JP4057986B2 - Network device, energy saving control method and energy saving control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention, network equipment, relates to energy saving control method, and energy conservation regulations Gopu program, in particular, the MFP, a copying machine, a printer, in a network system comprised a plurality of network devices connected to a network including a PC, network equipment made it possible to achieve energy saving of the entire network system, a energy saving control method, and energy conservation regulations Gopu program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, devices connected to a network, including image processing devices such as copiers, are activated in response to frames that do not need to be activated depending on the frames that flow on the network after entering the energy saving state. It was. As a result, such a device cannot exhibit a sufficient energy saving effect. For example, when the device is a copying machine, a plotter or the like is activated, and an unnecessary function is activated, so that a sufficient energy saving effect cannot be obtained.

  In general, a conventional multi-function machine having a plurality of functions such as a copying machine, a printer, and a scanner is configured to include an engine, a controller, and the like. When entering an energy saving state, both the engine side and the controller side are turned off. Become. In such an energy-saving state, it is not necessary to start the copier from the network, but when the multifunction device receives a frame that must return some response frame, the multifunction device starts up all of the engine and controller. It will be. In this case, it is possible to configure the multifunction machine so that it can be handled only on the controller side, but the CPU on the controller side must be started up. In addition, there are various conditions for starting up which part of the MFP, and it is difficult to support network protocols such as TCP / IP, NetWare, Eher Talk, etc. It is difficult to respond.

For example, a technique described in Patent Document 1 is known as a conventional technique related to energy saving of this type of multifunction peripheral.
JP 2003-89254 A

  The conventional energy-saving technology such as copiers has the problem that even after the copier enters the energy-saving state, it reacts to all the startup requests from the network, and the energy-saving effect cannot be fully exhibited. Have. In particular, a copying machine having a general configuration has a problem that it is necessary to activate a CPU for a frame coming from a network, and all functions are restored. Further, there is a problem that it is not possible to respond to a request for device management information of a copier by a frame from the network unless all functions are started up.

An object of the present invention is configured by connecting network devices such as copiers, printers, and PCs that solve the problems caused by the prior art as described above and can improve the energy saving effect as a whole system. network equipment in the network system is to provide a energy saving control method, and energy conservation regulations Gopu program.

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, a first means of the present invention is connected to a network and enters a power saving state, a transmitting means for transmitting data via the network, a receiving means for receiving data, and The network device having the energy saving means has recording means for recording that other devices on the network are in the energy saving state, and the transmission means is in the energy saving state recorded in the recording means. For other network devices, transmission of frames other than the start frame is suppressed, and when starting other network devices on the network, the start frame for the device is transmitted by broadcast, and the self-energy saving means saves the device itself. When entering the state, a sleep frame that notifies other network devices that it will enter the energy-saving state is blocked. When the receiving means receives a sleep frame notifying that it enters an energy saving state from another network device on the network, the other network device that has transmitted the sleep frame is in an energy saving state. Is recorded in the recording means, and when the activation frame for shifting the device from the energy saving state to the normal operation state is received, if the activation frame is for another network device, the recording means saves energy for the network device. It is characterized by deleting a record of being in a state .

Further, according to the second means of the present invention, in the first means, the network device that has notified the entry of the energy-saving state by a sleep frame thereafter uses a frame other than the activation request from the own device or another network device. It is characterized by not accepting .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network device including a transmission unit that transmits data via the network, a reception unit that receives data, and an energy saving unit that enters an energy saving state. In the energy saving control method, the network device includes a recording unit that records that another device on the network is in an energy saving state, and the transmission unit is in an energy saving state recorded in the recording unit. For other network devices, transmission of frames other than the start frame is suppressed, and when starting other network devices on the network, the start frame for the device is transmitted by broadcast, and the self-energy saving means transmits the start frame to the other device. When entering the energy saving state, a notification is sent to other network devices that the energy saving state is entered. When the receiver receives a sleep frame notifying that it enters the energy saving state from another network device on the network, the other network device that has transmitted the sleep frame is in the energy saving state. If the activation frame is for another network device when the activation frame is received that causes the device to shift from the energy saving state to the normal operation state, the recording means for the network device is recorded. It is characterized by deleting the record of being in an energy saving state .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network device including a transmission unit that is connected to a network and transmits data via the network, a reception unit that receives data, and an energy saving unit that enters an energy saving state. In the energy saving control program, the network device has recording means for recording that the other devices on the network are in the energy saving state, and other network devices in the energy saving state recorded in the recording means On the other hand, the step of suppressing the transmission of frames other than the start frame, the step of transmitting the start frame for the device by broadcasting when starting other network devices on the network, and the energy saving means saves the own device. When entering the state, other network machines that enter the energy saving state The step of transmitting the sleep frame to be notified by broadcast, and the other network device that has transmitted the sleep frame in the energy saving state when receiving the sleep frame notifying that the other network device on the network enters the energy saving state. A step of recording in the recording means, and when receiving an activation frame for shifting the device from an energy saving state to a normal operation state, if the activation frame is for another network device, the recording means And a step of deleting a record indicating that the network device is in an energy saving state is executed by a CPU included in the network device .

  According to the present invention, when a device that wants to enter the energy saving state sends a sleep frame to another device on the network, the other device can recognize the device that has entered the energy saving state, and returns from the energy saving state. You can grasp the equipment you want to have.

  In addition, according to the present invention, various frames are flowing on the network, but it is very troublesome to grasp all the protocols of this frame and to make a system that recovers from energy saving. Since all but the starting frame are discarded, energy saving can be achieved with a simple configuration.

  In addition, according to the present invention, the device that has entered the energy saving state discards all frames of the broadcast frame, multicast frame, and unicast frame other than the startup frame, so that a higher energy saving effect can be obtained. it can.

  In addition, according to the present invention, the device on the network is provided with the function of transmitting and receiving the sleep frame and the start frame with respect to other peripheral devices on the network, so that the return from energy saving can be simplified. .

  Further, according to the present invention, by using the sleep frame and the start frame, the image processing apparatus such as a copying machine does not need to have a complicated function, and the energy saving effect can be maximized.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a network system and a network device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to screens.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multifunction peripheral as a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a multifunction machine 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured by connecting a controller 101 and an engine unit 110 via a PCI 109. The controller 101 is a controller that controls the entire MFP and controls drawing, communication, and input from the operation unit 111. The engine unit 110 includes a scanner 124 and a plotter 126. The plotter 126 is a black and white plotter and a one-drum color plotter, and the scanner 124 is a scanner or a fax unit. The engine unit 110 includes an image processing unit 122 that performs image processing such as error diffusion and gamma conversion, an ASIC 121 including a PCI unit 123, and a CPU 120 in addition to so-called engine units such as a plotter 126 and a scanner 124. is doing. Further, an IPU is connected to the engine unit 110.

  The controller 101 includes a CPU 102, a north bridge (NB) 103, a system memory (MEM-P) 104, a south bridge (SB) 105, a local memory (MEM-C) 107, an ASIC 108, and an operation unit 111. A plurality of hard disk drives (HDD) 112, an ASIC 114, OPTIONs 115 and 116, and a ROM 117, and the north bridge (NB) 103 and the ASIC 108 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) 106. The NB 103 and the SB 105 are connected by a PCI 118.

  The CPU 102 performs overall control of the multifunction peripheral, and has a chip set including the NB 103, the MEM-P 104, the ASIC 114, the OPTIONs 115 and 116, the ROM 117, and the SB 105. Here, the interface of the CPU 102 is not disclosed, and other devices are connected via a chip set. The ASIC 114 is provided with a MAC 407, and the MFP shown in the figure exchanges frames with other network devices via the network 400 such as Ethernet (registered trademark) connected to the MAC 407. Can do.

  The NB 103 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 102 to the MEM-P 104, SB 105, and AGP 106. The MEM-P 104 is a system memory used as a drawing memory or the like of the multifunction peripheral. The SB 105 includes the NB 103, the ROM 117, It is a bridge for connecting PCI devices and peripheral devices. The OPTIONs 115 and 116 are empty slots for connecting optional PCI devices and peripheral devices.

  The MEM-C 107 is a local memory used as an image buffer for copying and a code buffer, and the ASIC 108 is an IC for image processing applications having hardware elements for image processing, and includes the AGP 106, the PCI 109, the HDD 112, and the MEM-C 107. It also serves as a bridge to connect each.

  The operation unit 111 is an operation unit that accepts input operations from the user and performs display for the user. The HDD 112 is a storage for storing image data, programs, font data, and forms. It is.

  The AGP 106 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed for speeding up graphics processing. The AGP 106 speeds up the graphics accelerator card by directly accessing the system memory with high throughput.

  The AGP 106 is originally used when a 3D (three-dimensional) image is smoothly displayed on the display. However, the MFP according to the embodiment of the present invention connects the NB 103 and the ASIC 108 via the AGP 106. ing.

  As described above, since the interface of the CPU 102 is not disclosed, the ASIC 108 is connected through the NB 103 which is a part of the chip set here. At this time, if the two are connected using the PCI bus, the performance deteriorates. Therefore, the AGP 106 is extended here.

  In the MFP configured as described above, when the power is turned on, the CPU 104 initializes the NB (North Bridge) 103 and the SB (South Bridge) 105, and the MEM-P 104, the MEM-C 107, the ASIC 108, and the ASIC 121 are configured by CONFIG. Communication between the modules of the engine 110 and the controller 101 is started by memory mapping. The same can be said when energy conservation is restored. The problem here is when data is received through the Ethernet (registered trademark) 400 during energy saving. Various frames flow through the Ethernet (registered trademark) 400. For example, when a frame called an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) frame that asks for the MAC address of the other party arrives, the ASIC 114 cannot cope with it, so the CPU 102 must be restored. When the CPU 104 is restored, all other functions must be restored. Even if a system in which the ASIC 108 and the ASIC 121 are not restored can be configured, there is no substitute for the CPU 102 having to be restored. The protocol frame described above is merely an example, and there is also a protocol frame that asks for information on the engine 110 side, and it is difficult to correspond to all patterns.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, when a device connected to the network enters the energy saving mode, the other device enters the energy saving state by notifying other devices on the network that the device has entered the energy saving state. The system is designed to save energy by avoiding unnecessary start-up of the connected devices. Next, an example of the configuration of the network system according to the embodiment of the present invention and an outline of the operation will be described. Will be explained.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a network system and transmission of a sleep frame according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a network system and transmission of a start frame according to an embodiment of the present invention. is there.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a multifunction device 203 having a plurality of functions such as a copying machine and a printer, a printer 202, and a PC 201 using these devices 203 and 202. , 204, 205 are connected to the network 400. In such a network system, it is assumed that the multifunction machine 203 enters an energy saving state. At this time, the multifunction device 203 transmits a sleep frame to other devices 201, 202, 204, and 205 on the network 400 using broadcast (a frame transmitted to all devices on the network) and transmits the sleep frame to its own multifunction device 203. Informs that has entered the energy saving state. The sleep frame referred to here is a specific frame that tells another device that the device entering the energy saving state enters the energy saving state before entering the energy saving state, and the configuration of the frame will be described later. Each device on the network 400 is configured with software for managing a device that has entered the energy saving state, holds information on the device before entering the energy saving state, and does not transmit a useless frame to the device. To do.

  On the contrary, when the multifunction device 203 in the energy saving mode is to be returned from the energy saving state, the device attempting to return the multifunction device 203 from the energy saving state broadcasts a start frame to the multifunction device 203 and performs the function of the multifunction device 203. , And notifies other peripheral devices that the multifunction device 203 has returned from energy saving. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 3, when the PC 201 attempts to restore the multifunction device 203 from the energy saving state, the PC 201 broadcasts an activation frame for the multifunction device 203. As a result, not only the multifunction device 203 returns from the energy saving state, but also notifies the other peripheral devices 202, 204, and 205 that the multifunction device 203 has returned from the energy saving state. With this frame, peripheral devices that have been energy-saving until now also cancel energy-saving.

  After entering the energy saving state, the multifunction device that has entered the energy saving state discards all the broadcast frames, multicast frames, and unicast frames other than the startup frame and does not return. In addition, other devices that have received the notification that the energy saving state has been entered perform energy saving measures so as not to transmit unnecessary and urgent startup frames to the multifunction device that has entered the energy saving state.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration provided in the MAC 407 for the present invention. The illustrated configuration is for realizing the energy saving function according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above. Next, this will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the MAC 407 is provided with a sleep frame transmission function 401 for transmitting a sleep frame and an activation frame transmission function 402 for transmitting an activation frame as transmission functions. A sleep frame reception function 403 that receives a sleep frame and determines that it has been received, and a start frame reception function 404 that receives a start frame and determines that it has been received are provided. In addition, the MAC 407 receives a sleep frame device registration table 405 as a register for registering which device the sleep frame is from, and registers the reception of the sleep frame and receives the activation frame. In some cases, a registration / cancellation function 408 for canceling registration in the sleep frame registration table 405 is provided. Further, the MAC 407 is provided with an energy saving state determination function 406 for controlling a frame transmitted from the own device based on contents registered in the sleep frame device registration table 405.

  In the sleep frame device registration table 405, the IP address of the device that has transmitted the sleep frame and the information indicating that the device is in the sleep state (energy saving state) are registered as a pair, and Even when the device enters the energy saving state, it is registered that the device itself is in the energy saving state.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation in the device that has received the sleep frame reception and activation request. This will be described next.

(1) When a device connected to the network 400 receives a frame from the network 400, it first determines whether or not the received frame is a sleep frame. Continue (steps 501 and 502).

(2) If it is determined in step 501 that the received frame is a sleep frame, the IP address of the device is extracted from the frame received by the registration / release function 408 and registered in the sleep frame registration table 405 (step 501). 503).

(3) Thereafter, using the energy saving state determination function 406, the software side deals with energy saving for the devices registered in the sleep frame registration table 405. This energy-saving response can be freely selected by the device depending on the software (step 504).

(4) Then, it is determined whether or not there is a start request, and it is determined whether or not this start request is a start request for starting the own device when the own device is in an energy saving state. In this determination, if the own device is in an energy saving state and the activation request is for starting the own device, the activation frame is broadcast to other devices on the network, and the registration of the own device is canceled from the sleep frame registration table 405. Then, the processing here ends (steps 505 to 507).

(5) If it is determined in step 505 that the activation request is not for activation of the own device, it is due to reception of an activation frame for activating another device on the network, and is included in the activation frame from the sleep frame registration table 405. The registration of the other devices to be released is canceled, and the processing here is terminated (step 508).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation for transmitting a sleep frame, which will be described next.

(1) When an energy saving command is issued from the MAC 407 or the ASIC 114, the device transmits a sleep frame by broadcast to devices on other networks (steps 601 and 602).

(2) Then, it is registered in the sleep frame registration table 405 that the own device is in the energy saving state, the own device is shifted to the energy saving mode, and the process is terminated (steps 603 and 604).

  The processing in the above-described embodiment of the present invention can be configured as a processing program, and this processing program is provided by being stored in a recording medium such as HD, DAT, FD, MO, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM. be able to.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the format structure of the sleep frame and the startup frame, which will be described next.

  In general, when the network 400 is an Ethernet (registered trademark), the format of a frame flowing on the network 400 includes a DA (Disstination Address) field that is an address of a destination device and a transmission as shown in FIG. The SA (Source Address) field that is the address of the original device, the TYPE field that indicates the protocol type or frame length of Ethernet (registered trademark), and the DATE field (this data field includes, in addition to data, depending on the protocol. , Various header data can also be entered).

  The sleep frame and the start frame used in the embodiment of the present invention use the Ethernet (registered trademark) frame described above, and a part of the DATE field configured to have a variable length is used. It is configured as shown in (b). That is, as shown in FIG. 7B, the sleep frame and the activation frame used in the embodiment of the present invention are the first 64 bytes of the DATE field (this length can be arbitrarily determined). It is configured to be used as an identification data field for identifying the start frame. Since this identification data field is determined at which position in the DATE field according to the configuration of the MAC 407, it can be provided at any position in the DATE field as long as the MAC 407 knows even if it is not at the beginning of the DATE field. Also good.

  As the identification data, for example, “0x12345678abcd...” Is used as the activation frame and “0xfedcba9876432...” Is registered as the sleep frame, and the MAC 407 determines this.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, each device on the network performs the operation as described above, so that it is not necessary to add a complicated circuit to the image processing apparatus such as a copying machine included in the multifunction peripheral. The network system as a whole can maximize the energy saving effect without changing the basic configuration.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction peripheral as a network device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the network system by embodiment of this invention, and transmission of a sleep frame. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the network system by embodiment of this invention, and transmission of a starting frame. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure provided in MAC for this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the processing operation in the apparatus which received the reception and activation request | requirement of a sleep frame. It is a flowchart explaining the processing operation | movement which transmits a sleep frame. It is a figure which shows the structure of the format of a sleep frame and a starting frame.

Explanation of symbols

101 controller 102, 120 CPU
103 North Bridge (NB)
104 System memory (MEM-P)
105 South Bridge (SB)
106 AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
107 Local memory (MEM-C)
108, 114, 121 ASIC
109 PCI
110 Engine section 111 Operation section 112 Hard disk drive (HDD)
115, 116 OPTION
117 ROM
118 PCI
122 Image Processing Unit 123 PCI Unit 124 Scanner 126 Plotter 203 Multifunction Device 202 Printer 201, 204, 205 PC
201, 204, 205
400 Network 401 Sleep Frame Transmission Function 402 Activation Frame Transmission Function 403 Sleep Frame Reception Function 404 Activation Frame Reception Function 405 Sleep Frame Device Registration Table 406 Energy Saving State Determination Function 407 MAC407
408 Registration / cancellation function

Claims (4)

In a network device connected to a network and having transmission means for transmitting data via the network, reception means for receiving data, and energy saving means for entering an energy saving state,
It has a recording means to record that other devices on the network are in an energy saving state,
The transmission unit suppresses transmission of frames other than the activation frame to other network devices in the energy saving state recorded in the recording unit, and activates other network devices on the network. , Send a start frame for the device by broadcast, and when the device enters the energy saving state by the energy saving means, send a sleep frame to notify other network devices that the energy saving state is entered, by broadcast,
When the receiving unit receives a sleep frame notifying that the energy saving state is entered from another network device on the network, the recording unit records that the other network device that has transmitted the sleep frame is in the energy saving state. When the activation frame for shifting the device from the energy saving state to the normal operation state is received, if the activation frame is for another network device, the recording means records that the network device is in the energy saving state. A network device characterized by deleting . 2. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the network device that has notified the entry of the energy saving state by a sleep frame does not accept any frame other than the activation request from the own device or another network device . In an energy saving control method in a network device connected to a network and having a transmitting means for transmitting data via the network, a receiving means for receiving data, and an energy saving means for entering an energy saving state,
The network device has recording means for recording that other devices on the network are in an energy saving state,
The transmission unit suppresses transmission of frames other than the activation frame to other network devices in the energy saving state recorded in the recording unit, and activates other network devices on the network. , By sending a start frame for the device by broadcast, when the self-device enters the energy saving state by the energy saving means, by sending a sleep frame to notify other network devices to enter the energy saving state,
When the receiving unit receives a sleep frame notifying that the energy saving state is entered from another network device on the network, the recording unit records that the other network device that has transmitted the sleep frame is in the energy saving state. When the activation frame for shifting the device from the energy saving state to the normal operation state is received, if the activation frame is for another network device, the recording means records that the network device is in the energy saving state. An energy-saving control method for network devices, wherein In an energy saving control program in a network device connected to a network and having a transmitting means for transmitting data via the network, a receiving means for receiving data, and an energy saving means for entering an energy saving state,
The network device has recording means for recording that other devices on the network are in an energy saving state,
A step of suppressing transmission of a frame other than the activation frame to another network device in an energy saving state recorded in the recording means, and when the other network device on the network is activated, the device Transmitting a start frame for broadcasting, transmitting a sleep frame for notifying other network devices that the energy saving state is entered when the device enters the energy saving state by the energy saving means, and on the network When receiving a sleep frame for notifying that an energy saving state is entered from another network device, a step of recording in the recording means that the other network device that has transmitted the sleep frame is in an energy saving state; To normal operating condition Receiving the activation frame to be executed, the network device comprises a step of deleting the record that the recording means is in an energy saving state for the network device when the activation frame is for another network device. An energy-saving control program for network equipment, which is executed by a CPU .

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