JPH03147470A - Control method for facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send picture information to a destination by requesting the relay transmission to a relevant destination to a relay station stored in a storage means when a destination is not connected due to a deteriorated line condition. CONSTITUTION:A received procedure signal is referenced, the transmission mode such as a MODEM speed and coding system of picture information used for the procedure is set and it is informed to the destination and the MODEM training is applied according to the MODEM speed set at that time. When the training is failed, whether or not a speed lower than the MODEM speed set at that time is able to be selected is checked and when the result of discrimination tells YES, the MODEM speed is shifted down by one stage and the processing step is restored to the start to set the transmission mode again. Then whether or not the transmission operation at that time is the transmission to a transit station is checked and when the result of discrimination is NO, a relay station is called to start the relay request while the transit station is set as the relay destination to make the relay request to the transit station.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method of controlling a facsimile machine equipped with a relay request function.

[Prior Art] For example, in a facsimile machine that uses the public telephone network as a transmission path, if modem training fails due to poor line conditions when making a call to a destination, the modem speed is gradually increased until modem training is successful. I am trying to train the modem by shifting down the modem speed.

If the modem training is not successful even at the modem speed that can be finally set, the image information transmission operation is temporarily terminated and the same destination is called again.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when such a re-calling operation occurs, the line condition has deteriorated due to the condition of the line link established between the caller and the destination. Even if the call operation is repeated, the same situation will occur again, resulting in the inconvenience that image information cannot be transmitted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of controlling a facsimile machine that enables image information to be reliably transmitted to a destination.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In the present invention, a storage means is provided in which relay stations are stored in advance for each destination, and when a connection cannot be made due to poor line conditions at the time of a call to the destination, the relay stations are stored in the storage means. The relay station is requested to relay transmission to the destination.

[Operation] Therefore, since the image information is transmitted to the destination via the relay station, even if the condition of the line link established between the destination and the destination is permanently poor, the image information can be transmitted to the destination. 6 [Example] Hereinafter, an example 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, the CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2 is for controlling the operation of each part of this Group 3 facsimile machine and processing the transmission procedure, and the ROM (Read Only Memory) 2 is for the CPU to execute. The RAM (Random Access Memory) 3 is used to store data such as control programs and various constants necessary for executing the control programs.The RAM (Random Access Memory) 3 constitutes the work area of the CPU It is used to store information.

The scanner 4 is for reading a document image at a predetermined resolution, and the plotter 5 is for recording and outputting an image at a predetermined resolution.

The operation display section 6 is made up of various keys and displays necessary for operating this Group 3 facsimile device.

The encoding/decoding unit 7 encodes and compresses the image signal obtained by reading with the scanner 4, and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal.

The image storage device 8 is for storing encoded and compressed image information.

The group 3 facsimile modem 9 performs processing to modulate and demodulate digital data, and has a low-speed modem function for exchanging transmission procedure signals and a high-speed modem function for transmitting image information. Low-speed modem functions include CCITT Recommendation v, Recommendation Dem function (
300bps), and the high-speed modem function is CC
ITT Recommendation v, Recommendation Dem function (9600 bps,
7200bps) and V, 27ter modem function (4800bps, 2400bps).

The network control device 10 is for connecting this Group 3 facsimile device to the public telephone line network, and is equipped with an automatic call/receive function.

These CPUI, ROM2. RAM3, scanner 4,
The plotter 5, the operation display section 6, the encoding/decoding section 7, the image scaling section 8, the group 3 facsimile modem 9, and the network control device 10 are connected to the system bus 11,
Data exchange between these elements is performed by opening this system bus 11.

Further, from the group 3 facsimile modem 9, the transmission signal output from the group 3 facsimile device to the line is output to the network control device 10, and from the network control device 10,
A received signal received from the other party's terminal is output to the group 3 facsimile modem 9.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the operation display section 6. As shown in FIG.

In the figure, a start key 68 is used to input a command to start the operation of the facsimile machine, a stop key 6b is used to input a command to stop the operation of the facsimile machine, and a numeric keypad 6c is used to input a command to stop the operation of the facsimile machine. The function key 6d is used to select various functions of this facsimile machine, and the one-touch dial key 6e is used to input numerical information such as telephone numbers, etc., with a single key operation. This allows you to specify the destination.

The liquid crystal display 6f is for displaying guidance messages etc. from this facsimile machine to the operator, and the YES key 6h is for making an affirmative selection for the guidance message.
Key 61 is for making a negative selection for the guidance message.

FIG. 3 shows a TOT example of a one-touch registration table stored in RAM3.

This one-touch registration table TOT is formed for each one-touch dial key 6e, and contains one-touch number information for identifying the one-touch dial key 6c, and the telephone number of the destination registered in the one-touch dial key 6e. It consists of telephone number information, destination name information indicating the name of the destination, and via station telephone number information indicating the telephone number of the transit station registered for the destination.

Further, the contents of this one-touch registration table TOT are stored when the operator operates the function key 6d to select a registration mode for the one-touch dial 6e and performs a predetermined registration operation. In addition, this registration operation includes the registration operation of the facsimile machine, that is, the transit station, when it becomes impossible to transmit image information to the destination due to poor line conditions. It is being

FIG. 4 shows transmission management information TT formed during memory transmission.
An example of H is shown.

This transmission management information TTM includes file number information for identifying each transmission, transmission mode information for determining the transmission mode, transmission time information for determining the transmission time, destination telephone number information for determining the destination telephone number, and When a destination is input using the one-touch dial key 6e, the contents of the relay station telephone number information registered in the one-touch registration table TOT are copied, and the transmission image in the image storage device 8 is copied. It consists of image information map information that shows the storage status of information.

With the above configuration, the operator sets the original to be transmitted on the scanner 4, operates the operation display section 6 to select memory transmission, inputs the destination using the one-touch dial key 6e, and sets other transmission conditions. When the operation is completed and the start key 68 is turned on, the CPUI generates one piece of the above-mentioned transmission management information TTM, stores each information input at that time in the corresponding item, and starts the reading operation of the scanner 4. start.

The image signal read by the scanner 4 is encoded and compressed by the encoder/decoder 7, and the resulting image information is stored in an image storage bag! 8 in sequence. When the reading of all transmitted originals is completed and the image information of all transmitted originals is stored in the image storage device 8, the CPU
As shown in a) and (b), the image information transmission operation is performed.

That is, first, the telephone number of the destination is notified to the network control device 10, and the destination is called (process 101), and a procedure signal sent from the destination to notify terminal functions etc. is received (process 102). ).

Referring to the received procedure signal, set the transmission mode to be used at that time, such as modem speed and image information encoding method, and notify the destination side of the transmission mode (103)
, perform modem training at the modem speed set at that time.

As a result of this modem training, if the training fails (result of judgment 104 is YES), it is checked whether it is possible to set a modem speed lower than the modem speed set at that time (decision 105), and the result of judgment 105 is YES.
If so, the modem speed is shifted down by one step (process 106), the process returns to process 103, and the transmission mode is set again.

If the result of the judgment 105 is NO, there is no modem speed that can be set for the destination when transmitting image information, so one line is disconnected (process 107).

Then, it is checked whether the transmission operation at that time is transmission to a via station (determination 108), and the result of determination 108 is NO.
In this case, in order to perform a relay request operation to a relay station, with the relay station set as the relay destination (process 109),
A call is made to the relay station (process 11O), and a relay request operation is started.

Then, upon receiving the procedure signal from the relay station (processing 11
1) After notifying the relay request (processing 112).

The transmission mode is determined and the operations from step 103 onward are performed for the relay station.

Also, if the result of judgment 10g is YES, there is no means to transmit image information to the destination at that time, so
The transmitted file is deleted (process 113), and the image information transmission operation to that destination is canceled. Note that at this time, prior to processing 113, an error report may be recorded and output to notify that the image information transmission operation to the designated destination is to be canceled.

Further, if the modem training with the destination is successful and the result of judgment 104 is NO, the image storage device M8
Send the image information for one page stored in the (Process 1)
14). Then, it is checked whether or not there is a notification from the receiving side that there is an error when receiving the image information (determination 115).
If the result of the determination 115 is NO, it is determined whether the image information of the subsequent page is stored or not (determination 116);
When the result of judgment 116 is YES, the receiving side is notified of this, and then the process returns to step 114 to transmit the image information of the next page.

Further, when image information transmission for all pages is normally completed and the result of 1 judgment 116 becomes No, the line is disconnected (process 117), the process moves to process 113, and the series of image information transmission operations is completed.

Further, when the result of judgment 115 is YES, it is checked whether the number of retransmissions of the same page is less than the specified value (judgment 118), and when the result of judgment 118 is YES, preparations for retransmission of the page are made. Go (process 119)
Then, the process moves to process 103, and image information from the page where the reception error occurred is transmitted.

Also, when the result of 1 size @118 is No, at that point the line is disconnected (process I20), an error report is recorded and output indicating that the image information transmission ended with an error (process 121), and process 113 The image information transmission operation ends.

Therefore, if the line condition is poor and modem training is not successful even after shifting down the modem speed to the lowest speed, the image information transmission operation with that destination will be terminated at that point and registration will be made to that destination. Since the relay request operation is performed for the relay station that is connected to the relay station, if the line status is not affected much when transmitting image information to the relay station, the image information is transmitted to the destination by relaying the image information to the relay station. can do.

Note that, as the transit station, for example, a center station set in the area of the destination is selected.

However, in the embodiment described above, image information is transmitted to the destination in one
For example, if the image information transmission to the destination fails even after a specified number of attempts, a relay request is made to the relay station even if the image information has been sent a specified number of times. You may change the conditions.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, each time an image information transmission operation is performed to a destination, it is determined whether or not to perform a relay request operation to a relay station. When this is done, image information transmission to that destination can always be performed in relay mode from then on.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, a storage means is provided in which relay stations are stored in advance for each destination,
When a call to a destination cannot be made due to poor line conditions, the relay station stored in the storage device is requested to relay transmission to the destination, so the line link established between the destination and the destination is Even if the situation is permanently bad, image information can be transmitted to the destination.

[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 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an operation display section, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a one-touch registration table, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of transmission management information, and FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are flowcharts showing an example of processing during transmission operation. 1...CPU (central processing unit), 2...ROM (
3...RAM (Random Access Memory). Figure 1 Figure Figure Figure 5 (a)

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a method for controlling a facsimile apparatus having a relay request function, the facsimile apparatus is provided with a storage means in which a relay station is stored in advance for each destination, and when a connection cannot be made due to poor line conditions at the time of a call to the destination, the relay station is stored in the storage means. 1. A method for controlling a facsimile apparatus, the method comprising: requesting a relay station located at the destination to perform relay transmission to the destination;