JP2015219852A - Information processor, control method of the same, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform file construction processing simultaneously satisfying a request for high-speed start processing and a request for security processing by constructing different file systems in storage means with different attributes adaptive to the attributes of the file systems.SOLUTION: An information processor for processing a prescribed file system constructs in second storage means a second file system handling a first file in accordance with an attribute of a file system that should be processed by a first file system constructed in first storage means after constructing the first file system in the first storage means, and constructs in third storage means a second file system handling a second file with a different attribute from the first file in accordance with the attribute of the file system that should be processed by the first file system constructed in the first storage means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method for the information processing apparatus, and a program.

  Conventionally, in an information processing apparatus including an image forming apparatus, there is a technique called RAMDISK that constructs a file system on a main storage device.

  In many cases, the file system is built in an external storage device such as a hard disk device or a USB memory. However, by building a file system on the main storage device using RAMDISK, it is possible to realize high-speed file access compared to a file system on a hard disk device or an external storage device.

  By the way, in addition to a volatile memory typified by a DRAM which has been a mainstream in the past, a nonvolatile memory typified by an MRAM has begun to circulate in the market. The MRAM, like the DRAM, realizes read / write access faster than the main storage device and does not require self-refresh for holding data. That is, unlike the DRAM, the MRAM has a characteristic that data can be retained even before and after the power is turned off.

  In RAMDISK, until now, the main storage device used has generally been DRAM. The RAMDISK by DRAM has the advantage that the file access is fast, but also has the characteristic that the file is not retained before and after the power is turned off.

  However, RAMDISK with MRAM has the same characteristics as a file system on a hard disk device or an external storage device that has the advantage of high-speed file access and also holds the file before and after power-off. become.

Regarding the characteristics of RAMDISK with DRAM that files are not retained before and after the power is turned off, temporarily confidential data, for example, encrypted data temporarily decrypted, or personal information stored after use This is an advantage because there is no need for complete erasure.
On the other hand, when trying to save a setting file or hibernation image that is needed immediately after startup, it is a disadvantage because it volatilizes after the power is turned off.

  The above-mentioned advantages / disadvantages of RAMDISK using MRAM are reversed. That is, when temporary confidential data is stored, it becomes necessary to completely erase after use, which is a disadvantage. In addition, when saving a setting file and a hibernation image that are required immediately after startup, the configuration file is saved even after the power is turned off.

JP 2011-203843 A

In the conventional image forming apparatus, it is assumed that RAMDISK is built on DRAM. However, in the future, when an image forming apparatus having both MRAM and DRAM is used to construct a RAMDISK using both of them, it is necessary to properly place the RAMDISK in the MRAM or DRAM according to the type of file data. There arises a problem that files that need to be erased do not volatilize.
In addition, if a necessary file is volatilized at the time of starting, there is a problem that starting becomes impossible.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to construct a different file system in storage means having different attributes so as to adapt to the attributes of the file system, thereby enabling high-speed startup processing. It is to provide a mechanism that can perform a file construction process that satisfies the request and the security process request at the same time.

The information processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.
An information processing apparatus for processing a predetermined file system, wherein a first construction means for constructing a first file system in a first storage means, and the first file constructed in the first storage means In accordance with the attributes of the file system to be processed by the system, the second construction means for constructing the second file system for handling the first file in the second storage means, and the second storage means are constructed in the first storage means. A second file system that handles a second file having an attribute different from that of the first file in accordance with the attribute of the file system to be processed by the first file system is constructed in the third storage means. And a construction means.

  According to the present invention, by constructing different file systems in storage means having different attributes according to the attributes of the file system, it is possible to perform a file construction process that simultaneously satisfies the request for the fast startup process and the request for the security process.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the directory of a file system. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the image forming apparatus. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the image forming apparatus.

Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.
An image forming apparatus 1 shown in this example includes a scanner device 2, an image processing unit 5, a controller 3, a printer 4, a power supply device 6, and the like.

  In FIG. 1, a scanner device 2 optically reads an image from a document and converts it into a digital image. The printer 4 outputs a digital image to a paper device. The operation unit 8 operates the apparatus. The hard disk device 14 stores a digital image, a control program, and the like. The FAX apparatus 7 transmits / receives digital images to / from a telephone line or the like.

The controller 3 includes a CPU 40 and controls processing of each unit by executing a control program stored in the ROM 34. In this embodiment, the power control unit 35 is controlled to supply power to the LAN I / F 9 and receive a job when in the sleep mode. An external storage device I / F 32 to which an external storage device 33 typified by a USB storage can be connected, and a job is executed on the image forming apparatus by giving instructions to each module connected to these.
The image forming apparatus 1 can perform digital image input / output, job issuance, device instruction, and the like from the computer 10 via the LAN 9.
The operation unit 8 includes a setting state display such as a liquid crystal touch panel and a user-operable operation display screen, and operation buttons such as a numeric keypad.

  The scanner device 2 includes a document feeding unit 11 that can automatically and sequentially replace a bundle of documents, and a scanner unit 12 that can optically scan a document and convert it into a digital image. The converted image data is a controller. 3 is transmitted.

  The printer 4 includes a paper feeding unit 18 capable of sequentially feeding paper sheets one by one, a marking unit 16 for printing image data on the fed paper, and a paper discharge unit 17 for discharging the printed paper. Consists of.

The controller 3 has a CPU 40 and transmits / receives and stores image data to / from the scanner device 2 and the printer 4. That is, the controller 3 temporarily stores the image data received from the scanner device 2 in the MRAM 101 or the DRAM 102 having different attributes. Thereafter, the image data is stored in the hard disk device 14 to complete scanning and saving of the image.
In this embodiment, the controller 3 includes the MRAM 101 and the DRAM 102. However, the controller 3 is not limited to these as long as it corresponds to a nonvolatile memory and a volatile memory.

The CPU 40 of the controller 3 temporarily stores the image data from the hard disk device 14 in the MRAM 101 or DRAM 102, and transmits the image data from the MRAM 101 or DRAM 102 to the printer 4. As a result, the printer 4 can perform print output. The ROM 31 stores a startup program.
Further, the MRAM 101 and the DRAM 102 each independently have a file system based on RAMDISK.

  The image processing unit 5 includes a general-purpose image processing unit 19 and includes a general-purpose image processing unit 19 that processes image data stored in the MRAM 101 or the DRAM 102. The general-purpose image processing unit 19 saves the image subjected to the reduction process or the like in the MRAM 101 or the DRAM 102 again. The general-purpose image processing unit 19 is used in various scenes as necessary.

The image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation unit 8 that is controlled by the controller 3. The CPU 40 interprets an operator operation or an instruction from the LAN 9 and can execute various jobs. Hereinafter, an example of each function executed in a job is shown.
[Copy function]
The image read from the scanner device 2 is stored in the hard disk device 14 and simultaneously printed using the printer 4.

(Image transmission function)
The image read from the scanner device 2 is stored in the hard disk device 14 and transmitted to the computer 10 via the LAN 9.
(Image saving function)
The image read from the scanner device 2 is stored in the hard disk device 14, and image transmission or image printing is performed as necessary.
(Image printing function)
For example, the page description language transmitted from the computer 10 is analyzed and printed by the printer 4.

[FAX reception print]
The FAX image received from the FAX apparatus 7 is stored in the hard disk apparatus 14 and simultaneously printed using the printer 4.
[FAX transfer processing]
The FAX image received from the FAX apparatus 7 is stored in the hard disk apparatus 14 and is simultaneously transferred to the computer 10 or the like via the LAN 9.

[FAX memory reception processing]
The FAX image received from the FAX apparatus 7 is stored in the hard disk apparatus 14 and waits for reference from the operator.
[FAX transmission processing]
The image read from the scanner device 2 is stored in the hard disk device 14 and is simultaneously transmitted from the FAX device 7 to the public line.
[External storage device direct print]
An image stored in the external storage device 33 such as a USB storage or an SD card is stored in the hard disk device 14 via the external storage device I / F 32, and image printing is performed as necessary.

[External storage device direct save function]
An image read from the scanner device 2 is stored in the hard disk device 14 and stored in an external storage device 33 such as a USB storage or an SD card via the external storage device I / F 32 as necessary.
[External storage device saving function]
Data stored in the hard disk device 14 is stored in the external storage device 33 via the external storage device I / F 32.

In many cases, the hard disk device 14 is interposed in order to recover from an abnormal state such as a job failure or a power failure.
The power supply device 6 is a device that supplies power to the image forming apparatus 1. When the power supply device 6 is turned off, the AC power supply 29 is insulated by the switch 30.
When the switch 30 is turned on, AC power is supplied to the AC-DC converter 20 and DC power is generated.

  The power supply device 6 can perform four independent power supply controls on the entire device according to instructions from the power supply control unit 35. In other words, the power of the controller unit power 25 can be controlled OFF / ON by the switch means 21 from the power supply control unit 35. Similarly, the switch unit 22 can control the power of the printer unit power 28, the switch unit 23 can control the power of the scanner unit power 26, and the switch unit 24 can control the power of the general-purpose image processing unit power 27. The power supply control unit 35 uses these switch units 21 to 24 to appropriately supply power to a necessary place of the image forming apparatus 1.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. This example is an example of activation processing of the image forming apparatus 1. More specifically, an operating system load process and a file system mount process are shown. Here, the file system is mounted by building a file system on each of the MRAM 101 and the DRAM 102 and mounting it together with the file system on the secondary storage device in addition to these file systems.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a directory layout after mounting the file system constructed by the processing shown in FIG. The process corresponding to each step shown in FIG. 2 is performed in more detail by the controller 3 of the image forming apparatus 1 according to a program stored in the ROM 34 and the hard disk device 14 as one of the activation processes of the image forming apparatus 1. Is implemented by the CPU 40 executing. At this time, data existing in the file system of each of the hard disk device 14 and the MRAM 101 is used when the program is executed.

In S200, immediately after the image forming apparatus 1 is turned on, the activation program stored in the ROM 34 is executed. The start program loads an operating system (OS) stored in the hard disk device 14 into the MRAM 101 or the DRAM 102. Further, the activation program may be divided into a plurality of stages.
In S210, the operating system loaded into the MRAM 101 or the DRAM 102 by the CPU 40 is activated, and processing by the operating system is started.
In S220, when the image forming apparatus 1 is activated, the CPU 40 mounts the file system on the hard disk device 14 via the OS.

In S230, the CPU 40 confirms whether a file system exists on the MRAM 101 via the OS. If the CPU 40 determines that the file system exists as a result of the confirmation, the process proceeds to S240, and the CPU 40 mounts the file system on the MRAM 101 via the OS. By this step, a file existing in the file system on the MRAM 101 before the power is turned off can be used at the time of activation.
On the contrary, if the file system does not exist as a result of the confirmation, the process proceeds to S250, and the CPU 40 newly constructs a file system on the MRAM 101 via the OS. Through these steps, a file can be created on the MRAM 101 thereafter.

In S260, the CPU 40 constructs a file system on the DRAM 102 via the OS. Unlike the case of the MRAM 101, the DRAM 102 at the time of starting does not have a file system before the power is turned off. For this reason, in the case of the DRAM 102, the CPU 40 constructs the file system via the OS without confirming the existence of the file system.
In S270, the CPU 40 mounts the file system on the DRAM 102 via the OS. Through this step, a file can be created on the DRAM 102 thereafter.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the directory layout of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The directory layout corresponds to a directory constructed by executing the processing shown in FIG.
Here, under the root directory of the image forming apparatus 1, there are four directories of / etc, / tmp, / usr, and / home. Among these, the file system on the MRAM 101 is mounted below / etc, and the file system on the DRAM 102 is mounted below / tmp.

  Further, the file system on the hard disk device 14 is mounted below / usr and / home. As described above, by associating each storage device (in this embodiment, the MRAM 101, the DRAM 102, and the hard disk device 14) with the directory, it is possible to designate the storage device and create a file on the storage device.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. In this example, a file is created in the file system on each of the MRAM 101, the DRAM 102, and the hard disk device 14. Note that each step shown in the flowchart is realized by the controller 3 of the image forming apparatus 1 and more specifically by the CPU 40 according to a program stored in the hard disk device 14.

  In S300, the image forming apparatus 1 is activated. The startup process here includes the operating system load process and the operation of mounting the file system on each of the MRAM 101, DRAM 102, and hard disk device 14 described in FIG. 2.

In S310, the power supply control unit 35 determines whether or not there has been a power-off request. As a result, when the power control unit 35 determines that there is a power-off request, the process proceeds to S380, where the switch means 21 to 24 are controlled to perform a shutdown process to perform power-off. The file creation operation described later (steps after S320) is also applied during the shutdown operation of S380.
In S320, the CPU 40 determines whether predetermined data that needs to be filed has been generated. If the CPU 40 determines that predetermined data that needs to be filed has been generated, the process proceeds to S330.

In S330, the CPU 40 determines whether the data to be filed is temporary data that needs to be completely erased after use. This is, for example, a temporary decryption of encrypted data. If the CPU 40 determines that the data is temporary data that needs to be completely erased after use, the process proceeds to S340 and a file is created in the file system on the DRAM 102.
On the other hand, if the CPU 40 determines in S330 that the data is not temporary data that requires complete erasure after use, the process proceeds to S350. As a result, temporary data that needs to be completely erased after use is volatilized after the shutdown process of S380.

In S350, it is determined whether the data filed by the CPU 40 is an image of the DRAM 102 and the register set of the CPU 40 or not. This image is equivalent to a hibernation image in the case of the image forming apparatus 1 in which the MRAM 101 does not exist and only the hard disk device 14 exists.
Here, if the CPU 40 determines that it is an image of the DRAM 102 and the CPU 40 register set, the process proceeds to S370, and a file is created in the file system on the MRAM 101.
On the other hand, if the CPU 40 determines that the data to be filed is not an image of the register set of the DRAM 102 and the CPU 40 in S350, the process proceeds to S360.
As a result, since the image of the DRAM 102 and the CPU 40 register set exists in the MRAM 101 that can be accessed at high speed when the power is turned on next time, the effect of speeding up at the time of restart can be obtained.
In the present embodiment, an image of the register set of the DRAM 102 and the CPU 40 (equivalent to a hibernation image) is taken up. However, other than the hibernation file startup, even if it is a large startup or a large capacity file that is accessed at startup, such as a cache file that is accessed by the application at startup, the startup process can be performed at high speed. An effect that can be obtained is obtained.
In addition, the creation of the DRAM 102 and CPU 40 register set image is not performed only at the time of the end processing, but may be created at that time if it is desired to return to a point in time during startup.

In S360, since the data to be filed is neither temporary data that needs to be completely erased after use nor an image of the DRAM 102 and the CPU 40 register set, the CPU 40 creates a file in the file system on the hard disk device 14.
[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, the configuration and control method of the image forming apparatus showing the embodiment will be described in detail. The hardware configuration is as shown in FIG. The directory construction process is the same as that shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. This example is a processing example for creating a file in the file system on each of the MRAM 101, the DRAM 102, and the hard disk device 14 shown in FIG. Note that each step shown in the flowchart is realized by the controller 3 of the image forming apparatus 1 and more specifically by the CPU 40 according to a program stored in the hard disk device 14. Also, S300 to S380 are the same as the description of the corresponding steps shown in FIG.

In S470, if the CPU 40 determines in S350 that the data to be filed is a hibernation image, it determines whether the file can be written to the file system on the MRAM 101. As a result, if the CPU 40 determines that the file cannot be written to the MRAM 101, the process proceeds to S360, where the file is created in the file system on the hard disk device 14.
On the other hand, if the CPU 40 determines that the file can be written to the MRAM 101, the process proceeds to S370, where the file is created in the file system on the MRAM 101.

At present, the MRAM that can be used in the image forming apparatus 1 is expensive, so there may be a case where the mounting amount is small. On the other hand, the hibernation image and the cache file are often large in size. Even in such a case, normal start-up can be realized by preventing the failure of file creation due to excess capacity.
[Third Embodiment]

  Each process of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5 is executed by a processing device (CPU, processor) such as a personal computer (computer) using software (program) acquired via a network or various storage media. Can also be realized.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.
Note that the present invention is not limited to the image forming apparatus, but may be other information as long as it is an information processing apparatus other than the image forming apparatus shown in the present embodiment and is a device that constructs a system including a DRAM and an MRAM. It can also be applied to a processing apparatus.

1 Image forming apparatus 13 CPU
101 MRAM
102 DRAM

Claims (10)

An information processing apparatus that processes a predetermined file system,
First construction means for constructing the first file system in the first storage means;
A second file system for handling the first file is constructed in the second storage means in accordance with the attribute of the file system to be processed by the first file system constructed in the first storage means. With the construction means of
According to the attribute of the file system to be processed by the first file system constructed in the first storage means, a second file system that handles a second file having different attributes from the first file is provided. A second construction means constructed in the three storage means;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second storage unit stores the first file in a nonvolatile manner.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the third storage unit stores the second file in a volatile manner.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first file stores volatile information that is a file obtained by temporarily decrypting an encrypted file.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second file stores in a nonvolatile manner that the second file is a file used at the time of restart.   6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the file used at the time of restarting is a file associated with a hibernation file.   6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the file used at the time of restarting is a file associated with a cache file.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first construction unit constructs the first file system in the first storage unit or an external nonvolatile storage unit. An information processing method of an information processing apparatus for processing a predetermined file system,
A first construction step of constructing the first file system in the first storage means;
A second file system for handling the first file is constructed in the second storage means in accordance with the attribute of the file system to be processed by the first file system constructed in the first storage means. And the construction process of
According to the attribute of the file system to be processed by the first file system constructed in the first storage means, a second file system that handles a second file having different attributes from the first file is provided. A second construction step of constructing in the storage means of 3,
An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, comprising:   A program causing a computer to execute the information processing method of the information processing apparatus according to claim 9.

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