JPH10164093A - Data transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data transfer device capable of efficiently transferring the large amount of data corresponding to the performance of networks and preventing the decline of the performance of the respective networks. SOLUTION: An image server 101 and a network scanner 102 connected to a high-speed network 104 or a bridge 105 for connecting the high-speed network 104 and an existing low-speed network 106 are provided with a data reduction circuit. Then, the performance of the networks 104 and 106 connected to clients 103, 107 and 108 requesting the transfer of image data by the image server 101 and the network scanner 102 is judged. Based on the performance of the networks 104 and 106, transfer data are compressed and efficient data transfer is secured.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transfer apparatus for transmitting and receiving various data, and more particularly, to a data transfer apparatus for ensuring consistency between media when data is transferred between different transfer media.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, networking of computers has progressed, and LANs using Ethernet as a standard have been constructed in offices.

[0003] These networks are 10Base2, 1
The mainstream is 0BaseT, 10Base5, etc., and the transfer speed is 10 Mbit / Sec.

[0004] In recent years, 100BaseT, ATM and the like having a speed close to 100 Mbit / Sec have been introduced and connected to a conventional network via a bridge or the like.

For example, a server or a network scanner for storing image data or the like is connected via the above-described high-speed network, and a client that frequently uses data such as the server or the network scanner uses a server or a network on the high-speed network. Connected directly to a scanner or the like. As a result, large data can be handled in a shorter time than before.

[0006] On the other hand, a general client is connected to a server or a network scanner through a bridge using a conventional network because of the cost for laying a new network.

[0007] As described above, various networks are now becoming scattered in offices. In the future, it is expected that the network will become more diverse due to the development of new networks or protocols.

[0008]

As described above, a high-speed network has been introduced for connecting a server and a network scanner, and it has become possible to handle larger data than ever before, and with the spread of such a high-speed LAN. , The data is bloating.

However, in a general client,
Since a conventional slow network is used, there is a disadvantage that it takes time to effectively use the data from the server or the network scanner due to the amount of data.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a data transfer device capable of efficiently transferring a large amount of data in accordance with the performance of a network and preventing a decrease in the performance of each network.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a data transfer device for transferring data by connecting different types of data transfer means, comprising: a data reduction means for reducing a data amount of transfer data; It is characterized by comprising detection means for detecting the transfer means, and data transfer control means for reducing the transfer data and transferring the data based on the information of the data transfer means detected by the detection means.

In the above configuration, for example, a server or a network scanner connected to a high-speed network detects the performance of a network to which a client requesting data is connected, and transfers data based on the performance of the network. By reducing the data by changing the data compression ratio and compression means, the data can be transferred without deteriorating the performance of the data transfer.

That is, it is possible to prevent performance degradation by transmitting data to a client connected to a fast network as it is, and compressing and transmitting the data to a client connected to a slow network. .

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an image server 101, a network scanner 102, and a client 103
Each is connected by a high-speed network 104. The client 103 obtains image data stored in the image server 101 or obtains image data scanned by the network scanner 102 by sending a command to the image server 101 or the network scanner 102 via the high-speed network 104. Is available.

In this case, since the server 101 or the network scanner 102 is a request from the client 103 connected to the high-speed network 104, the data is transferred without any processing such as compression.

The bridge 105 interfaces the network 104 and the network 106 having different physical media. For example, the bridge 105 exchanges control data with each of the networks 104 and 106 or connects each of the networks 104 and 106 with each other. By detecting the connection state, information on the type of each of the networks 104 and 106, particularly information on the transmission capacity, is acquired and stored in the management memory.

Also, clients 107 and 108 are connected to the network 106. Thus, the clients 107 and 108 are connected to the image server 101 or the network scanner 1 connected to the high-speed network 104.
02, it is possible to make an image data acquisition request.

Then, for example, from the client 108,
When a command for obtaining an image is issued to the image server 101 or the network scanner 102, the bridge 105, which is a relay device, receives the command. The bridge 105 converts a physical network medium and a protocol, and transfers a command to the image server 101 or the network scanner 102.

At this time, the bridge 105 transfers, with a part of the command, medium information or network performance information of the network to which the client issuing the command is connected. Image server 101 or network scanner 1 receiving this command
Reference numeral 02 indicates that image data is subjected to data reduction processing such as compression based on the received network medium information or network performance information, and then transmitted. Also, by adding the algorithm information at the same time as the transfer, it is possible to expand the data on the client side.

In this manner, by performing processing such as data compression based on the performance of the network of the connected client and transferring the data, it is possible to prevent a decrease in network performance.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the image server 101.

The storage device 201 is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk for storing image data and the like.

The data compression circuit 202 performs a process of reducing data from the storage device 201 according to a compression algorithm set by the CPU 204 and its compression parameters. Further, according to the setting of the CPU 204, any one of optimized compression such as lossless compression and irreversible compression is performed and sent to the network controller 203. Conversely, when data on the high-speed network 104 is stored in the storage device 201, or when it is unnecessary, the data is set to data-through.

The network controller 203 interfaces with the high-speed network 104.
The data sent from the data compression circuit 202 flows to the high-speed network 104. These controls are controlled by the CPU
The control is performed by a bus 204 and controlled via a bus 205.

The CPU 204 is connected to the high-speed network 104
The command flowing upward is read via the network controller 203. As described above, the CPU 204 calculates a compression algorithm and parameters from information on a network medium to which a client requesting data transfer is connected. From these information, CPU
A program 204 programs the data compression circuit 202 to compress data. The compressed data along with its algorithm and parameters are transferred to the client via the network controller 203.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the network scanner 102.

The scanner scanning unit 301 includes, for example,
By scanning the original with a CCD sensor driven by a motor or the like, the entire original can be read.

The image processing circuit 306 includes a circuit for preventing image deterioration such as moiré and a color correction circuit for reproducing a color faithful to a document. The image corrected by the image processing circuit 306 is input to the data compression circuit 302.

The data compression circuit 302 performs reduction processing of image data from the image processing circuit 306 according to a compression algorithm set by the CPU 304 and its compression parameters. Further, according to the setting of the CPU 304, any one of optimized compression such as lossless compression and irreversible compression is performed, and is sent to the network controller 303. Further, when data is directly transferred to the high-speed network 104, when data is transferred to the server 101, or when it is unnecessary, the data through is set.

The network controller 303 interfaces with the high-speed network 104, and sends the data sent from the data compression circuit 302 to the high-speed network 104. These controls are
This is performed by the PU 304 and controlled via the bus 305.

The CPU 304 is connected to the high-speed network 104
The command flowing upward is read via the network controller 303. As described above, the CPU 304 calculates a compression algorithm and parameters from the network medium information to which the client requesting the data transfer is connected. From these information, the CPU 30
4 programs the data compression circuit 302 to compress the data. The compressed data is sent to the network controller 303 along with its algorithm and parameters.
Forwarded to the client via

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the bridge 105 that connects the high-speed network 104 and the existing network 106.

The high-speed network controller 401 and the existing network controller 403 each have a CP
U404 is connected to the CPU 405 via the CPU bus 405.
Is controlled by The CPU 404 controls the protocol of each network and converts the protocol.

When the respective protocols are established, the subsequent transfer data is transmitted to the DM without passing through the CPU 404.
A allows direct exchange between the high-speed network controller 401 and the existing network controller 403 via the buffer memory 402. As a result, data can be transferred at a higher speed.

The buffer memory 402 has a FiFo configuration so that the difference in transfer speed between the high-speed network 104 and the existing network 106 can be absorbed.

When the protocol is established, the CPU 404
The network performance is detected, and the information is transferred to the image server 101 or the network scanner 102. Instead of detecting the network performance based on the protocol data as described above, the network performance may be detected by monitoring the physical connection state of each of the networks 104 and 106.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the first embodiment, the image server 10
1 and the data compression circuit 20 to the network scanner 102
In the second embodiment, a data compression circuit is provided in the bridge 105 to obtain the same effect.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the bridge 105 in the second embodiment. The configuration of the bridge 105 other than the data compression circuit 501 is the same as that of the bridge 105 shown in FIG.

For example, when a command for obtaining an image is issued from the client 108 to the image server 101 or the network scanner 102, the bridge 105 as a relay device receives the command. Bridge 105
Performs the conversion of the physical network medium and the conversion of the protocol as described in the first embodiment, and transfers the command to the image server 101 or the network scanner 102.

At this time, the CPU 404 of the bridge 105
Detects the network traffic situation and stores the obtained information in the memory 502.

Upon receiving the command, the image server 101 or the network scanner 102 transfers the requested image data to the bridge 105 without compression. The transferred image data is specified by the information stored in advance as to which client in the bridge 105 the request is from, and the CPU 404 is executed based on the information.
As described in the first embodiment, the compression algorithm and parameters are calculated, and the data compression circuit 501 in the bridge 105 performs data reduction processing such as compression.

The image on which the data reduction processing has been performed is added with compression algorithm information and transferred to the client. The client can perform a decompression process from the received compression algorithm information to obtain a target image.

Although the above description has been made with reference to an image data transfer system as an example, the present invention can be similarly applied to other data transfer systems. In the above description, whether or not to execute data compression is selected.However, a plurality of compression ratios in the data compression circuit are controlled, and a plurality of data compression circuits are selected.
It is also possible to correspond to each network.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, a process such as data compression is performed based on the network performance of a connected client, and the data is transferred, thereby preventing a decrease in network performance. There is an effect that can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a system configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the network scanner in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a bridge in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a bridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: Image server, 102: Network scanner, 103, 107, 108: Client, 104: High speed network, 105: Bridge, 106: Existing low speed network, 202, 302, 501: Data compression circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A data transfer device for transferring data by connecting different types of data transfer means, a data reduction means for reducing the data amount of transfer data; and a detection means for detecting the connected data transfer means. Data transfer control means for reducing the transfer data and transferring the data based on the information of the data transfer means detected by the detection means.