JPH06110704A - Interruption control system of composite information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the use efficiency by preferentially processing a job by a function of a high priority when the priority is set to each function and jobs which are processed by each function in parallel. CONSTITUTION:When a data print function of a priority 2 and a reception function of a priority degree 4 are started during the execution of reading/print job S1 (S1a, S1b), a HOST communication job S2 with a host computer is started in a data print function and a reception job 4 is started in a reception function. In this case, the reading/print job S1, the communication job S2 and the reception job S4 are executed in parallel. Subsequently, a transfer to a print job 3 is performed. At this time, the print job S3 competes the preceding reading/print job 31 by a sort copy function to be being executed, and the reading/print job is continued and the job S3 becomes standby because the priority 3 of the sort copy function is higher than the priority 2 of the data print function.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an interrupt control method for a composite type information processing apparatus having a facsimile function, a copy function, a printer function, etc., and more particularly to a so-called "dual" which executes a plurality of functions in parallel. The present invention relates to an interrupt control method for an accessible "composite type information processing apparatus."

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a composite type information processing apparatus having a facsimile function (transmission, reception, and sort copy), a copy function, a printer function and the like has been used.

According to such a multi-function machine, space can be saved as compared with the case where each function is realized by a plurality of single-function devices, and from a functional point of view, it has hitherto been possible. Book manuscripts such as books and magazines that could only be sent once after being copied can be sent in the same manner as copying, thus improving work efficiency.

However, in the above-mentioned multifunction machine, the printing section,
Components (modules) such as scanner and image memory
Therefore, there is a problem that a plurality of functions cannot be operated at the same time and the utilization efficiency of the device is low.

In order to solve such a problem, recently, a function such as a job for reading image information or a print job, which is sequentially started in a predetermined order to realize each function, does not compete with each other, for example, A so-called "dual access" multifunctional machine has been developed which is capable of simultaneously performing memory reception during copy work and print work during memory transmission.

Further, when jobs compete with each other in parallel execution, one function is executed by interrupt processing, and the other processing is restarted after the interrupt processing is completed, so-called interrupt control is applied. The interrupt control method in the information processing apparatus is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-281161.

[0007]

However, in the above-described conventional interrupt processing, since the function that is activated later is executed in preference to the function that is being executed earlier, the function with a higher priority is executed. Even if it is in progress, if another function is activated by interrupt processing, the function with the lower priority will be executed with priority, even if the priority of the other function is lower than the priority of the function currently being executed. There was a problem that it would be done.

A technique for determining the processing order based on such a priority is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-163.
No. 817.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, set priorities for the respective functions, and when jobs of the respective functions executed in parallel compete with each other, the priorities are set. Another object of the present invention is to provide an interrupt control method for a composite type information processing apparatus in which a job having a high function is executed with priority.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a plurality of functions for sequentially activating a plurality of jobs in a predetermined order to perform unique information processing, and each job is time-shared. In the interrupt control method of the composite type information processing device that processes and executes multiple functions in parallel, priority is set for each function and jobs processed by the functions being executed in parallel compete for each other. Then, the feature is that the high-priority function preferentially processes the job.

[0011]

According to the above configuration, when one function is activated in the composite type information processing apparatus and another function is activated and jobs compete with each other, the priority of the function is irrelevant regardless of the activation order of the functions. Is higher than the other functions, the one function is continuously executed, and if the priority of the one function is lower than the other functions, the other functions are executed by interrupt processing.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining the basic concept of the present invention. A total of four functions including a sort copy function as a facsimile function, a reception function and a transmission function, and a data print function as a printer function. The time-sharing processing order of each job when executing jobs in parallel is shown. It is assumed that a priority “1”, a priority “2”, ... Are set to each function in descending order of priority. Here, the sort copy function has a priority “3” and the data print function has a priority. It is assumed that “2”, the receiving function has the priority “4”, and the transmitting function has the priority “5”.

According to the present invention, the priority is set for each function in this way, and when the jobs processed by the functions being executed in parallel compete with each other, the function with the higher priority processes the job with priority. There is a feature in doing so.

First, when the sort copy function of the priority "3" is activated, the image information reading job S1a and the print job S1b (hereinafter, the respective processes may be collectively referred to as a reading / printing job S1). ) Is activated, the document information read by the read job S1a is printed out on the recording paper by the print job S1b.

When the data print function of priority "2" and the reception function of priority "4" are activated during execution of this read / print job S1, the communication job S2 with the host computer is executed in the data print function. The reception job S4 is activated by the reception function.

At this time, since the read / print job S1 by the sort copy function and the communication job S2 by the data print function and the receive job S4 by the receive function which are being executed in advance are not used in the same module, the respective functions do not conflict with each other. become. Therefore, the read / print job S1, the communication job S2, and the reception job S
4 and 4 are executed in parallel.

In the data print function, when the communication job S2 ends, the print job S3 starts. At this time, the print job S3 of the data print function conflicts with the read / print job S1 (specifically, the print job S1b) of the previously executed sort copy function, and the priority of the sort copy function “3” is set. Is higher than the priority “2” of the data print function, the read / print job S1 by the sort copy function is continued, and the print job S3 by the data print function is in a standby state.

On the other hand, in the reception function, when the reception job S4 ends, the decryption job S5a and the print job S5 are executed.
b (hereinafter, each process is combined to decrypt / print job S5
It may be expressed as)). At this time, the decryption / print job S5 (specifically, the print job S5
5b) competes with the read / print job S1 (specifically, the print job S1b) by the previously executed sort copy function. Here, since the priority “3” of the sort copy function is lower than the priority “4” of the reception function, the read / print job S1 by the sort copy function is interrupted, and the decryption / print job S5 by the reception function is interrupted. It is started as a process.

Further, while the decoding / printing job S5 by the receiving function is being executed, the sending function of the priority "5" is instructed, and the reading job S6a and the encoding job S6b are executed.
(Hereinafter, each process will be combined to read / encode job S6.
May also be expressed) is started, the decoding / print job S5 (specifically, the decoding job S5a) and the reading / coding job S6 (specifically, the coding job S6b) by the reception function are started. ), Both share the codec section (encoding / decoding section), and thus compete with each other. Since the priority "5" of the transmission function is higher than the priority "4" of the reception function, the decoding / print job S5 by the reception function is performed.
Is interrupted and the read / encode job S by the send function
6 is activated as an interrupt process.

After that, when the reading / encoding job S6 by the transmitting function is completed, the decoding / printing job S5 of the receiving function having the highest priority among the functions having the waiting jobs is restarted, and this job is executed. When finished, the read / print job S1 of the next highest priority sort copy function is restarted, and when this job is finished, the print job S3 of the data print function is restarted.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a composite type information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining its operation.

The job control unit 100 has a printer function unit 1, a facsimile function unit 2, and a copy function unit 3, and controls the entire system. Printer function unit 1
Executes various jobs for printing out the document information sent from the host computer or the like (not shown) via the I / O interface 9 in the printing unit 8. The facsimile function unit 2 controls the codec unit 5, the modem 10, the line control unit (NCU) 13 and the like to execute jobs such as facsimile communication and sort copy. Copy function section 3
Executes a copy job in which the original set on the platen glass (not shown) by the operator is copied and printed out from the printing unit 8.

The image memory 4 temporarily stores document information transmitted and received in facsimile communication. The codec (CODEC) unit 5 encodes image information and decodes the encoded image information. The image reading unit 6 reads facsimile transmission original information and original information for sort copy and converts it into electric signals. The operation unit 7 includes a numeric keypad, a function selection key, a display unit, a priority setting key, and the like. The modem 10 modulates image information to be transmitted and demodulates received image information.

As will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7, jobs to be activated are reserved in the job management table 11 according to the activation order set based on the priority. Reserved jobs are started in order from the highest job. When the top job finishes, the reservation for that job disappears and the lower jobs move forward,
The second reserved job becomes the new top job. The priority management unit 12 refers to the job management table 11 and outputs a start command for each job to the job control unit 100 in accordance with the start order reserved in the job management table 11.

In the composite type information processing apparatus having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, in step S10, it is determined whether or not a job is reserved in the job management table 11. This job is a unit of processing that is sequentially started in a predetermined order to realize the function instructed by the operator. If the operator has reserved the facsimile transmission function, as described above, the reading job, the encoding, and the like. Jobs, send jobs, etc. are reserved.

When the job to be activated is reserved, it is determined in step S11 whether or not the reserved job at the top of the table is a suspended job.

If the highest job is not a suspended job, in step S13 the activation of the highest reserved job is instructed by the priority management unit 12, and the functional units 1, 2 of the job control unit 100, Any one of 3 executes the job. In step S14, it is determined whether or not the job being started has ended. When the job ends, the reservation of the ended job is deleted from the job management table 11, and the process returns to step S10.

If the job being executed is not completed, it is determined in step S15 whether or not the registered contents of the job management table 11, that is, the contents of the registered job or the processing order has changed. If the contents have changed, in step S16, the priority management unit 12 determines whether or not the highest reserved job in the job management table 11 has changed.

If the highest-ranking job has changed even though the job being executed has not ended, it is determined that a job having a higher priority than the job being executed is newly reserved, and the step In S17, it is determined whether the newly reserved job and the job being activated share a module, that is, whether the jobs conflict with each other. If the jobs do not conflict with each other, the newly reserved job is activated in step S20.

If the jobs seem to compete with each other,
In step S18, the job control unit 100 stores the state of the job being started. This stored job state is set in step S1 when it is determined in step S11 that the highest-level job is a suspended job.
2 and is used to restart the interrupted job from the interrupted state.

In step S18, the job being started is interrupted, and in step S20, the newly reserved job at the top of the job management table 11 is started.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S16 that the top job has not changed, step S2
In 1, it is determined whether or not a new job is reserved. If reserved, it is determined in step S22 whether or not the newly reserved job and the job being activated share a module. If the jobs do not conflict with each other, the newly reserved job is activated in step S20.

FIGS. 4 to 7 are views showing how the job management table 11 is rewritten according to the priority of a newly reserved job.

FIG. 4 shows how the job management table 11 is rewritten when a job s having a higher priority (priority “5”) than any of the registered jobs is newly reserved. There is.

When such a job is reserved, the processing order of all the registered jobs including the top job a is moved down, the newly reserved job s is registered at the top, and this job is interrupted. The process is executed immediately. In addition, the running job a that was registered at the highest level until then
The priority of changes from "3" to "4". This is because immediately after the interrupt processing is completed, the starting order of the interrupted job a is set higher than the other jobs b and c for which the same priority “3” is set. This is so that it will be restarted.

FIG. 5 shows how the job management table 11 is rewritten when the job t having the same priority as the job a registered at the highest level is newly reserved.

When such a job is reserved, it is reserved in the next stage of the jobs a and b having the same priority, and the processing order is set between the jobs having the same priority in the reservation order. I am trying to do it.

FIG. 6 shows how the job management table 11 is rewritten when the priority of a registered job is changed.

When the priority of the job d, which has been set to the priority 2 and registered in the processing order 3, is set to "5", the job d moves to the highest level and the processing order of other jobs is repeated. I'm trying to go down.

FIG. 7 shows how the job management table 11 is rewritten when the priority of the newly reserved job is lower than the priority of the job being executed and does not conflict with the job being executed. .

When the priority of the newly reserved job w is "2", the job w is reserved next to the other job d having the priority "2" based on the priority. , And the job w and the top-level job a being executed do not conflict,
The job w is executed in parallel with the top job a.

According to the present embodiment, in the composite type information processing apparatus, when one function is activated while another function is activated and jobs compete with each other, the priority of the function is irrespective of the activation order of the functions. Is higher than other functions, one function continues to be executed, and if one function has a lower priority than other functions, another function is executed by interrupt processing, so processing that requires urgent processing Can be preferentially executed even when processing by another function is being executed, and an urgently executing processing is not interrupted by another processing started later.

Further, since the job started by one function and the job started by another function are executed in parallel until they compete with each other, the utilization efficiency of the apparatus is greatly improved.

Further, since the starting order of each job is registered in the job management table and the job management table is rewritten appropriately according to the priority of the newly reserved job, it is being executed even during interrupt processing. It is not necessary to store that the job is being executed by the interrupt process, and the job management is facilitated.

Further, since the interrupted job has a higher priority, the interrupted job can be preferentially restarted after the interruption is completed.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved. (1) In a composite type information processing device, if one function is activated while another function is activated and jobs compete with each other, the priority of one function is higher than that of another function, regardless of the order in which the functions are activated. If it is higher, one function continues to be executed, and if one function has a lower priority than other functions, the other function is executed by interrupt processing. Even if the process is being executed, the process can be preferentially executed, and the urgent process being executed is not interrupted by another process started later. (2) Since the job started by one function and the job started by another function are executed in parallel until they compete with each other, the utilization efficiency of the device is improved. (3) The start order of each job is registered in the job management table, and the job management table is rewritten appropriately according to the priority of the newly reserved job. It is not necessary to store that the job is being executed by the interrupt processing, and the job management becomes easy. (4) Since the interrupted job has a higher priority, the interrupted job can be preferentially restarted after the interrupt is completed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining the basic concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a composite information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the job management table is rewritten.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how the job management table is rewritten.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the job management table is rewritten.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing how the job management table is rewritten.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Printer function part, 2 ... Facsimile function part, 3 ... Copy function part, 4 ... Image memory, 5 ... Codec part, 6 ...
Image reading unit, 7 ... Operating unit, 8 ... Printing unit, 9 ... I / O interface, 10 ... Modem, 11 ... Reserved job management table, 12 ... Priority management unit, 13 ... NCU, 100 ...
Job control section

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Eiji Nakahashi, Eiji Nakahashi, 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Plant

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A composite type having a plurality of functions for sequentially starting a plurality of jobs in a predetermined order to perform unique information processing, and performing a time-division processing of each job to execute a plurality of functions in parallel. In the interrupt control method of the information processing device, if a priority is set for each function and jobs that are processed by the functions being executed in parallel compete with each other, the function with the higher priority will process the job with priority. An interrupt control method for a composite type information processing device characterized in that