JP5821406B2 - Image processing apparatus, power saving control method, and power saving control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a power saving control method, and a power saving control program. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and power saving control for controlling power consumption by controlling the operation of a communication interface connecting a plurality of units. The present invention relates to a method and a power saving control program.

  In recent years, in image processing apparatuses that handle data, such as composite apparatuses, printer apparatuses, copying apparatuses, scanner apparatuses, facsimile apparatuses, etc., scanner units, plotter units, communication units, operation display units, control units, etc. Each unit is connected by a bus or a signal line, and a communication interface is provided in each unit to exchange commands and data using these buses and signal lines.

  In recent years, image processing apparatuses have been required to save power, and in the standby state, power supply to main units of the apparatus is stopped, power supply is reduced, or power is supplied to unused units depending on the operation mode. The power saving mode for reducing the power consumption by stopping the power supply or reducing the power supply has been provided.

  Conventionally, a printing unit that prints based on print data from the host device, a control unit that operates by clock input and controls the printing unit, and a first communication interface that is individually connected to the host device; And a second communication interface connected in common with the host device, wherein the first communication interface determines the connection state of the first communication interface and the second communication interface. When in the connected state, the power is set to a power stop mode in which both the printing unit and the control unit are turned off, and when the second communication interface is in the connected state, the printing unit is turned off and the A printing apparatus that sets a sleep mode in which a clock of a control unit is stopped has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  In other words, this conventional technique aims to further reduce power consumption by providing not only the power stop mode but also a sleep mode in which the power of the printing unit is turned off and the clock of the control unit is stopped.

  However, in the prior art described in the above publication, power supply and clock supply to the printing unit and the control unit are only controlled based on the state of the communication interface with the host device. There was a need for improvement in order to improve the reduction.

  That is, the image processing apparatus includes a plurality of units, and these units are connected via a communication interface, and each unit cooperates to execute various operation processes of the image processing apparatus. Therefore, in order to improve the reduction of power consumption in such an image processing apparatus, it is required to control the power supply to each unit itself and to control the power supply to the communication interface.

  However, in the prior art described in the above publication, the printing device and control are controlled according to which communication interface is connected to the host device requesting printing such as a computer via two communication interfaces. Since it only controls the power supply and clock supply to the device, even if the power supply or clock supply of the printing device or control device is controlled, it returns from the power saving mode when it returns from the power saving state. As a factor, even if the power supply to the communication interface and the clock may be limited, the power supply to the communication interface connecting these means will be resumed, reducing the power consumption. In order to improve, there was a need for improvement.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to further reduce the power consumption of the entire apparatus by reducing the power consumption in the communication interface between the units.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to claim 1 performs a plurality of operation processes and includes a plurality of operation units each having a plurality of communication interfaces having different power consumption and communication data amount, and each of the operations. A plurality of communication interfaces each having different power consumption and communication data amount respectively communicating with the plurality of communication interfaces of the unit are provided, and provided in the control unit for controlling each operation unit and each operation unit, and having different power consumption When a return factor from a low power mode with a low predetermined power consumption among the plurality of power modes to another power mode with a higher power consumption occurs, the communication necessary for the return factor among the plurality of communication interfaces Use the communication interface that consumes the least amount of interface information. And notifying means for notifying the control unit, and under the control of the control unit, individually controlling the transition of each of the operation units and the control unit to the plurality of power modes according to the return factor Only the operation unit necessary for processing the functional operation is shifted to the power mode required for processing the functional operation of the return factor, and a plurality of the communication interfaces between the operation unit and the control unit Of these, power saving control means for restoring only the communication interface corresponding to the amount of communication between the two units is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to further reduce the power consumption of the entire apparatus by reducing the power consumption in the communication interface between the units.

1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The block block diagram of the communication interface of each unit. The figure which shows an example of the signal of PCIe. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication interface portion in an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication interface related part in an image processing apparatus according to a third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The range of this invention is unduly limited by the following description. However, not all the configurations described in the present embodiment are essential constituent elements of the present invention.

  1 to 3 are diagrams illustrating a first embodiment of an image processing apparatus, a power saving control method, and a power saving control program according to the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates an image processing apparatus, a power saving control method, and a power saving control program according to the present invention. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an image processing apparatus 1 to which a first embodiment of a power saving control program is applied. FIG.

  In FIG. 1, an image processing apparatus 1 includes a control unit (control unit) 10, a scanner unit 20 as various operation units, an operation panel unit 30, a communication unit 40, a plotter unit 50, a DC power generation unit 70, and the like. The control unit 10 is connected to each operation unit 20, 30, 40, 50 by buses (signal lines) 80s, 80o, 80t, and 80p, respectively.

  The control unit 10 includes a main MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 11 incorporating a peripheral circuit, a FROM (Flash Read Only Memory) 12, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 13, an image processing control unit 14, a work RAM (Random Access Memory). 15, a hard disk (HDD) 16, a communication interface 17, and the like. The main MPU 11, FROM 12, and DRAM 13 are connected to the system bus 18, and the main MPU 11, image processing control unit 14, work RAM 15, hard disk 16, and communication interface 17 are It is connected to the work bus 19.

  The FROM 12 stores a basic program for controlling the entire image processing apparatus 1, a power saving control program of the present invention, necessary system data, and the like, and the DRAM 13 is used as a work memory for the operation of the main MPU 11 and data. .

  The image processing apparatus 1 includes a ROM, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM, a flash memory, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable), and a DVD. A power saving control program for executing the power saving control method of the present invention recorded on a computer readable recording medium such as a (Digital Versatile Disk), an SD (Secure Digital) card, or an MO (Magneto-Optical Disc) is read. The image processing apparatus is constructed as an image processing apparatus that implements a power saving control method for efficiently reducing power consumption by efficiently performing power saving control on a communication interface, which will be described later, by being introduced into the FROM 12 and the like and executed by the main MPU 11. Yes. This power saving control program is a computer-executable program written in a legacy programming language such as assembler, C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark) or an object-oriented programming language, and is stored in the recording medium. And can be distributed.

  The image processing control unit 14 performs various image processing using the work RAM 15 as a work memory for image processing.

  The hard disk 16 stores various data and is read out as necessary.

  The communication interface 17 is a split transaction bus suitable for high-capacity communication at high speed, called PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express (hereinafter referred to as PCIe), which can issue a next request without waiting for a response. PCIe interface 17a and an I2C (Inter Integrated Circuit) interface 17b that consumes relatively little power and is suitable for small capacity communication. The PCIe interface 17a and the I2C interface 17b include the bus 80s. , 80o, 80t, 80p are connected to the scanner unit 20, the operation panel unit 30, the communication unit 40, and the plotter unit 50. The communication interface 17 sends a command to the main MPU 11 via the video bus 19 and transfers the data to the I / O for the video bus 19 of the image processing control unit 14, work RAM 15, and hard disk 16 by DMA transfer.

  The scanner unit 20 includes a scanner 21, a scanner control unit 22, a communication interface 23, and the like.

  As the scanner 21, for example, an image scanner using a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) is used. The scanner 21 scans an original and reads an image of a color original with a predetermined resolution. Output to the control unit 22.

  The scanner control unit 22 controls the operation of the scanner 21 based on a command sent from the control unit 10 via the communication interface 17 and the bus 80 s to read an image of the document, and scans the document read by the scanner 21. Image data is transmitted from the communication interface 23 to the control unit 10 via the bus 80s.

  The communication interface 23 includes a PCIe interface 23a and an I2C interface 23b. The PCIe interface 23a and the I2C interface 23b correspond to the PCIe interface corresponding to the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 by the bus 80s. 17a and I2C interface 17b.

  The operation panel unit 30 includes an operation panel control unit 31, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 32, a key switch 33, a touch panel 34, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel 35, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) 36, a communication interface 37, and the like. I have.

  The communication interface 37 includes a PCIe interface 37a and an I2C interface 37b. The PCIe interface 37a and the I2C interface 37b correspond to the PCIe interface corresponding to the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 by the bus 80o. 17a and I2C interface 17b.

  The operation panel control unit 31 turns on / off and blinks the LEDs 32 based on commands and data received from the control unit 10 via the communication interface 17 and the bus 80o and received by the communication interface 17, and also controls the DRAM 36. It is used as a drawing work memory to display characters, images, and touch function buttons on the LCD panel 35, and detects the operation contents of the key switch 33 and the touch panel 34, and the detected operation information is transmitted from the communication interface 37. The data is transmitted to the control unit 10 via the bus 80o.

  The communication unit 40 includes an analog line I / F 41, a FAX control unit 42, a LAN control unit 43, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) control unit 44, a communication interface 45, and the like. The FAX control unit 42, the LAN control unit 43, The USB control unit 44 and the communication interface 45 are connected by an IO bus 46.

  The communication interface 45 includes a PCIe interface 45a and an I2C interface 45b. The PCIe interface 45a and the I2C interface 45b correspond to the PCIe interface corresponding to the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 by the bus 80t. 17a and I2C interface 17b.

  An analog telephone network is connected to the analog line I / F 41, and the FAX control unit 42 transmits facsimile data sent from the control unit 10 via the communication interface 17 and the bus 80 t to the analog line I / F 41. Facsimile transmission processing for transmitting to a specified destination via the analog telephone network and facsimile data received via the analog line I / F 41 via the analog telephone network to the communication interface 45 via the IO bus 46 Then, the data is transmitted from the communication interface 45 to the control unit 10 via the bus 80t.

  A network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) is connected to the LAN control unit 43, and the LAN control unit 43 includes a physical I / F of the network. The LAN control unit 43 exchanges data and commands with the terminals on the network, and transmits the data and commands exchanged with the terminals via the IO bus 46, the communication interface 45, and the bus 80t. Give and receive with 10.

  A USB device and a USB host are connected to the USB control unit 44, and the USB control unit 44 includes a physical I / F that performs USB communication with the USB device and the USB host. The USB control unit 44 exchanges data and commands with a USB device and a USB host, and communicates with the control unit 10 via the IO bus 46, the communication interface 45, and the bus 80t. Data and commands exchanged with are exchanged.

  The plotter unit 50 includes an engine MPU 51, a FROM 52, a DRAM 53, a communication interface 54, a plotter controller 55, a plotter I / O 56, a laser controller 57, a laser 58, an I / O controller 59, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 60, and a bank. 61, a motor / clutch 62, a sensor 63, and the like. The engine MPU 51, FROM 52, DRAM 53, communication unit 54, plotter control unit 55, laser control unit 57, and I / O control unit 59 are connected to a system bus 64. ing.

  The communication interface 54 includes a PCIe interface 54a and an I2C interface 54b. The PCIe interface 54a and the I2C interface 54b correspond to the PCIe interface corresponding to the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 by the bus 80p. 17a and I2C interface 17b.

  The engine MPU 51 uses the DRAM 53 as a work memory based on the program of the plotter unit 50 stored in the FROM 52, controls each part of the plotter unit 50, and executes processing as the plotter unit 50.

  A plotter engine (not shown) is connected to the plotter I / O 56, and the plotter engine is an electrophotographic engine.

  A laser 58 of a plotter engine is connected to the laser control unit 57, and drive control of the laser 58 is performed based on the data.

  Although not shown in the drawing, the plotter engine includes components necessary for performing printing processing based on drawing data on paper by electrophotography, such as a photoconductor, a charging unit, a laser 58, a developing unit, a transfer unit, and a cleaning unit. Under the control of the laser control unit 57, the optical writing unit is operated according to the drawing data and the control signal to form an electrostatic latent image on the uniformly charged photoconductor by the charging unit, The developing unit supplies toner to the photoreceptor and develops it to form a toner image. The plotter engine feeds paper from the paper feed unit between the photoconductor and the transfer unit, causes the toner image on the photoconductor to be transferred to the paper by the transfer unit, and transfers the paper onto which the toner image has been transferred to the fixing unit. The printing process is performed by conveying and fixing the toner image on the paper by heating and pressurizing in the fixing unit.

  The ADF 60, the bank 61, the motor / clutch 62, the sensor 63, and the like are connected to the I / O control unit 59. The I / O control unit 59 is based on a signal from the engine MPU 51, and the ADF 60, the bank 61, Controls the operation of the motor / clutch 62 and outputs a signal from the sensor 63 to the engine MPU 51.

  The DC power generation unit 70 is connected to a power plug 71 via a power cord. When the power plug 71 is inserted into a commercial power outlet, 100V AC power is supplied. The DC power supply generation unit 70 performs rectification and voltage conversion on 100V AC power supply power, generates DC voltages V1, V2,..., Vn and a plotter voltage, and supplies them to each part of the image processing apparatus 1. In particular, the DC power generation unit 70 turns on / off the DC voltages V1, V2,..., Vn based on a PCNT signal that is a power control signal of a general purpose I / O port of the main MPU 11 of the control unit 10. .

  The communication units 17, 23, 37, 45, and 54 of the units 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 are configured as shown in FIG. 2, and the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 is connected to each unit. The I2C interface 17b and the PCIe interface 17a connected to the I2C interfaces 23b, 54b, 37b, 45b of the communication units 23, 37, 45, 54 of 20, 30, 40, 50 by buses 80s, 80p, 80o, 80t. To the PCIe interface 17a connected to the PCIe interface 23a of the communication interface 23 of the scanner unit 20 by the bus 80s, and to the PCIe interface 54a of the communication interface 54 of the plotter unit 50. The PCIe interface 17ap connected by the bus 80p, the PCIe interface 17ao connected by the bus 80o to the PCIe interface 37a of the communication interface 37 of the operation panel unit 30, and the PCIe interface 45a of the communication interface 45 of the communication unit 40 by the bus 80t. The PCIe interface 17at is connected to the PC.

  The PCIe interface 17as and the PCIe interface 17ap are equipped with PCIe up to four lanes for exchanging a large amount of image data with the scanner unit 20 and the plotter unit 50. The PCIe interface 17ao is the size of the LCD panel 35. However, since the amount of data is relatively small, PCIe is provided up to one lane. The PCIe interface 17at is equipped with PCIe up to 2 lanes in order to process a large amount of data from the network or USB, and by equipping PCIe up to 2 lanes, the two communications overlap. When this occurs, processing is shared for each lane to prevent communication response delays.

  The I2C interface 17b of the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 and the I2C interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, and 54b of the communication units 23, 37, 45, and 54 of the units 20, 30, 40, and 50 are It becomes a host, and the devices of the units 20, 30, 40, and 50 are connected in a cascade state.

  80s, 80p, 80o, 80t connecting the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 and the communication interfaces 23b, 54b, 37b, 45b of the units 20, 30, 40, 50, in particular, the bus 80s to the scanner unit 20 and The bus o with the operation panel unit 30 is often configured with a harness.

  In addition, in a computer or the like, all signals of the PCIe are allocated to the PCIe so that a general-purpose I / O card can be connected to the slot, but the image processing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is shown in FIG. As shown, only the clock, peripheral reset, and transmission / reception signals of each lane can be connected.

  In the image processing apparatus 1, the control system of each unit 10-50 and the circuit of the image processing system are configured by ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment reduces the power consumption of the communication interfaces 17, 23, 37, 45, and 54 between the units 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50, thereby reducing the power consumption of the entire apparatus.

  That is, in the image processing apparatus 1, when the power plug 71 is inserted into a commercial power outlet, 100 V power is supplied to the DC power generation unit 70, and the power switch of the image processing apparatus 1 is turned on. The DC power supply generation unit 70 generates a DC voltage V1, generates the core power supply of the main MPU 11 of the control unit 10, the I2C interface 17b of the general-purpose I / O and communication interface 17, and the communication interface 23 of each operation unit 20-50. Power is supplied to the I2C interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, 54b of 37, 45, 54. In this state, the main MPU 11 performs self-diagnosis, and when booting normally, loads the program from the FROM 12 to the DRAM 13 and thereafter executes the program of the DRAM 13. At this time, communication is performed using the I2C communication interface 17b of the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10 and the I2C interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, 54b of the communication interfaces 23, 37, 45, 54 of the operation units 20-50. The net is established.

  Next, the control unit 10 causes the main MPU 11 to output a PCNT signal to the DC power generation unit 70 to generate the DC voltage V2, and the DC power generation unit 70 generates the DC voltage V2 from the remaining cells of the main MPU 11 and This is supplied to each I / O of the video bus 19.

  Next, in the control unit 10, the main MPU 11 outputs a PCNT signal to the DC power supply generation unit 70 to generate the DC voltage V <b> 3, and the DC power supply generation unit 70 monitors access from the outside of the image processing apparatus 1. Supply power to the parts to be used. That is, the DC power generation unit 70 includes the PCIe interface 17a of the communication interface 17 of the control unit 10, and the PCIe interfaces 23a, 37a, 45a, 54a of the communication interfaces 23, 37, 45, 54 of the operation units 20-50. The core voltage and memory voltage of the control units 22, 31, 51, 55, 57, and 59 of the operation units 20 to 50, the sensor 63 of the plotter unit 50, the sensor of the ADF 60, the touch panel 34 of the operation panel unit 30, the key switch 33, Power is supplied to the LED 32, the analog line I / F 41 of the communication unit 40, the LAN control unit 43, the physical I / F of the USB control unit 44, and the like.

  The image processing apparatus 1 is supplied with the DC voltage V3, so that each control unit performs a self-diagnosis and starts up, and the PCIe interfaces 23a, 37a, 45a, and 54a of the operation units 20 to 50 are normal. If it can be confirmed, the control unit stops the clock or transitions to the low power mode. Then, the PCIe interfaces 23a, 37a, 45a, 54a of the operation units 20 to 50 are restored from the low power mode from the main MPU 11 via the I2C.

  When the PCIe interfaces 17a, 23a, 37a, 45a, and 54a of the units 10 to 50 are set to the normal mode by the control units or the main MPU 11, the main MPU 11 uses the PCIe to connect the operation units 20 to 50. It is possible to communicate with the control unit.

  When the control unit of each of the operation units 20 to 50 starts up normally, the control unit 20 notifies the main MPU 11, and the main MPU 11 causes the DC power supply generation unit 70 to generate the DC voltage V4 based on the PCNT signal. The DC power generation unit 70 applies the DC voltage V4 to the I / O unit of the scanner unit 20, the plotter I / O 56 of the plotter unit 50, the laser 58, the ADF 60, the bank 61, the motor / clutch 62, and the I / O control unit 59. The data is supplied to the I / O cell, the LCD panel 35 of the operation panel unit 30, the FAX control unit 42, the LAN control unit 43, and the USB control unit 44 of the communication unit 40.

  Although the power supply power is turned on for the entire image processing apparatus 1 by the above-described operation, the power may be finely controlled like the DC voltages V5, V6,.

  When the period during which no functional operation is performed continues, the image processing apparatus 1 checks whether or not the predetermined power saving transition time has passed by the built-in timer. When the units 20 to 50 are notified of the transition to the power saving mode and each of the operation units 20 to 50 returns OK, the PCNT signal to the DC power generation unit 70 is controlled to turn off the DC voltage V4. In the transition to the power saving mode, the DC voltage may be finely controlled. However, in this embodiment, the ASIC of each control unit is described as shifting to the low power mode by stopping its own clock. .

  When the DC voltage V4 is turned off, the image processing apparatus 1 causes the image processing apparatus 1 to return, for example, the door cover and ADF cover opening / closing by the sensor 63 of the plotter unit 50, the touch panel 34 of the operation panel unit 30 and the keys. Observe the operation of the switch 33, the reception of communication signals from each network of the communication unit 40, etc., and the I2C communication interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, 54b of the communication interfaces 23, 37, 45, 54 and the buses 80s, 80o, It can be received by the I2C interface 17b of the communication interface 17 through 80t and 80p and notified to the main MPU 11. That is, each of the operation units 10 to 50 uses the I2C interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, and 54b having the smallest power consumption among the communication interfaces 23, 37, 45, and 54 to control the occurrence of the return factor. Notify

  When the restoration factor occurs in the power saving mode, the control unit of the operation units 20 to 50 in which the restoration factor occurs is sent to the image processing apparatus 1 by the I2C communication interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, 54b and the buses 80s, 80o. , 80t, 80p, and the control unit 10 receives the I2C interface 17b of the communication interface 17 and notifies the main MPU 11 of the communication interface 17, and the control unit includes the PCIe interface PCIe interface 23a, 37a, 45a, and 54a are restored to establish communication with the main MPU 11. Note that the PCIe interface 17a of the control unit 10 can be returned to the normal mode when the main MPU 11 determines that it is necessary, as described above.

  Further, for example, when the scanner function is selected by operating the key switch 33 or the touch panel 34 of the operation panel unit 30, the image processing apparatus 1 returns only the scanner unit 20 to the normal mode, and a document is stored in the ADF 60. When the FAX transmission function is selected by setting the key switch 33 or the touch panel 34 of the operation panel unit 30, the ADF 60 and the I / O control unit 59 for ADF control, the scanner unit 20, and the communication unit 40 are set. Only the minimum necessary part is returned to the normal mode by performing control such as returning only the FAX control unit 42 and the image processing control unit 14 of the control unit 10 to normal.

  Further, the image processing apparatus 1 temporarily shifts to the normal mode when an unexpected situation occurs, but enters the low power mode if there is no access for a certain period (a time sufficiently shorter than the power saving transition time). Transition.

  In addition, the image processing apparatus 1 restores only necessary parts of the operation units 20 to 50 necessary for dealing with a restoration factor that occurs in the power saving mode. For example, when the touch panel 34 or the key switch 33 of the operation panel unit 30 is operated, the image processing apparatus 1 uses only I2C communication until the next key input operation and the subsequent input operation are determined. If the amount of data can be exchanged only by I2C communication, it is possible to suppress the start-up of the portion that consumes more power. Further, if only the operation of the touch panel 34 or the key switch 33 is performed, the image processing apparatus 1 can shift to the power saving mode again by the built-in timer of the main MPU 11 to reduce wasteful power consumption. .

  Further, the image processing apparatus 1 uses the communication interface 45 of the communication unit 40 in the same manner when the communication unit 40 acquires information data from a client computer or the like via a network or USB, but the amount of data is small. In addition, only the I2C communication using the I2C interface 45b is performed without starting the PCIe interface 45a. Then, the image processing apparatus 1 establishes the PCIe only when the communication handshake advances and a large amount of high-speed data communication such as image data, print data, and moving images is required. Or from the main MPU 11 of the control unit 10. For example, when the image processing apparatus 1 prints FAX reception, the FAX control unit 42 requests PCIe communication to the main MPU 11 when it is determined that the FAX reception is printed, and the main MPU 11 receives the plotter unit 50. The engine MPU 51 is requested to communicate with PCIe.

  In addition, when a factor for returning from the power saving mode occurs, the image processing apparatus 1 notifies the main MPU 11 of the control unit 10 of the occurrence of the factor for recovery by the operation units 20 to 50 detecting the factor for returning. The control unit of the operation units 20 to 50 analyzes the return factor, determines the operation units 20 to 50 that need to be used and the data amount, and notifies the main MPU 11 with a command using I2C. For example, if the return factor is the door / cover opening / closing of the plotter unit 50, the image processing apparatus 1 only notifies the main MPU 11 of the control unit 10 by I2C communication that the engine / MPU 51 has been opened. The PCIe interface 54a of the communication interface 54 is kept at low power. In the image processing apparatus 1, for example, when the touch panel 34 or the key switch 33 of the operation panel unit 30 is operated, the operation panel control unit 31 displays the basic screen of the built-in ROM on the LCD panel 35, and the next menu Monitor screen switching operations. When a large amount of drawing occurs, the operation panel control unit 31 activates the PCIe interface 37a of the communication interface 37 and notifies the main MPU 11 of activation of PCIe and a request for drawing data. When the drawing amount is small, the operation panel control unit 31 notifies the main MPU 11 of the fact, and receives drawing data from the control unit 10 only by I2C communication.

  Furthermore, as described above, the image processing apparatus 1 not only controls on / off of power supplied to the PCIe interfaces 17a, 23a, 37a, 45a, and 54a of the communication interfaces 17, 23, 37, 45, and 54, The clock frequency of the clock supplied to the I2C communication interface 17b, 23b, 37b, 45b, 54b may be switched in stages to measure power savings, or when there are multiple lanes of PCIe The number of lanes to be switched may be switched from 1 lane to 2 lanes to 4 lanes. In this case, the image processing apparatus 1 programs a plurality of fine switching in advance according to the function of each unit, and when which function is activated, to which state the number of clocks for I2C communication and the number of lanes of PCIe are finely operated. Control wasteful power consumption.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, and 54b that perform various operation processes and have different power consumption and communication data amount. A plurality of operating units 20, 30, 40, 50, and a plurality of communication interfaces 23 a, 23 b, 37 a, 37 b, 45 a, 45 b, 54 a, 54 b of each of the operating units 20, 30, 40, 50. A control unit (control unit) 10 that includes a plurality of communication interfaces 17a and 17b having different power and communication data amounts and controls the operation units 20, 30, 40, and 50, and each operation unit 20, 30, 40, 50, a predetermined power out of a plurality of power modes with different power consumption When a return factor from the low power mode with low power consumption to another power mode with higher power consumption occurs, a plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and communication interfaces 17a, 17b Of the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b necessary for the return factor, the communication interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b with the least power consumption. 54b and the communication interface 17b to notify the control unit 10 of the scanner control unit 22, the operation panel control unit 31, the control units 42 to 44 and the engine MPU 51, and the operation units 20, 30, 40, 50 and Kon Necessary for processing only the operation units 20 to 50 necessary for processing the functional operation according to the return factor by individually controlling the transition of the roll unit 10 to each power mode. And a plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and a communication interface 17a between the operation unit 20, 30, 40, 50 and the control unit 10. 17b, a main MPU (power saving control means) that restores only the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b according to the amount of communication between the units 10-50. ) And.

  Therefore, in the power saving mode, when a return factor is generated in the scanner unit 10, the operation panel unit 30, the communication unit 40, and the plotter unit 50, the communication interfaces 23a and 23b corresponding to the communication speed and the amount of information required for the return factor. , 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b can be activated and communicated, and the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a between the units 10 to 50 can be communicated. , 54b and the communication interfaces 17a and 17b, the power consumption of the entire image processing apparatus 1 can be further reduced.

  In addition, the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes power consumption and communication corresponding to the communication interfaces 17a and 17b of the control unit 10 including the plurality of communication interfaces 17a and 17b having different power consumption and communication data amount. A plurality of operation units 20 and 30 that communicate with each other through a plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, and 54b having different data amounts and perform various operation processes under the control of the control unit 10. , 40, 50, when a return factor to another power mode with higher power consumption occurs in a low power mode with low predetermined power consumption among a plurality of power modes with different power consumption, the plurality of communication interfaces 23 a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 5 a and 54b and the communication interfaces 17a and 17b, the information of the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a and 54b and the communication interfaces 17a and 17b necessary for the return factor is the most consumed power. The notification processing step of notifying the control unit 10 using the few communication interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, 54b and the communication interface 17b, and the power of each of the operation units 20 to 50 and the control unit 10 under the control of the control unit 10 The transition to the mode is individually controlled, and only the operation units 20 to 50 necessary for processing the functional operation corresponding to the return factor are shifted to the power mode necessary for processing the functional operation of the return factor. And the operation unit 20 Communication between the units 10 to 50 among the plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b between the control unit 10 and the control unit 10 A power saving control method is executed, including a power saving control processing step for restoring only the interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b.

  Therefore, in the power saving mode, when a return factor is generated in the scanner unit 10, the operation panel unit 30, the communication unit 40, and the plotter unit 50, the communication interfaces 23a and 23b corresponding to the communication speed and the amount of information required for the return factor. , 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b can be activated and communicated, and the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a between the units 10 to 50 can be communicated. , 54b and the communication interfaces 17a and 17b, the power consumption of the entire image processing apparatus 1 can be further reduced.

  Furthermore, the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present exemplary embodiment uses the computer corresponding to each of the communication interfaces 17a and 17b of the control unit 10 including a plurality of communication interfaces 17a and 17b having different power consumption and communication data amount. A plurality of operation units that communicate with each other through a plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, and 54b having different power and communication data amount and are controlled by the control unit 10 to perform various operation processes. 20, 30, 40, and 50, when a return factor to another power mode with higher power consumption occurs in a low power mode with low predetermined power consumption among a plurality of power modes with different power consumption, a plurality of the communication modes Interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 5a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b, the information of the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b necessary for the return factor Notification processing for notifying the control unit 10 using the communication interfaces 23b, 37b, 45b, 54b and the communication interface 17b with the least power consumption, and the operation units 20 to 50 and the control unit 10 under the control of the control unit 10 The power mode necessary for individually controlling the transition to each power mode and processing only the operation units 20 to 50 necessary for processing the functional operation according to the return factor. And the operation unit Of the plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b between the communication units 20-50 and the control unit 10, the communication volume between the units 10-50 And a power saving control program for executing a power saving control process for restoring only the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b.

  Therefore, in the power saving mode, when a return factor is generated in the scanner unit 10, the operation panel unit 30, the communication unit 40, and the plotter unit 50, the communication interfaces 23a and 23b corresponding to the communication speed and the amount of information required for the return factor. , 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b can be activated and communicated, and the communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a between the units 10 to 50 can be communicated. , 54b and the communication interfaces 17a and 17b, the power consumption of the entire image processing apparatus 1 can be further reduced.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication interface portion of an image processing apparatus to which a second embodiment of the image processing apparatus, the power saving control method, and the power saving control program of the present invention is applied.

  Note that the image processing apparatus of this embodiment is applied to the same image processing apparatus as the image processing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment, and the same parts as those of the image processing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment are the same. The detailed description will be omitted, and portions not shown will be described using the reference symbols used in the description of the first embodiment as they are.

  4, the image processing apparatus 1 is provided with a switch 101 on the communication interface 17 side of the control unit 10, and a switch 102 on the communication interface 23, 37, 45, 54 side of each operation unit 20 to 50. Is arranged. The switch (control unit side switch means) 101 and the switch (operation unit side switch means) 102 are connected by a PCIe bus (signal line) 103.

  4 illustrates the communication interface 23 of the scanner unit 20, the switch 102s corresponding to the communication interface 23, the PCIe interface 17as corresponding to the scanner unit 20 out of the PCIe interface 17a of the communication interface 17, and the PCIe communication. Only the switch 101s corresponding to the interface 17as and the PCIe bus 103s connecting the switch 101s and the switch 102s are described, but the communication interface 37 of the other operation unit 30, the communication interface 45 of the communication unit 40, and the communication of the plotter unit 50 are described. Similarly for the interface 54, the switch 101p, the PCIe bus 103p, and the switch 102 for the PCIe interface 17ap. But the switch 101o relative PCIe interface for 17Ao, PCIe bus 103o, switch 102o is, the switch 101t respect PCIe interface for 17 atomic, PCIe bus 103t, switch 102t, are disposed respectively.

  In the following description, the PCIe interface 17as, the switch 101s, the PCIe bus 103s, and the switch 102s illustrated in FIG. 4 will be described, but the same applies to the other units 30 to 50.

  The switch 101s includes two switching segments 111s, and the two switching segments 111s are connected to respective line groups obtained by dividing the line of the PCIe bus 103s into two groups. The switch 101s is connected to the line corresponding to the line of the PCIe bus 103s of the PCIe interface 17as under the control of the main MPU (power saving control means) 11, and the state of the PCIe bus 103s. The state of connecting the two sets of lines to the two signal lines SCL (Serial CLock) and the signal line SDA (Sirial DAta) of the I2C interface 17b is switched.

  The switch 102s includes two switching segments 112s, and the two switching segments 112s are connected to respective line groups obtained by dividing the line of the PCIe bus 103s into two groups. The switch 102s connects the two switching segments 112s to lines corresponding to the PCIe bus 103s of the PCIe interface 23a under the control of the scanner control unit 22 controlled by the main MPU (power saving control means) 11, respectively. And a state in which two sets of lines of the PCIe bus 103s are connected to the two signal lines SCL and the signal line SDA of the I2C interface 23b, respectively.

  Therefore, the communication interface 17 and the communication interface 23 are connected only by the PCIe bus 103s, and the signal line for I2C can be reduced.

  The switches 101 s and 102 s use analog operational amplifiers and switching transistors, and are designed to prevent the influence of the other switches 101 s and 102 s when one switch 101 s and 102 s is switched.

  In the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the switch 101s and the switch 102s connect the PCIe interface 17as and the PCIe interface 23a via the PCIe bus 103s as shown by a broken line in FIG. 4 in the normal mode. In the power saving mode, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4, the I2C interface 17b and the I2C interface 23b are connected via the PCIe bus 103s, and the SCL and SDA signals are connected. Communication is possible.

  That is, since the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment connects the switches 101s and 102s to the I2C side in the power saving mode, exchange of information to be restored when a return factor occurs in the power saving mode. First, the command level communication is performed by I2C communication, and when the exchange of data occurs, the switches 101s and 102s are switched to the PCIe side, and then the PCIe interface 17as and the PCIe interface 23a are activated. , Exchange data.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes the plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b of the operation units 20 to 50 and the control unit 10. Among them, PCIe buses (signal lines) 103s, 103p, 103o, 103t corresponding to the communication interfaces 23a, 37a, 45a, 54a and the communication interface 17a with the maximum communication amount, and a plurality of communication interfaces 23a of the respective operation units 20-50. , 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b, switches (operation unit side switch means) 102, 102p, 102o, 102t for selectively switching and connecting to the PCIe buses 103s, 103p, 103o, 103t, A switch (control for selectively switching and connecting the plurality of communication interfaces 17as, 17ap, 17ao, 17at and the communication interface 17b corresponding to the operation units 20 to 50 of the control unit 10 to the PCIe buses 103s, 103p, 103o, 103t, respectively. Unit side switch means) 101s, 101p, 101o, 101t, and the main MPU 11 of the control unit 10 includes a plurality of communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b between the control unit 10 and the operation units 20-50. 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and communication interfaces 17a, 17b, switches 101s, 101p, 101o, 101t and switches 102, 102p, 102o, 102t The communication interfaces 23a, 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b according to the amount of communication between the units 10 to 50 are controlled by the PCIe buses 103s, 103p, 103o, 103t. Connected.

  Therefore, even when the units 10 to 50 are physically separated and connected to the harness, the number of wires of the harness can be reduced, and the communication interface 23a between the units 10 to 50 can be reduced while reducing the cost. The power consumption of the image processing apparatus 1 as a whole can be further reduced by reducing the power consumption of 23b, 37a, 37b, 45a, 45b, 54a, 54b and the communication interfaces 17a, 17b.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication interface related portion of an image processing apparatus to which a third embodiment of the image processing apparatus, the power saving control method, and the power saving control program of the present invention is applied.

  The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied to the same image processing apparatus as the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment and the image processing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment. The same parts as those of the image processing apparatus 1 of the embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof is omitted, and the parts not shown are also used in the description of the first and second embodiments. The description will be made using the reference numerals as they are.

  In FIG. 5, the image processing apparatus 1 is provided with a switch 101 on the communication interface 17 side of the control unit 10 in the same manner as the image processing apparatus 1 of the second embodiment, and the communication of each operation unit 20-50. A switch 102 is disposed on the interface 23, 37, 45, 54 side. The switch 101 and the switch 102 are connected by a PCIe bus 103.

  5 shows the communication interface 23 of the scanner unit 20, the switch 102s corresponding to the communication interface 23, the PCIe interface 17as corresponding to the scanner unit 20 out of the PCIe interface 17a of the communication interface 17, and the PCIe communication. Only the switch 101s corresponding to the interface 17as and the PCIe bus 103s connecting the switch 101s and the switch 102s are described, but the communication interface 37 of the other operation unit 30, the communication interface 45 of the communication unit 40, and the communication of the plotter unit 50 are described. Similarly for the interface 54, the switch 101p, the PCIe bus 103p, and the switch 102 for the PCIe interface 17ap. But the switch 101o relative PCIe interface for 17Ao, PCIe bus 103o, switch 102o is, the switch 101t respect PCIe interface for 17 atomic, PCIe bus 103t, switch 102t, are disposed respectively.

  In the following description, the PCIe interface 17as, the switch 101s, the PCIe bus 103s, and the switch 102s illustrated in FIG. 5 will be described, but the same applies to the other units 30 to 50.

  The switch 101s includes two switching segments 111s, and the two switching segments 111s are connected to respective line groups obtained by dividing the line of the PCIe bus 103s into two groups. The switch 101s connects the two switching segments 111s to a line corresponding to the line of the PCIe bus 103s of the PCIe interface 17as, and two signals of the I2C interface 17b connect the two lines of the PCIe bus 103s. The state is switched between a line SCL (Serial CLock) and a signal line SDA (Sirial DAta).

  The switch 102s includes two switching segments 112s, and the two switching segments 112s are connected to respective line groups obtained by dividing the line of the PCIe bus 103s into two groups. The switch 102s connects the two switching segments 112s to a line corresponding to the line of the PCIe bus 103s of the PCIe interface 23a, and two signals of the two lines of the PCIe bus 103s to the I2C interface 23b. The state is switched between the line SCL and the signal line SDA.

  The main MPU 11 of the control unit 10 is provided with a RAM, and as a memory buffer capable of exchanging one line of image data in the horizontal direction using the PCIe interface 17a, a FIFO 11f1 for n lines. 11fn and buffers 11b1 to 11bn capable of exchanging 16-bit or 32-bit signals using the I2C interface 17b are provided for n words or n double words. The buffers 11b1 to 11bn are ring buffers that can be used in order.

  In FIG. 5, the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn are provided only on the control unit 10 side. However, in consideration of the cost and effect, the destination units 20, 30, and 40 on the device side are provided. , 50 may be provided with a FIFO or a buffer.

  In the main MPU 11, the modes of the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn are switched in synchronization with the low power mode and the normal mode of the main MPU 11. That is, if the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn are made operable so that I2C high-speed communication and PCIe data communication can be performed at the maximum communication rate, the power consumption increases. In order to reduce, the modes of the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn are switched in synchronization with the low power mode and the normal mode of the main MPU 11.

  For example, in the case of PCIe communication, when the main MPU 11 determines that the data amount of PCIe can be processed with the maximum capacity or less, only the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn corresponding to the data amount can be obtained. To return. For example, in the case of FAX communication or print printing from a network, when the main MPU 11 predicts the data amount in advance from the document size, resolution, and the like and determines that the processing is possible with the FIFOs 11f1 to 11f4, the corresponding FIFOs 11f1 to 11f4 To maintain the low power state for the FIFOs 11f5 to 11fn.

  In the case of I2C communication, the main MPU 11 uses, for example, the buffers 11b1 and 11b2 as ring buffers and does not start up to the buffers 11b3 to 11bn when the amount of data is relatively small.

  The use of the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn is a method of determining the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn to be uniquely activated according to the predicted data amount, and the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn are overloaded. When the run is monitored and it becomes insufficient, an appropriate method such as a method of increasing the number of uses in stages can be used.

  As described above, in the image processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, at least the control unit 10 corresponds to the communication interfaces 17a and 17b, and the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn are buffer memories corresponding to the maximum unit communication amount in the communication interfaces 17a and 17b. And the buffers 11b1 to 11bn, and based on the return factor, the amount of communication with the operation units 20 to 50 among the FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn corresponding to the communication interfaces 17a and 17b to be restored Only the corresponding FIFOs 11f1 to 11fn and the buffers 11b1 to 11bn are operated.

  Therefore, the power consumption of the main MPU 11 itself can be suppressed to the minimum necessary, and the power consumption of the image processing apparatus 1 can be further reduced.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

1 Image processing device 10 Control unit 11 Main MPU
12 FROM
13 DRAM
14 Image processing control unit 15 Work RAM
16 Hard disk (HDD)
17 Communication Interface 17a, 17as, 17ap, 17ao, 17at PCIe Interface 17b I2C Interface 18 System Bus 19 Work Bus 20 Scanner Unit 21 Scanner 22 Scanner Control Unit 23 Communication Interface 23a PCIe Interface 23b I2C Interface 30 Operation Panel Unit 31 Control panel control unit 32 LED
33 Key switch 34 Touch panel 35 LCD panel 36 DRAM
37 Communication Interface 37a PCIe Interface 37b I2C Interface 40 Communication Unit 41 Analog Line I / F
42 FAX Control Unit 43 LAN Control Unit 44 USB Control Unit 45 Communication Interface 45a PCIe Interface 45b I2C Interface 46 IO Bus 50 Plotter Unit 51 Engine MPU
52 FROM
53 DRAM
54 Communication Interface 54a PCIe Interface 54b I2C Interface 55 Plotter Control Unit 56 Plotter I / O
57 Laser control unit 58 Laser 59 I / O control unit 60 ADF
61 bank 62 motor / clutch 63 sensor 64 system bus 70 DC power generation unit 71 power plug 80s, 80o, 80t, 80p bus 101, 101s, 101p, 101o, 101t switch 102, 102s, 102p, 102o, 102t switch 103, 103s 103p, 103o, 103t PCIe bus 11f1-11fn FIFO
11b1 to 11bn buffer

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-180083

Claims (5)

A plurality of operation units that perform various operation processes and have a plurality of communication interfaces with different power consumption and communication data amount, and
A plurality of communication interfaces each having different power consumption and communication data amount to communicate with the plurality of communication interfaces of each operation unit, and a control unit for controlling each operation unit;
When a factor for returning from a low power mode having a low predetermined power consumption to another power mode having a higher power consumption among a plurality of power modes having different power consumptions provided in each of the operation units, a plurality of the communication interfaces Notification means for notifying the control unit of the communication interface information required for the return factor using the communication interface with the least power consumption,
Under the control of the control unit, each operation unit and the transition of the control unit to each power mode are individually controlled, and only the operation unit necessary for processing the functional operation according to the return factor is obtained. A communication interface that shifts to a power mode necessary for processing the functional operation of the return factor, and that corresponds to the amount of communication between the units among the plurality of communication interfaces between the operation unit and the control unit Power saving control means to restore only,
An image processing apparatus comprising: The image processing apparatus includes:
Among the plurality of communication interfaces of the operation units and the control unit, a signal line corresponding to a communication interface having a maximum communication amount,
Operation unit side switch means for selectively switching and connecting the plurality of communication interfaces of each operation unit to the signal line;
Control unit side switch means for selectively switching and connecting the plurality of communication interfaces corresponding to the operation units of the control unit to the signal lines, respectively.
With
The power saving control means includes:
Among the plurality of communication interfaces between the control unit and each operation unit, the control unit side switch means and the operation unit side switch means are controlled to provide a communication interface according to the communication amount between the two units. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is connected to the signal line. The image processing apparatus includes:
At least the control unit includes a buffer memory corresponding to the maximum unit communication amount in the communication interface corresponding to each communication interface of the control unit, and corresponds to the communication interface to be restored based on the restoration factor. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein only the buffer memory corresponding to the amount of communication with the operation unit is operated among the buffer memories. The control unit communicates via a plurality of communication interfaces each having a different power consumption and communication data amount corresponding to each communication unit of the control unit having a plurality of communication interfaces having different power consumption and communication data amount. In multiple operation units that are controlled by the various operation processes, there is a cause for returning to another power mode that consumes more power in the low power mode that consumes less power among the multiple power modes that have different power consumption Then, a notification processing step of notifying the control unit of information on the communication interface necessary for the return factor among the plurality of communication interfaces using the communication interface with the least power consumption;
Under the control of the control unit, each operation unit and the transition of the control unit to each power mode are individually controlled, and only the operation unit necessary for processing the functional operation according to the return factor is obtained. A communication interface that shifts to a power mode necessary for processing the functional operation of the return factor, and that corresponds to the amount of communication between the units among the plurality of communication interfaces between the operation unit and the control unit Power saving control processing step to restore only
A power saving control method characterized by comprising: On the computer,
The control unit communicates via a plurality of communication interfaces each having a different power consumption and communication data amount corresponding to each communication unit of the control unit having a plurality of communication interfaces having different power consumption and communication data amount. In multiple operation units that are controlled by the various operation processes, there is a cause for returning to another power mode that consumes more power in the low power mode that consumes less power among the multiple power modes that have different power consumption Then, a notification process for notifying the control unit of information on the communication interface necessary for the return factor among the plurality of communication interfaces using the communication interface with the least power consumption;
Under the control of the control unit, each operation unit and the transition of the control unit to each power mode are individually controlled, and only the operation unit necessary for processing the functional operation according to the return factor is obtained. A communication interface that shifts to a power mode necessary for processing the functional operation of the return factor, and that corresponds to the amount of communication between the units among the plurality of communication interfaces between the operation unit and the control unit Power-saving control processing to restore only
A power-saving control program characterized by causing

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