JP2664134B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus. [Related Art] In recent years, image information processing terminals such as an image input device, an image editing device, and an image output device have been rapidly developed, and various forms of image information are created and used. For example,
In computer devices such as personal computers, which have rapidly spread in recent years, and document processing devices such as word processors, for example, character processing and image processing are performed using code information such as ASCII or JIS, while hard copy and the like are used. In general, these code information are sent to the output device, and the hard copy device performs a printing operation corresponding to the command information and the image information composed of these character code strings. In recent years, in particular, the colorization of image information has progressed, and the development of hard copy devices capable of outputting color images has been actively pursued.
The speed of their spread is also remarkable. 2. Description of the Related Art An output device for a pictorial color image capable of reproducing halftones among color images is greatly expected as an output terminal of, for example, a video printer, a color copier, and a computer graphics. A color image information input device having this type of density information is generally a color image input device equipped with a TV camera or a CCD color sensor, and the color information obtained by color separation of each pixel is usually, for example, 6 bits. (64 gradations) or 8
It is transferred as density data such as bits (256 gradations).
These are obviously different from the codes and the like represented by character information such as ASCII codes output from the above-mentioned computer devices, and it is impossible for a single processing device to receive and print these different types of information. Can not. Furthermore, different types of information, such as combining and outputting a color image, image information compressed according to the facsimile standard, and a character image input as code information, for example, are combined and output on one sheet of print paper. Demands are growing. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and is capable of receiving different types of information such as color image information and coded information and outputting the combined information as a composite image. It is an object to provide a processing device. Further, the input compressed image information, character information, and color image information are determined by the processor, separated,
Then, by performing DMA transfer and outputting in accordance with the output position on the recording medium, the processor can perform the determination without transferring received data, and can process received data at high speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus that can perform the processing. [Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] To solve the problems, the image processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, one system of input means (corresponding to GPIB10 in the embodiment) for inputting color still image information consisting of a plurality of color components, data compressed image information, coded character information and respective identification commands. A processor that determines whether the information input by the input unit is color still image information, compressed image information, or character information according to the identification command; and that the information input by the input unit is color still image information. According to whether the information is image information, compressed image information, or character information, the color still image information is converted into an image for each color constituting the color still image information and output to a recording medium. In accordance with the above, a DMA transfer is performed from the input means and input to the first buffer memory, and the compressed image information is decompressed. DMA transfer is performed from the input means in accordance with the output position on the recording medium and input to the second buffer memory, and character information is DMA-transferred from the input means and converted into a pattern corresponding to the code. Processing means for inputting the data to the third buffer memory in accordance with the output position on the recording medium (in the embodiment, the bus selector 12 in FIG. 1, the DMAC 303 in FIG. 3, the character generator 310, the DMAC 402 in FIG. 4, Circuit 403, the image memory 408, the DMAC 502 in FIG. 5, and the image memories 507 to 509), and the color still image information, the compressed image information, and the character information processed by the processing means are stored on the recording medium. Output means for outputting a composite image per page to the image forming apparatus (in the embodiment, the data read control circuit 313 in FIG. 3, the read control circuit 409 in FIG. 4, and the read control circuit 51 in FIG. 5)
8). Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Explanation of Overall Configuration Diagram (FIG. 1) (FIG. 2)] FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image processing system according to the present embodiment, and an image data processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a control unit).
100 to 103, color image forming unit (hereinafter referred to as printer unit) 104
It has. As described above, the present system processes image information in different forms in a unified manner, and outputs each image individually or in combination to the printer unit 104. One system, here, GPIB which is an 8-bit parallel standard interface bus is adopted. The control units 101 to 103 are image data processing units corresponding to different types of image information.
1 controls the controllers 101 to 103 and controls the output of image information to the printer 104. Here, the control unit 101 is a block for processing character and image information according to the ASCII or JIS code system.
The control unit 102 is an M common for facsimile communication.
This is a processing block for image information that has been H-compressed and coded, and internally decodes the MH code and develops it into dot images for one page of the image. The control unit 103 converts the color image information obtained by color separation into the three primary colors of R, G, B or Y, M, and C as necessary, and performs gradation correction, smearing processing, color correction processing, and intermediate processing. After performing tone processing and the like, the image data is sent to the color printer unit. Reference numeral 10 denotes a GPIB interface bus through which data is exchanged. Reference numeral 11 denotes an interface circuit with the GPIB, which corresponds to an address specification in the GPIB system.
It has a normal GPIB interface function such as IB handshake. Reference numeral 12 denotes a bus selector, which is controlled by a CPU 13 for controlling the entire system, and by a signal 19 as necessary.
The connection between 4 and buses 15-18 is switched. That is, since only one signal line 10 is input to the present system, the received data is non-image code data (COM1, COM2) 201, 202 indicating a command or status as shown in FIG.
And image data 200 having a different sequence of “1” and “0” or compressed image code data (IDATA1, IDATA2) 20
3, 204, etc., and the processing blocks of these data are different.Therefore, the bus selector is switched so that the control commands for the system and the image data are transferred to the bus of the CPU 13, and the image data is stored in the image of each form corresponding to each image data. Processing block
Supplied to 101-103. The CPU 13 that controls the entire system includes COMIFs 1 to 3 (20 to 2).
2) Via each CPU 300,400,
Communication with 500 is performed, and 23 to 25 are signal lines for this communication. The CPU 13 interprets the image data identification command transmitted prior to the image data transmission, instructs the CPU of the corresponding control unit by inter-CPU communication to select a control unit corresponding to the type of image, and performs a bus selector 1 operation.
Switch 2. On the other hand, the CPU that has received the command enables the bus receivers (301, 401, 501) in each block, which will be described later, and captures the image data into the buffer memory in each block. Numerals 27 to 29 denote a movement and position adjustment unit for the position of the output image with respect to the print paper. It has become. Reference numerals 30 to 32 control which of the images, that is, the character image data 353, the MH-decoded monochrome image 454, the Y, M, C, and Bk components, and the color image data to be sequentially transmitted are output. AND gates, and the output image data from these AND gates is
The logical sum is obtained by the OR gate 33 in the next stage. That is, these
The AND gates 30 to 32 and the OR gate 33 combine a plurality of types of images. 34 is a program ROM in which the program of the CPU 13 is stored,
35 is a RAM for temporarily storing data and referring to flags, etc., 36 is a key input unit and a display unit for the system, and 37 is a GPIB address setting unit. Reference numerals 38 and 39 denote interface sections with the printer section 104, which exchange control data with the printer section, exchange image synchronization signals, and transmit image data. Reference numeral 104 denotes a color printer, which uses a laser beam printer of a color-sequential superimposition method, generates a synchronization signal at the leading end and the left end of an image, and outputs Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C ( Cyan), Bk (black)
In this order, a full-color image is obtained by sequentially forming a color image by a raster scanning method and superimposing the toner images of the respective colors sequentially with high accuracy. [Description of ASCII or JIS code information processing unit (3rd
FIG. 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a character and image processing unit such as ASCII or JIS code, and FIG. 3 corresponds to the control unit 101 in FIG. Reference numeral 301 denotes a bus receiver for inputting ASCII character code data and the like from GPIB.The bus receiver 301 connects the bus 15 and the bus 351 by a command from the CPU 13 to the CPU 300 via the COMIF 1 or 20 and receives the bus. The data is transferred to the buffer memory 302 via the bus 351 by the DMA under the control of the DMAC 303, one byte at a time. The code data in the buffer memory 302 is sequentially read out by the CPU 300 in accordance with the control program stored in the ROM 304, and the character pattern corresponding to each code is read out from the character generator 310 or the character font 311 and the window buffer is read out. Stored in 312. The contents of the window buffer 312 are sequentially output to the printer unit 104 as image signals 353 by the data read control circuit 313. [Explanation of MH Coded Data Processing Unit (FIG. 4)] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control unit 102 which is a processing block which is image information subjected to MH compression coding, and is inputted from a bus 16 through a bus receiver 401. The image information obtained is buffered by the DMAC 402 in the same manner as the control unit 101.
DMA transfer is performed to 406. The CPU 400 controls the entire control unit 102, and the ROM 404 stores control programs, data, and the like for the CPU 400. The MH compression code for one page is now stored in the buffer memory 406.
Are read out sequentially by the CPU 400, the data is expanded and the code is decoded by the decoding circuit 403, and is stored in the image memory 408 for one page as dot image information of "1" and "0". You. The dot image stored in the image memory 408 is read by a read control circuit 409 during printing.
Is read out one byte at a time, is converted into dot-serial data by the parallel / serial conversion circuit 411, and is synchronized with the output signal of the clock conversion circuit 410 to generate the image signal 454.
Is sent as [Description of Color Image Image Data Processing Unit (FIG. 5)] FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a control unit 103 which is a color image image data processing unit.
The color separation density color image information is developed into a dot image for each color and sent to the printer unit 104. The 8-bit color density image data stored in the buffer memory 503 by DMA transfer from the bus 17 via the bus receiver 501 is sequentially stored in the image memory 1 (507) for the R image, the image memory 2 (508) for the G image, and the B image Is image memory 3 (509)
Is forwarded to The RGB data of each of the image buffers 507 to 509 is converted into a color conversion circuit 510 that converts the color of the ink (toner) of the printer unit 104 into a YMC color, and each of the circuits that removes the under color and adds a color. 511 to 514, masking circuit 51 for performing masking
After passing through 5, it is converted into YMC color dot image data for printing. The data selector 516 selects the color data output from the masking circuit 515 and the extracted black data. The color data that has passed through the data selector 516 undergoes halftone processing in a dither circuit 517, and is sent to the printer unit as color dot image data 555. [Description of DMA operation of each control unit (Fig. 6) (Fig. 7)
Figure)] Each of the control units 101 to 103 performs data reception by high-speed DMA transfer in order to receive a large amount of image data.
FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram for explaining the DMA transfer.
FIG. 7 shows the timing chart. When data is transmitted from the GPIB bus 71, a DMA request signal 66 is transmitted from the GPIB interface circuit 62 to the DMAC 61 (timing T1). Upon receiving the DMA request signal 66, the DMAC 61 outputs a bus request signal 64 to the CPU 60. When receiving the bus request signal 64, the CPU 60 outputs a response signal 65 to the bus request at an appropriate timing to open the address bus 70 and the data bus 69. Thus, the DMAC 61 sends the DMIB to the GPIB interface circuit 62.
A DMA response signal 67 indicating that A has been started is returned, a read signal for reading the GPIB bus is output to the control line 68 at a timing T2, and then, at a timing T3, a write signal is transmitted together with the address data of the buffer memory 63. Then, the transfer of the 1-byte data to the buffer memory 63 is completed. DMA
At the timing T4, the DMA response signal 67 and the DMA request signal 66 are turned off, and then at the timing T5, the bus request signal is turned off.
When 64 is turned off, the CPU 60 turns off the bus request response signal 67, and the CPU 60 starts operating again. Hereinafter, this operation is repeated to sequentially transfer the data on the GPIB bus 71 to the buffer memory 63. [Explanation of the reception operation flowchart (FIG. 1) (FIG. 2)
(FIG. 8) FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the data receiving operation of the main CPU 13. First, it is checked in step S1 whether there is received data. If there is data, the flow advances to step 2 to read data through the bus selector 12. In step S3, the content of the data is determined, and the command data, that is, COM1 (201), C1 shown in FIG.
Check if it is OM2 (202) or not. If it is not command data, the flow advances to step S4 to perform processing corresponding to the received data. If it is determined in step S3 that the command is a command, the process proceeds to step S5, and the CO
A reception instruction is issued to the corresponding control unit via one of the MIFs 1 to 3 (20 to 22). Next, in step S6, the bus selector 12 is switched to connect the bus 14 to any one of the buses 15 to 17. This means that the receiving operation control has been transferred to the control unit. COMIF 1-3 (20-22) in step S7
Wait for the message of the end of reception to be sent through. When the end message comes, the bus selector 12 is switched, the bus 14 and the bus 18 are connected again, and the process returns to the step S1.
It enters a state of waiting for reception of the next command data or the like. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, different types of information such as color still image information, compressed image information, and coded character information are combined according to the output position on the recording medium. Since it can be output as an image, for example, color still image information, compressed image information, and character information are output by separate devices, and complicated processing such as combining each output image to create a composite image is not required, and it is easy. Thus, a composite image composed of different types of information can be obtained. Further, according to the present invention, the input compressed image information, character information, and color still image information are determined by the processor according to a command sent together with the information, separated, and then subjected to DMA transfer and input to the buffer memory, Since the output is performed according to the output position on the recording medium, the processor can make the determination without transferring the received data, and can process the received data at high speed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an image processing apparatus of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of received data, and FIG. 3 is an ASCII or JIS code information processing unit of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of an MH encoding unit, FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a processing unit for color image image data, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining DMA, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the main CPU for controlling the entire apparatus. In the figure, 10… GPIB bus, 11… GPIB interface, 12…
Bus selector, 13 CPU, 20-22 COMIF 1-3, 30-32
... AND gate, 33 ... OR gate, 34 ... ROM, 35 ... RAM, 101 ~
103: Control unit, 104: Printer unit, 300, 400, 500
... CPU, 301,401,501 ... Bus receiver, 302,406,503 ... Buffer memory.

Continuation of front page    (56) References JP-A-56-36251 (JP, A)                 JP-A-60-62276 (JP, A)                 JP-A-56-51779 (JP, A)                 JP-A-60-39972 (JP, A)                 JP-A-59-32240 (JP, A)                 JP-A-58-204666 (JP, A)                 JP-A-58-204667 (JP, A)                 JP-A-60-14076 (JP, A)                 JP-A-60-4375 (JP, A)                 Tokiko Sho 51-21524 (JP, B2)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A system of input means for inputting color still image information composed of a plurality of color components, data compressed image information, coded character information, and respective identification commands; and information input by the input means is color. A processor that determines whether the information is still image information, compressed image information, or character information in accordance with the identification command; and whether the information input by the input unit is color still image information or compressed image information. According to the character information, the color still image information is converted into an image for each color constituting the color still image information, and DMA transfer is performed from the input means in accordance with the output position on the recording medium. To the first buffer memory, expands the compressed image information, and matches the input to the output position on the recording medium. A DMA transfer is performed from the stage and input to the second buffer memory, and the character information is subjected to a DMA transfer from the input means and converted into a pattern corresponding to the code, and is converted to a pattern corresponding to the output position on the recording medium. A processing means for inputting to the three-buffer memory; and an output for outputting the color still image information, the compressed image information and the character information after processing by the processing means to the image forming apparatus as a composite image in page units on the recording medium. And an image processing apparatus.