JP2010273227A - Network communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network communication device capable of reducing power consumption without interrupting a communication operation. <P>SOLUTION: An NIC 10 to be used as a network communication device includes a first NIC 100 for performing communication via a LAN 51 and a second NIC 120 connected to the first NIC 100 via a bus 23 and capable of taking a normal power state and a low power consumption state. The first NIC 100 includes a receiving part 101, a power state determination part 105 for determining a power state of the second NIC 120, a start signal output part 107 for outputting a start signal when data is received and the second NIC 120 is determined as a low power consumption state, a storage part 104 for storing data received up to the start of the second NIC 120, a bus transfer part 108 for transferring the stored data to the second NIC 120 after starting the second NIC 120, and a transmission part 103 for replying to a response received from the second NIC 120. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network communication apparatus that performs communication via a network.

Recently, from the viewpoint of reducing CO ₂ emissions, power consumption of the electric equipment has been required socially. For example, in a network device connected to a network such as a LAN, power is saved by stopping the power supply of the CPU and hard disk during standby and operating only the network interface controller (NIC) directly connected to the network. Is known.

  As such a network device, Patent Literature 1 includes a network communication unit that performs communication with other devices connected via a network, and an application system unit that includes at least one application function unit. An application device is disclosed in which the application system unit is set in a low power consumption state and only the network communication unit can be operated. In this application device, when the application system unit is in a low power consumption state and receives a request to start communication related to the application function unit from another device, the network communication unit normally removes the application system unit from the low power consumption state. It is configured to return to the power state.

JP 2007-183797 A

  As described above, in the application apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the application system unit is set in a low power consumption state during standby, and only the network communication unit is operated to save power in the apparatus. However, the network communication unit must always be operated so as to be able to respond to communication start requests from other devices sent via the network at any time, and cannot be brought into a low power consumption state. . For this reason, it has been difficult to save power in the network communication unit without hindering the communication operation.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network communication apparatus capable of further reducing power consumption without hindering communication operation.

  A network communication apparatus according to the present invention is connected to a communication terminal via a network, and is connected to the first communication control means for communicating with the communication terminal, and the first communication control means via a communication path, Second communication control means capable of taking a normal power state and a low power consumption state, wherein the first communication control means receives data from the communication terminal via the network, and power of the second communication control means When the data is received by the determination means for determining the state and the reception means, and the second communication control means is determined to be in the low power consumption state by the determination means, the second communication control means An activation means for outputting an activation signal for activating the second communication control means; a storage means for storing data received by the reception means until the second communication control means is activated; Is determined to have transitioned from the low power consumption state to the normal power state, the data received until the second communication control means is activated and stored in the storage means is stored in the second communication control means. A transfer unit that transfers the data received by the receiving unit to the second communication control unit via the communication path when the second communication control unit is in a normal power state and transfers the data via the communication channel; And a transmission unit that outputs a response to the data received by the communication unit or a response received from the second communication control unit to the communication terminal via the network, and the second communication control unit is transferred by the transfer unit. Receiving means for receiving data via a communication path; and output means for outputting a response to the data received by the receiving means to the first communication control means via the communication path. And wherein the door.

  According to the network communication apparatus of the present invention, the apparatus is divided into the first communication control means and the second communication control means. For example, during standby, the second communication control means is in a low power consumption state (power saving mode). In addition, only the first communication control means is operated, and a data waiting operation is performed. Therefore, when waiting for data, a part of the network communication device, that is, the first communication control means can be removed to make the power consumption state low, so that the power consumption of the network communication device can be further reduced. Further, when data is received via the network, the second communication control means is activated, and the received data is stored until the second communication control means is activated. Is transferred to the second communication control means via the bus. On the other hand, the response to the communication terminal is transmitted via the first communication control means. Accordingly, the first communication control means and the second communication control means are functionally integrated to execute a communication operation. As a result, the power consumption can be further reduced without hindering the communication operation.

  In the network communication apparatus according to the present invention, when the first communication control unit receives data by the receiving unit and the determination unit determines that the second communication control unit is in the low power consumption state, the second communication control unit An activation determination unit that determines whether or not the communication control unit needs to be activated is provided. When the activation determination unit determines that the second communication control unit needs to be activated, the activation unit outputs an activation signal. It is preferable to output.

  In this case, the second communication control means is activated only when it is necessary to activate the second communication control means. Therefore, the operation time of the second communication control unit can be minimized. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the power consumption of the network communication device.

  In the network communication device according to the present invention, when the first communication control unit determines that the second communication control unit does not need to be activated by the activation determination unit, the response to the data received by the reception unit is sent. Preferably, the transmitting unit outputs the response generated by the generating unit to the communication terminal when it is determined that the second determining unit does not need to be activated by the activation determining unit. .

  In this way, when there is no need to activate the second communication control means, the first communication control means side responds to the received data without activating the second communication control means. Therefore, unnecessary activation of the second communication control unit can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to further reduce the power consumption of the network communication device.

  In the network communication apparatus according to the present invention, the first communication control means establishes a session with the communication terminal when the reception means receives a session establishment request signal from the communication terminal, and the activation determination means Persistent connection control for prohibiting data transmission to a communication terminal in a state where a session is established until it is determined that it is necessary to activate the second communication control means by the second communication control means It is preferable that the persistent connection control means for executing the communication is permitted, and when it is determined that the second communication control means is activated, the persistent connection control means permits the communication terminal to transmit data.

  In this case, when the session establishment request signal is received and it is determined that the second communication control means needs to be activated, a session is established with the communication terminal, and the second communication control means Start signal is output. In addition, until the second communication control unit is activated, the persistent connection control is executed to prohibit the transmission of data to the communication terminal while maintaining the session extension state. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide a large capacity memory for temporarily storing data on the first communication control means side, the power consumption of the memory can be suppressed. In this way, since the session has already been established when the persistent connection control is released, data communication can be started quickly.

  In the network communication apparatus according to the present invention, the first communication control means has a reception buffer for temporarily storing reception data received from the communication terminal, and the transmission means receives data according to the free capacity of the reception buffer. The possible data amount is transmitted to the communication terminal according to a predetermined communication protocol, and the receivable data amount can be transmitted to the communication terminal at a minimum until the persistent connection control means determines that the second communication control means is activated by the determination means. It is preferable that the amount of data read from the reception buffer is smaller than that during non-persistent connection control so as to be smaller than the amount of data.

  In this way, until the second communication control means is activated, the amount of data read from the reception buffer is such that the amount of receivable data is smaller than the minimum amount of transmittable data of the communication terminal. (Ie, during normal control). Therefore, since the amount of data read from the reception buffer is smaller than the amount of data received from the communication terminal, the free capacity of the reception buffer is reduced, and the receivable data amount is smaller than the minimum transmittable data amount of the communication terminal. A small value (typically zero) is transmitted to the communication terminal. As a result, it is possible to suppress transmission of transmission data by the communication terminal in a state where a session is established, that is, to realize persistent connection control.

  Further, in the network communication device according to the present invention, when the persistent connection control means permits the transmission of data to the communication terminal that ends the persistent connection control and transmits the session establishment request signal, the receivable data amount is It is preferable that the amount of data read from the reception buffer is larger than that at the time of continuous connection control so as to be larger than the minimum transmittable data amount of the communication terminal.

  In this case, when the second communication control means is activated and the continuous connection control is terminated, the amount of data read from the reception buffer is increased from that during the continuous connection control, and the free capacity of the reception buffer (that is, the receivable data amount) ) Is made larger than the minimum transmittable data amount of the communication terminal. Then, the size corresponding to the available capacity is transmitted as the receivable data amount to the communication terminal that has transmitted the session establishment request signal. For this reason, the communication terminal can transmit transmission data, and after the second communication control means is activated, it is possible to smoothly shift from the persistent connection control to the normal control.

  A network communication apparatus according to the present invention is connected to a communication terminal via a network and has a first communication control means having a network communication function including session establishment with the communication terminal, and the first communication control means and the communication path. And a second communication control unit that communicates with the communication terminal via the first communication control unit, and is a network communication device capable of taking an energy saving state, wherein the first communication control is performed in the energy saving state. The means is communicable, the second communication control means is incapable of communication, and the first communication control means activates the second communication control means upon receiving a network communication request from the communication terminal in the energy saving state, A session establishment process is executed with the communication terminal, and the first data received from the communication terminal in the session establishment process is stored. After the session establishment process is completed with the communication terminal, the persistent connection control for prohibiting the transmission of data to the communication terminal is executed in the state where the session is established, and it is detected that the second communication control means is activated. , Transferring the stored first data to the second communication control means, executing a pseudo session establishment process with the second communication control means, and after completing the pseudo session establishment process, The second communication control means performs data communication with the communication terminal via the first communication control means after the persistent connection control is released.

  The network communication apparatus according to the present invention can stop or reduce the power supply to the second communication control means in an energy saving state. In addition, a session with the communication terminal is maintained during activation of the second communication control means, and a pseudo session establishment process is executed after completion of activation of the second communication control means. Therefore, after the activation of the second communication control means is completed, data communication between the second communication control means and the communication terminal can be started quickly.

  In the network communication apparatus according to the present invention, when the first communication control unit analyzes the content of the network communication request to determine whether or not the second communication control unit needs to be activated, Activating the communication control means, executing session establishment processing with the communication terminal, and establishing a session with the communication terminal without activating the second communication control means when it is determined that activation is not necessary Execute the process. In this way, the second communication control means is activated only when necessary, so that energy saving of the communication device can be achieved.

  In the network communication apparatus according to the present invention, the first communication control unit stores the second data transmitted to the communication terminal in the session establishment process, and the second communication is performed in the pseudo session establishment process with the second communication control unit. The data received from the control means is compared with the stored second data, and if they match, the data serving as a response to the received data is transferred to the second communication control means. In this way, the certainty of the pseudo session establishment process can be improved.

  In the network communication apparatus according to the present invention, after the first communication control unit cancels the persistent connection control, the data received from the communication terminal is transferred to the second communication control unit as it is. In this way, the processing load of the transfer process can be reduced, and the transfer process can be performed at high speed.

  In the network communication apparatus according to the present invention, the first communication control means receives and stores the third data from the communication terminal after the session establishment process is completed with the communication terminal, and then communicates with the communication terminal. Persistent connection control between them. The first communication control means transfers the stored third data to the second communication control means after the completion of the pseudo session establishment process, and thereafter releases the persistent connection control with the communication terminal. . In this way, data can be received by the first communication control means as much as possible during activation of the second communication control means, so that the communication time between the second communication control means and the communication terminal can be shortened.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to further reduce the power consumption of the network communication device without hindering the communication operation.

1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a network multifunction peripheral equipped with a network communication apparatus according to an embodiment. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a NIC constituting the network multifunction peripheral. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the communication process (pseudo session process, persistent connection control process) by a network compound machine. It is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure between the network multifunction peripheral and the PC. It is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure between the first NIC, the second NIC and the PC constituting the network multifunction peripheral.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same element and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted. Here, a case where the network communication apparatus according to the embodiment is applied to a network multifunction peripheral (MFP) will be described as an example. Further, a network system in which the network multifunction peripheral is connected to a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”, corresponding to the communication terminal described in the claims) via a LAN will be described as an example. The illustrated network system has a simplified configuration for easy understanding. First, the overall configuration of the network MFP 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 together. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the network multifunction device 1 connected to the LAN 51. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network interface controller (hereinafter referred to as “NIC”) 10 constituting the network multifunction peripheral 1.

  The network multifunction peripheral 1 is a network multifunction peripheral capable of taking an energy saving state during standby, and includes a scanner function for reading an original and generating image data, a copy function for recording the read and generated image data on paper, and an image received by facsimile communication. In addition to a FAX reception function for recording data on paper, a PC print function for recording image data received from the PC 30 connected via the LAN 51 on paper is provided. Further, the network multifunction peripheral 1 has a PC-FAX function for facsimile transmission of image data received from the external PC 30 in addition to a FAX transmission function for facsimile transmission of the read image data. Further, the network multifunction device 1 also has an Internet FAX (IFAX) function for transmitting and receiving image data via an IP network using electronic mail. In order to realize these functions, the network multifunction peripheral 1 includes a NIC 10, a control unit 11, a recording unit 12, an operation unit 13, a display unit 14, a reading unit 15, a codec 16, an image storage unit 17, a modem 18, an NCU 19, An IFAX control unit 20 and a Web server 21 are provided. The above units are connected to each other via a bus (communication path) 23 so that they can communicate with each other.

  The NIC 10 is a network interface that performs transmission / reception control processing of various communication protocols, data analysis processing and data creation processing on various communication protocols. Data communication with the external PC 30 is performed through the NIC 10. The NIC 10 is connected to the PC 30 via the LAN 51, and performs data communication with the PC 30 in accordance with, for example, TCP / IP. The NIC 10 performs processing corresponding to various applications with a network packet reception dedicated board (corresponding to the first communication control means described in the claims, hereinafter referred to as “first NIC”) 100 that receives network packets (data). And a network application-compatible board (corresponding to the second communication control means described in the claims, hereinafter referred to as “second NIC”) 120. The first NIC 100 is connected to, for example, the PC 30 via the LAN 51 and communicates with the PC 30. The second NIC 120 is connected to the first NIC 100 so as to be able to transfer data with each other via a bus 23 (equivalent to a communication path described in claims) such as PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) or PCI Express. That is, the second NIC 120 is not directly connected to the LAN 51, but is configured to be able to communicate with the PC 30 via the first NIC 100. Further, the second NIC 120 is configured to take a normal power state during operation and a low power consumption state during standby. Note that power is supplied to the first NIC 100 even during standby, that is, when the network multifunction peripheral 1 is in an energy saving state.

  The first NIC 100 receives a microprocessor that performs computation, a ROM that stores a program for causing the microprocessor to execute each process, a communication chip (IC) that performs communication processing under the control of the microprocessor, and a communication chip. The RAM is configured to temporarily store various data such as received data and calculation results read from the communication chip. The first NIC 100 may be configured using a microcomputer in which the above-described microprocessor, communication chip, ROM, RAM, and the like are housed in one chip. The microprocessor used in the first NIC 100 preferably has a lower clock frequency and lower power consumption than that used in the second NIC 120, for example. Furthermore, it is preferable that a memory such as a RAM used in the first NIC 100 has a smaller capacity and lower power consumption than that used in the second NIC 120.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the first NIC 100, the reception unit 101, the reception buffer 102, the transmission unit 103, the storage unit 104, the power state determination unit 105, and the activation necessity determination unit 106 are combined by the combination of the hardware and software described above. The activation signal output unit 107, the bus transfer unit 108, the response data generation unit 109, and the persistent connection control unit 110 are constructed.

  The receiving unit 101 receives a network packet (data) from the PC 30 via the LAN 51, for example, and corresponds to a receiving unit described in the claims. The storage unit 104 includes the above-described RAM, stores signals and data transmitted and received when the second NIC 120 is in a low power consumption state, and functions as a storage unit described in the claims. More specifically, the storage unit 104 includes a command reception buffer area for storing the SYN signal and the ACK signal from the PC 30 received at the reception unit 101 at the Ethernet (registered trademark) level, and the ACK / SYN transmitted from the transmission unit 103. A command transmission buffer area for storing signals and a data reception buffer area for storing data received from the PC 30 by the receiving unit 101 are provided.

  The power state determination unit 105 determines the power state of the second NIC 120 based on the level (Hi or Low) of the port connected to the second NIC 120. Specifically, the power state determination unit 105 determines the normal power state (normal mode) when the port level is Hi (5 V), and determines the low power consumption state (energy saving mode) when the port level is Low (0 V). To do. That is, the power state determination unit 105 functions as a determination unit described in the claims.

  The activation necessity determination unit 106 activates the second NIC 120 when the reception unit 101 receives a network packet (data) and the power state determination unit 105 determines that the second NIC 120 is in a low power consumption state. Determine whether it is necessary. That is, the activation necessity determination unit 106 corresponds to the activation determination unit described in the claims. Here, whether or not it is necessary to activate the second NIC 120 is determined, for example, by whether or not a response (response) is possible only by the first NIC 100. Incidentally, the case where only the first NIC 100 can respond is, for example, an ARP response, an SNMP response, an ICMP response (for example, a Ping packet response), a packet response control in which a network packet using UDP / IP cannot wait for a response, etc. Is mentioned. On the other hand, the case where a response cannot be returned only by the first NIC 100 includes, for example, network control using TCP / IP such as LPD, Port 9100, and IPP.

  The activation signal output unit 107 causes the second NIC 120 to transition the second NIC from the low power consumption state to the normal power state when the activation necessity determination unit 106 determines that the second NIC 120 needs to be activated. The start signal for output is output. That is, the activation signal output unit 107 functions as activation means described in the claims. When an activation signal is output from the activation signal output unit 107, power supply to the second NIC 120 is started. Then, startup processing such as program loading is executed in the second NIC 120, and the second NIC 120 is started up. When the activation of the second NIC 120 is completed, the port level described above is set to Hi.

  When it is determined that the second NIC 120 has transitioned from the low power consumption state to the normal power state (when activated), the bus transfer unit 108 is received and stored in the storage unit 104 until the second NIC 120 is activated. The signal and data are transferred to the second NIC 120 via the bus 23. The bus transfer unit 108 transfers data received by the receiving unit 101 to the second NIC 120 via the bus 23 when the second NIC 120 is in the normal power state. That is, the bus transfer unit 108 functions as a transfer unit described in the claims.

  The response data generation unit 109 generates response data for the data received by the reception unit 101 when the activation necessity determination unit 106 determines that it is not necessary to activate the second NIC 120. For example, the response data generation unit 109 generates response data for the ARP, SNMP, ICMP, and the like described above. That is, the response data generation unit 109 functions as a generation unit described in the claims. Note that the response data generated by the response data generation unit 109 is output to the transmission unit 103.

  The transmission unit 103 outputs the response data generated by the generation unit 109 to the PC 30 via the LAN 51. Further, the transmission unit 103 outputs the response data received from the second NIC 120 to the PC 30 via the LAN 51 as necessary. That is, the transmission unit 103 functions as a transmission unit described in the claims.

  For example, when the session establishment request signal is received from the PC 30 by the receiving unit 101, the persistent connection control unit 110 establishes a session with the PC 30 that has transmitted the session establishment request signal. Based on the determination result of the power state determination unit 105, the persistent connection control unit 110 determines whether or not the second NIC 120 is in the normal power state (that is, whether or not reception processing can be performed). In the power consumption state (that is, in a state where reception processing cannot be performed), a session is held until the power state determination unit 105 determines that the second NIC 120 has transitioned from the low power consumption state to the normal power state. In this state, persistent connection control (keep alive) for prohibiting data transmission to the PC 30 is executed. On the other hand, when the second NIC 120 is in the normal power state, the PC 30 is permitted to transmit data without executing the persistent connection control. That is, the persistent connection control unit 110 functions as persistent connection control means described in the claims.

  Here, the first NIC 100 (communication chip) has a reception buffer 102 that temporarily stores reception data received from a PC 30 or the like through a predetermined port, and has a capacity of about 4 Kbytes, for example. The amount of receivable data corresponding to the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 is transmitted to the PC 30 or the like according to TCP / IP. Note that, when the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value (for example, half or less), zero may be transmitted as the receivable data amount. If the second NIC 120 is determined to be in the low power consumption state, the persistent connection control unit 110 receives the receivable data until it is determined that the second NIC 120 has transitioned from the low power consumption state to the normal power state. By making the amount of data read from the reception buffer 102 smaller (for example, several bytes to several tens of bytes) than the time of non-persistent connection control (that is, normal control) so that the amount becomes smaller than the minimum transmittable data amount of the PC 30 Realize persistent connection control.

  Further, the persistent connection control unit 110 ends the persistent connection control when it is determined that the second NIC 120 has transitioned from the low power consumption state to the normal power state (when activated) when the persistent connection control is executed. The data transmission is permitted to the PC 30 that has transmitted the session establishment request signal. Here, when the persistent connection control unit 110 ends the persistent connection control and permits data transmission to the PC 30, the reception buffer so that the receivable data amount is larger than the minimum transmittable data amount of the PC 30. Shifting to normal control (non-persistent connection control) by increasing the amount of data read from 102 (for example, several hundred to several kilobytes) than during continuous connection control.

  On the other hand, the second NIC 120 also temporarily stores various data such as a microprocessor that performs calculations, a ROM that stores a program for causing the microprocessor to execute each process, received data transferred from the first NIC, and calculation results. A RAM and a backup RAM for storing backup data are used. The second NIC 120 may be configured using a microcomputer in which these microprocessor, ROM, RAM, and the like are housed in one chip.

  In the second NIC 120, a receiving unit 121, an output unit 122, and the like are constructed by a combination of the hardware and software described above. The receiving unit 121 is a descriptor buffer that receives data transferred by the bus transfer unit 108 via the bus 23, and corresponds to a receiving unit described in the claims. The output unit 122 outputs a response to the data received by the receiving unit 121 to the first NIC 100 via the bus 23, and corresponds to an output unit described in the claims.

  The second NIC 120 is turned off when the communication is not continuously performed for a predetermined time or longer, and enters a low power consumption state. On the other hand, as described above, the second NIC 120 receives the activation signal output from the activation signal output unit 107, starts power supply, and enters the normal power state.

  Returning to FIG. The control unit 11 includes a microprocessor that performs calculations, a ROM that stores programs for causing the microprocessor to execute each process, a RAM that temporarily stores various data such as calculation results, and a backup RAM that stores backup data. Etc. The control unit 11 comprehensively controls hardware configuring the network multifunction peripheral 1 by executing a program stored in the ROM.

  The recording unit 12 is an electrophotographic printer, and prints out image data received from an external PC 30 on paper. The recording unit 12 prints out the image data read and generated by the reading unit 15 and the image data received by FAX, IFAX, or the like on a sheet.

  The operation unit 13 includes a plurality of keys used for using each function of the network multifunction device 1, such as a numeric keypad, an abbreviated key, a start key, a stop key, and various function keys. The display unit 14 is a display device using an LCD or the like, and displays the operation state of the network multifunction peripheral 1 and / or various setting contents. The reading unit 15 includes a light source, a CCD, and the like, and reads a document such as a paper document for each line according to a set sub-scanning line density, and generates image data.

  The codec 16 encodes and compresses the image data read by the reading unit 15 and decodes the encoded and compressed image data. The image storage unit 17 includes a DRAM or the like, and stores image data encoded and compressed by the codec 16, image data received by FAX, image data received from the external PC 30 and encoded and compressed, and the like. Remember.

  A modem (modem / demodulator) 18 performs modulation / demodulation between a digital signal and an analog signal. The modem 18 generates and detects various function information such as a digital command signal (DCS). An NCU (Network Control Unit) 19 is connected to the modem 18 and controls the connection between the modem 18 and the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 50. The NCU 19 has a function of transmitting a call signal corresponding to the destination facsimile number and detecting the incoming call.

  The IFAX control unit 20 manages an IFAX function using the Internet environment. The IFAX control unit 20 has a function of transmitting an electronic mail according to SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and a function of receiving an electronic mail according to POP (Post Office Protocol). The IFAX control unit 20 attaches the transmission document to the e-mail as image data in the TIFF format or the like, and transmits it to the e-mail address (SMTP server). The IFAX control unit 20 receives an e-mail from the POP server at every set time and prints out the attached file. The Web server 21 makes it possible to access a data such as a home page, a login page, and a facsimile operation page described in HTML from the PC 30 and execute a predetermined HTTP task.

  Next, communication processing (pseudo session processing, persistent connection control processing) by the network multifunction peripheral 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of communication processing (pseudo session processing, persistent connection control processing) by the network MFP 1. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure between the network multifunction device 1 and the PC 30. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure between the first NIC 100, the second NIC 120 and the PC 30 constituting the network multifunction peripheral 1.

  In step S100, the socket that accepts the job and the local address are associated (that is, bound). Here, the local address is composed of an IP address and a port number, and in this embodiment, 9100 is assigned as the port number. That is, it is bound with the port number 9100. In step S102, a session establishment request (connection request) is awaited by the socket bound in step S100 by the listen process.

  In subsequent step S104, it is determined whether or not there is a session establishment request (SYN signal shown in FIG. 4) to the designated port (number 9100) in the Select process. If there is a session establishment request, the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, when there is no session establishment request, step S104 is repeatedly executed until there is a session establishment request.

  If there is a session establishment request, in step S106, it is determined whether or not the second NIC 120 is in the normal power state. If the second NIC 120 is in the normal power state, the process proceeds to step S108. In step S108, a session is established with the PC 30, transmission is permitted to the PC 30, and transmission / reception processing is performed by the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120. Then, after the reception process is finished, the session is released and this process is finished.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S106 that the second NIC 120 is in the low power consumption state, the process proceeds to step S110. In step S <b> 110, an activation signal for activating the second NIC 120 is output, and power supply to the second NIC 120 is started.

  In subsequent step S112, a session is established by accepting a session establishment request in the accept process. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, a session is established by returning an ACK / SYN signal in response to a SYN signal. If the ACK / SYN signal is not returned, the PC 30 that sent the session establishment request repeatedly transmits the session establishment request by gradually increasing the transmission interval to 6 seconds, 12 seconds, 24 seconds, 48 seconds, and 72 seconds. . If no ACK / SYN signal is returned after 72 seconds, the session establishment request process is terminated. The received SYN signal from the PC 30 (corresponding to the first data recited in the claims), the ACK signal, and the transmitted ACK / SYN signal (corresponding to the second data recited in the claims) ) Are stored in the storage unit 104. Further, packet data (corresponding to third data described in claims) sent from the PC 30 after the session is established is also temporarily stored in the storage unit 104.

  Subsequently, in step S114, a determination is made as to whether or not the second NIC 120 has transitioned from the low power consumption state to the normal power state (that is, whether or not the second NIC 120 has been activated and is ready for reception processing). Here, when the second NIC 120 has not transitioned to the normal power state, that is, when the reception process cannot be performed during startup, the process proceeds to step S116. On the other hand, when the second NIC 120 transitions to the normal power state, that is, when the activation is completed and the reception process can be performed, the process proceeds to step S118.

  When the second NIC 120 is activated, the received data is read from the reception buffer 102 by 10 bytes at step S116. Also, the receivable data amount corresponding to the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 is transmitted to the PC 30 according to TCP / IP (ACK (win = xxxx), ACK (win = yyyy) shown in FIG. 4, where xxx, yyyy). Represents the receivable data amount, and xxx> yyyy). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S114, and the processes of steps S114 and S116 are repeatedly executed until the second NIC 120 is activated. During this time, the amount of data read from the reception buffer 102 is smaller than the amount of data received from the PC 30, so that the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 gradually decreases with time, and is received by the PC 30 after a predetermined time. Zero (or a value close to zero) is transmitted as the possible data amount (ACK (win = 0) shown in FIG. 4). More specifically, an ACK is returned to the PC 30 as the received data is read out by the first NIC 100. When receiving the ACK, the PC 30 transmits the next data (divided into one time or a plurality of times). At that time, the PC 30 sets the packet size smaller than the received receivable data amount and transmits the data. Therefore, if reading is executed once, data is received (one or more times). For this reason, in step S116, the received data is read so that the read amount per time is smaller than the received data amount per ACK. As a result, in a state where a session is established, the connection shifts to persistent connection control in which transmission of transmission data by the PC 30 is suppressed, and the persistent connection control is continuously executed until the second NIC 120 is activated.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, when the network multifunction device 1 returns an ACK (win = 0) with a windows size of zero, the PC 30 inquires whether or not the reception buffer 102 is empty. TCP Zero A window probe (win = 0) is periodically transmitted. In response to this signal, the network MFP 1 returns a signal TCP Zero Window Probe ACK (win = 0) indicating that there is no free capacity in the reception buffer 102 while the continuous connection control is continued. That is, while the persistent connection control is maintained, a TCP Zero Window Probe ACK (win = 0) is returned to the TCP Zero Window Probe (win = 0). More specifically, when the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 is smaller than a predetermined value (for example, half of the reception buffer capacity), the accurate free capacity is not transmitted as the receivable data amount, but as the receivable data amount. Send zero. Therefore, immediately after the transition from the continuous connection control to the normal control, zero is transmitted as the receivable data amount until the free capacity reaches the predetermined value, and after the free capacity reaches the predetermined value, the accurate free capacity is determined. Sent as receivable data amount. The receivable data amount may be set to a value smaller than the minimum transmittable data amount of the PC 30 instead of zero.

  When the second NIC 120 transitions to the normal power state, that is, when startup is completed and reception processing can be performed, in step S118, the SYN signal from the PC 30 (Ethernet (registered trademark) level) stored in the storage unit 104 Is transferred (memory transfer) to the second NIC 120 via the bus 23 (see FIG. 5).

  In the subsequent step S120, it is determined whether or not an ACK / SYN signal has been received from the second NIC 120 as a response to the transferred SYN signal. Here, when an ACK / SYN signal is received from the second NIC 120, the process proceeds to step S122. On the other hand, when the ACK / SYN signal has not been received from the second NIC 120, step S120 is repeatedly executed until the ACK / SYN signal is received.

  In step S122, a determination is made as to whether or not the ACK / SYN signal received from the second NIC 120 via the bus 23 matches the signal stored in the storage unit 104 (command transmission buffer area). Here, when both match, the process proceeds to step S124. On the other hand, if the two do not match, the process proceeds to step S118, and the processes of steps S118 to S122 described above are executed again.

  If the two signals match, in step S124, as shown in FIG. 5, the ACK signal from the PC 30 stored in the storage unit 104 (command reception buffer area) is transferred to the second NIC 120 via the bus 23 (memory). Forwarded). Subsequently, in step S126, data from the PC 30 stored in the storage unit 104 (data reception buffer area) is transferred to the second NIC 120 via the bus 23 (see FIG. 5).

  Next, in step S128, normal reception processing (processing for reading received data from the reception buffer 102 by several kilobytes) is executed. Therefore, when the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 increases rapidly, the persistent connection control is released, and data transmission is permitted to the PC 30. More specifically, when releasing the persistent connection control, the amount of reading from the reception buffer 102 is significantly increased as compared with the persistent connection control, so that as shown in FIG. 4, the TCP Zero Window Probe (win = 0) (instead of TCP Zero Window Probe ACK (win = 0)), an ACK (win = xxxx) indicating a receivable data amount is returned. Thereby, data transmission by the PC 30 is started.

  Thereafter, transmission / reception processing is performed by the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120. More specifically, the data received from the PC 30 is transferred by the first NIC 100 as it is to the second NIC 120 via the bus 23, and a response to the transferred data is sent from the second NIC 120 via the bus 23. It is sent to the first NIC 100. The first NIC 100 that has received the response from the second NIC 120 returns the response to the PC 30 as it is. Thereby, data transmission / reception is performed between the NIC 10 and the PC 30. Thereafter, when a FIN signal is received from the PC 30, an ACK / FIN signal is returned to the PC 30 as shown in FIG. 4, and the session is terminated. Then, this process ends.

  According to the present embodiment, the NIC 10 is divided into the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120, and during standby, the second NIC 120 is put into a low power consumption state, and only the first NIC 100 is operated to wait for data. Therefore, when waiting for data, a part of the NIC 10 (that is, the first NIC 100) can be removed to be in a low power consumption state, so that the power consumption of the NIC 10 can be further reduced. When data is received via the LAN 51, the second NIC 120 is activated and the received data is stored until the second NIC 120 is activated. After the second NIC 120 is activated, a bus is connected to the second NIC 120. 23 is transferred. On the other hand, a response from the second NIC 120 is transmitted to the PC 30 via the first NIC 100. Therefore, the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120 can be integrated to perform a communication operation. As a result, the power consumption can be further reduced without hindering the communication operation.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the second NIC 120 is activated only when the second NIC 120 needs to be activated. Therefore, the operation time of the second NIC 120 can be minimized. Therefore, the power consumption of the NIC 10 can be further reduced.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, when there is no need to activate the second NIC 120, the first NIC 100 responds to the received data without activating the second NIC 120. Therefore, unnecessary activation of the second NIC 120 can be suppressed. Therefore, the power consumption of the NIC 10 can be further reduced.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when a session establishment request signal is received, a session is established with the PC 30 that has transmitted the session establishment request signal, and an activation signal is output to the second NIC 120. . In addition, until the second NIC 120 is activated, persistent connection control is performed that prohibits data transmission to the PC 30 while maintaining a state where a session is established. Therefore, since it is not necessary to provide a large capacity memory for temporarily storing data on the first NIC 100 side, the power consumption of the memory can be suppressed. In this way, since the session is already established when the persistent connection control is terminated, it is possible to start data communication quickly.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, until the second NIC 120 is activated, the amount of data read from the reception buffer 102 is not controlled during non-persistent connection control so that the amount of receivable data is smaller than the minimum amount of transmittable data of the PC 30 ( That is, it is less than during normal control. Therefore, since the amount of data read from the reception buffer 102 is smaller than the amount of data received from the PC 30, the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 decreases, and the receivable data amount is smaller than the minimum transmittable data amount of the PC 30. (Typically zero) is transmitted to the communication terminal. As a result, it is possible to suppress transmission of transmission data by the PC 30 in a state where a session is established, that is, to realize persistent connection control.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, when the second NIC 120 is activated and the continuous connection control is terminated, the amount of data read from the reception buffer 102 is increased compared to that during the continuous connection control, and the free capacity of the reception buffer 102 ( That is, the receivable data amount) is made larger than the minimum transmittable data amount of the PC 30. Then, the size corresponding to the available capacity is transmitted to the PC 30 as the receivable data amount. For this reason, the PC 30 can transmit the transmission data, and after the second NIC 120 is activated, it is possible to smoothly shift from the continuous connection control to the normal control.

  According to the present embodiment, the second NIC 120 is not directly connected to the LAN 51 and does not need to have the same configuration as the first NIC 100 (particularly, the reception unit 101, the reception buffer 102, the transmission unit 103, etc.). Therefore, the configuration of the second NIC 120 can be further simplified, and power consumption and cost can be reduced.

  Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the NIC 10 is divided into the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120, but each of the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120 does not necessarily have to be formed of independent substrates. For example, the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120 may be constructed on one substrate, or the first NIC 100 and the second NIC 120 may be formed in one chip.

  In the above embodiment, the network communication apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a network multifunction device, but can also be applied to network devices other than the network multifunction device. Furthermore, the communication protocol used is not limited to the above embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, when shifting to persistent connection control and maintaining persistent connection control, the received data is read from the reception buffer 102 by 10 bytes. However, the received data amount read at one time is 10 bytes. Not limited.

  Moreover, although the case where the communication terminal is a PC has been described as an example in the above embodiment, the communication terminal is not limited to the PC. For example, the communication terminal may be a network multifunction device or the like.

1 Network MFP 10 NIC
100 1st NIC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Reception part 102 Reception buffer 103 Transmission part 104 Storage part 105 Power state determination part 106 Activation necessity determination part 107 Activation signal output part 108 Bus transfer part 109 Response data generation part 110 Persistent connection control part 120 2nd NIC
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 121 Reception unit 122 Output unit 11 Control unit 12 Recording unit 13 Operation unit 14 Display unit 15 Reading unit 16 Codec 17 Image storage unit 18 Modem 19 NCU
20 IFAX control unit 21 Web server 23 Bus 30 Personal computer 51 LAN

Claims (12)

A first communication control means connected to a communication terminal via a network and communicating with the communication terminal;
A second communication control means connected to the first communication control means via a communication path and capable of taking a normal power state and a low power consumption state;
The first communication control means includes
Receiving means for receiving data from the communication terminal via the network;
Determining means for determining a power state of the second communication control means;
When the data is received by the receiving means and the second communication control means is determined to be in a low power consumption state by the determination means, the second communication control is performed with respect to the second communication control means. An activation means for outputting an activation signal for activating the means;
Storage means for storing data received by the receiving means until the second communication control means is activated;
When it is determined that the second communication control unit is activated and transitions from the low power consumption state to the normal power state, the second communication control unit is received and stored until the second communication control unit is activated. The data is transferred to the second communication control means via the communication path, and when the second communication control means is in a normal power state, the data received by the receiving means is transferred to the second communication control means. Transfer means for transferring via the communication path;
A transmission unit that outputs a response to the data received by the reception unit or a response received from the second communication control unit to the communication terminal via the network;
The second communication control means
Receiving means for receiving the data transferred by the transfer means via the communication path;
Output means for outputting a response to the data received by the receiving means to the first communication control means via the communication path;
A network communication device. The first communication control means switches the second communication control means when data is received by the receiving means and when the determination means determines that the second communication control means is in a low power consumption state. Provided with an activation determination means for determining whether or not activation is necessary,
The network communication device according to claim 1, wherein the activation unit outputs the activation signal when the activation determination unit determines that the second communication control unit needs to be activated. The first communication control means has a generation means for generating a response to the data received by the receiving means when the activation determining means determines that the second communication control means need not be activated. And
The transmission unit outputs a response generated by the generation unit to the communication terminal when the activation determination unit determines that the second communication control unit does not need to be activated. Item 3. The network communication device according to Item 2. The first communication control means establishes a session with the communication terminal when the reception means receives a session establishment request signal from the communication terminal, and the activation determination means causes the second communication to be established. When it is determined that it is necessary to start the control means, persistent connection control is executed to prohibit data transmission to the communication terminal in a state where a session is established until the second communication control means is started. Having persistent connection control means,
The persistent connection control means permits the communication terminal to transmit data when it is determined that the second communication control means is activated. A network communication device according to 1. The first communication control means has a reception buffer for temporarily storing reception data received from the communication terminal,
The transmission means transmits a receivable data amount according to a free capacity of the reception buffer to the communication terminal according to a predetermined communication protocol,
The continuous connection control unit is configured to receive the reception data so that the receivable data amount is smaller than the minimum transmittable data amount of the communication terminal until the determination unit determines that the second communication control unit is activated. 5. The network communication device according to claim 4, wherein the amount of data read from the buffer is smaller than that during non-persistent connection control.   When the persistent connection control means permits the communication terminal that has transmitted the session establishment request signal after terminating the persistent connection control to transmit data, the receivable data amount is the minimum transmittable data of the communication terminal. 6. The network communication device according to claim 5, wherein the amount of data read from the reception buffer is made larger than that during the persistent connection control so as to be larger than the amount. First communication control means connected to a communication terminal via a network and having a network communication function including session establishment with the communication terminal, and connected to the first communication control means via a communication path, the first communication control means And a second communication control means for communicating with the communication terminal via a network communication device capable of taking an energy saving state,
In an energy saving state, the first communication control means can communicate, and the second communication control means cannot communicate,
The first communication control means includes
When a network communication request is received from the communication terminal in the energy saving state, the second communication control unit is activated, a session establishment process is executed with the communication terminal, and the session establishment process receives the communication establishment terminal from the communication terminal. Store the first data,
After the session establishment process is completed with the communication terminal, a continuous connection control for prohibiting data transmission to the communication terminal in a state where a session is established is executed,
When it is detected that the second communication control means is activated, the stored first data is transferred to the second communication control means, and a pseudo session establishment process is performed with the second communication control means. Run,
After completion of the pseudo session establishment process, release the persistent connection control with the communication terminal,
The second communication control means includes
A network communication device that executes data communication with the communication terminal via the first communication control unit after the persistent connection control is released.   The first communication control unit analyzes the content of the network communication request to determine whether the second communication control unit needs to be activated. When the first communication control unit determines that the activation is necessary, the first communication control unit activates the second communication control unit And when the session establishment process is executed with the communication terminal and it is determined that the activation is unnecessary, the session establishment is established with the communication terminal without activating the second communication control unit. The network communication device according to claim 7, which executes processing.   The first communication control means stores the second data transmitted to the communication terminal in the session establishment process, and from the second communication control means in the pseudo session establishment process with the second communication control means. The network according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the received data and the stored second data are compared, and if they match, the data serving as a response to the received data is transferred to the second communication control means. Communication device.   The network according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the first communication control unit transfers the data received from the communication terminal to the second communication control unit as it is after releasing the persistent connection control. Communication device.   The first communication control unit receives and stores the third data from the communication terminal after the session establishment process is completed with the communication terminal, and then continues with the communication terminal. The network communication device according to claim 7, wherein connection control is executed. The first communication control means transfers the stored third data to the second communication control means after completion of the pseudo session establishment process, and then the persistent connection with the communication terminal. The network communication device according to claim 11, wherein the control is released.

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