JPH0884210A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow plural host devices to use one facsimile equipment simultaneously. CONSTITUTION: A request analysis section 300 receives job requests from plural host devices 100, 101 and decomposes them into contents respective functions. A function management section 600 grasps the state of each function and gives the information to a job management section 400. The job management section 400 allows a function section 500 to execute the job request decomposed as above based on the state of each function. Furthermore, the processing result is informed to each host via a notice section 700. The job management section 400 processes the plural job requests simultaneously in parallel based on the function state and the job request as above.

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 simultaneously processing a plurality of jobs requested by a plurality of hosts in parallel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Facsimile machines have functions such as reading originals, storing in a memory, transmitting, receiving, and printing out. Normally, in a facsimile machine, each of these functions is used one by one, and processing is executed for each job. However, in the processing for each job, the throughput of the facsimile apparatus, that is, the operating rate is low. Therefore, a facsimile apparatus has been proposed in which a plurality of jobs are simultaneously processed in parallel so as to improve the throughput (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 6-62).
1-28853).

On the other hand, the facsimile device can be used not only by itself but also by being incorporated in an information processing system. For example, it is possible to configure a system that executes jobs such as the transmission, reception, and printing in response to requests from a plurality of host computers (hereinafter referred to as “hosts”).

[0004]

By the way, when the facsimile apparatus is incorporated in the system as described above and used, there are job requests from a plurality of hosts, and the job requests concentrate on one function. It is expected that. However, conventionally, a system for processing job requests from a plurality of hosts in parallel has not been considered, and no measures have been considered for job requests concentrated on one function. Further, due to the diversification of processing, one job may include contents that require a plurality of functions such as printing and transmission, and it has been desired that the processing can be efficiently executed in such a case.

As described above, the conventional facsimile apparatus has no choice but to sequentially process job requests from a plurality of hosts, and when job requests conflict with each other, job requests from other hosts wait until one job is completed. Becomes Therefore, there is a problem that the throughput of the entire system cannot be improved.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus that enables simultaneous parallel processing of job requests issued from a plurality of hosts.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve the above problems and to achieve the object, the present invention provides a function management means for grasping and managing the status of each function provided in a facsimile apparatus, Request analysis means for receiving job requests from a plurality of hosts and disassembling the job requests by function,
When there are a plurality of job requests decomposed by the function, the available function is determined based on the information obtained from the function management means, and the job management means performs the parallel processing of the plurality of job requests at the same time. The first feature is that this is done.

A second feature of the present invention is that it further comprises notifying means for notifying the host of the processing result of the job managing means.

[0009]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned first characteristic, the job management means can execute a job request based on the state of each function such as the printing means or the communication control means, based on the information from the function management means. . Then, even when a job request is issued from a plurality of hosts, or when one job requests a plurality of functions, these can be accepted and decomposed by function. Therefore, the decomposed functions can be simultaneously processed in parallel according to the state of each function.

According to the present invention having the second feature, for example, in response to a job request from the host, whether or not it has been executed, or that the function cannot be executed because the function is being used, Information can be notified.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the facsimile apparatus 1 has a hardware configuration which will be described later with reference to FIG. Two hosts 3, 4 and an external storage device 5 are connected to the facsimile apparatus 1 via a bus 2. A server 6 is provided in the facsimile apparatus 1, and the server 6 is connected to a plurality of computers 8 and 9 via a LAN network 7. Further, the facsimile machine 1 is connected to other facsimile machines (hereinafter referred to as "remote facsimile") 10, 11 and 12 by a telephone line.

Next, the hardware configuration of the facsimile apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, each component is connected by a system bus 13. The function of each unit will be described according to the processing of the job. For example, a case will be described in which a document supplied from the host 3 is printed according to an instruction from the host 3 and at the same time, a document supplied from the host 4 is transmitted to a remote facsimile (FAX) 10 according to an instruction from the host 4. To do.

First, when the instruction of the host 3 is executed, the image information of the document supplied from the host 3 is the interface 1
It is stored in the storage unit 15 via The accumulated image information is transferred to the print unit 16, and the print unit 16 prints the received image information. The CPU 17 manages the image information storage state of the document in the storage unit 15, the printing state in the printing unit 16, and the like. Further, in order to perform the above printing operation, the CPU 17 issues an instruction to store image information in the storage unit 15, transfer the image information to the printing unit 16, and start printing in the printing unit 16. The storage unit 15
The transfer of the image information from the print unit 16 to the print unit 16 may be any time transfer or transfer in page units, and the selection is based on the setting of the CPU 17.

On the other hand, in the case of a transmission job for transferring an original supplied from the host 4 to the remote facsimile 10, the image information of the original is stored in the storage unit 15 via the interface 18, as in the case of the above printing. Then, the stored image information is sent from the communication control unit 19 to the telephone line and sent to the remote facsimile 10. In this transmission job, the states of the storage unit 15 and the communication control unit 19 are managed by the CPU 17, and the progress of processing of the transmission job is grasped. If the transmission original is data that does not match the reception function of the remote facsimile 10, for example, the size of recording paper, data processing is performed using the encoding / decoding unit 20, the enlarging / reducing unit 21, and the like. Can be sent to the line from.

In the facsimile apparatus 1, the above two jobs, that is, print and transmission, can be simultaneously processed in parallel. Further, during the job execution, the processing status of the job request is read from the CPU 17 according to an instruction from the input unit 22 to display the progress status of each job and the usage status of each function, that is, each printing unit 16 and communication control unit 19. It is also possible to display on 23. If necessary, the processing can be interrupted by an instruction by operating the input unit 21.

Although not used in the above processing, when the facsimile apparatus 1 is used alone, the reading unit 24
The original can be read with. Also, interface 2
5 is provided to connect the server 6. CPU
In addition to the above status monitoring, 17 controls the entire facsimile apparatus 1 according to the programs and system data stored in the ROM 26.

Next, the main functions of the facsimile apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. In the figure, a job request from the host 100 or 101 is sent to the request analysis unit 30 via the host interface 200 or 201.
Input to 0 respectively. The job request from the host 100 or the like is given by a combination of functions. For example, when the data supplied from the host 100 or the like is printed at the same time as the transmission, a job request including a combination of “transmission” and “print” is made. The request analysis unit 300 analyzes such a job request by function,
Output to the job management unit 400. The job management unit 400 gives an instruction to the functional unit 500 including a printing unit and a communication control unit in order to execute a job for each function. The function management unit 600 includes a print unit and a communication control unit of the function unit 500,
The state of each function is constantly managed, and the result is supplied to the job management unit 400. Therefore, the job management unit 400 can give an appropriate instruction to the function unit 500 based on the state of each function and the type of requested job. As described above, since the job processing result is grasped by the job management unit 400, the notification unit 700 can notify the host 100, 101 of this processing result via the host interfaces 200, 201. The processing result includes job request suspension, job request cancellation, and the like, and the processing in these job management units 400 is executed based on a scheduled program and system data. Note that FIG. 1 shows the case where there are two hosts, but the same applies when receiving a job request from two or more hosts.

Next, the processing in the request analysis unit will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, in step S1, the job request supplied from the host 100 or 101 is analyzed, and if the request is composed of a plurality of functions, the job request is decomposed for each function. In step S2,
It is determined whether the decomposed job request includes a print request. If the print request is included,
In step S3, the job management unit 400 stores the print request. If the job request is not a print request, the process proceeds to step S4, and it is determined whether the disassembled job request includes a transmission request.
If the transmission request is included, the process proceeds to step S5, and the job management unit 400 stores that the transmission request is made. Thereafter, similarly, in steps S6 and S7, it is determined whether or not the job request includes a reception request and a read request.
In step S8, the job management unit 400 stores the respective requests. The job request is repeatedly analyzed, and each time a request is detected, it is stored to indicate that there is a request. Other job requests (not shown) are similarly determined and instructions for processing are given, but the illustration is omitted. These job requests can be executed in the order received,
It is stored as a queue.

Next, the processing of a job request from the host will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 and 6 by taking a print request as an example. In FIG. 5, step S
At 10, it is determined whether or not there is a “print request” based on the analysis result of the request analysis unit 300. If there is a "print request", the process proceeds to step S11, and it is determined whether or not resources can be secured based on the presence or absence of a memory capacity for receiving print data and whether or not the operator is operating. If the resource cannot be secured, the process proceeds to step S25 and step S26, and the notification unit 7
The result information is registered in the job management unit 400 via 00,
The end information is notified to the host. On the other hand, if it is determined that the resources can be secured, the process proceeds to step S12 to check whether the print unit 16 is empty or not, and then to the next process.
It is determined whether to proceed with the process regardless of whether the print unit 16 is available. If the processing is to proceed regardless of whether the printing unit 16 is empty, the process proceeds to step S27, and the transfer function for receiving print data from the host is activated. The processing by this transfer function will be described later with reference to FIG.

When the printing section 16 is secured and the subsequent processing is performed, the process proceeds to step S13, and the printing section 16 is executed.
It is determined whether or not is in use. This is a “busy flag” indicating whether or not the print is being used by the function management unit 600.
Can be judged by If it is determined that the print unit 16 is empty, the process proceeds to step S28, and the transfer function for receiving print data from the host is activated. When the transfer function is activated, the process proceeds to step S20 (FIG. 6). If the printing unit 16 is in use, step S
Proceeding to 14, it is determined whether or not the waiting time is set. This judgment can be performed by setting predetermined system data, for example. When setting the waiting time, the process proceeds to step S15, and the scheduled waiting time is set in the timer means to start counting. Further, when the waiting time is not set, that is, when waiting for the printing unit 16 to become free, the process proceeds to step S16, where the waiting time is set to infinity or a predetermined maximum value and the time counting is started. The infinite time is set here so that the operation can be restored at any time when the processing is interrupted due to a jam of the printing unit 16 or the like and the processing becomes possible.

In step S17, it is determined whether or not the set waiting time has elapsed. If the waiting time has not elapsed, the process proceeds to step S18 and it is determined whether or not the printing unit 16 has become available. If the printing unit 16 is not usable, the process proceeds from step S18 to step S19 to determine whether or not to interrupt. This determination is made based on the presence / absence of an interruption instruction from the input unit 22, for example. If not interrupted, the process proceeds to step S17. Print section 16
If it becomes available, the process proceeds to step S20 (FIG. 6) to secure the printing unit 16. That is, the "in-use flag" is set to secure the printing unit 16.

In FIG. 6, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the print data reception is activated. If step S27 or S28 has been executed, this judgment is affirmative. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S22 and the data transfer function from the host is activated. In step S23, the print unit 16 is activated to print the data from the host. The printing operation will be described further below with reference to FIG.

In step S24, it is determined whether the data transfer and print operations have been completed. This decision is
This is performed based on the notification to the job management unit 400 performed at the end of the processing described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. In step S25, the result information is registered in the job management unit 400,
In step S26, the end information is notified to the host via the notification unit 700. At the same time as the notification of the end information, one of the stored print requests is deleted.

Next, the print data reception from the host will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, in step S30, reception of print data is started, and in step S31, the received data is accumulated in the storage unit 15, for example. In step S32, it is determined whether or not the receipt of the planned amount of print data such as page units has been completed. If this determination is affirmative, the job management unit 400 is notified in step S33 that the scheduled amount of data has been transferred. Further, step S3
In step 4, it is determined whether or not the reception of all print data has been completed. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S35 to notify the job management unit 400 of the completion of reception of all print data.

Next, the printing of the print data will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, in step S40, it is determined whether or not the operation of the printing unit 16 is possible. This is for judging the state such as "no paper". In step S41, the presence or absence of print data is determined. If at least the scheduled unit (for example, one page) of the print data has been received from the host, this determination is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S42 to execute the print operation. In step S43,
It is determined whether or not the printing of the planned unit of data has been completed. If it is determined that the printing of the planned unit of data has been completed, the job management unit 400 is notified of the completion of printing of the planned amount of data in step S44. Further, in step S45, it is determined whether or not printing of all print data is completed. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S46 and the job management unit 400 is informed of the end of printing of all print data. Notice. Note that step S4
If it is determined in 1 that there is no print data, the process proceeds to step S47, and it is determined whether the scheduled time has timed out. Wait for print data in step S41 until time out, and if time out, step S4
In step 6, the job management unit 400 is notified that printing could not be performed because print data did not come. If print data is received from the host before the time-out, the process proceeds to step S42.

The case where the print data from the host is printed by the print unit 16 has been described above with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8. However, similar to the print processing, the transmission and reception of each job are performed. Whether or not there is a request is judged from the contents registered in the memory, and simultaneous processing can be performed by time sharing or by forming a functional module.

Further, the determination as to whether or not there is a request for a function other than the "print request" is also made in parallel. Therefore, for example, if it is determined that there is a "transmission request",
The process for the “transmission request” is executed regardless of the presence or absence of the “print request”. By such processing, it is possible to efficiently meet the following requests from the host.

For example, it is assumed that the host 3 issues a document print request, and then the host 4 issues a document print request and a document transmission request. In this case, the facsimile apparatus 1 activates the print unit 16 in response to the print request from the host 3. Therefore, the print request from the host 4 cannot be executed immediately. However, if the communication control unit 19 is in an empty state, it is possible to deal with the transmission request from the host 4, so that the transmission request is first executed. Then, when the processing for the print request from the host 3 is completed, the print unit 16
Becomes free, the print request from the host 4 becomes executable, and the process for the request is executed.

In this case, if the transmission operation is completed earlier than the printing operation, it is preferable that the result information is stored in the facsimile apparatus 1 as the information regarding the job of the host 4. Then, when the print operation is finished, the result information of the transmission may be notified to the host 4 together with the result information. Such processing result information in the facsimile apparatus 1 is automatically notified to the host in response to a request from the host requesting the job or when the operation of each function ends.

It should be noted that the facsimile device is the printing unit 16
The present invention can be applied to the case where each of the functions such as the above is plural. That is, the function management unit 600 can grasp the status of each function, the job management unit 400 can activate each function based on the status, and notify the host of the processing result.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the invention, the job management means uses the information from the function management means to determine the status of each function such as the printing means or the communication control means. Job requests can be executed based on
Then, even when job requests are issued from a plurality of hosts, these can be accepted and decomposed by function, and simultaneous parallel processing can be performed.

Therefore, for example, by connecting the facsimile apparatus of claim 1 to a plurality of hosts, it is possible to construct an information processing system with simplified equipment, and to simultaneously execute job requests given from a plurality of hosts. Can be processed to improve processing efficiency.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the processing result of the job management means can be notified to the host. Therefore, the host receiving this notification can judge, for example, the necessity of another job request. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of essential parts of a facsimile apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of job request analysis.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a print request.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart (No. 2) showing a print request processing procedure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of print data transfer processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a printing operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

100, 101 ... Host, 300 ... Request analysis unit, 4
00 ... Job management unit, 600 ... Function management unit, 700 ...
Notification section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A function management unit that grasps and manages each state for each function, a request analysis unit that accepts job requests from a plurality of hosts and decomposes the job requests by function, and a function analysis unit that decomposes by function. When there are a plurality of job requests, the available function is determined based on the information obtained from the function management means, and the job management means performs the parallel processing of the plurality of job requests at the same time. Facsimile machine. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising notifying means for notifying a host of a processing result of the job managing means.