KR20070013171A - Image forming apparatus and the auto resistor setting method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An image forming device and an automatic resistor setting method thereof are provided to automatically set a register by automatically changing register setting with hardware not software, and increase performance and stability of a system by reducing an interrupt generation frequency. A memory(420) stores a band descriptor for representing a setting value for respective bands. A master device(430) performs a requested job by changing the register setting of the band according to the band descriptor stored in the memory. The master device includes a setting register(440) storing the setting value for the bands represented by the band descriptor, and an automatic starting register(460) setting the setting value represented by the band descriptor matched with one of the bands to the setting register, generating a start signal for the requested job, and repeatedly performing previous processes to the next band.

Description

Image forming apparatus and the auto resistor setting method

1 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of a general image forming apparatus;

Figure 2 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of a conventional master device,

3 is a flowchart provided to explain a register setting method according to an embodiment of a conventional master apparatus;

4 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a diagram showing the structure of a band descriptor stored in a memory of the present invention;

6 is a view showing in detail the band descriptor of the present invention, and

7 is a flowchart provided to explain an automatic register setting method of the master apparatus provided in the image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

410: memory controller 420: memory

430: master device 440: setting register

442: control register 444: address register

446: count register 450: core

460: auto start register 462: auto control register

464: base address register 466: band count register

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an automatic register setting method of a master apparatus provided in the image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus for dividing a page into a plurality of bands to perform an operation. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for automatically setting a register according to a change of some setting such as an address and a size for each band, and an automatic register setting method thereof.

The master device has bus access to the bus system and is connected in parallel to one common bus. The master device uses the bus to access data to other masters and slaves. The master device can also request data from other masters and slaves using the bus.

1 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of a general image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus is composed of a bus system. Referring to FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus includes a CPU 110, a memory controller 120, a memory 130, a codec controller 140, and a printer video controller 150.

CPU 110 for controlling an image forming apparatus, a memory controller 120 for controlling a memory 130 in which image data is stored, a codec controller 140 for compressing and restoring image data, and converting image data into a video signal. The printer video controller 150 is a master device. The master devices communicate using a system bus 115, and the memory controller 120 communicates with the memory 130 using a memory bus 125.

The master device divides the image data corresponding to one page into a plurality of bands in consideration of efficiency and data processing performance of the memory 130 using a program to perform operations such as access, compression / restore, and signal conversion.

The master device performs the operation continuously under the same setting except for some settings for each band. Hereinafter, the master device will be described on the assumption that the operation is performed by changing the setting of the address and the size.

2 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of a conventional master apparatus. Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional master device includes a set register 10 and a core 20.

The setting register 10 includes a control register 12 for controlling the setting, an address register 14 for setting the address of each band, and a count register 16 for setting the count. The core 20 processes image data according to a corresponding operation of each master device for each band.

3 is a flowchart provided to explain a register setting method according to an embodiment of a conventional master apparatus. Referring to FIG. 3, when an operation for one page is requested, an address and a count register of the first band are set (S300). When a start of DMA (SOD) interrupt indicating the start of the requested operation occurs (S310), the address and the count register of the next band are set (S320). It is determined that it is the last band (S330), and when the work for one page is completed (S340) ends.

Therefore, not only the register settings such as address and count should be changed for each band, but also the interrupt for notifying the start of the requested operation must be processed for each band. For example, if one page is divided into 55 bands and printed in color, the image data is compressed after rendering so that one interrupt SOD, one video signal conversion SOD, and four color CMYK interrupts are processed. Should be. This causes 55 * (1 + 1) * 4 = 440 interrupts to print one page.

In an image forming apparatus where it is important to process interrupts in real time, processing such interrupts programmatically is not only risky, but may not be able to obtain a desired image image if not processed within a given time.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an automatic register setting method capable of automatic register setting by automatically changing and setting register settings in hardware without changing the register setting by software.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a master device for improving the performance and stability of a system by reducing the frequency of occurrence of interrupts, and an automatic register setting method thereof.

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus for performing a requested operation by dividing a page amount of image data into a plurality of bands may include storing a band descriptor indicating a setting value for each of the plurality of bands. And a master device for changing the register settings of the plurality of bands according to the band descriptors stored in the memory to perform the requested operation.

In addition, the master device sets a setting register in which setting values for each of the plurality of bands indicated by the band descriptor are set, and a setting value indicated by a band descriptor corresponding to one band of the plurality of bands in the setting register. And generating a start signal of the requested operation, and when the operation of one band is completed, it is preferable to include an auto start register for repeating the process in the next band.

The band descriptor may exist as many as the number of bands and may be continuously stored in the memory.

On the other hand, the automatic register setting method of the image forming apparatus that performs a requested operation by dividing a page amount of image data into a plurality of bands, storing a band descriptor indicating a setting value for each of the plurality of bands in a memory. And changing a register setting of the plurality of bands according to the band descriptor stored in the memory to perform the requested operation.

The performing of the requested operation may include setting a setting value for each of the plurality of bands indicated by the band descriptor in a setting register, and setting indicated by a band descriptor corresponding to one band of the plurality of bands. And setting a value in the set register, generating a start signal of the requested operation, and repeating the process in the next band when the operation of one band is completed.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described in detail the present invention.

4 is a block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The master apparatus 430 included in the image forming apparatus further includes an auto start register 460, thereby automatically changing the setting only for registers requiring setting change, rather than changing all register settings of a plurality of bands. Accordingly, the master device performs the requested operation without processing hundreds of interrupts in order to perform the operation on one page of image data.

Referring to FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus includes a memory controller 410, a memory 420, and a master device 430.

The memory controller 410 stores and reads image data and a band descriptor in the memory 420. The memory 420 stores band data representing image data and setting values required for each band.

The master device 430 automatically changes and sets a register setting that requires a setting change by dividing a page amount of image data into a plurality of bands to perform a requested operation. The memory controller 410 is also an example of the master device 430.

The master device 430 includes a setting register 440, a core 450, and an auto start register 460. The setting register 440 includes a control register 442 for controlling a setting, and an address of each band is set. Address register 444, and a count register 446 in which the count of each band is set. Since the setting items vary depending on the master device 430, various implementations of the setting register 440 may be performed for each master device.

The core 450 processes image data according to a corresponding operation of each master device for each band. Specifically, if the master device 430 is a memory controller 410, the core 450 accesses the image data, and if the codec controller, the core 450 compresses / restores the image data, and if the printer video controller, the core 450 Converts the image data into a video signal.

The auto start register 460 controls to automatically change register settings for each band. The auto start register 460 includes an auto control register 462, a base address register 464, and a band count register 466.

The auto control register 462 automatically starts the corresponding operation of the master device 430 without generating an interrupt. The base address register 464 indicates the address of the first band, that is, the base address, and the band count register 466 specifies the total number of bands.

5 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a band descriptor stored in a memory of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the band descriptor stored in the memory 420 has a data structure of an address field and a count field. The address represents the address of the band, and the count represents the order of the band.

For example, if a page is divided into 55 bands, 55 band descriptors indicating an address and a count of each band are stored in the memory 420 in order.

As a result, it is possible to know a setting value for changing each band according to the band descriptor.

6 is a view showing in detail the band descriptor of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, there are N band descriptors for N bands based on the base address of the band descriptor, that is, the address of the first band. The N band descriptors are stored in contiguous space of the memory 420.

Since the base address is continuously stored based on the base address, the address of each band can be known, and the number of all bands can be known by increasing the band count by one.

7 is a flowchart provided to explain an automatic register setting method of a master device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, when a job for one page is requested, the master device 430 automatically divides one page into a plurality of bands and automatically sets registers of each band (S700). Specifically, the master device 430 sets the control register to be used during the one page operation to the automatic control register 462, and sets the start address of the band descriptors stored in the memory 420 to the base address register 464. do. In addition, the master device 430 sets the total number of bands to be processed in the band count address 466 according to the number of band descriptors stored in the memory 420.

The auto control register 462 starts the requested operation (S710). At this time, when the auto control register 462 starts the operation, the value stored in the first 0 band descriptor is read from the memory 420 using the address set in the base address register 464, and the address register 444 is counted. The register 446 is set. The auto control register 462 increases the band count after sending a job start signal to the core 450 without generating an interrupt.

When the operation completion signal for band 0 from the core 450 is generated, the auto start register 462 reads the band 1 descriptor for the second band and sets the address register 444 and the count register 446. After that, the operation signal is sent to the core 450.

The auto control register 462 repeats the same process until the last band to perform the requested task.

The auto control register 462 determines whether work on one page is completed (S720).

If it is determined that the processing is completed until the last band, the auto control register 462 ends the operation.

As described above, according to the present invention, by automatically setting registers in hardware, not only software control of the entire operation is simplified, but also operations on one page can be performed without hundreds of interrupt processes.

In addition, although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus for dividing a page amount of image data into a plurality of bands and performing a requested operation, A memory for storing a band descriptor indicating a setting value for each of the plurality of bands; And And a master device for changing the register settings of the plurality of bands according to the band descriptors stored in the memory to perform the requested operation. The method of claim 1, The master device, A setting register for setting a setting value for each of the plurality of bands indicated by the band descriptor; And A setting value indicated by a band descriptor corresponding to one of the plurality of bands is set in the setting register, the start signal of the requested operation is generated, and when the operation of one band is completed, the process is performed to the next band. And an autostart register to repeat. The method of claim 1, The band descriptor exists as many as the number of the band, the master device, characterized in that stored in the memory continuously. In an automatic register setting method of an image forming apparatus for dividing a page amount of image data into a plurality of bands and performing a requested operation, Storing a band descriptor indicating a setting value for each of the plurality of bands in a memory; And And changing the register settings of the plurality of bands according to the band descriptors stored in the memory to perform the requested operation. The method of claim 4, wherein Performing the requested operation, Setting setting values for each of the plurality of bands indicated by the band descriptor in a setting register; And A setting value indicated by a band descriptor corresponding to one of the plurality of bands is set in the setting register, the start signal of the requested operation is generated, and when the operation of one band is completed, the process is performed to the next band. And repeatedly performing the automatic register setting method of an image forming apparatus.

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