JP2003099163A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly execute image forming processing by properly transferring data between the chip set and engine part of a CPU when using the CPU whose interface is not made open to the public to the controller of an image forming device. SOLUTION: An NB 103 and an ASCI 108 being a part of the chip set of a CPU 102 are connected through an AGP 106, and high speed data transfer with a large capacity from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 is executed by writing (AGP transaction) from an AGP master 108b to an AGP target 103c.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for connecting an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter and a CPU to a controller having an integrated circuit for image processing and performing an image forming process under the control of the CPU.
In particular, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that can perform image forming processing at high speed when a CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used as a controller of the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, an ASIC (Application Spec
In many cases, a controller including a smart IC) and a CPU is connected to the engine unit, and this controller is used to perform image forming processing.

For example, in the case of a copying machine, an ASIC having a plurality of hardware elements for image processing is mounted on a controller, the ASIC and the engine section are connected by a PCI interface, and they are arranged on the same controller. CP by connecting the CPU and ASIC
The copy process will be performed under the control of U.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus, since the image forming process is performed under the control of the CPU, the C having higher performance is used.
It is desirable to use PU. And the recent RIS
The C-type general-purpose CPU does not expose the interface of the CPU itself.
And the CPU must be connected.

Specifically, the CPU via the chip set
When connecting the ASIC and ASIC, usually PCI (Peripher
al Component Interconnection) will be connected via a bus called.

[0006]

However, since the PCI bus via the chipset is a low-speed bus, if the CPU and ASIC are connected via this PCI bus, even if a high-performance CPU is used. Even if it is used, there is a problem that the performance of the image forming apparatus as a whole is degraded.

For example, in the case of a printer, image data received from a network interface unit connected to the chipset needs to be sent and received from the chipset to the engine unit, so that the ASIC is sent from the chipset.
It is necessary to transfer image data to and from it at high speed.

In the case of a so-called PC fax in which fax data is transmitted to a personal computer or the like instead of a facsimile, image data read by a scanner, which is one of the engine units connected to the ASIC, is connected to a network connected to a chip set. Since it is necessary to transfer the image data to and from the interface unit, it is necessary to transfer image data from the ASIC to the chip set at high speed.

Further, in the case of a multi-functional machine which integrates copy processing, printer processing and fax processing, image data is transferred from the chip set to the ASIC and the ASI
It is necessary to exchange image data from C to the chipset at high speed.

From the above, when a high-performance CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used for the controller of the image forming apparatus, how to appropriately exchange data between the chipset of the CPU and the engine section. It is a very important issue.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and when a CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used as a controller of an image forming apparatus, the chip set and engine portion of the CPU are used. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing high-speed image forming processing by appropriately exchanging data with the image forming apparatus.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the object, an image forming apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 connects an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter and a CPU to a controller having an integrated circuit for image processing, and performs an image forming process under the control of the CPU. In the image forming apparatus, the controller controls the CP
A chipset interface unit for connecting the U chipset unit, and a control unit for controlling the bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication between the chipset unit and the image processing integrated circuit. It is characterized by that.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the controller is provided with the chipset interface section for connecting the chipset section of the CPU, and the bidirectional high speed and large capacity is provided between the chipset section and the image processing integrated circuit. Since it is controlled to perform the data communication of the above, not only the image data is transferred from the chip set unit to the image forming integrated circuit, but also the high speed and large capacity data transfer is performed from the image forming integrated circuit to the chip set unit. Therefore, high-speed image forming processing can be performed.

The image forming apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the chipset interface section is an accelerated graphic port and forms a part of the chipset section of the CPU. A north bridge is connected to the accelerated graphic port.

According to the invention of claim 2, the chipset interface section is an accelerated graphic port, and the north bridge forming a part of the chipset section of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. Therefore, the existing accelerated graphics port can be effectively used.

The image forming apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the control means is
The transfer of image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction. By using the Ted graphic port transaction processing, image data can be transferred at high speed from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chip set unit.

An image forming apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the first, second or third aspect, wherein the image processing integrated circuit includes an accelerated graphic port master, and the chip set unit is An accelerated graphic port target, wherein the control means transfers image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit by writing from the accelerated graphic port master to the accelerated graphic port target. It is characterized by doing.

According to the invention of claim 4, the image data is transferred from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chip set section by writing from the accelerated graphic port master to the accelerated graphic port target. , Master as well as PCI ~
Data can be transferred by processing between targets.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, the engine section includes a scanner for reading image data of a document, and the chipset section communicates with a network. A network interface unit for exchanging data is connected, and the control unit controls the image data read by the scanner to a PC.
When the image data is output as a fax to the network interface unit, transfer of image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output to the network interface section as a PC fax, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set section is accelerated. Since it is controlled to process as a Ted graphic port transaction, PC fax can be performed at high speed.

The image forming apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the engine section includes a scanner for reading image data of a document, and the chipset section is connected to a network. A network interface unit for exchanging data is connected, and the control means outputs the image data read by the scanner to the network interface unit as a net scanner from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit. It is characterized in that the transfer of the image data is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output to the network interface section as a net scanner, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set section is accelerated. Since it is controlled to process as a Ted graphic port transaction, a high speed operation as a net scanner can be realized.

The image forming apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the controller further includes storage means for storing image data and the like, and the chipset unit is connected to a network. Is connected to the network interface that exchanges data with
The control means, when outputting the image data stored in the storage means as a net file to the network interface section, transfers the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chipset section by an accelerated graphic port. It is characterized by controlling to process as a transaction.

According to the invention of claim 7, when outputting the stored image data as a net file to the network interface unit, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is accelerated graphic. Since it is controlled to process as a port transaction, the net file can be transferred at high speed.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in the embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a multifunction peripheral will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a multifunction machine according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, this multi-function peripheral includes a controller 101 and an engine unit 111 as PCI.
The connection is made at 110. The controller 101 is
This is a controller for controlling the entire multifunction peripheral, drawing, communication, and input from an operation unit (not shown). Engine part 11
Reference numeral 1 denotes a printer engine or the like connectable to a PCI bus, such as a monochrome plotter, a one-drum color plotter, a four-drum color plotter, a scanner or a fax unit. The engine unit 111 includes an image processing unit such as error diffusion and gamma conversion in addition to a so-called engine unit such as a plotter.

The controller 101 includes a CPU 102 and
North bridge (NB) 103 and system memory (M
EM-P) 104 and South Bridge (SB) 105
, Local memory (MEM-C) 107, and ASIC
108 and a hard disk drive (HDD) 109, the north bridge (NB) 103 and the ASIC 10
8 is connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 106.

The CPU 102 controls the entire complex machine, and has a chip set including an NB 103, a MEM-P 104, and an SB 105. Here, the interface of this CPU is not open to the public, and it is assumed that another device is connected via a chipset.

The NB 103 has a CPU 102 and a MEM-P.
The memory controller 103a is a bridge for connecting the 104, the SB 105, and the AGP 106, and controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 104, and a PCI master 103b and an AGP target 103c described later.
Have and.

The MEM-P 104 is a system memory used as a drawing memory of the printer, and the SB 10
Reference numeral 5 is a bridge for connecting the NB 103 to the ROM, PCI device, and peripheral device. This SB10
5 is connected to the NB 103 via a PCI bus, and a network interface (I / F) unit and the like are also connected to this PCI bus.

The ASIC 108 is an IC for image processing applications having a hardware element for image processing.
P106, PCI110, HDD109 and MEM-
It has a role of a bridge for connecting the respective C107s.
This ASIC 108 is a PCI target 10 described later.
8a and AGP master 108b, arbiter (ARB) 108c which is the core of ASIC 108, and MEM-C.
A memory controller 108d for controlling 107, a plurality of DMACs 108e for rotating image data by hardware logic and the like, and a PCI unit 108f for transferring data to and from the engine 111 via a PCI bus.

The MEM-C 107 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer,
The HDD 109 is a storage for accumulating image data, programs, font data, and forms.

The AGP 106 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed for accelerating graphic processing, and by directly accessing the system memory with high throughput,
It speeds up graphics accelerator cards.

Since the AGP 106 is originally used to smoothly display a 3D (three-dimensional) image on the display, a graphic controller is connected to the AGP 106. In addition, high-speed graphic display requires high-speed communication from the NB 103 side to the graphic controller side. For these reasons, conventionally, the AGP 106 has been used as a bus for high speed communication from the NB 103 side to the graphic controller side.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, this A
The NB 103 and the ASIC 108 are connected via the GP 106, and the AGP 106 is used as a bus for bidirectional high-speed communication between the NB 103 and the ASIC 108.

That is, in the prior art in which the graphic controller is connected to the AGP 106, there is no need for high-speed transfer of the image data from the graphic controller side to the NB 103 side. However, in the present embodiment, the NB 103 in the multifunction machine is used. Since the AGP 106 is extendedly used as a bus between the ASIC 108 and the ASIC 108, it becomes necessary to transfer the image data at high speed from the graphic controller side to the NB 103 side. Therefore, the AGP 106 is used as a bidirectional high-speed transfer bus. Are using. This point differs from the conventional simple AGP 106 usage mode.

For example, in the case of PC fax, A
Since it is necessary to transfer image data read by a scanner, which is one of the engines 111 connected to the SIC 108, to the network interface unit connected to the NB 103 at high speed, it is necessary to transfer the image data at high speed in such a case as well. It occurs.

Next, the ASIC 108 and the NB shown in FIG.
Data exchange between the 103 and the AGP 106 will be described more specifically. The AGP 106 is an interface technically created as an extension of PCI,
AGP transaction that requires high-speed transfer and PC
Process the I transaction.

Specifically, a PC such as a command transfer
When processing an I transaction, the PCI master 103b controls the bus to transfer data to and from the PCI target 108a.

On the other hand, when processing an AGP transaction such as transfer of image data, the AGP master 108b transfers data to and from the AGP target 103c. When processing this AGP transaction, the throughput can be improved by the pipeline method and the high transfer efficiency can be obtained by adopting the sideband address bus (SBA bus).

For example, print data is sent to the engine 11
In the case of printing with 1, an AGP transaction for exchanging print data from the NB 103 to the ASIC 108 occurs, so that the AGP master 108b reads the image data from the AGP target 103c, and the ASI
Image data is received at high speed on the C108 side.

When the image data read by the scanner, which is one of the engines 111, is transferred to the network interface unit connected to the NB 103, the image data is transferred from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103.
Since a GP transaction occurs, as shown in FIG. 2, the AGP master 108b has the AGP target 103c.
The image data is written in and the NB 103 side receives the image data at high speed.

Such an AGP transaction does not occur in the conventional technique of connecting the graphic controller to the chip set. That is, when transferring an AGP transaction, read, write, or reservation is performed using a 4-bit command format, and “0100” write and “0101” write (priority) can be used. This is because, when a graphic controller is connected, it is not necessary to use such a write command itself (it is not necessary to transfer image data from the graphic board to the NB 103 side at high speed).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the ASIC
AGP master 108b in 108 and AG in NB103
By reading / writing with the P target 103c,
It realizes bi-directional high-speed data transfer, and thus realizes smooth data transfer between multifunction devices.

Next, the configuration of the multifunctional machine shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the functional side will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the multi-function peripheral shown in FIG. 1 as seen from the functional side. As shown in the figure, the multifunction machine 300 includes a monochrome line printer (B & W LP) 301 and a color line printer (Color
LP) 302, other hardware resources 303, and the like, and a software group 310 includes a platform 320 and an application 330.

The platform 320 interprets the processing request from the application 330 to generate the hardware resource acquisition request, and the following control service, and manages one or a plurality of hardware resources. System Resource Manager (SRM) that arbitrates acquisition requests
eManager) 323 and a general-purpose OS 321.

This control service is formed by a plurality of service modules. Specifically, the SCS
(System Control Service) 322 and ECS (Engine
Control Service) 324 and MCS (Memory Control)
Service) 325 and OCS (Operation panel Contro
Service) 326 and FCS (FAX Control Service)
327 and NCS (Network Control Service) 328
There is. It should be noted that the platform 320 has an application program interface that enables the processing request from the application to be received by a predefined function.

The general-purpose OS 321 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX, and the platform 320
Also, each software of the application 330 is executed in parallel as a process. Open source U
By using NIX (registered trademark), it is possible to ensure the safety of the program, enable network compatibility, and easily obtain the source code. Furthermore, O
No royalties for S and TCP / IP are required, and outsourcing is easy.

The SRM 323 controls the system and manages resources together with the SCS 322. The SRM 323 has an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter, a memory, and an H.
DD file, host I / O (Centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE 1394 I / F, RS232C
Arbitration is performed and execution is controlled according to a request from an upper layer that uses hardware resources such as I / F.

Specifically, the SRM 323 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is available. Tell upper layers that wear resources are available. In addition, hardware resource utilization scheduling may be performed in response to a request from an upper layer, and the request content (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation by the printer engine, memory reservation, file generation, etc.) may be directly executed. .

The SCS 322 is (1) application management,
(2) Operation unit control, (3) system screen display (job list screen, counter display screen, etc.), (4) LED display, (5) resource management, and (6) interrupt application control. Specifically, in (1) application management, processing of registering an application and notifying other applications of the information is performed. With respect to the registered application, the state of the engine unit is notified according to the system setting and the request setting from the application. In addition, the registered applications are inquired as to whether or not the system is in a state transition such as a power mode transition inquiry and an interrupt mode.

In (2) operation unit control, exclusive control of the operation unit use right of the application is performed. Then, the key information from the operation unit driver (OCS) is exclusively notified to the application having the right to use the operation unit. This key information performs mask control for temporarily stopping the notification in response to a system state transition such as application switching.

Further, in (3) system screen display, a warning screen corresponding to the state of the engine section is displayed in accordance with the request content from the application having the operation section use right. Among these, there is one that turns on / off the warning display according to the state of the application such as the user restriction screen. In addition to the state of the engine section, display control of a job list screen for displaying the reservation / execution status of jobs, a counter screen for displaying total counters, and a screen indicating that CSS is being notified is performed. Regarding these system screen displays,
Drawing is performed as a system screen that covers the application screen without requesting the application to release the right to use the operation unit.

Further, (4) LED display shows a warning LE.
It controls the display of system LEDs such as D and application keys. The LED unique to the application is directly controlled by the application using the display driver.

In the resource management (5), the application (ECS) provides a service for exclusive control of engine resources (scanner, staple, etc.) that must be excluded when executing a job, and (6)
In the interrupt application control, control and service are performed to prioritize the operation of a specific application.

The ECS 324 is a black and white line printer (B & B
W LP) 301, Color line printer (Color LP) 30
2. Others, which controls the engine unit such as the hardware resource 303, performs image reading and printing operation, status notification, jam recovery, and the like.

Specifically, a series of copy / scan / print operations are realized by sequentially issuing print requests to the SRM 323 according to the job mode designation received from the application 330. The job handled by the ECS 324 is assumed to have a scanner (SCANNER) specified for the image input device or a plotter (PLOTTER) specified for the image output device.

For example, in the case of a copy operation, "SCANNE
"R → PLOTTER" is specified, "SCANNER → MEMORY" is specified for file accumulation, and "SCANNER → FAX_IN" is specified for facsimile transmission. In addition, when printing a stored file or printing from the printer application 311, "MEMORY → PLOTTER" is specified,
In the case of facsimile reception, “FAX_OUT → PLOTTER” is specified.

Although the definition of the job differs depending on the application, the processing operation for one set of images handled by the user is defined as one job here. For example, in the case of the copy ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) mode, one job is to read one set of documents placed on the platen, and the platen mode is one job to read the final document. . Further, in the case of the copy application 312, the operation of copying a bundle of documents is one job, and in the case of the fax application 313, the operation of transmitting one document or the operation of receiving one document is one job, and the operation of the printer application is In this case, one document print operation is one job.

The MCS 325 performs memory control, and specifically, acquires and releases the image memory,
It uses a hard disk drive (HDD) and compresses and decompresses image data.

Here, the functions necessary for managing the information required as an image data file stored in the hard disk device are (1) file access (generation / generation
Delete / Open / Close) function (including exclusive processing),
(2) File name / ID management (file / user) /
Various file attribute management such as password management / accumulation time management / page number / data format (compression method etc.) / Access restriction / creating application / printing condition management (management of image data file of physical page unit)
(3) Join / insert / on a file basis and page basis
Disconnection function, (4) file sorting function (accumulation time order / user ID order, etc.), (5) notification of all file information (for display / search), (6) recovery function (corrupted file / page discard), (7) There is an automatic file deletion function.

Further, the functions for holding and accessing the image data to the memory such as RAM are (1) the function of acquiring the file and page / band attribute information from the application 330, and (2) the application 33.
Secure, release, and read (Rea) of image data area from 0
d), Write function.

The OCS 326 is a module for controlling the operation panel which serves as a means for transmitting information between the operator and the main body control, and is a process for notifying the main body control of an operator's key operation event, and a library function for each application to construct a GUI. Is provided, processing for managing the constructed GUI information for each application, display reflection processing on the operation panel, and the like are performed.

This OCS 326 is provided with (1) a library providing function for constructing a GUI, (2) an operation unit hardware resource management function, (3) VRAM drawing / LCD display function (hardware display, display application switching, display) Language switching,
(Window dark display, message / icon blink display, message link display), (4) hard key input detection function, (5) touch panel key input detection function, (6)
It has an LED output function and (7) buzzer output function.

The FCS 327 is a facsimile transmission / reception from each application layer of the system controller using the PSTN / ISDN network, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, fusion transmission / reception. It provides an API for performing.

Specifically, the FCS 327 is (1)
Documents sent from the application layer to PSTN /
Sending function to send to a facsimile receiver using ISDN network, (2) Fax receiving screen received from PSTN / ISDN network, receiving function to transfer and print various reports to each application layer, (3) fax board Phonebook quotation / registration function for quoting and registering facsimile management items such as phonebooks and group information stored in, and (4) BK mounted on the fax board
Fax log notification function to notify the application that needs the transmission / reception result history information stored in M,
(5) FC when the fax board status changes
It has an event notification function for notifying an event that the application registered in S has changed.

The NCS 328 is a group of modules for providing services that can be used in common for applications that require network I / O. The NCS 328 distributes data received from the network according to each protocol to each application, and Mediates when data is transmitted from the network to the network side. Specifically, ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd,
It has a server daemon such as smtpd and a client function of the same protocol.

The application 330 is a page description language (PDL), PCL and Postscript (PS).
A printer application 311, which is an application for a printer, a copy application 312, which is a copying application, a fax application 313, which is a facsimile application, a scanner application 314, which is a scanner application, and a net file application, which is a net file application. File application 315
And a process inspection application 316 which is a process inspection application. Each application 311 to 316
Can execute and execute operations using each process on the platform 320, and its main component is a screen display control program that performs screen control, key operation control, job generation, and the like. Note that a new application can be installed via the network via the network connected by the NCS 328. Further, each application can be added or deleted for each application.

As described above, unlike the conventional multi-function peripheral, the multi-function peripheral 300 does not have a controller board for each function such as a printer, a copy, and a facsimile, but simply has a printer application, a copy application, and a facsimile application in common. It does not run on the OS. That is, the multi-functional peripheral 300 improves the development efficiency of each application by centrally performing the processing commonly required by each application on the platform 320.
This increases the productivity of the entire device.

Therefore, when various image forming processes are performed by using the multifunction machine 300, the NB 103 to A
Not only the AGP transaction that transfers image data at high speed to the SIC 108 but also the ASIC 108 to the NB1
It also has to process AGP transactions that transfer image data to 03 at high speed.

Therefore, in the following, from ASIC 108 to N
An AGP transaction for transferring image data to B103 at high speed will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 4
Displays the image data read by the scanner, which is a part of the engine, by the fax application 313 shown in FIG.
It is an explanatory view for explaining an AGP transaction when faxing.

Originally, since the fax unit for performing fax transmission is added to the engine 111 side, when performing normal fax transmission processing, ASIC is required.
The image data is not output from the 108 via the PCI 110 and is not output to the NB 103 via the AGP 106.

However, in the PC fax in which the fax data is directly transmitted to the computer, the fax data is transmitted to the computer via the network I / F unit 202. Therefore, in such a case, as shown in FIG. 4, the scanner image data read by the scanner 201 is compression-encoded by the ASIC 108, and the compression-encoded fax data is transferred to the ASIC 108-.
Network I / F via AGP 106-NB 103
It will be transmitted to the section 202.

In such a case, the ASIC 108 to the NB1
If the image data is read by the PCI transaction with respect to 03, there is a high possibility that a processing delay will occur. Therefore, A from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103
A GP transaction occurs.

FIG. 5 shows the scanner application 31 shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an AGP transaction when image data read by a scanner which is a part of the engine by 4 is used (when used as a network scanner).

In this case, like the PC fax shown in FIG. 4, the image data read by the scanner is ASI.
If necessary, the image data is compressed to mpeg or the like in C108, and the image data is converted into ASIC108 to AGP106 to NB10.
3 to the network I / F unit 104.

In such a case, the ASIC 108 outputs the NB1
If the image data is read by the PCI transaction with respect to 03, there is a high possibility that a processing delay will occur. Therefore, A from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103
A GP transaction occurs.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an AGP transaction when the image data stored in the hard disk drive 109 is transferred by the net file application 315 shown in FIG.

In this case, the hard disk drive 1
The image data stored in 09 is ASIC108 to AGP1.
Network I / F unit 104 via 06-NB 103
Will be sent to.

In such a case, the ASIC 108 outputs the NB1
If the image data is read by the PCI transaction with respect to 03, there is a high possibility that a processing delay will occur. Therefore, A from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103
A GP transaction occurs.

As described above, when performing a PC fax using a high-performance multifunction machine, when using this multifunction machine as a network scanner, or when extracting image data stored in this multifunction machine via a network. In this case, there is a need for high-speed and large-capacity data communication from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the AGP for performing high-speed and large-capacity data communication from the chip set side to the graphic controller side is expanded in function and applied to the image forming apparatus, thereby forming a part of the chip set. N
It enables bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication between the B103 and the ASIC 108.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the NB10 which is a part of the chip set of the CPU 102 is used.
3 and ASIC108 are connected by AGP106,
By writing (AGP transaction) from the GP master 108b to the AGP target 103c, the ASI
Since the high-speed and large-capacity data transfer from the C108 to the NB 103 is performed, a high-speed image forming process can be performed even when performing a PC fax or the like.

In the present embodiment, S is used for convenience of explanation.
CS322, SRM323, ECS324, MCS32
5, the OCS 326, FCS 327, and NCS 328 form the platform 320, and the printer application 31
1, the case where the application 330 is formed by the copy application 312, the fax application 313, the scanner application 314, the net file application 315, and the process inspection application 316 has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the platform 320 or It can also be applied when another software element is added to the application 330.

[0086]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the controller is provided with the chipset interface section for connecting the chipset section of the CPU, and the chipset section and the image processing integrated circuit are provided between the chipset section and the image processing integrated circuit. Since it is configured to perform bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication, not only the transfer of image data from the chipset unit to the image forming integrated circuit, but also high speed transfer from the image forming integrated circuit to the chipset unit Transfers large amounts of data,
Therefore, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus capable of performing high-speed image forming processing even when performing a PC fax or the like.

According to the invention of claim 2, the chipset interface section is an accelerated graphic port, and the north bridge forming a part of the chipset section of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. Since it is configured, an effect is obtained that an image forming apparatus capable of effectively utilizing an existing accelerated graphic port can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set section is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction. There is an effect that it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus capable of transferring image data from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chip set section at high speed by using the rated graphic port transaction processing.

According to the present invention, the image data is transferred from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chip set section by writing from the accelerated graphic port master to the accelerated graphic port target. Therefore, similarly to PCI, an effect is obtained that an image forming apparatus capable of performing data transfer by processing between a master and a target can be obtained.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output as a PC fax to the network interface section, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set section is accelerated. Since the control is performed so that the transaction is performed as the rated graphic port transaction, the image forming apparatus capable of performing the PC fax at high speed can be obtained.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output to the network interface section as a net scanner, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set section is accelerated. Since the control is performed so that the transaction is performed as a rated graphic port transaction, there is an effect that an image forming apparatus capable of realizing high-speed operation as a net scanner can be obtained.

According to the invention of claim 7, when outputting the stored image data as a net file to the network interface section, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set section is accelerated. Since the control is performed so as to process as a graphic port transaction, there is an effect that an image forming apparatus capable of transferring a net file at high speed can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for describing writing of image data when processing an AGP transaction from an ASIC to an NB shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining software functions of the multi-function peripheral shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an AGP transaction when PC-faxing image data read by a scanner which is a part of an engine by the fax application shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a case where image data read by a scanner that is a part of an engine is transferred by the scanner application shown in FIG. 3 (when used as a network scanner);
It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating GP transaction.

6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an AGP transaction when image data stored in a hard disk drive is transferred by the net file application shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 controller 102 CPU 103 NB (Northbridge) 103a memory controller 103b PCI master 103c AGP target 104 MEM-P (system memory) 105 SB (South Bridge) 106 AGP 107 MEM-C (local memory) 108 ASIC 108a PCI target 108b AGP master 108c ARB 108d memory controller 108e DMAC 108f PCI unit 109 HDD 110 PCI 111 engine

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A controller having an integrated circuit for image processing, an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter, and a C.
An image forming apparatus that connects a PU and performs an image forming process under the control of the CPU, wherein the controller includes a chipset interface unit that connects a chipset unit of the CPU, the chipset unit, and the image. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls to perform bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication with a processing integrated circuit. 2. The chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and a north bridge forming a part of the chipset unit of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. 1. The image forming apparatus according to 1. 3. The control unit controls the transfer of image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction. The image forming apparatus described. 4. The image processing integrated circuit includes an accelerated graphic port master, the chipset unit includes an accelerated graphic port target, and the control means controls the accelerated graphic port master from the accelerated graphic port master. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein image data is transferred from the image processing integrated circuit to a chip set unit by writing to the accelerated graphic port target. 5. The engine unit includes a scanner for reading image data of an original, the chipset unit is connected to a network interface unit for exchanging data with a network, and the control unit is the scanner. Controlling the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit as an accelerated graphic port transaction when the image data read by the above is output to the network interface unit as a PC fax. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein. 6. The engine unit includes a scanner for reading image data of a document, the chipset unit is connected to a network interface unit for exchanging data with a network, and the control unit is the scanner. Controlling the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chipset unit as an accelerated graphic port transaction when outputting the image data read by the network interface unit as a net scanner. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein. 7. The controller further comprises storage means for storing image data and the like, the chipset section is connected to a network interface section for exchanging data with a network, and the control section is for the control section. When outputting the image data stored in the storage means as a net file to the network interface unit, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image forming apparatus comprises: