JPH05191624A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select a channel so as to minimize the communication charge. CONSTITUTION:A call request is awaited from the user of the equipment in the step S11 and when the call request is confirmed, the capacity of transmission picture data in a picture storage memory 8 is calculated in the step S12. An address of a transmission opposite party is read in the step S13. Whether or not data on request are sent within a 1ch communication charge is discriminated in the succeeding step S14 by referencing a charge table based on the calculated data capacity, a read opposite address and a time zone. Whether or not bulk communication is to be implemented is discriminated in the step S15 based on the result of discrimination in the step S14. When the bulk communication is discriminated, the processing proceeds to the step S16, in which the call control procedure for bulk communication is executed and the bulk communication is transited, but when it is discriminated that the bulk communication is not effective in terms of charge, 1ch communication using one usual B-ch is executed in the step S17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which is connected to ISDN (Integrated Digital Service Network) to communicate image information and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when performing bulk communication in a facsimile apparatus connected to an ISDN, bulk communication using two B channels (2Bch) is always performed. As the ISDN, for example, in "INS64", which is currently being serviced in Japan, if 2Bch is used, the charge required for communication is twice as much as when 1Bch is used. The fee when using only 1 Bch is the same fee system within a fixed time.

[0003]

However, if bulk communication is performed even in the case of transmitting image data that is completed within a fixed time in the above-described communication mode,
There is a problem that the charge is twice as much as when using 1Bch. That is, if bulk communication is uniformly performed, data communication is inefficient in terms of communication charges. The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and an object of the present invention is not to perform bulk communication uniformly, but to determine whether to perform bulk communication according to the data amount of image data to be transmitted. It is an object to provide a facsimile device that performs data communication while making a determination.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of user information transfer channels whose communication charges are determined by the relationship between the distance to the communication partner and the communication time. In a facsimile machine connected to a digital circuit network, a means for determining a distance to a communication partner based on input address information, a means for calculating a communication required time based on an amount of transmitted information, and the determination Based on a communication charge determined from the relationship between the calculated distance and the calculated communication required time, and means for determining the number of channels used for the plurality of user information transfer channels so that the communication charge is minimized. ..

[0005]

In the above structure, it functions to select the channel so that the communication charge is minimized.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <Explanation of Apparatus> FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. CPU2 shown in FIG.
Is a ROM for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus 1, and 3 is a ROM for storing a control program according to a control procedure described later. Reference numeral 4 denotes a RAM used as a work area for programs stored in the ROM 3 and a temporary save area for flags and the like during error processing. Reference numeral 5 denotes an image scanner unit for reading input information such as a document as an image, and 6 denotes an input unit provided with operation buttons (not shown) for inputting information such as a destination when transmitting. Reference numeral 7 is a communication control unit for the facsimile apparatus 1 to transmit / receive to / from the outside, and is connected to an external ISDN line 20.

Further, 8 is an image storage memory for storing transmission image data, and 9 is a call control section for controlling a protocol at the time of making and receiving calls. Reference numeral 10 is a printing unit that prints an image on a recording paper, and 11 is an image with the outside that encodes the image information read by the image scanner unit 5 or decodes the image information sent from the outside. An image communication unit that controls communication.

<Description of Control Procedure> The control procedure in the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment will be described below. First, the procedure of the image reading operation by the operator before making a call will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In step S1 of FIG. 2, the operator causes the image scanner unit 5 to read the image data to be transmitted. In the next step S2, the read image data is stored in the memory. In step S3, the address of the transmission partner is input using the ten keys (not shown) of the input unit 6. And step S
At 4, the start key (not shown) also provided on the input unit 6 is pressed to shift to the calling operation.

Next, call control in the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the call-out operation in this embodiment. In step S11 of the figure, a call-out request from the user of the apparatus is waited for. If the call-out request is confirmed here, step S12 is reached. move on.
In this step S12, the capacity of the transmission image data in the image storage memory 8 is calculated. In step S13, the address of the transmission partner is read out, and in the following step S14,
Data capacity calculated in step S12 and step S13
According to the other party's address and time zone read in
It is determined whether the requested data can be transmitted within the communication charge of 1ch by referring to the charge table shown in FIG.

In the next step S15, step S14 is executed.
It is determined whether or not bulk communication is to be performed based on the determination result in. If it is determined that bulk communication is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S16 to execute a call control procedure for bulk communication and shift to bulk communication. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S15 that the bulk communication is not effective in terms of charges, the normal 1ch communication using one Bch is executed in step S17.

<Specific Calculation of Communication Charge> Here, "I
A specific method of calculating the communication charge will be described with reference to the charge table of "NS64" (FIG. 4). For example, in the case of communication in Tokyo, if the image data to be transmitted has a capacity that can be transmitted within 3 minutes, the communication charge will be 10 yen if the bulk communication is not performed. However, when the bulk communication is executed, the transmission time is halved as compared with the case where the bulk communication is not executed, but the communication fee is doubled to 20 yen.

Further, for example, when transmitting image data to Osaka during the daytime on weekdays, if the volume of the transmitted image data can be accommodated within 5.5 seconds, 10 yen will be sufficient if bulk communication is not executed. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to shorten the transmission time and reduce the image data amount by determining whether to perform bulk communication based on the amount of data to be transmitted, the transmission destination, and the time zone. There is an effect that data communication can be performed at an appropriate fee commensurate with. The present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices or an apparatus including a single device.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By determining whether or not to perform communication using a plurality of channels according to the image capacity to be transmitted, there is an effect that communication can be performed at a high cost efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an image reading operation procedure by an operator before a call is made in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a calling operation in the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment,

FIG. 4 is a communication charge table of “INS64”.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Facsimile Machine 2 CPU 3 ROM 4 RAM 5 Image Scanner Section 6 Input Section 7 Communication Control Section 8 Image Storage Memory 9 Call Control Section 10 Printing Section 11 Image Communication Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile device connected to a digital line network having a plurality of user information transfer channels, the communication charge of which is determined by the relationship between the distance to the communication partner and the communication time, etc. It is determined from the relationship between the means for determining the distance to the communication partner based on the above, the means for calculating the communication required time based on the amount of transmitted information, and the relationship between the determined distance and the calculated communication required time. And a means for determining the number of used channels of the plurality of user information transfer channels based on a communication charge so that the communication charge is minimized.