JP7314533B2 - Image processing device and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image processing device and program.

Patent Literature 1 describes a semiconductor integrated circuit provided with a temperature sensor capable of detecting temperature and determining whether or not the detection result exceeds a reference value for each reference value and outputting the result, and a control block capable of controlling the operation of an operation block based on the output signal of the temperature sensor. In Patent Document 1, a control block returns from a sleep state to an operating state in response to an interrupt signal based on an output signal of a temperature sensor, and determines operating conditions of the operation block so as to satisfy the temperature condition of the operation block.

Further, Patent Document 2 describes a semiconductor device having a plurality of functional units interconnected by an internal bus. The semiconductor device of Patent Document 2 includes operation mode output means for outputting a request for changing from an operating operation mode to another operation mode according to the content of data processing, and power processing speed control means for controlling the frequency of a clock signal and bus occupancy time used by a functional unit executing processing in response to an operation mode change request so that the total power consumption of a functional unit executing processing among a plurality of functional units does not exceed the limit power consumption given to the semiconductor device.

JP 2008-124125 A WO 01/001228 pamphlet

While the techniques described in Patent Literatures 1 and 2 are known, there are also known devices having a plurality of operation modes related to image processing. For example, a function is realized in which a user selects a desired operation mode from a plurality of operation modes, such as a high-speed mode that realizes high-speed image processing and a high-quality mode that realizes high-quality image content.

In an apparatus having a plurality of operation modes related to image processing, the content of processing to be prioritized may differ for each operation mode. For example, in a high-speed mode for realizing high-speed image processing, it is desirable to prioritize high-speed image processing over high-quality image content. On the other hand, for example, in a high-quality mode for realizing high-quality image content, it is desirable to prioritize high-quality image content over high-speed image processing.

In this way, the content of processing to be prioritized may differ for each operation mode of image processing. Therefore, for example, in controlling the power consumption of image processing, control based on the fact that conditions such as priority processing may differ for each operation mode of image processing is expected.

An object of the present invention is to realize control according to control conditions determined for each operation mode of image processing in controlling the total power consumption of modules used for image processing so as not to exceed the allowable amount.

The invention according to claim 1 comprises: an image processing unit that executes image processing using one or more modules out of a plurality of modules used in each operation mode of image processing; a storage unit that stores power consumption information indicating the power consumption of each module of the plurality of modules; a derivation unit that derives the total power consumption of the one or more modules used in each operation mode of image processing by the image processing unit from the power consumption of each module indicated by the power consumption information; a control unit that controls the operation of the modules used in each operation mode of image processing according to the module control conditions determined for each operation mode so as not to exceed;an integrated circuit having the image processing function; a voltage control circuit for controlling a voltage applied to the integrated circuit;havedeath,The integrated circuit outputs internal voltage information including internal voltage information indicating a voltage within the integrated circuit, the voltage corresponding to the present time in the integrated circuit, and information indicating that the voltage within the integrated circuit changes from the voltage corresponding to the present time. Based on the internal voltage information output from the integrated circuit, the voltage control circuit controls to increase the voltage applied to the integrated circuit before an operation involving a load equal to or greater than a predetermined load is started within the integrated circuit.This image processing apparatus is characterized by:

The invention according to claim 2 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the operation mode of the image processing apparatus is the first operation mode, and the control unit stops the operation of at least one module used in the first operation mode according to the control condition corresponding to the first operation mode when the total power consumption in the first operation mode derived by the derivation unit exceeds the allowable amount.

The invention according to claim 3 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein when the operation mode of the image processing apparatus is a second operation mode different from the first operation mode and the total power consumption in the second operation mode derived by the derivation unit exceeds the allowable amount, at least one module used in the second operation mode is changed to a low-power module having lower power consumption than the module according to the control conditions corresponding to the second operation mode. processing equipment.

The invention according to claim 4 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein when the operation mode of the image processing apparatus is a third operation mode different from the first operation mode and the second operation mode, and the total power consumption in the third operation mode derived by the derivation unit exceeds the allowable amount, at least some of the parallel modules that are executed in parallel in the third operation mode are changed to time-division execution according to the control condition corresponding to the third operation mode. It is an image processing device characterized by:

The invention according to claim 5 is the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the power consumption of each module indicated in the power consumption information is corrected according to manufacturing variations of the integrated circuit having the image processing function, and the derivation unit derives the total power consumption based on the corrected power consumption information.

claim6The present invention relates to a computer comprising: storage means for storing power consumption information indicating power consumption of a plurality of modules used in each operation mode of image processing for each module; derivation means for deriving the total power consumption of one or more modules used in each operation mode of image processing from the power consumption of each module indicated by the power consumption information; control means for controlling the operation;voltage control means for controlling a voltage applied to the integrated circuit having the image processing function;function aswherein the integrated circuit outputs internal voltage information indicating a voltage within the integrated circuit, the internal voltage information including information indicating the current voltage within the integrated circuit and information indicating that the voltage within the integrated circuit changes from the voltage corresponding to the current time, and wherein the voltage control means controls to increase the voltage applied to the integrated circuit before an operation involving a load equal to or greater than a predetermined load is started within the integrated circuit based on the internal voltage information output from the integrated circuit. Characterized byIt's a program.

According to the first aspect of the invention, in controlling the total power consumption of modules used for image processing so as not to exceed the allowable amount, control according to control conditions determined for each operation mode of image processing is realized.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the total power consumption in each operation mode exceeds the allowable amount, control is realized to stop the operation of at least one module according to the control conditions corresponding to the operation mode.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the total power consumption in each operation mode exceeds the allowable amount, control is realized to change at least one module to a low power module according to the control conditions corresponding to the operation mode.

According to the invention of claim 4, when the total power consumption of each operation mode exceeds the allowable amount, control is realized to change at least some of the parallel modules to time-sharing execution according to the control conditions corresponding to the operation mode.

According to the invention of claim 5, in controlling the total power consumption of the modules used for image processing so as not to exceed the permissible amount, control accompanied by correction according to manufacturing variations of integrated circuits having image processing functions is realized.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program that controls the total power consumption of modules used for image processing according to control conditions determined for each operation mode of image processing so that the total power consumption does not exceed the allowable amount.

It is a figure which shows the specific example of an image processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the specific example of a power consumption table. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the constraint conditions defined for every operation mode. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of invalidation priority; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of changing to a low power module; It is a figure which shows the specific example of the change from a parallel processing to a time-division processing. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of operations performed by the image processing apparatus; FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of power consumption suppression processing; FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining manufacturing variations of an integrated circuit;

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a specific embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a specific example of an image processing apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. An image processing apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an image processing unit 10, a power consumption information storage unit 20, a power consumption derivation unit 30, and a control unit 40.

The image processing unit 10 executes image processing using one or more modules out of a plurality of modules used in each operation mode of image processing.

The power consumption information storage unit 20 stores power consumption information indicating power consumption of a plurality of modules for each module. The power consumption information storage unit 20 may be implemented using a storage device such as a semiconductor memory, for example. Of course, the power consumption information storage unit 20 may be implemented using a storage device other than a semiconductor memory.

The power consumption deriving unit 30 derives the total power consumption of one or more modules used in each operation mode of image processing by the image processing unit 10 from the power consumption of each module indicated by the power consumption information.

The control unit 40 controls the operation of the modules used in each operation mode of image processing according to the module control conditions determined for each operation mode so that the total power consumption derived by the power consumption derivation unit 30 does not exceed a predetermined allowable amount.

1, the image processing apparatus 100 may include an image data output unit 50, a print processing unit 52, an image data acquisition unit 60, an image reading unit 62, a voltage information output unit 70, an integrated circuit 80, and a voltage control circuit 90.

The image data output unit 50 outputs image data, and the print processing unit 52 prints an image (including an image of only characters and symbols) corresponding to the image data. For example, image data subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 10 may be output from the image data output unit 50, and an image corresponding to the image data may be printed on a medium such as paper and output from the print processing unit 52.

The image data acquisition section 60 acquires image data from the image reading section 62 . The image reading unit 62 may, for example, perform a scanning process of optically reading an image (including an image of only characters and symbols) shown on a document such as paper to obtain image data of the image, the image data obtaining unit 60 may obtain the image data from the image reading unit 62, and the image processing unit 10 may perform image processing on the image data.

The integrated circuit 80 has an image processing function. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the integrated circuit 80 may include an image processing unit 10, a power consumption information storage unit 20, a power consumption derivation unit 30, a control unit 40, an image data output unit 50, an image data acquisition unit 60, a voltage information output unit 70, and the like.

A device such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) may be used as the integrated circuit 80 . Of course, devices other than ASICs may be used as the integrated circuit 80 .

The voltage information output unit 70 outputs internal voltage information indicating the voltage inside the integrated circuit 80 . Also, the voltage control circuit 90 controls the magnitude of the voltage applied to the integrated circuit 80 based on the internal voltage information output from the voltage information output section 70 within the integrated circuit 80 .

The internal voltage information output from the integrated circuit 80 may include, for example, information indicating the current voltage within the integrated circuit 80 and information indicating that the voltage within the integrated circuit 80 will change from the current voltage.

If the internal voltage information includes information indicating the voltage corresponding to the current time in the integrated circuit 80, the voltage control circuit 90 may control the magnitude of the voltage applied to the integrated circuit 80 by feedback control using the difference between the voltage corresponding to the current time in the integrated circuit 80 and a predetermined target voltage.

Further, if the internal voltage information includes information indicating that the voltage in the integrated circuit 80 changes from the voltage corresponding to the current time, the voltage control circuit 90 may perform control based on the change in the voltage in the integrated circuit 80 from the voltage corresponding to the current time. For example, the voltage applied to integrated circuit 80 may be shifted higher before an operation with a high power load begins within integrated circuit 80, and then shifted back just as the operation is ending. Further, for example, when information is obtained indicating that the power load in the integrated circuit 80 will continue to be low, the voltage control circuit 90 may apply to the integrated circuit 80 the lowest voltage at which the operation of the integrated circuit 80 is guaranteed.

Further, for example, when the voltage applied to the integrated circuit 80 is likely to fall below a predetermined lower limit value (for example, minus several percent from the target voltage), the image processing apparatus 100 may temporarily stop at least some of the operating modules in the integrated circuit 80, and may temporarily operate at least some of the stopped modules in the integrated circuit 80 when the voltage applied to the integrated circuit 80 is likely to exceed a predetermined upper limit value (for example, plus several percent from the target voltage).

The image processing apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be implemented using, for example, one or more computers. The computer includes hardware resources such as a computing device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a memory or a hard disk, a communication device that uses a communication line such as the Internet, a device that reads and writes data from a storage medium such as an optical disc, a semiconductor memory, or a card memory, a display device such as a display, and an operation device that receives operations from a user.

Then, for example, a program (software) corresponding to at least part of the functions of the plurality of components indicated by the reference numerals provided in the image processing apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be read into a computer, and the computer may implement at least part of the functions of the image processing apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 through cooperation between hardware resources provided in the computer and the read software. For example, the program may be provided to the computer (image processing apparatus 100) via a communication line such as the Internet, or may be stored in a storage medium such as an optical disc, semiconductor memory, or card memory and provided to the computer (image processing apparatus 100).

Further, the image processing apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be a compound type apparatus having a plurality of image output functions (at least some functions among printing function, scanning function, copying function, facsimile function, etc.). For example, if the image processing apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 is a composite type apparatus, it may be installed in a company or school and used by customers of the company or school, or may be installed in a store such as a convenience store and used by an unspecified number of customers.

The overall configuration of the image processing apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is as described above. Next, a specific example of processing realized by the image processing apparatus 100 of FIG. 1 will be described in detail. 1 are used in the following description for the configuration (portion) shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific example of the power consumption table. The power consumption table illustrated in FIG. 2 is one specific example of power consumption information showing power consumption of a plurality of modules for each module. FIG. 2 exemplifies a power consumption table showing the power consumption of a plurality of modules with module numbers 0 to N (N is a natural number) for each module.

In the power consumption table illustrated in FIG. 2, for example, the power consumption of a module with module number 0 and a module name of AD conversion (analog-to-digital conversion) is P ₀ [W (watts)], and the power consumption of a module with module number 1 and a module name of an image standard (for example, a standard related to images such as JPEG) is P ₁ [W (watts)].

The power consumption table illustrated in FIG. 2 is stored, for example, in the power consumption information storage unit 20 and used by the power consumption derivation unit 30 to derive the total power consumption. For example, among the modules with module numbers 0 to N illustrated in the power consumption table of FIG. 2, the modules with module numbers 0 to 6 may be used in the scan process, the modules with module numbers 2 to 9 may be used in the copy process, and the modules with module numbers 10 to N may be used in the print process.

If a plurality of modules with module numbers 0 to 6 are used in the scan process, the power consumption derivation unit 30 sums the power consumption of the modules with module numbers 0 to 6 illustrated in the power consumption table of FIG.

Further, if a plurality of modules with module numbers 2 to 9 are used in the copy process, the power consumption deriving unit 30 sums the power consumption of the modules with module numbers 2 to 9 illustrated in the power consumption table of FIG.

Further, if a plurality of modules with module numbers 10 to N are used in print processing, when executing image processing related to print processing in each operation mode, the power consumption deriving unit 30 sums the power consumption of the plurality of modules with module numbers 10 to N illustrated in the power consumption table of FIG. 2 to derive the total power consumption.

The control unit 40 controls the operation of the modules used in each operation mode of image processing according to the module control conditions determined for each operation mode so that the total power consumption derived by the power consumption derivation unit 30 does not exceed a predetermined allowable amount.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of constraints defined for each operation mode. The constraint conditions illustrated in FIG. 3 are specific examples of module control conditions determined for each operation mode. FIG. 3 shows a high-speed mode, a normal mode, a photo mode, and a high-quality mode as specific examples of operation modes.

In the specific example shown in FIG. 3, the constraint condition of the high-speed mode is set to speed-up priority. Therefore, when the operation mode is the high-speed mode and the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount, the operation of the module is controlled giving priority to speeding up the image processing. For example, operation of at least one module that was to be used in the high-speed mode may be stopped according to a disabling priority that defines the order of priority of modules that may be disabled.

Further, in the specific example shown in FIG. 3, the constraint condition of the normal mode is to maintain the processing speed. Therefore, when the operation mode is the normal mode and the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount, the operation of the module is controlled so as to maintain the image processing speed as much as possible. For example, at least one module that was to be used in normal mode is changed to a low-power module that consumes less power than that module. For example, the module that was planned to be used may be changed to a module with a lower resolution.

Further, in the specific example shown in FIG. 3, the constraint condition of the photo mode is that the photo function is maintained. Therefore, when the operation mode is the photo mode and the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount, the operation of the module is controlled so that the photo function is maintained as much as possible. For example, at least one module destined for use in photo mode is deactivated. For example, a module related to the color/monochrome determination function may be stopped and all images to be processed may be handled as color. When the image to be processed is monochrome, for example, a monochrome image may be formed using process black (PK) generated from four color components of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K).

Further, in the specific example shown in FIG. 3, the constraint condition of the high image quality mode is set to give priority to high image quality. Therefore, when the operation mode is the high image quality mode and the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount, the operation of the module is controlled so that the image quality of the image to be processed is maintained as high as possible. For example, at least some of the concurrent modules scheduled to be executed in parallel in the high image quality mode may be changed to execution by time division.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of invalidation priority. FIG. 4 shows a specific example of invalidation priority that defines the priority of modules that may be invalidated.

If the operation of a module that was scheduled to be used for image processing is stopped, the power consumption may be reduced more than planned, but the image quality may be degraded. In this case, there is a trade-off relationship between power reduction and image quality deterioration.

Therefore, for example, the degree of the trade-off may be confirmed in advance (for example, at the design stage of the image processing apparatus 100), and the invalidation priority may be determined based on the confirmation result. For example, modules with less deterioration in image quality and greater reduction in power may be given higher invalidation priority so as to approach the highest priority "1".

FIG. 4 illustrates the image quality degree and the power degree for each module from module M0 to module M7. In the specific example shown in FIG. 4, for example, the module M3, which has the least image quality deterioration and the second largest power consumption reduction effect even when disabled from the normal state before being disabled, is given the highest priority "1", and the disablement priority may be determined in the order of the module M3, the module M7, the module M0, the module M1, the module M6, and the module M2.

It should be noted that a module whose image quality is excessively degraded may be excluded from the invalidation priority. For example, in the specific example shown in FIG. 4, the modules M4 and M5 whose image quality is worse than the low image quality threshold Th may be excluded from the invalidation priority order so that their operations are not stopped.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of a change to a low power module. FIG. 5 shows a specific example before and after changing to a low-power module regarding image processing including image processing group A, image processing group B, image processing group C, and two scaling processes. In the specific example shown in FIG. 5, for example, image processing proceeds in order of image processing group A, enlargement/reduction processing, image processing group B, enlargement/reduction processing, and image processing group C.

In the image processing before change illustrated in FIG. 5 , low-resolution image processing is performed by image processing group A, and after the low-resolution processing result is subjected to scaling processing, high-resolution image processing is performed by image processing group B, and after the high-resolution processing result is subjected to scaling processing, high-resolution image processing is performed by image processing group C.

Then, when the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount in the image processing before the change, at least one module scheduled to be used before the change is changed to a low power module with lower power consumption than the module. In the example shown in FIG. 5, one or more of the modules utilized in Image Processing Group B are changed to low resolution, low power modules.

Therefore, in the post-change image processing illustrated in FIG. 5 , image processing group A performs low-resolution image processing, and after the low-resolution processing result is scaled, image processing group B performs low-resolution image processing, and after the low-resolution processing result is scaled, image processing group C performs high-resolution image processing.

As a result, in the specific example shown in FIG. 5, the power consumed by the image processing group B after the change and the enlargement/reduction processing executed after the change is reduced compared to before the change, and the total power consumption of the entire image processing after the change is also reduced compared to before the change.

In addition, in the specific example shown in FIG. 5, after the change, the amount of data transferred between the image processing group B and the DDR (Double Data Rate) memory is reduced compared to before the change, and the amount of data transferred between the enlarging/reduction processing in the latter stage of the image processing group B and the DDR memory is also reduced.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of changing from parallel processing to time-division processing. FIG. 6 shows a specific example of image processing by parallel processing before change and a specific example of image processing by time-division processing after change. In the specific example shown in FIG. 6, the image processing proceeds in order of processing 1 (1a, 1b), image processing group A, processing 2 (2a, 2b), image processing group B, processing 3 (3a, 3b).

In the image processing before the change illustrated in FIG. 6, the processing 1a and the processing 1b are processed in parallel, then the processing by the image processing group A is executed, the processing 2a and the processing 2b are processed in parallel, and then the processing by the image processing group B is executed, and then the processing 3a and the processing 3b are processed in parallel.

In the image processing before change illustrated in FIG. 6, for example, one or more modules corresponding to process 1a and one or more modules corresponding to process 1b are executed in parallel, one or more modules corresponding to process 2a and one or more modules corresponding to process 2b are executed in parallel, one or more modules corresponding to process 3a and one or more modules corresponding to process 3b are executed in parallel.

Then, if the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount in the image processing before the change, at least some of the parallel modules scheduled to be executed in parallel are changed to execution by time division. In the specific example shown in FIG. 6, processing 1a and processing 1b are changed from parallel processing to time-sharing processing, processing 2a and processing 2b are changed from parallel processing to time-sharing processing, and processing 3a and processing 3b are changed from parallel processing to time-sharing processing.

As a result, in the specific example shown in FIG. 6, after the change, the total power consumption (for example, power consumption per unit time) of the processes 1a and 1b is lower than before the change, the total power consumption (for example, power consumption per unit time) is lower for the processes 2a and 2b, and the total power consumption (for example, power consumption per unit time) is lower for the processes 3a and 3b.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of operations performed by the image processing apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. For example, upon receiving an instruction to start image processing, the image processing apparatus 100 performs operations according to the flowchart illustrated in FIG.

When the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is started, first, an operation mode is set (S701). The image processing apparatus 100 receives operation mode settings from a user via an operation device such as a touch panel. Note that the operation mode may be set in advance (for example, initial setting) before the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 7 is started.

Next, a module to be used is specified (S702). For example, if scan processing is to be executed in the set operation mode, one or more modules (for example, multiple modules with module numbers 0 to 6 illustrated in FIG. 2) used for scan processing are specified. Also, if copy processing is to be executed, one or more modules (for example, a plurality of modules with module numbers 2 to 9 illustrated in FIG. 2) used for copy processing are specified. Also, if print processing is to be executed, one or more modules (for example, a plurality of modules with module numbers 10 to N illustrated in FIG. 2) used for print processing are specified.

When the modules to be used are specified, the total power consumption is derived (S703). The power consumption deriving unit 30 derives the total power consumption of the one or more modules identified as the modules to be used in S702 from the power consumption of each module shown in the power consumption information stored in the power consumption information storage unit 20 (for example, the power consumption table illustrated in FIG. 2).

Then, it is checked whether or not the derived total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount (S704). For example, the control unit 40 determines whether or not the total power consumption derived by the power consumption derivation unit 30 exceeds a predetermined allowable amount. As the allowable amount, for example, a value set at the design stage of the image processing apparatus 100 according to the specifications of the integrated circuit 80 may be used.

If the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount in S704, power consumption suppression processing is executed (S705, see FIG. 8). In the suppression process of S705, the operation of the module to be used identified in S702 is controlled. Then, the image processing unit 10 executes image processing according to the control (S706).

On the other hand, if the total power consumption does not exceed the allowable amount in S704, the image processing unit 10 executes image processing using the module to be used specified in S702 as it is (S706). Thus, when the image processing is executed in S706, the flowchart of FIG. 7 ends.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of power consumption suppression processing. The image processing apparatus 100 executes operations according to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 8, for example, in step S705 of FIG.

When the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 is started, first, the operation mode is confirmed (S800). For example, the operation mode set in S701 of FIG. 7 is confirmed, and processing corresponding to the operation mode is executed in operations after S800.

If the operation mode is the high-speed mode, for example, the operation of the modules is stopped according to the invalidation priority (S811). As the invalidation priority, for example, the specific example illustrated in FIG. 4 may be used. The control unit 40 determines an invalid module whose operation is to be stopped in descending order of invalidation priority, i.e., in descending order of priority, from the modules to be used specified in S702 of FIG. Furthermore, the power consumption derivation unit 30 derives the total power consumption of the remaining one or more modules excluding the invalid module. Then, it is checked whether or not the derived total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount (S812).

The processes of S811 and S812 are repeatedly executed until the total power consumption becomes equal to or less than the allowable amount. In other words, invalid modules are determined one after another according to the invalidation priority until the total power consumption of one or more modules other than the invalid module becomes equal to or less than the allowable amount. When the total power consumption becomes equal to or less than the allowable amount, the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 ends, and the image processing unit 10 executes image processing using one or more remaining modules excluding the invalid modules (S706 in FIG. 7).

If the operating mode is normal mode, for example, one or more modules are changed to low power modules in sequence (S821). The control unit 40 sequentially determines modules to be changed to low power modules from among the modules to be used identified in S702 of FIG. 7, for example. For example, as in the specific example described with reference to FIG. 5, one or more modules used as image processing group B are successively changed to low-resolution, low-power modules. Furthermore, the power consumption deriving unit 30 derives the total power consumption of the module after being changed to the low power module. Then, it is checked whether or not the derived total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount (S822).

The processes of S821 and S822 are repeatedly executed until the total power consumption becomes equal to or less than the allowable amount. That is, one or more modules are successively changed to low power modules until the total power consumption of the modules after being changed to low power modules is below the allowable amount. When the total power consumption becomes equal to or less than the allowable amount, the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 ends, and the image processing unit 10 executes image processing using one or more modules including the low power module (S706 in FIG. 7).

If the operation mode is the photo mode, for example, the module related to the color/monochrome determination function is stopped (S831). For example, one or more modules related to the color/monochrome determination function are stopped from among the modules to be used specified in S702 of FIG. Then, the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 ends, and the image processing unit 10 executes image processing using, for example, one or more modules related to the photo function that has not been stopped (S706 in FIG. 7).

If the operation mode is the high image quality mode, for example, a plurality of parallel modules are changed step by step to time-division processing (S841). For example, the control unit 40 changes the parallel modules to be executed in parallel among the modules to be used identified in S702 of FIG. 7 to execution by time division. For example, as in the specific example described with reference to FIG. 6, processing 1a and processing 1b are changed from parallel processing to time-sharing processing, processing 2a and processing 2b are changed from parallel processing to time-sharing processing, and processing 3a and processing 3b are changed from parallel processing to time-sharing processing.

Furthermore, the power consumption deriving unit 30 derives the total power consumption of the module after the parallel processing is changed to the time-division processing. Then, it is checked whether or not the derived total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount (S842).

The processes of S841 and S842 are repeatedly executed until the total power consumption becomes equal to or less than the allowable amount. For example, when four modules are scheduled to be executed in parallel, first, they are time-divided into parallel processing of two modules and parallel processing of the remaining two modules. If the total power consumption exceeds the allowable amount in this time division, the parallel processing of the two modules is changed to time division processing, and the parallel processing of the remaining two modules is also changed to time division processing. In this way, the change to the time-division processing may be performed step by step. When the total power consumption becomes equal to or less than the allowable amount, the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 ends, and the image processing unit 10 executes image processing using one or more modules including modules executed in a time-sharing manner (S706 in FIG. 7).

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining manufacturing variations of the integrated circuit 80. FIG. For example, if a semiconductor device such as an ASIC is used as the integrated circuit 80, the characteristics of each product of the integrated circuit 80 may differ due to variations in the manufacturing stage of the semiconductor device.

For example, as exemplified in FIG. 9, there are cases where the characteristics of the integrated circuit 80 vary from product to product, centering on standard products (TYP products) that have characteristics that are in line with design targets or average characteristics, and ranging from products with higher operating power than standard products (FAST products) to products with lower operating power than standard products (SLOW products). If the characteristics of the integrated circuit 80 vary from product to product, power consumption may vary from product to product of the integrated circuit 80 even for the same module.

Therefore, for example, the power consumption of each module indicated in the power consumption information may be corrected according to manufacturing variations of the integrated circuit 80 . For example, the power consumption of each module shown in the power consumption table shown in the power consumption table may be corrected by multiplying the power consumption of a plurality of modules shown in the power consumption table illustrated in FIG. For example, at the stage of designing the image processing device 100, a coefficient by which the power consumption in the power consumption table is multiplied may be determined according to the characteristics of the integrated circuit 80 used to manufacture the image processing device 100. FIG.

Then, when the power consumption of a plurality of modules shown in the power consumption table has been corrected, the power consumption deriving unit 30 derives the total power consumption based on the corrected power consumption table.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments are merely examples in every respect and do not limit the scope of the present invention. The present invention includes various modifications without departing from its essence.

10 image processing unit, 20 power consumption information storage unit, 30 power consumption derivation unit, 40 control unit, 50 image data output unit, 52 print processing unit, 60 image data acquisition unit, 62 image reading unit, 70 voltage information output unit, 80 integrated circuit, 90 voltage control circuit, 100 image processing apparatus.

Claims (6)

an image processing unit that executes image processing using one or more of a plurality of modules used in each operation mode of image processing;
a storage unit that stores power consumption information indicating the power consumption of each of the plurality of modules;
a derivation unit that derives total power consumption of one or more modules used in each operation mode of image processing by the image processing unit from the power consumption of each module indicated in the power consumption information;
a control unit that controls operations of modules used in each operation mode of image processing according to control conditions of the modules determined for each operation mode so that the total power consumption derived by the derivation unit does not exceed a predetermined allowable amount;
an integrated circuit having the image processing function;
a voltage control circuit that controls the voltage applied to the integrated circuit;
has
The integrated circuit outputs internal voltage information including information indicating a current voltage in the integrated circuit and information indicating that the voltage in the integrated circuit changes from the voltage corresponding to the current time;
The voltage control circuit, based on the internal voltage information output from the integrated circuit, controls to increase the voltage applied to the integrated circuit before an operation with a load equal to or greater than a predetermined load is started in the integrated circuit.
An image processing apparatus characterized by: The image processing device according to claim 1,
When the operation mode of the image processing device is the first operation mode and the total power consumption in the first operation mode derived by the derivation unit exceeds the allowable amount, the control unit stops the operation of at least one module used in the first operation mode according to the control condition corresponding to the first operation mode.
An image processing apparatus characterized by: In the image processing device according to claim 2 ,
When the operation mode of the image processing device is a second operation mode different from the first operation mode and the total power consumption in the second operation mode derived by the derivation unit exceeds the allowable amount, the control unit changes at least one module used in the second operation mode to a low-power module having lower power consumption than the module according to the control conditions corresponding to the second operation mode.
An image processing apparatus characterized by: In the image processing device according to claim 3 ,
When the operation mode of the image processing device is a third operation mode different from the first operation mode and the second operation mode, and the total power consumption in the third operation mode derived by the derivation unit exceeds the allowable amount, the control unit changes at least some of the concurrent modules that are executed in parallel in the third operation mode to time-division execution according to the control condition corresponding to the third operation mode.
An image processing apparatus characterized by: In the image processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
correcting the power consumption of each module indicated in the power consumption information according to manufacturing variations of the integrated circuit having the image processing function;
The derivation unit derives the total power consumption based on the corrected power consumption information.
An image processing apparatus characterized by: the computer,
storage means for storing power consumption information indicating the power consumption of each module used in each operation mode of image processing;
Derivation means for deriving total power consumption of one or more modules used in each operation mode of image processing from the power consumption of each module indicated in the power consumption information;
Control means for controlling the operation of modules used in each operation mode of image processing according to module control conditions determined for each operation mode so that the total power consumption derived by the derivation means does not exceed a predetermined allowable amount;
voltage control means for controlling a voltage applied to the integrated circuit having the image processing function;
function as
The integrated circuit outputs internal voltage information including information indicating a current voltage in the integrated circuit and information indicating that the voltage in the integrated circuit changes from the voltage corresponding to the current time;
The voltage control means, based on the internal voltage information output from the integrated circuit, controls to increase the voltage applied to the integrated circuit before an operation involving a load exceeding a predetermined load is started in the integrated circuit.
A program characterized by

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