JP2004237472A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance print speed while suppressing deterioration of image data in the internal processing and image processing being carried out in the image processor. <P>SOLUTION: When image data is read in by means of a scanner 101, multivalue data is subjected, as it is, to fixed length compression at a compressing section 301 before being stored in a memory 154. At the time of print out, compressed image data stored in that memory 154 is taken out and delivered to an engine ASIC 102 through a PCI bus 190. Subsequently, the compressed image data is decompressed at a decompressing section 303, moire is removed at a filter section 304, and variable magnification processing is carried out by means of a variable magnification unit 306. Thereafter, γ correction, gradation treatment, and the like, are carried out followed by writing from an LD unit 403 to a plotter engine. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that performs image processing on read image data and performs print output.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a printout is performed by an image processing apparatus, a method of efficiently using a memory, such as compressing and expanding image data when developing the image in a memory, has been adopted. As an example, in an image processing apparatus, there is an image processing apparatus in which image data is compressed by an error diffusion method and stored in a memory, and when the image data is taken out of the memory, the data is restored by a smoothing filter to efficiently use the memory. . Further, by performing a scaling process on the restored image, the scanning time is shortened (see Patent Document 1 below).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-6-78152
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional technique, when the image data is expanded in the memory, the amount of memory used can be reduced by binarizing the image data by error diffusion. Then, the image is significantly deteriorated. Further, since the data after the scaling is returned to the memory once again and then printed out, the processing speed is reduced. Furthermore, when run-length compressed image data is DMA-transferred from a memory and output to a printer unit operating at a constant speed, the memory access speed is calculated with the worst value in the case of run-length compression. And the printing speed is reduced.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described related art, and has as its object to provide an image processing apparatus capable of improving the efficiency of image processing and output.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an image processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a holding unit capable of holding image data, and control of writing and reading of image data with respect to the holding unit. , A filter means for performing enhancement processing or smoothing processing on the image data read by the control means, and a scaling means for scaling image data enhanced or smoothed by the filter means And characterized in that:
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the control unit and the filter unit are connected by a general-purpose bus.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the image processing apparatus further comprises compression means for compressing the image data into fixed-length compressed data, and wherein the control means is compressed by the compression means. The fixed-length compressed data is written to the holding unit.
[0009]
An image processing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the image processing apparatus according to the third aspect, further comprising an expansion unit for expanding the fixed-length compressed data read by the control unit, wherein the filter unit includes the expansion unit. The image data expanded by the means is subjected to an enhancement process or a smoothing process.
[0010]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the control unit and the decompression unit are connected by a general-purpose bus.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of the image processing apparatus of the present invention. A configuration in which an engine unit 100 for forming an image and a controller unit 150 for controlling the entire image processing apparatus are connected by a PCI (Peripheral Components Interconnect) bus 190 which is a general-purpose bus (a data transmission path connecting parts in a personal computer). It becomes.
[0012]
The engine unit 100 includes a scanner 101 for reading a paper document, an image processing unit (not shown), an engine ASIC 102 having a built-in PCII / F (not shown), a plotter 103 for forming an image on a transfer material, and an engine unit such as a paper feeder. It comprises an engine CPU 104 for controlling the engine 100 and an engine CPU I / F 305 (see FIG. 3) for interfacing with the engine CPU 104.
[0013]
The controller unit 150 includes an operation unit 151 for performing processing and operation settings of the image processing apparatus, an operation unit I / F 506 (see FIG. 5) for interfacing with the operation unit 151, a PCII / F (not shown), and a memory controller 505 (see FIG. 5), a controller CPU 153 for controlling the entire image processing apparatus and a controller CPU I / F 501 (see FIG. 5) for interfacing with the controller 153, a memory 154 serving also as a work area, a stack, and an image memory of the system. And an HDD 155 for storing image data.
[0014]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the scanner 101. The scanner 101 irradiates a document with light using a lamp, forms an image of the reflected light via a mirror group, a filter, and a lens with an image forming lens (not shown) of the CCD 201, receives the reflected light, and performs photoelectric conversion. The A / D converter 202 converts the photoelectrically converted signal into a digital signal. Then, the shading correction unit 203 corrects signal deterioration caused by the lamp, mirror, lens, CCD 201, and the like, and sends the corrected signal to the engine ASIC 102.
[0015]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the engine ASIC 102. The engine ASIC 102 compresses the multi-valued image data read by the scanner 101 into fixed-length blocks in units of 4 rows and 4 columns, a portion that executes a PCI bus protocol, and a DMAC (Direct Memory Access Controller) (see FIG. Not shown). Further, an engine PCI unit 302 for transferring image data to the controller unit 150, a decompression unit 303 for decompressing data compressed by the compression unit 301 stored in the memory 154, and moire generated at the time of zooming are removed. The filter unit 304 includes a filter unit 304, a scaling unit 306 that performs a predetermined scaling process when scaling is set, and an engine CPU I / F 305 connected to the engine CPU 104.
[0016]
Here, although not shown, each unit of the engine ASIC 102 is set by the engine CPU 104 via the engine CPU I / F 305. The engine PCI unit 302 is a unit that transmits a command from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. Further, the filter unit 304 is configured to smoothly reproduce a picture part and a filter coefficient that emphasizes an edge in accordance with an operation mode such as a character / photo set by the operation unit 151 and a scaling setting of reduction / enlargement. This unit can be switched to a filter coefficient, a filter coefficient for smoothing so that a thin line does not disappear at the time of reduction, and the like.
[0017]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the plotter 103. The plotter 103 includes a γ correction unit 401 for adjusting image data subjected to scaling processing by the engine ASIC 102 to the plotter engine characteristics, a gradation processing unit 402 for performing gradation processing according to an operation mode, and a gradation processing unit 402. An LD unit 403 that writes data to the plotter engine in accordance with the data.
[0018]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the controller ASIC 152. The controller ASIC 152 includes a controller CPU I / F 501 connected to the controller CPU 153 that controls the entire image processing apparatus, an HDD I / F 502 connected to the HDD 155, a controller PCI unit 503, an arbiter 504, a memory controller 505, and an operation unit. 151 and an operation unit I / F 506 connected thereto.
[0019]
Although not shown, each unit of the controller ASIC 152 is set by the controller CPU 153 via the controller CPU I / F 501. The HDD I / F 502 is a unit that writes data to and reads data from the HDD 155. The controller PCI unit 503 includes a portion that executes a PCI bus protocol and a DMAC, and transfers image data stored in the memory 154 to the engine unit 100 and transmits commands from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. The arbiter 504 is a unit that arbitrates a device that accesses the memory controller 505.
[0020]
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the copy timing and the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 shown in FIG. When reading by the scanner 101 is started, a command is issued from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100, and transfer of the read image data to the engine ASIC 102 is started at the timing when the engine unit 100 starts processing (T600a). The oblique side 601 of the triangular portion of the graph showing the operation of the scanner 101 indicates the transfer speed from the scanner 101 to the engine ASIC 102. This transfer speed is the reading speed of the scanner 101 and is constant. The height 602 indicates the amount of image data, and the bottom 603 indicates the transfer time.
[0021]
Writing from the DMAC is started on the memory 154 at the same time as the scan, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 604. A triangular portion 604 indicates the transfer speed from the engine unit 100 to the controller unit 150. In the case of non-compression, the triangular portions 601, 602, and 603 have the same transfer speed, data amount, and transfer time. The plotter 103 is activated at a time point when an image is slightly written in the memory 154 and at a timing T600b at which the plotting operation does not overtake the scanning operation. The plotting operation is completed after a lapse of time starting from the scanning operation (T600c), and it is necessary to hold an image in the memory 154 for the time of the delay.
[0022]
The oblique side 605 of the triangle in FIG. 6 indicates the transfer speed from the engine ASIC 102 to the plotter 103. This transfer speed is a writing (image forming) speed of the plotter 103 and is constant. The height 606 indicates the amount of image data, and the bottom 607 indicates the transfer time. Reading from the DMAC starts on the memory 154 at the same time as the plotting, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 608. A triangular portion 608 indicates the transfer speed from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. In the case of non-compression, the triangular portions 605, 606, and 607 have the same transfer speed, data amount, and transfer time.
[0023]
The height 609 of the protruding portion in FIG. 6 indicates the bus usage rate of the PCI bus 190 at the time of image transfer from the engine unit 100 to the controller unit 150, and the height 610 indicates the bidirectional use of the engine unit 100 and the controller unit 150. A bus usage rate at the time of transferring an image is shown, and a height 611 indicates a bus usage rate of the PCI bus 190 at the time of transferring an image from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. When the heights 609, 610, and 611 exceed the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 of 100%, image transfer between the engine unit 100 and the controller unit 150 cannot be made in time, resulting in an abnormal image. The operating speed of the scanner 101 and the plotter 103 must be set so as not to exceed this.
[0024]
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the compressed copy timing and the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 shown in FIG. When reading by the scanner 101 is started, a command is issued from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100, and transfer of the read image data to the engine ASIC 102 is started at the timing when the engine unit 100 starts processing (T700a).
[0025]
The oblique side 701 of the triangular portion of the graph showing the operation of the scanner 101 indicates the transfer speed from the scanner 101 to the engine ASIC 102. This transfer speed is the reading speed of the scanner 101 and is constant. The height 702 indicates the amount of image data, and the bottom 703 indicates the transfer time. The compression unit 301 of the engine ASIC 102 reduces the data amount of the height 702 to, for example, １ ／, as indicated by the triangular portion 704. Writing from the DMAC starts simultaneously with the compression on the memory 154, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 706. A triangular portion 705 indicates a transfer speed from the engine unit 100 to the controller unit 150. The plotter 103 is started up at a point when an image is slightly written in the memory 154 and at a timing such that the plot (expansion) operation does not overtake the scan (compression) operation (T700b). The plotting operation is completed (T700c) after a lapse of time starting from the scanning operation with a delay, and it is necessary to hold an image in the memory 154 for the delay time.
[0026]
The oblique side 706 of the triangular portion of the graph showing the operation of the plotter 103 indicates the transfer speed from the engine ASIC 102 to the plotter 103. This transfer speed is a writing (image forming) speed of the plotter 103 and is constant. The height 707 indicates the amount of image data, and the bottom 708 indicates the transfer time. Reading from the DMAC starts simultaneously with the plotting on the memory 154, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 709. A triangular portion 709 indicates a transfer speed from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. For example, in the case of compression, the data amount of the height 707 becomes １ ／. This is expanded by the expansion unit 303 (triangular portion 710) so as to be in time for the writing (image forming) speed of the plotter 103, and is plotted.
[0027]
The height 711 of the convex portion of the graph showing the operation of the PCI bus 190 indicates the bus usage rate of the PCI bus 190 at the time of image transfer from the engine unit 100 to the controller unit 150, and the height 712 is the engine unit 100 and the controller unit. 150 indicates the bus usage rate when transferring images in two directions, and the height 713 indicates the bus usage rate of the PCI bus 190 when transferring images from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. The heights 711, 712, 713 are, for example, 1/4 of those at the time of non-compression. If the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 exceeds 100%, image transfer between the engine unit 100 and the controller unit 150 cannot be made in time, resulting in an abnormal image. When the system is configured by the high-speed scanner 101 and the high-speed plotter 103, or when the amount of data is large such as in a color image processing apparatus, transferring the compressed image data reduces the usage rate of the PCI bus 190. It is an effective means.
[0028]
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing reduced copy timings and usage rates using the compression of the PCI bus 190 shown in FIG. When reading by the scanner 101 is started, a command is issued from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100, and transfer of the read image data to the engine ASIC 102 is started at the timing when the engine unit 100 starts processing (T800a).
[0029]
The oblique side 801 of the triangular portion of the graph showing the operation of the scanner 101 indicates the transfer speed from the scanner 101 to the engine ASIC 102. This transfer speed is the reading speed of the scanner 101 and is constant. The height 802 indicates the amount of image data, and the bottom 803 indicates the transfer time. The compression unit 301 of the engine ASIC 102 reduces the data amount of the height 802 to, for example, ４, as indicated by the triangular portion 804. Writing from the DMAC starts simultaneously with the compression on the memory 154, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 805. A triangular portion 805 indicates the transfer speed from the engine unit 100 to the controller unit 150. When a little image is written in the memory 154, the plotter 103 is activated at a timing such that the plot (expansion) operation does not overtake the scan (compression) operation (T800b). The plotting operation is completed (T800c) after a lapse of time starting from the scanning operation with a delay, and it is necessary to hold an image in the memory 154 for the delaying time.
[0030]
The oblique side 806 of the triangle of the graph showing the operation of the plotter 103 indicates the transfer speed from the engine ASIC 102 to the plotter 103. This transfer speed is a writing (image forming) speed of the plotter 103 and is constant. The height 807 indicates the amount of image data, and the data amount decreases according to the reduction ratio, and the transfer time of the base 808 also decreases according to the reduction ratio. Reading from the DMAC starts on the memory 154 at the same time as the plotting, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 809. A triangular portion 809 indicates the transfer speed from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. In the case of compression, the data amount of the height 807 becomes, for example, ４. This is reduced to, for example, １ ／, and is expanded by the expansion unit 303 to match the writing (image forming) speed of the plotter 103 (810), and is reduced to, for example, に て by the scaling unit 306 (811). To plot.
[0031]
The height 812 of the convex portion of the graph showing the operation of the PCI bus 190 indicates the bus usage rate of the PCI bus 190 when transferring an image from the engine unit 100 to the controller unit 150, and the height 813 is the engine unit 100 and the controller unit. 150 indicates the bus usage rate when transferring images in two directions, and the height 814 indicates the bus usage rate of the PCI bus 190 when transferring images from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. The height 812 is, for example, １ ／ of the uncompressed state, but the height 814 is reduced and resized to １ ／, so it is twice as high as the compressed state. If the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 exceeds 100%, image transfer between the engine unit 100 and the controller unit 150 cannot be made in time, resulting in an abnormal image. When the system is configured with the reducible engine unit 100, transferring the compressed image data is an effective means for reducing the usage rate of the PCI bus 190.
[0032]
A case where the timing and the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 are reduced from the compressed data stored in the HDD 155 and output to the plotter 103 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the timing and the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 when the compressed data stored in the HDD 155 is reduced and output to the plotter 103. At the start timing of reading from the HDD 155 (T900a), the controller CPU 153 transfers the compressed data to the memory 154 at the timing set by the controller ASIC 152.
[0033]
The oblique side 901 of the triangular portion of the graph showing the operation of the HDD 155 indicates the transfer speed from the HDD 155 to the memory 154. This transfer speed is the read speed of the HDD 155 and is not constant. The height 902 indicates the amount of compressed image data, and the bottom 903 indicates the time required for reading. The data is written onto the memory 154 at the same time as the reading, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 904. A triangular portion 904 indicates the transfer speed from the HDD 155 to the memory 154. The plotter 103 is activated at a point in time when an image is somewhat written in the memory 154 and at a timing such that the plot (expansion) operation does not overtake the writing operation to the memory 154 (T900b). The plotting operation is constant, the plotting is completed after all the image data is plotted (T900c), and it is necessary to hold the image in the memory 154 until the plotting is completed.
[0034]
The oblique side 905 of the triangular portion of the graph showing the operation of the plotter 103 indicates the transfer speed from the engine ASIC 102 to the plotter 103. This transfer speed is a writing (image forming) speed of the plotter 103 and is constant. The height 906 indicates the amount of image data, and the data amount decreases according to the reduction ratio, and the transfer time of the base 907 also decreases according to the reduction ratio. Reading from the DMAC starts on the memory 154 at the same time as the plotting, and the state of the operation is indicated by a triangular portion 908. A triangular portion 908 indicates the transfer speed from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100, and the amount of compressed data is, for example, 1/4 of the original image data. This is reduced to, for example, １ ／, and is expanded by the expansion unit 303 (909) to meet the writing (image forming) speed of the plotter 103, and is reduced to, for example, に て by the scaling unit 306 (910). To plot.
[0035]
The height 911 of the convex portion of the graph showing the operation of the PCI bus 190 indicates the bus usage rate of the PCI bus 190 when transferring an image from the controller unit 150 to the engine unit 100. This height 911 is, for example, １ ／ of the uncompressed state, but it is twice as large as that of the compressed state, since it is reduced and resized to １ ／. If the usage rate of the PCI bus 190 exceeds 100%, image transfer between the engine unit 100 and the controller unit 150 cannot be made in time, resulting in an abnormal image. When the system is configured with the reducible engine unit 100, transferring the compressed image data is an effective means for reducing the usage rate of the PCI bus 190.
[0036]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image data is transmitted by connecting the engine unit 100 and the controller unit 150 with the general-purpose bus, and the memory used when inputting / outputting the image data is performed. Uses the memory 154 provided in the controller unit 150. First, image data read by the scanner 101 provided in the engine unit 100 is stored as multi-value data in the main memory 154 and used. This makes it possible to perform output processing from the plotter 103 using the image data once read into the memory many times. Further, at the time of output, it is possible to perform a filtering process by the filter unit 304 and a scaling process by the scaling unit 306 on the multi-valued image data. When writing image data to the memory 154, the compression unit 301 applies fixed-length compression, and after reading, performs expansion processing in the expansion unit 303, so that the time required for memory input / output is reduced. Becomes possible. Further, after the data is read from the memory, the data transmission path to the filter unit 304 and the engine PCI unit 302 including the filter unit 304 is set to the PCI bus 190 which is a general-purpose bus. It is possible to flexibly change the functions of the engine unit 100 such as the engine and the plotter 103.
[0037]
The embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the matters described in this embodiment, and modifications, improvements, and the like can be made based on the description in the claims.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the read image data is stored in the memory as multi-valued data and used, so that the output process can be performed using the image data once read into the memory many times. It is possible to do. In addition, at the time of output, filter processing and scaling processing are performed on multi-valued image data, which leads to prevention of image deterioration that may occur when various image processings are performed. In addition, when writing image data to the memory, fixed-length compression is performed, and decompression processing is performed after the image data is read. Therefore, the time required for input / output of the memory can be reduced. Furthermore, by using a general-purpose bus for the data transmission path from the time of reading from the memory to the time of performing filter processing and scaling processing, an image processing apparatus capable of flexibly constructing the filter processing subsequent to reading from the memory is provided. The effect is obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the scanner 101.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an engine ASIC 102.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the plotter 103.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a controller ASIC 152.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing copy timing and usage rate of a PCI bus 190.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a compressed copy timing and a usage rate of a PCI bus 190.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing reduced copy timings and usage rates using compression of a PCI bus 190.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the timing and usage rate of the PCI bus 190 when compressed data stored in the HDD 155 is reduced and output to the plotter 103.
[Explanation of symbols]
100 Engine unit 101 Scanner 102 Engine ASIC
103 plotter 104 engine CPU
150 Controller unit 151 Operation unit 152 Controller ASIC
153 Controller CPU
154 Memory 155 HDD
190 PCI bus 201 CCD
202 A / D conversion unit 203 Shading correction unit 301 Compression unit 302 Engine PCI unit 303 Decompression unit 304 Filter unit 305 Engine CPU I / F
306 Zoom unit 401 Gamma correction unit 402 Gradation processing unit 403 LD unit 501 Controller CPU I / F
502 HDD I / F
503 Controller PCI unit 504 Arbiter 505 Memory controller 506 Operation unit I / F

Claims (5)

Holding means capable of holding image data;
Control means for controlling writing and reading of image data with respect to the holding means;
Filter means for performing enhancement processing or smoothing processing on the image data read by the control means,
Scaling means for scaling the image data which has been enhanced or smoothed by the filter means,
An image processing apparatus comprising: 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit and the filter unit are connected by a general-purpose bus. A compression unit for compressing the image data into fixed-length compressed data,
2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit writes the fixed-length compressed data compressed by the compression unit to the holding unit. Decompression means for decompressing the fixed-length compressed data read by the control means,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the filter unit performs an emphasizing process or a smoothing process on the image data expanded by the expanding unit. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit and the decompression unit are connected by a general-purpose bus.

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