JPS63246948A - Communication system for facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the communication time with less information quantity by generating a telephone directory registering information of a terminal station and of a relay station next to the terminal station and adding the information distinguishing direct or relay communication to each terminal station and relay station registered in the telephone directory. CONSTITUTION:A telephone directory registering the information of a terminal station being the transmission destination station and a repeater station next to the said terminal station is generated to a transmission station end the information distinguishing the direct or relay communication is added to each of the terminal stations and repeater stations registered in the telephone directory. In the case of the relay communication, the information representing the relay station next to the terminal station is registered on an opposite telephone number table and the information representing the terminal station is registered on the information table of the terminal station and the terminal station information is sent to the next repeater station together with picture information. Thus, the relay information to be sent is decreased to a minimum number and the transmission destination of picture information is instructed without notifying the intervention of the repeater station.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a communication system for a facsimile device that transmits image information of the same document created by a sending facsimile device to one or more destinations.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in such a system, when performing relay communication or relay broadcasting, not only the transmitter's operator instructs the recipient of the image information, but also each relay station that relays the image information each time it transmits. I needed to give instructions. For example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-148941, the sending facsimile machine creates a destination table in which the telephone numbers of relay stations are arranged in descending order of distance, and transmits the destination table together with image information. There is a broadcast communication system in which a relay station refers to the destination table, detects the next relay station, and transmits the destination table and image information to a desired destination terminal station.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the above broadcast communication method, the transmission source must specify all the relay stations on the route to the destination terminal station, and the protocol includes information on the relay stations.
There was a problem that the amount of information became extremely large and the communication time became long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is a facsimile machine that can reduce the amount of relay information to be transmitted to a minimum and specify the destination of image information without being aware of the intervention of a relay station. The purpose is to provide a communication method.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] In the present invention, a telephone number book is created in the transmitting station to register information on the destination terminal station and the next relay station leading to the terminal station, and
Information distinguishing direct or relay communication is added to the telephone number list for each of the registered terminal stations and relay stations, and if the designated terminal station is direct communication, information indicating the terminal station is sent to the other party. The image information is transmitted to the terminal station by registering it in the telephone number table, and if the terminal station is in relay communication, information indicating the next relay station to reach the terminal station is registered in the destination telephone number table. At the same time, information indicating the terminal station is registered in the terminal station information table, and the terminal station information is transmitted together with the image information to the next relay station. If there are multiple relay stations, each relay station Only the next relay station leading to the destination terminal station is registered, a new relay destination is designated for each relay station, and image information can be relayed and communicated.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 5.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus of a transmission source, a relay station, and a destination terminal station for carrying out the present invention. In the figure, reading device 11
reads the original document optically and converts it into image information, and the image information is stored in the image memory 12. The system data RAM 1B is a RAM that stores a telephone number list, which will be described later, created by the operation of the operation instruction device 14.
The central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 15 uses the communication control unit 17 via the DMA bus based on the telephone number book.
control. Through this control, the communication control unit 17 controls the code/
The image information encoded by the decoding device 16 is transmitted via a line to a relay station or destination terminal station (not shown). Further, when the communication control unit 17 receives encoded image information from another station, the encoding/decoding device 16 decodes the image information. Note that 18 is a printing device for printing image information, and 19 is a disk device for auxiliary storage of image information.

FIGS. 2(a) to 2(c) are diagrams showing the above-mentioned telephone number book, destination telephone number table, and terminal station information table. In FIG. 2(a), the telephone number book contains information on the following items.

1) The number of the item in this telephone directory 2) The abbreviation of the item in this telephone directory 3) The telephone number of the other station 4) Flag indicating whether it is direct communication or indirect (relay) communication 5) In the case of relay communication The next relay station item (the number of the item itself) in the own station leading to the destination terminal station 6) In the case of relay communication, the telephone number book item (abbreviation or number of the item itself) in the next relay station is the component.

The destination telephone number table in Fig. 2(b) has the function of a pointer that associates the local station with the next relay station. 2) The component is a pointer to a terminal station information table, which will be described later.

The terminal station information table in FIG. 2(C) is information that is transmitted to the next relay station along with image information, and the item number of the destination terminal station registered in the telephone number list of the next relay station is the component. It is said that The information in the terminal station information table above is included in the NSS (non-standard function setting signal) for document transmission group 3 (G3) facsimile machines.
In the document transmission group 4 (G4) facsimile machines, the data is transmitted included in a CDUI (Command Document User Information) block.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of relay communication according to the present invention. In the figure, the image information sent by the facsimile machine of the instruction station is sent to A via the relay stations of Y branch and Z branch.
The system is such that the information is transmitted to the facsimile machines of the terminal stations of Company B and Company B. The telephone number books of the instruction station and the relay station are created as shown in FIG.

Next, the communication system between the instruction station and the relay station shown in FIG. 3 will be explained using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. First, at the instruction station, as shown in FIG. 4, the operator operates the keyboard of the operation instruction device to specify the destinations of company A and B to which image information is to be sent, using abbreviations or abbreviated numbers (step 1).
01). In response to this designation, the CPU searches the telephone number list for the items of companies A and B designated as terminal stations for each company (step 102), and determines whether direct transmission is required (
Step 103). In the case of direct transmission, the information of item number 1.3 of company A and company B registered in the telephone number book of the own station is registered in the destination telephone number table (step 104). Next, the CPU determines whether there is another terminal station to which image information should be transmitted (step 105), and if there is, returns to step 102 and repeats the above operation,
If there is no terminal station to which transmission should be made, other transmission options, such as transmission time designation, are set, and image information of the original is stored in memory (step 106).

Then, the CPU searches the telephone number book based on the information of item number 1.3 registered in the destination telephone number table, and
Company, Company B's facsimile machine telephone numbers (AAA, BB)
B) can be checked, and the image information can be automatically transmitted to companies A and B (step 107).

In addition, in step 103, if the transmission to the destination company A or company B is a relay transmission, a
The next relay station (relay station 1 of Y branch) registered in the items of Company and Company B is registered in the information hand telephone number table of item number 4 (step 108). Next, the CPU registers the transmission registered in the telephone number list of relay station 1 of branch Y in the terminal station information table (step 109). Next, in step 105, the CPU determines whether there is any other terminal station to transmit to, as described above. If there is no other terminal station, in step 106, the CPU sets other transmission options and stores the image information in memory. accumulate. Then, the phone number book is searched based on the information in item number 4 registered in the destination phone number table, the phone number (YYY) of the facsimile machine of relay station 1 is checked, and the terminal station information is automatically sent to company A along with the image information. , and can be transmitted to Company B (step 107).

When the relay station 1 receives a communication containing the terminal station information as shown in FIG. 5 (step 111), the CPU searches the telephone number book for entries for companies A and B that are designated as terminal stations. Step 112), and it is determined whether direct transmission is required (Step 113).

In the case of direct transmission, the information of item numbers 2', 3' of Company A and Company B registered in the telephone number directory of the own station is registered in the destination telephone number table (step 114).
. Next, the CPU determines whether there is a terminal station to which image information should be transmitted (Step 115)) If there is a terminal station to which image information should be transmitted, the process returns to step 112 and repeats the above operation; There are other sending options,
For example, the transmission time designation and the like are set, and the image information of the original is stored in memory (step 116). And the CPU is phase 1'
Search the telephone number directory based on the information of 3'
The above image information can be automatically sent to Company A and Company B by checking the telephone number (AAASBBB) of the company's facsimile machine. (Step 117).

In addition, in step 113, if the transmission to destinations A and B is a relay transmission, the next relay station (Z The information of item number 1' of relay station 2) of the branch office is registered in the destination telephone number table (step 118). Next, the CPU sends the destination company A registered in the telephone number list of relay station 2 of branch Z to the terminal station information table.
``ゝ'' information of item number 5''7' of Company B is registered (step 119).Next, in step 115, the CPU determines whether there is any other terminal station to transmit to, and if the terminal station is If not, step 1
In step 16, other transmission options are set and the image information is memorized. Then, the telephone number book is searched based on the information of item number 1' registered in the destination telephone number table, and relay station 2
Find out the phone number (Z Z Z Z) of the facsimile machine,
The terminal station information along with the image information can be automatically transmitted to companies A and B (step 117).

When relay station 2 receives the communication containing the terminal station information, it operates based on the same flowchart as relay station 1. That is, the CPU searches the telephone number list for the entries of companies A and B designated as terminal stations, and determines whether direct transmission is to be performed. Since this is a direct transmission, the CPU is registered in its own telephone number directory in the destination telephone number table. Next, the CPU determines whether there are other terminal stations to which the image information should be transmitted, and if there are other terminal stations, it searches for the specified terminal station again and repeats the above operation, until the terminal station to which the image information should be transmitted is found. If not, the telephone number book is searched based on the information of item number 2'4.4'J registered in the destination telephone number table, and the telephone numbers of the facsimile machines of Company B and Company A (B B B.

AAA) and automatically sends the above image information to Company A and Company B.

In this way, in the present invention, a telephone number book is created in which information of the destination terminal station and the next relay station leading to the terminal station is registered in the instruction station and the relay station, and the telephone number book is used to perform relay communication. Therefore, the operator of the instruction station can instruct the destination and transmit image information by simply inputting only the abbreviation or abbreviated number of the destination terminal station, without being aware of the intervention of a relay station. Further, the protocol does not need to include information on all relay routes, and only the next relay information is required, reducing the amount of information and the transmission time.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention creates a telephone number book in which information on a destination terminal station and the next relay station leading to the terminal station is registered in a transmitting station, and also stores information in the telephone number book. Add information to distinguish between direct or relay communication for each registered terminal station and relay station, and if the specified terminal station is a direct communication, information indicating the terminal station is added to the destination telephone number table. When the terminal station performs relay communication, registers information indicating the next relay station to the terminal station in the destination telephone number table, and transmits the image information to the terminal station. Information indicating the station is registered in the terminal station information table, and the terminal station information is transmitted to the next relay station along with the image information, so the amount of relay information to be transmitted can be reduced to a minimum and the intervention of the relay station can be kept in mind. You can specify the destination of the image information without having to do so.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a telephone number book, a destination telephone number table and a terminal station information table, also according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 and 5 are flowcharts of the instruction station and relay station shown in FIG. 3. 11... Reading device, 12... Image memory, 13.
... RAM, 14... Investigation instruction device, 15... Central processing unit (CPU), 16... Encoding/decoding device,
17... Communication control unit, 18... Printing device, 19...
・Disk device. (a) Look at the phone number (b) + Episode 84
FF is in trouble! Curse 7') Figure 2 - 1 lap of the core

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A communication system for a facsimile machine that transmits image information created at a transmitting station to at least one specified destination terminal station, wherein the transmitting station has the following steps: A telephone number book is created in which information on relay stations is registered, and information is added to the telephone number book to distinguish between direct or relay communication for each of the registered terminal stations and relay stations, and the specified terminal station is In the case of direct communication, information indicating the terminal station is registered in the destination telephone number table and the image information is transmitted to the terminal station, and in the case of relay communication by the terminal station, the information indicating the terminal station is transmitted to the terminal station. Information indicating the next relay station is registered in the destination telephone number table, information indicating the terminal station is registered in the terminal station information table, and the terminal station information is transmitted together with the image information to the next relay station. A communication method for a facsimile device that is characterized by: