KR100502734B1 - Method for non-stop fax transmission with T.38/T.37/T.30 protocol switching and apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for a non-stop fax transmission through T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching.

According to the present invention, in a method of transmitting a fax through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet, a state of a network in which the Internet is set up to receive a fax transmission request including a fax transmission destination and to transmit a fax over the Internet. Is determined to be normal, and if the network is abnormal, the fax is transmitted through the public switched telephone network using the T.30 protocol. If the network is normal, the fax is sent using the T.37 protocol. If it is determined that the destination fax gateway is capable of receiving a fax, the fax is transmitted in real time over the Internet using the T.38 protocol. To save money, you can use T.38 to send faxes in real time over the Internet. If the other party cannot receive the fax immediately, switch to T.37 to save the data received for sending the fax, and then send the fax or e-mail when the other party can receive the fax. do. And even if the power supply of the fax transmission system is interrupted or a problem occurs in the fax transmission system, the T.30 method can be used to send a fax to the PSTN network in a conventional manner, enabling a more complete non-stop fax transmission. .

Description

Method for non-stop fax transmission through protocol switching and its apparatus {Method for non-stop fax transmission with T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching and apparatus}

The present invention relates to a fax transmission, and more particularly, to a fax transmission by sending a fax while switching the T.30, T.37 and T.38 protocol for fax transmission according to the situation. The present invention relates to a fax transmission method and an apparatus capable of preventing a fax transmission from being stopped.

First, the T.30, T.37, and T.38 protocols specified as International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications (ITU-T) standards for fax transmission are described.

T.30 protocol: A standard for the transmission of faxes or fax images from a fax terminal to another via a public switched telephone network (PSTN).

T.37 protocol (Store & Forward): temporarily stores the fax image from the fax terminal in the memory inside the system that sends the fax according to the T.37 protocol, and then stops communicating with the fax terminal that requested the fax transmission. It is a standard for sending fax image data that has been saved before sending a fax transmission signal to a fax terminal.

T.38 Protocol (Real Time FAX): A standard that is used to send a fax to an external fax terminal in real time over the Internet. If the destination fax terminal is in use, it is treated as busy and the fax image data cannot be sent.

What has been described above for each protocol has been simplified for the purpose of describing the operation of the present invention, and unless otherwise indicated, the technical part of the above protocol is as described in the document about the protocol already published. It will work and will not be described separately.

Conventionally, a fax transmission method or a fax transmission terminal device used for a fax transmission includes a fax terminal adopting a T.30 transmission method, and a fax terminal using only a T.37 method or a T.38 method. There is a fax server. In other words, there are three protocols for fax transmission, but only using a method of fax transmission according to the protocol using a fax terminal using only one protocol.

In addition, the fax terminal using the T.30 method uses a public switched telephone network to send a fax, so when the amount of documents to be faxed is large, a call charge using the public switched telephone network is expensive. In the case of T.38 type fax transmission, which does not use a public switched telephone network for fax transmission, there is a problem that fax transmission cannot be performed when there is an error in the network where the Internet is set.

In the case of the fax terminal or fax server using the T.37 method, faxes are transmitted through a packet network such as the Internet without using a public telephone network. There is a problem that the transmission result is not immediately known because it is stored and transmitted.

In addition, the T.37 or T.38 type fax server system may not be able to send a fax at all if the system fails due to a system malfunction or a power failure.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, can be fax transmission using all the T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol, fax transmission method or apparatus according to the present invention It flexibly responds to the Tx38, T.37, and T.30 protocols according to the environment of the fax transmission, and sends the fax using the appropriate protocol according to the surrounding conditions. The present invention provides a non-stop fax transmission method and apparatus thereof through T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching.

In accordance with the present invention for solving the above technical problem, a non-stop fax transmission method through the T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching, in the method for fax transmission via a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet, (a) receiving a fax transmission request including a fax transmission destination; (b) determining whether a state of a network on which the Internet is set up for sending a fax over the Internet is normal; (c) faxing a fax transmission request received in step (a) to a destination via a public switched telephone network using a T.30 protocol when the network condition is abnormal; (d) determining whether the fax gateway connected to the fax terminal of the destination of the fax transmission can receive the fax using the T.37 or T.38 protocol when the network is in a normal state; (e) If the destination fax gateway supports the T.37 protocol, save the fax image of the contents to be faxed and send the e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination or attach the fax image as an attachment, or the stored fax image. Transmitting a fax using a T.37 protocol for transmitting a; And (f) if it is determined in step (d) that the destination fax gateway supports the T.38 protocol and is capable of receiving a fax, step (a) is performed in real time through the Internet using the T.38 protocol. Fax transmission to a corresponding destination; and, in step (d), the fax gateway determines whether the fax gateway can receive a fax using the T.37 protocol. Determine whether there is a gateway, and if it is determined that there is no fax gateway, store the fax image of the contents to be faxed in step (e) and place the fax image as an attachment to correspond to the fax destination. Email address, and in step (d), the destination has a fax gateway that supports the T.37 protocol. If it is determined that the fax gateway cannot receive the fax, the fax image of the contents to be faxed is stored in step (e), and when the fax gateway of the destination becomes ready to receive the fax, the stored fax image It characterized in that for transmitting.

At this time, if the recipient's fax terminal is identified as capable of receiving a fax in step (f), but there is an error in Internet connection or fax transmission using the T.38 protocol, T.37 It is preferable to send a fax using a protocol.

In accordance with the present invention for solving the other technical problem, the non-stop fax transmission apparatus through the T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching, in the apparatus for transmitting a fax through a public switched telephone network and the Internet, A fax transmission receiver receiving a transmission request; A network state determining unit determining whether a state of a network where the Internet is set is normal; A primary switch unit for switching a fax transmission path so that a fax transmission is performed using a T.30 protocol when the network status is abnormal and a T.37 / T.38 protocol when the network status is normal; A T.30 protocol execution unit for transmitting a fax according to the T.30 protocol by connecting the fax transmission request of the fax transmission receiver to a public switched network when the primary switch unit is switched to the T.30 protocol; A destination status determining unit for determining whether the fax gateway connected to the fax terminal of the destination of the fax transmission can receive the fax using the T.37 or T.38 protocol; If the destination status gateway determines that the destination FAX gateway can receive faxes using the T.37 protocol, the T.37 protocol can be received. A secondary switch unit for switching a path of a fax transmission so that a fax is transmitted to the network; When the secondary switch unit is switched to the T.37 protocol, it stores a fax image of the contents to be faxed according to the T.37 protocol, and sends an e-mail to a place corresponding to the fax destination using the fax image as an attachment file or the A T.37 protocol execution unit for transmitting a fax using the T.37 protocol for transmitting the stored fax image; And a T.38 protocol execution unit for faxing the fax transmission to a destination in real time through the Internet using the T.38 protocol when the secondary switch unit is switched to the T.38 protocol. When determining whether the destination fax gateway can receive a fax according to the T.37 protocol, whether the destination fax gateway exists or not, and if it is determined that there is no fax gateway, the T.37 protocol execution unit sends the fax. It stores the fax image of the contents and sends the e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination with the fax image as an attachment, and the destination status detection unit has a fax gateway that supports the T.37 protocol. If it is determined that fax reception is not possible, the above T.37 protocol The execution unit stores the fax image of the contents to be faxed, and when the destination status detection unit detects that the destination fax gateway is ready to receive a fax, the fax unit sends the stored fax image to the destination fax gateway. It is characterized by.

At this time, the secondary switch unit is switched to the T.37 protocol when there is an error in the Internet connection or fax transmission during the fax transmission in accordance with the T.38 protocol in the T.38 protocol execution unit, the T.37 protocol execution The T.38 protocol execution unit preferably receives the contents to be transmitted and transmits by fax or e-mail according to the T.37 protocol.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 illustrates a flow of a non-stop fax transmission method through T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching according to the present invention.

This method of faxing over a public switched telephone network and the Internet receives a fax transmission request that includes a destination (step 100), and determines whether the network in which the Internet is set up to send a fax over the Internet is normal. In step 110, if the network condition is abnormal, the fax transmission request received in step 100 is faxed to the destination through the public switched telephone network using the T.30 protocol (step 120). This is usually the same as sending a fax.

If the network is in a normal state, it is determined whether the fax gateway connected to the fax terminal of the destination of the fax transmission can receive the fax using the T.37 or T.38 protocol (step 130). If T.37 supports T.37 protocol, T.37 stores the fax image of the content to be faxed and sends the e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination or sends the stored fax image with the fax image as an attachment. Send a fax using the protocol (step 140), and if it is determined in step 130 that the destination fax gateway supports the T.38 protocol and can receive a fax, the T.38 protocol provides real-time In step 100, the fax transmission received in step 100 is faxed to the corresponding destination (step 150).

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a non-stop fax transmission apparatus through T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching according to the present invention.

This device for transmitting faxes via a public switched telephone network and the Internet includes a fax transmission receiver 210 for receiving a fax transmission request from a normal fax machine 200, and a network state for determining whether the state of a network to which the Internet is set up is normal. Determination unit 220, the primary switch unit 230 for switching the path of the fax transmission to fax transmission to the T.30 protocol if the network state is abnormal, and the protocol of T.37 / T.38 if the network state is normal. When the primary switch unit 230 is switched to the T.30 protocol, the T.30 protocol execution unit 240 connects the fax transmission request of the fax transmission receiver 210 to the public switched network and transmits the fax according to the T.30 protocol. ), The destination status checker 250 and the destination status checker 250 to determine whether the fax gateway connected to the fax terminal of the destination of the fax transmission can receive the fax using the T.37 or T.38 protocol. ) If it is determined that the destination fax gateway can receive faxes using the T.37 protocol, the fax is sent to the T.37 protocol. When the secondary switch unit 260 for switching the path of the secondary switch unit 260 is switched to the T.37 protocol, it stores the fax image of the contents to be faxed according to the T.37 protocol, and attaches the fax image T.37 protocol execution unit 270 and secondary switch unit 260 for transmitting a fax using a T.37 protocol for transmitting an e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination or for transmitting the stored fax image. Is switched to the T.38 protocol and includes a T.38 protocol execution unit 280 for faxing the fax transmission to a destination in real time via the Internet using the T.38 protocol.

The part shown inside the dotted line in FIG. 2 is a non-stop fax transmission apparatus through T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching according to the present invention. The non-stop fax transmission apparatus through T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching according to the present invention receives a fax transmission from the fax machine 200 which transmits a fax over a normal telephone line and transmits a fax in various ways. It is used as a fax server.

When a signal for requesting a fax transmission is received from the fax machine 200, the fax transmission receiver 210 receives the signal (step 100).

For fax transmission, the network status determination unit 220 determines whether the fax transmission is possible using the Internet by checking the network status in which the Internet is set up to know whether the fax transmission can be performed through the Internet using the T.38 protocol. (Step 100). An example of how to know the network status is to designate a specific network server and send a signal to the server through a function such as 'ping' through the network to observe whether or not the response comes within a certain time. Can be used. In addition, you can use a variety of methods to determine if your network is healthy.

If the network condition is not normal, send the fax using the same method as the normal fax transmission. To this end, the primary switch unit 230 switches to transmit the fax in the T.30 protocol to connect the fax transmission request input through the fax transmission receiver 210 to the public switched telephone network, and the T.30 protocol execution unit 240 ) Enables fax transmission using the T.30 protocol (step 120).

The primary switch unit 230 may be implemented by using a device such as a relay switch to be switched along a path according to each protocol.

If the power supplied to the fax machine 200 is normal, but the power is not supplied to the apparatus of FIG. 2, which is a fax server according to the present invention, it is necessary to allow a fax transmission according to the T.30 protocol for a non-stop fax transmission. Do. To this end, if the network status determination unit 220 determines that the network state is abnormal, the power supply to the non-stop fax transmission apparatus through the T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching according to the present invention is stopped. It is preferable to include.

In this case, the fax transmission receiver 210 dummyly transmits the fax transmission from the fax machine 200, and when the power is not supplied, the output of the network status determination unit 200 has a hardware level of '0'. It is configured to be '0' or logically '0', the relay switch of the primary switch unit 230 is the public when the power supply is cut off or the output of the network status determination unit 200 is '0' Configure to switch to the telephone exchange network. And since the T.30 protocol execution unit 240 will not operate if the power is not applied, the fax transmission request from the fax machine 200 is directly connected to the public switched telephone network, and the T.30 protocol for fax transmission from the normal fax machine. Fax transmission using.

Therefore, even when no power is supplied to the fax server of FIG. 2 according to the present invention, fax transmission according to the T.30 protocol is executed, thereby enabling non-stop fax transmission. The method described above can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains.

In addition, when the device of FIG. 2 according to the present invention is abnormal and normal operation cannot be performed, for example, a part of the device of FIG. 2 (for example, a CPU) causes an abnormal operation or a function of a main element. Error signals are defined in advance in case of not working properly. Then, when one of these error signals occurs or a specific combination of error signals occurs, a system failure is defined so that the apparatus of FIG. 2 according to the present invention can operate normally when a signal of system failure occurs. In this case, the network status determination unit 220 outputs a logical '0' as in the above case. As a result, the primary switch unit 230 switches the fax transmission from the fax machine 200 in the T.30 path, so that the fax transmission is performed even if there is an error in the fax server of FIG. 2 according to the present invention. It is desirable to be able to be sent using.

If the network status determination unit 220 determines that there is no abnormality, the destination status detection unit 250 determines that the fax gate connected to the fax terminal of the destination of the fax transmission received through the fax transmission receiver 210 is T.37 or T.38. Determine if you can receive faxes using the protocol.

The fax gate has the function of sending and receiving faxes through the T.37 or T.38 protocol, and the conventional fax gate can support only one of the T.37 or T.38 protocols. The fax gate may be connected to an ordinary fax terminal so that a fax received through the fax gate may be delivered to the fax terminal. At this time, the process from the fax gate to the fax terminal or from the fax terminal to the fax gate will be performed according to the T.30 protocol.

Alternatively, the fax gate and the fax terminal may be combined to form a single device. This is called Internet-Aware Fax (IAF). Similarly, conventional IAF can only support either the T.37 protocol or the T.38 protocol.

Determining whether the destination fax gate supports T.37 or T.38 is in accordance with the T.37 or T.38 protocol, which is readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and further description thereof will be omitted.

If the second switch unit 260 determines that the destination fax gateway can receive a fax using the T.37 protocol by the destination status determining unit 250, the secondary switch unit 260 may receive the fax using the T.38 protocol. When it is determined that it can, the path of the fax transmission is switched to send the fax using the T.38 protocol.

When the secondary switch unit 250 is switched to the T.37 protocol, the T.37 protocol execution unit 270 stores the fax image of the content to be faxed according to the T.37 protocol, and sets the fax image as an attachment file. Send a fax using the T.37 protocol to send an e-mail to the destination of the fax or to send the stored fax image.

At this time, when the destination status determining unit 250 determines whether the destination fax gateway can receive a fax according to the T.37 protocol, the destination status gateway 250 determines whether the destination fax gateway exists. The method of determining that there is no fax gateway of the destination follows the protocol of the T.37 protocol as described above. If it is determined that there is no fax gateway, the T.37 protocol execution unit 270 stores the fax image of the content to be faxed and sends the email to the place corresponding to the fax destination with the fax image as an attachment. Since there is no fax gateway to receive faxes at the destination of the fax transmission, the contents of the fax to be sent are stored as an image according to the T.37 protocol, which is then sent as an attachment to an e-mail address corresponding to the other party to receive the fax. will be. This feature is called Fax Mailer. To do this, an e-mail address corresponding to the other party's telephone number, which is a fax destination, must be registered in advance.

If the destination status detection unit 250 determines that the destination has a fax gateway that supports the T.37 protocol, but the fax gateway cannot receive a fax, the T.37 protocol execution unit 260 determines that the fax transmission content is to be transmitted. After storing the fax image, if the destination status detection unit 250 determines that the destination fax gateway is in a state capable of receiving a fax, the stored fax image is faxed to the destination fax gateway.

A fax tone can be sent to the destination fax gateway to determine if the other fax gateway can receive the fax transmission depending on whether an ACK signal is received.

If fax forwarding to the other fax gateway is not possible, that is, if the other fax gateway receives another fax transmission, makes a fax transmission, or if a fax transmission line connected to that fax gateway is occupied by another user, You will not be able to. In this case, the T.37 protocol of the ITU-T standard receives a fax transmission request, establishes a connection as a fax receiver, and sends a fax tone to the sender, the fax machine 200 to send a fax. It keeps the received fax image as a file and connects to the real fax gateway to receive the fax. This can be retried at some interval. At this time, the number of retries can be determined according to the needs of the user.

That is, when the secondary switch unit 260 is switched to the T.37 protocol, the T.37 protocol execution unit 270 stores the fax image of the content to be faxed, and the destination fax terminal is controlled by the destination state detection unit 250. If it is determined that the fax can be received, the stored fax image is transmitted to the opposite fax terminal (step 140). This process is store and forwarding, a fax transmission process according to the T.37 protocol.

The above described means that if there is a partner fax gateway that supports the T.37 protocol, the stored fax image will be sent over the Internet. If the fax cannot be sent immediately, the stored fax image will be sent later. If not, you can send an email with the stored fax image.

At this time, even if there is a T.37 protocol supporting fax gateway of the destination, it is sent by mail instead of fax. To this end, when the destination status determining unit 250 determines that the destination fax gateway supports fax reception by supporting the T.37 protocol, the destination status gateway 250 determines that the destination fax gateway exists. The protocol execution unit 270 stores the fax image of the content to be faxed and sends the e-mail to a place corresponding to the fax destination with the fax image as an attachment. This allows a wider choice of users who send faxes.

When the secondary switch unit 260 is switched to the T.38 protocol, the T.38 protocol execution unit 280 faxes the fax transmission to the destination in real time through the Internet using the T.38 protocol.

The T.38 protocol specified in the ITU-T standard uses a separate real-time fax transmission protocol. This protocol requests whether or not to send a fax through a fax gateway that supports the T.38 protocol connected to the Internet to a fax gateway that supports the other party's T.38 protocol. An ACK ring rings to the sender's fax terminal, and communication is started, and fax transmission starts. There are many ways to implement this, but it can be implemented using H.323 or SIP protocol.

H, 323 A protocol recommended by the ITU-T for the provision of voice, video, and data communications on a local area network (LAN) where quality of service is not guaranteed. Corresponding networks are Ethernet, 100M Ethernet, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) and Token Ring Networks. It also defines channels for data sharing, such as file transfers and white boards, and is widely used in Internet telephony services and products.

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol): A session establishment protocol, which is the signaling protocol of the application layer. It is used to create, modify, and terminate sessions consisting of one or more participants, which may include Internet multimedia conferencing, Internet phone calls, and multimedia data transfer.

That is, when the secondary switch unit 260 is switched to the T.38 protocol, the T.38 protocol execution unit 280 faxes the fax transmission to the destination in real time via the Internet using the T.38 protocol (150). step). This process becomes a fax transmission process according to the T.38 protocol.

At this time, if there is an error in the Internet connection or fax transmission during the fax transmission by the T.38 protocol execution unit 280 according to the T.38 protocol, the secondary switch unit 260 is switched to the T.37 protocol. The .37 protocol execution unit 270 preferably receives the contents intended to be transmitted by the T.38 protocol execution unit 280 and transmits it by fax or e-mail according to the T.37 protocol. Transmission according to the T.37 protocol can proceed as described above.

As described above, a fax can be transmitted even when a network setting, a status of a counterpart fax or a fax gateway, a power failure occurring in the fax transmission device according to the present invention, and an abnormality in the device occur. This will allow you to use your faxes regardless of your surroundings, which will expand your coverage of faxes.

In order to implement the above operation, the T.38 and T.37 protocols should be switched according to the situation and used according to the above situation, so that a program for checking and switching the situation can be implemented. It is a T.37 protocol switch. This program could be run as follows:

1) When the first fax transmission request comes from the sender, it is basically defined as T.38 mode to create a temporary task and manage the task to be faxed according to the T.38 or T.37 protocol.

2) Check the reception status of the other fax gateway to receive the fax transmission, and when the ACK is properly received, give a call reply to the fax client 200, which is the sender, and receive the fax image and transmit it to the receiver according to the T.38 protocol. However, if the other fax gateway is in use or there is a network connection error while attempting to connect to the other fax gateway using the T.38 protocol, switch to T.37.

3) After switching to T.37, it sends a ring signal to the fax client 200, which is a client, and accepts fax image data as if it is connected for fax transmission. The data is stored in internal memory. And fax via e-mail or save-and-forward according to the T.37 protocol. If there is an error in the network connection or an error in the device according to the present invention, the fax server device according to the present invention makes a telephone call through the PSTN network according to the T.30 protocol and sends the fax data.

In the case of 2), if the connection to the other party's fax terminal is not possible on the network during the attempt using the T.38 protocol, it switches to T.37. For this purpose, if the recipient's fax gateway is identified as being able to receive a fax by the destination status detection unit 250 in step 150, but there is an error in the Internet connection for fax transmission using the T.38 protocol, The difference switch unit 260 is switched to the T.37 protocol, and at this time, the T.37 protocol execution unit 270 receives the contents that the T.38 protocol execution unit 280 intends to transmit and faxes according to the T.37 protocol. It is desirable to transmit.

This is useful when the network is normal, but temporarily unable to access the Internet, or when there may be a problem in the path to the other fax gateway via the Internet. Or, even if the other party's fax machine is not connected to the fax gateway.

The above description describes the case where the receiving fax gateway supports either T.37 or T.38 protocol. If the receiving fax gateway is a fax server which is a device according to the present invention, it will of course operate in any of the above cases, and the most efficient transmission is possible depending on the status of the device, the status of the network and the like. This can be done as is according to the method described above.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Examples included in the above description are introduced for the understanding of the present invention, and these examples do not limit the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various embodiments in accordance with the present invention in addition to the above examples are possible.

The scope of the present invention is shown not in the above description but in the claims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

In addition, it can be easily understood by those skilled in the art that each of the above steps according to the present invention can be variously implemented in software or hardware using a general programming technique.

And some steps of the invention may also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, CD-RW, magnetic tape, floppy disks, HDDs, optical disks, magneto-optical storage devices, and carrier wave (eg, Internet It also includes the implementation in the form of). The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

According to the present invention, in a method of transmitting a fax through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet, a state of a network in which the Internet is set up to receive a fax transmission request including a fax transmission destination and to transmit a fax over the Internet. Is determined to be normal, and if the network is abnormal, the fax is transmitted through the public switched telephone network using the T.30 protocol. If the network is normal, the fax is sent using the T.37 protocol. If it is determined that the destination fax gateway is capable of receiving a fax, the fax is transmitted in real time over the Internet using the T.38 protocol. Pack in real time over the Internet using T.38 protocol for cost savings If the other party cannot immediately receive the fax using the T.38 protocol, it switches to T.37 and saves the data received for sending the fax, and then sends the fax or e-mail when the other party can receive the fax. Allows nonstop fax transmissions. And even if the power supply of the fax transmission system is interrupted or a problem occurs in the fax transmission system, the T.30 method can be used to send a fax to the PSTN network in a conventional manner, enabling a more complete non-stop fax transmission. .

According to the present invention, it is possible to send and receive faxes in real time through the Internet, which has a low communication cost, and when the other party cannot receive a fax in real time, through an image of a fax image accumulation method or an email with a fax image attached thereto. You can also pass data to It makes it possible to send a fax even in worse situations, i.e. when the power supply to the fax server is interrupted, increasing the reliability of the fax transmission.

Figure 1 shows the flow of a non-stop fax transmission method through the T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a non-stop fax transmission apparatus through T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching according to the present invention.

Claims (9)

In the method of sending a fax through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet, (a) receiving a fax transmission request including a fax transmission destination; (b) determining whether a state of a network on which the Internet is set up for sending a fax over the Internet is normal; (c) faxing a fax transmission request received in step (a) to a destination via a public switched telephone network using a T.30 protocol when the network condition is abnormal; (d) determining whether the fax gateway connected to the fax terminal of the destination of the fax transmission can receive the fax using the T.37 or T.38 protocol when the network is in a normal state; (e) If the destination fax gateway supports the T.37 protocol, save the fax image of the contents to be faxed and send the e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination or attach the fax image as an attachment, or the stored fax image. Transmitting a fax using a T.37 protocol for transmitting a; And (f) If it is determined in step (d) that the destination fax gateway supports the T.38 protocol and is capable of receiving a fax, in step (a) in real time via the Internet using the T.38 protocol; Faxing the received fax transmission to the corresponding destination; When the fax gateway determines whether the fax gateway can receive a fax using the T.37 protocol in step (d), it is determined whether there is a fax gateway connected to the destination fax terminal, and it is determined that there is no fax gateway. In the step (e) is stored a fax image of the contents to be faxed and send the e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination with the fax image as an attachment, If it is determined in step (d) that there is a fax gateway that supports the T.37 protocol at the destination, but the fax gateway cannot receive the fax, then store the fax image of the contents to be faxed in step (e). When the fax gateway of the destination is in a state capable of receiving a fax, the fax transmission method of T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching, characterized in that for transmitting the stored fax image. According to claim 1, wherein if the recipient's fax gateway is identified as capable of receiving a fax in step (f), there is an error in the Internet connection or fax transmission for fax transmission using the T.38 protocol. A fax transmission method using T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching, wherein the fax image is stored and faxed using a T.37 protocol. delete The method of claim 1, In step (d), it is determined whether the fax gateway can receive the fax, and according to the user's selection to transmit the fax even if it is determined that a fax gateway supporting the T.37 protocol connected to the destination fax terminal exists. T.38 / T.37 / T.30, characterized in that in step (e) stores a fax image of the contents to be faxed and sends the e-mail to a place corresponding to the fax destination with the fax image as an attachment. Nonstop fax transmission method via protocol switching. In the apparatus for transmitting faxes via public switched telephone network and the Internet, A fax transmission receiver receiving a fax transmission request; A network state determining unit determining whether a state of a network where the Internet is set is normal; A primary switch unit for switching a fax transmission path so that a fax transmission is performed using a T.30 protocol when the network status is abnormal and a T.37 / T.38 protocol when the network status is normal; A T.30 protocol execution unit for transmitting a fax according to the T.30 protocol by connecting the fax transmission request of the fax transmission receiver to a public switched network when the primary switch unit is switched to the T.30 protocol; A destination status determining unit for determining whether the fax gateway connected to the fax terminal of the destination of the fax transmission can receive the fax using the T.37 or T.38 protocol; If the destination status gateway determines that the destination FAX gateway can receive faxes using the T.37 protocol, the T.37 protocol can be received. A secondary switch unit for switching a path of a fax transmission so that a fax is transmitted to the network; When the secondary switch unit is switched to the T.37 protocol, it stores a fax image of the contents to be faxed according to the T.37 protocol, and sends an e-mail to a place corresponding to the fax destination using the fax image as an attachment file or the A T.37 protocol execution unit for transmitting a fax using the T.37 protocol for transmitting the stored fax image; And And a T.38 protocol execution unit for faxing the fax transmission to a destination in real time through the Internet using the T.38 protocol when the secondary switch unit is switched to the T.38 protocol. When the destination status determining unit determines whether the destination fax gateway can receive a fax according to the T.37 protocol, it determines whether the destination fax gateway exists and, if it is determined that there is no fax gateway, the T.37. The protocol execution unit stores the fax image of the content to be faxed and sends the e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination using the fax image as an attachment file. If the destination status detection unit detects that the destination has a fax gateway that supports the T.37 protocol but the fax gateway cannot receive the fax, the T.37 protocol execution unit stores the fax image of the content to be sent. T.38 / T.37 / T, wherein the stored fax image is faxed to the destination fax gateway when the destination gateway detects that the destination fax gateway is in a state capable of receiving a fax. .30 Non-stop fax machine with protocol switching. The method of claim 5, The secondary switch unit is switched to the T.37 protocol when there is an error in the Internet connection or fax transmission during the fax transmission in accordance with the T.38 protocol in the T.38 protocol execution unit, At this time, the T.37 protocol execution unit receives the contents intended to be transmitted by the T.38 protocol execution unit and transmits by fax or e-mail according to the T.37 protocol. T.38 / T.37 / T.30 Non-stop fax machine with protocol switching. delete The method of claim 5, The T.37 protocol is executed according to the user's choice of sending a fax even when the destination status gateway detects that the destination fax gateway exists by supporting the T.37 protocol. Through the T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching, the department stores the fax image of the content to be faxed and sends the e-mail to the destination corresponding to the fax destination as the attachment of the fax image. Nonstop fax sender. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein when the network state determining unit determines that the network state is normal, when the network state is abnormal, the supply of power to the device is stopped and a predetermined error occurs in the device. Non-stop fax transmission apparatus through the T.38 / T.37 / T.30 protocol switching, characterized in that it comprises a case.