JPH05207190A - Data communication system utilizing plural lines - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable communication at the lowest tariff by suitably selecting the group of communication lines and the number of lines based on the information quantity of transmitting data. CONSTITUTION:Original information on an original 1 is read by an image input part 14a and converted to the communication data of electric signals, and these data are outputted to a coding part 15a. The communication data are coded by the coding part 15a and outputted to a file storage part 16a. The file storage part 16a stores the coded communication data as an image file. Based on the information quantity of image files stored in the file storage part 16a and a communication distance judged from the line number of an opposite side station, a line decision part 22a decides the combination of the communication line group and the number of lines to be really used in the communication line group so that the communication tariff can be lowest, and it is informed of a system control part 10a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data communication system using a plurality of lines, and in particular, each station has a function of transmitting and receiving with a plurality of communication lines, and the transmitting station divides the communication data into a plurality of communication lines. The present invention relates to a data communication system using a plurality of lines in which data transmitted from a plurality of communication lines are transmitted in parallel, and the receiving station synthesizes data sent from a plurality of communication lines to restore the original communication data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when transmitting and receiving data between communication devices such as facsimile machines, since only one communication line can be used at the same time, one communication data is serially transmitted by one line. Therefore,
When transmitting image data having a large amount of information such as newspapers and magazines, there is a problem that the transmission time is extremely long.

However, in recent years, a service integrated digital network (hereinafter abbreviated as ISDN) for digital information has been constructed, and it has become possible to use a plurality of communication lines at the same time.

ISDN is an in-home line terminating device (DS).
U) A communication network that unifies information of various communication devices such as telephones, facsimile machines, telexes, etc. connected via a bus in digital format, and enables parallel communication by multiple lines between these communication devices. Is.

Such a communication network is composed of a plurality of communication line groups having different transmission rates and charge systems, and each communication line group is composed of a plurality of communication lines having the same transmission speed and charge system.

With the spread of ISDN, in recent years, a so-called ultra-high-speed communication system, which is a communication system for dividing communication data into a plurality of blocks and transmitting each divided block data in parallel from a plurality of communication lines, has been studied. Has been done.

[0007]

Since the usage charge per unit time of a communication line is generally set according to the capacity of the communication line, that is, the transmission rate, a plurality of communication line groups having different transmission rates are prepared. In such a case, even if data of the same amount of information is transmitted, the communication charge may differ depending on the type of communication line group and the number of lines actually used from the communication line group.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a communication charge per unit time for each communication distance for each communication line group.

Under such a fee system, the amount of information is 70 Mb
When transmitting 8 megabytes of data within the area, if 8 lines from communication line group A with a transmission rate of 64 kb / s are used, the communication time of each communication line will be 137 from the following equation (1).
Seconds (<180 seconds), communication fee is 80 yen (10 yen ×
8 lines).

70 Mb / (64 kb / s × 8) = 137 seconds (1) However, when 15 lines are used from the communication line group A, the communication time of each communication line becomes 73 seconds from the following equation (2), The price will be 150 yen.

70 Mb / (64 kb / s × 15) = 73 seconds (2) Further, when two lines are used from the communication line group C having a transmission speed of 1.5 Mb / s, the communication time of each communication line is given by 2) from 3)
It takes 3 seconds, and the communication charge is 120 yen.

70 Mb / (1.5 Mb / s × 2) = 23 seconds (3) As described above, in the data communication by a plurality of lines, even if the same amount of data is transmitted, the communication line to be used Communication charges vary depending on the combination of group type and number of lines. Nevertheless, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, the type of communication line group and the number of lines are not properly selected to save the communication charge, and if the line is selected incorrectly,
There was a problem that the user suffered a disadvantage.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and to select the type of communication line group and the number of lines to be used appropriately based on the amount of information of transmission data. It is to be able to communicate at various charges.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a data communication system using a plurality of lines in which each station uses a plurality of communication lines for parallel transmission and reception, A plurality of connected communication line groups having different transmission speeds and charge systems, and line determining means for determining the combination of the communication line group and the number of used lines having the lowest communication charge based on the information amount of communication data. The point is that it is equipped.

[0015]

According to the above configuration, the combination of the communication line group having the lowest communication charge and the number of actually used lines are automatically determined from the plurality of communication line groups having different transmission rates and charge systems. As a result, communication can be performed at the lowest cost without the operator having to worry about it.

[0016]

1 and 2 are schematic block diagrams of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied. Here, the configuration necessary for explaining the operation as the transmitting station is shown in FIG. 1, the configuration necessary for explaining the operation as the receiving station is shown in FIG. 2, and the same or equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and A suffix "a" is added to the configuration and a suffix "b" is added to the configuration of the receiving station to distinguish the two.

In FIG. 1, the operation unit 11a has operation keys such as a numeric keypad and a function selection key, a display unit, etc., and the system control unit 1 receives information according to the contents of the operation by the operator.
Output to 0a. The system control unit 10a controls the entire facsimile device.

The image input unit 14a reads the document information on the document 1 and converts it into communication data of electric signals, and outputs this to the encoding unit 15a. The encoding unit 15a encodes the communication data and outputs it to the file storage unit 16a.

The file storage unit 16a stores the encoded communication data as an image file. Line determination unit 2
Reference numeral 2a denotes a communication line group having the lowest communication charge based on the information amount of the image files stored in the file storage unit 16a and the communication distance determined from the line number of the partner station. Determine the combination of the number of lines actually used.

The file division unit 17a divides the communication data stored in the file storage unit 16a into a plurality of block data and outputs the block data. As shown in FIG. 3, the divided block control unit 18a assigns a document No., a page No., a block No., to each of the divided block data.
Management information such as block data size, page size, and image quality is added and output.

The block delivery control unit 33a delivers each block data to each protocol control unit 21a-1 to 21a-n. Each protocol control unit 21a-1 to 21a-n
Transmits the delivered block data to the receiving station by a normal protocol process. Multiple communication controller 12a
Controls the protocol control units 21a-1 to 21a-n.

The line control units 20a-1 to 20a-n automatically dial and call the receiving station when there is a transmission instruction by one-touch dialing or speed dialing, and connect the line with the receiving station. Execute the process.

The line switching unit 19a is the system control unit 10
In response to an instruction from a, each protocol control unit 21a-1
21a-n and the line control units 20a-1 to 20a-n are appropriately connected. The multiple line control unit 13a controls each of the line control units 20a-1 to 20a-n.

On the other hand, referring to FIG.
b is a combination of a plurality of block data delivered from the divided block control unit 18b based on the management information,
Output to the file storage unit 16b. The decryption unit 31b
The communication data stored in the file storage unit 16b is decrypted. The image output unit 30b records the decrypted communication data and restores the original 1.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining the communication system of the transmitting station which is an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S101, when the operator of the transmitting station operates each key switch of the operating section 11a to input the subscriber number of the partner station and further designates the ultra-high speed communication mode to complete the transmitting operation, In S102, the system control unit 10a instructs the image input unit 14a to read the original 1. The image input unit 14a is the original 1
Is read, converted into communication data of an electric signal, and output to the encoding unit 15a. The encoding unit 15a encodes communication data by an appropriate encoding method and stores the encoded communication data in the file storage unit 16a as an image file.

In step S103, the system controller 1
0a notifies the line determining unit 22a of the communication distance determined from the subscriber number and the information amount of the image file stored in the file storing unit 16a.

In step S104, the line determination unit 22a
Determines, based on the communication distance and the amount of information in the image file, the combination of the line and the number of used lines for which the communication charge is the minimum, and notifies the system control unit 10a of this.

The line determining unit 2 will be described below with reference to the drawings.
A method of determining the line and the number of used lines with the lowest communication charge by 2a will be described.

In order to make the explanation easy to understand, three types of communication line groups A, B and C having the charge system described with reference to FIG.
When using 5 lines (first communication form), when using 3 lines from communication line group B (second communication form), and when using 1 line from communication line group C (third communication form) Form) is compared.

5 and 6 are diagrams showing the relationship between the communication time and the communication charge in each communication mode.

When the amount of information of the image file stored in the file storage unit 16a is 100 Mb, the communication line group 1 to 1
If you use 5 lines, communication time is 100Mb / (64kb / s
X15) = 104 seconds, so the communication charge is 150 yen.

When three lines are used from the communication line group B, the communication time is 100 Mb / (384 kb / s × 3) = 86 seconds, so the communication charge is 90 yen.

When one line is used from the communication line group C, the communication time is 100 Mb / 1.5 Mb / s) = 67 seconds, and the communication charge is 120 yen.

Therefore, when transmitting an image file having an information amount of 100 Mb, the line determining unit 22a selects the second communication mode using three lines from the communication line group B.

When the combination of the communication line group and the number of lines is determined in this way, in step S105, the system control unit 10a notifies the combination of the communication line group and the number of lines notified by the line determination unit 22a (here Then, the call request corresponding to the communication line group B is set to 3 lines.
Output to 3a. The multiple line control unit 13a outputs a call request to the three line control units 20a (for example, 20a-1, 20a-2, 20a-3) connected to the lines of the communication line group B.

In step S106, the three line control units 20a-1, 20a-2, 20a-3 that have received the call request.
Performs connection processing of a call suitable for the line interface and notifies the processing result to the multiple line control unit 13a. The plural line control unit 13a further notifies the system control unit 10a of the processing result.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a call connection procedure for ISDN.

Between the transmitting station and the ISDN, and the ISDN
Between the caller and the receiving station, "call setting" signal, "call setting acceptance"
Signals, "ring" signals, "answer" signals, and "answer confirmation" signals are sent and received. When the call origination by the call control procedure is normally completed, a path (line) is completed between the transmitting station and the receiving station.

In step S107, of the three line control units 20a, the line control unit 20a (in this embodiment, all line control units 20a-1 and 20a-) in which the call is normally terminated and the route is completed. 2, 20a-3 will be described as having completed the route)
-1, 21a-2, and 21a-3 are system control units 10a.
Secured by.

In step S108, the system controller 1
0a controls the line switching unit 19a, and the secured three protocol control units 21a-1, 21a-2, 21a-
3 and the line control units 20a-1, 20a-2, 20a-
3 and 3 are connected respectively.

In step S109, the system controller 1
0a outputs a protocol activation request to the plural communication control unit 12a, and further, the plural communication control unit 12a outputs the protocol control units 21a-1, 21a-2, 21a-3.
A protocol activation request is output to and each protocol is activated.

In step S110, each protocol control unit 21a-1, 21a-2, 21a-3 confirms the consistency with the receiving station using the notification means of the non-standard function of the protocol.

The confirmation by the non-standard function is performed by detecting whether or not the NSF sent from the receiving station has the declaration of the ultrahigh-speed communication mode when the communication mode is G3.

When the communication mode is G4, the consistency is confirmed by detecting whether or not the nonstandard function of the RSSP sent from the receiving station has the declaration of the ultra-high speed communication mode.

The protocol control unit 2 inconsistent
In step S111, the 1a notifies the plural communication control unit 12a to that effect.

In step S112, the plural communication control unit 12a outputs a protocol stop request to the protocol control unit 21a which has notified that the consistency is not obtained, and at the same time, the system control unit 10a is notified of this. Notice. The system control unit 10a outputs a disconnection request for disconnecting the inconsistent line to the multiple line control unit 13a. The plural-line control unit 13a outputs a disconnection request to the line control unit 20a corresponding to the notified line, and completely disconnects the inconsistent line.

On the other hand, the consistent protocol control unit 2
In step S113, the 1a notifies that the transmission in the ultra-high speed communication mode is started according to each protocol.

This notification is N when the communication mode is G3.
This is performed by setting information to activate the ultra-high-speed communication mode in SS, and when the communication mode is G4, CDC
This is performed by setting information indicating that the ultra-high speed communication mode is activated in the non-standard function of L.

In step S114, the system controller 1
0a notifies the block delivery control unit 33a of the internal line number identifying the consistent protocol control unit 21a, and at the same time instructs the file dividing unit 17a to start reading communication data. The file division unit 17a
The file storage unit 1 for each preset size
The communication data is divided and read from 6a, and this is transferred to the divided block control unit 18a as block data.

In step S115, as shown in FIG. 3, the divided block control unit 18a manages the document No., page No., block No., block data size, page size, image quality, etc. for each block data. The information is added and delivered to the block delivery control unit 33a.

In step S116, the block delivery control unit 33a causes the protocol control units 21a-1, 21a-2, 21a previously notified by the system control unit 10a.
The block data is delivered to -3 in order.

In step S117, the protocol control units 21-1, 21a-2, 21a-3a perform protocol processing in the same manner as normal processing and transmit each block data to the receiving station. Each protocol control unit 21a-1, 21a-
When the transmission of the last block data passed from the block delivery control unit 33a is completed, the units 2 and 21a-3 output a transmission end notification to the multiple communication control unit 12a.

In step S118, the plural communication control unit 1
2a outputs a protocol stop request to the protocol control unit 21a which has output the transmission end notification, and
The system control unit 10a is notified of the communication end of the line.

In step S119, the system controller 1
0a outputs a disconnection request to the multiple line control unit 13a in order to disconnect the line notified by the multiple communication control unit 12a. The plural communication control unit 13a outputs a disconnection request to the line control unit 20a corresponding to the instructed line.

At this time, between the transmitting station and the ISDN and between the ISDN and the receiving station, as shown in FIG.
A "disconnect" signal, a "release" signal, and a "release confirmation" signal are exchanged to complete a series of communication operations.

When confirming the release of the line, the system control unit 10a releases all the relevant systems and prepares for the next communication. When the communication on all the used lines is completed,
The system control unit 10a also releases the multiple communication control unit 12a and the multiple line control unit 13a to prepare for the next communication.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the communication system of the receiving station which is an embodiment of the present invention.

When an incoming call from the transmitting station is detected, in step S301, each line control unit 20b notifies the system control unit 10b of the incoming call via the multiple line control unit 13b.

In step S302, the system controller 1
0b secures the protocol control unit 21b corresponding to the incoming call.

In step S303, the system controller 1
0b outputs a protocol activation request to the protocol control unit 21b via the plural communication control unit 12b to activate each protocol.

In step S304, the system controller 1
0b is the divided block control unit 18b and the file synthesizing unit 32.
b, the file storage unit 16b is activated, and these are put in a standby state.

When the transmission of communication data is started, in step S305, the block data received by each protocol control unit 21b is delivered to the divided block control unit 18b.

In step S306, the divided block controller 18b rearranges the block data based on the management information added to the block data, and outputs the rearranged block data to the file synthesizer 32b.

In step S307, the file synthesizing unit 3
2b synthesizes each block data, and the file storage unit 16
Accumulate in b.

When the data transmission is completed and the image file is completed, in step S308, the system controller 10b is operated.
Activates the decoding unit 31b and the image output unit 30b to output the received document 1.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a protocol when the communication mode is G3.

When the transmitting station calls the receiving station, CNG is sent to the receiving station. The receiving station that detected CNG is CE
The D signal (callee identification signal) is transmitted, and further the NSF signal (non-standard function setting signal) and the DIS signal (digital identification signal) are transmitted.

If the receiving station has the ultra high speed communication mode, the information indicating that the NSF signal has the ultra high speed communication function is registered. Matching is determined based on the NSF signal.

The transmitting station which has received the NSF signal registers the information indicating that the ultra-high speed communication is activated in the NSS signal (non-standard function setting signal) and sends it to the receiving station.

Thereafter, the transmitting station sends a TCF signal (training check signal), and in response to this, the receiving station sends a CFR signal (reception preparation confirmation signal).

Block data is transmitted from the transmitting station which has detected the CFR signal. When the transmission of all block data is completed, the PPS. EOP is sent.

PPS. M from the receiving station that detected EOP
CF signal (message confirmation signal) is sent out, and finally,
A DCN signal (line disconnection command signal) is sent from the transmitting station to end the transmission / reception.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a protocol when the communication mode is G4.

When the transmitting station calls the receiving station, the transmitting station sends out a CSS signal (session start command) and the receiving station sends out an RSSP signal (session start acknowledgment).

If the receiving station has the ultra-high-speed communication mode, information indicating that it has the ultra-high-speed communication function is registered in this RSSP signal. Therefore, as described above, in the present embodiment, the transmitting station Matching is determined based on the RSSP signal.

The transmitting station which has received the RSSP signal makes the CDC
Information for activating ultra-high-speed communication is registered in the L signal (document function list command) and sent to the receiving station.

After that, an RDCLP signal (document function list acknowledgment) is sent from the receiving station. When the transmitting station detects the RDCLP signal, it transmits a CDS signal (document start command), and then transmits block data.

When the transmission of all block data is completed, the transmitting station sends out a CDE (document end command) and the receiving station sends out an RDEP signal (document end acknowledgment).

Finally, the transmitting station sends a CSE signal (session end command), and the receiving station sends a RSEP signal (session end acknowledgment) to end the transmission / reception.

In the above embodiment, the communication mode with the lowest communication charge is selected from the three types of communication modes. However, the present invention selects from all combinations of the communication line group and the number of lines. The communication form that minimizes the communication charge is selected, and its operation can be abstracted as follows, for example.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart for explaining the method of selecting the communication mode in which the communication charge is the lowest according to the present invention.

Assuming that the information amount of the data to be transmitted is M, the transmission amount of the information amount M is 64 kb in step S1.
When sending with 1 line of / s, when sending with 2 lines, ...
The communication time when transmitting with n lines is calculated.

In step S2, the calculated communication time is checked against the charge table, and the communication charge for each number of lines is calculated.

In step S3, the minimum number of lines is selected from the calculated communication charges for each number of lines.

Similarly, in steps S4 to S6, with respect to the line having the transmission capacity of 384 kb / s, the number of lines having the lowest communication charge is selected in the same manner as described above, and step S4 is selected.
From 7 to S9, regarding the line with transmission capacity of 1.5 Mb / s,
The number of lines with the lowest communication charge is selected.

In step S10, the communication mode with the lowest communication charge is selected from the selected communication modes (combination of the transmission capacity of the communication lines and the number of lines).

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that a plurality of lines are selected from the same communication line group, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the charge is the cheapest. If so, like a combination of two lines from communication line group A and three lines from communication line group B,
One or a plurality of lines may be selected from different communication line groups.

[0089]

As described above, according to the present invention, the combination of the communication line group having the lowest communication charge and the number of lines actually used are selected from a plurality of communication line groups having different transmission rates and charge systems. Is automatically determined, so that the communication can be performed at the lowest cost without the operator's trouble.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of block data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a transmission capacity of a communication line and a charge.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the transmitting station that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the receiving station according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a call connection procedure for ISDN.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a protocol when the communication mode is G3.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a protocol when the communication mode is G4.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of selecting a communication mode in which the communication charge is the lowest according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... manuscript, 10a (10b) ... system control unit, 11a
(11b) ... Operation section, 12a (12b) ... Multiple communication control section, 13a (13b) ... Multiple line control section, 14a ... Image input section, 15 ... Encoding section, 16a (16b) ... File storage section, 17a ... File division unit, 18a (18b) ...
Division block control unit, 19a (19b) ... Line switching unit,
20a (20b) ... Line control unit, 21a (21b) ... Protocol control unit, 22a ... Line determination unit, 30b ... Image output unit, 31b ... Decoding unit, 32b ... File combining unit, 3
3a ... Block delivery control unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Tezuka 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Zerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Plant (72) Inventor Takashi Sakayama 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture No. Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Works (72) Inventor Shinichiro Nagoshi 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Works, (72) Inventor Hiroaki Sakaki 3, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture 7-1 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Works (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Ueyama 3-7-1 Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Works

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Each station has a function of transmitting and receiving in parallel using a plurality of communication lines, a transmitting station divides communication data and transmits from a plurality of communication lines, and a receiving station receives from a plurality of communication lines. In a data communication system using multiple lines that synthesizes the sent data and restores the original communication data, multiple communication line groups with different transmission speeds and charge systems connected between each station, and communication data information A data communication system using a plurality of lines, comprising: a line determining unit that determines a combination of a communication line group and a number of lines having the lowest communication charge based on the amount.