JPH09321960A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To store the encoded data in a buffer at a high speed and with high efficiency by storing selectively the encoded data in one of storage areas of a storage means according to the data size. SOLUTION: An image reading means 2 reads an image original 1, and a JBIG encoding means 3 encodes the read data to store them in a code buffer 20. The means 2 also detects the original size information (A4, A3, B5, etc.) 24 and notifies a control means 23 of the information 24 when reading the original 1. Then the information 24 is notified to a code buffer management means 21 during the operation of the means 3. The means 21 recognizes and manages the idle areas of the buffer 20 according to the original sizes and decides the storage area for the encoded data. Therefore, it's not needed to continuously manage the address pointer of a storage means. Thus, the storage area is quickly decided for the encoded data based on the original size and with no consciousness of idle addresses.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile, a digital copying machine and a filing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as an international standard for binary image coding, JOINT BI-LEVEL IMAGE EX
The PERTS GROUP (JBIG) system has been established and is being used in various image processing apparatuses.

An image processing apparatus using such a JBIG system will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 shows J
It is a block diagram of the image storage device which adopted the BIG method. In FIG. 7, 1 is a read image original, 2 is an image reading means (scanner or the like) for reading an image original, and 3 is JBIG.
JBIG encoding means for encoding, 4 is a code buffer (RAM for storing JBIG encoded code data
Etc.) 5 is a final data address pointer storage means for storing an address stored at the end of a code buffer for storing code data, 6 is a JBIG decoding means for performing JBIG decoding, 7 is an image recording means, 8 is an image An output image of the recording means, 9 is an image display means, 10 is a transmission / reception means, 11 is a transmission / reception control means, and 12 is a control means for controlling each means.

In the image processing apparatus configured as described above, first, the image original 1 is read by the image reading means 2, and the read image for one page of the original is JBI.
The data is encoded by the G encoding means 3 and sequentially stored in the code buffer 4. The same applies to the image received by the transmitting / receiving means 10. The image information written in the code buffer 4 is transmitted through the transmission / reception means 10 and, at the same time, decoded by the JBIG decoding means 6 and appropriately recorded / displayed by the image recording means 7 or the image display means 9. It

The accumulation of encoded images in the code buffer 4 is
Initially, the data is stored in the designated predetermined address, but the final address of the stored data is stored in the final data address pointer storage means 5. Then, when the next one page of the image original is read and encoded by the JBIG encoding means 3 and stored in the code buffer 4, or when an image is received and stored in the code buffer 4, the final data address. The writing of the encoded data is started from the address next to the address stored in the pointer storage means 5.

[0006]

However, in such a conventional image processing apparatus of the JBIG system, the code buffer for storing the JBIG-encoded coded data is not managed in particular, and the memory management is devised. Was not done. That is, in the above-described configuration of the related art, the storage address management of the code buffer stores the update destination of the address pointer or the fixed address, so that there is a problem that the vacant buffer address cannot be effectively used.

Further, since the address management of the code buffer is executed by dedicated hardware, there is a problem that the circuit scale becomes large, the configuration becomes very complicated, and the processing time is slow.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of efficiently storing encoded data in a buffer at high speed.

Further, the present invention provides an image processing apparatus capable of efficiently and rapidly realizing a series of processes for transmitting / receiving encoded data by managing the code buffer and the transmission / reception channel. The purpose is to

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a code for performing coding by a coding method in which coded data has a constant compression rate with respect to the data size before coding. Encoding means, storage means having a storage area divided and managed in advance into a plurality of sizes, and data encoded by the encoding means is selectively stored in one of the storage areas of the storage means according to the data size. And control means for controlling.

Further, the transmission end time or the transmission end time for each transmission channel is calculated from the number and the data size of the coded data that has not been transmitted in each transmission channel, and then, when a transmission request is generated, Transmission control means is provided for transmitting the coded data of the transmission request target from the transmission channel in which the transmission is completed earliest.

According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently and quickly store encoded data in the buffer.
An image processing apparatus capable of efficiently and rapidly realizing a series of processes when transmitting and receiving encoded data is obtained.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 is an encoding means for performing encoding by an encoding method in which encoded data has a constant compression rate with respect to a data size before encoding, and a plurality of encoding means are provided in advance. Storage means having a storage area divided and managed according to the size, and control means for selectively storing the data encoded by the encoding means in one of the storage areas of the storage means according to the data size. To do. The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the plurality of storage areas are divided into a plurality of storage areas each having a fixed size. By these,
Since it is not necessary to continuously manage the address pointer of the storage means, and the storage area can be quickly determined by the document size without being aware of the vacant address, the encoded data can be stored in the buffer efficiently and at high speed. be able to. Further, even when data is received, the storage of the code data in the code buffer can be efficiently realized without being aware of the address, and a series of operations until the image data is output can be efficiently performed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, a storage area for writing the encoded data based on the data size before encoding detected by the control means in advance is provided. It is something to choose. According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the control means manages the availability of the storage means for each storage area divided according to the data size. By these, the area where the encoded data should be stored is determined before the end of encoding, so that the encoded data can be stored in the buffer more efficiently and at high speed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fourth aspects of the invention, when the encoded data stored in the storage means is transmitted, the encoded data that is already in a transmission waiting state is transmitted. The transmission end time or the transmission end time is calculated from the quantity and the data size. Also,
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, a transmission means of a plurality of channels for transmitting the data stored in the storage means is provided. According to the invention of claim 7, in the invention of claims 1 to 6, the transmission end time or the transmission of each transmission channel or the transmission end time is calculated from the number and the data size of the transmission-uncompleted encoded data in each transmission channel. A transmission control means for calculating the end time and then transmitting the encoded data of the transmission request target from the transmission channel where the transmission is completed earliest when the transmission request is generated. From these, the time until the end of transmission of the encoded data waiting to be transmitted can be clearly understood, so that which transmission channel should be queued for the next transmission job to be transmitted can be transmitted and received. In this case, a series of processing can be realized efficiently and at high speed.

[0016]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a JB according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing an image processing device using the IG method.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a read image original, 2 is an image reading means (scanner or the like) for reading an image original, 3 is JBIG encoding means for performing JBIG encoding, and 6 is JBI.
JBIG decoding means for performing G decoding, 7 an image recording means, 8 an output image of the image recording means, 9 an image display means,
Reference numeral 10 is a transmitting / receiving means for connecting a plurality of lines. Also,
Reference numeral 20 is a code buffer (RAM or the like) for storing JBIG-encoded code data, 21 is a code buffer management means for determining the storage area of the code data in the code buffer 20, 22 is a transmission / reception control means, and 23 is the entire apparatus. It is a control means for controlling, and the transmission / reception control means 22 and the control means 23 are adapted to receive the document size information 24 for writing the encoded data in the code buffer 20.

The transmission operation of the image processing apparatus encoded data using the JBIG system having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the transmission control flow chart of FIG. First, the image reading means 2 reads the image original 1 (step 201),
The read encoded data is encoded by the JBIG encoding means 3 (step 202) and stored in the code buffer 20 (step 203). When reading the image original 1, the image reading means 2 simultaneously reads the original size information 24 (A4, A3,
B5) is detected (step 204) and notified to the control means 23, and the document size information 24 is further notified to the code buffer management means 21 during the operation of the JBIG encoding means 3. The code buffer managing means 21 recognizes and manages the empty area of the code buffer according to the document size by a method described later, and determines the storage area of the encoded data (step 2).
05). At the same time, the transmission / reception control means 22 immediately starts transmission if there is a free channel (step 206),
If there is no empty channel, the transmission channel is scheduled by the method described later to determine the transmission channel (step 207), and transmission is started as soon as the channel becomes empty (step 20).
8).

Next, a method of recognizing and managing the empty area of the code buffer by the code buffer managing means 21 will be concretely described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows the code buffer 20.
Is a conceptual diagram of a code buffer address showing an example of use of the code buffer, and FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a code buffer management table in the code buffer management means 21. As shown in FIG. 3, the code buffer 20 is allocated to a predetermined area for each size of A4, A3, B5 and the like, and each area is further divided into a plurality of areas (area names A4-1 to A4-1). 4, A3-1-3,
B5-1 to 3). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the code buffer managing means 21 has a management table composed of a document size, an area name, and information on the availability of the area, and writes the encoded data in the code buffer 20. Instead of addressing each time, writing / reading of encoded data is managed in area units.

For example, when transmitting an A4 size original, the original size (A4) detected at the same time when the original is read by the image reading means 2 is notified to the code buffer managing means 21. The A4 area of the code buffer management table of No. 4 is searched in order from the top.
Since the coded data is already stored in the area names A4-1, A4-3, and A4-4 of the A4 area of the code buffer management table of FIG. 4, and A4-2 is an empty area, A4-2 is decided as the storage area, and JBI
After the JBIG encoding by the G encoding means 3 is completed, the encoded data is stored in the code buffer 20. By thus predetermining the storage area of the coding buffer 20 according to the size of the coded data, the coded data can be buffered quickly without being aware of the address.

Next, the scheduling for determining the transmission channel will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the transmission / reception means 10 is connected to a plurality of lines, and the transmission / reception control thereof is performed by the transmission / reception control means 22. A channel management table shown in FIG. 5 is provided in the transmission / reception control means 22, and transmission management for each channel is performed by this channel management table.

The channel management table of FIG. 5 is composed of four channels (CH) in total, and CH1 and CH2 are assigned for transmission and CH3 and CH4 are assigned for reception. In the state shown in FIG. 5, the coded data in the A4-1 area of the code buffer 20 is currently being transmitted in CH1, the coded data in the B5-1 area is waiting to be transmitted, and the coded data in the A4-3 area in CH2. Is being transmitted, the encoded data in the A4-4 area is waiting to be transmitted, CH3 is empty, and CH3 is
Reference numeral 4 indicates that the received data is being written in the A3-2 area.

In this state, when there is a transmission request for the encoded data in the A4-2 area, both of the transmission channels CH1 and CH2 are in the FULL state.
Scheduler management is performed in the transmission / reception control means as shown in FIG.

Assuming that the coded data of the A4-3 area of CH2, the coded data of the A4-1 area of CH1, and C
Coded data in the A4-4 area of H2 and B5 of CH1
-1 area encoded data and T1, T respectively
Assuming that a transmission instruction is issued at the timings of T2, T3, and T4, the transmission end times of CH2 and CH1 are T5 and T5, respectively.
It becomes T6. The total size of the transmission data for each channel is larger in CH2 than in CH1, but since the transmission start time is earlier in CH2 than CH1, the transmission end time is earlier in channel 2 and, in the end, the code of the A4-2 area. CH data whose transmission ends at time T5
Queued to perform transmission from 2.

That is, the transmission start time of each channel being transmitted and the total transmission data size (CH1 is A4 + B5,
CH2 calculates the channel whose transmission ends earlier from A4 + A4), and determines the channel to be used for the next transmission. In the JBIG encoding method, unlike the MR method and the MMR method, the code size is always constant depending on the document size, and thus the estimated end time is calculated according to the transmission start time and the amount of data in the transmission waiting state. You can Therefore, the present invention can be similarly applied to an encoding method in which encoded data has a constant compression rate with respect to the data size before encoding.

In the case of receiving the coded data, the control is almost the same as the above operation. First, when there is a reception request from the external terminal, the transmission / reception control means 22 starts the reception on the idle channel of the transmission / reception means 10. Prior to receiving the image information, the transmission / reception control means 22 acquires the document size information,
By notifying the code buffer management means 21 of this, it is determined in which area of the code buffer the received data is to be stored, as in the case of document transmission.

When the reception is completed, the JBIG decoding means 6
The coded data is decoded by the above-mentioned method, the decoded image data is subjected to image editing, etc., if necessary, and output to the image recording means 7 or the image display means 9 etc. to receive a series of facsimiles and the like. The operation is completed.

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to continuously manage the address pointer of the storage means, and the storage area can be swiftly changed according to the size of the original without paying attention to an empty address. Because you can decide
The encoded data can be stored in the buffer efficiently and at high speed.

Further, since the area in which the encoded data should be stored is determined before the encoding is completed, the encoded data can be stored in the buffer more efficiently and at high speed.

Further, since the time until the end of transmission of the encoded data in the transmission waiting state can be clearly grasped, it is possible to know which transmission channel should be queued for the next transmission job, and to transmit the encoded data. A series of processing for transmitting and receiving can be realized efficiently and at high speed. Further, even when data is received, the storage of the code data in the code buffer can be efficiently realized without considering the address, and the series of operations until the image data is output can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transmission control flow chart of the image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a code buffer address according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram of a code buffer management table of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a channel management table of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of scheduler management in the transmission / reception control means of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a conventional image processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 JBIG Encoding Means 6 JBIG Decoding Means 20 Code Buffer 21 Code Buffer Management Means 22 Transmission Control Means 24 Original Size Information

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A coding means for performing coding by a coding method in which coded data has a constant compression ratio with respect to a data size before coding, and a storage area divided and managed in advance into a plurality of sizes. An image processing apparatus comprising: a storage unit that has the storage unit; and a control unit that selectively stores the data encoded by the encoding unit in one of the storage areas of the storage unit according to the data size. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of storage areas is divided into a plurality of storage areas each having a fixed size. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit selects a storage area in which encoded data is written based on a data size detected in advance before the encoding. . 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit manages the availability of the storage unit for each storage area divided according to the data size. 5. When transmitting the encoded data accumulated in the storage means, the transmission end time or the transmission end time is calculated from the number and the data size of the encoded data which are already in the transmission waiting state. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit of a plurality of channels for transmitting the data stored in the storage unit. 7. A transmission end time or a transmission end time for each transmission channel is calculated from the number and data size of transmission-uncompleted encoded data in each transmission channel, and when a transmission request is generated next, 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission control unit that transmits the coded data of the transmission request target from a transmission channel that completes transmission earliest.