JPH08329226A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To exclude an unnecessary save processing time and a recall processing time as much as possible to increase a processing speed by saving the result on the way of processing only at the time of another interrupt job requires the use of a numerical operation processor or at the time of the numerical operation processor is used on the way of processing of the interrupt job with respect to the image forming device provided with the numerical operation processor besides a main processor. CONSTITUTION: A main processor 1 which alternately processes plural jobs, a numerical operation processor 2 which takes charge of a part of operation processing, a main processing storage means 3 where the result on the way of processing of the main processor 1 is stored, an operation processing storage means 4 where the result on the way of processing of the numerical operation processor 2 is stored, a use discrimination means 5 which discriminates whether the numerical operation processor 2 should be used or not, and a halfway processing selection storage means 6 which selects and stores the result on the way of processing of the main processor 1 or/and that of the numerical operation processor are provided, and selection in the halfway processing selection storage means 6 is determined by the use discrimination means 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a printer and a fax machine, and more particularly to a processing means in an image forming apparatus having a numerical processor for arithmetic processing in addition to a main processor. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, many image forming apparatuses having a main processor for performing multitask processing have a complicated processing function such as using a dither method for shading processing, shading, italics, and inversion processing. Came to be. A lot of processing is required to fulfill the various processing functions, and the processing time becomes long and high-speed processing is difficult only with the main processor. Therefore, conventionally, in order to reduce the load on the main processor and shorten the processing time, many have been provided with a numerical arithmetic processor dedicated to arithmetic processing. In this way, in so-called multi-task processing, which comprises a plurality of processors and alternately processes a plurality of jobs,
When another job is interrupted and executed during the processing of one job, the results of the processing of the main processor and math processor are temporarily saved in the external memory, and the processing of the next other job is given priority. It is necessary to carry out the work, and after the work is processed, the saved intermediate processing result is recalled to the main processor or the numerical operation processor to continue the work before the interruption. At that time, conventionally, in the case of interrupting other work, the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor is temporarily saved in the external memory regardless of whether or not it is necessary to use the numerical operation processor.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional image forming apparatus, even in the case where the numerical arithmetic processor is not used, the intermediate processing result of the numerical arithmetic processor is saved in the external memory. Therefore, in that case, the waiting time and the re-calling time are wasted, which is a cause of reducing the processing speed.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems in the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, and it is possible to determine in advance whether or not the interrupt work to be executed next uses a numerical processor. By providing a means for identifying, as a result of the identification, when it is determined that the numerical operation processor is not used, the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor is not saved, or the intermediate value calculation processor is interrupted at the start of the interrupt processing. Interrupt processing is started without saving the processing result, and the saving time of the numerical calculation processor is saved by saving the intermediate processing result of the numerical calculation processor only when the use of the numerical calculation processor occurs during the processing of work. And to provide an image forming apparatus with a high processing speed by minimizing the wasteful time required for recall. It is the target.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is based on a main processor for time-divisionally processing a plurality of jobs in sequence and an instruction request from the main processor. And a numerical processing processor that is in charge of a part of the calculation processing, a main processing storage unit that stores a processing intermediate result of the main processor when performing other work in the middle of the processing, and a processing intermediate result of the numerical calculation processor. Arithmetic processing storage means for storing, and use identifying means for identifying in advance whether or not it is necessary to use the numerical operation processor in other work to be executed next,
One or both of the main processor and the numerical operation processor is provided with an intermediate processing selection storage means for selecting and storing intermediate processing results, and the intermediate processing is performed when other work is executed during processing. It is characterized in that the selection of the selection storage means is judged by the use identifying means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, when the use identifying means determines that a job to be executed next does not use the numerical operation processor, the intermediate processing selection is made. The storage means is configured so as not to store the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a main processor for alternately processing a plurality of jobs, a numerical arithmetic processor responsible for a part of arithmetic processing based on an instruction request from the main processor, and a processing When performing other work on the way, main processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the main processor, arithmetic processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor, the main processor and the numerical operation One or both of the processors has an intermediate processing selection storage means for selecting and storing intermediate processing results, and when performing other work during processing, the intermediate processing selection storage means is the main processor. Select and store the intermediate processing result of the above, and only when the request to use the numerical operation processor occurs during the processing, It is characterized in that the intermediate processing result of the processor is selected and stored.

[0008]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including:
A main processor that alternately processes a plurality of jobs, a numerical arithmetic processor that is responsible for a part of the arithmetic processing, and a main process that stores the intermediate processing result of the main processor when another job is performed during the processing of a certain job. Storage means, arithmetic processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor, use identifying means for identifying whether or not to use the numerical operation processor before processing the work, and selecting the intermediate processing result. Since the intermediate processing selection storage means for storing is provided, as a result of the identification of the use identifying means, in the case of work using the numerical arithmetic processor, the intermediate processing results of both the main processor and the numerical arithmetic processor are stored, and When the arithmetic processor is not used, it is possible to store only the intermediate processing result of the main processor, so it is possible to save unnecessary intermediate processing. Reading is eliminated, the results of each part is efficiently operated, it can speed the process provides a fast image forming apparatus.

In the image forming apparatus of claim 2, in the above item 1, when the use identifying means identifies the work which does not use the numerical operation processor by the intermediate processing selection storing means,
Since the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor is not stored, unnecessary save processing and recall processing of the numerical operation processor are eliminated, so that wasteful time consumption can be eliminated.

According to another aspect of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, a main processor for alternately processing a plurality of jobs, a numerical processor for taking part of the arithmetic processing, and a main processor for performing a different job during the processing. Since the main processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result, the arithmetic processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor, and the intermediate processing selection storage means for selecting and storing the intermediate processing result are provided. When doing work, the intermediate processing selection storage means first selects and stores only the intermediate processing result of the main processor, and only when the use request of the numerical arithmetic processor occurs during the processing, the numerical arithmetic processor Since it is controlled so as to store the intermediate processing result, it is necessary to perform the identification processing by the use identification means every time another work is executed as in claim 2. Not, it is possible to actually numerically selected and stores a processing intermediate results of numerical computation processor when necessary to use the processors occurs. Therefore, although there is no need to use the numerical operation processor, it is possible to eliminate useless processing such as saving or re-calling in the middle of processing of the numerical operation processor.

[0011]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. Since the structure and function of an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a fax machine as an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied are already known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted, and the description will focus on the part related to the present invention. To do. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram showing a Western dance of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a main processor that controls the main operation of the entire image forming apparatus, and operates according to the procedure of a program stored in a ROM (not shown) or the like. The main processor 1 has a register capable of storing various information, and stores an intermediate result of arithmetic processing, an address when returning from the subroutine processing, and the like.
Image forming apparatuses in recent years are used for shading processing using a dither method,
To perform image processing with shadowing, italics, and inversion,
Since it is necessary to perform complicated arithmetic processing, the processing time becomes long with the main processor 1 alone, and a satisfactory function cannot be exhibited. Therefore, an element dedicated to numerical arithmetic is prepared to share the complicated arithmetic processing. .

Reference numeral 2 is a numerical processor for this purpose, which is usually connected to the main processor 1 to operate.
Floating point calculation is also fast. The numerical operation processor 2 operates according to an instruction from the main processor 1, and the content to be calculated is also generally given from the main processor 1. Further, in the situation where the number of processors is limited from the viewpoint of cost reduction, in order to increase the processing speed of the image forming apparatus, it is necessary to perform the operation of each unit and the business processing in parallel.

When it is necessary for the main processor 1 or the numerical processor 2 to give priority to another work while processing a certain work, after saving the processing results stored in the respective registers, Handle other jobs. Needless to say, it is necessary to return the saved processing result to each register when returning to the work before interruption after processing of other work.

Generally, the data capacity to be saved in the register of the numerical operation processor 2 is larger than the data capacity to be saved in the register stored in the main processor 1 during processing. It takes a lot of time and time to recall. The main processing storage means 3 stores the intermediate processing result of the main processor 1, and the arithmetic processing storage means 4 stores the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor 2.

Further, between the main processor 1 and the main processing storage means 3, and between the numerical operation processor 2 and the arithmetic processing storage means 4, an intermediate processing selection storage means 6 is provided, as shown in FIG. One of the main processor 1 and the numerical processor 2, or both of the intermediate processing results can be selected and stored. Of course, it is also possible to recall the processing result saved in each register.

Further, before the main processor 1 processes the work according to the program, a use identifying means 5 for identifying whether or not the work uses the numerical processor is arranged. In this example, the use identifying means 5 is set according to an instruction from the main processor 1, but any means that can identify and set before the main processor 1 processes a job may be used. 6 selects one of the main processor 1 and the numerical operation processor 2 or the intermediate processing result according to the result of the use identifying means 5 and stores it in the main processing storage means 3 or the arithmetic processing storage means 4. You can

According to this configuration, when the use identifying means 5 identifies that the work to be executed next is not using the numerical operation processor 2, the intermediate processing selection storage means 6
Since the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor 2 is not stored, the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor 2 is stored in the arithmetic processing storage means 4 for the work which does not need to use the numerical operation processor 2. It is possible to prevent a trouble that wastes time such as re-calling.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a modified embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the use identifying means 5 is removed from the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 (corresponding to the invention of claim 3). ). Mainly, the parts different from the example shown in FIG. 1 will be described. When the main processor 1 and the numerical operation processor 2 are processing a work according to a program, the intermediate processing selection storage means 6 requests execution of another work. Is received from the main processor 1, only the intermediate processing result of the main processor 1 is selected and stored, and the intermediate processing result of the numerical arithmetic processor 2 remains stored in the register inside the numerical arithmetic processor. To do. After that, the main processor 1 processes other work according to the program,
Only when it became necessary to use the math processor 2,
The intermediate processing selection storage means 6 is instructed to that effect, the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor 2 is selected and stored, and the numerical operation processor 2 is caused to perform other work. Therefore, unless another job needs to use the numerical processor 2, the intermediate processing result is not stored in the arithmetic processing storage means. As described above, if it is not necessary to use the math processor during the execution of other work, the intermediate processing result of the math processor is not selected and stored, and the wasteful work time of storing or resetting the result Since it can be omitted, high-speed image processing becomes possible.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the main operation corresponding to claim 1 and claim 2 of the present invention described with reference to FIG. In the figure, waiting for an interruption of another (another) job during the processing of a certain job (step S1).
YES), in order to store the intermediate processing result of the main processor 1, the storage area of the main processing storage means 3 which is a storage location is cleared (S2), and the intermediate processing result is stored (S3). Next, the flag set in the use identifying means 5 does not use the numerical operation processor for work (flag =
When it is identified as "0" (NO in S4), the processing is ended without storing the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor 2. Further, when the flag of the use identifying means 5 identifies that the job uses the numerical operation processor 2 (flag = 1) (S4 YES), the memory location is stored in order to store the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor 2. The storage area of the arithmetic processing storage means 4 is cleared (S5), the intermediate processing result is stored, and the processing ends (S6).

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the main operation for explaining another embodiment of the present invention (the invention corresponding to claim 3), which waits for an interrupt of another job during the processing (S11).
YES), the storage area of the main processing storage means 3 which is a storage location is cleared (S12), and the intermediate processing result of the main processor 1 is stored (S13). Next, the main processor 1 processes the given other work while keeping the intermediate processing result of the numerical processor 2 in its own register (S14). Numerical calculation processor 2 during processing
Is checked (S16), and if there is no request (S16 NO), the processing of another job is continued until the interrupt processing of another job is finished (S15 YES). When a request to use the numerical processor 2 is generated (S16 Y
ES), in order to store the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor 2 for the first time, the storage area of the arithmetic processing storage means 4 which is a storage location is cleared (S17), the intermediate processing result is stored (S18), and another job is performed. To release the math processor 2 and exit.

[0021]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1 and the invention of claim 2, according to the invention of the present invention, the use identifying means determines whether the next job is a job using the numerical processor in advance. If it is necessary to identify and use the numerical operation processor, the intermediate processing selection storage means stores both the intermediate processing result of the main processor and the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor, and also uses the numerical operation processor. If not, it is possible to control the main processor so that it stores only the intermediate processing results, eliminating the unnecessary save time of the numerical operation processor and the wasteful time of re-calling. A forming device can be configured.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when executing another interrupt work, first, the intermediate process selection storage means selects and stores only the intermediate process result of the main processor, and processes the other work. When a request to use the math processor actually occurs on the way, the intermediate processing result of the math processor is selected and stored for the first time, so if you do not need to use the math processor for other work, , Until the end of the other work, there is no need to select and memorize the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor, and there is no need to reset it. An image forming apparatus capable of processing can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a main operation of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the main operation of the image forming apparatus showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main processor, 2 ... Numerical value calculation processor, 3 ... Main process storage means, 4 ... Calculation process storage means, 5 ... Use identification means, 6 ... Mid-process selection storage means .

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A main processor for time-divisionally processing a plurality of jobs, a numerical arithmetic processor responsible for a part of arithmetic processing based on an instruction request from the main processor, and another job executed during the processing. In this case, main processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the main processor, arithmetic processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor, and the numerical operation processor for other work to be executed next. It has use identifying means for identifying whether or not it is necessary in advance, and intermediate processing selection storing means for selecting and storing intermediate processing results of either or both of the main processor and the numerical operation processor. , When performing other work in the process,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the use identifying means judges the selection of the intermediate processing selection storing means. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the use identifying means determines that the numerical operation processor is not used in a job to be executed next, the intermediate processing selection storage means causes the numerical processing processor to store the numerical value. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is configured not to store an intermediate processing result of an arithmetic processor. 3. A main processor for time-divisionally processing a plurality of jobs, a numerical arithmetic processor responsible for a part of arithmetic processing based on an instruction request from the main processor, and another job during processing. In the main processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the main processor, the arithmetic processing storage means for storing the intermediate processing result of the numerical operation processor, one of the main processor and the numerical operation processor, or both Has an intermediate process selection storage means for selecting and storing the intermediate process result of (1), and when performing other work during the process, the intermediate process selection storage means selects and stores the intermediate process result of the main processor. When a request to use the numerical calculation processor is made during processing, the intermediate processing result of the numerical calculation processor is selected and stored. An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is configured to.