Patent ID: 6888933

Claim:
A communication apparatus adapted to execute a plurality of kinds of facsimile protocols, said apparatus comprising: a call signal detector circuit adapted to detect a call signal from a communication line; an ID detector circuit adapted to detect ID information for identifying a calling station from the communication line before a start of communication with the calling station, when said call signal detector circuit has detected the call signal from the communication line; a memory adapted to store ID information for identifying a calling station and facsimile protocol information for indicating a facsimile protocol used for communication with that calling station, in correspondence with each other; a determination circuit adapted to determine whether a predetermined time period has elapsed after the storage of facsimile protocol information corresponding to the ID information detected by said ID detector circuit, into said memory; and a control circuit adapted to perform communication based on the facsimile protocol information stored in the memory in correspondence with the ID information detected by said ID detector circuit, or communication for deciding a facsimile protocol for the calling station, in accordance with the result of determination by said determination circuit, so as to discriminate the facsimile protocol of the calling station, and to perform communication based on the facsimile protocol according to a result of the discrimination and to restore the facsimile protocol information according to that result of the discrimination, in correspondence with the ID information detected by said ID detector circuit.