JP3019786B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus for temporarily storing image data in an image memory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a facsimile apparatus, there has been a means for retrieving an empty block on an image memory from a bit map corresponding to a block on a one-to-one basis. For example, this means is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-25567. In this conventional facsimile machine,
1 in the block on the storage device corresponding to the image memory
Whether or not the block is vacant and information indicating the use priority are stored in a table called a quick reference table corresponding to one-to-one, and the table is searched when writing to the image memory, and the found use priority is found. Image data is written by specifying an empty block having a high value.

[0003] The use priorities are assigned according to document attributes, such as retaining undelivered documents that did not reach the destination due to communication errors for as long as possible, and effectively using data once accumulated by retransmission or the like. This is to realize a function of obtaining convenience by delaying the erase timing.

[0004]

However, in the prior art, it takes time to search for an empty block.
There was an inconvenience. In particular, the problem is that the larger the capacity of the image memory is, the longer the search time is, and the slower the image data transfer is during the receiving operation and the scanning operation in which writing to the image memory is performed.

On the other hand, in a recent facsimile apparatus requiring high speed, the image data transfer speed is increased, and the image data transfer control in the receiving operation or the scanning operation in which the image data is written into the image memory is performed. The designation of a free block in the image memory must be quickly passed to the part that controls image data transfer.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a facsimile apparatus which solves the disadvantages of the prior art, and which is less affected by the capacity of the image memory and can specify a free block on the image memory at a high speed. Its purpose is to provide.

[0007]

Therefore, according to the present invention, there is provided a communication control unit for transmitting and receiving image data via a telephone line network, a printer unit for printing the image data received by the communication control unit, and a transmission original. A scanner unit that reads and converts the image data into image data; an image memory that stores image data transmitted and received by a communication control unit; a transfer control unit that controls time-division simultaneous transfer of image data stored in the image memory; A main control unit for controlling the storage position of the image data in units of blocks in accordance with the transfer control by the control unit.

In addition, the main control unit determines the priority of the area where the image data is stored according to the transfer state of the image data by the transfer control unit, and the priority determining unit determines the priority. A free block management unit that updates the list of free blocks in the image memory each time the transfer control of the image data is completed by the transfer control unit for each of the given priorities, and a request for storing the image data is made by the scanner unit or the transfer control unit. Sometimes, based on a free block list generated for each priority by the free block management means, a data transfer management means for setting a high priority block as a storage location of the image data and a block of the image memory as a unit.
Manages connections between blocks in units of data pages
And a file management means for performing the operation.

According to the present invention, the free block management means is provided for each priority determined by the priority determination means, and
Each time the transfer control of the image data by the transfer control unit is completed, the list of free blocks on the image memory is updated. That is, the plurality of free block lists provided for each priority are updated each time the transfer control of the image data is completed. For this reason, a list of blocks with high priority to a list of blocks with low priority is always held according to the latest state. Further, the data transfer management means, when a request for storing image data is made by the scanner unit or the transfer control unit, sets a block having a higher priority based on the plurality of free block lists as a storage position of the image data. That is, the data transfer management unit specifies a necessary number of blocks as data storage destinations in order from the empty block list having the highest priority. Then, when data transfer is actually performed, the empty block management means updates the empty block.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile machine
Communication control units 51 and 61 for transmitting and receiving image data via a telephone line network, a printer unit 71 for printing the image data received by the communication control units 51 and 61, and a scanner for reading a transmission original and converting it into image data Part 8
1, an image memory 40 for storing image data transmitted and received by the communication control unit, a transfer control unit 30 for controlling time-division simultaneous transfer of the image data stored in the image memory 40, and a transfer by the transfer control unit 30 A main control unit for controlling the storage position of the image data in units of blocks in accordance with the control.

Moreover, the main control unit 10 includes a transfer control unit 30
Determining means 14 for determining the priority of the area in which the image data is stored according to the transfer state of the image data by the transfer control unit 30 for each of the priorities determined by the priority determining means 14. Free block management means 13 for updating the list of free blocks in the image memory every time the transfer control of the image data by the CPU is completed.
When the image data storage request is made by the scanner unit 81 or the transfer control unit 30, the high-priority block is determined based on the empty block list generated for each priority by the empty block management unit 13. Data transfer management means 12 as a storage location
And

The main control unit 10 includes a file management unit 11 for managing connections between blocks of image data stored in image memory blocks in units of pages.

This will be described in detail.

The main control unit 10 comprises a CPU, a memory containing a program, and a working memory necessary for the operation of the program. The file management means 11 manages the attribute information of the image data in document units and the data storage block numbers in the image memory for each page. The data transfer management unit 12 sets a block number to be written to the image memory or a block number to be read from the image memory, specifies a data transfer destination, and activates the data transfer control unit 30. The free block management means 13 registers a writable free block number in the free block list storage unit 23.

The management information storage unit 20 includes a file management information storage unit 21 for storing document attributes and page management numbers,
A page management information storage unit 22 required to manage the block number of the image memory in which the attribute and data for each page are stored, and a free block list storage unit 23 having a list of writable block numbers in the image memory
Is included.

The communication control units 51 and 61 include a communication encoding circuit,
It is composed of a communication modem, a network control circuit, etc., and transmits a document composed of image data and attribute information.
2 performs compression encoding of data transmitted from the communication control units 51 and 61 to which the image bus is connected at the time of reception, and decompresses and decodes data transmitted to the communication control units 51 and 62 at the time of transmission. The printer unit 71 prints the image data read from the image memory and restored by the decoder 72, the scanner unit 81 reads the transmission original and converts it into binary data, and the encoder 82 executes compression encoding.

In the image data transfer control unit 30, a plurality of data buses connected to the communication control units 51 and 61, the printer unit 71 and the scanner unit 81, respectively, are used to specify the compression-encoded image data on the image memory. Reading and writing to blocks are performed simultaneously by time division processing.

The image memory 40 is a memory in which writing and reading are performed in units of blocks of a fixed size, a series of block numbers indicating addresses of each block are assigned, and the amount of compressed and encoded image data is stored. You.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the file management information storage unit 21. In FIG. 2, the file name is assigned to each facsimile document, the first page management number indicates the management number of the first page of the relevant document in the page management information storage unit 22, and the attribute information includes the document size, destination information,
The transmission / reception time and the like are stored.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the page management information storage section 22. The page management number is used to identify each page data, and the storage block list is arranged in order from the top of the image memory block number that stores the data of the corresponding page, and the management number of the next page is when there is data of the next page Stores a page management number indicating the page. If there is no subsequent page, a special number (for example, 0000) indicating the end of the page is stored.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of the free block list. In FIG. 2, the free block list is composed of link information indicating a link between a block number and a parent file in an array format. Also, it has a pointer that is used in a ring shape and indicates the head of the current free block list,
Created by priority used.

Next, referring to FIGS. 1 to 6,
File management means 11 and data transfer management means 12 at the time of executing image data write processing during reception and scanning
Will be described.

When the transmission original is read from the scanner unit 81 and when the communication control units 51 and 61 receive the document, the file management unit 11 stores the file name in the file management information storage unit 21 as shown in FIG. And manuscript size,
The document transfer unit 1 stores document attribute information such as destination information.
A unit to which data is to be input is designated for No. 2 and a one-page write request is issued. The data transfer unit 12 that has received the one page write request secures an unused page management number by searching the page management information storage unit 22 and stores it in the first page management number area of the file management information storage unit 21. Then, a free block request is issued to the free block management means 13 and a reply is waited (S51).

It is checked whether there is a free block by a reply from the free block management means 13 (S52). If there is a free block, the returned free block number is passed to the data transfer system 130 to request the start of data transfer (S5).
3) Waiting for a data transfer end notification from the data transfer control unit (S54), and upon receiving the data transfer end notification, adds it to the block number list of the page management information of the corresponding page (S55). It is checked whether the data transfer for one page has been completed (S5).
6).

If the data transfer for one page has not been completed yet, the process is repeated from the setting of the empty block (S5).
1 to S56). When the data transfer for one page is completed, the end of writing one page is notified to the file management means 11, and the process is temporarily terminated. If there are no empty blocks, alarm processing is performed when the memory is full.

Next, the free block management means 113 will be described with reference to FIGS. Priority determination means 1
4 is a function for setting the priority of the block in which the image data is stored as the first priority when the transmission via the telephone network by the communication control unit is normally completed, and the printing by the printer unit. A function of setting the priority of the block in which the image data is stored as the second priority at the time of completion, and storing the image data when transmission via the telephone line network by the communication control unit cannot be performed. And the function of setting the priority of the block that has been set as the third priority.

That is, the priorities for registering the used image memory blocks as empty blocks are as follows: transmitted is a first priority empty block, printed of a received document is a second priority empty block, unsuccessful transmission failure. The document is third
The empty block management means is initially set to be treated as an empty block. It is preferable to select an optimum priority according to the operation method of the facsimile machine.

First, when the facsimile apparatus is started up for the first time, a request for initializing an empty block list is made from the file management means 11 to the empty block management means 13, and the empty block management receiving the empty block initialization request is performed. The means registers all blocks of the image memory in the first priority free block list.

If the transmission is completed normally, the file management means 11 sends a one-page temporary erasure request to the free block management means 13 with the document type information added for each page of the normally completed document. The means 13 reads the block number used for the page for which the temporary deletion was requested from the page management information using the page management number as a key because the type of the document for which the temporary deletion was requested is a transmission document, Register in the block list.

Similarly, the block management unit 13 stores the third priority empty block list in the second priority empty block list when a request for temporary erasure of the received document is received, and Register the blocks used for each page in the block list.

When a free block request is received from the page management means 12, a free block list in which a free block in the image memory is registered is searched in order from the first priority free block list (S61 to S64). The number of the empty block extracted from 123 is passed to the request source (S66). Looking to order the free block list of free blocks have been registered from the first priority free block list (S61~S64), free block list 1
The number of the vacant block extracted from 23 is passed to the request source (S66).

If a free block is not found in all the free block lists, the absence of a free block is notified to the request source (S65). Further, when the first block of the first page is passed as an empty block, a request to delete the file is issued to the file management means 11 based on the file number of the link information. The file management means 11 completely deletes the information of the file from the file management information based on the request.

As described above, the writing of data to the image memory in the facsimile apparatus is processed at high speed while updating the file management information, page management information, and free block list.

A priority is given to the erasure timing of the image data according to the document attribute, such as by creating an empty block list and constantly updating it according to the priority, such as delaying the erasure of unreachable document data as much as possible. This has the effect of enabling higher-speed image data transfer control without generating a delay time due to searching for empty blocks when writing image data to the image memory while maintaining convenient functions. Can be made.

[0035]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, the free block management means updates the plurality of free block lists provided for each priority every time the transfer control of the image data is completed. Therefore, the list of blocks with high priority to the list of blocks with low priority is always kept according to the latest state. Since a large number of blocks are specified as data storage destinations, empty blocks can be identified at high speed according to the priority, and the empty block management means updates the blocks each time image data transfer is completed. Therefore, even if the memory capacity becomes large, new data can be stored according to the priority order. As described above, it is possible to provide an unprecedented excellent facsimile apparatus which is less affected by the capacity of the image memory and can specify a free block in the image memory at a high speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a data configuration of file management information shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a data configuration of page management information shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a data configuration of an empty block list shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a one-page writing process by the data transfer management means shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the empty block management information shown in FIG. 1;
9 is a flowchart showing a process in a case where an empty block is taken out from the empty block list and delivered to a request source.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main control part 11 File management means 12 Data transfer management means 13 Free block management means 20 Management information storage part 21 File management information 22 Page management information 23 Free block list 30 Image data transfer control part 40 Image memory 51, 61 Communication control part 52, 62 code / decoder 71 printer unit 72 decoder 81 scanner unit 82 encoder

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A communication control unit for transmitting and receiving image data via a telephone network, a printer unit for printing the image data received by the communication control unit, and a scanner unit for reading a transmission original and converting it into image data. An image memory for storing image data transmitted and received by the communication control unit; a transfer control unit for controlling time-division simultaneous transfer of the image data stored in the image memory; and an image memory in accordance with transfer control by the transfer control unit. A facsimile apparatus comprising: a main control unit that controls a data storage position in units of blocks; wherein the main control unit stores the image data in accordance with a transfer state of the image data by the transfer control unit. Priority determining means for determining the priority of the area, and the priority determined by the priority determining means A free block management unit that updates a list of free blocks in an image memory each time the transfer control of the image data is completed by the transfer control unit, and when a storage request for image data is made by the scanner unit or the transfer control unit. A data transfer management unit that sets a high-priority block based on an empty block list generated for each priority by the empty block management unit as a storage location of the image data; and a block of the image memory as a unit.
Between blocks in units of pages of stored data
File management means for managing connections
Facsimile apparatus according to. (2)Send image data via telephone network
A communication control unit to receive the image and an image received by the communication control unit.
Printer unit that prints data, and
A scanner unit for converting image data into image data
Image for storing image data sent and received by the control unit
Memory and the image data stored in this image memory.
Transfer control unit that controls the time-division
Storage of image data according to transfer control by the transmission control unit
A main control unit that controls the position in block units.
Facsimile machine, The main control unit controls the image data by the transfer control unit.
Data transfer status The image data is stored
Priority determining means for determining the priority of the area which was
The transfer according to the priority determined by the priority determining means
Each time the control unit completes the transfer control of the image data
Empty to update the list of free blocks in image memory
Block management means and the scanner unit or transfer control
Request to store image data by
Multiple generations by priority by the empty block management means
Blocks with higher priority based on the free block list
Data transfer with the lock as the storage location for the image data
Transmission management means,  The priority determining means is a telephone line by the communication control unit.
When transmission via the network is completed successfully, the image
The priority of the block where the data was stored is assigned the first priority.
The function to be the first and the completion of printing by the printer unit
The block where the image data was stored when
A function for setting the priority of the second priority to the second priority;
When transmission via the telephone network by the control unit was not possible
Priority of the block in which the image data was stored
And a function to set the degree as the third priority.
TossRuffFax machine.