JP2001312383A - Printer, high speed printing method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide more accelerated printing by simultaneously executing a plurality of rendering processing inside a printer driver. SOLUTION: The print data of GDI form are converted to intermediate data 407 for each of plural bands comprising a page bit map (S406). On the other hand, plural rendering processing parts, which can be parallel executed simultaneously, corresponding to each of plural bands are prepared (S408 and S409), the converted and prepared intermediate data 407 for each of plural bands are respectively sent to these prepared plural rendering processing parts and rendering processing is parallel executed simultaneously for each of plural bands (S413). Thus, a page bit map 410 is prepared.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a high-speed printing method, and a storage medium. More particularly, the present invention converts print data of a predetermined format into intermediate data, renders the intermediate data, and generates a page bitmap. Printing device to create,
The present invention relates to a high-speed printing method applied to the printing apparatus and a storage medium storing a program for executing the high-speed printing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing apparatus uses software called a printer driver to generate print data (page bitmap). That is,
The operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) is GDI (Graphics Device Interface) according to the output of the application.
An instruction called e) was output to the printer driver, and the printer driver converted it into an intermediate language, and rendered the intermediate language in order to create print data.

[0003]

When the printer driver operates in such a manner, the maximum number of intermediate languages that can be simultaneously rendered in the printer driver is one.

[0004] However, in a processing mode in which only one intermediate language can be rendered at a time, there is usually enough room for the CPU, and it cannot be said that the CPU is fully used. If the capability of the CPU can be effectively utilized, there is a problem in that although high-speed printing can be expected to be realized, it cannot be realized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and a printing apparatus which realizes higher-speed printing by enabling a plurality of rendering processes to be executed simultaneously in a printer driver. It is an object to provide a printing method and a storage medium.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, print data in a predetermined format is converted into intermediate data, and the intermediate data is rendered by a rendering process. A printing apparatus for creating a map is characterized in that the printing apparatus has an intermediate data conversion means for converting the print data in the predetermined format into intermediate data for each of a plurality of divided sections constituting a page bitmap.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a rendering processing unit for creating a plurality of rendering processing units respectively corresponding to the plurality of divided sections and capable of being executed in parallel and simultaneously. Means for transmitting the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections generated and converted by the intermediate data converting means to the plurality of rendering processing sections created by the rendering processing section creating means, Executing means for executing the rendering processes in parallel and simultaneously.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a general-purpose rendering processing section creating means for creating a predetermined number of general-purpose rendering processing sections that can be executed in parallel and simultaneously, The same number as the number of the general-purpose rendering processing units in the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections converted and generated by the intermediate data conversion unit is added to the general-purpose rendering processing units generated by the general-purpose rendering processing unit generating unit. And an execution unit for transmitting the intermediate data of each of the above (1) and (2) to execute the rendering processing for each divided section in parallel and simultaneously.

According to the present invention, high-speed printing is applied to a printing apparatus which converts print data of a predetermined format into intermediate data and renders the intermediate data to create a page bitmap. The method further comprises an intermediate data conversion step of converting the print data of the predetermined format into intermediate data for each of a plurality of divided sections constituting a page bitmap.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 11,
A computer-readable storage medium that stores, as a program, a high-speed printing method applied to a printing apparatus that converts print data of a predetermined format into intermediate data, renders the intermediate data, and creates a page bitmap. Wherein the high-speed printing method includes an intermediate data conversion step of converting the print data of the predetermined format into intermediate data for each of a plurality of divided sections constituting a page bitmap.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) Before describing the configuration of the first embodiment, a configuration of a laser beam printer suitable for applying the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

It should be noted that the printer to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to a laser beam printer, but may be another type of printer such as an ink jet printer.

Further, it should be further supplemented that the software to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the printer control system but can be widely applied to display control software and the like.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a laser beam printer (LBP) to which the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1500 denotes an LBP main body, which receives and stores print information (character codes and the like) and form information supplied from an external host computer (not shown), and stores the print information and form information in the print information and form information. A corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created, and an image is formed on a recording medium such as recording paper.

Reference numeral 1501 denotes a switch for operation and L
An operation panel on which an ED display and the like are disposed, and 1512 is L
A printer control unit that controls the BP body 1500 and analyzes character information supplied from the host computer.

The printer control unit 1512 converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1502.

A laser driver 1502 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1503, and switches on / off a laser beam 1504 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1503 according to an input video signal.

The laser light 1504 is rotated by a polygon mirror 1505.
The scanning exposure is performed on the electrostatic drum 1506 by swinging in the horizontal direction. As a result, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 1506.

This latent image is developed by a unit 1507 disposed around the electrostatic drum 1506 and then transferred to a recording sheet.

A cut sheet is used as the recording paper. The cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper guide 1508 provided in the LBP 1500, and is taken into the apparatus by a paper feed roller 1509, transport rollers 1510, and a transport roller 1511. And supplied to the electrostatic drum 1506.

The LBP body 1500 has at least one card slot (not shown) so that an optional font card and a card (emulation card) having a different language system can be used in addition to the built-in font.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams showing the configuration of a printer control system to which the present invention is applied.
3 mainly shows a host computer, and FIG. 3 mainly shows a printer.
Here, a laser beam printer will be described as an example of the printer.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 3000 denotes a host computer, and the CPU 1 controls each device connected to the system bus 4 as a whole. The ROM 3 includes a font ROM, a program ROM, and a data ROM. The program ROM stores a control program of the CPU 1 and the like, and the font ROM stores font data used in the above-described text processing. Etc. are stored,
The data ROM stores various data used when performing the above-described text processing. The CPU 1 has a program R
Based on a sentence processing program or the like stored in the OM, a sentence process in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed is executed.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM, which is a main memory of the CPU 1;
Functions as a work area.

A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls signal input from a keyboard (KB) 9 or a pointing device (not shown).

Reference numeral 6 denotes a CRT controller (CRTC), which controls display on a CRT display (CRT) 10.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a disk controller (DKC), which controls access to the external memory 11. The external memory 11 includes a hard disk (HD) for storing a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, and the like, a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD), and the like.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a printer controller (PRTC), which is connected to the printer 1500 via a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 1500.

Note that a display information area is set in the RAM 2, and the CPU 1 executes outline font development (rasterization) processing in the display information area set in the RAM 2 to enable WYSIWYG on the CRT 10.

Further, the CPU 1 receives a command indicated by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 10 based on a command.
Various registered windows are opened to execute various data processing.

Next, in the printer 1500 shown in FIG. 3, reference numeral 12 denotes a printer CPU, and reference numeral 13 denotes a ROM. The ROM 13 includes a font ROM and a program R
OM and data ROM, and the program R
The OM stores a control program for the CPU 12, and the font ROM stores font data and the like used when generating image information to be output to the printing unit 17. The control program of the CPU 12 is stored in the data ROM. In the case of a printer without the external memory 14 such as a hard disk, the host computer 3000 is used.
Is stored.

The CPU 12 comprehensively controls access to various devices connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program or the like stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14. Further, it outputs an image signal as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected via a printing unit interface 16.

The CPU 12 can communicate with the host computer 3000 via the input unit 18 and can notify the host computer 3000 of information and the like in the printer 1500.

A RAM 19 functions as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 12. Note that the RAM 19
The configuration is such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an additional port (not shown).

The RAM 19 has an output information development area,
Used for environmental data storage area, NVRAM, etc.

The external memory 14 has a hard disk (H
D), an IC card or the like, and access control is performed by a disk controller (DKC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option, and stores font data,
It stores an emulation program, form data, and the like.

An operation unit 1501 includes switches for operation, an LED display, and the like.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned external memory 14 is provided with one or more, and is configured such that a plurality of optional font cards for reinforcing built-in fonts, memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different language systems and the like are connected. May be. Furthermore, it has a not-shown NVRAM,
The printer mode setting information from the operation unit 1501 may be stored.

In the thus configured printer control system, the processing program to which the present invention is applied is:
It resides in the external memory 11 of the host computer 3000. The processing to which the present invention is applied forms a part of the printer driver, and is started and executed simultaneously with the printing processing.

Next, for comparison with the present invention, processing of a conventional general printer driver will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing of a conventional general printer driver. The flowchart also shows the devices, processing programs, data, and the like.

In the figure, reference numeral 301 denotes an application.
An application program is developed and executed on the AM, and the application 301 creates some appropriate print data and issues a print instruction.

Normal print data is composed of data such as the beginning of a document, the beginning of a page, a data group representing lines and characters, the end of a page, and the end of a document, and is sequentially output from the application program to the OS. .

Reference numeral 302 denotes an OS, which is an application 3
01 based on the print data output to the OS 302, the OS 302
A print instruction is issued to the printer driver 310 developed and executed above.

Also, the OS 302 executes step S
Upon receiving from the printer driver 310 a notification that the intermediate data creation processing executed in 304 has been completed, the completion notification is notified to the application 301 so that the application 301 can proceed to the next processing operation.

Next, the processing shifts to the processing of the printer driver 310. In step S303, it is determined whether or not data indicating the end of the page has been sent from the application 301 in the GDI format.

If data indicating the end of the page has been sent, the process proceeds to step S306, where the printer driver 310 executes a rendering process. The rendering process will be described later. On the other hand, if the data indicating the end of the page has not been sent, the process proceeds to step S304, where the printer driver 310 executes an intermediate data creation process. In the intermediate data creation process, the output data in the GDI format is converted into an intermediate data format that is easy to render.

The output data converted into the intermediate data format is stored as intermediate data 305 on the RAM. When the storage is completed, the printer driver 310 sends a completion notification indicating that the intermediate data creation processing has been completed to the OS 3.
02, step S302 is executed, and the completion notification is sent to the application 301.

In the rendering process executed in step S306, the intermediate data 305 stored in the RAM is read, and a page bitmap 307 including the content to be printed on one page of paper is created.

This page bitmap 307 is sent from the printer driver 310 to the reception buffer 308 in the printer 311, and the reception buffer 308 outputs the final print result 309.

Next, the OS 302 executes the printer driver 31
0, an example of the output data in the GDI format, intermediate data thereof, and a page bitmap obtained from them,
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a page bitmap based on output data in the GDI format, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a page bitmap based on intermediate data.

For example, if the OS 302 is the printer driver 3
The output data of the GDI format to be sent to 10 is the following 5
One content is expressed by one GDI instruction.

(1) Coordinates (0, 10) and (100,
10) draw a straight line.

(2) Coordinates (100, 10) and (10)
0, 100).

(3) However, the coordinates (50, 0) and the coordinates (2
000, 2000) are drawn only at portions that fall within a region surrounded by a rectangle having a diagonal position of (000, 2000).

(4) The line has a gray color of 50% density.

(5) The width of the line is one dot width.

The intermediate data created based on the output data in the GDI format is converted into the following three contents.

(1) Register a 50% density gray brush.

(2) Using the registered brush, draw a straight line of 1 dot width between the coordinates (50, 10) and the coordinates (100, 10).

(3) Using the registered brush, draw a straight line of one dot width between the coordinates (100, 10) and the coordinates (100, 100).

That is, although the output data in the GDI format that the OS 302 sends to the printer driver 310 is in a format that can be easily handled by the printer driver 310,
The amount of information is large and cannot be simply developed into a page bitmap as it is.

Therefore, the printer driver 310 uses the GDI
Interpret the output data in the format, process it one by one,
Convert to intermediate data in a format that can be expanded to a page bitmap.

The page bitmaps 506, 5 shown in FIG.
07 is for A5 paper (14.8 cm x 21.0 cm)
It is expressed as a page bitmap (3496 dots × 4960 dots) with a resolution of 00 DPI (Dot Per Inch).

The page bitmap 50 shown in FIG.
7, the coordinate (50, 0) -coordinate (2000, 2
000) is considered at the stage of the intermediate data creation processing and is reflected in the intermediate data. Therefore, the page bitmap 507 can be obtained by interpreting the intermediate data in order and creating a page bitmap.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional processing flow (A) in the printer driver and a processing flow (B) of the first embodiment. The flow of time in each process is shown to show the difference in the processing time in the printer driver.

In this figure, the print data of one page is line 2
The flow of time is compared assuming that it is composed of the data of the book (L1, L2 in the figure).

In FIG. 6A, reference numeral 701 denotes a first line (L1).
3 shows the intermediate data creation process. In this figure, time flows from the top to the bottom of the figure, and the intermediate data creation processing 701 is performed between time t0 and time t1.

Similarly, reference numeral 702 denotes intermediate data creation processing for the second line (L2).
2 is processed between time t1 and time t2.

As described above, the time (from time t0 to time t2) for executing the intermediate data creation processing of the first line (L1) and the second line (L2) is the intermediate data creation (S721).
It is the time required. When the processes up to this point are completed, the application 301 has completed all the processes related to printing, and can shift to other operations other than the printing process. For this reason, the time t2 is referred to as an application release (S722) timing.

In FIG. 6A, reference numeral 703 denotes a first line (L1).
3 shows the rendering process. Rendering process 7
03 is processed between time t2 and time t3.

Similarly, reference numeral 704 denotes a rendering process for the second line (L2). The rendering process 704 is performed between time t3 and time t4.

As described above, the time (from time t2 to time t4) for executing the intermediate data creation processing of the first line (L1) and the second line (L2) is the time required for rendering (S723). When the processing up to this point is completed, the printer driver 310 has completed the processing. Thereafter, the page bitmap 307 is stored in the printer 31.
1 and printing.

Reference numeral 705 in FIG. 6A indicates a print process (Pr) for sending the page bitmap 307 to the printer 311 to perform printing. The print processing 705 is performed between time t4 and time t5.

The last time (time t5) of the time required for this printing (S725) is the timing when the ejection of the printed paper from the printer 311 is completed.

The time from when the print start instruction (S720) is issued to when the print is completed (S726), that is, the time from when the print instruction is issued to when the user actually obtains the printed material is determined in the evaluation of the printer product. It is one of the indicators, and the shorter this time is, the better.

In a conventional general printer driver, there is the above-described processing flow, which requires the above-described processing time. As can be understood from the above description with reference to FIG. 6A, in the conventional processing flow, all the processing of the intermediate data creation processing (S721), the rendering (S723), and the printing (S725) are sequentially performed. .

Actually, for example, during the period of the intermediate data creation processing 701, there is a margin in the processing capacity of the CPU.
The CPU can simultaneously perform other processing in parallel. However, in the conventional processing, it is not considered that the capacity of the CPU is fully utilized to reduce the processing time.

The flow of processing in the first embodiment in which this point is improved will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing of the printer driver according to the first embodiment.
The flowchart also shows the devices, processing programs, data, and the like.

An application 401 shown in FIG. 7 is an application program developed and executed on the RAM 2 in the same manner as the application 301 shown in FIG. Instructions.

Normal print data is composed of data such as the beginning of a document, the beginning of a page, a group of data representing lines and characters, the end of a page, and the end of a document, and is sequentially output from the application program to the OS. You.

Reference numeral 402 denotes an OS, which is an application 4
01 based on the print data output to the OS 402, the OS 402
Printer driver 414 developed and executed on
Is instructed to print.

The OS 402 executes a step S described later.
Upon receiving a notification from the printer driver 414 that the intermediate data creation process executed in 406 has been completed and that the management table initialization executed in step S404 has been completed, the application 401 notifies the application 401 of the completion notification. , So that the application 401 can move to the next processing operation.

Next, the process proceeds to the printer driver 414. In step S403, the application 401 sends, in GDI format, data indicating the beginning of a page, a data group representing lines or characters, or data indicating the end of a page. Is determined.

When data indicating the start of a page is sent, the management table is initialized (S404).
When a data group representing a line or a character is sent, an intermediate data creation process (S406) is performed. And
If you receive the end of page data,
The control is transferred to the rendering function 413, and the rendering processing 1 (S408) and the rendering processing n (S409) are performed.

In the initialization of the management table (S404), a band management table 405 as shown in FIG. 8 is created in the RAM 2 and its contents are cleared to prepare for writing to the band management table 405. Band management table 40
5 will be described later.

Then, the management table is initialized (S404).
Is completed, the completion notification is sent to the OS 402.

The intermediate data creation processing (S 406)
Reference numeral 402 denotes a printer driver 4 which stores data representing lines and characters.
In the intermediate data creation process (S406), when the page bitmap is divided into units called bands, the intermediate data 407 in each band is created.

The created intermediate data 407 for each band
Are added to the band management table 405 and stored.

The intermediate data 407 created in the intermediate data creation processing (S406) is stored in the RAM 2.

Here, the band will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a page bitmap divided into five bands.

The page bitmap is a representation of a page to be printed by a bitmap, and a band is a bitmap when the page bitmap is divided at a fixed height (distance from the bottom in FIG. 9). Refers to a division.

The page bitmap 602 shown in FIG.
This is a page bitmap (3496 dots × 4960 dots) of A5 size and a resolution of 600 dpi, and is divided into five bands at a height of 700 dots each. The height of the band is not limited to 700 dots, but can be set freely.

The section 603 of the first band shown in FIG.
A total of 700 dots (699 from 0 to 699 dots)
−0 + 1).

The section 604 of the second band has a total of 700 dots from 1700 dots to 700 dots (1399-dots).
It has a height of 700 + 1).

A section 605 of the third band has a total of 700 dots (2099 dots) from 1400 dots to 2099 dots.
-1400 + 1).

The section 606 of the fourth band has a total of 700 dots (2799 dots from 2100 dots to 2799 dots).
-2100 + 1).

The section 607 of the fifth band is 28000
A total of 697 dots (349
6-2800 + 1). Since the section 607 of the fifth band is a surplus of the sections of the first to fourth bands, the height is less than 700 dots.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a page bitmap in which two lines (L1, L2) are displayed in the page bitmap shown in FIG.

The first line 613 (L1) has a coordinate origin (0, 0) at the upper left of the A5 sheet and a coordinate (3496.4) at the lower right.
960), the coordinates (1398, 350)
And 50% drawn between the coordinates (2098, 1050)
It is a gray line. The line 613 is a line extending over the section 603 of the first band and the section 604 of the second band.

The coordinates of this line 613 at the band boundary are
Below the section 603 of the first band, (1747, 69)
9), above the section 604 of the second band (174
8, 700).

The second line 614 (L2) has the coordinates (18
48, 350) and coordinates (1448, 1750). The line 614 is a line that extends over the section 603 of the first band, the section 604 of the second band, and the section 605 of the third band.

The coordinates of the line 614 at the band boundary are:
Below the section 603 of the first band, (1748, 69
9), above the section 604 of the second band (174
8, 700), (1548, 1399) below the second band section 604, and (1548, 1400) above the third band section 605.

FIG. 11 shows the above-mentioned two lines (L1, L2).
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing intermediate data for each band regarding (A).
(C) show intermediate data in the first to third bands, respectively.

The intermediate data for each band is
This indicates that when the page bitmap is created based on the intermediate data, the drawing processing is performed only in the corresponding band section.

The rendering process is performed by the application 4
If the output is not performed in the order of the output data of the GDI format output by the application 401, the result intended by the application 401 cannot be obtained. That is, the application 40
If one considers the case where output data of another GDI format is output overlaid on a printer driver that has once output the output data of some GDI format, if the output order is changed, it differs from the originally intended one. It is clear that the results will be different. That is, FIG.
If the intermediate data in the first to third bands shown in FIG. 7 match the order of the output data in the GDI format output by the application 401, the intermediate data in each of these bands does not interfere with each other and is completely independent. Are processed in parallel as intermediate data.

In the first embodiment, a plurality of rendering processes are performed in parallel by focusing on such points.

Returning to FIG. 7, the rendering function 413 of the printer driver 414 is a function for causing a plurality of rendering processes to be performed in parallel.
Then, when it is determined that the data indicating the end of the page is detected, the rendering process 1 (S408) and the rendering process n (S409) are started in parallel, whereby the rendering process is performed for each band. A page bitmap 410 for one page is created.

The processing performed by the printer 415 on the page bitmap 410 is the same as the processing performed by the printer 311 shown in FIG.

Next, returning to FIG. 6B, the difference in processing time in the printer driver 414 will be described in comparison with the conventional processing shown in FIG. 6A.

In FIG. 6B, reference numeral 706 denotes an intermediate data creation process for the first line (L1). This figure 6
In (B), time flows from top to bottom of the figure,
The intermediate data creation processing 706 is performed from time t10 to time t11.
Run between Similarly, 707 is the second line (L2)
The intermediate data creation process 707 is executed between time t11 and time t12.

Creation of intermediate data of two lines L1 and L2 (S
The time required for 731) is a time from time t10 to time t12. Then, when the processing up to this point is completed, the application 401 has completed all processing related to printing, and can shift to other operations other than the printing processing. Therefore, the application release (S732) in the first embodiment occurs at the timing of time t12.

The flow of the conventional processing (FIG. 6A) is the same as the flow of the processing in the first embodiment (FIG. 6B) as far as only the passage of time is concerned. The release (S722) and the application release (S732) in the first embodiment occur at the same timing.

However, the generated intermediate data is completely different, and the intermediate data 305 obtained by the conventional processing is a page bit map 507 for one page shown in FIG.
Is the intermediate data for creating. On the other hand, the intermediate data 407 in the first embodiment is intermediate data for each band as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 708 in FIG. 6B denotes rendering processing (B1) for the first band, which is performed from time t12 to time t14. Reference numeral 709 denotes a rendering function 413 for the rendering processing 708 of the first band.
, The time required to individually create the image, and after the elapse of this time 709, rendering processing for the first band is performed.

Reference numeral 710 denotes a rendering process (B2) for the second band, which is performed from time t12 to time t14. Reference numeral 711 denotes a time required to individually create the rendering process 710 of the second band in the rendering function 413. After the time 711, the rendering process for the second band is performed.

Reference numeral 712 denotes a rendering process (B3) for the third band, which is performed from time t12 to time t13. Reference numeral 713 denotes a time required for individually creating the rendering processing 712 of the third band in the rendering function 413. After the elapse of the time 713, the rendering processing for the third band is performed.

Although FIGS. 9 and 10 show an example in which the page bitmap of one page is divided into five bands, FIG. 6B shows rendering in the fourth and fifth bands. No processing exists. It is this first
In the embodiment, since there is no output data of the GDI format from the application 401 for the fourth band and the fifth band, there is no intermediate data in the fourth band and the fifth band, and there is no need to perform a drawing process. It is.

As described above, when the intermediate data 407 in the corresponding band does not exist, the rendering function 413 does not individually create a rendering process for the band. By doing so, it is not necessary to create unnecessary rendering processing for each band, and the CPU 1
And the RAM 2 can be used for other processing.

FIG. 8A shows time t12, that is, at the end of the intermediate data creation processing 707 of the second line (L2), and the rendering processing (B1) 70 of the first band.
8, the band management table 405 at the start of the second band rendering process (B2) 710 and the third band rendering process (B3) 712.

The first band shown in FIG. 11 (A) has four intermediate data, and the second band shown in FIG. 11 (B) has four intermediate data, as shown in FIG. 11 (C). Third
There are two intermediate data in the band. Therefore,
The number of data in the band management table of FIG. 8 showing the number of intermediate data in each band is 4 for band 1, 4 for band 2, 2 for band 3, 0 for band 4, and 0 for band 5.

By the way, in FIG. 8A showing the band management table at the time t12, the processing flag indicating whether or not the rendering processing is being performed for each band indicates that the rendering processing of the first to third bands has been started. Therefore, each of bands 1 to 3 is 1. In the processing flag, 1 indicates that the processing is being performed, and 0 indicates that the processing is completed.

On the other hand, for the fourth and fifth bands, no intermediate data exists, and the rendering function 413 does not create a rendering process for the fourth and fifth bands. Becomes

Further, the completion flag of the band management table indicating whether or not the rendering processing has been completed for each band is 0 indicating incomplete for the first, second, and third bands, and is completed for the fourth and fifth bands. It becomes 1 indicating completion.

FIG. 8B shows the band management table 405 at time t13, ie, at the end of the rendering processing (B3) 712 for the third band.

The number of data in the band management table indicating the number of intermediate data in each band remains unchanged since the intermediate data creation processing 406 has been completed at time t12, and the band management table shown in FIG. Has the same value as the number of data.

The in-process flag of the band management table indicating whether or not the rendering process is being performed for each band indicates that the rendering process (B1) 708 of the first band and the rendering process (B2) 710 of the second band are still being executed. , Respectively, and since the rendering process (B3) 712 of the third band has been completed, the value becomes 0. The fourth and fifth bands are 0 indicating completion at time t12, and remain 0 without any change.

The completion flag of the band management table indicating whether the rendering process has been completed for each band is 0 indicating that the first and second bands are not completed, and 1 indicating that the third band is completed. Becomes
Further, the fourth and fifth bands have a value of 1 indicating completion at time t12, and remain at 1 without any change.

FIG. 8C shows the time point t14, that is, the rendering processing (B1) 708 of the first band and the second band.
The band management table 405 at the end of the band rendering process (B2) 710 is shown.

The number of data in the band management table indicating the number of intermediate data in each band remains unchanged since the intermediate data creation processing 406 has been completed at time t12, and the band management table shown in FIG. Has the same value as the number of data.

The in-process flag of the band management table indicating whether the rendering process is being performed for each band is 0 indicating that the rendering process for the first and second bands has been completed. The rendering processing of the third band is completed at time t13,
It becomes 0 without any change. The fourth and fifth bands are 0 indicating completion at time t12,
This also becomes 0 without any change.

The completion flag of the band management table indicating whether the rendering processing has been completed for each band is 1 indicating completion for the first and second bands, and the completion flag for the third band at time t13. It is 1, which indicates completion, and is 1 without any change.
The fourth and fifth bands have a value of 1 indicating completion at time t12, and remain at 1 without any change.

Returning to FIG. 6B, rendering processing 7
08, 710, and 712 in parallel (time t1
2 to time t14) is the time required for rendering 733. When the processing up to this point is completed, the printer driver 414 has completed the processing. Thereafter, the page driver 410 simply sends the page bitmap 410 to the printer 415 and prints it.

Reference numeral 714 shown in FIG. 6B indicates a printing process (Pr) for sending the page bitmap 410 to the printer 415 and performing printing. Print processing 714 is performed at time t14.
From time t15. At time t15,
This shows the last timing at which a printed sheet is output from the printer 415.

The difference between the end of printing (S726) in the conventional processing shown in FIG. 6A (S726) and the end of printing (S736) in the first embodiment shown in FIG.
40, and this improvement time 740 is a time of the total printing required time that can be reduced by the first embodiment.

As described above, in the first embodiment, higher-speed printing can be performed by effectively utilizing the capacity of the CPU.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment will be described.

Since the configuration of the second embodiment is basically the same as the configuration of the first embodiment, the configuration of the first embodiment will be used in the description of the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the processing flow (B) in the printer driver in the second embodiment in comparison with the conventional processing flow (A).

In this figure, the print data of one page is line 2
The flow of time is compared assuming that it is composed of the data of the book (L1, L2 in the figure).

[0146] The flow of the conventional processing shown in FIG.
Since this is the same as the flow of the conventional processing shown in FIG. 6A, the reference numerals in the figure are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

The major difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that, in the first embodiment, the intermediate data creation processing (S406) ends, and the processing is shifted to the rendering function 413. Referring to 407, rendering processes (S408 and S409 in FIG. 7) are created for the number of bands constituting the page bitmap.
In the embodiment, a certain number of rendering processes are created at the timing of the management table initialization (S404),
The information is managed in a thread management table. And
When the intermediate data creation process (S406) is completed and the control is transferred to the rendering function 413, the already created rendering process is started.

In the processing of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 12B, for example, two rendering processings are prepared.

In the present invention, the number of rendering processes created in advance is not limited to two. This number may be set to a number other than 2 depending on the size of the program or other requirements, or the number of rendering processes may be set on the external memory 11 and the rendering process may be created with reference to the number. It may be. Also, RA
The number of rendering processes may be dynamically set in accordance with the free status of M2 and the load status of the CPU 1, and the number of rendering processes may be created simultaneously with the initialization of the management table (S404).

In FIG. 12B, reference numeral 901 denotes an intermediate data creation process for the first line (L1). In this figure, time flows from the top to the bottom of the figure, and the intermediate data creation processing 901 is processed from time t90 to time t91. Reference numeral 902 denotes an intermediate data creation process for the second line (L2), and the intermediate data creation process 9
02 is processed from time t91 to time t92.

FIG. 13A shows the band management table at time t90, ie, at the start of the intermediate data creation processing 901 for the first line (L1).

At time t90, rendering processing 1
(S408) and the rendering process n (S409) are created by the management table initialization (S404) and exist only, but have not been started yet. Therefore, the band management table at time t90 shown in FIG. 13A shows the same state as when the band management table was initialized.

FIG. 14A shows the thread management table at time t90. In the thread column of the thread management table, the rendering process 1 (S408) and the rendering process n
When (S409) is created, the OS 402 assigns an identification value called a thread ID to those rendering processes, and the thread ID is described. In the second embodiment, values 100 and 101 are assigned, respectively, and held in the thread management table. In the processing band column of the thread management table, the number of the band for which the rendering process is being performed is described. When this value is 0, it indicates that the rendering process is not performed in the rendering process indicated by the thread ID. At time t90, the rendering process has not been performed yet, so the processing band column is initialized in the management table (S40).
4) shows the same state as when the thread management table was initialized. The thread management table is created on the RAM 2 in the same manner as the band management table shown in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 12B, the time from time t90 to time t92 is the time required for creating the intermediate data (S921). Then, when the processing up to this point is completed, the application 401 has completed all processing related to printing, and can shift to other operations other than the printing processing. Therefore, the application release (S922) in the second embodiment occurs at the timing of time t92.

The flow of the conventional processing is the same as the flow of the processing in the second embodiment as far as only the passage of time is concerned, and the application release in the conventional processing (S722) and the application release in the second embodiment (S922). ) Occurs at the same timing.

However, the generated intermediate data is completely different, and the intermediate data obtained by the conventional processing is the same as that shown in FIG.
This is intermediate data for creating a page bitmap 507 for one page shown in FIG. On the other hand, the intermediate data in the second embodiment is intermediate data for each band as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 903 shown in FIG. 12B denotes rendering processing (B1) for the first band, which is performed at time t92.
From time t93. Reference numeral 904 denotes a rendering process (B2) for the second band, which is performed from time t92 to time t93. Reference numeral 905 denotes rendering processing (B3) for the third band.
The processing is performed between time t93 and time t94.

FIG. 13B shows the time t92, ie, the end of the intermediate data creation processing 902 for the second line (L2), and the rendering processing (B1) 90 for the first band.
The band management table at the start of the rendering processing (B2) 904 for the third and second bands is shown.

[0159] In the data number column of the band management table, in band 1, 4 data is set in accordance with the intermediate data shown in FIG.
Similarly, band 2 describes 4 in accordance with the intermediate data shown in FIG. 11B, and band 3 describes 2 in accordance with the intermediate data shown in FIG. 11C.
Note that the value is 0 for band 4 and 0 for band 5.

In FIG. 13B, the processing flag indicating whether or not the rendering process is being performed for each band is set to the rendering process (B1) 90 for the first band.
3 and second band rendering processing (B2) 904
Has been started, the value is 1 in band 1 and band 2. Since the rendering processing (B3) 905 of the third band is started at the timing of time t93, the value of band 3 is 0. Since no intermediate data exists for the fourth and fifth bands, both bands 4 and 5 become 0. In the processing flag, 1 indicates that the processing is being performed, and 0 indicates that the processing is completed.

Furthermore, a completion flag indicating whether or not the rendering processing has been completed for each band is as follows:
Bands 1, 2, and 3 have a value of 0 indicating incompleteness, and bands 4 and 5 have a value of 1 indicating completion.

FIG. 14B shows the thread management table at time t92.

Since the rendering process is executed from the upper band to the lower band in the page bitmaps shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, first, the thread ID 10
The rendering process to which 0 is assigned executes the rendering process (B1) 903 of the first band, and then the thread ID
The rendering process to which 101 is applied executes the rendering process (B2) 904 of the second band. The thread management table indicates such an execution state. And
At time t92, all of the two prepared rendering processes are being processed. Therefore, the rendering process (B3) 905 of the third band is completed after the rendering process (B1) 903 of the first band or the rendering process (B2) 904 of the second band is completed.
00 or the thread ID 1
It is necessary to wait until the rendering process assigned with 01 becomes empty. Therefore, the rendering processing of the third band is not performed at the timing of the time t92.

FIG. 13C shows the time t93, that is, the first time.
The band management table at the end of the band rendering process (B1) 903 and the second band rendering process (B2) 904 is shown.

The data number column of the band management table indicating the number of intermediate data in each band does not change since the intermediate data creation processing (S406) has been completed at time t92, and the band management table shown in FIG. It has the same value as the table.

The in-process flag column of the band management table indicating whether or not the rendering process is being performed for each band indicates that the rendering process (B1) 903 for the first band and the rendering process (B2) 904 for the second band have been completed. , 0 for bands 1 and 2. On the other hand, since the rendering process (B3) 905 for the third band is started at this timing, it becomes 1 in band 3. Also, the bands 4 and 5 have a value of 0 indicating completion at time t92, and remain 0 without any change.

Further, the completion flag column of the band management table indicating whether or not the rendering processing has been completed for each band is 1 indicating completion for bands 1 and 2, and 0 for band 3. In bands 4 and 5 where nothing is done, the value is 1 indicating completion.

FIG. 14C shows the thread management table at time t93.

Since the lengling processing is executed from the upper band to the lower band on the page bitmap, the rendering processing (B1) 903 of the first band and the rendering processing (B2) 904 of the second band are completed. At time t93, the rendering process (B3) 905 for the third band is performed by the rendering process to which the thread ID 100 is assigned. If there is data to be rendered in the succeeding band, the rendering process with the thread ID 101 is performed on the data. However, in the second embodiment, the rendering process does not exist. Does nothing in the rendering process. This state is shown in the thread management table of FIG.

Returning to FIG. 12B, the time from time t92 to time t94 is the time required for rendering (S923). And when the process up to this point is completed,
The printer driver 414 has completed the processing,
Thereafter, the page bitmap 410 is simply sent to the printer 415 and printed.

Reference numeral 906 in FIG. 12B denotes a print process (Pr) for sending the page bitmap 410 to the printer 415 and performing printing. The print processing 906 is performed from time t94 to time t95. Time t95 indicates the timing at which the printed paper is finally output from the printer 415.

The difference between the end of printing (S726) in the conventional processing shown in FIG. 12A (S726) and the end of printing (S926) in the second embodiment shown in FIG. The improvement time 930 is a time of the total printing time that can be reduced by the second embodiment.

As described above, in the second embodiment, higher-speed printing can be performed by effectively utilizing the capacity of the CPU.

By setting an upper limit on the number of rendering processes, the CPU 1 and the RAM 2 can be appropriately allocated to processes other than the printing process, and high-speed processing can be performed after balancing other processes. Printing processing becomes possible.

The present invention is applicable to a single device, a system including a plurality of devices, and a system in which processing is performed via a network such as a LAN.

Further, a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus is provided.
It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. .

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code. Performs some or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
Needless to say, this is included in the present invention.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It is needless to say that the present invention includes a case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments. No.

[0181]

As described in detail above, claims 1 and 6 have been described.
According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, a printing apparatus that converts print data in a predetermined format into intermediate data, renders the intermediate data to create a page bitmap, converts the print data in the predetermined format into An intermediate data conversion unit is provided for converting the data into intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections constituting the page bitmap.

Further, the printing device creates a plurality of rendering processing units respectively corresponding to the plurality of divided sections and which can be executed simultaneously in parallel, and the rendering processing unit creates the rendering processing unit. Sending the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections generated and converted by the intermediate data converting means to the plurality of rendered processing units, and executing the rendering processing for each of the plurality of divided sections in parallel and simultaneously Means.

Alternatively, the printing apparatus may include a general-purpose rendering processing unit generating means for generating a predetermined number of general-purpose rendering processing units which can be executed in parallel and a general-purpose rendering processing unit generated by the general-purpose rendering processing unit. To the rendering processing unit, of the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections converted and created by the intermediate data conversion unit, the same number of intermediate data as the number of the general-purpose rendering processing units is sent, and Executing means for executing the rendering processing in parallel and simultaneously.

As a result, it is possible to execute a plurality of rendering processes in parallel in the printer driver at the same time, and to make effective use of the capacity of the CPU to perform printing at a higher speed and appropriately use the CPU for other applications. It is possible to perform higher-speed printing while allocating these capabilities and using them and the capabilities of the CPU in a well-balanced manner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a laser beam printer (LBP) to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer control system to which the present invention is applied, particularly a host computer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer control system to which the present invention is applied, in particular, a printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing of a conventional general printer driver.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a page bitmap based on GDI format output data, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a page bitmap based on intermediate data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional processing flow (A) in the printer driver and a processing flow (B) of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a process of the printer driver according to the first embodiment.

8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating a band management table at time t12, FIG. 8B illustrates a band management table at time t13, and FIG. 8C illustrates a band management table at time t14.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a page bitmap divided into five bands.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a page bitmap in which two lines (L1, L2) are displayed in the page bitmap shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing intermediate data for each band regarding two lines (L1, L2), and (A) to (C) show intermediate data in first to third bands, respectively.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a processing flow (B) in a printer driver according to the second embodiment in comparison with a conventional processing flow (A).

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a band management table, and FIG.
Shows a band management table at time t90, (B) shows a band management table at time t92, (C) shows a band management table at time t93, and (D) shows a band management table at time t94.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a thread management table;
(A) at time t90, (B) at time t92,
(C) shows the thread management table at time t93, and (D) shows the thread management table at time t94.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 System bus 5 Keyboard controller (KBC) 6 CRT controller (CRTC) 7 Disk controller (DKC) 8 Printer controller (PRTC) 9 Keyboard (KB) 10 CRT display (CRT) 11 External memory 12 CPU 13 ROM 14 external memory 15 system bus 16 printing unit interface 17 printing unit 18 input unit 19 RAM 20 disk controller (DKC) 401 application 402 operation system (OS) 407 intermediate data 410 page bitmap 413 rendering function (rendering processing unit creating means, A plurality of rendering processing units, a general-purpose rendering processing unit, and a general-purpose rendering processing unit creating unit) 414 printer driver ( During the data conversion means, execution means) 415 printer 3000 host computer 1500 Printer

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for converting print data of a predetermined format into intermediate data and rendering the intermediate data to create a page bitmap, wherein the print data of the predetermined format constitutes a page bitmap. A printing apparatus, comprising: intermediate data conversion means for converting into intermediate data for each of a plurality of divided sections. 2. A rendering processing section creating means for creating a plurality of rendering processing sections respectively corresponding to the plurality of divided sections and capable of being executed simultaneously in parallel, and a plurality of renderings created by the rendering processing section creating means. Executing means for sending, to the processing unit, the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections generated and converted by the intermediate data converting means, and executing the rendering processing for each of the plurality of divided sections in parallel and simultaneously; The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A general-purpose rendering processing unit creating means for creating a predetermined number of general-purpose rendering processing units that can be executed simultaneously in parallel, and a general-purpose rendering processing unit created by the general-purpose rendering processing unit creating means. Of the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections converted and created by the intermediate data conversion means, the same number of intermediate data as the number of the general-purpose rendering processing units are sent, and the rendering processing for each divided section is performed in parallel. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an execution unit that executes the print job simultaneously. 4. The number of the general-purpose rendering processing units is determined by a CPU and / or a CPU involved in the execution of the general-purpose rendering processing units.
4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the printing apparatus is determined according to a memory availability. 5. The print data of the predetermined format is a GDI
The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the printing device is print data in a (Graphics DeviceInterface) format. 6. A high-speed printing method applied to a printing apparatus for converting print data of a predetermined format into intermediate data and rendering the intermediate data to create a page bitmap, wherein the print data of the predetermined format is A high-speed printing method comprising an intermediate data conversion step of converting into intermediate data for each of a plurality of divided sections constituting a page bitmap. 7. A rendering processing unit creating step for creating a plurality of rendering processing units respectively corresponding to the plurality of divided sections and capable of being executed in parallel and simultaneously, and a plurality of renderings created by the rendering processing unit creating step An execution step of sending the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections generated and converted by the intermediate data conversion step to the processing unit, and simultaneously executing the rendering processing for each of the plurality of divided sections in parallel. 7. The high-speed printing method according to claim 6, wherein: 8. A general-purpose rendering processing unit creating step of creating a predetermined number of general-purpose rendering processing units that can be executed simultaneously in parallel, and a general-purpose rendering processing unit created by the general-purpose rendering processing unit creating step. Of the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections converted and created by the intermediate data conversion step, the same number of intermediate data as the number of the general-purpose rendering processing units are sent, and the rendering process for each divided section is performed in parallel. 7. The high-speed printing method according to claim 6, further comprising an execution step of executing the printing at the same time. 9. The number of the general-purpose rendering processing units is determined by a CPU and / or a number of executions of the general-purpose rendering processing units.
9. The high-speed printing method according to claim 8, wherein the determination is made in accordance with a memory availability. 10. The print data of the predetermined format is GD
10. The high-speed printing method according to claim 6, wherein the printing data is print data in an I (Graphics Device Interface) format. 11. A high-speed printing method applied to a printing apparatus that converts print data of a predetermined format into intermediate data and renders the intermediate data to create a page bitmap is read by a computer. A possible storage medium, wherein the high-speed printing method has an intermediate data conversion step of converting the print data of the predetermined format into intermediate data for each of a plurality of divided sections constituting a page bitmap. . 12. The rendering processing unit creating step of creating a plurality of rendering processing units respectively corresponding to the plurality of divided sections and executable in parallel and simultaneously, and the rendering processing unit creating step. The intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections generated by the intermediate data conversion step is sent to the plurality of created rendering processing units, and the rendering processing for each of the plurality of divided sections is performed simultaneously in parallel. The storage medium according to claim 11, further comprising an execution step. 13. A general-purpose rendering processing unit creating step of creating a predetermined number of general-purpose rendering processing units that can be executed simultaneously in parallel, and a general-purpose rendering processing unit created by the general-purpose rendering processing unit creating step. Of the intermediate data for each of the plurality of divided sections converted and created by the intermediate data conversion step, the same number of intermediate data as the number of the general-purpose rendering processing units are sent, and the rendering process for each divided section is performed in parallel. 12. The storage medium according to claim 11, further comprising an execution step of executing the program simultaneously. 14. The number of the general-purpose rendering processing units is as follows:
14. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein the storage medium is determined according to a free state of a CPU and / or a memory related to execution of the general-purpose rendering processing unit. 15. The print data of the predetermined format is GD
15. The storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the storage medium is print data in an I (Graphics Device Interface) format.