JPH1049322A - Printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable high-speed processing irrelevantly to a difference in process speed between a printer device and a host computer. SOLUTION: A printer device or host computer judged to be faster in process speed from the results obtained by measuring a process time of a drawing command of a printer device and a host computer is selected. The host computer makes a request to measure the process time of the printer device and receives the measurement result. The host computer also measures the process time of the drawing command of its device and decides which of a printer device and a host computer process the drawing command judging from those two process times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer system in which a printer and a host computer are connected by a two-way communication interface, and drawing commands are processed by the printer or the host computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a printer that prints image data processed by a host computer as it is is used. Further, there is also used a printer in which a host computer intelligently processes a desired print page by a drawing command such as a straight line or a curve and performs printing. In the former printer, since page data is developed into image data, data processing in the printer is unnecessary, and the data processing load on the printer is reduced. In the latter printer, data is processed using a line drawing command, and this data is sent from the host computer to the printer for printing, so that the processing load on the host computer is reduced.

In the configuration of the host computer and the printer, the processing speed of the host computer and the printer is improved, and it is impossible to determine which of the former configuration and the latter configuration can perform high-speed printing. When the processing speed of the host computer is high, printing is faster if the expansion processing is performed here. If the processing speed of the printer is high, the print output is faster if the expansion processing is performed here. Thus, in the configuration of the host computer and the printer, the processing capability of one device makes it impossible to utilize the high-speed processing capability of the other device.

[0004]

As described above, in the above-described conventional example, there is a disadvantage that the processing capability of one device limits the high-speed processing capability of the other device.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and can perform high-speed processing regardless of the difference in processing speed between a printer and a host computer. In addition, the present invention can be applied to a network having a plurality of printers. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer system that enables high-speed processing regardless of a difference in processing speed.

[0006]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system in which a printer and a host computer are connected by a bidirectional communication interface. A printer processing time measuring means for measuring the processing time of the drawing command; and a receiving and transmitting means for receiving a processing time measurement request from the host computer and transmitting the measured time data measured by the processing time measuring means. The computer has a measurement requesting unit that requests the printer to measure the processing time of the drawing command, and a host processing time measuring unit that measures the processing time of the drawing command of the computer. And the drawing processing time of the same item in the host computer, Whether carried out in one of the pointer device or host computer host computer is determined.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printer system according to the first aspect, a storage unit is provided in the printer device, and the processing time of the measured drawing command is stored in the storage unit, and the processing time data of the stored drawing command is stored. Is read and transmitted in response to a request from the host computer, and based on the processing time of the drawing command in the printer device and the processing time of the drawing command in the host computer, whether the drawing command processing is performed by the printer device or the host computer. Is determined by the host computer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system, wherein a storage means is provided in the host computer having the configuration of the first aspect, and the processing time of the measured drawing command is stored in the storage means, and the processing time of the stored drawing command is stored. reading,
From the processing time of the drawing command in the host computer and the processing time of the drawing command in the printer device,
The host computer determines whether the drawing command processing is performed by the printer device or the host computer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system in which a plurality of printer devices and a host computer are connected to a network via a bidirectional communication interface. A time measuring means, and a receiving and sending means for receiving a processing time measuring request from the host computer and sending the measuring time data in the processing time measuring means to the host computer. A plurality of measurement requesting means for requesting the printer device to measure the processing time of the drawing command; a first storage means for storing processing time data of the drawing command measured by the plurality of printer devices from the plurality of measurement requesting means;
A host processing time measuring means for measuring the processing time of the own drawing command; and a second storage means for storing processing time data of the own drawing command measured by the host processing time measuring means. The drawing command processing is performed by either the printer device or the host computer based on the processing time of each drawing command stored in the plurality of printer devices and the drawing processing time of the same item in the host computer stored in the second storage unit. Is determined by the host computer.

According to the printer system of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the processing time of the drawing by the printer device measured based on the processing time measurement request received from the host computer is the same as that of the same item in the host computer. From the drawing processing time, it is determined whether the drawing command processing is performed by the printer device or the host computer.

Therefore, unlike the prior art, the processing capability of one device does not limit the high-speed processing capability of the other device. As a result, high-speed processing is performed regardless of the difference in processing speed between the printer and the host computer. In this case, the processing speed between the actually installed printer device and the host computer is measured, so that there is no restriction on the actual model of the printer device and the host computer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system comprising:
The processing time of the measured drawing command is stored in the printer (or host computer), and the drawing command processing is performed based on the processing time of the stored drawing command and the processing time of the drawing command in the printer (or host computer). It is determined whether the processing is performed by the printer device or the host computer.

Therefore, it is not necessary to measure the processing time of the drawing command of the self apparatus as needed. For example, it is only necessary to measure the processing time of the drawing command at the time of startup or system generation (installation). As a result, the processing for measuring the processing time of the drawing command is reduced, and as a result, high-speed printing can be performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer system which performs drawing command processing on the basis of the stored processing time of each drawing command in a plurality of printer devices and the stored processing time of the same item in a host computer. One of the devices or the host computer has decided. As a result, the same advantages as in claims 1 to 3 can be obtained even in a network using a plurality of printer devices.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a printer system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer in an embodiment of the printer system of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a host computer to which the printer in FIG. 1 is connected.

In FIG. 1, the printer device has a CPU 1 for controlling each section of the device, a ROM 2 storing a control program and the like, and a working RAM 3. Furthermore, NVRAM4, EPROM5,
It has a SCSI interface (I / F) section 6 and a Centro I / F section 7 for interface connection with the printer of FIG. Further, it has an RS232 CI / F section 8 and an Ethernet I / F section 9, an engine I / F section 10 for processing an interface with the printing machine 10a, and a bus line 11 for connecting these.

In FIG. 2, the host computer has a CPU 21 for controlling each section, a ROM 22 storing a control program and the like, and a working RAM 23. Further, a Centro I / F unit 24 and an RS232 CI / F for interface connection with the printer of FIG.
And an Ethernet I / F unit 26.
Further, it has a mouse 27, a keyboard 29, a hard disk 31, and input / output (I / O) circuits 28, 30, 32 for processing these input signals and output signals. Also, a CRT 33 and this CRT 3
3 has an I / O circuit 34 for outputting an image signal and a bus line 35 for connecting these.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the printer shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the host computer shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the function of the printer device includes a drawing processing unit 40, a timer 41, a print processing unit 42, and a page data unit 43.
It comprises a drawing time measuring unit 44, a drawing time request receiving unit 45, and a drawing time notification unit 46.

In FIG. 4, the functions of the host computer include a drawing processing section 50, a timer 51, a page data section 52, and a page data creation section 53.
It comprises a drawing time measuring unit 54, a drawing time requesting unit 55, a drawing time receiving unit 56, and a drawing time determining unit 57.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process of a determination operation of the drawing method according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 5, the host computer shown in FIG. 4 creates page data in the page data creation section 53 according to the page data to be printed, and sends it to the printer shown in FIG. The page data creation unit 53 performs two kinds of creation: development into image data or development into a drawing command.

The selection criterion for the two types of expansion into image data and expansion into drawing commands is to set a fast processing time in accordance with the result of measuring the processing time between the printer device and the host computer for a plurality of drawing processes. The determination is made by the drawing time determination unit 57 of the host computer of No. 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a drawing measurement operation for performing high-speed processing irrespective of a difference in processing time between the printer device and the host computer in the first embodiment. FIG.
4, the host computer of FIG. 4 requests the drawing time requesting unit 55 to measure the processing time for a drawing command such as a straight line or a curve in the printer device (a in FIG. 6).
The drawing time receiving unit 56 receives this measurement result from the drawing time notification unit 46 of the printer device (b in FIG. 6).

The host computer also measures the processing time of its own drawing command by the drawing time measuring unit 54, and obtains the results of the two processing times of the printer device shown in FIG. 3 and the host computer of FIG. In the printer shown in FIG. 3, a drawing time request is received by the drawing time request receiving unit 45, the time is measured by the drawing time measuring unit 44, and the drawing time notifying unit 46 notifies the host computer.

For the time measurement, a timer 41 provided in the printer shown in FIG. 3 and a timer 51 provided in the host computer shown in FIG. 4 are used. This timer 41,
51 measures the time between the start of the drawing process and the end of the process. For example, a drawing command for a straight line draw is measured. In this case, when a line from a certain point to a certain point is drawn, the type and length of this line need to be the same for both the printer device and the host computer. Therefore, this condition is set in the printer device and the host computer in advance, and the drawing time requesting unit 55 performs measurement processing using this condition as a parameter.

As described above, in the first embodiment, high-speed processing is performed regardless of the difference in processing speed (processing time) between the printer and the host computer. That is, the processing capability of one of the printer device and the host computer does not limit the high-speed processing capability of the other device.
Further, since the processing time of the printer device and the host computer which are actually installed is measured, there is no restriction on the actual model.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the processing of the drawing measurement operation for reducing the processing of measuring the processing time of the drawing command in the second embodiment. In FIG. 7, the measurement of the processing time in the printer device in the first embodiment is performed for each request from the drawing time requesting unit 55 of the host computer (a in FIG. 7). For example, when the printer device starts up or generates a system (installs), the printer device measures the time in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and executes the RAM measurement shown in FIG.
3 is stored.

The stored measurement time is read out (c in FIG. 7) at the time of a request from the drawing time request unit 55 of the host computer, and is sent to the host computer. Other processes are the same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the stored contents of the measurement results in the second embodiment. In FIG. 8, the stored contents include the number of drawing commands such as the line draw measurement result, the curve measurement result, and the pattern measurement result corresponding to the processing time of the drawing command. Thus, this second
In the embodiment, since the processing time of the drawing command of the self apparatus is not measured as needed as in the first embodiment, the measurement processing of the processing time of the drawing command is reduced, and as a result, high-speed printing can be performed. become.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the processing of the drawing measurement operation for reducing the processing of measuring the processing time of the drawing command in the third embodiment. In FIG. 9, in the above-described second embodiment, the printer device, for example,
In the third embodiment, the processing time of the drawing command measured by the host computer itself is shown in FIG. 2, while the time is measured, stored, and sent to the host computer as in the embodiment. The data is stored in the RAM 23 and read out (d in FIG. 9). Other processes are the same as those of the first and second embodiments.

As described above, also in the third embodiment, the second
As in the embodiment, measurement processing of the processing time of the drawing command can be reduced, and as a result, high-speed printing can be performed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing processing of a drawing measurement operation in a network using a plurality of printers in the fourth embodiment. In FIG. 10, this example is applied to a network in which a plurality of printers are managed by a host computer, and a printer identifier of a printer name or a network number is assigned to each printer. Then, the host computer requests the respective printing apparatuses to measure the processing time from the drawing time request unit 55 (FIG. 10A). Each printer device measures time, and the drawing time receiving unit 56 of the host computer receives the plurality of measurement results through the drawing time notification unit 46 (b in FIG. 10).

Then, for each printer discriminator for identifying each printer device, the measured time is represented by R in FIG.
The reading is performed after the data is stored in the AM 23 (FIG. 10).
E). The host computer reads the measurement time for each of the printer devices, and the host computer also measures the processing time, and the RAM 23 in FIG.
And then read out (f in FIG. 10).

Other processes are the same as those of the first embodiment. That is, the drawing time determination unit 57 of the host computer in FIG. 4 determines the processing time of the fast drawing command according to the result of measuring the processing time between the printer device and the host computer.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the stored contents of the measurement results in the fourth embodiment. In FIG. 11, the stored contents include pointers for storing the measurement results of the processing times of the drawing commands of the plurality of printers 1 to 5 as the number of printer devices connected to the network.

As described above, in the fourth embodiment, even in a network using a plurality of printers, the first and second printers can be used.
The same advantages as those of the third embodiment can be obtained.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the printer system of the first aspect of the present invention, the drawing command processing is performed based on the drawing processing time in the printer and the drawing processing time in the host computer. Or the host computer, the processing capacity of one (printer apparatus or host computer) does not limit the high-speed processing capacity of the other apparatus. High-speed processing can be performed regardless of the difference in speed. Further, since the processing speeds of the actually installed printer device and the host computer are measured, there is an advantage that there is no limitation on the types of the printer device and the host computer.

According to the printer system of the second and third aspects, the processing time of the measured drawing command is stored in the printer device (or host computer), and the processing time of the stored drawing command is stored in the printer device (or the host computer). Computer) to determine whether to execute the drawing command processing in the printer device or the host computer based on the processing time of the drawing command in the computer, so that the processing time of the drawing command of the own device is not measured at any time, The measurement processing of the processing time of the drawing command is reduced, and as a result, high-speed printing can be performed.

According to the printer system of the fourth aspect, the drawing command processing is performed by one of the printer devices based on the processing time of each drawing command stored in the plurality of printer devices and the drawing processing time in the host computer. Alternatively, since the determination as to whether to perform the processing is performed by the host computer, the same advantages as those of the first to third aspects can be obtained even in a network using a plurality of printers.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer device in a printer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a host computer connected to the printer in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the printer device shown in FIG.

4 is a functional block diagram of the host computer shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process of a determination operation of the drawing method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing processing of a drawing measurement operation in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating processing of a drawing measurement operation in the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing stored contents of a measurement result in the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating processing of a drawing measurement operation according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating processing of a drawing measurement operation in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing stored contents of a measurement result in the fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 40, 50 drawing processing unit 41, 51 timer 42 print processing unit 43 page data unit 44, 54 drawing time measuring unit 45 drawing time request receiving unit 46 drawing time notification unit 52 page data unit 53 page data creation unit 55 drawing time request Unit 56 drawing time receiving unit 57 drawing time determining unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printer system in which a printer device and a host computer are connected by a bidirectional communication interface, the printer device comprising: a printer processing time measuring means for measuring a processing time of a drawing command of the printer device; Receiving and sending means for receiving the processing time measurement request of the above, and sending the measurement time data measured by the processing time measuring means to the host computer, wherein the host computer has a processing time of a drawing command to the printer device. And a host processing time measuring means for measuring the processing time of its own drawing command. The processing time of the drawing command in the printer device and the drawing of the same item in the host computer From the processing time, the drawing command Wherein the host computer determines whether to perform the processing with the host device or the host computer. 2. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein a storage device is provided in the printer device, the processing time of the measured drawing command is stored in the storage device, and the processing time data of the stored drawing command is stored in the host device. The read command is read and transmitted by a request from a computer, and the drawing command processing is performed by either the printer device or the host computer based on the processing time of the drawing command in the printer device and the processing time of the drawing command in the host computer. A printer system, wherein the host computer determines whether to perform the printing. 3. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein a storage unit is provided in the host computer, the processing time of the measured drawing command is stored in the storage unit, and the processing time of the stored drawing command is read out. The host computer determines whether the drawing command processing is performed by the printer device or the host computer based on the processing time of the drawing command in the host computer and the processing time of the drawing command in the printer device. And the printer system. 4. A printer system in which a plurality of printer devices and a host computer are connected to a network via a bidirectional communication interface, wherein the printer device has a printer processing time measuring means for measuring a processing time of its own drawing command; Receiving and transmitting means for receiving a processing time measurement request from the host computer and transmitting the measurement time data in the processing time measuring means, wherein the host computer renders the plurality of printer devices. A plurality of measurement requesting means for requesting measurement of a command processing time; a first storage means for storing processing time data of drawing commands measured by a plurality of printer devices from the plurality of measurement requesting means; A host processing time measuring means for measuring a processing time; A second storage unit that stores processing time data of its own drawing command measured by the measuring unit, and a processing time of each drawing command in a plurality of printer devices stored in the first storage unit; A printer system, wherein the host computer determines whether the rendering command processing is to be performed by the printer device or the host computer based on the rendering processing time of the same item in the host computer stored in the second storage means.