JP2011204097A - Electronic device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic device capable of efficiently operating a storage part.SOLUTION: The electronic device includes a plurality of information processing parts, the storage part for tentatively storing information processed by the plurality of information processing parts, and a deletion means for deleting the information stored in the storage part according to the number of times of being reused by the plurality of information processing parts. The deletion means deletes the information stored in the storage part according to the time of processing by the plurality of information processing parts. Also, the storage part is of the two parts; one being provided in each of the plurality of information processing parts and the other is a shared storage part shared by the plurality of information processing parts.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device and a program.

Patent Document 1 discloses a dynamic file deletion method that checks a file expiration date and deletes a file when the file area becomes insufficient during expansion and addition of the file area.
In Patent Document 2, in a system in which a disk is shared by a plurality of server devices, the server device independently manages a piece of information written in file management data, and only the file management data managed by itself is used. A system for inquiring file management data from another server apparatus only when a request from a client cannot be satisfied is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-046446 JP 2001-318905 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device and a program that can efficiently operate a storage unit.

[Electronic equipment]
The present invention according to claim 1 includes a plurality of information processing units, a storage unit that temporarily stores information processed by the plurality of information processing units, and information stored in the storage unit. An electronic apparatus having a deleting unit that deletes the information according to the number of times the information processing unit has been reused.

  The present invention according to claim 2 is the electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the deleting unit deletes information stored in the storage unit according to processing times of the plurality of information processing units.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the storage unit is an individual storage unit provided in each of the plurality of information processing units, and a shared storage unit shared by the plurality of information processing units. Or it is an electronic device of 2.

  The present invention according to claim 4 is the electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing unit is an image processing unit that processes an image.

  In the present invention according to claim 5, the deleting unit reuses the information stored in the shared storage unit by the plurality of information processing units in a page image-processed during a predetermined period. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the electronic device is deleted according to the number of times.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect, the deleting unit deletes information stored in the shared storage unit according to time of image processing performed by the plurality of information processing units. It is an electronic device.

  In the present invention according to claim 7, when the information processed by the plurality of information processing units is stored in the shared storage unit, when the deletion unit cannot delete the information stored in the shared storage unit, The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the electronic device is temporarily stored in the individual storage unit.

[program]
The present invention according to claim 8 is an electronic device including a plurality of information processing units, a storage unit that temporarily stores information processed by the plurality of information processing units, and a computer, and stores the information in the storage unit. A program that causes a computer to execute a step of deleting the information that has been reused according to the number of times the information processing unit has been reused.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic device capable of operating the storage unit more efficiently than when the present configuration is not provided.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect achieved by the first aspect of the present invention, an electronic apparatus capable of operating the storage unit more efficiently than the case without the present configuration. Can be provided.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect produced by the first or second aspect of the present invention, the storage unit can be efficiently operated with a simple configuration as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. An electronic device that can be provided can be provided.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect achieved by the present invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, image processing can be performed more efficiently than when the present configuration is not provided. An electronic device can be provided.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect achieved by the present invention according to the fourth aspect, compared to the case without the present configuration, an electronic device capable of reducing the load on the image processing again. An apparatus can be provided.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect achieved by the present invention according to the fourth or fifth aspect, it is possible to reduce the time required for image processing again as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. An electronic device that can be provided can be provided.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect produced by the present invention according to the fifth or sixth aspect, compared to the case where the present configuration is not provided, the second embodiment An electronic device that can reduce the load and time required for image processing can be provided.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program capable of operating the storage unit more efficiently than when the present configuration is not provided.

1 is a diagram showing an image forming apparatus as an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the software which operate | moves by a control part. It is an example of the table memorize | stored in the table memory | storage part of FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an overall operation (S10) in the RIP section of FIG. It is a flowchart of step 20 (S20) of FIG. It is a flowchart of step 22 (S22) of FIG. It is a flowchart of step 30 (S30) of FIG. It is a flowchart of step 32 (S32) of FIG. It is a flowchart of the modification of step 22 (S22) of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following description is only an example in implementing this invention, and this invention is not necessarily limited to the matter demonstrated below, It can change suitably as needed.

Embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus as an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus 1 as an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 100 and a marking engine 102.
With such a configuration, the image forming apparatus 1 generates image data based on a print instruction from the client PC 2 and prints it out.

The control part 100 is a control board provided with CPU, memory, a storage medium, etc., for example.
The control unit 100 receives a print instruction from the client PC 2 that is communicably connected by a cable or the like, and generates image data. Further, the control unit 100 controls the marking engine 102 so that the generated image data is printed on the recording paper.

The marking engine 102 is, for example, a direct transfer type digital color printer, and includes an exposure device 104, an image forming unit 106, a paper transport belt 108, and a fixing device 110.
The exposure device 104 is a multi-beam exposure scanning device that collectively scans a plurality of laser beams emitted from an image emitting laser array chip having a light emitting point group composed of a plurality of light emitting points, and guides the laser beams to the photosensitive drum 112. .
The image forming unit 106 forms a photosensitive drum 112 that is an image carrier that forms an electrostatic latent image and carries a toner image, a charger 114 that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 112, and a color image. Developing rollers 116Y (Yellow; yellow), 116M (Magenta), 116C (Cyan; cyan) and 116K (blackK), and a toner image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 112, are provided for each color. Is provided with a transfer roll 118 for transferring the image onto the recording paper. The image forming unit 106 supplies toner corresponding to the output image from the developing rolls 116Y, 116M, 116C, and 116K to the photosensitive drum 112, and forms a toner image from the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 112. Then, the images are sequentially transferred onto the recording paper.
The paper transport belt 108 transports the recording paper to the transfer position formed by the photosensitive drum 112 and the transfer roll 118.
The fixing device 110 fixes the toner image transferred onto the recording paper.

Next, the control unit 100 of FIG. 1 will be further described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of software that operates in the control unit 100. The control unit 100 causes the CPU to read and execute a program stored in a memory, a storage medium, or the like.

The print instruction receiving unit 120 receives a print instruction from the client PC 2 in FIG. 1, and stores the entire print instruction (contents of the print instruction, data to be processed in the print instruction, etc.) in a memory or the like. Further, the print instruction receiving unit 120 transmits the contents of the print instruction to the print instruction control unit 122.
The print instruction is for printing PDF (Portable Document Format) data, for example.

The print instruction control unit 122 refers to the entire print instruction stored in the memory or the like by the print instruction receiving unit 120 based on the contents of the print instruction received from the print instruction receiving unit 120, and sets the processing target in the print instruction. Determine the number of pages included in the data.
The determined number of pages is transmitted to the controller 124 as page attribute information together with the page size and page layout (for example, imposition and separation).
The page size, page layout, and the like are set in advance.

The controller 124 includes a RIP (Raster Image Processor) control unit 126, a plurality of RIP units (image processing units) 128-1 to 128 -N, and a shared cache (shared storage unit) 134.
The RIP unit 128-1 further includes a table storage unit 130-1 and an individual cache (individual storage unit) 132-1, and the RIP unit 128-2 further includes a table storage unit 130-2 and an individual cache 132-2. The RIP unit 128-N further includes a table storage unit 130-N and an individual cache 132-N.

N is an integer of 1 or more, and N does not always indicate the same number. In particular, the number of RIP units 128 may be the same as or different from the number of developing rolls 116 in FIG.
In the following drawings, substantially the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.
Hereinafter, when any of a plurality of constituent parts such as “RIP parts 128-1 to 128-N” is indicated without being specified, they may be simply abbreviated as “RIP part 128” or the like. .
Although the RIP control unit 126 and the plurality of RIP units 128 operate on the same image forming apparatus 1 here, they may be configured to operate on different image forming apparatuses 1, respectively.

The RIP control unit 126 receives the page attribute information from the print instruction control unit 122, and controls the RIP unit 128 to convert the page into raster data based on the page attribute information.
It should be noted that the rasterization process is assigned not to one RIP unit 128 but to a plurality of RIP units 128 so that the pages are efficiently rasterized. The pages rasterized by the plurality of RIP units 128 are collectively output to the marking engine 102.

Based on the control by the RIP control unit 126, the RIP unit 128 reads a page to be rasterized from the entire print instruction stored in the memory or the like by the print instruction receiving unit 120, and converts the read page into raster data. At the same time, intermediate format data (for example, a display list) generated in the conversion process is stored in a recording medium or the like (hereinafter, raster data generation and intermediate format data generation are collectively referred to as “rendering”).
Further, the RIP unit 128 refers to the table stored in the table storage unit 130, and describes the component included in the page (hereinafter simply referred to as “component”; for example, external objects such as graphics and images). It is temporarily stored (cached) in the individual cache 132 or the shared cache 134.

Here, the individual cache 132 is a cache allocated to each RIP unit 128, and the components cached in the individual cache 132 can be accessed only from the RIP unit 128 including the individual cache 132. For example, the components cached in the individual cache 132-1 can be accessed only from the RIP unit 128-1.
The shared cache 134 is a cache assigned to all the RIP units 128, and the components cached in the shared cache 134 can be accessed from all the RIP units 128.

FIG. 3 is an example of a table stored in the table storage unit 130 of FIG.
Since the table storage unit 130 is provided for each RIP unit 128 in FIG. 2, a table exists for each RIP unit 128. For example, FIG. 3A is a table of the RIP unit 128-1, and FIG. 3B is a table of the RIP unit 128-2.
The table is composed of information on the constituent elements. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the table includes an ID 136, additional information 138, a data size 140, a cache destination 142, a data type 144, a rendering time 146, a page number 148, and the number of reuses. It consists of 150 data strings.
Note that the table is updated by using, as a trigger, an action (for example, deletion, change, or addition of a component) on a component in the RIP unit 128 including the table.

The ID 136 is an identifier that identifies a component.
The incidental information 138 is information for easily identifying the component, and is, for example, a hash value.
The data size 140 is the data size of the component, and is expressed in kilobytes (KB), for example.
The cache destination 142 is a cache destination of the component, and is either the individual cache 132 or the shared cache 134 of FIG.

The data type 144 is a data type when the component is cached, and is either raster data or intermediate format data.
The rendering time 146 is a time taken to render a component, and is expressed in nanoseconds (ns), for example.
The page number 148 is the number of the page including the component.
The reuse count 150 is the number of times a rendered component has been reused.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall operation (S10) of the RIP unit 128 of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, in step 100 (S100), the RIP unit 128 reads a page to be rasterized by using the RIP control unit 126 of FIG. .

In step 102 (S102), the RIP unit 128 determines whether or not a component is included in the page read in step 100.
If a component is included, the process proceeds to step 104. If not, this determination is repeated.

In step 104 (S104), the RIP unit 128 determines whether the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 is cached in the individual cache 132 of FIG.
Specifically, the RIP unit 128 refers to the table stored in the table storage unit 130 of FIG. 2, the component that is determined to be included in the page, the ID 136 and the incidental information 138 are the same, and It is determined whether or not a component whose cache destination 142 is the individual cache 132 is included.
If the component determined to be included in the page is cached in the individual cache 132, the process proceeds to step 106, and if not, the process proceeds to step 110.

  In step 106 (S106), the RIP unit 128 reads the component determined to be cached in the individual cache 132 in step 104 from the individual cache 132, and reuses it for rendering the page read in step 100.

  In step 108 (S108), the RIP unit 128 updates the table stored in the table storage unit 130, and ends the process. Specifically, the number of reuses of the component read out and reused for rendering in step 106 is counted up.

In step 110 (S110), the RIP unit 128 determines whether or not the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 is cached in the shared cache 134.
Specifically, the RIP unit 128 refers to the table stored in the table storage unit 130, the component that is determined to be included in the page, the ID 136 and the incidental information 138 are the same, and the cache destination 142 Determines whether or not a component that is the shared cache 134 of FIG. 2 is included.
If the component determined to be included in the page is cached in the shared cache 134, the process proceeds to step 30. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 112.

In step 112 (S112), the RIP unit 128 further determines whether or not the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 is cached in the shared cache 134.
Specifically, the RIP unit 128 refers to the table stored in the table storage unit 130 of the other RIP unit 128, and the component 136 determined to be included in the page, the ID 136, and the incidental information 138 are the same. In addition, it is determined whether or not a component whose cache destination 142 is the shared cache 134 is included.

In step 110, it is determined whether or not the cache is stored in the shared cache 134 with reference to the table stored in its own table storage unit 130. Reference numeral 112 refers to a table stored in the table storage unit 130 of another RIP unit 128.
If the component determined to be included in the page is cached in the shared cache 134, the process proceeds to step 30. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 20.

In this way, the rendering procedure differs depending on whether the components included in the page are cached in the individual cache 132, cached in the shared cache 134, or not cached in either.
In the following, the processing when the component included in the page is not cached in any way will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, and the processing when the component is cached in the shared cache 134 will be described with reference to FIGS. Explanation will be made with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of step 20 (S20) in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, in step 200 (S200), the RIP unit 128 in FIG. 2 has the data size 140 of the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 in FIG. 4 larger than the first threshold value. It is determined whether or not.
Note that the first threshold is an upper limit of the data size of a component that can be cached in the individual cache 132 of FIG. 2, and is preset and stored in a memory or the like.
If the data size 140 of the component determined to be included in the page is larger than the first threshold value, the process proceeds to step 202; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 204.

In step 202 (S202), the RIP unit 128 determines the cache destination of the component included in the page rendered in step 102 as the shared cache 134 in FIG. 2, and proceeds to shared cache adjustment (S22).
The adjustment of the shared cache (S22) will be described later with reference to FIG.

In step 204 (S204), when the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 is cached in the individual cache 132, the RIP unit 128 determines that the free capacity of the individual cache 132 after the cache is the second capacity. It is determined whether or not it is smaller than the threshold value.
The second threshold is the lower limit of the free capacity of the individual cache 132, and is set in advance and stored in a memory or the like.
If the free capacity of the cached individual cache 132 is smaller than the second threshold value, the process proceeds to step 206; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 208.

  In step 206 (S206), the RIP unit 128 determines the cache destination of the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 as the shared cache 134, and proceeds to the shared cache adjustment (S22).

  In step 208 (S208), the RIP unit 128 renders the component determined to be included in the page in step 102, caches the rendered component in the individual cache 132, and proceeds to the processing of step 210.

  In step 210 (S210), the table stored in the table storage unit 130 is updated, and the process ends. Specifically, the component cached in step 208 is added to the table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the shared cache adjustment (S22).
As shown in FIG. 6, in step 220 (S220), the RIP unit 128 in FIG. 2 has the data size 140 of the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 in FIG. It is determined whether or not it is larger than the free space.
If the data size 140 of the page component is larger than the free capacity of the shared cache 134, the process proceeds to step 222. If not, the process proceeds to step 232.

In step 222 (S222), the RIP unit 128 determines a component to be deleted from the shared cache 134 based on the reuse status of the component cached in the shared cache 134, and proceeds to the processing in step 224.
Specifically, the RIP unit 128 refers to a table stored in the table storage unit 130 of another RIP unit 128 and is commonly included in the tables of the plurality of RIP units 128 (that is, the ID 136 and the incidental information). Among the components whose cache destination 142 is the shared cache 134), those whose reuse count 150 is smaller than the third threshold are determined as components to be deleted from the shared cache 134.
The third threshold is the number of times a cached component is reused among components included in a page rendered in a predetermined period, and is preset and stored in a memory or the like. Yes.

In step 224 (S224), the RIP unit 128 determines whether the time required for rendering of the component determined in step 222 is smaller than the fourth threshold value. If there are a plurality of components determined in step 222, the processing in steps 224 to 230 is repeated for each component.
Specifically, the RIP unit 128 refers to the table stored in the table storage unit 130 of FIG. 2 and determines whether or not the rendering time 146 of the component determined in step 222 is smaller than the fourth threshold value. To do.
Note that the fourth threshold is the time required for rendering by the components cached in the shared cache 134 or the individual cache 132, and is preset and stored in a memory or the like. If it is smaller than the fourth threshold value, the process proceeds to step 226. If not, it is determined whether or not the next component is smaller than the fourth threshold value.

  In step 226 (S226), the RIP unit 128 deletes the component for which the rendering time is determined to be smaller than the fourth threshold in step 224 from the shared cache 134, and proceeds to the process of step 228.

  In step 228 (S228), the RIP unit 128 updates the table stored in the table storage unit 130, and proceeds to the process of step 230. For example, the component deleted from the shared cache 134 in step 226 is deleted from the table.

In step 230 (S230), the RIP unit 128 determines whether the data size 140 of the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 is smaller than the free capacity of the shared cache 134 after the processing in step 226. To do.
If the data size 140 of the component determined to be included in the page is smaller than the free capacity of the shared cache 134, the process proceeds to step 232; otherwise, the configuration determined to be included in the page The processes in steps 224 to 230 are repeated until the data size 140 of the element becomes smaller than the free capacity of the shared cache 134.

  In step 232 (S232), the RIP unit 128 renders the component determined to be included in the page in step 102, caches the rendered component in the shared cache 134, and proceeds to the process of step 234.

  In step 234 (S234), the RIP unit 128 updates the table stored in the table storage unit 130. Specifically, the component cached in step 232 is added to the table.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of step 30 (S30) of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, in step 300 (S300), the RIP unit 128 in FIG. 2 transfers the components determined to be cached in the shared cache 134 in FIG. 2 in steps 110 and 112 in FIG. The data is read from 134 and reused for rendering the page read in step 100 of FIG.

  In step 302 (S302), the RIP unit 128 updates the table stored in the table storage unit 130 of FIG. 2, and proceeds to the process of step 304. Specifically, for the component reused for rendering in step 300, the reuse count 150 is counted up and the number of the rendered page is added to the page number 148.

In step 304 (S304), the RIP unit 128 determines whether the reuse count 150 in the page rendered in the predetermined period among the pages corresponding to the page number updated in step 302 is larger than the fifth threshold value. Determine whether or not. The fifth threshold is the number of times a cached component has been reused in a page rendered in a predetermined period, and is preset and stored in a memory or the like.
If the reuse count 150 is greater than the fifth threshold value, the process proceeds to step 306; otherwise, the process ends.

In step 306 (S306), the RIP unit 128 determines whether the data size 140 of the component reused in step 300 is smaller than the free capacity of the individual cache 132.
If the data size 140 of the component is smaller than the free capacity of the individual cache 132, the process proceeds to step 308. If not, the process proceeds to individual cache adjustment (S32).

In step 308 (S308), the RIP unit 128 saves the component reused in step 300 in the individual cache 132.
Note that saving means to cache out from one cache and then cache in to another cache.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the individual cache adjustment (S32) of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, in step 320 (S320), the RIP unit 128 in FIG. 2 refers to the table updated in step 302 in FIG. 7, and among the components whose cache destination 142 is the individual cache 132, It is determined whether or not there is a page whose number of reuses 150 in a page rendered in a predetermined period is smaller than a sixth threshold.
The sixth threshold is the number of times a cached component is reused in a page rendered in a predetermined period, and is preset and stored in a memory or the like.
If there is a component smaller than the sixth threshold value, the process proceeds to step 322, and if not, the process ends.

In step 322 (S322), the RIP unit 128 determines that the sum of the data sizes 140 of the components determined to have the reuse count 150 smaller than the sixth threshold value in step 320 is the component ( It is determined whether or not the data size is smaller than the data size 140 of the component that has been read from the shared cache 134 of FIG.
If the data size of the component reused in step 300 is smaller than 140, the process proceeds to step 324. If not, the process proceeds to step 336.

In step 324 (S324), the RIP unit 128 deletes the component determined in step 320 that the reuse count 150 is smaller than the sixth threshold value from the individual cache 132 or saves it in the shared cache 134.
When saving to the shared cache 134, the process of step 22 in FIG. 6 is performed to adjust the shared cache 134.

In step 326 (S326), the RIP unit 128 sets the reuse count 150 in the page rendered in a predetermined period for the components cached in the individual cache 132 after the processing in step 324 (and step 22). The component reused in step 300 is compared with the reuse count 150 in the page rendered in a predetermined period.
If the reuse count 150 of the component cached in the individual cache 132 after the processing of step 324 (and step 22) is less than the reuse count 150 of the component reused in step 300, the process of step 328 Proceed to processing.
If the number of reuses of the component reused in step 300 is the same as 150, the process proceeds to step 330.
If the number of reuses of the component reused in step 300 is greater than 150, the components not yet compared among the components cached in the individual cache 132 after the processing in step 324 (and step 22) Compare as well.

  In step 328 (S328), the RIP unit 128 extracts, from the individual cache 132, the components determined in step 326 among the components cached in the individual cache 132 after the processing in step 324 (and step 22). delete.

In step 330 (S330), the RIP unit 128 reuses the components cached in the individual cache 132 after the processing in step 324 (and step 22) in the period after the entire operation in FIG. 4 is started. The number of times 150 is compared with the number of times of reuse 150 in the period after the start of the overall operation for the component reused in step 300.
When the number of reuses 150 of the component cached in the individual cache 132 after the processing of step 324 (and step 22) is smaller, from among these components, the comparison is made. Delete from the individual cache 132.

  In step 332 (S332), the RIP unit 128 determines whether or not the data size 140 of the component reused in step 300 is smaller than the free capacity of the individual cache 132 after the processing in steps 328 and 330. If the data size 140 of the component reused in step 300 is smaller, the process proceeds to step 334. If not, the process returns to step 326.

  In step 334 (S334), the RIP unit 128 saves the component reused in step 300 to the individual cache 132.

  In step 336 (S336), the RIP unit 128 performs the same processing as that in step 324. In other words, the components determined to be reused less than the sixth threshold in step 320 are deleted from the individual cache 132 or saved in the shared cache 134 from those having the smaller reuse count.

  As described above, the cache can be efficiently used by adjusting the cache according to the components included in the page to be rendered and the situation of the cache destination. In addition, by providing individual caches and shared caches, it is possible to reduce the number of components that are reused more than when only individual caches are provided, and to increase the cache hit rate of the entire apparatus. . Further, compared to a case where only the shared cache is provided, complicated processing such as exclusive control associated with the reuse of the component is reduced, and the delay of the process associated with the reuse of the component can be reduced.

[Modification]
In the shared cache adjustment (S22) of FIG. 6, the components from the shared cache are determined based on the number of reuses and the rendering time until the data size of the component determined to be included in the page becomes smaller than the free capacity of the shared cache. Explained to delete.
However, there are cases where a component cannot be deleted from the shared cache.
Hereinafter, a modified example for dealing with such a case will be described.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a modification (S24) of the shared cache adjustment of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, the same processes as those in the shared cache adjustment of FIG. The modification of FIG. 9 is obtained by adding the processes of steps 236 to 246 to the shared cache adjustment of FIG. In FIG. 9, the added process is highlighted.

As shown in FIG. 9, in step 236 (S236), the RIP unit 128 of FIG. 2 determines whether there is a component temporarily saved in the individual cache 132 of FIG.
If there is a temporarily saved component, the process proceeds to step 238. If not, the process proceeds to step 220.
It is assumed that a temporary flag 150 (not shown) is added to the data string in the table shown in FIG. Whether or not it has been temporarily saved is determined by referring to the table stored in the table storage unit 130 of FIG. 2 and whether or not the temporary flag is on.

In step 238 (S238), the RIP unit 128 deletes the components cached in the shared cache 134 in FIG. 2 in the same manner as the processing in steps 222 to 230 in FIG. The component determined to be temporarily saved in 236 is preferentially cached.
If all the components determined to have been temporarily saved in step 236 are cached, the process proceeds to step 220. If not, the process ends (step 240 (S240)).

In step 242 (S242), the RIP unit 128 determines whether or not all the constituent elements determined to be deleted in step 222 have been deleted.
If all the components have been deleted, the process proceeds to step 244. If not, the processes of steps 224 to 230 are repeated.

In step 244 (S244), the RIP unit 128 determines whether the data size 140 of the component determined to be included in the page in step 102 of FIG. 4 is smaller than the free capacity of the individual cache 132. This determination is made for all RIP units 128. That is, it is determined whether or not the free capacity of all the individual caches 132 is smaller.
If the data size 140 of the component determined to be included in the page is smaller than the free capacity of the individual cache 132, the process proceeds to step 246. If not, the process ends.

In step 246 (S246), the RIP unit 128 temporarily saves the components determined to be included in the page in step 102 in the individual cache 132 and updates the table stored in the table storage unit 130.
The table is updated for all RIP units 128. That is, the tables stored in all the table storage units 130 are updated. Here, the actual cache destination is the individual cache 132, but the cache destination of the table may be the common cache 134 so that it is not accidentally deleted by another RIP unit 128.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 100 Control part 102 Marking engine 104 Exposure apparatus 106 Image forming unit 108 Paper conveyance belt 110 Fixing device 112 Photoreceptor drum 114 Charging device 116 Development roll 118 Transfer roll 120 Print instruction reception part 122 Print instruction control part 124 Controller 126 RIP control unit 128 RIP unit 130 Table storage unit 132 Individual cache 134 Shared cache 2 Client PC

Claims (8)

A plurality of information processing units;
A storage unit for temporarily storing information processed by the plurality of information processing units;
An electronic device comprising: deletion means for deleting information stored in the storage unit according to the number of times the information processing unit has been reused. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the deleting unit deletes information stored in the storage unit according to processing times of the plurality of information processing units. The storage unit
An individual storage unit provided in each of the plurality of information processing units;
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a shared storage unit shared by the plurality of information processing units. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing unit is an image processing unit that processes an image. 5. The deletion unit deletes information stored in the shared storage unit according to the number of times the information processing unit has reused information on a page image-processed during a predetermined period. An electronic device according to 1. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the deletion unit deletes information stored in the shared storage unit according to time of image processing by the plurality of information processing units. When storing information processed by the plurality of information processing units in the shared storage unit, when the deletion unit cannot delete the information stored in the shared storage unit, the information is temporarily stored in the individual storage unit. The electronic device according to claim 5 or 6. In an electronic device including a plurality of information processing units, a storage unit that temporarily stores information processed by the plurality of information processing units, and a computer,
A program that causes a computer to execute a step of deleting information stored in the storage unit according to the number of times the information processing unit is reused.

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