JPH0854993A - Reception data controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accept the data received by plural reception interfaces at the same time and to end the data transfer processing from a host computer at high speed without expanding the storage capacity of a storage medium, and to enhance the efficiency of printing processing. CONSTITUTION:The controller is provided with reception interfaces 111-114 corresponding to plural host computers 101 to 104, data reception buffers 115 to 118 which temporarily store the picture data accepted by the reception interfaces 111 to 114, and reception control part 119 which executes the control so that the data reception processing can be continued by using the other data reception buffer when the reception data from the host computers 101 to 104 exceed one data reception buffer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reception data control device provided for receiving image data sent from a plurality of host computers by a plurality of reception I / Fs, internally processing and outputting an image. Is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, CAD (Computer Ai)
With the development of engineer workstations (EWS) and personal computers (PCs) in ded design, an increasing number of systems have connected a plurality of host computers such as EWS and PC to one image output device. In such a system, a reception data control device for executing input / output control of the image data is provided between the plurality of host computers and the image output device. As a method of controlling this image data, for example, when receiving image data from a plurality of host computers simultaneously by a plurality of receiving I / Fs, it is assigned to each receiving I / F in order to speed up the opening of the host computer. It is possible to add a reception buffer. In this case, the larger the capacity of the reception buffer, the more image data can be buffered, and it becomes possible to buffer a plurality of files having different image data, and the host computer sequentially outputs the image data to be output. It is released from the image output job as soon as it is sent to the receiving buffer.

Further, as a reference technical document related to the present invention, for example, a printer which automatically changes the capacity of an image buffer according to the usage state of a work memory is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-324218.

[0004]

However, in the conventional received data control device as shown above,
A storage device such as a RAM or an optical disk is used as the reception buffer, and the larger the storage capacity, the more expensive it becomes. Therefore, buffering with a small capacity is required, but when the capacity is small, the receiving buffer may overflow when buffering a plurality of files, for example. When the receive buffer overflows, the host computer side
Since the transmission of the image data is not completed, it is not released from the image output job, and there is a problem that it is not possible to move to the next job.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and makes it possible to simultaneously receive data received by a plurality of reception I / Fs, and to send data from a host computer without expanding the storage capacity of the storage medium. The objective is to complete the data transfer process quickly, accelerate the release of the host computer, and improve the efficiency of the printing process.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in a received data control device according to claim 1,
In a reception data control device for printing out image data from a plurality of host computers by an output means, a plurality of reception interfaces provided corresponding to the plurality of host computers and image data received by the reception interfaces are temporarily stored. When a plurality of data receiving buffers to be stored in and the data received from the host computer exceeds the capacity of one data receiving buffer,
And a reception data control means for executing control so as to continue the data reception process using another data reception buffer.

Further, in the received data control means according to the second aspect, the received data control means searches the data reception buffer having the largest free space among the respective data reception buffers, and the result is searched by the host computer. To inform.

Further, in the received data control means according to claim 3, the received data control means releases the storage retention of the received data when the continuation of the data reception processing becomes impossible. is there.

Further, in the received data control means according to the fourth aspect, the received data control means delays the timing of releasing the storage retention of the received data until the next output request from the host computer.

Further, in the received data control means according to the fifth aspect, the received data control means delays the timing of releasing the storage retention of the received data, and outputs a new output request from another host computer. When there is, the storage retention of the received data is immediately released.

[0011]

A received data control device according to the present invention (claim 1)
The received data control means executes control so that when the received data from the host computer exceeds the capacity of one data receiving buffer, another data receiving buffer is used to continue the data receiving process. ， To expedite the release of the host computer.

Further, in the reception data control device according to the present invention (claim 2), the reception data control means searches the data reception buffer having the largest free space among the respective data reception buffers, and the result is searched for in the host computer. Then, it becomes unnecessary to search for a new free space in the data reception buffer, and the effective data transfer process is executed when the data becomes receivable without wasteful data transfer process.

Further, in the reception data control device according to the present invention (claim 3), when the reception data control means cannot continue the data reception process, the storage retention of the reception data is canceled (cancel). Then, temporarily release the host computer.

Further, in the received data control device according to the present invention (claim 4), the received data control means delays the storage retention release timing of the received data until the next output request from the host computer to receive the data. Processing is continued, and data transfer to the output means is possible while there is no next output request.

Further, in the reception data control device according to the present invention (claim 5), while the reception data control means delays the timing of releasing the storage retention of the reception data, a new output request is issued from another host computer. If there is, the storage retention of the received data is released immediately, and the data reception buffer of the entire system is effectively used without delaying the release of the host computer that requested the output.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a reception data control device according to the present invention. The system includes a plurality of host computer groups 100, a data control device 110 that receives an image output request and image data,
It is largely configured with an output device 120 that executes image output. Host computer group 10 in this embodiment
0 is composed of four host computers 101 to 104. In addition, this host computer 101-
Reference numeral 104 is a reception I / F prepared in the data control device 110.
111-114 and standard communication cables (eg RS
232C, which complies with Centronics specifications). Data reception buffers 115 to 118 are connected to the reception I / Fs 111 to 114, respectively, and further, these data reception buffers 115 to 11 are connected.
8 is connected to the reception data control unit 119. That is, the data control device 110 uses the reception I / Fs 111 to 11
4, data reception buffers 115 to 118, and a reception data control unit 119. In addition, the reception data control unit 119 uses the data reception buffers 115 to 11
8 Receivable capacity of each data reception buffer 11
A control program for executing write / read address / data control of 5-118 is stored.

The output device 120 also includes a reception I / F 121 for receiving the image data from the data reception buffers 115 to 118, an internal processing buffer 122 for internally processing the image data received by the reception I / F 121, and an image. The image output device 123 executes each process for printing data on recording paper.

In the above structure, for example, the reception data control unit 119 instructs the data reception buffer 115 to store the data from the host computer 101 via the reception I / F 111. Note that this operation is the same for the other reception I / Fs 112 to 114. Further, by setting the communication system with the host computers 101 to 104, the reception data control unit 11
It is also possible to execute command output from 9 to the host computers 101 to 104 side.

Further, each data receiving buffer 115 to 11
In the 8, some output data from the host computers 101 to 104 can be stored in units of files. The file size also changes depending on the size of the image data. If image data is stored in any of the data reception buffers 115 to 118 (a plurality of data reception buffers are possible), the reception data control unit 119 determines which of the data reception buffers 115 to 118 based on the first-come-first-served basis of the reception data. It is instructed whether to transmit to the internal processing buffer 122 in the output device 120. The image data received by the internal processing buffer 122 is transmitted to the image output device 123 and processed so that it can be printed on recording paper. In addition, conversion of data,
The means for printing and recording are VRC technology and LE.
A generally known technique such as D control, laser writing, or electrophotographic process is used.

FIG. 2 shows each data reception buffer 115-1.
18 is an explanatory diagram showing a concept of a transfer file format of data stored in 18. FIG. Each host computer 101-10
As shown in FIG. 2, there is a header block 201 and a data block 202 for one output request from the A.4.
This header block 201 is for each host computer 10
This is a part for storing output size, data amount, host state, number of sheets, pen type, etc., which are output requirements from 1 to 104. The data block 202 is a part for storing image data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the reception data control unit 119. In the figure, reference numeral 301 is a CPU that executes a program of a reception data control unit. The CPU 301 includes a read-only memory ROM 302, which is a peripheral device necessary for executing a program.
And a RAM 303 of read / write dual memory,
An input / output port (I
/ O) 304 and memory controller (DMA) 3
05 are connected by an address / data and control signal bus 306.

Next, the operation according to the present invention of the reception data device configured as described above will be described separately for each embodiment. [Embodiment 1] Here, for example, each data reception buffer 1
Each capacity of 15 to 118 is 100. Normally, if the capacity of the file requested to be output from the host computers 101 to 104 is 100 or less, at least one file can be received. However, the file transfer from the host computers 101 to 104 may be continuously performed, and depending on the image data, there is a rare request to output a large capacity file (100 or more). In such a case, as a matter of course, the capacity of one data reception buffer is exceeded.

Table 1 shows an example of a concrete reception pattern.

[0024]

[Table 1]

In Table 1 above, the host computer 1
First, output requests for three files from 01. The total of the three file capacities is 50. In the following, it is assumed that the host computer 102 requests the file capacity 80 and the host computer 103 requests the file capacity 70. Furthermore, it is assumed that the host computer 102 makes an output request for the file capacity 30. At this point, if the data in the data receiving buffer 115 is being transferred to and output from the internal processing buffer 122 based on the first-come-first-served basis of the received data, the contents of the internal processing buffer 122 cannot be rewritten.
17 must hold the data. Therefore, since the output request of the host computer 102 exceeds the empty capacity of the data receiving buffer 116, the data receiving buffer 116 cannot execute the receiving process.

Therefore, the reception data control unit 119 checks the receivable capacity of each of the data reception buffers 115 to 118 and searches for the data reception buffer with the largest free capacity. In this case, the data reception buffer 1 with no received data
18 is selected. The host computer 102
Output request is stored in the data reception buffer 118,
The output request from the host computer 102 is processed and released from the data transfer processing without waiting for the data reception buffer 116 to become empty. If the free capacity of the other data reception buffers is also insufficient, the processing procedure is restarted from the beginning and the free capacity of the data reception buffer for which an output request is made is checked.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the above processing operation according to the first embodiment. In the figure, this process is started by an output request. First, it is determined whether the output request file capacity is larger than the empty capacity of the data reception buffer (S401). If it is judged here that the output request file capacity is smaller than the empty capacity of the data reception buffer,
The output request file is stored in the data reception buffer (S402), and the process returns. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S401 that the output request file capacity is larger than the empty capacity of the data reception buffer,
The data receiving buffer having the maximum free capacity is searched (S40
3). Then, the retrieved data receiving buffer having the maximum free capacity is determined as a new data receiving buffer (S40).
4).

Thereafter, it is judged whether the output request file capacity is larger than the empty capacity of the new data reception buffer (S).
405). If it is determined that the output request file capacity is smaller than the empty capacity of the new data reception buffer, the output request file is stored in the new data reception buffer (S
406), this process is returned. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S405 that the output request file capacity is larger than the empty capacity of the new data reception buffer, the process returns to step S401 and the same processing is repeated.

In the first embodiment, even when the preset capacity of the data receiving buffer is exceeded, the data transfer from the host computer is performed by using the data receiving buffer set for another host computer. Without interrupting or reprocessing
Since the data transfer process can be continued, waiting for the host computer to be released can be reduced, which improves usability.

[Second Embodiment] In the operation of the first embodiment, the reception data control unit 119 causes the data reception buffer 1 to operate.
The result of searching the data reception buffer having the largest free space out of 15 to 118 is obtained by each host computer 101 to 1
04 is notified via a control signal or preset command communication via each reception I / F 111 to 114. This information allows the host computers 101 to 104 to know which data reception buffer has what free capacity and is ready for reception.

Table 2 shows an example of a concrete reception pattern.

[0032]

[Table 2]

In Table 2 above, the data of the file requested to be output is received in each of the data receiving buffers 115 to 118, and each of the data receiving buffers 115 to 118 is received.
In this case, 40 of the data reception buffer 116 has the largest free capacity. Therefore, this information is notified to each host computer 101. The free capacity state of each of the data reception buffers 115 to 118 is changed at the time when the writing to the data reception buffers 115 to 118 or the reading to the internal processing buffer 122 is completed, and therefore the reception data control unit 119 is executed each time. Informs the host computers 101 to 104 of the information as described above.

If the user requests the output of a file of size 40 or more on an arbitrary host computer side,
The host computer side does not execute the actual data transfer process because the data reception buffer side data overflow is predicted. Host computers 101-104
When receiving the information indicating that the free space is changed from the reception data control unit 119, the data transfer process is started when the file size and the free space are compared again and it is determined that the free space is larger. If the file size is larger than the free space, data transfer is not executed.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, the amount of data that can be received when the host computer makes an output request is known. Therefore, after the data is transferred to the data receiving buffer, the other receiving buffers become empty. It is not necessary to search the capacity, and effective data transfer processing can be executed when reception becomes possible without executing unnecessary data transfer processing.

[Third Embodiment] Here, it is assumed that the capacity of each of the data reception buffers 115 to 118 is 100 and the output request from a certain host computer exceeds 100 as in the first embodiment. Table 3 (Table 3-1 to Table 3-3) shows an example of a concrete reception pattern.

[0037]

[Table 3]

In Table 3 above, the buffer capacities of the data receiving buffers 117 and 118 are presently full, and the empty capacity is of course 0. Data reception buffer 11
5 has 60 received data, and the receivable capacity is 40. Then, the data in the data reception buffer 118 is being transferred to the output device 120. The data reception buffer 116 is empty. Here, a new output request is issued from the host computer 101, and its capacity is set to 200.

Of course, in the above, the host computer 101 has 40% free space for the data reception buffer 115.
Stores minute data. And the data reception buffer 1
When 15 is full, the reception data control device 119 checks the free capacity of other ports and instructs the free data reception buffer 116 to continue data reception. Then, the data reception buffer 116 also becomes full. If the data transfer of the data reception buffer 118 is not completed at this point, further data reception is impossible. Waiting until the data transfer of the data reception buffer 118 to the output device 120 is completed, if the host computer 102 makes an output request to the data reception buffer 116, the allocation is originally made for the host computer 102. The received data reception buffer 116 cannot be used because of the output request from the host computer 101. This becomes a problem due to the efficiency of use of the data reception buffer.

Therefore, the reception data control unit 119 informs the host computer 101 that the data reception cannot be continued.
At the same time, the data received from the host computer 101 (40 for the data reception buffer 115 and 100 for the data reception buffer 116) is treated as already transferred, and the state of the data reception buffer is immediately before. State (data reception buffer 115: empty capacity 40, data reception buffer 116: empty capacity 100)
And

The above processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This process is started when an output request is generated, and first, it is determined whether or not there is a free capacity in the allocated data reception buffer (S501). If it is determined that there is a free capacity in the allocated data reception buffer, the reception is started (S502) and the reception process is executed (S5).
03). Then, it is determined whether the free capacity is 0 (S
504) If it is determined that the free capacity is 0, it is further determined whether or not there is free capacity in another data reception buffer (S505). Further, when it is determined in step S501 that there is no free space in the allocated data reception buffer, the determination in step S505 is executed.

If it is determined in step S505 that there is free space in another data reception buffer, the data reception buffer is allocated (S506),
Reception processing is executed (S507). After that, the empty capacity is 0
(S508), the empty capacity is 0
If it is determined that the other data reception buffer has an empty capacity, it is further determined (S509).
If it is determined in step S508 that the free capacity is not 0, or if it is determined in step S509 that there is no free capacity in the other data reception buffer, the received data is cleared (S510), and this processing is executed. finish.

In the third embodiment, the receiving process cannot be continued at the time when the receiving process is being executed, and the data receiving buffer used by the output request from another host computer becomes available until the data receiving buffer becomes empty. Storing and holding the data that has been continuously received causes a decrease in the usage efficiency of the data reception buffer when there is a next output request,
Since the release of the host computer from the data transmission process will be delayed, the release of the host computer can be temporarily accelerated by canceling the continuously received data up to now.

[Embodiment 4] Here, it is assumed that the capacity of each of the data reception buffers 115 to 118 is 100 and the output request from a certain host computer exceeds 100, as in the first embodiment. Specific examples thereof are shown in Table 4 (Tables 4-1 to 4-1).
It is shown in Table 4-6).

[0045]

[Table 4]

In Table 4 above, the data receiving buffers 117 and 118 are currently full of buffer capacity.
Both have an empty capacity of 0, and the data reception buffer 118 is transferring data to the output device 120 (Table 4-
1). It is assumed that the data reception buffers 115 and 116 are both empty and the host computer 101 requests the data reception buffer 115 to output the file capacity 250 (Table 4-2).

First, the data receiving buffer 115 receives up to a data amount of 100. Next, the free capacity of other buffers is checked, and continuous reception is executed in the data reception buffer 116. The data reception buffer 116 is also full, but the remaining data amount 50 stands by because there is no buffer with an empty capacity. During this time, if the data transfer of the data reception buffer 118 is completed and the data reception buffer 118 becomes empty, the data reception is continued to the data reception buffer 118. At this time, the data transfer to the output device 120 is performed by the data reception buffer 117 (Table 4-3).

The data reception by the output request from the host computer 101 is all ended in the data reception buffer 118, and when the data transfer of the data reception buffer 117 to the output device 120 is completed, the data of the output request from the host computer 101 is completed. To the output device 120. Transfer the contents of the data reception buffer sequentially,
The output request from the host computer 101 is printed.
However, in this case, it is limited to the case where there is no output request from any host computer after the output request from the host computer 101.

In the fourth embodiment, the receiving process cannot be continued at the time when the receiving process is being executed, and the data receiving buffer used by the output request from another host computer is available until it becomes empty. The storage and retention of data that has been continuously received up to this point decreases the efficiency of use of the data reception buffer and delays the release from the host computer from data transmission processing. Until the data is generated from the computer, whether the data reception buffer is full or empty has no effect on the overall operation. During this time, if the data transfer of the data reception buffer that was previously received to the output device 120 is completed and there is free space, the previous data reception process can be continued.

Therefore, by delaying the storage of the received data until the next output request is issued, the data reception process can be continued, and if there is no next output request, the data transfer to the output device 120 can be continued. It will be possible.

[Fifth Embodiment] In the fourth embodiment, it is assumed that the host computer 101 outputs an output request and then another host computer 102 to 104 makes an output request. In Table 4, Table 4
If there is a new output request from the host computer 102 or 104 assigned to the data reception buffer 116 or the data reception buffer 118 during the period immediately before -4 to 6, the reception data control unit 119 sets the reception data control unit 119. The data is stored in the allocated data reception buffer without waiting for the output request from. Then, the storage retention of the output request data of the host computer 101 that has continued to receive the data is released, and the host computer 101 is notified of that fact. In this case, all continuously received data from the host computer 101 will be cancelled.

Therefore, by the above processing, the priority of the data reception buffer originally assigned to each of the host computers 101 to 104 is clarified, and when it is not used, it can be effectively used by another host computer. By providing, and using, preferentially each allocated data receive buffer,
It is possible to improve the usage efficiency of the data reception buffer of the entire system without delaying the release of the host computer that requested the output.

[0053]

As described above, according to the received data control device (Claim 1) of the present invention, the received data from the host computer is 1 by the received data control means.
When the capacity of one data receiving buffer is exceeded, the control is executed so that the data receiving process is continued by using the other data receiving buffer, so that the host computer can be released faster and the received data can be received. The printing efficiency of can be improved.

Further, according to the received data control device of the present invention (claim 2), the received data control means searches the data reception buffer having the largest free space among the respective data reception buffers, and outputs the result to the host. Since the information is notified to the computer, it is not necessary to search for a new free space in the data reception buffer, and effective data transfer processing can be executed when reception becomes possible without performing unnecessary data transfer processing.

According to the received data control device of the present invention (claim 3), when the received data control means cannot continue the data receiving process, the storage retention of the received data is released ( Since it is canceled, the host computer can be temporarily released sooner.

Further, according to the received data control device of the present invention (claim 4), the received data control means delays the storage retention release timing of the received data until the next output request from the host computer. Therefore, it is possible to continue the data reception process and transfer the data to the output means as long as there is no next output request.

Further, according to the received data control device of the present invention (claim 5), while the received data control means delays the timing for releasing the storage retention of the received data, another host computer newly creates a new one. When the output request is issued, the storage retention of the received data is immediately released, so that it is possible to improve the usage efficiency of the data reception buffer of the entire system without delaying the release of the host computer that requested the output.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a reception data control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a concept of a transfer file format of data stored in each data reception buffer according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a reception data control unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control process according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101-104 host computer 111-114 reception I / F 115-118 data reception buffer 119 reception data control unit 120 output device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. In a reception data control device for printing out image data from a plurality of host computers by an output means, a plurality of reception interfaces provided corresponding to the plurality of host computers and the reception interfaces. When the data received from the host computer exceeds the capacity of one data receiving buffer and a plurality of data receiving buffers for temporarily storing image data, another data receiving buffer is used to continue the data receiving process. And a reception data control means for performing control so as to control the reception data. 2. The received data according to claim 1, wherein the received data control means searches the data receiving buffer having the largest free space among the respective data receiving buffers and informs the result to the host computer. Control device. 3. The reception data control device according to claim 1, wherein the reception data control means releases the storage of the reception data when the data reception process cannot be continued. 4. The reception data control device according to claim 3, wherein the reception data control means delays the timing of releasing the storage retention of the reception data until the next output request is made from the host computer. 5. The reception data control means, when a new output request is made from another host computer while delaying the timing of releasing the storage retention of the reception data,
5. The reception data control device according to claim 4, wherein the storage retention of the reception data is released immediately.