JPH0671292B2 - Data communication device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a data communication apparatus that can be connected to a plurality of digital transmission lines having different charging systems and selectively use these digital transmission lines.

[Prior Art] In recent years, digital public line networks (digital line exchange networks, packet exchange networks (digital storage exchange networks), etc.) have been constructed and are expanding, and along with this, existing analog public line networks and digital public line networks are being replaced. Both have proposed a data communication device that can be used as a transmission path.

In such a data communication device, since the transmission path that can be used by the destination can be appropriately selected, it is possible to select either the terminal device connected only to the analog public line network or the terminal device connected only to the digital public line network. It can be connected, and more terminal devices can be used as terminal stations.

By the way, when the destination can be selectively connected to a plurality of transmission lines, it is necessary to select any one transmission line. In such a case, conventionally, this selection is made to be a specific transmission line,
The operator set it appropriately.

However, in such a case, an optimal transmission path may not always be set, and efficient data transmission may not be possible.

[Purpose] The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described inconvenience of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data communication device capable of selecting an optimum digital transmission path.

[Configuration] To achieve this object, the present invention records, for each destination, billing information for calculating the billing amount when each digital transmission path is used, and bills corresponding to the selected destination. Based on the information, the billing amount corresponding to the transmission data amount is calculated for each digital transmission line, and the digital transmission line having the lowest billing amount is selected by returning to the calculation result.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This facsimile machine is connected to an analog line network AX, a digital exchange network DX and a packet exchange network DP as a transmission path, and selectively uses one of them.

In the figure, the image information read by the image reading unit 1 is compressed into a predetermined code by the encoding unit 2, and the compressed image information is once stored in the image recording unit 3 or
Alternatively, it is directly output to the transmission control units 4, 5 and 6.

In addition, the encoding unit 2 outputs the code bit number of the line to the information amount integrating unit 7 and the supplementary bit number integrating unit 8 every time the encoding process of the image information for one line is completed.

The information amount integrating unit 7 integrates the number of bits of transmission information in one transmission, and the supplementary bit number integrating unit 8
The fill bit (replenishment bit) for satisfying the processing time of one line set from the system control unit 9 is calculated,
The number of fill bits in one transmission is integrated. Further, the supplementary bit number integrating section 8
The transmission rate required for processing is also set by the system control unit 9.

The transmission control unit 4 executes a predetermined transmission control procedure process to be executed with the partner terminal when the analog line network AX is used, and the image information output from the encoding unit 2 or the image recording unit 3 is output. The read image information is output to the transmission path side, and the image information output from the transmission control unit 4 is the modem 10
Is modulated in a predetermined manner by the system and is sent to the transmission line via the network control device 11 for connecting the analog line network AX with the facsimile device having the automatic call originating / receiving function.

The transmission control unit 5 executes a predetermined transmission control procedure process to be executed with the partner terminal when the digital line network DX is used, and outputs the image information output from the encoding unit 2 or the image storage unit 3 from the image storage unit 3. The read image information is output to the transmission line side, and the image information output from the transmission control unit 5 is output by the network control device 12 for connecting the digital line network DX to this facsimile device, which has an automatic call originating / receiving function. It is sent out to the transmission line via.

The transmission control unit 6 executes a predetermined transmission control procedure process to be executed with the partner terminal when the packet switching network DP is used, and outputs the image information output from the encoding unit 2 or the image storage unit 3 from the image storage unit 3. The read image information is output to the transmission line side, and the image information output from the transmission control unit 6 is sent to the transmission line via the network control device 13 for connecting the packet switching network DP to this facsimile device. To be done.

The system control unit 9 is for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus, and stores, for each destination, billing information as a basis for billing and destination information such as a subscriber number when each transmission line is used. A destination information recording unit 14 and an operation display unit 15 including an operation key necessary for operating the facsimile apparatus and a display device for displaying various kinds of information are provided.

Further, the received information is temporarily stored in the image recording unit 3, then decoded by the decoding unit 16 into the original image signal, and recorded and output as visible information by the image recording unit 17.

In addition, the system control unit 9 controls the operation conditions of the image reading unit 1,
The coding method of the lower code portion 2, the decoding (coding) method of the decoding unit 16, the operating conditions of the image recording unit 17, and the like are set appropriately.

The following table shows an example of the destination information.

In this way, for the analog line network AX, the charge amount is determined by the time for imposing a frequency corresponding to the distance to the destination and the charge per frequency, and for the digital circuit network DX, the charge amount is determined according to the distance to the destination. The transmission original is charged for each sheet, and the packet and the switching network DP are charged for each packet.

Here, in the above table, bps represents the unit of transmission rate, ms / 1
Represents the time required to process one line, ms
/ f represents the time required to process one frame, and yen / p represents the amount charged for one packet. The column in which X is set indicates that the line cannot be used.

Further, in the destination information storage unit 14, in addition to this, the destination corresponding to the destination number, the subscriber number corresponding to the analog line network AX,
It also has a subscriber number information table in which subscriber numbers corresponding to the digital circuit network DX and subscriber numbers corresponding to the packet switching network DP are recorded. Also in the subscriber number information table, data (x) indicating that the line cannot be used is inserted in the column of the line that cannot be used.

It should be noted that the destination information and the like are stored for all the terminal devices designated as the destinations of the facsimile device, and the ones shown above are a part thereof. Further, the items shown in this table are examples of those that can be set as the functions of this facsimile apparatus, and the functions are not limited to these.

With the above configuration, when the operator sets the transmission original on the image reading unit 1, designates the destination from the operation display unit 15 and turns on the start key, the system control unit 9 executes the processing shown in FIG. Select one of the transmission paths.

First, the destination information of the selected destination is recorded in the destination information recording section.
14, the coding method that can be used at the destination is set according to the preset priority order, and the coding method is designated in the coding unit 2 (processing 101), and the processing time and transmission speed for one line are set to the number of supplementary bits. A process 103) of setting the number in the integrating unit 8 (process 102), clearing the counter of the internally set number of pages to 0, and activating the image reading unit 1 to start reading an image.

Next, the page number counter is incremented and the value is incremented by 1 (process 104), and the read and encoded image information is stored in the image recording unit 3 (process 105). Also,
In parallel with this, the number of bits of image information for one page is accumulated in the information amount accumulator 7 and the amount of fill bits is accumulated in the supplement bit number accumulator 8.

Then, a judgment 106 is made to monitor whether or not the reading of all the set transmission originals is completed, and the result of this judgment 106 is NO.
When it becomes, the process returns to the process 104 and the process is sequentially executed for each page.

When the result of the judgment 106 is YES, the system control unit 9 judges whether or not the analog line network AX can be used, and
107), when the result of this judgment 107 is YES, the data amount of the control data to be added and added to the accumulated image information is calculated, this is added to the integrated value of the information amount integrating unit 7, and the supplementation is further performed. The count value of the bit number integration unit 8 is added (process 108,
109), the time required for message transmission is calculated by dividing the data amount thus calculated during message transmission by the transmission speed (process 110).

Then, other than the message transmission, the time during which the line is used, that is, the time to be used for the transmission control procedure before and after the message transmission is calculated (process 111), and then the processes 110 and 111 are performed. The sum of the times calculated in (1) is multiplied by the frequency of the destination information, and the line usage fee in frequency units is also multiplied to calculate the communication cost when the analog line network AX is used (process 112).

If the result of determination 107 is NO, the processes 108 to 112 are not executed.

When the process 112 is completed, the system control unit 9 determines whether or not the digital line network DP can be used (decision 113). When the result of the determination 113 is YES, the page number counter is charged with the usage fee per page. It is multiplied to calculate the communication cost when using the digital circuit network DX (process 114).

When the result of determination 113 is NO, process 114 is not executed.

Next, the system control unit 9 determines whether the packet switching network DP can be used (decision 115), and the result of this determination 115
If YES, the data amount of the control data to be added and transmitted to the accumulated image information is calculated, and the data amount is calculated.
Is added to the integrated value of (steps 116 and 117), and the data amount at the time of message transmission thus calculated is divided by the number of bits per packet to calculate the number of packets for message transmission (step 118). The number of packets is multiplied by the charge per packet to calculate the communication cost when using the packet switching network DP (process 119).

When the result of determination 115 is NO, the processes 116 to 119 are not executed.

In this way, when the communication cost of each transmission line is calculated, the system control unit 9 selects the one having the smallest calculated communication cost and sets it as the transmission line to be used (process 120).

Then, the network control device 11, 12, 13 corresponding to the selected transmission path
The destination subscriber number and call the destination (process
121), the transmission control units 4, 5 and 6 corresponding to the transmission path are notified to start transmitting image information, and the transmission control procedures by the respective transmission control units 4, 5 and 6 are started. The image information is transmitted to the destination.

In this way, the transmission path with the lowest communication cost is selected every time image information is transmitted, so that highly economical data transmission can be performed.

By the way, although the facsimile apparatus in the above-described embodiment has the image recording section 3 built therein, the present invention can be applied to a facsimile apparatus having an image recording means connected to the outside.

Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to a facsimile machine which serves as a center station for a plurality of fax machines. For example, a facsimile center apparatus or the like having a plurality of terminal devices in the same premises.

It should be noted that in the above-described embodiment, the facsimile machine which can be selectively connected to the analog telephone network, the digital telephone network, and the packet switching network to the public telephone network has been described, but a fax machine having a system configuration other than this,
Alternatively, the present invention can be applied to a data communication device other than the facsimile device.

[Effect] As described above, according to the present invention, the billing information for calculating the billing amount when each digital transmission path is used is stored for each destination, and the billing corresponding to the selected destination is made. The billing amount corresponding to the amount of data to be transmitted is calculated for each digital transmission line based on the information, and the digital transmission line with the lowest billing amount is selected based on the calculation result. It is possible to obtain the effect of being able to appropriately select the route.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are flowcharts showing processing examples. 2 ... Encoding unit, 3 ... Image storage unit, 4, 5, 6 ... Transmission control unit, 7 ... Information amount integrating unit, 8 ... Replenishment bit number integrating unit, 9 ... System control unit, 14 ...... Address information storage section, 15
...... Operation display section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a data communication device capable of connecting to a plurality of line networks that are physically different and have different billing systems, a destination designating unit that designates a transmission destination and a billing amount when each line network is used. The storage means that stores the billing information to be referred to when calculating is used, the determination means that determines the available line network of the other party specified by the other party specifying means, and the line network that is determined to be available The charging amount for each case is calculated by referring to the charging information stored in the storage means based on the transmission data amount, and the line network in which the charging amount calculated by the charging calculation means is the lowest. A data communication device characterized by comprising: a selecting means for selecting; and a transmission control means for using a line network selected by the selecting means and executing a transmission procedure corresponding to the line network.