JP2003234909A - Image processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a data memory device from overflowing its capacity, to eliminate the need for re-inputting an image by providing a data amount counting means for counting the data amount of the image data transmitted from an image data compressing means to stop the transmission of image-added information, if the image data amount to be transmitted exceeds a prescribed value. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus has the data amount counting means for counting the amount of the image data and the image-added information. If the data amount counted by the counting means exceeds a prescribed value, the apparatus stops the transmission of the image-added data from a image-added information compression means to a data storing means. <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 an image processing device, and more particularly to an image processing device having an image compression device for compressing image data read by an image input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional image processing device, an image processing device having an image data compression means for compressing image data read from an image input means and a data storage device for storing image data compressed by the image data compression means. was there.

[0003]

However, in the conventional example, when the amount of image data transmitted from the image data compression means exceeds the capacity of the data storage device for storing the image data, the image input is performed again and the previous time is input. The image had to be recompressed at a higher compression rate.

[0004]

Therefore, in the present invention, a data amount counting means for counting the data amount of image data transmitted from the image data compression means is newly provided, and the transmitted image data amount has a certain value. When it exceeds the limit, the transmission of the image additional information is stopped so that the capacity of the data storage device is not exceeded and it is not necessary to input the image again.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The device of the present invention and its operation will be described in detail below.

[Hardware] overall structure The overall configuration diagram is shown in FIG.

The Controller Unit (2000) is a scanner (2070) which is an image input device and a print which is an image output device.
er (2095), while LAN (2011) and public line (WAN)
By connecting with (2051), it is a controller for inputting / outputting image information and device information, and developing images of PDL data.

A CPU (2001) is a processor that controls the entire system. In this embodiment, an example using two CPUs is shown. These two CPUs are connected to a common CPU bus (2126) and further connected to a system bus bridge (2007).

The system bus bridge (2007) is a bus switch, and includes a CPU bus (2126), a RAM controller (2124),
The ROM controller (2125), IO bus 1 (2127), sub-bus switch (2128), IO bus 2 (2129), image ring interface 1 (2147), and image ring interface 2 (2148) are connected.

The sub-bus switch (2128) is a second bus switch, and includes an image DMA1 (2130), an image DMA2 (2132), a font expansion unit (3134), a sort circuit (2135), and a bitmap trace unit (2136). ) Is connected, arbitrates the memory access request output from these DMAs, and connects to the system bus bridge.

The RAM (2002) is a system work memory for the CPU (2001) to operate, and also an image memory for temporarily storing image data. In this embodiment, which is controlled by the RAM controller (2124), an example in which direct RDRAM is adopted is shown.

ROM (2003) is a boot ROM in which a system boot program is stored. ROM controller
Controlled by (2125).

The image DMA1 (2130) is connected to the image compression unit (2131), controls the image compression unit (2131) based on the information set via the register access ring (2137), and stores the RAM (20
02) The above-mentioned uncompressed data is read, compressed, and the compressed data is written back. In this embodiment, JPEG is adopted as the compression algorithm.

The image DMA2 (2132) is connected to the image decompression unit (2133), controls the image decompression unit (2133) based on the information set via the register access ring (2137), and RAM (200
2) The above compressed data is read, decompressed, and decompressed data is written back. In this embodiment, an example in which JPEG is adopted as the decompression algorithm is shown.

The font expansion unit (2134) is stored in the ROM (2003) or the RAM (2002) based on the font code included in the PDL data transferred from the outside via the LAN interface (2010) or the like. Decompresses compressed font data. In this embodiment, an example in which the FBE algorithm is adopted is shown.

The sort circuit (2135) is a circuit for rearranging the order of the objects in the display list generated at the stage of expanding the PDL data.

The bitmap trace circuit (2136) is a circuit for extracting edge information from bitmap data.

The IO bus 1 (2127) is a type of internal IO bus, and is a standard USB bus controller, USB interface (2138), general-purpose serial port (2139), interrupt controller (2140), GPIO interface ( 214
1) is connected. The IO bus 1 includes a bus arbiter (not shown).

The operation unit I / F (2006) is an operation unit (UI) (2012) and an interface unit, and outputs image data to be displayed on the operation unit (2012) to the operation unit (2012). In addition, the operation unit (201
The information entered by the user of this system from 2) is stored in the CPU (2001).
To convey to.

The IO bus 2 (2129) is a kind of internal IO bus, and the general-purpose bus interfaces 1 and 2 (2142) are connected to the LAN controller (2010). The IO bus 2 includes a bus arbiter (not shown).

The general-purpose bus interface (2142) is a bus bridge composed of two identical bus interfaces and supporting a standard IO bus. In this embodiment, PCI
An example of using the bus (2143) is shown.

HDD (2004) is a hard disk drive,
Stores system software and image data. It is connected to one PCI bus (2143) via the disk controller (2144).

The LAN controller (2010) includes a MAC circuit (214
5) Connect to LAN (2011) via PHY / PMD circuit (2146) to input / output information.

The Modem (2050) is connected to the public line (2051),
Input and output information.

The image ring interface 1 (2147) and the image ring interface 2 (2148) connect the system bus bridge (2007) and the image ring (2008) that transfers image data at high speed, and compress the data after tiling. RA
It is a DMA controller that transfers data between M (2002) and the tile image processing unit (2149).

The image ring (2008) is composed of a pair of unidirectional connection paths (image ring 1 and image ring 2). The image ring (2008) uses the tile image processing unit (214
In 9), through the image ring interface 3 (2101) and tile image interface 4 (2102), the tile expansion unit
(2103), command processing unit (2104), status processing unit (210
5), connected to the tile compression unit (2106). In this embodiment,
An example is shown in which two sets of tile expansion units (2103) and three sets of tile compression units are mounted.

The tile expansion unit (2103) is connected to the tile ring (2107) in addition to the connection to the image ring interface, and expands the compressed image data input from the image ring to the tile bus (2107). It is a bus bridge to transfer. In this embodiment, an example in which a decompression algorithm based on the JPEG and Packbits methods is adopted is shown.

The tile compression unit (2106) is connected to the image ring interface, is connected to the tile bus (2107), and compresses the image data before compression input from the tile bus to the image ring (2008). It is a bus bridge to transfer. In the present embodiment, an example in which a compression algorithm based on JPEG and the Packbits method is adopted as in the tile expansion unit will be described.

The command processing unit (2104) has a register setting bus (2109) in addition to the connection to the image ring interface.
The register setting request issued from the CPU (2001) connected via the image ring to the register setting bus (2
Write to the corresponding block connected to (109). Also, CPU
Based on the register read request issued from (2001),
Information is read from the corresponding register via the register setting bus. Transfer to the image ring interface 4 (2102).

The status processing unit (2105) monitors the information of each image processing unit, generates an interrupt bucket for issuing an interrupt to the CPU (2001), and outputs it to the image ring interface 4.

In addition to the above blocks, the following functional blocks are connected to the tile bus (2107). Rendering interface (2110), image input interface (2
112), image output interface (2113), multi-value conversion unit (211)
9), binarization unit (2118), color space conversion unit (2117), image rotation unit
(2030), resolution conversion unit (2116).

Rendering unit interface (2110)
Is an interface for inputting a bitmap image generated by a rendering unit described later. The rendering unit and the rendering unit interface are connected by a general video signal (2111). The rendering unit interface has a connection to the memory bus (2108) and the register setting bus (2109) in addition to the tile bus (2107),
The input raster image is structurally converted into a tile image by a predetermined method set via the register setting bus, and at the same time, clock synchronization is performed, and the tile bus (210
Output to 7).

The image input interface (2112) receives the raster image data corrected by the image processing unit for scanner (2114), which will be described later, as an input, and tiles by a predetermined method set via the register setting bus. Tile bus with structural conversion to image and clock synchronization
Output to (2107).

The image output interface receives the tile image data from the tile bus as input, performs structural conversion into a raster image and changes the clock rate, and outputs the raster image to the printer image processing unit (2115).

The image rotation unit (2030) rotates image data.

The resolution converter (2116) changes the resolution of the image.

The color space conversion unit (2117) converts the color spaces of the color and gray scale images.

The binarization unit (2118) binarizes a multi-value (color, gray scale) image.

The multi-value conversion unit (2119) converts the binary image into multi-value data.

The external bus interface unit (2120) sends write and read requests issued by the CPU (2001) via the image ring interface 1, 2, 3, 4, command processing unit and register setting bus. This is a bus bridge that converts and outputs to (2121). In this embodiment, the external bus 3 (2121) is connected to the printer image processing unit (2115) and the scanner image processing unit (2114).

The memory control unit (2122) has a memory bus (2108).
The image memory 1 and the image memory 2 (2123) can perform image data writing, reading, and refresh operations as necessary by preset address division according to the request of each image processing unit. To do. In this embodiment, an example in which SDRAM is used as the image memory is shown.

The scanner image processing unit (2114) performs corrected image processing on the image data scanned by the scanner (2070) which is an image input device.

The image processing unit for the printer performs the corrected image processing for the printer output, and outputs the result to the Printer (2095).

The rendering unit (2060) develops the PDL code or the intermediate display list into a bitmap image.

[Entire System] FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of the entire network system of the present invention.

An apparatus 1001 of the present invention is composed of a scanner and a printer, and sends an image read from the scanner to a local area network (1010) (hereinafter referred to as LAN),
Images received from LAN can be printed out by a printer. In addition, the FA that is not shown the image read from the scanner
The X transmission means can be transmitted to the PSTN or ISDN (1030), and the image received from the PSTN or ISDN can be printed out by the printer. A database server 1002 manages a binary image and a multivalued image read by the apparatus (1001) of the present invention as a database.

Reference numeral 1003 denotes a database client of the database server (1002), which can browse / search image data stored in the database (1002).

An electronic mail server 1004 can receive an image read by the device (1001) of the present invention as an electronic mail attachment. An email client 1005 is capable of receiving and viewing emails received by the email server (1004) and sending emails.

A WWW server 1006 provides an HTML document to the LAN, and the apparatus (1001) of the present invention can print out the HTML document provided by the WWW server.

A router 1007 connects the LAN (1010) to the Internet / Intranet (1012). The database server (1
002), a WWW server (1006), an electronic mail server (1004), and a device similar to the device (1001) of the present invention, 1020 and 102, respectively.
They are connected as 1, 1022, 1023. On the other hand, the device (1001) of the present invention is a fax device via the PSTN or ISDN (1030).
It is possible to send and receive with (1031).

A printer (1040) is also connected to the LAN so that the image read by the apparatus (1001) of the present invention can be printed out.

[Tile image (packet) format]
In the SystemControllerUnit (2000) according to the present invention, the image data, the command by the CPU (2001), and the interrupt information issued by each block are transferred in a packetized format. In this embodiment, the data packet shown in FIG. 3000,
Three different types of packets are used, the command packet shown in FIG. 12 and the interrupt packet shown in FIG.

Data Packet (FIG. 3000) In this embodiment, the image data is divided into 32 pixel × 32 pixel image data (3002) in Tile units and handled. Necessary header information (3001) and additional image information (3003) are added to the image of this Tile unit to form a data packet.

The information contained in the header information (3001) will be described below.

The packet is PcktType in the header information (3001)
The packet type ID (3023) in (3004) distinguishes between data packets, command packets, and interrupt packets. In this embodiment, PacketTypeID
001b or 101b: Data packet 010b: Command packet 100b: Interrupt packet is assigned to 3 bits.

In addition, PcktType (3004) has RepeatFlag (302
2) is included, the image data of the data packet, the image additional information (3003), and the predetermined information in the header information (3001) are included.
If it is the same as the previous data packet, RepeatF
Set 1 to lag (3022). In this case, only the header information (3001) is transferred for the packet.

ChipID (3005) indicates the ID of the chip that is the target for transmitting the packet.

ImageType (3006) indicates the type of image data. In this embodiment, the upper 2 bits of the 8 bits of ImageType are used to define the type of image data as follows.

00b: Image data of 1 pixel is represented by 1 bit 01b: Image data of 1 pixel is represented by 8 bit 1 component 10b: Image data of 1 pixel is 8 bit 3 component, total 2
11b represented by 4 bits: image data of 1 pixel is 8 bits 4 components, total 3
PageID (3007) represented by 2 bits indicates the page that contains the data packet, and JobID (3008) is J for managing with software.
Stores the ob ID.

The order of arrangement of the data packets on the page is a combination of the Tile coordinates (3009) in the Y direction and the Tile coordinates (3010) in the X direction and is represented by YnXn.

In the data packet, there are cases where the image data and the image additional information included in the packet are compressed and cases where they are not compressed. In this embodiment, JPEG is used as the compression algorithm when the image data is multi-valued color (including multi-valued gray scale), and Packbits is used as the binary and image additional information.

The difference between the case where the image data and the image additional information are compressed by the above method and the case where the image additional information is not compressed are as follows: ImageData (3026) and Zda in CompressFlag (3017), respectively.
When ta (3027) is 1, it represents compressed data, and when it is 0, it represents uncompressed data.

In the CompressFlag (3017), a Q-TableID (3028) for storing the type of quantization table used when performing compression processing by JPEG is prepared, and when there are a plurality of quantization tables, At the time of data compression and decompression, the quantization table to be used is switched by referring to this value.

Process Instruction (3011) is left-justified 8b
Set processing order for each it, and each processing unit is Process after processing
Shift the instruction 8 bits to the left. Process Instructio
In n (3011), eight sets of Unit ID (3024) and Mode (3025) are stored. Unit ID (3024) is each processing unit of the image processing unit (2149)
Is specified, and the Mode (3025) specifies the operation Mode in each processing unit. As a result, one packet can be processed continuously up to 8 Units.

PacketByteLength (3012) indicates the total number of bytes in the packet.

ImageDataByteLengh (3015) represents the number of bytes of image data, ZDataByteLength (3016) represents the number of bytes of image additional information, and ImageDataOffset (3013), ZDataOffset (3
014) is from the beginning of the packet for each data
Shows the value of Offset.

SourceID (3018) indicates a source from which image data and image additional information are generated.

Ztype (3020) is valid b in the image additional information
The image width information indicating the it width and the image additional information other than the bit indicated by Ztype (3020) is invalid information. If Ztype (3020) is 0, it means that all the input image additional information is invalid.

ThumbnailData (3021) is a value representing the image data of the data packet (hereinafter referred to as thumbnail value)
To store. In this embodiment, a maximum of four thumbnail values can be stored in thumbnailData (3021).

Misc (3019) stores necessary information in addition to the above information. In this embodiment, Char-flag (3029) and Q
-TableSel (3030) is prepared. The Char-flag (3029) stores the area signal to which the data packet belongs. Q-Ta
The bleSel (3030) stores information for changing the quantization table used in compression and decompression by the JPEG method.

Packet Table (FIG. 14) FIG. 14 shows a state in which data packets are stored in the RAM (2002). Each data packet has a Packet Table (6
001). The components of Packet Table (6001) are as follows. If 0 is added to the value of Table in 5 bits, the start address (6002) of the packet and the Byte of the packet
It becomes Length (6005).

Packet Address Pointer (27bit) + 5b000
00 = Packet start Address Packet Length (11bit) + 5b00000 = Packet Byte Le
ngth Note that Packet Table (6001) and Chain Table (6010) are not divided.

The Packet Table (6001) is always arranged in the scanning direction, and is arranged in the order of Yn / Xn = 000/000, 000 / 001,000 / 002, .... The entry of this Packet Table (6001) uniquely shows one Tile. Also, the next Entry after Yn / Xmax is
It becomes Yn + 1 / X ₀ .

When a packet in which the RepeatFlag (3002) in the header information (3001) is set is input, the packet is not written in the memory and the Entry of the Packet Table has the same Packet Address as the first Entry. Pointer, Packet
Store Length. 1 Packet Data to 2 Tables
It becomes the form that Entry points. In this case, the second TableEn
Repeat flag (6003) of try is set.

When the Packet is divided into multiple by the Chain DMA, Divide Flag (6004) is set, and the Chain Block number (600 of the Chain Block containing the beginning of the Packet is set.
Set 6).

Entry of Chain Table (6010) is Chain Block
It consists of Address (6011) and Chain Block Length (6012), and both Address and Length are 0 in the last Entry of Table.
Is stored.

Command Packet Format (FIG. 12) This Packet Format is for accessing the register setting bus (2109). By using this packet, it is possible to access the image memory (2123) from COU (2001).

The ChipID (4004) stores an ID representing the image processing unit (2149) that is the destination of the command packet.

PageID (4007) and JobID (4008) store the Page ID and Job ID for managing by software.

The Packet ID (4009) is represented in one dimension. Data
Only X-coordinate of Packet is used.

Packet byte length (4010) is 128 bytes
It is fixed.

In the packet data section (4002), the address (4
011) and data (4012) as one command, maximum
It is possible to store 12 commands. The command type of write or read is indicated by CmdType (4005), and the number of commands is indicated by Cmdnum (4006). Interrupt Packet Format (Fig. 5000) This Packet Format is for notifying an interrupt from the image processing unit (2149) to the CPU (2001). After transmitting the Interrupt Packet, the status processing unit (2105) must not transmit the Interrupt Packet until the next transmission is permitted.

Packet byte length (5006) is 128 bytes
It is fixed.

The packet data section (5002) includes an image processing section.
The status information (5007) of each internal module of (2149) is stored. The status processing unit (2105) is an image processing unit (2
The status information of each module in 149) can be collected and sent to the system control unit (2150) collectively.

ChipID (5004) is an ID representing the system control unit (2150) that is the destination of the Interrupt Packet, and IntC
The hipID (5005) stores an ID representing the image processing unit (2149) that is the transmission source of the Interrupt Packet.

[Tile Compressor] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the tile compressor 2106 in FIG. The internal structures of the tile compression units 1, 2, and 3 are all the same as those in FIG.

In FIG. 2, a tile bus interface unit 201 performs a handshake with the tile bus 2107, acquires header information, image data and image additional information input from the tile bus 2107, and is connected to the subsequent stage. Each data is output to each processing block.

In addition, the tile bus interface section 20
In No. 1, the header information sent from the tile bus 2107 is analyzed, and if there is a contradiction in the header information, an interrupt signal corresponding to the contradiction content is output to the register setting unit 206 described later, and then a reset signal (not shown). Operation is stopped until is input.

When there is no contradiction in the header information, the header information is output to the header information holding unit 202 connected in the subsequent stage, and then the image data and the image additional information are acquired from the tile bus 2107 to obtain the header information. In accordance with ImageType (3006), the image data or the first compression processing unit 203 (compression processing by the JPEG method in this embodiment) and the second compression processing unit 204 (compression processing by the Packbits method in this embodiment) are performed. Outputs image additional information.

Specifically, ImageTyp in the header information
When the upper 2 bits of e are 00b representing 1-bit image data, the first compression processing unit 203 outputs the image data to the second compression processing unit 204 without using it.

When the upper 2 bits of ImageType are other than 00b, the image data is output to the first compression processing unit 203 and the image additional information is output to the second compression processing unit 204. However, when Ztype (3020) is 0, the input image additional information is invalid, so the image additional information is not output to the second compression processing unit 204, and the compression processing by the second compression processing unit is not performed.

Reference numeral 202 denotes a header information holding unit, which is a block for holding header information while the first compression processing unit 203 and the second compression processing unit 204 are compressing image data and image additional information. is there. Further, the header information holding unit 202 outputs information necessary for compression processing from the stored header information to the first compression processing unit and the second compression processing unit.

Reference numeral 203 denotes a first compression processing unit, which represents a JPEG compression processing unit for performing JPEG compression in this embodiment. The first compression processing unit 203 performs compression processing of image data when the image data has a multi-bit configuration.

The first compression processing unit 203 has a buffer for storing the input image data for one tile, and holds the image data of the packet processed immediately before the image data of the next packet is input. By doing
The image data input from the tile bus interface unit 201 is compared with the image data stored in the buffer. The comparison result is sent to the image ring output unit described below and
Referenced when generating peatFlag (3022).

When the first compression unit 203 detects an abnormal operation during the compression process in the first compression unit, the first compression unit 203 sets an interrupt signal corresponding to the content of the abnormal operation in the register. After outputting to the unit 206,
The operation is stopped until a reset signal (not shown) is input.

Reference numeral 204 denotes a second compression processing unit, which represents a compression processing unit without information loss in this embodiment, more specifically, a compression processing unit according to the Packbits system. In the second compression processing unit 204, the image data of the packet input to the tile compression unit is 1
If the data has a bit structure, the image data, or if the image additional information exists (Ztype (3020) is not 0),
The image additional information is compressed by the Packbits method.

Similarly to the first compression processing unit, the second compression processing unit 204 also has a buffer for storing the input image additional information for one packet, and the immediately preceding 1-bit image data or image. By holding the additional information, the image or the image additional information input from the tile bus interface unit 201 is compared with the data stored in the buffer. The comparison result is sent to the image ring output unit described later and is referred to when the RepeatFlag (3022) is generated.

When the second compression unit 204 detects an abnormal operation during the compression process in the second compression unit, the second compression unit 204 sets an interrupt signal corresponding to the content of the abnormal operation in the register setting. After outputting to the unit 206,
The operation is stopped until a reset signal (not shown) is input.

An image ring output unit 205 acquires processing information, image data, and image additional information from the header information holding unit 202, the first compression processing unit 203, and the second compression processing unit 204. After setting a predetermined value, the data packet shown in FIG. 3000 is generated and output to the image ring interface 2102.

Reference numeral 206 denotes a register setting unit for making settings regarding the processing inside the tile compression unit 2106. In order to cause the tile compression unit 2106 to perform a predetermined compression process, a predetermined value is set in the register setting unit 206. There is a need to. These settings are performed by using a command packet from the system control unit 2150 to the command processing unit 2104 of the image processing unit 2149 and from the command processing unit 2104 to the tile compression unit 2106 via the register setting bus 2109.

The value set in the register setting unit 206 is
The data is sent to the first compression processing unit 203 and the second compression processing unit 204, and both compression processing units perform the processing determined by referring to those set values.

Note that it is possible not only to set a value to the register setting section using a command packet, but also to output the set value held by the register setting section to the system control section 2150 using a command packet. is there.

Further, the register setting unit 206 has a register corresponding to the interrupt signal input from the tile bus interface unit 201, the first compression unit 203 and the second compression unit 204, and the interrupt signal is input from any block. Then, after setting the value of the corresponding register, it outputs an interrupt signal notifying the status processing unit 2105 that an interrupt has occurred and a status signal indicating in which block the interrupt has occurred.

A register setting bus interface unit 207 is a block for converting the address and the set value input from the register setting bus 2109 to the tile compressing unit into a format that can be received by the register setting unit 206 and sending the converted format.

The register setting bus interface unit 207 not only receives the register setting value from the register setting bus 2109, but also reads the setting value corresponding to the address indicated by the register setting bus from the register setting unit 206 to the register setting bus. It is also possible to output.

Reference numeral 208 denotes a data amount counting section, which is the first
The data amount of the image data and the image additional information sent from the compression processing unit 203 and the second compression processing unit 204 to the image ring output unit 205 is counted. Data amount counting unit 2
The detailed operation flow of 08 will be described later.

[First Compression Processing Unit] FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the first compression processing unit in FIG.

In this embodiment, the case where the image data has the 8-bit structure, the 24-bit structure or the 32-bit structure, that is, the case where the image data is compressed by the first compression processing unit 203 will be described.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a first data buffer for storing the image data sent from the tile bus interface unit 201. When a predetermined amount of data is sent, a JPEG compression unit connected to the subsequent stage. Image data is output to 110 in a predetermined order.

Here, in the first data buffer, from the header information holding unit 202, the header information ImageType (300
6) is input, and the order of the image data output to the JPEG compression unit 110 is controlled by ImageType.

The order of ImageType (3006) and the image data input to the JPEG compression unit 110 will be described below. In Fig. 3, the upper 2 bits of ImageType (3006) are 01.
b, that is, image data for one tile when image data representing one pixel of image data with one component of 8 bits is input from the tile bus interface unit 201,
It represents 1024 pieces of image data of 32 pixels in the main and sub-scanning × 32 pixels.

In order to output to the JPEG compression unit 110, these pixels are first divided into 16 blocks in units of 64 pixels of main sub-scanning 8 pixels × 8 pixels which is a processing unit of JPEG compression processing. Then, for each block, the JPEG compression unit 110
Output to. In FIG. 3, the image data of one pixel is indicated by a thin line, the block divided into JPEG compression processing units is indicated by a thick line, and the numbers sent from 0 to 15 are assigned to the order of sending to the JPEG compression unit 110.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the pixels included in the block 0 in the upper left of the divided block. There are 64 pixel image data in each block, and each pixel is represented by a number from 0 to 7 in the main operation direction and the sub-scanning direction.

Within the block, the order of output to the JPEG compression section 110 is as follows: (0, 0) pixel data at the upper left as shown by the arrow in FIG.
It is performed in the order of 1) → (0, 2) → ... · → (0, 7). Next to the pixel data of (0, 7), one line is moved in the sub-scanning direction to proceed (1.0) → (1,1) → ... → (1,7), and this is repeated to the lower right ( When the image data of (7, 7) is output, the output of the image data of the block ends.

When the image data of block 0 is output,
Next, image data is output in the same order from (0, 8) at the upper left of the block 1.

In FIG. 5, the upper 2 bits of ImageType (3006) are 10b, that is, the tile bus interface unit 2
The image data for one tile is shown when the image data of 24 bits in total, which is 3 bits of 8 bits for 1 pixel from 01, is input. In addition, each pixel is not shown in FIG.
The image is displayed in the block unit shown in FIG. 3, which is a JPEG compression processing unit, and each image data is divided into components 1, 2 and 3 for each component and displayed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the order of outputting the image data shown in FIG. 5 to the JPEG compression unit 110. The order in which the image data is output in each block shown in FIG. 6 is the same as that in FIG. In this embodiment, first, the image data of the component 1 of the block 0 is output from the first data buffer 101. When all the image data of the component 1 of the block 0 is output, then the component 2 of the block 0 is output.
Image data of the block 0, and subsequently, the image data of the component 3 of the block 0 is output, whereby all the image data of the block 0 is output first.

When all the image data of the block 0 is output, the image data of the component 1 of the block 1 is next output, then the component 2 of the block 1 → the component 3 of the block 1 → the component 1 of the block 2 → ...・ Continued, and finally component 1 of block 15
→ The component 2 of the block 15 → The output of the image data for one tile is completed when the output of the image data of the component 3 of the block 15 is completed.

The upper 2 bits of ImageType (3006) are 11b, that is, the tile bus interface unit 20.
Similarly, as in FIGS. 5 and 6, when image data of 8 bits 4 components for 1 to 1 pixel and 32 bits in total are input,
First, the image data of each component of a predetermined block is output in the order of component 1 → component 2 → component 3 → component 4, and then the process proceeds to the output of image data of the next block.

In this way, in the present embodiment, the order of compression processing by the JPEG compression unit 110 is that the image data of one tile is divided into blocks of 8 pixels in the main scanning direction × 8 pixels in the sub scanning direction, Compression is done. If each block has multiple image data (having multiple components), compress the image data of each component in the block,
After compressing all components, the next block is compressed.

In FIG. 1, 110 is a JPEG compression section,
In this embodiment, the JPEG compression unit 110 uses JP of image data.
EG compression is used. The JPEG compression unit 110
Inside, there are three more processing blocks.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a DCT converter which, when 64 pieces of data are input from the data buffer 101, performs discrete cosine conversion on the input data to convert it into frequency components. Further, at this time, the DC component value generated by the discrete cosine transform is output to the thumbnail generation unit 107 described later together with the latch signal. The discrete cosine transform is performed every time 64 pieces of data are input, and the latch signal and the DC component value are output to the thumbnail generation unit 107 each time.

If an error occurs during the DCT conversion operation, the DCT conversion unit causes the DCT conversion unit to change the register setting unit 206.
An error interrupt signal is output to.

Reference numeral 103 denotes a quantizer, which is the DCT converter 10.
The frequency component output from 2 is quantized using a predetermined quantization value to generate quantized data. The quantized value is input from a later-described quantization table, and the used quantized value is determined by analyzing the header information from the header information holding unit 202. The quantizer outputs an error interrupt signal to the register setting unit 206 when the result of the quantization has a value other than a predetermined value.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a Huffman coding unit, which performs predetermined coding on the quantized data output from the quantizing unit 103 to generate coded data, and outputs the coded data to the second data buffer 105. When the Huffman coding unit receives data that cannot be coded, the Huffman coding unit outputs an error interrupt signal to the register setting unit 206.

Reference numeral 105 denotes a second data buffer for storing the coded data coded by the Huffman coding unit 104. When the coded data for one tile is acquired from the Huffman coding unit 104, the data is stored in the buffer. The capacity of the encoded data is output to the image ring output unit 205 as Data Byte Length 1.

Also, the encoded data stored in the buffer according to the request of the image ring output unit 205 is output to the image ring output unit 205.

A data comparison unit 106 compares the image data input from the tile bus interface unit 201 with the image data stored in the first data buffer 101. The image data sent from the tile bus interface unit 201 is stored in the first data buffer, and at the same time, the data comparison unit 106 compares the image data stored in the portion where the image data is stored.

Since the image data sent to the first compression processing unit 203 immediately before the tile input from the tile bus interface unit 201 is stored in the first data buffer, data comparison is performed by the above operation. In the unit 106, the image data sent from the tile bus interface unit 201 is compared with the image data of the previous tile in the first compression processing unit.

When the data comparison unit 106 completes the comparison of the image data for one tile, the data comparison unit 106 sends the comparison result Compare resu to the image ring output unit 206.
lt 1 is output.

Reference numeral 107 denotes a thumbnail generation unit, which acquires a DC component value in synchronization with the latch signal output from the DCT conversion unit 102, and performs calculation and normalization to generate a thumbnail value for each tile and generate an image. Ring output unit 205
Output to. ImageType (3006) is input from the header holding unit 202 to the thumbnail generation unit 107, and the thumbnail generation unit 107 refers to the ImageType to detect the order of the DC component values sent from the DCT conversion unit 102. Then, a thumbnail value is generated for each component.

The generated thumbnail value is output to the image ring output unit 205, and the thumbnail of the header information acquired from the header information holding unit 202 in the image ring output unit is thumbnail.
It is stored in a predetermined format in the portion of nail Data (3021). After that, the image data compressed by the first compression processing unit 203 and the image additional information compressed by the second compression processing unit 204 are output to the image ring interface 2104 as a data packet.

Reference numeral 108 denotes a quantization table, which stores the quantization value for performing the quantization in the quantization unit 103. A plurality of quantization tables are stored in the quantization table of the present embodiment, and a predetermined quantization table is selected by a selection signal input from a quantization table selection unit described later, and quantization is performed by the quantization unit 103. Output the value.

Numeral 109 is a quantization table selection unit, which outputs a quantization table selection signal to the quantization table 109 to select a predetermined table from a plurality of tables stored in the quantization table 109. To do.

In the quantization table selection unit 109, from the header information holding unit 202, ImageType (3006), Mode (3025), Cha
r-flag (3029) and Q-Table Sel (3030) are input,
The quantization table selection unit 109 determines the quantization table to be used from these header information. When the quantization table to be used is determined, the quantization table selection unit 109 outputs a quantization table selection signal to the quantization table 109 so as to select the determined quantization table, and Q- which represents the selected quantization table. The Table ID is output to the image ring output unit 205.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of the compression processing unit 204.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 701 denotes a first data buffer for storing image additional information sent from the tile bus interface unit 201. When a predetermined amount of data is sent, a packbits connected to the latter stage is sent. The data is output to the compression unit 702 in a predetermined order.

Reference numeral 702 denotes a Packbits compression unit, which is the first
Pack-bits compression is performed on the image additional information stored in the data buffer.

Reference numeral 703 denotes a second data buffer for storing the compressed data compressed by the Packbits compression unit 702. When the compressed data for one tile is acquired from the Packbits compression unit 702, the data stored in the buffer is stored. Image ring output unit 20 with the capacity of Data Byte Length 2
Output to 5.

Further, the compressed data stored in the buffer according to the request of the image ring output unit 205 is output to the image ring output unit 205.

A data comparison unit 704 compares the image additional information input from the tile bus interface unit 201 with the data stored in the first data buffer 701. The data sent from the tile bus interface unit 201 is stored in the first data buffer, and at the same time, the data comparison unit 704 compares it with the data stored in the first data buffer.

The first data buffer stores the image additional information sent to the second compression processing unit 204 immediately before the tile input from the tile bus interface unit 201. In the comparison unit 106, the image additional information sent from the tile bus interface unit 201 is compared with the image additional information of the previous tile in the second compression processing unit.

When the data comparison unit 704 completes the comparison of the image additional information for one tile, the data comparison unit 704 sends the comparison result Compare re to the image ring output unit 206.
sult2 is output.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of the data amount counting unit 208.

First, when the tile compression unit 2106 starts processing, the data counter value (DataCount) is set to 0 (801).

Next, the first compression section 203 and the second compression section 20.
When the compression process is completed in 4, the data amount counting unit 2
08 each compressed data amount Data Byte Length 1 and D
ataByte Length2 is output and added to Data Count (802).

Next, at 803, the data counter value (Da
taCount) and the preset limit value.

When it is determined in 803 that the data counter value exceeds the limit value, the transmission of the image additional information from the data buffer 2 (703) is stopped (80
4), Data Byte Length 2 is set to 0 and output to the image ring output unit 205 (805).

If it is determined in 803 that the data counter value does not exceed the limit value, the image additional information and Da stored in the data buffer 2 (703) are stored.
The ta Byte Length 2 is directly output to the image ring output unit 205 (806).

Next, the image data and Data Byte Length 1 stored in the data buffer 2 (105) are transmitted to the image ring output unit 205 as they are.

Finally, in 808, it is judged whether or not the processing for one page is completed. If not completed, the process returns to 802, and if judged to be completed, the process is ended.

[0152]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the amount of image data to be transmitted exceeds a certain value, the transmission of additional image information is stopped so that the capacity of the data storage device is not exceeded and there is no need to redo image input again. To

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first compression processing unit 203 in detail.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a tile compression unit 2106 in detail.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing image data for one tile handled in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of pixels included in a block 0 in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a second diagram showing image data for one tile handled in this embodiment.

6 is a diagram showing a processing order of the image data shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a second compression processing unit 204 in detail.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data amount counting unit 208 in the system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an actual use environment of the present system.

FIG. 10 is an overall block diagram of the present system controller.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an image packet.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a command packet.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an interrupt packet.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a packet table.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An image input unit for inputting information of first image data from an original, an image dividing unit for dividing an image input by the image input unit into predetermined units, and a predetermined unit for the dividing unit. Image additional information generation means for generating additional information of the image divided into, image compression means for performing image compression processing on the image data corresponding to each image area divided by the separation means, and the image addition information Image additional information compression means for performing data compression processing on the image additional information generated by the information generation means, and image data sent from the image compression means and image additional information compression means and data for temporarily storing image additional information Storage means, and image data and image additional information data sent from the image compression means and the image additional information compression means to the data storage means. A data amount counting means for counting the data amount, and when the data amount counted by the data amount counting means exceeds a certain value, the image additional information compression means sends the image additional information to the data storage means. An image processing apparatus, characterized in that the image processing apparatus is stopped. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image input means is a document reading device such as a scanner. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image compression means performs an irreversible image compression process. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image compression processing is a JPEG compression method. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image additional information compression means performs a reversible data compression process. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the data compression processing is a Packbits method. 7. The data storage means is a RAM (Random Access).
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is a memory. 8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data storage means is a hard disk. 9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image decompression means for decompressing the compressed image data compressed by said image compression means. 10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image additional information expansion means for expanding the compressed image additional information compressed by said image additional information compression means.