JPH02186742A - Electronic terminal system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an inexpensive and modern electronic mail terminal equipment having a high additional value, which has used an electronic typewriter and a telephone set, by permitting a timer means to automatically access the mail box of an electronic mail center. CONSTITUTION:The terminal of a subscriber L3 at Los Angeles (L.A.) can be connected to the electronic mail center E-Mail Center in Los Angeles, and the mail box which is exclusively used by the subscriber L3 is allocated on the magnetic disk of a computer device, for example. It is assumed that a subscriber N2 in New York (N.Y.) sends a letter to the subscriber L3 in L.A. The letter is transmitted from the terminal of the subscriber N2 to the E-mail center of N.Y., and is stored in a mail box MBX-L3 in the center of L.A. via a line (NETWORK). The subscriber in L.A. accesses MBX from the terminal L3, and it is printed in the terminal so as to obtain a content on a paper.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to the use of an electronic typewriter with good print quality as a communication terminal, and particularly to an electronic terminal system that is applied to the cheapest and most valuable electronic mail system. Regarding.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, one of the applied technologies for electronic typewriters is to provide an external interface to the electronic typewriter, which is called A.
A SCII terminal. In addition to an ASCII terminal, electronic typewriters with a document memory include those that allow a floppy disk to be connected, so that the contents of the document memory can be stored on the floppy disk, or vice versa.

However, the above-described technology alone is still insufficient for a full-scale communication terminal, and cannot be applied to, for example, an e-mail system.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The present invention provides a technique for fully applying an electronic typewriter as a terminal for an e-mail system. To be more specific, in a typical office, there is always an electronic typewriter and a telephone on the secretary's desk. The present invention provides an inexpensive, modern, and high value-added e-mail terminal device that utilizes an electronic typewriter and a telephone.

〔Example〕

EXAMPLES In order to clarify the content of the present invention, an explanation will be given based on examples. FIG. 1 is a diagram to clarify the e-mail system. In the figure, E-MailCenter is an e-mail center, and LL-LN and NINNN are subscribers or terminals of the e-mail system. MBX is a mailbox. The details of each terminal will be described later, but for example, the terminal of subscriber L3 in Los Angeles (L, A,) is connected to the e-mail center E-Mai in Los Angeles.
1 Center, and a mailbox exclusively for subscriber L3 is allocated on the magnetic disk of, for example, a computer device located at the center. Similarly, a subscriber (N2) in New York (N, Y) is provided with a mailbox MBX in memory on a central computer in New York. Now New York (
Suppose subscriber N2 in Los Angeles (L, A, ) sends a letter to subscriber L3 in Los Angeles (L, A, ). The letter is for subscriber N2
from the New York e-mail center E-Mai
l Sent to the Center via the line (NETWORK) to the mailbox MB in the Los Angeles center.
Stored in X-L3. Letter is mailbox MBX-
3, the subscriber in Los Angeles accesses the mailbox from terminal L3, prints it out on the subscriber's terminal, and obtains the contents on paper for the first time. Furthermore, if the subscriber's terminal has a document memory device, it is also possible to store the document in the document memory and check the contents via the display.

Now, the contents of the terminal system in the above-mentioned e-mail system will be described below. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration as a terminal system. ETW is electronic typewriter, E
MIF is an e-mail interface, MODEM is a modem (modem), and MIF is a telephone set. As can be seen from the figure, the electronic typewriter (ETW), e-mail interface (EMIF), e-mail interface (EMI)
F) and the modem (MODEM) are connected, and the modem (MODEM) and the wall telephone connector are connected, and the modem (MODEM)
) and the telephone are connected in parallel. In this example,
When creating documents, electronic typewriters (ETWs) can print independently in offline mode, and have internal semiconductor memory (64KRA) to store created documents.
M). In addition, in the online mode, like a so-called ASCII terminal (entered key information can be sent to the e-mail interface, documents in the semiconductor memory can also be sent to the e-mail interface; conversely, the e-mail interface (EMIF) ) is configured so that printed information and document information can be stored in the electronic typewriter while deciphering instructions as appropriate.

The electronic typewriter is a block shown as ETW in Figure 4.
A keyboard KB for inputting characters and functions, a memory TEXT for storing characters from the keyboard KB, a control memory for storing control procedures, a processing unit CPU for executing the contents of the control memory ROM, and a communication unit COM for performing communication control.
, a printer PRT for outputting the contents of the memory TEXT, and a bus B connecting the above-mentioned blocks. The contents of the memory TEXT are input and output via the communication section.

Next, a modem (MODEM) literally modulates transmitted data and demodulates received data, modulating digital information into analog information.
It demodulates analog information into digital information.

In this embodiment, either a frequency modulation method or a phase modulation method may be used.

Modems have made remarkable progress in recent years, and some are now controlled internally by microprocessors. For example, SM 120 manufactured by Hayes
It is 0 etc.

This is done by receiving commands via digital signals (EM
(from the IF side), it is intelligent so that automatic dialing etc. can function. In addition, in this embodiment, a modem (M
The ODEM) and telephone set are configured separately,
A telephone with a modem that integrates these may also be used. Now, the e-mail interface (EMIF) that is most deeply related to the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 3 is an external view of the electronic mail interface (EMIF). Its shape is approximately A4 paper size and approximately 5cm in height.
It belongs to m. There are three light emitting diodes (LEDs) lined up on the front panel, each with an RCV.

ACT and ERR are printed on the panel above the LED. A digital clock display is also available to display the time.On the right side of the case, there is an e-mail
A Pack insertion slot is provided. E-MailP
ack includes a storage device that stores software for supporting two types of e-mail, that is, communication procedures and control programs, and in this embodiment, one E-M a i 1Pa.
ck is designed to receive two types of e-mail services. If the user desires three or more types of e-mail services, another E-M ai 1Pack is required.
All you have to do is prepare an e-mail interface and replace the bag as appropriate (one e-mail interface can support several types of e-mail services.

While FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of the e-mail interface (EMIF), FIG. 4 shows its internal configuration. CPU is a microprocessor, RAM is random access memory, ROM is read-only memory, U
ARTI and UART2 are universal asynchronous receiver transmitters, TIMER is a programmable timer, LAT is a latch, Ll, L2 . L3 is a light emitting diode, MPX is a multiplexer, CN is a connector, PACK is an E-Mail Pack, I)S
P is controlled mainly by a display device (CPU), and each block is connected to one data bus (DB).

Actually, there is an address bus in addition to the data bus (DB), but this explanation will avoid a complicated explanation (it is not shown in the figure. However, since it is a microprocessor system, those skilled in the art can easily understand it. If you want to understand microprocessor systems in detail, try Motorola 6800, Intel 8
Please refer to the user's manuals of 085, Zilog z-go, etc. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned 8-bit CPU is preferable as the CPU. This is because this system is not very large and uses a 16-bit CPU to perform complex control and control.
Or, rather than incurring high costs, use an inexpensive 8-bit CP.
It is better to use U. Now, the ROM in the figure stores control programs or fixed table information, and the ROM
U reads and decodes the contents, and controls each block. In RAM, data is written to and read from specific addons (in RAM) as needed.The difference between ROM and RAM mentioned above is that RO
While M is read-only, RAM is a storage device that can be read and written.

The RAM gives each storage location a name for convenience, as shown in FIG. 4-2. ECNT is a counter related to errors, TIMEI and TIME2 are registers that store time data, Password is a register that stores passwords, DNAME is a register that stores document names, 5BSCRB is a register that stores subscriber numbers, LA
TC is a register that stores the logic state of the latch LAT mentioned above. These registers are used in the processing described below.

On the other hand, the contents of the ROM are stored at the time of production of the e-mail interface, and it takes some effort to change the contents. However, the advantage of using a ROM is that the desired program can be executed from the time the power is turned on without any unusual operations. Therefore, this system intentionally uses ROM. On the other hand, E-Mail P
The contents of ack (PACK) are actually loaded with ROM. In order to receive e-mail services, this system operates using programs or table information from both the ROM and E-Mail Pack.

Next, the program timer (TIMER) has two modes. One is a mode in which the microprocessor is notified of the passage of time at predetermined time intervals using an interrupt line, and the other is a mode in which commands from the microprocessor are received using a data bus (digital signal) in real time.
There is a mode in which the information is notified to the CPU via the DB. It is also possible to convert the real time directly and send it to the display device DSP. Therefore, the display that receives the signal is configured to display real time.

In this embodiment, a 4-digit, 7-segment display is used as the display, but a dot display type display may also be used. Further, although the display is directly connected to the program timer (TIMER), it can also be connected to the data bus (DB) to receive and display commands from the CPU. In this way, if a dot-type display is used and a data bus (DB) connection type is used, characters can also be displayed. You can also use.

Next, the latch (LAT) receives commands from the CPU and holds digital information.
Ll, L2. L3 lighting and multiplexer (MP
X) is used for control. Multiplexer (MPX
) is E-Ma connected via connector (CN)
This is for selecting storage area A or B of il Pack (PACK) and sending the storage contents of either A or B to the data bus. In other words, the signal line Sl
When it is ON, area A is selected, and when it is OFF, area B is selected.
is now selected. Two UARTs are CP
It operates based on commands from U, converts serial information sent from the outside to the e-mail interface into parallel information, and notifies the CPU via the data bus (DB).

Further, parallel information received from the CPU is converted into serial information and sent to the outside. In this way, information can be exchanged both ways with the outside world. The power supply PS supplies DC power to each block.

Now, based on the above-mentioned hardware, the following control is performed when receiving e-mail service. FIG. 5 is a flowchart describing the control from an overall perspective. First, when power is applied to the system, each block is initialized in the optimal form as an e-mail interface. This is a matter of common sense to those skilled in the art, and is applicable to, for example, the mode setting of the program timer mentioned above. The program sequence then moves to 6.1. Here, U.A.
Check whether data from the electronic typewriter (ETW) is present in the RTI. If there is nothing, the sequence moves to 6.5 and the story is simple. If there is data, one of "S", "R", and ■" is confirmed in 6.2, and if any of them is applicable, the corresponding control routine 6.8.6.9.6.10 is executed. driven, that is, when an operator presses a key on an electronic typewriter,
The sequence moves from 6.1 to 6.2, where it is then confirmed what requests the operator is making to the e-mail interface. Here, "S" is a sending request, "R" is a receiving request, and "!" is a request for setting initial conditions of the e-mail system. In this embodiment, programs are prepared for the three types of operator requests mentioned above, but if further operator requests are to be added, a comparison judgment process and related programs are written below 6.4 as "S". , “R.
``, ``I''. Now, going back to the previous topic, if a key other than ``S'' or ``R'' is pressed, the sequence will be added as if no key was pressed. is 6.5
Proceed to. 6.5 has a programmable timer (TIMER
) and read the real time information from 6.6. The comparison judgment process (that is, comparing the time with TIMERI or TIMER2 in RAM) in 6.7 is performed, and based on the result, the mailbox (MB
X) (6.11). That is, 6.6.6
．． 7, the mailbox confirmation time specified in advance by the operator is compared with the actual time, and if they match, the mailbox is accessed. As mentioned above, the M ain Loop shown in FIG. 6 is configured to confirm and process operator requests associated with key presses on the electronic typewriter ETW, and to access the mailbox at a specific time. It is checked and processed. Note that each process will be described later.

In addition, in Figure 5, the mailbox is accessed by comparing the time, but if the interrupt processing circuit in the CPU microprocessor is enabled, the program timer (TIMER) time You can use interval mode, which allows you to access your mailbox at regular time intervals. In other words, the process shown in 6.11 is
After the completion of any sequence of M ain Loop in FIG. 5, interrupt processing is performed independently and appropriately. This is shown as INT in FIG. Here, the process “C” shown in FIG. 5 and FIG.
The process "CALL" will be explained in detail. As mentioned above, the process "CALL" is used as a specific sequence or interrupt process in FIG. This can be done with one process.The process “CALL
” is activated, the process shown in Figure 7 in 7.1 “
DIAL" is performed, and then the line is electrically disconnected in 7.2, and the process ends. The process "DIAL" in FIG. 7 is controlled as follows. In 8.1, the error counter (ECN
T) is cleared. In 8.2, U for MODEM
An auto-dial command is sent via ART2 to attempt to communicate with the e-mail center. The e-mail center calling number is E-Mail PACK (P
ACK), so you can use this together to send an automatic dial command. In the following step 8.3, it is confirmed whether or not the e-mail center has been connected. If it is not connected yet, proceed to 8.4 and install the RAM
ECNT within is incremented. In other words, the value “l”
become. Subsequently, at step 8.5, it is checked whether ECNT has the value "0" or not. Here, the content of ECNT is the value "Bi, so proceed to 8.3. In other words, in 8.4.8.5, E-CNT
is an 8-bit counter.If the connection status is checked 256 times and the connection is still not established, it is 8.6.
Proceed to 256 times.

If it is confirmed that the connection is established after checking the following, you can proceed to 8.7. In other words, whether or not the connection has been established within a predetermined time is processed by a software loop without using a hardware timer. 8
．． 6, the ERRLED L3 is turned on via the latch. In detail, read LATC in RAM, turn on the bit corresponding to signal line S4 for that data, write it to latch LAT, and transfer that state back to LATC.
Stored in preparation for the next latch (LAT) write. This method eliminates the hardware for the CPU to read the LAT state and prepares a copy of the LAT state on the RAM to reduce costs. Returning to the original topic, 8.
When the connection is confirmed in step 3, the password previously registered by the operator is sent to the e-mail center in step 8.7, and then mailbox information is obtained from the center in step 8.8. At that time, if there is an incoming call in your mailbox, 8
．． Based on the judgment of 9, proceed to 8, 10 and RCV LED
Light up Ll using the same method as in the case of (7) ERRLED described above. On the other hand, if there is no incoming call in the mailbox yet, the call will be automatically removed from the "Dial" process.

Please refer again to FIG. 5. When the operator presses the key “I” on the electronic typewriter ETW, the process “I”
”(6, 10) is performed. This processing is related to initial condition setting, and is processed as shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is described in connection with key operations of an electronic typewriter. At 9.11, the operator presses the key "I". On the e-mail interface side, data is created to display AorB on the display of the electronic typewriter (ETW), and the data is sent to the electronic typewriter. In other words, E-M ai 1Pack (PA
CK) is selected. In other words, the operator selects "A" or "B" for the e-mail service he/she wishes to receive. When the operator presses the key "B" in 9.3, a command is sent to the multiplexer (MPX) to select the program of 1B0 from the E-M ath Pack (PACK) in 9.4.
LAT). At this time, the LA in RAM is also
TC is used in combination. After this, at 9.5, a display is made using the display of the electronic typewriter to prompt the operator to input his/her own password necessary to receive the e-mail service. In 9.6, the operator entered 164 as the password.
56 and press the key "Return" indicating the break, the e-mail interface EMIF will be set to R at 9.7.
Register Pa5s wor assigned to AM
Store 16456 to d. Next, at 9.8, the operator is asked when the mailbox will be accessed. At that time, if the operator wants to access the mailbox at regular intervals, "l",
9.9) If you want to access the mailbox at a specific time,
9.10 (input the time. In this example, two types of time are input. In response to this, the e-mail interface EMIF enables interrupt processing for 9.9, and for "1" An interrupt should be generated every hour (
Set the interval of program timer TIMEH. On the other hand, time input 9. For lO, time data is written to TIMEI and TIME2 in the RAM. This completes the initial condition setting process.

Now, the front spring/L in Figure 3, (7) LED RCV
If (Ll) is lit due to automatic confirmation of the electronic mail interface EMIF, the operator knows that there is incoming data in the mailbox MBX and presses the key "R" on the electronic typewriter. The sequence will be described in a manner similar to the description of the initialization operation. FIG. 9 shows the reception operation, which begins at 10°1 when the operator presses the key "R". key “R”
” is pressed, the e-mail interface EMIF calls the above-mentioned process “Dia Bi”. It is clear from the above description that if the e-mail center cannot be called during this process, the ERR LED lights up. In other words, in that case, ER
This is a mechanism in which both RLED and RCVLED light up.

In this case, the operator must forcibly interrupt the process. Although not detailed here, the key "R" is pressed. Now, if the process "Dial=" at 1092 is successful, the sequence advances to 1003, where the operator is asked whether to print the received data using the electronic typewriter ETW or to store it in memory. The operator then presses the key "P" or "M". The key "P" corresponds to printing and the key "M" corresponds to storing in memory. After this, the program control in the e-mail interface is -Mail Pack (PACK
On the other hand, if the operator does not want to send the document in the memory of the electronic typewriter to a specific party using the e-mail system, the process starts by pressing the key "S". This will be explained according to FIG. When you press the key “S” (11, 1)
, the above-mentioned process "Dial" is performed (11, 2), and the operator is asked about the other party at 11.3. The operator inputs the subscriber number of the other party as information for specifying the destination. That is, as shown in 11.4, enter numerical values or symbols, and press the "return" key to indicate the end. At that time, the email interface EMIF is 11.
The subscriber number entered in step 4 is stored in the register 5BS in RAM.
11.5) Then ask the operator which document in the electronic typewriter (ETW) to send 11.6
If you want to send the document "enl", press the key as shown in 11.7 and then press the "return" key.The e-mail interface EMIF receives this and stores the name in the register DNAME in RAM ( 11.
8). Control is then transferred to E-Mail Pack (11.9), and the sending operation is completed. next,
The control program in E-Mail Pack will be explained below. FIG. 11 shows control during reception, and corresponds to FIG. 9 1O05 described above. First, in step 12.1, a command is sent to the e-mail center to receive the received data. This is done via UART2 and MODEM. Continuation (12, 2), the operator determines whether he wishes to print or store in memory, corresponding to FIG. 9, 10.4.

If you want to print, skip 12.3 and
．． Proceed to 12.4 from 2. If the data is to be stored in the memory, a command is issued to the electronic typewriter ETW in step 12, 3 to store the data in the memory. Thereafter, in step 12.4, the data from the e-mail center is sent character by character to the electronic typewriter ETW while being converted based on the communication procedure so that it can be printed by the electronic typewriter or stored in the memory. 12 when all data is transferred
, 5, it is checked whether there is still incoming call data in the mailbox, and if there is still incoming call data, 1 is returned.
Do not turn off the RCV LED based on the judgment in 2.6 (
Finish processing. Conversely, if there is no incoming data in the mailbox, the RCV LED is turned off at 12.7 and the process is completed.

On the other hand, the E-Mail Pack (PACK
) program control is shown in FIG. This corresponds to FIG. 10, 11.9. At step 13.1, the LED ACT LED (L2) indicating that transmission is in progress is lit. Subsequently, the other party's subscriber number is read from the RAM register 5BSCCRB and sent to the e-mail center. In Sequence <13.3, a command is given to the electronic typewriter ETW to output the transmitted document in the memory.

Next, in step 13.4, contrary to what was explained in step 12.4, the data is converted to data that can be decoded by the e-mail center based on the communication procedure, and one character at a time is sent to the e-mail center. If all the contents of the document have been transmitted, the LED ACT (L2) is turned off at step 13.5, and the control ends.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the system according to the present invention has high effects such as being able to automatically access the mailbox of the e-mail center using the timer means.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram to clarify the e-mail system, Figure 2 is a diagram showing the configuration as a terminal system, Figure 3 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the e-mail interface, and Figure 4-2 is a diagram of the RAM. Figures 5 to 12 are flowcharts showing internal control of the e-mail interface. εt-11F-6,1! b mail > 7 face RAr
'I 10 Toko l Lenozu Schif 411 Kankakuproplum 孭Protoco) Renoma 77 canri old man bash bu 0 plum 艷1? figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] A terminal of an e-mail system, comprising a readable/writable semiconductor storage device for storing unique information for identifying the terminal, and a center device of the e-mail system based on the information stored in the storage device. An electronic terminal system having means for accessing a mailbox assigned to the terminal.