JPH02143677A - Transmission method for facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent useless picture information transmission by releasing a call when an idle area of a receiver side picture storage function is deficient. CONSTITUTION:When an idle area of a receiver side picture storage device 8 is deficient while the device 8 stores sent picture information, a training check signal is neglected and no MODEM training is implemented. Then at the end of the training check signal, a CPU 1 applies reply output of a cut off instruction signal and its own terminal equipment side cuts off the line. Based on a reply signal, the sender side cuts off the line to release the call. Thus, waste picture information transmission is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a transmission method for a facsimile machine equipped with an image storage function.

[Prior Art] A facsimile machine equipped with an image storage function can realize various useful functions.

In other words, when sending an image, for example, it is possible to reduce the operator's time by reading the image of the original to be sent before the sending operation, or to use a time-specific sending function that allows you to specify the sending time of accumulated image information, or to send the same message to multiple destinations. It is possible to realize a notification function for transmitting image information.

In addition, when receiving images, for example, there is a substitute reception function that stores the received images when the recording paper runs out, a relay function that sends the received image information to another facsimile machine, and a predetermined password is required to be input. It is possible to implement a confidential function that records and outputs received images. Furthermore, if the received image is not recorded and output when the image is received, processing time for image recording is not required, so the image transmission time may be shortened.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, conventionally, when receiving image information using the image storage function, the following problems have occurred.

That is, the receiving device executes processing for receiving image information when there is even a small amount of free space in the image storage function. For this reason, if there is not enough free space in the image storage function, the memory will overflow while image information is being received, making it impossible to properly receive image information.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 6(a), the transmission of the image information PIX is finished and the transmitting device sends a post-message signal, for example,
When the procedure end signal EOP is sent, the image information PI
When memory overflow occurs during reception of X, the receiving device responds with a training denial signal RTN, which causes the transmitting device to send a non-standard function command signal NSS specifying a transmission function to resend the image information. After transmitting the training check signal TCP, the disconnection command signal DCN is transmitted to disconnect the line.
Image information transmission ends.

Therefore, even if the image information transmission fails, the same amount of time is spent as in the case where the image information transmission is successful, as shown in FIG. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a transmission method for a facsimile apparatus that solves the problems of the conventional apparatus and prevents image information from being transmitted when the capacity of the image storage function is insufficient.

[Means to solve the problem] The present invention is applicable when transmitting image information between memories.

The capacity of the image information to be transmitted is compared with the free capacity of the image storage function on the receiving side in the pre-transmission procedure, and if the free capacity of the image storage function on the receiving side is not enough, the image information is not transmitted and the free capacity is Image information transmission is terminated at this point.

[Operation] Therefore, if a memory overflow occurs on the receiving side, image information is not transmitted, so that unnecessary image information transmission operations are prevented, and communication costs can be prevented from being wasted.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a CPU (central processing unit) 1 controls each part of the facsimile machine and performs facsimile transmission control procedure processing, and a ROM (read/write) 1.
The RAM (Random Access Memory) 3 stores the control processing program executed by the CPU and various data necessary when executing the processing program. It constitutes an area.

The scanner 4 is for reading original images at a predetermined resolution, the plotter 5 is for recording and outputting images at a predetermined resolution, and the operation display section 6 is for operating this facsimile device. It consists of various operation keys and various indicators.

The encoding/decoding unit 7 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal, and the image storage device 8 encodes and compresses the encoded and compressed image information. This is for storing a large amount of image information in a different state.

The modem 9 performs modulation and demodulation processing for transmitting digital data using the public telephone network, which is an analog line, and the network control device 10 connects this facsimile device to the public telephone network. It is. Furthermore, this network control device 10 is equipped with an automatic call/call function.

These CPUI, ROM2. RAM3, scanner 4,
Plotter 5, operation display section 6, encoding/decoding section 7, image storage device 8. The modem 9 and network control device 10 are connected to a system bus 11, and data is exchanged between these elements via this system path 11.

With the above configuration, when the operator specifies a transmission destination and commands to start image transmission with memory transmission specified, the transmitting device reads the image of the transmission document set in the scanner 4 at that time. The image signal obtained by reading the image signal is encoded and compressed by the encoding/decoding section 7, and the image information obtained thereby is stored in the image storage device 8.

Then, the destination information of the specified transmission destination is sent to the network control device 1.
0 and call the destination.

As a result, the receiving device that has detected the incoming call first responds with the called station identification signal CED to indicate that the own terminal is a non-voice terminal, and then The terminal responds with a digital identification signal DIS for notifying the standard transmission function that the terminal has, and a non-standard function identification signal NSF for notifying the non-standard transmission function that the own terminal has.

Thereby, the transmitting device determines the transmission function to be used at that time based on the received digital identification signal DIS and non-standard function identification signal NSF.

Then, the content of the decision, the amount of image information to be transmitted at that time, and the encoding method are transmitted to the non-standard function command signal NS.
After notifying the receiving device by S, it sends out a training check signal TCP in order to perform modem training at the notified transmission rate.

When the receiving device performs proxy reception, etc., and it is necessary to store the received image information in the image storage device 8,
Compare the amount of image information notified by the non-standard function command signal NSS with the available capacity of the image storage device i8 at that time to determine whether all the transmitted image information can be stored in the image storage device 8; If storage is possible, the training check signal T is sent with the transmission speed set to the modem 9.
If a CP is received and the reception result at that time is good,
It responds with a reception preparation confirmation signal CFR.

When the transmitting device receives the reception preparation confirmation signal CFR, the transmitting device transmits the image information PIX stored in the image storage device 8 at that time.
and when the transmission is finished, the procedure end signal EOP is sent.
Send out.

When the receiving device receives the image information PIX, it sequentially decodes it into the original image signal in the encoding/decoding section 7 and performs error detection processing, and sequentially stores the received image information PIX in the image storage device 8. do.

Then, when the reception of the image information PIX is finished and the procedure end signal EOP is received, the image information PIX received at that time is
If no error is detected,
It responds with a message confirmation signal MCF.

When the transmitting device receives the message confirmation signal MCF,
The line is restored by sending a disconnection command signal DCN. Also,
Upon receiving the disconnection command signal DCN, the receiving device restores the line.

In this way, image information is transmitted between memories from the transmitting device to the receiving device.

On the other hand, if the receiving device stores the received image information in the image storage device 8 and determines that all the image information cannot be stored in the image storage device 8, as shown in FIG. It ignores the incoming training check signal TCP and does not perform modem training, but responds with a disconnection command signal DCN at the timing when it has finished receiving the training check signal TCP, instructs the transmitting device to disconnect the line, and automatically disconnects the line. One line is disconnected on the terminal side.

In this way, if there is not enough free space in the image storage device 8 of the receiving device, the receiving device terminates the image information transmission before the single-picture information transmission is started, thereby eliminating unnecessary image information transmission. Not done.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the processing executed by the receiving device at this time.

In phase B, the non-standard device command signal NS from the transmitting device
When S is received (process 101), it is checked whether memory reception is to be performed at that time (decision 102). If the result of determination 102 is YES, the amount of image information included in the non-standard command signal NSS is determined. It is checked whether the storage capacity is smaller than the free space of the image storage device 8 at that time and the memory is ready for reception (determination 1.03).

When the result of the judgment 103 is YES, the training procedure is executed (process 104), and the subsequent image information reception process is performed.

Further, when the result of judgment 103 is NO, the transmitting device waits for 1.5 seconds until it finishes sending out the training check signal TCP for training j (processing 1os), and then sends the disconnection command signal DCN. Sending process 1
06) Performs line restoration processing and terminates image information transmission.

In this manner, in this embodiment, if memory reception is not possible, the receiving device terminates image information transmission.

Incidentally, in the above-described embodiment, the receiving device determines whether inter-memory transmission is possible, but the transmitting device may also make this determination.

In this case, the receiving device responds to the transmitting device by including information indicating the size of the free space in the image storage device 8 of its own terminal in the non-standard function identification signal NSF.

As a result, if a transmission function that uses the memory receiving function of the receiving device, such as confidential transmission or relay transmission, is specified as the transmission function, the transmitting device can determine the size of the image information to be transmitted at that time. If the receiving device determines that it cannot receive all the transmitted image information by comparing the usable memory capacity of the receiving device, as shown in FIG. restore the line,
Aborts image information transmission. Furthermore, in this case, the transmitting device does not retransmit the same image information transmission.

In this case, compared to the above-described embodiment, the time required until image information is discontinued is shorter.

In this case, an example of processing executed by the transmitting device is shown in FIG.

When the transmitting device receives the non-standard function identification signal NSF (
Process 201), and checks whether the non-standard function identification signal NSF includes notification information of free memory capacity (
Judgment 202) When the result of judgment 202 is YES, it is checked whether the memory transmission function is to be used at that time (judgment 203).

When the result of judgment 203 is YES, since the amount of transmitted image information can be known in advance, it is next checked whether the receiving device is to perform memory reception at that time (decision 204).

When the result of judgment 204 is YES, it is checked whether the free memory capacity notified by the non-standard function identification signal NSF is smaller than the amount of information of the transmitted image information, resulting in a capacity shortage (judgment 205).

When the result of the judgment 205 is YES, a process 206) for sending a disconnection command signal DCN to terminate the image information transmission at that point, a process 207) for setting the same image information transmission to be excluded from retransmission; A line restoration process is performed (process 208), and the image information transmission is ended.

Further, in this case, guidance indicating that the image information transmission set by the operator could not be performed and the cause thereof is displayed on the operation display section 4, or recorded and output as a report from the plotter 5.

Further, when the result of any of the judgments 202, 203, 204, and 205 is No, the normal image information transmission process 2
Execute 09.

In this way, since the transmitting side determines whether or not memory transmission is possible, if the image information transmission specified by the operator cannot be performed due to a reason on the receiving side, the retransmission operation on the transmitting side can be canceled. No, no unnecessary retransmission operations are performed, so
The utilization rate on the sending side is improved.

Incidentally, as a unit of the capacity of the image storage device 8 used between the transmitting device and the receiving device, bytes, blocks of a predetermined number of bytes, number of standard originals, ratio to the total capacity, etc. can be used. It is preferable that the receiver and receiver use the same units.

Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, it is assumed that the receiving side can process the encoding method specified by the transmitting side, but if this is not possible, the transmitting operation is immediately terminated.
It is also possible that the transmitting side converts the encoding method of the image information so as to match the encoding method of the receiving side, and then performs the image information transmitting operation again using the amount of information after the conversion.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when transmitting single image information between memories, the capacity of the image information to be transmitted and the free capacity of the image storage function on the receiving side are compared in the pre-transmission procedure. However, if there is not enough free space in the image storage function on the receiving side, the image information transmission is stopped at that point without transmitting the image information, so there is always a case where memory overflow occurs on the receiving side. Since one-picture information is not transmitted during the process, unnecessary picture information transmission operations are prevented, and communication costs can be prevented from being wasted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2(a) is a time chart showing an example of the procedure when transmitting image information, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing on the receiving side; FIG. 4 is a time chart showing another example of the procedure when image information transmission is aborted; FIG. 5 is an example of processing on the sending side. FIG. 6(a) is a time chart showing an example of a conventional procedure when transmitting image information is aborted, and FIG. 6(b) is a time chart showing an example of a procedure when transmitting normal image information. 1...CPU (central processing unit), 2...ROM (read only memory), 3...RAM (random memory)
access memory). Figures (a) (b) Figures (a) (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a transmission method for a facsimile machine equipped with an image storage function, when performing memory-to-memory transmission in which the sending device transmits the image information stored in the image storage function and the receiving device stores the received image information in the image storage function, the receiving device 1. A transmission method for a facsimile apparatus, characterized in that when there is insufficient free space in an image storage function of a facsimile apparatus, a call is released in a pre-transmission procedure.