JP2017076358A - Information processing apparatus, control method of information processing apparatus, and program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in a ring bus configuration where processing modules for an expansion processing unit to be attached to a ring bus with a connector are provided to expand the function of an image forming apparatus, that the path of the ring bus needs to be switched between a case where new module are attached via the connector and a case where modules are not connected.SOLUTION: There is provided an information processing apparatus including a ring bus, the information processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of processing modules that are connected onto the ring bus; a connector for an expansion processing unit that is optionally attached to the information processing apparatus; a detection means that detects that the expansion processing unit is attached to the connector; and a bus switching means that, when the detection means detects the attachment of the expansion processing unit, switches the path of the ring bus so that the expansion processing modules in the expansion processing unit are connected to the ring bus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of changing the bus configuration of a ring bus and a control method thereof.

There is a so-called ring bus structure in which a plurality of modules are connected to a ring-shaped bus, respectively, to transfer data in a single direction. It may be necessary to change the configuration of the ring bus.
Conventionally, as a method for changing a ring bus configuration, a technique is known in which a master module outputs data for changing the bus configuration to a data transfer path and changes the bus configuration in a slave module (Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2011-8541 A

In the device described in Patent Document 1, a plurality of modules are connected in a ring shape with a plurality of paths, and processing is performed by switching the ring bus according to input data. However, the one described in Patent Document 1 selects a ring bus route so as to connect a necessary module from a plurality of existing modules, and a new module cannot be added later.
Therefore, in a ring bus configuration in which a module connected to the ring bus via a connector is provided to expand the function of the image forming apparatus, the ring bus is used when a new module is connected via the connector and when no module is connected. There has been a demand for a configuration that can be easily switched.

  The present invention is an information processing apparatus having a ring bus, a plurality of processing modules connected on the ring bus, a connector for an extension processing unit that is optionally attached to the information processing apparatus, and the connector Detection means for detecting that the extension processing unit is attached to the ring bus, and when the detection means detects the attachment of the extension processing unit, the extension processing module in the extension processing unit passes through the path of the ring bus. Bus switching means for changing the connection so as to be connected.

  According to the present invention, in the configuration in which the extension processing module connected to the ring bus is connected via the connector, the ring bus forming unit for forming the ring bus is mounted even when the module is not connected. The ring bus can be formed without any problem. In addition, when a module to be connected via a connector is connected, the ring bus can be changed by switching to a route via the connector.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the structure of the image process part of the Example of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus of the other Example of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the image process part of the other Example of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the controller unit of another Example of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus of another Example of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the image process part of another Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the process of the control part after the license information input of another Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the process of the control part to the bus switching setting register part of another Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the process of the control part to the bus switching setting register part of the other Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment for implementing an information processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking an image forming apparatus which is one of image processing apparatuses as an example.

[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
The image forming apparatus 100 includes a controller unit 110, an HDD 160, an operation unit 350, a scanner unit 300, and a print unit 400.
The controller unit 110 governs overall control of the image forming apparatus 100. The controller unit 110 includes a control unit 120, a RAM 130, a ROM 140, an HDD I / F control unit 150, an image processing unit 170, and an expansion connector 180.

The control unit 120 controls each component of the controller unit 110, the operation unit 350, the scanner unit 300, and the printing unit 400 according to the program stored in the ROM 140.
The RAM 130 functions as a work area when the control unit 120 operates.
The ROM 140 stores a program used by the control unit 120.

  The HDD I / F control unit 150 is connected to the control unit via the bus 200 and is further connected to the HDD 160 via the bus 240. The control unit 120 can record data in the HDD 160 or read out data recorded in the HDD 160 via the HDD I / F control unit 150.

The HDD 160 is a non-volatile storage device that stores data. The storage device may be a storage device other than the HDD (for example, SSD).
The image processing unit 170 performs processing suitable for the print unit 400 on the read image data input by the scanner unit 300.

The expansion connector 180 is a connector for mounting an expansion processing unit 600 that adds a function to the image forming apparatus 100.
The operation unit 350 provides various types of information to the user via the display, and inputs various instructions from the user via buttons and the like.

The scanner unit 300 reads a document and inputs image data.
The print unit 400 prints the image data processed by the image processing unit 170 on the image data input from the scanner unit 300.
The control unit 120, RAM 130, ROM 140, HDD I / F control unit 150, image processing unit 170, operation unit 350, scanner unit 300, and print unit 400 are connected by a bus 200.

  The image processing unit 170 and the expansion connector 180 are connected by an output ring bus 210, an input ring bus 220, and a ring bus switching signal 230. The output ring bus 210 and the input ring bus 220 are buses composed of a data signal, a clock signal, and a strobe signal.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image processing unit 170. 2A is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which the expansion processing unit 600 is not connected to the expansion connector 180, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which the expansion processing unit 600 is connected to the expansion connector 180. It is.
The image processing unit 170 includes an input / output control unit 500, an image processing module A510, an image processing module B520, an image processing module C530, and a bus switching unit 540.

The input / output control unit 500 is connected to the control unit 120 via the bus 200. When the control unit 120 receives a control command issued according to the program stored in the ROM 140, the input / output control unit 500 controls the image processing module A510 according to the received control command.
The image processing module A 510, the image processing module B 520, and the image processing module C 530 are modules that perform image processing on the image data transmitted from the control unit 120 to the image processing unit 170.

  The bus switching unit 540 is a switching circuit that switches a ring bus route. The bus switching unit 540 switches the bus input to the image processing module A to the bus 260 or the bus 270 by the bus switching signal 290. Bus switching signal 290 is connected to ring bus switching signal 230. The logic of the ring bus switching signal 230 is low when the expansion processing unit 600 is not attached to the expansion connector 180, when the ring bus switching signal 230 is processed (for example, when the ring bus switching signal 230 is pulled down). Level). The ring bus switching signal 230 is an output value of the bus setting unit 640 when the expansion processing unit 600 is attached to the expansion connector 180. The output value of the bus setting unit 640 is opposite to the logic of the ring bus switching signal 230.

A ring bus inside the image processing unit 170 is formed by a bus 240, a bus 250, a bus 260, and a bus 280, and an image processing module A 510, an image processing module B 520, and an image processing module C 530 are connected to the ring bus. . Then, image data and setting data for setting the image processing module A, the image processing module B, and the image processing module C on the ring bus in a single direction are transmitted.
The bus 260 is also connected to the output bus 210.

In addition to the bus 260, the bus switching unit 540 is connected to the bus 270 and the bus switching signal 290. Further, the bus 270 is connected to the input ring bus 220, and the bus switching signal 290 is connected to the ring bus switching signal 230. ing.
At this time, the bus switching unit 540 connects the bus 260 to the bus 280 according to the logic of the bus switching signal 290.
A ring bus outside the image processing unit 170 is formed by a bus 240, a bus 250, a bus 260, an output ring bus 210, a bus 620, a bus 630, an input ring bus 220, a bus 270, and a bus 280. At this time, the bus switching unit 540 connects the bus 270 to the bus 280 according to the logic of the bus switching signal 290.

The extended processing unit 600 includes an image processing chip 610 and a bus setting unit 640. A new function is added to the image forming apparatus 100 when the expansion processing unit 600 is attached.
The image processing chip 610 is a processing module having a new image processing function different from the image processing performed on the image data by the image processing module A 510, the image processing module B 520, and the image processing module C 530.
The expansion processing unit 600 can be mounted as an optional unit upon request from the user.
The bus setting unit 640 outputs a signal for switching the bus from the bus 260 to the bus 270 to the bus switching unit 540. When the processing of the ring bus switching signal 230 is set to Pull Down processing and the logic of the ring bus switching signal 230 is set to Low, the bus setting unit 640 is connected to a power source via a resistor (not shown). When the expansion processing unit 600 is connected, the logic of the ring bus switching signal 230 becomes High.

[Operation: Extended processing unit 600 is not connected]
Next, switching of ring bus settings when the expansion processing unit 600 is attached to the image processing unit 170 will be described.
First, an operation in a state where the extended processing unit 600 in FIG. 2 (a) is not connected will be described. In this state, the bus switching unit 540 connects the bus 240, the bus 250, the bus 260, and the bus 280 in this order to form a ring bus. The image processing module A 510, the image processing module B 520, and the image processing module C 530 are connected on the ring bus.
Here, since the ring bus switching signal 230 has been pulled down, it goes low and is input to the bus switching unit 540 as the bus switching signal 290.
The bus switching unit 540 selects the bus 260 and is connected to the bus 280 because the input ring bus switching signal 230 is at a low level.

[Operation: Switching operation to the state where the extended processing unit 600 is connected]
Next, the switching operation to the state where the extended processing unit 600 of FIG. 2B is connected will be described.
The bus setting unit 640 in the extension processing unit outputs a ring bus switching signal 230 for switching the bus to be connected from the bus 260 to the bus 270 to the bus switching unit 540.
When the expansion processing unit 600 is connected to the expansion connector 180, the logic of the ring bus switching signal 230 becomes High by the output of the bus setting unit 640.
The bus switching unit 540 receives the ring bus switching signal 230 and switches the bus connected to the bus 280 from the bus 260 to the bus 270.
In this way, the bus 240, bus 250, bus 260, output ring bus 210, bus 620, bus 630, input ring bus 220, bus 270, and bus 280 are connected to form an external ring bus.
Further, the image processing module A 510, the image processing module B 520, the image processing module C 530, and the image processing chip 610 of the expansion processing module are connected to an external ring bus.

  According to the first embodiment, the bus switching unit 540 switches the bus connected to the bus 280 from the bus 260 to the bus 270 based on the output of the bus setting unit 640 provided in the expansion processing unit 600. Thus, the ring bus configuration can be changed. Then, with the new ring bus configuration, the image processing chip 610 provided in the expansion processing unit 600 can be incorporated into the ring bus of the image processing unit, and a new function can be provided.

In the first embodiment, the ring bus switching signal 230 is provided to change the ring bus route. In the second embodiment, an example will be described in which the route of the ring bus is changed by signals constituting the bus of the ring bus.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus 105 according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
The image forming apparatus 105 has the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 100 except for the controller unit 115.

  The controller unit 115 has the same configuration as the controller unit 110 except for the image processing unit 800. The image processing unit 800 is connected to the expansion connector 180, the output ring bus 210, and the input ring bus 220. In the second embodiment, the image processing unit 800 does not have a terminal for inputting the ring bus switching signal 230.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image processing unit 800 according to the second embodiment.
The image processing unit 800 is obtained by adding a clock detection unit 700 to the configuration of the image processing unit 170.
The clock detection unit 700 detects the clock signal of the signal on the input ring bus 220. When detecting that a clock signal has been input, the clock detection unit 700 generates and outputs a bus switching signal 290 to the bus switching unit 540 so that the bus connected to the bus 280 is changed from the bus 260 to the bus 270.

  In the second embodiment, the example of generating the bus switching signal 290 for switching the bus switching unit 540 by detecting the input of the clock signal constituting the ring bus has been described. The second embodiment has an effect that the path of the ring bus can be changed without newly providing a signal input terminal in the image processing unit.

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the image processing unit has a bus switching unit has been described. In the third embodiment, a case where a bus switching unit is provided outside the image processing unit will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the controller unit 118 according to the third embodiment. The difference between the controller unit 118, the controller unit 110 of the first embodiment, and the controller unit 115 of the second embodiment is that a bus switching unit 910 is provided outside the image processing unit 900.
The bus switching unit 910 switches the ring bus signal to be input to the image processing unit 900 between the output ring bus 210 and the input ring bus 220 based on the ring bus switching signal 230.

  According to the third embodiment, when there is no ring bus switching circuit inside the image processing unit 900, a switching circuit is provided outside the image processing unit 900, so that the expansion processing module is not attached to the expansion connector. A ring bus can be formed. When an expansion processing module is connected, a ring bus passing through the expansion module can be formed by the external bus switching unit 910.

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the image processing unit has a bus switching unit has been described. In the third embodiment, the case where the bus switching unit is provided outside the image processing unit has been described. In the fourth embodiment, a case where the image processing unit has a bus switching unit and the processing unit 120 controls the bus switching unit will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 106 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
The image forming apparatus 106 has the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 100 except for the controller unit 116.

  The controller unit 116 has the same configuration as the controller unit 115 except for the image processing unit 860 and the license information storage unit 870. The image processing unit 860 is connected to the expansion connector 180, the output ring bus 210, and the input ring bus 220. The input / output signals of the image processing unit 860 of the fourth embodiment are the same as those of the image processing unit 800 of the second embodiment. However, the internal blocks of the image processing unit 860 are different between the fourth embodiment and the second embodiment.

  The license information storage unit 870 is a non-volatile memory that holds license information. The initial value of the license information storage unit 870 is “0”. When the user connects the function expansion unit 600 to the expansion connector 180 of the controller unit 116, the user inputs license information from the operation unit 350 so that the function expansion unit 600 can be used in the image forming apparatus. When detecting the input of license information, the control unit 120 writes “1” in the license information storage unit 870. When the user deletes the license information, the control unit 120 writes “0” in the license information storage unit 870. In the fourth embodiment, the license information storage unit 870 is provided in the controller unit 116, but the license information may be held in the HDD 160. Further, when the ROM 140 is a readable / writable memory, the license information may be held in the ROM 140.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image processing unit 860 according to the fourth embodiment.
The image processing unit 860 is obtained by changing the clock detection unit 700 to the bus switching setting register unit 760 from the configuration of the image processing unit 800.

  In the bus switching setting register unit 760, a register value is set by the control unit 120 via the input / output control unit 500. The bus switching setting register unit 760 has an initial value “0”. At this time, the bus switching signal 290 becomes Low. When the bus switching setting register unit 760 is “0” and the bus switching signal 290 is Low, the bus switching unit 540 changes the bus connected to the bus 280 to the bus 260. When the control unit 120 writes 1 to the bus switching setting register unit 540 via the input / output control unit 500, the bus switching setting register unit 760 outputs High to the bus switching signal 290. When the bus switching signal 290 is High, the bus switching unit 540 changes the bus connected to the bus 280 from the bus 260 to the bus 270.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating processing of the control unit 120 when inputting license information according to the fourth embodiment. In step S101, the control unit 120 performs a process of detecting license information input for allowing the user to use the function expansion unit 600 from the operation unit 350 in the image forming apparatus. When the user inputs license information from the operation unit 350, the control unit 120 acquires the license information via the bus 200.

  In step S102, the control unit 120 performs processing for acquiring correct license information recorded in advance. Correct license information is recorded in advance in a nonvolatile memory such as the HDD 160 or the ROM 140.

  In step S103, the control unit 120 performs processing for confirming whether the acquired license information is correct. This is a process in which the control unit 120 compares the license information read from the nonvolatile memory such as the HDD 160 or the ROM 140 with the input license information in step S102. When the control unit 120 determines in step S103 that the input license information is correct, the process proceeds to step S104. If the control unit 120 does not determine that the input license information is correct in step S103, the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S104, the control unit 120 performs a process of writing “1” in the license information storage unit 870.
In step S105, the control unit 120 issues a restart command. When the control unit 120 issues a restart command, the image processing unit 860, the HDD I / F control unit 150, the operation unit 350, the scanner unit 300, and the printing unit 400 of the controller unit 116 are reset once. At the same time, the control unit 120 activates an initialization sequence. As a result, the image forming apparatus 106 is restarted.

  In step S106, the control unit 120 issues a license error display command. This command is issued to the operation unit 350. When the operation unit 350 receives this command, the operation unit 350 displays a message on a display unit (not shown) in the operation unit 350. A message displayed by a display unit (not shown) is a message that notifies the user that the input license information is incorrect and prompts the user to re-enter the license information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating processing of the control unit 120 for the bus switching setting register unit 760 according to the fourth embodiment.
9 is performed by the control unit 120 according to a program stored in the ROM 140 when the system of the controller unit 116 is activated.

In step S201, the control unit 120 performs a process of reading the value in the license information storage unit 870.
In step S202, the control unit 120 performs a process of determining whether or not the value read in step S201 is “1”. If the control unit 120 determines that the value read from the license information storage unit 870 is “1” in step S202, the process proceeds to step S203. If the control unit 120 does not determine that the value read from the license information storage unit 870 is “1” in step S202, the process ends.

  In step S203, the control unit 120 issues an instruction to write “1” to the bus switching setting register unit 760 to the input / output control unit 500. When receiving the write command, the input / output control unit 500 writes “1” in the bus switching setting register unit 760. The output 290 of the bus switching setting register unit 760 is input to the bus switching unit 540, and the bus switching unit 540 switches the bus to be connected from the bus 260 to the bus 270. In this embodiment, the control unit 120 writes “1” to the bus switching setting register unit 760 via the input / output control unit 500. The switching setting register unit 760 may be connected to the bus 200 inside the image processing unit 860, and the control unit 120 may directly write “1” into the switching setting register unit 760.

  In the fourth embodiment, the example of generating the bus switching signal 290 for switching the bus switching unit 540 depending on the presence or absence of license information recorded in the license information storage unit 870 has been described. The fourth embodiment has an effect that the path of the ring bus can be changed without newly providing a signal input terminal in the image processing unit.

  In the fourth embodiment, although the license information is recorded in the license information storage unit 870, the extension processing unit 600 may not be connected. In this case, it goes without saying that the control unit 120 issues a command for displaying a message indicating that the expansion processing unit 600 is not connected to the operation unit 350. In addition, a message may be displayed, and the ring bus route may be changed to a bus inside the image processing unit.

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the image processing unit has a bus switching unit has been described. In the third embodiment, the case where the bus switching unit is provided outside the image processing unit has been described. In the fourth embodiment, the method of controlling the bus switching unit by the controller of the controller when the image processing unit has the bus switching unit has been described. In the fifth embodiment, a method of controlling the bus switching unit by issuing a test packet issuing command when the controller is activated when the image processing unit has a bus switching unit.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the processing of the control unit 120 for the bus switching setting register unit 760 according to the fifth embodiment. The fifth embodiment is a process for forming a ring bus by outputting a test packet to the ring bus. The image forming apparatus has a configuration in which the image processing unit 800 in FIG. 3 is replaced with the image processing unit 860 in FIG. Alternatively, it may be the same as the configuration of FIG.

  In step S301, the control unit 120 issues an instruction to write “1” to the bus switching setting register unit 760 to the input / output control unit 500. When receiving the write command, the input / output control unit 500 writes “1” in the bus switching setting register unit 760. In this state, the bus switching unit 540 connects the bus 240, the bus 250, the bus 260, the bus 210, the bus of the expansion processing unit 600, the bus 220, the bus 270, and the bus 280 in this order to form a ring bus. When the expansion processing unit 600 is not connected to the expansion connector 180, the ring bus is interrupted between the bus 210 and the bus 220. In this embodiment, the control unit 120 writes “1” to the bus switching setting register unit 760 via the input / output control unit 500. The switching setting register unit 760 may be connected to the bus 200 inside the image processing unit 860, and the control unit 120 may directly write “1” into the switching setting register unit 760. Alternatively, the initial value of the bus switching setting register unit 760 may be set to “1”, and the process of step S301 may be omitted.

  In step S302, control unit 120 issues a test packet transmission command to input / output control unit 500. When receiving the test packet transmission command, the input / output control unit 500 sets the image processing module A 510, the image processing module B 520, and the image processing module C 530 to the test mode, and issues a test packet to the image processing module A 510.

  In step S303, the control unit 120 waits for processing for a predetermined time. This time may be set by the user via the operation unit 350. The input / output control unit 500 receives the test packet within this time. When receiving a test packet, the input / output control unit 500 writes “1” in a test packet reception status register (not shown). When the input / output control unit 500 does not receive a test packet, the input / output control unit 500 writes “0” in a test packet reception status register (not shown).

  In step S304, control unit 120 issues a test packet reception status read command to input / output control unit 500. When the input / output control unit 500 receives the test packet reception status read command, the input / output control unit 500 reads the value of a test packet reception status register (not shown) constituting the image processing unit 860. The input / output control unit 500 returns the read value to the control unit 120.

  In step S305, the control unit 120 performs processing to determine whether or not the test packet reception status value acquired in step S304 is “1”. If it is determined in step S305 that the test packet reception status value is “1”, the process ends. If it is not determined in step S305 that the test packet reception status value is “1”, the process proceeds to step S306.

  In step S306, the control unit 120 issues an instruction to write “0” to the bus switching setting register unit 760 to the input / output control unit 500. When receiving the write command, the input / output control unit 500 writes “0” in the bus switching setting register unit 760. In this state, the bus switching unit 540 connects the bus 240, the bus 250, the bus 260, and the bus 280 in this order to form a ring bus. In this embodiment, the control unit 120 writes “0” to the bus switching setting register unit 760 via the input / output control unit 500. The switching setting register unit 760 may be connected to the bus 200 inside the image processing unit 860, and the control unit 120 may directly write “0” into the switching setting register unit 760.

  In the fifth embodiment, the example of setting the value of the bus switching setting register unit 760 using the test packet and generating the bus switching signal 290 for switching the bus switching unit 540 has been described. The fifth embodiment has an effect that the path of the ring bus can be changed without newly providing a signal input terminal in the image processing unit.

Other examples

 The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

170 image processing unit 180 expansion connector 600 expansion processing unit 540 bus switching unit 640 bus setting unit 700 clock detection unit 760 bus switching setting register unit 870 license information storage unit

Claims (14)

An information processing apparatus having a ring bus,
A plurality of processing modules connected on the ring bus;
A connector for an expansion processing unit that is optionally attached to the information processing apparatus;
Detecting means for detecting that the expansion processing unit is mounted on the connector;
A bus switching means for changing the path of the ring bus so that the extension processing module in the extension processing unit is connected when the detection means detects the attachment of the extension processing unit;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects that the extended processing unit is mounted by receiving the first signal.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first processing unit transmits the first signal.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first signal is transmitted from a bus setting unit through a route different from the ring bus.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a generation unit configured to generate the first signal by detecting a second signal from the extension processing unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second signal is transmitted to a ring bus.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second signal is a clock signal. An information processing apparatus having a ring bus,
A plurality of processing modules connected on the ring bus;
A connector for an expansion processing unit that is optionally attached to the information processing apparatus;
Storage means for storing that the expansion processing unit is mounted on the connector;
Bus switching means for changing the path of the ring bus so that the extension processing module in the extension processing unit is connected when the storage means detects the attachment of the extension processing unit;
An information processing apparatus comprising: An information processing apparatus having a ring bus,
A plurality of processing modules connected on the ring bus;
A connector for an expansion processing unit that is optionally attached to the information processing apparatus;
Confirmation means for confirming that the expansion processing unit is mounted on the connector;
A bus switching means for changing the path of the ring bus so that the extension processing module in the extension processing unit is connected when the confirmation means detects the attachment of the extension processing unit;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the confirmation unit is configured to confirm the attachment of the extension processing unit by receiving a test packet transmitted on the ring bus. A control method of an information processing apparatus having a ring bus and a plurality of processing modules connected on the ring bus, wherein an extended processing unit is optionally mounted,
A detection step of detecting that the extended processing unit is mounted;
A bus switching step of changing the path of the ring bus so that the extension processing module in the extension processing unit is connected when the attachment of the extension processing unit is detected in the detection step;
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising: A control method of an information processing apparatus having a ring bus and a plurality of processing modules connected on the ring bus, wherein an extended processing unit is optionally mounted,
A storage step of storing in the storage means that the extended processing unit is mounted;
A bus switching step of changing the path of the ring bus so that the extension processing module in the extension processing unit is connected when the mounting of the extension processing unit is detected in the storage step;
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising: A control method of an information processing apparatus having a ring bus and a plurality of processing modules connected on the ring bus, wherein an extended processing unit is optionally mounted,
A confirmation step for confirming that the expansion processing unit is mounted;
A bus switching step of changing the path of the ring bus so that the extension processing module in the extension processing unit is connected when the attachment of the extension processing unit is detected in the confirmation step;
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising:   A program for causing a computer to execute the control method of the image processing apparatus according to claim 11.

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