JP2010009603A - Image processor and processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor in which a plurality of drawing processing parts perform efficient parallel drawing processing. <P>SOLUTION: The image processor has a plurality of drawing instruction processing parts 21 to 24 each having local memories 21A to 24A, and a drawing processing control part 13 for allocating respective divided drawing areas obtained by dividing a drawing area based on the same drawing instruction generated from printing data to the respective drawing instruction processing parts 21 to 24 as an area for performing drawing processing. Then, each of the drawing instruction processing parts 21 to 24 performs drawing processing, excluding, from a drawing target, drawing areas other than the divided drawing areas allocated by the drawing processing control part 13 among the drawing areas. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method having a local memory.

  The display list is configured in units of pages and is independent in a specific unit (line, band, etc.). For this reason, it is possible to speed up the drawing process by performing parallel processing on the parts that are not dependent on each other.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a drawing processing apparatus and method that can efficiently perform drawing command transfer processing and fully utilize the performance of parallel processing when drawing commands are processed in parallel using a plurality of drawing command processing units.

  However, a memory included in a multi-core processor such as a cell used for parallel processing has an advantage of being able to access the inside at high speed, but has a disadvantage of a small memory capacity. Therefore, when several lines of drawing area for drawing commands are required, when processing a high-resolution image, it is not possible to secure a memory capacity to hold a bitmap image generated by expanding the drawing commands. It is difficult to perform parallel processing efficiently in map area units (dependent areas).

  Therefore, the present invention proposes an image processing apparatus that can efficiently perform parallel drawing processing using a plurality of drawing processing units.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides, as one aspect, “a plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory and each divided drawing obtained by dividing a drawing area based on the same drawing command generated from print data” An image processing apparatus having a drawing processing control unit assigned to each of the drawing command processing units as a region for performing drawing processing.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, “a plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory and a control unit that controls the plurality of drawing command processing units, and the control unit receives a plurality of print data” Each drawing command divided into band units is distributed to each drawing command processing unit, and each drawing command processing unit performs drawing processing into a plurality of divided drawing regions obtained by dividing the drawing region based on the distributed drawing command. Whether or not the divided drawing area that does not include the object image to be processed is included, and the control unit, based on the detection result, a plurality of the divided drawing included in the same drawing command A drawing processing apparatus that assigns each of the divided drawing areas including the object image to the drawing command processing unit as an area for drawing processing.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, an image processing method for performing image processing using a plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory, wherein a drawing area based on the same drawing command generated from print data is defined. An image processing method that divides the image into a plurality of divided drawing areas and assigns each divided drawing area to each of the drawing command processing units as a drawing process area.

  Another aspect of the present invention is an image processing method for performing image processing using a plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory, wherein each drawing command obtained by dividing the print data into a plurality of band units is provided. Distribute to each drawing command processing unit, divide a drawing area based on the allocated drawing command into a plurality of divided drawing areas, and the plurality of divided drawing areas do not include an object image to be subjected to drawing processing It is detected whether or not the divided drawing area is included, and based on the detection result, the divided drawing areas including the object image among the plurality of divided drawing areas included in the same drawing command are determined. The image processing method assigned to each of the drawing command processing units as an area for performing the drawing process ”.

  According to the present invention, efficient parallel drawing processing can be performed.

2 is a block diagram of an MFP. FIG. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure of RIP processing. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating a drawing process according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of drawing processing according to the first exemplary embodiment. 6 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to Embodiment 2. FIG. It is the schematic diagram which showed typically the drawing process of Example 2 (previous stage). It is the schematic diagram which showed typically the drawing process of Example 2 (after stage). It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the blank detection performed prior to a drawing process. It is the flowchart which showed the process sequence of the drawing process performed after blank detection is performed. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating a blank detection method according to a third embodiment. 10 is a timing chart illustrating a procedure of blank detection and drawing processing according to the third embodiment. 10 is a timing chart illustrating a procedure of blank detection and drawing processing according to the fourth embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an MFP equipped with an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, system control unit 1 controls the entire system. The scanner unit 2 includes an image input unit and an image processing unit. The image input unit scans the original while irradiating it with a light source, receives light reflected from the original with a color CCD sensor, and reads the image. The image processing unit performs processing such as image reading unit γ correction, color conversion, main scanning scaling, image separation, processing, area processing, and gradation correction processing.

  The printer unit 4 modulates the drive of an LD (laser diode) according to the image data and prints out an image. The operation unit 5 is frequently used such as a graphical display and numerical values, start / cancel, and the like that touch the touch panel sensor so that the user can perform interactive operations by instructing the MFP to perform operation setting instructions, setting contents, and status display. Includes dedicated buttons, status display LEDs, etc. The digital multi-function peripheral can communicate with the host computer 6 outside the apparatus through a host computer I / F 1030 such as Ethernet, USB, IEEE 1284, IEEE 1394 or the like. Further, the FAX unit 1010 can perform FAX communication using the public line 7.

  The function of the system control unit 1 will be described. The system control unit 1 is connected to the scanner unit 2 and the printer unit 4. The system control unit 1 reads color or monochrome image data by controlling the operation of the scanner unit 2. The system control unit 1 prints out color or monochrome image data by controlling the operation of the printer unit 4.

  The image data read by the scanner unit 2 is temporarily stored in the image memory 1101 so that a necessary number of images are repeatedly output by one reading, and a plurality of pages of images are reduced and arranged on one sheet of paper. Nin1, image rotation that enables arbitrary collation in units of 90 degrees, composition of a form that forms a form frame or the like on a read image, composition of a date, a logo, a watermark, and the like are possible.

  The image data read by the scanner unit 2 is subjected to data compression by an encoding process in the image memory control unit 1100 as necessary, and the image can be stored in the HDD 1021 after reducing the data amount. Thereby, it is possible to perform electronic sorting for outputting an arbitrary number of images in an arbitrary order from the images once accumulated.

  The system control unit 1 has a host computer I / F 1030, and is connected to a local connection I / F such as IEEE1284, USB, and IEEE1394, a LAN connection using a LAN I / F, a WAN using a modem, and a telephone network. Accordingly, the system control unit 1 functions as a color printer that receives a print command from a connected device, generates an image, and outputs the printed image, or functions as a color scanner that transfers the read image to the connected device. It is also possible to send and receive faxes and send and receive images as e-mails.

  It is also possible to reconstruct a plurality of documents as one document and print it out by temporarily storing a plurality of print jobs and images read from the scanner on the HDD 1021.

  The configuration of the system control unit 1 will be described in detail. A CPU 1001 is a controller that controls the entire system, and performs application processing, UI (user interface) processing, communication control, and data processing. The application process includes executing software related to a copying function, a printer function, a scanner function, a FAX function, and an E-mail function. The communication control includes controlling communication with a device connected to a local network. Data processing is to perform data processing such as image data format conversion and encoding for inputting and outputting image data.

  A CPU local bus 1005 connects the RAM 10002, ROM 1003, printer image memory 1008, and printer image compression circuit 1009 to the CPU 1001. The RAM 1002 is used as a program memory and data storage area for the CPU 1001 to execute processing. The ROM 1003 is used as a storage area for a boot program necessary for system startup, a program for the CPU 1001 to realize various functions, and a fixed data. The program and data stored in the ROM 1003 can be stored as compressed data in the ROM 1003, and can be expanded and executed in the RAM 1002.

  The FAX unit 1010 is a modulation / demodulation device for connecting to a public line 1011 such as PSTN or ISDN, and can be connected to the Internet by FAX transmission / reception, remote connection via a telephone line, or ISP connection.

  The host bus of the CPU 1001 is connected to the PCI bus 1006 via the PCI bus bridge 1004. As a result, data transfer between the CPU 1001 and the devices on the CPU local bus 1005 and the devices on the PCI bus 1006 becomes possible. By adopting the PCI bus 1006, high-speed data transfer can be realized regardless of the type of CPU, and an existing device compliant with the PCI bus standard can be used.

  The image memory control unit 1100 stores the image data output from the scanner unit 2 in the image memory 1101 and outputs the image data read from the image memory 1101 to the printer unit 4. The image memory 1101 can store not only uncompressed image data but also code data of a compressed image.

  The header addition circuit 1102 is connected to the image memory control unit 1100. The header addition circuit 1102 adds header information indicating image attributes to image data obtained by blocking an image into unit rectangles when developing image data of various formats such as copy and print in the image memory 1101. Further, by expanding block image data including a header as data of a fixed size in the image memory 1101, it is possible to easily realize block unit assignment and 90 degree unit rotation processing while maintaining a two-dimensional page layout. Can do.

  After completing the page editing, the header analysis circuit 410 analyzes the block images sequentially read from the image memory 1101 and specifies the type. Based on the analysis result of the header analysis circuit 410, the printer image processing circuit 400 performs decompression processing and image processing of the compressed image, converts the compressed image into a common image format necessary for the printer unit 4, and passes through the printer video I / F 420. Output to the printer unit 4.

  Further, the CPU 1001 can access the control of the image memory control unit 1100 and the image memory 1101 via the PCI bus 1006. Similarly, other devices on the PCI bus 1006 can access the image memory 1101, and high-speed data transfer between the HDD and the external input / output I / F is possible.

  The image compression / decompression unit 1080 is connected to the PCI bus 1006. The image compression / decompression unit 1080 performs decompression processing by encoding and compressing image data stored in the image memory 1101 and the RAM 1002 and decoding the encoded data. As encoding methods, standard methods such as JPEG, MH / MR / MMR, JBIG, JBIG2, and the like can be used.

  The image compression / decompression unit 1080 includes not only encoding / decoding functions but also conversion between binary images and multi-valued images, monochrome and color conversion, resolution conversion, and color space conversion functions. Can be converted to each other.

  The scanner image processing circuit 210 enlarges or reduces the image data output from the scanner unit 2, for example. The scanner image processing circuit 210 transmits the processed image data to the scanner image compression circuit 200 via the video I / F 230. The scanner image compression circuit 200 reduces the data size of the image data transmitted from the scanner image processing circuit 210 and then transmits it to the image memory control unit 1100. When the image compression processing is unnecessary, the scanner image compression circuit 200 transmits the image data transmitted from the scanner image processing circuit 210 to the image memory control unit 1100 without performing any processing.

  The scanner / printer communication I / F 1070 acquires command and status control information for each of the scanner unit 2 and the printer unit 4 via the serial communication 1071 and 1072. As a result, the activation and status of the apparatus, acquisition of the read document size and type, specification of the paper size, remaining amount of paper and consumables, and the like can be acquired.

  The HDD I / F 1020 controls the HDD 1021 having IDE or serial ATA as an I / F, and performs high-speed data transfer with the RAM 1002 on the CPU local bus or the image memory 1101 on the PCI bus 1006 via the PCI bus 1006. Do.

  The host computer I / F 1030 connects a PC (personal computer) or the like via a local connection I / F such as USB, IEEE1284, or IEEE1394, or a network I / F such as Ethernet.

  The accelerator 1090 is connected to the PCI bus 1006 and is used for image processing performed by scanning, copying, printing, and the like. By applying the accelerator 1090, image processing performed by the CPU 1001 can be performed by the accelerator, which is effective in increasing the processing speed and reducing the processing load of the CPU 1001.

  By using a LAN (Local Area Network) such as Ethernet as the host computer I / F 1030, a more sophisticated system in which a plurality of MFPs, server PCs, client PCs, etc. are connected more flexibly and their functions are linked. Can be built. For example, image data read by the MFP may be transferred to a server PC connected to the LAN, and the server PC may perform OCR (character recognition) on the sent image and integrate it with the image data and file it in storage in the server PC. it can.

  Further, the image read by the MFP is stored in the HDD 1021 in the MFP, and the MFP itself functions as a file server or WEB server, so that the information in the MFP main body is accessed directly from the client PC connected to the LAN, and the stored image And the searched image can be downloaded to the client PC.

  The operation unit I / F 1007 allows the CPU 1001 to control the operation unit 5 via the PCI bus 1006. The operation unit 5 includes a graphical display equipped with a touch panel sensor, dedicated buttons frequently used for numerical values, start, cancel, and status display LEDs. Via this operation unit 5, the user can instruct operation setting to the MFP. Also, interactive operations can be performed by displaying the setting contents and status on the status display LED.

  The graphical display of the operation unit 5 can immediately display the read image data, and reliably read the image while sequentially checking whether the read image is read in the desired area, size, and image quality. Is also possible.

  The graphical display can also be used when selecting stored image data, and it is possible to select a rough image with a high reduction ratio or to confirm the image content by a detailed display.

Example 1
An image processing apparatus that is Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the image processing apparatus. The image processing device 11 includes a drawing command processing device 12, a drawing processing control unit 13, and a print data analysis unit 14. The image processing apparatus 11 corresponds to the CPU 1001 in FIG. 1, and the image storage unit 15 corresponds to the RAM 1002 in FIG. However, the image memory 1101 of FIG. 1 can also be used as the image storage unit 15.

  The image processing apparatus 11 performs RIP processing for expanding print data called PDL (Page Description Language) output from the printer driver into a bitmap. As shown in FIG. 2, RIP processing can be broadly divided into language analysis and drawing processing. The language analysis is performed by the print data analysis unit 14. The language analysis is to analyze the syntax of the print data transferred from the driver of the client PC and generate a drawing command that can be analyzed in the subsequent drawing process. The drawing command processing device 12 performs the drawing process. The drawing process is to analyze a drawing command and develop it into a bitmap image.

  The print data analysis unit 14 interprets the print data transferred from the printer driver of the client PC and generates a drawing command. At this time, the print command is divided and generated in the sub-scanning direction. A unit to be divided is one line to a plurality of lines. With this divided unit as one processing unit, the drawing command processing device 12 performs drawing processing. The drawing command divided into the processing units corresponds to the “drawing command” described in the claims.

  The drawing command processing device 12 includes a first drawing command processing unit 21, a second drawing command processing unit 22, a third drawing command processing unit 23, and a fourth drawing command processing unit 24. The first to fourth drawing command processing units 21 to 24 have first to fourth local memories 21A to 24A, respectively. Each of the first to fourth drawing command processing units 21 to 24 analyzes the transferred drawing command and generates a bitmap (drawing result) in each of the first to fourth local memories 21A to 24A.

  The drawing processing control unit 13 manages the processing timing of each of the first to fourth drawing command processing units 21 to 24 and transfers the drawing command to the first to fourth drawing command processing units 21 to 24. Control the allocation of the drawing area. The image storage unit 15 combines the drawing results output from the first to fourth drawing command processing units 21 to 24 to generate an image.

  In the above-described configuration, the first to fourth local memories 21A to 24A included in the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 have a small storage capacity. Therefore, when the drawing commands transmitted to the respective drawing command processing units 21 to 24 are large, the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 cannot perform rapid drawing processing.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the same drawing command is transmitted to a plurality of drawing command processing units, and each drawing area obtained by dividing the drawing area corresponding to this drawing command into a plurality of drawing areas is set as a drawing processing area. By assigning to the instruction processing unit, a quick drawing process is possible. In this specification, a drawing area assigned to each drawing command processing unit is defined as a divided drawing area.

A method of assigning divided drawing areas will be described in detail. In the first local memory 21A of the first drawing command processing unit 21, the memory area that can be used for storing a bitmap generated by expanding the drawing command is K [Byte], and the first drawing command processing unit 21 is used. When the number of lines in the sub-scanning direction of the bitmap image processed in step N is N (fixed from 1 to several lines), the number of lines in the main scanning direction is M, and the number of colors is C, the drawing processing control unit 13 The divided drawing areas are allocated so as to satisfy the expression (1).

K> NxMxC (1)
In the second to fourth drawing command processing units 22 to 24, the divided drawing areas are assigned in the same manner as the first drawing command processing unit 21.

  Each of the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 performs a drawing process only on the divided drawing area assigned by the drawing process control unit 13, and performs a process of skipping the drawing command without performing the drawing process for areas other than the assigned area. Do.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram schematically showing drawing processing performed by the first to third drawing command processing units 21 to 23. In the schematic diagram of FIG. 4, only the first to third drawing command processing units 21 to 23 are used, and the fourth drawing command processing unit 24 is not used. Referring to FIG. 4, the drawing command notified from the print data analysis unit 14 to the drawing processing control unit 13 is “black trapezoid”, “black ellipse”, “black This is”, “lower end” as object images. This corresponds to a drawing area including a “black star shape with missing parts”.

  The drawing process control unit 13 assigns the leftmost divided drawing area including the “black trapezoid” among the drawing areas to the first drawing command processing unit 21, and includes “black ellipse” and “black This”. The central divided drawing area is assigned to the second drawing command processing unit 22, and the rightmost divided drawing area including “black is” and “black star shape with the lower end missing” is assigned to the third drawing command processing unit 23. assign.

  The first drawing command processing unit 21 performs the drawing process only on the allocated leftmost divided drawing area, and does not perform the drawing process on the remaining hatched area. The second drawing command processing unit 22 performs the drawing process only on the assigned central divided drawing area, and does not perform the drawing process on the remaining hatched area. The third drawing command processing unit 23 performs the drawing process only on the allocated rightmost divided drawing area, and does not perform the drawing process on the remaining hatched area.

  Thus, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the drawing process is performed by assigning the divided drawing areas obtained by dividing the same drawing area to the first to third drawing command processing units 21 to 23 and performing the drawing process. Can be speeded up.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of RIP processing in the present embodiment. In Act 201, the print data analysis unit 14 interprets the PDL transferred from the print driver and generates a drawing command for one page. In Act 202, the print data analysis unit 14 divides a drawing command for one page into specific units (bands) of one line to several lines, and sequentially transmits the divided drawing commands to the image storage unit 15. The image storage unit 15 stores these drawing commands.

  In Act 203, the drawing process control unit 13 communicates with the image storage unit 15 to calculate a divided drawing area to be allocated to each drawing command processing unit 21 to 24 among the drawing areas corresponding to the drawing command. Here, the drawing process control unit 13 calculates a divided drawing area to be allocated so that each bitmap developed in each drawing command processing unit 21 to 24 does not exceed the storage capacity of each local memory 21A to 24A.

  In Act 204, the drawing process control unit 13 instructs the image storage unit 15 to transmit the same drawing command divided in Act 202 and the information related to the allocation area calculated in Act 203 to the respective drawing command processing units 21 to 24. . In Act 205, all the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 receive the same drawing command and information related to allocation. Information about the received drawing command and allocation is stored in the local memories 21A to 24A of the drawing command processing units 21 to 24, respectively.

  In Act 206, the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 simultaneously start processing the drawing commands stored in the local memories 21A to 24A based on the information related to the allocation of the divided drawing areas. Specifically, each of the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 performs the drawing process only on the divided drawing area assigned by the drawing process control unit 13 and skips the other areas without performing the drawing process.

  In Act 207, when the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 complete the drawing processing, the drawing results stored in the local memories 21A to 24A are transferred to the image storage unit 15. In Act 208, each of the drawing command processing units 21 to 24 notifies the drawing processing control unit 13 that the drawing processing has been completed.

  In Act 209, the drawing process control unit 13 determines whether the drawing process for one page has been completed. If the drawing process for one page is not completed, the process proceeds to the next drawing command in Act 210 and the process is started from Act 203.

(Example 2)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. The image processing device 31 includes a drawing command processing device 32, a drawing processing control unit 33, a print data analysis unit 34, an image storage unit 35, and a drawing information storage unit 36. The main functions of the drawing command processing device 32, the drawing processing control unit 33, the print data analysis unit 34, and the image storage unit 35 are the drawing command processing device 12, the drawing processing control unit 13, the print data analysis unit 14, and the image according to the first embodiment. Since it is the same as that of the storage unit 15, detailed description thereof is omitted, and a description will be given focusing on parts different from the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the divided drawing area obtained by dividing one drawing area into a plurality of parts is processed by a plurality of drawing command processing units. However, in this embodiment, even when the number of divisions increases, the drawing process is performed at high speed. We propose a method that can be performed. When the output image data has a high resolution and the memory capacity of the local memories 41A to 44A is very small, the number of divisions may exceed the number of drawing command processing units 41 to 44. Therefore, in this embodiment, the drawing process is performed by the following method.

  In this embodiment, attention is paid to the first drawing process. As in the first embodiment, each of the drawing command processing units 41 to 44 performs a drawing process of the divided drawing area assigned by the drawing process control unit 33 and performs a process of skipping the other areas. At this time, the drawing command analysis processing is performed on all drawing regions developed based on the drawing command. For this reason, it is also possible to obtain information on a divided drawing area (hereinafter referred to as a blank area) that does not include an object image to be drawn.

  If the first to fourth drawing command processing units 41 to 44 determine that the divided drawing area to be allocated at the next processing is the blank area at the time of the first drawing process, the drawing process control unit 13 Information indicating that it is a blank area is notified. When the drawing processing control unit 13 receives information indicating that it is a blank area, the drawing process control unit 13 performs control so that the blank area is not assigned when the divided drawing area is assigned for the second and subsequent times.

  As a result, only the divided drawing area including the object image can be assigned to each of the drawing command processing units 41 to 44 as an area for performing the drawing process. As a result, since the blank area is excluded from the drawing target, the overall processing amount is reduced, and the drawing process can be speeded up.

  7A and 7B are schematic diagrams schematically showing the drawing processing by the first to third drawing command processing units 41 to 43. FIG. 7A and 7B, only the first to third drawing command processing units 41 to 43 are used, and the fourth drawing command processing unit 44 is not used. Referring to FIG. 7A, the drawing command notified from the print data analysis unit 34 to the drawing processing control unit 33 is “black trapezoid”, “black ellipse with a missing lower end”, “black A” as an object image. ”,“ Black star ”, and“ two black squares superimposed on each other ”.

  In the first allocation, each divided drawing area obtained by dividing the “black trapezoid” into three areas is distributed to the first to third drawing command processing units 41 to 43. Each of the first to third drawing command processing units 41 to 43 performs a drawing process on the divided divided drawing area. At this time, it is simultaneously checked whether or not the divided drawing area to be allocated in the next processing is a blank area. In the illustrated example, the first drawing command processing unit 41 performs the fourth drawing process, the second drawing command processing unit 42 performs the third drawing process, and the third drawing process. The divided drawing area scheduled to be drawn by the command processing unit 43 for the second time was a blank area.

  Each of the first to third drawing command processing units 41 to 43 transmits information regarding the blank area to the drawing processing control unit 33. The drawing processing control unit 33 stores information regarding the blank area in the drawing information storage unit 36, and the first to third drawing command processing units 41 to 43 do not allocate a blank area in the second and subsequent drawing processes. Is assigned (see FIG. 7B).

  8 and 9 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the RIP process in this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the first divided drawing area allocation procedure. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for assigning the divided drawing areas after the second time.

  Referring to FIG. 8, in Act 301, the drawing process control unit 33 calculates a divided drawing area to be assigned to each drawing command processing unit 41 to 44. In Act 302, the divided drawing area calculated in Act 301 is notified. As described above, the divided drawing areas are allocated so that the developed bitmap image does not exceed the memory capacity of the local memories 41A to 44A of the drawing command processing units 41 to 44.

  In Act 303, the first to fourth drawing command processing units 41 to 44 receive the same drawing command. In Act 304, drawing processing is started. At this time, the first to fourth drawing command processing units 41 to 44 simultaneously process the same drawing command. In Act 305, each of the drawing command processing units 41 to 44 performs the drawing process only on the divided drawing area assigned by the drawing process control unit 33, and whether there is a blank area for the divided drawing area to be assigned in the subsequent stage. Check.

  In Act 306, when the first to fourth drawing command processing units 41 to 44 complete the drawing process, the drawing results stored in the first to fourth local memories 41A to 44A are transferred to the image storage unit 35. To do. If a blank area is detected in Act 307, the drawing information storage unit 36 is notified of the blank area.

  In Act 308, the first to fourth drawing command processing units 41 to 44 notify the drawing processing control unit 33 that the drawing processing has been completed.

  Next, the second and subsequent allocation processes will be described with reference to FIG. In Act 401, the drawing process control unit 33 calculates a divided drawing area to be assigned to each drawing command processing unit 41 to 44. In Act 402, it is determined whether or not the divided drawing area assigned in Act 401 is a blank area. If the divided drawing area is a blank area in Act 402, a divided drawing area other than the blank area is assigned in Act 403. Specifically, when the divided drawing area is a blank area, the divided drawing area of the next allocation is checked, and finally, an area not notified as a blank area is assigned. Since the subsequent drawing processing is the same as that of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, when the drawing command processing device 32 performs the first drawing process, the subsequent blank area is checked, and the result of the check is notified to the drawing process control unit 33 so that the subsequent drawing process can be performed. Therefore, it is not necessary to assign a blank area to the drawing command processing units 41 to 44. Thereby, the drawing process can be limited only to the area where the object image exists. As a result, the overall processing amount is reduced, and the drawing process can be speeded up.

(Example 3)
In the second embodiment, the first to fourth drawing command processing units 41 to 44 perform drawing processing while detecting a blank area. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the blank area is detected prior to the drawing process. The block configuration of the image processing apparatus of this embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment.

  FIG. 10 is a band configuration diagram schematically showing a detection method for detecting a blank area according to the present embodiment. In this embodiment, the blank area is detected for each page prior to the drawing process. Referring to FIG. 10, one page is composed of six bands, and each band is divided into six divided drawing areas. Each drawing command processing unit 41 to 44 detects a blank area for each different band.

  The detection result of the blank area is stored in a drawing table stored in the drawing information storage unit 36. The drawing table indicates a region where drawing processing is performed. In this example, “1” is described as a region where drawing processing is performed, and “0” is described as a region where drawing processing is not performed. In FIG. 10, the area not subjected to drawing processing is indicated by hatching.

  When the creation of the drawing table is completed, the drawing process control unit 33 refers to the value of the drawing table stored in the drawing information storage unit 36 and assigns the divided drawing areas to the drawing command processing units 41 to 44. I do. Each of the drawing command processing units 41 to 44 performs drawing processing on the assigned divided drawing area.

  FIG. 11 is a timing chart showing an example in which blank detection and drawing processing are performed using the first to third drawing processing units 41 to 43. Referring to FIG. 11, the drawing processing control unit 33 transfers band 1 to the drawing command processing unit 41, transfers band 2 to the drawing command processing unit 42, and transfers band 3 to the drawing command processing unit 43. Each of the drawing command processing units 41 to 43 detects a blank area for each of the bands 1 to 3. Information on the detected blank area is stored in the drawing table stored in the drawing information storage unit 36 as described above.

  Next, the drawing process control unit 33 transfers band 4 to the drawing command processing unit 41, transfers band 5 to the drawing command processing unit 42, and transfers band 6 to the drawing command processing unit 43. Each of the drawing command processing units 41 to 43 detects a blank area for each of the bands 4 to 6. Information on the detected blank area is stored in the drawing table stored in the drawing information storage unit 36 as described above. This completes the detection of all blank areas for one page. The drawing processing control unit 33 assigns divided drawing areas to be processed by the drawing command processing units 41 to 43 based on the drawing table stored in the drawing information storage unit 36. Each of the drawing command processing units 41 to 43 performs a drawing process based on the assigned divided drawing area.

  Thus, by detecting the blank area prior to the drawing process, the same effect as in the second embodiment can be obtained.

Example 4
In this embodiment, the plurality of drawing command processing units are divided into a drawing command processing unit that detects a blank area and a drawing command processing unit that performs a drawing process. The image processing apparatus of this embodiment has a configuration in which a fifth drawing command processing unit 45 is added to the image processing apparatus of FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a timing chart illustrating an example in which blank detection and drawing processing are performed on the image of FIG. 10 using the first to fifth drawing processing units 41 to 45. The first drawing command processing unit 41 detects a blank area for the entire image of FIG. The second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45 perform drawing processing. The first drawing command processing unit 41 according to the present embodiment corresponds to a “determination unit” according to a fourth aspect.

  The first drawing command processing unit 41 sequentially performs blank detection for the bands 1 to 6. Each of the bands 1 to 5 includes four divided drawing areas to be drawn. The drawing process control unit 33 distributes the four divided drawing areas included in the band 1 to the second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45, respectively. The second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45 perform drawing processing on each divided drawing area. The drawing process control unit 33 controls the processing timing of the first to fifth drawing command processing units 41 to 45 so that the drawing process for the band 1 and the blank detection for the band 2 are performed simultaneously.

  The drawing process control unit 33 assigns the four divided drawing areas included in the band 2 to the second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45, respectively. The second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45 perform drawing processing on the divided divided drawing areas. The drawing process control unit 33 controls the processing timings of the first to fifth drawing command processing units 41 to 45 so that the drawing process of the band 2 and the blank detection of the band 3 are simultaneously performed.

  The drawing process control unit 33 distributes the four divided drawing areas included in the band 3 to the second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45, respectively. The second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45 perform drawing processing on each divided drawing area. The drawing process control unit 33 controls the processing timing of the first to fifth drawing command processing units 41 to 45 so that the band 3 drawing process and the band 4 blank detection are performed simultaneously.

  The drawing process control unit 33 assigns the four divided drawing areas included in the band 4 to the second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45, respectively. The second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45 perform drawing processing on each divided drawing area. The drawing process control unit 33 controls the processing timing of the first to fifth drawing command processing units 41 to 45 so that the drawing process for the band 4 and the blank detection for the band 5 are performed simultaneously.

  The drawing processing control unit 33 assigns the four divided drawing areas included in the band 5 to the second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45, respectively. The second to fifth drawing command processing units 42 to 45 perform drawing processing on the divided divided drawing areas.

  As described above, by simultaneously performing the drawing process and the blank detection, the drawing process can be performed efficiently and at high speed.

  The present invention can be implemented in various other forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof. Therefore, the above-described embodiment is merely an example in all respects and should not be interpreted in a limited manner. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the scope of claims, and is not restricted by the text of the specification. Further, all modifications, various improvements, alternatives and modifications belonging to the equivalent scope of the claims are all within the scope of the present invention.

11 31 Image processing device 12 32 Drawing command processing device 13 33 Drawing processing control unit 14 34 Print data analysis unit 15 35 Image storage unit 21 to 24 41 to 44 First to fourth drawing command processing units 21A to 24A 41A to 44A 1st to 4th local memory

JP-A-9-167242

Claims (9)

A plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory;
A drawing processing control unit that assigns each divided drawing region obtained by dividing the drawing region based on the same drawing command generated from the print data to each of the drawing command processing units as a region for performing drawing processing;
An image processing apparatus.   2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the drawing command processing units excludes drawing regions other than the divided drawing regions allocated by the drawing processing control unit from the drawing regions from drawing processing targets. When each drawing command processing unit first performs the drawing process on the divided drawing area in the drawing command, the divided drawing areas that do not include an object image to be drawn are included in the plurality of divided drawing areas. Detect whether it is included,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing processing control unit assigns each of the divided drawing regions having the object image to each of the drawing processing units based on the detection result. A determination unit that determines whether or not the divided drawing area that does not include the object image to be drawn is included in the drawing area based on the drawing command;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing processing control unit assigns the divided drawing region in which the object image is present to each drawing processing unit based on a determination result by the determination unit. A plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory;
A control unit that controls the plurality of drawing command processing units,
The control unit distributes each drawing command obtained by dividing print data into a plurality of band units to each drawing command processing unit, and each drawing command processing unit includes a plurality of divided drawing regions based on the distributed drawing command. Detecting whether or not the divided drawing area that does not include the object image to be drawn is included in the divided drawing area of
The control unit, based on the detection result, among the plurality of divided drawing areas included in the same drawing command, each divided drawing area including the object image as an area for performing drawing processing. An image processing apparatus assigned to a drawing command processing unit. An image processing method for performing image processing using a plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory,
The drawing area based on the same drawing command generated from the print data is divided into a plurality of divided drawing areas,
An image processing method in which each divided drawing area is assigned to each of the drawing command processing units as a drawing processing area. When drawing the divided drawing area for the first time in the drawing command, it is detected whether or not the divided drawing area that does not include the object image to be drawn is included in the plurality of divided drawing areas. ,
The image processing method according to claim 6, wherein at the time of assignment, each of the divided drawing areas having the object image is assigned to each of the drawing command processing units based on the detection result. It is determined whether or not the divided drawing area that does not include the object image to be drawn in the drawing area based on the drawing command is included,
The image processing method according to claim 6, wherein at the time of the assignment, the divided drawing area having the object image is assigned to each drawing command processing unit based on the determination result. An image processing method for performing image processing using a plurality of drawing command processing units each having a local memory,
Each drawing command obtained by dividing the print data into a plurality of bands is distributed to each drawing command processing unit,
Dividing the drawing area based on the assigned drawing instruction into a plurality of divided drawing areas;
Detecting whether or not the divided drawing area that does not include an object image to be drawn is included in the plurality of divided drawing areas;
Based on the detection result, among the plurality of divided drawing areas included in the same drawing command, each of the divided drawing areas including the object image is used as a drawing process area in each drawing command processing unit. Image processing method to be assigned.

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