JP2006155467A - Digital composite machine, its control method, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain memory saving and to facilitate the consistency of data by sharing table information in a plurality of file systems on a plurality of CPUs. <P>SOLUTION: In an image forming device, a management table is shared between a plurality of file systems on the respective CPUs if the file systems on the respective CPUs need exactly the same table information, and exclusive control is performed to prevent the occurrence of a trouble even if the plurality of CPUs simultaneously access the file systems if necessary. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a file system of an image forming apparatus.

  The file system requires table information that uses a large amount of memory, such as a management table for managing files.

  As another conventional example, Patent Document 1 can be cited.

JP 2000-348007 A

  In general, a file system on a multi-CPU system has programs and table information mounted on each CPU even if the file systems are completely equivalent. Since the file system table information is enormous, having separate management tables on a plurality of CPUs can be said to be a waste of memory. Further, there is a problem that it is difficult to maintain the consistency of the file system on each CPU.

  When the file system on each CPU mounted in the multi-CPU system requires exactly the same table information, memory can be saved by sharing the management table in the plurality of file systems with the plurality of CPUs. When using a file system as needed from a plurality of CPUs, it is necessary to perform exclusive control because data cannot be matched if accessed simultaneously. File system mount and unmount are used for exclusive control. Assuming that there are two CPUs A and B, when only the A is mounted, the file system is mounted. After A accesses the file system, it unmounts, and B then mounts and accesses the file system. The mount process can be performed only when all the CPUs other than itself are unmounting the file system.

  The file system requires table information that uses a large amount of memory, such as a management table for managing files. In general, a file system on a multi-CPU system has programs and table information mounted on each CPU. Since the file system table information is enormous, having separate management tables on a plurality of CPUs can be said to be a waste of memory. Further, there is a problem that it is difficult to maintain the consistency of the file system on each CPU. When the file system on each CPU mounted in the multi-CPU system requires exactly the same table information, memory can be saved by sharing the management table in the plurality of file systems with the plurality of CPUs. When using a file system as needed from a plurality of CPUs, it is necessary to perform exclusive control because data cannot be matched if accessed simultaneously. File system mount and unmount are used for exclusive control. Assuming that there are two CPUs A and B, when only the A is mounted, the file system is mounted. After A accesses the file system, it unmounts, and B then mounts and accesses the file system. The mount process can be performed only when all the CPUs other than itself are unmounting the file system. In a plurality of file systems on a plurality of CPUs, memory is saved by sharing table information. Further, by sharing table information, data consistency can be easily obtained.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image input / output device (data processing device) on which a controller unit as an electronic component according to the present invention is mounted. A local area network (600) is connected to a host computer (in this embodiment, a first host computer 601 and a second host computer 602).

  The image input / output system 100 includes a reader device (reader unit) 200 that performs image data reading processing, a printer device (printer unit) 300 that performs image data output processing, a keyboard that performs image data input / output operations, In addition, an operation unit 150 having a liquid crystal panel for displaying / setting image data and various functions, image data read by controlling the reader device 200, and code data received from the host computers 601 and 602 via the LAN 600 An image storage unit 160 that can store / save image data generated from the computer is mounted, and is configured by a control device (controller unit) 110 formed of a single electronic component that is connected to these components and controls the components. ing.

  The reader device 200 includes a document feeding unit 250 that transports document paper, and a scanner unit 210 that optically reads a document image and converts it into image data as an electric signal. A paper feed unit 310 having a plurality of stages of paper feed cassettes to be accommodated, a marking unit (part) 320 for transferring / fixing image data onto a recording paper, and a sort process and a stapling process applied to the printed recording paper. And a paper discharge unit (part) 330 for discharging the paper.

  The control device 110 controls the reader unit 200 to read image data of a document, and controls the printer unit 300 to output the image data to a recording sheet to provide a copy function. The scanner function converts image data read from the reader unit 200 into code data and transmits the code data to the host computers 601 and 602 via the network 600. Code data received from the host computer via the network 600 is converted into image data. It has a printer function for conversion and output to the printer unit 300, and other functional blocks.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing details of the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300.

  In the reader unit 200, the original sheets stacked on the original feeding unit 250 are sequentially fed onto the platen glass 211 one by one from the top in accordance with the stacking order, and after a predetermined reading operation is completed by the scanner unit 210, As for the read original paper, the original on the platen glass 211 is discharged to the discharge tray 219. When the original paper is conveyed onto the platen glass 211, the lamp 212 is turned on, then the movement of the optical unit 213 is started, and the original paper is irradiated and scanned from below. The reflected light from the document sheet is guided to a CCD image sensor (hereinafter referred to as “CCD”) 218 via a plurality of mirrors 214, 215, 216 and a lens 217, and the scanned document image is scanned by the CCD 218. Read. The image data read by the CCD 218 is transferred to the controller unit 110 after predetermined processing.

  When the document feeding unit 250 has a document feeding reading function, the document sheets stacked on the document feeding unit 250 pass through the document feeding reading position 240 at a constant speed. In this case, the optical unit 213 moves to the document flow reading position 240, irradiates the document conveyed at a constant speed by the lamp 212, reads the image by the CCD 218 as needed, generates image data, and transfers the image data to the controller unit 110.

  Next, in the printer unit 300, a laser beam corresponding to the image data output from the controller unit 110 is issued from a laser issuing unit 322 driven by a laser driver 321, and the photosensitive drum 323 is electrostatically charged according to the laser beam. A latent image is formed, and a developer is attached to a portion of the electrostatic latent image by the developing device 324.

  On the other hand, recording paper is fed from any of the cassette 311, the cassette 312, the cassette 313, the cassette 314, and the manual paper feed stage 315 at the timing synchronized with the start of laser light irradiation, and is conveyed to the transfer unit 325 by the conveyance path 331. Then, the developer adhering to the photosensitive drum 323 is transferred to the recording paper. The recording sheet on which the image data is transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 327 by the conveying belt 326, and the image data is fixed on the recording sheet by the heating / pressurizing process in the fixing unit 327. The recording paper that has passed through the fixing unit 327 passes through the transport path 335 and the transport path 334 and is discharged to the paper discharge bin 328. When the print surface is reversed and discharged to the paper discharge bin 328, the recording paper is guided to the transport path 336 and the transport path 338, from which the recording paper is transported in the reverse direction, passes through the transport path 337 and the transport path 334, and is discharged. It is discharged to a paper bottle 328. Although not shown in the figure, it is possible to mount a paper discharge unit instead of the paper discharge bin. The paper discharge unit bundles the discharged recording paper, sorts the recording paper, and staples the sorted recording paper. And so on.

  When image data is recorded on both sides of a recording sheet, after passing through the fixing unit 327, the recording sheet is guided from the conveying path 336 to the conveying path 333 by the flapper 329, and then the recording sheet is conveyed in the reverse direction. The flapper 329 is guided to the conveyance path 338 and the refeed conveyance path 332. The recording sheet guided to the refeed conveyance path 332 passes through the conveyance path 331 and is fed to the transfer unit 325 in the same manner as described above.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of the control device (controller unit) 110.

  That is, the main controller 111 includes a CPU 112, a bus controller 113, and functional blocks including various controller circuits described later, and is connected to the ROM 114 via the ROM I / F 115, and to the DRAM 116 via the DRAM I / F 117. Connected, connected to the codec 119 via the codec I / F 118, connected to the network controller 121 via the network I / F 123, and performs a predetermined control operation with the LAN 600 via the connector 122.

  In the ROM 114, various control programs executed by the CPU 112 of the main controller 111 and calculation data are confirmed. The DRAM 116 is used as a work area for the CPU 112 to operate and an area for storing image data. The codec 119 compresses the raster image data stored in the DRAM 116 by a known compression method such as MH / MR / MMR / JBIG, and decompresses the compressed data into a raster image. An SRAM 120 is connected to the codec 119, and the SRAM 120 is used as a temporary work area for the codec 119.

  The main controller 111 is connected to the scanner I / F 140 via the scanner bus 141, connected to the printer I / F 145 via the printer bus 146, and further connected to an expansion board via a general-purpose high-speed bus 125 such as a PCI bus. It is connected to an expansion connector 124 and an input / output control unit (I / O control unit) 126 for connection.

  The I / O control unit 126 is equipped with two channels of an asynchronous serial communication controller 127 for transmitting and receiving control commands to and from the reader unit 200 and the printer unit 300. The serial communication controller 127 is an I / O controller. It is connected to the scanner I / F 140 and the printer I / F 145 via the bus 128.

  The scanner I / F 140 is connected to the scanner connector 142 via the first asynchronous serial I / F 143 and the first video I / F 144, and the scanner connector 142 is further connected to the scanner unit 210 of the reader unit 200. Yes. The scanner I / F 140 performs desired binarization processing and scaling processing in the main scanning direction and / or sub-scanning direction on the image data received from the scanner unit 210, and is sent from the scanner unit 210. A control signal is generated based on the video signal, and the image data is transferred to the main controller 111 via the scanner bus 141.

  The printer I / F 145 is connected to the printer connector 147 via the second asynchronous serial I / F 148 and the second video I / F 149, and the printer connector 147 is further connected to the marking unit 320 of the printer unit 300. Has been. Then, the printer I / F 145 performs smoothing processing on the image data output from the main controller 111 and outputs the image data to the marking unit 320. Further, the printer I / F 145 is generated based on the video signal sent from the marking unit 320. A control signal is output to the printer bus 146.

  The CPU 112 operates based on a control program read from the ROM 114 via the ROM I / F 115 and interprets, for example, PDL (page description language) data received from the first and second host computers 601 and 602. The raster image data is expanded.

  The bus controller 113 controls data transfer input / output from / to an external device connected to the scanner I / F 140, printer I / F 145, and other expansion connectors 124, and the like. Controls DMA data transfer. That is, for example, the above-described data transfer between the DRAM 116 and the codec 119, the data transfer from the scanner unit 210 to the DRAM 116, the data transfer from the DRAM 116 to the marking unit 320, and the like are controlled by the bus controller 113 and transferred by DMA. The

  The I / O control unit 126 is connected to the panel I / F 132 via the LCD controller 131 and the key input I / F 130, and the panel I / F 132 is connected to the operation unit 150. The I / O control unit 126 is connected to an EEPROM 135 as a nonvolatile memory, is connected to a hard disk drive (HDD) 162 capable of writing / reading image data via an E-IDE connector 161, and It is connected to a real time clock module 133 that updates / stores the date and time managed in the device. The real time clock module 133 is connected to the backup battery 134 and backed up by the backup battery 134.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal details of the main controller 111.

  The processor core 401 is connected to a system bus bridge (SBB) 402 via a 64-bit processor bus (SC bus). The SBB 402 is a 4 × 4 64-bit crossbar switch, and is connected to a memory controller 403 that controls an SDRAM or ROM including a cache memory in addition to the processor core 401 via a dedicated local bus (MC bus). The G bus 404, which is a graphic bus, and the B bus 405, which is an IO bus, are connected to a total of four buses. The SBB 402 is designed to ensure simultaneous parallel connection between these four modules as much as possible. A data compression / decompression unit (CODEC) 418 is also connected via a CODEC I / F.

  The G bus 404 is cooperatively controlled by a G bus arbiter (GBA) 406 and is connected to a scanner / printer controller (SPC) 408 for connecting to a scanner or a printer. The B bus 405 is cooperatively controlled by a B bus arbiter (BBA) 407. In addition to the SPC 408, a power management unit (PMU) 409, an interrupt controller (IC) 410, and a serial interface controller (SIC) 411 using UART. USB controller 412, parallel interface controller (PIC) 413 using IEEE1284, LAN controller (LANC) 414, general-purpose input / output controller (MISC) 415, and PCI bus interface (PCIC) 416.

  The B bus arbiter 407 is an arbitration for cooperatively controlling the B bus 405. The B bus 405 receives a bus use request for the B bus 405, and after arbitration, is given to one master selected for use permission. Is prohibited from performing bus access. The arbitration method has three levels of priority, and a plurality of masters are assigned to each priority.

  The interrupt controller 410 accumulates interrupts from the functional blocks and the controller unit 110 described above, and redistributes them to the controllers 408, 411-416 and non-maskable interrupts (NMI) supported by the CPU 401.

  The power management unit 409 manages the power for each functional block, and monitors the power consumption of the controller unit 110 as an electronic component composed of one chip. That is, the controller unit 110 is composed of a large-scale ASIC (application-specific IC) with a built-in CPU 401. For this reason, when all the functional blocks operate simultaneously, a large amount of heat is generated, and the controller unit 110 itself is There is a risk of being destroyed.

  Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation, the power consumption is managed for each functional block, and the power consumption amount of each functional block is integrated in the power management unit 409 as a power management level. Then, the power management unit 409 adds up the power consumption amounts of the functional blocks, and collectively monitors the power consumption amounts of the functional blocks so that the power consumption amount does not exceed the limit power consumption.

  The G bus arbiter 406 controls the G bus 404 in a coordinated manner by a central arbitration method, and has a dedicated request signal and a permission signal for each bus master. In addition, as a method of giving priority to the bus master, all bus masters have the same priority, a fair arbitration mode in which the bus right is granted fairly, and a priority arbitration mode in which the bus is preferentially used by any one bus master Either of these can be specified.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation unit 150.

  A user interface 500 can set various copy modes (for example, duplex setting, group, sort, staple output, etc.). These copy mode setting means may be hard keys or soft keys displayed on the touch panel. Reference numeral 501 denotes a start button, which is started when the button is pressed.

  FIG. 6 shows a document reading setting screen displayed on the user interface 500 when the “continuous reading mode” for repeatedly reading and storing the document is selected as the copy mode after the copy process is started by pressing the start button 501. This is an example of 502. The original reading setting screen 502 is provided with a “confirm” button 503 for entering a mode in which images read up to that time are displayed and an “end reading” button 504 for collectively outputting images read so far. Yes.

  FIG. 7 shows a read image confirmation screen that is displayed when the “Confirm” button 503 is pressed on the original reading setting screen 502. The area 505 displays the total number of pages of images accumulated so far and the currently displayed page. The page number is displayed. Reference numerals 506 and 507 denote “page move” buttons for moving the pages of the accumulated images. When the user presses 506, the user moves to the previous page, and when the user presses 507, the user moves to the next page. Reference numerals 508 and 509 denote “enlarge / reduce” buttons for enlarging / reducing the confirmation image. When the user presses 508, the confirmation image is reduced, and when the user presses 509, the confirmation image is enlarged. Reference numeral 510 denotes an accumulated image confirmation screen on which the contents of the page displayed in 505 are displayed. Reference numeral 511 denotes a “reread” button. When the “reread” button 511 is pressed, the page displayed at that time is stored, and the image confirmation screen is closed. When the image confirmation screen is closed, the screen returns to the original reading setting screen 502 so that the original can be read. At this time, the document reading is executed in the reread mode. Reference numeral 512 denotes a “close” button. When the “close” button 512 is pressed, the image confirmation screen is closed. When the original confirmation screen is closed, the original reading setting screen 502 is displayed again, and the original can be read. At this time, the document reading is executed in the continuous reading mode.

  Note that the above-described continuous reading mode refers to storing and storing image data again from the end (final image) in which the read image data is stored and stored, and storing all image data stored and stored during processing as a set. This means that the data is handled as image data, and the re-read mode means that specific image data stored and stored is replaced with newly read image data. In either case, the document reading instruction is performed by pressing the start button 501.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the continuous read copy process in the present invention.

  In step S1001, it is determined whether or not a start instruction has been given due to the start button 501 being pressed. If the start button 501 is not pressed, the determination is repeated until the start button 501 is pressed. If the start button 501 is pressed, the process advances to step S1002 to check whether “continuous reading mode” is selected. If the “continuous reading mode” is not set in S1002, the process proceeds to S1012 and a normal copy process is performed and the process is terminated. If the “read image confirmation mode” is set, the process advances to step S1003 to execute a document reading process of reading a bundle of documents set on the automatic paper feeder (DF) or reading a document placed on a pressure plate. To do. When the process ends, an instruction from the operation unit 150 becomes possible. In step S1004, it is determined whether an instruction for image confirmation processing (preview processing) stored in the image storage unit 160 has been issued. If execution of the image confirmation process is instructed, the process proceeds to S1005, where the image confirmation process (preview process) is performed, and then the process proceeds to S1006. If there is no instruction to execute image confirmation processing, the process advances to step S1006. In S1006, it is determined whether or not “re-read” is instructed. The re-reading instruction is performed in the preview process of S1005. When the re-reading instruction is given, the image storage location of the page to be re-read is stored. If re-reading is instructed, the process proceeds to S1007. If re-reading is not instructed, the process proceeds to S1008. In step S1007, image data discarding (deleting) processing of the page stored when the re-reading instruction is issued is executed. Thereafter, the process returns to S1003 to execute the original reading process, and replace the image data of the reread target page. The original reading process S1003 includes a reading process for all originals set on the automatic paper feeder (DF), a reading process for originals placed on the pressure plate, and a specified number of sheets from the original set on the automatic paper feeder. Can be performed, and at the time of re-reading, it is specified that the number of read pages is one page. In step S1008, an instruction to stop the continuous reading process is determined. If there is an instruction to cancel in S1008, the process proceeds to S1009, and after executing the read image discarding process S1009 for discarding all the image data read and accumulated so far, the copy process is terminated. If there is no cancel instruction in S1008, the process proceeds to S1010. In step S1010, a read end instruction is determined. If the end of reading is instructed in step S1010, the process advances to step S1011 to execute a read image printing process for printing all the image data read up to that point, and then the copy process ends. If the reading end is not supported in S1010, the process proceeds to S1013 to determine the reading instruction. If there is an instruction to read in S1013, the process returns to S1003 to execute the original reading process. If there is no read instruction in S1013, the process returns to S1004. That is, when there is no instruction from the operation unit 160, the instruction waits for any of image confirmation, re-reading, cancellation, reading end, and reading.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the document reading process.

  In S2001, the state of the automatic paper feeder (DF) is determined. When the DF is open, the process proceeds to S2006, the original reading process from the pressure plate is performed, and the process is terminated. When the DF is closed, the process proceeds to S2002, and it is determined whether or not a document is set on the DF. If no document is set in the DF, the process proceeds to S2006, where the document reading process from the pressure plate is performed, and the process ends. If a document is set in the DF, the process proceeds to S2003, and it is determined whether or not a re-read process is instructed. If it is determined in S2003 that re-reading is instructed, the process proceeds to S2004, and the image reading process for one page from the document set in the DF is terminated. If it is determined in S2003 that re-reading is not instructed, the process proceeds to S2005, where all pages of the document set in the DF are read, and the process ends.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of accumulated image confirmation (preview) processing.

  In step S3001, it is determined whether an image storage destination for checking the stored image has been specified. The image data read repeatedly in the continuous reading copy process is managed under the job management unit 902 of the document management unit 900 that is the image storage destination used by the continuous reading copy process being executed. The job management unit 902 Is specified so that it is possible to trace from the first page to the last page of the image data read and accumulated so far. If there is no designation in S3001, the process is terminated. That is, the preview process is not executed. If specified in step S3001, the process advances to step S3002 to specify the first page of the stored image. In S3003, image data to be displayed on the accumulated image confirmation screen 510 is generated from the accumulated image data. In this embodiment, image data is generated immediately before being displayed on the accumulated image confirmation screen 510. However, image data for displaying the accumulated image confirmation screen is generated at the time of reading and accumulating the document, and is associated with the original image and stored externally. It may be stored in the unit 160. In S3004, the image data generated in S3003 is displayed on the accumulated image confirmation screen 510. In step S3005, an input instruction is waited, and the input instruction is looped and waited. In step S3006, it is determined whether an instruction to display the next page has been issued. If an instruction to display the next page has been issued, the process advances to step S3007. In S3007, it is determined whether the stored image data is at the end, and if it is at the end, the process returns to S3005 and waits for an input instruction again. If it is determined in S3007 that it is not the tail end, the process proceeds to S3003 to generate image data for displaying the stored image confirmation screen of the specified page, and the process is repeated. In step S3008, it is determined whether an instruction to display the previous page has been issued. If an instruction to display the previous page is given, the process advances to step S3009 to determine whether the stored image data is the head. If it is determined that the head, the process returns to S3005 and waits for an input instruction again. If it is determined that it is not the head, the process advances to S3003 to generate image data for displaying the stored image confirmation screen of the specified page, and the process is repeated. In step S3010, it is determined whether an instruction to reduce the image displayed on the stored image confirmation screen 510 has been issued. If it is determined that reduction display has been instructed, the process advances to S3003 to generate image data for displaying the stored image confirmation screen of the specified page, and the process is repeated. If there is no reduction display instruction, the process advances to step S3011 to determine whether an enlargement display instruction has been issued. If it is determined in S3011 that an enlargement display instruction has been issued, if specified, the process proceeds to S3003 to generate image data for displaying the accumulated image confirmation screen of the specified page, and the process is repeated. If there is no instruction for enlarged display, the process advances to step S3012 to determine whether an instruction for rereading an image has been given. If an instruction to re-read an image is issued in S3012, the process advances to S3013 to store (hold) identification information for specifying where the currently displayed page is managed in the document management unit 900, and the process ends. The information held here is transmitted to the above-described image reading process, and the re-reading process is executed. If there is no re-reading instruction in S3012, the process returns to S3005 and waits for an input instruction.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an internal software structure of the control device 110. Reference numeral 700 denotes controller software, which includes a protocol interpretation unit 701, a job control unit 702, and a device unit 703. The protocol interpretation unit 701 interprets commands (protocols) sent from the host computer 601 and the operation unit 150 via each interface (411-414), and requests the job control unit 702 to execute a job. . The job control unit 702 executes various jobs based on requests from the protocol interpretation unit. The device unit 703 includes driver software that controls each unit constituting the image input / output system 100, and is used when the job control unit 702 executes a job.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the job control unit 702.

  In the figure, 700 is controller software, 701 is a protocol interpretation unit, 702 is a job control unit, and 703 is a device unit. The job control unit 702 includes a job generation unit 800, a job processing unit 810, a document processing unit 820, a page processing unit 830, a band processing unit 840, and a device allocation unit 850. The job processing unit 810 includes a job management unit 811, a binder management unit 812, and a document management unit 813. The device unit 703 can include a plurality of devices such as a first device 851, a second device 852, and a third device 853.

  A series of operation requests sent from the host computers 601 and 602 and the operation unit 150 are sent via the interfaces (411 to 414) in the form of commands (protocols). The sent command is interpreted by the protocol interpretation unit 701 and then sent to the job control unit 702. At this point, the command is converted into a form that can be understood by the job control unit 702.

  The job generation unit 800 generates a job 814. The job 814 includes various jobs such as a copy job, a print job, a scan job, and a fax job. The protocol interpreted by the protocol interpreter 701 includes, for example, various setting information such as the name of the document to be printed, the number of copies to be printed, and the designation of the output destination paper discharge tray, and the print data itself (PDL data). Etc. are included. The job 814 is sent to the job processing unit 810 for processing. The job processing unit 810 has settings related to the entire binder, such as a job management unit 811 that performs settings related to the entire job, such as the output order of a plurality of binders that constitute a job, and an output order of a plurality of documents that constitute the binder. A binder management unit 812 and a document management unit 813 for making settings related to the entire document such as the output order of a plurality of pages constituting the document, and settings and processing related to the entire job 814 are performed.

  Further, the job processing unit 810 divides the job 814 other than the settings and processing related to the entire job 814 into the binder 815 that is a smaller work unit constituting the job 814, and the binder 815 other than the settings and processing related to the entire binder 815. Is divided into documents 816, which are units of smaller work that constitutes. The document 816 is associated with the input document 821 on a one-to-one basis, and the input document 821 is converted into an output document 822 by the document processing unit 820. For example, when considering a scan job in which a bundle of documents is read by a scanner and converted into a plurality of image data, an input document 821 describes settings and operation procedures related to the bundle of documents, and a plurality of image data. An output document 822 contains the setting and operation procedures. A document processing unit 820 has a role of converting a bundle of paper into a plurality of image data.

  The document processing unit 820 performs conversion processing from the input document 821 in units of documents to the output document 822, and divides the input page 831 that is a unit of smaller work except for setting and processing related to the entire document, and the page processing unit 830. Request processing. This is exactly the same as when the job processing unit 815 is devoted to processing in units of jobs and generates the binder 815 and the document 816 for more detailed work. Specifically, the setting and operation in units of documents relate to page order such as page rearrangement, designation of double-sided printing, addition of a cover, and OHP insertion.

  The page processing unit 830 performs conversion processing from the input page 831 to the output page 832 in page units. For example, in the case of the scan job described above, the input page 831 describes various settings such as the reading resolution and reading direction (landscape / portrait) and the procedure, and the output page 832 stores the image data storage location. Etc. Settings and procedures are written.

  Up to this point, we have explained that the job unit is gradually reduced so that it can be handled in page units. If an expensive system can have a page memory for one page, the job may be subdivided and processed in units of pages. However, in reality, there is a system that processes the job 814 with a memory (band memory) for several lines when the page memory for one page cannot be provided due to a problem such as memory cost. In such a case, the conversion process is performed by dividing the page into bands, which are finer units. The input band 841, the band processing unit 840, and the output band 842 are the same as those in the page.

  The job processing unit 810, the document processing unit 820, the page processing unit 830, and the band processing unit 840 all use various physical devices that make up the image input / output system 100 when processing proceeds. Naturally, device conflict occurs when a plurality of processing units work simultaneously, and the device allocation unit 850 mediates the competition. The first to third devices 851 to 853 shown in the figure as examples are logical devices assigned to the respective processing units by the device assigning unit 850. For example, a page memory, a band memory, a document feeding unit 250, A marking unit 320 engine, a scanner unit 210, and the like are conceivable.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a management structure of the document management unit 900 that manages image data stored in the image storage unit 160.

  The document management unit 900 includes a folder management unit 901, a job management unit 902, a binder management unit 903, a document management unit 904, and a page management unit 905, each having management information (attribute value). The document management unit 900 includes one or a plurality of folder management units 901, and management information of the folder management unit 901 is stored. The folder management unit 901 includes one or a plurality of job management units 902, and stores management information of the job management unit 902. The job management unit 902 includes one or a plurality of binder management units 903, and management information of the binder management unit 902 is stored. Further, the job management unit 902 can store / save attribute values stored in the job management unit 811 with information necessary for the operation of the job 814 processed by the job control unit 702. The binder management unit 903 includes one or a plurality of document management units 904 and stores management information of the document management unit 904. Further, the binder management unit 903 can store / save attribute values stored in the binder management unit 812 with information necessary for the operation of the binder 815 processed in the job control unit 702. The document management unit 904 includes one or a plurality of page management units 905 and stores management information of the page management unit 905. Further, the document management unit 904 can store / save the attribute value stored in the document management unit 813 processed by the job control unit 702 and the attribute value of the output document 822 processed by the document processing unit 820. it can. A page 905 includes one page of image data read by the scanner, one page of image data developed from the PDL transmitted from the host computer, and one page of data received by FAX. It is associated with image data. Further, the page management unit 905 can store / save the attribute value of the output page 832 processed by the page processing unit 830 of the job control unit 702. That is, it is possible to reproduce the job 814 submitted at the time of image accumulation from the information stored in the document management unit 900 and the image data stored in the image storage unit 160. It is also possible to perform operations different from the job at the time of submission by resetting the stored information.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a multi-CPU system that can access a main storage device (shared memory that can be shared and accessed by CPU-A and CPU-B). Here, two CPUs are temporarily installed. Although the system will be described, the present invention also applies to the case where a CPU other than the CPU-A and CPU-B in FIG. 14 is used. In FIG. 14, 1001 is CPU-A, 1002 is CPU-B, 1003 is shared memory, 1004 is a system bus bridge, 1005 is a memory controller, 1006 is a hard disk controller, and 1007 is a hard disk. Reference numerals 1004 and 1005 are the same as those described in FIG. 4, and a description of a data access method between the CPU and the memory is omitted here. CPU-A and CPU-B can read and write data to the 1003 shared memory via the system bus bridge and the memory controller, respectively. Similar to the memory controller, the 1006 hard disk controller is a controller that controls reading and writing to the hard disk, and is connected to the hard disk via an E-IDE connector as shown in FIG. A hard disk 1007 is an E-IDE standard hard disk and has a very large capacity with respect to the main storage device (shared memory). It is possible to access from CPU-A and CPU-B via a hard disk controller.

  FIG. 15 illustrates a general file system. Reference numeral 1100 denotes a CPU, 1101 denotes a file system program operating on the CPU, 1102 denotes a file system management table on the main storage (memory), and 1109 denotes a hard disk. A normal file system divides a hard disk into small blocks of about several hundred bytes to several kilobytes per block, and stores data such as file contents. A file system provides input / output of data by read / write of files, directories, and the like. A normal file system has a file system management table for data such as file contents on a hard disk and a main storage device (memory). Generally, a hard disk has a large capacity, but is slower than a memory, and a memory has a small capacity although it is fast. Therefore, in many cases, the frequently accessed management table and temporary buffer are stored in the memory, and the contents of the data are stored on the hard disk. The file system used in this embodiment is a file system that has a management table in duplicate on the hard disk and in the memory, and that matches between the management table of the memory and the hard disk by an operation called Sync. The 1102 management table is composed of information such as the file name and attributes of 1104 which block of the hard disk 1103 is used and contains data.

  For example, the data that is actually rewritten when the file name or file attribute is changed is 1104 information in the 1102 management table. 1105 Writing to the hard disk is not currently performed. When Sync is performed, the contents of the 1102 management table and the contents of the 1105 hard disk are matched, and information is written to the management table on the hard disk.

  Generally, in order to access a hard disk via a file system, it is necessary to mount the file system. Since mounting is equivalent to a file system such as UNIX (registered trademark), it will not be described in detail here. If the file system is not used, it is necessary to unmount the file system. Since unmounting is equivalent to a file system such as UNIX (registered trademark), it will not be described in detail here.

  FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of the system using the dual CPU of FIG. 14 based on the general file system of FIG.

  In the figure, 2001 is CPU-A, 2002 is a file system program (hereinafter referred to as file system A) executed on CPU-A, 2003 is a management table A used by 2002 file system A, 2004 is CPU-B, and 2005 is CPU-B. File system program (hereinafter referred to as file system B) executed on CPU-B, 2006 is a management table B used by file system B, 2007 is a hard disk, 2008 is a management table duplicated on the hard disk, 2009 Is hard disk data. The hard disk is accessed from file system A and file system B. The management table A and the management table B are arranged on the main storage device (memory). Since the file system A and the file system B are exactly the same file system, the management tables A and B used by the two file systems are also the same. In this way, having the same huge management table identically means that a large amount of memory is wasted. As described with reference to FIG. 14, when the file system A performs the Sync operation, the contents of the management table A and the management table on the 2008 hard disk are matched. In addition, when the file system B performs the Sync operation, matching is made between the contents of the management table B and the management table on the 2008 hard disk.

  For example, consider a case where the 2002 file system A changes a file named “file 1” to a name “file A”. At the same time, it is assumed that the file system B renames the same file as “file 1” renamed by the file system A to “file B”. If syncs are performed at this time, the file name change of the one that was synced first is overwritten on the file name change information of the file system that was synced later, resulting in a contradiction. As described above, separately using the management tables as the management table A and the management table B in the file system A and the file system B not only wastes memory but also has a drawback that data cannot be matched.

  FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram of the proposed file system. In the figure, 2101 is a CPU-A, 2102 is a file system program executed on CPU-A (hereinafter referred to as file system A), 2103 is CPU-B, and 2104 is a file system program executed on CPU-B ( Hereinafter, file system B) and 2105 are management tables on the memory of the file system used in common by file system A and file system B. Reference numeral 2106 denotes a hard disk, and 2107 denotes a management table duplicated on the hard disk.

  FIG. 17 shows the two management tables in FIG. 16 as one common management table for the file system A and the file system B.

  Since file system A and file system B, which are file systems respectively used by CPU-A and CPU-B, are exactly the same file system, only one management table is required, and only the 2105 common management table is required. This saves a lot of memory. However, if the file system A and the file system B access one common management table at the same time, the management table is not matched, and this is controlled by the following means.

  It is a mechanism for mounting and unmounting. In FIG. 17, the CPU-B is dismounted from the file system B, and the CPU-A is unmounted from the file system A. The mount state refers to a state in which the application program is in a state where a control command can be transmitted to the file system operating on the CPU on which the application program is operating. That is, the CPU-B can be said to be in a state where it can execute control commands such as file name change and file read / write on the file system B. The CPU-A is in an unmounted state with respect to the file system A, and the file system A does not respond to the file system A even if a control command such as a file name change or file read / write is executed. Therefore, the file system A does not access the common management table and cannot access the hard disk. By the above method, memory saving and consistency of the management table between the file system A and the file system B are maintained.

  Reference numeral 2108 denotes a shared memory, and 2109 denotes mount information arranged at a specific address of the shared memory. In the figure, the state in which the CPU-B mounts the file system B is shown, but 2109 mount information describes that the CPU-B is mounting the file system B.

  The CPU to be mounted can mount only after confirming that no one is mounted by referring to the 2109 mount information. If the CPU-A attempts to mount the file system A in this state, the 2109 mount information is referenced to detect that the CPU-B is mounted, and the CPU-A mounts the file system A. Give up.

  FIG. 18 shows a state where the CPU-B unmounts the file system B from the state of FIG. When CPU-B unmounts the file system B, the fact that CPU-B has unmounted the mount information on the shared memory is described. If CPU-B has been mounted so far, no CPU is mounted by unmounting CPU-B, so the description is “Nobody” and nobody is mounted as described above.

  FIG. 19 shows a state in which the file system A is mounted by the CPU-A from the state of FIG.

  When the CPU-A performs a mount operation on the file system A, it refers to 2109 mount information on the shared memory. If the mount information is described as “Nobody” indicating that no one is mounted, the CPU-A mount request passes, and the CPU-A can be mounted, and the state shown in FIG. 19 is obtained. It is assumed that CPU-B is mounted when CPU-A performs the mounting operation. When CPU-A tries to mount, it refers to the 2109 mount information, detects that CPU-B is mounted, and CPU-A gives up mounting the file system A.

  When neither CPU-A nor CPU-B is mounted and both try to mount at the same time, both refer to 2109 mount information at the same time, and both CPU-A and CPU-B recognize that the mount information is Nobody Therefore, when referring to the 2109 mount information, it is necessary to exclude it by taking a semaphore or the like. Since semaphores are general, they will not be described here.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart when the CPU-A attempts to mount the file system A in FIG. In step S3001, the CPU-A attempts to mount the file system A. In step S3002, the mount information on the shared memory is referred to. In step S3003, a semaphore is acquired so as not to be mounted at the same time. If the mount information is Nobody in S3004, the process branches to S3005, and if it is not Nobody in S3004, the process branches to S3009. In S3005, the mount information that was Nobody is rewritten as CPU-A. This means that it is CPU-A that is currently mounted. In step S3006, the previously acquired semaphore is released. In step S3007, actual mounting is performed. Mounting is completed in S3008. In S3009 divided from S3004, since there is another CPU currently mounted in S3004, CPU-A must give up mounting. The semaphore acquired in S3003 is released in S3010, and the process ends in S3011.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart when the CPU-A attempts to unmount the file system A. In step S <b> 3101, the CPU-A attempts to unmount the file system A. In step S3102, the mount information on the shared memory is referred to. If the currently mounted CPU is CPU-A, the process proceeds to S3103. If the information described in the mount information is other than CPU-A, CPU-A cannot be unmounted, and the process branches to S3106. If the currently mounted CPU is CPU-A and CPU-A intends to unmount the file system A, the mount information is rewritten as Nobody in S3103, and the unmount operation is performed in S3104. In step S3106, unmounting is canceled and the process ends.

1 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a digital multi-function peripheral as a data processing apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of a digital multi-function peripheral. It is a block block diagram which shows the detail of the controller part as an electronic component concerning this invention. It is a block block diagram which shows the detail of a main controller. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation unit 150. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a document reading setting screen in “continuous reading mode”. It is a figure which shows the example of a reading image confirmation screen. It is a flowchart of a continuous reading copy process. It is a flowchart of a document reading process. It is a flowchart of a stored image confirmation (preview) process. It is a figure which shows the software structure inside a control apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of a job control part. It is a figure which shows the management structure of a document management part. It is a figure of multi-CPU which shares a main memory (memory). It is a conceptual diagram of the conventional file system. It is a conceptual diagram of the file system in the conventional multi CPU. It is a conceptual diagram of the file system in a present Example. It is a conceptual diagram of the file system in a present Example. It is a conceptual diagram of the file system in a present Example. It is a flowchart of the file system in a present Example. It is a flowchart of the file system in a present Example.

Claims (6)

  In an image forming apparatus having a plurality of CPUs, a main storage device accessible by the plurality of CPUs, and a hard disk, the management area in the main storage device is operated on the plurality of CPUs. A file system that operates by using the file system, wherein the file system program is separately mounted on each CPU, and the file system operates by sharing a management area of the main storage device. An image forming apparatus equipped with a file system.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a file system mounting unit required for an application program on each CPU to access the hard disk using the file system.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein in order for an application program on each CPU to use the file system, it is necessary to mount the file system using the mount unit.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising an unmount unit that cancels the mount state and sets the application program to an unmount state in which the file system cannot be used. .   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising detection means for detecting which application program on the CPU mounts the file system.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the mount means is possible only when no application program on each CPU uses the mount detection means to mount the file system. An image forming apparatus including the file system.

Images