JPH06152840A - Communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain high speed processing by selecting a picture and an attribute of the picture from a list. CONSTITUTION:A control section 1 analyzes the mode of a list indication function of a called party as to which of a so-called progressive buildup or sequential buildup coding system is available as the encoding system of the called party when a communication equipment of the called party has a list indication function. The control section 1 generates NSS data to report the mode in which a caller side communication equipment makes reception to the communication equipment of the called party based on the result of analysis. Then a hierarchical coding/decoding section 5 decodes the picture data and the data are synthesized with image data and the resulting picture is displayed on a display device 2 or printed out on a printer 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device for hierarchically encoding / decoding image signals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for a communication device to call a device on the other side and receive information on the other side, for example, there is a method called polling. This is to receive the information set on the original table of the calling party or the information stored in the memory for polling communication on the partner side.

Further, when the communication device selectively receives the information of the other party, it makes a call to the other party and receives a part of the information from the other party. The part of this information is, for example, an information group representing the attributes of the image stored in the memory of the facsimile device when the other side is a facsimile device, and the communication device receives the attribute information of this image. To do. The image attributes include, for example, the resolution of the image, the source telephone number and the source abbreviation when the image is a received image, and the destination telephone number when the image is a transmitted image.
Information such as the destination abbreviation is shown.

The communication device on the receiving side prints out a part of the information stored in the facsimile device on the other side, that is, the attribute of the image. Then, a desired method is selected from the attribute information of the received image, and the image information corresponding to the selected attribute is transmitted again. It should be noted that the compression encoding methods for communication include MH method and M
There are R method and MMR method.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional communication device, the information on the other side can receive only predetermined information, and even when the information is selected, it is not accompanied by image information and the like. There is inconvenience when selecting and receiving information from the other party. Especially when there are many contacts with the same person, the importance of the information cannot be understood only from the sender information and the recipient information, and in order to avoid that, it is necessary to have all the images communicated with the partner sent. There is a problem that the cost is extremely high.

Since the compression coding method used for communication is the MH method, the MR method, or the MMR method, there is a problem that the transmission time becomes extremely long especially when transmitting a photographic image having a halftone. . An object of the present invention is to provide a communication device capable of displaying images and attributes of the images in a list and facilitating selection of images, facilitating operation, and speeding up processing.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a communication device which accommodates a line and transmits and receives an image signal to and from a partner device via the line, after transmitting a predetermined signal. Means for sequentially receiving a plurality of image signals from the calling device in a low-resolution layer of hierarchical encoding, decoding means for hierarchically decoding the received plurality of image signals, and the decoded Display means for displaying a list of a plurality of image signals.

[0008]

With the above arrangement, the function of speeding up the processing is selected by selecting the image and the attribute of the image from the list display.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a control unit that performs various controls in the present apparatus, and is composed of, for example, a microprocessor. 2 is a display for displaying transmitted / received images, management information, etc., 3 is a ROM storing program information for performing various controls, 4 is MH, MR,
MH / MR / MM that performs MMR encoding / decoding
The R coding / decoding unit 5 is a hierarchical coding / decoding unit that performs hierarchical coding / decoding.

Further, 6 is a printer for printing transmitted / received images and management information, and 7 is a telephone line / wireless communication line 20.
A communication connection unit for accommodating the like, a keyboard 8 on which a dial key for dialing a partner device, a function key for instructing a list display, a selection key for selecting a desired image, and the like are arranged, and a reference numeral 9. An image memory 10 for storing a transmitted or received image, a RAM 10 for storing sender information of the image information, sender abbreviation, recipient information, recipient abbreviation, resolution information, one-touch dial information, etc. Reference numeral 11 is a counting unit including an oscillator.

Next, the operation of the communication apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 2 to 7 and the signal sequence diagram between the calling side and called side apparatuses shown in FIG. . In step S201, it is determined whether or not the user has pressed a function key (not shown) on the keyboard 8 to instruct "display list". If the determination result here is YES, the control unit 1 thereafter performs an operation for executing the list display. Here, the function key may be not only one key pressed but also two or more keys pressed simultaneously or continuously.

When the key is pressed, the timer T ₁ is activated (step S202), and the counting unit 11 counts the time T ₁ . It is checked whether or not the dial is input within T ₁ time (step S203), and step S2
As a result of monitoring the passage of time at 04, if there is no dial input even after the passage of T ₁ time, the above list display processing is terminated and the standby state is restored (step S205a).

When there is a dial input in step S203, the control unit 1 instructs the communication connection unit 7 to connect the line 20. In response to this, the communication connection unit 7 captures the line and sends dial information (step S204).
Here, the line may be a wired line such as a telephone line or an ISDN line as described above, or a wireless line for mobile communication or cordless telephone.

Next, the control unit 1 controls the CCITT T.S. According to the four recommendations, the data is read from the ROM 3 or the RAM 10 and the data for the HDLC procedure is created (step S205). Following this, the CNG signal is transmitted (step S206, see S301 in FIG. 8), and the counting unit 11 operates the timer T ₂ . Then, the communication connection unit 7 receives the CED and the NS from the called side within the time T _2.
It is monitored whether or not the F, CSI, and DSI signals are detected (steps S208, S209, S30 in FIG. 8).
2, S303).

If neither of the above signals is detected within the time T ₂ (step S210), it is determined that the called communication device has no facsimile function and the line is disconnected (step S211). It should be noted that the CNG is transmitted when an automatic call is made, but is not transmitted when a manual call is made. When the user activates the facsimile function by the CED, the calling side communication device performs a predetermined procedure operation.

When CED, NSF, CSI and DIS are detected by the communication connection unit 7, the control unit 1 causes the NSF, C
Analyze SI, DIS, etc. (step S21)
2). In other words, the DIS notifies the standard function of the CCITT standard on the called side, the transmission speed, the paper size, the sub-scanning line density, and the like. Also, the telephone number of the called side is notified by CSI, and the nonstandard function outside the standard of CCITT is notified by NSF.

Since the list display function in this embodiment is a non-standard function, whether or not the called communication device has the list display function can be determined by analyzing the NSF (step S213). If the called side does not have the list display function (NO in step S213), the control unit 1 does not have the list display function on the other side due to the display 2, the printer 6, or a lamp (not shown). This is notified (step S214), and the line is disconnected (step S215).

On the other hand, when the called communication device has a list display function, which of the so-called progressive build-up / sequential build-up methods can be used as the called-side coding method? The mode of the list display function on the called side is analyzed (step S216).
Then, the control unit 1 creates NSS data based on the analysis result so as to notify the called communication device of the mode for the calling communication device to receive (step S21).
7).

Here, the NSS for list display according to the present embodiment
The format of is explained. FIG. 9 shows the data format of NSS data, and FIG. 10 shows the detailed format of NSS data. In FIG. 9, F means a flag sequence, and is composed of a predetermined bit string (for example, “01111110”) indicating the start and end of the frame. Further, A is an address field, which has a length of 1 byte and indicates a terminal number for data communication, but is not used in the facsimile. C means a control field and is used for terminal control in data communication, but this is not used in the case of facsimile.

FCF means a facsimile control field, and contains a 1-byte frame signal name for controlling the operation of the facsimile. For example, in the case of DIS, it is “00000001”. FIF stands for Facsimile Information Field, F
Contains detailed information that cannot be displayed in CF. And
FCS means a frame check sequence, and is a field for checking whether a received frame has been correctly received.

The FIF in the NSS signal can be used freely by the user except for the first three octets (bytes). That is, the first and second octets represent CCITT member codes, and the third octet represents user codes in Japan. The fourth and subsequent octets are areas that the user can use freely. Particularly, the Nth octet and the N + 1th octet are data for list display (see FIG. 10).

In FIG. 10, the first bit is a bit for instructing list display, and if it is "1", it means a list display request. Here, the instruction is represented by only one bit, but it may be represented by consecutive bits. The second and third bits mean an encoding method for receiving a list display image, and “11” is a hierarchical encoding method.
"00" means MH coding system, "01" means MR coding system, and "10" means MMR coding system. It should be noted that the second and third bits can be omitted in a device having a configuration in which the coding method is designated by another octet.

The fourth bit is a sequential build-up when hierarchical coding is selected in the previous two bits, or
Or you can choose progressive buildup. For example, if the called side has a large amount of image memory, or if the remaining amount of image memory is sufficient, then it is transmitted by progressive buildup, and conversely, the called side has only a small amount of image memory. In this case, or when the remaining amount of the image memory is small, sequential buildup is requested. When this bit is "0", sequential buildup is requested, and when this bit is "1", progressive buildup is requested.

The fifth bit is a transmission method instruction bit and indicates whether the calling side is a device having a list display creating function. In other words, when the calling side is a device capable of creating a list display, the called side includes a part of the image data and a part of the data indicating the image attribute (for example, source information).
It is up to the sender to send and send the list display format.

If the calling side is a device that does not have the list creation function, the called side can format it for displaying the list and send it as image data to the calling side. The 6th bit to the 8th bit are
The image data accumulated in the image memory is managed for each communication, and the page of each communication to be transmitted to the calling side can be designated by the calling side communication device. Here, “000” is an instruction to transmit the first page. The bit configuration is not limited to 3 bits.

Next, the first bit of the (N + 1) th octet
The third bit means the first layer of the layers transmitted by the called party when layered coding is selected. This is "00
0 "means a transmission request from the lowest resolution layer, and" 111 "means a transmission request from the highest resolution. On the other hand, MH, MR, MMR encoding was selected. At this time, the transmission resolution is specified.

The 4th to 6th bits of the (N + 1) th octet mean the final layer to be transmitted for list display on the called side. When it is "000", only the image of the lowest resolution layer is transmitted. The 7th and 8th bits are undefined. These instruction bits are stored in ROM3
Although it depends on the default value stored in, it is also possible for the user to specify with the keyboard 8.

Therefore, the operation of the communication apparatus according to this embodiment shown in FIG. 4 will be described again. The control unit 1 refers to the NSF, DIS data and the function of the terminal device of its own, etc.
Data is created (step S217) and sent to the called side (step S218, S305 in FIG. 8). Then, the called side receives the NSS data and analyzes it. Also, the called side notifies the number of images to be transmitted.

On the other hand, on the calling side, the counter 11 starts the timer T ₃ at the same time as the NSS data is transmitted, and starts counting the time T ₃ (step S219). It is monitored whether or not the number of transmitted images is notified from the called side within T ₃ time (step S220). Then, if the number of transmitted images is not notified within the time T ₃ (determination in step S221 is YES).
S) The line is regarded as abnormal and the line is disconnected (step S22).
2).

After that, the control unit 1 uses the display 2 or the printer 6 to notify the user that the processing has ended abnormally. On the other hand, when it is notified that the number of transmitted images is N (the determination in step S220 is YES,
In S306 of FIG. 8, the following processing is executed. That is,
In order to count the number of received images, the counting unit 11 sets the received image number counter to i = 0 (step S223).
Subsequently, the calling communication device receives the image data and the image attribute data (step S224, S30 in FIG. 8).
7) The received image data is stored in a predetermined area of the image memory 9, and the image attribute data is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 10 (step S225).

The i counter is incremented by 1 (step S226), and if i ≧ N is not satisfied (step S227).
Is NO, S308 in FIG. 8), the presence or absence of a reception error is checked (step S228), if there is an error, the error information is requested to be retransmitted (step S229), and the i counter is decremented by 1 in the subsequent step S230. To do.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S228 that there is no reception error, the next image and the attribute of the image are received again in step S224.

When the value of the i counter becomes N, the presence or absence of a reception error is checked (step S231), and if there is an error, the processes of steps S229 and S230 are executed.
However, if there is no reception error, the called side is notified of the normal reception (S309 in FIG. 8) and an image for list display is created (step S232). Then, in order to generate a character corresponding to the image attribute data stored in the RAM 10, the image data is generated from the ROM 3, and the image data stored in the image memory 9 is decoded by the hierarchical encoding / decoding unit 5. , And synthesizes it with image data, and outputs the image shown in FIG. 11 to the display 2 or the printer 6.

The processing steps for displaying on the display 2 may be executed between step S225 and step S226 to sequentially display the received image data and image attribute data. Further, when displaying on a liquid crystal display having a small display area, the previous image may be displayed while being sequentially erased. When the output of the list display image to the display 2 or the printer 6 is completed, the counting unit 11 starts counting by the timer T ₄ (step S234). Subsequently, it is monitored whether a desired image is selected within T ₄ hours (step S235),
If not selected by the keyboard 8 (step S2
If the determination result in 36 is YES, the line is disconnected (step S237).

On the other hand, when the desired image is selected by pressing the code "1 #" shown in FIG. 11 (YES in step S235), the communication connection unit 7
The tone or data corresponding to "1 #" is sent to the called communication device. This starts the timer T ₅ (step S238), and the counting section 11 counts the timer T ₅ . Then, the control unit 1 monitors whether or not the “*” key is pressed within the predetermined time T ₅ (step S
239, S240), if the "*" key is pressed, it means that the next image is selected, and the communication connection unit 7 sends the tone or data corresponding to "*" to the called side. Send to communication device.

However, if the "*" key is not pressed within T ₅ hours, it is judged that the designation is completed. At this time, the called side transmits the designated image data for all pages, from the next layer to the last layer (S311 in FIG. 8). Further, the calling side erases the image data and the image attribute that are not designated (step S241). Next, the designated image data is received from the next received hierarchy to the final hierarchy (step S242), and the received image data is sequentially stored in the image memory 9 (step S243). Then, the image data stored in the image memory 9 is decoded by the hierarchical encoding / decoding unit 5 (step S24).
4).

When the received data has an error (the determination result in step S245 is YES), a request for resending the error information is made (step S246), and the error portion is resent. However, if there is no error in the received data, the decoded image is output from the display 2 or the printer 6 (step S247). Then, it is checked whether or not all designated data has been received (step S24).
8) If the result of the determination is NO, the process is repeated until all designated data are received. When all the designated signals have been received, the MCF signal is transmitted (step S249, S312 in FIG. 8), the DCN signal from the called side is detected (S313 in FIG. 8), and the line is disconnected (step S250).

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By displaying a list of images of the partner device and the attributes of the images with only the received low resolution layer, and selecting the desired one from them, the operation becomes easier and the transmission time can be shortened. Further, there is an effect that the processing speed is shortened because the memory for the image reduction processing is not necessary.

Further, even when a desired image is obtained from the list display, the communication time can be shortened by receiving from the layer having the resolution one step higher than the already received low resolution image. Not only that, there is an effect that the processing speed can be increased, the device price can be reduced, and the running cost can be reduced. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the list display function of the called side is operated by the procedure signal, but this is a selection signal of a predetermined partner device after the line connection with the called side. The list display function may be operated by a DTMF signal or the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, when the list display function is selected, the image data and the image attribute from the other party are received and the image for list display is output, but the present invention is not limited to this. is not. For example, first receive only the image attributes, select the required attributes from them, then receive the image data to create the list display image, then specify the desired image and specify all the image data. May be configured to be received.

Further, the image selected by the list display may be transmitted to a desired partner. For example,
If you key in "5 # * # 1235678 #",
The image of "5 #" is instructed to be transmitted to the terminal of telephone number 123-5678. Here, the number surrounded by # and # is defined to mean a telephone number.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By selectively receiving the image information stored in the partner device displayed in a list, it is possible to reduce the transmission time and the communication cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the communication device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the communication device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the communication device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the communication device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the communication device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the communication device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a signal sequence diagram between a calling side device and a called side device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a data format of NSS data.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a detailed format of NSS data.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a list display according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Control Section 2 Display 3 ROM 4 MH, MR, MMR Encoding / Decoding Section 5 Hierarchical Encoding / Decoding Section 6 Printer 7 Communication Connection Section 8 Keyboard 9 Image Memory 10 RAM 11 Counting Section 20 Line

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A communication device which accommodates a line and transmits and receives an image signal to and from a partner device via the line, wherein a plurality of image signals from a called device are hierarchically encoded after a predetermined signal is transmitted. It is characterized by further comprising: a unit for sequentially receiving in the low resolution layer, a decoding unit for hierarchically decoding the received plurality of image signals, and a display unit for displaying a list of the plurality of decoded image signals. Communication device. 2. The apparatus further comprises means for selecting at least one image from the plurality of displayed images, and means for requesting transmission of the selected image, wherein the decoding means The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the image corresponding to the transmission request is decoded. 3. The transmission request includes a request for an image encoding method relating to the transmission.
The communication device according to 1. 4. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the coding method is a hierarchical coding method. 5. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the transmission request includes a layer request for transmission from a layer having a higher resolution than the low resolution layer as the encoding method. 6. The communication device according to claim 4, wherein the hierarchical encoding method is progressive buildup. 7. The communication device according to claim 4, wherein the hierarchical encoding method is sequential buildup. 8. The hierarchical encoding method further includes sequential buildup or progressive
The communication device according to claim 4, further comprising means for selecting one of buildup.