JPH05304600A - Communication equipment and relay communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To utilize a function of a relay command station and a reception station when they has the function even when a relay station does not have the excellent function by providing a transmission control means that processed data are sent when processing of received data is decided and data are sent as they are when no processing is decided on the system. CONSTITUTION:A microcomputer 13 in the facsimile equipment connects to a compression/expansion circuit 23, a communication control circuit 24, a communication control circuit 25 to implement transmission reception operation as a relay command station, a repeater station and a reception station. For example, in the case of transmission from the repeater station to the relay transmission destination, the compression system of data received by the repeater station and the data compression system of the relay transmission destination are compared, and when no common system is available, the most excellent compression system provided in the relay transmission destination is used. When the system differs from the received compression system, the picture data stored in the relay destination transmission buffer are subjected to code code conversion and when the compression system is the same, the picture data are sent to the relay transmission destination as they are.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device capable of relay communication and a relay communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a communication device for transmitting and receiving data,
Facsimile machines are widely known. In the facsimile machine, the communication data compression method is MH method / M method.
There are R system, MMR system, etc., and their compression capabilities are generally superior in the order of MMR system, MR system, and MH system.
When performing facsimile communication, the receiving station that receives the compressed data must decompress the compressed data, so the data compression method must be determined in advance by the transmitting station and the receiving station. To determine the data compression method, first, the type of data compression method that the receiving station can receive is sent to the transmitting station. The transmitting station makes a decision by comparing the received information with its own data compression method and selecting the most excellent data compression method in common. When the communication is performed at the same communication speed, the communication time is shorter when the code data amount is smaller. Therefore, it is desired to perform the communication by an excellent compression method.

Next, the relay communication function of the facsimile machine will be described with reference to FIG. The relay communication function means a facsimile device A (hereinafter referred to as FAX-A) 5
Facsimile device C from 0 (hereinafter referred to as FAX-C)
When a document is transmitted to 51, first, the fax machine A (hereinafter referred to as FAX-B) 52 from the FAX-A 50.
Data is transmitted to the FAX-C51, and then the received data is transmitted from the FAX-B52 to the FAX-C51. The FAX-A50 is called a relay instruction station, the FAX-B52 is called a relay station, and the FAX-C51 is called a receiving station. in this case,
It is also possible to install a plurality of FAX-C51. Further, the FAX-B 52 needs to have a memory capable of storing received data, and the storage capacity of the memory limits the amount of data that can be relayed at one time.

As an example of using this relay communication function, when a document is transmitted from the head office in Tokyo to each sales office in Hokkaido,
Using a facsimile machine installed at the head office in Tokyo as a relay instruction station, data is transmitted from here to the facsimile machine installed at the Sapporo branch, which is the relay station. Then, the reception data is transmitted from the relay station to the facsimile machine installed in each business office in Hokkaido. As described above, by using the relay communication function to reduce the number of long distance communication, the communication cost can be reduced.

Conventionally, in a facsimile apparatus, the data compression method of relay communication is determined by the same method as in the above-mentioned normal facsimile communication, and the FAX-A50 to FAX-A50 are used.
When the communication data is transmitted by relaying the FAX-B52 to the AX-C51, the most excellent data compression method that the FAX-A50 and the FAX-B52 have in common is selected. For example, FAX-A50, FAX-C
51 has MH system, MR system, MMR system, but FAX-B52 has only MH system,
The MH method is selected as the data compression method.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned example, the MH system is selected even though the FAX-A50 and the FAX-C51 have the MMR system. When the relay communication is performed between the relay communication time, the relay communication time becomes long and the communication cost becomes high. In addition, the amount of compressed data stored in the memory of the relay station also increases, so that the amount of data that can be relay-communicated at one time also decreases. Furthermore, MM from FAX-A50 to FAX-C51
In order to compress communication data by the R method and transmit it, FA
It is necessary to increase the data compression method of X-B52, which leads to an increase in cost. The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem, and in a relay communication system, even if the relay station does not have an excellent function, if the relay instruction station and the receiving station have the function, the function is improved. An object is to provide a communication device and a relay communication system that can be used.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 stores received data and transmits the data to a destination designated by a transmitting side. In the above, in the case where the deciding means for deciding whether or not to process the received data and the deciding means for deciding to process the data are transmitted after processing the data, and the deciding means decides not to process the data. Is provided with a transmission control means for transmitting the data as it is. Further, the invention of claim 2 includes a means for requesting relay communication and a transmitting means for transmitting data by using a function having the highest performance among the functions common to the other party to relay communication with the own station. A communication device having a relay instruction function, comprising:
And the communication device described.

[0008]

According to the above-mentioned structure of the first aspect, during the relay communication, the determining means determines whether or not to process the data received according to the data processing capability of the communication device. When the processing capability is high and it is determined to process the data, the transmission control unit processes (for example, expands) the data, compresses the data, and transmits the data to the relay destination. On the other hand, when the processing capacity is low and it is determined that the data is not processed, the transmission control unit transmits the data to the relay destination without processing (for example, without decompressing) the data. Further, according to the configuration of claim 2,
A communication device with a relay instruction function requests relay communication from the communication device configured as described above, and uses the highest-performance function among the functions common to both the own station and the other party to relay communication to transmit data. Send. The operation of the communication device with the relay communication function is as described above.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the external appearance of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In front of the apparatus main body 1, a large number of operation keys 2 and an L indicating the resolution setting state are displayed.
An operation panel 5 having a display device such as an ED 3 and an LCD 4 for displaying an identification number of a communication partner is provided. A document feeding section 6 for setting a document to be transmitted is provided on the upper surface of the main body 1, and a recording sheet for receiving a recording sheet, which has been recorded by the recording apparatus and then discharged to the outside of the apparatus, is provided on the back section of the main body 1. A paper discharge unit 7 is provided.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control device of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment. The main body of the control device is the CPU
A microcomputer 13 including 10, a RAM 11 and a ROM 12, which are connected to each other via a bus 14. An operation panel 5 as an input device is connected to the microcomputer 13. Further, a thermal head 15 for recording the received image data and a recording paper feed motor 16 for conveying the recording paper are connected via a recording control circuit 17, and a CCD image sensor 18 for reading the image data of the document, A document feed motor 19 for conveying a document is connected through a reading control circuit 20 and a cutter 21 for cutting a recording sheet into a predetermined size.
Are connected via the cutter control circuit 22. Further, a compression / expansion circuit 23, a communication control circuit 24, and a telephone control circuit 25 are connected to the microcomputer 13. The communication control circuit 24 and the telephone control circuit 25 are
They are connected to a telephone line 27 via a modem 26 and a handset 28, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3, the RAM 11 has a dial buffer 30 for storing a telephone number input by the operation keys 2, a reading buffer 31 for storing image data read by the CCD image sensor 18, and a compression / expansion. A transmission buffer 32 for storing the data compressed by the circuit 23, a reception buffer 33 for storing the received image data, a recording buffer 34 for storing the data expanded by the compression / expansion circuit 23, an identification number of the communication partner,
A destination information table 35 for storing information such as name and data compression capacity, and a destination transmission buffer 36 for storing received relay data are provided.

On the operation panel 5, as shown in FIG. 4, a numeric keypad 40, R for inputting an identification number of a communication partner.
One-touch key 41 for calling the identification number of the communication partner from the partner information table 35 in AM11, start key 42 for instructing the start of facsimile communication, stop key 43 for stopping the transmission operation, relay for instructing relay instruction communication An instruction key 44, a resolution key 45 for setting the reading resolution, and the LED 3 and LCD 4 described above are provided.

The facsimile apparatus thus configured operates as a relay instruction station, a relay station, or a receiving station to perform transmission / reception operations. First, the transmission operation will be described. When a manuscript is set in the manuscript feeding section 6 and the telephone number of the communication partner is input by the ten keys 40 on the operation panel 5, the inputted telephone number is stored in the dial buffer 30 in the RAM 11. Then, when the start key 42 is pressed, the CPU 10 recognizes this and the dial buffer 30
The data stored in the telephone control circuit 25 is sent to the telephone control circuit 25, the telephone control circuit 25 and the communication control circuit 24 are controlled, and the connection operation to the telephone line 27 is performed.

When the connection of the telephone line 27 is completed, the CPU
10 controls the communication control circuit 24 to compare the data compression method that the receiving station can receive with the data compression method of the own station,
The data compression method is determined by selecting the best compression method among the common data compression methods. Then, the determined data compression method is sent to the compression / expansion circuit 23. Then, the reading control circuit 20 is controlled to operate the document feeding motor 19 to convey the document to the reading position of the CCD image sensor 18. The reading control circuit 20 controls the CCD image sensor 18 to start reading the original, and operates the original feeding motor 19 to convey the original.

The image data read by the above operation is stored in the read buffer 31 in the RAM 11. When the read buffer 31 is full, the read operation is interrupted. When the read buffer 31 receives data, the compression / expansion circuit 23 starts compressing the data according to the input data compression method, and the compressed data is stored in the transmission buffer 32 in the RAM 11. next,
The compression / expansion circuit 23 sends a signal of a transmission start request to the communication control circuit 24, whereby the communication control circuit 24
Transmits the data stored in the transmission buffer 32 to the telephone line 2
7, and the transmission is started. Read control circuit 20
When detecting the end of the document, sends a one-page end signal to the compression / expansion circuit 23. The compression / expansion circuit 23 is 1
When the page compression operation is completed, the communication control circuit 24 is sent a signal requesting one page end processing. When the original has a plurality of pages, the above operation is repeated until the compression and transmission of all pages are completed, and the line disconnection process is performed when the transmission of all pages is completed.

Next, the receiving operation will be described. When the communication control circuit 24 detects a call signal from the telephone line 27, the telephone line 27 is closed and the receiving station is informed of the receiving capability of the own station. Next, the CPU 10 inputs the sent data compression method into the compression / expansion circuit 23. The communication control circuit 24 stores the received image data in the reception buffer 33 in the RAM 11. The compression / expansion circuit 23 starts the expansion of the data when the reception buffer 33 receives the compressed data, and the expanded data is stored in the recording buffer 3 in the RAM 11.
Stored in 4.

The compression / expansion circuit 23 is a recording control circuit 17
The recording control circuit 17 sends the image data stored in the recording buffer 34 to the thermal head 15 for printing, and the recording paper feed motor 16 is operated to move the recording paper. Transport. When the compression / expansion circuit 23 detects a one-page end signal, the compression / expansion circuit 23 sends a signal for requesting cutting of recording paper to the cutter control circuit 22 and a signal for requesting one-page end processing for the communication control circuit 24. .. The cutter control circuit 22 operates the cutter 21 to cut the recording paper. When the original has a plurality of pages, the above operation is repeated until the reception of all pages is completed, and when the reception of all pages is completed, the line disconnection process is performed.

Next, the operation of transmitting the relay instruction will be described with reference to FIG.
Furthermore, it demonstrates with reference to FIG. However, in the following description, both the relay instruction station and the relay station have the function of the present invention. This can be confirmed by NSF (non-standard device) or the like. If the relay station does not have the above function, the processing is the same as the conventional processing and will not be described here. FIG. 5 shows the contents of the facsimile information, and FIG. 6 shows the connection procedure between the relay instruction station and the relay station. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the relay instruction station. When the connection operation to the telephone line 27 is completed by the operation similar to the above-described transmission operation (S1), the NSF indicating the reception function from the relay station is received through the communication control circuit 24 (S2). Figure 5 (a)
Shows NSF information. The CPU 10 analyzes the NSF information and determines whether or not the relay station has the relay communication capability (S3). If the relay station does not have the relay communication capability (NO in S3), communication disconnection is performed (S11). When the relay station has the relay communication capability (YES in S3), the one-touch number indicating the relay transmission (partner) destination, that is, the receiving station is set in NSS (non-standard function setting) instructing the transmission procedure (S4). ). FIG. 5B shows NSS information.

Next, referring to the data compression capacity of the other party stored in the other party information table 35 in the RAM 11, the data compression method of the relay instruction transmission is determined, and the NSS is determined.
(S5). The method of determining the data compression method of the relay instruction transmission is a feature of the present invention.
Compare the best compression method among the data compression methods common to both the own station and the relay station, and the best compression method among the data compression methods common to both the own station and all relay destinations. However, the superior compression method is selected. Then, the bit indicating the NSS relay instruction communication is turned on (S6), and the NSS in which the one-touch number indicating the relay transmission destination and the data compression method of the relay instruction transmission are set is transmitted through the communication control circuit 24 (S7). ).

Then, the reading of the original is started (S
8), compress by the data compression method selected by the above method. Further, when a training signal for determining the transmission rate of image data is transmitted subsequent to NSS, CFR which is a reception confirmation signal for the training signal is received from the relay station. When this CFR is received, the compressed image data is transmitted (S9). Above S
The processes of S8 and S9 are repeated until the compression and transmission of all pages are completed (S10), and when the transmission of all pages is completed, the line disconnection process is performed (S11).

Next, the reception operation of the relay station will be described with reference to FIG. When the communication control circuit 24 detects a call signal from the telephone line 27, the communication control circuit 24 and the telephone control circuit 25 perform a connecting operation to the telephone line 27 (S
12). Next, the bit indicating the NSF relay function indicating the receiving capability is turned on (S13), and the NSF is transmitted through the communication control circuit 24 (S14). The NSF also includes information indicating that this relay station has the function of the present invention. Then, the NSS sent to the NSF is received (S15), and it is determined whether it is a relay instruction transmission (S16).

If the relay instruction is transmitted (YES in S16)
S), the one-touch number indicating the relay transmission destination and the data compression method of the relay instruction transmission are extracted from the received NSS (S1).
7). Next, the image data that is continuously sent is received as relay data (S18) and stored in the relay destination transmission buffer 36 without being expanded (S19). Above S1
The processes of S8 and S19 are repeated until the reception of all pages is completed (S20). When the reception of all pages is completed, the line disconnection process is executed (S27).

If the relay instruction is not transmitted (N in S16)
O), when the compressed image data is received (S21), the compressed data is expanded (S22), sent to the recording buffer 34, and recorded by the thermal head 15 via the recording control circuit 17 (S23). When one page is recorded,
The cutter control circuit 22 cuts the recording paper (S
25). The processes of S21 to S25 are repeatedly performed until the reception of all pages is completed (S26), and when the reception of all pages is completed, the line disconnection process is performed (S27).

Next, the transmission operation from the relay station will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether the relay destination transmission buffer 36 in the RAM 11 has relay data (S2).
8). If there is no relay data (NO in S28), the operation ends. If there is relay data (Y in S28)
S), the one-touch number indicating the relay destination stored together with the relay data is retrieved (S29), and the telephone control circuit 2
5, the connection operation is performed to the telephone line 27 (S3
0). When the connection operation is completed, the relay destination, that is,
The DIS (digital identification signal) indicating the receiving function from the receiving station is received through the communication control circuit 24, and the decompressible data compression method of the receiving station is obtained (S31). Then, the data compression method is determined by comparing the data compression method with the data compression method of the relay instruction transmission stored in the relay destination transmission buffer 36, and the data compression method is set in DCS (digital command signal) and transmitted ( S32). As for this data compression method, the data compression method of the relay instruction transmission is compared with the data compression method of the relay destination, and if there is a common compression method, the compression method is decided and the common one must be used. For example, the most compressible communication method among the data compression methods of the relay destination is selected.

Next, the determined data compression method and the data compression method of the relay instruction transmission are compared (S33), and if the compression methods are different (NO in S33), they are stored in the relay destination transmission buffer 36. The image data is code-code converted and then transmitted (S34). If the compression methods are the same (YES in S33), the image data is transmitted as it is (S35). The processing of S33 and S34 or the processing of S33 and S35 is repeatedly performed until the transmission of all pages is completed (S36), and when the transmission of all pages is completed, the line disconnection processing is performed (S37). Then, it is checked whether or not the transmission is completed to all the relay destinations (S38), and if not completed (NO in S38), S2
Returning to 9, another one-touch number is taken out, and this process is repeated. If completed (YES in S38), the process ends.

As described above, in the relay communication, when transmitting from the relay instruction station to the relay station, the relay instruction station has the best data compression method among the common data compression methods of the own station and the relay station. , The best compression method among the data compression methods that are common to both the local station and the relay transmission destination (reception station) are compared, and the superior compression method is selected and determined. With this compression method, the image data is compressed and transmitted to the relay station. In addition, when transmitting from the relay station to the relay destination, the compression method of the received data at the relay station,
Compare the data compression method that the relay destination has, and if there is a common compression method, determine the compression method.If there is no common compression method, select the most data compression method that the relay destination has. Decide on an excellent compression method. Then, the determined compression method is compared with the compression method of the received data, and if the compression methods are different, the image data stored in the relay destination transmission buffer 36 is code-code-converted before the relay destination. If the compression method is the same, the image data is transmitted as it is. As a result, even a communication device that does not have an excellent data compression method can perform relay communication using the optimum data compression method.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is embodied in selecting a data compression method is shown, but it can be applied to other things. For example, it can be used even when the relay instruction station and the relay destination have a function of transmitting a red-black original document, and the relay station does not have a function of transmitting a red-black original document. In this case, the relay station transmits the received data as it is to the relay destination as in the above-mentioned embodiment. Further, even when the relay instruction station and the relay destination can transmit and receive high-resolution images, even when the relay station supports only standard resolution, the same can be realized.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the relay instruction station and the relay station having the function of the present invention perform relay communication, only the relay instruction station and the relay destination have high-performance functions. Even if the relay station does not have the function, it has an excellent effect that the above high-performance function can be used during the relay communication. Further, since the amount of coded data is small, the capacity of the memory for storing the compressed data may be small, and a large amount of data can be stored in the same memory capacity, so that a communication device capable of relay communication is inexpensive. Can be provided at. Further, in a relay communication system using such a communication device,
Since the optimum compression method is selected, the communication time can be shortened and the communication cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control device of a facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of a RAM of the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an external view of an operation panel unit of the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of facsimile information.
(A) shows NSF information. (B) shows NSS information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a connection procedure between a relay instruction station and a relay station.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a transmission operation of a relay instruction station.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a receiving operation of the relay station.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a transmission operation of the relay station.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data flow of relay communication.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 CPU 11 RAM 23 Compression / expansion circuit 24 Communication control circuit 25 Telephone control circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A deciding means for deciding whether or not to process the received data in a communication device with a relay communication function, which stores the received data and sends the data to a destination designated by a transmitting side, Transmission processing means for transmitting the data after processing the data when the deciding means decides to process, and transmitting the data as it is when the deciding means decides not to process. Communication device. 2. A relay instruction comprising means for requesting relay communication and transmission means for transmitting data by using the function having the highest performance among the functions commonly possessed by the other party performing relay communication with the own station. A relay communication system comprising a communication device with a function and the communication device according to claim 1.