JPH04126272A - Printer controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accomplish a high effective printing speed by a method wherein a printer control part reads drawing data where an effective flag of a control information area is set to ON and issues the read data to a printer engine part, the effective flag of the control information area corresponding to a partial page for which the issuance of the drawing data is completed is set to OFF, and the partial page of a frame memory is released. CONSTITUTION:When a printer engine control part 115 instructs a data read part 114 to read a frame memory 104, the data read part 114 monitors a control information area 120 on the frame memory 104. If drawing data is set to an 'effective' state, the data read part 114 reads the drawing data from an appropriate drawing area 121 and issues the read drawing data to a printer engine part 102 for printing the data. After the drawing data for one line is all transmitted to the printer engine part 102, an 'invalid' is set on the control information area 120 corresponding to the drawing area 121 for one line. After that, a printing data control part 103 is informed of the presence of a capacity for one line in the frame memory 104. The control part 115 instructs the data read part 114 to read next drawing data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printing control device that controls a printer engine section of a shuttle printer, a laser printer, or the like.

[Prior art] In the conventional printing control system,
As described in No. 8, the printer controller was wasting its time processing print data, such as receiving and developing print data. Therefore, print data could not be transmitted from the printer controller to the printer engine within the time period during which the printer engine could print at maximum speed. Therefore, it is necessary to control the printer engine section to make the printer engine wait until the printer controller completes print data processing and can send the print data to the printer engine section.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned conventional technology, even if the printing speed of the printer engine section improves, the data processing of the printer controller for controlling the printer engine section is slow. There was a problem that the effective printing speed of the printer did not increase.

On the other hand, JP-A-63-49824 and JP-A-63
Publication No. 75827 discloses that in order to perform continuous printing on a page-by-page basis, an image information memory that stores print data equivalent to at least two pages is conventionally required, but the image information memory for one page can be stored in multiple A technique has been disclosed that allows continuous printing to be performed using one page's worth of image information memory by dividing the information into areas.

According to this conventional technique, an improvement in the effective printing speed can be expected, but it still requires a frame memory for one page. There is also room for improvement in a better interface between drawing and printing processes.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art described above.

An object of the present invention is to provide a print control device that can achieve a high effective printing speed corresponding to the improvement in printing performance of a printer engine section.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a print control device that can minimize the memory capacity of a frame memory.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a print control device that can shorten printing time and has high print throughput.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a print control device according to the present invention includes a frame memory that stores drawing data, and a print controller that interprets a print command string and draws on the frame memory. In a printing control device comprising a data control unit and a printer control unit that reads drawing data drawn in the frame memory and sends it to a printer engine unit, the frame memory is divided into partial pages each consisting of a certain number of rasters. A frame memory management means for dividing the frame memory and causing the print data control unit to acquire and release the frame memory in units of partial pages is provided, and a valid flag indicating the validity of the drawing data in addition to the drawing data is provided on the frame memory. A control information area for storing a drawing area is provided at least in units of partial pages, and the print data control unit receives a print command string and acquires a drawing area in units of partial pages using the frame memory management means, After performing drawing based on the print command on the drawn drawing area and setting on the valid flag of the control information area corresponding to the drawing area for the drawn partial page, the process moves to the next drawing process, and the printer control The unit reads the drawing data for which the valid flag of the control information area is on and sends it to the printer engine unit, and sets the valid flag of the control information area corresponding to the partial page for which sending of the drawing data has been completed to OFF. Then, the partial page of the frame memory is released, and the process is repeated until there is no more drawing data whose valid flag is on in the control information area on the frame memory.

The capacity of the frame memory may be less than one page, and in that case, the frame memory in units of partial pages can be used in a ring format.

The partial page has a size corresponding to, for example, one line of text.

The control information area is provided for each raster, for example.

The control information area may include an area in which information indicating the last raster in the partial page is written.

Further, the control information area may include an area for storing information representing the number of partial pages in the current page to which the partial page corresponds, regarding the last raster in the partial page.

In the control information area, an area may be provided for each raster to store information indicating that an interruption is permitted when printing is interrupted, and in this case, the printer control section continues printing up to the raster where the information is stored, , interrupt printing.

The control information area is provided with an area for storing a usage state flag that describes the usage state of the partial page, and the frame memory management means acquires and releases the frame memory in units of the partial page by referring to the usage state flag. It is also possible to do this while updating.

Further, a print control information area for storing print control information such as line breaks and page breaks is provided on the frame memory for each rask, and the printer control unit reads out the print control information together with the drawing data to perform print control. In this case, you may do as follows.

The print data control unit writes in the print control information area in accordance with the drawing of one partial page, and the printer control unit writes 1 as a combination of a control code and drawing data corresponding to the contents of the print control information area. Rask data is generated and sent to the plink engine section.

When interrupting printing, an interruption control means may be provided to suppress interruption in the middle of a line.

A frame memory for test printing is provided to perform test printing when printing is interrupted, and when performing test printing,
It is also possible to perform test printing without saving various information about the interrupted printing.

Preferably, when drawing on a second partial page immediately before the first partial page occurs in conjunction with drawing on the first partial page, the print data control unit controls the valid print data of the second partial page. The flag is turned on, but the valid flag of the first partial page is not turned on yet.

[Operation] In order to perform printing, the host computer transmits a print command string, which is a collection of commands for instructing the inside and outside of printing, to the printer controller.

The print data control section in the printer controller.

After receiving the print command sequence, a frame memory for drawing print data is acquired using a frame memory management means. The frame memory management means acquires and releases the frame memory in units of the amount of memory to be drawn for one partial page.The print data control unit acquires and releases the frame memory for the acquired partial page in accordance with the print command string. (hereinafter also referred to as 1 partial page buffer). If the print data control unit cannot acquire a 1 partial page buffer, it waits until the partial page buffer can be acquired. 0 When the partial page buffer acquisition and drawing are completed. Then, set that the drawing data is valid (turn on the valid flag) in the control information area on the partial page buffer corresponding to the area where drawing has been completed, and instruct the printer control unit to start reading. . The print data control unit repeats the above process until there are no more valid print commands.

The printer control unit that receives the instruction to start reading monitors the control information area on the partial page buffer, and if the drawing data is set to be valid, prints the part corresponding to the control information area that is set to be valid. Reads the drawing data from the page buffer and sends it to the printer engine section. The printer engine unit prints the received drawing data.

When the sending of the drawing data for the partial page to the printer engine section is completed, the valid setting of the data in the control information area is reset to invalid (the valid flag is turned off), and then using the partial page buffer management means, A partial page buffer corresponding to the drawing data in the acquired frame memory is released.

Acquisition of a partial page buffer and release of the acquired partial page buffer are performed in a ring format that returns to the beginning after one cycle.

The printer control unit determines that there is no drawing data to be sent to the print data control unit when all drawing data for which the drawing data on the partial page buffer is enabled has been sent to the printer engine unit. After that, the control information area is monitored, and when the drawing data is set to be valid, the process of sending the drawing data to the printer engine section is performed again.

If the print data control unit has completed the drawing process for all received print command sequences at the time of receiving the notification of the idle state, the print data control unit notifies the printer control unit of the completion of reading and starts printing. Waiting for command reception. The printer control unit ends the process upon receiving the read end notification.

In addition, instead of sending print control information such as line breaks and page breaks from the print data control unit to the printer control unit as commands, the print control information storage area that stores the print control information on the partial page buffer is stored in raster units. The printer control unit performs printing control by referring to this area.

The series of print processing is completed by the above steps.

Therefore, reducing memory usage and usage costs.

Usage efficiency can be increased. In addition, by realizing parallel processing, the printer engine section can operate without idle time.
It becomes possible to improve the effective printing speed and printing throughput (hereinafter referred to as margin) [Example] First, a first example of the present invention will be described using the configuration example shown in FIG. 1.

This printing apparatus includes a printer controller 100 and a printer engine section 102.

The printer controller 100 includes a print data control section 10
3, a frame memory 104, and a printer control section 105.

The print data control unit 103 includes a host communication control unit 106,
It consists of a command control section 112, a drawing control section 108, a frame memory management section 118, a communication command control section 109, an interruption control section 130, a test printing control section 131, and a command buffer 107.

The main print data control unit 103 controls the host computer 10
1 and interprets and executes print commands that instruct print content (drawing, etc. based on the interpreted results).

The host communication control unit 106 performs communication M# with the host computer 101, such as receiving print commands.

The command control unit 112 analyzes commands received by the host communication control unit 106, stores print commands in the command buffer 107, and performs various controls according to the command analysis results.

The drawing control unit 108 reads print commands stored in the command buffer 107;

■Interpreting the read print command, ■Generating characters, figures, etc. on the frame memory 104 as dot image data according to the interpreted results, and ■Printer control unit 10
5 to start printing and processes for notifications from the printer control unit 105.

The frame memory management unit 118 controls the frame memory 104
is divided into raster units, which are the minimum printing units of the printer engine unit 102, and further divided into line units, which are printing units (when printing with a 24-dot size font, 24 rasters constitute one line), and the drawing control unit 108 and In accordance with a request from the printer control unit 105 to acquire or release the frame memory 104, the allocation of the usage status of the frame memory 104, etc. is managed.

The communication command control unit 109 performs communication control such as sending a print start command to the printer control unit 105 and receiving a print end command from the printer control unit 105.

The interruption control section 130 performs control for suspending printing, and the test printing control section 131 performs control for performing test printing. These interruption control section 130 and test print control section 131 will be described in detail in the second embodiment and the third embodiment.

The printer control unit 105 includes a data read unit 114, a printer engine control unit 115, and a printer command control unit 1.
16, and a communication control unit 117.

The data read unit 114 reads the drawing data drawn by the drawing control unit 108 on the frame memory 104 in accordance with instructions such as starting printing from the print data control unit 103.

The printer engine control section 115 includes the data read section 11
4 performs print control such as outputting the negative picture data read from the frame memory to the printer engine unit 102, and printing control for printing page breaks, line breaks, etc.

The printer command control unit 116 includes the print data 6 control unit 1
Analyze instructions such as starting printing from 03.

Execute.

The communication control unit 117 controls communication with the print data control unit 103.

The printer engine unit 102 prints on continuous paper using a shuttle printer printing mechanism, a wire dot printing mechanism, an electrophotographic printing mechanism, etc. in accordance with input signals.

As shown in 101i1i11, the frame memory 104 includes a drawing area 12 in which drawing data, which is data drawn by the drawing control unit 108 in accordance with a print command, is stored.
1, and a drawing data enable setting 14 that indicates whether the drawing data drawn on this drawing area 121 can be sent to the printer engine unit 102 in a “valid” or “invalid” state.
1. "Use" whether frame memory 104 can be acquired or not
It also consists of a control information area 120 that stores control information such as a usage status setting 140 that is expressed as an "unused" state, and a print control area 122 that stores information for performing 1#JIi of printing by the printer engine 1$ 102. .

The frame memory 104 is connected to the printer engine section 10.
The data is divided into raster units (one dot units), which are the minimum printing unit of No. 2, and is further managed by the frame memory management unit 118 in line units, which are printing units.

When the drawing data valid setting 141 is "valid", it means that drawing of one raster corresponding to the frame memory has been completed, but reading to the printer unit 102 has not yet been completed. On the other hand, the setting 141 being "invalid" indicates that drawing of the corresponding 5 minutes into the frame memory has not been completed.

When drawing characters on the frame memory line by line, the effective setting for the setting 141 is made for all rasters constituting one line when drawing for one line is completed, and the setting 14
The invalid setting to 1 is performed for all rasters constituting one line at the time when the printer control unit 105 completes reading one line of drawing data from the frame memory.

In addition, when the usage state setting 140 is in the "used" state, it means that the frame memory for 5 minutes of the corresponding lth is in the drawing control unit 108.
indicates that it is in use (from acquisition to release), and the setting 140 indicates that it is "unused" means that the corresponding frame memory for one raster is not in use and can be drawn once it is acquired. shows.

When characters are drawn on the frame memory line by line, the usage state of the setting 140 is set by the drawing control unit 108 using the frame memory management unit 118 as preprocessing for drawing one line. .

This is done for all the rasters constituting one row, and setting the setting 140 to an unused state indicates that the reading of one row of drawing data from the frame memory is completed with the IR mark.
1j11 When the control unit 103 receives the data from the printer control unit 105, the print control unit 103 sends the frame memory management unit 11
8.

The frame memory management unit 118, in accordance with the acquisition/release request from the drawing control unit 108,
Acquire or release unused areas for rows sequentially, row by row.

Hereinafter, the operating procedure of the present invention will be described with reference to the second [i21] which shows the overall operation sequence, and the third [pi!] which shows the operation flow of the print data control unit 103. 1 and the fourth WI showing the operation flow of the printer control unit 105. In addition, the lucky digit of the reference number corresponds to the figure number.

The host computer 101 sends a print command sequence to the printer controller 1oo for printing (
204).

The print data control unit 103 receives the print command sequence from the host communication control unit 106 (301), and notifies the command control unit 112 that the print command sequence has been received.
The command control unit 112 that has received the notification stores the print command string in the command buffer 107 (3i0) and notifies the drawing control unit 108 that the print command string has been received. The drawing control unit 108 that has received the notification requests the frame memory management unit 118 to acquire the frame memory 104 in order to use the frame memory 104 (205).
, 302). The frame memory management unit 118 stores a drawing area 120 in the frame memory 104 for one continuous row.
If there is a frame memory 104 whose usage state setting 140 above is set to "unused" state, after setting one line of usage state setting 140 to "used" state and securing it,
The drawing control unit 104 is informed that the frame memory 104 has been acquired to the drawing control unit 108 (303). 1
If there is a frame memory 104 for which the "use" status is set in any of the usage status settings for the rows, the frame memory acquisition wait state is entered. Acquisition of the frame memory 104 is performed sequentially from the beginning of the frame memory 104,
Once the end of the frame memory 104 has been acquired, the acquisition returns to the beginning.

The drawing control unit 108 reads out the print command from the command buffer 107, analyzes it, and then adjusts the drawing area 12 on the acquired frame memory 104 according to the analysis result.
1 (206, 304). When the drawing for one line is completed (305), a setting is made to indicate that the drawing data is valid in the drawing data validity setting 141 on the control information area 120 corresponding to the corresponding drawing area 121 for the one line where drawing has been completed. (306). If the printer control unit 105 is not in operation (307), the communication command control unit 10
9 to instruct the printer control unit 105 to start reading (2o7.308). If it is in operation, the printer control unit 105 stores the frame memory 104.
Since the drawing data valid setting 141 in the upper control information area 120 is monitored, the drawing data valid setting 141
All you need to do is set the drawing data to be valid. The printer control unit 105 reads the drawing data from the corresponding drawing area 121 which is in operation and is set as "valid".
Since it performs processing such as sending it to the printer engine,
The request to start reading is not made. Drawing control unit 108
The above drawing process is performed until there are no more print commands on the command buffer 107 (309).

The printer control unit 105 receives an instruction to start reading from the print data control unit 103 through the 1 communication control unit 117, and reports the content of the instruction to the printer command control unit 116 (4)
00). The printer command control unit 116 is “in operation”
Notify the print data control unit 103 that the
1) The printer engine control unit 115 is instructed to start reading indicating the start of printing, and upon receiving the instruction, the printer engine control unit 115 instructs the data read unit 114 to read the frame memory 104 .

The print data control unit 103, which has received the "in operation" notification from the printer control unit 105 (324, 325), does not instruct the printer control unit 105 to start reading (307).

The data read unit 114 that receives the instruction to read the frame memory 104 monitors the control information area 120 on the frame memory 104, and if the drawing data is set to the "valid" state, draws data from the corresponding drawing area 121. Read data (21O1402, 403). The printer engine control unit 115 sends the read drawing data to the printer engine unit 102 (214, 405).
). When the printer engine unit 102 receives the data normally, it sends "reception complete" (215) and performs printing (216).

After receiving the "reception complete" (406), the printer engine control unit 115 sends a message (407) when the transfer of drawing data for one line (24 dot lines in the case of printing for a 24 dot size font) is completed. ), the drawing data valid setting 141 on the control information area 120 corresponding to the drawing area 121 for one line that has been transferred is set to "invalid" (411). This "invalid" setting is made for all rasters constituting one line. After that, the print data control unit 1
The communication command control unit 109 notifies the frame memory management unit 118- that the frame memory 104 is empty (211.3) and instructs the data read unit 114 to read the primary drawing data. 408), the frame memory management unit 118 releases the frame memory 104 in accordance with this notification by setting the usage status setting 140 for one line in the control information area 120 of the frame memory 104 in the "r unused" state. Do (320
, 321), the data read unit 114 does not have a setting indicating that the drawing data is “valid” in the control information area 120, and the print data control unit 103 receives an instruction to finish reading indicating the end of printing.
If the printer engine control unit 115 is not notified (217, 404) that there is no drawing data, the printer engine control unit 115 that receives the 0 notification will be in a state of monitoring the control information area 120. Part 115
This control unit instructs the printer command control unit 116 to notify the print data control unit 103 of an idle state indicating that there is no drawing data to be read. The printer engine control unit 115 performs two functions: (1) reading drawing data from the data reading unit 114, or (2) reading the drawing data from the data reading unit 114;
It enters a waiting state for an instruction to finish reading from No. 3.

The printer command control unit 116 that received the instruction to send the idle state notifies the print data control unit 103 through the communication control unit 117 (218° 413) that “valid” is set in the drawing data valid setting 141 on the control information area 120. If there is drawing data that has been set, the printer control unit 105 repeats the above process.

“The drawing control unit 108 receives the notification of the idle state from the printer control unit 105 through the communication command control unit 109 (322), and upon reception, the command buffer 107
If there is no print command and the drawing of the entire print command string has been completed (212, 326), the communication command control unit 109 is used to request the end of reading to finish printing, and the communication within the printer control unit 105 is executed. When the printer control unit 105 receives the completion of reading via the communication control unit 117 (219, 323), the printer control unit 105 sends the notification to the control unit 117 (404)
), the printer command control unit 116 instructs the printer engine control unit 115 to stop printing processing. Upon receiving the instruction, the printer engine control unit 115 stops the processing itself of the printer control unit 105 by having the data read unit 114 finish monitoring the drawing data valid setting 141 in the control information area 120 of the frame buffer 104. , the print process ends (410).

Printing is completed by the above steps.

According to this embodiment, since the drawing control section and the printer control section can perform parallel processing while being synchronized, the performance of the printer engine section can be fully utilized and the effective printing speed can be increased.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

In this embodiment, in addition to the control information area and the drawing area shown in the first embodiment, a print control area 122 is provided on the frame memory 104 to store print control information for controlling printing by the printer engine unit 102. The printer control unit 105 uses only the above information to control the printer engine unit 102.
It is designed so that it can be controlled. In the print control area 122, print control information (control code) for instructing line feed, page break, print head movement, etc. is stored for each rask. Table 1 shows specific examples of mark-control information.

When the drawing control unit 108 performs drawing on the frame memory 104, the print data control unit 103 transfers the print control information to the drawing area 121 that is the drawing target.
is set in the print control area 122 corresponding to . In the printer engine control unit 105 , the data read unit 114 reads print control information in addition to the drawing data from the frame memory 104 and transmits it to the printer engine control unit 115 . After sending the drawing data to the printer engine unit 102, the printer engine control unit 115 sends the drawing data to the print information area 1.
The information set in 22 is used to control printing of the printer engine unit 102. That is, after the printer engine unit 102 prints drawing data for each raster, it performs line feed/page feed, head movement, etc. in accordance with the control code in the print control area 122 for that raster.

According to this embodiment, since drawing data and print control data can be passed to the printer control unit 105 at the same time, there is no need to synchronize the drawing data and print control data, so fine print control can be performed without reducing printing speed. It has the effect of being able to

Next, the third embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 5 showing the overall operation sequence, FIG. 6 showing the operation flow of the print data control section 103, and FIG. 7 showing the operation flow of the printer control section 105. explain. This embodiment prevents printing from being interrupted in the middle of a line by providing an interruption control section 130 that can synchronize with the printing state when printing is interrupted or stopped. In addition, 5th to 7th
In the figure, elements that are the same as those in the previously described figures are given the same reference numbers, and newly added elements are given reference numbers that have the same number in the hundreds digit as the figure number.

An instruction to suspend printing is sent from the host computer 101 (501), the print data control unit 103 receives the instruction via the communication control unit 106 (610), and the communication control unit 106 notifies the command control unit 112. do. The command control unit 112 instructs the interruption control unit 130 to perform interruption processing. The interruption control unit 130 controls the drawing control unit 108
611) and notifies the printer control unit 105 of the interruption of printing through the communication command control unit 109 (503.612).The drawing control unit 108 receives the interruption instruction (601). , interrupt the drawing process L
(504, 602), waiting for restart instruction (504)
. The printer control unit 105 sends the interruption notification to the communication control unit 1.
17, and the printer command control unit 116 performs an interruption process (713, 714).

The interruption process is performed as follows.

(i) The printer command control unit 116 instructs the printer engine control unit 115 to interrupt printing.

(ii) If the printer engine control unit 115 is sending one line of drawing data to the printer engine unit 102 and reading data from the frame memory at the time when the printer engine control unit 115 receives the interruption instruction, the drawing data being processed will be transferred to the printer engine. Part 1
The process continues until the sending is completed at 02.

(iii) When data reading from the frame memory 104 is completed, printing is interrupted and the printer command control unit 116 is notified to that effect.

(iv) Upon receiving the notification, the printer command control unit 116 waits for an instruction to resume printing from the print data control unit 103, and printing is interrupted (506°701).

The instruction to resume printing from the host computer 101 is (5)
02), host communication control unit 1 of print data control unit 103
06, and the interruption control unit 1 through the command control unit 112.
30 is notified (613).

The interruption control unit 130 allows the printer controller 100 to
If it is in the suspended state (614), in order to resume printing, the drawing control unit is instructed to resume drawing (615).

Next, the printer control unit 105 is notified of the restart of printing through the communication command control unit 109 (505, 616).
If the printing is not in an interrupted state, the drawing control unit 108 does not perform printing restart processing, and starts drawing in response to a restart instruction. In the printer control unit 105, the communication control unit 117 notifies the printer command control unit 116 that printing has resumed (710).
), the printer command control unit 116 instructs the printer engine control unit 115 to resume printing (712), and the printer engine control unit 115 starts printing according to the instruction, thereby restarting printing.

The above processing procedure allows printing to be interrupted and restarted line by line.

Even when canceling printing, the process described above is first performed to interrupt printing, and after the interruption, the cancel processing (initialization of the frame memory and various control tables and initialization of the printer engine section) is executed to print line by line. It can be stopped.

Next, the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described in Section 8, which shows the entire operation sequence. This will be explained using II. In this embodiment, in addition to the frame memory 104 shown in the first, second, and third embodiments, a frame memory 123 for test printing and a test print control section 131 for performing test printing are provided. During test printing, the test printing control unit 131 uses the test printing frame memory 123 so that the test printing can be performed without saving drawing data in an interrupted state.

If test printing is instructed while printing is interrupted (8
01), the command control unit 112 issues a test print instruction to the test print control unit 1, and upon receiving the instruction, the test print control unit 131 draws in the test print frame memory 123 (8o2.803). The data to be drawn is
The 8 communication command control unit 10'9 prepared in advance in the test print control unit 131 issues an instruction to the printer control unit 105 to start test printing for the test print frame memory 123 in which drawing has been completed ( 804
), in the printer control unit 105, the communication control unit 11
7 instructs the printer command control unit 116 to perform test printing. The printer command control unit 116 instructs the printer engine control unit 115 to perform test printing. The printer engine control section 115 is connected to the data read section 114.
The drawing data read out by the data read section 114, which instructs the printer engine section 1 to read data from the test printing frame memory 123 (807), is sent to the printer engine section 1.
Sent on 02. The printer engine unit 102 performs printing according to the received drawing data. When the sending of all the drawing data is completed, the printer control unit 105 informs the test print control unit 131 that the printer is in an idle state.
'6 (805). When the test print control unit 131 that has received the notification has completed drawing all the test data in the test frame memory 123, it notifies the printer control unit 105 of the end of printing to end the test print.
06), Finish printing. By performing the processing as described above, test printing can be performed without saving the drawing data that is currently being interrupted.

Although the drawing data for test printing is stored inside the test printing control section 131, a command buffer and commands for test printing are prepared.

It may also be given from the host computer.

In the above description, the test printing instruction is given from the host computer, but it can be similarly achieved by giving the instruction from the printer's user operation panel or the like. Furthermore, although test printing in an interrupted state has been described, even in a printing execution state, printing may be interrupted when a test printing instruction is received, and the above process may be performed.

Although each of the above embodiments has been described with respect to a printer that prints using continuous paper, the same can be realized in a printer that prints on cut sheet paper page by page by changing frame memory management from line by line to page by page. I can do it.

The printer controller 100 includes RAM, ROM, LS
1. - Implemented using ring IC etc., printer engine section 1
02 is composed of a shuttle printer printing mechanism, a wire dot printer printing mechanism, an electrophotographic printing mechanism, etc.

91st! The hardware configuration of the printer controller 100 will be explained using I.

The printer controller 100 includes a CPU bus 904, a host communication controller 902, a CPU 903, and a ROM 9.
06, Image rotation LSI905. RAM908. Sub CPU918゜User operation panel 917, sub CPU
ROM916, and printer engine controller 9
Consists of 09.

(Hereinafter, blank) The CPU bus 904 consists of various input/output signals (address signals, data signals, and other control signals) of the CPU 904.

The CPU 903 communicates with 902.
It performs input/output with peripheral controllers such as 905, 906, 908, and 909 and memories such as 906.908.

The host communication controller 902 is a controller for the printer controller 100 to communicate with the host computer 901. The physical I/F for this communication (referred to as host I/F) is SCS I (Small
computer system interface
e), R5232C, R5422, GP-IB (Gen
eral Pupose Interface Bus)
, Centronics, HDLC (High-Level
DataLink Control) etc. to implement an appropriate one depending on the type of physical I/F to be used.

The ROM 906 contains a printer controller initialization start-up program (IPL (Inter Progr.
amLoading (also called program).

The RAM 908 contains (i) the control program for this printer controller, (ii) character fonts, (iii) command buffer section memory, (iv) frame memory section memory, (v) task management table, frame memory management table, and printer management. Various management tables such as tables,
Store other things.

Of these, (i) and (ii) are stored by being downloaded from the host computer 901 using the IPL program. Also (i) and (ii) ha RAM
It may be stored in advance in the ROM 906 instead of being stored in the ROM 908 .

The LSI 905 for image conversion is CPU 903 L,
- In the process of drawing characters and images to the frame memory unit memory, the drawing output is rotated according to instructions from the CPU 903.

Note that in order to speed up the drawing process, a floating point arithmetic processor that performs floating point arithmetic may be installed, or the image rotation LSI 905 may be omitted and the processing may be performed by the CPU 903.

The sub CPU 918 controls the user operation panel 917 and the LED display on the printer engine unit 102 according to instructions from the CPU 903 .

ROM9164 for sub CPU. - stores a control program for the sub CPU to perform the above processing. The printer engine controller 909 performs read processing and control of the contents of the RAM 908 (the contents of the normal frame memory section) to the printer engine section 102 (detection that printing is possible, inquiries, print instructions, etc.), and control of the RAM 908 ( refresh, etc.).

The printer controller 100 includes a printer engine unit 1
02 via a signal line 915, and the sub CPU 912 via a signal line 914.
Communication is performed via the printer engine I/F,
Transmission of contents read from the frame memory section of the RAM 908 to the printer engine section 102, inquiries to the printer engine section 102, instructions for printing, reception of status from the printer engine section 102, etc. are performed using the above-mentioned signals. A signal line 914 is connected from the sub CPU 912 to the printer engine unit 1 via a line 915.
Sends and receives LED display instructions, etc. to and from 02.

Next, as a correspondence between the configuration example of FIG. 1 and the hardware configuration described above, the CPU 903 executes the function of the print data control unit 103, and the CPU 903 executes the functions of the print data control unit 103 and
The U91B executes the functions of the printer control unit 105.

By using the above hardware, the printer controller 100 can be realized.

In each of the embodiments described above, print control was performed assuming a full page buffer corresponding to one page of paper.

However, in line mode printing (a mode in which characters, figures, and images are drawn and printed from the top to the bottom of the paper using a coordinate system in units of lines and columns).

Reading from the page buffer to the printer engine is much faster than writing drawings such as characters to the page buffer.
All but a few lines of the full page buffer are empty. Therefore, although the memory cost is high, the utilization efficiency of full page buffer memory has not necessarily been high.

In addition, in the case of single-width printing, as shown in Figure 12, give due consideration to the writing method to the print control information area (enter printer engine control codes such as printer head skip commands that reflect the contents of the drawing data area of each line). As a result, there was a risk of incorrect printing results being obtained. In other words, in Figure 12, double-angle drawing (2
As a result of 1), the print control information area 22 for the n-1th line should not be updated, so the n-1st line in FIG.
The problem was that nothing was printed on the lines.

An overview of the operation of the print control device according to this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. The print control device operates as follows.

(1) The drawing processing unit requests the acquisition/release means in the partial page buffer control unit to acquire a partial page buffer.

(2) Acquisition of one vacant partial page buffer by the acquisition/release means within the partial page buffer control.

(3) When the drawing processing unit writes 0 to the acquired partial page buffer, it also writes to the control information area and the printing control information area in addition to the drawing data area.

(4) Reading data in one partial page buffer by the partial page buffer reading means in the partial printer control section.

(5) The printer control unit detects the end of reading the partial page buffer, and then requests the acquisition/release means in the partial page buffer to release the partial page buffer.

(6) Release of the partial page buffer that has been read by the acquisition/release means in the partial page buffer control unit.

By the above-mentioned operations, it is possible to perform drawing writing processing by the drawing processing section and print reading processing by the printer control section in parallel with respect to the partial page buffer section using a small-capacity partial page buffer.

Therefore, memory usage and usage cost can be reduced and usage efficiency can be increased. Furthermore, by realizing the parallel processing, printing throughput can be increased.

In addition, in the control information area in the partial page buffer,
When the above-mentioned a-image data valid flag is provided, the drawing processing section and the printer control section operate as follows.

(3)'' [Operation of the drawing processing unit] After writing the drawing to the drawing data area in the partial page buffer, set the drawing data valid flag to valid (ON) for all the tasks that make up the partial page buffer. do.

Subsequently, if the readout to the printer engine section by the printer control section is in a stopped state, the main readout is started.

Note that reading one line is executed by a peripheral controller called a printer engine controller, which will be described later in the embodiment.

(4) Operation of Printer Control Unit] The printer control unit determines whether the drawing data valid flag is ON for each raster forming the partial page buffer to be read. If ON, the drawing data valid flag is set to invalid (OFF) after reading the drawing data in the rask to the printer engine section.

Further, if the drawing data valid flag is OFF, reading to the printer engine section by the printer control section (executed by the printer engine controller) is stopped.

By using the drawing data valid flag as described above, drawing writing and printing reading for the partial page buffer can be processed in parallel while being synchronized.

Furthermore, as described above, the print control information area on the second partial page buffer is regenerated in conjunction with double-angle drawing on the first partial page buffer. Note that the original print control information states that there is no drawing data, so it is necessary to regenerate the print control information area for the part where printing was not performed (blank area, 22 in Figure 12). I made it. Therefore, since the regenerated print control information area describes that there is drawing data, the portion 23 can be printed. In other words, double-width printing can be performed without any problem.

A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below.

First, using Figure 14, print control device! The hardware configuration of 100 will be explained. This configuration is similar to the configuration shown in FIG. 9 described above.

The print control device 100 has a CPU bus 904. Hot X Totsu f
fi:Intoler902. CPU903゜ROM90
6. Sub CPU918. User operation panel 917. It consists of a printer engine controller 909 and a RAM 908.

The CPU bus 904 carries various input/output signals (
address signals, data signals, and other control signals).

The CPU 903 uses the CPU 902 .
Peripheral controllers such as 918 and 909 and 906 and 908
Performs memory and input/output.

The host communication controller 902 is the print control device 100
is a controller for communicating with the host computer 101. Physical I/F for this communication (referred to as host I/F)
/F is scsr (Small Con+pute
r System Interface), R5232
C.

R5422, G P -I B (General P
urpose InterfaceBus), Centronics, )(DLC(High LevelDa)
ta Link Control), etc., to implement appropriate hardware logic for the controller 902 depending on the type of physics/F used.

The ROM 906 stores an initialization program (IPL) for the printing control device 100.
amLoading (also called program) and part of the character font.

RAM908 contains (i) main printing control device! ! 1 o.

control program, (ii) the rest of the character font, (i
ii) command buffer unit memory, (iv) page buffer unit memory, and (V) various management tables such as a page buffer management table and a task management table, and others. Of these, (i) and (ii) are the IPL
It is stored by downloading it from the host computer 101 using a program. Also, (i) and (ii)
) may not be stored in the RAM 908 but may be stored in the ROM 906 in advance.

Conversely, all character fonts may be stored in the RAM 908 without storing any character fonts in the ROM 906.

The sub CPU 918 performs input/output processing with the user operation panel 917 and the printer engine unit 102 according to instructions from the CPU 903 .

The printer engine controller 909 uses a built-in pMA (Dire
When reading a certain amount of data corresponding to a portion of one page from the partial page buffer using the ct Memory Access) function, the printer engine controller 909 sends an interrupt signal (CPU 904) to activate partial page buffer read end interrupt processing by the CPU.

Printing control system! 100 is connected to the printer engine unit 102, with a sub CPU 918 via a signal line 914, and a printer engine controller 909 via a signal line 915.
One communication is performed according to an I/F called printer engine I/F.

The printer engine controller 909 connects the signal line 915
If the printer engine unit 102 is a shuttle printer, the content of the partial page buffer unit is output to the printer engine unit 102 after format conversion, which will be described later. Further, when the printer engine unit 102 is a laser printer, the printer engine controller 909
After converting the contents of the partial page buffer section from parallel to serial using the signal line 915, the printer engine section 10
Output to 2.

The signal line 914 is used to receive a signal for indicating the page top position from the printer engine when the printer engine is a shuttle printer. When the printer engine unit 102 is a laser printer, the main signal line 914 is used by the sub CPU 918 to send commands for inquiries and instructions to the printer engine unit 102 and to receive response statuses from the printer engine unit 102. It is used to convey commands, status transmission/reception signals, and control signals for controlling the procedure for reading out the contents of the partial page buffer section to the printer engine section.

Note that when the printer engine unit 102 is a laser printer, the sub CPU 918 detects that it is possible to issue a print instruction to the printer engine unit 102, and at the time of detection, asserts an interrupt signal to the CPU 903, and prints by the C0U 903. Start instruction permission interrupt processing.

Next, the functions of the print control device 100 according to the present invention will be explained using FIG. 11.The zero print control device 100 represents the CPU 903 in FIG. 14 as its functional block, and includes a kernel section 113 and various devices. Driver, that is, page buffer control unit 118. Printer control unit 10
5. Host communication control unit 106b, panel control unit 119, and command buffer unit t07-pace buffer unit 14
, and a task processing unit 13.

The kernel unit 113 includes main routines for various 5VC (abbreviation for supervisor call) processing, main routines for various interrupt processing, and the task control unit 12. and a timer control section 125. Here, the various SvCs are service functions for task control, timer control, page buffer control, printer control, host communication control, and panel control. When the kernel part accepts the SvC instruction as a CPU instruction,
After analyzing and identifying the cause based on the SvC input parameters, each control unit 12, 125, 1 performs individual SvC processing.
18, 105, 106b.

The individual SvC processing routine in 119 is activated and executed.

Various interrupts include timer interrupts from the timer hardware 124, partial page buffer control interrupts from the printer engine controller 115, printer control interrupts from the printer engine controller 115 and sub CPU, and host communication from the host communication controller 106a. Control interrupts refer to panel control interrupts from the sub CPU 916, and after the kernel unit 113 analyzes and identifies the cause of the interrupt, each control unit 125, 118, 105, and 106b processes each interrupt.

The individual interrupt processing routine in 119 is activated and executed.

The task control unit 12 refers to the task management table unit 17 and executes a task control macro function in response to activation requests (issues) for each part of the device.

The startup request is made by the drawing task processing unit 13 in the task processing unit 13.
1 and various device drivers (118°105.106b
, 119, etc.).

The timer control unit 125 uses the timer hardware 124 to monitor the completion of various events.

For example, the completion of paper ejection (end of paper ejection of cut sheet type printing paper) is monitored. Termination monitoring by the timer control unit 125 uses macros for each part 131 and 13 of this device.
2,118,105° 106b, 119 issues the activation request.

Various device drivers 118, 105° 106b, 11
9 has the following functions.

The partial page buffer control unit 118 controls partial page buffer reserve and partial page rough free, which will be explained later.
Resource management of a partial page buffer consisting of N pages is performed while referring to the partial page buffer management table section 18.

In other words, it manages the free state.

The printer control unit 105 prepares SvC such as print instructions, and performs resource management (vacancy status management) of the printer engine unit 102 and input/output control with the printer engine unit 102 .

The task in the task processing unit 113 is the printer control Sv.
By issuing C, the printer engine unit 102 is requested to perform the resource management function or the input/output control function.

Further, the printer control unit 118 performs an individual interrupt process called a partial page buffer read end interrupt process in response to an interrupt from the printer engine controller 115.

The task in the task processing unit 13 requests the partial page buffer control unit 118 to control the partial page buffer unit 14 by issuing the partial page buffer control SvC.

The host communication control unit 106b is the host communication controller 1
It consists of individual SvC processing and individual interrupt processing for controlling 06a.

The panel control unit 119 includes individual SvC processing and individual interrupt processing for controlling the user operation panel 121 via the sub CPU 916.

The effects of providing the partial page buffer control unit 118 and the printer control unit 105 are as follows.

(1) The resource management functions of the partial page buffer section 14 and the printer engine section 102 and the input/output control functions therebetween can be made independent of the task processing section 13. That is, the page buffer control section 118, the page buffer management table section 18, and the printer control section 10 are used for managing the partial page buffer section 14 and printers (102, 916, and 115).
5, so I set the page buffer section and printer to C.
It can be managed in detail independently from the management of PUs and tasks.

(2) Due to (1), the printer engine unit 10 of a different model
2 or when changing the specifications such as the capacity of the partial page buffer unit 14, the size of each partial page buffer, the total number N of partial page buffers, etc., the partial page buffer control is performed without changing the contents of the task processing unit 13. It is only necessary to change the necessary parts of the unit 118 and the printer control unit 105.

(3) The processing of the task processing unit 13 is performed by the CPU at the task level (the lowest interrupt level is 1) and in the system mode, and the kernel unit 113 and various device drivers 118, 1
Processes 05, 106b, and 119 are performed by the CPU at an interrupt level m (m>1) higher than the task level and in user mode.

Therefore, the operations of the various control tables 17, 18, etc. can be exclusively controlled so that the task processing unit 13 cannot operate them, and this printing system! ! The reliability of the control program that controls 100 can be improved. Next, the configuration of the partial page buffer unit 14, which is one of the features of the present invention, will be explained. The partial page buffer section 14 is a normal paper size A4. B
The 15th
It is configured as shown in Figure (a). All partial page buffers (1) 141. (n)142.・=, (N) The total capacity of 143 is the above-mentioned regular paper size A4. Even if it is smaller than B4 or the like, printing processing can be performed with high throughput.

Next, the contents of the partial page buffer management table section 18 for managing the partial page buffer section 14 will be explained.

FIG. 16(a) shows the overall configuration of this partial page buffer management table unit 18. As in this configuration, the partial page buffer number to which the primary drawing task should write is determined by the all-page buffer common information 61.

(referred to as next layer drawing partial page buffer No. 61a) Partial page buffer No. 61b currently being printed.

The starting address 61c of the partial page buffer 1, the size of one partial page buffer (in bytes) 61d, the total number of partial page buffers N61e, etc. are described.

Also, 1 partial page buffer 1 information 621 partial page buffer 2 information 63. ...9 information 64 for partial page buffer N is provided, and 62 to 64 describe task related information 621 regarding each partial page buffer.The contents of 0 pieces of task related information 621 are shown in No. 161jf(b).
In the task related information 621, first, the drawing/printing status 621-a of each partial page buffer is described as either empty (drawable), drawing, printable (valid), or printing as shown in the 16th pil (c). do. Furthermore, a partial page buffer usage state 621-b (task number currently using this partial page buffer) and a pointer 621-0 of the root of each partial page buffer free queue are also provided here.

Next, the operation of the printing control device will be explained using FIG. 17 and the like. In the following description of the embodiment, a shuttle printer is assumed as the printer engine unit 102, but a laser printer or an LED printer can be implemented in the same manner.

First, the host computer 101 transmits a print command string to the print control device (721), and the print control device stores the print command string in the command buffer unit 107.

Note that the print command string is for describing a document configured as one or more logical pages, and each logical page is defined as one or more print command strings.

The print command stored in the command buffer unit 107 is sent to the drawing task processing unit 131 in the task processing unit 13.
Processed by

In the drawing task processing unit 131, partial page buffer reserve S, which is a function of the partial page buffer control unit, is executed.
Partial page buffer number to draw vC next in order
, (next layer drawing portion page buffer No., 61a) is issued as input (722).

The partial page buffer reserve Svc acquires a partial page buffer that has been manually reserved.

If the drawing task can acquire a partial page buffer,
The print command strings in the command buffer unit 107 are interpreted and executed in the order received. As a result, one character, figure, image, etc. is drawn and written in the dot image format in the upper part of the acquired partial page buffer (for example, partial page buffer 142) (723).

When the drawing task finishes drawing on the #4 image portion page buffer, it issues a print instruction SvC to the printer control unit 105 to issue a print instruction (724).

The printer control unit 105 executes the print instruction SvC according to the instruction of the drawing task. The print instruction SVC is the 191st
The procedure shown in M(a) is performed, and if the printer engine controller 115 is in a stopped state, one printer engine controller 115 is activated (728).

The drawing task processing unit 131 similarly performs one partial page buffer reservation 725, drawing processing 726, and print instruction 727 for the next partial page buffer (updated next-layer drawing partial page buffer).

(The following is a blank space.) The processing procedure of the above drawing task can be summarized as shown in FIG. 18. In FIG. 18, initialization 81 of various drawing and printing parameters is performed when the drawing task is initially activated. At the time of initialization, the relevant drawing part page buffer N
o, 61a is set to '1'.

Returning to FIG. 17, when the printer engine controller is activated 728 in response to the print instruction SvC, the printer engine controller 115 sequentially reads out data constituting the partial page buffer for each raster (729). According to this data,
The printer engine controller 115 prints one raster (730).
The 1 raster read end 731 is determined by the internal mechanism of the printer engine controller 115 or the printer engine unit 1.
Detection is performed using the interrupt signal from 02. The printer engine controller 115 detects that the reading of one raster has been completed for all the rasters constituting the partial page buffer (732 to 734), and at that point sends a partial page buffer read end interrupt 735 to the printer control unit 105. Occur.

In the partial page buffer read end interrupt processing for the partial page buffer read end interrupt 735, the printer control unit 105 issues the aforementioned partial page buffer free macro (736) to release the partial page buffer that has been read.

Next, the processing procedure for partial page buffer reserve and partial page buffer free is explained using PAD (Proble
mAnalysis Diagram).

As described above, in this embodiment, by using a small-capacity partial page buffer, it is possible to perform drawing writing processing by the drawing processing section and print reading processing by the printer control section in parallel with respect to the partial page buffer section. Therefore, memory usage and usage cost can be reduced and usage efficiency can be increased. Furthermore, by realizing the parallel processing, printing throughput can be increased.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15(b), in addition to the drawing data area 51 in the partial page buffer section 14 in the fifth embodiment, a control information area 52 for storing control information of drawing data is provided. , provided for each raster unit, which is the minimum unit of printing. This control information area 52 is provided with a drawing data valid flag 521 for each raster to indicate the validity of the drawing data. Using the main drawing data valid flag 521, after the drawing task processing unit 131 writes drawing to the drawing data area 51 in the partial page buffer, the drawing data valid flag is enabled for all rasters constituting the partial page buffer. (ON). If the readout to the printer engine unit 102 by the printer control unit 105 is in a stopped state, the actual readout is started. If the drawing data valid flag 521 is ON for each raster constituting the partial page buffer to be read, the activated printer control unit 105 reads the drawing data in the raster to the printer engine unit 102 and then prints the drawing data in the raster. The drawing data valid flag 521 is set to invalid (OFF).

Further, if the drawing data valid flag is OFF, reading to the printer engine unit 102 by the printer control unit 105 is stopped.

As described above, by utilizing the drawing data valid flag 521, the drawing writing process by the drawing processing section and the reading process by the printer control section can be performed in parallel with respect to the partial page buffer section.

FIG. 21 shows the processing procedure of the drawing task in the fifth embodiment. The difference from the procedure in the fifth embodiment (FIG. 18) is that the process of setting the drawing data valid flag in the control information area 83 is added. be.

By setting the water control information area drawing data valid flag 83, the drawing data valid flag 521 is set to ON for all the rasters constituting the partial page buffer.

Note that the process 84 in FIG. 21 is a process that will be added in the seventh embodiment, which will be described later, and does not exist in this embodiment.

FIG. 22 shows the processing procedure of the printer engine controller 115. The printer engine controller 115 is
When activated by the print instruction SvC described above, the following processing is performed.

(1) First, set the parameters of the printer engine controller 115 for the following three items (1210)
.

(1211) The reading raster address is set as the start address of the partial page buffer to be read.

■Set the total number of read pages to the total number of pages to read corresponding to the size of the partial page buffer to be read (12
12).

■Set the read raster counter to O (1213)
.

(2) Subsequently, the printer engine controller 115 makes a determination based on the termination condition 1220 that read raster counter ≧total number of scans to be read until reading of all rasters constituting the partial page buffer to be read is completed. and perform the following processing.

(2-1) For each raster, drawing data valid flag 5
21 is ON (1-230).

(2-2) If ON, perform the following processing.

(1) Read one raster data starting from the read raster address (1240).

■1 Zero clear of raster data (1241).

Here, one raster data refers to the drawing data area 51. In the next seventh embodiment, the print control information area 5
3 shall also be included.

■ Turn off the drawing data valid flag 521 (124
2).

■Updating the read raster address (1243).

(2-3) If it is not ON, the printer engine controller 115 is stopped (1244).

Note that the process 1246 will be described later regarding the ninth embodiment.

(3) When the end of reading is detected in the judgment at 1220 described above, a partial page buffer read end interrupt is sent to the CPU.
103 is issued to the printer control unit 105 (1245).

This partial page buffer read end interrupt 1245 is realized as follows.

(i) As shown in 151q(b), a CPU synchronization flag 523 and a CPU synchronization report number 524 are provided in the control information area 52.

(ii) One CPU synchronization flag 523 and one CPU synchronization report number 524.
) and set the values as shown.

(iii) The printer engine controller 115 refers to the CPU synchronization flag 523 when reading each raster data from the partial page buffer.

(iii-a) The CPU synchronization flag 523 is 0N (
1), the one raster data is read to the printer engine unit 102, and then the printer engine controller 115 reads it.

After generating an interrupt to the CPU 103, the CPU synchronization report number 524 included in this raster is transmitted to the CPU 103.

(iii-b) The CPU synchronization flag 523 is OFF
If (0), the l raster data is simply read out to the printer engine unit 102. (iv) The CPU 103 is
The interrupt from the printer engine controller 115 is detected as a partial page buffer read end interrupt, and the received CPU synchronization report number 524 is used to identify which partial page buffer has finished reading.

Note that the CPU synchronization flag 523 is omitted.

Check whether CPU synchronization report number 524 is 'O' or not, '0'
If it is other than ', the operation when the synchronization flag 523 is ON may be performed.

Further, as shown in 15th Fl (e), an area may be provided in the control information area 52 to store hold synchronization flags 525 in raster units. When an instruction to suspend printing is given to the device, the print control device does not immediately suspend printing, but sets the hold synchronization flag 525.
Printing is continued until the raster where is 0N (1), and printing is interrupted at that raster. For example, the hold synchronization flag 525 is set to ON in advance for the last raster in one row.

Further, a usage flag 522 for describing the usage status of each raster constituting the partial page buffer may be provided in the control information area 52 for each raster. In this case, the partial page buffer control unit 118 acquisition and release of the partial page buffer with reference to the usage state flags for all rasters constituting the partial page buffer;
This can be done while updating.

The six-handed chain shown in FIGS. 23(a) and (b) shows the partial page buffer reserve/free processing procedure using the usage status flag 522.
Process 01,1003.1010 1001' 1
003'1010'.

The main point of the change is to use the usage status flag 522 for all rasters constituting the partial page buffer to determine the usage status of one partial page buffer, instead of using the partial page buffer usage status 621-b provided for each partial page buffer described above. This is what I chose to describe.

According to this embodiment, by using the drawing data valid flag, drawing writing and printing reading for the partial page buffer can be processed in parallel while being synchronized.

Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, as shown in 15M(c) and (d), in addition to the drawing data area 51 on the partial page buffer section 14 in the fifth or sixth embodiment, the printer engine section 1
Print control information area 5 for storing control information of 02
3 was provided for each task, which is the minimum unit of printing.

When the drawing task processing unit 131 finishes drawing the entire drawing data area in a certain partial page buffer, it writes to the print control information area 53 in the partial page buffer.

Furthermore, for each raster constituting each partial page buffer, a 1-raster readout format conversion unit is provided for editing the contents of the print control information area 53 into a 1-raster readout format that is a combination of the converted control code and the drawing data. It is provided in the printer control section 105. Printer control unit 105
The content of each raster constituting the partial page buffer to be read is converted into the one-raster read format by the one-raster read format conversion unit, and then read to the printer engine unit 102.

FIG. 21 shows the processing procedure of the drawing task in this embodiment. The reason lies in the addition of processing. Print control information area 53 for all tasks configuring the relevant partial page buffer
24, write data in the format shown in p. 21 (a) as necessary.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 24(c), a certain raster 141
If there is no drawing data across the lower multiple tasks (corresponding to the blank area 142), the main print control information area write 84 causes the escape sequence 536 to send paper feed corresponding to the number m of rasters in the blank area. Write pitch command.

After printing the raster 141, the printer engine unit 102 prints the raster 141.
Since the main paper feed pitch command is executed, the print head will be skipped for 5 minutes after m.

Printing time can be shortened and printing throughput can be improved.

FIG. 22 shows the processing procedure of the printer engine controller 115 in this embodiment. Unlike the procedure in the sixth embodiment, in the reading 1240 of l raster data starting from the read task address, the drawing data 51 in the main raster is not simply read out to the printer engine unit 102. That is, in this embodiment, the one raster readout format converter (
li2I (not shown) to create the print control information area 53 and drawing data area 51 that constitute each task.

After converting into the 1 raster read format shown in FIG. 24(b) (12401), the 1 raster read format data is read to the printer engine unit 102 (12402).

Note that in FIG. 24(b), the commands other than the drawing data are control commands, which are transmitted to the printer engine unit 102 in the form of a control code shown in FIG. 24(d). Furthermore, these control commands can be omitted.

Further, the number of bell transmissions N533 in the 24th P1(a) indicates the number of times the bell command is transmitted, and the presence/absence of bell transmission 53
2 is present, the same number N@ of bell commands are transmitted to the printer engine unit 102, as shown in the 24th vj4(b).

According to this embodiment, when the drawing task processing section 131 simply writes the concise print control information 53, the printer engine controller 115 edits the main print control information 53 into a one-raster read format and sends it to the printer engine section 102. Since it is read out, there is an effect that the processing by the drawing task processing section 131 can be simplified.

In addition, by using print control information, if there is a blank area on the partial page buffer, printing can proceed by skipping the print head for that area, reducing printing time and improving print throughput. I can do it.

Next, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is intended to solve the above-mentioned problem of double-width printing defects in the prior art. Therefore, in this embodiment, the processing procedures related to the drawing task and printer control unit in the seventh embodiment are changed as follows.

(1) Print control information area writing 84 in Fig. 21
The process is performed as follows.

(a) For a certain first partial page buffer n, the seventh
Print control information is written in the same manner as in the embodiment.

(b) Drawing process 7 to the first partial page buffer n
23, an adjacent second partial page buffer n-1 above the partial page buffer n, such as single-width drawing.
Determine whether drawing has been performed that involves drawing and writing to.

(c) If the above judgment is yes, the print control information for a raster from the bottom of the partial page buffer n-1 is regenerated and rewritten, where Q'' is double-angle drawing, etc. Accordingly, the maximum number of rasters that can be drawn overflowing into the second partial page buffer n-1 has been determined for this print control device, and is set at the time of initialization of the device.

(2) Control information area drawing data valid flag setting 83
is processed as follows.

(a) Turn on the drawing data valid flag for all the tasks constituting the partial page buffer n-1. 6th
Unlike the embodiment, the drawing data valid flag for the partial page buffer n is not turned ON yet.

(b) However, if N=1, 1 partial page buffer n-1
Even if it is, the drawing data valid flag is not turned on.

(, c) In the process of setting the drawing data valid flag in the control information area 83, if even one drawing data valid flag is turned ON, a flag called the drawing data valid setting execution flag (a flag in the printer control unit 105 ) ON
Set to .

(3) In the print instruction SvC, as shown in FIG. 19(b), when the printer engine controller 115 is in a stopped state and the drawing data valid setting execution flag is ON, the printer engine controller 1]5 is activated. I'll do what I do.

(4) Also, in the processing procedure of the printer engine controller, 1246 processes are added as shown in Figure 22.
In the process of 246, the drawing data valid setting execution flag is set to O.
Make it FF.

In addition, in (2), set the drawing data valid flag to ON for the lower area of a raster from the bottom of partial page buffer n-1 and the upper area other than Ω raster from the bottom of partial page buffer n. You can.

According to this embodiment, there is an effect that double-angle printing can be performed without any trouble.

Next, a ninth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this example, the fifth
The present invention relates to a printing system including the print control device described in the embodiments to the eighth embodiment and a host computer 101.

In this embodiment, a drawing mode designation unit is provided on the host computer 101 for specifying the drawing mode by the print control device as either line mode or page mode. Here, the line mode is a mode in which characters, figures, and images are drawn and printed from the top to the bottom of the paper using the coordinate system in units of rows and columns, as described above.

On the other hand, page mode is a mode in which characters, figures, and images can be drawn and printed in any direction within the paper surface using a coordinate system in dot units (corresponding to the print resolution of the printer engine). be.

The drawing mode set by the host computer 101 is detected in the drawing task processing unit 131 in the print control device, and the configuration of the partial page buffer section and the partial page buffer management table section is stored in the drawing task processing section 131 in the print control device. A partial page buffer configuration switching unit is provided for switching according to the mode.

The partial page buffer configuration switching section switches one partial page buffer size 61d and the total number of partial page buffer sides 61e in the partial page buffer management table section 18 according to the drawing mode. As a result, the partial page buffer section 141 is
It is possible to switch between the structure shown in FIG. 15 consisting of N partial page buffers and the structure shown in FIG. 15(f) consisting of M full page buffers. Here, N2M, N22, M
≧1.

According to this embodiment, since it is possible to print by switching the drawing mode, it is possible to achieve both high-speed printing in line mode and beautiful printing in page mode (slower speed than line mode) in one printing system. It has the effect of being able to

The present invention can be similarly implemented in the following cases.

(1) Set the total number of partial page buffers to 1.

(2) In the above description, when a plurality of partial page buffers are provided, each partial page buffer is of the same size, but partial page buffers of different sizes may be used. In this case, the size of each partial page buffer is entered in the partial page buffer management table section 18.

(3) Set the partial page buffer size to one character line. In addition, the printer engine section 1 of 180 dots/inch
When using 02, one line is usually configured as 24 rasters.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, memory usage and usage cost can be reduced,
Its usage efficiency can be increased.

Further, since the drawing writing process by the drawing task processing unit and the print reading process by the printer control unit can be performed in parallel with respect to the partial page buffer unit, printing throughput can be increased.

In addition, by using print control information, if there is a blank area on the partial page buffer, printing can proceed by skipping the print head for that area, reducing printing time and further improving print throughput. be able to.

Furthermore, since the print control information area is created taking double-width drawing into consideration, single-width printing can also be performed at high speed and without any problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of the device configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the printing procedure, Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the print data control unit, and Fig. 4 is a diagram of the printer control unit. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure; FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the print interruption procedure of the third embodiment; FIG.
The figure is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the print data control unit in the third embodiment, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the printer control unit in the third embodiment, and FIG. 8 is the test printing procedure in the fourth embodiment. 9 is a system configuration diagram showing the hardware configuration of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the frame memory, and FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Block diagram, Figure 12 is an explanatory diagram of the problems of the prior art, Figure 1
3 is an explanatory diagram of the basic principle of the fifth embodiment, FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the fifth embodiment, FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the partial page buffer section, and FIG. An explanatory diagram of the configuration of the partial page buffer management table unit in the present invention, FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print control device in the fifth embodiment, and FIG. 18v4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the drawing task in the first embodiment. , FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of print instruction SvC in the present invention, FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of partial page buffer reserve/free in the fifth embodiment, and FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the partial page buffer reserve/free in the fifth embodiment. 7th example and 8th example
FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the drawing task in the embodiment, FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the printer engine controller in the sixth embodiment and the seventh embodiment, and FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the printer engine controller in the sixth embodiment. A flowchart showing free processing steps,
FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the contents of the print control information area, one rask read format, printer engine control commands, etc. in the seventh embodiment. 100...Printer controller, 101...Host computer, 102...Printer engine section, 1
03...Print data control unit, 1o4...Frame memory, 105...Printer control unit, 106...Host communication control unit, 107...Command buffer unit. 108... Drawing control unit, 109... Communication command control unit, 112... Command control unit, 114... Data read unit, 115... Printer engine control unit, 1
16...Printer command control unit, 117...Communication control unit, 118...Frame memory management unit, 120.
...Control information area, 121...Drawing area, 122
. . . Print control area, 123 . . . Frame memory for test printing, 130 . . . Interruption control section, 131 . . . Test printing control section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A frame memory that stores drawing data, a print data control unit that interprets a print command string and draws on the frame memory, and reads out the drawing data drawn in the frame memory. In the print control device, the frame memory is divided into partial page units each consisting of a certain number of rasters, and the print data control unit acquires and releases the frame memory in partial pages. A frame memory management means for performing the printing on a page-by-page basis is provided, and a control information area is provided on the frame memory for storing a validity flag indicating the validity of the drawing data in addition to the drawing data, at least on a unit of the partial page, and the printing is performed on a page-by-page basis. The data control unit receives the print command sequence, acquires a drawing area in units of partial pages using the frame memory management means, performs drawing based on the print command on the obtained drawing area, and performs drawing based on the print command on the obtained drawing area. After setting the valid flag of the control information area corresponding to the drawing area for the partial page to ON, the printer control section moves to the next drawing process, and the printer control unit prints the drawing data for which the valid flag of the control information area is ON. The valid flag of the control information area corresponding to the partial page for which drawing data has been sent is set to OFF, the partial page of the frame memory is released, and the partial page of the frame memory is A printing control device characterized in that said process is repeatedly performed until there is no more drawing data with a valid flag in a control information area on. 2. The capacity of the frame memory is less than one page;
2. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the frame memory for each partial page is used in a ring format. 3. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the partial page has a size corresponding to one line of text. 4. The printing control device according to claim 1, wherein the control information area is provided for each raster. 5. The print control apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control information area includes an area in which information indicating the last raster in a partial page is written. 6. The control information area is characterized by providing an area for storing information indicating which partial page in the current page the partial page corresponds to, regarding the last raster in the partial page. The printing control device according to claim 4 or 5. 7. In the control information area, an area is provided for each raster to store information indicating that an interruption is permitted when printing is interrupted, and the printer control section interrupts printing after continuing printing up to the raster in which the information is stored. The printing control device according to claim 4, characterized in that: 8. The control information area is provided with an area for storing a usage state flag that describes the usage state of a partial page, and the frame memory management means acquires and releases the frame memory in units of the partial page based on the usage state flag. reference,
5. The printing control device according to claim 1, wherein the printing control device performs the printing while updating. 9. A print control information area for storing print control information such as line breaks and page breaks is provided on the frame memory for each raster, and the printer control unit reads out the print control information together with the drawing data to perform print control. The printing control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 10. The print data control unit writes in the print control information area when drawing one partial page, and the printer control unit writes as a combination of a control code and drawing data corresponding to the contents of the print control information area. 10. The print control apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the print control apparatus generates one raster data and sends it to the printer engine section. 11. The printing control device according to claim 1, further comprising an interruption control means for suppressing interruption in the middle of a line when printing is interrupted. 12. A frame memory for test printing is provided to perform test printing in a state where printing is interrupted, so that test printing can be performed without saving various information about the interrupted printing. The printing control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 13. When drawing on a second partial page immediately before the first partial page occurs with drawing on the first partial page, the print data control unit sets the valid flag of the second partial page. 2. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein the first partial page is turned on, but the validity flag of the first partial page is not turned on yet.