JPH0134416B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for outputting messages from an exchange having a storage function in facsimile storage communication.

In facsimile storage communications, messages from the calling party's terminal are temporarily stored in an exchange that has a message storage function along with one or more destination information and other specified items, such as control information such as communication service type and number of originals. After that, if the called party terminal is not accommodated in the storage/exchange, the image information and control information, which is a message, is transferred to another storage/exchange that accommodates the called party's terminal, and is temporarily stored. In addition to calling the called party's terminal and delivering the message, it also sends a notification message generated by the store-and-forward communication network upon receipt of the message, such as a notification message of the end of the communication, to the terminal. to deliver. Therefore, when it becomes necessary to send a message or notification from a storage/switching device to a certain terminal, the degree of concentration of communication to the storage/switching device, the state of the storage/switching device, such as the number of terminal lines, the busy rate of the line, etc. A large number of messages and notifications to be sent to the terminal are accumulated, and depending on the concentration of communication to the terminal and the status of the terminal, there may be many messages and notifications sent to the terminal. Sometimes it stays. However, in this case, the method of transmission from the storage/switching device to the terminal has conventionally been that once the line for transmission to the terminal is secured, the first message or notification is sent in the order in which the storage/switching device stores Select a message, start sending it to the destination terminal of the message or notification, and if the line is free, send the message or notification that should be sent to another destination terminal that is not currently being sent to the terminal. The message or notification message with the earliest accumulation order is selected and transmitted, and this transmission start is repeated as long as there is space in the transmission circuit to the terminal. On the other hand, when a message or notification message has been sent over a certain line, it is searched to see if other messages or notification messages to the same destination terminal have been accumulated, and if so, the line is It continues to be used and transmitted, and if no data is accumulated, the line is released and becomes vacant. Therefore, there was a problem in that a means for quickly transmitting a specific message or notification to a terminal was not guaranteed.

The present invention has been made to solve such problems.The present invention provides a priority that can be specified by the calling party for messages sent from the calling terminal, and when calling a destination from a storage/switching device, communication with a high priority is selected. This system is designed so that lines are assigned preferentially to texts for transmission, and the drawings will be explained in detail below.

The figure is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of a facsimile message output method according to the present invention.

In the figure, 1, 2, and 3 are caller terminals that have transmitting and receiving functions, 4 and 5 are called party terminals that have transmitting and receiving functions, and 6 and 7 are calling party terminals that have transmitting and receiving functions.
Reference numerals 8, 9, and 10 are called party terminals having transmitting and receiving functions. 11a and 11b are terminal line exchanges; 12 is an incoming line from the terminal line exchange 11 to a storage exchange described later; and 13 is a branch transmission line from the storage exchange 11 to the line exchange 11. 14a and 14b have a function of temporarily storing the message from the calling party terminal, a function of transferring the message to another storage/switching device that accommodates the called party terminal designated as the destination, and a function of transmitting the message to the calling party or the called party. This is a storage and forwarding machine that has both the function of generating the message you want to convey and the function of transmitting the message and notification to the called party's terminal. 15 is a terminal line reception support section;
16 is a terminal reception line control section, 17 is a terminal line transmission branching section, and 18 is a terminal transmission line control section. 19
20 is an inter-office transmission line from the storage/exchange 14a to the storage/exchange 14b, and 20 is an inter-office transmission line from the storage/exchange 14b to the storage/exchange 14a. 21 is an inter-office line transmission support section, 22 is an inter-office line transmission control section, 2
3 is an inter-office line reception support unit, 24 is an inter-office line reception control unit, 25 is an input/output transfer bus, 26 is a central processing unit, 27 is a buffer storage device (hereinafter referred to as buffer memory), and 28 is for communication recording. 29 is a notification message generating device; 30 is a storage magnetic disk device for correspondence and notifications; 30A is a magnetic disk device for storing correspondence and notifications destined for the called party terminal 8; 30B is a magnetic disk device for storing messages destined for the called party terminal 8; 30C is a magnetic disk device for storing correspondence and notifications destined for the called party terminal 9; Here, the storage medium for correspondence and notices is not limited to the magnetic disk device 30, but may also be the main memory in the central processing unit 26, the buffer memory 27, or other dedicated semiconductor memory devices. . In addition, the storage areas for the called party terminals 8, 9, and 10 are not limited to discrimination based on magnetic disk devices, and instead of dividing the storage area within one storage device or physically dividing the storage area, individual correspondence can be stored. Destination discrimination information may also be added to the notification message storage area.

Next, the operation of this method will be explained. First, the calling party terminal 1 makes a call and dials the reception number of the storage exchange 14a to the terminal line exchange 11a.
The terminal line exchange 11a searches for one free line among the incoming lines 12a based on the received number and sends out a calling signal. One of the terminal reception line correspondence sections 15 that received the calling signal notifies the terminal reception line control section 16a of the incoming call. The terminal receiving line control unit 16a performs order determination, etc., and notifies the central processing unit 26a through the input/output transfer bus 25a.After performing necessary processing such as securing buffer memory 27a in this unit 26a, the calling terminal 1 The storage/switching device 14a sends information such as the type of storage and communication service requested (broadcast, priority, etc.), single or multiple destination information, etc. to the storage/switching device 14a. It is received by the central processing unit 26a through the line control unit 16a and the input/output transfer bus 25a, and is stored on the buffer memory 27a.

The number of the calling party terminal 1 is sent from the terminal line exchange 11a or the calling party terminal 1 itself, and is similarly stored in the buffer memory 27a.

Thereafter, the calling party terminal 1 sends facsimile image information, so in the storage/exchange 14a, the central processing unit 26a buffers the message and notification message through the input/output transfer bus 25a while buffering in the buffer memory 27a. 30
Store in A.

Next, when the transmission from the calling party terminal 1 is completed, the connection path is released. At this time, the central processing unit 26a transfers the reception record, such as the reception time, service type, destination information, calling subscriber number, etc. recorded on the buffer memory 27a, to the communication recording magnetic tape device 28a. In this case, such information is also held on the buffer memory 27a.

Then, under the control of the program in the central processing unit 26a, when it is the turn to send out the received information from the calling party terminal 1, the central processing unit 26a inputs and outputs the destination number stored on the buffer memory 27a. The data is transferred to the interoffice line transmission control section 22a via the transfer bus 25a. And inter-office line transmission support section 2
1a, interoffice transmission line 19, interoffice line reception support section 2
3b to the storage/exchange 14b. One of the interoffice line reception handling sections 23b that received the calling signal notifies the interoffice line reception control section 24b of the incoming call. Inter-office line reception control section 2
4b performs order determination, etc., and transfers the input/output transfer bus 25.
After the notification is sent to the central processing unit 27b through the central processing unit 27b, and this unit 26b performs necessary processing such as securing the buffer memory 27b, the storage/exchanger 14a sends the information to the storage/exchanger 14b such as the reception time, service type, etc.
Since control information such as destination information, originating subscriber number, and terminating subscriber number is sent, the storage/exchange 14b sends control information such as destination information, originating subscriber number, and terminating subscriber number to the central It is received by the processing device 26b and sent to the buffer memory 27.
Store it on b. After that, the storage exchanger 14a
sends facsimile image information, so in the storage/exchange unit 14b, the central processing unit 26b buffers it in the buffer memory 27b and stores it in one of the correspondence and notification storage magnetic disk devices 30 through the input/output transfer bus 25b. do.

Next, when the transmission from the storage/exchange device 14a is completed, the connection path is released. At this time, the central processing unit 26b transfers the control information of the communication recorded on the buffer memory 27b to the magnetic tape device 28b as a reception record. In this case, such information is also held on the buffer memory 27b.

Further, the message sent from the calling terminal 6 or 7 to the called terminal 8, 9, or 10 is sent to the storage/exchange 14b after the same process as the transmission from the calling terminal 1 to the storage/exchange 14a described above. The information is temporarily stored in one of the magnetic disk devices 30 in the internal memory.

If any of the magnetic disk devices in the storage/exchange unit 14b fails and the already stored image information cannot be retrieved, a notification will be sent based on the control information on the buffer memory 27b to the effect that the stored correspondence has been lost. The notification message generated in the storage/exchange device 14 is generated by the notification message generating device 29b under the control of the central controller 26a, and is temporarily stored in one of the magnetic disk devices 30. is also stored once.

When, under the control of the program in the central processing unit 26b, it is detected that one of the branch transmission lines 13b is free and transmission to the called party terminal is possible, the transmission stored in the buffer memory 27b is Searches the control information of the communication, selects a communication with a high priority, and transmits the destination number of the communication through the input/output transfer bus 25b to the terminal transmission line control unit 18b.
Transfer to. Then, the destination number is sent to the terminal line exchange 11b through the terminal line transmission branching unit 17b, and based on the number received by the terminal line exchange 11b, one of the called party terminals, for example, the called party terminal 8, is called, and the called party terminal 8 responds, a connection path with the terminal line transmission branch 17b is established through the terminal line exchange 11b. Thereafter, the high-priority message stored in the storage magnetic disk device 30A is transmitted to the called party's terminal 8 under the control of the program in the central processing unit 26b.

In the above embodiment, the case where the branch transmission line 13b is vacant has been explained, but depending on the usage status of facsimile communication, even after high priority messages are accumulated in the storage/switching device 14b, low priority messages may be left unused. The branch transmission line 13b may gradually become blocked due to the transmission of other messages including the message. In such a case, it is also possible to interrupt the transmission of low-priority messages, for example, between pages, and transmit high-priority messages first. That is, once the high-priority messages destined for the called party terminal 8 are stored in the storage/switching device 14b, the branch transmission line 13
If all lines b are in use and one of them is used for transmitting a low-priority message destined for the called party terminal 8, the called party Immediately after finishing sending a certain page destined for terminal 8, another message with a high priority is sent continuously, and the communication with a low priority is interrupted after the sending of the high priority message is finished. You can resume sending sentences. In addition, the called party terminal 8
If all the branch transmission lines 13b are in use and no communication is being sent to the called party terminal 8 at the time when high-priority messages destined for the destination are stored in the storage/exchange 14b, the central The priority of the message currently being transmitted is searched under the control of the program in the processing device 26b. For example, if one of the branch transmission lines 13b is assigned to the called terminal 9 and a message with a low priority is being transmitted. , Immediately after sending the middle page of the message destined for the called party terminal 9, the central processing unit 26b sends control information to the terminal line exchange 11b, and the connection path between the storage exchange 14b and the called party terminal 9 is opened; It is possible to call the called terminal 8, set up a connection path between the terminal 8 and the storage/switching device 14b, and transmit a high-priority message from the storage/switching device 14b to the called terminal 8.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, messages from high-priority callers and various notification messages to subscribers generated within the storage and switching equipment are given priority regardless of the order in which calls occur. This has the advantage of further increasing the convenience of facsimile storage communication because it can be delivered to the terminal instantly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of a facsimile message output method according to the present invention. 1, 2, 3... Calling party terminal, 4, 5... Transmitting/receiving terminal, 6, 7... Calling party terminal, 8, 9, 10...
Called party terminal, 11a, 11b...terminal line exchange, 12...incoming line, 13...branch sending line,
14a, 14b...Storage/exchange machine, 15...Terminal line reception support unit, 16...Terminal reception line control unit, 1
7...Terminal line transmission branch unit, 18...Terminal transmission line control unit, 19...Inter-office transmission line from the storage/exchange 14a to the storage/exchange 14b, 20...Inter-office transmission from the storage/exchange 14b to the storage/exchange 14a Line, 21...Inter-office line transmission support unit, 22...Inter-office line transmission control unit, 23...Inter-office line reception support unit,
24...Interoffice line reception control unit, 25...I/O transfer bus, 26...Central processing unit, 27...Buffer storage device, 28...Magnetic tape device. 29... Notification generating device, 30... Storage magnetic disk device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile terminal on the calling side, which has a subscriber telephone number information storage means that stores telephone number information of network subscribers in advance, information on the other party's telephone number and designated number accompanying the communication, and a function for transmitting facsimile image information. Means for temporarily storing and storing image information sent from a caller in association with the caller's telephone number, the other party's telephone number, and a specified number associated with the communication, in the case where there is image information of a plurality of calls stored by the storage means. means for comparing the priorities corresponding to the designated numbers of each call and ordering the already accumulated calls according to their priorities; A means for determining and allocating a transmission line and transmitting the stored facsimile image information to the receiving subscriber, a means for determining whether or not the transmission line is vacant, and a line on which the facsimile image information is being transmitted is placed at the end of the page. If all transmission lines are in use for transmitting low-priority messages when the transmission opportunity for a high-priority message occurs, a certain priority A facsimile message output method characterized in that immediately after a page of a low-priority message is sent, the communication line is disconnected, and a high-priority message is sent over the line.