Method for increasing communication efficiency in a multiport facsimile

Claim 1

A method for increasing communication efficiency in a multiport facsimile having a memory and line interface units for controlling communication channels and enabling transmission of messages stored in said memory, said method comprising: registering messages of a plurality of documents in a plurality of files, said plurality of files being organized in a message-registration table allocated in said memory; re-registering the registered messages from said plurality of files having the same destination in a transmission-result table allocated in said memory by: checking for a number of line interface units for enabling transmission of messages via communication lines, and initializing an index counter allocated in said memory for counting index of each file within said message-registration table after registration of said messages in said plurality of files; searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of each file within said message-registration table indicated by said index counter for each increment of said index counter until the incremented value of said index counter reaches a maximum index value; and re-registering messages to be transmitted to the same destination from the index of said message-registration table onto said transmission-result table; and transmitting the re-registered messages having the same destination from said transmission-result table to said same destination in a single dial.

Claim 2

A method for increasing communication efficiency in a multiport facsimile having a memory and line interface units for controlling communication channels and enabling transmission of messages stored in said memory, said method comprising: registering messages of a plurality of documents in a plurality of files, said plurality of files being organized in a message-registration table allocated in said memory; re-registering the registered messages from said plurality of files having the same destination in a transmission-result table allocated in said memory by: checking for a number of line interface units for enabling transmission of messages via communication lines, and initializing an index counter allocated in said memory for counting index of each file within said message-registration table after registration of said messages in said plurality of files; searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of each file within said message-registration table indicated by said index counter for each increment of said index counter until the incremented value of said index counter reaches a maximum index value; and re-registering messages to be transmitted to the same destination from the index of said message-registration table onto said transmission-result table; and transmitting the re-registered messages having the same destination from said transmission-result table to said same destination in a single dial.

Claim 5

A method for increasing communication efficiency in a multiport facsimile having a plurality of line interface units for controlling a plurality of communication channels and transmitting messages after storing in a memory messages of a plurality of documents, said method comprising the steps of: checking for a number of line interface units, and initializing an index counter allocated in said memory and indicative of an index of a message-registration table registered along with the messages; searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by the index counter; incrementing the index counter by one, and comparing the incremented value of said index counter with a maximum-index value if there are no messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter, and if the incremented value and maximum-index value are the same, terminating the processing steps, and if the incremented value and the maximum-index value are not the same, returning to the step of searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter; loading a relative-number and a file-number from said message-registration table, saving the relative-number and the file number in a transmission-result table allocated in said memory, assigning the value of said index counter to a variable K, and increasing said variable K by one if there are messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter; searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by the variable K; increasing the variable K by one, and comparing the increased index counter value to the maximum-index value if there are no messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter, and returning to the step of searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by the variable K if the compared values are not the same; searching for a matching relative-number of a transmission-result table within said message-registration table if there are messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter; registering the file-number in a transmission-file-number of the transmission-result table if there is a matching relative-number from said transmission-result table, and then returning to the step of increasing the variable K by one and comparing the increased index counter value with the maximum-index value; directly returning to said step of increasing the variable K by one and comparing the increased index counter value with the maximum-index value if there is no matching relative-number rom said transmission-result table; and decreasing a line interface unit counter allocated in said memory by one for making a determination of whether the decreased value of said line interface unit counter is zero, returning to the step of searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table if the decreased value is not zero, and terminating the processing steps if the decreased value is zero.

Claim 6

A method for increasing communication efficiency in a multiport facsimile having a plurality of line interface units for controlling a plurality of communication channels and transmitting messages after storing in a memory messages of a plurality of documents, said method comprising the steps of: checking for a number of line interface units, and initializing an index counter allocated in said memory and indicative of an index of a message-registration table registered along with the messages; searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by the index counter; incrementing the index counter by one, and comparing the incremented value of said index counter with a maximum-index value if there are no messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter, and if the incremented value and maximum-index value are the same, terminating the processing steps, and if the incremented value and the maximum-index value are not the same, returning to the step of searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter; loading a relative-number and a file-number from said message-registration table, saving the relative-number and the file number in a transmission-result table allocated in said memory, assigning the value of said index counter to a variable K, and increasing said variable K by one if there are messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter; searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by the variable K; increasing the variable K by one, and comparing the increased index counter value to the maximum-index value if there are no messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter, and returning to the step of searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by the variable K if the compared values are not the same; searching for a matching relative-number of a transmission-result table within said message-registration table if there are messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table indicated by said index counter; registering the file-number in a transmission-file-number of the transmission-result table if there is a matching relative-number from said transmission-result table, and then returning to the step of increasing the variable K by one and comparing the increased index counter value with the maximum-index value; directly returning to said step of increasing the variable K by one and comparing the increased index counter value with the maximum-index value if there is no matching relative-number rom said transmission-result table; and decreasing a line interface unit counter allocated in said memory by one for making a determination of whether the decreased value of said line interface unit counter is zero, returning to the step of searching for messages to be transmitted from the index of said message-registration table if the decreased value is not zero, and terminating the processing steps if the decreased value is zero.

Claim 13

The device for transmitting files in a multiport device, comprising: memory means for storing and retrieving a plurality of files, a plurality of message-registration tables and one or more transmission-result tables; means for enabling registration of said plurality of files onto said message-registration tables and said transmission-result tables by; indexing the first of said plurality of message-registration tables; indexing the first of the set of destinations represented by the currently indexed message-registration table; creating a transmission-result table comprising the currently indexed destination and the files represented by the currently indexed message-registration table; registering into said transmission-result table the files corresponding to the first of said plurality of message-registration tables comprising said currently indexed destination; indexing the next of the set of destinations represented by the currently indexed message-registration table; returning to the step of creating said transmission-result table if the currently indexed destination is not registered in said transmission-result table, and otherwise returning to the step of indexing the next of the set of destinations; and indexing the next of said plurality of message-registration tables and returning to the step of indexing the first of the set of destinations until all of said plurality of message-registration tables have been indexed; and control means for generating transmission-result tables based on said plurality of message-registration tables and for controlling the transmission of said plurality of files according to said transmission-result tables; and line interface means for transmitting said plurality of files under control of said control means.

Claim 14

The device for transmitting files in a multiport device, comprising: memory means for storing and retrieving a plurality of files, a plurality of message-registration tables and one or more transmission-result tables; means for enabling registration of said plurality of files onto said message-registration tables and said transmission-result tables by; indexing the first of said plurality of message-registration tables; indexing the first of the set of destinations represented by the currently indexed message-registration table; creating a transmission-result table comprising the currently indexed destination and the files represented by the currently indexed message-registration table; registering into said transmission-result table the files corresponding to the first of said plurality of message-registration tables comprising said currently indexed destination; indexing the next of the set of destinations represented by the currently indexed message-registration table; returning to the step of creating said transmission-result table if the currently indexed destination is not registered in said transmission-result table, and otherwise returning to the step of indexing the next of the set of destinations; and indexing the next of said plurality of message-registration tables and returning to the step of indexing the first of the set of destinations until all of said plurality of message-registration tables have been indexed; and control means for generating transmission-result tables based on said plurality of message-registration tables and for controlling the transmission of said plurality of files according to said transmission-result tables; and line interface means for transmitting said plurality of files under control of said control means.