JPH11331364A - Communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively use a memory wherein information is erased only in a block unit. SOLUTION: A flash memory 11 wherein information is erased only in a block unit is used for a facsimile machine which transmits and receives after once storing transmission information and receiving information in a memory. And, a storing means 12 is provided which partitions a block to each receiving information and transmission information and stores them in the case of storing the transmission information and the receiving information in the memory 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication apparatus having a memory such as a flash memory capable of erasing information only in block units.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Dynamic RAM DRAM as a memory
And static RAM SRAM are widely used. DR
The AM requires periodic rewriting even when the power is turned on, but the SRAM holds data as long as the power is turned on. Since these cannot retain data without a power supply, a backup of a battery or the like is necessary in case of a power failure. On the other hand, ROMs can retain data even when the power is turned off, but are often difficult to rewrite. E
The PROM can rewrite data many times by irradiating ultraviolet rays, but it is necessary to rewrite all the stored contents. The EEPROM is capable of electrically erasing data programs, and is capable of erasing in bit units. Recently R
Flash memory has been used as a type of OM. This is a memory that can be erased in block units.

[0003]

Although there are many types of memories as described above, there are advantages and disadvantages. DRAM and SRAM
What does not require a power supply backup because of its ease of use is desired. In a DRAM or SRAM, the current bit value is 1
Or, when it is 0, it can be easily inverted to 0 or 1. On the other hand, in the case of ROM, in the initial state, all bits are 1, and writing is performed by
1 is set to 0. Returning 0 to 1 requires an erasing operation, and cannot be easily changed from 0 to 1 as in a DRAM. In the case of the EPROM, only the entire data can be erased, and the flash memory can be erased only in block units. Also EEPR
The OM can be erased in bit units and is comparable to a DRAM, but is expensive and cannot be used for general-purpose products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and realizes a communication apparatus having a memory which can be erased only in units of blocks and which can use the memory efficiently. The purpose is to:

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a storage means is divided into block units, a memory means which can be erased only in block units, and a response message of an answering machine. And a control means for classifying the received message and storing it in the memory means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the first aspect, information in the memory means is erased in units of blocks in accordance with an instruction of an operator.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication apparatus according to the second aspect, the received message can be deleted by an instruction of an operator on condition that the message is output.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a memory unit which divides a storage area into blocks and which can be erased only in units of blocks, and a control which stores facsimile information and telephone information separately in the memory unit. Means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the communication apparatus of the fourth aspect, facsimile information is erased from the memory means when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and the talk information is erased from the memory means by an instruction of an operator. Is to be erased.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a communication device having a flash memory, information is separately stored in blocks as erase units in the flash memory, and an erasure condition of information in the block is satisfied. And a control unit for controlling the erasure of the communication device.

[0011] With these configurations, information can be stored in a memory separately for each piece of information, and when erasing, it can be erased in block units, so that the same usability as a DRAM or the like can be realized and a flash memory like A non-volatile memory does not require a power supply for backup.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a network control unit 1 is connected to a line 2,
It controls connection of the circuit switching network such as calling, restoration, and dialing. The modem 3 performs modulation for converting transmission data into a signal suitable for transmission using a telephone line, and performs demodulation for converting modulated reception data into an original signal. The reading unit 4 reads a document to be transmitted or copied. The operation unit 5 inputs instructions from the operator such as instructions such as a telephone number and setting of an answering machine. The display unit 6 displays a response to the operation such as display of the input telephone number, guidance, and the like. The recording unit 7 prints the received data and prints the data read by the reading unit 4.

The image processing section 8 performs processes such as enlargement, reduction, rotation, and movement of read image information and image information to be recorded.
The voice recording / reproduction control unit 9 controls voice recording of an answering machine and reproduction by a speaker 10. Flash memory 1
Numeral 1 stores received information, stores transmission data when performing memory transmission, or stores an answering machine message and the like. The memory control unit 12 controls the flash memory 11 that stores facsimile transmission, reception data, and voice data by telephone. The display control unit 13 controls the reading unit 4, the operation unit 5, the display unit 6, and the recording unit 7. Main control unit 1
Reference numeral 4 controls the entire operation and decodes received data and encodes transmitted data for facsimile data.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the flash memory 11 used in the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, a flash memory having a capacity of 1 MB is used, which is divided into erase blocks in units of 64 KB so that erasure can be performed in units of erase blocks. Each erase block has one management area for storing management information and 63 for storing data.
It consists of memory blocks. This management area is composed of an erase block management area for storing the state information of the erase block and a memory block management area for storing the state information of the memory block. The memory block management area is composed of 63 corresponding to each memory block. Have been.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the erase block management area shown in FIG. Explaining each item in the erase block management area, the block erase state indicates whether the corresponding erase block has been logically erased,
No, the block use information indicates whether the erase block is in use or unused, and the memory information in the block indicates the empty state of the memory block in the erase block, that is, there is an unused memory block. The file item is information indicating which type of information is stored in the erase block. File items include transmission data, reception data, answering machine reception message, answering machine response message, timer transmission, facsimile bulletin board, and the like. Each erase block stores only one type of such information, and if the type is different, stores it in another erase block. This is because the erasure is performed in erase block units, so that if the information is of the same type, all the erasure conditions of the information stored in one erase block are satisfied in a short time. The erasing condition is a condition that the data may be erased from the flash memory when transmission data is transmitted, when the data is transmitted, and when received data is recorded, the data is terminated.

The erase block position indicates a position when the erase blocks are empty blocks and are arranged in a line and are on standby. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the use state of the erase block. A file is provided for each type of information to be stored, and each erase block becomes a dedicated block of the file when used for each file.
Each erase block is generated exclusively for each file, and when the total of the files exceeds 64 KB, the next erase block is generated and chained. Empty blocks are also chain-coupled, and are taken out from the head and used. The erased block is returned to the rear end of the empty block chain. As a result, the number of erasures of each erase block is made uniform. Returning to FIG. 3, the next erase block number indicates the number of the next erase block that is connected next when a chain is connected to the empty block group.

The storage information shown in FIG. 3 is a flag indicating the status of the management information name on the left side. Except for the file item, the initial status is 1 and the activation status is 0. For example, in the block erase state, the unused state is set to 1 as an initial state, and 0 when used. The number of the file item is set according to the information to be stored. The next erase block number is FF (16
When the next erase block is connected, the next erase block number (00 to FE) is set. As described above, the initial state is set to 1, and when activated, it is set to 0. This is because the inversion from 0 to 1 can be performed only by erasing in the flash memory, and only the change from 1 to 0 can be performed in the writing operation to the memory.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory diagram of each memory block management area in the erase block management area shown in FIG. The file erasure state is information indicating whether or not a file stored in a corresponding memory block has been erased. The file erasure state is associated with the next file use information and has no meaning unless a file is stored. The file usage information indicates whether the corresponding memory block is being used. As shown in FIG. 4, the erase blocks in use are linked for each file, so the next erase block position indicates the number of the erase block linked next to the erase block to which the memory block belongs. If the erase block to which the self belongs belongs to the terminal, the state becomes FF. The next memory block position indicates the number of the next memory block. The data length in a memory block indicates the amount of data in the memory block in bytes. The directory state indicates that the management area is preferentially used by setting it to “in use”, and also indicates a state in which memory blocks are collectively managed for each page, and the directory information constitutes a directory. Indicates whether or not information is stored in the memory block. Closed if remembered,
If not, it is not closed. The next page erase block position indicates the first erase block position of the next page since the transmission / reception data is performed in page units.
The next page memory block position indicates the position of the first memory block of the next page. The stored information on the right side of FIG.
As described above, the initial state is 1 and becomes 0 when activated.

The operation of the facsimile apparatus using the flash memory 11 configured as described above will be described with reference to an operation flowchart.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart when the power of the facsimile apparatus is turned on. When the power of the facsimile apparatus is turned on, it is checked whether data is stored. If it is determined that the data is not stored (ST1), it is checked whether the data is formatted in a predetermined format (ST2). Is a new flash memory, the flash memory is divided into erase blocks, which are units of erasure, to obtain an erase block (erase block) (ST3). Since all the obtained erase blocks are empty blocks, a chain connection is performed as an empty block group described in FIG. 4 (ST4).

If there is data in ST1, it is checked whether or not there is inconsistent data (ST5). Here, the directory state shown in FIG. 5 is used, and the directory information whose directory information is not closed is searched. Such inconsistent data is generated when the processing is interrupted due to power interruption during file creation. If there is inconsistent data, recovery is performed (ST6). The recovery process differs depending on the position where it was interrupted. For those that can be rescued, those that are not closed and ended are changed to closed, and for those that cannot be remedied, the erase block to which the memory block belongs is erased. In this way, all data is searched (ST7),
Recover the inconsistent data and end the power-on flow.

Next, an operation flow at the time of writing to the flash memory 11 will be described with reference to FIG. When processing such as memory transmission, memory reception, answering machine reception, timer transmission, facsimile bulletin board posting, answering machine response message, etc. is performed (ST101), it is checked whether or not an erase block of a file corresponding to these processings exists (ST101). ST10
2). This is to check whether an erase block group is provided for each file as described with reference to FIG. 4. This is determined from the file item in the erase block management area in FIG. If there is no erase block corresponding to the processing, one erase block is obtained from the head of the empty block group shown in FIG. 4 (ST104).

Next, the file item of the corresponding processing is written in the management area of the obtained erase block, and the block use information is used and the directory state of the memory block management area is also used (secure directory area). (ST105), the data of the corresponding file is written to one memory block belonging to the erase block (ST106). In the management area of the memory block in which the data is written, the file use information is determined to be in use, and storage information such as the number of bytes of the written data is written (ST107). If data cannot be completely written in one memory block and data still remains (ST108), it is checked whether or not the memory information in the block in the erase block management area is "empty" (ST110). (ST111), data is written in the next memory block (ST106), and the storage information described in ST107 is written in the memory block management area.
At this time, the number of the memory block for which writing has been completed is written in the next memory block position in the previous memory block management area, and a chain connection is performed. Thus, ST10
Data is written to the memory block by repeating the loop of steps 6 to 108, 110, and 111. If the erase block becomes full on the way, a free block is obtained in STs 103, 104, and 105, and writing to the memory block is performed.

When there is no more write data (ST108), the information stored in the erase block management area and the memory block management area is made to represent the state in which the data has been written. The directory information is closed (ST109), and the process ends. If there is no empty block in ST103, the process ends because data cannot be stored.

Next, the flow of erasing the flash memory in erase block units will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is confirmed that operations such as memory transmission, memory reception, and reception of an answering machine have been completed (ST201). Next, the erase block is taken out, and the block is assigned the NO. 1 to NO. It is confirmed that this is the first block of 16 (that is, No. 1) (ST202).
Whether the erase block is unused or not is confirmed by the block use information in the erase block management area (ST20).
3) If not used, the last erase block, that is, NO. 16 (ST204). If it is not the last block, the next erase block, that is, NO. 2
Is confirmed (ST205).

If the erase block is in use in ST203, it is determined whether or not the data of all the memory blocks in the erase block is to be erased (ST21).
0) Here, the deletion target means the end of transmission in the case of transmission data, the end of recording in the case of reception data, and the like. If there is any data that is not to be erased in one erase block, the erase block is not erased, and the process proceeds to ST204. If all are to be erased, the erase block is erased (ST21).
1) The erased erase block is chain-coupled to the rear end of the empty block group shown in FIG. (ST212). This is logically linked by the storage information in the erase block management area shown in FIG. 3, and the storage information may be left in the initial state by erasing. That is, the block erase state is "unused", the block use information is "unused", and so on, and the number of the next erase block is "FF" indicating the end.

After confirming the next erase block in ST205, it is checked whether or not the operation request in ST201 has been generated (ST206), and if so, it is checked whether or not an empty erase block has a specified value or more (ST207). Investigation of empty erase blocks may be performed by checking block use information in all erase block management areas and counting unused blocks. The specified value is a value determined by transmission and reception data handled by the facsimile machine. If the number of empty blocks is equal to or larger than the specified value, the erasing operation is interrupted and the operation is executed (ST208). ST203, ST204, ST210 to ST21 performed
Step 2 is repeated. These processes are performed in the final block (N
O. 16) is repeated (ST204). By performing such an erasing operation periodically or when instructed by the operation unit 5, the flash memory 11 can be used efficiently.

Next, a case where the operator erases the contents of the erase section will be described. In the case of a received message of an answering machine, it cannot be deleted until the recipient of the message has listened to the message. Unless the posting period is indicated on a facsimile bulletin board or the like, it is difficult to know how long it should be posted unless it is a poster. In such a case, the facsimile apparatus is configured so that the party can perform a necessary instruction from the operation unit 5 and delete the instruction. In this case, the deletion status is displayed on the display unit 6 so that the operator can confirm the deletion.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display at the time of an erasing operation.
13 shows a display when an operator deletes a bulletin board on a facsimile bulletin board. Normally, the date and time are displayed on the display unit 6, and when there is an instruction to delete the bulletin board, a message "Kagebanshokyo?" Is displayed to confirm the instruction, and then "Showkyochu" is displayed. Is displayed and the display returns to the original date and time display. During this time, the operator is informed of the fact that the erasure has been completed instantaneously in a short time.

However, in this embodiment, erasing one erase block takes about 2 seconds, and it takes a considerable time to erase the contents stored in a plurality of erase blocks. For this reason, the display indicates that the erase block has been erased in the state where the block erase state in the erase block management area is changed from "not" to "completed", and after the display, the erase operation is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. . As a result, an easy-to-use facsimile apparatus can be realized.

[0032]

According to the present invention, even if the data can be erased only in block units, it can be used in the same manner as conventional DRAMs and SRAMs. Since the memory does not require a power supply for holding the stored contents, it has the effect of being easy to use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a flash memory used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an erase block management area.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a state used for each file of an erase block.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a memory block management area.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart for checking a flash memory at power-on.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a write operation to a flash memory.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an erase operation of a flash memory.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a display example for displaying an erase state of a flash memory;

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 reading unit 5 operation unit 6 display unit 7 recording unit 8 voice recording / playback control unit 11 flash memory 12 memory control unit 13 display control unit 14 main control unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A memory means which divides a storage area into blocks and erasable only in block units, and a control means which divides a response message and a received message of an answering machine and stores them in each block of the memory means. A communication device comprising: 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein information in said memory means is erased in block units in accordance with an instruction of an operator. 3. The communication apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the received message can be deleted by an instruction of an operator on condition that the message is output. 4. A memory unit which divides a storage area into blocks and erasable only in block units, and a control unit which divides facsimile information and telephone information and stores them in each block of the memory unit. Communication device provided. 5. The communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the facsimile information is deleted from said memory means when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and said telephone information is deleted from said memory means according to an instruction of an operator. . 6. In a communication device provided with a flash memory, information is divided into blocks, which are erasing units, in the flash memory and stored, and when a condition for erasing information in a block is satisfied, the information is erased. A communication device comprising: a control unit for controlling.