JP2007215227A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which, when a CPU of which the interface is not disclosed is utilized for a controller of the image forming apparatus, performs image formation processing at high speed by appropriately exchanging data between a chip set and an engine of the CPU. <P>SOLUTION: An NB 103 that is a part of the chip set of the CPU 102, and an ASIC 108 are connected by an AGP 106, and by writing (AGP transaction) from an AGP master 108b to an AGP target 103c, fast and large volumes of data transfer from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter and a CPU are connected to a controller having an integrated circuit for image processing, and image forming processing is performed under the control of the CPU. In particular, an interface is disclosed. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of performing image forming processing at high speed when a non-CPU is used as a controller of the image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in image forming apparatuses such as printers and copiers, a controller including an image processing ASIC (Application Specific IC) and a CPU is connected to an engine unit, and image forming processing is often performed using this controller.

  For example, in the case of a copier, an ASIC having a plurality of image processing hardware elements is mounted on a controller, the ASIC and an engine unit are connected by a PCI interface, and a CPU and an ASIC arranged in the same controller are also connected. And copy processing is performed under the control of the CPU.

  As described above, since the image forming process is performed under the control of the CPU, it is desirable to use a CPU with higher performance. In recent RISC general-purpose CPUs, since the interface of the CPU itself is not disclosed, the ASIC and the CPU must be connected via a chipset.

  Specifically, when the CPU and the ASIC are connected via the chipset, the connection is usually made via a bus called PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnection).

  However, since the PCI bus via the chipset is a low-speed bus, if the CPU and the ASIC are connected via the PCI bus, the entire image forming apparatus is used even if a high-performance CPU is used. As a result, there is a problem that the performance decreases.

  For example, in the case of a printer, it is necessary to exchange image data received from a network interface unit connected to the chipset from the chipset to the engine unit, so that image data can be exchanged from the chipset to the ASIC at high speed. It is necessary to do.

  In the case of a so-called PC fax that transmits fax data to a personal computer instead of a facsimile, image data read by a scanner, which is one of the engine units connected to the ASIC, is sent to a network interface unit connected to a chipset. Since it is necessary to exchange data, it is necessary to exchange image data from the ASIC to the chip set at high speed.

  Furthermore, in the case of a multi-function machine that integrates copy processing, printer processing, and fax processing, it is necessary to transfer image data from the chip set to the ASIC and image data from the ASIC to the chip set at high speed. There is.

  For these reasons, when a high-performance CPU whose interface is not disclosed is used for the controller of the image forming apparatus, it is extremely important how to properly exchange data between the CPU chipset and the engine unit. It has become a challenge.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and when a CPU whose interface is not disclosed is used as a controller of an image forming apparatus, between the chip set of the CPU and the engine unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately transferring data and performing image forming processing at high speed.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention connects an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter and a CPU to a controller having an image processing integrated circuit, and An image forming apparatus that performs image forming processing under control, wherein the controller includes a chipset interface unit that connects a chipset unit of the CPU, and the chipset unit and the integrated circuit for image processing. And control means for controlling to perform bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the chipset interface unit for connecting the CPU chipset unit to the controller is provided, and bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication between the chipset unit and the image processing integrated circuit. Therefore, not only transfer of image data from the chip set unit to the image forming integrated circuit but also high-speed and large-capacity data transfer from the image forming integrated circuit to the chip set unit is achieved. Image forming processing can be performed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and a north bridge forming a part of the chipset unit of the CPU is provided. It is connected to the accelerated graphic port.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and the north bridge forming a part of the chipset unit of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. Accelerated graphic ports that exist as existing ones can be used effectively.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the control means accelerates image data transfer from the image processing integrated circuit to the chipset unit. Control is performed so that it is processed as a port transaction.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the image data transfer from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chip set unit is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction, a high-speed accelerated graphic port is provided. Using transaction processing, image data can be transferred from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chip set unit at high speed.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first, second, or third aspect of the present invention, the image processing integrated circuit includes an accelerated graphic port master, and the chipset unit includes an accelerator. A graphic port target, and the control means transfers image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chipset unit by writing from the accelerated graphic port master to the accelerated graphic port target. Features.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the image data is transferred from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit by writing from the accelerated graphic port master to the accelerated graphic port target. Similarly, data transfer can be performed by processing between the master and the target.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the engine unit includes a scanner for reading image data of a document, and the chipset unit exchanges data with a network. A network interface unit is connected, and the control means outputs image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit when outputting the image data read by the scanner as a PC fax to the network interface unit. The transfer is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output as a PC fax to the network interface unit, transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is accelerated to an accelerated graphic port. Since it is controlled to process as a transaction, PC faxing can be performed at high speed.

  An image forming apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the engine unit includes a scanner that reads image data of a document, and the chipset unit exchanges data with a network. A network interface unit for performing image data from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chip set unit when outputting the image data read by the scanner to the network interface unit as a network scanner. The transfer is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output to the network interface unit as a net scanner, transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is accelerated to the accelerated graphic port. Since control is performed so as to process as a transaction, a high-speed operation as a net scanner can be realized.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the controller further includes a storage unit that stores image data and the like, and the chipset unit transmits data to and from the network. A network interface unit for transmitting / receiving is connected, and the control unit outputs the image data stored in the storage unit as a net file to the network interface unit from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit. Control is performed to process transfer of image data as an accelerated graphic port transaction.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when the stored image data is output as a net file to the network interface unit, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is performed as an accelerated graphic port transaction. Since it is controlled to process, the transfer of the net file can be performed at high speed.

  As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the controller is provided with the chipset interface unit for connecting the chipset unit of the CPU to the bidirectional high-speed between the chipset unit and the image processing integrated circuit. Since it is configured to control large-capacity data communication, not only transfer of image data from the chipset unit to the image forming integrated circuit but also high-speed and large-capacity data transfer from the image forming integrated circuit to the chipset unit Thus, there is an effect that an image forming apparatus capable of performing a high-speed image forming process even when performing a PC fax or the like is obtained.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and the north bridge forming a part of the chipset unit of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. Thus, there is an effect that an image forming apparatus capable of effectively using an existing accelerated graphic port can be obtained.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, since the image data transfer from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is controlled to be processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction, the high-speed accelerated graphic is provided. By using port transaction processing, an image forming apparatus capable of transferring image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit at high speed is obtained.

  According to the invention of claim 4, since the image data is transferred from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit by writing from the accelerated graphic port master to the accelerated graphic port target, the PCI is set. In the same manner as the above, there is an effect that an image forming apparatus capable of performing data transfer by processing between the master and the target is obtained.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output as a PC fax to the network interface unit, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is accelerated graphics. Since the control is performed so that it is processed as a port transaction, an image forming apparatus capable of performing PC faxing at high speed can be obtained.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the image data read by the scanner is output to the network interface unit as a net scanner, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is accelerated graphics. Since the control is performed so that it is processed as a port transaction, an image forming apparatus capable of realizing a high-speed operation as a net scanner is obtained.

  According to the seventh aspect of the invention, when the stored image data is output as a net file to the network interface unit, the transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit is accelerated graphics port transaction. Therefore, it is possible to obtain an image forming apparatus capable of transferring a net file at high speed.

  Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a multifunction machine will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a multifunction machine according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, this multifunction machine has a configuration in which a controller 101 and an engine unit 111 are connected by a PCI 110. The controller 101 is a controller that controls the entire MFP, drawing, communication, and input from an operation unit (not shown). The engine unit 111 is a printer engine that can be connected to a PCI bus, and is, for example, a monochrome plotter, a one-drum color plotter, a four-drum color plotter, a scanner, or a fax unit. The engine unit 111 includes an image processing part such as error diffusion and gamma conversion in addition to a so-called engine part such as a plotter.

  The controller 101 includes a CPU 102, a north bridge (NB) 103, a system memory (MEM-P) 104, a south bridge (SB) 105, a local memory (MEM-C) 107, an ASIC 108, a hard disk drive (HDD). ) 109, and the north bridge (NB) 103 and the ASIC 108 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 106.

  The CPU 102 performs overall control of the multifunction peripheral, and includes a chip set including the NB 103, the MEM-P 104, and the SB 105. Here, the interface of this CPU is not disclosed, and it is assumed that other devices are connected via a chip set.

  The NB 103 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 102 to the MEM-P 104, SB 105, and AGP 106, and includes a memory controller 103a that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 104, a PCI master 103b and an AGP target 103c, which will be described later.

  The MEM-P 104 is a system memory used as a printer drawing memory, and the SB 105 is a bridge for connecting the NB 103 to a ROM, a PCI device, and a peripheral device. The SB 105 is connected to the NB 103 via a PCI bus, and a network interface (I / F) unit and the like are also connected to the PCI bus.

  The ASIC 108 is an IC for image processing applications having hardware elements for image processing, and has a role of a bridge for connecting the AGP 106, the PCI 110, the HDD 109, and the MEM-C 107, respectively. The ASIC 108 performs rotation of image data by a hardware logic or the like, and a PCI target 108a and an AGP master 108b, which will be described later, an arbiter (ARB) 108c that forms the core of the ASIC 108, a memory controller 108d that controls the MEM-C 107, and the like. It consists of a plurality of DMACs 108e and a PCI unit 108f that performs data transfer with the engine 111 via the PCI bus.

  The MEM-C 107 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer, and the HDD 109 is a storage for storing image data, programs, font data, and forms.

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

  Since the AGP 106 is originally used when a 3D (three-dimensional) image is smoothly displayed on the display, a graphic controller is connected to the AGP 106. In addition, high-speed graphic display requires high-speed communication from the NB 103 side to the graphic controller side. For these reasons, the AGP 106 has been conventionally used as a high-speed communication bus from the NB 103 side to the graphic controller side.

  In contrast, in this embodiment, the NB 103 and the ASIC 108 are connected via the AGP 106, and the AGP 106 is used as a bidirectional high-speed communication bus between the NB 103 and the ASIC 108.

  That is, in the prior art in which the graphic controller is connected to the AGP 106, there is no need for high-speed transfer of image data from the graphic controller side to the NB 103 side. However, in the present embodiment, the NB 103 to the ASIC 108 in the multi-function peripheral. Since the AGP 106 is extended as a bus between the two, the necessity of high-speed transfer of image data from the graphic controller side to the NB 103 side arises. Therefore, the AGP 106 is used as a bidirectional high-speed transfer bus. ing. This point is different from the conventional usage form of the simple AGP 106.

  For example, in the case of a PC fax, it is necessary to transfer image data read by a scanner, which is one of the engines 111 connected to the ASIC 108, to the network interface unit connected to the NB 103 at a high speed. It is necessary to transfer image data at high speed.

  Next, the data exchange between the ASIC 108 and the NB 103 shown in FIG. 1 via the AGP 106 will be described more specifically. The AGP 106 is an interface that is technically created as an extension of PCI, and processes AGP transactions that require high-speed transfer and PCI transactions.

  Specifically, when processing a PCI transaction such as command transfer, the PCI master 103b controls the bus and transfers data to and from the PCI target 108a.

  On the other hand, when processing an AGP transaction such as transfer of image data, the AGP master 108b performs data transfer with the AGP target 103c. When processing this AGP transaction, high transfer efficiency can be obtained by improving the throughput by the pipeline method and adopting the sideband address bus (SBA bus).

  For example, when the print data is printed by the engine 111, an AGP transaction for transferring the print data from the NB 103 to the ASIC 108 occurs. Therefore, the AGP master 108b reads the image data from the AGP target 103c, and the ASIC 108 side Image data is received at high speed.

  In addition, when image data read by a scanner that is one of the engines 111 is transferred to the network interface unit connected to the NB 103, an AGP transaction for transferring the image data from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 occurs. As shown, the AGP master 108b writes image data to the AGP target 103c and receives the image data at a high speed on the NB 103 side.

  Such an AGP transaction does not occur in the prior art in which a graphic controller is connected to a chipset. That is, when transferring an AGP transaction, a 4-bit command format is used to perform read, write, reservation, etc., and “0100” write and “0101” write (live priority) may be used. This is because, when a graphic controller is connected, there is no need to use such a write command (it is not necessary to transfer image data from the graphic board to the NB 103 side at high speed).

  As described above, in this embodiment, bidirectional high-speed data transfer is realized by reading / writing between the AGP master 108b in the ASIC 108 and the AGP target 103c in the NB 103. Realizing the exchange.

  Next, the configuration of the multifunction peripheral shown in FIG. 1 viewed from the functional aspect will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of the multifunction peripheral illustrated in FIG. 1 viewed from a functional aspect. As shown in the figure, the MFP 300 includes a monochrome line printer (B & W LP) 301, a color line printer (Color LP) 302, other hardware resources 303, and the like. It consists of an application 330.

  The platform 320 interprets a processing request from the application 330 and generates a hardware resource acquisition request as shown below, and manages one or a plurality of hardware resources, and receives an acquisition request from the control service. It has a system resource manager (SRM) 323 for arbitrating, and a general-purpose OS 321.

  This control service is formed by a plurality of service modules. Specifically, an SCS (System Control Service) 322, an ECS (Engine Control Service) 324, an MCS (Memory Control Service) 325, and an OCS (Operation Panel Control). Service) 326, FCS (FAX Control Service) 327, and NCS (Network Control Service) 328. The platform 320 has an application program interface that can receive a processing request from the application using a predefined function.

  The general-purpose OS 321 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes the software of the platform 320 and the application 330 in parallel as processes. By using open source UNIX (registered trademark), the safety of the program can be secured, the network can be supported, and the source code can be easily obtained. Furthermore, OS and TCP / IP royalties are unnecessary, and outsourcing is easy.

  The SRM 323 performs system control and resource management together with the SCS 322, and includes engine units such as scanners and plotters, memory, HDD files, host I / O (centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE 1394 I / F, In accordance with a request from a higher layer that uses hardware resources (such as RS232CI / F), arbitration is performed and execution control is performed.

  Specifically, the SRM 323 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is Tell the upper layer that it is available. Also, hardware resource usage scheduling may be performed in response to a request from an upper layer, and the requested contents (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation by the printer engine, memory allocation, file generation, etc.) may be directly executed. .

  The SCS 322 includes (1) application management, (2) operation unit control, (3) system screen display (job list screen, counter display screen, etc.), (4) LED display, (5) resource management, and (6) interrupt application. Take control. Specifically, in (1) application management, processing for registering an application and notifying other applications of the information is performed. The registered application is notified of the state of the engine unit in accordance with system settings and application request settings. For registered applications, an inquiry about whether or not to change the state of the system, such as an inquiry about power mode transition and an interrupt mode, is made.

  In (2) operation unit control, exclusive control of the operation unit usage right of the application is performed. Then, the key information from the operation unit driver (OCS) is exclusively notified to the application having the right to use the operation unit. This key information performs mask control for temporarily stopping notification according to system state transition such as during application switching.

  In (3) system screen display, a warning screen corresponding to the state of the engine unit is displayed according to the request content from the application having the operation unit usage right. Some of them turn on / off warning display according to the state of the application such as a user restriction screen. Except for the state of the engine unit, display control of a job list screen for displaying job reservation / execution status, a counter screen for displaying total counters, and a screen indicating that CSS is being reported is performed. With respect to these system screen displays, drawing is performed as a system screen that covers the application screen without requesting the application to release the operation unit usage right.

  In (4) LED display, display control of system LEDs such as warning LEDs and application keys is performed. The application-specific LED is directly controlled by the application using a display driver.

  In (5) resource management, a service for exclusive control of engine resources (scanners, staples, etc.) that must be exclusive when an application (ECS) executes a job is provided. (6) In interrupt application control, Control and service to make certain applications have priority operation.

  The ECS 324 controls engine units such as a monochrome line printer (B & W LP) 301, a color line printer (Color LP) 302, and other hardware resources 303, and performs image reading and printing operations, status notification, jam recovery, and the like. Do it.

  Specifically, a series of copy / scan / print operations are realized by sequentially issuing print requests to the SRM 323 in accordance with the job mode designation received from the application 330. In the job to be handled by the ECS 324, it is assumed that a scanner (SCANNER) is designated as the image input device or a plotter (PLOTTER) is designated as the image output device.

  For example, “SCANNER → PLOTTER” is specified for the copy operation, “SCANNER → MEMORY” is specified for file storage, and “SCANNER → FAX_IN” is specified for facsimile transmission. In addition, “MEMORY → PLOTTER” is designated for stored file printing or printing from the printer application 311, and “FAX_OUT → PLOTTER” is designated for facsimile reception.

  Although the definition of the job varies depending on the application, here, the processing operation for one set of image groups handled by the user is defined as one job. For example, in the case of a copy ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) mode, an operation for reading one set of documents placed on the document table is one job, and in the pressure plate mode, a reading operation until the final document is determined is one job. . In the case of the copy application 312, the operation of copying a bundle of documents is one job, and in the case of the fax application 313, the transmission operation of one document or the reception operation of one document is one job. In this case, the printing operation for one document is one job.

  The MCS 325 performs memory control. Specifically, the MCS 325 acquires and releases an image memory, uses a hard disk device (HDD), compresses and decompresses image data, and the like.

  Here, as functions necessary for managing information necessary as image data files stored in the hard disk device, (1) file access (generation / deletion / open / close) function (including exclusive processing), ( 2) Various file attribute management (physical) such as file name / ID management (file / user) / password management / accumulation time management / number of pages / data format (compression method, etc.) / Access restriction / creation application / print condition management (Management of image data in page units), (3) Join / insert / cut-off function in file units and page units, (4) File sort functions (accumulation time order / user ID order, etc.), (5) All File information notification (for display / search), (6) Recovery function (file / page discard of damaged file), (7) File Automatic deletion function of the Le and the like.

  The functions for holding and accessing image data to a memory such as a RAM include (1) a function for acquiring file and page / band attribute information from the application 330, and (2) an image data area from the application 330. There are secure, release, read, and write functions.

  The OCS 326 is a module that controls an operation panel serving as information transmission means between the operator and the main body control, and provides a process for notifying the main body control of an operator's key operation event and a library function for each application to construct a GUI. Processing, processing for managing the constructed GUI information for each application, display reflection processing on the operation panel, and the like are performed.

  The OCS 326 includes (1) a library providing function for GUI construction, (2) an operation unit hardware resource management function, (3) a VRAM drawing / LCD display function (hardware display, display application switching, display language switching, Window dark color display, message / icon blink display, message connection display), (4) hard key input detection function, (5) touch panel key input detection function, (6) LED output function, (7) buzzer output function, etc. .

  The FCS 327 performs facsimile transmission / reception using PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, and fusion transmission / reception. API is provided.

  Specifically, the FCS 327 includes (1) a transmission function for transmitting a document requested to be transmitted from the application layer to a facsimile receiver using the PSTN / ISDN network, and (2) a facsimile reception received from the PSTN / ISDN network. Receiving function for transferring and printing screens and various reports to each application layer, (3) Phonebook quoting / registration function for quoting and registering facsimile management items such as phonebook and group information stored in the fax board (4) Fax log notification function for notifying the application that needs the transmission / reception result history information stored in the BKM installed on the fax board, (5) When the status of the fax board changes, the FCS Has an event notification function that notifies registered applications of events that have changed

  The NCS 328 is a module group for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications requiring network I / O. Data received from the network side according to each protocol is distributed to each application, and data from the application is distributed. Mediates when sending to the network side. Specifically, it has server daemons such as ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd, and smtpd, and client functions of the same protocol.

  The application 330 includes a printer application 311 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and PostScript (PS), a copy application 312 that is a copy application, and a fax application 313 that is a facsimile application. A scanner application 314 that is a scanner application, a net file application 315 that is a net file application, and a process inspection application 316 that is a process inspection application. Since each application 311 to 316 can execute an operation by using each process on the platform 320, a screen display control program for performing screen control, key operation control, job generation, and the like is the main component. Note that a new application can also be installed via the network connected by the NCS 328. Each application can be added or deleted for each application.

  As described above, the multifunction machine 300 is not provided with a controller board for each function such as a printer, a copy, and a facsimile, unlike the conventional multifunction machine, and a printer application, a copy application, and a facsimile application are simply executed on a common OS. It doesn't work. In other words, the multifunction machine 300 is configured to improve the development efficiency of each application and increase the productivity of the entire apparatus by centrally processing the processes commonly required for each application on the platform 320. .

  Accordingly, when various image forming processes are performed using the multifunction machine 300, not only the AGP transaction for transferring image data from the NB 103 to the ASIC 108 at high speed but also the AGP transaction for transferring image data from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 at high speed. Must be processed.

  Therefore, hereinafter, an AGP transaction for transferring image data from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 at high speed will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an AGP transaction when PC faxing image data read by a scanner which is a part of the engine by the fax application 313 shown in FIG.

  Originally, a fax unit that performs fax transmission is added to the engine 111 side. Therefore, when normal fax transmission processing is performed, image data is output from the ASIC 108 via the PCI 110 and is sent to the NB 103 via the AGP 106. Image data is not output.

  However, in the PC fax that directly transmits the fax data to the computer, the fax data is transmitted to the computer via the network I / F unit 202. Therefore, in such a case, as shown in FIG. 4, the scanner image data read by the scanner 201 is compressed and encoded by the ASIC 108, and the compressed and encoded fax data is transferred to the network I / F via the ASICs 108 to AGPs 106 to NB103. Is transmitted to the unit 202.

  In such a case, if image data is read from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 by a PCI transaction, there is a high possibility of processing delay, and an AGP transaction from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 occurs.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an AGP transaction when image data read by a scanner which is a part of the engine is transferred by the scanner application 314 shown in FIG. 3 (when used as a network scanner).

  In this case, similar to the PC fax shown in FIG. 4, the image data read by the scanner is compressed by the ASIC 108 to mpeg or the like as necessary, and this image data is transferred to the network I / O via the ASIC 108 to AGP 106 to NB 103. It is transmitted to the F unit 104.

  In such a case, if image data is read from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 by a PCI transaction, there is a high possibility of processing delay, and an AGP transaction from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 occurs.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an AGP transaction when the image data stored in the hard disk drive 109 is transferred by the net file application 315 shown in FIG.

  In this case, the image data stored in the hard disk drive 109 is transmitted to the network I / F unit 104 via the ASICs 108 to AGP 106 to NB 103.

  In such a case, if image data is read from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 by a PCI transaction, there is a high possibility of processing delay, and an AGP transaction from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 occurs.

  As described above, when performing a PC fax using a high-function multifunction device, when using this multifunction device as a network scanner, or when retrieving image data stored in this multifunction device via a network There is a need for high-speed and large-capacity data communication from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, by extending the function of AGP that performs high-speed and large-capacity data communication from the chipset side to the graphic controller side and applying it to the image forming apparatus, the NB 103 and the ASIC 108 that are part of the chipset are used. Bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the AGP 106 connects the NB 103, which is a part of the chip set of the CPU 102, and the ASIC 108, and writing (AGP transaction) from the AGP master 108b to the AGP target 103c. Since the high-speed and large-capacity data transfer from the ASIC 108 to the NB 103 is performed, a high-speed image forming process can be performed even when a PC fax or the like is performed.

  In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the platform 320 is formed by the SCS 322, the SRM 323, the ECS 324, the MCS 325, the OCS 326, the FCS 327, and the NCS 328, and the printer application 311, the copy application 312, the fax application 313, the scanner application 314, the net file application. 315, the case where the application 330 is formed by the process inspection application 316 has been shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied when other software elements are added to the platform 320 or the application 330. it can.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the write of the image data at the time of processing the AGP transaction from ASIC shown in FIG. 1 to NB. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining software functions of the multifunction peripheral shown in FIG. 1. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the AGP transaction in the case of carrying out PC fax of the image data read with the scanner which is a part of engine by the fax application shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the AGP transaction in the case of transferring the image data read with the scanner which is a part of engine by the scanner application shown in FIG. 3 (when using as a network scanner). It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the AGP transaction in the case of transferring the image data stored in the hard-disk drive by the net file application shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

101 controller 102 CPU
103 NB (North Bridge)
103a Memory controller 103b PCI master 103c AGP target 104 MEM-P (system memory)
105 SB (South Bridge)
106 AGP
107 MEM-C (local memory)
108 ASIC
108a PCI target 108b AGP master 108c ARB
108d Memory controller 108e DMAC
108f PCI unit 109 HDD
110 PCI
111 engine

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus for connecting an engine unit such as a scanner and a plotter and a CPU to a controller having an integrated circuit for image processing, and performing an image forming process under the control of the CPU,
The controller is
A chipset interface unit for connecting the chipset unit of the CPU;
Control means for controlling to perform bidirectional high-speed and large-capacity data communication between the chipset unit and the image processing integrated circuit;
An image forming apparatus comprising:   The image according to claim 1, wherein the chipset interface unit is an accelerated graphic port, and a north bridge forming a part of the chipset unit of the CPU is connected to the accelerated graphic port. Forming equipment.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the transfer of image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chipset unit as an accelerated graphic port transaction. .   The integrated circuit for image processing includes an accelerated graphic port master, the chipset unit includes an accelerated graphic port target, and the control means includes the accelerated graphic port master to the accelerated graphic port master. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image data is transferred from the image processing integrated circuit to a chip set unit by writing to a port target.   The engine unit includes a scanner that reads image data of a document, the chipset unit is connected to a network interface unit that exchanges data with a network, and the control unit includes image data read by the scanner. Control is performed so that transfer of image data from the integrated circuit for image processing to the chipset unit is processed as an accelerated graphic port transaction when the image data is output to the network interface unit as a PC fax. Item 4. The image forming apparatus according to Item 3.   The engine unit includes a scanner that reads image data of a document, the chipset unit is connected to a network interface unit that exchanges data with a network, and the control unit includes image data read by the scanner. And outputting the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chip set unit as an accelerated graphic port transaction when outputting the data as a net scanner to the network interface unit. Item 4. The image forming apparatus according to Item 3.   The controller further comprises storage means for storing image data, etc., and the chipset section is connected to a network interface section for transferring data to and from a network, and the control means is stored in the storage means. When outputting image data as a net file to the network interface unit, control is performed to process transfer of the image data from the image processing integrated circuit to the chipset unit as an accelerated graphic port transaction. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.

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