JP2010114848A - Request-processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately deal with the requests from external devices connected to a plurality of communication means, even if the requests compete. <P>SOLUTION: An arbiter 78 determines whether a request is stored in a communication buffer 72 or 76, connected to a network and a USB, respectively. If the request is stored, a common application 82 is called out, and the application 82 is made to execute processing on the request. At the same time, until the processing is finished, even if the next request is stored in either of the communication buffers 72, 76, the request is left standing; and when processing under execution is finished, processing for the next request is started. Consequently, even if a request from a computer PC 1 connected to the network and a request from a computer PC 2 connected to the USB compete, the requests can be dealt appropriately. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a request processing apparatus.

Conventionally, a digital multifunction machine including a scanner and a printer is known. This digital multi-function peripheral has a scanner function for capturing an image by a scanner, a printing function for printing by a printer, a copy function for printing an image read by the scanner, a facsimile function for transmitting and receiving an image via a telephone line, and the like. (Patent Document 1). Such a digital multifunction peripheral operates based on a command from a computer connected via a network.
JP 2007-72771 A

  By the way, since the digital multi-function peripheral described in Patent Document 1 has only one communication interface connected to the network, when there are a plurality of such communication interfaces, request contention may occur. There is sex. Such competition needs to be dealt with appropriately.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and it is a main object of the present invention to provide a request processing apparatus capable of appropriately responding even if requests from external devices connected to a plurality of communication means compete. Objective.

  The present invention adopts the following means in order to achieve the above-mentioned object.

The request processing apparatus of the present invention
First communication means;
A second communication means;
A first buffer capable of storing a request received by the first communication means;
A second buffer capable of storing a request received by the second communication means;
Application storage means in which a common application capable of executing a predetermined process for the requests received by the first and second communication means is stored;
It is determined whether or not a request is stored in one of the first and second buffers. If the request is stored, the common application is called from the application storage unit and the request is sent to the common application. An arbitration unit that executes a predetermined process for the first and second buffers until the predetermined process ends, even if the next request is stored in one of the first and second buffers;
It is equipped with.

  In this request processing apparatus, it is determined whether or not the request is stored in one of the first and second buffers, and if the request is stored, a common application is called and the request is sent to the common application. A predetermined process is executed, and until the predetermined process ends, even if the next request is stored in one of the first and second buffers, it is left unattended. That is, even if a request from an external device connected to the first communication means and a request from an external device connected to the second communication means compete, the processing for the next request is performed until the processing being executed is completed. Do not execute. Of course, when the processing being executed is completed, the processing of the next request is started. Therefore, even if requests from external devices connected to a plurality of communication means compete, it can be appropriately handled.

  The “predetermined processing” is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include facsimile transmission processing, printing processing, and electronic data storage processing.

  In the request processing apparatus of the present invention, the first communication unit may be a unit that communicates according to a predetermined protocol, and the second communication unit may be a unit that communicates according to a protocol different from the first communication unit. . When there are a plurality of communication means different from each other in this way, the protocol stack (from the physical layer to the application layer) has different characteristics, so there was no idea to share a part of the protocol stack. Since the application is shared, the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where the application is individually developed for each protocol. For example, the first communication unit may be a unit that communicates according to a network protocol, and the second communication unit may be a unit that communicates according to a USB protocol.

  In the request processing device according to the present invention, the arbitration unit may perform the first and second operations when the predetermined process is a process for one request of the first and second buffers after the predetermined process is completed. Requests stored in the other buffer may be processed preferentially. In this way, requests from external devices connected to each communication means can be processed equally.

  The request processing apparatus of the present invention includes a shared buffer that can move data between the first and second buffers and can be accessed by the common application, and the arbitration means includes the first and second buffers. It is determined whether or not the request is stored in any of the buffers, and if the request is stored, the request is moved to the shared buffer, and the application storage means is triggered by the movement of the request to the shared buffer. The common application may be called to cause the common application to execute a predetermined process for the request. In this way, the application can execute processing without being aware of whether the request is received by either the first or second communication means. In order to call the common application from the application storage means triggered by the movement of the request to the shared buffer, for example, it is common to monitor whether or not the request has moved to the shared buffer and to move the request to the shared buffer. The application may be called, or when a request moves to the shared buffer, a callback function registered in advance may be called to call a common application.

  In the request processing apparatus of the present invention having such a shared buffer, the first buffer can store a response to be transmitted to the first communication means, and the second buffer can be sent to the second communication means. A response to be transmitted can also be stored, and the common application has a function of generating a response after executing the predetermined processing and storing it in the shared buffer together with information attached to the request. Determines whether the request is stored in one of the first and second buffers, and adds the identification information that can identify which request is the first or second communication unit to the request. To the shared buffer, and from the application storage means, triggered by the movement of the request to the shared buffer. The first and second buffers are called until a common application is called to cause the common application to execute a predetermined process for the request, and a response to the request is attached with the identification information and stored in the shared buffer. Even if the next request is stored in any of the above, the request is sent to the shared buffer after the response is attached with the identification information and stored in the shared buffer. It may be determined whether the communication means is the first or second communication means, and the response may be stored in either the first buffer or the second buffer based on the determination result. This makes it possible to return a response to the request transmission source via the first and second communication means.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a multifunction printer (MFP) 10 which is an embodiment embodying the present invention.

  The MFP 10 has a printer function, a scanner function, and a fax function. The MFP 10 transmits / receives data via a network between a printing module 20 that executes printing, a reading module 22 that reads a document, a fax modem 24 that transmits / receives fax information, and a computer PC 1 installed outside. A USB interface 28 for transmitting and receiving data via a USB cable between the network interface 26 and an externally installed computer PC2, an operation panel 50 for displaying various types of information and inputting user instructions, and a device And a main controller 60 that controls the entire system. In this specification, the network may be expressed as “NW” and the interface as “I / F”.

  When the print module 20 receives a print command from the main controller 60, the print module 20 performs printing by discharging ink from the print head to the recording paper S based on the print job that is the target of the print command. It is configured as a color printer mechanism.

  When the reading module 22 receives a reading command from the main controller 60, the reading module 22 is configured as a well-known flatbed type full-color scanner mechanism that reads a document placed on the glass table 36 as image data. The reading module 22 includes a well-known color image sensor that separates reflected light after emitting light toward a document into red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colors to be read data. .

  When the fax modem 24 receives a fax transmission command from the main controller 60, the fax modem 24 converts the original data for fax transmission into transmission data in a format suitable for the communication method of the destination, and is connected via a telephone line (not shown). The transmission data is transmitted to a transmission destination device, or reception data received from a device connected via a telephone line is converted into image data.

  The network I / F 26 is configured to be able to transmit and receive data to and from an external device (for example, the computer PC1) connected to the network.

  The USB I / F 28 is configured to be able to transmit and receive data to and from a USB host (for example, the computer PC2) connected via a USB cable. In this case, the MFP 10 functions as a USB device.

  The operation panel 50 includes a display unit 52 that is a liquid crystal display, and a button group 54 including a copy button, a print button, a fax transmission button, a scan button, a power button, a numeric keypad, and the like. The operation panel 50 displays various types of information on the display unit 52 and inputs user instructions through the operation of the button group 54.

  The main controller 60 is configured as a microprocessor centered on a CPU, and includes a ROM that stores various processing programs, various data, various tables, and a RAM that temporarily stores print data. The main controller 60 inputs various operation signals, various detection signals, and various data from the printing module 20, the reading module 22, the fax modem 24, the network I / F 26, and the USB I / F 28, and the button group 54 of the operation panel 50. An operation signal generated in response to the operation is input. Further, a command is output to the printing module 20 to execute printing, various control signals are output to the reading module 22, and control signals are output to the display unit 52 of the operation panel 50.

  The MFP 10 thus configured executes various processes such as a printing process, a scanning process, a copy process, and a fax transmission / reception process. The printing process is a process for printing on the recording paper S by the printing module 20 based on a print job input via the network I / F 26 or the USB I / F 28. The scanning process is a process of reading an image of a document placed on the glass table 36 by the reading module 22. The copy process is a process in which the printing module 20 performs printing based on the image data read by the reading module 22. In the fax transmission / reception process, the image data read by the reading module 22 or the image data input via the network I / F 26 or the USB I / F 28 is transmitted to an external device via the fax modem 24 and a telephone line (not shown). In this process, image data received from an external device via the fax modem 24 and a telephone line is printed by the printing module 20.

  Here, functional blocks for executing the fax transmission process of the MFP 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the main controller 60 of the MFP 10 as functional blocks. The main controller 60 includes an NW domain 62 that controls a protocol during network communication, and a common domain 68 that operates in both USB communication and network communication. The NW domain 62 is an NW communication driver 64 for exchanging data with the computer PC1 via a network, and an NW domain for exchanging data with the common domain 68 via domain communication. And a communication driver 66. The NW domain 62 exchanges data from a lower layer to an upper layer according to a protocol stack in which a physical layer (wired or wireless), TCP / IP, HTTP, MIME, SOAP header, and WSA are stacked in this order. TCP / IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol, HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol, MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension, SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol, and WSA stands for Webservice-addressing. The common domain 68 includes an NW domain communication driver 70 that exchanges data with the NW domain 62 via domain communication, and a USB communication driver 74 that exchanges data with the computer PC2 via a USB cable. And. The inter-NW domain communication driver 70 exchanges data with the inter-NW domain communication driver 70 of the NW domain 62 in accordance with the protocol stack described above while using the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72. The inter-NW domain communication buffer 72 is provided with a reception area 72a and a transmission area 72b. On the other hand, the USB communication driver 74 uses the USB communication buffer 76 to perform USB communication in conformity with IEEE1284.4 that defines bidirectional parallel communication. The USB communication buffer 76 is provided with a reception area 76a and a transmission area 76b. The common domain 68 includes an arbiter 78 that performs arbitration between network communication and USB communication, a shared buffer 80 in which data is transferred between the communication buffers 72 and 76 by the arbiter 78, NW communication, and USB communication. And an application 82 that executes a fax transmission process without depending on which of the requests is acquired by communication. The shared buffer 80 is provided with a reception area 80a and a transmission area 80b. The application 82 is stored in the ROM of the main controller 60.

  Next, the operation of the MFP 10, particularly the operation of the MFP 10 when executing fax transmission processing from the computers PC 1 and PC 2 will be described. When the computers PC1 and PC2 cause the MFP 10 to execute a fax transmission process, (1) a printer status acquisition request, (2) a fax transmission request, (3) a fax data transmission request, and (4) a job status confirmation request Send sequentially. Each request is transmitted after receiving a response to the request transmitted immediately before. These requests are transmitted as SOAP messages.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the SOAP message is composed of a header depending on the communication protocol, and a SOAP envelope including a SOAP header (arbitrary element) and a SOAP body (essential element). The SOAP header describes the destination of the SOAP message, and the SOAP body describes the information that the final message recipient will process. When creating a SOAP message that the computer PC1 or MFP 10 sends to the other party via the network, a SOAP body is created, operations and messages for managing the WSA are determined, and these are used as a SOAP header to create a SOAP envelope. Create and add HTTP headers. This completes the SOAP message for the network. On the other hand, when creating a SOAP message that the computer PC2 or MFP 10 transmits to the other party via USB, a SOAP body is created, a SOAP envelope without a SOAP header is created, and a header related to USB is added. In this way, a USB SOAP message is created. Here, as an example of the SOAP message, an example of the SOAP message of the fax status acquisition request (see (1) above) is shown in FIGS. 4 is for the network, and FIG. 5 is for the USB. As is apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, the contents of the SOAP body are the same for any SOAP message. “FAXout” means fax transmission.

  2 receives the SOAP message from the computer PC1 via the network, the NW domain 62, and the domain communication, after decoding the SOAP header, the NW interdomain communication driver 70 in the common domain 68 receives the NW interdomain communication buffer 72. Only the SOAP body is stored in the use area 72a. In addition, when the USB communication driver 74 of the common domain 68 receives a SOAP message from the computer PC2 via USB, it stores only the SOAP body in the reception area 76a of the USB communication buffer 76.

  The arbiter 78 of the common domain 68 executes an arbitration routine shown in FIG. 6 after a main switch (not shown) of the MFP 10 is turned on. When this arbitration routine is started, the arbiter 78 determines whether the I / F to be monitored is the network I / F 26 or the USB I / F 28 (step S100). In the initial setting, the network I / F 26 is set as a monitoring target. Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the request is stored in the reception area of the communication buffer of the I / F to be monitored (step S110). Specifically, when the I / F to be monitored is the network I / F 26, it is determined whether the request is stored in the reception area 72a of the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72, and the I / F to be monitored is determined. When F is USB I / F 28, it is determined whether or not the request is stored in the reception area 72a of the USB communication buffer 76. If the request is stored in step S110, the arbiter 78 adds the I / F information to the request and moves to the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80 (step S120). Here, the I / F information is information representing an I / F that is a monitoring target.

  Here, when a request is stored in the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80, a callback occurs and the fax transmission application 82 retrieves the request and I / F information in the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80. go. The application 82 that has acquired the request executes processing according to the content of the request, that is, the content of the SOAP body. For example, in the case of a printer status acquisition request (see (1) above), the application 82 knows the status of the MFP 10 (standby state, executing printing, executing reading, transmitting fax, receiving fax). Then, a process for creating a response representing the result is executed. At this time, the application 82 executes processing without being conscious of whether the request is received via the network I / F 26 or the USB I / F 28. That is, the application 82 acquires I / F information together with the request, but only holds the I / F information as it is. Thereafter, the application 82 writes the created response together with the I / F information in the transmission area 80b of the shared buffer 80.

  Now, after step S120, the arbiter 78 determines whether or not a response is stored in the transmission area 80b of the shared buffer 80 (step S130). If the response is not stored, the arbiter 78 stands by. On the other hand, if the response is stored, the communication buffer of the reply destination is recognized based on the I / F information attached to the response (step S140), and the response is returned from the transmission area 80b of the shared buffer 80. Move to the transmission area of the previous communication buffer (step S150). Specifically, when the I / F information represents the network I / F 26, the response is moved to the transmission area 72b of the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72, and when the I / F information represents the USB I / F 28, The response is moved to the transmission area 72b of the USB communication buffer 76. Thereafter, the I / F to be monitored is switched (step S160), and the process returns to step S110 again. In this way, when the processing of the request received at one I / F is completed, the processing of the request received at the other I / F is preferentially executed. If there is no request in the reception area of the communication buffer to be monitored in step S110, the monitoring target I / F is switched (step S170), and the process returns to step S110 again. As described above, the arbiter 78 does not take the next request until the application 82 returns a response to the one request (that is, the next request is stored until the processing for the request is completed). Therefore, request-response serialization in the processing of the application 82 is retained.

  The response stored in the transmission area 72b of the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72 is transmitted to the computer PC1 by the inter-NW domain communication driver 70 via the domain communication, the NW domain 62, and the network. As a result, the computer PC1 receives a response to the request sent to the MFP 10. On the other hand, the response stored in the transmission area 76b of the USB communication buffer 76 is transmitted to the computer PC2 by the USB communication driver 74 via the USB. As a result, the computer PC2 receives a response to the request sent to the MFP 10.

  Next, operations of the arbiter 78 and the application 82 when a request is received from the computer PC1 via the network will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an internal processing procedure of the MFP 10. Here, description will be made assuming that the request is stored in the reception area 72a of the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72. (A) When the arbiter 78 finds that the request is stored in the reception area 72a of the NW inter-domain communication buffer 72, the arbiter 78 attaches the request with I / F information (information indicating the network I / F here). To the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80. (B) When a request is stored in the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80, a callback occurs. (C) By the callback, the application 82 obtains the request and the I / F information of the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80. (D) The application 82 that has acquired the request parses the request, that is, the SOAP body, and executes processing according to the content. (E) The application 82 creates a response and writes the response together with the I / F information in the transmission area 80b of the shared buffer 80. (F) When the arbiter 78 finds that the response is stored in the transmission area 80b of the shared buffer 80, the reply destination is the network I / F based on the I / F information attached to the response. And the response is transferred from the transmission area 80b of the shared buffer 80 to the transmission area 72b of the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72. Thereafter, the arbiter 78 checks whether or not the next request is stored in the reception area 76a of the USB communication buffer 76.

  Here, the correspondence between the components of the present embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. The network I / F 26 of the present embodiment corresponds to the first communication unit of the present invention, the USB I / F 28 corresponds to the second communication unit, the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72 corresponds to the first buffer, and the USB communication buffer 76. Corresponds to the second buffer, the ROM for storing the application 82 corresponds to the application storage means, and the arbiter 78 corresponds to the arbitration means.

  According to the MFP 20 of the present embodiment described in detail above, even if a request from the computer PC1 connected to the network I / F 26 and a request from the computer PC2 connected to the USB I / F 28 conflict, the application 82 Until the processing for one request is completed, the processing for the next request is not executed. Therefore, even if requests from the computer PC1 connected to the network I / F 26 and the computer PC2 connected to the USB I / F 28 compete, it can be appropriately handled.

  Further, conventionally, when a plurality of different interfaces such as a network I / F and a USB I / F are provided, the characteristics of the protocol stack are different, so there was no idea to share a part of the protocol stack. In the present embodiment, since the application 82 is shared, the cost can be reduced as compared with the case where the application is individually developed for each protocol.

  Further, after the processing for the request received by one of the network I / F 26 and the USB I / F 28 is completed, the processing for the request received by the other is performed preferentially, so that the computers PC1 and PC2 connected to each interface Can be processed equally.

  Furthermore, since the application 82 interprets the SOAP body and executes the process by moving the common SOAP body to the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80 regardless of the interface, the application 82 determines the type of interface. Processing can be executed without being conscious.

  Further, since the inter-NW domain communication buffer 72 and the USB communication buffer 76 have transmission areas 72b and 76b, respectively, it becomes possible to return a response to the request source via the network or USB.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the application 82 is described as executing the fax transmission process. However, the application 82 is not particularly limited to the fax transmission process. For example, the application 82 may execute the print process. An image data storage process may be executed.

  In the above-described embodiment, when a request is stored in the reception area 80a of the shared buffer 80, the request is processed by the application 82 in the callback format. However, the application 82 receives a request in the reception area 80a. Whether the request has been saved may be monitored, and if the request is saved, the request may be read and processed.

  In the embodiment described above, the case where the computer PC1 is connected to the MFP 10 via the network and the computer PC2 is connected via the USB has been exemplified. However, both of the two communication paths may be a network, or both. Both may be USB. A plurality of networks and USBs may be mixed. Further, electronic devices such as a digital camera and a mobile phone may be connected instead of the computers PC1 and PC2.

  In the above-described embodiment, the MFP 10 has been described as the request processing apparatus of the present invention, but a printer, a scanner, a facsimile apparatus, or the like that does not have a composite function may be used as the request apparatus of the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a multifunction printer (MFP) 10. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the main controller 60 of the MFP 10 as functional blocks. The schematic diagram of a SOAP message. Explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of the SOAP message for networks. Explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of the SOAP message for USB. The flowchart of an arbitration routine. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an internal processing procedure of the MFP. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  10 Multifunction Printer (MFP), 20 Printing Module, 22 Reading Module, 24 Fax Modem, 26 Network Interface, 28 USB Interface, 36 Glass Stand, 50 Operation Panel, 52 Display Unit, 54 Button Group, 60 Main Controller, 62 NW Domain, 64 NW communication driver, 66 NW inter-domain communication driver, 68 Common domain, 70 NW inter-domain communication driver, 72 Inter-domain communication buffer, 72a Reception area, 72b Transmission area, 74 USB communication driver, 76 USB communication buffer 76a reception area, 76b transmission area, 78 arbiter, 80 shared buffer, 80a reception area, 80b transmission area, 82 applications, PC1, PC2 computer , S recording paper.

Claims (6)

First communication means;
A second communication means;
A first buffer capable of storing a request received by the first communication means;
A second buffer capable of storing a request received by the second communication means;
Application storage means in which a common application capable of executing a predetermined process for the requests received by the first and second communication means is stored;
It is determined whether or not a request is stored in one of the first and second buffers. If the request is stored, the common application is called from the application storage unit and the request is sent to the common application. An arbitration unit that executes a predetermined process for the first and second buffers until the predetermined process ends, even if the next request is stored in one of the first and second buffers;
A request processing apparatus comprising: The first communication means is means for communicating according to a predetermined protocol,
The second communication means is means for communicating according to a protocol different from that of the first communication means.
The request processing apparatus according to claim 1. The first communication means is means for communicating according to a network protocol,
The second communication means is means for communicating according to a USB protocol.
The request processing apparatus according to claim 2. When the predetermined process is a process for one request of the first and second buffers after the predetermined process is completed, the arbitrating means is stored in the other of the first and second buffers. Process requests preferentially,
The request processing device according to claim 1. The request processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A shared buffer capable of moving data between the first and second buffers and accessible by the common application;
The arbitration unit determines whether or not a request is stored in one of the first and second buffers. If the request is stored, the arbitration unit moves the request to the shared buffer and transfers the request to the shared buffer. Calling the common application from the application storage means triggered by the movement of the request, causing the common application to execute predetermined processing on the request,
Request processing device. The first buffer can store a response to be transmitted to the first communication means,
The second buffer can also store a response to be transmitted to the second communication means,
The common application has a function of generating a response after executing the predetermined processing and storing it in the shared buffer together with information attached to the request,
The arbitration unit determines whether a request is stored in one of the first and second buffers, and adds identification information that can identify which request is the first or second communication unit. The request is moved to the shared buffer in response to the request, and the common application is called from the application storage means triggered by the movement of the request to the shared buffer to cause the common application to execute predetermined processing on the request. In addition, until a response to the request is attached with the identification information and stored in the shared buffer, even if the next request is stored in one of the first and second buffers, The response is stored in the shared buffer with the identification information Is determined based on the identification information whether the request source is the first or second communication means, and based on the result of the determination, the response is either the first buffer or the second buffer. To save,
The request processing apparatus according to claim 5.

Images