JPH053181B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a communication device that performs predetermined communication.

A representative example of such a communication device is a facsimile machine using a public line.

Recently, as part of streamlining office work, it has also been proposed to privately install similar communication equipment, for example, within factory premises.

In other words, for example, within one office of one company,
Each department, etc., has a terminal device that can send and receive information (either sending or receiving is possible, if necessary), and these devices are connected to each office's own line to send and receive information between each department. This is what we are trying to do. By doing so, each department can send information to or obtain information from other departments without leaving the office, which, together with its speed, greatly contributes to improving the efficiency of office work.

The transmitting terminals installed in each department include computers, word processors, image reading devices, and the like. Examples of the receiving side include a CRT, an audio output device, and a printer, but from the viewpoint of preservation of received information, a printer that records and outputs on paper or the like is most preferable.

Generally, one department often performs both transmission and reception, and a transmission terminal device and a reception terminal device are installed together.

At this time, if the sending terminal device is an image reading device and the receiving terminal device is a printer, it is also possible to use the sending terminal device to send data to the attached receiving terminal device. In other words, it has the functions of a conventional copying machine.
In this way, these terminals are not only used for information communication, but can also be used as copying machines, making them extremely effective.

By the way, when attempting to send information from one department to another using such an information communication system, there are cases where the terminal device that should receive the information is unable to receive it. In that case, transmission cannot be performed. In addition to malfunctions in the terminal device, conditions in which reception is not possible include a lack of recording paper, a paper jam, a lack of ink or toner, and other conditions in which the printer cannot output normally. In such a case, a lamp will be lit, a sound will be displayed to indicate that the device is inoperable, and a warning will be given to quickly restore normal operation, but if no one is around at the time, Even if someone is present, the time it takes for the condition to return to normal is uncertain, as it may not be possible to treat the condition.

Also, while receiving other communications or, as mentioned above, using the receiving terminal device as a copying machine, information from the communication line cannot be output, so this also applies. It can be said to be in a state where reception is not possible.

Although the sending side can be notified through the communication line that the receiving side is unable to receive data, the sending side cannot predict when the situation will recover. Therefore, even if the receiving side tries to retransmit the information that it was trying to send after it has recovered, it is inconvenient for the transmitting side because it does not know when to retransmit the information.

In addition, when trying to simultaneously communicate a lot of information from one source to many destinations, if one of them becomes unreceivable during the communication and you want to retransmit it later, it is possible to retransmit which information and where. You have to decide whether or not to do so, which is very complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to convey necessary information to the user of a communication partner terminal even when the communication partner terminal is unable to perform predetermined communication.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes a transmitting means for transmitting information indicating a communication partner terminal via a line, and a transmission means for receiving a response transmitted via the line by the communication partner terminal via the line. and a communication means that performs a predetermined communication when the decryption means decodes that the communication partner terminal is in a state where predetermined communication is possible. When the decoder decodes the result of searching a list of pre-registered proxy communication partner terminals when the terminal is unable to perform predetermined communication, transmitting information indicating the proxy communication partner terminal via the line; The communication means is configured to perform predetermined communication with the proxy communication partner terminal.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing connections of terminals in an information communication system.

A, B, C, and D are terminal devices installed in each department, and each terminal device has input/transmission units 12, 22, and 3.
2, 42 and reception/output section 13, 23, 33, 43
It is equipped with Furthermore, the input/transmission section includes an information input device 14 such as an image reading device, a word processor, etc.
24, 34, 44 and information transmitting devices 15, 25,
It is functionally subdivided into 35 and 45. The transmitting device and the receiving device are connected to communication lines 18, 28,
38 and 48 are connected.

Each terminal device has input communication lines 10, 20, 3
0, 40 and output communication lines 11, 21, 31, 4
1, and these communication lines are connected to an exchange 50. The exchange 50 connects the input communication line and the output communication line of these two terminal devices according to the destination specified by the terminal device requesting image output, thereby enabling information communication between the two terminal devices. .

Note that the address "1" is set for the terminal device A, "2" for the terminal device B, "3" for the terminal device C, and "4" for the terminal device D.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the circuit configuration of the terminal device A. Reference numeral 60 denotes a control unit consisting of a well-known microcomputer, which controls the operation of the terminal device A. 66 is an input device, for example, a word processor, and 67 is a printer that performs a recording operation on a recording material such as paper. Reference numeral 61 denotes an operation section through which the user inputs commands for operating the terminal device, and the input commands are sent to the control section 60 . A modulation circuit 62 modulates the input information into an electrical signal of a predetermined type and outputs it to the exchanger 50. A demodulation circuit 63 demodulates a predetermined type of electrical signal input from the exchanger 50 and outputs the demodulated signal. Reference numeral 64 denotes a reception command buffer that temporarily stores command data such as reception requests and transmission types related to information communication sent from the demodulation circuit 63 to the control unit 60. Reference numeral 65 is a transmission command buffer that temporarily stores command data such as a reception request and transmission type to be transmitted from the control unit 60 to a transmission destination.

Note that the terminal devices B, C, and D also have the same configuration as that shown in FIG. 2, so their explanation will be omitted.
For those related to the terminal device B, there is a control section B such as the control section 60B, and for those related to the terminal device C, there is a control section 60C.
, and those related to the terminal device D are marked with D, such as the control unit 60D.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the information communication system, and this control program is preprogrammed in the read-only memory (ROM) of the control unit of each terminal device.

In FIG. 3, numeral 1 is a control flowchart of a terminal device that outputs information, and 2 is a control flowchart of a terminal device designated as a transmission destination.

Hereinafter, a case will be described as an example in which information is communicated from terminal device A to B, but the same applies to communication between other terminals.

In terminal device A, a transmission command to terminal device B is input from operation unit 61A (step S1).
Then, the control unit 60A proceeds to step S2, and sends the destination address "2" and other communication-related commands to the sending command buffer 65A, and further sends the command to the terminal device B via the modulation circuit 62A to give a transmission notice. do.

In accordance with this command, the exchange 50 connects the input and output communication lines 10 and 21 with the terminal devices A and B.
Connect.

When terminal device B receives this command, it stores it in reception command buffer 64B via demodulation circuit 63B. The control unit 60B of the terminal device B determines the contents of the received command buffer 64B, and if the notification is to be sent to its own terminal, the process advances from step S10 to step S11. At step S11, the printer 67B
Check whether the printer 67B is operational by detecting a malfunction or the presence of paper, etc., and if possible, proceed to step S12, and further check whether the printer 67B is receiving data from another terminal device or if the terminal itself is copying. Check whether the printer 67B is in use, such as whether it is operating as a machine. If the printer 63B is inoperable or in use in steps S11 and S12, the process advances to step S16, and the command buffer 65B sends a command to the terminal device A indicating that it is in an unreceivable state.
It is output via the modulation circuit 62B. If it is possible to receive it, the process advances to step S13 and a command to that effect is similarly output to the terminal device A.

When terminal device A receives the command in response to the transmission notice in step S2 from terminal device B (step S3), it decodes the contents of this command received and stored in the reception command buffer 64A in step S4. In step S4, it is determined whether or not terminal device B is capable of receiving data. If possible, the process proceeds to step S5 and the information in input section 66A is transmitted to terminal device B via modulation circuit 62A.

Terminal device B receives the information (step
S14) and starts the printer 67B to perform a recording operation based on the received information.

On the other hand, in step S4, when the control unit 60A determines that terminal device B is unable to receive information, the control section 60A proceeds to step S6, and changes the destination address in order to search for a proxy destination that can receive the information to be sent to terminal device B. . That is, a destination address other than terminal device B is set.

This destination address changing operation may be performed by selecting addresses of terminal devices within the system in a predetermined order, or by searching from a list of proxy destinations registered in advance. For example, if a terminal installed near terminal device B is used as a proxy destination, the address of that terminal is listed in advance in a list so that it can be selected.

Furthermore, if the terminal device specified as the proxy destination is also unable to receive data, the next proxy destination is searched for. In this case, a priority order is assigned in advance to the terminal devices to be selected as proxy destinations, and the proxy destinations are sequentially searched in accordance with this order.

After changing the destination address in step S6,
In step S2 again, the terminal device A outputs a command including the changed destination address via the transmission command buffer 65A and the modulation circuit 62A to notify the transmission. In this case, assume that terminal device C is selected as the proxy destination.

The exchange 50 connects the input communication line and the output communication line according to the address "3" of the terminal device C which is the changed proxy destination.

The control unit 60A of the terminal device A sends and receives a command to the terminal device C, similar to that sent to the terminal device B, inquiring whether the printer is operable or not.

When terminal device C receives this command, it stores it in reception command buffer 64C via demodulation circuit 63C. The control unit 60C of the terminal device C determines the contents of the received command buffer 64C, and if the notification is to be sent to its own terminal, the process advances from step S10 to step S11. At step S11, the printer 67C
Check whether the printer 67C is operational by detecting a malfunction or the presence of paper, etc., and if possible, proceed to step S12, and further check whether the printer 67C is receiving data from another terminal device or whether the terminal itself is copying. Check whether the printer 67C is in use, such as whether it is operating as a machine. If the printer 67C is inoperable or in use at steps S11 and S12, the process advances to step S16 and sends a command to the terminal device A to the effect that it is in an unreceivable state.
It is output via the modulation circuit 62C. If it is possible to receive it, the process advances to step S13 and a command to that effect is similarly output to the terminal device A.

When terminal device A receives the command in response to the transmission notice in step S2 from terminal device C (step S3), it decodes the contents of this received command stored in the received command buffer 63A in step S4. In step S4, it is determined whether or not the terminal device C is capable of receiving the data. If it is possible, the process proceeds to step S5 and the information in the input section 66A is sent to the terminal device C, which is the proxy destination of the terminal device B, via the modulation circuit 62A. Send to.

Terminal device C receives the information (step
S14) and the printer 67C are activated to perform a recording operation based on the received information. At this time, an indication indicating terminal device B, which is the original destination, is added to the information and recorded at a predetermined position on the recording paper.

On the other hand, in step S4, when the control unit 60A determines that the terminal device C is unable to receive data, the process proceeds to step S6, and in order to search for a new proxy destination, a new destination address (for example, the address "4" of the terminal device D) is added. ") and outputs a command including the newly changed destination address in step S2.

Thereafter, terminal devices that can receive data are sequentially searched for in the same way, and information that should originally be sent to terminal device B is sent to the searched terminal device as a proxy destination.

In the system described above, the sender's terminal device determines whether or not the other party can receive the message after the transmission notice and searches for a proxy destination terminal device. It is also possible to search for a destination, reply to the sender that the destination has been determined, and then start transmitting the information.

Terminal device A implementing the present invention searches for a terminal device for proxy reception using the terminal device designated as the original destination, and uses this search result to communicate information according to the flowchart in FIG. I do.

Furthermore, the number of terminal devices constituting the system is not limited to four, and may be more or less than four.

In addition, a terminal equipped only with an output device may be used as a proxy destination, and by installing a terminal equipped only with an output device in a frequently used terminal device, it is possible to always receive data. It can be done.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, even if the specified destination is unable to receive data, information is communicated to other terminals that can receive it, so even if the transmission is urgent, the destination can receive the information. It is possible to immediately deliver to a pre-specified alternative terminal without being hindered by a disabled state.

Furthermore, the terminal on the sending side can also send information regardless of whether the destination is able to receive the information or not, making effective use of time.

Furthermore, if the proxy destination is selected from terminals installed near the original destination, there is no need to retransmit the message later.

Furthermore, if the information (address) of the terminal device that was originally supposed to be sent is written in the information output to the proxy terminal device, the operator who received the information will know where to send the received information. This prevents the information from being mixed up with other information.

Furthermore, the present invention is cost-effective because it does not require a storage means or the like to store the formed information for the next transmission when the destination is unable to receive the information.

The input device may be other than a word processor, such as an office computer or a facsimile reader.

As explained above, according to the present invention, when the communication partner terminal is unable to perform predetermined communication, the communication partner terminal Necessary information can be conveyed to the user of the communication partner terminal using a terminal appropriate for the user.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an information communication system to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of a terminal device, and FIG. 3 is a control operation flowchart of FIG. 1. , D is a terminal device, 12, 22, 3
2, 42 are input/transmission sections, 13, 23, 33, 4
3 is a receiving/output section, 10 and 11 are communication lines, 60
66 is an input device, and 67 is an output device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Transmitting means for transmitting information indicating a communication partner terminal via a line; and decoding means for receiving and decoding a response transmitted via the line by the communication partner terminal via the line. and a communication means that performs a predetermined communication when the decoding means decodes that the communication partner terminal is in a state where predetermined communication is possible, and the transmitting means is configured to enable the communication partner terminal to perform predetermined communication. When the result of searching a list of pre-registered proxy communication partner terminals is decoded by the decoding means when it is impossible to do so, information indicating the proxy communication partner terminal is transmitted via a line, and the communication means: A communication device characterized in that it performs predetermined communication with a proxy communication partner terminal.