JP2003276254A - Printer unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer unit capable of reducing the consumption of a buffer memory MEM and preventing a data acquisition error, or the like. <P>SOLUTION: Before switching to a power saving mode, a CPU 13 sets a DMA transfer addressee in a communication control part 12. Printing subject data received by the communication control part 12 in the power saving mode are stored in a buffer memory MEM so that the content of the buffer memory is transferred by a DMA 21 to the DMA transfer addressee on a RAM 15 set by the communication control part 12 at the time initialization of a memory controller 14 is finished. <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 printer device having a power saving control mode.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with increasing awareness of global environmental issues, electronic devices such as printers have
Reducing power consumption has become a major concern. For this reason, many printer devices shift to a power saving mode, for example, on the condition that a print request has not been received for a certain period of time, and stop the power supply to the fixing unit using the heater.
The power for the heater is reduced, and the control CPU and
The power supply to the memory used by the CPU is stopped.

On the other hand, when a personal computer or the like issues a print request to a printer device in the power saving mode, the printer device first performs a process of returning from the power saving mode, restarts the control CPU, and initializes the memory. processing,
Start resuming power supply to the heater. When the control CPU returns, reception of print target data is started, and the print target data is loaded into the memory.
Then, the print target data in the memory is processed to generate a page image, and the page image is printed.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional printer device, the print target data cannot be received until the recovery process, and during this time, the personal computer side waits for the transmission of the print target data to the printer device. As a result, the processing efficiency decreases.

Therefore, in the printer apparatus, a buffer memory is provided in the interface section for receiving print target data from the personal computer side, and the data received from the personal computer side while each section is in the power saving mode is stored in the buffer memory. It is also possible to keep it in.

However, in this case, even if the interface unit starts the restoration process of each unit immediately after receiving the print target data, the amount of data received until the restoration is completed becomes enormous. Especially in recent years, the data transfer speed of the communication line with the personal computer side has become faster,
The amount of this data is increasing. For this reason, the storage capacity of the buffer memory must be increased in order to prevent the received data from being lost, etc., resulting in an increase in cost and a reduction in power saving efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is capable of supporting high-speed data transfer while suppressing increase in the capacity of the buffer memory, reducing cost and maintaining power saving efficiency, and dropping data. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer device that can prevent the adverse effects such as the above.

[0008]

According to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems of the conventional example, when the contents of the restoration process are carefully examined, the memory initialization is completed at the beginning of the restoration process. Then, it is noted that the CPU restart process is being executed while using a part of this memory, that is, the memory is already available at the beginning of the recovery process.

That is, according to an aspect of the present invention, a control unit for executing a print process based on the received print target data, a storage unit for holding the print target data for the print process, and the print target A printer device, comprising: an interface unit for receiving data, wherein the power supply to the control unit and the storage unit is stopped during power saving control, wherein the interface unit temporarily receives the print target data. When the buffer means for holding and print target data are received during the power saving control, the control section and the storage section are activated, the received print target data is retained in the buffer section, and the storage section has completed activation. A unit for transferring the print target data held in the buffer unit to a predetermined specific area of the storage unit, If control unit is completed started, receives information about the storage location of print target data the transfer from the interface unit, it was decided to perform the print processing based on the print data.

Here, the control section may use a partial area of the storage section as a starting area at the time of starting, and the interface section may use a part outside the starting area as the specific area. It is suitable. It is also preferable that the interface section holds information for identifying the position of the specific area, and the information is supplied to the print processing by the control section.

Further, it is preferable that the interface section compresses the print target data received during the power saving control and holds it in the buffer means. According to this, the required amount of the buffer memory can be further reduced. In this case, the interface unit, during the compression processing,
It is also preferable to change the compression method according to the type of received print target data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a control unit for executing a print process based on the received print target data, a storage unit for holding the print target data for the print process, and the print target Means for receiving data,
An interface unit including a buffer that temporarily holds the received print target data, and a method for controlling a printer device in which power supply to the control unit and the storage unit is stopped during power saving control. Therefore, when the print target data is received during the power saving control, the control unit and the storage unit are activated, the received print target data is temporarily stored in the buffer, and when the storage unit completes the activation. , To a predetermined specific area of the storage unit,
The print target data held in the buffer is transferred.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the printer device according to the present embodiment, when the contents of the restoration process are carefully examined, the initialization of the memory is completed at the beginning of the restoration process, and then the CPU is used while using a part of this memory. Note that the memory is already available at the beginning of the recovery process, and the DMA (Direct Memory Access) is set before the CPU is power-saving controlled. Incidentally, the buffered data can be transferred to the memory when the memory is restored, even if the CPU is not restored.

Specifically, the printer device according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, has a power supply control unit 11, a communication control unit 12, a CPU 13, a memory controller 14, and an R.
It is configured to include an AM 15, a ROM 16, and a print control unit 17. Further, the memory controller 14 has a DMA (Direct Memory Access) 21 as shown in FIG.
And a bus bridge 22. Here, the communication control unit 1
2, the CPU 13, the memory controller 14, and the print control unit 17 are mutually connected via a CPU bus 31. The RAM 15 and the ROM 16 are connected to the memory controller 14.

The power supply control unit 11 supplies power to each unit. When the power supply control unit 11 receives an instruction to shift to the power saving mode from the CPU 13, the power supply control unit 11 maintains the power supply to the communication control unit 12 and stops the power supply to other units. When receiving an instruction to shift to the normal mode from the communication control unit 12, the power supply to each unit is restarted.

The communication control unit 12 operates as an interface unit, is connected to a communication path, and transmits / receives print target data via this communication path. In addition, this communication control unit 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a flag (first register) indicating whether or not the power saving mode is set, a register (second register) holding an address of a transfer destination of the DMA transfer, a status register indicating an operation state, and a buffer memory MEM. And a control element, and when in the power saving mode, stores the data received via the communication path in the buffer memory MEM and outputs the instruction to shift to the normal mode to the power supply control unit 11. .

A feature of this embodiment is that the communication control unit 12 uses the DMA of the memory controller 14.
That is, the contents of the buffer memory MEM are to be output to the DMA 21 when 21 is restored.

The CPU 13 operates as a control unit and controls each unit. Specifically, the CPU 13 determines whether or not to shift to the power saving mode based on the reception state of the data to be printed, and the power saving mode. When it is determined to move to, when the first register of the communication control unit 12 is set to notify the communication control unit 12 that it is in the power saving mode, and when the DMA 21 returns from the power saving mode to the second register. The destination address to which the print target data is to be transferred is set in, and the power supply controller 11 is instructed to shift to the power saving mode. The process of shifting to the power saving mode will be described in detail later.

Further, the CPU 13 executes an initialization process at the time of starting or returning from the power saving mode. This initialization processing is performed by executing the program stored in the ROM 16, and at that time, the RAM 15
Part of the predetermined area is used as a work memory. This area will be referred to as a "starting area" in the following description. Further, the CPU 13 processes the print target data transferred to the RAM 15 to generate a page image and outputs the page image to the print control unit 17 in the normal mode (mode other than the power saving mode). Process for printing.

The memory controller 14 controls access to the RAM 15 and the ROM 16. In the normal state, the DMA 21 of the memory controller 14 transfers data to the R in response to a request from the communication control unit 12 or the like.
Transfer to the AM 15 without passing through the CPU 13. This DMA is characterized by this embodiment.
Reference numeral 21 denotes the communication control unit 1 when returning from the power saving mode.
In response to a request input from the communication control unit 12, a communication control unit for an area specified by an address on the RAM 15 set in the second register of the communication control unit 12 (hereinafter, this area is referred to as “specific area”). It is to transfer the contents of 12 buffer memories MEM. This memory controller 1
4, the RAM 15, and the ROM 16 correspond to the storage unit of the present invention.

The bus bridge 22 has a CPU bus 31 and
It relays data transmission / reception with a bus to which the RAM 15 and the ROM 16 are connected.

The RAM 15 is a readable / writable memory, and the ROM 16 is a read-only memory. RAM
Reference numeral 15 stores print target data, and also operates as a work memory of the CPU 13. ROM16 is CPU1
3 holds programs and the like executed by 3. The ROM 16 may be in a rewritable state such as EEPROM or NVRAM as long as it is a non-volatile memory element. The print control unit 17 includes the CPU 13
Print the page image on paper according to the instructions input from.

Here, the operation when the printer device of the present embodiment shifts to the power saving mode and the operation when receiving the print target data and returning to the normal mode when in the power saving mode will be described. To do.

First, the operation of shifting to the power saving mode will be described. When the CPU 13 determines that the power saving mode should be entered, the CPU 13 sets the first register of the communication control unit 12 to a value indicating the "power saving mode". The CPU 13 then determines a predetermined value (for example, RO
The information (start address, end address, etc.) of the specific area (stored in M16) is referred to, and the information is set in the second register of the communication control unit 12. Then, the power supply controller 11 outputs an instruction to shift to the power saving mode. Upon receiving this instruction, the power supply control unit 11 shifts to the power saving mode, and stops the power supply to each unit except the communication control unit 12.

Next, the operation when returning to the normal mode will be described. Upon receiving the print target data from the communication path, the communication control unit 12 refers to the first register to check whether the power saving mode is set. Here, in the power saving mode, the print target data is accumulated in the buffer memory MEM, and an instruction to return to the normal mode is output to the power supply control unit 11. As a result, the CPU 13
The power supply to the etc. is restarted, and the initialization process is started.

When the initialization process is completed in the memory controller 14, the CPU 13 reads the program from the ROM 16 and executes the program, and the initialization region of the RAM 15 is used to perform the initialization process. During this time, the communication control unit 12
The information of the specific area set in the second register is output to the DMA 21 of the memory controller 14, and the print target data accumulated in the buffer memory MEM is output to the DMA 21. The DMA 21 transfers the print target data to the specific area on the RAM 15 based on the information on the specific area. Then, the DMA 21 stores information regarding the transfer (the transfer destination address, the transfer data amount, and the completion status (any one of “unprocessed”, “in process”, and “completion”)) in the status register of the communication control unit 12. Set (Fig. 2). The communication control unit 12 uses the information of the transfer result for the information of the specific area set in the second register, and offsets (adds) the start address of the specific area by the transfer data amount and adds a new value. Holds information on a specific area.

Here, when the communication control unit 12 further accepts print target data before the start of the CPU 13 is completed, the print target data is read by the DMA 21 as R.
It is transferred to the AM 15, the information of the transfer result is added to the status register, and the value of the second register is updated.

When the activation is completed, the CPU 13 sets the first register of the communication controller 12 to the information indicating that the normal mode has been entered. Then, referring to the status register of the communication control unit 12, the print target data is processed and printed in the recorded order, and the CPU 13 instructs the DMA 21 for the completion status “unprocessed”. To output the contents of the buffer memory MEM to R
The process of transferring to the AM 15 is performed, the completion status is set to "completion", and then the print target data is processed. Further, when there is a job whose completion status is “processing”, the CPU 13 waits until the completion status becomes “completed”. And CPU1
No. 3 stops the operation of the DMA 21 when all the completion statuses become “complete”.

[Compression of Received Print Target Data] Furthermore, it is preferable that the communication control unit 12 compresses the print target data received while in the power saving mode. That is, the communication control unit 1
When the print target data 2 receives print target data while in the power saving mode, the print target data 2 is compressed and stored in the buffer memory MEM. In addition, this print target data is D
When it is transferred to the RAM 15 by the MA 21, it is expanded and then transferred.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the communication control unit 12 of the printer device according to the present embodiment has a receiving unit 41.
, Compression processing unit 42, first selector 43, buffer memory MEM, decompression processing unit 44, and second selector 45.
It is configured to include and.

The receiving unit 41 receives the print target data that has arrived via the communication path. The compression processing unit 42 includes the receiving unit 4
The print target data received in 1 is compressed by a predetermined method and output to the first selector 43. First selector 43
Receives both the print target data itself received by the receiving unit 41 and the print target data compressed by the compression processing unit 42, and selects either one in accordance with the contents of the first register. That is, this first selector 43
When the first register is in the power saving mode, the compressed print target data is selectively output. Further, when the first register indicates that the power saving mode is not set, the print target data itself received by the receiving unit 41 is selectively output.

The buffer memory MEM comprises the first selector 4
The data input from 3 is held. Expansion processing unit 44
Receives an instruction to read data from the buffer memory MEM, attempts decompression processing on the read data, and outputs the result of the decompression processing. The second selector 45 receives the data itself stored in the buffer memory MEM and the result of the decompression processing input from the decompression processing unit 44, and selectively outputs one of them. Specifically, the second selector 45 selectively outputs the result of the expansion processing when in the power saving mode according to the contents of the first register, and when not in the power saving mode, the buffer memory ME.
The data itself stored in M is selectively output.

When the compressed data is selected, the first selector 43 compresses the information (compression flag) indicating that the compression processing has been performed and the data amount information obtained as a result of the compression processing. When the uncompressed data is selected, the information (normal flag) indicating that the data is normal data and the information about the amount of the data are output in association with each other. It is also preferable to According to this, as shown in FIG. 4, in the buffer memory MEM, the compression flags are associated with the compressed data A, B, and C, and the normal flags are associated with the uncompressed data D. Is stored.

In this way, when the compression flag or the normal flag is associated, the second selector 45 refers to this flag and outputs the data itself in the buffer memory MEM, or the result of the decompression process. May be selected. For example, the header part is referred to from the data itself in the buffer memory MEM, and if the compression flag is added, the decompressed data is selectively output.

It is also preferable that the compression processing section 42 further examines the type of the print target data that is the target of the compression process and adopts different compression methods depending on the type. For example, if the print target data is PostScript (registered trademark)
The compression efficiency is improved by selecting different compression methods depending on whether the page description language is used or the like and the bitmap data. In this case, the compression processing unit 42 outputs to the first selector 43 information on what compression method has been adopted, and the first selector 43
Includes the information in the compression flag. Then, the decompression processing unit 44 performs decompression processing by the decompression method corresponding to the compression method adopted by referring to the information.

According to the present embodiment, before the CPU 13 shifts to the power-saving mode, the setting for the DMA 21 is stored in the communication control unit side so that it can be referred to at the time of restoration, and at the time of restoration processing. Even before the CPU 13 completes the return, the DMA 21 transfers the data held in the buffer memory MEM to the RAM 15 side based on the setting. As a result, the chance of missing data in the buffer memory MEM can be reduced. Further, by compressing and holding the print target data received when the communication control unit 12 is in the power saving mode, it is possible to reduce the usage amount of the buffer memory MEM and prevent the data from being missed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a printer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of contents of a status register that holds information regarding DMA transfer.

FIG. 3 is a configuration block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication control unit 12 when performing compression processing.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of contents of a buffer memory MEM.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 power control unit, 12 communication control unit, 13 CPU,
14 memory controller, 15 RAM, 16 RO
M, 17 print control unit, 21 DMA, 22 bus bridge, 31 CPU bus, 41 receiving unit, 42 compression processing unit, 43 first selector, 44 decompression processing unit, 45 second selector.

Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C061 HH11 HT03 HT07 HT09                 2C187 BF14 DD02 GD10                 2H027 DA34 DA35 DB01 DE04 DE07                       DE09 EC06 EE01 EE07 EE08                       EE10 EF06 EF16 EJ17 ZA07

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A control unit that executes a print process based on the received print target data, a storage unit that holds the print target data for use in the print process, and an interface unit that receives the print target data. A printer device in which power supply to the control unit and the storage unit is stopped during power saving control, wherein the interface unit temporarily holds received print target data, and power saving control When the print target data is received, the control unit and the storage unit are activated, and the received print target data is held in the buffer unit. A means for transferring the print target data held in the buffer means to a predetermined specific area; and From Esu unit receives the information about the storage location of print target data the transfer, the printer apparatus characterized by performing a printing process based on the print data. 2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit uses a partial region of the storage unit as a startup region at startup, and the interface unit uses the partial region as the specific region for startup. A printer device using a portion outside the area. 3. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the interface unit holds information for identifying the position of the specific area, and the information is used for print processing by the control unit. Printer device. 4. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the interface unit compresses print target data received during power saving control and holds the print target data in the buffer unit. Printer device. 5. The printer device according to claim 4, wherein the interface unit changes the compression method according to the type of received print target data during the compression process. 6. A control unit that executes print processing based on the received print target data, a storage unit that holds the print target data for use in the print processing, a unit that receives the print target data, and the reception. A method for controlling a printer device, comprising: an interface section including a buffer for temporarily holding the print target data, and stopping power supply to the control section and the storage section during power saving control. When the print target data is received during the power saving control, the control unit and the storage unit are activated, the received print target data is temporarily stored in the buffer, and when the storage unit completes the activation, A method for controlling a printer device, wherein print target data held in the buffer is transferred to a predetermined specific area of a storage unit.