JP2002144643A - Data controller, printing data processor, method for controlling data, and method for processing printing data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect stored data and shorten data processing by controlling inputs/outputs of a receiving buffer having a ring structure. SOLUTION: A data controller for controlling data inputs/outputs to the receiving buffer (1) having the ring structure is provided with a command discrimination unit (6) for discriminating whether data received by the receiving buffer having the ring structure are printing data or reception control commands, a control discrimination unit (7) for outputting control signals so as to control inputs of the receiving buffer based on the command when it is discriminated that the data are the reception control command for every page or for a plurality of pages, and a pointer control unit (8) for controlling inputs/outputs of the receiving buffer according to the control signals.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data control device and method for controlling a reception buffer for storing data received by a printer from a host, a print data processing device using the data control device as a reception buffer of the printer, and a print control method. It is about the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printer is a host computer (hereinafter referred to as a host computer).
"Host". ), Data is first stored in a reception buffer, and then data processing for printing is performed. When the data from the host is stored in the reception buffer, if the reception data is stored up to the end address of the reception buffer, it is necessary to return the write address to the head of the reception buffer.

In order to automate the operation, a reception buffer (hereinafter, ring buffer) having a ring structure in which an end address and a start address of the reception buffer are connected is generally used.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the ring buffer. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a reception buffer having a ring structure, which can store one page of print data.
2 is a reception buffer start address, 3 is a reception buffer end address, 4 is a write pointer, and 5 is a read pointer. When data is received from the host, the data is stored in the ring buffer 1 and the write pointer 4 is updated accordingly. When data is read from the ring buffer 1 in order to perform processing for printing the received data, the read pointer 5 is updated accordingly. Then, both the write pointer 4 and the read pointer 5 have a structure in which when they reach the reception buffer end address 3, they automatically return to the reception buffer start address 2.

[0005] With such a structure, when data is received from the host, only the write pointer 4 needs to be referred to, and when the received data is taken out, only the read pointer 5 needs to be referred to. Thus, it is possible to simplify the reception data processing. Further, there is an effect that the amount of data stored in the reception buffer and the remaining amount of the reception buffer can be easily obtained from the positional relationship between the read pointer 5 and the write pointer 4.

[0006]

However, when printing a plurality of sheets of data received from the host, after printing one sheet, the read pointer 5 is returned to the address at which printing was started, and the second sheet is printed. Will be performed. At this time, if data is received from the host before the printing of a plurality of sheets is completed, the write pointer 4 is automatically updated. Therefore, the data for performing the printing of a plurality of sheets is destroyed before the processing is completed. There is a problem that it is lost. Therefore, in order to realize multiple-sheet printing,
It is necessary to send print data for the number of sheets to be printed as a unit, and the host is not released from the print job until printing is completed, increasing the load and hindering other tasks during printing. Will be caused.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The invention according to the present application is:
In a data control device including a reception buffer having a ring structure, a write pointer is controlled to store data in the reception buffer and control data processing to efficiently process print data for a plurality of sheets. The purpose is to shorten the throughput and open the host earlier.

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object,
A data control device, a print data processing device, a data control method, a print data processing method, and the like according to the present invention mainly have the following configurations.

That is, a data control device for controlling data input / output to / from a receiving buffer having a ring structure, wherein the data received by the receiving buffer having the ring structure is print data, a command for receiving control, A command discriminating means for discriminating whether the data is a page or a command for receiving control over a plurality of pages according to the discrimination of the command discriminating means. And a pointer control means for controlling the input / output of the reception buffer in accordance with the control signal output by the control determination means.

Further, the print data processing apparatus is characterized by comprising means in the data control device described above, and means for processing print data whose input and output are controlled by the means in the data control device.

A data control method for controlling data input / output to / from a reception buffer having a ring structure, wherein the data received by the reception buffer having the ring structure is print data or a command for a reception control. A command discriminating step of discriminating whether or not the data is a command for a reception control over a page unit or a plurality of pages according to the discrimination of the command discriminating step, for controlling input of the reception buffer based on the command. And a pointer control step of controlling input / output of the reception buffer in accordance with the control signal output by the control determination step.

Further, a print data processing method is characterized in that it comprises a step in the above data control method and a step of processing print data whose input / output has been controlled in the step in the data control method.

A storage medium storing a program module for causing a computer to execute a data control method for controlling data input / output to / from a reception buffer having a ring structure, wherein the module stores the program structure in the ring structure A module of a command discrimination step for discriminating whether the data received by the reception buffer having the data is print data or a command of reception control, and the data is page unit or a plurality of pages according to the discrimination by the module of the command discrimination step. In the case of a command of the reception control over, a module of a control determination step for outputting a control signal for controlling the input of the reception buffer based on the command, and a control signal output by the module of the control determination step, the reception Mode of the pointer control process that controls the input / output of the buffer Characterized in that it comprises a Yuru, a.

The print data processing device performs a ring operation to receive print data when processing print data that is not used multiple times, and prohibits a ring operation when processing print data that is used multiple times. And means for receiving print data.

In the print data processing method, when processing print data not used a plurality of times, a ring operation is performed to receive the print data, and when processing print data used a plurality of times, the ring operation is prohibited. It is characterized by receiving print data.

In the case where the storage medium processes print data that is not used a plurality of times, the storage medium performs a ring operation to receive the print data and processes the print data that is used a plurality of times.
A print data processing program for prohibiting a ring operation and receiving print data is stored.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a diagram that best illustrates the features of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a reception buffer having a ring structure (hereinafter, reception buffer 1), which can store one page of print data. 2 is a start address of the reception buffer (hereinafter, start address 2), 3 is an end address of the reception buffer (hereinafter, end address 3).
It is. Reference numeral 4 denotes a write pointer, which indicates a start address of a writable area in the reception buffer 1. The write pointer 4 is automatically updated by the pointer control unit 8 upon receiving the reception data 9 output from the host 19. Reference numeral 5 denotes a read pointer, which indicates a start address of an area in the reception buffer 1 where unprocessed data is stored. The read pointer 5 indicates that the command discrimination unit 6 stores the unprocessed data in the reception buffer 1 in the storage data 10.
Is read by the pointer control unit 8,
Updated automatically.

The host 19 first sends a command,
Thereafter, one page of print data is transmitted. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the command 27 is stored first in the contents of the reception buffer 1, and subsequently, the print data 28 is stored.

The command determining unit 6 stores the stored data 10
Is received, it is determined whether the stored data 10 is a command indicating the number of prints or print data. If the stored data 10 is print data, it is output to the print data processing unit 14 as print data 16 before processing (hereinafter, data 16 before processing). If the command is a command, the control determination unit 7
Send to

The control discriminating unit 7 stores command data 11
Is received, it is determined whether or not normal one-sheet printing or plural-sheet printing is performed. In the case of one-sheet printing, a ring signal of 20 is transmitted to the pointer control unit 8, and in the case of multiple-sheet printing, twelve-sheet printing is indicated. A signal (hereinafter, copy mode signal 12) is output to the pointer control unit 8. At this time, the copy mode signal 12 also has information on the number of prints.

When the pointer control unit 8 receives the copy mode signal 12 indicating the printing of a plurality of sheets, it inhibits the ring operation of returning to the start address 2 when the write pointer 4 reaches the end address 3 and indicates the printing of one sheet. When the ring signal 20 is received, control is performed to perform a ring operation. Reference numeral 13 denotes a pointer control signal, which is a control signal output by the pointer control unit 8 to control the pointer.

When the print data processing unit 14 receives the pre-processing data 16 from the command discriminating unit 6, it performs necessary processing for printing and prints the post-processing print data 17 (hereinafter, post-processing data 17). Transmit to unit 15. The printing unit 15 receives the post-processing data 1
7 is printed.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a Wait signal, which is a signal transmitted from the pointer control unit 8 to the host 19 when the reception buffer 1 has no storage area. Wa
The host 19 that has received the it signal 18 sends the wait signal 1
The received data 9 is not transmitted until 8 is released.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of processing received data in the present embodiment. Hereinafter, FIG.
The flow of the processing steps will be described with reference to FIG. When the reception data 9 received from the host 19 is stored in the reception buffer 1,
In step S30 of FIG. 3, the command determination unit 6 reads the stored data 10 from the reception buffer 1 and
It is determined whether the received data is "command" or "print data" (step S31).

In step S31, the command determination unit 6 determines whether the stored data 10 is a command indicating the number of prints or print data. If the stored data 10 is a command indicating the number of prints (S31-Yes), the control determination is performed. The command data 11 is output to the unit 7. In the case of print data (S31-No), the pre-processing data 16 is output to the print data processing unit 14, and the process proceeds to step S38. The print data processing unit 14 performs processing necessary for printing on the pre-processing data 16 and transmits the processed data 17 to the printing unit 15. After printing the contents of the post-processing data 17 (S38), the printing unit 15 proceeds to step S38.
The process proceeds to 34 and the process is terminated.

In step S32, the control discriminating unit 7 discriminates whether the content indicated by the command data 11 is one-sheet printing or plural-sheet printing. And then the process proceeds to step S39.
32-Yes) outputs the copy mode signal 12 to the pointer control unit 8, and then advances the processing to step S33. In step S39, the pointer control unit 8 sets the control of the write pointer 4 to the control of the ring mode,
The process proceeds to step S34 and ends.

On the other hand, in step S33, the pointer control unit 8 sets the control of the write pointer 4 to a simple buffer (ring prohibition) control in which the ring operation is not performed, and advances the processing to step S35. In step S35, the pointer control unit 8 compares the start address 2 with the value of the read pointer 5, and if the values are the same, proceeds to step S37. If the values are different, proceeds to step S3.
Proceed to 6. In step S37, the command discrimination unit 6 reads the stored data 10 from the reception buffer 1, and transmits the pre-processing data 16 to the print data processing unit 14. Then, the print data processing unit 14 that has received the pre-processing data 16 transmits the post-processing data 17 that has been subjected to the processing for printing to the printing unit 15 so that the first sheet is printed.

Thereafter, the pointer control unit 8 returns the read pointer 5 to the start address 2 and prints the second sheet in the same manner. Similarly, printing is performed for the number of sheets indicated by the copy mode signal 12, and the process proceeds to step S34 to end the process. In step S36, the pointer control unit 8 moves the unprocessed data 26 between the read pointer 5 and the write pointer 4 to the head of the reception buffer 1 as shown in FIG. 6, and proceeds to step S37. In step S37, printing is performed for the number of sheets indicated by the copy mode signal 12 in the same manner as described above, and the process proceeds to step S34.
Proceed to and end.

In the present embodiment, the host 19 issues a command indicating the number of prints even in the case of one-sheet printing. However, in the case of one-sheet printing, the host 19 does not issue a command but issues a command only in the case of plural printing. By doing so, the same function as the present embodiment is realized.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing the function of prohibiting the ring operation (prohibiting the overwriting), it is possible to print a plurality of sheets with one page of received data. As compared with the conventional method in which data transfer from the host is repeated by the number of copies, the throughput can be reduced and printing can be performed efficiently. Also, there is an effect that the host restraining time can be reduced as compared with the conventional method.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 4 is a view best showing the features of the present embodiment. In FIG.
Is the same as in the first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a write pointer stop address (hereinafter, stop address 21), which is set by 22 stop address registers (hereinafter, stop register 22). 25
Is a pointer control unit. In addition to the functions of the pointer control unit 8 of the first embodiment, a stop register 22
Has a function of writing by outputting register write data 23 and reading by receiving register read data 24 from the stop register 22.
Further, when the copy mode signal 12 is received, it has a function of controlling the write pointer 4 so that the write pointer 4 is not incremented after the address indicated in the stop register 22.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of the received data according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing steps of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Step S30-3
2. The processing in steps S34 and S38 is the same as that in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment. When the reception data 9 received from the host 19 is stored in the reception buffer 1, in step S30 in FIG. 5, the command determination unit 6 reads the storage data 10 from the reception buffer 1 and determines whether the reception data is "command data". (Step S3
1). In step 31, the command determination unit 6
Determines whether the stored data 10 is a command indicating the number of prints or print data. If the stored data 10 is a command indicating the number of prints, outputs the command data 11 to the control determining means 7 and proceeds to step 32. In the case of print data, the pre-processing data 16 is output to the print data processing unit 14, and the process proceeds to step S38.

In step S38, the print data processing unit 14 performs processing necessary for printing on the pre-processing data 16 and transmits the processed data 17 to the printing unit 15. After printing the contents of the post-processing data 17, the printing unit 15 proceeds to step 34 and ends the processing.

In step S32, the control determination unit 7 determines whether the content indicated by the command data 11 is one-sheet printing or plural-sheet printing. If one-sheet printing is to be performed (S32-No), the process proceeds to step S34 to proceed When the printing is completed and a plurality of sheets are printed (S32-Yes), the process proceeds to step S40 after outputting the copy mode signal 12 to the pointer control unit 25. In step S40, the pointer control unit 25 outputs the register write data 23 to write the data to the stop register 22.

At this time, the address data to be written into the receiving buffer 1 is written with an address value one lower than the current address value of the read pointer 5 (one higher address value). Next, the process proceeds to step S41, where the command discrimination unit 6 stores the stored data 10
And sends the pre-processing data 16 to the print data processing unit 14. The print data processing unit 14 that has received the pre-processing data 16 transmits the post-processing data 17 that has been subjected to the processing for printing to the printing unit 15 and
Print the first sheet.

Thereafter, the pointer control unit 25 returns the read pointer 5 to the position where printing is started, that is, the address value one more than the address value set in the stop address register 22 (one lower address value). Then, the second sheet is printed in the same manner. Similarly, printing is performed for the number of sheets indicated by the copy mode signal 12, and the process proceeds to step S34 to end the process.

In step S40, an address value which is one less than the address value of the read pointer 5 is set in the stop address register 22, but an address for stopping the write pointer 4 is calculated from the received data amount, and the stop address register 22 is set. May be set.

As in the first embodiment, in this embodiment, the host 19 also issues a command indicating the number of prints in the case of one-sheet printing, but does not issue a command in the case of one-sheet printing. By issuing a command only in the case of multiple printing, the same function as that of the present embodiment can be realized.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the stop address register 22 is provided, and the function of inhibiting the write pointer 4 from being incremented after the set address is provided. And a plurality of sheets can be printed by pointer control of read and write timings of the data. Printing can be performed more efficiently than in the conventional method in which data transfer from the host is repeated for the number of prints.
Also, there is an effect that the host restraining time can be reduced as compared with the conventional method.

[0040]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or an apparatus, and a computer (a computer) of the system or the apparatus. It is needless to say that the present invention can also be achieved by a CPU or an MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Also,
By executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code.
It goes without saying that a case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented by performing some or all of the actual processing, and the processing performs the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowcharts (shown in FIG. 3 and / or FIG. 5).

[0044]

As described above, by controlling the operation of the write pointer, a plurality of pages can be printed only by transmitting a command indicating the number of prints, and data transfer for the number of prints is repeated. The data transfer time can be made shorter than in the conventional method, and the host can be released earlier.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional reception buffer.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating movement of unprocessed data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of a reception buffer 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Receive buffer 2 Start address 3 End address 4 Write pointer 5 Read pointer 6 Command discrimination unit 7 Control discrimination unit 8 Pointer control unit 14 Print data processing unit 15 Printing unit 19 Host 21 Stop address 22 Stop address register 23 Register write data 24 register Read data 25 Pointer control unit 26 Unprocessed data 27 Command 28 Print data

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/21 H04N 1/21 5C073 F term (Reference) 2C087 AA03 AA09 AB05 BA03 BA05 BC07 BD01 BD42 BD46 2C187 AD03 5B021 AA01 CC05 DD05 DD06 5B047 AA01 EA07 EB01 EB11 5B077 DD04 DD12 5C073 AA03 BB01 BB07 CA01 CC02

Claims (23)

[Claims] 1. A data control device for controlling data input / output to / from a reception buffer having a ring structure, wherein a data received by the reception buffer having the ring structure is print data, A command discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the data is a command for a reception control over a page or a plurality of pages according to the discrimination of the command discriminating means. A data control device, comprising: a control determination unit that outputs a control signal of the following; and a pointer control unit that controls input / output of the reception buffer according to the control signal output by the control determination unit. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pointer control unit prohibits overwriting of a storage area of the reception buffer when unprocessed print data is stored in the reception buffer. Data controller. 3. The data control device according to claim 1, wherein said pointer control means controls input / output of said reception buffer by judging a write pointer and a read pointer position of said reception buffer. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when unprocessed print data is stored in the reception buffer, the pointer control unit outputs a standby signal for inhibiting transmission of new data to the reception buffer. The data control device according to claim 1, wherein the data control device outputs the data to a transmission source of the data. 5. A storage unit for storing an address for stopping a write pointer indicating a writable start area in the reception buffer, wherein the pointer control unit performs the reception after an address stored in the storage unit. 2. The data control device according to claim 1, wherein writing of the buffer is prohibited. 6. An address according to claim 5, wherein the address at which the write pointer is stopped is one less than a read pointer address value which is a start address of an area where unprocessed data is stored. Data controller. 7. The storage device according to claim 5, wherein the pointer control unit stores data calculated according to an amount of data received by the reception buffer as an address for stopping the write pointer. Data controller. 8. A data control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that processes print data whose input / output is controlled by the unit in the data control device. A print data processing apparatus characterized by the following. 9. A data control method for controlling data input / output to / from a reception buffer having a ring structure, wherein a command received by the reception buffer having the ring structure is print data. And a command discriminating step of discriminating whether the data is a page-by-page or a command of a reception control over a plurality of pages according to the discrimination of the command discriminating step. And a pointer control step of controlling input / output of the reception buffer according to the control signal output by the control determination step. 10. The pointer control step, wherein unprocessed print data is stored in the reception buffer,
10. The data control method according to claim 9, wherein overwriting of the storage area of the reception buffer is prohibited. 11. The data control method according to claim 9, wherein said pointer control step controls input / output of said reception buffer by determining a write pointer and a read pointer position of said reception buffer. 12. The pointer control step, wherein unprocessed print data is stored in the reception buffer.
10. The data control method according to claim 9, wherein a standby signal for prohibiting transmission of new data to the reception buffer is output to a source of the new data. 13. The pointer control step, wherein an address for stopping a write pointer indicating a writable start area in the reception buffer is stored in a memory, and writing of the reception buffer after the address is prohibited. The data control method according to claim 9, wherein: 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the address at which the write pointer is stopped is an address value one less than a read pointer address value which is a start address of an area where unprocessed data is stored. Data control method. 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein in the pointer control step, data calculated according to an amount of data received by the reception buffer is stored in the memory as an address for stopping the write pointer. Data control method. 16. A data control method according to claim 9, further comprising: processing print data of which input / output is controlled in the data control method. Characteristic print data processing method. 17. A storage medium storing a program module for causing a computer to execute a data control method for controlling data input / output to / from a reception buffer having a ring structure. Whether the data received by the receiving buffer is print data or a command of a command determination step of determining whether it is a command of the reception control, according to the determination by the module of the command determination step,
When the data is a command of a reception control over a page unit or a plurality of pages, a module of a control determination step for outputting a control signal for controlling input of the reception buffer based on the command, and a module of the control determination step And a module for a pointer control step of controlling input / output of the reception buffer according to the control signal output by the storage medium. 18. A unit for performing a ring operation to receive print data when processing print data not used a plurality of times, and receiving a print data by inhibiting a ring operation when processing print data used a plurality of times. And a means for performing the following. 19. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the print data used a plurality of times includes a copy command. 20. When processing print data not used a plurality of times, a ring operation is performed to receive print data. When processing print data used a plurality of times, the ring operation is prohibited and print data is received. A print data processing method comprising: 21. The print data processing method according to claim 20, wherein the print data used a plurality of times includes a copy command. 22. When processing print data not used a plurality of times, a ring operation is performed to receive print data. When processing print data used a plurality of times, the ring operation is prohibited and print data is received. A storage medium storing a print data processing program. 23. The storage medium according to claim 22, wherein the print data used a plurality of times includes a copy command.