JPH09163040A - Job controller for picture input/output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the maximum use of plural picture input/output means with a simple processing structure. SOLUTION: If a picture input/output means used by another job is included in picture input/output means required for a new job at the time of starting this Job (S2), execution priorities of jobs are compared (S3 and S4). When the priority of another job which already uses the picture input/output means is lower, this job is temporarily interrupted (S5), and the new job is executed (S6). When it is higher, the new job is not started and is set to the waiting state (S7 and S8).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a job control device for an image input / output device, and more specifically, it has a plurality of image input / output means, and a plurality of jobs for controlling these image input / output means are executed in parallel. Job management technology for image input / output devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a composite type image input / output device in which a printer, a copy and a facsimile are integrated has been known. The multifunction peripheral includes a printer, a scanner, a modem, and a LAN-I / F as image input / output means. When performing facsimile transmission, the information of the original read by the scanner is transmitted via the modem, and When used as a copy, the information of the original read by the scanner can be printed by the printer, and the information input via the LAN-I / F (local area network-interface) can be printed by the printer. is there.

[0003]

By the way, the conditions of jobs that can be operated in parallel in the above-mentioned multifunction machine are as follows:
It was determined as an attribute of the job itself, such as "facsimile transmission cannot be performed during copying". However, actually, there are a plurality of states in the execution state of one job, and there is a timing at which parallel operation can be performed and a timing at which parallel operation cannot be performed. As described above, the condition of parallel operation is expressed as a combination of jobs. With the configuration, if the parallel operation is set as a combination of jobs such as the above-mentioned copying and facsimile transmission, the parallel operation is not performed even at the timing when the parallel operation can be performed. There is a problem that the image input / output means such as a printer cannot be utilized to the maximum extent.

For example, in copying and facsimile transmission,
Although a scanner is commonly used, in the case of a copy in which all the image information of the original read by the scanner is once read into the memory, only the printer is required when the reading operation for copying is completed. At this point, since the scanner and the modem can be used for facsimile transmission, the facsimile transmission can be performed even while the copy job is being executed.

Here, if the timing for performing the parallel operation as described above is also held as an attribute of the job,
Although it becomes possible to effectively use the image input / output means, there arises a problem that the processing becomes very complicated. In particular, when three or more jobs operate in parallel, or when the same image input / output unit is mounted in plural, the amount of information regarding the condition becomes enormous, which makes it difficult to realize.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and even if the number of image input / output means or the number of jobs operating in parallel increases, the job control apparatus can perform the optimal scheduling of jobs with a simple processing structure. It is intended to provide the above and to maximize the utilization of the image input / output means.

[0007]

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 includes a plurality of image input / output means, and a plurality of jobs for controlling these image input / output means are executed in parallel. In, for each of the plurality of jobs,
While having the execution priority and the information of the necessary image input / output means, each image input / output means has the presence / absence of use and the identification information of the job being used, and newly starts a job. Sometimes, the job is scheduled based on the above information.

With this configuration, when a new job is started, the image input / output unit required by the job can be known, and whether the image input / output unit is used or not can be further determined. If so, it is possible to know which job is used, and the superiority or inferiority of the execution priority among jobs that require the same image input / output means.

Therefore, even if two jobs use the same image input / output means, if the other does not use it, one can use it, but the other needs to use it at the same time. Can be executed from the job to be prioritized according to the execution priority. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the image input / output unit required by the newly started job is being used by another job, the execution priority of the another job and the execution priority of the newly started job are given. In order to preferentially execute the job with the higher execution priority, the execution of the job with the lower execution priority is put on standby with all image input / output units released. did.

According to such a configuration, for example, when a job whose execution priority is higher than that of the job being executed and which requires the same image input / output means as the job being executed, is to be started. Since the image input / output means required for is being used, and the job being used and the execution priority of the job can be known,
A job having a low priority and being executed is temporarily suspended to release all the image input / output means so that the newly activated job can acquire the image input / output means, and the job is newly activated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the plurality of image input / output units are configured to include at least a printer and a scanner, and the printer and the scanner are commonly used by a plurality of jobs. With such a configuration, for example, the image information read by the scanner is printed by the printer (so-called copy function), the image information obtained by another image input unit is printed by the printer, and the scanner is set by the printer. When the job uses the same printer when the image information read by the scanner is output to the image output unit other than the printer, while being used for outputting the image information to the For example, if the copy function side is in the reading operation by the scanner, another job can use the printer, and if the copy function is using the printer, another job that also uses the scanner uses the scanner. You will be able to perform the operation you were doing.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In the following description, the image input / output device is a multi-function device in which a printer, a copy and a facsimile are integrated, and a scanner and a LAN-I / F are provided as image input means, while a printer and a modem are provided as image output means. The print job, the copy job, the facsimile (FAX) transmission job, and the facsimile (FAX) reception job are provided as jobs for controlling these image input / output units.

Further, the copy job, the facsimile (FAX) transmission job, and the facsimile (FAX) reception job realize parallel processing by generating a copy of themselves. For example, a copy job creates a duplicate of itself, making one job dedicated to scanning and the other job dedicated to printing. Similarly, the FAX transmission job is duplicated, the scan-dedicated job and the communication-dedicated job operate, and the FAX reception job is duplicated, and the communication-dedicated job and the print-dedicated job operate. Therefore, for example, during the scan operation of the scan-only copy job, the print operation of the print-only FAX reception job can be performed in parallel.

FIG. 1 conceptually shows the software structure in the above-mentioned multifunction machine in association with the image input / output means. The driver software controls each image input / output means, and the job is the driver software. Use to realize the operation. Specifically, LAN-I /
The data input from the F1 is transferred to the print job 3 via the LAN-I / F driver 2, and the print job 3 is the data input from the LAN-I / F1 to the printer driver 4 that controls the printer 5. Transfer and print.

At the time of copying, a scan-only copy job controls the scanner 6 via the scanner driver 7 to read an image. The read image data is passed to the print-only copy job, and the print-only copy job controls printing by the printer 5 via the printer driver 4 to perform printing. Further, at the time of fax transmission, a scan-only fax transmission job controls the scanner 6 via the scanner driver 7 to read an image. The read image data is transferred to the communication-dedicated FAX transmission job, and the transmission-dedicated FAX transmission job controls the modem 11 via the modem driver 10 to perform FAX transmission.

Although the FAX reception job is omitted in FIG. 1 for the sake of convenience, at the time of FAX reception, the communication-dedicated FAX reception job controls the modem 11 via the modem driver 10 to perform FAX reception, and image data is received. Read. The read image data is passed to the print-dedicated FAX reception job, and the print-dedicated FAX reception job controls printing by the printer 5 via the printer driver 4 to perform printing.

Here, each of the jobs (print job,
Scan-only copy job, print-only copy job, scan-only FAX transmission job, communication-only FAX transmission job, communication-only FAX reception job, print-only F
AX reception job) performs an acquisition operation for the driver before using the required image input / output unit,
The corresponding image input / output means is in use. When the job finishes using the image input / output unit, the image input / output unit shifts to the non-use state by performing the releasing operation for the driver.

Further, each driver (image input / output means) is
It has identification information of whether it is in use or not, and also has identification information of the job being used. Furthermore, each job has the information of the image input / output means required for each job, and for each job,
Execution priorities are set, and in the example shown in FIG. 1, a copy job, a fax transmission job, and a print job are arranged in descending order of priority. That is, the priority shown in FIG.
The higher the value, the higher the priority.

When a FAX reception job is included,
Copy jobs, fax transmission jobs,
It is preferable to use a FAX reception job or a print job. The arrow in FIG. 1 conceptually shows the flow of data, and may actually be transferred between image input / output means by hardware. Further, when the processing for dynamically creating / deleting a job is performed, not all the jobs shown in FIG. 1 exist.

Next, an operation example of the software structure shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, assume that a print job is in progress. This print job simultaneously acquires the LAN-I / F and the printer. Here, it is assumed that a copy job that requires a scanner and a printer is started because an operator has performed a copy operation. If this copy is configured to read the image into the memory once, only the scanner is required and the printer is not required in the initial stage of the start of the copy job, so the scanner that is determined to be in the unused state is acquired and printed. A read operation in a copy job, that is, a scan-only copy job can be executed in parallel with the job.

When the scanning operation by the scanner for the scan-only copy job progresses and the image information of the original document is input to the memory, the scan-only copy job releases the scanner, and instead, the printer requiring the print-only copy job is replaced. At this time, it is determined that the printer is in use and still used by the print job.

At this time, adjustment between jobs is performed based on the execution priority. In the above case, comparing the execution priorities of the copy job and the print job, the copy job has a higher priority, so a print job with a lower priority interrupts temporary printing, releases the printer, and enters the standby state. enter. Since the printer is released and is not in use, the print-only copy job acquires the printer and prints the image read by the scanner.

When the print operation by the print-only copy job is completed, the printer is released and at the same time, the job is scheduled, the print job in which the temporary print operation is interrupted is restarted, the printer is acquired again, and the printing is continued. To do. In the above, the acquisition / release of the printer commonly required for the copy job and the print job has been described, but for example, the scanner commonly required for the copy job and the FAX transmission job can be similarly obtained / released. Be seen.

If a copy job is started while the scanner is being used by a fax transmission job (scan-only fax transmission job), the use of the scanner by the copy job having a higher priority is given priority, and the scanning only is used. When the image reading using the scanner for the copy job is completed and the printing operation for the print-only copy job is completed, the FAX transmission job (scan-only F
The use of the scanner by the AX transmission job) is resumed.

As described above, by the acquisition / release of the image input / output means and the job scheduling according to the priority,
The image input / output means can be used to the maximum extent. The flowchart of FIG. 2 shows a state of acquisition / release of the image input / output unit and the scheduling of jobs according to the priority, which are specifically shown above.

First, in step S1, the image input / output means necessary to execute the job to be activated (copy job, scan exclusive job to be duplicated in the case of FAX transmission / reception job, exclusive job to communication) is executed. Perform a get operation on the driver. Then, in S2, it is determined whether or not all the necessary image input / output units have been acquired by the acquisition operation, and if all of them have been acquired, the job is executed as it is.

On the other hand, if there is an image input / output means that is used by another job and cannot be obtained, S3
Then, the priority of the job to be started is compared with the job using the same image input / output unit first. Then, in S4, it is determined whether or not the priority of the job that previously uses the same image input / output unit is lower than the priority of the job that is about to be activated.

Here, if the priority of the job to be started is high, the process proceeds to S5 to request the job which has previously used the image input / output means to suspend, and then to the next S6.
Then, the acquisition operation of the image input / output unit which is in the non-use state due to the interruption is performed to execute the job. on the other hand,
If the job using the image input / output means first has a higher priority, the process advances to step S7 to release all the image input / output means acquired by the job to be newly activated and wait for scheduling. Move to. Then, after waiting for the end of the execution of the job having the high priority, the image input / output unit in the empty state is acquired and the job is executed.

It is obvious that the types of image input / output means and the types of jobs are not limited to those shown in FIG. Also, when implementing multiple hardware as image input / output means of the same type, the job is managed as a single hardware process by managing the usage status including the number of hardware in which the driver is implemented. Exactly, multiple hardware can be used efficiently.

[0030]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, when a new job is started, the image input / output means required by the job and the image input / output means are used. Whether or not it is used, which job is being used, and the superiority or inferiority of the execution priority between jobs, and job control is performed based on this information, the image input / output means can be used to the maximum extent. In addition to this, there is an effect that efficient job control can be realized with a simple processing structure.

According to the invention described in claim 2, there is an effect that a job having a high execution priority can be preferentially executed while effectively utilizing the image input / output means. According to the third aspect of the invention, there is an effect that efficient job control can be realized with a simple processing structure while maximally utilizing the printer and the scanner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a software structure according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an acquisition procedure of the image input / output unit in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 LAN-I / F 2 LAN-I / F driver 3 Print job 4 Printer driver 5 Printer 6 Scanner 7 Scanner driver 8 Copy job 9 FAX transmission job 10 Modem driver 11 Modem

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image input / output apparatus comprising a plurality of image input / output means, wherein a plurality of jobs controlling these image input / output means are executed in parallel. While having the information of the required image input / output means, it also has the presence / absence of use of each image input / output means and the identification information of the job being used, and the information is provided when a new job is started. A job control apparatus for an image input / output apparatus, which performs job scheduling based on the above. 2. An image input / output means required by a newly started job is being used by another job,
The execution priority of the other job is compared with the execution priority of the newly started job, and the job with the lower execution priority is executed in order to preferentially execute the job with the higher execution priority. 2. The job control device for an image input / output device according to claim 1, wherein all the image input / output means are put on standby in a released state. 3. The plurality of image input / output units are configured to include at least a printer and a scanner, and the printer and the scanner are commonly used by a plurality of jobs, respectively. The job control device of the image input / output device described in 1.