JPH11328376A - Method and device for inputting and outputting information and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speed up the process of a codec by predicting which of the processes of a hardware codec and a software codec is faster from the use state of a common bus when a codec is used and switching and using the codec according to the prediction result. SOLUTION: When it is judged that the H/W codec is more advantageous over the S/W codec (S2804), a flag indicating an in-use state, a remaining data amount, and start time are set at the part of the H/W codec in a table of DIS (S2805). Then the H/W codec is actuated (S2806). When it is judged that the S/W codec is more advantageous over the H/W codec (S2804), on the other hand, a flag indicating an in-use state, a remaining data amount, and start time are set at the part of the S/W codec in the table of DIS (S2808). Then the S/W CODEC is actuated (S2809). Consequently, the codec can be placed in operation at a more optimum processing speed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information input / output method and apparatus for encoding a scanned image, transmitting the encoded image, receiving and outputting the encoded image, and controlling the information input / output device. And a storage medium storing the control program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, with the advent of multifunction copying machines, networks, scanners, printers, and the like, it has become possible to freely exchange images with a computer via a network. In many cases, an image compression technique is used to reduce the network load and perform high-speed image transmission. Usually, either hardware or software is used, such as hardware if high-speed compression is required, and software if cost is required to be kept low.

[0003]

However, in a configuration in which a hardware codec is connected to a common bus such as a PCI bus as well as an interface to a network, a scanner, and a printer, the interface is unified by using the common bus. Although there are advantages such as diversion, ease of mounting, cost reduction, etc. due to the fact that there are many simultaneous users of the bus, bus contention occurs, and it takes a lot of processing time regardless of the hardware codec There was a problem.

On the other hand, recently, with the performance improvement of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), it has become possible to realize high-speed processing even with a software codec.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the above-described conventional technology, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a configuration in which both a hardware codec and a software codec are mounted. , When using a codec, the hardware,
It is intended to provide an information input / output method and apparatus capable of realizing high-speed processing by predicting which codec is faster in software and switching between codecs based on the prediction result. It is.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a control program for controlling the information input / output device as described above.

[0007]

In order to achieve the first object, an information input / output method according to claim 1 is an information input / output method for inputting / outputting information by an information input / output device,
A hardware codec process for code decoding by hardware, a software codec process for code decoding by software, a bus management process for managing the use status of a bus to which resources are connected, and the bus management process. A prediction step of predicting the processing end time of the hardware codec step and the software codec step from the usage status of the managed bus; and the hardware codec step and the software codec step based on the prediction result of the prediction step. And a switching step of switching and using.

In order to achieve the first object, the information input / output method according to claim 2 is characterized in that the information input / output device is a copying device. And

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information input / output method according to the first aspect, wherein the information input / output device is a printing device. And

In order to achieve the first object, an information input / output method according to claim 4 is characterized in that in the information input / output method according to claim 1, the resource is a scanner interface.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information input / output method according to the first aspect, wherein the resource is a printer interface.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information input / output method according to the first aspect, wherein the resource is a network interface.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information input / output method according to the first aspect, wherein the resource is a hardware codec means. I do.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information input / output device for inputting / outputting information, comprising: Codec means, software codec means for code decoding by software, bus management means for managing the use status of the bus to which the resources are connected, and the hardware from the use status of the bus managed by the bus management means. Prediction means for predicting the processing end time of the wear codec means and the software codec means, and switching means for switching and using the hardware codec means and the software codec means based on the prediction result of the prediction means. Features.

In order to achieve the first object, an information input / output device according to a ninth aspect is the information input / output device according to the eighth aspect, wherein the information input / output device is a copying device. And

In order to achieve the first object, an information input / output device according to claim 10 is the information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein the information input / output device is a printing device. And

In order to achieve the first object, an information input / output device according to claim 11 is the information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein the resource is a scanner interface.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, in the information input / output device according to the eighth aspect, the resource is a printer interface.

In order to achieve the first object, an information input / output device according to claim 13 is the information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein the resource is a network interface.

In order to achieve the first object, an information input / output device according to claim 14 is the information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein the resource is a hardware codec means. I do.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium for storing a control program for storing a control program for controlling an information input / output device for inputting / outputting information. It manages the usage status of the bus to which the resources are connected, and predicts the processing end time of the code decoding process by hardware and the code decoding process by software from the usage status of the managed bus. A control program having a control module for controlling to switch between the code decoding process by the hardware and the code decoding process by the software based on the prediction result is stored.

In order to achieve the second object, a storage medium according to claim 16 is the storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the information input / output device is a copying device.

In order to achieve the second object, a storage medium according to claim 17 is the storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the information input / output device is a printing device.

In order to achieve the second object, a storage medium according to claim 18 is the storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the resource is a scanner interface.

In order to achieve the second object, a storage medium according to claim 19 is the storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the resource is a printer interface.

In order to achieve the second object, a storage medium according to a twentieth aspect is characterized in that, in the storage medium according to the fifteenth aspect, the resource is a network interface.

In order to achieve the second object, a storage medium according to claim 21 is characterized in that, in the storage medium according to claim 15, the resources are hardware codec means.

[0028]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Hardware] [Overall Configuration] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information input / output device (information input / output device) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes an information input / output device according to the present embodiment;
1, an operation unit 102, a scanner unit 103, and a printer unit 104.

The control unit 101 controls input and output of image information and device information. The operation unit 102 inputs and displays various information. The scanner unit 103 is an image input device,
It is for reading an image. The printer unit 104 is an image output device that prints out an image on a recording medium such as recording paper.

The control unit 101 includes a CPU
(Central processing unit) 105, RAM (random access memory) 106, ROM (read only memory) 1
07, a hard disk drive (HDD) 108, an operation unit interface unit (operation unit I / F unit) 109, a modem (MODEM) 110, an image bus (Image B)
us) interface unit (Image Bus I / F)
Unit) 111, network unit 112, raster image processor (RIP) 113, device interface unit (device I / F unit) 114, scanner image processing unit 11
5. Printer image processing unit 116, image rotation processing unit 117
And an image compression processing unit 118.

The CPU 105 controls the entire apparatus. The RAM 106 is a system work memory for the operation of the CPU 105, and is an image memory for temporarily storing image data (information). A ROM (read only memory) 107 is a boot ROM, and stores a system boot program. A hard disk drive (HDD) 108 stores system software and image data. The operation unit interface unit 109 is connected to the operation unit 102 and outputs image data to be displayed on the operation unit 102 to the operation unit 102. The modem 110 is connected to a public line (WAN) 119 and inputs and outputs information.

The above devices, ie, CPU 105, RA
M106, ROM 107, hard disk drive 10
8. Operation unit interface unit 109 and modem 110
Are arranged on the system bus 120.

The image bus interface unit 111 is a bus bridge that connects the system bus 120 and the image bus 121 that transfers image data at a high speed, and converts the data structure. Image bus 121 is a PCI bus or IE
It is composed of EE1394. On the image bus 121, the following devices are provided: a network unit 112, a raster image processor 113, and a device interface unit 11.
4, scanner image processing unit 115, printer image processing unit 1
16, image rotation processing unit 117 and image compression processing unit 118
Is arranged.

The network unit 112 is connected to a local area network (LAN) 122 to input and output information. The raster image processor 113 develops the PDL code into a bitmap image. The device interface unit 114 is a scanner unit 1 that is an image input / output device.
03 and the printer unit 104, and performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion processing of image data. Scanner image processing unit 1
Numeral 15 is for performing correction processing, processing processing, editing processing, and the like on input image data. Printer image processing unit 11
Reference numeral 6 denotes a printer unit 10 for print output image data.
4 and the resolution conversion process. The image rotation processing unit 117 performs a rotation process on the image data. The image compression processing unit 118 compresses / compresses JPEG for multi-valued image data and JBIG, MMR, and MH for binary image data.
The decompression process is performed.

The above-described configuration has a system bus 120 and an image bus 121 in consideration of the expandability of the image processing portion.
Are separated from each other, and a general computer configuration is applied. In the above-described configuration, by making the image bus interface general-purpose, the degree of freedom in which image processing can be arbitrarily combined and the expandability in consideration of the future are provided. In particular, the codec portion is connected to the image bus 121 side so that various standards may be proposed in the future and can be easily replaced.

[Image Input / Output Unit] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the image input / output device (image input / output device) according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a scanner unit 103 serving as an image input device illuminates an image of a document and scans a CCD line sensor (not shown) to convert the image into raster image data into an electric signal. The original is set on the tray 202 of the original feeder 201, and the apparatus user instructs the reading operation from the operation unit 102 to start the operation.
The CPU 105 of the controller unit 101 in FIG. 1 gives an instruction to the scanner unit 103, and the document feeder 201 feeds the documents one by one and performs a reading operation of a document image.

The printer unit 104, which is an image output device, is a unit that converts raster image data into an image on a sheet. The system is an electrophotographic system using a photosensitive drum or a photosensitive belt, and a fine nozzle array. There is an ink jet system in which an image is printed directly on paper by discharging ink from the ink jet printer, but any system may be used. The print operation is started by the controller unit 101 shown in FIG.
Is started by an instruction from the CPU 105. Printer unit 10
4 has a plurality of paper feed stages so that different paper sizes or different paper orientations can be selected, and is provided with paper cassettes 203, 204, 205, and 206 corresponding thereto. The paper discharge tray 207 receives the printed paper.

[Operation Unit] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of the operation unit 102 in the image input / output device according to the present embodiment. In the figure, a display unit 301 composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) has a touch panel sheet affixed on the LCD, displays an operation screen of the system, and displays the position information when a displayed key is pressed. The information is transmitted to the CPU 105 of the controller unit 101 in FIG. A start key 302 is used to start a reading operation of a document image. At the center of the start key 302, for example, LEDs (light emitting diodes) 303 of two colors, green and red, indicate whether or not the start key 302 can be used depending on the color. A stop key 304 functions to stop the operation during operation. An ID (identifier) key 305 is used to input a user ID (identifier) for identifying a user. A reset key 306 is used to initialize settings from the operation unit 102.

[Device Interface Unit] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the device interface unit 113 in the image input / output device according to the present embodiment. In the figure, an image bus interface controller (image bus I / F controller) 401 includes an image bus 121.
To control the bus access sequence, and control and timing of each device in the device interface unit 114. Further, it generates control signals to the external scanner unit 103 and printer unit 104. The scan buffer 402 includes the scanner unit 103
Temporarily saves the image data sent from the
The image data is output in synchronization with 21. The serial / parallel / parallel / serial conversion unit 403 sequentially arranges or decomposes the image data stored in the scan buffer 402 and converts the image data into a data width of image data that can be transferred to the image bus 121. The parallel / serial / serial / parallel conversion unit 404 decomposes or arranges the image data transferred from the image bus 121 into a data width of image data that can be stored in the print buffer 405. The print buffer 405 is connected to the image bus 12.
1 temporarily stores the image data sent thereto, and outputs the image data in synchronization with the printer unit 104.

The procedure for scanning an image will be described below.

The image data sent from the scanner unit 103 is stored in the scan buffer 402 in synchronization with the timing signal sent from the scanner unit 103.
When the image bus 121 is a PCI bus, when image data enters the scan buffer 402 in a length of 32 bits or more, the image data is first-in first-out (32-bit).
Minute, serial / parallel
The image data is sent to the parallel / serial conversion unit 403, converted into 32-bit image data, and transferred to the image bus 121 through the image bus interface controller 401. When the image bus 121 is IEEE1394, the image data in the scan buffer 402 is sent from the scan buffer 402 to the serial / parallel / parallel / serial conversion unit 403 on a first-in first-out basis, and is converted into serial image data. 40
1 to the image bus 121.

Hereinafter, a processing procedure at the time of image printing will be described.

When the image bus 121 is a PCI bus,
The 32-bit image data sent from the image bus 121 is received by the image bus interface controller 401, sent to the parallel / serial / serial / parallel converter 404, decomposed into image data of the number of input data bits of the printer 104, and printed. The data is stored in the buffer 405. When the image bus 121 is IEEE1394, the serial image data sent from the image bus 121 is received by the image bus interface controller 401, sent to the parallel / serial / serial / parallel conversion unit 404, and input to the printer unit 104. The image data is decomposed into image data of the number of data bits and stored in the print buffer 405. The image data in the print buffer 405 is sent to the printer unit 104 on a first-in first-out basis in synchronization with a timing signal sent from the printer unit 104.

[Scanner Image Processing Unit] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the scanner image processing unit 115 in the image input / output device according to the present embodiment. In the figure,
Image bus interface controller (image bus I / F
The controller 501 is connected to the image bus 121,
The function of controlling the bus access sequence and the control and timing of each device in the scanner image processing unit 115 are generated. The filter processing unit 502 performs a convolution operation using a spatial filter. The editing unit 503
For example, a closed area surrounded by the marker pen is recognized from the input image data, and image processing such as shadowing, shading, and negative / positive inversion is performed on the image data in the closed area. When changing the resolution of the read image, the scaling unit 504 performs an interpolation operation in the main scanning direction of the raster image to perform enlargement and reduction. For zooming in the sub-scanning direction,
This is performed by changing the scanning speed of an image reading line sensor (not shown). The table processing unit 505 performs a table conversion process to convert the read luminance data into density data. The binarization processing unit 506 binarizes multi-value grayscale image data by error diffusion processing or screen processing.

The image data for which each process has been completed is transferred to the image bus 121 via the image bus interface controller 501 again.

[Printer Image Processing Unit] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printer image processing unit 116 in the image input / output device according to the present embodiment. In the figure,
Image bus interface controller (image bus I / F
The controller 601 is connected to the image bus 121,
It controls the bus access sequence and controls and timings of each device in the printer image processing unit 116. The resolution conversion unit 602 performs a resolution conversion process for converting the image data sent from the network unit 112 or the public line 119 in FIG. Smoothing processing unit 603
Performs a process of smoothing jaggies (roughness of an image appearing at a black-and-white boundary such as an oblique line) of image data after the resolution conversion processing.

[Image Rotation Processing Unit] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image rotation processing unit 117 in the image input / output device according to the present embodiment. In the figure, an image bus interface controller (image bus I / F controller) 701 is connected to the image bus 121, controls the bus access sequence, and operates the image rotation unit 70.
2 and a timing control for transferring image data to the image rotation unit 702.

The processing procedure of the image rotation processing section 117 will be described below.

CPU 10 of FIG. 1 via image bus 121
5 to the image bus interface controller 701 to make settings for image rotation control. With this setting, the image bus interface controller 701 performs settings (for example, image size, rotation direction, angle, and the like) necessary for image rotation on the image rotation unit 702. After making necessary settings, the CPU 105 in FIG. 1 again permits the image bus interface controller 701 to transfer image data. In accordance with this permission, the image bus interface controller 701 starts transferring image data from each device on the RAM 106 or the image bus 121 in FIG. Here, the image size to be rotated is set to 32 × 32 (bit) with 32 bits as its size.
32b when transferring image data to the image bus 121
It is assumed that image transfer is performed in units of it (the image to be handled is assumed to be binary).

As described above, in order to obtain a 32.times.32 (bit) image, it is necessary to perform the above-described unit data transfer 32 times and to transfer image data from discontinuous addresses (FIG. 9). 9).

The image data transferred by the discontinuous addressing is written to the RAM 703 such that the image data is rotated to a desired angle at the time of reading. For example, if the rotation is 90 degrees counterclockwise, the first transmitted 32 bits
Is written in the Y direction as shown in FIG. Then, by reading in the X direction at the time of reading, the image is rotated.

Image rotation of 32 × 32 (bit) (RAM
After the image writing unit 703) is completed, the image rotation unit 702
Reads image data from the RAM 703 by the above-described reading method, and reads the image bus interface controller 70.
1 to transfer the image.

The image bus interface controller 701 having received the rotated image data transfers the data to the RAM 106 or each device on the image bus 121 in FIG. 1 by continuous addressing. Such a series of processing is repeated until there is no processing request from the CPU 105 (when processing of the required number of pages is completed).

[Image Compression Processing Unit] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image compression processing unit 118 in the image input / output device according to the present embodiment. In the figure, an image bus interface controller (image bus I / F controller) 801 is connected to the image bus 121, controls the bus access sequence, and controls the input buffer 8
02, timing control for exchanging data with the output buffer 803, and control such as mode setting for the image compression unit 804.

The processing procedure of the image compression processing section 118 will be described below.

The CPU 1 shown in FIG.
05, the image bus interface controller 801 is set for image compression control. With this setting, the image bus interface controller 801 makes a setting (for example, MMR) necessary for image compression to the image compression unit 804.
Compression, JBIG expansion, etc.). After the necessary settings are made, the CPU 105 in FIG. 1 again permits the image bus interface controller 801 to transfer an image.
In accordance with this permission, the image bus interface controller 801 operates the RAM 106 or the image bus 121 shown in FIG.
Transfer of image data from each of the above devices is started. The received image data is temporarily stored in the input buffer 802, and the image is transferred at a constant speed in response to an image data request from the image compression unit 804. At this time, the input buffer 80
2 judges whether or not image data can be transferred between the image bus interface controller 801 and the image compression unit 804, so that reading of image data from the image bus 121 and writing of an image to the image compression unit 804 are not possible. If possible, control is performed so as not to transfer data (hereinafter, such control is referred to as handshake).

The image compression section 804 temporarily stores the received image data in the RAM 805. This is because several lines of image data are required depending on the type of image compression processing to be performed when performing image compression, and several lines of image data are required to compress the first one line of image data. This is because image compression cannot be performed until data is prepared.

The compressed image data is immediately sent to the output buffer 803. The output buffer 803 performs handshaking with the image bus interface controller 801 and the image compression unit 804, and transfers image data to the image bus interface controller 801. The image data is transferred to the RAM 106 or the image bus 121 of FIG.
Transfer data to each device above. Such a series of processing is performed until there is no processing request from the CPU 105 in FIG. 1 (when processing of the required number of pages is completed) or until a stop request is issued from the image compression processing unit 118 (errors during compression and decompression are generated). Time etc) is repeated.

[Software] [Entire System] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the entire network system including the information input / output device of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1101 denotes an information input / output device of the present invention, which corresponds to the information input / output device 100 of FIGS. The information input / output device 1101 includes a scanner unit and a printer unit, which will be described later, and stores images read from the scanner unit in a local area network (hereinafter, LA).
An image received from the LAN 1108 or received from the LAN 1108 can be printed out by the printer unit. Further, an image received from a PSTN (Public Telephone Network) or an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) can be printed out by a printer unit using an unillustrated facsimile (FAX) transmission unit for an image read from the scanner unit.

Reference numeral 1102 denotes a database server which manages a binary image and a multi-valued image read by the information input / output device 1101 as a database. 1103
Is a database client and database server 1
The user can browse / search the image data stored in the storage unit 102. An e-mail server 1104 can receive an image read by the information input / output device 1101 as an e-mail attachment. An e-mail client 1105 receives and browses the e-mail received by the e-mail server 1104, and transmits the e-mail. 11
Reference numeral 06 denotes a WWW server, which provides an HTML document.
The L document can be printed out by the information input / output device 1101.

1107 is a DNS server, 1108 is LA
N and 1109 are routers for connecting the LAN 1108 to the Internet / intranet 1110.
An information input / output device 1101, a database server 1102, an electronic mail server 1104, an information input / output device 1111 which is a device similar to the electric WWW server 1106, a database server 1112, an electronic mail server 1113, and a WWW server 1114 are provided on the Internet / intranet 1110. Each is connected.

The information input / output device 1101 is connected to the FAX device 1116 via the PSTN or the ISDN 1115 so as to be able to transmit and receive. A printer 1117 is connected to the LAN 1108, and the printer 1117
An image read by the information input / output device 1101 can be printed out.

[Whole Configuration of Software Block] FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an entire configuration of a software block of a multifunction peripheral embodying the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1201 denotes a user interface (UI), which is a module that mediates with an apparatus when an operator performs various operations and settings of the multifunction peripheral. The UI 1201 transfers input information to various modules, which will be described later, and requests processing or sets data according to the operation of the operator. 1202 is Ad
This is a database module that manages data transmission destinations, communication destination information, and the like in the less-book. Adres
The contents of the s-Book 1202 are used to add, delete, and acquire data by an operation from the UI 1201 and to provide information on a destination and a communication destination of data to each module described later by an operation of an operator. is there.

Reference numeral 1203 denotes a Web-Server, which is used to notify management information of the MFP in response to a request from a Web client (not shown). This management information is read via a Control-API 1218 to be described later, and an HTTP 1212, TCP / I
The Web client is notified via P1216 and Network-Driver 1217.

Reference numeral 1204 denotes Universal-Send
Is a module that manages the distribution of data.
1 distributes the data specified by the operator to the communication (output) destination similarly specified. If the operator instructs the generation of distribution data using the scanner function of the present apparatus, the control described later will be performed.
The device is operated via the all-API 1218 to generate data.

Reference numeral 1205 denotes P550, which is a Universal Server.
This module is executed when a printer is specified as an output destination in the l-Send 1204. 1206 is E-M
This module is executed when an E-Mail address is specified as a communication destination in the Universal-Send 1204 in the “ai”. Reference numeral 1207 denotes a DB,
This module is executed when a database is specified as an output destination in the rsal-Send 1204. 120
Reference numeral 8 denotes a DP, which is a module that is executed when a multifunction peripheral similar to the present apparatus is designated as an output destination in the Universal-Send 1204.

1209 is Remote-Copy-Sc
“an” is a module that performs processing equivalent to the Copy function realized by the multifunction peripheral alone, with another multifunction peripheral connected via a network or the like using the scanner function of the multifunction peripheral as an output destination. 1210 is Remote-Copy-P
print is a module that uses a scanner function of the multifunction peripheral as an input destination to another multifunction peripheral connected via a network or the like, and performs processing equivalent to the Copy function realized by the multifunction peripheral alone. 1211 is Web-Pull-Pr
Int is a module that reads and prints information of various homepages on the Internet or an intranet.

Reference numeral 1212 denotes an HTTP, and the multifunction peripheral is an HTTP.
This module is used when communicating with the P. Web-Server by TCP / IP 1216 described later
r1203, providing communication to the Web-Pull-Print 1211. Reference numeral 1213 denotes an Ipr, which is a Universal-IP according to TCP / IP 1216 described later.
This provides communication to P55001205 in Send 1204. Reference numeral 1214 denotes an SMTP, which is a TCP described later.
/ Universal-Send1 by / IP1216
The communication is provided to the E-Mail 1206 in the communication 204.

Reference numeral 1215 denotes an SLM (Salutation).
-Manager), a TCP / IP 1216 described later.
DB in Universal-Send 1204
1207, DP1208 and Remote-Copy-
Scan1209, Remote-Copy-Prin
Communication is provided at t1210. 1216 is T
In the CP / IP, the various modules described above are assigned N
Network communication is provided by the network-Driver 1217.

Reference numeral 1217 denotes a Network-Driver
And controls the part physically connected to the network. 1218 is a Control-API,
For an upstream module such as Universal-Send 1204, a Job-Manager 121 described later is used.
9 to provide an interface with downstream modules, such as 9 and so on, to reduce the dependency between the upstream module and the downstream module, and to improve the applicability of each module. Reference numeral 1219 denotes a Job-Manager, which is a Control-API 1218 from the various modules described above.
It interprets the processing instructed via, and gives an instruction to each module described later. Also, Job-Mana
The ger 1219 centrally manages hardware processes executed in the multifunction peripheral.

Reference numeral 1220 denotes a CODEC-Manager.
Thus, various types of data compression and decompression are managed and controlled in the processing instructed by the Job-Manager 1219. Reference numeral 1221 denotes a Scan-Manager, and Job-
It manages and controls the scanning process specified by the Manager 1219. 1222 is Print-Man
The ager manages and controls the printing process instructed by the Job-Manager 1219.

Reference numeral 1223 denotes an FBE-Encoder.
ob-Manager 1219, Scan-Manag
The data read by the scan processing executed by the ER1221 is compressed in the FBE format. 1224 is JPEG-CODEC, and Job
-Manager 1219, Scan-Manager
Scan Processing and Print Executed by 1221
In print processing executed by the Manager 1222, JPEG compression of read data and JPEG decompression processing of print data are performed. Reference numeral 1225 denotes an MMR-CODEC, which is a Job-Manager 121.
9. Scan processing executed by Scan-Manager 1221 and Print-Manager 122
2 performs MMR compression of the read data and MMR decompression of the print data. Reference numeral 1226 denotes a scanner driver.
The n-Manager 1221 communicates with the scanner unit 102 internally connected to the MFP.
Reference numeral 1227 denotes a printer driver.
An interface between the ger 1222 and the printer unit 103 is provided. 1228 is Parallel-
Port-Driver, Web-Pull-Pri
The nt 1211 provides an interface when outputting data to an output device (not shown) via the parallel port.

[Application] An embodiment of the embedded application of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment of an embedded application related to distribution of the present invention. In FIG. 13, roughly the left half shows functional blocks implemented in the information input / output device of the present invention. The right half shows the function of another information input / output device of the present invention or the function of an existing information input / output device.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 1301 denotes User-I
interface (UI), that is, the operation unit 10 shown in FIG.
2 shows the second application block. The following features
It operates according to the instruction of the operation unit 102.

Reference numeral 1302 denotes a remote copy (Remote Copy)
-Copy) indicates an application sender block. Remote copying means printing an image scanned by the information input / output device of the present invention by another information input / output device connected via a network. An information input / output device capable of outputting can be selected by an application block 1301 of the operation unit 102.

Reference numeral 1303 denotes Universal-San
d, that is, the application transmission side block of the broadcast distribution. Existing printers (eg laser beam printers:
In the case of LBP), device-dependent image data is transmitted to an application block 1307 described later. Remote-Print that captures device-independent data
-Device1308, Notes-Server1
309, Original-Image-DB-Ser
ver (1) 1310, Mail-Server 131
Broadcast delivery is used for 1. This is because the compressed data of the binary image generated by one scan is converted to SL according to the destination.
M, Send by SMTP protocol. Original
-Image-DB-Server (2) 1312 is
Since only a multi-valued JPEG different from the above can be grasped, it is a single transmission.

Reference numeral 1304 denotes a Web-Pull-Print
Then, based on the URL input from the UI 1301, the Web-
The server accesses the server 1305, receives the homepage information, accumulates the information as HTML-Document, converts it into an existing postscript in page units, and prints it.

Reference numeral 1305 denotes a Web-Server, which is not related to the present invention, and a description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 1306 denotes a Remote-Print (C
opt) -Device (reception side of remote copy: print side) prints data transmitted in page units.

Reference numeral 1307 denotes an LBP (laser beam printer) which receives and prints an image transmitted by broadcast distribution.

1308 is Remote-Print-D
device (remote print receiving side: print side)
It is.

Reference numeral 1309 denotes a Notes-Server.
Receives and stores the image transmitted by broadcast distribution.

Reference numeral 1310 denotes Original-Image
-The DB-Server (1) receives and stores the binary image transmitted by the broadcast distribution.

Reference numeral 1311 denotes a mail server that receives and stores an image transmitted by broadcast distribution.

Reference numeral 1312 denotes Original-Image
-The DB-Server (2) receives and stores the multi-valued image transmitted by the broadcast distribution.

Reference numeral 1313 denotes a Web-Server, which contains information contents.

Reference numeral 1314 denotes a Web-Browser.
Access eb-Server, etc.

Hereinafter, the application group will be described in detail with reference to each block.

(User-Interface Application) User-Interface (hereinafter referred to as UI
The details of 1301 are as described above,
Here, the Address-Book 1301a will be described. This Address-Book 1301a
Is stored in a non-volatile storage device (non-volatile memory, hard disk, or the like) in the device of the present invention, in which characteristics of the device connected to the network are described. For example, those listed below are included. (1) Formal name or alias name of device (2) Network address of device (3) Network protocol that device can process (4) Document format that device can process (5) Compression type that device can process (6) Image resolution that can be processed by the device (7) Paper size and paper feed tray information that can be fed for printer devices (8) Folder name that can store documents for server (computer) devices Each application described below Is Address
-It is possible to determine the characteristics of the distribution destination based on the information described in the Book 1301a.

Further, this Address-Book 13
01a can be edited, and can be downloaded from a server computer or the like in a network and used, or can be directly referred to.

(Remote-Copy application) [0093] The Remote-Copy application uses Addr to process resolution information that can be processed by a device specified as a distribution destination.
The binary image read by the scanner unit 103 is compressed using a well-known MMR compression method according to the determination result based on the determination result based on the ess-book 1301a.
IFF (Tagged Image File For)
mat), and transmits to the printer device on the network through the SLM 1302a. What is SLM1302a?
Although not described in detail, the well-known Solution-Ma
namer (or Smart-Link-Manag)
er) is a type of network protocol including device control information and the like.

(Broadcast Distribution Application) The broadcast distribution application is different from the above-mentioned Remote-Copy application, and can transmit images to a plurality of distribution destinations by one image scanning. The distribution destination is not limited to the printer device, and can be directly distributed to a so-called server computer.

Hereinafter, description will be made in order according to the distribution destination.

The destination device is an LPD (Line Printer) which is a known network printer protocol.
Address-Book, which can process a known LIPS as a printer control command.
If it is determined according to 1301a, the address is similarly determined.
An image is read according to the image resolution determined by the Book 1301a, and the image itself is used in the present exemplary embodiment in a known FBE (First Binary Encode).
ing) and further LIPS coded,
LPR1, a well-known network printer protocol
At 303a, it transmits to the partner device.

If the destination device can communicate with the SLM 1302a and is a server device, the address-boost is used.
k1301a, the server address and the designation of the folder in the server are determined, and the image is read by the scanner unit 103 as in the case of the Remote-Copy application.
The value image is compressed using a well-known MMR compression method, and is compressed into a well-known TIFF (Tagged Image File).
Format), and can be stored in a specific folder of the server device on the network through the SLM 1303b.

Further, in the device according to the present embodiment, the server which is the partner device compresses using a known JPEG compression method and converts it into a known JFIF, and stores it in a specific folder of the server device on the network through the SLM 1303b. Is possible.

If the destination device is a known E-Mail-Se
address-Book130 if the request is a reverse
1a, compresses the binary image read by the scanner unit 103 using a known MMR compression method, and compresses the binary image using a known SMTP (Simpl).
e Mail Transfer Protocol) 1
Send to E-Mail-Server using 303c. Subsequent distribution is Mail-Server131
1 is performed.

(Web-Print application)
Since the Web-Print application is not directly related to the present invention, the description is omitted.

(Web-Server Application) Since the Web-Server application is not directly related to the present invention, its description is omitted.

[Operation Screen] The functions provided by the information input / output device of the present invention are Copy / Send / Retrieve.
/ Tasks / Management / Configugu
14 are divided into six major categories, which are six main tabs C displayed at the top of the operation screen 1400 of the operation unit 102 as shown in FIG.
OPY tab 1401, SEND tab 1402, RETR
EIVE tab 1403, TASKS tab 1404, MG
It corresponds to the MT tab 1405 and the CONFIG tab 1406. By pressing each of these tabs 1401 to 1406, switching to a screen of each category is performed.
When switching to another category is not permitted, the display color of each tab 1401 to 1406 changes, and each tab 14
There is no reaction when pressing 01 to 1406.

Copy is the scanner unit 10 of the own device.
3 and a function of performing a normal document copy using the printer unit 104, and a function of performing a document copy using a printer 1117 connected to the scanner unit 103 of the own apparatus via a network (remote copy).

Send is the scanner unit 10 of its own device.
3 is a function to transfer a document placed in the e-mail to a remote printer, a fax, a file transfer (FTP), and a database, and it is possible to specify a plurality of destinations.

Retrieve is a function of acquiring an external document and printing the document on the printer unit 104 of the apparatus. WW as a document acquisition means
Use of W, email, file transfer and fax is possible.

Tasks automatically processes documents sent from outside such as faxes and Internet prints, and periodically generates and manages tasks for performing Retrieve.

Management manages jobs, address books, bookmarks, documents, account information, and the like. The configuration performs settings (network, clock, etc.) relating to the own device.

[0108] "Device Information
In the “Service (DIS)” controller, the setting value for the job, the function of the device (scanner unit, printer unit, etc.), status, billing information, etc. are controlled.
A database held in a data format conforming to the l-API and an I / F with the database are defined as Device I
nformation Service (hereinafter, DIS
Described).

FIG. 15 shows DIS 1500 and Job-Man.
ager1219 and Scan-Manager122
1, the exchange with the Print-Manager 1222 is shown.

Basically, dynamic information such as a job start command is transmitted from the Job-Manager 1219 to each Mana.
The ger is directly instructed and the DIS 1500 is referred to for static information such as device functions and job contents. Each Man
Static, dynamic information and events from the ager are DIS1
500 to Job-Manager 1219. When setting and acquiring data from each Manager to the database of the DIS 1500, the DIS 150
Since the internal data format of 0 is Control-API compliant, the conversion process between the Control-API-compliant data format and the data format understandable by each Manager is performed. For example, when setting status data from each Manager, the device-specific data is interpreted, converted into corresponding data defined by Control-API, and the data is written to the database of the DIS 1500.

Job-Manager 1219 to DI
When setting and acquiring data in the database of S1500, Job-Manager 1219 and DIS1
No conversion of data to and from 500 occurs. Also, DIS
In 1500, event data is updated based on various event information notified from each Manager.

FIG. 16 shows various databases (hereinafter, referred to as DBs) held in the DIS 1500. Each DB will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 16, reference numeral 1601 denotes Superv
The isorDB is a DB that holds status and user information about the entire device. Information that needs to be backed up, such as a user ID and a password, is held in a non-volatile storage device such as an HD (hard disk) device or a backup memory. .

Reference numeral 1602 denotes ScanComponentD
B, 1603 is a PrintComponentDB,
These ScanComponentDB1602 and P
printComponentDB1603 exists C
It is held corresponding to each component. For example, for a device consisting of only a printer, PrintComp
oneDB only exists, and for example, F
AXComponentDB is held. Each Comp
At the time of initialization, the corresponding Managers set the component functions and status in the objectDBs 1602 and 1603, respectively.

Reference numeral 1604 denotes ScanJobService.
DB, 1605 is PrintJobServiceDB
And these ScanJobServiceDB16
04 and PrintJobServiceDB1605
Similarly to the ComponentDB, at the time of initialization, the corresponding Manager can set the functions that can be used by the device and the support status thereof. 1606 is Sc
anJobDB, 1607 is PrintJobDB, 1
608 is ScanDocumentDB, 1609 is P
printDocumentDB. These Scans
JobDB 1606, 1607, ScanDocume
The ntDBs 1608 and 1609 store Job-Mana every time a Job and a Document accompanying the Job are generated.
The ger 1219 dynamically secures and initializes, and sets necessary items. Each Manager is Job
ScanJobDB 1606 and 1607 before the processing of
And ScanDocumentDB1608, 1609
, The items necessary for the processing are read, and the Job processing is started. Thereafter, when the job processing is completed, these J
ob and the DB of the Document attached thereto are released. Since a Job has one or more Documents, a plurality of DocumentD
B may be secured.

Reference numeral 1610 denotes a SoftCounter, which is a database holding event information notified from each Manager. Reference numeral 1611 denotes an EventTable, which is a counter table for recording the number of times of scanning and the number of times of printing of the apparatus.

Events notified from the Manager include Comp from the Scan-Manager 1221.
There are status transition of the content, Scan process operation completion and various errors, component status transition from the Print-Manager 1222, Print process operation completion, paper jam, paper feed cassette open, etc., and events for identifying each event. The ID is predetermined.

When an event is issued from the Manager, the DIS 1500 sets the EventTable 1611
The event ID issued and the detailed data accompanying the event if necessary are registered. When the event cancellation is notified from the Manager, the event data designated to be canceled is deleted from the EventTable 1611.

When the event is polled by the Job-Manager 1219, the DIS 1500
By referring to the outCounter 1610, an event ID that is currently occurring and, if necessary, detailed data attached to the event are returned to the Job-Manager 1219, and if no event is currently occurring, that fact is returned. When the event of the completion of the scan processing and the print processing operation is notified, the counter value of the user who performed the scan and print is updated. This software counter is written back to the backed-up memory device or the non-volatile storage device of the HD device every time the value is updated so that the value is not lost due to accidental power-off or the like.

[Scan Operation] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a software structure relating to the scan operation. In the figure, a Job-Manager 1219 has a function of classifying and storing application-level requests. DIS
1500 stores parameters required for a scan operation from the application level. The request from the application level is stored in the RAM 106. The scan operation management unit 1701 stores the Job-Manager 12
19 and information necessary for performing a scan from the DIS 1500. The scan operation management unit 1701
Based on the table data 1801 of the job number 1803 and the document number 1804 shown in FIG.
The scan parameter 1802 shown in FIG.
As a result, scanning is performed based on the scanning conditions requested by the application.

The scan operation management unit 1701 stores the DIS1
The scan parameters 1802 obtained from the control unit 500 are transferred to the scan sequence control unit 1702 in document number order. Upon receiving the scan parameters 1802, the scan sequence control unit 1702 executes the scan image attribute 1808 of the scan parameters 1802 shown in FIG.
The device I / F control unit 1704 is controlled in accordance with the contents of (1). Thus, the device I / F unit 114 connected to the image bus 121 in FIG. 1 is operated, and a scan is executed by sending a control command to the scanner unit 103 via a cable. The scanned image passes through the cable to the device I / F unit 114 and is stored in the RAM 106 via the image bus 121. At the time when the scan is completed and the image is stored in the RAM 106 via the image bus 121, the scan sequence control unit 1702 determines the RAM according to the content of the scan image compression format 1809 of the scan parameter 1802 shown in FIG.
A request is issued to the CODEC-Manager 1220 in order to compress the scan image stored in 106. CODEC-Manager that received the request
A scan image compression format 1809 from the scan sequence control unit 1702 uses an image compression processing unit 118 connected to the image bus 121 or a software compression module in the MMR-CODEC 1225.
Perform compression by specifying. The image compression processing unit 118 stores the compressed image in the RAM 106 via the image bus 121.

The scan sequence control unit 1702
The ODEC-Manager 1220 compresses the scan image into the format specified by the scan image compression format 1809 of the scan parameter 1802 shown in FIG.
When stored in the AM 106, the scan parameters 18
02 according to the image file type 1807 of the RAM 10.
6. The compressed scan image stored in 6 is filed. The scan sequence control unit 1702 sends a scan parameter 180 to the file system 1703.
A request is made to create a file in the file format specified by the second image file type 1807.

The file system 1703 receives the image file type 18 from the scan sequence control unit 1702.
In order to convert the compressed scan image stored in the RAM 106 into a file in accordance with the image bus 121,
Then, the scanned compressed image is converted into a file by transferring the compressed image to the HDD 108 via the. The scan sequence control unit 1702 determines that the file system 1703
At the time when the filed image is stored in the storage unit 108, it is assumed that one current process on the scanner unit 103 has been completed.
A scan end notification is sent back to the scan operation management unit 1701.

At this point, there is a document which has not been scanned yet on the scanner unit 103, and the Job-Mana
If there is a scan request from the ger 1219, the scan sequence controller 170 is again used by using the scan parameters 1802 stored in the DIS 1500.
2 requests a scanning operation. If there is no unscanned document on the scanner unit 103 or
If there is no scan request from the b-Manager 1219, it is determined that the scan operation has been completed and Jo is performed.
A scan end notification is issued to the b-Manager 1219.

[Print Operation] Next, the print operation will be described in detail.

The device I / F unit 114 has a DRA inside.
M, and performs parameter setting to the printer, printer status reading, and exchange of print control commands via the DRAM. Also, this device I / F
The unit 114 has a video controller, and receives a V supplied from a printer via an engine interface cable.
The image data developed on the image bus 121 is transmitted to the printer via the engine interface cable in accordance with CLK (Video Clock) and HSYNC.

FIG. 19 shows the timing of this transmission. (A) is VCLK, (b) is HSYNC, (c) is VideoData, (d) is HSYNC, and (e) is V
This is videoData.

VCLK is continuously output, and HSYNC is given in synchronization with the start of one line of the printer. Vi
The deo controller sets the image width (WIDTH)
Data from the RAM 106 and read out the Video
Output to the engine interface cable as a signal. After repeating this for the specified number of lines (LINES),
Generate an IMAGE_END interrupt.

As described above, the Control-API1 shown in FIG.
When a print job instruction is passed to 218, Cont
The roll-API 1218 passes this to the controller-level Job-Manager 11219 as a job. Further, the Job-Manager 1219 stores the job settings in the DIS 1500 and prints the Print-M
A command to start a job is given to the “analoger” 1222. Pr
Upon receiving the job, the int-Manager 1222 reads information necessary for job execution from the DIS 1500 and sets the information in the printer unit 104 via the device I / F unit 114 and the DRAM. If the image is compressed, a request is made to the CODEC-Manager 1220 to expand the image, and in accordance with the request, the CODEC-Manager 1220 expands the image file into a bitmap image according to the expansion method (JPEG, MMR, etc.) specified by the Print-Manager 1222. . The developed image is stored in the RAM 106.

The setting items of the device I / F unit 114 are shown in FIG.
FIG. 21 shows setting items, control commands, and status commands of the printer unit 104 via the DRAM.

In FIG. 20, 2001 is WIDTH,
2002 is LINES, and 2003 is SOURCE.

In FIG. 21, reference numeral 2101 denotes Boo.
kNo, 2102 is FEED_REQ, 2103 is IM
AGE_START, 2104 is IMAGE_REQ,
2105 is IMAGE_END, 2106 is SHEET
_OUT.

The operation of a bitmap image will be described in detail assuming that the printer (104) has a characteristic of 600 dpi, with two pages of one copy of a letter (11 ″ × 8.5 ″) size binary image. .

After the image has been developed, Print-Mana
The ger 1222 calculates the number of image bytes of this image width (in this case, on the 8.5 ″ side) by the following equation (1): WIDTH = 8.5 × 600/8 = 630 (Bytes) (1) Next, the number of lines is calculated by the following equation (2).

LINES = 11 × 600 = 6600 (Lines) (2) These calculated values and the SOURCE address of the RAM 106 where the given first page image is stored are shown in FIG.
0, WIDTH 2001, LINES 2002, S
OUR2003 is set. At this point, device I
The / F unit 114 has completed preparation for image output, but does not output image data because the HSYNC signal from the printer unit 104 has not been received (the VCLK signal has been received).

Next, Print-Manager 1222
Is a predetermined address (Book) of the DRAM shown in FIG.
No. 2101) is written as the number of output copies. Thereafter, a request to feed the output paper for the first page (FEED
_REQ2102) and I from the printer unit 104.
Wait for MAGE_REQ2104. When IMAGE_REQ 2104 from the printer unit 104 arrives, IMAGE_REQ 2104
Issue _START2103. In response to this, the printer unit 104 starts outputting HSYNC, and the device I / F unit 114 that has been waiting for HSYNC outputs an image.

The printer unit 104 outputs IMAGE_END 2105 when detecting the rear end of the output sheet, and outputs SHEET_OUT 2106 when the output sheet is discharged. The Print-Manager 1222 receives the IMAGE_END 2105 of the first page, and receives the WIDTH 2001, LINES 2002, and SOU of the second page.
RCE 2003 is set in the device I / F unit 114, and FCE
EED_REQ 2102 is output, and IMAGE_RE
Wait for Q2104. IMAGE_REQ2 of the second page
The operation after the arrival of 104 is the same as that of the first page.

Next, switching of a software codec and a hardware codec, which are the main components of the present invention, will be described.

First, the flow and timing of data during scanning and printing will be described. A case of the UniversalSend function will be described as an example of the scan. The image scanned by the scanner unit 103 is
First, data is written from the device I / F unit 114 to the RAM 106 via the image bus 121. Next, after being read from the RAM 106 and encoded by a software codec or a hardware codec,
6 is stored. In the case of encoding by a software codec, the data is read from the RAM 106, compressed by the CPU 105, and stored in the RAM 106. In the case of encoding by a hardware codec, the image is compressed by the image compression processing unit 118 via the image bus 121. RA
The image stored in the M106 is converted into a general-purpose format such as a TIFF image file,
108. Finally, RAM 106, HDD 1
08 is transferred to the computer via the image bus 121 and the network unit 112.
FIG. 22 shows the image bus 12 when this series of operations is performed.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a use situation of the No. 1 as a time chart.
The data transfer rate of the image bus 121 was considered to be 2 Mbytes / sec on average. The data amount is A
Considering 4,600 dpi, 4 Mbytes, assume that the image compression processing unit 118 has a compression ratio of 1/2 (that is, 4 Mbytes for input and 2 Mbytes for output), 6 Mbytes, and 2 for LAN 122.
M bytes. Compression after scanning, LA after compression
N122, each function is used independently by the image bus 12.
Use 1.

Next, as an example of a printing operation, a remote
The eCopyPrint function will be described.

Network section 112 and image bus 121
The image data (compressed image converted to TIFF) transmitted via the RAM 106 is first stored in the RAM 106 and the HDD 108. Next, after taking extra header such as TIFF,
The compressed data is stored in the RAM 106. RAM 106
The data read from the hardware (image bus 121)
(→ image compression processing unit 118 → image bus 121) or by software and stored in RAM 106 again. Finally, the bit-mapped image is read from the RAM 106, and the image bus 121, the device I / F unit 114
Print out via.

The timing in the case where only the hardware codec is used assuming that the job of two scan sheets and one print sheet have occurred at the same time will be described with reference to FIG.

Here, a parallel processing in which a print job is performed in parallel with a certain job, for example, a scan job, is targeted.

In FIG. 23, reference numeral 2301 denotes the first scan of a certain scan job, 2302 denotes the second scan of the scan job, and 2303 denotes the first print of another print job. H / W Codec (hardware codec) during the first scan operation
And the print operation LAN 122 are simultaneously connected to the image bus 121.
Is used, the contention of the image bus 121 by the two functions occurs, and the processing time is twice as long as that when used alone. More specifically, the H / W Codec starts processing at time 2 and has 4 Mbytes remaining at time 3 and 2 Mbytes remaining at time 4. At this time, the print job is transferred to the LAN 121 (2 Mbytes). ) Starts, the data transfer from here is H / W Codec, LA
In both cases, data transfer of 2 Mbytes is performed in 2 seconds. In addition, at time 6, the LAN for the first scan
122, the transfer of the second scan data and the decode of the print data are performed simultaneously.
Since the contention of the image bus 121 due to the three functions occurs,
The processing speed is reduced to 1/3 of that when used alone.

Therefore, the scanner unit 103, the printer unit 1
04, the LAN 122, and the like, the bus use status of resources sharing the image bus 121 is investigated, and it is predicted which of a hardware codec and a software codec is used to quickly obtain a compression / decompression result. Switching the codec according to the prediction result can improve the performance of the system. Since the software codec is closed by the exchange between the RAM 106 and the CPU 105, it does not affect the image bus 121. Next, a method for managing the image bus 121 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 24, CODEC-Man
ager1220, Scan-Manager122
1. If the Print-Manager 1222 has resources using the image bus 121, the Print-Manager 1222
Flag the database in the Supervisor 1601 of 0. This is performed in advance before the start of the job. Then, just before actually using those resources, that is, before starting the job, a flag indicating that the resources are being used is set. Next, the data transfer amount is set in the data amount setting unit, and the start time is set in the start time setting unit. The start time is obtained through a timer library (TimeLib.) 2403 that can obtain the time from a timer IC (not shown).

FIG. 25 shows this database. This database has similar setting items for software codecs. Since parallel processing of software codecs by the CPU 105 is also possible, a plurality of setting locations are provided. CODEC-Manager
1220, Scan-Manager 1221, Pri
The nt-Manager 1222 resets the flag indicating “in use” at the end of the job, and clears the remaining data amount and the start time.

Next, the data amount management unit 2404 in FIG. 24 will be described.

This software has a role of reducing the amount of remaining data in FIG. 25 according to the progress of time. Periodic execution by timer interrupt (for example, 10
ms), the image bus 121 is set in advance.
The current remaining data amount is estimated by subtracting the data amount that could be transferred from the remaining data amount from the data transfer amount and the number of simultaneous users of the image bus 121. For example, at time 1 in FIG. 23, before the calculation, the remaining data amount of the scanner unit 103 is 4 Mbytes, but the data transfer amount is 2 Mbytes / second, and only the scanner unit 103 uses the image bus 121. If the software interrupts every second, the scanner unit 10
Since the remaining data amount of 3 should be 2 Mbytes at present, the remaining data amount of the scanner unit 103 is rewritten to 2.

Next, the operation of the Scan-Manager 1221 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When a job occurs, Scan-Manager
Reference numeral 1221 performs initialization processing of the scanner unit 103 in step S2601. Investigation of resources using the bus 121 is also performed in step S2601. If the scanner unit 103 is usable, a flag indicating that the scanner unit 103 is usable is set, and the scanner unit 1 is activated due to a communication error or the like.
If 03 cannot be used, the UI 1201 displays information indicating an error.

Next, in step S2602, it is determined whether there is a scan request. If there is no scan request, this processing operation ends without performing any processing.
If there is a scan request in step S2602, then in the next step S2603, a flag indicating that the scanner unit 103 is being used is set to 1 in the table of the DIS 1500 shown in FIG. Set the amount of data known from the key. Next, in step S2604, the scanner unit 103 is instructed to scan, and the scan data is transferred to the RAM 106.

When the transfer to the RAM 106 is completed,
In step S2605, the flag set in the table of DIS 1500 shown in FIG. 25 is returned to 0, and the remaining data amount and the start time are cleared. Next, in step S2606, CODE
After requesting the C-Manager 1220 for compression, the process returns to the step S2601.

Next, Print-Manager 1222
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When a job occurs, Print-Manage
r1222 is the printer unit 104 in step S2701.
Is performed. Investigation of resources using the image bus 121 is also performed in step S2701. Printer unit 1
If the printer unit 104 can be used, a flag indicating that the printer unit 104 can be used is set. If the printer unit 104 cannot be used due to a communication error or the like, information indicating an error is displayed on the UI 1201.

Next, in step S2702, it is determined whether there is a print request. If there is no print request, this processing operation ends without performing any processing.
If there is a print request in step S2702, then in step S2703 the CODEC-M
A request for reconciliation is sent to the analyzer 1220, and the process waits until the reconciliation ends. After the completion of the decoding, in step S2704, 1 is set as a flag indicating that the printer unit 104 is in use, and the start time, the print resolution, and the amount of data known from the gradation are set in the table of the DIS 1500 shown in FIG. I do. Next, step S2605
To instruct the printer unit 104 to print, and causes the print data to be transferred from the RAM 106. When the transfer from the RAM 106 is completed, the flag set in the table of the DIS 1500 shown in FIG. 25 is reset to 0 in step S2706, the remaining data amount and the start time are cleared, and the process returns to step S2601.

Next, CODEC-Manager 1220
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S2801, an H / W (hardware) codec is initialized. Image bus 1
Investigation of resources using 21 is performed at the same time in step S2801. If the H / W codec is usable, a flag indicating that is set, and if the H / W codec is not usable due to a failure of the Codec chip or the like, information indicating an error is displayed on the UI 1201.

In step S2802, it is determined whether there is a request for encoding / decoding from the printer / scanner. If there is no request for encoding / decoding from the printer unit / scanner unit, this processing operation ends without performing any processing. If there is a request for encoding / decoding from the printer / scanner in step S2802, the image bus 12 is sent in step S2803.
Whether the processing speed of the S / W (software) codec is high or the processing speed of the H / W codec is high is determined based on the usage status of (1). Of course, CODEC-Manager12
20 must know the processing speed of the S / W codec.

More specifically, the prediction is performed by using the DIS shown in FIG.
Access to the database in the 1500 and the image bus 12
No. 1 and the amount of remaining data of the function that is being used, and when either the H / W codec or the S / W codec is used, the compression / decompression processing is faster using either codec. Calculate if you can.

For example, when the LAN 122 for the first scan is 2 Mbytes at the time 6 in FIG. 23 and the scanner unit 103 for the second scan is 4 Mbytes, the print codec is the H / W codec and the S / W codec is Let's calculate which one to use.

The three functions of the LAN 122, the scanner unit 103, and the codec compete for the image bus 121, and the data amount during that period is obtained by min (LAN 122, scanner unit 103, H / W codec). In this case, the LAN 122 is 2 Mbytes, and the scanner unit 103
Is 4 Mbytes, and the H / W codec is 6 Mbytes, which is 2 Mbytes.

If the three functions send data while competing for 2 Mbytes each, it takes 3 seconds if the data transfer rate of the image bus 121 is 2 Mbytes / sec. After that, the scanner unit 103 uses the H / W codec to set the image bus 1
21 conflicts occur. The data amount at this time is obtained by min (scanner unit 103, H / W codec). The remaining data amount of the scanner unit 103 is 2 Mbytes, and the remaining data amount of the H / W codec is 4 Mbytes, which is 2 Mbytes. It takes 2 seconds because the two functions send data while competing for 2 MB each. After that, it takes 1 second since the remaining 2 Mbytes of the H / W codec are transferred, and the calculation takes 6 seconds in total.

For example, when an image of this degree is compressed,
Assuming that the S / W codec is completed in 5 seconds, the same calculation is performed as follows.

At time 6 in FIG. 23, since the LAN 122 (2 Mbytes) and the scanner unit 103 (4 Mbytes) compete with each other, min (scanner unit 103, LAN 122) = 2M
Byte transfer takes 2 seconds. The remaining part (2 Mbytes) of the scanner unit 103 ends in one second because no conflict occurs.
The S / W codec ends in 5 seconds regardless of the image bus 121.

Therefore, when using the S / W codec,
The LAN 122 for the first scan is 1 second longer than using the H / W codec, the transfer for the second scan is 2 seconds,
Since print decoding can be shortened by one second, it is determined that the S / W codec is more advantageous than the total value, and the S / W codec is selected. Although the total value is used here, various thresholds can be set according to the system configuration.

In step S2804 in FIG.
If it is determined that the / W codec is more advantageous than the S / W codec, in step S2805, a flag indicating that the H / W codec is being used in the H / W codec portion of the table of the DIS 1500 shown in FIG. Set the remaining data amount and start time. Next, in step S2806, the H / W codec is activated, and waits until the activation is completed.
After the startup is completed, in the next step S2807, FIG.
After resetting the in-use flag in the table of DIS 1500 shown in FIG. 5, clearing the remaining data amount, and the start time, the process returns to step S2802.

On the other hand, in step S2804,
If it is determined that the S / W codec is more advantageous than the H / W codec, the process proceeds to step S2808 in FIG.
, A flag indicating that the S / W codec is being used, the remaining data amount, and the start time are set in the S / W codec portion of the table of the DIS 1500 shown in FIG. Next, in step S2809, the S / W codec is activated, and waits until the activation is completed. Then, after the startup is completed, in the next step S2810, the in-use flag of the table of the DIS 1500 shown in FIG. 25 is reset, the remaining data amount and the start time are cleared.
The process returns to step S2802.

S / W to print job at time 6 in FIG.
FIG. 29 shows a time chart when a codec is used. In the figure, reference numeral 2901 denotes a first scan of a scan job, 2902 denotes a second scan of the scan job, and 2903 denotes a first print of another print job.

According to FIG. 29, it can be seen that both the scan job and the print job are completed faster than the example of FIG.

[0171]

As described above in detail, according to the information input / output method and apparatus of the present invention, based on a prediction result for predicting which of a software codec and a hardware codec is more advantageous. Since the software codec and hardware codec are switched and used, it is possible to operate at the optimum processing speed by predicting which codec can be processed faster from the image bus usage situation This has the effect.

According to the storage medium of the present invention, the information input / output device of the present invention as described above can be controlled smoothly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information input / output device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a configuration of the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of an operation unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a device I / F unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a scanner image processing unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer image processing unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image rotation processing unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image compression processing unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining image rotation processing in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining image rotation processing in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of an entire network system including the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of software in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an embedded application in a network system including the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of an operation unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates a DIS in a network system including an information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
And Job-Manager, Print-Manag
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing data exchange with er and Scan-Manager.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a database and counters inside a DIS in a network system provided with the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for describing software control in scanning of the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for describing a parameter table in scanning of the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing transfer timing of print image data in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a print parameter register table in a device I / F unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a communication command table between a printer unit and a device I / F unit in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a time chart at the time of one page scan in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a time chart at the time of a decoding operation when a hardware codec is used in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing software modules around a CODEC-Manager in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a bus management table without a DIS in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of Scan-Manaer in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of a Print-Manager in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a CODEC-Manager in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a time chart at the time of a decoding operation when a hardware codec and a software codec are used in the information input / output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 information input / output device 101 controller unit 102 operation unit 103 scanner unit 104 printer unit 105 CPU (central processing unit) 106 RAM (random access memory) 107 ROM (read only memory) 108 HDD (hard disk drive) 109 operation unit I / F section 110 Modem 111 Image bus / F section 112 Network section 113 RIP (raster image processor) 114 Device I / F section 115 Scanner image processing section 116 Printer image processing section 117 Image rotation processing section 118 Image compression processing section 119 WAN (public) Line) 120 system bus 121 LAN (local communication network) 122 image bus 201 document feeder 202 tray 203 paper cassette 204 paper cassette 205 paper cassette 2 6 Paper cassette 207 Discharge tray 301 Display section 302 Start key 303 LED (light emitting diode) 304 Stop key 305 ID key 306 Reset key 401 Image bus I / F controller 402 Filter processing section 403 Editing section 404 Zoom processing section 405 Table processing Unit 406 binarization processing unit 501 image bus I / F controller 502 filter processing unit 503 editing unit 504 scaling unit 505 table processing unit 506 binarization processing unit 601 image bus I / F controller 602 resolution conversion unit 603 smoothing processing Unit 701 Image bus I / F controller 702 Image rotation unit 703 RAM (random access memory) 801 Image bus I / F controller 802 Input buffer 803 Output buffer 804 Image compression unit 805 RAM (random access memory) 1101 information input / output device 1102 database server 1103 database client 1104 e-mail server 1105 e-mail server client 1106 WWW server 1107 DNS server 1108 LAN (local communication network) 1109 router 1110 Internet / intranet 1111 information input / output device 1112 Database server 1113 E-mail server 1114 WWW server 1115 PSTN / ISDN 1116 FAX device 1117 Printer 1201 UI (user interface) 1202 Address-Book 1203 Web-Server 1204 Universal-Send 1205E120M5120 P5M5E1208 P5M 1209 Remote-Copy-Scan 1210 Remote-Copy-Print 1211 Web-Pull-Print 1212 HTTP 1213 Ipr 1214 SMTP 1215 SLM 1216 TCP / IP 1217 Network Agent-Drger 1222 Print-Manager 1223 FBE-Encoder 1224 JPEG-CODEC 1225 MMR-CODEC 1226 Scanner Driver 1227 Printer Driver 1228 Parallel-Port-Drive
r 1301 UI (User-Interface) 1301a Address-Book 1302 Remote copy 1302a SLM 1303 Universal-Sand 1303a LPR 1303b SLM 1303c SMTP 1304 Web-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print-Print5
Device 1307 Remote-Print-Device 1308 Remote-Print-Device 1309 Notes-Server 1310 Original-Image-DB-S
server (1) 1311 Mail-Server 1312 Original-Image-DB-S
erver (2) 1313 Web-Server 1314 Web-Browser 1400 operation screen 1401 COPY tab 1402 SEND tab 1403 RETREIVE tab 1404 TASKS tab 1405 MGMT tab 1406 CONFIG tab 1500 DIS 1601 Supervisor DB 1602 Scan Component DB 1603 Print Component DB 1604 Scan Job Service DB 1605 Print Job Service D
B 1606 Scan Job DB 1607 Print Job DB 1608 Scan Document DB 1609 Print Document DB 1610 Soft Counter 1611 Event Tale 1701 Scan operation management unit 1701 Scan sequence control unit 1801 Scan sequence control unit 1702 Scan sequence control unit 1702 Scan sequence control unit 1801 Job number 1804 Document number 1805 Job number 1806 Document number 1807 Image file type 1808 Scan image attribute 1809 Scan image compression format 2001 WIDTH 2002 LINES 2003 SOURCE 2101 Book-No 2102 FEED_REQ 2103 IMAGE START 2104 IMAGE_REQ 2105 IMAGE_END 2106 SHEET_OUT

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. An information input / output method for inputting / outputting information by an information input / output device, comprising: a hardware codec process for decoding code by hardware; and a software codec process for decoding code by software. A bus management step of managing a use state of a bus to which resources are connected, and a prediction of predicting a processing end time of the hardware codec step and the software codec step from the use state of the bus managed by the bus management step An information input / output method, comprising: a step of switching between the hardware codec step and the software codec step based on a prediction result of the prediction step. 2. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein said information input / output device is a copying device. 3. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the information input / output device is a printing device. 4. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein said resource is a scanner interface. 5. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the resource is a printer interface. 6. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein said resource is a network interface. 7. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the resource is a hardware codec. 8. An information input / output device for inputting / outputting information, wherein resources are connected to hardware codec means for code decoding by hardware, software codec means for code decoding by software, and resources. Bus management means for managing the use status of the bus, prediction means for predicting the processing end time of the hardware codec means and the software codec means from the use status of the bus managed by the bus management means, An information input / output device comprising: a switching unit that switches between the hardware codec unit and the software codec unit based on a prediction result of the unit. 9. The information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein said information input / output device is a copying device. 10. The information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein said information input / output device is a printing device. 11. The information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein said resource is a scanner interface. 12. The information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein said resource is a printer interface. 13. The information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein said resource is a network interface. 14. The information input / output device according to claim 8, wherein said resource is a hardware codec means. 15. A storage medium for storing a control program for storing a control program for controlling an information input / output device for inputting / outputting information, wherein the use state management of a bus to which resources are connected is performed, and the management is performed. From the bus usage
Predict the processing end time of the code decoding process by hardware and the code decoding process by software, and control to switch between the code decoding process by hardware and the code decoding process by software based on the prediction result. A storage medium storing a control program having a step control module. 16. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein said information input / output device is a copying device. 17. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein said information input / output device is a printing device. 18. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein said resource is a scanner interface. 19. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein said resource is a printer interface. 20. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein said resource is a network interface. 21. The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein said resource is a hardware codec means.