JP3286328B2 - Facsimile storage device - 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 storage device for sequentially storing and storing facsimile telegrams (image information), and more particularly to a backup facsimile storage device for storing the same telegram in two storage devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile storage device for storing facsimile telegrams related to transmission and reception has been frequently used. This facsimile storage device includes a large-capacity storage device, such as a hard disk, for storing telegrams. In order to protect the stored messages, two storage devices, one for main storage and one for backup, are provided.

A conventional facsimile storage device of this type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-229543, and backup is performed by two storage devices. Such a backup method is called a mirror disk method, in which the same information is written into two storage devices and one of them is used for backup.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional facsimile storage device, a backup storage device corresponding to a storage device for main storage on a one-to-one basis is stored in the storage device for main storage. Only the contents are duplicated identically. Therefore, if one of the storage devices for main storage or backup fails, the messages stored so far can be backed up by the other storage device. Until the stored storage device is restored, only one device stores the message, and there is a problem that the backup cannot be performed.

[0005] Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 is to set a combination of two storage devices used as a main storage and a backup storage arbitrarily among three or more storage devices, so that the storage device can be used. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile storage device capable of backing up stored messages even after a failure has occurred. Further, the invention according to claim 2 provides a facsimile storage device capable of equalizing the use frequency of a plurality of storage devices by changing a combination of two storage devices in a predetermined page unit in one message. It is intended to be.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile storage device capable of always storing the same message in two storage devices by backing up a message lost due to the occurrence of a failure in the storage device in a normal storage device again. It is intended to provide.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In order to achieve the above object, a facsimile storage device including a storage device for main storage and a backup device for storing a received message and a transmitted message in units of a message and sequentially accumulating the same is provided with at least three or more of the storage devices, A selector for arbitrarily selecting a combination of two storage devices from among the three or more storage devices when storing a message, and storing the same message in each of the two storage devices based on the selected combination. A storage control unit that causes the transmission message to be transmitted, a selection unit that selects one of two storage devices in which the transmission message is stored when transmitting the transmission message, and a transmission unit that transmits the transmission message from the selected storage device. And a read control unit for reading.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, there is provided a changing unit for changing a combination of two storage devices by a selecting unit in a predetermined page unit in one message. Features. The invention according to claim 3 is:
In order to achieve the above object, when any one of the storage devices fails, a search for searching all storage devices storing the same message as each message stored in the failed storage device. And a re-storage control unit that reads out the corresponding telegram from all the searched storage devices and re-stores them in storage devices other than the failed storage device.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention having the above structure, when storing a message, a combination of two storage devices is arbitrarily selected from among three or more storage devices provided, and the selected set is selected. The same telegram is stored in each of the two storage devices according to the combination, and when transmitting the stored telegram, one of the two storage devices in which the transmission telegram is stored is selected, and the selected storage device is selected. And reads out the transmission message from.

In the invention having the above configuration, the combination of the two selected storage devices is changed for each predetermined page in one message. Further, in the invention according to claim 3 having the above configuration, when any one of the storage devices fails, the same message as each message stored in the failed storage device is stored. And retrieves the corresponding telegram from all the retrieved storage devices and re-stores them in storage devices other than the failed storage device.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a facsimile storage device according to an embodiment of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, and FIG. 1A is a system configuration diagram using the facsimile storage device. FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the facsimile storage device.

First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 1A, a facsimile storage device FMS includes a plurality of facsimile devices FAX ₁ via a public line network such as a telephone line network.
To FAX _n . Facsimile storage device FMS
Block diagram of is shown in FIG. 1 (b), the facsimile communication control unit FCU (Facsimile Control Unit), and controls the transmission and reception of the facsimile apparatus FAX ₁ ~FAX _n. The main memory MEM stores a control program, control data, management information, and the like for the facsimile storage device FMS. Hard disk control unit HDC is for controlling the hard disk HDD of the storage device, corresponding to each hard disk HDD ₁ ~HDD ₃ H
DC _{1 to} HDC ₃ are provided. In the present embodiment, three hard disk HDDs as storage devices are provided, but the number of hard disks may be more.

The system control unit SCU is for controlling the facsimile storage device FMS as a whole, and has the following components which are characteristic components of the present embodiment. That is, the selection unit 11 stores the message,
A combination of two hard disk HDDs among the _three hard disk HDDs _{1 to 3} is arbitrarily selected.
The storage control unit 12 stores the same message in each of the two hard disk HDDs according to the selected combination.
Selector 13, when sending electronic message stored on the hard disk HDD ₁ ~HDD _3, selects one from among the two hard disks HDD where the transmitted message is stored. The read control unit 14 reads the transmission message from the selected hard disk HDD.

Further, the changing unit 15 receives the
The combination of the two hard disk HDDs is changed for each predetermined page in one message. Moreover, the search unit 16, when any of the hard disk for example HDD ₁ of the hard disk HDD ₁ ~HDD ₃ fails, all of the message and the same message that was stored in the failed hard disk HDD ₁ is stored Hard disk such as HDD ₂
Search for. The re-storage control unit 17 reads out the corresponding message from all the searched hard disk HDDs ₂ and
Re stored on the hard disk for example HDD ₃ other than the hard disk HDD ₁ that the failure.

Next, the operation will be described. First, the operation of the selection unit 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a hard disk selection process at the time of reception. When storing the received message in the hard disk HDD, a search is made for an empty hard disk HDD (step S1).
It is checked whether there are two free disks (step S2). If there are two free disks, these two disks are selected and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if there is no free disk, the storage disk is selected from the hard disk HDDs in which the messages are already stored (step S3).

FIG. 3 shows a hard disk selection process when there is no free disk. FIG. 3A is a hard disk usage counter, and FIG. 3B is a flowchart thereof. The use counter shown in FIG. 3A is provided in the main memory MEM, and each hard disk HDD
_The number m of input / output processing is recorded corresponding to _{1 to} HDD ₃ . Accordingly, the count value of the number of times of processing m, so that the use / unused each hard disk HDD ₁ ~HDD ₃ is seen. For example, the number of processes m is set to +1 by performing writing at the start of one communication in correspondence with the hard disk HDD. At the end of one communication in which reading has been performed, -1 is set. In addition,
If not used (the message is not stored), the number of processing m is 0.

Further, each of the hard disks HDD _{1 to} HDD ₃
, An enable / disable flag f due to a failure or failure is recorded together with the number m of processes. Therefore, a hard disk HDD that cannot be used depending on the presence or absence of the flag f
Is identified. Next, a hard disk selection process based on the processing number m, that is, a selection process when there is no free disk in step S3 in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. 3B. First, the hard disk HDD having the minimum number m of processing times in the usage counter of FIG.
Is selected (step T1), and the number of times of processing m is set to +1 (step T2). Next, from the remaining hard disk HDDs, the one with the smallest number of processings m is selected (step T3), and the number of processings m is set to +1 (step T4). As described above, two hard disk HDDs are selected from those having a small number m of processing times.

By such processing, the hard disk H
Assuming that DD ₁ and HDD ₂ are selected, for example, a message from the facsimile machine FAX ₁ is received by the facsimile communication control unit FCU ₁ , and is sent to the hard disk H HD through the hard disk control units HDC ₁ and HDC _2.
Stored in DD ₁ and HDD ₂ . This message storage process is performed by the storage controller 12.

As shown in FIG. 4, the management information is stored in the hard disk HDD and the main memory MEM together with the message storage in the hard disk HDD. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the message storage status and the management information. FIG. 4A shows a first example of the management information, FIG. 4B shows a second example of the management information, and FIG. Indicates the accumulation status. FIG.
(A) is obtained by adding the number information of the storage destination hard disk HDD to the ordinary management information including the input FAX name and the destination FAX name.

FIG. 4B shows an example of management information including a minimum number of hard disk HDD numbers in correspondence with a message number. This management information is stored in three places: the storage destination HDD and the main memory MEM.
The selection unit 13 during message transmission, from the management information shown in FIG. 4 (a) and (b), selects one of the hard disk HDD ₁ or HDD ₂ which is transmitted message example message 1 is stored. Then, the read control unit 14 reads the electronic message 1 (image information) from the selected hard disk HDD ₁ or HDD ₂ . Next, the read telegram 1 is transmitted to the destination facsimile machine FAX through the facsimile communication control unit FCU.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the transmission processing of this embodiment. First, a transmission message is selected from the management information of the main memory MEM (step P1), and among the hard disk HDDs in which the message has been stored, a HDD with a small number of processes m is selected by the selection unit 13 (step P2).
The count value of the number of times of processing of the selected hard disk HDD is set to +1 (step P3), and the reading control unit 14 reads out the transmission message and transmits it (step P4).
At the end of transmission, the count value of the number of processes is set to -1 (step P5), and the process ends.

In this embodiment, if a hard disk HDD fails for some reason, the hard disk HDD is not used. This is achieved by referring to the enable / disable flag f of the use counter shown in FIG. Now, FIG.
As shown in (c), if the hard disk HDD ₂ becomes unusable after storing the message 3, the hard disk H
DD ₁ and HDD ₃ will be used.

As described above, in the present embodiment, even if one hard disk, for example, HDD ₂ becomes unusable due to a failure, the other two hard disks, for example, HDD ₁ and HDD ₃ are selected. Since the received message can be stored while backing up, it is effective in protecting the message. Further, according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), since less processing number m hard disk is preferentially used, the hard disk HDD ₁ ~HDD ₃ is used on average. Therefore, the amount of stored messages can be averaged, the input / output processing of the hard disk HDD can be averaged, and the processing capacity of the hard disk HDD can be improved as a whole. That is, since input / output processing is not concentrated on a specific hard disk HDD, the access range per hard disk HDD can be reduced, and the processing time can be reduced as a whole even if the input / output processing of a single HDD is somewhat slow. it can.

Further, according to this embodiment, since the hard disk HDD for backup is not specified, any number of hard disk HDDs may be provided, and not only one hard disk but also two or more failed hard disks may be provided. By increasing the number of hard disk HDDs, backup becomes possible. In the above-described embodiment, the selection of the hard disk HDD that performs message storage is determined based on the current number m of processings. This is effective because the input / output processing can be averaged.

Next, the operation of the changing unit 15 will be described.
In the above-described embodiment, the data is stored in the hard disk HDD in units of one message. In this embodiment, the combination of the hard disk HDDs stored in units of pages in one message is changed by the changing unit 15. 6A and 6B are operation diagrams showing a combination change of a hard disk. FIG. 6A shows a combination change example, and FIG. 6B shows a message accumulation state.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, storage start HDD information for specifying the number of the hard disk HDD in which the first page is stored for each message, and the storage start HDD information Storage H that specifies the HDD order starting from the specified HDD and changing in page units
The DD information is sequentially updated in parallel with the accumulation operation. These pieces of information are developed on the main memory MEM. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the content of 1 message is stored dispersed in the hard disk HDD ₁ ~HDD ₃ for each page.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a hard disk change process during reception. For example, when storing the message 1 shown in FIG. 6B, the storage start HD shown in FIG.
The storage HDD ₁ and HDD ₂ are selected from the D information (step R1). After the selection, the storage start HD is prepared in preparation for the next telegram storage.
D information is updated to HDD ₂ and HDD ₃ (step R
2).

Next, upon receiving one page, the first page of message 1 is stored in HDD ₁ and HDD ₂ (step R).
3) Store the stored HDD information in the HDD in preparation for receiving the second page.
₂ and HDD ₃ (step R4). continue,
It is determined whether the reception is completed (step R5), and the processing from step R3 is repeated until the end of the message, the second page is stored in the HDD ₂ and the HDD ₃ as indicated by the stored HDD information, and the third page is similarly stored in the HDD. ₃ and accumulated in HDD ₁ ends the process.

If there is a fourth page of message 1,
Back to the top of the storage HDD information, stores the fourth page in HDD ₁ and HDD _2. In addition, telegram 2 is the storage start HD
The storage is started from the HDD ₂ and the HDD ₃ according to the D information. In this case, the stored HDD information is sequentially updated from the position indicated as the second page of the stored HDD information in FIG.

[0030] Thus, in the present embodiment, by changing the accumulation combination of a plurality of hard disks HDD ₁ ~HDD ₃ by page, accumulation as compared to the embodiment to change the storage combination with message units Since the disks can be switched with small fidelity and the amount of storage per message can be dispersed, a plurality of hard disks HDD _{1 to} H
Will use the DD ₃ more uniformly, it is possible to reduce the input and output waiting hard disk HDD.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6B, even if one hard disk, for example, the HDD ₂ becomes unusable due to a failure, as shown in FIG. Two hard disks, for example HDD ₁
And the HDD ₃ can be selected and the received message can be stored while backing up, which is effective in protecting the message. In the present embodiment, the storage disk is changed in units of one page, but the storage disk may be changed in units of a plurality of pages.

Next, the operation of the retrieval unit 16 and the re-storage control unit 17 will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing the processing when a failure occurs. FIG. 8A shows the flowchart, FIG. 8B shows the management information of the stored message, and FIG. 8C shows the message storage status of the HDD. FIG.
As shown in (c), the following description will be made exemplifying a case where the hard disk HDD ₂ has failed after storing the telegram 1 and the telegram 3.

In the flowchart of FIG. 8A, when a failure occurs, first, it is checked whether or not there is a message stored in the failed hard disk HDD ₂ (step Q1). In this case, as shown in FIG. 8B, a message stored in the failed hard disk HDD ₂ is searched based on the message management information in the main memory MEM. Based on this management information, the search unit 16 determines that the message 1 and the message 3 have been stored in the failed hard disk HDD ₂ . FIG.
In (b), only the storage HDD number is shown as management information.

Next, the re-storage control unit 17 copies the retrieved message 1 and message 3 to another hard disk HDD (step Q2). That is, as shown in FIG. 8C, the message 1 is copied from the HDD ₁ to the HDD ₃ . In addition, with regard to the telegram 3, HDD ₁ from the HDD ₃
Copy to Subsequently, the management information is rewritten as shown in FIG. 8B (step Q3). That is, the storage HDD numbers of the telegrams 1 and 3 are rewritten on the main memory MEM. The management information on the hard disk HDD ₁ also rewrites the message 1 and newly creates the message 3. Further, the management information on the hard disk HDD ₃ also rewrites the message 3 and newly creates the message 1.

As described above, in the present embodiment, at the time of occurrence of a failure, a message whose backup has been lost due to the failure can be copied to any one of a plurality of hard disk HDDs. The stored messages are stored in two hard disk HDDs, and the stored messages can be more strongly protected.

[0036]

As described above, according to the facsimile storage device according to the first aspect of the present invention, when storing a message, a combination of two storage devices among three or more storage devices provided. Is arbitrarily selected, the same telegram is stored in each of the two storage devices according to the selected combination, and when transmitting the stored telegram, any one of the two storage devices in which the transmission telegram is stored. Select one,
Since the transmission message is read from the selected storage device,
Even if one storage device fails and becomes unusable, it is possible to select the other two storage devices and store the received telegram while backing it up, which is effective in protecting the telegram.

According to the facsimile storage device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the combination of the two selected storage devices is changed for each predetermined page in one message.
The storage devices can be switched with small fidelity and the amount of storage per message can be dispersed, so that a plurality of storage devices can be used more evenly. Claim 3
According to the facsimile storage device according to the described invention, when any one of the storage devices fails, all the storage devices in which the same telegrams as those stored in the failed storage device are stored. Is retrieved, and the corresponding message is read from all the retrieved storage devices and re-stored in a storage device other than the failed storage device, so at the time of the failure, the message whose backup has been lost due to the failure, Since the data can be copied to any one of the plurality of storage devices, all messages can be stored in the two storage devices, and the stored messages can be more strongly protected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a facsimile storage device according to one embodiment of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, and FIG. 1A is a system configuration diagram using the facsimile storage device; (B) is a block diagram of the facsimile storage device.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a hard disk selection process at the time of reception.

FIG. 3 shows a hard disk selection process when there is no free disk. FIG. 3A is a hard disk usage counter, and FIG. 3B is a flowchart thereof.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing message accumulation status and management information. FIG. 4A shows a first example of management information, FIG. 4B shows a second example of management information, and FIG. Indicates the message storage status.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission process according to the embodiment;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are operation diagrams showing a combination change of a hard disk. FIG. 6A shows a combination change example, and FIG. 6B shows a message accumulation state.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a hard disk change process during reception.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing processing when a failure occurs, and FIG.
FIG. 4B shows the flowchart, FIG. 4B shows the message storage management information, and FIG. 4C shows the message storage status of the HDD.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Selection part 12 Storage control part 13 Selection part 14 Read control part 15 Change part 16 Search part 17 Re-storage control part HDD Hard disk (storage device)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/58 200 H04N 1/21

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile storage device having a main storage device and a backup storage device for storing a received message and a transmitted message in the unit of a message and sequentially storing the messages, comprising at least three or more of the storage devices, and storing the messages. A selecting unit for arbitrarily selecting a combination of two storage devices from among the three or more storage devices, and a storage control for storing the same message in each of the two storage devices according to the selected combination. And a selecting unit for selecting one of two storage devices in which the transmitted telegram is stored when transmitting the stored telegram, and reading control for reading the transmitted telegram from the selected storage device And a facsimile storage device. 2. The facsimile storage device according to claim 1, further comprising a change unit that changes a combination of the two storage devices by the selection unit for each predetermined page in one message. A search unit that searches, when one of the storage devices fails, all storage devices storing the same telegram as the telegram stored in the faulty storage device; 3. The facsimile storage device according to claim 1, further comprising: a re-storage control unit configured to read out a corresponding message from all storage devices searched and to re-store the data in a storage device other than the failed storage device. apparatus.