JP3458510B2 - Multistage relay communication device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multistage relay communication device, and more particularly to a multistage relay communication device suitable for avoiding an endless loop, that is, an endless relay operation that occurs in multistage relay.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When performing multi-stage relay by a communication device such as a facsimile device, all relay station information, that is, information relating to a relay route, is set in an instruction station, and in the relay station, image information etc. is set in accordance with the instruction content set in the instruction station. The method of relaying the transmission data of is adopted. For example, there has been proposed a device which gives the relay station information as image information from an instruction station (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-236352: conventional device a). Further, in a multistage relay communication device, a device has been proposed that automatically determines a relay route based on destination number information given by an instruction station (JP-A-1-135153: Conventional device b). Further, there has been proposed a device capable of realizing multistage relay by instructing the information registered in the relay station from the instruction station (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-35352: Conventional device c).

However, in the conventional apparatus a, it is necessary to set all the relay station information for setting the relay route in the instruction station, which is troublesome, and the control which is converted into the actual transmission data and image information is performed. There is a problem that the processing becomes complicated because a measure for distinguishing from information is required.

Further, the conventional device b can select a desired route to some extent in a single numbering plan. However, if the communication is not limited to a single numbering plan, such as transmission via a leased line and a general line, an appropriate route may not be determined simply by analyzing the destination number. There was a problem that it was not always possible to select the most efficient route in terms of communication time.

On the other hand, in the conventional device c, although the above-mentioned trouble is solved, when incorrect relay information is set in the relay station, an operation of repeating the same route, that is, an infinite loop occurs. There is a problem that sometimes.

Therefore, in the conventional device c, the occurrence of an infinite loop is prevented as follows. That is, the relay station is provided with a relay stage number storage unit for storing the relay stage number data and a multistage parameter storage unit for storing the relay stage number parameter corresponding to the relay stage number data. Then, the step number parameter transmitted at the same time as the relay instruction is compared with the step number data in the relay step number storage unit, and if the both agree, the relay instruction is not given and normal transmission is made to the final destination. Has been done. That is, the relay operation is prevented from being performed more than the planned number of relay stages.

[0007]

However, the conventional device c still has the following problems. That is, the inconvenience of setting the multistage data remains in each relay station, and further, when there is an error in the setting of the multistage data, unnecessary relay is performed. That is, there is a problem in that the fear that unnecessary relaying is still performed has not been resolved. Furthermore, since the number of stages is fixed, there is a problem that it cannot be used when changing the relay route.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a multistage relay communication device having an infinite loop that occurs in multistage relay and means for avoiding the occurrence of the infinite loop. Especially.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above problems are solved,
The present invention to achieve the purpose is to relay relay information from received information.
Extraction means for extracting the identification information, and relay job identification information
Storing means for storing the
The relay job identification information stored in the storage means and the extracted
Compare the relay job identification information newly extracted from the output means.
By comparing the comparing means and the comparing means,
Stop relay operation when the succeeding job identification information matches
And means for comparing,
If the relay job identification information does not match,
Store the extracted relay job identification information in the storage means
Then, the extracted relay job identification information is added to the next-stage relay communication.
There is a first feature in that it is configured to transmit to a communication device .

Further, the present invention comprises a creating means for creating relay job identification information, and the receiving means receives the information by the extracting means.
If the relay job identification information was not extracted from the information
The relay job identification information is created by the creating means, and
The relay job identification information is stored in the storage means.
The second point is that it is configured to transmit to the next-stage relay communication device .
There is a feature of.

Further, the present invention provides the above-described relay job identification.
A third feature is that a means for outputting failure information indicating the occurrence of an infinite loop is provided when different pieces of information match, and the information forming the relay job identification information includes a retransmission count value. Has a fourth characteristic.

According to the first feature, the relay job identification information
Information is relayed to the next stage and relay job identification information is received
The relay communication device stores the relay job identification information in the storage means.
Pay. Therefore, the document repeats the same route repeatedly.
If received, it is received first and stored in the storage means.
Relay job identification information and newly received relay job identification
Since the information matches, the match / mismatch between them is determined.
Error can be detected.

According to the second feature, when the relay job identification information is not received, the relay job identification information is newly created. And newly created and stored in the storage means
It is also relayed to the next stage.

Further, according to the third feature, since fault information is output when an infinite loop occurs, display and notification to the outside can be performed based on this fault information. Furthermore, according to the fourth feature, by incorporating the retransmission count value into the relay job identification information, it is possible to prevent the relay job identification information from being created by the same information at the time of retransmission. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a match between the relay job identification information newly created at the time of retransmission and the relay job identification information created before retransmission and already transmitted.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Here, an example in which the present invention is realized as a facsimile apparatus having a multi-stage relay function will be described. First, the hardware configuration of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the operation display device 1 is composed of an operation unit including switches and a keyboard for operating the facsimile device, and a display unit such as a liquid crystal panel for displaying an operation state and the like. The reading device 2 includes a light source for reading a transmission document and an image pickup device such as a CCD. The printing device 3 is composed of, for example, an electrophotographic image forming device or a paper transport device for recording a received image or the like. The image processing device 4 has an image information encoding / decoding unit. The image storage device 5 is a device for storing image information, and can be composed of a RAM or a hard disk device. The communication control unit 6
RO storing a program for facsimile communication
M is a system control unit 7 is a ROM that stores a program for controlling the entire facsimile apparatus. The network control device 8 is a device for connecting the facsimile device to a communication network and has an automatic call originating / receiving function. The RAM 9 is a work area used for executing the program. C
The PU 10 executes the control of the entire facsimile apparatus according to the program and also executes the facsimile transmission control procedure. The above-mentioned constituent parts mutually transmit and receive data via the system bus 11.

Next, a facsimile system for performing multi-stage relay by the facsimile device will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, the facsimile system includes a relay instruction station (hereinafter, simply referred to as “instruction station”) H, 1
It is composed of a secondary relay station A, a secondary relay station B, and a terminal station C. The transmission data sent from the instruction station H is 1
The terminal station C is finally passed through the next relay station A and the second relay station B.
Be transmitted to. In the figure, the primary relay station A has only one stage for simplification of the description, but the number of stages is not particularly limited.
Further, the terminal station C registered in the secondary relay station B is not limited to one.

Each station is provided with a speed dial list. First, the speed dial list 300 of the secondary relay station B
The abbreviated number i is registered with the telephone number of the primary relay station A and the relay instruction station registration, and the abbreviated number j is registered with the telephone number of the terminal station C as destination information. The relay instruction station registration is specifically the setting of a relay permission flag.

Speed dial list 200 of the primary relay station A
The telephone number of the instruction station H and the registration of the relay instruction station are registered in the abbreviated number m. Further, the abbreviated number n is the telephone number of the secondary relay station B, and the abbreviated number i (relay station I of the abbreviated dial list 300 of the secondary relay station B in which the primary relay station A is registered).
D) and the abbreviated number j (relay destination) of the abbreviated dial list 300 of the secondary relay station B for which the terminal station information is set are registered as destination information.

In the abbreviated number k of the abbreviated dial list 100 of the instructing station H, the telephone number of the primary relay station A and the abbreviated number m (in the abbreviated dial list 200 of the primary relay station A in which the instructing station H is registered are shown. The relay station ID) and the number n (relay destination) of the speed dial list of the primary relay station A in which the secondary relay station information is set are registered as destination information. The telephone numbers of the primary relay station A and the instructing station H in the preceding stage are described in the abbreviated numbers i and m for the purpose of transferring the result report and the like.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the instruction station H sets the transmission original on the reading device 2, designates the abbreviated number k from the operation display device 1, and activates the relay communication. By this operation, a predetermined protocol is executed, and among the destination information, the relay station ID (= m) and the relay destination (= n) are described in the protocol command NSS as relay instruction information, and are transmitted to the primary relay station A. Carried.

The primary relay station A receives the relay station ID (=
m), the abbreviated number m in the abbreviated dial list 200
The registered content of is read, and if the relay permission flag is set, relay communication is permitted, and the received document is stored in the image storage device 4. Then, the relay destination (= n) received from the instruction station H
Based on the above, the registered content of the abbreviated number n in the abbreviated dial list 200 is read, and relay instruction information is created based on the relay station ID (= i) and the relay destination (= j). Then, the relay instruction information is transmitted to the secondary relay station B together with the stored received document.

At the secondary relay station B, the received relay station ID
Based on (= i), the registered content of the abbreviated number i in the abbreviated dial list 300 is read, relay communication is permitted if the relay permission flag is set, and the received document is stored in the image storage device 4.
To store. Then, based on the relay destination (= j) received from the primary relay station A, the registered content of the abbreviated number j of the abbreviated dial list 300, that is, the information of the terminal station C is read, and the stored received document is stored in the terminal station C. Send to.

FIG. 4 is a frame structure diagram of the protocol command NSS sent from the calling station. NS as shown
In the facsimile information field FIF of the S command, information length and actual information are described as relay instruction information. The actual information includes the relay station ID and the relay destination. FIG. 6B is a frame configuration diagram of the NSS showing the configuration of relay job identification information described later.

Next, the operation of detecting and removing an infinite loop in the above facsimile system will be described. First, with reference to FIG. 5, an outline of the operation in a system including three primary relay stations A will be described. Here, it is assumed that there is a setting error in the speed dial list of the primary relay station A3, so that the primary relay station A3 relays to the primary relay station A1 and an infinite loop is likely to occur.

First, the instruction station H creates relay job identification information (hereinafter referred to as "RSID"), describes it in the protocol command NSS, and sends it to the primary relay station A1. RSI
As shown in FIG. 4B, D is created based on the document number, the document creation time, the machine number, and the value of the resend counter. The created RSID is described in the FIFO. In addition, reference symbols f1 to f4 are instruction station H and primary relay stations A1 to
It is a FIFO provided in each A3.

In the primary relay station A1, the received RSID is
Whether or not it exists in the FIFO (f2) of its own station, and if the RSID does not exist in the FIFO, the RSID is described in the FIFO (f2) and the RSID and the transmission document are the first in the next stage. It is transmitted to the relay station A2. The primary relay station A2 operates in the same manner and transmits the RSID and the transmission document to the primary relay station A3. The primary relay station A3 operates in the same manner, but the location where the RSID and the transmitted document should be originally transmitted to the secondary relay station B is erroneously set in the speed dial list, so that the primary relay station A1 is relayed. It will be executed (dotted arrow).

However, R received from the primary relay station A3
Since the SID already exists in the FIFO (f1) of the primary relay station A1, the primary relay station A1 rejects the relay. In this way, the relay is interrupted and the occurrence of an infinite loop is prevented.

Next, the operation of the instruction station H will be described with reference to the flowchart. In FIG. 6, in step S1, it is determined whether the relay operation has been activated. This determination is made depending on whether the relay instruction switch provided on the operation display device 1 is turned on. In step S2, the reading device 2 is activated to read the document. In step S3,
The document number as the transmission document identification information, the current time, that is, the document creation time, and the initial value of the retransmission counter are set in the protocol command. In step S4, the operation display device 1
Make a call based on the abbreviated number entered from. In step S5, it is determined whether or not the connection with the partner station is completed. If the connection is completed, the process proceeds to step S6, and the presence or absence of the relay function is determined by the protocol command NSF received from the called station. If there is no relay function, it is impossible to continue the relay operation, so the process proceeds to step S13 and the line disconnection process is performed.

If the partner station has a relay function, step S
7, the RSID is created based on the document number, the time data (document creation time), the retransmission counter value, and the machine number (serial number). In step S8, the relay instruction information and the RSID are set in the protocol command NSS and transmitted. In step S9, RSI
D is stored in its own RSID storage means, that is, the FIFO. In step S10, the transmission document is transmitted. In step S11, it is determined whether the transmission is normally completed.
If the transmission is completed normally, the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, when the transmission is not normally completed, the process proceeds to step S12, and the value of the retransmission counter provided in the management data is incremented (+1).

Next, the operation of the primary relay station A (A1 to A3) will be described with reference to the flowchart. In FIG. 7, in step S20, it is determined whether there is an incoming call. If there is an incoming call, the process proceeds to step S21 to perform line connection processing. In step S22, it is determined whether or not the connection is completed, and if this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S23. Step S
In 23, the protocol command NSF is set to "relay capability" and transmitted.

In step S24, it is determined whether the protocol command NSS is received from the calling station. In step S25, it is determined whether or not there is a relay instruction in the protocol command NSS. Relay instruction is protocol command NSS
If it is included in, the process proceeds to step S26. Step S2
At 6, it is judged whether or not there is an error in the relay instruction. For example, this determination is negative when data is not registered in the shortened number corresponding to the received relay station ID.

If there is no error in the relay instruction, step S27
Then, the relay instruction information is recorded in the management data. In step S28, it is determined whether the protocol command NSS has an RSID. If there is an RSID, step S29
Then, the RSID is compared with the data stored in the FIFO. In step S30, it is determined whether or not the FIFO data matches the received RSID. If they match, the process proceeds to step S31, and the occurrence of an infinite loop is recorded in the management data.

On the other hand, if there is an error in the relay instruction, the determination in step S26 becomes affirmative, and the flow advances to step S32 to record the relay failure in the management data. In step S33, line disconnection processing is performed. In step S34, the recorded relay error is displayed on the display unit of the operation display device 1. If there is no relay instruction in the protocol command NSS, the determination in step S25 is negative and step S25
Then, the process proceeds to step 35 and the normal reception process is executed. After the normal reception process, the process proceeds to step S33.

Furthermore, if there is no matching data in step S30, it is determined that an infinite loop has not occurred,
The process proceeds to the relay operation (FIG. 8). Also, the indicating station H
If RSID is not received from RSID
To proceed to the relay operation (FIG. 9).

The relay operation when the RSID is received is shown in FIG.
Shown in. In the figure, in step S40, the received RSID is stored in the FIFO. In step S41, document reception processing is performed. If the document is received, step S
In step 42, line disconnection processing is executed. Step S43
Then, the speed dial list is searched from the received relay instruction information such as the relay station ID and the relay destination, and the relay instruction information to be transmitted to the next station is read.

In step S44, the relay document is read from the image storage device 5. In step S45, a call is made based on the telephone number of the destination information read from the speed dial list. If it is determined in step S46 that the connection is completed, the process proceeds to step S47. In step S47, the presence or absence of the relay function is determined by the protocol command NSF received from the called station. If there is no relay function, it is impossible to continue the relay operation, so the flow proceeds to step S52 and the line disconnection process is performed. If the partner station has a relay function, the process proceeds to step S48, where the relay instruction information and the RSID received from the preceding station are set in the protocol command NSS and transmitted. In step S49, the relay document is transmitted. In step S50, it is determined whether the transmission is normally completed.
If the transmission is completed normally, the process proceeds to step S52 and the line disconnection process is performed. On the other hand, when the transmission is not normally completed, the process proceeds to step S51, and the value of the retransmission counter provided in the management data is incremented (+1).

Next, FIG. 9 shows the relay operation when the RSID is not received. In the figure, in step S60, a document receiving process is executed. In step S61, line disconnection processing is performed. In step S62, the document number, the current time, and the initial value of the retransmission counter are set in the protocol command, as in step S3. Hereinafter, steps S63 to S74 are the same as the processing described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 6, and thus description thereof will be omitted.
That is, steps S63 to S67 are the same as steps S43 to S47, and steps S68 to S74 are the same as steps S7 to S13.

When the transmission is not normally completed, the resending operation is executed after the line disconnection process. In this resend operation, R
The SID is newly created and transmitted to the next station, but with only the document number and machine number inherited from the instructing station H, the new RSID becomes the same as the RSID already transmitted to the next station before resending, It is mistaken for an infinite loop at the next station. Therefore, in this embodiment, the value of the retransmission counter is used as a component of RSID. Therefore, when resending, a new RSID
Is transmitted, and as a result, the receiving side detects the RSID mismatch and is not mistaken for an infinite loop.

The station that has newly created the RSID and the relay station that has received the RSID hold a plurality of RSIDs in the FIFO. Therefore, in the subsequent relay, all of these RSIDs are transmitted to the relay station in the next stage,
At least one of the RSIDs received at the relay station at the next stage
When it matches the RSID described in the FIFO of its own station, it is determined that an infinite loop has occurred.

Next, the main function of the facsimile apparatus for carrying out the above operation will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. In the figure, the data storage unit 12 has a reading device 2
Transmission data such as transmission documents and relay instruction information read by
Alternatively, the data received from another facsimile device is stored. The RSID creating unit 13 creates the RSID based on the document number, the machine number, and the like. The RSID creation unit 1
3 creates an RSID in response to the relay activation instruction supplied from the activation unit 14, and the generated RSID is the relay communication unit 1
5 is sent to the line. The relay instruction information together with the RSID is read from the data storage unit 12 and sent to the line. The created RSID is the RSID storage unit 1
6 is stored. The relay communication unit 15 reads out the transmission document from the data storage unit 12 and sends it out to the line when communication becomes possible due to negotiation with the partner station.

Further, the RSID extracting section 17 is provided as a function of the relay station, and the RSID extracting section 17 extracts the RSID from the received protocol command. R extracted
The SID is input to the RSID comparison unit 18 and compared with the data in the RSID storage unit 16 in the RSID comparison unit 18. If they do not match or there is no data in the RSID storage unit 16, the RSID extracted by the RSID extraction unit is newly stored in the RSID storage unit 16. In addition, R
If the SID and the data do not match or the data does not exist in the RSID storage unit 16, the data storage unit 12 is made writable and the transmission data such as a document is fetched from the line.

The relay instruction detecting section 19 determines whether or not the received data has relay instruction information, and if there is the relay instruction information, gives an instruction to the starting section 14. Based on the instruction from the relay instruction detection unit 19, the activation unit 14 uses the RSI.
The RSID is read from the D storage unit 16 to the relay communication unit 15.

Further, the extracted RSID and RSID
When the data in the storage unit 16 matches, the detection signal is output to the fault output unit 20. The failure output unit 20 determines that an infinite loop has occurred by the detection signal indicating the match,
The relay communication unit 15 is instructed to output the rejection of reception. The occurrence of the infinite loop may be notified not only from the relay communication unit 15 to the outside but also displayed by the display means, that is, the operation display device 1 at its own station.

Further, when the RSID is not detected by the RSID extraction unit 17, "no RSID" is set in the activation unit 1
Output to 4. When the “no RSID” is supplied, the activation unit 14 activates the RSID creation unit 13 to create the RSID according to the instruction from the relay instruction detection unit 19.

The machine number as information forming the RSID is not limited to the machine number as long as the information can identify the facsimile machine, and may be a telephone number assigned to the facsimile machine, for example.

[0046]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the invention of claim 1, a relay job for specifying a relay job.
The identification information can be relayed. Received relay job identification information
The relay communication device receives and stores the relay job identification information.
Relay job identification information by comparing relay job identification information.
Can be easily identified. Ie received
Relay job identification information and previously received and retained
Infinite loop due to match / mismatch with the succeeding job identification information
It is possible to detect the occurrence of. And an infinite loop occurs
Relay is interrupted when it detects that
If it is detected that the instruction is given, the relay operation continues.
Will be continued.

According to the invention of claim 2, the relay job identification
If the separate information is not received, the new relay job identification information is added.
Information is created. And the newly created relay job
The identification information is stored in the storage means and relayed to the next stage.
To be done.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when an infinite loop occurs, it is possible to display and notify the outside based on the failure information, and notify the operator and the calling station of the error.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the relay job identification information based on the same information from being created at the time of resending. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the match between the relay job identification information newly created at the time of resending and the relay job identification information created before resending and already sent, and the station instructed to relay surely recognizes the occurrence of an infinite loop. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of essential parts of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of a multistage relay operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a frame configuration example of a protocol command.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of an infinite loop detection operation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the instruction station.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the relay station.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the relay station when the RSIDs do not match.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of the relay station when the RSID is not received.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Reading device, 12 ... Data storage unit, 13 ... RSI
D creation unit, 14 ... Activation unit, 15 ... Relay communication unit, 1
6 ... RSID storage section, 17 ... RSID extraction section, 18 ...
RSID comparison unit, 19 ... Relay instruction detection unit, 20 ... Fault output unit

Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00-1/00 108 H04N 1/32-1/36

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A extracting means for extracting the relay job identification information from the received information, storage means and a relay job identification information is extracted by the extraction means is stored in said storage means for storing the relay job identification information And comparing means for comparing the relay job identification information newly extracted from the extracting means with each other, means for stopping the relay operation when the both relay job identification information are matched by the comparison by the comparing means, and the comparing means. If the two relay job identification information do not match as compared with each other, the extracted relay job identification information is stored in the storage means, and the extracted relay job identification information is transmitted to the next relay communication device. To control
A multistage relay communication device comprising: a control unit . 2. A creating means for creating relay job identification information.
And when the extracting unit does not extract the relay job identification information from the received information, the creating unit creates the relay job identification information and stores it in the storage unit,
The multistage relay communication device according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that controls to transmit the relay job identification information to the next stage relay communication device. 3. The multistage relay communication device according to claim 1, further comprising means for outputting fault information indicating occurrence of an infinite loop when both relay job identification information match. 4. The multistage relay communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information forming the relay job identification information includes a retransmission count value.