JPH06178079A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid resolution conversion of image information at a transmission station, to prevent efficiency from being lowered and to suppress the degradation of picture quality. CONSTITUTION:Ability of a present station excepting for the resolution ability is registered on an ability storage part 15. When a terminated call is detected at a communication control part 4, the ability is declared. When the image information is sent from the transmission station according to this ability declaration, an ability discrimination part 17 reads the ability information sent together with the image information. Then, this ability information is compared with the official ability of the present station registered on the ability storage part 15, and it is discriminated whether the ability is coincident each other or not. Only when the ability is not coincident each other, a signal 17s is supplied to a conversion part 18. Only when this signal 17s is supplied, the conversion part 18 executes the resolution conversion of the received image information and outputs it to a printing part 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and particularly to a facsimile apparatus suitable for reducing deterioration of image quality when receiving image information from a partner station having a resolution capability different from that of the own station. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, as a facsimile apparatus, G3
Communication mode standard (hereinafter referred to as G3 machine) and G4
Communication mode standards (hereinafter referred to as G4 machines) are often used. The G3 machine has a millimeter system, and the G4 machine has an inch system, and their resolutions are specified. Therefore, when performing communication between facsimile apparatuses having different communication mode standards, it is necessary to perform resolution conversion according to the resolution capability of the partner station and then transmit image information. For example, the image information of an original read at an inch resolution is
When transmitting to three devices, that is, a millimeter system device, resolution conversion from inch system to millimeter system is performed.

Further, conventionally, CCITT T. In the 30 recommendations, only the millimeter system was defined as the resolution, but the inch system was newly recommended. As a result, even in communication between G3 machines, it may be necessary to convert between the millimeter system and the inch system.

By the way, there is a problem that the image quality is deteriorated by thinning or inserting dots by the resolution conversion between the millimeter system and the inch system. In addition, there is a problem in that the transmission speed decreases as a result because the resolution conversion takes time.

As a remedy for this problem, there has been proposed a device which can prevent resolution conversion of image information based on the judgment result of a transmission original by an operator on the transmitting side, particularly in transmission of an original which attaches importance to image quality. (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-
No. 282961).

Further, there has been proposed an apparatus which determines whether to store image information in inch system or millimeter system according to the communication mode and avoids resolution conversion between different unit systems ( JP-A-1-321777).

Further, in the relay broadcast, when the resolution capability of the relay station is different from the resolution capability of the transmitting station and the terminal station, first, the transmitting station performs resolution conversion according to the relay station, and then the relay station. Then, resolution conversion is performed again according to the terminal station. As the number of resolution conversions increases in this way, there is a problem that the deterioration of image quality will increase,
A device has been proposed in which the relay station declares the maximum capability to the terminal station so that the transmission station does not perform resolution conversion (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-56856).

[0008]

The above-mentioned conventional facsimile machine has the following problems. First, in the device in which the operator determines whether to perform resolution conversion,
There is a problem that the operator is burdened with the judgment and the operation based on the judgment.

Further, in an apparatus which stores image information in either inch system or millimeter system depending on the communication mode, it is not necessary to convert the resolution between different unit systems, but still within the same unit system. The need for resolution conversion remains.

Further, in a device in which the maximum resolution capability is declared in the relay broadcast, no consideration has been given to communication between facsimile devices having different unit system resolution capabilities.

For example, in the case where the transmitting station stores image information at an inch resolution and the relay station has the capability of millimeter resolution, the relay station in the prior art has the maximum millimeter resolution. You will declare your ability. Therefore, the transmitting station comes to perform the resolution conversion from the inch system to the millimeter system, and there is a problem that deterioration of the image quality due to the conversion is inevitable.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of avoiding deterioration of image quality as much as possible by not performing resolution conversion at a transmitting station and avoiding a decrease in transmission speed due to resolution conversion.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems and for achieving the object includes means for declaring the resolution capability of its own station and a resolution capability other than the resolution capability of its own station,
The first feature is that the image information converting means for converting the resolution of the image information corresponding to the resolution capability of the own station when the image information having a resolution other than the resolution capability of the own station is received. is there.

In addition to the first feature, the present invention declares a resolution capability other than the resolution capability of the local station only when the local station is a relay station, and the received image information undergoes resolution conversion. The second feature is that the data is transferred to the relay destination without performing the process.

Further, in addition to the first feature of the present invention, when image information having a resolution other than that of the local station is received, management means for allocating a management number to the image information and transfer are provided. A third feature is that when the instruction is supplied, the image information is read based on the management number and is transferred to the instructed transfer destination.

[0016]

According to the present invention having the above characteristics, not only the resolution capability of the local station but also the resolution capability other than that is declared, so that the image information read by the transmitting station is received at least without being subjected to resolution conversion by the transmitting station. Sent to the station. Therefore, the receiving station that receives this image information may perform resolution conversion only on the image information read at a resolution other than the resolution capability of its own station.

Further, according to the present invention having the second feature, resolution conversion is performed only at the relay destination, if necessary.

Further, according to the present invention having the third feature, when the image information requiring the resolution conversion is received, another facsimile apparatus, a printer or the like has the same resolution capability as the received image information according to the transfer instruction. The image information can be transferred to a transfer destination that has.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a principal block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the reading apparatus 1 reads a transmission document and converts it into an electric signal, that is, image information. The image information read by the reading device 1 and the image information received from the outside are stored in an image information storage device (hereinafter, referred to as image information memory) 2. In the image processing device 3, the transmission image information is encoded and the reception image information is decoded. The received image information is recorded by the printer 12.

The G3 communication control unit 4 performs control for performing facsimile communication in the G3 communication mode, and G4
The communication control unit 5 controls the facsimile communication in the G4 communication mode. Further, the G3 communication control unit 4 is connected to an analog line via the modem 6 and the analog network control device 7. On the other hand, the G4 communication control unit 5 is connected to the digital line via the digital network control device 8.

The operation / display device 9 includes operation switches for an operator to give an instruction to the facsimile device.
And a panel such as a liquid crystal display system for displaying the operating state. The ROM 10 stores a program for controlling the facsimile apparatus as a whole and a program for controlling the communication control units 4 and 5, the modem 6, and the network control apparatuses 7 and 8. The RAM 11 is a work area used for executing the program.

The CPU 13 has the ROM 10 and RA.
According to the program and control data stored in M11, and the instruction input from the operation / display device 9, the control process and the transmission control procedure process of the entire facsimile device are executed. Data exchange between the above-mentioned components is performed via the system bus 14.

In the facsimile apparatus having the above structure, the image information read by the reading device 1 is temporarily stored in the image information memory 2 and sent to the line in accordance with a transmission instruction input from the operation / display device 9. On the other hand, the image information received from the outside is decoded by the image processing device 3, accumulated in the image information memory 2, and recorded by the printing device 12. The facsimile communication is performed in either the G3 or G4 communication mode according to the instruction input from the operation / display device 9.

A communication example in the G3 communication mode in the facsimile apparatus having the above hardware structure will be described with reference to the flowchart. In FIG. 5, in step S1, an incoming call from the network is waited, and when the incoming call is accepted, the process proceeds to step S2 to read the resolution capability from the resolution capability storage area secured in the ROM 10 or the RAM 11.

In the resolution capability storage area, the resolution capability of the local station, that is, the nominal resolution capability and the other resolution capabilities are arbitrarily selected and set.

In step S3, the digital identification signal DI is generated based on the data read from the resolution capability storage area.
Complete a given byte of the S facsimile information field (FIF). In step S4, the digital identification signal DIS is sent to the transmitting station. That is, step S
In step 4, the nominal resolution capability of the local station and other resolution capabilities are arbitrarily selected and the capability is declared.

In step S5, the digital command signal DC
Wait for the reception of S. If the digital command signal DCS is received, the process proceeds to step S6, where the digital command signal DCS is received.
Get resolution information from.

In step S7, it is judged whether or not the reception of the image information is completed, and if the reception is completed, the step S7 is executed.
Proceed to step 8 to determine whether resolution conversion of the received image information is necessary,
That is, it is determined whether or not the resolution information includes the nominal resolution capability of the local station.

If the resolution information does not include the nominal resolution capability of the local station, the process proceeds to step S9 to execute resolution conversion of image information. On the other hand, if the own station's nominal resolution capability is included, step S9 is skipped and step S10 is proceeded to, where the printer 12 prints image information.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, when the own station becomes a relay station for relay broadcast, the received image information is displayed regardless of whether or not the resolution of the received image information is included in the nominal resolution capability of the own station. It was transferred to the relay destination as it was.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the second embodiment, showing an example of communication in the G4 communication mode. In the figure, in step S20, an incoming call from the network is waited, and when the incoming call is accepted, the process proceeds to step S21, and it is determined whether or not there is a relay broadcast instruction. If there is a relay broadcast instruction, step S
22. From the resolution capability storage area on the RAM 11,
The capability information including the resolution capability of the local station, that is, the nominal resolution capability and the other scheduled resolution capabilities is read.

On the other hand, if there is no relay broadcast instruction, the process proceeds to step S23 and the nominal resolution capability is read out from the nominal resolution capability storage area secured in the ROM 10.
In step 24, a document function list affirmative response RDCLP frame is created based on the data read in step S22 or S23. Step S25
Then, the document function list affirmative response RD
Send CLP.

In step S26, the reception of the document user information command CDUI is awaited. If the document user information command CDUI is received, the process proceeds to step S27, and the document user information command CDU is received.
Extract resolution information from I.

In step S28, it is determined whether the image information has been received. If the image information has been received, the process proceeds to step S29, in which it is determined whether a relay broadcast instruction has been issued. If the relay broadcast instruction is given, the process proceeds to step S30 to call the relay destination and execute a predetermined relay broadcast procedure. Note that the resolution instruction information extracted from the document user information command CDUI is transmitted to the relay destination together with the image information.

On the other hand, if there is no relay broadcast instruction, the process proceeds to step S31 and the received image information is printed by the printing device 12. If the resolution conversion is necessary for printing, the resolution conversion is performed.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, when the resolution of the received image information is different from the nominal resolution of its own station, a management number is added so that the image information received and accumulated can be identified, and a transfer instruction given separately is followed. The stored image information is transferred to another facsimile device or printing device.

The operation of the third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The figure is an example of communication in the G3 communication mode, and since steps S40 to S46 are the same processing as steps S1 to S7 in FIG. 5, description thereof will be omitted.

In step S47, it is determined whether or not resolution conversion is necessary based on the resolution instruction information received from the transmitting station. That is, it is determined whether or not the resolution capability of the local station includes the resolution instruction information, and if the resolution capability of the local station includes the resolution instruction information, it is determined that resolution conversion is necessary, Otherwise, it is determined that resolution conversion is unnecessary.

If the determination in step S47 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S48, a management number is allocated to the received image information stored, and a comment is added to the column corresponding to the management number in the image information storage list. An example of the image information storage list is shown in FIG. In this example, "002" is assigned as the management number, and a "transfer" comment is added to this.

When the resolution instruction information is included in the resolution capability of the own station, the determination in step S47 becomes affirmative and the process proceeds to step S49, in which the stored received image information is printed by the printer 12. .

Next, the operation of transferring the image information stored by allocating the management number will be described. The flowchart of FIG. 8 shows an example of processing based on a transfer instruction input from the input means of the local station, that is, the operation / display device 9.

In FIG. 8, in step S50, a transfer instruction is awaited. The transfer instruction includes the dialed number of the transfer destination and the management number of the image information storage list. As the transfer destination, a facsimile machine having a printing device having a high resolution capability is planned, and the dialed digits thereof are designated at the same time as the transfer instruction.

In step S51, a call is made based on the dialed digits, and if the line is connected, step S51.
At 52, the image information is read from the image information memory 2 based on the designated management number and transmitted.

Next, an example of image information transfer by polling will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, step S
At 60, an incoming call from the network is waited, and if an incoming call is detected, the process proceeds to step S61, and it is determined whether polling is performed. If there is no polling instruction, the process proceeds to step S62 to execute a normal receiving operation.

If the polling instruction is detected, the process proceeds to step S63, and it is determined whether or not there is an accumulated file for transfer, that is, the management number is given, and data indicating "for transfer" is written in the comment field. It is determined whether the image information stored is stored in the image information memory 2.

If there is no accumulated file for transfer, the process proceeds to step S64, and storage information is extracted from the polling file provided exclusively for polling and transmitted.

On the other hand, when there is a stored file for transfer,
The determination in step S63 is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S65 to determine whether or not the image information of the accumulated file for transfer may be transmitted.

For example, the identification information (ID) sent from the partner station is compared with the password preset in the own station, and it is possible to judge by the match / mismatch.
The ID can be written in the information frame of the calling terminal identification signal CIG.

It is also possible to detect a transfer request sent from the partner station and, when it is detected, determine that the accumulated file for transfer can be sent. Data indicating a transfer request from the partner station can be written in the non-standard function command NSC.

When it is determined by the above determination method that the accumulated file for transfer can be transmitted, the process proceeds from step S65 to step S66, and the image of the management number with the comment "For transfer" is added from the accumulated file for transfer. Read and send information. If the IDs do not match or the transfer request is not detected, the operation / display device 9 displays an error in step S67.

Next, the main functions of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment will be described. 1 is a block diagram showing the main functions of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 2 is FIG. 6, and FIG. 3 is the same as FIG. Indicates the same or equivalent part. Further, the parts given the same reference numerals in FIGS. 1 to 3 are the same or equivalent parts.

First, in FIG. 1, when the communication control unit 4 or 5 (hereinafter represented by reference numeral 4) detects an incoming call,
The detection signal is output to the capacity storage unit 15. In the capability storage unit 15, the resolution capability (nominal resolution capability) of the facsimile machine and at least one other resolution capability are registered. The resolution capability can be registered regardless of whether it is an inch system or a millimeter system. Upon receiving the incoming call detection signal, the capability storage unit outputs the registered resolution capability to the communication control unit 4. The communication control unit 4 incorporates the supplied resolution capability into an information frame (DIS in G3 communication) and sends it to the line.

The resolution instruction information of the received image information detected by the communication control unit 4 is stored in the management data storage unit 16, and the received image information is stored in the image information memory 2.

The capability discriminator 17 compares the resolution indicated by the resolution instruction information received from the partner station with the resolution capability of the local station, that is, the nominal resolution capability, and the resolution capability of the received image information is included in the nominal resolution capability. When it is not present, the detection signal 17s is output.

The accumulated image information is sent to the printing unit 12 via the conversion unit 18 in response to an instruction given immediately after the communication or after the communication. When the conversion unit 18 is supplied with the detection signal 17s from the capability determination unit 17, the conversion unit 18 converts the resolution of the image information output from the image information memory 2 to the nominal resolution, and then outputs the resolution to the printing unit 12.

Next, the function in the case of relay broadcast will be described.
In FIG. 2, the relay broadcast discrimination unit 19 discriminates whether or not the own station is instructed by the relay station based on the protocol information detected by the communication control unit 4. In the case of G3 communication, R
The control information storage unit 20 of the AM 11 is referenced to determine whether the own station is a relay station.

When the own station is not a relay station, the nominal capability storage unit 21 is instructed to output the stored information to the communication control unit 4. If the own station is a relay station, it issues an instruction to the capability storage unit 17 to output the stored information to the communication control unit 4. The communication control unit 4 includes the capability storage unit 17 or the nominal capability storage unit 21.
The resolution capability supplied from the device is embedded in the information frame and transmitted to the line.

When the own station is a relay station, the communication control unit 4 reads the image information from the image information memory 2 and sends it to the relay destination after the reception. At this time, the resolution is also read from the management data storage unit 16 and transmitted.

When the own station is not designated as the relay station, the image information stored in the image information memory 2 is printed after being subjected to resolution conversion as necessary. The configuration for this resolution conversion and printing is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and therefore its illustration is omitted.

Next, the function for transferring the received image information to another terminal or the printing device when resolution conversion is necessary for printing will be described. In FIG. 3, when the capability determination unit 17 determines that the resolution capability of the received image information is not included in the nominal resolution capability, the detection signal 17s is sent to the image information management unit 2.
Output to 2. The image information management unit 22 has a storage list of image information stored in the image information memory 2. When the image information management unit 22 is supplied with the detection signal 17s from the capability determination unit, it allocates a management number to the received image information and revises the image information storage list.

When the transfer instruction detection unit 23 detects that the transfer instruction and the management number are input from the transfer instruction unit 9a,
The transmission instruction is output to the communication control unit 4, and the management number is notified to the image information management unit 22. The image information management unit 22 reads the image information from the image information memory 2 based on the notified management number and outputs it to the communication control unit 4.

The transfer instruction is not limited to that input from the operation / display unit 9 of the own station, but is also given by polling.
A polling detector 24 is provided to detect an instruction by polling. When the polling instruction is detected by the polling detection unit 24, the ID detection unit 25 is instructed,
Discriminates whether the ID matches the password set in the own station. If a match is found, the image information management unit 22
To send to. The image information management unit 22 outputs the management number with the comment “for transfer” to the image information memory 2 to transfer the image information to the communication control unit 4. The image information transferred to the communication control unit 4 is sent to the line.

When a polling instruction is detected, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a transfer request from the partner station and respond to this polling instruction. The transfer request detection unit 26 determines whether or not there is a transfer request based on the protocol information, and outputs a detection signal to the image information management unit 22 when the transfer request is detected. The image information management unit 22 performs the same operation as when the ID is supplied.

As described above, in this embodiment, the transmission station does not perform resolution conversion of image information by declaring the resolution capability other than the nominal resolution of its own station.

[0065]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the transmission station does not perform resolution conversion of image information. Therefore, during high speed communication such as G4 communication, the communication speed is lowered due to the resolution conversion. Efficient communication can be performed without impact.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the case of relay broadcasting, even if the resolution capabilities of the transmitting station, the relay station and the relay destination are different, the resolution conversion need only be performed by the relay destination only. Therefore, deterioration of image quality due to resolution conversion can be suppressed.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, when resolution conversion is required for output at the local station, the image information can be transferred to another communication terminal having high resolution capability, so resolution conversion is not required. It is possible to prevent deterioration of image quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main functions of the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main functions of the second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main functions of the third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a facsimile device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a transfer operation according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a communication procedure by polling according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an image information storage list.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Image information memory, 4, 5 ... Communication control unit, 12 ... Printing unit, 15 ... Ability storage unit, 16 ... Management data storage unit, 17 ... Ability determination unit, 18 ... Conversion unit, 19 ... Relay broadcast determination unit , 20 ... Control information storage unit, 21 ... Nominal capacity storage unit, 22 ... Image information management unit, 23 ... Transfer instruction detection unit, 24 ... Polling detection unit, 25 ... ID detection unit, 26 ... Transfer request detection unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A means for declaring the resolution capability of the local station and a resolution capability other than the resolution capability of the local station, and the resolution of the image information when the image information having a resolution other than the resolution capability of the local station is received. A facsimile apparatus comprising: an image information conversion unit for converting in accordance with the resolution capability of its own station. 2. The constitution is such that only when the own station is a relay station, the resolution capability other than the resolution capability of the own station is declared, and the received image information is transferred to the relay destination without resolution conversion. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A management means for allocating a management number to the image information when the image information having a resolution other than that of the own station is received, and based on the management number when a transfer instruction is supplied. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for reading out image information and transferring the image information to an instructed transfer destination.