JP2003218955A - Data transmission apparatus, terminal employing the same, and data transmission control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data transmission apparatus and a transmission processing method capable of transmitting transmission data according to the respectively precedence when transmission requests are in contention and revising the transmission precedence depending on desire. <P>SOLUTION: The transmission apparatus includes: a transmission data storage section 13 having a plurality of transmission buffers; a precedence information storage section 18 for storing precedence information including the transmission sequence of transmission data; a transmission data setting section 14 for storing transmission data whose transmission is requested to any of the transmission buffers on the basis of the precedence information; a transmission/reception processing section 11 for transmitting the transmission data stored in the transmission buffers according to the transmission requence on the basis of the precedence information; and a precedence information processing section 17 for revising precedence information of the precedence information storage section 18 according to a revision instruction. Thus, the transmission apparatus can transmit transmission data according to the prescribed transmission precedence and revise the transmission precedence. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transmission device used for data communication between two devices such as a host device and a printer, a terminal device such as a printer having the data transmission device, and a data transmission control. The present invention relates to a method, a computer program including these control procedures, and a recording medium recording these computer programs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in communication between a host device and a terminal device such as a printer, various data such as print commands and print data are transmitted from the host device, and various kinds of status including various status are also sent from the terminal device. Send data.
The transmission data from the terminal device is stored in the transmission buffer, and then, in principle, is stored and transmitted in the transmission data generation order based on a communication method such as flow control by software or flow control by hardware.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned data communication, the data transmission from the terminal device to the host device may not be able to receive the data because the host device is busy or the reception buffer is full. In the device, a plurality of pieces of transmission data may be waiting for transmission. In the prior art, when the host device becomes receivable in the situation where a plurality of transmission waiting data exist in the terminal device, the transmission waiting data is transmitted in the transmission data generation order. Therefore, in the related art, there occurs a situation in which the transmission data of high urgency is transmitted after the transmission data of low urgency.

Depending on the type of transmission data, there are data that should be transmitted immediately and data that is not so urgent.
For example, "XOFF" in software flow control
Is data for notifying the other party of the unreceivable state, and it must be transmitted as soon as possible. Therefore, when a plurality of transmission requests are generated, it is desirable to transmit the transmission data with high priority such as necessity of emergency transmission first. Furthermore, the priority of sending such status data is not fixed and fixed, but
It is preferable that the priority can be changed to an appropriate priority according to the operating environment and the occurrence status.

The present invention has been made in view of the above point, and when a plurality of transmission requests conflict with each other, data which can be transmitted with high urgency can be preferentially transmitted in accordance with a predetermined transmission priority. One of the purposes is to provide a transmitter.

The present invention is a data transmission device capable of transmitting transmission data in accordance with a predetermined transmission priority assigned according to its type, and the transmission priority can be changed by a predetermined change command. One of the purposes is to provide a possible data transmission device.

The present invention provides a data transmitting apparatus capable of transmitting transmission data in accordance with a predetermined transmission priority assigned according to its type, the data transmitting apparatus being capable of changing the transmission priority by a predetermined change command. One of the purposes is to provide a terminal device provided with the terminal device.

The present invention provides a data transmission control method capable of transmitting data according to the priority order of transmission data when the transmission requests conflict with each other, and a data transmission method capable of changing the priority order of transmission data. This is one of the purposes.

Furthermore, the present invention is a data transmission control method capable of transmitting data according to the priority order of transmission data when the transmission requests conflict, and a data transmission method capable of changing the priority order of transmission data, One of the purposes is to provide a program including a procedure for executing using a computer and a recording medium thereof.

[0010]

According to the present invention, a plurality of transmission buffers having transmission priorities are provided, and transmission data requested for transmission is stored in the transmission buffer according to the priority of the data, and transmission priority is given. The problem of the above-described conventional technology is solved by configuring the transmission data to be transmitted in order from the highest, and the transmission priority to be changed by a predetermined change instruction.

A data transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a transmission data storage section having a plurality of transmission buffers, and a transmission data setting section for storing transmission data in one of the transmission buffers determined based on its type. , A transmission processing unit that transmits the transmission data stored in each transmission buffer according to a predetermined buffer priority assigned to each of the plurality of transmission buffers, and sets or changes the transmission priority that defines the transmission data transmission order. And a priority information processing unit that changes the transmission priority order according to the change command. According to this aspect, it becomes possible to preferentially transmit the transmission data having a high degree of importance in accordance with a predetermined priority, and the priority of the transmission can be changed by the change command.

In a data transmission apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, the priority information processing unit changes the setting of the buffer priority given to each of the transmission buffers based on the change command, so that the transmission data of the transmission data is changed. It is characterized in that the transmission priority is changed. In this embodiment, by changing the buffer priority of the transmission buffer, the transmission priority of the stored transmission data is changed.

In the data transmission device according to another embodiment of the present invention, the priority information processing unit changes the designation of the transmission buffer for storing the transmission data based on the change command, thereby making the transmission priority order of the transmission data. It is characterized by changing. In this embodiment, the transmission priority of transmission data is changed by changing the transmission buffer that stores transmission data without changing the buffer priority.

In the data transmitting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, the transmission processing unit detects the transmission data having the highest transmission priority from the transmission data having the transmission request, and the detected highest transmission data is detected. After the transmission process of (1) is completed, a transmission control unit that controls to sequentially execute the transmission process of the transmission data of the next rank is provided. According to this aspect, when the transmission requests conflict with each other, the transmission data can be efficiently transmitted in the transmission priority order.
For example, it detects a transmission buffer that stores transmission data and transmits the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer with the highest buffer priority among them as the transmission data with the highest transmission priority first. It can be configured.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a terminal device characterized in that it is provided with any one of the above-mentioned various data transmission devices. By making it possible to transmit the transmission data having a high degree of importance first, it becomes possible to perform communication control according to the characteristics and functions peculiar to the terminal device.

A data transmission control method according to another embodiment of the present invention is a transmission control method for transmitting the transmission data stored in a plurality of transmission buffers in accordance with a predetermined priority order. A step of acquiring, (b) storing the acquired transmission data in one of a plurality of transmission buffers designated in advance according to its type, and (c) transmitting the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer to a predetermined And a transmitting step of transmitting in accordance with a predetermined transmission priority set to be changeable based on a change command.

In a data transmission control method according to another embodiment of the present invention, in the above method, in order to change the transmission priority of the transmission data, (d) a change command for changing the transmission priority is detected. And (e) changing the setting of the transmission priority order based on the detected change command.

In a data transmission control method according to another embodiment of the present invention, in the transmission step (c), (f) the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer is selected based on the stored transmission priority order. The step of detecting the transmission data of the highest transmission priority, the step of (g) executing the transmission processing of the detected highest transmission data, and (h) the transmission of the highest transmission data, and then sequentially. , And a step of executing a transmission process for transmission data of the next rank.

A data transmission control method according to another embodiment of the present invention is a transmission control method for transmitting the transmission data stored in a plurality of transmission buffers in accordance with a predetermined priority order. And a step of (b) storing the acquired transmission data in a predetermined transmission buffer which is designated according to the type of transmission data and whose designation can be changed by a predetermined change command. And (c) a transmission step of transmitting the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer in accordance with a predetermined priority assigned to the transmission buffer.

In the data transmission control method according to another embodiment of the present invention, in order to change the designation of the transmission buffer designated according to the type of the transmission data as the storage destination of the transmission data, (d) designation And (e) changing the designation of the transmission buffer for storing the transmission data based on the detected change instruction.

In the data transmission control method according to another embodiment of the present invention, in the transmission step (c), (f) the transmission buffer having the highest priority is selected from the transmission buffers storing the transmission data. Detecting step, (g) executing the transmission processing of the transmission data stored in the detected highest transmission buffer, and (h) ending transmission of the transmission data stored in the highest transmission buffer After that, the process of sequentially transmitting the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer of the next rank is performed.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute each step of the above transmission control method. This program enables the present invention to be implemented by a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and a predetermined logic circuit.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing each step of the above transmission control method is described.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described.

The present invention can be used for data communication between two or more various devices. In the following description, as a typical embodiment of the present invention, a host device and a PO constituting a POS terminal used in the retail distribution business
An example of data communication between S printers will be described. PO
The S terminal is a point-of-sale information input terminal device for POS systems used in supermarkets, department stores, etc.
At the same time, it functions as a customer's purchased product settlement processing device.
The POS terminal includes a host device that controls the settlement process and the entire POS terminal, and various terminal devices connected to the host device. The terminal device connected to the host device includes various printers, various displays, bar code scanners, and the like.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a POS printer. The POS printer 10 includes a host device 70 (hereinafter, referred to as a host device 70) that controls an entire POS terminal (not shown).
The host 7 is connected to the host 7)
Various data is transmitted to and received from 0. The host 70 transmits various commands such as a print command, a paper feed command, a status transmission command, print data, and the like, and also a change command for changing the priority of the transmission data. The data transmitted from the host 70 is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 12 via the transmission / reception processing unit 11 and then analyzed by the data analysis unit 16. When the received data analyzed by the data analysis unit 16 is a command such as a print command or a change command, the process corresponding to the command is executed, and when the received data is print data, the received data is stored in the print buffer. Then, printing is performed by a printing mechanism unit (not shown) under the control of the printing control unit.

From the POS printer 10 to the host 70,
In addition to data such as version information, various status data are transmitted. At the center of the transmission data from the printer is status data indicating various states of the printer. The transmission of the status data may be executed in response to the reception of the status request command from the host 70, or may be automatically transmitted when the POS printer 10 has a predetermined situation. It is also possible to set in advance so that the status is automatically transmitted when a predetermined situation occurs according to an instruction from the host 70. In this specification, the function of automatically transmitting the status when a predetermined situation is generated by a command from the host in this way is referred to as an "ASB function" (ASB: Auto
Status Back).

(Data transmission) The status data is P
It is generated by the status processing unit 15 based on signals or information from the voltage abnormality detection unit provided in the OS printer 10, various sensors such as a reception buffer full, cover open, no paper, and the state detection unit. The status processing unit 15 uses the ASB when the status of the printer changes.
Predetermined status data is output to the transmission data setting unit 14 according to the setting status of the function. Transmission data setting unit 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a transmission / reception processing unit 1 for transmitting transmission control signals such as transmission request signals.
1 and the status data is stored in any of the transmission buffers a to x according to the priority order. The transmission request transmitted from the transmission data setting unit 14 is
It is stored in the transmission / reception processing unit 11 as a transmission request flag (described later) corresponding to each of the transmission buffers a to x. The transmission data setting unit 14 can be configured by a register corresponding to each transmission buffer a to x or a memory such as a RAM. When it is configured by a memory, a predetermined memory space is allocated to each transmission buffer a to x. The size of the transmission buffer may differ depending on the individual transmission buffers a to x.

The transmission / reception processing unit 11 performs communication processing with the host 70. When transmitting from the POS printer 10, the transmission / reception processing unit 11 confirms whether or not the host 70 is in a receivable state, and confirms that the host 70 is receivable based on the control data whether or not there is a transmission request. . When there are a plurality of transmission requests, the transmission data with the highest transmission priority is transmitted in order.

As a result, even when a plurality of data transmission requests are generated at the same time and the transmission requests conflict with each other, the data can be sequentially transmitted according to the priority order of the status data rather than the generation order of the transmission data.

(Change of Transmission Priority) A case will be described in which the transmission priority of transmission data is changed by a predetermined change instruction. When it is desired to change the transmission priority order, for example, the host 70 transmits a change command for changing the transmission priority order to the POS printer 10. The change command will be described in detail later. When the POS printer 10 receives the change command from the host 70 and the data analysis unit 16 detects that the data received from the host 70 is the change command, the POS printer 10 relates to the priority order of the transmission data stored in the priority information storage unit 18. The priority information is changed by the priority information processing unit 17.

The priority information stored in the priority information storage unit 18 and the method of changing the priority information can determine the transmission priority of the transmission data at the time of data transmission, and change the transmission priority by a change command. Anything is possible as long as it can. For example, the priority orders given to the transmission buffers a to x can be stored as priority information. In this configuration, when there are a plurality of transmission requests, the priorities of the transmission requests are confirmed at the time of transmission, and the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer having a high priority is transmitted first. The transmission priority is changed by changing the priority given to the transmission buffer. Further, the priority of the transmission buffer may be fixed so as not to be changed, and the location (transmission buffer) for storing the transmission data may be changed as the priority information according to the type of the transmission data. is there. By changing the transmission buffer that stores the status data to a transmission buffer with a higher priority, it becomes possible to raise the priority of the transmission data.

(Second Embodiment) (Structure) FIG. 2 shows a part of the functional block diagram shown in FIG. 1 in more detail, and is a functional block diagram according to another embodiment of the present invention. Regarding each part corresponding to FIG. 1,
"A" is attached to each corresponding number.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the transmission data setting unit 14a, the transmission data storage unit 13a, the transmission / reception processing unit 11a, and the data analysis unit 1 are provided.
6a, priority information processing unit 17a, priority information storage unit 18a,
And a control data storage unit 28.

The transmission data setting section 14a includes a priority determination section 21, a control data setting section 22, and a buffer storage control section 2.
3 and 3. The transmission / reception processing unit 11a includes a transmission processing unit 20, an interface 27, and a reception processing unit 29, and the transmission processing unit 20 further includes a transmission control unit 24,
A control data confirmation unit 25 and a transmission data reading unit 26 are provided. In FIG. 2, the control data storage unit 28 provided independently may be provided in the transmission data setting unit 14a or the transmission processing unit 20a.

(Data Transmission Operation) Next, assuming that the status data is transmitted to the host 70, the data transmission operation will be described. For the status data received from the status processing unit 15, the priority determination unit 21 determines the transmission priority order according to the type of status data. The buffer storage control unit 23 stores status data in any of the transmission buffers a to n corresponding to the priority order based on the determination result of the priority order. In the present embodiment, the priority order corresponding to the type of status data is determined and the transmission buffer to be stored is specified. However, the type of status data is simply determined and a predetermined transmission corresponding to that type is performed. It may be configured to be stored in a buffer (associating the type with a predetermined transmission buffer having a priority has the same meaning as determining the priority).

The control data setting unit 22 causes the control data storage unit 28 to store the determined priority (or the type of status data) and various control data relating to the status data to be transmitted. The control data includes various information such as a status request or a transmission request flag corresponding to each transmission buffer, transmission data address information, and the number of transmission data bytes (not shown). The control data setting unit 22
The corresponding transmission request flag in the control data storage unit 28 is turned “ON”, and related control data is written in the control data storage unit 28.

The transmission control unit 24 of the transmission processing unit 20 periodically checks whether the host 70 can receive data, and the host 7
When 0 can be received, the control data confirmation unit 25 confirms the transmission request flag of the control data storage unit 28. The transmission request flag may be periodically confirmed without confirming whether the host 70 is in the receivable state. If the transmission request flag is “ON”, the transmission data reading unit 26 causes the corresponding transmission data (from the transmission buffers a to x) based on the address information of the transmission data storage position stored in the control data storage unit 28. Read status data). The status data read by the transmission data reading unit 26 is transmitted to the host 70 via the interface 27 under the control of the transmission control unit 24.

When a plurality of transmission request flags are "ON", the transmission data stored in the buffer having a high transmission priority is transmitted first. When the host 70 is down for a long period of time, when it is busy due to other processing, or when it is in the reception buffer full state, a large amount of data waiting to be transmitted is stored in the transmission buffers a to x, and a transmission request is sent. There may be conflicts. In the present invention, even in such a case, the status data such as "XOFF" having a high degree of importance can be transmitted first.
A quick response by 0 becomes possible, and more appropriate data communication becomes possible.

The transmission priority order is determined by the priority information storage unit 1
The priority information stored in 8a is used. Figure 6
An example of the priority information stored in the priority information storage unit 18a is shown in (a). In FIG. 6A, types of transmission data A to X, specific information (a to x in FIG. 6) for identifying the transmission buffer, and transmission priorities 1 to n are stored as the priority information. With this priority information, the transmission data setting unit 14a
Can know the transmission buffer to be stored according to the type of the transmission data, and the transmission processing unit 20 transmits the data in which transmission buffer first when the transmission data is stored in the plurality of transmission buffers. It becomes possible to know what to do.

As described above, since the transmission buffer for storing the transmission data and the transmission order of the transmission data are determined based on this priority information, the transmission priority order is changed by changing this priority information based on the change command. Can be changed. The transmission priority can be changed by either changing the transmission buffer in which the transmission data is to be stored or changing the transmission priority of the transmission buffer.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

The present embodiment shows an example in which the transmission data storage section is provided with three transmission buffers a, b, c having different transmission priorities. The transmission priority can be set arbitrarily, but here it is assumed that the transmission buffer a has the highest priority, and then the transmission buffer b and the transmission buffer c are set in this order. In FIG. 3, FIG. 1 and FIG.
Portions common to those are indicated by adding "b" after the number.

Usually, there are three or more types of transmission data. As described above, when the number of transmission buffers is smaller than the number of types of transmission data, each transmission data is determined in advance in one of three priority levels, and the priority determination unit 21
The priority of each status data is determined by b. When the priority is determined, the buffer storage control unit 23b causes the transmission buffer a, which corresponds to the priority of the transmission data,
Either b or c is designated, and the status data is stored in the designated transmission buffer. In addition, the storage location of each transmission data may be determined in advance in any of the three transmission buffers, and the type of the transmission data may be determined and then stored in the corresponding transmission buffer. The priority of the status data or the transmission buffer to be stored is determined based on the priority information stored in the priority information storage unit 18b. As mentioned above, as priority information,
By storing the transmission data, the transmission buffer in which the transmission data should be stored, the priority order, etc. in association with each other,
It becomes possible to store the transmission data in a predetermined transmission buffer.

Various techniques can be adopted to detect the type of transmission data. For example, the control signal indicating the type of status is received from the status processing unit 15 to detect the type, or the transmission data includes information indicating the type of transmission data.
Various configurations are possible, such as enabling detection by the priority determination unit 21b. The operation of reading and transmitting the status data is almost the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

(Exemplary Types of Transmission Buffer) FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the transmission data storage unit 13 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with seven types of transmission buffers according to the type of status. "XOFF", "Signal line status", "Power ON status", "Real time status", "A"
Seven transmission buffers 51 to 57 are provided corresponding to seven types of statuses of "SB (auto status back)", "XON", and "normal status". More transmission buffers for other statuses On the other hand, when there is a status that is not used, it is possible to reduce the number of transmission buffers, and it is also possible to set an unused transmission buffer to be unusable. However, even if a plurality of transmission buffers are provided so that various statuses can be dealt with and some of them are not used, unnecessary transmission buffers are not actually used, and there is no particular problem. Provide a send buffer corresponding to many statuses, and use only the send buffer corresponding to the number of send data used. It is also possible to adopt a configuration. In addition, by providing a switch or the like for changing the transmission priority of the transmission buffer, it is also possible to configure changeable transmission priority.

The mutual relationships among the transmission buffers 51 to 57, the transmission data, and the priority order are stored as priority information in the priority information storage section. In this embodiment, the transmission buffers 51-57.
And the type of transmission data have a one-to-one correspondence. The type of status data is determined by the transmission data setting unit 14 and stored in the corresponding transmission buffers 51 to 57. At the same time, the transmission data setting unit 14 to the control data storage unit 28
The control data is stored in (FIG. 2). Send buffer 51
The status data stored in 57 to 57 is transmitted to the transmission processing unit 2
0 (FIG. 2), it is transmitted to the host 70 according to the priority order based on the control data stored in the control data storage unit 28.

(Embodiment 4) The transmission data setting unit 14, the status processing unit 15, and the transmission processing unit 2 as described above.
0, the transmission data storage unit 13 and the like can be implemented by a logic circuit such as an ASIC and a register, and C
It is also possible to implement by using hardware such as PU (including MPU), RAM, and ROM, and software that controls these. When the present invention is implemented by hardware such as a CPU and software, the size of the transmission buffer can be easily changed as necessary by allocating a predetermined space in the memory as each transmission buffer of the transmission data storage unit 13. Becomes

FIG. 5 shows a functional block diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is carried out by using a CPU, RAM, ROM and control software.

The host device 70 and the POS printer 10 are operated via the interface 27c. Basic control of the POS printer 10 is performed by the main control means 31. Control of operations such as printing and data communication is performed by various control means 32 to 38 under the control of the main control means 31. The control of data communication is executed by the transmission / reception control means 32. The function of the transmission / reception control means 32 is divided into a reception processing means 42 and a transmission processing means 43. These units have the same functions as the transmission / reception processing unit 11, the transmission processing unit 20, and the reception processing unit 29 described above. Storage means 34
Can be configured by a RAM or the like, and the reception buffer 4
4, the transmission buffer 45, the control data storage unit 46, the print buffer 47, the priority information storage unit 48, etc.
It can be provided inside.

Printing is performed by the printing mechanism 40 including a printing paper transporting mechanism under the control of the main control means 31 and the printing control means 37. The print data is the print buffer 47.
Be deployed to. The printing mechanism 40 includes various logic circuits that control the operation of the print head and the like under the control of the print control unit 37. The printing mechanism and the like are provided with various sensors 41 such as a paper position sensor, a jam sensor, and a voltage sensor, and detection signals from the various sensors are processed by the status processing means 38.

The host 70 uses the status as transmission data.
When the data is transmitted to the server, the status processing means 38 outputs the status transmission data to the transmission data setting means 33 via the main control means 31. Transmission data setting means 33
Stores the status data in a predetermined transmission buffer 45 and the control data in the control data storage means 46 according to the type of status data, the priority order, and the like. The transmission data stored in the transmission buffer 45 is transmitted by the transmission processing means 43 according to the priority given to the transmission buffer. The transmission priority order is determined according to the priority information stored in the priority information storage unit 48.
The priority information in the priority information storage unit 48 can be changed by a change command. When the data analysis unit 35 detects that the received data is the change command, the priority information processing unit 36 rewrites the priority information in the priority information storage unit 48 of the storage unit 34 according to the change command. As a result, the transmission priority of the transmission data is changed.

(Example of status data transmission processing)
Transmission of status data will be described using a specific example with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of transmission data and the like stored in the transmission buffers a to x,
(A) is a normal status buffer 57 as shown in FIG.
Is an example of data stored in the ASB buffer 55, and (b) is an example of data stored in the ASB buffer 55. FIG. 9 shows the ASB
It is a figure which illustrates the ASB data stored in a buffer.

(Example of Transmission of Normal Status Data) First, with reference to FIG. 8A, an example of a transmission request processing procedure of the normal status by the transmission data setting unit 14b will be described. As control data for transmitting the normal status data, various control data such as a normal status transmission request and a normal status transmission flag stored in the control data storage unit 28, and control data stored in the normal status transmission buffer. There is. 8A in FIG. 8A is control data stored in the transmission buffer for transmitting normal status data, and this control data is not transmitted. The transmission buffer is provided with 128 bytes as an area for storing normal status data, and can store a plurality of normal status data up to 128 bytes. The control data is information indicating the total number of stored normal status data, the control data is information indicating the start position of transmission data of the normal status data, and the control data is data indicating the storage end position of the latest normal status data. .

First, the transmission data setting unit 14 (14a, 1
4b is included. The same will be described below).

When there is a normal status transmission request from the status processing section 15, the transmission data setting section 14 confirms whether or not there is a free space in the normal status data storage area. Whether there is a space can be confirmed by the control data. If the normal status of 128 bytes is already stored and there is no room to store any more, the standby is waited until the storage area becomes empty. If you have enough storage space,
One byte is left at the beginning of the storable area, and status data is stored after that. After the storage of status data is completed, the number of status data bytes is stored in the first 1-byte portion. In FIG. 8A, assuming that data is already stored in the shaded area, the number of bytes of the next status data is stored in the position shown in (i), and the next status data is stored in the position shown in (ii). Is stored. When the new status data is stored, the control data is updated to a value obtained by adding the number of bytes of the new status data + 1 (the number of bytes area). The value of the control data is updated to the last address of the latest data storage position (position (iii) in FIG. 8A when the latest status is 3 bytes).
Further, when the normal status transmission request flag is "OFF", it is set to "ON".

Next, the transmission processing by the transmission processing units 20 and 20b (hereinafter referred to as "transmission processing unit 20". The same applies hereinafter) will be described. When the normal status data transmission process satisfies three conditions: a normal status transmission request is generated, a transmission request with a higher priority is not generated, and other continuous data is not being transmitted. To be executed. The transmission processing unit 20 periodically receives the control data storage unit 2
The presence or absence of the transmission request flag 8 is confirmed. If there is a transmission request flag, it is confirmed that the host 70 is receivable as necessary, and if there are multiple transmission requests, the transmission processing is performed in the order of higher priority, so there is no other transmission request. In this case, normal status data transmission processing is performed.

To start transmission, first, the transmission data address and the number of transmission data are set. The transmission address is stored in the control data, and the number of transmission bytes is stored at the beginning of the status data to be transmitted. After that, the in-transmission flag is set, and the transmission of the status data is started. Each time 1 byte is sent,
Then, 1 is added to the transmission data address (+1). When the transmission data address is the final address, the start address is set as the transmission data address without adding 1 to the address. Further, 1 is subtracted (-1) from the number of data stored in the normal status (data for control).

When the predetermined transmission is completed, the normal status transmission flag is set to "OFF", and when the normal status storage data number (control data) = 0, the normal status transmission request flag is also "OFF". Then, the transmission ends. Number of data stored in normal status ≠ 0
In case of, unless there is another transmission request with high priority,
The next normal status data is transmitted by the same processing procedure.

(Example of Transmission of ASB Data) An example of transmission of ASB status data will be described with reference to FIGS. 8B and 9. The control data for ASB transmission includes an ASB transmission request flag, an ASB transmitting flag, and control data stored in the transmission buffer. Control data is A
This is data indicating the number of SB stored data, and the control data is data indicating the ASB transmission data position. Control data is not sent. One ASB is composed of 4 bytes, and a maximum of 3 ASBs (12 bytes) can be stored.

First, when there is an ASB transmission request, the transmission data setting unit 14 sets the flag and stores the ASB status in the ASB buffer when the ASB transmission request flag is not set. Storage of the ASB status will be described with reference to FIG. The storage form of the ASB status in the ASB buffer differs depending on the setting state of the ASB data transmitting flag. The number of stored data in FIG. 9 is the number of ASBs, that is, 4 bytes as one unit. When the ASB is being transmitted, at least one piece of ASB data should exist, so there is no state where the stored data is "0".

If the ASB is not being transmitted and the ASB is not stored at all (the number of stored data is "0"), the latest data is stored in the area of the transmission order 1, and the number of stored data (control data ) Is added to 1. The transmission order means the order of data transmission when a plurality of transmission data exist in the status data having the same priority. As for the transmission order, the ASB data at the transmission data position (control data) has the transmission order 1, the ASB data next to the transmission data position has the transmission order 2, and the next ASB data has the priority order 3.

When the number of stored data is "1", the latest ASB data is stored in the area of transmission order 2, and 1 is added to the control data after the storage is completed. When the number of stored data is “2”, the logical sum of the data of transmission order 1 and the data of transmission order 2 is stored in the area of transmission order 1, and the latest ASB data is stored in the area of transmission order 2. While data is being stored in the areas of transmission order 1 and 2, interrupt processing for ASB data transmission is prohibited.

When the number of stored data is "2", the logical sum is taken in this way because the ASB status indicates that there is a state change due to the existence of each bit, and therefore the previous ASB status is changed.
This is because it is sufficient if the host 70 can be notified of the presence of a state change after the data.

When the ASB is being transmitted, since the data being transmitted as the data of the transmission order 1 is stored, there is no case where the number of stored data is "0". When the number of stored data is “1”, the latest ASB data is stored in the area of transmission order 2. After the end of storage, the number of stored data (control data) is 1
Add. If the number of stored data is “2”, the transmission order is 2
And the logical sum of the latest data and the latest data are stored in the area of the transmission order 2, and the latest data are stored in the area of the transmission order 3. After the storage is completed, 1 is added to the number of stored data (control data). When the number of stored data is “3”, the logical sum of the data of the transmission order 2 and the latest data is stored in the area of the transmission order 3, and the latest data is stored in the area of the transmission order 3.

The process of transmitting the ASB status will be described. As for the ASB data transmission processing, there are three types of ASB transmission requests: no ASB transmission request is generated, no higher priority transmission request is generated, and no other continuous data is being transmitted.
When the condition is satisfied, the transmission processing unit 20 executes it. First, the transmission processing unit 20 checks the control data storage unit 28. If there is a request to send ASB transmission data, ASB
The control data is read from the buffer to set the transmission start data address, and the number of transmission data bytes (4 bytes) and the transmission flag are set to start transmission. 1
Each time a byte is transmitted, the number of transmission data bytes is decremented by "1" and the transmission data position (address) is incremented by "1" (if the transmission data position exceeds the ASB buffer area, the ASB data storage area Specify the start address). When the number of transmitted data bytes becomes “0”, the number of stored data in ASB is decremented by “1” and the ASB transmitting flag is set to “O”
FF ". When the number of stored ASB data becomes" 0 "by subtraction, the ASB transmission request flag is set to" OFF ".

(Example of Priority Information Change Command) Next, regarding the change of the priority information by the change command, FIG. 6B and FIG.
Will be explained. FIG. 6B illustrates a priority information change command. FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a state of priorities before and after the change when "CHPr1" which is one of the change commands is executed. In FIG. 6B, CHPrs 1 to 4 are illustrated as the priority information change command. C
HPr1 is an instruction to change the priority of a plurality of designated transmission buffers, and the designated transmission buffers "B1 to B"
Change the priority of “n”. Specify the number of transmission buffers whose priority is to be changed by “n” following CHPr1. Specify the buffer to be changed by “B1 to Bn”,
The priority order after the change is designated by "p1 to pn".
A case where this change command is executed will be described later with reference to FIG. 7.

CHPr2 is an instruction for exchanging the priorities of two designated transmission buffers. The number "2" following CHPr2 indicates the number of pairs in which the priority order is exchanged. In the example of FIG. 6B, the priority order of the transmission buffers B1 and B2 and the priority order of the transmission buffers B3 and B4 are 2 An example of exchanging the transmission order of a group is shown.

CHPr3 is an instruction to change the priority of all transmission buffers. All transmission buffers B1
Priorities p1 to pn are designated for each of Bn.

CHPr4 is an instruction for requesting a report of the setting status of priority information. Upon receiving this command, the priority information processing unit 17 reads the priority information from the priority information storage unit 18 and outputs it to the transmission data setting unit 14. The transmission data setting unit 14 transmits the received priority information to the host 70 as predetermined status data, for example, normal status data.

The state change of the priority information when the change command "CHPr1" is executed will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 7A shows a change command “CHPr1” used for the explanation.
And parameters. Parameter is "2""c2"
Since "d3" is set, the number of transmission buffers to be changed is two, and this is an instruction to change the transmission buffer c to priority 2 and the transmission buffer d to priority 3. The priorities before and after the change are shown in FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 7B, as a result, the transmission buffer c has the priority level 2
Then, the transmission buffer d is changed to the priority 3 and the transmission buffer b is changed to the priority 4.

(Description of Transmission Procedure) Next, a transmission processing procedure of transmission data (status data) stored in the transmission buffer will be described with reference to a flowchart.

(Transmission Start Processing Procedure) FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the transmission start processing procedure. The transmission processing procedure is also applicable to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, but for simplicity of explanation, it will be described as the transmission procedure of the embodiment of FIG. 5 (the same applies to the transmission interrupt processing procedure). . The transmission processing means 43 periodically executes the transmission start processing at a predetermined time interval when the data is completely stored in the reception buffer 12 or when the transmission is interrupted due to host busy. In the transmission start processing, the transmission processing means 4
3 reads the stored contents (control data) of the control data storage unit 48 and confirms the presence / absence of a transmission request. If there is a transmission request, the transmission processing is executed according to the transmission priority.

In the transmission start processing procedure, first, it is confirmed by the transmission flag of the control data storage means 46 whether or not any status data is being transmitted (S1).
001). Since some statuses are composed of a plurality of bytes, when status transmission consisting of such a plurality of bytes is in progress, other statuses are not transmitted until the series of status transmissions is completed. Therefore, if the status is being transmitted (S1001; Yes
s), the transmission start processing is ended to prioritize the data transmission during continuous transmission (S1007).

If transmission is not in progress (S1001; No),
Whether or not there is another transmission request is confirmed (S1002). Other confirmation processing of the presence or absence of the transmission request will be described later. If there is no transmission request (S1003; No), the transmission start process is ended (S1007). If there is a transmission request (S1003;
Yes), if there is no need to confirm the host busy (S
For 1004; No), the transmission process of the status data requested to be transmitted is executed as it is (S1006). If it is necessary to confirm the host busy (S1004; Ye
s), if the host is not busy (S1005; N
o), the status transmission process is executed (S100).
6). If the host is busy (S1005; Ye
s), since there is a possibility that the data will not be received even if the data is transmitted, the transmission start processing is ended (S1007). Transmission process (S
1006) will also be described later.

(Procedure for Confirming Presence / Absence of Transmission Request) Next,
Referring to FIG. 11, “Confirmation of presence / absence of transmission request in FIG. 10 (S
An example of the processing procedure of "1002)" will be described. FIG. 11 shows
6 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure for confirming the presence / absence of a transmission data transmission request. First, the presence or absence of a transmission request is confirmed (S1101). If there is no transmission request (S1101; No), the transmission preparation process is not performed because there is no need for transmission, and the transmission request confirmation process ends (S1111). If there is a transmission request (S1101; Yes), the highest transmission request in the transmission request flag is confirmed (S1102). When the highest transmission request is confirmed, the corresponding transmission buffer is confirmed (S1103), and a specific transmission start process (S1) for transmitting the status data assigned to the buffer is confirmed.
104 to S1110) are executed. That is, XOF
Transmission preparation processing for the F status (S1104),
Signal line status transmission preparation processing (S1105), power ON status transmission request (S1106), real-time status transmission preparation processing (S1107), ASB transmission preparation processing (S1108), XON transmission preparation processing (S110).
9) Among the processes of the normal status transmission preparation process (S1110), the transmission preparation process for the highest status with a transmission request is executed. If the transmission priority is the order of arrangement in FIG. 4, XOFF transmission has the highest priority and normal status transmission has the lowest priority. However, as described above, this priority can be changed by the change command. is there.

When the transmission preparation process for any status is completed (S1104 to S1110), the process for confirming the presence or absence of the transmission request is completed (S1111). As the transmission preparation process, various processes such as the storage address of the transmission data, the number of transmission bytes, and the setting of the transmission flag according to the type of status are executed (see S1104 to S1110).
In the transmission preparation process, only the process for the highest status of the existing transmission requests is executed, and the confirmation process of the presence / absence of the transmission request ends (S1111).

(Transmission Processing Procedure) When the transmission preparation processing ends and other necessary conditions are satisfied, transmission data (status data) is transmitted to the host 70 based on a predetermined transmission processing procedure. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure for transmitting the status data. An example of the transmission processing procedure executed in S1006 of FIG. 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the transmission processing procedure, the transmission preparation processing (see FIG.
The transmission flag set in S1104 to S1110) is confirmed (S1201). When the transmission buffer is determined by the determination of the transmission flag (S120
2) The status data is transmitted from the corresponding transmission buffer (S1203 to S1209). When the transmission of the status data ends, the transmission process ends (S121).
0). Status transmission processing (S1203 to S1209)
Then, as described above, one byte is read from the status data stored in each transmission buffer and sequentially transmitted to the host 70 according to a predetermined communication method.

(Transmission Interrupt Processing Procedure) The statuses to be transmitted include those constituted by 1-byte data and those constituted by a plurality of bytes of data. The status is transmitted in 1-byte units. When the transmission of 1 byte is completed, a transmission interrupt occurs and the transmission interrupt processing is executed by the transmission processing unit. The transmission interrupt processing procedure will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of an interrupt processing procedure executed by the transmission processing means 43 based on the transmission interrupt signal. In this embodiment, an example in which a transmission interrupt signal is generated every time one byte of transmission data is transmitted will be described, but it is also possible to generate an interrupt signal every transmission of a plurality of bytes.

When the transmission interrupt is received, the transmission processing means 43
Executes a predetermined process performed upon completion of 1-byte transmission (S1301). For example, the number of transmission data bytes during status transmission is confirmed, and when the number of transmission data bytes = 0, processing such as turning off the status transmission flag is performed. When the number of transmission data bytes ≠ 0, the transmission data position is incremented by 1 and the transmission data byte number is decremented by -1, and the address of the next transmission data is set.

When the 1-byte transmission completion process is completed, it is confirmed by the status transmission flag or the like whether transmission is in progress (S1302). When the number of transmitted data bytes ≠ 0,
Since the status byte still being transmitted remains, the state of being transmitted is maintained and is being transmitted (S1302; Y
es), the next transmission data is read from the corresponding transmission buffer and transmitted to the host 70 (S1307). The transmission process (S1307) is almost the same as the transmission process described in FIG.

When the number of transmission data bytes = 0, the transmission completion process (1301) resets the transmission in progress flag so that the transmission is not in progress (S1302; No).
In this case, it is confirmed whether there is another transmission request (S1303). Confirmation of presence / absence of transmission request (S130
In 3), almost the same processing as the processing procedure described in FIG. 12 is executed. If there is no other transmission request (S1304; N)
o), the transmission interrupt process ends (S1308). If there is a transmission request (S1304; Yes), if there is no need to confirm the host busy (S1305; No), the transmission process of the requested status data is executed (S).
1307). If it is necessary to confirm the host busy (S1305; Yes), it is not the host busy (S1305).
1306; No) Status transmission processing is executed (S
1307). If the host is busy (S1306; Y
es), since there is a possibility that the data will not be received even if the data is transmitted, the transmission interrupt processing is ended (S1308).

In the above description, an example in which the present invention is applied to a POS printer is mainly used to transmit status data. However, the present invention is not limited to a printer, and various input devices such as a keyboard, It can be applied to data transmission of various terminal devices and other devices including various recording devices such as magnetic recording devices. Further, it is possible to transmit various data such as version information of the terminal and data input to the terminal without being limited to the transmission of the status.

The embodiments described above are for the purpose of explaining the invention and do not limit the technical scope of the invention of the present application. Therefore, a person skilled in the art can adopt an embodiment in which each of these elements or all the elements are replaced with equivalent elements thereof, but these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0085]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of transmission buffers are provided, a plurality of transmission buffers for storing data according to the type of transmission data are provided, and the transmission priority given to each transmission buffer is provided. In addition to configuring the transmission data to be transmitted according to the order, it is possible to change the setting of the transmission priority by the change command. It is possible to transmit the data in descending order, and it is possible to appropriately change the priority order of the transmission data so that the priority order is appropriate according to the operating environment and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram according to another embodiment of the present invention, showing a part of the functional block diagram shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the transmission data storage unit 13 shown in FIG. 1 is provided with seven types of transmission buffers depending on the type of status.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention using a CPU, RAM, ROM and control software.

FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an example of priority information stored in a priority information storage unit 18a, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of a priority information change command.

FIG. 7A shows “CHPr” which is one of the change commands.
It is a figure which shows the state of the priorities before and after a change when 1 "is performed, and (b) is a figure which shows the priorities before and after a change when the instruction of (a) is performed.

8 is a diagram showing an example of transmission data and the like stored in transmission buffers a to x, FIG. 8A is an example of data stored in a normal status buffer 57 as shown in FIG.
(B) is an example of data stored in the ASB buffer 55.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of ASB data stored in an ASB buffer.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a transmission start processing procedure.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure for confirming the presence / absence of a transmission request for transmission data.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a status data transmission processing procedure.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of an interrupt processing procedure executed by transmission processing means based on a transmission interrupt signal.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 POS printer 11 Transmission / reception processing unit 12 Receive buffer 13, 13a, 13b, 13c Transmission data storage unit 14, 14a, 14b Transmission data setting unit 15 Status processing unit 16 Data analysis section 17 Priority information processing unit 18 Priority information storage unit 20, 20b Transmission processing unit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2C061 HP00                 5B021 AA02 BB01 BB04 CC05                 5K030 GA02 KA03 LA03                 5K033 AA01 BA17 CB18 DB13                 5K034 AA19 DD01 FF01 FF19 GG02                       GG06 HH01 HH02 HH27 HH42                       MM21

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A transmission data storage unit having a plurality of transmission buffers, and a transmission data setting unit for storing transmission data in one of the transmission buffers determined based on its type,
A transmission processing unit that transmits the transmission data stored in each of the transmission buffers according to a predetermined buffer priority assigned to each of the plurality of transmission buffers, and a transmission priority order that defines the transmission order of the transmission data. Alternatively, the data transmission device of the terminal device comprises: a data analysis unit that detects a change instruction for changing; and a priority information processing unit that changes the transmission priority order according to the change instruction. 2. The priority information processing unit changes the transmission priority order of the transmission data by changing the setting of the buffer priority order given to each of the transmission buffers based on the change instruction. The data transmission device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The priority information processing unit changes the transmission priority order of the transmission data by changing the designation of the transmission buffer for storing the transmission data based on the change instruction. The data transmission device according to claim 1. 4. The transmission processing unit detects the transmission data of the highest transmission priority from the transmission data requested to be transmitted, completes the transmission processing of the detected highest transmission data, and then moves to the next order. 4. The data transmission device according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission control unit that controls to sequentially perform the transmission process for the transmission data of. 5. A terminal device comprising the data transmitting device according to claim 1. Description: 6. A transmission control method for transmitting transmission data stored in a plurality of transmission buffers in accordance with a predetermined priority, comprising the following steps. (a) acquiring transmission data; (b) storing the acquired transmission data in one of a plurality of transmission buffers designated in advance according to its type; and (c) storing it in the transmission buffer. A transmitting step of transmitting the transmitted transmission data in accordance with a predetermined transmission priority set to be changeable based on a predetermined change command. 7. In order to change the transmission priority of the transmission data, (d) detecting the change instruction for changing the transmission priority, and (e) based on the detected change instruction. 7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising: changing the setting of the transmission priority order. 8. The transmission step (c) includes: (f) transmission data having the highest transmission priority among the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer based on the stored transmission priority. And (g) performing a transmission process of the highest detected transmission data, (h)
After finishing the transmission of the highest transmission data,
8. The method of controlling transmission of data according to claim 7, further comprising: performing a transmission process for transmission data of the next rank. 9. A transmission control method for transmitting transmission data stored in a plurality of transmission buffers in accordance with a predetermined priority, comprising the following steps. (a) a step of acquiring transmission data, and (b) a transmission buffer for storing the acquired transmission data, which is designated according to the type of the transmission data and whose designation can be changed by a predetermined change command. A step of storing in a transmission buffer, and (c) a step of transmitting the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer according to a predetermined priority given to the transmission buffer. 10. In order to change the designation of the transmission buffer designated according to the type of the transmission data as the storage destination of the transmission data, (d) detecting the change command for changing the designation. 10. The transmission data transmission control method according to claim 9, further comprising: (e) changing the designation of the transmission buffer that stores the transmission data based on the detected change instruction. . 11. The transmission step (c) comprises: (f) detecting the transmission buffer having the highest priority from the transmission buffers in which the transmission data is stored,
(g) executing a transmission process of the transmission data stored in the detected highest transmission buffer, and (h)
After finishing the transmission of the transmission data stored in the highest transmission buffer, sequentially performing the transmission processing of the transmission data stored in the transmission buffer of the next rank, The data transmission control method according to claim 10. 12. A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the transmission control method according to claim 6. 13. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute each step of the transmission control method according to claim 6 is written.