JPH08298564A - Fax machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a facsimile device capable of reliably transmitting an image received from a host computer to a communication line. A facsimile device comprising means for receiving image data from a host computer, wherein the host computer has no image memory for storing the image data and no capacity for storing the image data in the image memory. A means for stopping the transmission of the image data, a communication unit for transmitting the image data to another facsimile device, and a part of the image data when the communication unit transmits a part of the image data. A means for releasing the image memory in which data is stored, and a means for restarting the transmission of the image data to the host computer when the image memory has a free space due to the release of the image memory Equipped with.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine which can be connected to a host computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus that receives image data from a host computer via an interface (I / F) has received image data to be transmitted all at once. Further, while receiving the image data from the host computer, the received image could not be transmitted to the communication line.

[0003]

However, when the image memory runs out while the image data is being received, the host computer cannot be notified of that during the reception of the image data. Therefore, after receiving all the data, the host computer was informed that there was a problem in the data processing. Moreover, large image data that cannot be stored in the image memory cannot be received from the host computer, and therefore cannot be transmitted to the communication line.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus which can solve such a problem.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, the invention as set forth in claim 1 is a facsimile apparatus having means for receiving image data from a host computer, wherein An image memory to be stored, a means for stopping the transmission of the image data to the host computer when the image memory has no capacity to store the image data, and the image data is transmitted to another facsimile apparatus. A communication unit, a unit for releasing the image memory in which a part of the image data is stored when a part of the image data is transmitted by the communication unit, and the image by releasing the image memory. And a means for restarting the transmission of the image data to the host computer when the memory becomes available. To.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus having means for receiving image data from a host computer, the image memory storing the image data, and the image data stored in the image memory. And a communication unit for transmitting the image data to another facsimile apparatus when the capacity to be stored is equal to or smaller than a predetermined capacity.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus including means for receiving image data from a host computer, the compression means for compressing the image data, and an image memory for storing the compressed image data. When,
The capacity for storing the image data in the image memory is
It is characterized in that it is provided with means for changing the compression method by the compression means and a communication unit for transmitting the image data to another facsimile apparatus when the capacity becomes less than a predetermined capacity.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus having means for receiving image data from a host computer, wherein (1) an image memory for storing the image data, and (2) the image memory. If there is no capacity to store the image data, (a) cause the host computer to stop transmitting the image data, (b) transmit the image data to another facsimile device, and (c).
When a part of the image data is transmitted, a means for releasing the image memory in which the part of the image data is stored, and (3) free space in the image memory due to the release of the image memory. And a means for restarting the transmission of the image data to the host computer when possible.

[0009]

According to the invention described in claim 1, when the image memory has no capacity for storing the image data, the host computer is caused to stop the transmission of the image data. Further, when the image data is transmitted to another facsimile apparatus and a part of the image data is transmitted by the communication unit, the image memory in which the partial image data is stored is released. Further, when the image memory is released and the image memory has a free space, the host computer restarts the transmission of the image data. Since the host computer is made to wait for data transmission until the image memory can be acquired, it is possible to avoid a reception error due to the free space of the image memory. According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the capacity for storing the image data in the image memory becomes less than or equal to a predetermined capacity,
The image data in the image memory is compressed and the image data is transmitted to another facsimile device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the image data is received from the host computer, the image data is compressed, and the compressed image data is stored. When the capacity for storing the image data in the image memory becomes less than or equal to a predetermined capacity, the compression method by the compression means is changed. According to the present invention, when the used amount of the image memory is small and the free space of the memory is small, it is possible to store the received data in the image memory acquired in advance by selecting the encoding method having a high compression rate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when the image memory does not have a capacity for storing the image data, the host computer is caused to stop transmitting the image data, and the image data is transmitted to another facsimile apparatus. When a part of the image data is transmitted, the image memory in which the part of the image data is stored is released. In addition, when the image memory is released and the image memory has a free space, the host computer restarts the transmission of the image data. Since the host computer is made to wait for data transmission until the image memory can be acquired, it is possible to avoid a reception error due to the free space of the image memory.

Further, by temporarily storing the data from the host computer in the buffer dedicated to the interface, the data can be surely received even when the free space of the image memory runs out.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention.

The CPU 101 controls the facsimile machine via the system bus 11. ROM102 is C
The control program and operating system (OS) of PU101 are stored. Each control program stored in the ROM 102 is scheduled and task switched by the OS. RAM103 is
It is composed of SRAM or the like and stores program control variables and the like. Setting values registered by the operator, device management data,
And various work buffers are also stored in the RAM 103.

The image memory 104 is composed of a DRAM or the like and stores image data. The operation unit 105 has various keys,
It has an LED and an LCD, and receives input from the operator and also displays the operating status of the facsimile apparatus.

The reading unit 107 has a CS image sensor and a document feeding mechanism. The reading unit 107 optically reads a document using a CS image sensor and converts it into electrical image data. The image processing unit 108 performs various kinds of image processing such as binarization processing and halftone processing, and outputs high definition image data. Read / write encoding / decoding unit ll2
Encodes the image data converted by the image processing unit 108 by a predetermined method and stores it in the image memory 104.

The recording unit 114 has a page printer and a recording image processing unit. In the recording unit 114, the image data to be recorded is decoded by the reading and recording code decoding unit 112, and various image processing such as smoothing processing and recording density correction processing is performed by the recording image processing unit to convert it into high-definition image data. And output to the page printer.

The communication unit 1009 has a MODEM (modulation / demodulation device) and modulates / demodulates a transmission / reception signal. NCU (network control unit) 11 is an analog communication line (PSTN) 11
6, the line control such as transmission of a selection signal (dial pulse or tone dialer), detection of a calling signal, and automatic incoming call control is performed. The image data stored in the image memory 104 is decoded by the communication coding / decoding unit 111, and the resolution conversion unit 106 performs millimeter-inch resolution conversion and enlargement / reduction processing. Communication code decoding unit l11
Decodes the image whose resolution has been converted according to the transmission destination and transmits it.

The I / Fll 5 is a bidirectional parallel interface such as Centronics, and interfaces with the host computer 11 8. The host computer ll8 executes I / F for predetermined commands and data.
The image is transmitted and the print data is registered by transmitting the image data to the facsimile apparatus via ll5. Application software and driver software for controlling the facsimile are installed in the host computer 118.

Referring to FIG. 2, the host computer 118
The communication sequence with is explained. Host computer 1
18 transmits / receives commands, image data, responses, etc. to / from the facsimile apparatus according to a predetermined protocol for each type of operation. The command is
It has a command code for identifying each command and necessary parameters (recording paper size, destination telephone number, image data type). The facsimile machine transmits or receives an image in response to a transmission command or a reception command for image data received from the host computer 118.

The facsimile machine analyzes the received command, determines whether or not the process according to the command can be executed, and sends a response to the command to the host computer 118. The response has a result for the received command and an ID for identifying the command. After sending the response, the facsimile machine communicates and records according to the received command.

The facsimile apparatus can queue various remotely operated commands. When a command is received from the host computer ll8, the command is analyzed and control is reserved for various control queues such as a communication queue and a recording queue depending on the type of command. As a result, the next command can be accepted before or during the execution of the process indicated by the command. Even if the execution order of each control queue is changed, the response corresponding to the command can be identified by using the ID of the execution result of each command.

The facsimile machine sequentially executes the commands reserved in the control queue. With this queuing control, it is possible to receive a plurality of commands, simultaneously execute respective controls such as communication control and recording control, and operate efficiently.

A communication sequence between the host computer 118 and the facsimile machine when image data is received from the host computer and transmitted to the communication line (host transmission) will be described with reference to FIG. The host transmission means that the facsimile apparatus receives the image data transmitted from the host computer 118 and transmits the image data to another apparatus via the communication line 116.

First, the host transmission command 301 is received from the host computer 118. The host transmission command has the telephone number of the partner communication terminal and the communication mode as parameters. The host computer 118 normally owns the right to use the I / F 115. Therefore, the host computer 118 gives the use right of the I / F to the facsimile machine (S304), and then the facsimile machine sends a response to the host computer 118. After sending the response, the right to use the I / F is returned to the host computer (S306).

Next, the document type designating the attributes of the transmitted image is received from the host computer 118 (S3).
07). After the I / F use permission (S308), a response is sent (S309). Next, the page information of the image data is received (S311). The page information has a main scanning resolution, a sub scanning resolution, an encoding method, and an image size as parameters. After the use of I / F is permitted (s31
4), the response is sent (S315), and the I / F usage right is returned (S316).

The host computer sends a device status acquisition command to acquire the status of the facsimile machine (S317). This command is an image transfer command and notifies the amount of image data to be transmitted. When the facsimile device cannot acquire the memory, after the I / F use permission control is completed (S318), the BU is returned as a response.
SY is transmitted (S319). If it can be received, OK is sent as a response (S319). The host computer repeatedly sends the device information acquisition command until the response becomes OK. After the I / F usage right is released after the response is sent, the I / F usage right is returned to the computer 118.

Next, the image transfer command is received (S3).
21). The image transfer command has, as parameters, the data size of transfer data, a flag indicating the end of data transfer, and image data. The data size is the size of the image sent by the host computer at one time. The final flag stores 1 if the last block of the image on one page is indicated, and 0 otherwise. The image data is data of the resolution designated by the page information.

When the image transfer command is received, the image data in the image transfer command is decoded. Also, after obtaining permission to use the I / F (S325), a response is sent (S3).
26), the right to use the I / F is returned (S327). The host computer repeatedly transmits the device state acquisition command and the image transfer command until the transmission of all the image data of one page is completed. When transmitting the last image of one page, the final flag of the image transfer command is set to 1. Further, the host computer sends the page information (S
By repeating the transmission of 311) and the image data of page l, images of a plurality of pages can be transmitted.

The operation of the facsimile apparatus at the time of host transmission will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5. First, the command from the host computer is monitored (S40l). When the host transmission command is received, various parameters such as the telephone number added to the command are read to determine whether the host transmission is possible (S
402). Image management record, address management record,
Alternatively, if the host cannot be transmitted because the image memory block cannot be acquired, a response indicating this is transmitted to the host computer 118 (S44).
0), the process ends.

If host transmission is possible in S402, various management records such as image management records and address management records are acquired (S403), and necessary settings are made (S4).
04), and sends a response (S406). Next, the document type (S407) and page information (S40
8), and various modes such as the coding format and the image size designated by the I / F coding / decoding unit 113 are received.
(S409). Then, the I / F code decoding unit is activated (S410).

When the device information acquisition command is received (S4
1l), the usage status of the I / F dedicated buffer of the RAM 103, the remaining amount of the image memory, and the I / F code decoding unit 11
The state of 3 is checked to determine whether image data can be received from the host computer (S412). When data cannot be received because the remaining amount of the image memory is insufficient, a BUSY signal is sent (S413). Image memory 1
If 04 is empty, the memory block is acquired by the encoding / decoding unit (S4l4), and the response OK is transmitted (S4).
15).

Next, the image transfer command received from the host computer 118 is monitored (S416). When the image transfer command is received, the image data is stored in the I / F buffer. By temporarily storing the data from the host computer in the buffer dedicated to the interface, the data can be surely received even when the image memory runs out of free space.

The encoding / decoding unit encodes the image data stored in the buffer and stores it in the acquired image block of the image memory 104 (S417). This data is once decoded by the communication coding / decoding unit 111 and is coded again according to the coding method of the transmission destination. The re-encoded image data is sent to the communication line 110 by the communication unit 109, and the image memory 104 is released.

If the encoded data is larger than the acquired memory block and the memory block cannot be acquired any more (S418), the encoding / decoding process is interrupted and the image data in the I / F buffer is held. As it is (S420), OK is sent as a response (S4)
l9). When the image memory can be acquired, the encoding / decoding unit
Encode the image data held in the buffer. S
Steps 408 to S420 are repeated until the final flag of the image transfer command is turned on (S421). This is 1
Image data for the page is received. When the final data flag is turned ON, the response is sent after waiting for the end of the image data decoding processing, and the host transmission is ended.

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1, the image data is held in the I / F dedicated buffer when the free space of the image memory is exhausted, but the encoding method is set so that the usage amount of the image memory is minimized. You can change to. In addition, the value of the K parameter of the MR encoding method may be increased when the free space of the image memory runs out. This allows more image data to be stored in the image memory.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is checked whether or not there is free space in the image memory, and if there is no free space, the host computer is made to wait for transmission of image data. As a result, it is possible to avoid an error caused by running out of free space in the image memory.

Further, when the free space of the image memory is small, it is possible to store the received data in the image memory acquired in advance by selecting the encoding method having a high compression rate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of a communication sequence with a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing details of a communication sequence with a host computer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a host transmission operation of the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a host transmission operation of the facsimile apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 l0l CPU l02 ROM l03 Work memory l04 Image memory 105 Operation part l06 Resolution conversion part l07, l08 Reading part l09, 1l0 Communication part lll-ll3 Encoding / decoding part ll4 LBP ll5 Interface

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus comprising means for receiving image data from a host computer, wherein the image memory for storing the image data and the capacity for storing the image data in the image memory have no capacity. A means for stopping the transmission of the image data to the host computer, a communication unit for transmitting the image data to another facsimile device, and a part of the image data when the communication unit transmits a part of the image data. Means for releasing the image memory storing the image data, and restarting the transmission of the image data to the host computer when the image memory has a free space due to the release of the image memory. And a means for causing the facsimile apparatus. 2. A facsimile apparatus comprising means for receiving image data from a host computer, wherein an image memory for storing the image data and a capacity for storing the image data in the image memory are
A facsimile apparatus comprising: a unit for compressing image data in the image memory when the capacity is less than a predetermined capacity; and a communication unit for transmitting the image data to another facsimile apparatus. 3. A facsimile apparatus comprising means for receiving image data from a host computer, the compression means compressing the image data, an image memory for storing the compressed image data, and an image memory in the image memory. The capacity to store the image data is
A facsimile machine comprising: a means for changing the compression method by the compression means when the capacity is less than a predetermined capacity; and a communication section for transmitting the image data to another facsimile machine. 4. A facsimile apparatus comprising means for receiving image data from a host computer, comprising: (1) an image memory for storing the image data, and (2) a capacity for storing the image data in the image memory. If there is not, (a) the host computer is caused to stop the transmission of the image data, (b) the image data is transmitted to another facsimile apparatus, and (c) a part of the image data is transmitted. In this case, means for releasing the image memory in which the part of the image data is stored, and (3) in the host computer when the image memory has a free space due to the release of the image memory. And a means for restarting the transmission of the image data.