JP2018124869A - Image processing device, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable efficient processing when a print job is executed in parallel dispersion processing by a plurality of image processing units.SOLUTION: The image processing device which divides a print job on a page-by-page basis and by which image processing on individual divided pages is executed in parallel dispersion processing by using a plurality of image processing means, comprises: selection means for selecting, for each page, image processing means at a contact request requesting image processing, among the plurality of image processing means; and transmission means for extracting from the print job objects constituting a page to be processed and transmitting the extracted objects to the image processing means at the contact request, the transmission means transmitting some or all of the objects constituting the page to be processed based on management information for managing objects held by each image processing means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having a plurality of image processing units, an image processing method, and a program.

  When printing is accelerated in a printing apparatus typified by a printer or the like, it is required to perform image processing for generating print image data from a print job at high speed. In view of this, a method has been proposed in which a print job is divided and the divided print jobs are subjected to parallel distributed processing by a plurality of image processing units, thereby speeding up image processing. For example, a method has been proposed in which a print job (PDL data) described in a page description language (PDL) is divided into a predetermined number and the divided PDL data is distributed to each image processing unit. (See Patent Document 1). However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, since the PDL data is divided into a predetermined number, pages cannot be dynamically allocated to each image processing unit, and depending on the contents of the print job, it is efficient. It may not be possible to process.

  Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of parallel distributed processing, a method has been proposed in which a print job is divided into pages to generate single-page PDL data, and pages are dynamically allocated to each image processing unit.

JP 2011-113178 A

  However, some print jobs may have an object that is commonly referred to from a plurality of pages (hereinafter referred to as a common object). In such a case, in the above method, the common object must be copied to the PDL data of each reference source page so that the common object can be referred to from each reference source page. Therefore, depending on how the pages are assigned to each image processing unit, the image processing unit may receive a common object a plurality of times, which may cause waste of data transfer. Also, depending on the number of common objects and the data size, it may take time to copy the common object when dividing the print job.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing apparatus capable of efficiently performing processing when a print job is processed in parallel and distributed by a plurality of image processing units. The purpose is to provide a program.

  An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus that divides a print job in units of pages and performs parallel distributed processing of image processing for each divided page using a plurality of image processing units. A selection unit that selects a request destination image processing unit that requests image processing, and an object that constitutes a page to be processed is extracted from the print job, and the extracted object is the request destination image. Transmitting means for transmitting to the processing means, the transmitting means based on management information for managing the objects held by each image processing means, or a part of the objects constituting the page to be processed or It is characterized by transmitting all objects.

  According to the present invention, when a print job is processed in parallel and distributed by a plurality of image processing units, the processing can be performed efficiently.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a print server according to the first embodiment. 2 is a functional block diagram of a print server according to the first embodiment. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of a process of the reconstruction part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the object management table which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the job process part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the image process part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the PDL data which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a process of the job process part and image process part which concern on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the registration condition of the object management table which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the completion notification reception process of the job process part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the image process part which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the relative arrangement of the constituent elements, the apparatus shape, and the like described in the embodiments described below are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

(First embodiment)
In the first embodiment, a printing system including a printing apparatus and a print server (image processing apparatus) connected to the printing apparatus will be described as an example. The printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is not limited to a dedicated machine specialized in the printing function, and includes a multifunction machine that combines the printing function and other functions, a manufacturing apparatus that forms an image or a pattern on recording paper, and the like. .

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes a print server 11 and a printing device 13. These are connected to each other via the network 14. These are connected to the terminal device 10 via the network 14. The terminal device 10 is, for example, a personal computer (PC). The terminal device 10 generates a print job and transmits it to the print server 11. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 13 according to the present embodiment includes a preprocessing apparatus 15 that performs preprocessing such as feeding of a recording medium (for example, a roll sheet), and winding of a recording medium that has been printed. It is installed between the post-processing apparatus 16 that performs post-processing.

  The print server 11 has a plurality of blades. 1 illustrates four blades 12 (12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d), the print server 11 may have any number of blades. Each blade is connected to each other via a network. The print server 11 performs image processing on the print job transmitted from the terminal device 10 to generate print image data. The print server 11 transmits the generated print image data to the printing apparatus 13. The printing device 13 prints an image indicated by the print image data transmitted from the print server 11 on a recording medium such as a roll sheet.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the print server 11 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the blade 12 (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d) includes a central processing unit (CPU) 20, a ROM 21, a RAM 22, an HDD (hard disk drive) 23, a communication unit 24, and a display unit. 25 and the operation unit 26. These are connected to each other via a system bus.

  The CPU 20 controls the RAM 22, the communication unit 24, the display unit 25, and the operation unit 26 according to a program stored in the ROM 21.

  The ROM 21 stores various control programs executed by the CPU 20 and fixed data required when executing the various control programs.

  The RAM 22 is used as a work area for the CPU 20 or used as a temporary storage area for various data. The RAM 22 stores various setting data. For example, a print job sent from the terminal device 10 and print image data after image processing are temporarily stored in the RAM 22.

  The HDD 23 can store various data in a built-in hard disk and read from the hard disk. For example, as with the RAM 22, the HDD 23 temporarily stores a print job sent from the terminal device 10 and print image data after image processing, stores a program executed by the CPU 20, and various setting data. To do.

  The communication unit 24 connects the blade 12 and the network 14. The communication unit 24 controls communication between the terminal device 10 and the blade 12 and communication between the blade 12 and the printing device 13 performed via the network 14. The communication unit 24 controls communication between other blades in the print server 11.

  The display unit 25 is, for example, a touch panel liquid crystal display. The display unit 25 displays the state of the blade 12 and various settings. The user can input various settings via the display unit 25. The display unit 25 accepts operation instructions and displays the status of the entire apparatus (that is, the print server 11).

  The operation unit 26 includes various buttons such as a power button and a reset button. The operation unit 26 is used when the user operates the print server 11.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the print server 11 according to the first embodiment. The print server 11 according to the present embodiment includes a job processing unit 300 and a plurality of image processing units 310 (310a, 310b, 310c). Each of these is realized by each blade of the print server 11. For example, the job processing unit 300 corresponds to the blade 12a, and the image processing units 310a, 310b, 310c correspond to the blades 12b, 12c, 12d, respectively. Each of these components may be realized by, for example, hardware mounted on each blade of the print server 11 illustrated in FIG. 2 or may be realized by cooperation of hardware and software. Also good.

  The job processing unit 300 instructs the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c to perform image processing on the print job transmitted from the terminal device 10. The image processing units 310 a, 310 b, and 310 c perform image processing according to an instruction from the job processing unit 300 to generate print image data, and transmit the print image data to the printing apparatus 13.

  The job processing unit 300 includes a job control unit 301, an object extraction unit 302, and an object management table 303. The job control unit 301 comprehensively controls processing related to a print job (in this embodiment, PDL data including a plurality of pages) sent from the terminal device 10. For example, the job control unit 301 instructs the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c to perform image processing on an arbitrary page. Then, the job control unit 301 transmits data (here, an object) necessary for the instructed image processing to the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c. The job control unit 301 receives a notification of completion of the instructed image processing from each image processing unit. The object extraction unit 302 extracts an object from the print job. The object management table 303 is management information for managing information on objects held by each image processing unit. In this embodiment, common object information is managed by the object management table 303.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c includes an image processing control unit 311 (311a, 311b, 311c), a reconstruction unit 312 (312a, 312b, 312c), and a rasterization unit 313 (313a, 313b, 313c).
The image processing control unit 311 comprehensively controls image processing instructed from the job control unit 301. For example, the image processing control unit 311 receives an instruction for image processing of an arbitrary page from the job control unit 301, transmits a print image to the printing apparatus 13, and finishes the image processing for the specified page as a job. Or notify the control unit 301. The reconstruction unit 312 reconstructs a print job received from the job control unit 301 before using the object transmitted from the job control unit 301. The rasterization unit 313 performs rasterization based on the instruction from the job control unit 301 and the reconstructed print job, and generates print image data.

  The process of the reconstruction unit 312 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the case where the print job is PDF (Prototype Document Format) data (hereinafter simply referred to as PDF) is taken as an example. As shown in FIG. 4, by adding update information to the end of the PDF and updating the offset information, it is possible to easily update an object included in the PDF or add an object to the PDF. In the present embodiment, such processing is called reconstruction.

  The PDF shown in FIG. 4A is a PDF before reconstruction. The PDF is composed of a header, a body, a cross reference table (Xref Table), and a trailer. Since the data structure of PDF is well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. The PDF shown in FIG. 4A describes that the page tree object (30 obj) has one page object (40 obj) as a node. That is, the PDF shown in FIG. 4A is a one-page PDF. The PDF shown in FIG. 4B is a two-page PDF obtained by reconstructing the PDF shown in FIG. In the PDF shown in FIG. 4B, an updated body (Body Changes), a cross reference table (Updated Xref Table), and a trailer (Trailer) are added. In the reconstructed PDF, a new page object (80 obj) is added as a node of the page tree object (30 obj).

  In this manner, by updating or adding an object to a PDF consisting of one page, a page is added and a PDF consisting of two pages can be generated. The image processing unit 310 performs image processing while adding a page to the PDL data using such a reconstruction process.

  The object management table 303 shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the object management table 303. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the object management table 303 manages an image processing unit ID, a job ID, and an object ID in association with each other. The image processing unit ID is an identifier (identification information) of the image processing unit 310. Image processing unit IDs a, b, and c shown in FIG. 5 correspond to the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c, respectively. The job ID is an identifier of the print job. The object ID is an identifier of an object included in the print job. The management table shown in FIG. 5 indicates that, for example, objects D, E, I, and J constituting job # 1010 are transmitted to the image processing unit 310a. Here, job # 1010 represents a print job whose job ID is 1010. Objects D, E, I, and J represent objects having object IDs D, E, I, and J, respectively.

  The processing of the job processing unit 300 will be described with reference to FIG. The processing shown in FIG. 6 is realized, for example, when the CPU 20 reads a program stored in the ROM 21 into the RAM 22 and executes it.

  First, the job control unit 301 receives a job from the terminal device 10 (step S600). Next, the job control unit 301 sets 0 as an initial value to the variable P indicating the number of the page to be processed (step S601). Next, the job control unit 301 adds 1 to P (step S602). Next, the job control unit 301 selects any image processing unit X that is not performing image processing as a request destination for image processing of a page (denoted as page P) having a page number P (step S603). At this time, if all the image processing units are performing image processing, the process waits until one of the image processing units ends. Note that the image processing unit selected in S603 is referred to as an image processing unit X. Next, whether the object extraction unit 302 refers to the object management table 303 and the image processing unit X selected in step S603 has an object related to the job (denoted as job Y) received in step S600. Is determined (step S604).

  If the image processing unit X selected in step S603 does not have an object related to job Y (NO in step S604), the job control unit 301 confirms whether there is another image processing unit that is not performing image processing. (Step S605). If there is another image processing unit that is not performing image processing (YES in step S605), the job control unit 301 reselects the other image processing unit as a request destination of image processing (step S606). If there is no other image processing unit that is not performing image processing (NO in step S605), the object extraction unit 302 extracts all objects necessary for image processing on page P from the job Y (step S607). At this time, the object extraction unit 302 renders the extracted object in a PDL format. Then, the object extraction unit 302 turns off the reconstruction flag (step S608), and proceeds to the process of step S611.

  On the other hand, if the image processing unit X selected in step S603 has an object related to job Y (YES in step S604), the object extracting unit 302 proceeds to the process of step S609. Then, the object extraction unit 302 extracts, from the job Y, objects that the image processing unit X does not have among the objects necessary for the image processing of the page P (step S609). Then, the object extraction unit 302 turns on the reconstruction flag (step S610), and proceeds to the process of step S611.

  Next, the job control unit 301 instructs the image processing unit X to perform image processing on the page P (step S611). Next, the job control unit 301 transmits the object extracted in step S607 or step S609 and the reconstruction flag to the image processing unit X (step S612). The image processing unit X performs image processing on the page P based on the received object. When the image processing for page P ends, the image processing unit X notifies the job control unit 301 of the end of image processing. The object received by the image processing unit X is held by the image processing control unit of the image processing unit X until an object deletion instruction is received from the job control unit 301.

Next, the object extraction unit 302 registers an identifier (in this embodiment, an object ID) indicating the object transmitted by the job control unit 301 in step S612 in the object management table 303 (step S613). Next, the job control unit 301 determines whether or not the page P is the last page of the print job Y (step S614).
If page P is not the last page (NO in step S614), the process returns to step S602. On the other hand, if the page P is the last page (YES in step S614), the job control unit 301 waits until it receives notification of completion of image processing for all pages of job Y (step S615).

  Next, the job control unit 301 instructs each image processing unit (specifically, the image processing control unit of each image processing unit) to delete the object (PDL data) related to the job Y (step S616).

Finally, the object extracting unit 302 deletes the identifier of the object related to the job Y from the object management table 303 (step S617), and the process ends.

  The processing of the image processing unit 310 (310a, 310b, 310c) will be described with reference to FIG. The processing shown in FIG. 7 is realized, for example, when the CPU 20 reads a program stored in the ROM 21 into the RAM 22 and executes it.

  First, the image processing control unit 311 (311a, 311b, 311c) receives an instruction from the job control unit 301 (step S700). Next, the image processing control unit 311 determines whether or not the instruction received in step S700 is an image processing instruction for page P (step S701). In this embodiment, it is assumed that either an image processing instruction for page P or an object deletion instruction is transmitted from the job control unit 301. Other instructions may be transmitted from the job control unit 301. If it is not an instruction for image processing of page P (NO in step S701), that is, if it is an instruction to delete an object, the image processing control unit 311 deletes the object (PDL data) related to job Y held by itself. (Step S708), the process ends. On the other hand, if the instruction is for image processing of page P (YES in step S701), the image processing control unit 311 receives the object related to page P and the reconstruction flag that are sent continuously from the job control unit 301. (Step S702).

  Next, the reconstruction unit 312 (312a, 312b, 312c) determines whether or not the received reconstruction flag is ON (step S703).

  If the received reconstruction flag is OFF (NO in step S703), the reconstruction unit 312 determines that the object received in step S702 has been received in the PDL format, and proceeds to step S705 without performing reconstruction. move on. If the reconstruction flag is ON (YES in step S703), the reconstruction unit 312 uses the object received in step S702 to obtain an object (PDL data) related to the job Y to which the page P belongs before. Reconstruction is performed (step S704). Next, the rasterizing unit 313 (313a, 313b, 313c) rasterizes the page P and generates print image data (step S705). Next, the image processing control unit 311 transmits the print image data generated in step S705 to the printing apparatus (step S706). Next, the image processing control unit 311 notifies the job control unit 301 of the end of image processing for page P (step S707), and ends the processing. At this time, since the image processing control unit 311 may perform reconstruction in the image processing of the subsequent page of the job Y, the image processing control unit 311 holds the object related to the page P without deleting it.

  Here, the flow of processing in the job processing unit 300 and the image processing unit 310 (310a, 310b, 310c) will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of PDL data. FIG. 8 shows PDL data 80 of job (job) # 0001. The PDL data 80 is composed of 6 pages. The PDL data 80 includes font objects (FontObj) A, B and image objects (ImgObj) C, D, E as common objects. The PDL data 80 includes page objects (PageObj) # 1 to # 6. Page objects # 1 to # 6 are objects that define each page. Here, a page defined by PageObj # n is represented as page #n. Ref in each page object indicates that a common object is referenced in the page. For example, RefA of PageObj # 1 indicates that FontObjA is referenced on page # 1.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flow of processing performed by the job processing unit 300 and the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c for the job # 0001 illustrated in FIG.

  First, the job processing unit 300 receives job # 0001 (PDL data 80) from the terminal device 10 (step S900).

  Next, the job processing unit 300 performs processing for page # 1 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image processing unit 310a that is not performing image processing is selected as a request destination for image processing of page # 1. At this time, the image processing unit 310a does not hold an object related to job # 0001. Therefore, the job processing unit 300 transmits all objects necessary for image processing of page # 1 to the image processing unit 310a in the PDL format (step S901). The PDL data 90 shown in FIG. 9 schematically represents data transmitted at this time. Since no image processing unit is currently performing image processing, another image processing unit may be selected in step S901.

  Next, the job processing unit 300 performs processing for page # 2 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image processing unit 310b that is not performing image processing is selected as a request destination for image processing of page # 2. At this time, the image processing unit 310b does not hold an object related to job # 0001. Therefore, the job processing unit 300 transmits all objects necessary for the image processing of page # 2 to the image processing unit 310b in the PDL format (step S902). The PDL data 91 shown in FIG. 9 schematically represents data transmitted at this time. Note that at the start of the processing in step S902, the image processing unit 310c may be selected because the image processing unit 310c is also not performing image processing.

  Next, the job processing unit 300 performs processing for page # 3 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image processing unit 310c that is not performing image processing is selected as a request destination for image processing of page # 3. At this time, the image processing unit 310c does not hold an object related to job # 0001. Therefore, the job processing unit 300 transmits all objects necessary for the image processing of page # 3 to the image processing unit 310c in the PDL format (step S903). The PDL data 92 shown in FIG. 9 schematically represents data transmitted at this time.

  FIG. 10A shows the registration status of the object management table 303 up to step S903. It can be seen that FontObjA and ImgObjC are transmitted to the image processing unit 310a. It can be seen that FontObjB and ImgObjD are transmitted to the image processing unit 310b. It can be seen that ImgObjC and ImgObjE are transmitted to the image processing unit 310c.

  Next, the image processing unit 310a finishes the image processing of page # 1, and notifies the job processing unit 300 of the end of the image processing of page # 1 (step S904).

  Next, the job processing unit 300 performs processing for page # 4 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image processing unit 310a that is not performing image processing is selected as a request destination for image processing of page # 4. Then, the job processing unit 300 refers to the object management table 303, and transmits to the image processing unit 310a objects excluding the objects included in the image processing unit 310a among the objects necessary for image processing of page # 4 (step S4). S905). Specifically, the objects configuring page # 4 are FontObjA, ImgObjD, and PageObj # 4. On the other hand, the objects included in the image processing unit 310a are FontObjA, ImgObjC, and PageObj # 1. Therefore, ImgObjD and PageObj # 4 are transmitted to the image processing unit 310a. At this time, ImgObjD and PageObj # 4 are transmitted as they are without being transmitted in the PDL format. That is, only the body describing the ImgObjD and PageObj # 4 (Body Changes part shown in FIG. 4B) is transmitted. Thereafter, the image processing unit 310a reconstructs the PDL data 90 using ImgObjD and PageObj # 4, and generates PDL data 94.

  Next, the image processing unit 310c finishes the image processing for page # 3, and notifies the job processing unit 300 of the end of the image processing for page # 3 (step S906).

  Next, the job processing unit 300 performs processing for page # 5 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image processing unit 310c that is not performing image processing is selected as a request destination for image processing of page # 5. Then, the job processing unit 300 refers to the object management table 303 and transmits to the image processing unit 310c an object excluding the objects included in the image processing unit 310c among the objects necessary for the image processing of page # 5 (step S3). S907). Specifically, the objects constituting page # 5 are FontObjB, ImgObjE, and PageObj # 5. Objects included in the image processing unit 310c are ImgObjC, ImgObjE, and PageObj # 3. Therefore, FontObjB and PageObj # 5 are transmitted to the image processing unit 310c. At this time, as in the process of step S905, FontObjB and PageObj # 5 are transmitted as they are without being transmitted in the PDL format. Thereafter, the image processing unit 310c reconstructs the PDL data 92 using the FontObjB and PageObj # 5, and generates the PDL data 96.

  Next, the image processing unit 310b finishes the image processing for page # 2, and notifies the job processing unit 300 of the end of the image processing for page # 2 (step S908).

  Next, the job processing unit 300 performs processing for page # 6 according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image processing unit 310b that is not performing image processing is selected as a request destination for image processing of page # 6. Then, the job processing unit 300 refers to the object management table 303, and transmits to the image processing unit 310b objects excluding the objects included in the image processing unit 310b among the objects necessary for the image processing of page # 6 (steps). S909). Specifically, the objects constituting page # 6 are ImgObjC, ImgObjD, and PageObj # 6. The objects included in the image processing unit 310b are FontObjB, ImgObjD, and PageObj # 2. Therefore, ImgObjC and PageObj # 6 are transmitted to the image processing unit 310b. At this time, similarly to the processing in steps S905 and S9057, ImgObjC and PageObj # 6 are transmitted as they are without being transmitted in the PDL format. Thereafter, the image processing unit 310b reconstructs the PDL data 91 using ImgObjC and PageObj # 6, and generates PDL data 98.

  FIG. 10B shows the registration status of the object management table 303 up to step S909. It can be seen that ImgObjD is transmitted to the image processing unit 310a during steps S904 to S909. It can be seen that ImgObjC is transmitted to the image processing unit 310b. It can be seen that FontObjB has been transmitted to the image processing unit 310c.

  Next, the image processing unit 310a finishes the image processing of page # 4, and notifies the job processing unit 300 of the end of the image processing of page # 4 (step S910). Next, the image processing unit 310c finishes the image processing for page # 5, and notifies the job processing unit 300 of the end of the image processing for page # 5 (step S911). Next, the image processing unit 310b finishes the image processing for page # 6, and notifies the job processing unit 300 of the end of the image processing for page # 6 (step S912).

  Finally, the job processing unit 300 instructs the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c to delete objects related to the job # 0001 (steps S913, S914, and S915).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the job processing unit requests the image processing unit to perform page image processing in consideration of the objects included in each image processing unit. More specifically, when requesting image processing of the page from the image processing unit, only the objects that are not held by the requested image processing unit among the objects necessary for the image processing are requested. Send to the processing unit. Then, the requested image processing unit reconstructs the page. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, each of the jobs (divided jobs) obtained by dividing the print job by a predetermined processing unit (page unit in the present embodiment) is processed in parallel and distributed by a plurality of image processing units. Data transfer to the image processing unit can be made efficient.

  In the present embodiment, the image processing unit as the request destination is selected in consideration of the objects included in each image processing unit. More specifically, when selecting the requested image processing unit, the image processing unit having any one of the objects constituting the page to be processed is preferentially selected. Therefore, pages can be dynamically allocated to each image processing unit in accordance with the contents of the print job (PDL data), and the data transfer can be made more efficient.

  Further, in this embodiment, when selecting a requested image processing unit, an image processing unit that is not executing image processing is preferentially selected. Thereby, the waiting time of image processing generated in each image processing unit can be further reduced, and more efficient parallel distributed processing can be performed.

  In this embodiment, once a common object is transmitted to each image processing unit, each image processing unit continues to hold the common object. Each image processing unit uses the common object held by itself to construct PDL data of the reference source page. Therefore, the common object is not repeatedly transmitted to each image processing unit a plurality of times. Further, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary for the job processing unit to perform processing such as copying the common object to the PDL data of each reference source page. A method for making it possible to refer to a common object from each page has been conventionally proposed. Specifically, there has been proposed a method of instructing each image processing unit which page should be processed after transmitting the entire print job to all the image processing units. However, in such a method, even objects unnecessary for image processing of the instructed page are transmitted to each image processing unit, which may cause waste of data transfer. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since unnecessary objects as described above are not transmitted, it is possible to refer to the common object from each page while improving the efficiency of data transfer.

(Second Embodiment)
In the second embodiment, the objects held by the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c are deleted by a method different from that in the first embodiment. Specifically, when the job control unit 301 receives a notification of the end of image processing from the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c, the job control unit 301 instructs to delete an object that is not referenced from the subsequent page. In addition, the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c delete objects specific to each page after the image processing ends. In addition, description is abbreviate | omitted about the structure which overlaps with 1st Embodiment. In addition, since the flow of processing other than the job processing unit 300 and the image processing units 310a, 310b, and 310c is the same as that in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  The job processing unit 300 according to the present embodiment performs an end notification reception process illustrated in FIG. 11 when receiving a notification of the end of the image processing instructed in step S611 in FIG. 6 from each image processing unit. Specifically, when the job processing unit 300 receives a notification of the end of the image processing from the image processing unit X, the processing illustrated in FIG. 6 is temporarily interrupted and the processing illustrated in FIG. 11 is performed, or the processing illustrated in FIG. In parallel with the processing, the processing shown in FIG. 11 is performed.

  The end notification reception process of the job processing unit 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The process shown in FIG. 11 is realized by the CPU 20 reading out a program stored in the ROM 21 to the RAM 22 and executing it, for example.

  First, the job control unit 301 receives a notification of the end of image processing from the image processing unit X (step S110). Next, the object extraction unit 302 refers to the object management table 303 and the job Y received in step S600 of FIG. 6, and whether or not the image processing unit X has an object that is not referred to by pages subsequent to the page P. Is determined (step S111). When the image processing unit X does not have an object that is not referred to from a page subsequent to the page P (NO in step S111), the job control unit 301 ends the end notification receiving process. On the other hand, when the image processing unit X has objects that are not referred to by pages subsequent to the page P (YES in step S111), the job control unit 301 deletes these objects from the notification source image processing unit X. (Step S112). The object to be deleted is specified by an identifier such as an object ID. Next, the object extraction unit 302 deletes the information (in this case, the identifier) of the object that is instructed to be deleted from the image processing unit X from the object management table 303 (step S113), and the end notification reception process ends.

  The processing of the image processing unit 310 (310a, 310b, 310c) according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The processing shown in FIG. 12 is realized, for example, when the CPU 20 reads a program stored in the ROM 21 into the RAM 22 and executes it.

  First, the image processing control unit 311 (311a, 311b, 311c) receives an instruction from the job control unit 301 (step S1200). Next, the image processing control unit 311 determines whether or not it is an instruction for image processing of the page P (step S1201).

  If the instruction is for image processing of page P (YES in step S1201), the same processing as in steps S702 to S706 is performed (steps S1202 to S1206). After step S1206, in this embodiment, the image processing control unit 311 deletes the object unique to page P and reconstructs the PDL data (step S1207). Here, the page P-specific object is, for example, an object that defines each page. In the job # 0001 shown in FIG. 8, the pages Obj # 1 to # 6 that are objects that define each page correspond. Such an object unique to page P does not affect subsequent pages, and can be deleted by the image processing control unit 311. For example, when the image processing for page # 1 shown in FIG. 9 ends, the image processing control unit 311a deletes PageObj # 1 from the PDL data 90. In addition, when deleting an object from PDL data, since offset information needs to be updated, reconstruction is required. After step S1207, the image processing control unit 311 notifies the job control unit 301 of the end of image processing for page P (step S1208), and the processing ends.

  If the instruction received in step S1201 is not an instruction for image processing of page P (NO in step S1201), the image processing control unit 311 determines whether the instruction received from the job control unit 301 is an instruction to delete the designated object. Judgment is made (step S1210). If the instruction is to delete the specified object (YES in step S1210), the image processing control unit 311 deletes the specified object, reconstructs the PDL (step S1211), and ends the process. On the other hand, if the instruction is not an instruction to delete the designated object (NO in step S1210), the image processing control unit 311 determines that the instruction is to delete an object related to job Y. Then, the image processing control unit 311 deletes the object (PDL data) related to the job Y held by the image processing control unit 311 (step S1212), and ends the processing.

  When the storage area in the image processing unit 310 is small, there is a possibility that all objects received by the image processing unit 310 cannot be held until the end of the job. However, in this embodiment, the job control unit 301 instructs the image processing unit 310 to delete an object that is not referenced from the subsequent page. Further, the image processing unit 310 deletes an object unique to each page. Therefore, compared with the first embodiment in which all the objects received by the image processing unit 310 are held until the end of the job, the area necessary for storing the objects can be reduced. Thereby, even when the storage area in the image processing unit 310 is small, it is possible to reliably hold a necessary object until the end of the job.

  In the present exemplary embodiment, the case where the job processing unit 300 performs the process illustrated in FIG. 11 when the image processing end notification of each page is received is described as an example. However, the job processing unit 300 may receive the print end notification of each page from the printing apparatus 13 and the processing shown in FIG. 11 may be performed when the job processing unit 300 receives the print end notification. According to such a form, the objects necessary for image processing of each page are held until the end of printing. Therefore, even when an error such as a jam occurs during printing, the image processing of each page can be executed again. It becomes possible. Accordingly, the print image data can be generated again, and the printing apparatus 13 can be re-executed using the print image data generated again. That is, it becomes possible to cope with reprinting of a page. As another method for dealing with the reprinting of the page, there is a method of storing the print image data of the page generated by the rasterizing unit 313 in the image processing unit 310 until the printing of the page is completed. However, since the print image data is bitmap data, the size is large. Therefore, in such a method, when the storage capacity of the image processing unit 310 is small, it is possible that print image data corresponding to the number of staying sheets of the printing apparatus 13 cannot be stored in the image processing unit 310 until printing is completed. There is sex. On the other hand, as described above, the method of storing an object having a size smaller than that of the bitmap data in the image processing unit 310 can more reliably cope with page reprinting even when the image processing unit 310 has a small storage capacity. It becomes possible to do.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the unit for requesting image processing is one page at a time and an image processing unit that is not being processed is selected as a request destination. However, the present invention is not limited to this. More specifically, the unit for requesting image processing may be a plurality of pages. That is, the unit for requesting image processing may be other processing units. Further, an image processing unit being processed may be selected as a request destination for image processing. In that case, the image processing unit may be selected based on the load and speed of the image processing unit, the number of unprocessed pages, and the like. Further, the case has been described as an example where the job processing unit performs the process of making the object extracted from the job into the PDL format when the reconstruction flag is OFF. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the reconstruction flag is OFF, the image processing unit may perform the processing for making the object received from the job processing unit look like PDL. In the above-described embodiment, the external apparatus (print server) connected to the printing apparatus has a job processing unit and a plurality of image processing units. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The image processing unit may be installed inside the printing apparatus.

  Furthermore, the above-described embodiment can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed. Further, the program may be executed by one computer or may be executed in conjunction with a plurality of computers. Further, it is not necessary to implement all of the above-described processing by software, and part or all of the processing may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC. Further, the CPU is not limited to the one that performs all the processing by one CPU, and a plurality of CPUs may perform the processing while appropriately cooperating.

300 Job processing unit 310a Image processing unit 310b Image processing unit 310c Image processing unit

Claims (14)

An image processing apparatus that divides a print job into pages and performs image processing on each divided page in parallel and distributed using a plurality of image processing means.
For each page, a selection unit that selects a request image processing unit that requests image processing from the plurality of image processing units;
A transmission unit that extracts an object constituting a page to be processed from the print job, and transmits the extracted object to the image processing unit of the request destination;
The transmission means includes
An image processing apparatus, wherein a part or all of the objects constituting the page to be processed are transmitted based on management information for managing objects held by each image processing means. The transmission means includes
When transmitting the object to the requested image processing means, the identification information of the transmitted object is stored in the management information in association with the requested image processing means,
The image according to claim 1, wherein based on the management information, an object that is not held by the requested image processing unit among objects constituting the page to be processed is extracted from the print job and transmitted. Processing equipment. The image processing means includes
When the object received from the transmission means is a part of the objects constituting the page to be processed, the object to be processed is based on the received object and the object held by itself. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein print image data corresponding to a page is generated. The image processing means includes
If the object received from the transmission means is all objects constituting the page to be processed, print image data corresponding to the page to be processed is generated based on the received object. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The transmission means includes
When transmitting all the objects constituting the page to be processed, PDL data constructed based on all the objects is transmitted,
When transmitting a part of the objects constituting the page to be processed, the partial object is transmitted as it is,
The image processing means includes
When the PDL data is received from the transmission unit, the received PDL data is rasterized to generate print image data,
When an object is received from the transmission means, PDL data corresponding to the processing target page is constructed based on the received object and the object held by itself, and the constructed PDL data is rasterized. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein print image data is generated. The selection means includes
The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an image processing unit that is not executing image processing is preferentially selected from the plurality of image processing units. The selection means includes
The image processing unit that holds one of the objects constituting the page to be processed among the plurality of image processing units is preferentially selected based on the management information. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion unit that instructs each image processing unit to delete an object held by each image processing unit when image processing for all pages of the print job is completed. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The deleting means is
When the image processing unit finishes the image processing for the page to be processed, among the objects held by the image processing unit, there is an object that is not referred to in a page after the page to be processed. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the image processing unit is instructed to delete the object that is not referred to in the subsequent page. The deleting means is
The image processing apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein when each image processing unit is instructed to delete an object, the identification information corresponding to the object to be deleted is deleted from the management information. . The image processing means includes
The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein an object unique to the page to be processed is deleted when image processing on the page to be processed is completed. An image processing apparatus for performing parallel distributed processing on a divided job obtained by dividing a print job by a predetermined processing unit using a plurality of image processing means,
A selection unit that selects, from among the plurality of image processing units, a requested image processing unit that requests image processing for each divided job;
A transmission unit that extracts an object constituting a divided job to be processed from the print job and transmits the extracted object to the image processing unit of the request destination;
The transmission means includes
An image processing apparatus characterized by transmitting a part or all of the objects constituting the divided job to be processed based on management information for managing objects held by each image processing means. An image processing method in an image processing apparatus that divides a print job into pages and performs image processing on each divided page in parallel and distributed using a plurality of image processing means,
For each page, a selection step of selecting a requested image processing means for requesting image processing from the plurality of image processing means;
A step of extracting an object constituting a page to be processed from the print job, and transmitting the extracted object to the requested image processing means.
In the transmission step,
An image processing method comprising: transmitting a part or all of objects constituting a page to be processed based on management information for managing objects held by each image processing means.   A program for causing a computer to function as the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12.