JP2006173843A - Image information i/o device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance execution efficiency of image processing in a multifunction image I/O device. <P>SOLUTION: The device for inputting/outputting image information comprises a means for processing image information inputted by the image information I/O means by hardware in units of band of predetermined size, and a means for processing image information inputted by the image information I/O means by software in units of band of predetermined size. The hardware image processing means and the software image processing means are used properly in units of band depending on the priority of a job being executed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus capable of performing image processing by hardware, software, or both when image processing is performed by a print control unit of an image information input / output device.

  With the spread of network technology, data such as images are frequently exchanged over a network by a multi-function copying machine or printer. In many cases, a data compression (encoding) technique is used to reduce network load and perform high-speed data transmission. Encoding / decoding is performed using an encoder / decoder (codec). The codec can be used either by hardware such as a dedicated LSI (hardware codec) or by executing software by a general-purpose processor (software codec). realizable. Further, when outputting an image, image data may be rotated, and this processing can be realized by dedicated hardware or software by a general-purpose processor. In general, an image processing apparatus has been invented in which hardware is mounted to achieve high-end high performance, and software is used to perform image processing on a low-cost machine with low performance.

On the other hand, the resolution of the printing apparatus is increasing to meet the demand for higher image quality, and accordingly, the memory capacity required for the printing process in each printing apparatus tends to increase. In response to this increase in memory capacity, a technique for handling image data in band units is known within the image processing apparatus. For example, a technique for more efficient band processing of image data in the image output apparatus is described. (Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-74264

  Multifunction multifunction devices provide various functions such as print output, copy, FAX transmission, E-mail transmission, network scanner, etc., and it is important to be able to simultaneously execute these execution requests (jobs). Become.

  As described above, image processing is generally performed in hardware with a processing time shorter than that of software, but recently, due to improved performance of a central processing unit (CPU), some image processing requires software. However, it has become possible to achieve a certain execution speed.

  Image processing can be realized by software simultaneously with hardware image processing, but when multiple resources are executed at the same time by optimally scheduling hardware and software resources in the same device To achieve high performance.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image information input / output device for inputting / outputting image information, wherein the image information input by the image information input / output means is a hardware unit in a band unit of a predetermined size. Hardware image processing means for processing according to the above, and software image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by software in band units of a predetermined size and executed The present invention provides an image information input / output device characterized in that the hardware image processing means and the software image processing means are selectively used in band units in accordance with job priorities.

  According to the present invention, a software processing unit for performing predetermined data processing by software and a hardware processing unit for performing hardware are provided, and hardware resources and software are determined depending on the priority of the job to be executed and the type of job. By efficiently allocating resources, the processing performance of the system can be improved.

  Furthermore, by specifying the number of software resources in advance according to the processing speed of the CPU of the image processing system, a further performance improvement effect can be expected by using a plurality of software resources.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail 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. It is connected to a host computer (first and second host computers 3 and 4 in this embodiment) in a LAN (Local Area Network) 400 such as a registered trademark.

  In other words, the image input / output system (device) 1 includes a reader unit 2 that performs image data reading processing, a printer unit 6 that performs image data output processing, a keyboard that performs image data input / output operations, and image data. And an operation unit 7 having a liquid crystal panel for displaying various functions and a hard disk drive 8 in which a control program, image data, and the like are written in advance, are connected to these components and connected to the components. And a controller unit 110 composed of a single electronic component for controlling the constituent elements.

  Further, the reader unit 2 includes a document feeding unit (unit) 10 that transports document paper, and a scanner unit 11 that optically reads a document image and converts it into image data as an electrical signal, and the printer unit 6 records. Sorting and stapling processing is performed on a paper feed unit (part) 12 having a plurality of paper feed cassettes for storing paper, a marking unit (part) 13 for transferring and fixing image data to recording paper, and printed recording paper. And a paper discharge unit (part) 14 for discharging to the outside.

  FIG. 2 is an internal structure showing details of the reader unit 2 and the printer unit 6 of FIG. 1, and the reader unit 5 is mounted on the printer unit 6.

  Then, the reader unit 5 feeds the original sheets stacked on the original feeding unit 10 one by one on the platen glass 15 sequentially from the top in accordance with the stacking order, and the scanner unit 11 completes a predetermined reading operation. Thereafter, the read original paper is discharged from the platen glass 15 to the original feeding unit 10.

  In the scanner unit 11, the lamp 16 is turned on when the original paper is conveyed onto the platen glass 15, and then the movement of the optical unit 17 is started and fixed at the reading position. The optical unit 17 irradiates and scans the conveyed original paper from below. The reflected light from the original paper is guided to a CCD image sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as “CCD”) 22 through a plurality of mirrors 18-20 and a lens 21, and the scanned original image is read by the CCD 22. Read. The image data read by the CCD 22 is transferred to the controller unit 110 (not shown in FIG. 2) after predetermined processing.

  Alternatively, the lamp 16 is turned on in the same manner for the original placed on the original platen, the movement of the optical unit 17 is then started, the original paper is irradiated from below, and scanned, so that the scanned original image is CCD 22. Can be read by.

  The image data from the reader sent in the above procedure is sent to the controller unit 110 via the connector.

  Next, in the printing unit 6, laser light corresponding to the image data output from the controller unit 110 is issued from a laser issuing unit 24 driven by a laser driver, and the laser light is applied to the photosensitive drum 25 of the marking unit 13. An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the laser beam is formed, and the development device 26 attaches development charges to the portion of the electrostatic latent image.

  On the other hand, at the timing synchronized with the start of laser light irradiation, the recording paper is fed from the paper feed unit 12 (paper feed cassettes 12 a and 12 b), conveyed to the transfer unit 27, and the developer attached to the photosensitive drum 25. Is transferred to the recording paper. The recording paper onto which the image data has been transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 28, and the image data is fixed to the recording paper by the heating / pressurizing process in the fixing unit 28.

  When image data is recorded on one side on a recording sheet, the recording sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 28 is discharged as it is to the discharge unit 14 by the discharge roller 29, and the discharge unit 14 bundles the discharged recording sheets for recording. The paper is sorted, and the sorted recording paper is stapled.

  When the image data is recorded on both sides of the recording paper, after the recording paper is conveyed to the discharge roller 29, the rotation direction of the transfer roller 29 is reversed and guided to the refeed conveyance path 31 by the flapper 30. The recording sheet guided to the refeed conveyance path 31 is conveyed to the transfer unit 27 in the same manner as described above.

  The controller unit 110 is composed of a single electronic component as described above, converts the image data read by the reader unit 2 into a code, and transmits the code to the first and second host computers 3 and 4 via the LAN 400. It has a function, a printer function that converts code data received from the host computers 3 and 4 via the LAN 2 into image data, and outputs the image data to the printer unit 6 and other functional blocks.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of the controller unit 110.

  That is, the main controller 32 incorporates a CPU 33, a bus controller 34, and functional blocks including various controller circuits described later, is connected to the ROM 36 via the ROM I / F 35, and is connected to the DRAM 38 via the DRAM I / F 37. It is connected to the codec 40 via the codec I / F 39 and is connected to the network controller 42 via the network I / F 41.

  The ROM 36 stores various control programs executed by the CPU 33 of the main controller 32 and calculation data. The DRAM 38 is used as a work area for the CPU 33 to operate and an area for storing image data. The codec 40 compresses the raster image data stored in the DRAM 38 by a known compression method such as MH / MR / MMR / JBIG, and expands the compressed data into a raster image. Further, an SRAM 43 is connected to the codec 40, and the SRAM 43 is used as a temporary work area of the codec 40.

  The network controller 42 performs a predetermined control operation with the LAN 2 via the network connector 44.

  The main controller 32 is connected to a scanner I / F 46 via a scanner bus 45, connected to a printer I / F 48 via a printer bus 47, and further connected to an expansion board via a general-purpose high-speed bus 49 such as a PCI bus. It is connected to an expansion connector 50 and an input / output control unit (I / O control unit) 51 for connection.

  The I / O control unit 51 is equipped with two channels of asynchronous serial communication controllers 52 for transmitting and receiving control commands to and from the reader unit 2 and the printer unit 6. It is connected to the scanner I / F 46 and the printer I / F 48 via the bus 53.

  The scanner I / F 48 is connected to the scanner connector 56 via the first asynchronous serial I / F 54 and the first video I / F 55, and the scanner connector 56 is further connected to the scanner unit 11 of the reader unit 2. Yes. The scanner I / F 46 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 11, and is sent from the scanner unit 11. A control signal is generated based on the video signal and transferred to the main controller 32 via the scanner bus 45.

  The printer I / F 48 is connected to the printer connector 59 via the second asynchronous serial I / F 57 and the second video I / F 58, and the printer connector 59 is connected to the marking unit 13 of the printer unit 6. Has been. The printer I / F 48 performs a smoothing process on the image data output from the main controller 32 and outputs the image data to the marking unit 13, and is further generated based on the video signal sent from the marking unit 13. A control signal is output to the printer bus 47.

  The CPU 33 operates based on a control program read from the ROM 36 via the ROM I / F 35 and interprets, for example, PDL (page description language) data received from the first and second host computers 3 and 4. The raster image data is expanded.

  The bus controller 34 controls data transfer input / output from / to an external device connected to the scanner I / F 46, printer I / F 48, other extension connector 50, and the like. Controls DMA data transfer. That is, for example, the data transfer between the DRAM 38 and the codec 40, the data transfer from the scanner unit 5 to the DRAM 38, the data transfer from the DRAM 38 to the marking unit 13, and the like are controlled by the bus controller 34 and transferred by DMA. The

  The I / O control unit 51 is connected to the panel I / F 62 via the LCD controller 60 or the like. The I / O control unit 51 is connected to an EEPROM as a nonvolatile memory, and is connected to the hard disk drive 8 via an E-IDE connector 63, and further updates / saves the date and time managed in the device. Connected to the real-time clock module 64. The real time clock module 64 is connected to the backup battery 65 and backed up by the backup battery 65.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal details of the main controller 32.

  The bus controller 34 is composed of a 4 × 4 64-bit cross bus switch, connected to the CPU 33 via a 64-bit processor bus (P bus) 67, and cached via a memory-dedicated local bus (M bus). It is connected to a memory controller 69 having a memory. The memory controller 69 is connected to memories such as the ROM 36 and the DRAM 38, and controls the operation of these memories.

  Further, the bus controller 34 is connected to a G bus arbiter 71 and a scan / printer controller 72 via a graphics bus (G bus) 70, and is connected to a B bus arbiter 74, G via an input / output bus (B bus) 73. Bus arbiter 71, interrupt controller, and various functional blocks (power management unit 76, serial I / F controller 77 such as UART, USB (Universal Serial Bus) controller 78, parallel I / F controller 79 such as IEEE1284, LAN controller 80 general purpose input The output controller 81, the B bus 73 and the PCI bus as an external bus are connected to the PCI bus I / F 82 for controlling the I / F operation and the scanner / printer controller 72).

  The B bus arbiter 74 is an arbitration for cooperatively controlling the B bus 73. The B bus arbiter 74 receives a bus use request for the B bus 73, and after arbitration, the use permission is given to one selected master. 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 75 accumulates interrupts from the functional blocks and the controller unit 110 described above, and redistributes them to the controllers 72 and 77-82 and the non-maskable interrupt (NMI) supported by the CPU 33.

  The power management unit 76 manages the power for each functional block, and further 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 33. Therefore, 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 76 as a power management level. The power management unit 76 totals the power consumption of each functional block, and collectively monitors the power consumption of each functional block so that the power consumption does not exceed the limit power consumption.

  The G bus arbiter 71 cooperatively controls the G bus 70 by a central arbitration method, and has a request signal and a permission signal dedicated to 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.

  The image input / output device having the above-described configuration will be described as an example, and more specific embodiments will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 to 11 and FIGS. 12 to 14.

  FIG. 5 shows a side view and an upper surface of the reader unit 2. <1> to <4> in the side view describe the document conveyance direction during scanning when the document is loaded on the document feeding unit 10. When there is a request for reading a document from the controller unit 110, the reader unit 2 pulls in the document loaded on the document feeding unit 10, starts the movement of the optical unit 17 as described above, and fixes it at the reading position. The original image is scanned by moving the original.

  First, the input direction of the original and the image writing direction on the memory when the original moving scan is not performed will be described.

  In this case, the user places the original on the platen glass 15 so that the original abutting position in the original as shown in FIG. 6 matches the original abutting position described in the upper part of the reader unit 2 in FIG. It will be. Since the reader unit 2 moves the optical unit 17 to read a document placed on the platen glass 15, the input direction of the document in the reader unit 2 and the data input to the DRAM 38 in the controller unit 2 are read. The direction is as shown in FIG. Data input to the DRAM 38 is written to the DRAM 38 by the DMA controller in the scanner I / F 46. However, since the image from the reader unit 2 is transferred from the leading edge of the document, it is accessed in order from the smallest memory address. By doing so, it is possible to write to the DRAM 38 in the form as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show the input direction of the image when the original moving scan is performed. FIG. 9 shows the conveyance direction when a document is stacked on the document feed unit 10, and FIG. 10 shows the memory input direction when the document of FIG. 9 is input to the DRAM 38 of the controller unit. At this time, the orientation of the document image transferred from the reader unit 2 is related to the transporting / conveying direction and is completely opposite to the above case in the sub-scanning direction. Therefore, by controlling the DMA controller in the scanner I / F 46 to access the memory address in the reverse direction, the direction of the original is the same as when the original on the platen glass 15 is scanned by the movement of the optical unit 17. Control is performed as follows.

  By performing the control as described above, the direction of the original on the DRAM 38 can be made the same regardless of whether or not the original is scanned.

  Next, basic processing when an image is compressed in band units will be described. When scanning a document, processing is performed according to the flowchart of FIG. In STEP 1201 in FIG. 12, the CPU 33 recognizes that reading of the document is supported by the operation unit 7 via the panel I / F 62, and proceeds to STEP 1202.

  At this time, the CPU 33 recognizes various input modes (double-sided reading, density designation, etc.) supported by the image input / output system 1 and holds them on the DRAM 33.

  In STEP 1202, the CPU 33 inquires of the reader unit 2 via the scanner I / F 46 whether or not a document is stacked on the document feeding unit 10. As a result, if a document is stacked on the document feeding unit 10, the process proceeds to STEP 1203. Otherwise, the process proceeds to STEP 1205.

  In both STEP 1203 and STEP 1205, the CPU 33 requests the reader unit 2 to read a document via the scanner I / F 46. In STEP 1203, a reading operation while pulling a document from the document feeding unit 10 is instructed. In STEP 1205, a reading operation from the platen glass 15 is instructed. Thereafter, in STEP 1204, an inquiry is made as to whether or not there is a document page to be processed subsequently to the document feeding unit 10, and it is determined whether or not the processing is to be performed in accordance with the result.

  When reading the original image, the communication between the reader unit 2 and the CPU 33 of the controller unit 110 is as described above. However, in STEP 1203 and STEP 1205, the processing shown in FIG. Then, the process shown in FIG. 14 is performed.

  The process shown in FIG. 13 will be described. In the flowchart of FIG. 12, the CPU 33 requests the reader unit 2 to read the original in STEP 1203 and STEP 1205. In this case, the CPU 33 first inquires the original size to the reader unit 2 in STEP 1301, calculates the memory capacity required for reading the original, A capacity for storing page data is secured in the DRAM 38. When the memory is secured, the CPU 33 sets scan image writing in the register of the DMA controller in the scanner I / F 46. The contents to be set are the address of the reserved memory, the size of the main scan and the sub scan of the image to be scanned, and the like. When the register setting is completed, the CPU 33 notifies the reader unit 2 to that effect. In response to this, the reader unit 2 executes image transfer.

  Thereafter, the processing shifts to a flowchart shown in FIG. When the reader unit 2 executes the image transfer, an interrupt indicating the completion of the predetermined-capacity image transfer is notified to the CPU 33 from the DMA controller in the scanner I / F 46 (STEP 1401). In response to this, the CPU 33 issues an instruction to the codec 40 and performs compression processing of the data in the memory in which the scan image has been written (STEP 1402). Specifically, for example, when scanning from the platen glass 15 in STEP 1205, the inside of the page is divided into five as shown in FIG. In this case, a page is constituted by bands <1> to <5>, and when an image is input from the platen glass 15, the original image data is written in the normal order from <1> to <5>, and <1> to <5 5>, an interrupt from the DMA controller in the scanner I / F 46 is generated each time the input of the scanned image is completed. In response to this interruption, the CPU 33 operates the codec 40. FIG. 8C is a timing chart illustrating scan image input and codec 40 operation. The CPU 33 activates the codec 40 at the timing a when the scan input of <1> is completed and starts image compression. Similarly, since the scan input of the band <2> is completed at the timing c, image compression is started in the same manner.

  In this way, the CPU 33 sequentially compresses the scan image compression operation for each band. When the image compression processing of the codec 40 is completed for one band in STEP 1402, the memory of the band before compression becomes unnecessary and can be released. Since the released memory can be used for the next processing or a completely different processing provided by the image input / output system, the memory efficiency of the entire system is improved.

  Specifically, in the timing chart of FIG. 8C, the data before compression is written at the timing b when the compression of the band <1> is completed or at the timing d when the compression of the band <2> is completed. Memory can be released.

  By performing such processing, the compression processing when the image on the platen glass 15 is read in STEP 1205 is performed in order from <1> to <5>.

The compressed data is written in the code memory area separately managed in the DRAM 38 without any gap in the compression order, that is, in the band order of <1> to <5>. (Fig. 8- (b))
On the other hand, in STEP 1203, when the original is moved and scanned, the current input order is reversed. Similarly to the document input order shown in FIG. 11A, the document compression order shown in FIG. A specific timing chart is shown in FIG. Since image input is executed in the order of band <5> to <1>, it is necessary to compress from band <5> in order to quickly release the memory. Specifically, at the timing (e) when the input of the band <5> is completed in STEP 1401, the CPU 33 activates the codec 40 and starts image compression processing. (STEP1402)
When the codec 40 completes the compression of the band <5>, the CPU 33 releases the image memory before the compression of the band <5> at the timing f. (STEP1403)
By performing such processing, the memory can be released at the same timing as when the image on the platen glass 15 is read even in the case of the document movement type.

  As shown in FIG. 11B, when the original is scanned by moving the original, the order of the compressed image data is descending from bands <5> to <1>. The order is completely reversed.

  When the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 is repeated for the number of bands, the CPU 33 detects that the page processing is completed in STEP 1302. The CPU 33 shifts the processing to STEP1303.

  The CPU 33 writes the compressed data to the hard disk drive 8 in STEP1303. When the compressed data is stored in the hard disk drive 8, the CPU 33 compresses the compression order information when there is data whose compression order is reversed, as in the case of the document movement type scan executed in STEP 1203. And stored in the hard disk drive 8.

  By performing the above-described processing, even when a document movement type scan is performed, the same memory efficiency as in a normal time (scanning from the platen glass 15) is realized and data is read from the hard disk drive 8. In this case, it is possible to read out the images from the hard disk drive 8 in the normal order by reading the information of the compression order stored in association with the compressed data.

  The image input / output system 1 can execute the above-described image processing not only for scanning but also for other jobs. For example, when a PDL print request is received from the PC 3, the CPU 33 of the controller unit 110 can develop a PDL (page description language) rendering command into a bitmap and sequentially compress the image as in the case of scanning. In addition, when receiving E-mail from the outside of the LAN 400, the received ASCII data is expanded into fonts, and similarly, image compression can be sequentially performed in band units.

  The image input / output system 1 can simultaneously execute a plurality of jobs, but can perform image compression in band units as described above. The image compression processing can be performed by hardware for binary monochrome image compression of MMR / MR / MH / JBIG, but the CPU 33 of the controller unit 110 executes the program on the ROM 36, so that the MMR is similarly applied by software. / MR / MH / JBIG compression is possible.

  Taking the image input / output device having the above-described configuration as an example, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIG.

  15 and 16 describe job execution program control executed by the CPU 33 during job execution.

  17 and 18, the control of the resource assignment control program executed by the CPU 33 as in the job execution control program will be described. The job execution control program and the resource assignment control program are executed when the CPU 33 reads the program code stored in advance in the ROM 36.

Both programs can be operated in parallel by an OS (operating system) running on the CPU 33, and both programs can exchange messages asynchronously by OS services. In STEP1501, the image input / output system 1 executes jobs. Receive a request. As described above, the job can be executed by the image input / output device such as scan input, PDL print output, E-mail transmission, E-mail reception, and the execution request is all sent to the CPU 33 of the control unit 110 as described above. Processed. When the CPU 33 accepts a job execution request in STEP 1502 of FIG. 15, the CPU 33 issues a unique job ID inside the system, and sets the job priority in the system according to the job priority preset by the user. Set.

  The job priority determines the execution order when jobs are executed inside the system, and can be set in advance for the job type by the user. It is also possible to set.

  For example, if it is preset that the PDL print job has priority over the E-mail reception print, the priority of the PDL print job is set to 5 and the E-mail reception print job is set to 10.

  Even if the same PDL print job is received almost simultaneously, if the request from user A is set to have a higher priority than that of user B, the priority of user A's PDL job is set to 3, and the user Let PDL job from B be 4.

  In STEP 1503, the CPU 33 acquires resources necessary for job execution. If the received job is a scan job, an image compression resource associated with the Codec 40 that executes image compression is acquired. At the time of resource acquisition, the CPU 33 executes processing according to the flow shown in FIG.

  It is determined whether or not the job received in STEP 1601 needs to monopolize resources at the job level. A job that needs to acquire resources at the job level is, for example, a facsimile transmission job. During job execution, the resource can be acquired smoothly from the start of the job to the end of the job. Cost can be reduced. When acquiring resources at the job level, the CPU 33 advances the process to STEP 1604.

  In STEP 1604, a resource request list necessary for the job is created. FIG. 19 shows an example of a resource request list. The resource request list is a list packed with information necessary for resource acquisition. When band processing can be executed, the minimum unit is a band. In the band list, the ID of the job issued in STEP 1502 is set, and whether to process by software, hardware, or software or hardware is set. Jobs that require processing only in hardware are jobs that are known to be inexecutable by software processing in advance in terms of processing time. Set something that doesn't require performance and just needs to finish normally over time. In this embodiment, in the case of a job for FAX transmission, FAX reception, and PDL printing in the system, only the hardware is enabled, and only the software is enabled for the E-mail transmission job, and other jobs (scan input, print output, E- (mail reception job) is processed by either software or hardware. In addition, the job priority set in STEP 1502 is also set in the resource request list.

  In STEP 1604, a resource request list for the job is created, and a request for acquiring resources at the job level is issued. The request issue destination is also a resource assignment (arbitration) control program executed by the CPU 33.

  The resource acquisition period is also set. There are bands, pages, and jobs in the resource acquisition period, and resources are not released for each period. In STEP 1604, in order to acquire resources for the job, a resource request list for all pages included in the job and all bands included in the page is created, and the job is set during the acquisition period.

  If the resource acquisition period is not a job in STEP 1601, the process proceeds to STEP 1602. In STEP 1602, it is confirmed whether image processing resources are not released during the page period. If not released, the process proceeds to STEP 1605; otherwise, the process proceeds to STEP 1603.

  In STEP 1605, a resource request list for all bands included in the page is created, and a request for acquiring resources is issued at the page level in the same manner as in STEP 1604. Jobs that require acquisition of resources at the page level are, for example, image expansion resources used for print output. When processing is performed in synchronization with reading of a print and in units of bands, it is acquired at a time for each page. .

  Since some jobs that are determined not to be acquired at the page level in STEP 1602 execute resource acquisition and release in band units, a resource request list for the band is created in STEP 1603 and a request for acquiring resources is issued in the same manner as STEP 1604. To do.

  In STEP 1603, STEP 1604, and STEP 1605, after issuing a resource acquisition request, the process proceeds to STEP 1606. In STEP 1606, an acquisition completion message from the resource assignment control program is awaited. Resource acquisition is completed in response to an acquisition completion event.

  If the resource can be acquired in STEP 1504, the job execution control program executes the corresponding image processing in STEP 1504. If a resource for the job is requested in STEP 1604, all processing for the job is executed in STEP 1504. If a resource for a page is requested in STEP 1605, the processing of the page is executed. If a resource request for a band is requested in STEP 1603, the processing of the band is executed and the processing proceeds to STEP 1505.

  In STEP 1505, the resource assignment control program is requested to release the resource acquired in STEP 1503, and the process proceeds to STEP 1506.

  In STEP 1506, it is checked whether all job processing is completed. If all the processes have been completed, the process ends. If not, the process is repeated from STEP 1503.

  The above is an example of the processing flow of the job execution control program executed by the CPU 33.

  Hereinafter, an example of the processing flow of the resource assignment control program will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18.

  When the resource assignment control program is started, the process proceeds to STEP 1701 and waits for a message from the job control execution program and the resource assignment control program. The resource assignment control program that received the resource acquisition request by the job execution control program in STEP 1503 of FIG. 15 shifts the processing to STEP 1702.

  In STEP 1702, the resource request list created by the job execution control program in STEP 1603, STEP 1604, and STEP 1605 is referred to and it is determined whether or not to process with software. In the case of processing by software, the process proceeds to STEP 1708. If not, the process proceeds to STEP 1703.

  Assume that a request for an image compression / decompression resource that can be processed by hardware is received. At this time, the CPU 33 initializes the variable n in the program to 1 in STEP 1703 and shifts the process to STEP 1705.

  In STEP 1705, it is determined whether the priority of the job is higher than the n-th request list of the resource to be acquired. The job priority is set by the job execution control program in STEP 1502 and can be read from the resource request list. If the priority of the requested resource request list is higher than that of the nth request list, the CPU 33 shifts the processing to SETP 1706, and otherwise shifts the processing to STEP 1707.

  In STEP 1707, the resource request list is referenced to check whether hardware processing is essential. If it is essential, the process proceeds to STEP 1704; otherwise, the process proceeds to STEP 1708.

  In STEP 1704, the variable n is incremented. In STEP 1706, the requested resource acquisition queue is registered in the nth queue, and the process proceeds to STEP 1710. In STEP 1710, it is confirmed whether there is a resource request list in the acquisition wait queue for the corresponding resource. Since there is a resource request list, the process proceeds to STEP 1711. In STEP 1711, a resource request list at the head of the resource acquisition waiting queue is referred to, and resources are allocated to the corresponding job control program of the request source. Send resource acquisition completion event to job control program. The resource assignment control program that has completed the resource assignment in SETP 1711 returns the processing to STEP 1701.

  Next, processing when a resource release request is received from the job execution control program will be described. When receiving a resource release request from the job execution control program in STEP 1701, the CPU 33 shifts the processing to STEP 1709. In STEP 1709, the corresponding resource is released and deleted from the resource acquisition waiting queue. In STEP 1710, the acquisition queue for the corresponding resource is checked. If there is a request list, the process proceeds to STGEP 1711. Otherwise, the process proceeds to STEP 1712. In STEP 1712, it is searched whether there is a list that can be processed by hardware in the resource acquisition waiting queue of software processing that performs the same processing as the corresponding resource.

  For example, in the case of a resource acquisition request for image compression / decompression, a software image compression / decompression resource acquisition queue is searched, and if there is a resource request list that can be processed by hardware, the process proceeds to STEP 1713; The process returns to STEP 1701.

  In STEP 1713, the corresponding request is deleted from the software image compression / decompression resource acquisition queue, and it is issued again as a hardware resource acquisition request. The reissued request is received in STEP 1701 by the resource assignment control program and processed appropriately.

  Next, a process when the CPU 33 shifts to the software resource acquisition process in STEP 1708 will be described.

  In STEP 1708, the CPU 33 sends a software resource acquisition request to the resource assignment control program 2 that monitors the software resource acquisition queue. Similar to the resource assignment control program, the resource assignment control program 2 is a program executed by the CPU 33, and apparently can operate in parallel with other programs by an OS service.

  The processing of the resource assignment control program 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The resource assignment control program 2 that has received a resource acquisition request by the job execution control program in STEP 1503 of FIG. 15 or receives a resource acquisition request from the STEP 1708 resource assignment control program shifts the processing to STEP 1802. In STEP 1802, the CPU 33 initializes the process to STEP 1703 and initializes a variable n in the program to 1, and shifts the process to STEP 1804.

  In STEP 1804, it is determined whether the priority of the job is higher than the n-th request list of the resource to be acquired. The job priority is set by the job execution control program in STEP 1502 and can be read from the resource request list. If the priority of the requested resource request list is higher than that of the nth request list, the CPU 33 shifts the processing to SETP 1805, and otherwise shifts the processing to STEP 1806.

  In STEP 1806, it is confirmed whether there are a plurality of software resources. In the image input / output system 1, the number at which image processing by software can be simultaneously performed is determined in advance according to the processing speed of the CPU 33 and the type of job supported by the device. If there are other software resources in STEP 1806, the process proceeds to STEP 1807. If not, the process proceeds to STEP 1803. In STEP 1803, the variable n is incremented.

  In STEP 1805, the requested resource acquisition waiting queue is registered in the n-th queue, and the process proceeds to STEP 1809. In STEP 1809, it is confirmed whether or not there is a resource request list in the acquisition wait queue for the corresponding resource. Since there is a resource request list, the process proceeds to STEP 1810. In STEP 1810, the resource request list at the head of the resource acquisition waiting queue is referred to, and resources are allocated to the corresponding job control program of the request source. Send resource acquisition completion event to job control program. The resource assignment control program 2 that has completed the resource assignment in SETP 1810 returns the process to STEP 1801.

  Next, processing when a resource release request is received from the job execution control program will be described. When the resource release request is received from the job execution control program in STEP 1801, the CPU 33 shifts the processing to STEP 1808. In STEP 1808, the corresponding resource is released and deleted from the resource acquisition waiting queue. In STEP 1809, the resource acquisition waiting queue of the corresponding resource is checked. If there is a request list, the process proceeds to STGEP 1810. Otherwise, the process returns to STEP 1801. In STEP 1807, another software resource acquisition process is executed. Since the migration process is repeated as in FIG.

  In the control flow as described above, it is possible to efficiently control a plurality of jobs by arbitrating system hardware resources and software resources according to the priority and purpose of the job and assigning them to the job.

  FIG. 20 illustrates the above processing by illustrating a hardware resource and software resource resource acquisition queue.

  In the figure of (1), when the resource request list of the first band of job A that can be executed by either software or hardware is being executed at the head of the queue waiting for acquisition of hardware resources, it can be executed only by hardware. Also, a resource when a band-level resource request list of job B having a higher priority than job A, and a page-level resource request list of job C that can be executed only by hardware and has a higher priority than job A is requested. The state of the acquisition waiting queue is illustrated.

  When the first band of job A is completed, a processing request for the second band of job A is generated, but the hardware resource acquisition queue is already clogged, and the process proceeds to software resource acquisition processing in STEP 1707 in FIG. Since no requests are queued in the software resource acquisition queue, the processing request for the second band of job A is loaded and processed in the software acquisition queue as it is.

1 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image input / output device as a data processing device. It is an internal block diagram of an image input / output device. It is a block block diagram which shows the detail of the controller part as an electronic component. It is a block block diagram which shows the detail of a main controller. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the document feeding operation of the document moving type reader unit 2 together with the direction of the document. It is a figure explaining the scanning direction and memory input direction in the case of a fixed document type. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a document orientation and an image orientation on a memory in a document-fixed type. (A) (b) (c) It is a figure explaining the process which compresses the image input by the original document sequentially by the band process in the case of a fixed document type. (A) (b) (c) It is a figure explaining the scanning direction in the case of a document movement type, and the direction of memory input. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a document orientation and an image orientation on a memory in a document movement type. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining processing for compressing images sequentially input by band processing in the case of a document moving type. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a document input processing flow in the embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the processing flow of the page image input in an Example. It is a flowchart explaining the processing flow of the band image input in an Example. It is a processing flowchart of the job execution control program in the embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining in detail the processing at the time of resource acquisition of the job execution control program in the embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of the resource assignment process in an Example. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of the resource assignment process 2 in an Example. It is a figure showing an example of the state of the resource acquisition waiting queue in an Example. It is a figure which shows the state of the resource management queue in an Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image input / output system 2 Reader unit 3 PC
4 PC
6 Printer unit 7 Operation unit 8 Hard disk 10 DF unit 11 Scanner unit 12 Paper feed unit 13 Marking unit 14 Paper discharge unit 110 Controller unit 400 LAN

Claims (11)

An image information input / output device for inputting / outputting image information,
Hardware image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by hardware in a band unit of a predetermined size;
Software image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by software in a band unit of a predetermined size;
An image information input / output apparatus, wherein the hardware image processing means and the software image processing means are selectively used in band units according to the priority of a job to be executed. An image information input / output device for inputting / outputting image information,
Hardware image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by hardware in a band unit of a predetermined size;
Software image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by software in a band unit of a predetermined size;
An image information input / output apparatus, wherein the hardware image processing means and the software image processing means are selectively used in units of jobs or bands according to the priority of the job to be executed. Job priority setting means capable of setting priorities for jobs in advance,
3. The image information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the priority of the job is set by the job priority setting means. User determination means for identifying a user who uses the image information input / output device;
User priority setting means capable of setting job execution priority according to the user,
The priority of the job is set by the user priority setting means. When the job is executed, the user is determined by the user determination means, and the hardware is set according to the job priority set by the user hot water freshness setting means. 3. The image information input / output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wear image processing means and the software image processing means are used properly. An image information input / output device for inputting / outputting image information,
Hardware image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by hardware in a band unit of a predetermined size;
Software image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by software in a band unit of a predetermined size;
An image information input / output apparatus, wherein the hardware image processing means and the software image processing means are selectively used in band units according to the type of job to be executed. An image information input / output device for inputting / outputting image information,
Hardware image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by hardware in a band unit of a predetermined size;
Software image processing means for processing the image information input by the image information input / output means by software in a band unit of a predetermined size;
An image information input / output apparatus, wherein the hardware image processing means and the software image processing means are selectively used in units of jobs or bands according to the type of job to be executed.   6. The image information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the band is one page.   The image information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the image processing is image compression / expansion processing.   The image information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the image processing is image rotation processing.   The image information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the image processing is image scaling processing.   The image information input / output device according to claim 1, wherein the image processing is image scaling processing.