JP2003309680A - Image forming equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the rotation process of image data at a high speed while chip set of a CPU and data delivery to an engine part are adequately performed, when the CPU whose interface is not mode public yet is used as a controller. <P>SOLUTION: The controller 101 having an integrated circuit for image processing is equipped with a PCI 109 for connecting the engine part 110, an AGP 106 for connecting a chip set part of a CPU 102, an ASIC 108 for switching and controlling that image data which are input from the PCI 109 and read by a scanner 124 are output to the PCI 109, as plotter data to a plotter 126, or that the image data are output to the AGP 106, or that image data input from the AGP 106 are output to the PCI 109, as the plotter data to the plotter 126, and a rotating apparatus 113 which is installed in the ASIC 108 and rotates scanner image data by a desired angle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention connects a scanner having an integrated circuit for image processing to a scanner and an engine section and a CPU having a 1-drum black-and-white plotter or a 1-drum color plotter or 4-drum color plotter The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs image forming processing under the control of a CPU.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine, an ASIC (Applicat) for image processing is used.
In many cases, a controller including an ion specific IC) and a CPU is connected to the engine unit and an image forming process is performed using this controller.

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

When a new image forming apparatus having excellent performance is made, the controller for controlling the drawing and control is replaced with a high-speed controller for each unit.

[0005]

However, although the interface of the previous CPU was open to the public, the recent RISC general-purpose CPU does not open the interface of the CPU itself, so that the ASIC via the chip set is used. Since there is no choice but to connect the CPU to the CPU, there is a performance limitation.

[0006] Specifically, when connecting to an external device via a chip set, usually a PCI (Peripher) is used.
al Component Interconnect
Ion), but PCI via a chipset has low performance and is not suitable for configuring an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copying machine.

Therefore, when a CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used as the controller of the image forming apparatus, how to appropriately exchange data between the CPU chip set and the engine section, and how to achieve high-speed image processing. Whether or not to perform the forming process is a very important issue.

Particularly in some recent multifunction peripherals, instead of assigning copy processing, printer processing, and FAX processing to separate CPUs mounted on separate boards as in the past, all of these processings are performed by the same CPU. Since the person in charge has appeared, how to solve the above performance degradation is a very important issue.

Further, in such a multifunction machine, copying,
It has a function of rotating scanned image data or image data to be printed at an angle such as 90 ° or 180 ° and outputting the image data according to a user's designation when performing image forming processing such as printing and scanning. ing.
When performing such a rotation function, it is an extremely important issue to perform image forming processing at high speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above,
When a CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used as a controller of the image forming apparatus, it is possible to perform image data rotation processing at high speed while appropriately exchanging data between the CPU chipset and the engine unit. An object is to obtain an image forming apparatus.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 provides a controller having an integrated circuit for image processing, a scanner, and an engine section and a CPU having a monochrome plotter or a one-drum color plotter. And an image forming apparatus that performs image forming processing under the control of the CPU, wherein the controller includes an engine interface unit that connects the engine unit and a chipset interface that connects the chipset unit of the CPU. Section and the scanner image data read by the scanner, which is input from the engine interface section, is output to the engine interface section as plotter data for the plotter, or the scanner image data is output to the chipset interface section. Or A switching control unit that controls whether the image data input from the chipset interface unit is output to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter, and a rotation control unit that rotates the scanner image data to a desired angle. When,
It is characterized by having.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the scanner image data input from the engine interface unit and read by the scanner is output to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter, or
This scanner image data is output to the chipset interface unit, or the image data input from the chipset interface unit is output to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter. When the CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used for the controller of the image forming apparatus by rotating the CPU at a desired angle, the smooth switching control can appropriately perform the data exchange between the CPU and the engine unit, and the engine unit The rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed at a higher speed than when the rotation processing is performed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the performance of image forming processing involving rotation processing of image data in a monochrome or color one-drum image forming apparatus.

The invention according to claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
In the image forming apparatus described in (1), the rotation control unit is provided inside the switching control unit.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the rotation control section is provided inside the switching control section, the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed within the same switching control section during the switching control. Therefore, the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed at a higher speed.

The invention according to claim 3 is the same as that of claim 1.
Alternatively, in the image forming apparatus described in the item 2, the switching control unit further includes a hard disk control unit capable of increasing the number of hard disk drives to be connected according to the input / output processing capability of the image data.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the hard disk control unit of the switching control unit can increase the number of hard disk drives to be connected according to the image data input / output processing capacity. Without being bound by the performance of the single drive, the number of hard disks can be increased as necessary to obtain the transfer speed of the hard disk drive required for a high-speed monochrome or color 1-drum image forming apparatus.

The invention according to claim 4 is the same as claim 1
In the image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3, the switching control unit further includes a decompression unit that performs decompression processing of the scanner image data when outputting the scanner image data to the engine interface unit. The switching control unit, when outputting to the engine interface unit, directly outputs the scanner image data expanded by the expansion unit to the engine interface unit without outputting to the memory. To do.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when outputting to the engine interface section, the scanner image data expanded by the expanding section is directly output to the engine interface section without being output to the memory. Thus, the scanner image data that has been subjected to the rotation processing can be output at high speed by effectively using the capacity of the memory and the bandwidth of the memory, and the performance of the monochrome or color 1-drum image forming apparatus can be improved. .

The invention according to claim 5 is the same as claim 1.
In the image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 4, the switching control unit further includes a decompression unit that performs decompression processing of the scanner image data when outputting the scanner image data to the engine interface unit. The switching control section, when outputting to the engine interface section, outputs the scanner image data to the memory once, and then outputs the scanner image data to the engine interface section from a direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the switching control section outputs the image data to the engine interface section, the scanner image data is once output to the memory and then output to the engine interface section from the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction. By doing so, for example, even when the double-sided printing function is installed, it is possible to output the scanner image data that has been subjected to rotation processing at high speed by effectively using the capacity of the memory and the bandwidth of the memory. The performance of the color one-drum image forming apparatus can be improved.

The invention according to claim 6 is the same as claim 1.
5. In the image forming apparatus according to any one of 5 to 5, the chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and a north bridge forming a part of a chipset of the CPU is used as the accelerated graphic port. It is characterized by connecting.

According to the invention of claim 6, the chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port (AGP), and the north bridge forming a part of the chipset of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. I decided to connect, so A
High-speed data transfer can be performed via GP.

The invention according to claim 7 is the same as claim 1.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 6, wherein the engine interface unit is a PCI interface that accommodates a PCI bus, and the engine unit is connected to the PCI interface.

According to the invention of claim 7, the engine interface unit is a PC containing a PCI bus.
Since it is the I interface and the engine unit is connected to this PCI interface, it is possible to eliminate the need to change the connection form of the engine unit.

The invention according to claim 8 is the engine section and CPU having a scanner and a four-drum color plotter in a controller having an integrated circuit for image processing.
And an image forming apparatus that performs image forming processing under the control of the CPU, wherein the controller includes an engine interface unit that connects the engine unit,
A chipset interface unit for connecting a chipset unit of the CPU, and scanner image data input from the engine interface unit and read by the scanner are output to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter, or A switching control unit that controls switching between outputting the scanner image data to the chipset interface unit or outputting the image data input from the chipset interface unit to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter, A rotation control unit for rotating the scanner image data to a desired angle.

According to the invention of claim 8, the scanner image data input from the engine interface unit and read by the scanner is output to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter, or
This scanner image data is output to the chipset interface unit, or the image data input from the chipset interface unit is output to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter. When the CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used for the controller of the image forming apparatus by rotating the CPU at a desired angle, the smooth switching control can appropriately perform the data exchange between the CPU and the engine unit, and the engine unit The rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed at a higher speed than when the rotation processing is performed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the performance of the image forming process involving the image data rotation process in the color 4-drum image forming apparatus.

The invention according to claim 9 is the invention according to claim 8.
In the image forming apparatus described in the paragraph 1, the rotation control unit is provided inside the switching control unit.

According to the invention of claim 9, since the rotation control section is provided inside the switching control section, the rotation processing of the scanner image data is performed in the same switching control section during the switching control. Therefore, the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed at a higher speed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the eighth or ninth aspect, the switching control unit increases the number of hard disks to be connected according to the image data input / output processing capacity. It is characterized by further comprising a possible hard disk controller.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the hard disk control unit of the switching control unit can increase the number of hard disk drives to be connected in accordance with the input / output processing capability of the image data, and thus the hard disk It is possible to increase the number of hard disks as necessary and obtain the transfer rate of the hard disk drive required for the color 4-drum image forming apparatus without being restricted by the performance of the single drive.

The invention according to claim 11 is the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the switching control section outputs the scanner image data to the engine interface section. In, further comprising a decompression unit for decompressing the scanner image data,
The switching control unit, when outputting to the engine interface unit, directly outputs the scanner image data expanded by the expanding unit to the engine interface unit without outputting to the memory. .

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, when outputting to the engine interface unit, the scanner image data expanded by the expansion unit is directly output to the engine interface unit without being output to the memory. Thus, the scanner image data that has been subjected to the rotation processing can be output at high speed by effectively using the capacity of the memory and the bandwidth of the memory, and the performance of the color four-drum image forming apparatus can be improved.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the eighth to eleventh aspects, when the switching control section outputs the scanner image data to the engine interface section. In, further comprising a decompression unit for decompressing the scanner image data,
The switching control unit, when outputting to the engine interface unit, outputs the scanner image data to the memory interface unit once, and then outputs the scanner image data to the engine interface unit from a direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, when the switching control section outputs the image data to the engine interface section, the scanner image data is once output to the memory and then output to the engine interface section from the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction. By doing so, for example, even when the double-sided printing function is installed, it is possible to output the scanner image data that has been subjected to the rotation processing at high speed by effectively using the memory capacity and the memory bandwidth. The performance of the image forming apparatus for the drum can be improved.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the eighth to twelfth aspects, the chipset interface section is an accelerated graphic port, and the chip of the CPU. A north bridge forming part of the set is connected to the accelerated graphic port.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the chipset interface section is an accelerated graphic port (AGP), and the north bridge forming a part of the chipset of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. I decided to connect, so
High-speed data transfer via AGP is possible.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the eighth to thirteenth aspects, the engine interface unit is a PCI interface that accommodates a PCI bus. Is connected to the PCI interface.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the engine interface section has a P for accommodating the PCI bus.
It is a CI interface, and the engine part is
Since it is decided to connect to the interface, there is no need to change the connection form of the engine section.

[0039]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a "multifunction machine") according to Embodiment 1. In FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, this multifunction peripheral has a configuration in which a controller 101 and an engine unit 110 are connected by a PCI 109. The controller 101 is a controller that controls the overall multifunction peripheral, drawing, communication, and input from the operation unit 111. The engine unit 110 has a scanner 124 and a plotter 126. Plotter 12
6 is a monochrome plotter, 1 drum color plotter,
The scanner 124 is a scanner, a fax unit, or the like. This engine unit 110 has a plotter 12
6 and a scanner 124, etc., an ASIC 121 including an image processing unit 122 for performing image processing such as error diffusion and gamma conversion, and a PCI unit 123 in addition to so-called engine units.
And has a CPU 120.

The controller 101 includes a CPU 102,
North bridge (NB) 103 and system memory (M
EM-P) 104 and South Bridge (SB) 105
, Local memory (MEM-C) 107, and ASIC
108, an operation unit 111, a plurality of hard disk drives (HDD) 112, an ASIC 127, an OPTI
It has ONs 115 and 116 and a ROM 117, and AG is connected between the north bridge (NB) 103 and the ASIC 108.
P (Accelerated Graphics Por)
t) 106 is connected. A PCI 118 connects between the NB 103 and the SB 105.

The CPU 102 controls the entire complex machine, and includes the NB 103, the MEM-P 104, and the AS.
IC127, OPTION115,116, ROM11
7 and SB105. Here, the interface of the CPU 102 is not open to the public, and it is assumed that another device is connected via the chip set.

The NB 103 has a CPU 102 and a MEM-P.
104, SB 105, and AGP 106. The MEM-P 104 is a system memory used as a drawing memory of the multi-function peripheral, and SB 1
05 is the NB 103, the ROM 117, the PCI device,
It is a bridge for connecting to peripheral devices. It should be noted that the OPTIONS 115 and 116 are empty slots for connecting optional PCI devices and peripheral devices.

The MEM-C 107 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer,
The ASIC 108 is an IC for image processing applications having a hardware element for image processing.
It also has a role of a bridge that connects the CI 109, the HDD 112, and the MEM-C 107, respectively.

The operation unit 111 is an operation unit that receives an input operation from the user and displays it to the user. The HDD 112 stores image data, programs, font data, and forms. For storage.

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

The AGP 106 is originally used for smoothly displaying a 3D (three-dimensional) image on the display. In the multifunction machine of the first embodiment, the NB 103 and the ASIC 108 are connected via the AGP 106. is doing.

That is, since the interface of the CPU 102 is not open to the public, the ASIC 108 is connected here via the NB 103 which is a part of the chip set. At this time, if the two are connected using the PCI bus, the performance will decrease.
Extended use of P106.

The rotator 113 constitutes the rotation control section in the present invention, and rotates the image data at a desired angle. The compression / decompression device 114 constitutes the decompression unit in the present invention, compresses image data, and decompresses the compressed image data. The detailed configurations of the rotator 113 and the compression / expansion device 114 will be described later.

Next, the configuration of the ASIC 108 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 2 shows the ASIC 10 shown in FIG.
8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of No. 8. As shown in FIG.
The ASIC 108 includes an AGP unit 229, a config (PCI-CONFIG) register 207, a master (AGP-MASTER) unit 206, a target (PCI-TARGET) unit 208, an internal register 210, a memory controller 209, and a config. (PCI-CONFIG) register 223,
A master (PCI-MASTER) unit 224, a target (PCI-TARGET) unit 226,
PCI unit 228, arbiter 212, PCI arbiter 225, and two rotators (ROT1, ROT2)
204, 205, synthesizer (EDIT) 203, HD
D controller 213 and three compression / expansion devices (CD1,
CD2, CD3) 215 to 217, and operation unit (OPE)
202, a video input unit 218, and a video output unit 222
And have.

The AGP unit 229 is a unit (chipset interface section) for executing the bus protocol of the AGP bus 106 connected to the NB 103, and P
The CI-CONFIG 207 is a PCI configuration register for the AGP bus 106. AGP-MAS
The TER 206 is a unit that executes a bus master function of the AGP bus 106, and is a PCI-TARGET 208.
Is a unit that executes a PCI target function included in the AGP bus 106.

The internal register 210 is a register that is required when each part of the ASIC 108 performs its function.
Memory controller 209, local memory MEM-C
107 for controlling the PCI-CONFIG2
Reference numeral 23 is a PCI configuration register for the PCI bus 109, and PCI-MASTER 224 is a PC.
A unit that executes the bus master function of I109,
The PCI-TARGET 226 is a unit that executes a PCI target function included in the PCI 109, and the PCI arbiter 225 arbitrates access to the PCI. PCI unit 228 is PCI1
This is a unit (engine interface unit) that executes the 09 bus protocol. The arbiter 212 is a MEM
-It arbitrates access to C107.

The two rotators 204 and 205 perform image data rotation processing, and each of the two rotators 204 and 205 has two DMAs.
Has C. Here, the DMAC is a DMA for DMA transfer to the local memory MEM-C107.
The controller. In the first embodiment, the image data can be rotated by 90 ° or 180 °. The rotators 204 and 205 may be provided in the engine unit 110. ASIC108 is NB103 and AG
Although it is connected by P106 and enables high-speed data transfer, the rotators 204 and 205 are connected to the engine unit 110.
However, the advantage of such high-speed data transfer cannot be fully utilized. Therefore, the rotators 204, 205
, ASIC1 connected to NB103 by AGP106
By arranging in the inside of 08, speeding up of data transfer at the time of rotation processing of image data is improved.

The three compression / expansion units 215 to 217 are units capable of compressing or expanding image data, and are connected to the arbiter 212. Compressor / expander 215-21
7 is an internal selector (SEL220, VSEL22
1) is connected to the video output unit 222, and the compressed image data stored in the local memory MEM-C107 is read out and decompressed.
The data can be directly passed to the video output unit 222 without being written back to the EM-C 107. This enables video output to the engine unit 110 without consuming extra work area or extra bandwidth in the local memory MEM-C107. Here, the SEL 220 is a bus selector for directly transferring the compressed image data or the expanded image data to and from the HDD 122. VSEL221
Is a selector for directly passing the decompressed image data to the video output unit 222.

The synthesizer (EDIT) 203 is a unit for synthesizing and editing image data, and is a DMA for three images.
Has C. The synthesizer (EDIT) 203 reads out a plurality of image data from the local memory MEM-C107, synthesizes them, and writes the constructed image data back to the local memory MEM-C107. However, the combined image data is stored in the local memory MEM-C.
If the data is written back to 107 and then read out to perform video output, the bandwidth of the local memory MEM-C107 is used extra, and an extra work area is required. Therefore, in the multi-function peripheral of the first embodiment, the image data can be directly passed to the post-combination video output FIFO by reading the composite image data from the local memory MEM-C107 once. As a result, it is possible to avoid securing an extra work area in the local memory MEM-C107. In addition, the bandwidth of the local memory MEM-C107 can be widened, and as a result, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the writing speed to the HDD and a reduction in the overall processing.

The video input section 218 is the engine section 110.
To input image data via the PCI 109, and is composed of a FIFO for inputting image data and a DMAC for inputting image data.

The video output unit 222 is a DMAC for images.
And a functional unit (OR) for synthesizing the image, a shift unit (SFT) for shifting the image, and a FIFO for supporting PCI burst transfer. Here, when double-sided printing of image data is designated by the user, it is necessary to rotate the image data by 180 ° by the rotators 204 and 205 and output the image data to the engine unit 110. In such a case, the image is decomposed into strip bands, compressed, and expanded in order from the first band when rotated by 180 °. However, the compression / expansion device 2
Since Nos. 15 to 217 can only be expanded in the 0 ° direction, they are once expanded in the 0 ° direction, and then the video output unit 222 causes the image data to be 180 °, which is the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction.
Reading from the direction. This enables 180 ° video output with the memory for the band.

The HDD controller 213 is composed of a command DMAC for issuing a command, a data DMAC for transferring data, and an HDC for exchanging signals with the HDD, so that up to two HDDs can be connected. Has become. Then, when a further transfer speed is required, it is possible to operate in parallel with 4 and 8 units and a power of 2. Note that the HDD connection is 2
The speed of the black and white engine is 100CP.
Since the transfer speed is about M, and the transfer speed of the HDD unit can be doubled by operating two HDDs in parallel as the processing capacity of the HDD, the transfer speed is sufficient for a monochrome multifunction device. Is.

Next, the PCI-CONFIG shown in FIG.
The internal structure of 207 will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the internal structure of the PCI-CONFIG 207 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
The PCI-CONFIG 207, which is a configuration register on the AGP bus 106 side of the BAR 207, has a BAR 207.
It has two base address registers, a and BAR 207b.

The BAR 207a is a local memory MEM.
-A base address register for mapping C107, BAR207b is an internal register 210,
It is a base address register for mapping the PCI memory space and PCI I / O space.

Next, the spatial base register for DMAC provided on the internal register 210 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the space base register for DMAC provided on the internal register 210 shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the internal register 21
0 in the AGPMEMBASE register 210a
And LOCALMEMBASE register 210b. This AGPMEMBASE register 210a
Is a register for setting a base address to which the AGP space of the NB 103 is mapped, and is provided to notify the DMAC of the access destination. LOCAL
The MEMBASE register 210b is a register for setting a base address to which the memory space of the ASIC 108 is mapped, and is provided to notify the DMAC 206 of the access destination.

Next, the mutual relationship of the memory maps of the PCI 109, ASIC 108 and CPU 102 will be described. FIG. 5 shows PCI 109, ASIC 108 and C.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a mutual relationship of memory maps of PU 102.

The PCI I / O space 501 shown in FIG.
The PUII / O space of the ASIC 108 visible to the PU 102, the PCIMEM space 502 is the PCIMEM space of the ASIC 108 visible to the CPU 102, and the internal register space 503 is the ASIC1 visible to the CPU 102.
08 internal register space. In addition, AGP504
Is a memory space that can be accessed by the AGP bus protocol managed in the NB 103, and is a MEM-P50.
Reference numeral 5 is a memory space managed by the NB 103.

The PCI I / O space 506 has an ASI
PCIIIO space of C108, PCIMEM space 507 is PCIMEM space of ASIC108,
The internal register space 508 is an internal register space of the ASIC 108. In addition, AGP509 is ASIC10
8 is a memory space accessible from the AGP bus protocol, and the MEM-C 510 is a memory space managed by the ASIC 108. The base 511 is M
The start address of the EM-C510 and the base 512
Is the start address of the AGP space.

Further, the MEM-C 513 is a memory space of the MEM-C 107 accessible from the engine unit 110, the AGP 514 is an AGP space accessible from the engine unit 110, and the PCIMEM space 515.
Is a PCIMEM space actually accessed by the CPU 102 via the ASIC 108, and a PCI I / O space 516 is a PCI II / O space actually accessed by the CPU 102 via the ASIC 108.

As shown in the figure, the PCI I / O space 51
6, PCI I / O space 506 and PCI I / O space 5
01 is associated with each other, and PCIMEM space 515,
The PCIMEM space 507 and the PCIMEM space 502 are associated with each other. Further, the internal register space 508 and the internal register space 503 are associated with each other.

Furthermore, AGP514, AGP509, A
GP504 is associated with each other, MEM-C513,
The MEM-C510 and the MEM-P505 are associated with each other. A detailed description of mapping will be given later.

Next, the operation of the printer shown in FIG. 1 will be described. When this printer is powered on,
The CPU 102 is a BIOS ahead of the SB 105 (not shown).
Start the boot from the NB103 initialization and SB1
05 initialization. Then, during this initialization, the PCI-CON of the ASIC 108 is passed through the AGP 106.
The BAR207 shown in FIG. 3 is accessed by accessing the FIG207.
a and BAR207b are set, A of ASIC108
The initialization as the GP device is completed.

In this way, the AGP of the ASIC 108 is
When initialization as a device is completed, the ASIC 108
Can access the internal register 210. Specifically, the AGPMEMBA of the internal register 210 is
In the SE register 210a, the AGP space is the ASIC 10
Which address in 8 is mapped,
The LOCALMEMBASE register 210b contains AS
Local memory MEM directly managed by IC 108-
Where to map C107 is set.

That is, the AGPMEMBAS shown in FIG.
The address of the base 512 shown in FIG. 5 is set in the E register 210a, and the LOCALMEMBASE register 2
The address of the base 511 is set in 10b. Then, when the mapping is performed, the memory map shown in FIG. 5 is obtained.

As a result, when viewed from the CPU 102,
The system memory exists at the location of the MEM-P 505, and the AGP space 504 is mapped thereon. The setting of the AGP space 504 is set in the register of the NB 103. Therefore, the register mapped in the PCI space can be seen at the upper address.

The internal register space 503, the PCIMEM space 502, and the PCI I / O space 501 are PCI P
It is set by the BAR 207a of the CI-CONFIG 207. Memory under control of ASIC 108 MEM-C1
It is set by the BAR 207b of 07 and is set by the CPU 102 to P.
It can be accessed via CI.

The base address set in the BAR 207a means the beginning of the internal register 508, and
The MEM space 507 and the PCI I / O space 506 are fixedly defined by an offset with respect to the base address.

When the CPU 102 accesses the PCIMEM space 507, the write access is posted, and the CP
U102 will be released and ready for the next task. The write access is written in the PCIMEM space 515 at the same address of the PCI 109. PCII /
Similarly, the write access to the O space 506 is PCI1.
It is written to the PCI I / O space 16 of 09.

Further, the CPU 102 uses the PCIMEM space 5
When 02 is read access, the access is NB10
Converted to AGP access in 3 and PC of ASIC108
Read access to the IMEM space 507.

The ASIC 108 is a PCI of the PCI 109.
Accessing the MEM space 515 takes time until the data is read, so a retry is once returned to the AGP access from the CPU 102. NB1
Upon receiving the retry signal, 03 repeats the read access. When the ASIC 108 reads the data from the PCI 109 and prepares the data, the data is transferred to the NB 10
Return to 3. The NB 103 transfers data with the CPU 102, and the transaction is completed.

Engine unit 11 connected to PCI 109
0 has a CONFIG register, and its base address is mapped to somewhere in the PCIMEM space 515, so that the engine P of the engine unit 110 shown in FIG.
The CI register 602 can be accessed. The PCIMEM space 601 shown in FIG.
PCIM that 2 can access via ASIC 108
It is the EM space, and the engine PCI 602 is the CPU 10
PCIM that 2 can access via ASIC 108
It is an engine PCI register mapped in the EM space.

In order to access from the engine section 110, the CONFIG 108 side of the ASIC 108 is also configured.
There is a register 223. Specifically, a base register for accessing the AGP space 504 of the NB 103 and a memory MEM-C107 under the control of the ASIC 108.
Base register for accessing the ASIC 108
Base register for setting the input address of the image input DMAC of the video input unit 218 of the ASIC 108
There is a base register for setting the output address of the image output DMAC of the video output unit 222. All such work is performed in the initialization process.

When the mapping is completed, a memory map as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained, so that the CPU 102 can access according to this memory map. Further, the engine unit 110 can access the memory according to the memory map as shown in FIG. The engine unit 110 also performs self-diagnosis after power-on and waits for mapping by the CPU 102. Therefore, when the initialization is completed, the engine unit 11
0 can also communicate with the CPU 102.

When the initialization of the software is completed, the controller 101 notifies the operation unit 111 of a message indicating that printing is possible, and enters a standby state in preparation for receiving data from the host.

The ASIC 108 is a network, IEEE
It has an interface for connecting to a host such as E1394, USB, etc. When data reception starts, the transmission data is sequentially interpreted and drawing is started on the MEM-P 104. Then, when the drawing is completed, a command is transmitted to the engine unit 110 to instruct the drawing of the drawn picture.

The CPU 102 operates the internal register of the NB 103 to make the data of the MEM-P 104 look like the space of the AGP 504, rewrites the table on the memory, and sets it so that it can be seen in the AGP space 514 from the engine unit 110. The engine unit 110 receives the start address of the buffer with the drawn picture, activates the DMAC inside the engine unit 110, and sends M through the AGP 514.
The picture of EM-P505 is read. At this time, ASIC1
08 performs target operation for PCI109,
The AGP 106 operates as a master. The engine unit 110 reads out a picture according to the internally generated timing.

Next, the engine section 110 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 7 shows the engine unit 110 shown in FIG.
6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation timing of FIG. A paper size 701 shown in the figure is a paper size determined by main scanning and sub-scanning, FGATE 702 is a signal indicating the effective range of paper sub-scanning, and LGATE 703 is
This is a signal indicating the effective range of the main scanning of the paper, and is LSYNC.
Reference numeral 704 is a synchronization signal that is asserted at the beginning of main scanning.

As described above, the engine section 110 determines the effective area F in the sub-scanning direction according to the output paper size 701.
GATE 702 and effective area LGATE7 in the main scanning direction
03 and an LSYNC 704 that represents the start of each main scanning line.

When the engine section 110 receives a print command, the sheet is conveyed and at the same time an FGATE 702 is created, and the number LS at which the FGATE 702 is asserted.
Start transfer to read the picture into the internal buffer 704 hours before YNC.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the basic timing signal for PCI transfer. In the figure, LSY
The NC 801 is a line sync, the DREQ 802 is a data request, the DATA 803 is a data transfer for one line, the XREQ 804 is a bus request signal of the PCI bus, the XGNT 805 is a bus grant signal of the PCI bus, and the TRANZ 806 is a PCI. It is a bus transaction for a bus.

PCICLK807 is the basic clock of PCI, XFRAME808 is the FRA of PCI.
ME signal, XDEVSEL809 is PCI DE
VIR signal, XIRDY810 is the IR of PCI
DY signal, XTRDY811 is PCI TRDY
AD [31: 0] 812 is a PCI address / data bus signal, and CBE [3: 0] 813 is a PCI command / byte enable signal.

As shown in the figure, the data transfer request DREQ 802 is generated at the rising timing of LSYNC 801.
Is asserted, and the transfer of DATA 803 for one line is completed. Data for one line is transferred in synchronization with each LSYNC 801.

XREQ 804 is asserted on the PCI 109, XGNT 805 is asserted when the use of the bus is permitted, and one PCI transaction 806 is performed. By repeating the PCI transaction 806, the data transfer for one line is completed. The PCI transaction 806 is a burst transfer.

The PCI signal is synchronized with the rising edge of PCICLK807. When the bus use permission is obtained, the engine unit 110, which is the bus master, is XFRAME80.
8 is asserted, and at the same time, the address AD [31: 0] 81
2 and the command CBE [3: 0] 813. AS
The IC 108 uses the address AD [3 issued by the engine unit 110 in the base address register of its own CONFIG.
When 1: 0] 812 hits, XDEVSEL 809 is asserted.

If the engine unit 110 can receive the data, after confirming the assertion of the XDEVSEL 809, the XIRDY 810 is asserted, and the target of receiving the data is the ASI.
Teach C108. The ASIC 108 uses the command CBE
If data is prepared for [3: 0] 813,
Assert XTRDY811 to put data on the bus.

Then, in synchronization with PCICLK807,
If there is data, one data is continuously transferred per clock. One clock before the last data, the engine unit 110, which is the bus master, negates the XFRAME 808, indicating that the next data is the last data of this transaction. After data transfer is completed, ASIC108
Negates XDEVSEL 809 and XTRDY811. The engine unit 110 negates XTRDY811 to complete the transaction.

Next, a specific example of the engine section 110 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 9 shows a scanner as the engine unit 110 shown in FIG.
It is a block diagram of a drum plotter (lower part of FIG. 9).

A CCD 901 shown in FIG. 9 is an image reading element, and an image processing unit 902 converts an analog signal read from the CCD 901 into a digital signal and performs image processing such as shading correction, MTF correction, and γ correction. It is a unit.

The SFT 903 is an image shift unit that shifts and cuts out an image, and the scaling unit 9
Reference numeral 04 is a unit for enlarging / reducing, and ENC
A unit 905 converts a multi-valued image into a code.

The PCI unit 906 includes a portion for executing the PCI bus protocol and the DMAC, and transfers an image to the controller. In addition, it is a unit that transmits a command from the controller to the engine unit.

The DEC 910 is a unit that decodes the code to restore the original image data, the SFT 909 is a unit that shifts or cuts out the image at the time of output, and the image processing unit 908 is the unit that performs shading correction on the output image.
The LDB 907 is an image processing unit that performs MTF correction, γ correction, and the like, and the LDB 907 is a unit that draws on a drum with a laser. The color one-drum plotter shown in FIG. 9 separates the full-color image into YMCK and passes the paper through one drum four times to complete one full-color output. Inside the engine unit 110, toner corresponding to a color is selected and transferred.

Next, the configuration of software operating on the multifunction machine according to the first embodiment having the above hardware configuration will be described. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the multifunction peripheral 1000 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the multifunction peripheral 1000 has a monochrome line printer (B & W LP) 1001, a color line printer (Color LP) 1002, and hardware resources 1003 such as a scanner, a facsimile, a hard disk, a memory, and a network interface. Along with platform 1020 and application 1
030 and software group 1010.

The platform 1020 manages a control service that interprets a processing request from an application to generate a hardware resource acquisition request and one or more hardware resources, and arbitrates an acquisition request from the control service. It has a system resource manager (SRM) 1023 and a general-purpose OS 1021.

The control service is composed of a plurality of service modules, and includes an SCS (system control service) 1022, an ECS (engine control service) 1024, an MCS (memory control service) 1025, and an OCS (operation panel control service) 1026. And an FCS (fax control service) 1027 and an NCS (network control service) 1028. The platform 1020 has an application program interface (API) capable of receiving a processing request from the application 1030 using a predefined function.

The general-purpose OS 1021 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes each software of the platform 1020 and the application 1030 as processes in parallel.

The process of SRM 1023 is SCS10.
22 controls the system and manages resources. The process of the SRM 1023 includes an engine such as a scanner unit and a printer unit, a memory, an HDD file, a host I / O (Centro I / F, a network I / F).
F, IEEE1394 I / F, RS232C I / F
Arbitration and execution control according to the request from the upper layer that uses the hardware resources.

Specifically, the SRM 1023 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is available. Tell upper layers that resources are available. Further, the SRM 1023 performs hardware resource utilization scheduling in response to a request from an upper layer, and directly executes the request content (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation by a printer engine, memory reservation, file generation, etc.). .

The process of the SCS 1022 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.

The ECS 1024 process controls the engine of the hardware resource 1003 including a black and white line printer (B & W LP) 1001, a color line printer (Color LP) 1002, a scanner, a facsimile, etc., and performs image reading, printing operation, and status. Notification, jam recovery, etc.

Specifically, a series of copy / scan / print operations are realized by sequentially issuing print requests to the SRM 1023 in accordance with the job mode designation received from the application 1030. This ECS10
The job to be handled by 24 is assumed to have a scanner (SCANNER) specified for the image input device or a plotter (PLOTTER) specified for the image output device.

For example, in the case of a copy operation, "SCANNE
"R → PLOTTER" is specified, "SCANNER → MEMORY" is specified for file accumulation, and "SCANNER → FAX_IN" is specified for facsimile transmission. In addition, “MEMORY → PLOTTER” is specified when printing a stored file or printing from the printer application 1011 and “FAX_OUT → PLOTTE” when receiving a facsimile.
R "is designated.

Although the definition of the job differs depending on the application, the processing operation for one set of images handled by the user is defined as one job here. For example, copy ADF (Automatic Docum)
ent Feeder) mode, one job consists of reading one set of originals placed on the original table.
In the pressure plate mode, one job is a reading operation until the final document is determined. Further, in the case of the copy application 1012, the operation of copying a bundle of originals is one job, and in the case of the fax application 1013, the operation of transmitting one document or the operation of receiving one document is one job, and the operation of the printer application is performed. In this case, one document print operation is one job.

The process of MCS 1025 performs acquisition and release of the image memory, use of the hard disk device (HDD), compression and decompression of image data, and the like.

The FCS1027 process is performed by facsimile transmission / reception using the PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, BKM (backup SR).
API for registering / quoting various facsimile data managed by AM), reading a facsimile, printing by facsimile reception, and fusion transmission / reception.

The process of NCS 1028 is a process for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications requiring network I / O.
It distributes the data received by each protocol from the network side to each application, and mediates when the data is transmitted from the application to the network side. Specifically, ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnet
It has server daemons such as d and smtpd, and client functions of the same protocol.

The process of OCS 1026 controls an operation panel (operation panel) which is a means for transmitting information between the operator (user) and the main body control. OCS 10
Reference numeral 26 denotes a part of the OCS process that acquires a key press from the operation panel as a key event and sends a key event function corresponding to the acquired key to the SCS 1022, and various screens on the operation panel according to a request from the application 1030 or the control service. It is composed of a drawing function for drawing and outputting and other functions for controlling the operation panel and the like of the OCS library which is registered in advance.

The application 1030 includes a page description language (PDL), PCL and postscript (PDL).
A printer application 1011 that is a printer application having S), a copy application 1012 that is a copy application, a fax application 1013 that is a facsimile application, a scanner application 1014 that is a scanner application, and a network file application. It has a certain net file application 1015 and a process inspection application 1016 which is a process inspection application.

Next, the rotation process during the copy operation in the ASIC 108 of the multifunction machine according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be explained. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller 101 during a copy operation.

First, consider a case where the user sets a document on the scanner 124 of the engine section 110, instructs the operation section 111 to rotate 90 ° to the right, which is a copy condition, and presses the start key.

The instruction by the key input from the user is OC
It is transmitted to the copy application 1012 that currently has control of the screen via S1026. The copy application 1012 reads the request from the user, issues a copy start request to the ECS 1024, and the ECS 1024 that receives the request controls the device driver of the general-purpose OS 1021 and makes a copy start request to the controller 101. Upon receiving the request to start copying, the controller 101 instructs the engine unit 110 via the PCI 109 to start scanning.

The scanner image data read from the original by the scanner 124 is processed by the image processing unit 122 in an A / D format.
Conversion and shift processing in the main scanning direction are performed, and if there is scaling designation by the user, scaling processing is performed at the designated magnification, and then the PCI unit 123 causes the ASI of the controller 101.
Local memory MEM-C107 via C108
Will be temporarily stored in.

Since the right 90 ° rotation is designated as a copy condition, the scanner image data stored in the local memory MEM-C107 is subjected to the rotation processing designated by the rotator 113, and is again rewritten in the local memory. It is stored in MEM-C107.

Next, the rotated scanner image data is compressed by the compression / expansion unit 114,
It is stored in the local memory MEM-C107 as encoded data. Then, the encoded data is stored in the HDD 112.

When the reading of the image data into the local memory MEM-C107 is completed, the controller 10
1 issues an instruction to output image data to the engine unit 110, and the engine unit 110 follows the instruction to perform the PCI unit 123.
Reads the image data from the controller 101 via the PCI bus 109. That is, the engine unit 110
Issues a PCI read transaction, and the ASIC
A read request is issued to 108. The ASIC 108 reads out the image data from the local memory MEM-C 107 according to the request and transfers it to the engine unit 110.

When the PCI unit 123 of the engine unit 110 receives the image data from the controller 101, the image processing unit 1
A shift process for image output is performed at 22 and the result is output to the plotter 126. Specifically, the final image data is transferred to the laser driver board LDB907 for drawing on the photoconductor, transferred, developed, and fixed, printed on a sheet, and output to the discharge tray. The basic timing of scanning and plotting is as shown in FIG.
The data transfer timing of the CI 109 is as shown in FIG. 8 described above.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the activation timing of the scanner 124 and the processing on the local memory MEM-C107. Scan start timing 1201
Issues a command to the engine unit 110 and transfers the image data to the local memory MEM-C107 at the timing when the engine unit 110 starts processing. A triangular portion 1202 in FIG. 12 indicates a transfer operation. DMA on local memory MEM-C107 simultaneously with scanning
Writing from C starts, and the operation state is shown by a triangular portion 1206. Local memory MEM-C1
When the image is written in 07, the compression / expansion unit 114 starts compression. The timing of starting compression is determined so that the compression completion time does not overtake the reading completion time of the image. In FIG. 1209
Indicates the operation of the compression / expansion device 114, and the compression is completed at the same time as the reading by the scanner 124. Also, from the time 1203 when the compression is completed, the storage of the coded data in the HDD 112 is started.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the activation timing of the plotter 126 and the local memory MEM-C107. Input 1302 from the scanner 124 starts, and at the same time, storage 1304 in the local memory MEM-C107 starts. Local memory MEM-
Timing 13 when the data is slightly stored in C107 and the plotting operation does not overtake the scanning operation 13
At 08, the plotter 126 is activated. The plotting operation is completed (1309) after a lapse of a time that has started after the scan operation, and the local memory M
It is necessary to hold an image on the EM-C107.

However, when the rotation process is performed after reading the image data as in the copy operation described with reference to FIG. 11, plotting is started because rotation cannot be performed unless the entire page is aligned as shown in FIG. The time is getting late,
The amount of time the scanner image data is held in the MEM-C 107 becomes longer accordingly.

Next, the multifunction machine 100 according to the first embodiment
The rotation process during the printer operation in the 0 ASIC 108 will be described. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller 101 during printer operation.

The multifunction machine 1000 according to the first embodiment is
It is connected to a host PC (not shown) on the network by the network interface of the ASIC 127. Consider a case where a print request is made from the host PC by designating a 90 ° right rotation of the original file. In addition,
The print request from the host PC is sent to the PDL (Page
It is a group of print commands described in Description Language (page description language).

The CPU 102 receives the network reception interrupt from the ASIC 127 and receives the print data. This print data is processed by the NCS 1028. That is, the NCS 1028 determines that the received data is data for printer printing,
It is delivered to the printer application 1011. The printer application 1011 interprets the passed data and PDL
Pass data to the processing unit. The PDL processing unit sequentially processes the data and draws it in the printer frame memory of the MEM-P 104. Drawing is performed, for example, in band units cut into strips or in page units. The frame for which drawing has been completed is rotated by 90 ° to the right by the rotator 113 of the ASIC 108, and the local memory M
It is stored in EM-C107.

Next, the image data is compressed by the compression / expansion unit 114 and coded into the local memory MEM.
-Transfer to C107. Then, the code data is stored in the HDD 112 in the form of the code data for jam backup.

Next, the compression / expansion unit 114 expands the code data stored in the local memory MEM-C107 and stores it in the FIFO of the video output unit 222, and the engine unit 110 stores the image data stored in the FIFO. Wait until read. That is, the compression / expansion device 11
The image data expanded by 4 is stored in the local memory M
The engine unit 1 is not written back to the EM-C107.
It will be output to the 10 plotters 126.

When the image data output preparation is completed, the CPU 102 specifies the image data to be output to the engine section 110 and issues a plot command. In order to read out the image data in the state of the set mode, the engine unit 110 outputs the video output unit 222 of the ASIC 108.
Access to the FIFO address of. As a result, the print data is output from the plotter 126.

Next, the multifunction machine 100 according to the first embodiment
The rotation processing at the time of the scan operation in the 0 ASIC 108 will be described. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller 101 during the scanning operation.

As the scanner function provided by the scanner application 1014, the scanned image is stored in the HDD
There is a function of storing the image in the HDD 112 and a function of transmitting the image to the host PC having the image data receiving function at the same time as storing in the HDD 112.

When the scanner function is used, the menu is switched by the user pressing the scanner key in the function switching keys of the operation unit 111, and it is possible to set the reading conditions and the destination.

[0135] The user selects the ADF (Auto Doc)
operation feeder 11)
Consider a case where both accumulation and transmission are selected in 1 and the start key is pressed after designating that the scan image is rotated 90 ° to the right.

Input of the start key is notified to the scanner application 1014 via the OCS 1026. The scanner application 1014 is the video input unit 218 of the ASIC 108.
Is set to the mode specified by the user, and the DMAC is activated. Then, set the scan conditions to ECS1024.
The ECS 1024 receives the scan condition, and the ECS 1024 notifies the SCS 1022, SRM 1023, and general-purpose OS 102.
The received scan condition is set to the scanner 124 of the engine unit 110 via 1 and the scan operation is started.

The scanner 124 of the engine section 110 reads the image of the original while conveying the original. The read image data is sent to the ASIC 108 via the PCI 109.
Is stored in the FIFO of the video input unit 218. ASI
When the video input unit 218 of C108 detects that image data has entered the FIFO, the video input unit 218 reads the image data from the FIFO and writes the image data to the specified address of the local memory MEM-C107. This operation is repeated, and when the image for one page is read, the rotator 113 performs the rotation processing in the right 90 ° direction, and the rotated image data is stored in the local memory MEM-C107. Further, the rotation-processed image data stored in the local memory MEM-C107 is stored in the HDD 112.

Such reading operation and the local memory MEM are performed until there are no documents set in the ADF.
-Repeat storage in C107 and HDD 112. After reading all the originals, the local memory MEM-C107 and the HDD 112 for the read image data
When the storage in the memory is completed, the CPU 102 reads the data of the first page of the image data from the local memory MEM-C107, converts the read image data into image data (code data) in the TIF format, and the MEM-P104.
Write in. The image data in the TIF format is NCS.
Network interface of ASIC127 by 1028
Is transmitted to a host PC (not shown) connected to the network.

Next, the multifunction machine 100 according to the first embodiment
Net file application 10 in ASIC 108
The rotation process during operation using 15 will be described. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller when the net file application 1015 is used.

Consider a case where the image data accumulated in the HDD 112 is processed after being rotated by 90 ° to the left from a host PC connected to the network. When there is a request from the host PC for the image data stored in the HDD 112, the NCS 1028 requests the acquisition request.
Upon receipt, the NCS 1028 notifies the net file application 1015 that there is an acquisition request. The net file application 1015 retrieves the image data requested to be acquired from the HDD 112, and temporarily stores it in the local memory ME.
Stored in M-C107. Then, the stored image data is rotated left 90 ° by the rotator 113, and is stored again in the local memory MEM-C107.
Then, the CPU 102 causes the local memory MEM.
-The image data stored in C107 is converted into image data (coded data) of the requested file format, and M
The converted image data is stored in the EM-P104 and is converted to AS.
It is transmitted to the host PC connected to the network by the network I / F of IC127.

As described above, the multifunction machine 1 according to the first embodiment
000, the rotator 113 is connected to the NB 103 and the AGP bus 106, not in the engine section 110.
Since it is provided in the IC 108, the rotation processing of the image data can be performed at high speed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the performance of the image forming process involving the rotation process of the image data in the multi-function peripheral 1000 of monochrome or color 1 drum.

(Second Embodiment) In the multifunction machine 1000 according to the first embodiment, the engine unit 110 is the plotter 126 of monochrome or color one drum, but the multifunction machine according to the second embodiment has the engine unit 110. It uses a color 4-drum plotter.

The overall structure of the multi-function peripheral according to the second embodiment is similar to that of the multi-function peripheral 1000 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ASIC 108. As shown in FIG. 18, this ASIC
108 is an AGP unit 1829 and a config (P
CI-CONFIG register 1807 and the master (A
GP-MASTER) unit 1806, target (PCI-TARGET) unit 1808, internal register 1810, memory controller 1809, and config (PCI-CONFIG) register 1823.
And a master (PCI-MASTER) unit 1824
And a target (PCI-TARGET) unit 18
26, PCI unit 1828, and arbiter 1812
, PCI arbiter 1825 and two rotators (ROT
1, ROT2) 1804, 1805 and combiner (EDI
T) 1803, HDD controller 1813, and two compression / decompression devices (CD1, CD2) 1815, 1816
And four expanders 1817a-d and four video output sections 1822a-d.

Also in this embodiment, the ASIC 108 is used.
Inside the rotator (ROT1, ROT2) 1804, 1805
Is provided, and its configuration is the rotator 2 of the first embodiment.
The same as 04,205.

The video output units 1822a to 1822d have color 4
Four are provided corresponding to the drum plotter. The video output units 1822a to 1822d are composed of a video output DMAC, SFT, and FIFO in charge of one plane, and are capable of synthesizing images and shifting images.

The expanders (D1 to D4) 1817a to 18d are
This is a unit for expanding compressed image data. The expanders (D1 to D4) 1817a to 18d are connected to the video output unit 1
Since it is connected to 822a to 822a-d, compressed image data can be output to the engine unit 110 while being expanded. Note that the other configurations are the same as the configurations of the ASIC 108 of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, a color 4-drum plotter used as the engine section 110 will be described. FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a color four-drum plotter used as the engine unit 110. Each drum unit has a toner corresponding to each color, and a few line cycle time before each unit outputs a picture corresponding to the physical position,
The necessary image data is read out to the address designated by the command in the memory space of the ASIC 108 which is the target. The laser drive unit LDB190 is used here.
1, image processing unit 1902, image shift processing unit (SFT)
1903, the drum relationship and the DMAC are collectively called a drum unit.

The image processing unit 1902 converts the obtained analog signal into a digital signal, performs shading correction, M
The SFT 1903 is an image processing unit that performs TF correction, γ correction, and the like, and the SFT 1903 is an image shift unit that performs image shifting and clipping.

Each drum unit is in charge of each color and outputs an YMCK image plane. If transfer is performed in the order of YMCK from the drum on the side closer to the paper transport tray, the Y-color DMAC reads the data for one line of main scanning to the address specified by the ASIC 108. .

This DMAC is a PCI block 19 in the figure.
04, which is for each color, is arbitrated when necessary, and image data for each color is transferred in order. The transfer unit of each color is a burst unit and is transferred at the timing shown in FIG. However, the YMCAs are not synchronized with each other and generate transfer requests at necessary timings. FIG. 8 shows the transfer timing for a single color, and the actual P
The transfer on the CI bus is YMC when it is the busiest
Burst transfer of A is performed alternately.

Next, the color scanner used as the engine section 110 will be described. FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a color scanner used as the engine unit 110 shown in FIG. The CCD 2001 shown in FIG.
The image processing unit 2002 is a color reading element capable of simultaneously reading three colors. The image processing unit 2002 is an image processing unit that converts an analog signal read from the CCD 2001 into a digital signal and performs shading correction, MTF correction, γ correction, and the like. is there.

The SFT 2003 is an image shift unit for shifting or clipping an image, the scaling unit 2004 is a unit for enlarging / reducing, and the color separation unit 2005 separates three RGB colors into four YMCK colors. It is a unit, ENC2006-2009
Is a unit for converting a multi-valued image into a code.

The PCI unit 2010 is composed of a portion for executing the PCI bus protocol and the DMAC, and transfers an image to the controller. Further, it is a unit that transmits a command from the controller to the engine unit 110.

When receiving an instruction from the host or an instruction from the operation unit 111 from the user, the scanner 124
Reads the image and transfers it to the memory of the controller 101. The memory is MEM-C107 or MEM-
P104 can be selected. The controller 101 delivers the image read through the network I / F or the like to the user.

Next, the flow of images will be described. CCD 20
The RGB image data read in 01 is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal in the image processing unit 2002, and then MTF correction, shading correction, and γ correction are performed, and the image shift unit corresponds to the designated area of the reading area. The image is shifted and cut out in 2003, and then converted by the scaling unit 2004 according to the designated magnification or resolution.

In the color separation unit 2005, when the read request is RGB, the read request remains YMC and the read request is YMC.
If it is K, it is decomposed into YMCA, and if a code is requested by a command, it is converted into a code by the encoder, and PC
It is passed to the I unit 2010. PCI unit 201
There is a DMAC corresponding to each color in 0, and image data is transferred to the controller 101 via the PCI bus 109 at the timing of reading. The controller 101 can receive data for each color.

An image including each operation of copy, print, and scanner, operation using the net file application 1015, and rotation processing by the multifunction machine of the second embodiment equipped with the controller 101 having the ASIC 108 configured as described above. The data flow is the same as the process and image data flow described in FIGS. 11 to 17 of the first embodiment.

As described above, in the multifunction machine according to the second embodiment, the rotator 113 is not installed in the engine section 110 but in the N
ASIC 10 connected by B103 and AGP bus 106
Since it is provided inside the image processing device 8, the image data can be rotated at high speed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the performance of the image forming process involving the rotation process of the image data in the multi-color machine 1000 having four color drums.

In the first and second embodiments, an example in which the controller according to the present invention is installed in a multi-function peripheral has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image forming processing such as a printer or a copying machine is performed. It is also possible to apply to the image forming apparatus.

[0160]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the interface C is not disclosed.
When using the PU as the controller of the image forming apparatus,
The smooth switching control allows the CPU and the engine section to appropriately exchange data, and the scanner image data can be rotated at high speed. Therefore, image formation involving image data rotation processing in a monochrome or color 1-drum image forming apparatus is performed. An effect is that the processing performance can be improved.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed in the same switching control unit during the switching control, and the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed at a higher speed. It has the effect of being able to.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the performance of the hard disk drive alone is not restricted.
There is an effect that the number of hard disks can be increased as necessary to obtain the transfer speed of the hard disk drive required for a high-speed monochrome or color one-drum image forming apparatus.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the scanner image data that has been subjected to the rotation processing can be output at high speed by effectively using the capacity of the memory and the bandwidth of the memory. It is possible to improve the performance of the image forming apparatus for the drum.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, even when the double-sided printing function is provided, the scanner image data that has been subjected to the rotation processing can be used at high speed by effectively using the memory capacity and the memory bandwidth. Therefore, it is possible to improve the performance of a monochrome or color one-drum image forming apparatus.

According to the invention of claim 6, A
It is possible to perform high-speed data transfer via GP.

Further, according to the invention of claim 7, there is an effect that it is possible to eliminate the need to change the connection form of the engine section.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, when a CPU whose interface is not open to the public is used as a controller of the image forming apparatus, smooth switching control is performed to properly transfer data between the CPU and the engine section. In addition, since the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed at high speed, the performance of the image forming processing accompanied with the rotation processing of the image data can be improved in the color four-drum image forming apparatus.

Further, according to the invention of claim 9, the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed in the same switching control unit during the switching control, and the rotation processing of the scanner image data can be performed at a higher speed. It has the effect of being able to.

According to the invention of claim 10,
It is possible to increase the number of hard disks as necessary and obtain the transfer speed of the hard disk drive required for the color four-drum image forming apparatus without being restricted by the performance of the hard disk drive alone.

According to the invention of claim 11,
The scanner image data that has been subjected to the rotation processing can be output at high speed by effectively using the capacity of the memory and the bandwidth of the memory, and the performance of the color four-drum image forming apparatus can be improved. .

Further, according to the invention of claim 12,
Even when the function of double-sided printing is installed, the scanner image data that has been subjected to the rotation processing can be output at high speed by effectively using the capacity of the memory and the bandwidth of the memory. This has the effect of improving performance.

Further, according to the invention of claim 13,
It is possible to exchange data at high speed through AGP.

Further, according to the invention of claim 14,
It is possible to eliminate the need to change the connection form of the engine section.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ASIC of the multi-function peripheral according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an internal structure of PCI-CONFIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a space base register for DMAC provided on an internal register.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a mutual relationship of memory maps of PCI, ASIC, and CPU.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a PCIMEM space of an engine unit.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation timing of the engine unit.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a basic timing signal of PCI transfer.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a scanner and a color 1 drum plotter of an engine unit.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the multi-function peripheral according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller during a copy operation.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between scanner startup timing and processing on the local memory MEM-C.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the plotter activation timing and the local memory MEM-C.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing another relationship on the plotter activation timing and the local memory MEM-C.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller during printer operation.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller during a scanning operation.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the flow of image data in the controller when using the net file application.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ASIC of the multi-function peripheral according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a color four-drum plotter used as an engine unit of the multifunction machine according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a color scanner used as an engine unit of the multifunction machine according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Controller 102, 120 CPU 103 NB (North Bridge) 104 MEM-P (System Memory) 105 SB (South Bridge) 106 AGP 107 MEM-C (Local Memory) 108, 121, 127 ASIC 109, 118 PCI 110 Engine Unit 111 Operation unit 112 HDD 113, 204, 205, 1804, 1805 Rotator 114, 215-217 Compression / decompression device 115, 116 OPTION 117 ROM 118 PCI 119 External I / F terminal 122 Image processing unit 123 PCI unit 124 Scanner 126 Plotter 202 Operation Unit 203, 1803 Combiner 206, 1806 AGP-MASTER 207, 223, 1807, 1823 PCI-CON
FIG 208, 226, 1808, 1826 PCI-TAR
GET 209, 1809 Memory controller 210, 1810 Internal register 212, 1812 Arbiter 213, 1813 HDD controller 214, 1814 HDD external connection terminal 218 Video input unit 219, 1819 Direct Access Pa
th 220, 1820 selector 222, 1822a-d video output section 224, 1824 PCI-MASTER 225, 1825 PCI arbiter 228, 1828 PCI unit 229, 1829 AGP unit 1817a-d expander 1000 multifunction machine 1001 monochrome line printer 1002 color line printer 1003 Hardware Resources 1010 Software Group 1011 Printer Application 1012 Copy Application 1013 Fax Application 1014 Scanner Application 1015 Net File Application 1016 Process Inspection Application 1020 Platform 1021 General Purpose OS 1022 SCS 1023 SRM 1024 ECS 1025 MCS 1026 OCS 1027 FCS 1028 NCS 1030 Application.

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus which connects a scanner, an engine section having a monochrome plotter or a color plotter of one drum, and a CPU to a controller having an integrated circuit for image processing, and performs image forming processing under the control of the CPU. Wherein the controller is an engine interface unit that connects the engine unit, a chipset interface unit that connects the chipset unit of the CPU, and a scanner image read by the scanner that is input from the engine interface unit. The data is output to the engine interface unit as plotter data for the plotter, the scanner image data is output to the chipset interface unit, or the image data input from the chipset interface unit is output. An image forming device comprising: a switching control unit that controls whether to output the plotter data to the plotter to the engine interface unit; and a rotation control unit that rotates the scanner image data to a desired angle. apparatus. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation control unit is provided inside the switching control unit. 3. The switching control unit further comprises a hard disk control unit capable of increasing the number of hard disk drives to be connected according to the input / output processing capability of image data. The image forming apparatus described. 4. The switching control unit further includes a decompression unit that decompresses the scanner image data when outputting the scanner image data to the engine interface unit, and the switching control unit includes the engine interface. The scanner image data expanded by the expansion unit is directly output to the engine interface unit without being output to the memory when output to the unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1. 5. The switching control unit further includes a decompression unit that decompresses the scanner image data when outputting the scanner image data to the engine interface unit, and the switching control unit includes the engine interface. 5. When outputting to a printer, the scanner image data is first output to a memory and then output to the engine interface unit from the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction. The image forming apparatus described. 6. The chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and a north bridge forming a part of a chipset of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. The image forming apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 5. 7. The engine interface unit is P
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is a PCI interface that accommodates a CI bus, and the engine unit is connected to the PCI interface. 8. An image forming apparatus which connects a scanner and an engine section having a 4-drum color plotter and a CPU to a controller having an image processing integrated circuit, and performs image forming processing under the control of the CPU. The controller includes an engine interface unit that connects the engine unit, a chipset interface unit that connects the chipset unit of the CPU, and scanner image data read by the scanner and input from the engine interface unit to the plotter. Output to the engine interface unit as plotter data to the plotter, output the scanner image data to the chipset interface unit, or output image data input from the chipset interface unit to the plotter. An image forming apparatus comprising a switching control unit which controls switching whether to output to the engine interface unit as metadata, a rotation control unit for rotating the scanner image data to a desired angle, further comprising a. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the rotation control unit is provided inside the switching control unit. 10. The switching control unit further comprises a hard disk control unit capable of increasing the number of hard disks to be connected in accordance with the input / output processing capability of image data. Image forming device. 11. The switching control unit further includes a decompression unit that decompresses the scanner image data when outputting the scanner image data to the engine interface unit, and the switching control unit includes the engine interface. 11. The scanner image data decompressed by the decompression unit is directly output to the engine interface unit without being output to the memory when output to the unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1. 12. The switching control unit further includes a decompression unit that decompresses the scanner image data when outputting the scanner image data to the engine interface unit, and the switching control unit includes the engine interface. 12. The scanner image data is output to the engine interface unit from the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction after the scanner image data is output to the memory when outputting the image to the engine interface unit. The image forming apparatus described. 13. The chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and a north bridge forming a part of a chipset of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. The image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 12. 14. The engine interface unit comprises:
A PCI interface that accommodates a PCI bus,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the engine unit is connected to the PCI interface.