Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
Multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus and method
of controlling the apparatus
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-medium store-
and-forward exchange apparatus for performing transfer, stor-
age and conversion over various sorts of data and a method of
controlling the apparatus, and more particularly, to a multi-
medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus which is connected
to a plurality of line networks so that the apparatus converts
data received from communication terminals into data suitable
for different line networks and sends them associated party
terminals and a method of controlling the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior art store-and-forward exchange apparatus of the
type referred to above has been connected to a single line
exchange network so that the apparatus receives a data from a
terminal through the line exchange network and sends it to a
party terminal through the same network.
There have been recently suggested such a store-and-
forward exchange apparatus that is connected to a plurality of
sorts of line exchange networks including a voice line ex-
change network for transmitting voice signals, a picture line
exchange network for transmitting picture data and a character
line exchange network for transmitting character data.
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The store-and-forward exchange apparatus is basically
designed so that the apparatus sends a voice signal received
from a voice terminal (which generates the voice signal), to a
party terminal through one of the lines connected to the voice
line exchange network, sends a picture signal received from a
picture terminal (which generates the picture signal), to a
party terminal through one of the lines connected to the
picture line exchange network, and sends a character signal
received from a character terminal (which generates the char-
acter signal), to a party terminal through one of the lines
connected to the character line exchange network. For this
reason, when all the lines connected, e.g., to the picture
line exchange network are in use but there is idle one of the
lines connected, e.g., to the character line exchange network,
the prior art store-and-forward exchange apparatus cannot
transmit the data received through the picture line exchange
network to the party terminal but must wait until one of the
lines connected to the picture line exchange network becomes
idle.
In order to remove the above disadvantage, it may be
considered to determine the number of lines depending on the
expected amount of the communication for each sort of media.
Even in this case, however, when the amount of communication
to line exchange network is unexpectedly increased, the trans-
mission to terminals connected to that line exchange network
is delayed and thus equal servicing to every terminals cannot
be realized. For the purpose of overcoming this disadvantage,
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it may be considered to increase the number of lines connected
to each of line exchange networks. This, however, involves
another problem that the cost becomes high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus
and a method of controlling the apparatus which can convert a
data received from a terminal into another data suitable for a
different line network and can transmit it to a destination
terminal.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a
multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus and a method
of controlling the apparatus which allow transmission and
reception of data between terminals handling different media.
A further object of the present invention is to provide
a multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus and a
method of controlling the apparatus which can automatically
transmit an announcement of data arrival to terminals other
than a destination terminal.
Yet another object of the present invention is to
provide a multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus
and a method of controlling the apparatus which can previously
register a plurality of terminals handling different media for
an identical identification data.
In the present invention, in the event where the desti-
nation terminal cannot handle a data transmitted from the data
originator terminal, the multi-medium store-and-forward ex-
change apparatus converts the data into a data which the
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destination terminal can handle and transmits the converted
data to the destination terminal through a network controller
associated with the destination terminal.
Identification data of a terminal to which a data
arrival announcement is to be output at the time of the data
reception is registered in the exchange apparatus so that the
data arrival announcement is sent to the terminal in the form
of the associated medium (voice, character and picture data)
messages previously prepared in the store-and-forward exchange
apparatuses.
Identification data are allocated to individual users
utilizing the system, and each user determines a terminal to
be used according to the attribute (picture, character or
voice) of a data to execute transmission of the data to the
terminal.
In this case, when a terminal closest to the user is
previously registered as its announcement terminal, the data
arrival can be informed to the closest terminal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a
multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus in accord-
ance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining input/output of
various sorts of data and mutual conversion therebetween;
Fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of
the embodiment of Fig. 3;
Fig. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of
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another embodiment;
Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a data
processor used in Fig. l;
Fig. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of
the embodiment of Fig. 5;
Fig. 7 shows an example of a control table for a commu-
nication controller used in the embodiment of Fig. 5;
Fig. 8 shows an example of a user ID table used in the
embodiment of Fig. 5;
Fig. 9 is shows an example of a dial number table used
in the embodiment of Fig. 5;
Fig. 10 shows an example of an announcement receiver
terminal table used in the embodiment of Fig. 5;
Fig. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of
announcing a data arrival announcement message;
Fig. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of
limiting the number of data receiver terminals to a small
value and sending a data to one of the data receiver terminals
having the same attribute as the data sender terminal; and
Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of
the multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus of the
present invention connected with a host computer.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of the present invention will be detailed
by referring to the attached drawings.
Referring first to Fig. 1, there is shown a block
diagram of a multi-medium store-and-forward exchange apparatus
1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention,
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which is connected through m picture lines 21-1 to 21-m and a
picture line exchange network 30 to a plurality of picture
terminals 30-1 to 30-p which can receive picture data, through
n character lines 22-1 to 21-n and a character line exchange
network 40 to a plurality of character terminals 40-1 to 40-q
which can receive character data, and further through o voice
lines 23-1 to 23-o and a voice line exchange network 50 to a
plurality of voice terminals 50-1 to 50-r which can receive
voice data, respectively.
More specifically, the store-and-forward exchange
apparatus 1 comprises a data processor 10, a communication
controller 20 and an external memory unit 35.
The data processor 10 acts to receive from the communi-
cation controller 20 picture, character and voice data, send
these data to the external memory unit 35 as they are without
any processing or convert these data to a single common data
to be stored in the external memory unit 35, and also read out
a data from the external memory unit 35, subject the read-out
data to a desired conversion associated with the attribute of
the destination terminal and transmit the converted data to
the destination terminal through the communication controller
20. The functions of the data processor 10 are schematically
shown in Fig. 2, which functions will be detailed below. That
is, Fig. 2(a) shows the processing of the data processor 10
when the data processor 10 sends the picture, character and
voice data received through the communication controller 20 to
the external memory unit 35 as they are, to be stored therein.
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In this case, more in detail, the data processor 10 outputs
the received picture, character and voice data to the external
memory unit 35 respectively as picture, character and voice
data. The data processor 10 also reads out a picture data
from the external memory unit 35; and sends the read-out
picture data as it is to the communication controller 20 as a
picture data or converts the read-out picture data into a
character or voice data and then sends the converted data to
the communication controller 20. Similarly, the data proces-
sor 10, when reading out a character data from the external
memory unit 35, sends the read-out character data as it is to
the communication controller 20 as a character data or con-
verts the read-out character data into a picture or voice data
and then sends the converted data to the communication con-
troller 20. Likewise,-the data processor 10, when reading out
a voice data from the external memory unit 35, sends the read-
out voice data as it is to the communication controller 20 as
a voice data or converts the read-out voice data into a pic-
ture or character data and then sends the converted data to
the communication controller 20.
Fig. 2(b) shows the processing of the data processor 10
when the data processor 10 converts the picture, character and
voice data received through the communication controller 20
into a common data and then sends the common data to the
external memory unit 35 to be stored therein. In this case,
more in detail, the data processor 10 converts the received
picture, character and voice data into a common data, e.g.,
into a character data and outputs the converted character data
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to the external memory unit 35; while the data processor 10
reads out a common data from the external memory unit 35,
converts the read-out common data into a picture, character or
voice data having the same attribute as the destination termi-
nal, and then outputs the converted data to the communication
controller 20.
The communication controller 20 comprises a picture
network controller 21, a character network controller 22 and a
voice network controller 23. The picture network controller
21 functions to transmit or receive picture data to or from
the picture terminals 30-1 to 30-p through the picture lines
21-1 to 21-m and the picture line exchange network 30. The
character network controller 22 functions to transmit or
receive character data to or from the character terminals 40-1
to 40-q through the character lines 22-1 to 22-n and the
character line exchange network 40. Similarly, the voice
network controller 23 functions to transmit or receive voice
data to or from the voice terminals 50-1 to 50-r through the
voice lines 23-1 to 23-o and the voice line exchange network
50.
In this connection, the numbers m, n and o of picture
lines 21-1 to 21-m, character lines 22-1 to 22- n and voice
lines 23-1 to 23-o are previously determined by the respective
communication frequencies or communication traffics of the
picture, character and voice data.
The external memory unit 35 stores therein picture
data, character data, voice data or common data to the pic-
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ture, character and voice data.
Explanation will next be made with reference to a
flowchart of Fig. 3 as to the control of the transmission when
the store-and-forward exchange apparatus 1 transmits, for
example, a voice data.
First, the data processor 10, when receiving a trans-
mission request or transmission queue (step 101), reads out
the destination information of the voice data associated with
the transmission queue from the external memory unit 35 and
starts its transmission control operation. Since the trans-
mission conditions of the voice data are satisfied at the
voice network controller 23 of the communication controller 20
(step 102), the data processor 10 judges through the voice
network controller 23 of the communication controller 20 the
presence or absence of idle one of the voice lines 23-1 to 23-
o (step 103). When the data processor 10 judges the presence
of an idle voice line, the voice network controller 23 seizes
idle one of the voice lines 23-1 to 23-o in response to an
instruction from the data processor 10, transmits a calling
signal through the voice line exchange network 50 to, e.g.,
the voice terminal 50-1 indicative of the destination informa-
tion informed from the data processor 10 to call the voice
terminal 50-1 (step 104). When the voice terminal 50-1 an-
swers to the calling signal, this causes the data processor 10
to read out the voice data from the external memory unit 35
and to transmit the read-out voice data to the voice terminal
50-1 through the voice network controller 23.
In other words, in the case where the store-and-forward
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exchange apparatus 1 is desired to transmit a voice data, if
any one of the voice lines 23-1 to 23-o is idle then the voice
network controller 23 transmits the voice data. In this
case, the transmission control is the same as that of the
prior art. Similarly, in the event where the store-and-
forward exchange apparatus 1 is desired to transmit a picture
or character data, if any one of the picture lines 21-1 to 21-
m or any one of the character lines 22-1 to 22-n is idle then
the picture or character network controller 21 or 22 transmits
the picture or character data. Accordingly, data processor 10
transmits picture, character and voice data stored in the
external memory unit 35 as they are.
In the step 103, if idle one of the voice lines 23-1 to
23-o is not present then the voice network controller 23
informs the data processor 10 of the absence of any idle voice
line.
At this time, the data processor 10 judges that the
processor 10 cannot transmit the voice data on the basis of
the absence of any idle voice line and starts its transmission
control operation to a predetermined data receiver terminal,
e.g., to the character terminal 40-1 in place of the voice
terminal 50-1.
More concretely, the data processor 10 first judges the
presence or absence of idle one of the character lines 22-1 to
22-n through the character network controller 22 of the
communication controller 20 (step 105). The data processor
10, when determining the presence of an idle character line,
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reads out a voice data destined for the voice terminal 50-1
from the external memory unit 35, recognizes a voice corre-
sponding to the voice data, and converts the voice into a
character data (step 106). And the character network control-
ler 22, in response to an instruction from the data processor
10, seizes idle one of the character lines 22-1 to 22-n and
transmits a calling signal via the character line exchange
network 40 to the character terminal 40-1 (step 104) to there-
by call the character terminal 40-1. A response of the char-
acter terminal 40-1 to the calling signal causes the data
processor 10 to transmit the converted character code data to
the character terminal 40-1 through the character network
controller 22.
That is, even in the event where any one of the voice
lines 23-1 to 23-o is not idle and thus it is impossible to
transmit the voice data, if any one of the character lines 22-
1 to 22-n is idle, then the data processor 10 converts the
voice data into a character data and transmits the converted
character data from the character network controller 22. As
a result, even when any one of the voice lines 23-1 to 23-o
for transmission of voice data is not idle, the data processor
10 can quickly transmit the contents of the voice data to be
transmitted to another terminal (in this case, character
terminal 40-1).
In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2(a),
the data processor 10 can convert picture, character and voice
data into their mutually different other sorts of data. As a
result, the processing loop starting from the step 103 and
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ending in the step 104 via the steps 105 and 106 in Fig. 3 can
be applied for the other sorts of data so that the converted
data can be transmitted through the network controller associ-
ated with the sort of that data. For this reason, all the
lines connected to the respective line exchange networks can
be effectively utilized at all times.
If the data processor 10 receives no transmission
request in the step 101, if the transmission conditions are
not satisfied in the step 102, or if no idle line exists in
the step 103 or 105, then the store-and-forward exchange
apparatus 1 performs no transmission and is returned to its
wait state.
The foregoing explanation has been made in connection
with the case where the picture, character and voice data are
previously stored in the external memory unit 35 as they are
so that, when it is desired to transmit these data, the data
conversion is carried out as necessary. However, the store-
and-forward exchange apparatus may be arranged so that, as
shown in Fig. 2(b) for example, the respective data are previ-
ously converted into a common data and stored in the external
memory unit 35 and the common data is converted into the
necessary sort of data at the time of transmission. In addi-
tion, the data conversion is not limited to the picture,
character and voice data and any sort of data may be handled
so long as the data allows mutual conversion.
Explanation will next be made as to another example of
the transmission control when the store-and-forward exchange
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apparatuses 1 transmits, for example, a voice data, with
reference to a flowchart of Fig. 4.
First, the data processor 10, when receiving a trans-
mission queue (step 201), reads out the destination informa-
tion of the voice data from the external memory unit 35 and
starts its transmission control operation. When the destina-
tion terminal of the voice data is a voice terminal, that is,
when the data to be transmitted has the same attribute as the
destination terminal (step 202), the data processor 10 judges
through the voice network controller 23 of the communication
controller 20 whether or not any one of the voice lines 23-1
to 23-o is idle (step 204). If any one of the voice lines 23-
1 to 23-o is idle, then the voice network controller 23 re-
sponds to an instruction from the data processor 10, seizes
the idle line, and transmits a calling signal through the
voice line exchange network 50 to the terminal indicative of
the destination information received from the data processor
10, e.g., to the voice terminal 50-1 (step 205) to call the
voice terminal 50-1. The voice terminal, when responding to
the calling signal, reads out the voice data from the external
memory unit 35 and transmits the read-out voice data to the
voice terminal 50-1 through the voice network controller 23.
Similarly, in the case where the store-and-forward
exchange apparatuses 1 is desired to transmit a picture or
character data, if the attribute of the data to be transmitted
coincides with the attribute of the destination terminal and
any one of the picture or character lines 21-1 to 21-m or 22-1
to 22-n is idle, then the picture or character network con-
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troller 21 or 22 transmits the data.
In the step 202, when the attribute of the destinationterminal does not coincide with that of the data to be trans-
mitted, i.e., that of the data originator terminal, for exam-
ple, when the data originator terminal is a voice terminal and
the destination terminal is the character terminal 40-1, the
data processor 10 converts the data to be transmitted, i.e.,
the voice data into a character data corresponding to the
voice data (step 203). And the data processor 10 judges the
presence or absence of idle one of the character lines 22-1 to
22-n through the character network controller 22 (step 204).
If there is an idle character line, then the data processor 10
seizes the idle line and transmits a calling signal to the
character terminal 40-1 through the character line exchange
network 40 (step 205) to call the character terminal 40-1.
When the character terminal 40-1 answers to the calling sig-
nal, the data processor 10 transmits the converted character
data to the character terminal 40-1 through the character
network controller 22.
That is, when the destination terminal of the voice
data is a character data terminal, the data processor 10
converts the voice data into the corresponding character code
data and transmits the character data from the character
network controller 22. In this way, even when the destination
terminal is different in attribute from the data originator
terminal, the store-and-forward exchange apparatus 1 can
transmit the data.
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Even in this case, data processor 10 can convert the
picture, character and voice data into their mutually differ-
ent other sorts of data as shown in Fig. 2(a). As a result,
the processing loop starting from the step 202 and ending in
the step 205 via the steps 203 and 204 in Fig. 4 can be ap-
plied for the other sorts of data so that the respective
transmission data can be transmitted to a terminal different
in attribute from the data originator terminal.
If the data processor 10 receives no transmission
request in the step 201, or if no idle line exists in the step
204, then the store-and-forward exchange apparatus 1 performs
no transmission and is returned to its wait state.
An exemplary detailed arrangement of the data processor
10 in Fig. 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 5.
The data processor 10 shown in Fig. 5 comprises a voice
section 110, a picture section 120, a synthesizer section 130,
a central processing unit (CPU) 140, a read-only memory (ROM)
150 and a random access memory (RAM) 160.
More specifically, the voice section 110 includes a
voice controller 111, a voice analyzer 112, a voice memory
113, a voice recognition data memory 114, a voice dictionary
memory 115, and a character data memory 116. The voice sec-
tion 110 functions to convert a voice data into a correspond-
ing character data. More in detail, the voice controller 111,
when accepting from the CPU 140 a voice data that is already
stored in the external memory unit 35, sends the accepted
voice data to the voice analyzer 112. The voice analyzer 112,
when receiving the voice data, once stores a predetermined
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time length of the voice data in the voice memory 113. And
the voice analyzer 112 divides, on the basis of voice recogni-
tion data stored in the voice recognition data memory 114, the
predetermined time length of voice data stored in the voice
memory 113 into voice segments each corresponding to one
character, recognizes the voice segments on the basis of voice
data corresponding to arbitrary characters stored in the voice
dictionary memory 115, and converts the recognized voice
segments into a character data.
The voice analyzer 112, when completing the above
operation, sends the converted character data to the voice
controller 111.
The voice controller 111, when receiving the character
data from the voice analyzer 112, temporarily stores the
received character data in the character data memory 116. The
above processing is repeated to convert a voice data into a
character data.
The picture section 120 includes a picture controller
121, a picture analyzer lZ2, a picture memory 123, a picture
recognition data memory 124, a picture dictionary memory 125
and a character data memory 126. The picture section 120
functions to convert a picture data into a character data.
More concretely, the picture controller 121, whenever receiv-
ing a picture data corresponding to one page from the external
memory unit 35 through the CPU 140, supplies the picture data
to the picture analyzer 122. The picture analyzer 122, when
receiving the picture data corresponding to one page, once
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stores the received data in the picture memory 123. And the
picture analyzer 122 divides, on the basis of picture recogni-
tion data already stored in the picture recognition data
memory 124, the one-page picture data stored in the picture
memory 123 into picture segments each corresponding to one
character, recognizes the characters of the picture signal on
the basis of character feature data stored in the picture
dictionary memory 125, and converts the recognized characters
into a character data.
The picture analyzer 112, when completing the above
operation, sends the converted character data to the picture
controller 121.
The picture controller 121, when receiving the charac-
ter data from the picture analyzer 122, temporarily stores the
received character data in the character data memory 126. The
above processing is repeated to convert a picture data into a
character data.
The synthesizer section 130 includes a controller 131,
a character data memory 132, a character generator 133, a
voice memory 134 and a picture memory 135, and functions to
convert a character data into a voice or picture data. More
in detail, the controller 131, when receiving from the CPU 140
a character data through the external memory unit 35 or
through the character data memory 116 of the voice section 110
or through the character data memory 126 of the picture sec-
tion 120, stores the received character data in the character
data memory 132. And the controller 131 converts the charac-
ter data stored in the character data memory 132 into a voice
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or picture data by utilizing an output of the character gener-
ator 133. And the controller 131 temporarily stores the
converted voice or picture data in the voice or picture memory
134 or 135. The above processing is repeated to convert a
character data into a voice or picture data.
The ROM 150 and RAM 160 are used to store control data
necessary for the data processor 10. More concretely, the ROM
150 stores therein stationary control data, while the RAM 160
stores therein a user ID table, a dial number table, a commu-
nication controller control table and so on.
The user ID table shows relations between users (dis-
tinguished by their IDs (identifications)) and terminals in
the store-and-forward exchange apparatus, and an example of
the user ID table is given in Fig. 8. As will be seen from
the drawing, user IDs (Ul to Ui) are listed in the user ID
table in associated with picture terminals IDs (Il to Ij),
character terminal IDs (Vl to Vl) and data terminal IDs (Dl to
Dm) ~
The dial number table shows relations between the
terminal IDs, terminal attributes and terminal dial numbers,
and an example of the dial number table is given in Fig. 9.
As shown in the drawing, the terminal attributes (I, C and V)
and the terminal dial numbers (Tl,..., Tj, Tk, Tl,..., and Tm)
are listed in the dial number table in association with the
terminals IDs (11 to Ij, Cl to Ck, Vl to Vl, and Dl to Dm).
The communication controller control table shows rela-
tions between the picture, character and voice network con-
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trollers 21, 22 and 23, the states, party terminal IDs andcommunication start times of the lines connected to the re-
spective network controllers. An example of the communication
controller control table is shown in Fig. 7. The states of
the lines connected to the picture, character and voice net-
work controllers 21, 22 and 23 can be known by making refer-
ence to this communication controller control table.
Next, explanation will be made as to the operation of
the store-and-forward exchange apparatus employing the data
processor of Fig. 5 when the apparatus is desired to transmit
a picture data, by referring to a flowchart of Fig. 6.
When the data processor 10 receives a transmission
queue (step 301), the processor first checks the possession or
non- possession of a picture reception function in the party
terminal (step 302). This checking operation is carried out
by making reference to the attribute of the party terminal in
the dial number table (refer to Fig. 9) stored in the RAM 160.
If the party terminal has the picture reception function, then
the data processor 10 checks the presence or absence of an
idle picture line (step 303). The idle line checking opera-
tion is carried out by making reference to the communication
controller control table (refer to Fig. 7) stored in the RAM
160. For example, in this case, the data processor 10 exam-
ines the transmit/receive/idle state information of the lines
of the picture network controller in the communication con-
troller contrail table of Fig. 7 and when finding an idle
picture line, judges the presence of the idle line.
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In the step 303, when the data processor 10 determines
the presence of idle picture lines, the processor specifies
one of the idle lines (step 304) and transmits the picture
signal through the specified line (step 305).
When the data processor 10 judges in the step 302 that
the party terminal has no picture reception function or judges
in the step 303 that any one of the picture lines is not
idle, the processor examines whether or not the party terminal
has a character reception function (step 306). This function
examining operation is carried out by making reference to the
attribute of the party terminal in the dial number table 8
(refer to Fig. 9) stored in the RAM 160. If the party termi-
nal has the picture reception function, then the data proces-
sor 10 examines the presence or absence of idle one of the
character lines (step 307). This idle-line examining opera-
tion is carried out by referencing to the communication con-
troller control table (see Fig. 7) stored in the RAM 160. In
this case, the data processor 10 checks the
transmit/receive/idle state information of the lines of the
character network controller in the communication controller
control table of Fig. 7 and when finding an idle character
line, judges the presence of the idle character line.
In the step 307, when the data processor 10 judges the
presence of an idle character line, the processor converts
into a character data the picture data to be transmitted to
the destination terminal. The picture-to-character conversion
is carried out at the picture section 120 in Fig. 5.
When having completed the conversion from the picture
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data to the character data, the data processor 10 specifies
one of idle ones of the character lines (step 304) and trans-
mits the converted character signal through the specified idle
character line (step 305).
When the data processor 10 judges in the step 306 that
the party terminal has no character reception function or
judges in the step 307 that any one of the character lines is
not idle, the processor examines whether or not the party
terminal has a voice reception function (step 309). This
function examining operation is carried out by making refer-
ence to the attribute of the party terminal in the dial number
table 8 (refer to Fig. 9) stored in the RAM 160. If the party
terminal has the voice reception function, then the data
processor 10 examines the presence or absence of idle one of
the voice lines (step 310). In this case, the data processor
10 checks the transmit/receive/idle state information of the
lines of the voice network controller in the communication
controller control table of Fig. 7 and when finding an idle
voice line, judges the presence of the idle voice line.
In the step 310, when the data processor 10 judges the
presence of an idle voice line, the processor converts into a
voice data the picture data to be transmitted to the destina-
tion terminal. The picture-to-voice conversion is carried out
at the picture section 120 and at the synthesizer section 130
in Fig. 5.
That is, the picture signal is converted first at the
picture section 120 (step 311) and then the converted charac-
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ter information is further converted at the synthesizer sec-
tion 130 into the voice signal (step 312).
When having completed the conversion from the picture
data to the voice data, the data processor 10 specifies one of
idle ones of the voice lines (step 304) and transmits the
converted voice signal through the specified idle voice line
(step 305).
When the data processor 10 judges in the step 309 that
the party terminal has no voice reception function, the
processor returns to a stand-by state as disabled transmis-
sion.
When the data processor 10 judges the absence of any
idle character lines in the step 307, the processor returns to
the step 301.
Next, the data-arrival announcing operation will be
explained, as an example, in connection with a case where the
store-and-forward exchange apparatus 1 transmits a picture
data from the picture terminal 30-1 to the picture terminal
30-p.
First, the picture network controller 21, when receiv-
ing an incoming signal from the picture terminal 30-1, detects
the arrival of the incoming signal (step 401) and informs the
CPU 140 of the signal arrival as shown in Fig. 11.
The picture network controller 21 then receives the
destination information and announcement receiver information
indicative of, for example, the voice terminal 50-1 from the
signal originator terminal (step 402). Subsequently, the
picture network controller 21 receives the picture data (step
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403) and stores it in the external memory unit 35 (step 404).
Thereafter, the data processor 10 executes substantial-
ly the same transmission processing as explained in connection
with Fig. 4 (step 405).
After transmitting the picture data to the picture data
terminal 30-p (step 406), in order to transmit an announcement
message to the voice terminal 50-1 corresponding to the an-
nouncement receiver information, the data processor 10 reads
out from the external memory unit 35 an announcement message,
e.g., a voice data saying "the picture data was transmitted"
previously stored in the external memory unit 35 (step 407).
Then the data processor 10 checks the presence or
absence of idle one of the voice lines 23-1 to 23-o (step 408)
and when finding idle one of the voice lines 23-1 to 23-o,
transmits the announcement message of the voice data to the
voice terminal 50-1 through the voice network controller 23
(step 409). If failing to find any idle one in the step 408,
then the data processor 10 waits until any one of the voice
lines 23-1 to 23-o becomes idle.
In the foregoing embodiment, explanation has been made
in connection with the case where the attribute of the data
originator terminal coincides with that of the destination
terminal. When the data originator terminal is different in
attribute from the destination terminal, however, the data to
be transmitted is converted so as to coincide with the at-
tribute of the destination terminal, as a matter of course.
It is also possible to output the announcement message
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to any of the picture, character and voice terminals.
Explanation will next be made as to the data-receiver
specifying operation by referring to a flowchart of Fig. 12
and using the user ID table of Fig. 8.
Assume now that the party terminal is specified by a
user ID U2. Then, as shown in Fig. 12, the CPU 140, when
receiving a transmission queue (step 501), first reads out
from the RAM 160 the user ID U2 indicative of a user to be
transmitted and starts its transmission control!operation.
When a data to be transmitted is, for example, a character
data, the CPU 140 reads out from the user ID table a character
terminal ID C2 corresponding to the read-out user ID U2 (step
502).
The CPU 140 checks whether or not any one of the char-
acter lines 40-1 to 40-q through which the character code data
is to be transmitted is idle (step 503). If any one of the
character lines 40-1 to 40-q is idle, then the CPU 140 reads
out a dial number Tj+2 of the character terminal C2 from the
dial number table of Fig. 9 (step 504), and transmits the
read-out dial number from the character network controller 22
through idle one of the character lines 40-1 to 40-q to the
character terminal C2 to send the character data thereto (step
505)
When the CPU 140 judges the absence of a transmission
queue in the step 501 or judges the absence of any idle char-
acter line in the step 503, the CPU is put in its wait state.
Although the foregoing explanation has been made in the
connection with the case where the data to be transmitted is
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of the character type, substantially the same explanation can
be similarly applied for the picture and voice data.
Further, the configuration of Fig. 12 may be modified
so that, when any one of the lines having the same attribute
as the data to be transmitted is not idle, the data is con-
verted into another sort of data having the same attribute as
another sort of lines including an idle line. In this case,
another one of the terminals for the same user ID is selected.
The present invention may be arranged so that, as shown
by the table in Fig.10, announcement terminals IDs (C5 to Ij)
are previously registered in associated with the user IDs (Ul
to Ui), a data is transmitted based on the configuration of
Fig. 12 and thereafter an announcement terminal ID to inform
the message arrival at the user ID is input on the basis of
the table of Fig. 10 to thereby automatically inform the
announcement terminal of the message arrival.
The present invention may be also arranged so that, as
shown in Fig. 13, a host computer 70 is connected to the data
processor 10 through a data line exchange network 60, a data
line 24-1 and a data network controller 24 to generate the
management information of the tables of Figs. 7 to 10 on the
basis of a personnel-information data base, a company-organi-
zation data base, a network-management data base and so on.
In this case, when these data bases are modified, the host
computer 70 generates a data for management of the store-and-
forward exchange apparatus and sends the management data to
the data network controller 24 through the data line exchange
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network 60 and data line 24-1.
The data processor 10 receives the management data from
the data network controller 24 and stores it in the RAM 160 of
Fig. 5.
In this connection, the timing of using the management
data may be determined arbitrary as necessary but without
causing any contradiction in the system operation. For exam-
ple, the management data may be used at the very time of
receiving it or at day intervals.
In addition, the host computer 70 may output its gener-
ated management data to such an external memory medium as a
floppy disk 90, or the data processor 10 may input the manage-
ment data from such an external memory medium input device as
a floppy disk unit 80.
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