JP2013078873A - Image processing device and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve processing acceleration in an image processing device including a plurality of processors for image processing.SOLUTION: The image processing device, which includes the plurality of image processors, executes processing needed for printing printing data by sharing the processing with the respective processors. The image processing device includes a target processing data acquisition part which acquires at least part of the printing data as target processing data, and a control part which instructs the plurality of processors to share the processing about the target processing data. The control part selectively executes a first mode where shared processors are switched between a monochrome section and a color section out of the target processing data, and a second mode where the target processing data are divided into two regions and the shared processors are switched between one region and the other region.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique that includes a plurality of processors and that performs processing necessary for printing data for printing in a shared manner by each processor.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printers of the type that record dots by forming dots with ink ejected from a head are known as one of computer output devices. The computer generates various types of image processing such as halftone processing to generate print data that is dot on / off data and sends it to the printer. Image processing is executed by a processor, but some computers have a plurality of processors. In such a computer, image processing can be performed at high speed by switching a processor to be shared between the monochrome portion and the color portion of the printing data to be printed (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-188985 A

  However, in the conventional technology, depending on the type of print data, while one processor is executing a process, the other processor may frequently enter a waiting state without performing the process. is there. For this reason, there is a problem that the processing speed cannot be sufficiently increased.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to increase the processing speed in an image processing apparatus including a plurality of image processing processors.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

Application Example 1 An image processing apparatus that includes a plurality of processors and executes processing necessary for printing print data in a shared manner by the processors, and at least a part of the print data is processed A processing target data acquisition unit that acquires the data; and a control unit that instructs the plurality of processors to share the processing with respect to the processing target data. The control unit includes: The first mode for switching the processor to be shared between the black and white portion and the color portion, and the processing target data are divided into two regions, and the processor to be shared between one region and the other region An image processing apparatus that selectively executes a second mode to be switched.
According to this image processing apparatus, the control unit includes a first mode in which the processor sharing between the monochrome portion and the color portion of the processing target data is switched, and the processing target data divided into two regions. A second mode in which the processor assigned to one area and the other area is switched is selectively executed. For this reason, it becomes possible to appropriately execute a plurality of processors in accordance with the processing target data, and the processing speed can be increased.

Application Example 2 In the image processing apparatus according to Application Example 1, the image processing apparatus includes an image determination unit that determines whether the processing target data is mixed data in which the monochrome part and the color part are mixed. When it is determined that the processing target data is the mixed data, the control unit instructs the sharing of the processing in the first mode, and when the processing target data is determined not to be the mixed data An image processing apparatus that instructs sharing of the processing in the second mode.
According to this image processing apparatus, when the processing target data is not mixed data, that is, when the data is black data or color data, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of a processor that is in a waiting state in the first mode.

Application Example 3 In the image processing apparatus according to Application Example 1, each of the processors includes a process end notification unit that notifies the end of the process shared by the control unit, and notifies the end of the process. The unit instructs the sharing of the processing according to the first mode, receives the notification from the processing end determination unit, and receives each of the first group of processors and the second group of processors on the one side. An image processing apparatus that, when it is determined that the processing has been completed by a processor, instructs the sharing of the processing in the second mode with respect to the remaining data shared by the other processor.
According to this image processing apparatus, when a processor that is in a waiting state occurs in the first mode, processing for data remaining in the processor in the first mode can be sent to the processor that is in a waiting state. Therefore, the processing speed can be increased.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be realized in various forms other than the first to third application examples. For example, the present invention can be implemented as an image processing method corresponding to the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third application examples. A form as a computer program for causing a computer to execute the steps of the image processing method, a form as a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded, a data signal embodied in a carrier wave including the computer program, etc. It can be realized in the form. As the recording medium, for example, various media such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a memory card, and a hard disk can be used.

1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a printing system 100 as a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the sharing instruction | indication process performed by CPU controller 217. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of mixed data. It is a flowchart which shows the sharing instruction | indication process in 2nd Example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples.
A. First embodiment:
A-1. Overall system configuration:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a printing system 100 as a first embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, the printing system 100 includes a host computer 200 and a printer 300. The host computer 200 and the printer 300 are connected by a USB cable 120. The host computer 200 transmits print data to the printer 300 via the USB cable 120, and the printer 300 prints an image on a sheet as a print medium based on the print data received from the host computer 200.

  The host computer 200 includes a computer main body 210, a display device 220, a keyboard 230, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 240 as peripheral devices. The computer main body 210 includes a CPU 211, a RAM 212, a ROM 213, a display device controller 214, a keyboard controller 215, an HDD controller 216, a CPU controller 217, a communication interface (I / F) 218, and the like. These components 211 to 218 are connected to each other via a bus 219. A display device 220 is connected to the display device controller 214, a keyboard 230 is connected to the keyboard controller 215, and an HDD 240 is connected to the HDD controller 216. A USB cable 120 is connected to the communication I / F 218.

  The CPU 211 performs various processes by executing computer programs stored in the ROM 213 and the HDD 240 using the RAM 212 as a work area. For example, the CPU 211 performs print data generation processing that performs image processing on print data prepared in advance and transmits the obtained processed data to the printer 300 as print data. The print data may be prepared by acquiring from the outside via an external memory (not shown) or a network, or may be prepared by generating in the host computer 200.

  The CPU 211 is a so-called multi-core processor, and includes a first processor core CO1 and a second processor core CO2 in this embodiment. The processor data CO1 and CO2 share and execute the print data generation process. This sharing is instructed to the CPU 211 by the CPU controller 217. The CPU controller 217 gives the above instruction according to a computer program (which describes sharing instruction processing described later) stored in its own memory. The computer program can be stored in the HDD 240 and loaded into the memory. Moreover, it can replace with HDD240 and can replace with other recording media, such as CD-ROM and a memory card, and can also be distributed through various communication means, such as the internet. The components of the host computer 200 shown in FIG. 1 are merely examples, and some of the components of the host computer 200 can be omitted or additional components can be added to the host computer 200. For example, the function of the CPU controller 217 can be executed by the CPU 211, and the CPU controller 217 can be omitted.

  The printer 300 includes a controller unit 310, a printing unit 320 and an operation panel 330 that are controlled by the controller unit 310. The controller unit 310 includes a CPU 311, a RAM 312, a ROM 313, a printing unit interface (I / F) 314, an operation panel interface (I / F) 315, a communication interface (I / F) 318, and the like. These components 311 to 318 are connected to each other via a bus 319. A printing unit 320 is connected to the printing unit I / F 314, and an operation panel 330 is connected to the operation panel I / F 315. A USB cable 120 is connected to the communication I / F 318.

  The ROM 313 stores an image forming program for forming an image on a print medium. The CPU 311 executes the image forming program to control the printing unit 320 to perform an image forming process for forming an image with ink dots on the printing medium. The printing unit 320 includes functional units necessary for actually forming an image on a print medium, such as an ink cartridge that stores ink, a print head, and a platen. There are four types of ink, cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K). In the present embodiment, the printer 300 is configured as a so-called line head printer, and can perform high-speed printing (for example, 60 pages or more per minute). The operation panel 313 is an operation unit for the user to perform various settings related to print processing. The user can instruct the controller unit 310 by operating the operation panel 313 to set the type and size of the print medium and to cancel the printing. The print data generation process executed by the host computer 200 and the image formation process executed by the printer 300 will be described next.

A-2. Processing details:
The print data to be transmitted to the printing unit 320 of the printer 300 needs to be dot on / off data, and halftone processing in which the gradation of image data is represented by the distribution of dots is performed in print data generation processing and image formation processing. It must be executed at any stage. In the present embodiment, when the data to be printed is black data, the halftone process is performed by the print data generation process on the host computer 200 side. That is, the host computer 200 performs rendering processing and halftone processing in this order as print data generation processing. The printer 300 performs print data output processing for sending dot on / off data obtained by halftone processing to the printing unit 320 as image forming processing. The “black data” corresponds to black text data and black graphic data.

  When the image data to be printed is color data, the halftone process is performed by an image forming process on the printer 300 side. That is, the host computer 200 performs rendering processing and compression processing in this order as print data generation processing, and the printer 300 performs decompression processing, halftone processing, and print data output processing in this order as image formation processing. Here, “color data” is color data other than the black data, and includes grayscale data. As described above, in the host computer 200, the print data generation process is shared and executed by the first processor core CO1 and the second processor core CO2, which will be described in detail below.

A-3. CPU controller processing:
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a sharing instruction process executed by the CPU controller 217 of the host computer 200. As shown in the figure, when the process is started, the CPU controller 217 obtains band data from the printing data to be printed (step S110). Band data is data of one band obtained by dividing data for one page into a plurality of bands in the horizontal direction, for example, data for one row of a predetermined width. The band data corresponds to “processing target data” described in the column “Application Example 1”.

  Next, the CPU controller 217 determines whether or not the band data acquired in step S110 is mixed data in which a black and white part and a color part are mixed (step S120). The black and white portion is data represented by black and white binary, and is a portion represented by the black data described above. The color part is a part represented by color data.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of mixed data. As shown in the figure, black text data (part illustrated by a horizontal line in the drawing) Dt and color data (color image data) Dp such as a photograph are included in one page of data included in the printing data PRD. ing. The areas indicated by broken lines in the figure are band data B1 and B2. The lower band data B2 is not mixed data because only the black text data Dt is included. Since the upper band data B1 includes black text data Dt and color data Dp, it corresponds to mixed data.

  If it is determined in step S120 that the band data is mixed data, the CPU controller 217 assigns the black and white portion of the band data (black text data Dt in FIG. 3) to the first processor core CO1. The color portion (color data Dp in FIG. 3) is assigned to the second processor core CO2 (step S130). That is, the CPU controller 217 instructs the division of roles so that the print data generation processing for the black and white portion is executed in parallel by the first processor core CO1, and the print data generation processing for the color portion is executed in parallel by the second processor core CO2. .

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S120 that the band data is not mixed data, that is, black data occupying the entire area of the black and white portion or color data occupying the entire area of the color portion, the CPU controller 217 Data is divided into a first half and a second half, the first half is assigned to the first processor core CO1, and the second half is assigned to the second processor core CO2 (step S140). That is, the CPU controller 217 instructs the division of roles so that the print data generation process for the first half is executed in parallel by the first processor core CO1, and the print data generation process for the second half is executed in parallel by the second processor core CO2. . The first half is data representing the front half of the band data, and the second half is data representing the rear half of the band data. It should be noted that the first half and the second half do not need to be equally divided, and instead, they can be of different sizes. Further, the first half can be replaced with the second processor core CO2, and the second half can be replaced with the first processor core CO1.

  After executing step S130 or S140, the CPU controller 217 determines whether or not the band data acquired from the print data is the last (step S150). If it is determined that the band data is not the last, the process proceeds to step S110. The processing is returned and the next band data is acquired. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S150 that the band data is the last, the process returns to “RETURN” and this sharing instruction process is temporarily terminated.

As a result of the sharing instruction process configured as described above, the print data generation process is executed according to the following cases (i) to (iii).
(I) When the band data is mixed data For the black and white portion of the band data, rendering processing → halftone processing is executed by the first processor core CO1. For the color portion of the band data, rendering processing → compression processing is executed by the second processor core CO2. The former and the latter are executed in parallel. The mode in the case of the mixed data corresponds to the “first mode” described in the column “Application Example 1”.
(Ii) When the band data is black data For the first half of the band data, rendering processing → halftone processing is executed by the first processor core CO1. For the latter half of the band data, rendering processing → halftone is executed by the second processor core CO2. The former and the latter are executed in parallel.
(Iii) When the band data is color data For the first half of the band data, rendering processing → compression processing is executed by the first processor core CO1. For the latter half of the band data, rendering processing → compression processing is executed by the second processor core CO2. The former and the latter are executed in parallel. The mode in the case of (ii) and (iii) corresponds to the “second mode” described in the column “Application Example 1”.

A-4. Example effect:
Therefore, according to the printing system 100 of the first embodiment, not only when the band data is mixed data, but also when the band data is black data or color data, the print data executed by the host computer 200. The generation process is shared by the first and second processor cores CO1 and CO2 and executed in parallel. As a result, the processing speed can be increased.

B. Second embodiment:
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The printing system according to the second embodiment has the same hardware configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the configuration of the sharing instruction process executed by the host computer 200, which is software, is different. In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment will be described below using the same reference numerals.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a sharing instruction process executed by the CPU controller 217 of the host computer 200. The processes in steps S110, S130, and S150 in FIG. 4 are the same as the processes in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, and are given the same step numbers. That is, band data is acquired from the printing data (step S110), and initially, the black and white portion of the band data is assigned to the first processor core CO1, and the color portion is assigned to the second processor core CO2 ( Step S130).

  When the processor cores CO1 and CO2 receive the processing assignment from the CPU controller 217, the processor cores CO1 and CO2 send a notice of completion to the CPU controller 217 at the end of the assigned processing.

  In step S210 following step S130, the CPU controller 217 determines whether or not a processing end notification has been received from one of the first and second processor cores CO1 and CO2 (step S210). It is determined whether or not a processing end notification has been received from (step S220). If it is determined in step S210 that the processing end notification has been received from one processor core CO1 (CO2), and it is determined in step S220 that the processing end notification has not been received from the other processor core CO2 (CO1), the CPU The controller 217 divides data remaining in the other processor core CO2 (CO1) (hereinafter referred to as “residual data”) into a first half and a second half, and the first half is assigned to the other processor core CO2 (CO1). The latter half is assigned to the one processor core CO1 (CO2) (step S230). Note that the assignment destinations of the first half and the second half can be reversed. In addition, the first half and the second half do not need to be equally divided, and may have different sizes.

  According to the processing in step S230, the remaining data is shared by both processor cores CO1 and CO2 and processed in parallel. If the residual data is a black and white portion, rendering processing and halftone processing are performed by both processor cores CO1 and CO2. If the residual data is a color portion, rendering is performed by both processor cores CO1 and CO2. Processing and compression processing are performed.

  After executing step S230, the process returns to step S210. If it is determined in step S210 that no processing end notification has been received from one processor core CO1 (CO2), step S210 is repeatedly executed.

  If it is determined in step S220 that the other processor core CO2 (CO1) has also received a process end notification, the CPU controller 217 advances the process to step S150 to obtain the band data acquired from the print data. Is determined to be the last, and if it is determined not to be the last, the process returns to step S110 to acquire the next band data. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S150 that the band data is the last, the process returns to “RETURN” and this sharing instruction process is temporarily terminated.

  Therefore, according to the printing system 100 of the second embodiment, in the first mode in which the processor cores CO1 and CO2 that share the black and white portion and the color portion of the band data are switched, one processor core CO1 ( When the processing ends in CO2) and enters a wait state, the remaining data in the processor core CO2 (CO1) that has not finished processing may be passed to the processor core CO1 (CO2) in the wait state. it can. Therefore, the processing speed can be increased.

C. Variations:
The first and second embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various configurations can be adopted without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, a function realized by software may be realized by hardware. In addition, the following modifications are possible.

  In each of the above embodiments, the CPU 211 is a multi-core processor so that a plurality of processors are mounted on the computer main body 210. Alternatively, a configuration in which a plurality of CPUs (processors) are mounted on the computer main body may be used. Good. Moreover, in each Example, although it was set as the structure provided with two processor cores, it is good also as a structure provided with three or more processor cores instead. In this case, three or more processor cores may be divided into two groups, and processing may be shared by the first group of processors and the second group of processors.

  In the first embodiment, whether or not the band data is mixed data is regarded as mixed data even if one of the black and white part and the color part is a minute amount. May be regarded as not being mixed data, for example, when the amount is less than 1%, for example, less than 1%.

  In each of the embodiments and modifications described above, the host computer as the image processing apparatus is equipped with a plurality of processors and the present invention is applied to the host computer side. Instead, a plurality of processors are provided in the printer. It is good also as a structure which mounts and applies this invention to the printer side. Since various types of image processing are also performed in the printer, the present invention can be applied so that this image processing is performed by each processor.

  It should be noted that elements other than those described in the independent claims among the constituent elements in the above-described embodiments and modifications are additional elements and can be omitted as appropriate. The present invention is not limited to these examples and modifications, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Printing system 200 ... Host computer 210 ... Computer main body 211 ... CPU
212 ... RAM
213 ... ROM
214 ... Display device controller 215 ... Keyboard controller 216 ... HDD controller 217 ... CPU controller 219 ... Bus 220 ... Display device 230 ... Keyboard 240 ... Hard disk drive (HDD)
300 ... Printer 310 ... Controller 311 ... CPU
312 ... RAM
313 ... ROM
315: Operation panel interface 318: Communication interface 319 ... Bus 320 ... Printing unit 330 ... Operation panel CO1 ... First processor core CO2 ... Second processor core

Claims (4)

An image processing apparatus comprising a plurality of processors and executing the processing necessary for printing the printing data in a shared manner by the processors,
A processing target data acquisition unit that acquires at least a part of the print data as processing target data;
A control unit that instructs the plurality of processors to share the processing with respect to the processing target data;
The controller is
A first mode for switching the processor to be shared between a black and white portion and a color portion of the processing target data;
An image processing apparatus that selectively executes a second mode in which the processing target data is divided into two areas and the processor to be shared is switched between one area and the other area. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1,
An image determination unit for determining whether the processing target data is mixed data in which the black and white portion and the color portion are mixed;
The controller is
When it is determined that the processing target data is the mixed data, the sharing of the processing is instructed by the first mode,
An image processing apparatus that instructs sharing of the processing in the second mode when it is determined that the processing target data is not the mixed data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1,
Each of the processors includes a process end notification unit that notifies the end of the process shared by the control unit,
The controller is
Instructing the sharing of the processing by the first mode,
In response to the notification from the processing end determination unit, when it is determined that the processing has been completed in each of the processors on one side of the first group of processors and the second group of processors, An image processing apparatus that instructs sharing of the processing in the second mode with respect to remaining data shared by the processors. An image processing method in which processing necessary for printing image data is shared by a plurality of processors and executed.
Obtaining at least a part of the image data as processing target data;
Instructing the plurality of processors to share the processing for the processing target data,
The step of instructing the sharing of the processing includes
A first mode for switching the processor to be shared between a black and white portion and a color portion of the processing target data;
An image processing method for selectively executing a second mode in which the processing target data is divided into two regions and the processor to be shared is switched between one region and the other region.

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