JPH08265525A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a facsimile equipment which ensures its smooth processing and can reduce its power consumption by using one of two memories that are shared by plural control means as an image processing area for input/output of an image scanner and a printer and using the other memory as an image processing area for the transmission/reception purpose respectively. CONSTITUTION: A 1st shared memory 14 is used as an image processing area for an input/output device including an image scanner and a printer which are used in common by plural control parts 10 to 12. A 2nd shared memory 15 is used as an image processing area for the transmission/reception purpose. Therefore, the image data, etc., which are processed at the parts 10 to 12 can be exchanged with each other when the image data written in both memories 14 and 15 at the control part of the transmitter side are read out at the control part of the receiver side. Furthermore, a stand-by control means 22 monitors a state signal 23 and performs the control to reduce the power consumption of a main control part 10, an image processing control part 11, an input/output control part 12 and both memories 14 and 15 respectively in a stand-by mode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus provided with, for example, a plurality of control units and a memory which these control units commonly access.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a facsimile apparatus in which a main control unit, an image processing control unit and other control units are separated, memories and I / O are fixedly connected to a master bus in each control unit. Has been done. Therefore, when passing the data stored in the memory of each control unit between each memory,
A dedicated interface was used to transfer data between the bus masters of each control unit.

Further, in the conventional facsimile apparatus, an image processing area for input / output of an image scanner or printer,
The image processing area for transmission / reception is realized by the same storage means, and even when the apparatus is in the standby state, each control unit always executes the program by the CPU or the clock, and each memory is Access was performed in read / write and refresh cycles from each control unit.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned conventional example has the following drawbacks.

(1) Since data is exchanged between control units by a dedicated interface, I / O for controlling this interface is required for each control unit, and operation setting and handshake of I / O for controlling the interface, etc. There was a problem that the overhead that affects the communication time of the above occurs.

(2) If the image processing area for input / output of the image scanner or printer and the image processing area for transmission / reception are used in the same storage means, the image scanner or printer corresponds to this storage means for one page. This storage means is transmitted / received while inputting / outputting image data of
When accessed in the receiving process, there is a problem that the access of the image data input / output to / from the storage unit is interrupted in synchronization with the operation of the image scanner or printer, and the input / output data of the image scanner or printer is lost. there were.

(3) Even in the standby state in which the operation relating to transmission / reception is not performed, the programs and clocks by the internal CPU of each control unit operate, and each memory is
Access and refresh from each control unit are executed, and extra power is consumed even in a circuit that does not need to operate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which can perform smooth and reliable processing even when various processings using the storage means compete with each other and save power consumption. To do.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a facsimile apparatus comprising a plurality of independent control means, and first and second storage means shared by the plurality of control means. One storage means is used as an image processing area for input / output of an image scanner or printer commonly used by the plurality of control means, and the second storage means is commonly used by the plurality of control means. When the apparatus is used as an image processing area for reception and the apparatus is in a standby state, it has a plurality of control means and power control means for reducing the power consumption of the first and second storage means.

[0010]

With the above construction, the first storage means shared by a plurality of independent control means is used as an image processing area for input / output of an image scanner or printer commonly used by the plurality of control means. It is possible to use the second storage means as an image processing area for transmission / reception commonly used by the plurality of control means, and an image scanner or a printer occupies the first storage means at high speed for processing. Even in the case of performing the above, the transmission / reception image processing is performed in parallel with the second
It is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus which can be operated using the storage means.

Further, the power consumption of the apparatus is provided in the standby state in which the plurality of control means and the control means for reducing the power consumption of the first and second storage means are not operated and the operation related to the transmission / reception is not performed. It is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus that lowers the cost.

[0012]

1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The facsimile apparatus of this embodiment has a main control section 10, an image processing control section 11 and an input / output control section 12 which operate independently. And the main controller 1
0 manages the service operation of the apparatus and control of the line interface, the image processing control unit 11 manages compression / expansion of image data and pixel density conversion, and the input / output control unit 12 controls the image scanner 20 and printer. 21 controls the input and output.

Each of the control units 10, 11 and 12 stores an R which stores a CPU as a control center and a control program.
An OM and an I / O that serves as a bus master are provided, and the CPU executes a control program to perform various processes. The I / O that serves as a bus master controls data processing.

The facsimile apparatus also has a first shared memory 14 and a second shared memory 15. These shared memories 14 and 15 are composed of, for example, semiconductor memories such as RAM, the first shared memory 14 is connected to the first memory control unit 18, and via the first common bus 16, The second shared memory 15 is connected to the second memory control unit 19 and can be independently and arbitrarily accessed via the second common bus 17.

The first and second shared memories 14,
The 15 address spaces are divided into appropriate sizes according to the program to be executed and data processing. For example, it is divided into an image processing area 30 for compression / decompression processing, an image processing area 31 for pixel density conversion processing, and the like.

Therefore, the image data written in the first or second shared memories 14 and 15 by the control unit on the transmission side is read by the control unit on the reception side, so that the image data processed by the respective control units can be stored. Exchange can be performed.

Further, this facsimile apparatus has a standby control means 22 for reducing the power consumption for the respective control units 10, 11, 12 and the first and second shared memories 14, 15 in the standby state. . The standby control means 22 monitors the state signal 23 from the main control unit 10 to determine whether the facsimile device starts an operation related to transmission / reception or shifts to a standby state, and controls each state according to each state. A standby ON / OFF signal 24 is sent to the unit and each of the shared memories 14 and 15 to instruct whether to reduce the power consumption or start the operation.

Next, the communication operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the flow of data in facsimile communication.

First, in the standby state in which the facsimile transmission / reception is not performed, the standby control means 22 controls the respective control units 10, 11, 12 and the first and second shared memories 1.
A standby ON / OFF signal 24 for instructing the reduction of power consumption is sent to 4 and 15.

The control units 10, 11, 12 and the first and second shared memories 14, 15 receive this signal 24,
Control is performed to reduce power consumption by executing a program of the CPU or stopping the clock.

When transmitting a facsimile, when the standby control means 22 receives from the main control section 10 a signal 23a for detecting an operation related to reading of a document to be transmitted or a call, each of the control sections 10, 11, 12 will be described. A standby ON / OFF signal 24 for instructing the start of the operation is sent to the first and second shared memories 14 and 15. As a result, the apparatus is set in a state in which the facsimile operation is possible.

In this state, the image data of the document read by the image scanner 20 is stored as the document data GD1 in the first shared memory 14 by the input / output control unit 12, and then compressed in the image processing control unit 11. The / decompression circuit 25 converts the data into compressed facsimile data CD1 and transfers it to the second shared memory 15.

Next, the main control unit 10 reads the compressed data CD1, generates facsimile data to be communicated, and outputs it to the line via the modem 26 and the communication control unit 27. After the communication is completed and a predetermined time has passed, the standby control means 22 causes the control units 1 to
0, 11, 12 and the first and second shared memories 14, 1
5, standby ON / instruction to reduce power consumption
The OFF signal 24 is transmitted, and the power consumption is controlled to be low.

Further, when performing facsimile reception, the standby control means 24 receives an incoming signal from the line or a signal 23b for detecting an operation related to reception from the main control section, and when the apparatus is in a standby state, each control section. 1
0, 11, 12 and the first and second shared memories 14, 1
5. Standby ON / instruction to start operation to 5
The OFF signal 24 is sent out, and the apparatus is set up in a state in which the facsimile operation is possible.

In this state, the facsimile data received from the line is transferred to the second shared memory 15 as the facsimile compressed data CD2 by the main control unit 10, and then the compression / decompression circuit 25 in the image processing control unit 11 transfers the facsimile data. The decompressed data GD2 is converted and transferred to the first shared memory 14.

Next, the input / output control unit 12 reads the expanded data GD2 and outputs it to the printer 21. After all the printouts due to the reception have been completed and a predetermined time has elapsed, the standby control means 22 causes the control units 10, 11, 12 and the first and second shared memories 1 to operate.
The standby ON / OFF signal 24 for instructing the reduction of the power consumption is sent to 4 and 15, and the power consumption is controlled to be low.

In the above description and FIG. 2,
An example has been described in which the original data read from the scanner 20 and stored is compressed and transmitted as encoded data, and the encoded data received from the line is output to the printer. However, the original in the first shared memory 14 is described. The main control unit 10 adds character data to the data GD1 and the decompressed data GD2, and the pixel density conversion circuit 28 in the image processing control unit 11 enlarges / reduces the image of the original data GD1. The control units 10, 11, and 12 perform common conversion processing, such as transfer to the image processing area CD3 in the second shared memory 15, and the like.
It is possible to access the shared memory 14 or the second shared memory 15.

FIG. 3 shows a first and second shared memory 1
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state transition when switching the shared memories 14 and 15 to the self-refresh operation mode (CAS before RAS self refresh) when the devices 4 and 15 are configured by DRAM and the device is in a standby state.

In the figure, while the device is performing operations related to transmission / reception, the first and second shared memories 14 and 15 are read / accessed by access from each control unit.
A write and refresh cycle is in progress.

When the device shifts to the standby state, the memory control units 18 and 19 connected to the respective shared memories receive the standby ON / OFF signal 24 for reducing the power consumption from the standby control means 22, and 1 and 2
After the read / write and refresh cycles of the shared memories 14 and 15 are completed, the memory cycle is switched to the self-refresh operation.

When the apparatus shifts from the standby state to the facsimile operating state, the first and second memory control units 18 and 19 send the standby ON / OFF signal 24 for performing the normal operation from the standby control means 22. In response, the self-refresh operation of the first and second shared memories is completed, and the memory cycle is switched so that normal memory access is possible.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By providing a memory for input / output of an image scanner or a printer that can be commonly accessed by a plurality of control units and a memory for transmission / reception, and performing data transfer between the respective control units by using the two memories, Downsized the hardware configuration,
Moreover, the interface between the control units can be performed at high speed.

Further, even when the image scanner or printer occupies one page of image data at high speed and occupies the memory for input / output, the image processing for transmission / reception is performed by one memory for transmission / reception. It is possible to operate in parallel using.

Further, it has a standby control means for monitoring the state of the apparatus and sending a standby ON / OFF signal for instructing a plurality of control units and two memories to reduce the power consumption or to start the operation. As a result, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the device in the standby state when the operation related to the transmission / reception is not performed.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device.

Further, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the case of being achieved by hardware, but can be applied to the case of being achieved by software by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A first memory shared by a plurality of independent control units is used as an image processing area for input / output of an image scanner or a printer commonly used by the plurality of control units, and a second memory is used as the image processing area. It can be used as an image processing area for transmission / reception commonly used by the control units, and even if the image scanner or printer occupies the first memory at a high speed to perform processing, transmission / reception can be performed in parallel. Image processing for reception can be performed using the second memory, and there is an effect that efficient control can be performed.

Further, when the device is in the standby state, the standby control means sends a control signal for reducing the power consumption to the plurality of control units and the two memories, so that the power consumption of the device can be reduced.

Further, when the two memories are composed of DRAMs having a self-refresh operation mode, when the device is in a standby state, the access operation is switched to the self-refresh operation by a control signal from the standby control means. It has the effect of reducing the power consumption.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a data flow during facsimile communication in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing state transitions when the shared memory is switched to the self-refresh operation mode in the standby state of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Main control unit, 11 ... Image processing control unit, 12 ... Input / output control unit, 14, 15 ... Shared memory, 16, 17 ... Shared bus, 18, 19 ... Memory control unit, 20 ... Image scanner, 21 ... Printer , 22 ... Standby control means.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of control means, each independent of each other,
A facsimile apparatus comprising first and second storage means shared by these control means, the input / output including an image scanner and a printer in which the first storage means is commonly used by the plurality of control means. An image processing area for a device, the second storage means as an image processing area for transmission and / or reception commonly used by the plurality of control means, and the device is in a standby state. At times, the facsimile apparatus is provided with a plurality of control means and a power control means for reducing power consumption for the first and second storage means. 2. The main control unit according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of control units include a main control unit that controls a service operation of the device and a line interface, and an image processing control unit that controls compression / decompression of image data and pixel density exchange. A facsimile apparatus comprising: an input / output control unit for controlling the input / output apparatus. 3. The first and second storage means according to claim 1, wherein the first and second storage means are composed of a DRAM, have a self-refresh operation mode, and access the storage means when the device is in a standby state. A facsimile machine characterized by reducing power consumption by switching from to self-refresh operation. 4. The power consumption is reduced according to claim 3, wherein when the device is in a standby state, the program execution operation and / or the clock operation by the CPUs of the plurality of control means are stopped. Facsimile machine.