JP2006113947A - Status monitor for network peripheral device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent return to a normal mode by a status transmission request command from a computer when a printer is in a sleep mode condition for keeping a low power consumption condition. <P>SOLUTION: In this status monitor for a peripheral device shared between a plurality of computers, the peripheral device registers and manages identification information about the respective computers and periodically transmits status information to each of the computers having the registered and managed identification information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a status monitoring program (hereinafter referred to as status monitor) for monitoring the status of peripheral devices connected to a network such as a network printer.

  Taking a network printer as an example, conventionally, when a computer sends a print job to a connected printer and controls so that image data included in the print job can be printed, the computer is not able to Error information such as print paper jam or ink or print paper shortage is received from the printer, and the received information is displayed on a computer display or the like. This notifies the user of the status of the printer.

  Even when the printer is not performing a printing operation, the computer receives information such as the online / offline status of the printer and the opening / closing status of the printer cover from the printer, and the received information is displayed on the computer display and the like. To be displayed.

  As described above, in order to obtain the printer status, the computer transmits a command (status transmission request command) instructing the printer to transmit the status to the printer, and receives the command as a response. The status transmitted from the printer is converted into a displayable form such as characters and graphics and displayed on a computer display or the like. In this case, a request for status transmission from the computer to the printer is usually made at predetermined time intervals. A program that performs the above management on a computer is a program called a status monitor or a printer status management program. As described above, the status monitor polls the printer at regular time intervals and collects the printer status. (See Patent Document 1)

  Conventionally, the relationship between a printer on a network, a computer that controls the printer, an application program running on the computer, a printer driver, and a status monitor has a configuration as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, 1 is a network to which computers and printers are connected, 2 is a computer A connected to the network 1, 3 is a similar computer B, 4 is a similar computer C, 5 is a similar computer D, 6 is a network printer A connected to the network 1, 7 is a similar network printer B, 10 is an application program operating on the computer A, 11 is operating on the computer A, and status information of the printer A The status monitor A, 12 that manages the printer driver A is a printer driver A that operates on the computer A and controls the operation of the printer A when the printer A performs printing. If the computer A performs printing processing with another printer (for example, printer B), the printer driver 13 and status monitor 14 for the other printer are also installed. A system controller 20 controls the entire system of the printer A, receives a print job transmitted from the computer, converts it into print bitmap data that can be handled by the engine controller, and passes it to the engine controller. This is a network function implemented in the controller. Reference numeral 22 denotes an engine controller for controlling the mechanical mechanism of the engine unit, the printer head, and the like on the basis of information such as sensors of the engine unit of the printer A. An engine unit 23 mainly includes a mechanical mechanism for sequentially ejecting ink of a specified color to a specified location on the printing paper by moving or driving the printing paper or the printer head. .

  In the above configuration, when the application program 10 of the computer A requests printing, the printer driver 12 is activated, and the computer operator wants to output the printer driver by the various parameter settings of the printer, the size of the printing paper, Specify the print mode. At this time, the printer driver refers to information periodically collected by the status monitor in order to know the state of the printer on the network.

  The status monitor itself also displays the printer status on the computer display in a manner that is easy for the operator to understand based on the collected information. For example, the remaining amount of ink, the remaining amount of paper, and the like that change every moment during printing are displayed in graphs and numerical values. Even when printing is not being performed, whether the printer is turned on or off, whether the printer is online or offline, whether it is normal or faulty, whether the cover is open, and the like are displayed.

  For this purpose, the status monitor 11 periodically issues a status transmission request command to the printer A. The system controller 20 that has received the status transmission request command via the network function 21 receives the status information of the system controller itself and the engine controller 22 (sensors and mechanisms of the engine section controlled by the engine controller). Together with the received information (status information collected from the mechanism or the like), the status information of the printer A is transmitted to the computer A via the network function. If the computer A causes the printer B to perform printing processing, the computer A must have the printer driver 13 for the printer B and the status monitor 14 installed. That is, as many printer drivers and status monitors as the number of printers used by the computer need to be installed in the computer.

  As described above, the status monitor installed in the computer is installed in the system controller of the printer as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, and operates in conjunction with the status monitor to complement the status monitor function. The transmission program operates as shown in FIG. First, when the printer is activated and ready for operation, the status information transmission program monitors whether a status transmission request command has been sent from any computer (whether the printer has received the status transmission request command). Continue (No in FIG. 7). On the other hand, when the status monitor is executed, the computer side monitors whether a preset time has passed (No in FIG. 6). When the status monitor detects that the preset time has passed (Yes in 1 of FIG. 6), a status transmission request command is transmitted to the target printer (who wants to know the state) (2 in FIG. 6). ). If this computer uses multiple printers, the status monitors for the printers (the same number as the number of printers) are installed, and each status monitor is the target. A status transmission request command is transmitted to the printer. As described above, when the status monitor transmits the status transmission command to the target printer, the status monitor thereafter waits for the status information to be returned from the target printer (No in 3 in FIG. 6).

  As described above, when the status monitor transmits the status transmission request command, the printer side monitors whether the status transmission request command is received as described in 1 of FIG. It is possible to recognize that the status transmission request command transmitted by has arrived. When the status transmission request command reception is recognized, the status information transmission program collects status information of each part of the printer by the function of the system controller (2 in FIG. 7). When all the status information is collected, the collected status information is returned to the computer that has transmitted the status transmission request command (3 in FIG. 7).

  As described in 3 of FIG. 6, since the status monitor continues to wait for the status information to be returned from the printer, the status monitor recognizes the return of status information from the printer (Yes in 3 of FIG. 6). The status information of the returned printer is stored in a storage area (memory) designated (managed) by the status monitor in advance (4 in FIG. 6). Thereafter, the status monitor displays the printer status information stored in the storage area (that is, periodically collected) on the computer display in a format that can be understood by the printer operator (FIG. 6). 5). Further, when there is a request for referring to status information from a printer driver or an application program, the status information stored in the storage area is provided.

  In this way, the status monitor operates in conjunction with the status information transmission program installed in the printer system controller firmware, periodically polls the printer, collects printer status information, and displays the information on the display. indicate.

Naturally, the computers B, C, D, etc. connected to the network are installed with a printer driver and a status monitor corresponding to the printer to be printed, and operate in the same manner as the computer A described above. To do.
JP-A-9-251356

  In recent years, there has been a tendency to further reduce the power consumption when the printer is on standby (in the sleep mode) as defined by regulations such as International Energy Star and Blue Angel. For this reason, it has become necessary to limit the power of most parts of the system when the printer is in the sleep mode.

  However, even when the network printer is in the sleep mode, when a print request is received from the computer (a print job is sent), the system automatically returns to the normal state (normal mode), and the print request It must be possible to print print data sent in response to Also, it must be able to recognize the status transmission request command transmitted from the computer status monitor. Therefore, the printer network function (21 in FIG. 5) must be in a state where it can recognize a print request (print job) and a status transmission request command from the computer. In other words, it was necessary to supply power. Furthermore, in order to control the network controller, it is also necessary to operate main circuits such as CPU, RAM, and ROM in the system controller.

  In other words, to reduce the power in sleep mode as much as possible, it is necessary to cut off the power of most of the circuits in the system controller. Therefore, it is very difficult to design a system that satisfies both requirements.

  In order to solve the problems as described above, a network controller, which is a main component for configuring network functions in recent years, has been equipped with a power management function. This function can be used for specially defined packets such as Magic Packets addressed to the network controller, ARP packets, Broadcast packets, etc. even when the network controller power is cut off (sleep mode). Only packets can be recognized, and when these packets are recognized, a special interrupt signal can be output to the CPU for controlling the network controller.

  By using the power management function of such a network controller, for example, when the printer shifts to a sleep mode, the network controller shifts to a sleep mode in which the power management function can be used, and the CPU that controls the network controller Major circuits such as RAM, ROM, etc. make the basic operation clock at the lowest speed or stop it. At this time, when the special interrupt signal is input, the CPU returns the basic operation clock to the original frequency, returns to the normal mode, and can execute a preset specific return program. In the return program, the main circuits such as the RAM and ROM can be returned to the normal mode.

As described above, a system controller (20 in FIG. 5) of a printer equipped with a network controller, a CPU, etc. has an engine controller (22 in FIG. 5) and an engine (23 in FIG. 5) when the printer enters the sleep mode. The basic operation clock of the main circuit of this system controller is stopped.
The network controller constituting the network function (21 in FIG. 5) shifts to the sleep mode in which only the Magic Packet addressed to itself can be recognized.
This state is very low power consumption because it is operating with almost only part of the power of the network controller. When the computer wants to use the printer in the sleep mode, it first transmits a Magic Packet to return the printer to the normal mode. Thereafter, the print job is transmitted as in the conventional case.
When the Magic Packet transmitted from the computer reaches the network controller of the printer, the network controller recognizes the Magic Packet and outputs a special interrupt signal to the CPU. The CPU returns the clock to the normal speed by the special interrupt signal, and can operate in the normal mode. The CPU that has returned to the normal mode restores the clock and power of each functional block in the system controller, and also restores the power of the engine controller and each part of the engine to restore the entire printer to the normal mode. Thereafter, a print job transmitted following the Magic Packet from the computer can be received and a print process can be performed.

  In this way, when using the power management function of the network controller, the printer enters a low power consumption state when in the sleep mode. When a print job is sent from the computer in this state, the printer automatically returns to the normal mode. This is where the print job can be printed.

  However, this improvement is still problematic when using a status monitor. Normally, the status transmission request command is not configured with a specific packet that can return the network controller in the sleep mode as described above to the normal mode, so the printer in the sleep mode cannot be returned to the normal mode. . For this reason, the computer does not respond to the status transmission request command from the printer, and thus erroneously recognizes that the printer has failed or the network link has been broken, and displays an error display (processing). become.

As an improvement measure, for example, if a Magic Packet is transmitted before a status transmission request command and the printer is made to recognize the status transmission request command after returning to the normal mode, the printer status is temporarily obtained. It becomes possible. However, in order for the printer to recognize the magic packet and return to the normal mode and execute the status information transmission program described with reference to FIG. 7, a large amount of power is required for all the functions of the printer to operate in the normal mode. And Further, as described above, the status monitor status transmission request command is periodically transmitted (at a relatively short interval), the time for the printer to shift from the sleep mode to the normal mode, and the time for executing the status information transmission program It takes some time (in some cases, several seconds) to shift from the normal mode to the sleep mode. Therefore, when the polling interval (status transmission request command transmission interval) from the computer is shortened or when the number of computers on the network using this printer is large (again, the polling interval is shortened), the printer sleeps. There is almost no time (period) in the mode state, and the power consumption is hardly reduced.
In an extreme case, that is, when the polling interval becomes shorter than the execution period of the process responding to the polling of the status monitor, the printer has no opportunity to enter the sleep mode and the power cannot be reduced. There was a problem.

  In the embodiment using the special packet such as the Magic Packet as described above, since the status monitor cannot identify whether the printer side is currently in the normal mode or the sleep mode, the printer side is in the normal mode or the sleep mode. Regardless of whether or not there is, it is necessary to send the special packet immediately before sending a print job or a command such as a status transmission request command to the printer. Special packets transmitted in the normal mode are ignored on the printer side, but useless traffic is generated on the network. In particular, when there are many printers and computers on the network, the network traffic is squeezed.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a status monitor of a peripheral device connected to a network and used in common by a plurality of computers, wherein each peripheral device has accessed the peripheral device. Identification information (for example, IP address of the network function) is registered and managed, and the peripheral device periodically transmits the status information of the peripheral device to each computer having the identification information managed and registered, A status monitor installed in the computer receives status information periodically transmitted from the peripheral device and collects status information of the peripheral measure.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the status monitor of the first aspect of the invention, when the status monitor does not transmit status information from the peripheral device for a predetermined time or more, the peripheral device shifts to the sleep mode. Only when a normal command (such as a print job in the case of a printer) is transmitted immediately after that, a special packet (such as a Magic Packet) is sent immediately before the peripheral device returns from the sleep mode to the normal mode. It is characterized by doing.

  According to the third and fourth aspects of the present invention, in the status monitor of the first and second aspects of the invention, a status information transmission program that operates in conjunction with the status monitor and supplements the function of the status monitor is registered and managed. The present invention is characterized in that identification information of each computer is appropriately managed, a useless packet is sent over the network, and effective traffic on the network is not compressed.

  According to the present invention, in a status monitor of a peripheral device connected to a network and shared and used by a plurality of computers, the peripheral device registers and manages identification information of each computer that has accessed the peripheral device, and the peripheral device Periodically transmits the status information of the peripheral device to each computer having the identification information managed and registered, and the status monitor installed in the computer periodically transmits the status information from the peripheral device. By receiving information and collecting status information of the peripheral measures, when the printer is in the sleep mode, it is not possible to return to the normal mode by the status transmission request command from the computer, and the low power consumption state Can be maintained. In addition, since there is no response to the status transmission request command, the computer may not recognize the status transmission request command from the printer, so that the printer may malfunction or the network link may be broken. Disappear.

  Since the status transmission request command is unnecessary, the traffic amount occupied by the status monitor function on the network is reduced to almost half.

  Alternatively, if the status monitor does not transmit status information from the peripheral device for a predetermined time or more, the peripheral device determines that the peripheral device has entered the sleep mode, and the computer transmits a print job or command to the printer in that state. Only when a special packet for returning the peripheral device from the sleep mode to the normal mode is transmitted immediately before, the special packet need not always be transmitted and traffic on the network is further reduced. As a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of a series of processes in which a print job is transmitted from a computer to a printer and a print process is performed. This is particularly effective when a large number of printers and computers are connected on the network.

  Alternatively, when an identification information or status information having time information before a predetermined time (for example, one hour) is transmitted from the identification information management table managed by the identification information management program, a reception response is received from the computer side. By deleting the computer identification information and the like that did not exist, it is possible to prevent unnecessary status information from being transmitted over the network, to reduce network traffic, and to reduce unnecessary processing of peripheral devices.

(First embodiment)
An embodiment when the status monitor of the present invention is applied to a printer will be described. The system configuration of this embodiment may be the same as the system configuration of the conventional example (FIG. 5). A new status monitor that can coexist with the status monitor of the conventional example is added on the computer side, and the new status information transmission program that can coexist with the conventional status information transmission program in the firmware of the system controller on the printer side and this printer An identification information management program for managing identification information of the accessed computer is added. In other words, the status monitor of the present invention can be easily adopted by simply adding a new status monitor, a new status information transmission program, and an identification information management program to a conventional computer or printer.

  FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the identification information management program, FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the new status monitor, and FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the new status information transmission program, and the operation of this status monitor will be described.

  When the identification information management program as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 1 is executed, all accesses from the computer to the printer are continuously monitored (No in FIG. 1). In addition, an identification information management table that can manage the identification information of the computer that has accessed the printer and the network address in association with each other is provided. If a network address itself (for example, an IP address) is adopted as computer identification information, it is not necessary to associate with the address information because it is also address information. In addition, in a packet transmitted / received on the network Since an IP address is included and it is easy to acquire the address, in this embodiment, the IP address is employed as computer identification information hereinafter. When there is an access to the printer from the computer (when a packet addressed to the printer has arrived) (Yes in FIG. 1), the IP address (identification information) of the computer is acquired (from the received packet) Compare with the IP address registered in the identification information management table (2 in FIG. 1). As a result, if the current IP address is not registered in the identification information management table, that is, if it is a new IP address (Yes in 3 in FIG. 1), the new address is entered in the identification information management table. Additional registration is performed (4 in FIG. 1). If the current IP address is already registered in the identification information management table (No in 3 of FIG. 1), the identification information management program is terminated as it is (5 in FIG. 1). Normally, in a conventional printer, a command analysis processing program that receives a command transmitted from a computer and analyzes the command or the like receives and processes a packet from the computer. Therefore, after the identification information management program is completed, the received packet is transferred to the command analysis processing program, the program execution is also transferred to the command analysis processing program, and the conventional processing is performed (6 in FIG. 1). Normally, when a computer searches for a printer to be used on the network (searches), installs a printer driver for that printer, or connects to the printer when the computer is started with the printer driver or printer utility installed At the time of confirmation, the state of the printer is confirmed when a network link with the printer is established, when the printer driver is executed, or the like.

That is, the printer is accessed before the print job is transmitted to the printer to be used. Therefore, the identification information management program can register the IP address of the computer in the identification information management table before the computer transmits the print job. (In a special case, if there is no access before sending the print job, the status information cannot be displayed because the printer status information cannot be obtained at the start of printing the print job. (However, since the IP address can be acquired when the print job arrives, status information can be sent to the computer immediately.)
The computer having the identification information registered in the identification information management table can be said to be a computer that intends to use (or may use) this printer. That is, it is a computer that wants the status information of this printer.

  The new status monitor and the new status information transmission program shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 operate in conjunction with the conventional example, and the new status information transmission program complements the status information collection function of the new status monitor. When the new status monitor is executed, it waits while monitoring whether status information from the printer is suddenly received (received) (No in FIG. 2). On the other hand, when the new status information transmission program is executed, it monitors whether a preset time has passed (No in FIG. 3). When it is detected that a preset time has passed (Yes in FIG. 3), status information of each part of the printer is collected using the system controller function (2 in FIG. 3). When the collection of the status information is completed, the collected status information is transmitted to all the computers registered in the identification information management table (the computer that intends to use this printer) (3 in FIG. 3). When the transmitted status information reaches the computer, since the status monitor is monitoring (No in FIG. 2), it can be recognized that the status information has reached the computer (Yes in FIG. 2). Therefore, the status monitor stores the received status information in a storage area designated in advance (2 in FIG. 2). Thereafter, the status information stored in the storage area is converted into a format that is easy for the user to understand and displayed on the display.

(Second embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the printer can maintain a low power consumption state when the printer is in the sleep mode state, and the printer fails because there is no response from the printer for the status transmission request command. Or misrecognizing that the network link was broken.

  However, in the first embodiment, the computer cannot identify whether the current printer state is the normal state or the sleep state. Therefore, when sending a print job or other command to the printer, the printer may be in a sleep state. Therefore, a special definition such as Magic Packet is set immediately before the print job or command. There is a need to transmit the received packet (packet for returning the printer from the sleep mode to the normal mode).

  In the second embodiment, the status monitor (FIG. 2) of the first embodiment is improved as shown in FIG. 4 so that the computer can recognize that the printer is in the sleep mode. It was. 4, 1 to 3 are exactly the same as 1 to 3 in FIG. First, the status monitor of the second embodiment (hereinafter referred to as the new status monitor 2) has a printer sleep flag (printer installed as a part of status information) in a storage area for storing status information designated in advance. Add sleep mode.) When the new status monitor 2 is executed, it monitors whether or not a preset time has passed (No in 4 in FIG. 4). This preset time is a new status information transmission program (on the printer side) Since FIG. 3) is a time for checking whether or not the status information transmitted periodically has been interrupted, a time longer than the status information transmission interval of the new status information transmission program (for example, status information transmission) 2 times the interval) is set. While the new status monitor 2 is monitoring whether a preset time has passed, it is also monitored whether status information has been transmitted from the printer side (No in FIG. 4). If the status information is transmitted from the printer within a preset time (Yes in FIG. 4), the received status information is the same as the status monitor of the first embodiment. Is stored in the storage area designated in advance (2 in FIG. 4), and the status information stored in the storage area is displayed on the display (3 in FIG. 4). After that, the timer used for monitoring the set time has been cleared (initialized), and the new status monitor 2 is returned to the beginning (4 in FIG. 4). Is done. If the status information from the printer has not been transmitted until the set time has elapsed (Yes in 4 in FIG. 4), the status information has been interrupted because the printer has shifted to the sleep mode. The printer sleep flag in the status information storage area is set (5 in FIG. 4). Thereafter, the process returns to the beginning of the new status monitor 2 (4 in FIG. 4), and the monitoring of the elapse of the set time is resumed.

  When the printer driver installed in the computer sends a print job in response to a request from an application, or sends a command to the printer, etc., it issues a printer status information reference request to the status monitor, and the status information Refer to The printer driver refers to the status information so as to send a specially defined packet such as Magic Packet just before sending the print job or command only when the printer sleep flag is set. To do.

(Third embodiment)
In the first and second embodiments, the identification information managed by the identification information management function (identification information management program) is the identification information of a computer that has visited the printer in the past. The computer corresponding to the registered identification information includes a case where the printer is not used for a while (for example, for several hours or more). It is useless to continuously send status information to such a computer from the viewpoint of traffic on the network and from the viewpoint of printer status information transmission processing.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as an item managed by the identification information management program, in addition to associating the identification information of the computer with the network address, information on the time of access is also associated. When the time information is time information before a predetermined time (for example, one hour) from the current time, the identification information management program displays the identification information associated with the time information. Delete from the managed identification information management table.

  Similarly, the computer corresponding to the currently registered identification information may include a computer whose power is turned off. In this case as well, it is useless to regularly transmit status information from the viewpoint of traffic on the network and from the viewpoint of printer status information transmission processing.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, when there is no reception response (acknowledge) from the computer side when the status information transmission program transmits the status information, the identification information management program manages the identification information of the computer. Delete from the identification information management table.

Flow chart of identification information management program Flow chart of stator monitor of the present invention Flow chart of status information transmission program of the present invention Flow chart of improved stator monitor of the present invention System configuration example of computer and printer connected to network Conventional stator monitor flowchart Conventional stator information transmission program flowchart

Explanation of symbols

1 Network 2 Computer A
3 Computer B
4 Printer A
5 Printer B
6 Printer C
7 Printer D
10 Application program 11 Status monitor A
12 Printer driver A
13 Printer driver B
14 Status monitor B
20 System Controller 21 Network Function 22 Engine Controller 23 Engine

Claims (4)

  In a status monitor of a peripheral device connected to a network and used in common by a plurality of computers, the peripheral device operates in conjunction with the status monitor and has two functions that complement the function of the status monitor. An identification information management function for registering and managing identification information of each computer that has accessed the computer and each computer having identification information in which the peripheral device periodically manages the status information of the peripheral device by the identification information management function A status monitor that transmits status information, and a status monitor installed in the computer receives status information periodically transmitted from the peripheral device and collects status information of the peripheral measure. And status monitor.   In the status monitor according to the first aspect of the present invention, the status monitor determines that the peripheral device has shifted to the sleep mode when the status information transmission from the peripheral device has not been performed for a predetermined time or longer, and performs control in that state. Only when a command (print job or the like in the case of a printer) is transmitted, a special packet (Magic Packet or the like) for returning the peripheral device from the sleep mode to the normal mode is transmitted immediately before.   In the status monitor according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the identification information of a computer that has not accessed the peripheral device for a certain time or more is deleted from the identification information group of each computer managed by the identification information management function. A status monitor characterized by that.   In the status monitor according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the identification information of the computer that does not respond when the status information transmission function transmits status information is deleted from the identification information group of each computer managed by the identification information management function. A status monitor characterized by

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