JP2021093569A - Image processing apparatus, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To suppress the deterioration of the performance of a semiconductor storage device while suppressing the influence on the performance when a user performs the operation.SOLUTION: An image processing apparatus includes a semiconductor storage device. The semiconductor storage device has a semiconductor storage area divided into a plurality of areas. The image processing apparatus issues a TRIM command for executing physical memory block erasing processing in a predetermined area of the semiconductor storage area when there is no operator in front of the image processing apparatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an information processing method and a program.

There are semiconductor storage devices for embedded devices such as SSD (Solid State Drive) and eMMC (embedded MultiMediaCard), which are equipped with a flash memory and a control circuit. While such a semiconductor storage device is superior to an HDD (hard disk drive) in terms of access speed, quietness, and the like, it has a limited number of rewrites. Therefore, in order to extend the life of the built-in flash memory in the semiconductor storage device, distributed writing called wear leveling is performed by the controller included in the semiconductor storage device. In wear leveling, writing is performed by replacing blocks so as to use blocks with a small number of writes as much as possible. Therefore, while the wear leveling process is being executed by the information processing device, block erasure, data copy, and the like may occur at the time of block replacement, and the performance (read / write performance) of the semiconductor storage device may deteriorate.

In a non-volatile semiconductor storage device, a process called TRIM is generally performed as a method for improving the deterioration in performance. TRIM is a command for notifying a storage device of a storage area that is no longer needed for the OS (operating system) file system. Specifically, the area that is no longer used by the command TRIM is notified to the controller of the semiconductor storage device. By recognizing the unused area, the controller of the semiconductor storage device only needs to collect only the used area (garbage collection) for wear leveling, so that the amount of data to be copied is reduced, the number of blocks used is also reduced, and the entire rewriting is performed. The number of times also decreases. Therefore, by notifying the semiconductor storage device of the storage area that is no longer needed by the TRIM command, it is not necessary to perform wear leveling processing up to the unnecessary area, and it is possible to suppress a deterioration in the performance of the semiconductor storage device.

In the eMMC standard, there is a Trim command that notifies the storage area that is no longer needed for the file system, and the eMMC deletes unnecessary data during idle time to maintain good data transfer speed. Can be done. If the Trim is executed at the timing when the user is using the embedded device, the CPU resource is occupied, so that the function provided by the embedded device cannot be executed, which impairs the convenience of the user. Therefore, it is necessary to execute Trim at a timing when the user does not use the embedded device. As a prior document regarding the execution timing of Trim, there is one that acquires the job status of a print job and executes a Trim command that can be used for wear leveling when it is determined that the situation indicates a job interruption (Patent Document). 1).

Japanese Patent No. 6289128

However, in Patent Document 1, although the content is considered so that the TRIM process does not affect the performance of job execution, the performance of the entire device is not considered. For example, if the user operates the operation unit while performing TRIM processing when the job is idle and the job is not executed, the TRIM processing and the operation unit processing conflict with each other and the operation of the operation unit screen becomes slow. , It may affect the performance as a device. Therefore, in order to maintain the performance, it is desirable not to perform the TRIM processing during the period when the user may operate the device, specifically, during the period when the user is close to the device.

The present invention is an image processing device having a semiconductor storage device, wherein the semiconductor storage device has a semiconductor storage area divided into a plurality of areas, and a physical memory block erasing process is performed in a predetermined area of the semiconductor storage area. It has an issuing means for issuing a TRIM command for execution, and the issuing means issues the TRIM command when there is no operator in front of the image processing apparatus.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the performance of the semiconductor storage device while suppressing the influence on the performance when the user operates the device.

It is a schematic diagram of the whole of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware composition of the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the processing between a CPU, a storage device, a motion sensor controller, and a motion sensor. It is a flowchart when the image forming apparatus performs a TRIM operation. It is a figure which shows an example of the internal flow of the subprocess S401 in FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the entire image forming apparatus.
The image forming apparatus 1 is an MFP (Multifunctional Peripheral), a printer or the like having a plurality of functions such as copying and faxing, and has a motion sensor 125 on the front surface of the apparatus. The image forming apparatus 1 is an example of an image processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1.
The image forming apparatus 1 includes a controller 100, a display unit 107, an operation unit 109, a printer 113, a scanner 115, a USB I / F 117, a FAX I / F 119, a wired LAN I / F 121, a wireless LAN antenna 122, and a motion sensor 125. Included as a hardware configuration.

The controller 100 includes a CPU 101, a RAM 102, a ROM 103, a storage device 104, a system bus 105, a display controller 106, an operation controller 108, a printer controller 112, a scanner controller 114, a USB controller 116, a FAX controller 118, a network controller 120, and image processing. Includes controller 123. The operation unit 109 includes a touch panel 110 and a key 111.

The CPU 101 is a central arithmetic unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus 1, and is connected to each unit by a system bus 105. The RAM 102 is a work memory for operating the CPU 101, and is used for expanding various programs, saving calculation processing results, and saving image data processed by the image processing controller 123 by operations such as printing and scanning. The ROM 103 is a memory in which the startup program of the CPU 101, various setting information, and the like are stored. The storage device 104 is a NAND-type non-volatile memory (flash memory) for storing a large-sized program and data, and is an eMMC in the present embodiment. However, the non-volatile memory is not limited to the eMMC, and may be an SSD or other non-volatile memory device.

The display unit controller 106 transmits the image data to the display unit 107 according to the communication protocol of the display unit 107. The operation unit controller 108 receives the input from the touch panel 110 and the key 111, and converts the data into data that can be understood by the CPU 101. The printer controller 112 controls various devices such as a photoconductor drum, a laser oscillator, and a toner fuser that are involved in the printing operation of the printer 113 when printing the image data specified by the CPU 101. The scanner controller 114 controls various devices such as a document detection sensor and a scanning sensor involved in the scanning operation of the scanner 115.

The USB controller 116 connects the USB I / F 117 and an external terminal with a USB cable, and communicates image data and the like. The FAX controller 118 connects the FAX I / F 119 and the public line network with a telephone line, and communicates image data and the like. The network controller 120 connects the wired LAN I / F 121 and the external terminal with a LAN cable to perform network communication. Further, the network controller 120 wirelessly transmits / receives data to / from an external terminal via the wireless LAN antenna 122. The image processing controller 123 performs image processing such as converting the original read by the scanner 115 into image data, enlarging, reducing, monochromeizing, and converting the original into image data for printing by the printer 113.

The motion sensor controller 124 notifies the CPU 101 of the activation control of the motion sensor 125 and the presence / absence of a person (operator) in front of the image forming apparatus 1. The motion sensor 125 transmits a detection signal to the motion sensor controller 124 while detecting an object such as a person. As a method for detecting an object, for example, there is a method using reflection of infrared rays or ultrasonic waves, but the present embodiment does not limit the detection method to them. The motion sensor controller 124 determines whether the detected object is a user who uses the image forming device 1 based on the detection signal received by the motion sensor 125, and if it is a user, the motion sensor controller 1 determines whether the detected object is a user. Notifies the CPU 101 that there is a person in front. The detection signal of the motion sensor 125 is directly transmitted to the CPU 101 without providing the motion sensor controller 124 as in the present embodiment. Then, the CPU 101 may determine whether or not there is a user in front of the image forming apparatus 1.
The motion sensor controller 124 is an example of a detection unit that detects the presence or absence of a person in front of the image forming apparatus 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of processing between the CPU 101, the storage device 104, the motion sensor controller 124, and the motion sensor 125. In addition, in order to simplify the figure, the system bus 105 and the motion sensor controller 124 that connect each block are omitted.
The controller 100 operates the operating system (OS) 201 by the calculation of the CPU 101. OS201 is basic software that controls and manages the entire software and hardware and is commonly used by many applications. The OS 201 also includes a function of reading and writing data to and from the storage device 104. For example, in an application running on the OS 201, when reading the data of the storage device 104, the OS 201 issues a data read command from the CPU 101 to the storage device 104. The storage device 104 that has received the data read command operates the storage device controller 202 inside the storage device 104, acquires the data requested by the command from the storage area in the storage device 104, and transfers the data to the CPU 101. Similarly, when writing data to the storage device 104, the OS 201 issues a data write command from the CPU 101 to the storage device 104. The storage device 104 that has received the data write command operates the storage device controller 202 inside the storage device 104 to write the data requested by the command to the storage area in the storage device 104.

Further, when a plurality of applications write data to the storage device 104, the OS 201 stores the data in the storage device 104 so that different applications do not write the data to the overlapping storage area and the necessary data is not lost. The area is divided into multiple areas and managed. In the present embodiment, it is tentatively divided into five (storage area 203, storage area 204, storage area 205, storage area 206, storage area 207). The storage device 104 is an example of a semiconductor storage area.

When writing data to the storage device 104, the storage device controller 202 confirms whether or not any data exists in the area before writing the data to the area specified by the data write command. If the data does not exist, the storage controller 202 writes the data to the designated storage area. However, a flash memory such as the storage device 104 has a limit on the number of rewrites for each data cell. Therefore, in the storage device 104, in order to extend the life of the built-in flash memory, the storage device controller 202 performs distributed writing called wear leveling. In wear leveling, writing is performed by replacing blocks so as to use recording blocks with a small number of writes as much as possible. Therefore, while the wear leveling process is being executed by the storage device 104, block erasure, data copy, and the like may occur at the time of block replacement, and the performance (read / write performance) of the storage device 104 may deteriorate. As a means for avoiding this, it is common to perform a process called TRIM.
The TRIM is a command for notifying the storage device 104 of a storage block that is no longer needed for the file system of the OS 201. Specifically, the area that is no longer used by the command TRIM is notified to the controller of the semiconductor storage device. The area that is no longer used is an example of a predetermined area. By recognizing the unused area, the storage controller 202 needs to collect only the blocks in use (garbage collection) for wear leveling, so that the amount of data to be copied is reduced, the number of blocks used is also reduced, and the whole is used. The number of rewrites of is also reduced. Therefore, by notifying the storage device 104 of the storage blocks that are no longer needed by the TRIM command, it is not necessary to perform wear leveling processing up to an unnecessary area, and it is possible to suppress a deterioration in the performance of the storage device 104.
Here, the TRIM command can also be said to be a command for executing the physical memory block erasing process in a predetermined area of the semiconductor storage area.

However, while issuing the above TRIM command, the CPU 101 is occupied by notifying the storage area that is no longer needed, which hinders the operation of other applications on the OS 201. For example, if the image forming apparatus 1 controls the printer controller 112 and the scanner controller 114 in order to execute a print or scan job operation, the job execution is interrupted if the CPU 101 is occupied by the TRIM command. It ends up. In addition, when the application controls the display unit controller 106 by user operation, operations such as screen transition of the display unit are stopped because the CPU 101 is occupied. If the TRIM command is executed during the job operation or the operation as described above, the user may be misunderstood as if the image forming apparatus 1 has failed. Therefore, when issuing the TRIM command, it is desirable to limit the time when the job is not executed and the user does not operate the image forming apparatus 1.

Further, even if the TRIM command is issued at a time when the user does not operate, if the entire area of the storage device 104 is targeted, the occupied time of the CPU 101 becomes long. In that case, the condition for issuing the TRIM command is limited to the time that does not affect the user's operation even if the occupied time of the CPU 101 becomes long, which makes it difficult to issue the TRIM command. In order to avoid this, it is desirable to issue TRIM commands individually to the divided storage areas in the storage device 104. By doing so, the time for occupying the CPU 101 with one TRIM command is shortened, and the conditions for issuing the TRIM command are relaxed. For example, when it is desired to issue a TRIM command of the storage area 203 and the storage area 204 in the storage device 104, the CPU 101 first issues a TRIM command of the storage area 203, and after the TRIM operation is completed, the TRIM of the storage area 204 is completed. Issue a command.

As a method of determining whether or not the user does not operate the image forming apparatus 1, there is a method of using a motion sensor. Since the motion sensor 125 can detect the presence or absence of a person in front of the image forming apparatus 1, it is possible to avoid giving an unnecessary misunderstanding to the user by executing the TRIM operation while the motion sensor 125 does not detect a person. ..
For example, OS201 executes a TRIM operation as follows. First, the image forming apparatus 1 in the standby state in which the job is not executed confirms by the motion sensor 125 that there is no user in front of the image forming apparatus 1 for a certain period of time. After that, the TRIM command is issued to the storage areas 203 or 204, 205, 206, and 207 in the storage device 104 selected in advance. After the TRIM command for the selected storage area is completed, if it is confirmed by using the motion sensor that there is no user in front of the image forming apparatus 1, a storage area other than the previously selected storage area is selected and TRIM is selected. Issue a command. While there is no user in front of the image forming apparatus, the storage area is selected as described above and the TRIM command is continuously issued until the TRIM command of all the storage areas in all the target storage devices 104 is completed. ..

If the motion sensor 125 confirms that the user is in front of the image forming apparatus 1 before the TRIM command of all the target storage areas is completed, the TRIM command is not issued after that, and the user's Maintain standby mode until there is an operation. That is, TRIM is not performed on a part of the storage areas in the storage device 104. After a certain period of time has passed since the user who was in front of the image forming apparatus 1 left the image forming apparatus 1, the TRIM of the storage device 104 is similarly executed. Although this is not the case in the present embodiment, when the TRIM is executed, the previously unTRIMed area of the storage areas 203 or 204, 205, 206, and 207 may be preferentially executed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of information processing when the image forming apparatus 1 executes a TRIM operation. This flowchart starts from the time when the power is turned on to the image forming apparatus 1 and the state shifts to the standby state.
First, in S401, the CPU 101 executes a sub-process for confirming the state of the image forming apparatus and confirming whether the user is in front of the image forming apparatus 1. Details of the subprocess will be described later. If it can be confirmed in S401 that the image forming apparatus is in the standby state and the user is not in front of the image forming apparatus 1 for a certain period of time, the CPU 101 proceeds to S402 or later and starts the TRIM operation of the storage device 104. To do.
In S402, the CPU 101 selects one of the storage areas where the TRIM of the storage device 104 is incomplete.

In S403, the CPU 101 executes a TRIM command for the selected storage area.
In S404, the TRIM command is completed in the selected storage area.
In S405, the CPU 101 determines whether the user is detected by the motion sensor 125. When the user is in front of the image forming apparatus 1 (S405: No), the CPU 101 ends the subsequent issuing of the TRIM command to the storage device 104, and returns to S401. If the user is not in front of the image forming apparatus 1 (S405: Yes), the CPU 101 proceeds to S406.

In S406, the CPU 101 confirms whether the image forming apparatus 1 has reached the predetermined sleep set time. When the sleep set time has been reached (S406: No), the CPU 101 proceeds to S409.
In S409, the CPU 101 shifts to the sleep state. If the sleep set time has not been reached (S406: Yes), the CPU 101 proceeds to S407.

In S407, the CPU 101 confirms whether the storage device 104 has a storage area for which TRIM has not been completed. When there is a storage area in which TRIM has not been completed (S407: Yes), the CPU 101 returns to S402 and continues the TRIM operation of the storage device 104. If there is no TRIM incomplete storage area (S407: No), the CPU 101 proceeds to S408.
In S408, the CPU 101 waits until the image forming apparatus 1 reaches the sleep time, and then proceeds to S409. In S409, the CPU 101 shifts the image forming apparatus 1 to the sleep state. After that, in S410, the CPU 101 continues the sleep state until it detects the sleep wakeup factor, and when it detects the sleep wakeup factor, it returns to S401 and shifts to the standby state.

When the issuance of the TRIM command to the storage device 104 is completed when the user is detected by the motion sensor 125 (S405: No) as shown in the above flowchart, the TRIM is not stored in a part of the storage area in the storage device 104. It will be executed. In other words, it is possible to interrupt the TRIM of the storage device 104 as a whole. Therefore, when the user stands in front of the image forming apparatus 1, the image forming apparatus 1 is in the standby mode, and the deterioration of the operability of the image forming apparatus 1 due to TRIM can be suppressed. As a result, the motion sensor 125 can be used to specify the period during which the user does not operate the image forming apparatus 1 and execute the TRIM process. Therefore, the storage device 104 can be operated while minimizing the performance effect when the user operates the image forming apparatus 1. TRIM processing can be performed on each storage area to suppress deterioration in the performance of the storage device 104.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the internal flow of the subprocess S401 in FIG.
First, in S501, the CPU 101 shifts the image forming apparatus 1 to the standby mode. In S502, the CPU 101 confirms whether or not the job has been selected by the image forming apparatus 1. If no job is selected in S502 (S502: Yes), the CPU 101 proceeds to S503. In S503, the CPU 101 confirms whether or not there is a user in front of the image forming apparatus 1. When the user is in front of the image forming apparatus 1 (S503: No), the CPU 101 returns to S502. If there is no user in front of the image forming apparatus 1 (S503: Yes), the CPU 101 proceeds to S504.

At S504, the CPU 101 starts counting the standby time. This waiting time is used to determine whether a TRIM command may be issued. After the standby time count is started, if the motion sensor detects the user in front of the image forming apparatus 1 in S505 (S505: Yes), the CPU 101 proceeds to S506. At S506, the CPU 101 ends the standby time count and returns to S502. If the motion sensor 125 does not detect the user in front of the image forming apparatus 1 in S505 (S505: No), the CPU 101 proceeds to S507.

In S507, the CPU 101 determines whether the standby time is longer than the predetermined predetermined time 1 (for example, 5 seconds in the present embodiment). If the standby time is shorter than the specified time 1 in S507, the CPU 101 returns to S505. If the standby time is longer than the specified time 1 in S507, the CPU 101 proceeds to S508. In S508, after the standby time count is completed, the CPU 101 terminates the subprocess S401 in order to execute the TRIM of the storage device 104. The specified time 1 is an example of the set time.

When a job is selected in S502 (S502: No), the CPU 101 proceeds to S509. In S509, the CPU 101 executes the selected job. During job execution, in S510, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the motion sensor 125 is OFF. When the motion sensor 125 detects the user in front of the image forming apparatus 1 (S510: No), the CPU 101 proceeds to S511.

In S511, the CPU 101 determines whether the job has been completed. While the job is not completed (S511: No), the CPU 101 returns to S510 and repeats the transition with S511. When the job ends in S511 (S511: Yes), the CPU 101 returns to S501. In S501, the image forming apparatus 1 shifts to the standby state. In S510, if the user leaves the front of the image forming apparatus 1 during job execution (S510: Yes), the CPU 101 proceeds to S512. If the job is not completed (S512: No), the CPU 101 returns to S510 and repeats the transition with S512.

When the job is completed in S512 (S512: Yes), the CPU 101 proceeds to S513. In S513, the CPU 101 starts the standby time count. After that, in S514, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the motion sensor 125 is OFF. If the motion sensor 125 does not detect the user in front of the image forming apparatus 1 (S514: No), the CPU 101 proceeds to S515.

In S515, the CPU 101 determines whether the standby time is longer than the predetermined predetermined time 2 (for example, 30 seconds in this embodiment). If the standby time is shorter than the specified time 2 in S515, the CPU 101 returns to S514. If the standby time is longer than the specified time 2 in S515, the CPU 101 proceeds to S516. In S516, the CPU 101 terminates the subprocess S401 in order to execute the TRIM of the storage device 104 after the standby time count is completed. The specified time 2 is an example of the set time.

In the above subprocess S401, the specified time compared with the waiting time may be different between S507 and S515. This is because the user's behavior after the S507 and S515 jobs are completed is different. In the case of S507, since the user is separated after the job of the image forming apparatus 1 is completed, it is expected that the user is collecting the deliverable. Here, the deliverable is a printed matter in the case of a print job, and is a scanned base paper in the case of a scan job or the like. However, in the case of S515, the deliverable of the executed job remains. The user may leave the image forming apparatus 1 during job execution, but is expected to return to the image forming apparatus 1 in order to collect the deliverables after the job is completed. Therefore, it is desirable that the image forming apparatus 1 take a long specified time so that the job can be executed immediately when the user returns (specified time 1 <specified time 2).

In S507, it is assumed that the specified time is not provided, but it is desirable to provide the specified time. This is because, in S505, a user other than the user who is away from the front of the image forming apparatus 1 may use the image forming apparatus 1. At that time, if the image forming apparatus 1 starts TRIM while the two users change their standing positions, the second user cannot immediately use the image forming apparatus 1.

According to the present embodiment, the motion sensor 125 identifies a period during which the user is not in front of the image forming apparatus 1 and executes the TRIM process on the storage area of the storage device 104, thereby affecting the performance when the user operates the image forming device 1. The deterioration of the performance of the storage device 104 can be suppressed while keeping the minimum value.

<Other Embodiments>
The present invention supplies a system or device with a program that realizes one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiment via a network or a storage medium. It can also be realized by a process in which one or more processors in the computer of the system or apparatus reads and executes a program. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

Although an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment.

As described above, according to each of the above-described embodiments, the motion sensor can specify the period during which the user does not operate the image forming apparatus and execute the TRIM process, so that the performance impact when the user operates the image forming apparatus is kept to a minimum. , TRIM processing can be performed on each region of the semiconductor storage device, and deterioration of the performance of the semiconductor storage device can be suppressed.

1 Image forming apparatus 101 CPU
104 Storage device 125 Motion sensor

Claims (7)

An image processing device having a semiconductor storage device.
The semiconductor storage device has a semiconductor storage area divided into a plurality of areas, and has a semiconductor storage area.
It has an issuing means for issuing a TRIM command for executing a physical memory block erasing process in a predetermined area of the semiconductor storage area.
An image processing device characterized in that the issuing means issues the TRIM command when there is no operator in front of the image processing device. While the detection unit that detects the presence or absence of an operator in front of the image processing device detects that there is no operator in front of the image processing device, the issuing means issues the TRIM command. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. The image according to claim 2, wherein the issuing means issues the TRIM command while the detection unit detects that there is no operator in front of the image processing device for a set time. Processing equipment. The set time differs depending on whether the operator finishes the job while leaving the front of the image processing device during execution of the job and the operator leaves the front of the image processing device after finishing the job. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image processing apparatus is characterized by the above. The set time when the operator finishes the job while leaving the front of the image processing device during job execution is set from the set time when the operator leaves the front of the image processing device after the job is completed. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image processing apparatus is also lengthened. An information processing method executed by an image processing device having a semiconductor storage device.
The semiconductor storage device has a semiconductor storage area divided into a plurality of areas, and has a semiconductor storage area.
A step of issuing a TRIM command for executing a physical memory block erasing process in a predetermined area of the semiconductor storage area is included.
An information processing method characterized in that the TRIM command is issued in the step when there is no operator in front of the image processing device. A program for causing a computer having a semiconductor storage device to function as the issuing means of the image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

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