JPH0720151B2 - Communications system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication system suitable for bidirectional communication between a host-side device and a slave-side device, such as a facsimile adapter.

"Prior Art" Signal exchange between a host-side device, for example, a personal computer (personal computer) and a slave-side device, for example, a modem or a facsimile device is usually performed using a bidirectional communication system.

For example, a facsimile adapter used in such a two-way communication system can directly convert document data and chart data created on a personal computer or a word processor into a facsimile signal for transmission.

In such a facsimile adapter, RS-232C
With the control of the communication interface and the dedicated software, the data is transmitted from the personal computer side to the facsimile machine side through this facsimile adapter.

For documents created on a computer, generally, the document data is printed out once, and the printed document is
Sending to the other party using a facsimile machine. However, the transmitted document data is the same as the printed document.

For this reason, this kind of communication software converts the document data on the personal computer into the document format for printout, and then transmits it to the facsimile adapter through the RS-232C.

Even when the personal computer is equipped with this facsimile adapter, the signal processing is the same.

"Problems to be solved by the invention" By the way, such a conventional facsimile adapter is
It has the following drawbacks.

First, when RS-232C software is used, it is necessary to set hardware for this in advance.

Secondly, it is necessary to suspend the word processor or the like currently in operation, create a document file, and then activate the dedicated communication software for transmission.

Third, in order to realize the same image output as when printed out, it is necessary to convert the data to the printout format with dedicated software.

Thus, in the conventional facsimile adapter,
Both users and manufacturers have various inconveniences, and the usability is extremely poor.

Further, when the document data or the like is transmitted by the above-mentioned facsimile adapter, as one of the transmission procedures, there is a pre-processing process (phase B transmission phase) for confirming the state of the terminal, the transmission path, etc. and controlling the terminal. .

After line connection is made as shown in FIG. 11, phase A is entered and call setup and line establishment are performed. After that, the above-mentioned sequence of phase B is started. When the transmission / reception preparation state of the terminal ends, the process moves to phase C which is message transmission.

The timing exchange between the facsimile adapter and the personal computer in the transmission phase from the phase A to the phase C is as shown in FIG.

First, in the phase A mode, the busy signal BUSY keeps the busy state, and after entering the phase B, the busy signal BUSY
First becomes the ready state (C in the figure, time t1), the ready state continues until the strobe pulse STB in the figure B arrives from the personal computer side (time t2). Strobe pulse ST
Once B is input, the ready state is not accepted unless the control flag (A in the figure) drops to the low level.

When entering the transmission phase of phase C, the control flag transits to the low level and the strobe pulse STB interrupt restarts the acquisition of data from the personal computer, and this is continuously performed, and at the same time the message transmission to the partner device is performed. Be started. Strobe pulse STB
When the busy signal BUSY enters the busy state by the, the processing routine automatically changes to the ready state again.

Here, when the busy signal BUSY is in the ready state even when the control flag is at the high level, the personal computer sends out the printout data (1 byte document data).

However, as described above, in the transmission phase of the phase B, the busy signal is sent to the personal computer until the control flag transits to the low level, that is, until the processing of the phase B ends. The sending of printout data to the facsimile adapter side is prohibited.

On the other hand, on the PC side, if it is impossible to send out a certain amount of printout data (document data of several bytes in the above example) within a certain time, it is judged that the print side is abnormal and the printout mode is set. Software may be assembled so that it can be removed.

When such software is used, the determination as described above may be made when a predetermined time has elapsed after entering the transmission phase of phase B, and the transmission of document data or the like from the personal computer side may be interrupted. In such a case, the software for printing out must be restarted, which is not only a troublesome work, but also a normal document cannot be transmitted.

Such a problem may occur during the transmission phase of the phase D before moving to the next page.

Therefore, the present invention proposes a communication system that eliminates these drawbacks.

That is, in the present invention, the printer interface is used so that the output data by the printout operation can be directly used, and at the same time, at least within the period of the phase B, an erroneous judgment for exiting the printout mode is not made. Is proposed.

"Means for Solving the Problems" In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, printout code data from the host side in the printout mode is directly converted into a facsimile signal via the printer interface on the slave side. In the communication system adapted to convert and transmit, the busy signal sent from the slave side to the host side during the transmission phase of phase B is transited to the ready state at predetermined time intervals. It is what

"Operation" The output data (printout data) sent from the host side device (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) 20 via the printer interface 70 is first expanded into dot information and specified code information, and then supplied to the modem 50. To be done.

A predetermined analog signal obtained from the modem 50 is directly transmitted as a facsimile signal through the communication line to the other party's non-voice terminal, that is, a facsimile machine.

Output data output to the printer interface 70,
That is, since the printout data has already been converted into the printout format, data conversion is directly performed to facsimile data according to the control data added before and after the output data.

Therefore, no special communication conversion software is needed. Also,
It is not necessary to terminate application software such as word processors currently in operation. Since the operation to print out is just one operation procedure of a normal PC,
It is much simpler than normal application software operation.

The busy signal BUSY sent to the personal computer side during the preparation of terminal transmission / reception in phase B is controlled so as to be in the ready state at regular time intervals. When the busy signal BUSY changes to the ready state, the printout data (1 byte) is sent from the personal computer 20 side to the facsimile adapter 10 on the slave side in response to this.

If the printout data is sent to the facsimile adapter 10 side every predetermined time, the software on the personal computer side never exits the printout mode. Upon completion of preparations for transmission / reception of the terminal, the process immediately shifts to phase C to start data transmission.

“Example” Next, in the case where the communication system according to the present invention uses a facsimile adapter as a slave side device,
A detailed description will be given with reference to FIG.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, a printer interface 70 is used to realize bidirectional communication between a host side device, for example, a personal computer 20 and a slave side device (printer, modem, facsimile device, etc.) 10X. It is a thing.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the receiving system 1A in this two-way communication system, and FIG. 4 shows an example of the transmitting system 1B.

In the receiving system 1A shown in FIG. 3, 10 is a facsimile adapter and 20 is a personal computer which is a host side device. A printer 30 is used to print out document data output from the personal computer 20 or the like.

The received data supplied from the telephone line is the network control circuit (NC
The data is demodulated by being supplied to the modem 50 via U) 40, and then the demodulated data is converted into 1-byte parallel data by the parallel-serial conversion circuit 60.

The serial conversion of the demodulated data is performed in synchronization with the serial clock SCK supplied from the personal computer 20.

The serial-converted data is supplied to the personal computer 20 via the busy line BUSY of the printer interface 70.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the transmitter 1B in the two-way communication system. The transmitter 1B is also a personal computer 20 and a printer 30.
And a facsimile adapter 10.

In the print mode, the printout data transmitted from the personal computer 20 is supplied to the printer 30 via the printer interface 70, so that necessary print processing is executed.

In the data transmission mode, the printout data is sequentially transferred via the printer interface 70 to the signal conversion means 10.
Supplied to 0. The signal-converted data is supplied to the NCU 40 via the modem 50, and then sent to the communication line side such as a telephone line. At this time, the personal computer 20 side is set to the printout mode.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the signal converting means 100 shown in FIG.

The data for printout output from the personal computer 20 is sequentially fetched, for example, byte by byte through the printer interface 70 described above, and is temporarily stored in the RAM 101 for the printer code buffer.

The remaining capacity of the buffer RAM 101 is a predetermined number of bytes (for example, 10
Byte), the buffer full flag is set and the busy signal (for convenience, the same symbol BUSY as the busy line is used) is transferred from the printer interface 70 to the personal computer 20 side, which controls the data transmission from the personal computer 20. To be done.

Then, the printout data in the buffer of the buffer RAM 101 is sequentially read by the software interpreter 102.
The character font of the character generator 103, which is interpreted by the ROM and is read by the ROM, is read, converted into dot data, and the RAM for the dot map memory is read.
It is expanded on (virtual VRAM) 104.

When the dot data of one horizontal line is accumulated, the code table on the code table ROM 106 is referred to by the data of one line and the dot data is converted into the facsimile code data. The facsimile code data is sequentially stored in the facsimile code buffer RAM 105.

Then, the facsimile code data is read from the facsimile code buffer RAM 105 at a timing corresponding to the communication speed, and is converted into an analog facsimile signal in the modem 50 described above. The converted facsimile signal is sent to the telephone line side through the NCU 40.

In the facsimile code data, an EOL signal, which is a line delimiter signal, is inserted for each horizontal line, and the transmission time of the one line is specified. Delimiter signal EO for 1-line data transmission within the specified maximum time
The data of logic "0" is inserted between L and L. Also,
8 bits of facsimile code data is generated,
It is adapted to be transferred to the modem 50 bit by bit.

As described above, in the signal converting means 100, the print-out data transmitted from the personal computer 20 is once expanded into dot information through the printer interface 70,
This is what is encoded into facsimile code data.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of this signal conversion processing. When the data, that is, the data for printout, is received from the personal computer 20 by the interrupt processing, it is stored in the buffer RAM 101 and then processed according to the procedure of FIG.

That is, printout data is sequentially read from the data buffer RAM 101, and it is checked whether the data is command data or raw data (steps 111 and 11).
2).

In the case of command data, the data is analyzed and various settings are made (step 113). Then, the process returns to step 111 again.

When the captured data is raw data, it is checked whether the data is code data or dot data (step 114). If it is code data, a character is recognized from the received character code,
The character font will be read (step 115).

The obtained font data is stored in the virtual VRAM and dot development is performed (step 116). This uses the dodmap memory RAM 104.

After the dot development is completed, when the development for one line is completed, one dot in the vertical direction is viewed horizontally, and the data for one line is sequentially stored in the facsimile code buffer RAM 105 (step 117).

Thereafter, as described above, the facsimile code data stored in the buffer RAM 105 is sequentially read byte by byte by the interrupt processing of the modem 50, and this is converted into an analog facsimile signal.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the printer interface 70 described above.

From the personal computer 20 side, in addition to the 8-bit data lines D0 to D7,
A total of nine lines, that is, the strobe line (STB) and the busy line (BUSY), are led out, and these are led to the input terminal 71. The data lines D0 to D7 provided on the input terminal 71 side are connected to the corresponding data lines D0 to D7 of the terminal 72 on the printer 30 side. The data lines D0 to D7 of the printer-side terminal 72 are supplied to the modem 50 via the data bus. The data line D0 of the terminal 72 is used to supply a reception data clock from the personal computer 20 side during data communication.

A first switching means 75 is provided between the strobe line STB provided between the terminals 71 and 72 and the busy line BUSY. When printing out the printout data from the personal computer 20 as it is, the strobe line ST at terminal 71
B and the busy line BUSY are connected to the corresponding lines of the terminal 72.

When transmitting data communication, that is, received data to the personal computer 20 side, the first switching means 75 is switched as shown by the solid line.

This switching is performed by a switching control signal (FAX) sent from the microcomputer 80. When the control signal FAX is obtained, the transistor 76 is turned on and the relay 77 is energized. As a result, the first switching means 75 is switched to the state shown by the solid line. As a result, the busy line BUSY is used as a data line for serial data transmission.

The strobe line STB is used for timing adjustment during preprocessing for transmitting / receiving data.

That is, the strobe signal (STB for convenience, FIG. 7C) obtained from the personal computer 20 side is supplied to the set terminal of the D-type flip-flop 86 via the first switching means 75 and the amplifier 85. . When the strobe signal STB arrives, the Q terminal transits to the high level in synchronization with the fall of the strobe signal STB. This high level state signal (hereinafter referred to as a busy signal) is supplied to the D0 terminal of the second switching means 82 via the inverter 87.

The second switching means 82 is a switching means for using the busy line BUSY also as the data line DATA, and is for adjusting the timing between the personal computer 20 and the printer interface 70 side until the reception data is transmitted to the personal computer 20 side. Used as a busy signal line.

Therefore, the busy signal of the Q terminal is sent to the busy line BUSY side through the inverter 83 until the data transmission is started.

The BUSY / READY switching signal (FIG. 7E) output from the microcomputer 80 is sent to the second switching means 82 via the amplifier 88.
Supplied to the D0 pin. Therefore, the D0 terminal always maintains the low level from the time when the strobe signal STB is obtained until the time when the switching signal indicating the ready state is obtained.

The second switching means 82 is a switching signal output from the microcomputer 80.
Controlled by SEND.

Now, the input reception data supplied to the terminal 73 is supplied to the parallel / serial exchange circuit 60, and the data is serially converted (A and D in FIG. 7). The serial clock SCK sent from the personal computer 20 is used as the clock for serial conversion (FIG. 7A).

The serial clock SCK is sent out using one of the data lines D0 to D7, for example, D0.

1 converted to serial in synchronization with serial clock SCK
The byte input reception data is sent to the busy line BUSY via the inverter 79, the D1 terminal of the second switching means 82, the inverter 83 and the first switching means 75. This busy line BUSY
The received data is serially transmitted to the personal computer 20 side.

The strobe signal STB obtained from the inverting terminal of the D-type flip-flop 86 is supplied to the microcomputer 80,
The arrival of the strobe pulse STB sent from the side is detected.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a control program for exchanging signals between the personal computer 20 and the facsimile adapter 10 when receiving data.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the first switching means 75 is switched to the solid line side and the second switching means 82 is switched to the D0 terminal side.

First, when the control program 120 on the personal computer 20 side is started, the confirmation processing is performed by the control program 140 on the facsimile adapter 10 side with the transmission of the status clock ST / CK from the personal computer 20 side (steps 121, 1).
41).

The facsimile adapter 10 side then checks whether there is an incoming call, and when there is an incoming call, a ready signal is sent.
READY is sent to the personal computer 20 side, and this ready signal REA
Upon receiving DY, the strobe signal STB is sent from the personal computer 20 side. This strobe signal STB is confirmed on the facsimile adapter side (122, 123, 143, 144).

When the confirmation of the strobe signal STB is completed, the ready signal READY is sent from the facsimile adapter 10 side and at the same time, one byte of the received data is loaded. When the loading of the received data is completed, the busy signal BU
SY is sent (steps 145-147).

After the reception state of the ready signal READY is confirmed on the personal computer 20 side, the BUSY signal is then confirmed (steps 124 and 125). When both are confirmed, the strobe signal STB is sent to the facsimile adapter 10 side, and in response to this, the confirmation process of the strobe signal STB is executed on the facsimile adapter 10 side (step 1
26,148).

When the confirmation of the strobe signal is completed, the second switching means 82 is switched to the D1 terminal side so as to use the busy line BUSY as a data line (step 149).

When the switching of the busy line BUSY is completed, the serial clock SCK is sent from the personal computer 20 side, and the parallel-serial converted received data is sent accordingly (step
127,150).

The personal computer 20 side receives the data one bit at a time, and when the received data of one byte is input, the transmission of the serial clock SCK is stopped and the processing of the received input data is executed (steps 128 to 131). ).

When the processing of the input received data is completed, the strobe signal STB is sent out in step 132, so that the facsimile adapter 10 side confirms the arrival of this strobe signal STB, and then switches the busy line BUSY to the original busy line. (Steps 151, 152). After that, it is checked whether the received data is completed up to the end of one page (step 153), and if not completed, the process returns to step 145.

Similarly, the personal computer side also returns to step 124 through step 133, and serial data is sequentially transmitted to the personal computer 20 side byte by byte while observing the mutual timing by the same procedure as described above.

When the input of data for one page and the transmission to the personal computer 20 are completed, this control routine is exited (steps 133, 15).
3).

As described above, steps 121 to 123 and 141 to 144 are all reception preparation confirmation steps on the personal computer 20 side, and steps 124 to 126 and steps 145 to 148 are for synchronizing the start of the received data. It is a step. These are all byte-synchronized.

Then, steps 127 to 129 and steps 149 and 150 are all bit synchronization sections. Then, the remaining steps 130 to 132 and steps 151 and 152 are both byte synchronization sections.

As a result, 1 byte of received data is serially exchanged in synchronization with the serial clock SCK sent from the personal computer 20 side, and 1 byte of data is transferred via the busy line BUSY in synchronization with the serial clock SCK. Serial transfer is performed (see A and D in FIG. 7).

According to the present invention, when the printout data from the personal computer 20 side is transmitted via the facsimile adapter 10 after the line connection, as shown in FIGS. The signal BUSY is transited to the ready state.

The personal computer 20 receives the busy signal BUSY and prohibits the transmission of printout data until the personal computer 20 transitions to the ready state. When in the ready state, the strobe pulse STB is generated in response to the ready timing, and the printout data is transmitted in synchronization with the timing of the strobe pulse STB.

An example of the timing of the ready state will be described according to the transmission phase of facsimile communication. In this example, it is assumed that the program is set to the ready state when the corresponding internal processing in the transmission phase is completed. This is because it is possible to send 1-byte printout data before the next corresponding internal processing time is reached.

FIG. 10 shows a well-known transmission phase. When a line is connected by a call signal (call signal),
Phase A is on the side of the facsimile adapter 10. In this phase A, when the called station identification signal CED is detected, the corresponding internal processing is executed (steps 161, 162).
Corresponding internal processing includes processing for the modem and processing for setting the strobe pulse STB interrupt to the enabled state.

After that, the busy signal BUSY transits to the ready state and the phase B transmission phase is set (step 163,
Figure 9 time points t1, t2).

In the ready state, receive strobe pulse STB 1
Byte printout data is a facsimile adapter
It is sent to the 10 side and becomes busy again.

In phase B, first, when the digital identification signal DIS is received from the facsimile machine on the other side, a check process (corresponding internal process) for compatibility with the other machine is executed, and at the same time, the printout data is set to the ready state. Is transmitted (steps 164-166, time t)
4, t5).

Next, the digital command signal DCS is transmitted from the facsimile adapter 10 side, and then the corresponding internal processing is executed (steps 167, 168).

When the internal processing such as the mode setting is completed, the ready state is set again, and the printout data is sent again (step 169, time points t6 and t7). Continuing,
Corresponding internal processing is performed so that the communication speed can be switched to 4800 bps mode, and a training check signal
The TCF is transmitted to the partner device (steps 170, 171).

When the processing of changing the communication speed is completed, the busy signal BUSY becomes ready and the printout data is sent to the PC.
It is transmitted from the 20 side (step 172, time points t8 and t9).

After that, when the reception preparation confirmation signal CFR is received, the model 50
Then, the interrupt processing for is enabled, the phase B transmission phase is exited, and the next phase C transmission phase is entered (steps 173, 174, time t3).

In Phase C, the PC is set to the ready state and the control flag is inverted to the low level.
After the process of inputting the printout data from the 20 side, the control again shifts the busy line to the ready state and the message transmission is started (steps 175, 17).
6).

The above-described operation is performed even during the period of phase D which is the processing period of the post message, but the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Of course, depending on the software, there are cases where the period of this phase D is set up so as not to make an erroneous determination, and at that time, such processing is unnecessary.

In the above description, the present invention is applied to the communication system having the facsimile device in which the slave side device has the adapter configuration, but it is also applicable to the case where the bidirectional communication system function including this facsimile device is built in the personal computer. This invention can be applied.

As described above, according to the present invention, the output data sent from the host side via the printer interface is expanded into dot information and prescribed code information, and then supplied to the modem, It controls the processing of phase C.

In this case, the output data output by the printout operation on the host side is directly sent to the communication line side using the printer interface.

The output data that is output to the printer interface, that is, the printout data, has already been converted to the printout format. Therefore, you can directly convert the printout data to facsimile code data according to the control data added before and after the output data. Good.

As a result, no special communication software is required.

It is not necessary to terminate application software such as word processors currently in operation.

The feature is that the operation is extremely easy only by the printout operation that is well known in the personal computer.

Further, at least during the transmission phase of the phase B, the busy signal is forcibly transited to the ready state at every predetermined time and the printout data is sent to the facsimile adapter side. In addition, it has the feature that it can surely prevent mistakes such as the personal computer exiting the printout mode.

Therefore, the present invention is extremely suitable when applied to data communication between a personal computer and a facsimile machine.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a concrete system diagram of a signal exchange means showing an example of a main part of a communication system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing an example of a receiving system in the two-way communication system, FIG. 4 is a system diagram showing an example of the transmitting system similarly, and FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the two-way communication system.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a printer interface, FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation thereof, FIG. 8 is a flow chart at the time of reception showing an example of signal exchange between the host side and the slave side, and FIG. Is a waveform diagram for explaining the processing contents of phase B, FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a transmission phase for explaining the processing operation, FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the transmission phase, and FIG. 12 is a conventional operation explanation for phase B. FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram for use in 1A: Receiving system for bidirectional communication system 1B: Sending system for bidirectional communication system 10A: Facsimile adapter 20: Personal computer 30: Printer 40: NCU 50: Modem 60: Parallel / serial switching circuit 70 ... … Printer interface 100 …… Signal conversion means 101 …… Printer code buffer 102 …… Interpreter 103 …… Character generator 104 …… Dot map memory 105 …… Facsimile code buffer 106 …… Code table

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A communication system in which printout code data output from a host side in a printout mode is directly converted into a facsimile signal via a printer interface on a slave side and transmitted. Phase B or phase D The communication system is characterized in that the busy signal sent from the slave side to the host side during the period of is transited to the ready state at predetermined time intervals.