JP5704332B2 - Image forming method and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming method and an image forming apparatus for storing print data and image data related to image formation in a storage device.

  In a multifunction peripheral (image forming apparatus called MFP: Multifunction Peripheral) equipped with functions such as a scanner, printer, copier, and facsimile machine, scan data obtained by scanning, print data sent from an external device Various data such as (data described in a page description language before RIP) or image data (data after RIP) as rasterized bitmap data must be stored temporarily or for a certain period of time.

  For this reason, hard disk drives (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) have been installed in image forming apparatuses as nonvolatile storage devices for storing large-capacity image data.

  Since such an image forming apparatus has a plurality of functions, there are cases where two or more accesses compete for the same storage device. The following patent document proposes a method of giving priority to file access with high priority and executing parallel file access with low priority in such a conflict.

JP 2010-097364 A

  When a plurality of processes are processed in parallel while using a common hard disk, the HDD is generally accessed in a time division manner. However, this method has a problem that an individual access speed is lowered and a sufficient speed cannot be obtained when processing requiring the speed occurs.

  In response to this problem, a method for maintaining the access speed of a process with a high priority by adjusting the time distribution of access to each process has been proposed in the above-mentioned patent document. However, in the method of this patent document, in order to interrupt high-priority processing during low-priority processing, it is necessary to divide the low-priority processing without fail. There is a problem that it always occurs.

  Further, if an HDD is provided for each process so that parallel access does not occur, the problem of speed reduction due to parallel processing as described above does not occur in the first place. However, a large number of HDDs are required, resulting in an increase in cost. In addition, during a period in which parallel processing is not performed, there is a large number of HDDs that are not used, resulting in a new problem of being wasteful and inefficient.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and in the case where a plurality of hard disks are provided and a plurality of processes are performed in parallel, image formation that enables efficient parallel processing according to the contents of each process. It is an object to realize a method and an image forming apparatus.

  That is, the present invention for solving the above-described problems is as follows.

The present invention provides a storage device including three or more storage units, an image forming unit that forms an image based on data stored in the storage device, and the storage at a timing that overlaps a plurality of data. A control unit that controls to determine a storage unit to be allocated according to each processing content of the data when an access request is generated in the device, each of the storage units according to the type of data to be handled The control unit is divided into a plurality of storage areas having different management methods, and the control unit determines the storage areas to be allocated to the respective data according to the processing contents of the data handled by the plurality of storage areas. The allocation of the storage unit is controlled so as to determine the number .

Here, control is performed so as to determine the number of storage areas to be allocated to each of the data according to the influence of the access of the storage device on the plurality of data on the processing time.

Here, the data to which the storage areas of the plurality of storage units are allocated is controlled to access the plurality of storage units by divided parallel storage.

  Here, when an access request is issued to the storage device for only one type of data at a certain timing, control is performed so that the total number of the storage units is allocated.

  According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The present invention includes a storage device including three or more storage units, an image forming unit that forms an image based on data stored in the storage device, and a control unit that controls each unit. In the case where the access request is generated in the storage device at the overlapping timing for a plurality of different types of data, the control unit determines the number of storage areas to be allocated according to the processing contents of the data. controlled and, according to the respective processing contents in case of parallel processing of the processing, including the storage of a plurality of data, simultaneously accessing allocates a storage area of the large number to the processing time it gives high impact treatment As a result, parallel processing can be performed efficiently.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a memory | storage device. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation example of a memory | storage device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation example of a memory | storage device. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation example of a memory | storage device. 3 is a time chart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus. 3 is a time chart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus. 3 is a time chart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus. 3 is a time chart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus. 3 is a time chart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, the image forming apparatus 100 that can operate as a copying machine, a scanner, a printer, and the like and has a function of storing data will be described as a specific example.

<Configuration of image forming apparatus>
Here, the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and communicates with other apparatuses via various networks through a control unit 101 that controls each part in the image forming apparatus 100. A communication unit 102, a liquid crystal display unit, and a touch panel, an operation unit 103 that is input by a user, a scanner unit 105 that optically reads a document using a light source and a reading element, and a nonvolatile memory A storage device 110 that stores various data handled by the image forming apparatus 100 and a pre-RIP print data received from an external device are stored in the storage device 110. Data processing unit 120, pre-RIP print data described in a page description language (hereinafter simply referred to as “print data”). ”) Is rasterized by RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing to generate post-RIP image data in the pit map format (hereinafter simply“ image data ”), and various processing is performed on the reading results of the scanner unit 105. The scanner processing unit 140 that generates scan data by applying the compression processing to the image data and scan data stored in the storage device 110 and the image data and scan data stored in the storage device 110 after being compressed. An image processing unit 150 that performs decompression processing, an output processing unit 160 that performs various processes on image data for image formation output, and an image formation unit 170 that serves as a print engine that executes image formation output by an electrophotographic method or the like. It is prepared for.

  In addition, FIG. 2 illustrates a configuration example of the storage device 110 that includes three or more storage units (HDDs) according to the present embodiment. Here, a specific example in which the storage device 110 is configured by three HDDs, that is, an HDD 110A, an HDD 110B, and an HDD 110C. In the claims, the “configuration including three or more storage units” may include any number of units as long as the configuration includes three or more HDDs. In this embodiment, when processing including storage for a plurality of data is performed in parallel, a large number of hard disks are allocated to the processing that has a large influence on the processing time according to the processing contents and accessed simultaneously. Therefore, three or more HDDs are provided.

  In each HDD, a storage area is logically divided into areas called “partitions” as described below.

  Here, the HDD 110A includes a storage area 110A_1, a storage area 110A_2, a storage area 110A_3, and a storage area 110A_4. The HDD 110B includes a storage area 110B_1, a storage area 110B_2, a storage area 110B_3, and a storage area 110B_4. The HDD 110C includes a storage area 110C_1, a storage area 110C_2, a storage area 110C_3, and a storage area 110C_4.

  Here, the storage area 110A_1, the storage area 110B_1, and the storage area 110C_1 are allocated as the first FS area. In addition, the storage area 110A_3, the storage area 110B_3, and the storage area 110C_3 are allocated as second FS areas.

  The FS area is an area managed by the file system in the operating system, and is an area for retrieving print data instructed to be stored by the user via the operation unit 103 and storing the print data so that it can be reused later. The speed of data writing and reading is not so important, but various management and use by the file system is possible.

  Further, the storage area 110A_2, the storage area 110B_2, and the storage area 110C_2 are allocated as the first RAW area. Also, the storage area 110A_4, the storage area 110B_4, and the storage area 110C_4 are allocated as second RAW areas.

  This RAW area is an area managed as a RAW device by the control unit 101, and is temporarily used to output image data to the image forming unit 170 at a predetermined timing as a virtual memory that compensates for insufficient capacity of the volatile memory. Since data is written and read at high speed, data is directly managed by the control unit 101. By managing the start cluster number and the data size or end cluster number, one page's worth of data is stored. Image data is written to successive clusters.

  The storage device 110 performs high-speed storage by dividing and storing data in a predetermined size for a plurality of HDDs (any one of the HDDs 110A to 110C) by RAID 0 striping. And reading can be realized.

  Further, the number of HDDs and each storage area of the storage unit 110 shown in FIG. 2 are examples, and various modifications can be made.

  In the storage device 110, when an access request is generated at a timing overlapping with the storage device 110 for a plurality of different types of data such as print data and image data under the control of the control unit 101, When the number of HDDs to be allocated is determined according to each processing content and processing including storage for multiple data is processed in parallel, the number of processing that has a large effect on processing time depends on each processing content. It is controlled so that parallel processing can be performed efficiently by allocating hard disks of the same and accessing them simultaneously.

<Operation of Image Forming Apparatus (Embodiment)>
Here, the image forming operation of the present embodiment will be described. Here, the case where the storage device 110 whose configuration example is shown in FIG. 2 is used will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, the explanatory diagram of FIG. 4-6, and the time chart of FIGS.

  The control unit 101 monitors communication with an external device via the communication unit 102 and a user operation from the operation unit 103, and confirms whether or not an access to the storage device 110 occurs (in FIG. 3). Step S101). The confirmation of the occurrence of access to the storage device 110 is a confirmation of how the access to the storage device 110 occurs in a series of operations of the job to be executed at the start of job execution. Similarly, when another job is added in a state where there is a job being executed, the control unit 101 similarly checks whether or not an access to the storage device 110 occurs (in FIG. 3). Step S101).

  Here, the job refers to a single operation related to the image forming apparatus 100 such as print output, scan, and copy. For example, when image formation is output as print output based on print data, the print data A series of operations of the RIP process and the output process of the image data subjected to the RIP process corresponds to one job.

  Here, the control unit 101 determines whether or not multiple simultaneous accesses to the storage device 110 occur in the job to be executed (step S102 in FIG. 3).

  In this embodiment, “a plurality of simultaneous accesses” means that an access request is generated at a timing overlapping with the storage device 110 for a plurality of different types of data. The overlapping timing does not mean a timing at which a plurality of access requests completely match from the start to the end, but corresponds to an overlapping timing if there is a partial overlapping timing.

  When a plurality of simultaneous accesses to the storage device 110 occur in the job to be executed (YES in step S102 in FIG. 3), the control unit 101 details the processing contents for accessing the storage device 110. Investigation is performed (step S103 in FIG. 3).

  Here, as the investigation of the processing content, whether the access to the storage device 110 is storage or reading, the time for continuing to store or read data (continuous access of the entire data or data subdivision time division access), Whether the data access can be performed in parallel with the linked other processes, how much the processing time of other linked processes increases when the corresponding multiple accesses cause an increase in the memory access time, This means examining changes in the total processing time linked to the access time. Note that other linked processes include, for example, a process for generating data to be stored in the storage device 110 and a process using data read from the storage device 110.

  In addition, when the access time to the storage device 110 increases when multiple simultaneous accesses to the storage device 110 occur in the job to be executed (YES in step S104 in FIG. 3), the control unit 101 It is determined which of the print data processing and the image data processing linked to the simultaneous access has a greater influence, that is, which has the larger change in the print data processing time and the image data processing time (FIG. 3 in step S105).

  In addition, the control unit 101 stores the storage device 110 in the storage device 110 when multiple simultaneous accesses to the storage device 110 do not occur (NO in step S102 in FIG. 3) or in the job to be executed. If a plurality of simultaneous accesses occur (YES in step S102 in FIG. 3), the access time to the storage device 110 does not increase when a plurality of simultaneous accesses occur (NO in step S104 in FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 4, all HDDs 110A to 110C are assigned to a plurality of accesses as single processing assignments (step S106 in FIG. 3). In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the storage area 110A_1, the storage area 110B_1, and the storage area 110C_1 as the first FS area are allocated to the print data before the RIP processing. Further, a storage area 110A_2, a storage area 110B_2, and a storage area 110C_2 as first RAW areas are allocated to image data used for image formation in the image forming unit 170. That is, when an access request is generated in the storage device 110 for only one type of data at a certain timing, or when the access time does not increase even when multiple simultaneous accesses are assigned alternately, the control unit 101 sets the HDD in the storage device 110. Control to allocate all units. As a result, in each access, high-speed storage and reading can be realized by dividing and storing the data by dividing the data into predetermined sizes by striping in the HDDs 110A to 110C.

  Further, when a plurality of simultaneous accesses to the storage device 110 occur in the job to be executed (YES in step S102 in FIG. 3), the control unit 101 stores the storage device 110 for image data rather than print data. If the overall processing time increases due to the large influence of the increase in the access time to the image (YES in step S104 in FIG. 3, YES in S105), as shown in FIG. A large number of HDDs are allocated for accessing image data (step S107 in FIG. 3). In the example shown in FIG. 5, one HDD and a storage area 110A_3 as a second FS area are allocated to print data. Also, two HDDs, a storage area 110B_4 as a second RAW area, and a storage area 110C_4 are allocated to the image data. Here, in accessing the image data, it is possible to realize high-speed storage and reading by dividing and storing the data in a predetermined size by striping in the storage areas 110B_4 to 110C_4. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the entire processing time increases due to the large influence of the access time of the image data to the storage device 110, and high-speed storage and reading as a whole can be realized. In this specific example, two HDDs are assigned to the image data and one HDD is assigned to the print data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the storage device 110 has five HDDs, the number of HDDs assigned to image data and print data can be set to 4: 1, 3: 2, or the like.

  In addition, when a plurality of simultaneous accesses to the storage device 110 occur in the job to be executed (YES in step S102 in FIG. 3), the control unit 101 stores the print data storage device 110 rather than the image data. If the entire processing time increases due to the large influence of the increase in the access time to the network (YES in step S104 in FIG. 3, YES in S105), as shown in FIG. A large number of HDDs are allocated for access to print data (step S108 in FIG. 3). In the example shown in FIG. 6, two HDDs, a storage area 110B_3 and a storage area 110C_3 as the second FS area are allocated to the print data. Further, one HDD and a storage area 110A_4 as a second RAW area are allocated to the image data. Here, in the print data access, the storage area 110B_3 to the storage area 110C_3 can be divided and stored in parallel by dividing the data into predetermined sizes by striping, thereby realizing high-speed storage and reading. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the entire processing time is increased due to an increase in the access time of the print data to the storage device 110, and high-speed storage and reading can be realized as a whole. In this specific example, two HDDs are assigned to the print data and one HDD is assigned to the image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when five HDDs are provided as a whole, the number of assigned HDDs for print data and image data can be set to 4: 1, 3: 2, or the like.

  Then, the control unit 101 performs control so as to determine the number of HDDs to be assigned to each data according to the influence of the access to the HDD of the storage device 110 on the processing time as described above (in FIG. 3). Steps S106, S107, and S108), and various processes relating to image formation for print data and image data are executed.

  Here, FIG. 7 shows a specific example in which processing for image formation is executed while processing print data before RIP and image data after RIP in parallel. Here, a case will be described in which print data received from the outside is RIP processed by the RIP processing unit 130 to be converted into image data, and output processing is performed by the image forming unit 170. In addition, about the process in each part, the vertical axis | shaft direction has shown processing time (elapsed time).

  In this case, since the first page is stored in the storage device 110 and sent to the RIP processing unit 130, the storage device 110 is a single process of only print data, as shown by the one-dot chain line area A in FIG. However, after that, as shown in the one-dot chain line region B in FIG. 7, the storage / reading of the image data of the nth page subjected to the RIP processing in the storage device 110 and the print data of the n + 1th page in the storage device 110 are performed. Storage / reading and multiple simultaneous accesses are overlapped.

  Therefore, the control unit 101 determines whether to give priority to print data processing or image data processing in the processing of FIG. 7B using the storage device 110, as described in steps S105 to S108 of FIG.

  Here, FIG. 8 shows how image data is stored and read in the storage device 110 and output processing in the image forming unit 170 in the one-dot chain line region B of FIG. Here, the time required for reading the image data from the storage device 110 and the output processing time in the image forming unit 170 are shown in the vertical axis direction.

  When the bitmap format image data after the RIP processing is read from the storage device 110 and output by the image forming unit 170, the image data is read from the HDD of the storage device 110 in units of one page and stored in the image forming unit 170. It is necessary to supply (see FIG. 8A). Here, when it takes more time than usual (FIG. 8 (a)) to access the HDD of the storage device 110 (FIG. 8 (b)), the delay time that takes time due to the slow access to the HDD of the storage device 110 remains unchanged. Overall processing delay.

  Next, FIG. 9 shows how print data is stored and read in the storage device 110 in the alternate long and short dash line area B in FIG. 7 and the RIP processing in the RIP processing unit 130. Here, the time required for reading the print data from the storage device 110 and the RIP processing time in the RIP processing unit 130 are shown in the vertical axis direction.

  When the print data described in the page description language before RIP processing is read from the storage device 110 and RIP processing is performed by the RIP processing unit 130, the RIP processing by the RIP processing unit 130 is performed by subdividing one page. Therefore, the image data can be read out from the HDD of the storage device 110 and supplied to the RIP processing unit 130 in this subdivided partial unit (see FIG. 9A). Here, when it takes more time than usual (FIG. 9A) to access the HDD of the storage device 110 (FIG. 9B), the delay time that the access of the HDD of the storage device 110 is slow and takes time is RIP. Since there is a portion overlapping with the RIP processing in the processing unit 130, most of the read delay is absorbed in the RIP processing time, and the overall processing delay is smaller than the read delay.

  Therefore, in this case, when the overall processing delay in FIG. 8B is compared with the overall processing delay in FIG. 9B, the influence of the image data reading delay in FIG. 8B greatly affects the overall processing delay. I understand that Accordingly, the control unit 101 considers this influence and determines to prioritize access of image data to the storage device 110. That is, for the image data that has a large influence on the overall processing delay, the control unit 101 determines to assign a large number of HDDs with priority on access to the storage device 110. Note that the present invention is not limited to the specific examples shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and it is preferable to assign a large number of HDDs by giving priority to access to the storage device 110 for data having a large influence on the overall processing delay. Good. Accordingly, when a plurality of HDDs are provided in the storage unit 110 and a plurality of processes are performed in parallel, the parallel processes can be efficiently performed according to the contents of each process.

  Here, a case where box printing is executed in the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, “box printing” means that image data generated by RIP processing print data in the RIP processing unit 130 is stored in a storage area of the storage device 110 called a box, and the image data is read from the storage device 110 later. This function performs output processing in the image forming unit 170. In this case, the image data can be stored in a box and used when needed.

  At the time of inputting the box print, the RIP processing of the print data and the storage of the image data can be processed in the same manner as the flowchart of FIG. Accordingly, the image data is stored in the two HDDs of the storage device 110.

  At the time of outputting the box print, the RIP process is unnecessary because it is already stored as image data, and the image data is read from the storage device 110 and output by the image forming unit 170. Therefore, when the box print is output, the storage device 110 is accessed only by reading the image data, and the total number of HDDs in the storage device 110 can be assigned (FIG. 4).

  Accordingly, at the timing between the input and output of the box print, as shown in FIG. 10, the image data stored in the two HDDs are read out in accordance with the image data movement instruction from the control unit 101. Sort and store in HDD. This data movement is preferably performed at a timing when there is no access to the storage device 110 by other processing.

  By executing data movement in this way, output processing by high-speed reading can be realized by assigning the total number of HDDs in the storage device 110 at the time of box print output (FIG. 4).

  Here, a case where variable printing is executed in the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the variable print is a method of forming an image by combining a print data fixing unit such as a text and a print data variable unit such as a destination. In this case, as the print data variable unit, data such as a zip code, an address, an attribute, and a name is stored in a separate area for each type.

  In FIG. 11, the one-dot chain line area A and the one-dot chain line area B are the same as those in FIG. In addition to this, the alternate long and short dash line area C shows how the print data variable section is repeatedly read from the storage device 110. In this case, every time data of each type such as a zip code, an address, an attribute, and a name is read, an HDD seek occurs, and processing time is required. Further, when the variable data RIP processing is executed after the data of different areas such as zip code, address, attribute, name, etc. is read and the data is prepared as the print data variable unit, Processing time will be required.

  Therefore, in this case, the control unit 101 determines that the delay due to the influence of the one-dot chain line region C for the RIP processing of the variable print variable unit is larger than the delay generated by the one-dot chain line region B, and the storage device 110 To give priority to access of print data to. That is, for the print data that has a large influence on the overall processing delay, the control unit 101 determines to assign a large number of HDDs with priority on access to the storage device 110.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the specific example shown in FIG. 11, and it is sufficient to allocate a large number of HDDs by giving priority to access to the storage device 110 for data having a large influence on the overall processing delay. Accordingly, when a plurality of HDDs are provided in the storage unit 110 and a plurality of processes are performed in parallel, the parallel processes can be efficiently performed according to the contents of each process.

<Other embodiments>
In the time chart of FIG. 7, since a plurality of simultaneous accesses do not occur in the portion of the one-dot chain line area A, all the HDDs are allocated (step S106 in FIG. HDD allocation (step S106 or S107 in FIG. 3) may be used. However, in a state where data stored during the process remains, instantaneous switching is performed from the allocation of all HDDs for single processing (step S106 in FIG. 3) to the HDD allocation for parallel processing (step S107 in FIG. 3). In the case of FIG. 7, it is desirable to execute HDD allocation corresponding to multiple simultaneous accesses from the beginning.

  In the storage device 110 of the present embodiment, print data and image data have been described as specific examples. However, even when there is data such as scan data or facsimile reception data, there is an effect on the overall processing delay. A large number of HDDs may be allocated by giving priority to access to the storage device 110 for large data. Accordingly, when a plurality of HDDs are provided in the storage unit 110 and a plurality of processes are performed in parallel, the parallel processes can be efficiently performed according to the contents of each process.

  In the above embodiment, an HDD is used as a specific example of the plurality of storage units in the storage device 110, but a solid state drive called SSD using a flash memory or the like can also be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming apparatus 101 Control part 102 Communication part 103 Operation part 105 Scanner part 110 Storage device 120 Data processing part 130 RIP processing part 140 Scanner processing part 150 Image processing part 160 Output processing part 170 Image forming part

Claims (8)

A storage device comprising three or more storage units;
An image forming unit that forms an image based on the data stored in the storage device,
Each of the storage units is an image forming method in an image forming apparatus that is divided into a plurality of storage areas having different management methods according to the type of data to be handled,
When an access request is generated in the storage device at an overlapping timing for a plurality of different types of data,
Controlling the allocation of storage units so as to determine the number of storage areas to be allocated to the respective data according to the processing content of the data handled by each of the plurality of storage areas ,
An image forming method. Control to determine the number of storage areas to be allocated to each of the data according to the influence of the access of the storage device on the plurality of data on the processing time,
The image forming method according to claim 1. For the data to which the storage area of the plurality of storage units is allocated, control to access the plurality of storage units by split parallel storage,
The image forming method according to claim 1 or 2. When an access request is generated in the storage device for only one type of data at a certain timing, control is performed so as to allocate the total number of the storage units.
The image forming method according to claim 1, wherein the image forming method is an image forming method. A storage device comprising three or more storage units;
An image forming unit that forms an image based on the data stored in the storage device;
A control unit that controls to determine a storage unit to be allocated according to each processing content of the data, when an access request is generated in the storage device at a timing overlapping for a plurality of data;
I have a,
Each of the storage units is divided into a plurality of storage areas with different management methods depending on the type of data to be handled,
The control unit controls the allocation of the storage units so as to determine the number of the storage areas to be allocated to the respective data according to the processing contents of the data handled by each of the plurality of storage areas. An image forming apparatus. The control unit performs control so as to determine the number of storage areas to be allocated to the respective data according to the influence of the access of the storage device on the plurality of data on the processing time.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 5. The control unit controls the data to which the storage area of the plurality of storage units is allocated to access the plurality of storage units by divided parallel storage.
7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 5-6. The control unit controls to allocate the total number of the storage units when an access request is generated in the storage device for only one type of data at a certain timing.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

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