JPH1023234A - Facsimile server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a normal board or line connection, without stopping the entire server by providing a line switching section to select a line through the reception of a command from a host device. SOLUTION: The facsimile server 21 is provided with an exchange board 27, and a line switching section 31 is provided to a line interface board 23, a FAX interface board 25. The line switching section 31 is connected by a digital multiple bus 37, and a CPU 39 is used to select the line switching section 31 and even when any one of the boards is faulty, the CPU 39 selects the line switching section 31 to select the exchange board 27, without stopping the entire server. Moreover, a diagnostic function of the CPU 39 locates a fault location through a plurality of diagnostic loops and easily locates a board to be replaced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile server capable of transmitting and receiving and storing FAX data and connecting a plurality of telephone lines, and more particularly to a server having a self-diagnosis function and a recovery function when a failure occurs. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional facsimile server. The conventional facsimile server 1 has a line interface board 3 and a FAX interface board 5 as its main components. The facsimile server 1 can be configured using, for example, a personal computer. The line interface board 3 is provided with a line interface unit 7, and the line interface unit 7 is connected to a telephone line. On the other hand, the FAX interface board 5 is provided with a FAX interface unit 9. The line interface unit 7 and the FAX interface unit 9 are connected via the upper interface bus 11, and for example, when a personal computer is used,
The upper interface bus 11 is a CPU which is an upper device.
13.

In the conventional facsimile server 1 configured as described above, the line interface board 3 and the F
The transfer of FAX data to and from the AX interface board 5 is all performed via the upper interface bus 11 and the CPU 13 as the upper device.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional facsimile server 1, when a failure occurs in the line interface board 3 or the FAX interface board 5, all of them are connected to the CPU 13 only by the upper interface bus 11. For this reason, at the time of identifying a faulty part or replacing a board, the entire apparatus including the normally working board must be stopped. Further, when the number of accommodated lines is large, the number of boards to be mounted is also increased, and it is difficult to specify a failure point. In other words, in the conventional method of identifying a failed part, a replacement board is prepared, and the operation of confirming the operation is performed while replacing the board with the board which seems to be a failure.If the number of the boards increases, it takes a lot of time and effort. Was. Further, in the conventional facsimile server 1, line connection settings, that is, F
Since the line interface unit 7 to which the AX interface unit 9 is to be allocated is determined by switching the dip switch, in this case as well, it is necessary to stop the entire apparatus each time as described above. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when any one of the boards has failed, or even when setting the line connection, switching to a normal board without stopping the entire device, or the line connection It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile server that can perform setting and can easily specify a failed board when a failure occurs, thereby facilitating a recovery operation and a setting change operation.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, a facsimile server according to the present invention comprises a line interface board, a facsimile interface board, and an upper interface bus connecting the line interface board and the facsimile interface board. A facsimile server having a host device connected through a line interface board and the facsimile
A line switching unit provided on an interface board for switching a line by receiving a command from the higher-level device via the higher-level interface bus, the line interface board and the FA
A switching board for a line interface board or a facsimile interface board provided separately from the X interface board, and a digital multiplexing bus for connecting each of the line switching units and the replacement board. Is what you do.

[0006] In the facsimile server configured as described above, if any one of the boards fails, the line switching unit can be switched by the higher-level device without stopping the entire device, thereby making it possible to switch to the replacement board. Become. Further, by switching the line switching unit, a diagnostic loop circuit including a pair of test objects can be formed, and a comparative verification diagnosis using the diagnostic loop circuit can be performed. Further, by switching the line switching unit, it is possible to distribute the lines, so that line connection can be set without using a dip switch.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a facsimile server according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile server according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a line switching unit. The facsimile server 21 according to this embodiment includes a line interface board 23, a FAX interface board 25, and a replacement board 27. The facsimile server 21 can use a personal computer as a constituent device as in the related art.

[0008] The line interface board 23 is provided with a line interface unit 27, and the line interface unit 27 is connected to a telephone line and an upper interface bus 29. Line interface board 23
Is provided with a line switching unit 31, which is connected to the line interface unit 27 and to the upper interface bus 29.

FAX interface board 25 has F
An AX interface unit 35 is provided, and the FAX interface unit 35 is connected to the upper interface bus 29. The FAX interface unit 35 is also provided with a line switching unit 31. The line switching unit 31 is connected to the FAX interface unit 35 and to the upper interface bus 29.

Line interface board 23 and FA
The line switching units 31 provided on the X interface board 25 are connected to the above-mentioned replacement board 27 by a digital multiplexing bus 37. A CPU 39, which is a host device, is connected to the host interface bus 29. As shown in FIG. 2, the line switching unit 31 is connected to an arbitrary line interface board 23 or an arbitrary line (channel; c) of the FAX interface board 25.
h) can be switched and connected to an arbitrary line of another board. The switching connection operation of the line switching unit 31 at this time is performed according to an instruction (command) from the CPU 39.

In the above configuration, the line interface board 23 and the FAX interface board 25
Arbitrary plural sheets may be provided. The replacement board 27 includes a line interface board 23, a facsimile
Arbitrary plural pieces each corresponding to the interface board 25 may be provided. As the line switching unit 31, a chip corresponding to a switch unit conventionally used in a digital exchange can be used.

Facsimile server 2 configured as described above
1, the transfer of line data between the boards can be performed via the digital multiplexing bus 37. Further, the line switching unit 31 can freely switch between a line and a board, between different boards, or between different lines on the same board by a command from the CPU 39. Therefore, these functions allow the facsimile server 21 to loop the test data on the same board or the connection circuit via another board via the digital multiplexing bus 37 to connect the same board or different boards. The operation can be checked for each circuit.

Further, in the facsimile server 21,
The replacement board 27 is the line interface board 2
3. It is separately provided as a replacement board when the FAX interface board 25 fails. Each line of the replacement board 27 is controlled by a command from the CPU 39.
The switching operation of the line switching unit 31 enables connection as a substitute for a failed board.

Further, in the facsimile server 21,
The diagnostic function is stored in the CPU 39 as a program. This diagnostic function has test data, and by appropriately switching the line switching unit 31, the test data can be compared (compared) on the same board or on a different board to specify a faulty board. And The diagnostic function has a diagnostic result table, and the diagnostic result table can store the fault location specified by the diagnostic function by the internal storage means.

Next, the operation of the facsimile server 21 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
Is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile server according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of diagnosis example 1, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of diagnosis example 2, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of test data for a FAX interface board, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows a table. The line interface board 23 and the facsimile interface board 25 transmit commands /
Controlled by the response, when the response from the board indicates an abnormality (S1), the CPU 39 executes a diagnostic flow by the diagnostic function.

When the diagnosis function is executed, first, the line of the board is switched for diagnosis (S3). Switching is performed by the CPU 39 operating the line switching unit 31. As an example of a circuit formed by switching, an internal loop circuit on the same board as shown in FIG. 4, or a loop circuit via a line switching unit 31 of another board as shown in FIG. Alternatively, although not shown, there is a loop circuit or the like between different channels between other boards.

For example, in the loop circuit L1 shown in FIG. 4, test data (image data on the FAX interface board 25 and audio data on the line interface board 23) is transmitted from one channel on the FAX interface board 25 (S5). Receive this test data from another channel on the same board 25 (S
7). As a result, a pair of channels in the same board is diagnosed.

Further, in the loop circuit L2 via the line switching unit 31 of the other board shown in FIG. 5, the circuits up to the line switching unit 31 of the other board are diagnosed. That is, the diagnostic loop circuit L2 shown in FIG. 5 can diagnose circuits up to the line switching unit 31 of another board which cannot be diagnosed by the loop circuit L1 shown in FIG.

At the time of diagnosis, the test data shown in FIG. 6 is transmitted and received in the various loop circuits as described above by a normal facsimile transmission / reception procedure.
"L" is a line end code (end of line) used in a normal FAX procedure. The test data is checked by comparing (checking) the number of black (= “1”) bits and the number of white (= “0”) bits in the transmission data for each line (EOL) ( S
9).

As a result of comparing the transmitted and received test data, if the result is NG, the diagnostic result table T shown in FIG. 7 is updated (S11), and then the replacement board indicated as operable in the diagnostic result table T is displayed. It is determined whether 27 is present (s13). If an operable replacement board 27 is registered in the diagnosis result table T, the channel is switched to the operable replacement board 27 (S15), and the process returns to step S5. If the operable replacement board 27 is not registered in the diagnosis result table T, a message indicating that the board cannot be operated is displayed (S17).

After switching the channel to the replacement board 27, if the replacement board 27 is determined to be OK in step S9, the line is switched to an operation state using the replacement board 27 ( S19) By returning to the normal processing flow, the diagnosis and restoration procedure is completed.

In the diagnosis result table T shown in FIG. 1 is for all channels (ch0
To chn) are NG, the board No. 1 is diagnosed as being NG. In addition, the board No. 2
In the case of, ch0 is OK and ch1 to chn are N
G, the board No. 2 The whole is not bad,
Whether the chip corresponding to the NG channel or the corresponding channel chip on the line interface board 23 has a failure is obtained as a diagnosis result.

As described above, according to the facsimile server 21, the exchange board 27 is provided, and the line interface board 23, the FAX interface board 2
5 is provided with a line switching unit 31, and this line switching unit 31 is connected by a digital multiplexing bus 37;
Since the line switching unit 31 can be switched by the switch 39, even if one of the boards fails, the line switching unit 31 is switched by the CPU 39 to switch to the replacement board 27 without stopping the entire apparatus. It can be carried out.

Further, the diagnosis function of the CPU 39 allows the failure point to be specified by the plurality of diagnosis loop circuits shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the result of the specification can be stored in the diagnosis result table T. Therefore, at the time of board replacement, the operator can easily specify the board to be replaced by referring to the data in the diagnosis result table T.

Further, since the line can be distributed by operating the line switching unit 31 by the CPU 39, line connection can be set without stopping the apparatus, unlike the conventional case using a dip switch. .

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the facsimile server of the present invention, it is provided with a replacement board,
A line switching unit is provided on the line interface board and the FAX interface board, and the line switching unit is connected by a digital multiplexing bus, and the line switching unit can be switched by a host device. By switching the line switching unit by the host device, the switching to the replacement board can be performed without stopping the entire device. Further, by switching the line switching unit, a diagnostic loop circuit including a pair of test objects can be formed.
By performing the comparison and verification, the fault location can be easily specified. Further, the line can be allocated by operating the line switching unit, so that the line connection can be set without stopping the apparatus, unlike the case of the conventional dip switch. As a result, recovery work,
The setting change operation can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a line switching unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile server according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of diagnosis example 1.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a diagnosis example 2;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of FAX interface board test data.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a diagnosis result table.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional facsimile server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Facsimile server 23 Line interface board 25 FAX interface board 27 Replacement board 29 Upper interface bus 31 Line switching unit 37 Digital multiplex bus 39 CPU (upper device) T Diagnosis result table

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A line interface board and a facsimile
A facsimile server comprising an interface board and a higher-level device in which the line interface board and the FAX interface board are connected via a higher-level interface bus, wherein the higher-level interface bus is provided on the line interface board and the FAX interface board, respectively. A line switching unit that switches a line by receiving a command from the higher-level device through the line interface board; and a replacement board for a line interface board or a FAX interface board provided separately from the line interface board and the FAX interface board. A facsimile server comprising: a digital multiplexing bus for connecting each of the line switching units and the replacement board. 2. The host device according to claim 1, wherein a diagnostic function for comparing line data on the same board or on different boards by switching the line switching unit is stored as a program in the host device. Facsimile server. 3. The facsimile server according to claim 2, wherein the diagnostic function includes a diagnostic result table for storing the quality of the diagnostic result for each board and each line.