JP2003046592A - Image processing system, communication method, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing system that performs data communication with higher reliability without the need for addition of special hardware, while avoiding the processing load of a CPU from increasing. SOLUTION: A controller section 110 divides transmission message data into a plurality of fixed length data packets by a prescribed method, transmits them via a first communication channel and awaits response from a reader section 200 via a second communication channel. The reader section 200 returns a prescribed acknowledgement packet(Ack) via the second communication channel, when it receives normal data via the first communication channel, or returns a prescribed negative acknowledgement packet(Nack) via the second communication channel, when detecting abnormal data, even on the way of transmission of a plurality of data packets divided from the same message data. The controller section 110 completes data transmission, when the reply from the reader section 200 via the second communication channel is Ack or returns to a procedure 1, when it receives Nack and repeats the above operation, until Ack is returned.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing system including an image processing device and a control device, a communication method therefor, and a program and a storage medium for realizing the communication method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an image processing system including an image processing apparatus and its control apparatus, each apparatus including an independent CPU. In such a system, when a variable-length message is transmitted and received between devices, the message is divided into fixed-length packets so that DMA transfer can be easily performed. Proposals have been made to enable communication.

[0003]

However, at the present time,
No method has been proposed for recovering data errors, data corruption, unauthorized data transmission, etc. due to sudden electrical noise during transfer. Then, when trying to apply strict error recovery according to a general communication protocol, the procedure is complicated, and unless special hardware is prepared, the processing load of the CPU becomes large and a high-speed CPU is required. There is a problem that the productivity of the entire system decreases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and more reliable data communication is performed without increasing the processing load of the CPU and without adding special hardware. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system, a communication method, a program, and a storage medium that can be used.

[0005]

One or a plurality of image processing devices, a control device for controlling the image processing device, and communication means for establishing packet communication between the control device and the image processing device. And an image processing apparatus and / or a control device that determines whether the data packet received via the communication unit is normal or abnormal. Even when the control device is transmitting a plurality of data packets divided from the same message data, the notification is made by transmitting a reception response packet to the transmission side.

The communication means has a first communication line for transmitting a data packet from the image processing device to the control device, and a second communication line for transmitting a data packet from the control device to the image processing device. Is characterized by.

The reception response packet includes repetitions of the same byte sequence as the first half data and the second half data.

The image processing device and / or the control device are
It is characterized in that the same identification data is added to each of a plurality of data packets generated by dividing one message data.

The image processing device and / or the control device are
It is characterized in that the check data of the message data is added to the last data packet of a plurality of data packets generated by dividing one message data.

The image processing device and / or the control device are
An additional value of a data string is added as the check data.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the method according to the present invention comprises one or more image processing apparatuses, a control apparatus for controlling the image processing apparatus, the control apparatus and the image processing apparatus. Communication means for establishing packet communication of
A communication method in an image processing system having:
The image processing device and / or the control device analyzes the data packet received in the receiving step and the data packet received in the receiving step through the communication means, and the data packet is normal or abnormal. In the process of determining whether or not the image processing device and / or the control device is transmitting a plurality of data packets divided from the same message data. And a transmission step of transmitting the data packet to the transmission source of the data packet.

The program according to the present invention is a communication for establishing packet communication between one or a plurality of image processing devices, a control device for controlling the image processing device, the control device, and the image processing device. A program for controlling packet communication in an image processing system having means, wherein the image processing device and / or the control device receives a data packet in the processor included in the image processing system via the communication means. A receiving step of analyzing the data packet received in the receiving step, determining step of determining whether the data packet is normal or abnormal, and a reception response packet indicating a result of the determination in the determining step, The image processing device and / or the control device transmits a plurality of data packets divided from the same message data. Even while you are, characterized in that to execute a transmission step of transmitting to the sender of the data packet.

In order to achieve the above object, a storage medium according to the present invention is characterized by storing the program.

Here, the image processing apparatus means an apparatus capable of image input and / or image output.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be illustratively described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the relative arrangement of the constituent elements, the display screen, and the like described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to them unless otherwise specified.

(Embodiment) As one embodiment of an image processing system according to the present invention, a copying machine in which a reader unit and a printer unit as an image processing apparatus are controlled by a controller unit as a control device will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall functional configuration of a copying machine as one embodiment.

<Overall Functional Configuration> The reader unit 200 optically reads a document image and converts it into image data. The reader unit 200 includes a scanner unit 210 having a function of reading a document and a document feeding unit 250 having a function of conveying a document sheet.

The printer unit 300 conveys a recording sheet, prints image data as a visible image on the recording sheet, and discharges the recording sheet to the outside of the apparatus. The printer unit 300 includes a paper feed unit 310 having a plurality of types of recording paper cassettes, and a marking unit 320 having a function of transferring and fixing image data on recording paper.
And a paper discharge unit 330 having a function of sorting and stapling the printed recording papers and outputting them to the outside of the machine.

The controller section 110 includes a reader section 20.
0, electrically connected to the printer unit 300, and via the network 400, the host computer 401,
It is connected with 402.

The controller section 110 includes a reader section 200.
To read the image data of the original, and to control the printer unit 3
00 to output image data to a recording sheet to provide a copy function. Also, the image data read from the reader unit 200 is converted into code data, and the network 40
The scanner function of transmitting the code data received from the host computer via the network 400 to the printer unit 300 and outputting the image data to the printer unit 300 is provided.

The operation unit 150 is connected to the controller unit 110, is composed of a liquid crystal touch panel, and provides a user I / F for operating the image input / output system.

<Mechanical Structure> FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a copying machine according to the present embodiment. The document feeding unit 250 of the reader unit includes a platen glass 211 for document sheets one by one in order from the beginning.
The document is fed upward and the document on the platen glass 211 is discharged after the document reading operation is completed. When the original is conveyed onto the platen glass 211, the lamp 212 is turned on and the movement of the optical unit 213 is started to expose and scan the original. Reflected light from the document at this time is guided to a CCD image sensor (hereinafter referred to as CCD) 218 by mirrors 214, 215, 216 and a lens 217. In this way, the image of the scanned original is CCD2.
Read by 18. The image data output from the CCD 218 is transferred to the controller unit 110 after being subjected to predetermined processing.

Laser driver 321 of printer unit 300
Drives the laser emitting section 322, and causes the laser emitting section 322 to emit laser light according to the image data output from the controller section 110. The laser light is applied to the photosensitive drum 323, and a latent image corresponding to the laser light is formed on the photosensitive drum 323. This photosensitive drum 32
The developer is attached to the latent image portion of No. 3 by the developing device 324.

Then, at a timing synchronized with the start of laser beam irradiation, recording paper is fed from either the cassette 311 or the cassette 312 and conveyed to the transfer section 325, and the developer attached to the photosensitive drum 323 is recorded. Transfer to paper.
The recording paper carrying the developer is conveyed to the fixing unit 326, and the developer is fixed on the image recording paper by the heat and pressure of the fixing unit 326. The recording paper that has passed through the fixing unit 326 is discharged by a discharge roller 327.
The ejected sheet discharge unit 330 bundles the ejected recording sheets and sorts the recording sheets, or staples the sorted recording sheets.

When double-sided recording is set,
After the recording paper is conveyed to the discharge roller 327, the rotation direction of the discharge roller 327 is reversed and the flapper 328 is rotated.
The sheet is guided to the re-feeding conveyance path 329 by Refeeding conveyance path 32
The recording sheet guided to the sheet 9 is transferred to the transfer unit 32 at the above-mentioned timing.
5 is fed.

<Structure of Controller Unit> Next, the internal structure of the controller unit will be described.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the controller section 110.

The main controller 111 is mainly a CPU
112, a bus controller 113, and various I / F controller circuits.

The CPU 112 and the bus controller 113 control the overall operation of the controller section 110. The CPU 112 operates from the ROM 114 to the ROM I / F 115.
It works based on the program read via. The program also describes the operation of interpreting PDL (Page Description Language) code data received from the host computer and developing it into raster image data.
Processed by software. Bus controller 1
Reference numeral 13 controls data transfer input / output from each I / F, and controls arbitration during bus contention and DMA data transfer.

The DRAM 116 is connected to the main controller 111 by the DRAM I / F 117, and the CP
It is used as a work area for the U112 to operate and an area for accumulating image data.

The Codec 118 compresses the raster image data stored in the DRAM 116 by a method such as MH / MR / MMR / JBIG, and conversely expands the compressed and stored code data to raster image data. SRAM119 is Code
Used as a temporary work area for c118. Codec
118 is the main controller 111 via the I / F 120
And the transfer of data between the DRAM 116 and
It is controlled by the bus controller 113 and is DMA-transferred.

The network controller 121 is the I / F 1
22 is connected to the main controller 111, and the connector 122 is connected to an external network.
Ethernet (registered trademark) is generally cited as a network.

The general-purpose high-speed bus 125 has an expansion connector 124 for connecting an expansion board and an I / O controller 126.
And are connected. PCI is generally used as a general-purpose high-speed bus.
I can give you a bus.

The I / O control unit 126 includes a reader unit 20.
0, Asynchronous serial communication controller 127 for transmitting / receiving control commands to / from each CPU of the printer unit 300
Are equipped with two channels and are connected to the external I / F circuits 140 and 145 by the I / O bus 128.

The panel I / F 132 is the LCD controller 13
1, an I / F for displaying on a liquid crystal screen on the operation unit 150, and a key input I / F 130 for inputting a hard key or a touch panel key.

The operation unit 150 has a liquid crystal display unit, a touch panel input device attached on the liquid crystal display unit, and a plurality of hard keys. The signal input by the touch panel or the hard keys is transmitted to the CPU 112 via the panel I / F 132 described above, and the liquid crystal display unit displays the panel I / F 52.
The image data sent from 0 is displayed.
The liquid crystal display section displays the function display, image data and the like in the operation of the image forming apparatus.

Real Time Clock Module 133
Is for updating / saving the date and time managed in the device, and is backed up by the backup battery 134.

The connectors 142 and 147 are connected to the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300, respectively, and are connected to the tuning step serial I / F 143, 148 and the video I / F 144, 149.
Composed of and.

The scanner I / F 140 is connected to the reader unit 200 via the connector 142 and is also connected to the main controller 111 via the scanner bus 141, and processes the image received from the reader unit 200 in the subsequent process. Has a function of performing optimal binarization and variable-magnification processing of main scanning and sub-scanning according to the contents of the above. Furthermore, control generated based on a video control signal sent from the reader unit 200. Signal to the scanner bus 141
It also has a function to output to.

Data transfer from the scanner bus 141 to the DRAM 116 is controlled by the bus controller 113.

The printer I / F 145 is connected to the printer unit 300 via the connector 147 and is also connected to the main controller 111 via the printer bus 146, and smoothes the image data output from the main controller 111. In addition, the printer unit 300 has a function of outputting the control signal generated based on the video control signal sent from the printer unit 300 to the printer bus 146.

The transfer of the raster image data expanded on the DRAM 116 to the printer unit is controlled by the bus controller 113, and the printer bus 146, the video
DMA transfer to the printer unit 300 is performed via the I / F 149.

<Structure of Reader Unit> Next, the internal structure of the reader unit will be described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the reader unit 110.

The connector 231 is used for the controller section 110.
Asynchronous serial communication I / F for command communication between CPUs and V for transferring video signals
It is composed of video I / F.

The MPU 228 is a one-chip microcontroller that controls the entire scanner reader section.
It incorporates functions such as a timer, DMA controller (DMAC), serial communication controller (SCU), and general-purpose input / output port.

The connector 225 is connected to a document feeding unit (hereinafter referred to as DF unit) 250, and the CPU 228 requests the DF unit 250 to feed a document when performing a reading operation. In accordance with the above request, the DF unit 250 controls the motor to be equipped and executes the document feeding operation.

The CCD driver is built in or connected to the CCD 218, and the I / O 41 is connected by the MPU 228.
Controlled through 0. The image data input to the CCD 218 is photoelectrically converted into an electric signal. CCD
The electric signal output from 218 is amplified by the amplifier 221 and input to the A / D converter 222. A / D
The converter 222 converts the input analog electric signal into a digital signal and outputs it. The output signal from the A / D converter 222 is input to the shading circuit 223, where light distribution unevenness and CCD sensitivity unevenness are corrected.

The output from the shading circuit 223 is
It is input to the timing generation 224 and synchronized with the video control signal (HSYNC / VSYNC) generated here, and the connector 23
1 is transferred to the controller unit 110.

The ROM 227 is the scanner unit 2
10 is a medium for storing the control program, and the processing of the MPU 228 is executed based on this program. RA
M226 is for use as a work area when the MPU 228 executes processing.

Next, the communication function of the MPU 228 of the reader section will be described.

In this block diagram, the MPU 228
CPU231, DMAC23 among the functions built in
2, SCU 233 is shown. Further, the respective functional blocks and the RAM 226 are connected to each other via an address / data bus 234.

The normal transmission / reception in 1-byte units (without intervening the DMAC) is a general method, and therefore detailed description thereof will not be given. Here, the operation of combining the DMAC and SCU will be described in detail.

First, in the transmission operation, the CPU 240
Sets the data length to be transmitted in the channel 0 transfer length register of the DMAC 241, and sets the start address of the transmission data string on the RAM 226 in the channel 0 address register of the DMAC 241. When a transfer start instruction is given to the SCU 242, the SCU 242 sequentially sets the transfer request TXI246 to TRUE to the DMA 241 in 1-byte units, which causes the DMAC 241's channel 0 DMA request (DREQ0 24
6) is connected. DMAC 241 has T request
When it becomes RUE, the address / data bus 243 is controlled according to the set information, and the RAM 226 to the SCU2
Data transfer to 42. The SCU 242 converts the received 1-byte data into a bit string and outputs the bit string to the TXD terminal 248 in a predetermined format. When the predetermined number of transfers are completed, the DMAC 241 sets DEND0 (244) to TRUE.
Then, the CPU 240 is notified of the end of transmission. CPU2
The interrupt terminal INT0 (244) 40 detects the end of the transmission.

Next, in the receiving operation, the CPU 240
Sets the length of the fixed length packet in the channel 1 transfer length register of the DMAC 241 and sets the start address of the receiving buffer on the RAM 226 to the channel 1 of the DMAC 241.
Set in the address register. Upon receiving the bit string from the RXD terminal 249, the SCU 242 converts the bit string into byte data, and then requests transfer to the DMA 241 RXI247.
To TRUE. The RXI247 is connected to the channel 1 DMA request (DREQ1 247) of the DMAC241, and DM
When the DMA request becomes TRUE, the AC 241 controls the address / data bus 243 according to the set information,
Data transfer from the SCU 242 to the RAM 226 is performed.
When the predetermined number of receptions are completed, the DMAC 241 will send DEND1
(245) is set to TRUE to notify the CPU 240 of the end of transmission. The CPU 240 detects the end of reception through the interrupt terminal INT1 (245).

The printer unit also has a similar DMAC.
The MPU including the SCU and the SCU is built in, and the above-described transmission / reception processing is possible.

Next, the transfer procedure of the variable length message by the fixed length packet method and the recovery procedure when a communication error occurs between the controller section and the reader section and the printer section, which are the main parts of this embodiment, will be described below. Explained.

Here, as an example, the controller unit 11
A case of transmitting a variable length message from the CPU 112 of 0 to the CPU 240 of the reader unit 200 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The CPU 112 of the controller unit 110 to the CP of the printer unit 300 will be described.
The same process is performed when a variable length message is transmitted to U.

First, the data format of a fixed length packet will be described. The transmitted message is divided into fixed length packets as shown in FIG. 8A. First 1 of fixed length packet
The byte is a header part, and information such as a packet type and a data packet ID is added.

In this embodiment, the packet length is 8
Byte, Ack / Nack packet with the upper 2 bits of the header part 11 (binary), data packet with 00
Although 10 represents the final data packet, the present invention is not limited to this.

The data packet is formed by dividing the transmission message data string into fixed length blocks and adding header information to the first byte. A message ID is added to the lower 6 bits of the data packet header, and the data packets obtained by dividing the same message have the same ID number.

The checksum value of the entire message is added to the final data of the final data packet.

In the Ack / Nack packet, as shown in FIG. 8B, it is assumed that the first half data string and the rear half data string are filled with the same data. By doing this, errors (data corruption,
Even if one byte is missing or one byte noise occurs, the Ack / Nack data can be easily restored.

In the present embodiment, the Ack packet is set to 0xC5,0xC5,0xC5,0xC5,0xD3,0xD3,0xD3,0x.
D3 Nack packet 0xC5,0xC5,0xC5,0xC5,0xDA, 0xDA, 0xDA, 0
Define as xDA.

Next, the controller unit 110 shown in FIG.
6 shows a sequence of packet transmission processing in FIG.
A will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6B.

In the packet transmission process, first, the work area and various flag variables are initialized (S601).

PktFlg indicating the packet transmission process is in progress, MsgFlg indicating the message transmission process is in progress, and the reception error process is in progress.
RcvErr, AckNackReq indicating that there is an Ack / Nack transmission request
Each flag is initialized to "OFF", and PktRmn indicating the number of remaining transmission packets in the message and MsgQRmn indicating the number of messages in the queue are initialized to "0".

Next, the state of waiting for an event to the packet transmission processing unit is entered (S602).

To the packet transmission processing unit: -a message transmission request event (a) from the upper application-a packet transmission end interrupt event (b) -Ack or Nack transmission request event (c) from the packet reception processing unit-packet reception Ack or Nack reception notification event (d), (e) from the processing unit ・ Various events such as the reception error processing end notification event (f) from the packet reception processing unit are issued.

When the event received in S603 is not the packet transmission end (b), the process proceeds to S621.

The event received is the end of packet transmission
In the case of (b), the process proceeds to S604, and the packet transmission flag (PktFlg) is turned off. Furthermore, in S605, Ack / Nack
It judges whether there is a transmission request (AckNackReq), and if there is a request, transmits an Ack or Nack packet, and PktFlg
ON, PktRmn is 0 (only one Ack / Nack packet), Ack
Turn off NackReq and return to S602. If there is no request, it is determined in S611 whether there is a remaining transmission packet (PktRmn), and if there is a packet, data transmission processing for one packet is performed, PktFlg is turned ON, and PktRmn is decremented by 1 (S
From 612), the process returns to S602. If there are no remaining send packets, set the message sending flag (MsgFlg).
Turn off (S613) and return to S602. As a result, the Ack / Nack packet is transmitted to the transmitting side even while transmitting a plurality of data packets divided from the same message data. That is, even though full-duplex communication is being performed, the reception response data cannot be transmitted during the normal data transmission of the transmission side. It is possible to solve the problem that the response data is not returned and the data transmission process on the other side is delayed. In S621, if the received event is the message transmission request (a), the process proceeds to S622, and if not, the process proceeds to S631 in FIG. 6B. In S622, packet transmission is not in progress (PktFlg = OFF) and reception error processing is not in progress (RcvErr = OF).
If F), the process proceeds to S623; otherwise, S6.
Go to 25.

In S623, the message requested to be transmitted is divided into fixed length packets, the first packet is transmitted, and the message transmission flag (MsgFlg) is turned on.
Set PktFlg to ON, set the number of remaining packets to PktRmn, and click S6.
Return to 02.

In S625, the message requested for transmission is registered in the queue, and the number of waiting messages (MsgQRm
n) is incremented by 1 and the process returns to S602.

In S631 of FIG. 6B, if the received event is an Ack / Nack transmission request (c), S632.
Otherwise, to S641. S632
In S, if the packet is being transmitted (PktFlg)
If it is not, the process proceeds to step S635. S
In 633, the Ack / Nack transmission request (AckNackReq) is turned ON, and if it is the Nack transmission request, the reception error processing flag (RcvErr) is turned ON, and the process returns to S602. In S635, an Ack or Nack packet is transmitted, PktFlg = ON, PktR
It returns to S602 with mn = 0.

At S641, the received event is
If it is the Ack reception notification (d), the process proceeds to S642, and if not, the process proceeds to S651. Whether there are any messages remaining in the message queue in S642 (MsgQRmn)
Is checked, the process proceeds to S643 if remaining, and returns to S602 if not remaining. In S643, the message is extracted from the head of the queue and MsgQRmn is decremented by 1. S
At 644, MsgFlg is turned on, and it is checked at S645 whether or not a packet is being transmitted. If packet transmission is in progress, S6
If it is not being transmitted, the process proceeds to 47 and 1 packet transmission processing is performed and PktFlg is turned ON (S646). Pk in S647
The number of remaining packets is set in tRmn, and the process returns to S602.

In S651, when the received event is the reception error processing end notification (f), RcvErr is turned off.
Then (S652), the process proceeds to S642. If not, the process proceeds to S661.

At S661, the received event is
If it is the Nack reception notification (e), proceed to S644,
The message in which the error has occurred is resent, and if not, the process returns to S602.

Next, the controller section 110 shown in FIG.
7 shows the sequence of packet reception processing in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, first, the work area and various flag variables are initialized (S701).

Next, a state for waiting for an event for the packet reception processing unit is entered (S702).

A "packet reception end interrupt event" is issued to the packet reception processing unit, but in order to detect a reception timeout, the event waiting processing is prepared in the real-time OS. To use.

In S703, if the received event is the end of packet reception, the process proceeds to S704, and if not (time-out), the process proceeds to S711.

In S704, a reception error occurs during reception.
Check whether (parity error, framing error, etc.) has occurred and whether the packet header is normal. It is determined whether the packet header is the same as the ID of the first data packet in the second and subsequent data packets, or is the specified format in the Ack / Nack packet. If it is normal, the process proceeds to S705, and if there is an error, the process proceeds to S712.

In S705, it is determined whether the received data packet is a data packet or an Ack / Nack packet,
If the packet is a data packet, the process proceeds to S706 and Ack / Na
In the case of a ck packet, the process proceeds to S725. The data packet stores the data in the message buffer (S706),
If it is not the final data packet, the process returns to S702. If it is the final data packet, calculate the checksum of the received message data and compare it with the received checksum value.
If they match, it is regarded as a normal end and an Ack transmission request event is issued (S709), and the process returns to S702. If they do not match, the process proceeds to S713.

In S711, it is determined whether or not there is data in the packet buffer being received. If there is no data, the process returns to S702. If there is data, the buffer is searched again after a certain period of time, and it is determined whether the number of received data has increased. If the number has increased, it is determined that the subsequent data has been received, and the process returns to S702.
If the number of data has not changed, it is determined that a reception error has occurred, and the process proceeds to S712.

In S712, it is determined whether the received data packet is an Ack / Nack packet. Since the Ack / Nack packet is composed of the same data repeatedly, even if there is a 1-byte missing or garbled data, if there is more than the specified number of predetermined data, it is determined to be an Ack / Nack packet, and the process proceeds to S725. move on. In this embodiment, 0xC5 is 3 in the first half.
If there are more than 3 bytes and 0xD3 is 3 bytes or more in the latter half, Ack
Judge as a packet.

If it is determined that the packet is not an Ack / Nack packet, the reception error processing flag (RcvErr) is turned on and a Nack transmission request event is issued (S713).

The steps from S714 are repair work for correcting the synchronization deviation of the received data. If the event waiting state is entered again in S714, and the waiting state is exited due to the end of packet reception in S715, the process proceeds to S721, and Ack / Na is entered again.
It is determined whether the packet is a ck packet, and if not, S7
14, the Ack / Nack reception notification event is issued if the packet is an Ack / Nack packet, and then the process returns to S714.

When the wait state is exited due to a timeout in S715, the data in the packet buffer is discarded in S716, a reception error processing end notification event is issued, and
The reception data synchronization deviation repair work is completed, and the process returns to S702.

Summarizing the above packet transmission / reception processing,
This copying machine performs full-duplex data communication and error detection and error recovery processing of transmitted / received data by independently performing the following procedures 1 to 3 and 4 to 6. .

1. The controller unit divides the transmission message data into a plurality of fixed-length data packets by a predetermined method, transmits the fixed-length data packets via the first communication line, and then the second
It waits for a response from the reader unit (or printer unit, the same hereafter) via the communication line.

2. The reader unit, via the first communication line,
When it detects the reception of a fixed number of fixed length data packets,
Alternatively, when a data reception event is not detected for a predetermined time, the data packet reception operation is completed with, and when the received data is normal, a predetermined normal reception is performed via the second communication line. The response packet (Ack) is returned, and when an abnormality is detected, a predetermined abnormality reception response packet (Nack) is returned via the second communication line.

3. The controller unit completes the data transmission operation when the response from the reader unit received via the second communication line is Ack, and when it is Nack, the procedure returns to step 1 and Ack is returned. The above operation is repeated until a reply is sent.

4. The reader unit divides the transmission message data into a plurality of fixed-length data packets by a predetermined method, transmits the fixed-length data packets via the second communication line, and then transmits the response from the controller unit via the first communication line. Wait for

5. The controller unit completes the data packet reception operation when it detects the reception of a predetermined number of fixed-length data packets via the second communication line, or when it does not detect a data reception event for a predetermined time. However, if the received data is normal, the first
Predetermined normal reception response packet (Ack) via the communication line of
When an abnormality is detected, a predetermined abnormality reception response packet (Nack) is returned via the first communication line.

6. The reader unit completes the data transmission operation when the response from the controller unit received via the first communication line is Ack, and when it is Nack, returns to step 4 and Ack The above operation is repeated until a reply is sent.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even in a system having no sophisticated communication controller, the variable length message is divided into fixed length packets and transferred by the DMA controller and the communication controller. It becomes possible to control by combining the above, and high-speed data communication can be realized. Also, Ack / Nack
By adopting a packet handshake,
For communication errors such as garbled data, noise data, and data loss that occur at a rare probability, more reliable full-duplex data communication is realized without adding special hardware. By transmitting the Nack packet with priority over the normal data packet, more responsive full-duplex communication can be realized.

(Other Embodiments) Although the copying machine has been described in the above embodiment, even if it is applied to other devices (for example, a scanner, a printer, a facsimile, etc.), a plurality of devices (for example, a host) are further used. It may be applied to a system including a computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) recording a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to supply a computer of the system or apparatus ( Alternatively, by the CPU or MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium,
It goes without saying that it will be achieved. 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.
Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also based on the instruction of the program code,
An operating system (OS) running on the computer does some or all of the actual processing,
It goes without saying that the processing includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code. , The CPU provided in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing,
It goes without saying that the processing includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized.

When the present invention is applied to the above storage medium, the storage medium stores the program code corresponding to the above-described flowchart (shown in FIG. 6 and / or FIG. 7).

[0102]

As described above, according to the present invention,
(EN) Provided are an image processing system, a communication method, a program, and a storage medium that can perform more reliable data communication without increasing the processing load on the CPU and without adding special hardware. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a control configuration of an image input / output system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a controller unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a reader unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a detailed circuit configuration related to communication control of the reader unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6A is a flowchart showing an example of a packet transmission processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6B is a flowchart showing an example of a packet transmission processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a packet reception processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8A is a diagram showing an example of a format of a transfer message and a packet according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8B is a diagram showing an example of a format of a transfer message and a packet according to the embodiment of the present invention.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP03 AP04 HJ08 HQ06                       HV01 HV35                 5B021 AA01 AA19 BB01 BB04 BB10                       BB11                 5B089 GA23 HA08 JB17 KA12 KE02                       KG04 MC08 MD08 ME08                 5C062 AA02 AC40 AC41 AC42 AC43                       BA04                 5K034 CC02 EE11 HH01 HH02 HH09                       HH11 LL01 NN26

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus comprising: one or a plurality of image processing apparatuses; a control apparatus for controlling the image processing apparatus; and communication means for establishing packet communication between the control apparatus and the image processing apparatus. An image processing system, wherein the image processing device and / or the control device determines whether the data packet received via the communication unit is normal or abnormal. An image processing system characterized in that even if a plurality of data packets divided from the same message data are being transmitted, the sender is notified by transmitting a reception response packet. 2. The communication means includes a first communication line for transmitting a data packet from the image processing device to the control device, and a second communication line for transmitting a data packet from the control device to the image processing device. The image processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the reception response packet includes repetition of the same byte string as the first half data and the second half data. 4. The image processing device and / or the control device,
The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the same identification data is added to each of a plurality of data packets generated by dividing one message data. 5. The image processing device and / or control device,
The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the check data of the message data is added to the last data packet of the plurality of data packets generated by dividing one message data. 6. The image processing device and / or control device,
The image processing system according to claim 5, wherein an addition value of a data string is added as the check data. 7. One or a plurality of image processing devices, a control device for controlling the image processing device, and a communication means for establishing packet communication between the control device and the image processing device. A communication method in an image processing system, wherein the image processing device and / or the control device receives a data packet via the communication means, and analyzes the data packet received in the receiving process, A determination step of determining whether the data packet is normal or abnormal, and a reception response packet indicating a result of the determination in the determination step are divided from the same message data by the image processing device and / or the control device. A transmission step of transmitting to the transmission source of the data packet even during transmission of a plurality of data packets, Communication method to do. 8. One or a plurality of image processing devices, a control device for controlling the image processing device, and a communication means for establishing packet communication between the control device and the image processing device. A program for controlling packet communication in an image processing system, wherein the image processing device and / or the control device is included in a processor included in the image processing system, and a receiving step of receiving a data packet via the communication unit, A determination step of analyzing the data packet received in the reception step and determining whether the data packet is normal or abnormal; and a reception response packet indicating a result of the determination in the determination step, the image processing device and / Or even while the control device is transmitting a plurality of data packets divided from the same message data, A program characterized by executing a transmitting step of transmitting to the sender of the serial data packet. 9. A storage medium having the program according to claim 8 stored therein.