JPH09284419A - Connection control method for communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To connect plural communication equipments connected with a private line only by designating a terminal number. SOLUTION: When calling is requested (positive judgement at a step 100), a connected channel is detected (a step 102), whether the channel is busy or not is confirmed, and when there is a dead channel (negative judgement at a step 104), transmission information is sent (a step 106) to confirm whether there is another connected channel (a step 108), When sending transmission information to the connected channel like this, an opposite equipment is connected by designating only the number of the terminal of the opposite equipment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to communication devices connected to each other by a dedicated line. More specifically, the present invention relates to a communication device connection control method for connecting a plurality of local communication networks by a dedicated line and performing communication by communication devices provided in different local communication networks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Communication devices such as facsimile devices for transmitting and receiving image information are geographically different depending on a dedicated line.
It may be used by fixedly connecting at points. In this way, when the communication device is fixedly connected by the dedicated line, the calling procedure for selecting the communication path and the partner device is not required, and the cost is low in design, maintenance and management, but it is expensive. There is a demerit that a dedicated line will be occupied by one system.

To this end, as shown in FIG. 9A, for example, a plurality of communication devices such as a facsimile device (for example, the communication device 70A and the communication device 70) are connected by a dedicated line 72.
When connecting B), DSU (Data Service Unit)
) 74 and TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) 7
6 is used. As a result, the communication device 70A and the communication device 70B can be directly connected.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9B, TD
PBX (Private Branch) for route selection to M76
Exchang; a private branch exchange) 78 provides a plurality of communication devices (70A, 70C ... 70B, 70).
D ...) two internal communication networks 80A, 80B
Can be connected by a dedicated line 72 to build a communication network. Such a communication network is used when two local communication networks 80A and 80B which are geographically different are connected by a dedicated line 72.

By the way, JT-14 is used as an interface for connecting a communication device such as a facsimile to a dedicated line.
Those conforming to 30-a have been widely used. This interface physically connects a communication device to a dedicated line, but it is possible to connect a plurality of communication devices to the transmission medium of the communication line. However, there is no proposal of a connection method that makes use of the characteristics of such an interface and is capable of selecting a communication device (a partner device) of a partner who communicates at low cost.

For this reason, when the local communication networks 80A and 80B are connected by the dedicated line 72, the communication devices 70A and 70B are connected.
, And the PBX 78 are general-purpose interfaces used in the general public network, and are connected to the general public network when viewed from the individual communication devices 70A, 70B. Communication control that is almost equivalent to that required
It costs a lot of money to manage.

On the other hand, in order to connect a plurality of local communication networks using a dedicated line, it is conceivable to connect the respective local communication networks to each other by dedicated lines. However, when the connection is made in this way, in addition to the terminal number of the partner device with which communication is to be performed, it is possible to know in advance which dedicated line this partner device is connected to (or which local communication network is provided). It is necessary to make a call by designating a communication line (or a local communication network) to which the partner device is connected together with the terminal number of the partner device and making a call to connect to the partner device.

For this purpose, it is necessary to know in advance the terminal number of the partner machine and which dedicated line to use. Also, when registering the terminal number of the partner device as the abbreviated number, the line to which the partner device is connected must also be registered, and communication or registration work is extremely complicated. Further, if the wrong communication line is registered or designated, there is a problem that communication cannot be performed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned facts, and when communicating with a plurality of terminal devices connected by a plurality of dedicated lines, a single dedicated line is used for connection. An object of the present invention is to propose a connection control method for a communication device that can establish a communication by designating a partner device only by a terminal number as in the case of the above.

[0010]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A plurality of communication lines connected to a communication device or a communication network provided with the communication device and a communication device connected to each communication line or a communication network including the communication device are provided, and the communication line is provided via the communication line. In a communication network for communicating between communication devices connected by means of a communication device, there is provided a method of controlling connection of a communication device for a communication device for making a call to connect with a partner device for communication, wherein the communication device for making a call is It discriminates free lines among the connected communication lines, sends out transmission information for connecting to the partner device on all of the discriminated free lines, and responds to the partner information by the response to the transmission information. It is characterized in that it is connected.

According to the present invention, the communication device on the calling side is
It is determined whether or not each of the connected dedicated lines is in an idle state, and the transmission information for connection with the partner device is sent to all of the idle communication lines.

Thus, if there is a response from the partner device without designating the communication line to which the partner device is connected,
It is possible to communicate with the partner device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, prior to the transmission of the transmission information, a non-vacant line of the communication lines is stored, and a response from the partner machine is transmitted to the transmission information transmitted to the vacant line. When there is not, it waits for sending the transmission information to the non-vacant line.

According to the present invention, a line in use which is not idle is stored, and transmission information is sent out when this line becomes idle.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the communication line to which the partner device is connected is discriminated by a response signal from the partner device in accordance with the transmission information, and communication is performed with the partner device using only the discriminated communication line. It is characterized by performing.

According to the present invention, when there is a response from the partner device to the transmitted transmission information, it is determined from which line the response from the partner device is received.
Transmission information is sent only to this line, and transmission of transmission information to other lines is stopped.

As a result, communication can be performed using only the line to which the partner device is connected, and the other line is not unnecessarily occupied.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, based on the transmission information and the response from the partner device or a response signal corresponding to the transmission information, the communication device that has called and the communication line to which the communication device is connected, or It is characterized in that a partner device and a communication line to which the partner device is connected are stored, and a communication line for transmitting transmission information for connecting to the partner device is selected according to the storage result at the time of calling.

According to the present invention, the communication device connected to the calling communication device by the communication line receives the transmission information transmitted from the calling communication device,
The calling communication device and the communication line to which this communication device is connected can be determined. Further, if the calling communication device has a response that the partner device is empty, the communication line to which the partner device is connected can be determined.

Due to the difference that these communication results are sequentially stored in the respective communication devices, when the next communication device calls any communication partner, the communication partner and the communication partner are connected. If the stored communication line is stored, the transmission information may be sent only to the stored communication line.

Thus, by automatically storing the communication devices connected to the respective communication lines, even if a plurality of communication lines are connected, it is possible to specify only the partner device without specifying the communication lines. For example, it is possible to communicate by connecting to the designated partner device.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a communication network 10 applied to this embodiment. The communication network 10 includes a plurality of local communication networks 12 (in the present embodiment, three sets of 12A, 12B, and 12C as an example).
They are connected to each other by a dedicated communication line 14 such as SDN (Integrated Service Digital Network). That is, the premises communication network 12A is connected to the premises communication network 12B and the premises communication network 12C by communication lines 14A and 14B, and the premises communication network 12B and the premises communication network 12C.
Are connected by a communication line 14C.

Each of the local area communication networks 12A, 12B, 12C is provided with a plurality of facsimile devices (hereinafter referred to as "terminal devices 20") as communication devices. Note that, in FIG. 1, as an example, the respective local area communication networks 12A,
Two terminal devices 20 are illustrated in each of 12B and 12C, and other illustrations are omitted. When distinguishing the individual terminal devices 20, the terminal devices 20A, 20B,
They are called 20C, 20D, 20E and 20F.

In each local communication network 12, a communication line 14 is connected to a network terminal (NT16), a bus line 18 is connected to this NT16, and a terminal device 20 is connected to this bus line 18. Has been done. As a result, each terminal device 20
6 via any of the plurality of communication lines 14 connected to
Communication is possible by connecting to the terminal device 20 of another local communication network 12. The communication line 14 is the local communication network 1.
Two lines are connected to each other when viewed from the second side. Hereinafter, one of the communication lines 14 will be referred to as channel B1 and the other will be referred to as channel B2.
And That is, the local area communication network 12A uses the channel B1.
It is possible to communicate with the local communication network 12B via the channel B2, and it is also possible to communicate with the local communication network 12C via the channel B2.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the terminal device 20. The terminal device 20 includes a system bus 22 including a control bus and a data bus, a CPU 24 that controls the operation of each unit, a ROM 26 that is a read-only memory in which a program for controlling transmission of the terminal device 20 is stored, and image data. A RAM 28, which is a readable / writable memory for temporarily storing various information and storing various information, is connected.

The system bus 22 has a reading unit 30, a printing unit 32, an image processing unit 34, and an image storage unit 36.
Along with this, the operation display section 38 is connected. Terminal device 20
Then, the image information read by the reading unit 30 is subjected to predetermined image processing such as data compression by the image processing unit 34 and stored in the image storage unit 36. Further, the image information stored in the image storage unit 36 is subjected to predetermined image processing such as data restoration in the image processing unit 34 and output from the printing unit 32. These operations are performed by operating the operation display unit 38, and the operating state is displayed on the operation display unit 38.

Further, the terminal device 20 includes a communication control unit 40A for performing communication control suitable for a digital network, a communication control unit 40B for performing communication control suitable for an analog network, a modem 42 as a demodulation device, and a plurality of external devices. A line switching control unit 44, a digital network control unit 46, and an analog network control unit 48, which connect the line interface and a plurality of internal communication circuits, are directly or indirectly connected to the system bus 22.

In the terminal device 20, the image information stored in the image storage unit 36 is transferred to the communication control unit 40A and the line switching control unit 4
4 and the digital network control unit 46, the data is sent to a communication line (digital communication line) connected to the digital network, and the received data received by this communication line is stored and stored in the image storage unit 36. Further, in this terminal device 20, when sending the image information stored in the image storage unit 36 to the analog communication network, the communication control unit 40B and the modem 4 are used.
2. Line switching control unit 44 and analog network control unit 48
The received data received via the analog communication network is stored and stored in the image storage unit 36. The terminal device 20 may be connected to either a digital communication network or an analog communication network. In the present embodiment, image information is sent and received via the digital communication network. It will be described as a thing.

In such a terminal device 20, communication is performed by a predetermined protocol set in advance, and predetermined image information is sent to the partner machine. In addition, each terminal device 20
Then, when connecting to the partner device prior to sending the image information, the predetermined transmission information is sent to the channel B1 and the channel B2 (all connected channels) so that the specified partner device When a call is made and a response is made to this call, the communication is made in response to the connection with the partner device to send out predetermined image information.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart corresponding to claim 1 of the present invention. First, description will be made with reference to this flowchart. In the following description, the case where the terminal device 20E of the local communication network 12C is used as a partner device to call from the terminal device 20A of the local communication network 12A and predetermined image information is transmitted.

First Step 10 of this Flowchart
At 0, the image information to be transmitted from the terminal device 20A to the terminal device 20E is read, and at the same time, the terminal number indicating the terminal device 20E (hereinafter, referred to as "remote device") that is a communication partner is input, Check if the machine call request was made. When a call request is made here, an affirmative decision is made in this step 100, and the processing moves to the next step 102.

In this step 102, the terminal device 20A
The channels B1 and B2 (all channels) connected to are sequentially detected, and the detected channels B1 and B2 are in use, that is, in use for communication (hereinafter referred to as “busy”) or in an idle state. Check if there is.

After that, in the next step 104, if the first channel B1 is not busy and is empty, a negative decision is made and the routine proceeds to step 106. This step 106
Then, the call is made to the channel B1.

After that, in the next step 108, it is sequentially checked whether or not there is another channel which is not transmitting the transmission information among the other connected channels, and when there is an empty channel, the process proceeds to step 102 and is issued. Make a call. That is, the channel B1 is called, but the channel B2 is not called yet. Therefore, if the channel B2 is not busy, the call is made.

In this way, by making a call to all the idle channels to which the terminal device 20A is connected and transmitting the transmission information, the partner machine can transmit the communication information to the private network 12B.
No matter if it is connected to any of 12C, the local communication network 1
It is possible to connect to the partner machine only by specifying the terminal number of the partner machine without designating either 2A or 12B.
Therefore, the local area communication network 12A includes a plurality of local area communication networks 12
Even if it is connected to B and 12C, it sends out the transmission information for connecting to the partner device as if one private network is connected, and receives this transmission information to the partner device. Can be made.

The flow chart shown in FIG. 4 and the transmission procedure diagram shown in FIG. 5 show an example of connection with the partner device after making a call to all of the channels B1 and B2.

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, when it is confirmed that a call request is made in the first step 100 (Yes in step 100), the process proceeds to the next step 110. In this step 110, the terminal device 20A
Each channel B to which (local communication network 12A) is connected
1. Synchronize with B2. With this, step 1
In 12, the link setting with each channel is performed, and after this,
In step 114, the destination information is sent to the channels B1 and B2 as transmission information in addition to the source information.

In the next step 116, it is confirmed whether or not there is a response from the partner machine to the call. When there is a response from the partner machine (Yes in step 116), the process proceeds to step 118 to switch the response channel. judge. That is, the channels B1 and B to which the terminal device 20A is connected
It is confirmed from which of the two the response signal is received.

In the next step 120, the channel determined to have a response is used to connect to the partner device based on a predetermined protocol and image information is transmitted (communication). Also,
For a channel for which the partner device has not responded to the transmitted transmission information, the process proceeds to step 122 and the line is disconnected. When the communication is not completed, the channel in which the transmission information is not transmitted may be detected and the transmission information may be transmitted again, as in the case of the flowchart shown in FIG. .

That is, as shown in the procedure diagram of FIG. 5, a flag is sent from the terminal device 20A of the local communication network 12A to be called to each of the channels B1 and B2. As a result, a response flag is sent from each of the local area communication networks 12B and 12C. Upon receiving the response flag, the terminal device 20A on the calling side sends a SABM (Set Asynchronous Balanced Mode) command designating the operation in the asynchronous balanced mode. When the SABM command is received, the asynchronous balanced mode is set and the UA (Unnumbered Acknowle
dgement) Send a response.

Thereafter, the terminal device on the calling side sends an SQ (restart request) command to request link setting,
When an SF (restart confirmation) response is received, a CR (Call Refer) including source information and destination (remote device) information is received.
ence) is sent.

Upon receiving this CR, only the corresponding partner device (terminal device 20E) sends the connection completion information (CC), and the other communication terminals 20 confirm that the destination does not come out, Move to idle wait state.

Here, when the terminal device 20A on the calling side receives the connection completion information from the partner device, it determines the channel (B2) on which this connection completion information was received, and thereafter, for this channel B2. Send the transport connection request (TCR) and accept the transport connection (TC
When A) is received, communication with the partner device is performed based on a predetermined protocol.

In this way, the calling terminal device 20A
When the other device (terminal device 20E) is connected to the terminal device 20A based on a predetermined protocol,
Send image information to (communication).

When transmission of the predetermined image information is completed and it is confirmed that the other device has received this image information, the terminal device 20A
Request a recovery request (CQ; Clear reQu
est) command to confirm disconnection from the other device (C
Upon receiving the F; Clear conFimation) response, a link release request (DISC; DISConnect) command is sent. As a result, when the UA response from the partner device is received, the flag transmission is stopped, the idle state is entered, and the communication is terminated.

On the other hand, if the channel B2 to which the other device is connected is busy when making a call, the terminal device 2
0A may not be able to connect to the other device. An example capable of coping with such a case will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 and the communication procedure diagram shown in FIG.

In the first step 100 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, it is confirmed whether or not there is a call request, and when there is a call request, the process proceeds to step 102, and after channel detection is performed, the process proceeds to step 104. , Check if the detected channel is busy. Here, when the detected channel B1 is not busy, the process proceeds to step 106 to make a call.

On the other hand, when the detected channel is busy, the process proceeds to step 130. In this step 130, the detected channel is busy,
The fact that the transmission information is not transmitted is stored in the memory.

In this way, it is detected whether or not all channels are busy, calls are made to all empty channels that are not busy, and if all busy channels are stored in memory, the channels that have been called Are synchronized (step 100), a link is set (step 112), and transmission source information and destination information, which are transmission information, are transmitted (step 114).

Thereafter, it is detected whether or not there is a response from the partner machine, and if there is a response from the partner machine, step 11
8 and 120 are sequentially moved to perform communication, but when there is no response from the other party, the channel that has sent the destination information and the like is disconnected (step 112) and the process proceeds to step 132.

In this step 132, it is confirmed whether or not there is a channel stored in the memory as a busy channel in the above-mentioned step 130, and when there is a channel which is stored as a busy channel and transmission information etc. is not transmitted. (Yes in step 132), step 134
Move to.

In step 134, it is confirmed whether the channel stored as the busy channel has been released from the busy state and has become empty. When the busy state of this channel is released and the channel becomes empty, an affirmative decision is made in step 134 and the operation proceeds to step 136. In step 136, a call is made to the channel stored as the busy channel, and the process proceeds to step 110 to send the transmission information.

As described above, when a call request is made, the transmission information is sent to the empty channel as it is to check whether the partner device is connected to the empty channel. At the same time, the busy channel is stored, and when the other device is not connected to an empty channel, the call request is made by waiting for the stored busy channel to be released and then attempting to connect to the other device. At this time, even if the partner device is connected to the busy channel, the connection with the partner device is surely possible because the connection with the partner device is tried after waiting for the busy release of this channel.

That is, as shown in the communication procedure diagram of FIG. 7, when the channel B2 is a busy channel,
First, after transmitting the transmission information to the channel B1, an attempt is made to connect to the partner device on this channel B1. When it is confirmed that the partner device is not connected to the channel B1 in this manner, the channel B2, which is stored as the busy channel, is waited for, and the channel B2 tries to connect to the partner device. As a result, no matter which channel the partner device is connected to, it is possible to reliably complete the connection with the partner device and establish the communication without specifying the channel, only by the destination information indicating the partner device. it can.

In the above description, the destination information for designating the communication partner is sent to all the idle channels. However, during the establishment of the communication or when the communication is established, each terminal device 20 If the terminal device 20 connected to each channel and the channel to which this terminal device 20 is connected can be discriminated, each terminal device 2
0 stores the result of this determination and associates and stores the terminal number that identifies the terminal device 20 with the channel to which the terminal device 20 is connected. When it becomes, it is possible to efficiently connect with the partner machine.

This point will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8 (A) to 8 (C).

FIG. 8A shows a terminal device 20 for making a call.
(20A) shows an outline of the flow of processing, and in this flowchart, the terminal device 20 that makes a call synchronizes with each channel (step 140), performs link setting (step 142), and then performs communication. The destination information for calling the partner machine is transmitted (step 144). As a result, by receiving the response sent from the partner device (20E) (step 146), the channel to which the partner device is connected is determined (step 148), and based on this determination result, the connection with the partner device is established. Communicate (step 15)
2).

At this time, in step 150, after determining the channel to which the other device responds, the terminal number that identifies the other device and the channel to which the other device is connected are stored in association with each other. As a result, the channel can be selected based on this memory when the call is made to this partner next time.

On the other hand, the terminal device 20 (20A) for making a call
Sends the transmission source information to all the connected channels, the terminal device 20 (2) that receives this transmission source information.
0C to 20F) can determine which channel the terminal device 20 that originated the call is connected to by determining the transmission source information and the channel that received the transmission source information.

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8B, the terminal device 20 connected to the channels B1 and B2 synchronizes with the calling terminal device 20 by receiving the transmission information (step 154). ) And link setting (step 156). Thereafter, the sender information is received together with the destination information (step 158). By discriminating the transmission source information at this time and the channel on which the transmission source information is received, the terminal device 20 corresponding to the transmission source information is obtained.
The terminal number and the channel to which this terminal device is connected can be known. In step 160, the terminal number and the channel are associated and registered and stored.

This source information can be received not only by the partner device included in the destination information but also by all terminal devices 20 connected to the local area communication network 12B12C.
When the calling terminal device 20 sends the transmission source information, the transmission source information is registered in all the terminal devices 20 that have received the transmission source information. In addition, the terminal device 20 that made the call
After that, the (partner device) will perform communication in a predetermined procedure.

The flowchart of FIG. 8C shows an outline of a call based on information registered by associating a terminal number with a channel.

In this flowchart, if there is a call request, an affirmative decision is made in step 100 and the routine moves to step 162. In this step 162, it is searched whether or not the terminal device 20 designated as the partner device is already registered. If it is not registered, the process proceeds to step 164, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. An attempt is made to connect to the partner device according to the flowchart shown, and if the partner device is connected, communication is performed and predetermined image information is transmitted (step 166).

On the other hand, when the terminal number corresponding to the partner machine is registered, an affirmative decision is made in step 164 and the operation proceeds to step 168. This step 168
Then, the channel registered with the terminal number is selected, only the selected channel is called, and then the destination information and the like are transmitted. As a result, it becomes possible to connect to the partner device without sending the transmission information, the destination information, etc. to all the channels. When the selected other channel is busy, transmission of transmission information may be started after waiting for the busy release of the corresponding channel.

The above-described embodiment shows an example of the present invention and does not limit the connection method of the present invention. Further, although the present invention has been described by taking a facsimile device that sends image information as a communication device as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and a communication network using various communication devices that perform communication for sending voice and various data. Can be applied to.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, when each of a plurality of local communication networks is connected to each other by a dedicated line, the terminal number or the like can be set without considering the local communication network of the partner machine. Communication can be performed using only the information that identifies the partner machine. Further, according to the present invention, the dedicated line in use is stored, and when communication on the vacant dedicated line is not established, the connection with the partner device is tried after the dedicated line that was in use is vacant. The excellent effect of being able to connect with the other device is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication network applied to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a terminal device applied as an example of a communication device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of detecting a channel and transmitting transmission information to an empty channel.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example in which a response channel from a partner device is determined and a connection for communication with the partner device is established.

5 is a communication procedure diagram showing an example of a communication procedure based on the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of storing a busy channel and making a connection for communication with a partner device.

7 is a communication procedure diagram showing an example of a communication procedure based on the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing an outline when registering a partner device while making a call, and FIG. 8B is a flowchart showing an outline of registration at a terminal device that receives transmission information.
(C) is a flow chart showing an outline of a call using the registered information.

FIG. 9A is a schematic configuration diagram of a network showing an example in which communication devices are connected by a dedicated line, and FIG. 9B is an example of a network in which a local area communication network provided with a plurality of communication devices is connected by a dedicated line. It is a schematic block diagram which shows.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 communication network 12 premises communication network 14 communication line (dedicated line) 20 terminal device (communication device) 24 CPU

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of communication lines connected to a communication device or a communication network provided with the communication device, and a communication device connected to each communication line or a communication network including the communication device. A connection control method for a communication device for connecting a calling communication device to a communicating partner in a communication network for communicating between communication devices connected via a communication line, A free line of the communication lines to which the communication device to be called is connected is determined, transmission information for connecting to the partner device is sent to all of the determined free lines, and a response from the partner device to the transmission information is sent. A method of controlling connection of a communication device, characterized in that a connection with a partner device is made according to. 2. Prior to sending the transmission information, a non-vacant line of the communication lines is stored, and when there is no response from the partner device to the transmission information sent to the vacant line, the non-vacant line is sent. The communication device connection control method according to claim 1, wherein the communication device waits for sending the transmission information to the line. 3. The communication line to which the partner device is connected is discriminated by a response signal from the partner device according to the transmission information, and communication is performed with the partner device using only the discriminated communication line. The method of connecting a communication device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. Based on the transmission information and a response from the partner device or a response signal according to the transmission information, the communication device that made the call and the communication line to which the communication device is connected or the partner device and the partner device Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connected communication line is stored, and a communication line to which transmission information for connecting to the partner device is transmitted is selected according to the storage result at the time of calling. A method for controlling connection of a communication device according to claim 1.