JPS63237665A - Picture communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To display an accurate transmission time by calculating the information volume of picture data stored in a picture memory and obtaining time information required for transmission of stored picture data in accordance with this information volume and a communication condition. CONSTITUTION:In case of picture transmission, all original data is stored in a memory 12 and the information volume of transmission pictures is obtained, and the time obtained by dividing this information volume by the communication speed and the time required for precedures are added to calculate and display the time required for communication. That is, the data volume of picture data stored in the memory circuit 12 is found through a signal line 12b, and the time obtained by dividing this data volume by the transmission speed and the time obtained by multiplying the time for procedures by the number of untransmitted originals are added to calculate the time required for transmission of untransmitted originals. Calculated time information is outputted to a display circuit 30 through a signal line 32g and is displayed. Thus, the accurate transmission time is displayed without error.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an image communication device, in particular, to an image communication device, which stores all image data to be transmitted in an image memory, and performs a memory transmission operation of transmitting the image data in the image memory. The present invention relates to an image communication device.

[Prior Art] At present, image communication devices such as facsimile machines are not capable of high-speed image communication in terms of reading speed, recording speed, or line communication speed, and are unable to handle large numbers of originals. Sending and receiving requires considerable processing time.

Therefore, several techniques have been proposed that allow the operator to easily foresee the work by determining the time required to transmit one image data and displaying the data one time.

For example, a method is being considered that calculates the time required for the communication based on the number of pages of the original to be sent and the time required to send one standard page of the original. , there is a method that relatively accurately calculates the time required for the communication from the communication conditions determined in the pre-communication procedure and the standard transmission time for one page obtained from the most recent communication, or the time required for the procedure. It is considered.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional method as described above, calculations based on the data of the image itself transmitted in the communication are not performed, so it is difficult to calculate accurate communication time. be. For example, the amount of information on the same page varies greatly depending on the nature of the images being transmitted and received, and the amount of information that is actually transmitted will vary greatly after encoding is performed to reduce redundancy.

Furthermore, in the conventional method, the document size is determined based on its width. That is, if the document size determined by the sensor of the document loading section is A4 size, the document size is recognized as A4. Therefore, if the document is a non-standard long or short size, calculating the communication time based on the standard size will result in a large error.If you calculate the length of all the documents, the calculation will be quite accurate. However, the structure becomes complicated due to the need for sensors and other components.

Means for Solving Problem L] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention stores all the image data to be transmitted in the image memory, and performs a memory transmission operation of transmitting the image data in the image memory. When performing the above-mentioned memory transmission operation, an image communication device that performs the above calculation calculates the amount of information of the image data stored in the image memory, and calculates the amount of information necessary to transmit the stored image data based on the communication conditions. The present invention employs a configuration that includes a calculation means for determining time information and a means for outputting information regarding the transmission time determined by this means.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, since the transmission time can be calculated based on the amount of image data actually transmitted, the accurate transmission time can be displayed without causing any errors.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a facsimile device as an example of an image communication device employing the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 2a indicates a telephone line. The telephone line 2a is connected to an NCU 2 that performs line switching between the telephone 4 and the facsimile apparatus after the hybrid circuit 6, and maintains a DC loop. A telephone 4 for telephone calls or manual calls is connected to the NCU 2 via a signal line 2b. This line switching is performed by a CML relay built into the NCU2.

The switching operation of the CML relay of the NCU 2 is controlled by a signal line 32 by a control unit 32 composed of a microprocessor, etc.
controlled via a. The control unit 32 outputs a signal level “0”.
” and “1” to the NCU 2, and the line 2a is connected to either the telephone 4 or the hybrid circuit 6 according to each data value.

A hybrid circuit 6 connected to the NCU 2 via a signal line 2e is used to separate transmitted and received signals. The transmission signal is inputted from the signal line 18&, and the received signal is outputted via the signal line 6a.

The facsimile machine after the hybrid circuit 6 is configured as follows.

Addition circuit 18 connects signal lines 14a, 1 from modulator j4.
This is for adding image signals or communication procedure signals input via 6a. Here, the modulator 16 is a modulator that complies with CCITT recommendation Vll, which modulates a communication procedure signal input from the control unit 32 via the signal line 32e.

The modulator 14 modulates the image signal and is a modulator that complies with CCITT recommendation V27t6r or V29.
The zero communication speed is controlled by the control section 32 via the signal line 32c.

That is, four types of data with signal levels "0" to "3" are input from the control unit 32 to the signal line 32c, and the transmission speed of the modulator 14 is changed according to each data level ct 2400.4800. 7200 to 9600b
ps.

Further, the image signal is read by a reading circuit 8 composed of a CCD sensor, etc., and its redundancy is suppressed by an encoding circuit 10 using an MH or MR encoding method.
0a to the modulator 14 or once the RA
After being stored in a memory circuit 12 composed of M elements, etc., the signal is inputted via a signal line 12a.

Whether the encoded output is directly input to the modulator 14 or whether the stored data is input from the memory circuit 12 during memory transmission is controlled by the control unit 32 via the signal line 32d. That is, when the signal level of the signal line 32d is "0", the direct output of the signal line 10a is output, and the signal level is "1".
In this case, the memory output of the signal line 12a is selected as the input signal of the modulator 14.

The amount of data stored in the memory circuit 12 is reported to the control unit 32 via the signal line 12b.

Next, the receiving system connected after the signal line 6a will be explained.

A demodulator 28a connected to the signal line 6a demodulates the received procedural signal using a demodulation method that complies with CCITT Recommendation V21. The demodulated procedure signal is sent to the signal line 28a.
is input to the control unit via.

Further, the received image signal is demodulated by the 13y21 unit 20 using a demodulation method corresponding to the modulation method of the modulator 16, and input directly to the decoding circuit 24 via the signal line 20a or via the memory circuit 22. Ru.

The memory circuit 22 is equivalent to the memory circuit 12 described above, and is used to store the received coded image signal in the case of memory reception. The output of the memory circuit 22 is input to the decoding circuit 24 via a signal line 22a.

The transmission rate at the time of reception by the demodulator 20 is controlled by the control unit 32 via the signal line 32e.The signal line 32e is controlled by the control circuit 32 to four data levels r01 to "3", and each The transmission speed for the data value is 2400°4800.7200t or 9600bpS (
1) Either is controlled.

The decoding circuit 24 includes the memory circuit 22 or the demodulator 20.
The output data is input, the image signal is decoded using a decoding method compatible with the encoding circuit 10, and the image signal is sent to the recording circuit 26, which is constituted by a thermal printer or the like, via a signal line 24a.
Input the digitized data.

Whether the image signal is input from the memory circuit 22 or directly from the demodulator 20 is controlled by the control section 32 via the signal line 32f. When the signal level of the signal line 32f is "0", the image data of the signal line 20a is also transmitted to the signal line 32f.
When the signal level is rlJ, the memorized image data on the signal line 22a is input to the decoding circuit 24.

The operation of the device is controlled in accordance with the operation of an operation section 31 composed of a display, a keyboard, and the like. The keyboard of the operation unit 31 is composed of alphabet keys, ten-key, start key, and various function keys, and three types of data input from these keys are sent to the control circuit 36 via signal lines 3ia to 31c, respectively. Man-powered.

In addition, in this embodiment, in order to display and output information on the time required for transmitting an untransmitted document at the time of transmission, the display circuit 30 provided with the display circuit 30 may be a display element such as an LCD or an LED (or a voice synthesis circuit, etc.). The time information to be displayed consisting of (possible) is calculated by the control module 32,
I can get g. Reference numeral 34 is a timer that generates a pulse on the signal line 34a every 1 second.

The control unit 32 is composed of a microprocessor, a RAM element, etc., and controls the operation of the entire device according to a control program stored in a ROM 32r.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. 2 and wS3. FIG. 2 shows the processing sequence p of the control unit 32 of the device shown in FIG. 1 when transmitting an image, and FIG. 3 shows the processing procedure of the device shown in FIG. 1 when receiving an image. The illustrated process f order is stored in the ROM 32r in FIG. 1 as a control program. In the following, a G3 facsimile procedure conforming to CCITT Recommendation T4 will be exemplified.

In this embodiment, when transmitting an image, all document data is stored in the memory 12, the amount of information of the transmitted image is determined,
The time required for communication is calculated by adding the time required for one procedure to the time divided by the communication speed and displayed. This time calculation and display is performed when executing the pre-procedure at the start of communication and every time one page is sent. The calculated time information is also transferred to the image receiving side and displayed on the display on the receiving side.

First, the image transmission procedure shown in FIG. 2 will be explained.

A document is loaded into the reading circuit 8, and the star on the operation section 31).
When the start of transmission is instructed by pressing a key, etc., the second
The diagram transmission procedure begins.

First, in step S42, a signal of signal level "0" is output from the signal line 32, and the telephone line 2a is connected to the signal line 2b.
Connect to the telephone 4 side via. That is, the CML relay of NCU2 is cut off.

In step S44, time data to be displayed on the display circuit 30 via the signal line 32g is "O hours O minutes 0".
0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds is displayed as the time required to transmit the untransmitted original.

In step 54B, it is determined whether the mode for storing transmitted image information in memory has been selected. The memory storage mode of the transmission data is set by appropriate operations on the operation section 31.

For example, use the function keys, alphabet keys, etc. to select "Function", "r Memory", "W".
By operating the keys in a predetermined order such as "Function",
It is conceivable to set the memory storage mode, but it is determined in step S46 whether or not such an operation has been performed by inputting the signal lines 31a and 31c.

In step S48, all image data read by the reading circuit 8 and encoded by the encoding circuit 10 is stored in the memory circuit 12. At this time, the number of manuscripts is also counted,
The information is stored in a predetermined area such as the RAM of the control unit 32. The stored memory amount is output to the signal line 12b.

In step S50, the operation unit 31 determines whether the transmission mode for the image data stored in the memory has been selected.
The determination is made by examining the output in the same manner as in step S46. For example, it is checked whether a predetermined key such as "Function", "Memory", "R", "Function J", etc. has been pressed.

In step S52, a signal of signal level "1" is output to the signal line 32a, and the telephone line is connected to the facsimile machine side. That is, the CML relay of NCU2 is turned on.

In step S54, the modulator 16 is used to transmit a three-procedure signal that performs a known pre-communication procedure. The communication speed is
It is determined according to the partner device and line status through well-known training and the like. The transmission speed is determined by connecting the modulator 14 to the signal line 32c.
In addition, the receiving speed of the three receivers is controlled to the value determined in the procedure by controlling the demodulator 20 of the three receivers via the signal line 32e.

In this embodiment, the time required to transmit the untransmitted original is calculated at a predetermined timing during the pre-communication procedure, for example, before transmitting the reception command signal.

In other words, since the amount of image data stored in the memory circuit 12 can be known via the signal line 12b, the time obtained by dividing this data amount by the transmission speed, and the time obtained by multiplying the procedure time by the number of untransmitted images. By adding these, the time required to transmit the untransmitted original can be calculated.

The calculated time information is sent to the display circuit 3 via the signal line 32g.
Output to 0 and display 1.

This time information is also transmitted to the receiving side and is transmitted to the display circuit 3.
0, and an N5S (non-standard device setting) signal is used to transmit information at that time. That is, F of the NSS signal
Time information expressed in a predetermined data format, such as a λ character code, is transmitted using an IF (facsimile information field). The time information displayed on both the transmitter and the receiver is decremented as time passes, and the time information is reset the next time the time is calculated on the transmitter side. By resetting the time information, more accurate time information can be provided for errors in procedure time, etc. Furthermore, if the transmission speed is affected by fall pack, etc., it is necessary to reset the time information.

In step 556, image data is transmitted using a procedure similar to that known in the art. At this time, the transmitted image data is output from either the memory circuit 12 or the encoding circuit 10 to the modulator 14. the transmission rate of the modulator 14;
Selection of input data is made using the signal lines 32c and 32d as described above.
It is done through. - In step S58, post message signals exchanged between zero image messages for performing intermediate procedures, such as EO
P (end off page), MPS (multipage),
When sending an EOM (end off message) signal,
The time required to transmit the currently untransmitted manuscript is calculated in the same manner as described above, and this time is displayed on the display circuit 30. Further, a PIF is provided in the above-mentioned post message signal, and the time information required for transmitting the untransmitted original is transmitted by this signal, and the time information is reset and displayed on the receiving side.

In step S60, it is determined whether the last page of the document has been transmitted. When the last page is transmitted, that is, when the EOP signal is sent, the process advances to step 362. There is a change in the communication mode etc. instead of the final page,
When sending out the ROM signal, the process advances to step 554.

Further, if it is not the last page and there is no mode change, the process moves to step 356.

In step S82, a known post-communication procedure is performed.

Image transmission is performed as described above.

On the other hand, on the one-image receiving side, reception δ processing is performed according to the control procedure shown in FIG.

First, in step S72, a signal of signal level rOJ is output to the signal line 32a, and the telephone line 2a is connected to the telephone 4.
Connect to the side. That is, the CML relay of NCU2 is turned off.

In step S76, if the reception mode is selected by a predetermined operation to start manual reception to determine whether the reception mode is selected, or by detection of a calling signal in automatic reception mode, the process proceeds to step 578.

In step S78, a signal with a signal level of "lJ" is output to the signal line 32a, and the telephone line 2a is connected to the facsimile device after the hybrid circuit 6.

In step S80, a pre-communication procedure is performed.

In the communication between the devices in Figure 1, as mentioned above, the FIF of the NSS signal contains information regarding the time required to transmit the untransferred document, so in this case, the time required to transmit the untransmitted original is determined from the received NSS signal. The information is extracted and output to the signal line 32g to be displayed on the display circuit 30.

In step S82, image reception is performed using a procedure similar to that known in the art.The received data is stored in the memory circuit 22, or is decoded in real time by the decoding circuit 24 and then recorded by the recording circuit 26.

In step 384, intermediate procedures are performed. The transmitter is the first
In the device shown in the figure, when the PIF of the post message command signal exchanged between image messages includes time information required to transmit the untransmitted original, this time information is output to the signal line 32g. The display circuit 30 displays the information.

In step S86, it is determined whether the final page has been received. When the final page is received and the EOP signal is received, the process proceeds to step 388. If it is not the final page and there is a communication mode change, the ROM signal is transmitted and the process returns to step 380. If it is not the last page but 1 communication mode change, MPS signal is sent Δ
Therefore, the process returns to step 382.

In step 388, a post-communication procedure is performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the display circuit 30 of the transmitter displays the time required to transmit the currently untransmitted document, so that the operator on the transmitting side can use the facsimile machine for the communication. Being able to know the time and make work plans in advance can greatly improve work efficiency. In particular, according to this embodiment, the time required for transmission is calculated based on the amount of information of the transmitted image once stored in memory, so the document size is determined only from the document width and the standard amount of information for that document size is calculated. The time required for transmission can be determined more accurately than conventional methods, such as determining the communication time based on the data.

Also, on the receiving side, information regarding the time required for transmission, that is, the time required for one image communication, is sent from the transmitting side.
° Since it is displayed, the operator on the receiving side can also know the communication time accurately, which can be used to improve the efficiency of work. In particular, on the receiving side, when receiving an incoming call, the communication cannot be influenced by the circumstances of the receiving side, so if you can know the communication time, you can operate the equipment more efficiently than if you cannot know the communication time. It is possible.

In the above, an example related to a G3 facsimile machine has been considered, but the same technology can be implemented with other image communication methods by changing the method of transmitting and receiving information regarding communication time between the sender and the receiver. . In addition to the above-mentioned subtraction method as a method for displaying one-hour information, in a device that includes a built-in clock IC, it is also possible to display the time at which communication ends. Of course, in this case, the communication end time can be displayed by adding the determined communication time to the current time.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, all image data to be transmitted can be stored in the image memory.

In an image communication device that performs a memory transmission operation for transmitting image data in an image memory, when performing the memory transmission operation, the amount of information of the image data stored in the image memory is calculated, and this amount of information and communication conditions are calculated. The structure includes a calculation means for calculating the time information necessary to transmit the image data stored in the image data, and a means for outputting the information regarding the transmission time determined by this means. Since the transmission time can be calculated based on the amount of image data to be transmitted, the accurate transmission time can be displayed without any errors.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile device adopting the present invention, and WS2 and FIG. 3 show the communication processing procedure of the control unit when the device shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a flowchart 1 shown in FIG.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) Storing all image data to be transmitted in an image memory;
In an image communication device that performs a memory transmission operation for transmitting image data in an image memory, when performing the memory transmission operation, the amount of information of the image data stored in the image memory is calculated, and this amount of information and communication conditions are calculated. What is claimed is: 1. An image communication device comprising: arithmetic means for obtaining time information necessary for transmitting image data stored in the image data; and means for outputting information regarding the transmission time obtained by the means. 2) The image communication device according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the transmission time determined by the calculation means is transmitted to the image receiving side and is used by the image receiving side.