU 31 receives a call request from the host device via the host interface device 39. Then, it is checked whether or not the received command is a representative number transmission request for instructing to make a call using the representative number (step S10).
1). The representative number transmission request first calls the representative number, and when two information channels cannot be secured with these numbers, a call for instructing a series of operations for calling the sub-number registered in advance in association with the representative number. Call request.

If the received call request is a representative number transmission request (step S101; Y), the value of the read pointer indicating the storage location of the address to be called is stored as the representative number of the communication partner. Initialize to a predetermined address (step S102). Subsequent numbers corresponding to the representative numbers are stored in the nonvolatile memory 35 following the representative numbers.
By updating the read pointer, the sub-number is read sequentially following the representative number. After initializing the read pointer, the CPU 31 reads the representative number stored at the address indicated by the read pointer (step S1).
03). If the call request received from the higher-level device is not the representative number call request (step S101; N), the number stored at the address specified in the call request is read from the nonvolatile memory 35 (step S104).

Next, two outgoing messages to which bulk information indicating a request for bulk communication is added are created (step S105), and these are successively transmitted twice to the 1 SDN line via the line controller 38 (step S105). Step S106).
When two information channels can be secured by transmitting these two outgoing messages (step S107),
Bulk communication is performed using the secured information channel (step S108). When the communication by the bulk communication is completed, the CPU 31 disconnects the line with the ISDN (step S109), and ends the processing (end).

On the other hand, when two information channels cannot be secured by calling the representative number (step S
107; N), the CPU 31 checks again whether or not the transmission is based on the representative number transmission request (step S110). If the call was made by a representative number transmission request (step S110; Y), it is necessary to make another call with the secondary number, so the waiting time until recalling is set in the timer unit 37 (step S110). After performing S111), the line is disconnected (step S109), and the process ends (END). If it is not a representative number transmission request (step S11
0; N), a notification indicating the transmission failure is sent to the host device (step S112), and the process ends (end).

FIG. 5 shows the flow of processing performed by the digital communication device when the timer set for the re-calling has timed out. The timer is set when a representative number is transmitted and two information channels cannot be secured with the number indicated by the current read pointer. Therefore, the CPU 31 updates the read pointer to change the call destination to the next sub number (step S201). If the read pointer after the update exceeds the address storing the last sub number registered for the representative number (step S202;
Y), a notification indicating the failure of the transmission is sent to the host device (step S203). The fact that the read pointer exceeds the address of the last sub-number indicates that calling to all sub-numbers registered in association with the representative number has already been completed. Therefore, no matter which sub-number is called, two information channels could not be secured, and a notification indicating the failure of sending is sent. Thereafter, the read pointer is initialized to "0" (step S204), and the process ends (END).

If the calling to all the sub-numbers has not been completed (step S202; N), the sub-number indicated by the read pointer is read (step S205), and an outgoing message to which the bulk information is added is created (step S205). S20
6). This is transmitted twice consecutively (step S20).
7) When two information channels can be secured (step S208; Y), bulk communication is performed (step S2).
09). After the communication is completed, the line is disconnected (step S2).
10) End the processing (END). If the two information channels cannot be secured (step S208; N), the timer is set again (step S211), the line is disconnected (step S210), and the process at the time-up ends (end). In this way, until two information channels are secured, or until the calling to all the sub-numbers registered in association with the representative number is completed.
Calls are made repeatedly.

When two information channels cannot be secured even if a call is made to the representative number, a call is made to another device registered in advance, so that it is not necessary to wait until the unsecured channel becomes empty. , Channels can be secured quickly. For example, if a communication partner has installed a plurality of terminals, one of them is registered as a representative number, and the remaining terminals are allocated to sub-numbers and registered in advance, so that a terminal with a representative number can be registered. When bulk communication cannot be performed, communication can be performed with a terminal to which a sub number is assigned. Also, if the number of the terminal with the highest priority is registered as the representative number, and the sub-numbers are registered in the order according to the priority, the call destination may be selected in the order of the highest priority. it can.

FIG. 6 shows a flow of processing performed by the digital communication device on the called side. The CPU 31 of the digital communication device on the called side checks whether bulk information is added to the received incoming message (step S301). Incoming messages are those sent outgoing messages on the sending side. If the bulk information is added, it is determined whether or not this is the first of the two outgoing calls (step S30).
2). This determination is made based on whether or not the mode flag assigned to a predetermined area of the RAM 34 is "1". When the mode flag is "1", it indicates that the first incoming call has already been received, and this state is called a bulk mode. The bulk mode is a reception mode for causing the same party as the first incoming call to preferentially acquire the second information channel.

If the mode is not the bulk mode (step S3
02; N), since the first incoming call is received, the mode flag is changed to “1” and the bulk mode is set (step S303). Next, the CPU 31 sets the standby time until the second incoming call arrives in the timer unit 37 (step S304), and ends the process (END). If the incoming call is already in bulk mode (step S30
2; Y), it is determined whether or not the calling station is the same as that at the time of the first incoming call, based on the incoming call attribute indicating the calling station included in the incoming message (step S305). If the incoming call attributes match (step S305; Y), the second call is received from the same party, and a response message is returned (step S306). Since the second incoming call is received before the timer unit 37 times out, the timer set at the first incoming call is reset and the mode flag is changed to "0" to release the bulk mode (step S307). Then, bulk communication is performed using the two secured information channels (step S308), and after the communication ends, the line is disconnected (step S309). If the incoming call attributes do not match (step S305; N), since the call is from a different party than the first incoming call, a message rejecting the response is returned (step S310).

On the other hand, if no bulk information is added to the incoming message (step S301; N),
31 checks whether or not it is already in the bulk mode (step S311). When the mode is not the bulk mode (step S311; N), it is possible to respond to the incoming call because it is not in a state of waiting for the second incoming call. Then, a message indicating a response to the incoming call is returned (step S312), and communication is executed using one secured information channel (step S313). If the mode is already the bulk mode at the time of receiving the incoming message to which the bulk information is not added (step S31)
1; Y), incoming calls from other parties must be rejected. Then, based on the incoming call attribute, it is checked whether or not the calling station is the same as the first incoming call (step S31).
4). If the incoming call attributes do not match (step S31)
4; N), return a message rejecting the incoming call (step S315). If the incoming call attributes match, the call is answered (step S316), the timer unit 37 is reset, and the bulk mode is released (step S31).
7). Then, after performing communication by one channel (step S313), the line is disconnected (step S3).
09). Here, it is determined that the first communication partner has changed from bulk communication to communication on one channel, and
It communicates on one information channel.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of processing performed by the digital communication device on the called side when the timer section times out. The time up is when the second incoming call does not arrive within a predetermined standby time after receiving the first incoming call. Since the second incoming call does not arrive, it is considered that some failure has occurred in the partner device, so the CPU 31 resets the mode flag to “0” and cancels the bulk mode (step S401). Then, the first information channel secured at the time of the first incoming call is released (step S402), so that the one information channel is prevented from being left for a long time while being captured.

In the embodiment described above, when two information channels cannot be secured due to a call with a representative number, a call is made with a sub-number after waiting for a certain period of time. Needless to say, a call may be made to the secondary number. Further, in the embodiment, when two information channels cannot be secured even if a call is made to the representative number and all the sub-numbers once each, a call failure is notified. You may repeat it. Then, when two information channels cannot be secured even if it is repeated a plurality of times, a notification of transmission failure may be sent. Further, in the embodiment, the registration of the representative number and the sub-number is performed from the operation unit. However, the registration can be performed by a predetermined command from a higher-level device through a higher-level interface.

The standby time set in the timer unit in the called digital communication device is appropriately set according to the time until the second call arrives. Therefore, it is sufficient to set a standby time of several seconds to several tens of seconds. Further, after receiving the first incoming call, when an incoming call other than bulk communication is received from the same partner, communication is executed by one information channel. However, the change of the mode from the bulk communication to the normal communication can be considered to indicate that an abnormality has occurred on the calling side, so that the response to the incoming call may be rejected.

[0038]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when performing ISDN bulk communication, an information channel is transmitted to a partner station registered in the address number registration means.
Two consecutive channels to secure two channels at the same time.
So we decided to do a call, a relatively short time interval within the
It is possible to secure two information channels for performing communication communication . As a result of this call, these two
If one information channel cannot be secured,
Secure two information channels at the same time for the alternative station
In this case, it is necessary to make two successive calls to save time and labor required for calling again.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of alternative stations are stored together with their priorities, and calls to the alternative stations are made in descending order of their priorities. The call will be made to the station. For example, if priorities are determined according to the distance between the first call destination station and the substitute station and the functions of the substitute station, the call is preferentially called from the more suitable substitute station. be able to.

[0040]

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when an incoming call is received from a partner station which is to secure two or more information channels, an incoming call is received from another station until a predetermined time has elapsed. I tried to refuse, so priority 2
The above information channels can be provided. As a result, it is possible to increase the possibility of establishing bulk communication that requires two information channels.

[0042] According further to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when an incoming call is received from the remote station to be ensured two or more information channels, received a call from the same station until then a predetermined time has elapsed If not, the already secured information channel is released. This prevents the information channel from being left for a long time while securing the information channel, and makes it easier to respond to a new incoming call from another station.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a communication system using a digital communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram functionally illustrating a configuration of a digital communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of a circuit configuration of the digital communication device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when a digital communication device makes a call for bulk communication.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the digital communication device when a timer set for a re-call has timed out.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing performed by a digital communication device on the called side.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the digital communication device on the called side when the timer unit times out.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Digital communication apparatus 13 ISDN 21 Representative number registration part 22 Representative number storage part 23 Representative number transmission processing part 25 Line control part 26 Bulk communication part 27 Bulk selection reception processing part 31 CPU 33 ROM 34 RAM 35 Nonvolatile memory 37 Timer part 38 Line controller

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An address number registering means for registering an address number of a partner station which communicates through an integrated service digital communication network, and an address number of an alternative station which can be a communication partner in place of the partner station. An information channel for transmitting data between the alternate station address number registering means stored for each partner station registered in the number registering means and a predetermined partner station registered in the address number registering means simultaneously.
First calling means for successively making two calls to the other station when receiving an instruction to perform bulk communication while securing two channels , and the first calling means 2 channels of information channels at the same time
When two calls are made to secure channels,
If these two information channels cannot be secured , the information channels are simultaneously transmitted to the stations stored in the alternative station address number registration means as two alternative stations of the partner station.
A digital communication device comprising: a second calling means for making two consecutive calls to secure the same number of calls . 2. The substitute station address number registering means according to claim 1 ,
For each partner station registered in the address number registration means,
Record multiple alternative stations with the priority to be the alternative station,
The second calling means calls the substitute stations in descending order of priority.
2. The digital communication device according to claim 1, wherein
Place. 3. An information channel for transmitting data.
An outgoing message representing an acquisition request is sent to a digital communication network.
And outgoing message receiving means for receiving via the outgoing main received by the outgoing message receiving means
Reissue to acquire multiple information channels for the message
Continuous transmission indicating that a message will be sent
Continuous call information detection to detect whether information is included
Outgoing means and continuous outgoing information detected from received outgoing message
Timekeeping means for measuring the passage of a predetermined time from that point
And until the predetermined time elapses,
From different from the detected outgoing message source station station
Call rejection means for rejecting incoming calls
Digital communication device. 4. An information channel for transmitting data.
An outgoing message representing an acquisition request is sent to a digital communication network.
And outgoing message receiving means for receiving via the outgoing main received by the outgoing message receiving means
Reissue to acquire multiple information channels for the message
Continuous transmission indicating that a message will be sent
Continuous call information detection to detect whether information is included
Outgoing means and continuous outgoing information detected from received outgoing message
A waiting time meter that measures a predetermined waiting time from that point
Time means, and before the elapse of the waiting time,
From the same station as the source station of the detected outgoing message
With this station when the next outgoing message is not received
Release communication channel to release already secured information channel
Digital communication device comprising:
Place.