JP2011114751A - Image processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing apparatus for preventing unauthorized use of image data. <P>SOLUTION: The image processing apparatus includes an encryption means for encrypting image data according to a predetermined encryption method when performing input image processing and/or output image processing on image data. When the image data is output via a data bus, image data encrypted by the encryption means are output to any other devices than an image reading apparatus or an image forming apparatus connected to the apparatus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus or an image processing apparatus having an encryption / decryption function connected to an image forming apparatus.

In a digital multi-function peripheral equipped with a so-called sort function, when copying a document, the image data of the read document is temporarily stored in a hard disk or the like, and arbitrary image data is repeatedly read from the stored image data, sorted, and output. Like to do.
In this case, even after the copy processing of the original is completed, the image data of the original remains on the hard disk or the like until the next original is copied and the image data is overwritten.

  In addition, since a significant energy saving effect can be obtained by reducing the power consumption during standby, the program status and work area data during processing are stored on a hard disk, etc. with the aim of reducing standby power consumption and startup time. Saved.

  As described above, if the read image data or the data being processed is stored in a hard disk or the like, there is a risk that the security of a highly confidential document or a document that is not desired to be known to others cannot be maintained.

  For this reason, the data processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 encrypts and stores the data when storing it in an external hard disk or the like, and temporarily stores the decrypted data in the volatile memory during the processing, and the processing ends. And this data is deleted. When the power is turned off, the data stored in the volatile memory is automatically deleted.

JP 2004-341745 A

However, in Patent Document 1, since encrypted data is decrypted in the middle of processing and once written to an external memory, there is a risk that the decrypted data may be obtained illegally by monitoring the external bus during this decryption process. is there.
Also, data once stored in an external volatile memory is not completely impossible to read with an unauthorized program until the apparatus is shut down.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that enhances a protection function against illegal use of image data.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus that performs input image processing and / or output image processing on image data, and encrypts the image data with a predetermined encryption method. When the image data is output via the data bus, the image data encrypted by the encryption means is output to an apparatus other than the image reading apparatus or the image forming apparatus connected to the apparatus.

  Further, in an image processing apparatus that connects an external storage device via a data bus and performs input image processing and / or output image processing on the image data, the image data is output when the image data is output to the external storage device via the data bus. Encryption means for encrypting data by a predetermined encryption method, and decryption means for decrypting the read image data by a predetermined decryption method when the image data is read from an external storage device via a data bus; It is equipped with.

  Further, when connecting to an external storage device via different data buses of the image processing apparatus, an encryption unit and a decryption unit are provided for each of the different data buses.

  According to the present invention, since only encrypted image data is output outside the apparatus, a protection function against unauthorized use of image data can be enhanced.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus to which an image processing apparatus of the present invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the image processing apparatus of this invention.

  Embodiments of an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus to which an image processing apparatus of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 10 includes a control unit 11, an operation unit 12, a nonvolatile memory 13, an image processing unit (image processing device) 14, a memory 15, an image reading unit 16, an image output unit 17, an HDD controller 18, It comprises an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 19.

The control unit 11 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Microprocessing Unit), and the like, and accesses the nonvolatile memory 13 via a local bus and executes a stored control program. Control the function of each part.
The control unit 11, the image reading unit 16, and the image output unit 17 are connected via serial communication.

  The operation unit 12 includes a plurality of operation keys for receiving user operation inputs, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) integrated with the touch panel, and the like. A reading instruction, a printing instruction, or the like is transmitted to the control unit 11 or display information from the control unit 11 is displayed on the LCD.

The nonvolatile memory 13 stores various control programs, user data, system data, and the like of the device 10 that should be stored even after the power is turned off.
The memory 15 is provided outside the image processing unit 14, is connected by an external bus, and is used as a temporary storage for various processes performed by the image processing unit 14.
The HDD 19 is a large-sized storage device, and is connected to the controller 11 via the HDD bus 18 and the PCI bus, and the image data read by the image reading unit 16 and the image data being processed or processed by the image processing unit 14 are received. Remember.

The image reading unit 16 irradiates an original with an image irradiation lamp and receives reflected light with a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor, thereby outputting image data corresponding to an image read from the original.
The image output unit 17 writes the image data processed by the image processing unit 14 on a photoconductor with a laser beam, and prints and outputs the image data written on the photoconductor onto a transfer sheet using an electrophotographic process.

  The image processing unit 14 is a single integrated circuit (IC) that performs image processing of image data read by the image reading unit 16 and image processing to be output to the image output unit 17, and includes a memory 15, an image reading unit 16, An image output unit 17 is connected to the control unit 11 and the HDD controller 18 through a PCI bus (Peripheral Components Interconnect bus).

Next, the image processing unit (image processing apparatus) 14 of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image processing unit (image processing IC) 14 according to the present embodiment. In the figure, an image processing unit 14 transfers data via an input image processing unit 101 that processes image input from the image reading unit 16, a selector B 102 at a subsequent stage, a compression unit 103 that compresses an image, and an internal bus. The data transfer unit a104, the data transfer unit g105 for the compression unit 103 to access the memory 15, the output image processing unit 106 that performs image processing of the print image to the image output unit 17, and the image decompression at the preceding stage. A decompression unit 107 to perform, a selector C108, a data transfer unit b109, a data transfer unit h110 for the decompression unit 107 to access the memory 15, a memory controller 111 connected to the memory 15 as an external memory, a first encryption unit 112, Data transfer unit c113, first decryption unit 114, data transfer unit d115, bus right for arbitrating the internal bus use order Stopper 116, external bus control unit 117 that controls the interface with the PCI bus that is an external bus, control register unit 118 that can be accessed from the outside via external bus control unit 117, selector A121, and second decoding in the subsequent stage Unit 122, data transfer unit f123, data transfer unit e120, and second encryption unit 119.

The input image processing unit 101 functions to perform, for example, enlargement processing, mirror image processing, error diffusion, compression / decompression, and the like on the image data output from the image reading unit 16.
When the input image processing unit 101 temporarily stores or acquires the data being processed in the memory 15, the first encryption unit 112 encrypts the data and writes it out, and the read data is read out by the first decryption unit. It is obtained after decrypting at 114.

Further, the input image processing unit 101 performs data transmission / reception with the control unit 11 via the PCI bus. When data is sent from the input image processing unit 101 to the PCI bus, the second encryption unit 119 encrypts the data using a predetermined encryption method and sends it out.
Further, when receiving data from the control unit 11 via the PCI bus, the received data is acquired by the second decoding unit 122 after being decoded by a predetermined decoding method.

The output image processing unit 106 acquires the image data from the HDD 19, performs, for example, multilevel processing, composition processing, density conversion processing, scaling processing, compression / decompression processing, and outputs the processed image data to the image output unit 17. Fulfills the function.
The output image processing unit 106 performs encryption / decryption in the same manner as the input image processing unit 101 when storing or acquiring data in the memory 15, the nonvolatile memory 13, or the HDD 19.

  As a result, unencrypted data is not stored in the memory 15, and unencrypted data is not output to the PCI bus, so that unauthorized use of image data can be prevented. Security is ensured.

The first encryption unit 112 performs AES encryption (Advanced Encryption Standard) on the data output from the input image processing unit 101 and the output image processing unit 106, and writes the encrypted data to the memory 15.
The first decryption unit 114 performs AES decryption on the encrypted data read from the memory 15 by the input image processing unit 101 or the output image processing unit 106 and passes the decrypted data.

The second encryption unit 119 performs AES encryption of the data output from the input image processing unit 101 and the output image processing unit 106 and sends the data to the control unit 11 via the PCI bus. The control unit 11 writes the encrypted data in the nonvolatile memory 13 and the HDD 19.
When the second decoding unit 122 receives the data read from the nonvolatile memory 13 or the HDD 19 by the input image processing unit 101 or the output image processing unit 106 via the PCI bus via the control unit 11, the second decoding unit 122 receives the data from the AES. Decrypt and pass.
In the above encryption / decryption, AES is used, but other encryption / decryption methods may be used.

(Load image data)
Upon receiving the user's image reading request specified by the operation unit 12, the control unit 11 sets the reading conditions such as the image size, color / grayscale, and whether or not to compress the image via the PCI bus in the image processing unit 14. The setting is made in the control register unit 118, and the image reading unit 16 is instructed to start image reading via serial communication.

  When reading of an image is started, the image data read by the image reading unit 16 is input to the input image processing unit 101, and image processing is performed. Here, for example, when compressing image data, the selector B102 is connected so that the image is input to the compression unit 103, and the compression unit 103 performs JPEG compression using the memory 15 as a work area via the data transfer unit g105. The image is compressed using this method.

The compressed image data is sent to the data transfer unit e120 via the data transfer unit a104, encrypted by the second encryption unit 119, and then controlled by the external bus control unit 117 via the PCI bus. Sent to the unit 11 and stored in the nonvolatile memory 13.
When the image reading is completed, the control unit 11 stores one page of image data in the HDD 19 via the HDD controller 18. If there are multiple pages, this operation is repeated. When image compression is not necessary, the selector B102 bypasses the compression unit 103.

As described above, since the original image is not output on the external data bus (PCI bus), unauthorized use of the original image can be prevented.
Further, even when data is stored in the memory 15 provided outside, since the original image is not output, unauthorized use of the original image can be prevented.

(Print image data)
Upon receiving the user's image print request specified by the operation unit 12, the control unit 11 sets print conditions such as an image size, image compression / non-compression, encryption / non-encryption, paper size and number of copies via the PCI bus. The image data set in the control register 118 in the image processing unit 14 and transferred to the nonvolatile memory 13 via the PCI bus via the HDD controller 18 to the non-volatile memory 13 and the image output unit via serial communication 17 is instructed to start image formation.

When the image formation is started, the control unit 11 sends the image data transferred to the nonvolatile memory 13 to the external bus control unit 117 inside the image processing unit 14 via the PCI bus.
Since the image is encrypted, the selector A121 is connected to the second decryption unit 122, decrypted, sent to the data transfer unit b109 by the data transfer unit f123, and when the image is compressed, The selector C 108 sends the image data to the decompression unit 107.
The decompression unit 107 decompresses using the memory 15 as a work area via the data transfer unit h110.

  The image data expanded from the expansion unit 107 is sent to the output image processing unit 106, subjected to image processing for printing, printed by the image output unit 17, and when there are a plurality of pages, the above operation is repeated. When image decompression is not necessary, the selector C108 bypasses the decompression unit 107, and when it is not encrypted, the selector A121 bypasses the second decryption unit 122.

Thus, except for the image processing unit 14 and the image reading unit 16 and between the image processing unit 14 and the image output unit 17, unencrypted image data is stored in the memory 15 outside the image processing unit 14 or the PCI bus. Can not output to.
Therefore, since the image processing unit 14 is configured as one integrated circuit (IC) as described above, image data that is not encrypted is encrypted no matter what the program executed by the control unit 11 behaves. Cannot be retrieved from the PCI bus or the memory 15.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and corrections can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
For example, the image processing apparatus of the embodiment is configured to handle both image reading and image printing, but may be configured to handle either one or only image processing.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image processing apparatus, 11 ... Control part, 12 ... Operation part, 13 ... Nonvolatile memory, 14 ... Image processing part, 15 ... Memory, 16 ... Image reading part, 17 ... Image output part, 18 ... HDD controller, 19 ... HDD, 101 ... input image processing unit, 102 ... selector B, 103 ... compression unit, 104 ... data transfer unit a, 105 ... data transfer unit g, 106 ... output image processing unit, 107 ... decompression unit, 108 ... selector C 109, data transfer unit b, 110 ... data transfer unit h, 111 ... memory controller, 112 ... first encryption unit, 113 ... data transfer unit c, 114 ... first decryption unit, 117 ... external bus control unit, 118: control register unit, 119: second encryption unit, 120 ... data transfer unit e, 121 ... selector A, 122 ... second decryption unit, 123 ... data transfer unit f.

Claims (3)

  An image processing apparatus that performs input image processing and / or output image processing on image data includes an encryption unit that encrypts the image data using a predetermined encryption method, and outputs the image data via a data bus. An image processing apparatus that outputs image data encrypted by the encryption means to an apparatus other than the image reading apparatus or the image forming apparatus connected to the apparatus.   When outputting image data to an external storage device via a data bus, an encryption unit for encrypting the image data with a predetermined encryption method, and when reading image data from the external storage device via a data bus The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a decoding unit that decodes the read image data by a predetermined decoding method, and is connected to an external storage device through a data bus.   3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when connecting to an external storage device via different data buses of the image processing apparatus, an encryption unit and a decryption unit are provided for each of the different data buses.

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