JPH06125438A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the facsimile equipment which prevents a failure of training to raise the probability of success in picture information transmission. CONSTITUTION:When the communication control part of a facsimile equipment on the transmission side receives CFR from a machine of the other party (Y in a step S1), a timer to which, for example, 500ms is set is started (step S2). When this timer expires (Y in a step S3), transmission of picture information is started (step S4). As the result, the start of transmission of picture information is delayed in comparison with conventional, and the state that, the reception side cannot receive a training signal from the start by switching delay or the like of preparations for reception of picture information of the echo processor function of an exchange or a receiver and the facsimile equipment fails to transmit picture information is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly to a facsimile machine capable of transmitting image information more reliably.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional G3 communication protocol procedure is performed as shown in FIG. As is clear from the figure, when the calling station receives a CFR (reception preparation confirmation) signal from the called station, it shifts to sending out a training signal, and then sends image information (PIX) to the called station.

At this time, the called station prepares for receiving image information such as switching the operating speed of the modem after transmitting the CFR signal. For example, from a V21 (300 BPS) modem recommended by CCITT T30, V29 (9
600 BPS, 7200 BPS) or V27ter
The operation of switching to the (4200 BPS, 2400 BPS) modem is performed.

At this time, depending on the model of the facsimile machine at the called station, it takes time to prepare for receiving the image information, and the beginning or all of the training signal cannot be received, so that the training signal reception may fail.

Further, an echo processor function is provided in a switch which is interposed in the middle of the facsimile communication network. This function is to prevent a signal transmitted via the exchange from wrapping around and returning to the side that transmitted the signal, and preventing the side transmitting the signal from erroneously recognizing this as a normal reception signal. In addition, it is a function to prevent the return of the sneak signal.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the exchange 31 is provided with echo processor functions 32 and 33. Now, for example, if the CFR is transmitted from the called station facsimile machine to the calling station facsimile machine, the echo processor function 33 is effective in the exchange 31 so that the CFR sneak signal 34 does not return to the called station. become. As a result, the roundabout signal 34 of the CFR is blocked and does not return to the called station.

When the transmission of the CFR is completed, the echo processor function 32 is enabled and the echo processor function 33 is released at an appropriate timing. Therefore, the training signal transmitted from the calling station is sent to the called station, while the sneak signal 35 of the training signal is blocked by the echo processor function 32 and is not returned to the calling station.

The echo processor functions 32 and 33 are
The timing of the switching is important. For example, if the switching timing is too late, the beginning portion of the training signal is cut off by the echo processor function 33,
In some cases, the beginning of the training signal did not reach the called station and the transmission of image information failed.

In particular, in the case of overseas communication, since a large number of exchanges are used, there is a high rate of communication failure.

In view of the above problems, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-1306
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 67 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-276964 disclose measures for the called station when the training signal fails to be received when the image information is received and the image information cannot be received.

That is, in JP-A-1-130667 (first prior art), after the training of the high-speed modem, the receiving side judges the success or failure of the training, and if the training fails, it is predetermined. If a control signal following the image signal sent from the transmission side is detected by standing by in the reception mode, a predetermined transmission control procedure is performed after transmitting a signal requesting retransmission of the training signal and the image signal to the transmission side. It is intended to continue.

Further, in JP-A-1-276964 (second prior art), when a receiving side detects a training error, a training error tone is immediately sent back to the transmitting side, and the transmitting side detects the training error tone. Then, a technique is disclosed in which transmission of image information is stopped to prevent useless transmission of image information.

In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-61470 (3rd
Prior art), H of 300 BPS before sending the image information.
A technique is disclosed in which an OM (Head Of Message) signal is transmitted and the signal to be transmitted next is a high-speed signal so that the other device is prompted to receive image information.

[0014]

However, the above-mentioned first and second prior arts are related to the countermeasures on the receiving side after the reception of the training signal fails, and are not the countermeasures for preventing the training failure. There was a problem.

The above-mentioned third prior art is a measure for preventing the failure of the transmission of the training signal, but this is effective only in the unique mode and is not effective when communicating with the facsimile machines of other companies. There was a problem.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to prevent a training failure, and to provide a facsimile machine which is effective even when communicating with a facsimile machine of another company.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
It is characterized in that it is provided with a time measuring means for measuring a scheduled time and an image information sending means for starting sending of image information when the scheduled time is measured by the time measuring means.

[0018]

According to the present invention, since the transmission of the image information is started at a timing later than the conventional one, the training is performed on the receiving side by the echo processor function of the exchanger or the switching delay of the image information reception preparation of the receiver. It is possible to reduce the situation in which the signal cannot be received from the beginning and the transmission of the image information fails.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. First, a hardware configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a CPU, which performs control processing of the entire facsimile apparatus and facsimile transmission control procedure processing. A RAM 2 provides a work area used by the control program. An operation display device 3 is an operation unit and a display unit for operating the facsimile apparatus. A reading device 4 has a function of reading a transmission document. Reference numeral 5 denotes a printing device, which has a function of recording received image information.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an image processing apparatus, which performs encoding and decoding processing. An image storage device 7 serves to store image information. A system control unit 8 is a program for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus. Reference numeral 9 is a program for controlling facsimile communication. These programs are stored in the ROM.

A modem (modulator / demodulator) 10 has a low speed mode (for transmission procedure signal: V21) and a high speed mode (for transmitting / receiving image information: V27ter, V29, V33, V).
17) It has a function. A network control device 11 has a function of connecting to a public network and an automatic call originating / receiving function. 1
Reference numeral 2 is a system bus, which is a bus for exchanging data with each other.

Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the function of the main part of this embodiment, and shows the function of the communication control unit 9.
In the figure, 21 is a response signal receiving means such as CFR, PPR, RTN, 22 is a response signal determining means, 23 is a timer starting means, and the timer starting means 23 is such that the response signal determining means 22 detects a CFR signal. When this is done, a timer (not shown) is started. Reference numeral 24 is a timer monitoring means, which monitors a time preset in the timer, for example, 500 msec. Reference numeral 25 is an image information sending means, which is a timer monitoring means 2
When 4 detects a time-out, the detection signal starts sending image information.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In step S1, the response signal discriminating means 22 of the communication control unit 9 of the transmitting side facsimile apparatus is the CFR.
It is determined whether or not a signal is received, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S2, and the timer starting means 23
Activates a timer set to 500 msec, for example. When it is determined in step S3 that the timer has timed out, the process proceeds to step S4, and the image information sending means 25 starts sending the image information. The image information also includes a training signal. The same applies to the following.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the transmitting side facsimile apparatus transmits the image information with a delay of, for example, 500 msec after receiving the response signal. Therefore, the image information by the echo processor function of the exchange is transmitted. It is possible to prevent missing of the leading portion of the image information, or missing of the leading portion of the image information that occurs in a model in which preparation for receiving the image information takes time, so that the image information can be transmitted more reliably.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of this embodiment, showing the functions of the communication control unit 9. In the figure, 26 is a command analysis means and 27 is a command transmission means. The analysis result of the command analysis means 26 is the response signal determination means 22.
Sent to. In addition, reference numerals 21 to 25 in FIG. 3 indicate the same as or equivalent to those in FIG.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. A call is made in step S11, and the command analysis means 26 analyzes the received command (NSF and DIS) in step S12. In step S13, when it is determined that the device is another company's device based on the analysis result, the process proceeds to step S14, the unique flag is turned off, and the DCS and the TCF command are transmitted in step S15.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S13 that the machine is the own machine based on the analysis result, the process proceeds to step S16, the unique flag is turned on, and in step S17 NS
Send S and TCF.

Next, at step S18, it is judged whether or not the response signal, that is, the CFR is received. If the judgment is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step S19, at which the unique flag is on or off. Is judged.

When the unique mode is off, that is, when the other party is another company's machine, the other party's machine may take a long time to prepare for receiving image information. To do. And
When it is determined in step S21 that the time-out has occurred, the process proceeds to step S22, and the image information is transmitted.

On the other hand, when the unique mode is turned on in step S19, that is, when the partner is the own machine, the performance of the own machine can be known from the NSF. Therefore, when the partner machine is not a model that takes time to prepare for receiving image information. Advances to step S22 to send image information.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the partner machine is the company machine, even if the partner machine transmits the image information immediately after receiving the CFR, the partner machine receives the image information without fail. Since it is understood that the model can be used, the image information can be transmitted immediately after receiving the CFR. As a result,
In addition to the effect of the first embodiment, there is an advantage that image information can be transmitted without spending extra communication time.

In the above embodiment, the image information is transmitted immediately after the reception of the CFR when the partner machine is the own machine, but the embodiment is not limited to this, and the timer setting is performed by the other company's machine. It may be shorter than in the case of.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to ECM (error collect mode) communication of a facsimile machine. Figure 5
Is a functional block diagram of the communication control unit 9, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining its operation. The symbols in FIG. 5 are the same as those in FIG.
Since they are the same as or equivalent to those having the same reference numeral, description thereof will be omitted.

The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In step S31, the response signal determination means 22
Judges whether or not the CFR has been received. If it judges that the CFR has been received, the process proceeds to step S32, and the image information sending means 25 sends the image information. Step S33
Then, the PPS and EOP signals are transmitted after the image information is transmitted.

In step S34, it is determined whether or not a response signal of MCF (message confirmation) or PPR (partial page request signal) is received.
In steps S35 and S37, the response signal is MC
Whether it is F or a PPR signal requesting retransmission of all frames is determined.

When it is judged to be MCF in step S35, the transmission of the image information has succeeded, so that the DCN signal is transmitted and the process is terminated. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S37 that the PPR signal requesting retransmission of all frames has been received, the process proceeds to step S38, the timer starting means 23 of FIG. 5 is started, and counting of, for example, 500 msec is started. If it is determined in step S39 that the time-out has occurred, the process returns to step S32 and the image information is retransmitted.

The main reason why step S37 becomes affirmative is that the other device takes time to prepare for the reception of image information, or the echo processor function of the exchange causes the error. There are some reasons why you might fail your training. Therefore, by delaying and starting the retransmission of the image information as in the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid the failure of the retransmission of the image information.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to. This is the retraining (RT
N) is an embodiment at the time of receiving a signal, and 28 is an RTN receiving / storing means for storing the reception of RTN by a flag,
Reference numeral 29 represents a condition determining means. Note that other reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts as in FIG.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. After transmitting DCS and TCF in step S41, it is determined in step S42 whether CFR has been received. When the determination in step S42 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S43, and it is determined whether the RTN flag is on. This judgment is based on R in FIG.
This is done by looking at the flag of the TN reception storage means 28.

When the determination in step S43 is negative, the process proceeds to step S46, and image information is sent out. That is, in FIG. 7, the condition determination means 29 instructs the image information transmission means 25 to start the operation. When the transmission of the image information is completed, the MPS is transmitted in step S47.

If it is determined in step S48 that a response to this MPS has been received, it is determined in steps S49 and S50 whether the response signal is MCF or RTN. If the response signal is MCF, the process returns to step S43 to receive the image information of the next page.

On the other hand, when the response signal is RTN (Yes in step S50), the process proceeds to step S51 to turn on the RTN flag. And step S4
Returning to 1, the transmission from DCS and TCF is performed again.

When it is determined in step S43 that the RTN flag is ON, the process proceeds to step S44, the timer starting means 23 is started, and, for example, measurement of 500 msec is started. When it is determined in step S45 that the timer monitoring means 24 has timed out, step S45
In step 46, the image information is sent again.

In general, the RTN response signal is often sent from the receiving side facsimile machine when the training reception is unsuccessful. Therefore, step S43 of this embodiment is performed.
By providing S45 to delay the start of the transmission of the image information, the rate at which the cause of the trouble can be avoided increases.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above description, the claims
According to the inventions of (1) to (4), the facsimile machine on the transmission side starts the transmission of the image information at a scheduled time (for example, 50
(0 msec), the training signal cannot be received from the beginning on the receiving side due to the echo processor function of the exchanger or the switching delay of the receiver's preparation for receiving image information, and the transmission of image information fails. The situation is reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the partner machine is another company's machine, it can be effectively operated.

Further, according to the invention of claim (2), in addition to the above effect, there is an effect that the communication time can be shortened when the partner machine is the own machine.

Further, according to the inventions of claims (3) and (4), there is an effect that it is possible to increase the possibility of successful retransmission of the image information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a main part of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an essential part of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a main part of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a facsimile apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a G3 communication protocol procedure.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an echo processor function of the exchange.

[Explanation of symbols]

9 ... Communication control unit, 21 ... Response signal receiving means, 22 ... Response signal determining means, 23 ... Timer starting means, 24 ... Timer monitoring means, 25 ... Image information sending means, 27 ... Command sending means, 28 ... RTN reception storage Means, 29 ... Condition judging means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A procedure for transmitting image information,
A time measuring means for measuring a scheduled time and an image information sending means for starting sending of the image information when the scheduled time is measured by the time measuring means are provided to delay the start of sending the image information. Facsimile machine characterized in that 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for determining whether the partner machine is a self-owned machine or a third-party machine, and when the partner machine is a self-owned machine, the scheduled time is a third-party machine. A facsimile machine characterized by being made shorter. 3. During ECM communication, a means for judging whether or not a PPR signal requesting retransmission of all frames has been received after sending image information, and sending image information after receiving the PPR signal requesting retransmission of all frames. Image information is provided with time measuring means for measuring a scheduled time when the procedure is performed, and image information sending means for starting re-sending of image information when the scheduled time is measured by the time measuring means. A facsimile machine characterized by delaying the start of transmission of the. 4. A means for determining whether or not an RTN signal has been received after sending the image information, and a time measurement for measuring a scheduled time when the procedure for sending the image information after receiving the RTN signal is reached. Means and image information sending means for starting re-sending of image information when the scheduled time is measured by the time measuring means, and the start of sending image information is delayed. Facsimile machine.