JP2003084423A - Bufferless plotting processing method and plotting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plotting processing method capable of a high-speed plotting processing without limiting a plotting data amount in a plotting device performing plotting with plotting data constituted of band units as input information. SOLUTION: One piece of graphic data is acquired from the plotting data through a network, a bit map of the acquired one piece of the graphic data is generated and plotting is performed. Plotting of one band area is performed by carrying out the processings of acquiring one piece of the graphic data and performing plotting for all the graphic data included in one band unit within the plotting data. By performing read and plotting for each piece of the graphic data, the need of providing a buffer for one band inside the plotting device is eliminated and data amount limitations regarding the plotting data are eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drawing device and a drawing method for developing drawing data created and edited by a workstation into a bitmap and drawing it on a photosensitive material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A drawing device is a device for drawing a pattern by irradiating a photosensitive material such as a photosensitive film or a photoresist layer of a printed circuit board with a light beam. It is known that a drawing device uses a laser beam or a light emitting diode (LED) as a light source, and scans a photosensitive material while modulating a light beam from these light sources based on drawing data. Draw. A photomask, which is one of the drawn objects, is used for forming a conductive pattern on a printed circuit board or the like by photolithography. In recent years, a drawing apparatus is configured to divide a drawing surface into a plurality of band-shaped band areas and perform drawing in units of the band areas from the viewpoint of improving the drawing performance.

The drawing data which is the input information to the drawing apparatus is created as a structure in which a plurality of vector format graphic data are arranged in band units on the workstation. The drawing device acquires graphic data from the drawing data placed on the workstation via, for example, a network, expands it into a bitmap, and executes the drawing process.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the structure of such a drawing apparatus. In FIG. 6, the control CPU 10 is a CPU that reads drawing data 41 placed on a workstation via the network 40 and controls various operation of the drawing device 31. The arithmetic CPU 15
This is a CPU that performs arithmetic processing on drawing data and develops it into a bitmap. The image generation circuit 21 is a circuit that performs contour data filling processing on data obtained from the arithmetic CPU 15 to generate image data. The LED light emitting circuit 25 causes the LED to emit light based on the image data. The data buffers 11 and 16 are 1
It is a buffer for storing drawing data for bands,
The evacuation stack 17 is a memory for storing drawing data that is out of the band in the image data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the drawing process in the drawing device 31 and shows the flow of data in the drawing process. Drawing processing in the drawing device 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 6. As shown in FIG. 7, the drawing data 41 has a configuration in which graphic data in a vector format is arranged in band units from the beginning. When performing drawing, the control CPU 10 first changes the drawing data 41 to 1
Drawing data for the band is read out and the data buffer 11
It is stored in (arrow 51). Next, data buffer 1
The drawing data for one band stored in 1 is calculated by the arithmetic CPU.
15 is transferred to the data buffer 16 (arrow 5).
2).

The arithmetic CPU 15 reads the drawing data in the data buffer 16 for each figure data (one vector) and performs an operation to perform drawing. At this time, the beam is, for example, the drawing surface 60 when the drawing target band is band 1.
Scanned in the X1 direction above. If the graphic data is out of the band in which the drawing is being performed, a process of saving it in the save stack 17 is also performed (arrow 53). Furthermore, when there is data saved in the save stack 17 in the drawing process for the previous band, these saved data are read and drawing is performed for the band of the current processing target. When the protrusion to the area occurs, the area is evacuated to the evacuation stack 17 (arrow 54).

In this way, a series of processes of reading one band from the drawing data 41, transferring one band to the arithmetic CPU 15, and drawing one band is executed for each band, and the drawing process is executed for all drawing data. To be done.

[0008]

The drawing process according to the conventional method described above is performed by reading the drawing data for each band and storing it in the data buffer.
For this reason, due to the limitation of the capacity of the data buffer, the drawing processing cannot be performed on a huge amount of drawing data in which one band of data exceeds the capacity of the data buffer.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. That is, the present invention is a drawing apparatus that draws with drawing data configured in band units as input information,
An object of the present invention is to provide a drawing processing method capable of performing drawing processing at high speed without limitation on the amount of drawing data, and a drawing apparatus for executing such a drawing processing method.

[0010]

Therefore, in the invention described in claim 1, the drawing data in which a plurality of graphic data are arranged in band units is used as input information, and the drawing surface corresponds to one unit of the band of the drawing data. A drawing processing method for drawing in band-shaped one band area unit, a first step of acquiring one figure data of a plurality of figure data from drawing data, and a bitmap of the acquired one figure data The second step of generating and drawing, the first step and the second step are executed for all the graphic data included in one band unit in the drawing data to draw one band area. And steps. That is, the process of acquiring and drawing one figure data from the plurality of figure data from the drawing data is repeated, and the drawing of one band area is achieved. Furthermore, this drawing processing method includes a fourth step of processing the third step of drawing one band area for all bands included in the drawing data, and the drawing processing is performed for all of the drawing data.

The second step is a step of, when one piece of acquired graphic data includes a portion protruding from one band area of the current processing target, saving one graphic data including the protruding portion on a stack. , If there is graphic data included in one band area that is the current processing target among the graphic data stored in the stack by the processing for the band area before the one band area that is the current processing target The step of reading graphic data included in one band area which is the current processing target from the stack to generate a bitmap and draw the bitmap may be included (claim 2). When the acquired graphic data does not fit in one band area, the graphic data is saved in the stack and is read from the stack and used for drawing when processing the next band area.

When the drawing data is placed on the network, the first step includes a step of acquiring one figure data from the drawing data via the network (claim 3).

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the drawing data, which is placed on the network and in which a plurality of graphic data is arranged in band units, is used as input information, and the drawing surface is in a strip shape corresponding to one unit of the band of the drawing data. A drawing processing method for drawing in units of one band area, it is determined whether or not the network is congested. If it is judged that the network is not congested, one Graphic data is acquired, a bitmap of the acquired single graphic data is generated, and drawing is performed. Further, to obtain one figure data and to generate a bitmap of one figure data and perform drawing,
Drawing of one band area is performed by executing all the graphic data included in the band unit, and drawing of the one band area is processed for all the bands included in the drawing data. That is, when the network is not crowded, one graphic data unit is read and drawing is performed, and this is repeated to draw one band area. On the other hand, when it is determined that the network is congested, all graphic data included in one band unit is acquired from the drawing data via the network at a time, stored in the buffer, and stored in the buffer. Bitmaps are generated for all graphic data included in one band unit to draw one band area. And
Drawing of one band area is processed for all the bands included in the drawing data. That is, when the network is congested, the drawing data transfer efficiency is reduced and the drawing processing time is not increased, so that the drawing data for one band unit is acquired at a time and Drawing in the band area.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the drawing data, in which a plurality of graphic data are arranged in band units, is used as input information, and the drawing surface corresponds to one band region of the drawing data in one band-shaped band area unit. Is a drawing apparatus that draws data for each figure data from drawing data, generates a bitmap for each acquired figure data, and draws a band area by drawing. The control means for performing is provided. That is, this control means achieves the drawing of one band area by repeating the processing of acquiring one figure data from the drawing data and drawing it.

When the drawing data is placed on the network, the control means acquires the data for each figure data from the drawing data via the network (claim 6).

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the drawing data in which a plurality of graphic data are arranged in band units is used as input information, and the drawing surface corresponds to one band region of the drawing data in one band area band unit. In the drawing device for drawing, a judgment means for judging whether or not the network is congested is provided. When the determination unit determines that the network is not congested, the drawing device
Data acquisition is performed for each figure data from drawing data via a network, a bitmap is generated for each acquired figure data, and drawing is performed to perform drawing for one band area. Means are provided. That is, when the network is not congested, the first control means reads the drawing data in units of one figure data and performs drawing, and by repeating this, drawing is achieved for one band area. . Further, in the drawing apparatus, when the determination unit determines that the network is congested, it acquires all the graphic data included in one band unit from the drawing data at one time via the network and stores them in the buffer. Store and
A second control unit is provided that generates a bitmap for all the graphic data included in the stored one band unit and performs drawing for one band area. That is,
The second control means prevents the drawing data transfer efficiency from decreasing and the drawing processing time to increase when the network is congested, so that the drawing data for one band unit can be processed once. It is acquired and drawing is performed in one band area.

The invention according to claim 8 is the above-mentioned claim 1.
It is a drawing apparatus which draws by the drawing processing method according to any one of 1 to 3. According to a ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided a drawing device for performing the drawing by the drawing processing method according to the fourth aspect.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a drawing device 130 as a first embodiment of the present invention. The drawing device 130 is a multi-band type drawing device that draws in band units in which the drawing surface is divided into a plurality of strip-shaped regions. The drawing data 141 has a configuration in which graphic data in vector format is arranged in band units from the beginning, and is placed on a workstation (not shown) connected to the drawing device 130 via the network 140.

In FIG. 1, the control / arithmetic CPU 110
Has a function of acquiring graphic data (vector data) from the drawing data file 141 on the workstation via the network 140 and performing a calculation process of expanding the acquired graphic data into a bitmap. It is a CPU that also controls various operation.
The image generation circuit 120 is a circuit that performs a filling process on contour data of data obtained from the control / arithmetic CPU 110 to generate image data. The LED light emitting circuit 125 causes the LED to emit light based on the image data.

The drawing device 130 has an irradiation unit (not shown) for irradiating the drawing surface with a beam from the LED light emitting circuit 125, and scans the irradiation unit in the band area direction to draw one band area. The drawing table (not shown) is moved in the direction orthogonal to the band direction to draw another band area, and the drawing process is repeated to draw the entire drawing surface.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the drawing process in the drawing device 130 and shows the flow of data in the drawing process. Drawing device 13 with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.
The drawing process at 0 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the drawing data 141 has a configuration in which graphic data is arranged in band units from the beginning. When performing drawing, first, the control / arithmetic CPU 110 acquires one figure data from the drawing data 141 via the network 140,
The bitmap is developed and drawn at a predetermined position in the band area 161 (arrow 151). At this time, the beam irradiation unit is scanned in the X1 direction on the drawing surface 160 when the drawing target band is band 1, for example.
In addition, the acquired one figure data is the band area 1 of the drawing target.
If the graphic data is out of the area 61, the graphic data is stored in the save stack 101.

Save stack 1 in the drawing process of the previous band
If the graphic data is stored in 01, the saved data is read and drawing is performed for the band area of the current drawing target, and then the projection to the next band area is output. If the graphic data is saved, the graphic data is saved in the save stack 101 (arrow 15).
2).

As described above, while the irradiation unit is scanned in the band area direction, data is acquired from the drawing data 141 in the unit of one graphic data, and the drawing is performed, thereby controlling / controlling.
It is not necessary to provide a data buffer for storing drawing data for one band in the arithmetic CPU 110. Therefore, according to the drawing processing method according to the first embodiment, as compared with the conventional drawing processing method described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the data buffer 1 in the control CPU 10 is
1 and the processing for writing / reading to / from the data buffer 16 in the arithmetic CPU 15 can be omitted, so that the processing time can be shortened.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing in detail the drawing process described in FIG. The drawing process of FIG. 3 is controlled /
It is executed by the arithmetic CPU 110. When this drawing process is started, first, the pointer POS for storing the read position in the drawing data 141 is initialized to 0,
Also, a variable PO indicating the read end position of the drawing data 141
The value to be stored in S_END is obtained from the workstation side where the drawing data 141 is placed, and the variable POS_END
(S11).

Next, the total number of bands in the drawing data 141 is obtained from the workstation side and stored in the variable BD_TOTAL, and the variable BD_N for storing the band number to be processed is stored.
O is initialized to 0, and the band length is acquired from the workstation side and stored in the variable BD_LEN (S1
2). Next, in step 13, the maximum coordinates of the band to be processed are obtained by (BD_NO + 1) × BD_LEN and stored in the variable FD_MAX.

In step S14, it is determined whether or not the current band to be processed is within the total number of bands.
When the band number of the band to be processed is equal to or larger than the total number of bands and the processing for all the bands is completed (S14: NO), the processing is completed. When the processing of all the bands is not completed (S14: YES), the processing proceeds to step S15. In step S15, the pointer PO
It is determined whether S has reached the read end position. If the read end position has not been reached (S1
5: YES), the process proceeds to step S16, where the pointer
When it is determined that the POS has reached the reading end position (S1
5: NO), and the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S16, one figure data (basic figure vec) is read from the position indicated by the current pointer POS in the drawing data 141. In step S17, the minimum coordinates and the maximum coordinates of this graphic are obtained based on the read graphic data and stored in variables VEC_MIN and VEC_MAX, respectively (S17). In step S18,
VEC_MI which is the minimum coordinate of the figure data read in S16
If N does not exceed the maximum coordinate FD_MAX of the band currently being processed, and if it does not exceed (S: 18: YES), this graphic data is expanded into a bitmap and the band to be processed is processed. Drawing in the area (S19).

On the other hand, in step S18, the minimum coordinate VEC_MI
If it is determined that N is greater than or equal to the maximum coordinate FD_MAXI (S1
8: NO), since the graphic data read in step S16 is to be drawn in the next band area, the process proceeds to step S23, and is a variable representing the band number of the process target.
Count up BD_NO by one.

In step S20, it is determined whether or not VEC_MAX, which is the maximum coordinate of the figure subjected to the drawing process in step S19, exceeds the maximum coordinate FD_MAX of the band area currently being processed. If VEC_MAX exceeds the maximum coordinate FD_MAX (S20: YES), this graphic is located in the next band, so the graphic data is saved in the save stack 101 (S22). If VEC_MAX does not exceed the band maximum coordinate FD_MAX (S20: N
O), since this figure does not extend over the next band and it is not necessary to evacuate, the process proceeds to step S21.

In step S21, the size of the graphic data subjected to the drawing processing in S19 is added to the pointer POS in order to shift the processing to the next graphic data. Then, the processing of steps S15 to S22 is repeated for the next graphic data. In this iterative process, it is determined that the pointer POS has reached the read end position (S15: NO), or the coordinates of the graphic data read in step S16 exceed FD_MAX, and the process for the next band should be started. Then (S1
8: NO), and the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S23, the variable BD_NO representing the band number being processed is incremented by 1 in order to move to the next band process. Then, the process proceeds to step S13, and the process for the next band is repeated.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a drawing device 230 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The drawing apparatus 230 has a configuration in which the data buffer 102 is added to the control / arithmetic CPU 210 in addition to the drawing apparatus 130 of the first embodiment. The drawing device 230 is a first
In addition to having a function equivalent to that of the drawing device 130 in the above embodiment, that is, a function of reading each drawing data from the drawing data 141 and performing a drawing process, when the network 140 is congested, one band from the drawing data 141 It has a function of acquiring drawing data for one minute at a time, storing it in the data buffer 102, and performing drawing processing.

In FIG. 4, the control / arithmetic CPU 210
Has a function of acquiring data from a workstation (not shown) in which the drawing data 141 is placed via the network 140, and a function of performing an arithmetic process for expanding the acquired drawing data into a bitmap. It is a CPU that also controls various operation of the device 230. Note that, in FIG. 4, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements as those in the first embodiment.

The control / arithmetic CPU 210 monitors the congestion state of the network 140, and when the network 140 is not congested, the drawing apparatus 130 of the first embodiment.
Similarly to the above, data is acquired and drawn for each figure data, but when the network 140 is congested,
Drawing data for one band is acquired at one time and drawing is performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a drawing process in the drawing device 230 when the control / arithmetic CPU 210 determines that the network 140 is congested, and shows a data flow in this drawing process. There is. If it is determined that the network 140 is congested, control / calculation C
The PU 210 acquires one band's worth of data from the drawing data 141 via the network 140 at once, and stores it in the data buffer 102 (arrow 201).

The calculation / control CPU 210 reads from the data buffer 102 for each figure and performs calculation to draw (arrow 202). At this time, the beam irradiation unit is scanned in the X1 direction on the drawing surface 210 when the drawing target band is band 1, for example. Further, when the read one figure is out of the band area in which the drawing is being performed, the process of saving it in the save stack 17 is also performed (arrow 202). Further, when graphic data is stored in the save stack 101 in the drawing process of the previous band, these saved data are read and drawing is performed for the band area of the current drawing target. When the image data further extends to the next band area, the graphic data is saved in the save stack 101 (arrow 203).

In this way, data is acquired from the drawing data 141 in units of one band, and drawing is executed for all of the drawing data 141. When the network is congested, data for one band is acquired at a time, so that collisions occur more frequently on the network than when graphic data is acquired for each graphic, and transfer efficiency is improved. Can be avoided, and therefore 1
It is possible to reduce the time required for the drawing process as compared with the case where the figure data is acquired for each figure.

The effect of shortening the processing time of the drawing processing in the above-described embodiment is improved by adopting a faster type CPU as the control / arithmetic CPU, by making the control / arithmetic CPU compatible with a faster network, and the like. To be done.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, 1
Since data is acquired for each figure and drawing is performed, it is not necessary to provide a data buffer for one band on the drawing apparatus side. Since the data is not acquired for each band and stored in the data buffer, there is no limitation on the data amount of one band of drawing data due to the capacity of the data buffer. Further, the writing / reading process to / from the data buffer in the drawing apparatus is not required, and the processing time of the drawing process can be shortened. Further, the cost of the drawing apparatus can be reduced because the data buffer is unnecessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a drawing apparatus as a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data flow in a drawing process executed by the drawing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of a drawing process executed by the drawing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a drawing device as a second embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing a data flow in a drawing process executed by the drawing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional drawing apparatus.

7 is a diagram showing a data flow in a drawing process executed by the drawing apparatus in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

110 control / arithmetic CPU 120 image generation circuit 125 LED light emitting circuit 130 drawing device 141 Drawing data file

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A drawing processing method in which drawing data in which a plurality of graphic data are arranged in band units is used as input information and a drawing surface is drawn in band-shaped one band area unit corresponding to one band of the drawing data. A first step of obtaining one figure data of the plurality of figure data from the drawing data, and a second step of generating a bitmap of the obtained one figure data and performing drawing. A third step of performing the first step and the second step for all graphic data included in one band unit in the drawing data to draw the one band area; And a fourth step for processing all the bands included in the drawing data, the drawing processing method. 2. In the second step, if the acquired one figure data includes a portion protruding from one band area of a current processing target, one figure data including the protruding portion is stacked. In the figure data stored in the stack by the step of saving and the processing of the band area before the one band area of the current processing target, the one band area of the current processing target is saved. If there is graphic data included,
The drawing according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: reading graphic data included in the one band area that is the current processing target from the stack to generate a bitmap and drawing. Processing method. 3. The drawing data is placed on a network, and the first step acquires the one figure data from the drawing data via the network. The drawing processing method according to Item 2. 4. The drawing data, which is placed on a network and in which a plurality of graphic data is arranged in band units, is used as input information, and the drawing surface is in a band-shaped band area unit corresponding to one band of the drawing data. A drawing processing method for drawing, wherein it is determined whether or not the network is congested, and when it is determined that the network is not congested, one drawing data is extracted from the drawing data via the network. Is generated, a bitmap of the acquired one figure data is generated and drawn, the one figure data is acquired, and a bitmap of the one figure data is generated and drawn. Drawing is performed on all the graphic data included in one band unit in the data to draw the one band area, and to draw the one band area. What to do is processed for all bands included in the drawing data, and when it is determined that the network is congested, all the bands included in one band unit from the drawing data through the network are determined. Graphic data is acquired at one time and stored in a buffer, bitmaps are generated for all graphic data contained in the one band unit stored in the buffer, and the one band area is drawn. A drawing processing method, wherein drawing of one band area is processed for all bands included in the drawing data. 5. A drawing apparatus which draws a drawing surface in a band-shaped one band area unit corresponding to one band of the drawing data, using drawing data in which a plurality of graphic data are arranged in band units as input information. There is provided a control means for performing the drawing for the one band area by acquiring the data for each one of the graphic data from the drawing data, generating the bitmap for each of the acquired one graphic data, and performing the drawing. A drawing apparatus comprising: 6. The drawing data is placed on a network, and the control means acquires data for each figure data from the drawing data via the network.
The drawing device according to claim 5. 7. A drawing device for drawing, as input information, drawing data in which a plurality of graphic data is arranged in band units, and drawing a drawing surface in a band-shaped one band area unit corresponding to one band of the drawing data. And a determination unit that determines whether or not the network is congested, and if the determination unit determines that the network is not congested, the drawing data for each figure data is passed through the network. Data acquisition,
When it is determined that the network is congested by the first control unit that draws the one band area by generating a bit map for each of the acquired one figure data and drawing Further, all graphic data included in one band unit is acquired from the drawing data via the network at one time and stored in a buffer, and all graphic data included in the stored one band unit is stored. A second control means for generating a bitmap and performing drawing for the one band region; 8. A drawing apparatus for drawing by the drawing processing method according to claim 1. 9. A drawing apparatus for drawing by the drawing processing method according to claim 4.