JPH0324832A - Picture communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for executing telephone construction, etc., at every time when the layout of a picture communication equipment is changed on the same floor and to increase the number of degrees of freedom on the layout by propagating light for signal in an optical space and transmitting picture data. CONSTITUTION:Receiving picture data is temporarily stored in a picture data storing means 3 (18). A called receiver is recognized by the destination telephone number received at the time of reception, and the data to designate this receiver and picture data are sent to light emitting element 7 (14) and converted to optical data and propagated to the optical space. Picture data is encoded and is subjected to the processing of compression, etc., before being transmitted to the light emitting element 7 (14). The light propagated to the optical space is received by respective receivers, but only the called receiver is activated by optical data to receive picture data. Thus, the layout is easily changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication device, and particularly to an image communication device capable of transmitting or receiving images wirelessly.

Conventional technology A conventional technology for wirelessly transmitting image data from one side to another is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-62966. This is an image recording device that has a reading section and a recording section.The image data read by the reading section is converted into optical data and sent to the recording section.The recording section converts the image data read by the reading section into optical data. The image is obtained by converting the . Therefore, a spatial optical communication path is provided inside this image recording device, and the image data read by the reading section is transmitted to the recording section via the spatial optical communication path.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such conventional image communication devices, the spatial optical communication path is formed inside a single image reading device, and the reading section and recording section within this device are The purpose is to improve the versatility of the layout by making it easier to change the position. For this reason, this device is equipped with a communication function.
When attempting to perform image communication, this device must be connected to a telephone line. Therefore, there is a problem that telephone installation is required each time the device is moved within the same room.

The present invention was made in view of such conventional problems,
The purpose is to provide an image communication device that can wirelessly transmit and receive image data between a plurality of image communication devices.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light emitting element and a light receiving element for optical space propagation communication, a means for driving these light emitting element and light receiving element, an image data storage means, and a communication device. The gist of the present invention is an image communication device which is equipped with means for managing the telephone number of the other party when communicating, and which performs image communication by optical space propagation.

The received image data is temporarily stored in the image data storage means. Then, the called receiving device is identified from the destination telephone number received at the time of reception, and data specifying the receiving device and image data are sent to the light emitting element, where they are converted to optical data and propagated into optical space. be done. The image data is encoded and subjected to processing such as compression before being transmitted to the light emitting element.

The light propagated in the optical space is received by each receiving device, but only the called receiving device is activated by the optical data and receives image data. The received image data is then decoded and stored or recorded in the image data storage section.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an image communication apparatus according to the present invention. The button 1 in the figure is a satellite, which is a light emitting and light receiving unit using an LED or LD.

2 is a satellite I/F (interface), which includes a memory 3 which is an image data storage means, a number management unit 4 which manages I/D telephone numbers of image communication devices of a sender and a destination;
A Manchester encoder/decoder 5 that is a means for encoding and decoding accumulated data, a driver circuit 6 that drives a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and a light emitting element 7 and a light receiving element 8.
Consisted of. Reference numeral 9 indicates an existing facsimile machine, which is connected to the satellite I/F2 to enable data exchange, and sends the received data to the memory of the satellite I/F2. Reference numeral 10 denotes a switchboard (PBX), which is connected to the telephone line 11 of the image communication device corresponding to each terminal. Line 11
have numbers 1234, I235, and 1236, for example, and represent the devices of each terminal. The facsimile 9 is installed between the satellite I/F 2 and the exchange 10, and is connected to the exchange 10 by a representative line C. No matter which number the terminal device number comes from, one of the numbers enters the facsimile 9 through the representative line C.

1. Looking at the image communication device on the terminal side that communicates with the device on the satellite side mentioned above, this image communication device on the terminal side also has a terminal 12 and a terminal device for performing optical space propagation communication. It is equipped with F13. The terminal 12 is an LED or LD light emitting or light receiving unit. The terminal I/F 13 includes a light emitting element 14, a light receiving element 15, a driver 16 that drives these light emitting and light receiving elements l4 and 15, a Manchester encoder/decoder l7 that encodes and decodes image data, and an image There is also a memory 18 for data storage. Reference numeral 19 in the housing indicates a facsimile. Reference numeral 20 indicates a plurality of terminal-side image communication apparatuses comprising a collection of the terminal 12, terminal E/F 13, and facsimile IJ 19. Therefore, in a one-floor office or the like, a number of such terminal-side image communication devices are installed.

Furthermore, in FIG. 1, the symbol EXF is a light beam for optical space propagation made of near-infrared light, and the light beam heading from the satellite 1 to the terminal 12 is shown as E1, and the light ray heading from the terminal 12 to the satellite 1 is shown as F.

The operation of the image communication apparatus having such a configuration will be described with the satellite 1 as the light emitting side (transmitting side), the terminal 12 as the light receiving side (receiving side), and the terminal 12 as the light receiving side (receiving side).

First, from the terminal device (for example, number 234) to line 1
1, the destination is designated and the calling telephone number for image communication is input. The exchange io selects the number 1234 and connects it to the parent facsimile 9 through the representative line C. This parent facsimile 9 performs normal image communication, inputs the data of the received signal to the memory 3 of the satellite interface 2 through the host interface B, and the memory 3 stores the data. At this time, the number management section 4 stores and manages the telephone number of the calling terminal device. Through the I/D management performed by the number management section 4, the telephone number of a terminal device other than the concerned device is not accepted, and the originating device is secured.

Next, the accumulated data is transferred to the Manchester encoder/decoder 5.
and output to the driver 6. The Manchester encoder/decoder 5 has a function of performing coding or decoding and outputting the result, and outputs the encoded data in synchronization with each other so that changing points of the data signal can be easily detected and extracted. When the driver 6 operates based on this output and drives the light emitting element 7 to emit light, the near infrared first signal E is emitted from the light emitting element and propagates in space.

The light emitting elements placed inside the first satellite include dozens of LEDs or LDs to cover a range of approximately 10 meters.
is placed. The wavelength is near-infrared light, and the emission frequency is Q
PSK is 50MHz.

The spatially propagated near-infrared light is received by the terminal 12. This terminal 12 also emits light similar to the satellite,
It is a unit composed of a light receiving element, and when receiving light, the light receiving element 15 inputs it to the terminal I/F 13.

? The signal received by the terminal 12 of the image communication device, which is sorted by the I/D number in the frame, passes from the light receiving element 15 to the driver 16, and is sent to the Manchester encoder/decoder 17.
It is decoded at Decoded data is stored in memory 1
8 and host interface D and terminal I/
F13 is connected to the receiving side facsimile 1.
The image data is sent to the facsimile machine 9 and recorded in the recording section of the facsimile machine 19.

First, consider the case where data is sent from a facsimile on the terminal side, contrary to the above case. When the telephone number of the destination image communication device is input and a transmission instruction is issued, the facsimile 19 transfers the data to the host interface D.
is input to the memory 18 of terminal ■/F13 through , and stored. After that, b
After the image data is encoded, the driver circuit 16 and the light emitting element 14 are operated to generate a light beam F for optical space propagation.

The emission frequency at this time is, for example, 70 MHz.

This light beam F is received by the satellite 1 and converted into an electrical signal through the light receiving element 8. Thereafter, the image data is decoded by the Manchester encoder/decoder 5 and stored in the memory 3. At the same time, the destination phone number is sent to the number management section 4.
D. Managed. The image data stored in the memory 3 is input to the parent facsimile 9 through the host interface B, and a dial signal is sent to the B exchange IO through the representative line C.

Then, a dial signal is sent from the exchange 10 to the line 11, and the image communication device which is the destination terminal is called, and image data is communicated.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, signal light beams are propagated through optical space to transmit and receive image data. In this case, there is no need to carry out telephone installation work each time, and the degree of freedom in terms of layout increases. For example, if the image communication device itself were to be equipped with a battery power source, it would be possible to omit cords altogether, and various effects would be obtained, such as making an office or the like simpler and more aesthetically pleasing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image communication device according to the present invention. 1...Satellite, 2...Satellite/F, 3,
18...Memory (image data storage means), 4...Number management section, 5, 17...Manchester encoder/decoder (encoding means), 6, 16...Driver, 7, 14...
... Light emitting element, 8, 15 ... Light receiving element, 9 ... Main facsimile, 10 ... Switching machine, 11 ... Line, 12
...Evening-■Naru, 13...Yuichi Minal I/F, 19.
··facsimile.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A light emitting element that performs optical space propagation communication, a light receiving element that receives communication light output from the light emitting element, means for driving the light emitting element and the light receiving element, and means for encoding and decoding image data; An image communication device comprising means for storing image data and means for managing telephone numbers.