JPH06217057A - Facsimile connection controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently attain a call incoming processing by transmitting the reception information of stored originals to a specific host in a batch in each specific time, in each specific number of the originals, and according to the memory residual. CONSTITUTION:A facsimile connection controller 1 selects a high speed transfer validating facsimile from among empty facsimiles 2-4, and transmits transmission data from hosts 6 and 7 to the selected facsimile. The facsimile which accepts the transfer executes a transmission processing according to an instruction from the facsimile connection controller 1. In this case, the facsimile equipments 2-4 detects an incoming call, and transmits an information to the facsimile connection controller 1. Moreover, the facsimile connection controller 1 receives original data from the facsimiles 2-4, and stores the original data in a memory in the facsimile connection controller 1. Then, whether or not the number of the stored originals is more than a specific value is checked, and when it is more than the specific value, the reception information of the entire stored originals is transmitted to the hosts 6 and 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile connection control device, and more particularly to processing of an original received by a facsimile in a facsimile connection control device connected to a host via a network and connected to the facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there have been many examples of constructing an original network such as a LAN within a company, and it is expected that the tendency will increase in the future. In many of such networks, a facsimile device is arranged in the network to enable connection with other networks using communication lines such as public lines and leased lines.

As is well known, the facsimile apparatus has scanner, printer, and communication control functions, and reads or receives a document or transmits a document transferred from a host to a facsimile at a remote place or prints. ,
Alternatively, it can be transferred to a host and is very useful as a resource in the network.

As an example of such a system, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-249560 discloses a personal computer / facsimile apparatus which provides the above-mentioned functions. This device connects a facsimile and a personal computer, and controls the facsimile by the personal computer.

[0005]

In the conventional system as described above, one facsimile is controlled by one host computer, and therefore, it is possible to cope with an increase in the amount of information to be processed and in the network. There was a problem communicating with multiple terminals.

Therefore, a facsimile connection control apparatus is conceivable in which processing requests from a plurality of hosts are accepted, a facsimile to be used is selected from a plurality of facsimiles, and processing is executed. However, in the system having such a configuration, the amount of information to be processed increases, and therefore, when the host process is started for each incoming call, the processing load on the host increases and the processing capability of the host decreases. .

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide an incoming call processing system in which a host can efficiently perform incoming call processing in a facsimile connection control device to which a host is connected. To do.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a facsimile connection control device connected to a host and a facsimile, storage means for storing document data received from a facsimile and a document stored in the storage means are specified. It is characterized in that it is provided with an incoming call control means for collectively performing reception notification to a specific host according to time, for each specified number of manuscripts, or according to the remaining memory capacity.

[0009]

By such means, the reception notification is collectively sent to the host, so that the host can efficiently perform the reception processing and the processing efficiency of the entire system is improved.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a system including a facsimile connection control device to which the present invention is applied. As will be described later in detail, the facsimile connection control device 1 is connected to the facsimiles 2, 3 and 4 by individual connection lines 9 and also to the network 5 such as a LAN.

The facsimiles 2, 3 and 4 are connected to a telephone network, a switching network such as ISDN by a line 8, and are connected to the facsimile connection control device 1 by an individual connection line 9. This connection line 9 is, for example, RS-232C,
It may be GPIB, SCSI, or the like, or the facsimile connection control device 1 and a plurality of facsimiles 2, 3, 4 may be housed in one housing and connected by an internal bus.

The network 5 is, for example, Ethernet, F
It is a digital data network such as a LAN such as DDI or a switching network such as PBX. The hosts 6 and 7 are composed of general-purpose computers, workstations, personal computers, and the like, and include those that do not have the image data processing function.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the facsimile connection control apparatus 1. CPU10 is ROM11
The entire facsimile connection control device 1 is controlled in accordance with the control program stored in. The RAM 12 stores the input or received image information, or stores various control data and tables.

The network connection unit 13 is an interface circuit of a digital data network such as a LAN such as Ethernet or FDDI, or a switching network such as PBX. The code conversion unit 14 is a circuit that converts code data into image data for facsimile when a document is transmitted as code data from a terminal.

Facsimile connection units 15 and 16 are provided on individual connection lines 9 for facsimiles, such as RS-232C and G.
Interface circuits such as PIB and SCSI. The keyboard control unit 17 and the CRT control unit 18 are interface circuits for a keyboard and a CRT display that form the console of the facsimile connection control apparatus 1. The bus 19 connects each circuit in the device.
In addition to this, an external storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk may be provided.

Next, the operation will be described. In the system as shown in FIG. 1, for example, when the host 6 communicates, an instruction is first sent to the facsimile connection control device 1. The facsimile connection control device selects, for example, the fastest available facsimile among the available facsimiles,
Transfer the transmission data from the host to the selected facsimile. The facsimile that has received the transfer executes a transmission process in accordance with an instruction from the facsimile connection control device. The facsimile connection control device always keeps track of the status of each facsimile such as being in use, empty, or out of order.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the receiving operation (reception of original data from a facsimile) in the facsimile connection control device. When the facsimile device detects an incoming call, it notifies the facsimile connection control device. In step S1, the facsimile connection control device receives this notification and executes the reception job.

In step S2, the original data is received from the facsimile and stored in the memory in the facsimile connection control device. In step S3, it is checked whether or not to notify immediately. If immediate notification is made, the process proceeds to step S8, but if not so, step S3 is performed.
Go to 4. The operator sets in advance from the console or the like whether or not to notify immediately.

In step S4, it is checked whether or not it is a priority document, and if it is a priority document, step S4.
If it is not, the process proceeds to step S5. Whether the document is a priority document or not is determined based on the information sent from the sending facsimile.

There are various possible transmission methods of the priority information, and one example thereof is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission procedure of a normal facsimile. Among them, the NSS signal transmitted from the transmitting station is a non-standard function setting command, and each manufacturer can set the content independently.

Therefore, in advance, in this NSS command,
For example, one byte of priority area is provided. Then, the transmitting station sets the priority information input from the keyboard or the like at the time of connection in this area and transmits it. The priority information is, for example, 0 for a normal document and 1 for a priority document.
To If nothing is specified, it is set to 0.

The receiving facsimile detects the presence / absence of the priority information and, if it exists, checks whether it is a correct value. Then, only when the correct value is set, the value is transferred to the facsimile connection control device, and in other cases, the normal priority information is transferred. It should be noted that a plurality of levels of priority may be provided and different processing may be performed.

In step S5, it is checked whether or not the remaining memory capacity of the buffer for accumulating the received document is less than the specified value. If it is less than the specified value, the process proceeds to step S8. If there is, the process proceeds to step S6. This process is to prevent the memory from becoming full and unable to be stored.

In step S6, it is checked whether or not the number of stored documents is equal to or larger than a specified value. If it is equal to or larger than the specified value, the process proceeds to step S8, but if it is less than the specified value, the process proceeds to step S7. Transition. This processing is effective when a large number of originals arrive in a short time.

In step S7, it is checked whether or not a specified time period has elapsed since the last reception notification. If the specified time period has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S8.
If not, the process ends. This process improves the efficiency of the process by collectively performing the reception notification, and guarantees that any document is surely notified within the specified time by using it in combination with the process of step S5 or S6. It is a thing.

In step S8, the reception is notified to the host, the details of which will be described later. Whether or not to make the judgments from step S3 to step S7 (if not judged, connect to N), and various parameters for making the judgments are set in advance by an operator from a console or the like.

Next, the notification operation will be described. Figure 4
6 is a flowchart showing details of an incoming call notification process from the facsimile connection control device to the host in step S8 of FIG. In step S10, the destination of the host to be notified is checked and connection with the host computer is performed. In step S11, step S
In 10, it is checked whether or not the connection is established, and if the connection is established, the process proceeds to step S12. Step S12
In step 1, a reception notification is sent to the host for all the stored originals.

In step S11, if the host cannot be connected due to a busy state or a failure, the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, it is checked whether or not re-notification is performed. If not, the process proceeds to step S17. If re-notification is performed, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, the value of the re-notification number counter provided for each document is incremented by one. In step S15, it is checked whether or not the value of the re-notification counter exceeds a specified value. If it exceeds, the process proceeds to step S17. If not, the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, the process waits for a specified time. It should be noted that a timer for interrupting may be activated after a stipulated time to shift to another process. When the process of step S16 is completed, the process returns to the process of step S10 to try again.

In step S17, it is checked whether or not the notification is to be transferred to another host. If the notification is to be transferred to another host, the process proceeds to step S18 to connect to the other host and notify the reception. . When another host cannot connect, the registered hosts may be tried in order and the connected host may be notified. If all hosts cannot be connected, the process may proceed to step S19.

In step S19, it is checked whether or not to print, and in the case of printing, step S2.
Move to 0. Whether to print or not is specified in advance. In step S20, a facsimile to be printed is selected, the stored document data is transferred, and a print instruction is given.

The method of selecting the facsimile to be printed is
For example, it may be an empty one or may be designated in advance. In addition, the received facsimile may be printed out, and it may be possible to select which of these various selection methods is used.

In step S21, the stored document data is erased. Whether or not to make the judgments in steps S13, 17, and 19 (if not judged, connect to N), and various parameters for making the judgments are set in advance by the operator from the console or the like.

By the above processing, the reception notification to the host is executed. In the host that received the notification, transfer to the host, print out by the specified fax,
Instructs the facsimile connection control device to perform transmission to a facsimile at a remote location or deletion.

Although the embodiment has been described above, the following modifications are also possible. In the embodiment, an example of the facsimile connection control device connected to a plurality of hosts and a plurality of facsimiles has been shown, but one or both of the host and the facsimile may be provided.

Further, a function of issuing a reception notification or a storage status notification may be added according to an instruction from the host. In this way, the host can process the documents that have been accumulated at a casual time.

In the process of step S7 in FIG. 3, an example is shown in which it is possible to check whether or not the specified time has passed since the previous reception notification. However, a plurality of times are set in advance and the time is reached. May be notified.

[0039]

According to the facsimile connection control apparatus of the present invention as described above, it is possible to collectively perform reception notification, and the processing load on the host can be reduced. It is also possible to give priority to notifications for those that require urgency,
Further, it also has effects such as prevention of data loss and effective use of memory.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an entire system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile connection control device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a receiving operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a notification operation.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a facsimile transmission procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Facsimile connection control device, 2,3,4 ... Facsimile, 5 ... Network, 6,7 ... Host, 8 ... Line,
9 ... Connection line, 10 ... CPU, 11 ... ROM, 12 ... RA
M, 13 ... Network connection unit, 14 ... Code conversion unit,
15, 16 ... Facsimile connection section, 17 ... Keyboard control section, 18 ... CRT control section, 19 ... Bus

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. In a facsimile connection control device connected to a host and a facsimile, a storage unit for storing document data received from a facsimile and a document stored in the storage unit are received by a specific host at regular time intervals. A facsimile connection control device comprising an incoming call control means for making notification. 2. A facsimile connection control device connected to a host and a facsimile, and storing means for storing document data received from a facsimile, and a specific number each time the number of documents stored in the storing means reaches a specified value. A facsimile connection control device comprising: an incoming call control means for notifying a host of reception. 3. A facsimile connection control device connected to a host and a facsimile, and storing means for storing document data received from a facsimile, and a specific host each time the remaining memory capacity of the storing means falls below a specified value. A facsimile connection control device, characterized in that the facsimile connection control device further comprises: 4. A priority determination means for inspecting priority information sent from the facsimile on the transmission side is provided, and the reception control means, when a document with a high priority is received,
4. The facsimile connection control device according to claim 1, wherein the reception notification is immediately sent to a specific host. 5. The reception control means according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when a connection with a specific host cannot be made at the time of reception notification, re-notification is performed after a lapse of a prescribed time. Facsimile connection control device. 6. The reception control means according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, when a connection with a specific host cannot be made at the time of reception notification, the reception control means notifies the other host of the reception notification. Facsimile connection control device. 7. The reception control means outputs the document data to an arbitrary printer when a connection with a specific host cannot be made at the time of reception notification. Facsimile connection control device. 8. The facsimile connection control according to claim 1, wherein the reception control unit erases the document data when a connection with a specific host cannot be made at the time of reception notification. apparatus.