JP2002218188A - Image processing unit and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain a high-speed for an FCOT(First Copy On Time) without the need for an expensive RAM or HD. SOLUTION: An image input section 100001 of an image processing unit A gives image data to a RAM 100003. An image output section 100006 provides the output on the basis of image data read from a RAM. When the result of transmission/reception of information with respect to the image data between a communication means including a network and an external unit B satisfies a prescribed condition, an image data controller 100002 supplies the image data read from the RAM to an image output section without storing the data to an HD 100005 and uses the communication means to transmit the data B to attain the high-speed FCOT in a network copy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method, and more particularly to, for example, a high-speed image memory (RA).
M) and large image memory (HD (hard disk))
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method typified by a multifunctional copying machine, which has a network copying function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image processing apparatus such as a multifunction copying machine,
It must process image data that is read at high speed, such as a scanner. Therefore, the input image data is stored in a RAM that can be accessed at a high speed, so as to match the processing speed of the scanner. Similarly, on the output side, in order to match the printing speed of the printer and the communication speed of the network, the output image data is stored in the RAM, and the image data is supplied from this to the printer and the network.

Further, for a plurality of copies of a multi-page document, an HD serving as a large-capacity image memory is used, image data read by a scanner is stored in a RAM, and the data is temporarily transferred to the HD, and is then transferred to a printer. A technique has been proposed in which necessary image data is transferred from an HD to a RAM and output from the RAM to a printer so that a required number of copies can be made only by reading the original once.

[0004]

However, these technologies cannot operate the HD at high speed, so that the FCOT (First Copy On Time) which is regarded as important in the copying machine is used.
e) had the disadvantage of being slow. For example, for a single copy, the RAM used for input and the R
By making the AM the same, the FCOT can be made faster, but a large-capacity RAM is required to support a plurality of copies of a plurality of pages. However, a RAM is very expensive compared to an HD having the same capacity, and is expensive as a product, so it is not practical. Conversely, even if everything is covered by a high-speed HD (such as RAID), such an HD would still be very expensive. In addition, these conditions are expected to become more severe in the future due to higher speed and higher resolution of scanners, printers, networks, and the like.

[0005] The above description has been made with reference to a copying machine as an example.
The same can be said for AX and PDL. However, it can be said that the copying machine has the strictest time restrictions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus and method which can make FCOT as fast as possible, for example, in a network copy using a current system.

Further, according to the present invention, in a multiple job in which a plurality of image outputs are assigned to the same image, the FCO
The aim is also to make T as fast as possible.

[0008]

A first storage means for storing image data, a second storage means having a larger storage capacity than the first storage means, and storing the image data. Image input means for supplying image data to the first storage means, image output means for performing output based on the image data read from the first storage means, and at least one of the image input means and the image output means Communication means for transmitting and receiving image data between one and an external device;
A control unit that controls the first storage unit, the second storage unit, the image input unit, the image output unit, and the communication unit, wherein the control unit communicates with the external device using the communication unit. When the predetermined condition is satisfied as a result of transmitting and receiving the information about the image data between the image data, the image data read from the first storage unit is supplied to the image output unit without being stored in the second storage unit. I do.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the image data input means has an image data generating means for generating image data.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the image output means has an image data consuming means for creating a medium output from the image data.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the external device according to any one of the first to third aspects, the predetermined condition is that the communication means transmits a job start request to the external device and receives the job start request. The communication unit receives from the external device a predicted job start time Tj at which image data relating to the job can be started to be received, and stores the image data relating to the job from the first storage unit more than the predicted job start time Tj. Time T once stored in the second storage means and then stored again in the first storage means
It is characterized in that n is slower.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the image output unit has at least two output units, and the predetermined condition is that the image data from the first storage unit is stored in the storage unit. For a multiple job that supplies the image data to the other of the two output units while supplying the image data to one of the two output units, a job start request is transmitted to the external device by the communication unit, and the job is The received external device receives a predicted job start time Tj at which the image data of the job can be received and started from the external device, and the job output predicted time Tj and the image output unit need the image data of the job. Time T
e between the time e and the time Tn at which the image data relating to the job is temporarily stored in the second storage means from the first storage means and then stored again in the first storage means, Tj <Tn and Te <Tn Is a case where either of the above is satisfied.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the external device is an image processing apparatus having the same configuration as the image processing apparatus of the first aspect. And

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the image data generating means has a scanner function of reading an original and generating image data.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the image data generating means has a function of generating image data from PDL data.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the image data generating means has a facsimile data developing function of creating image data from facsimile data.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the image data consuming means has a printer function of printing image data on a paper medium.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the image data consuming means has a function of generating FAX data from image data.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the control means reads the image data read from the first storage means while supplying the image data to the image data consuming means. The image data is stored in parallel in the second storage means.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the job attribute includes an output setting.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, the job attribute includes input information.

According to a fifteenth aspect, in the fourteenth aspect, the input information includes a paper size.

The invention of claim 16 is characterized in that, in claim 14, the input information includes information on whether or not the input is a mixed original input.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the communication means
Sends and receives information about image data with external devices,
If the predetermined condition is satisfied as a result of the transmission and reception, the first
The image data read from the storage unit is supplied to an image output unit that performs output based on the image data without storing the image data in a second storage unit having a larger storage capacity than the first storage unit.

The invention according to claim 18 is the image processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined condition is that the communication means transmits a job start request to the external device, and the external device that has received the job start request transmits an image related to the job. A predicted job start time Tj at which data can be received is received from the external device by the communication unit, and the image data of the job is transferred from the first storage unit to the second storage unit more than the predicted job start time Tj. It is characterized in that the time Tn, which is once stored and then stored again in the first storage means, is later.

According to a nineteenth aspect, in the seventeenth aspect, the image output unit has at least two output units, and the predetermined condition is that the image data from the first storage unit is output to the two output units. A job start request is transmitted to the external device by the communication unit with respect to a multiple job that simultaneously supplies the image data to the other of the two output units while supplying the job to one of the two output units. A predicted job start time Tj at which the image data of the job can be received and started is received from the external device. The predicted job start time Tj, the time Te at which the image output unit needs the image data of the job, and the job The time T at which the image data according to the above is temporarily stored in the second storage means from the first storage means and then stored again in the first storage means. In between, Tj <Tn and T
It is characterized in that any one of e <Tn is satisfied.

[0027]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (Embodiment 1) <Single device control> The device of the present invention and its operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 which is a block diagram of the single device of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 100001 is an image input unit, 100002 is an image data controller, 1000
03 and 100004 are RAM, 100005 is H
D and 100006 are an image output unit and 100007 is an image request time prediction unit. Image data controller 1000
02 is an image input unit 100001, RAM 100003
And 100004, HD100005, image output unit 1
00006, which controls transmission / reception of signals (data) to / from the image request time prediction unit 100007, and according to a control program stored in an internal memory, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. , The control as shown in FIG. Image input unit 100001 and image output unit 1000
06 can have a communication function of communicating with an external device via a network, for example. In the apparatus of this embodiment, the operation of the image input system and the operation of the image output system are performed almost asynchronously with respect to the image data controller 100002. As will be described later, the two systems synchronize three times. One is Est for notifying information of input image data that will be output to an image output system from now on.
imagedImage (signal (hereinafter the same)) 20
0003, and DirectRea for notifying the input system that the output system and the RAM are shared.
Ding signal 400001 and DirectReadComplete for notifying the timing when RAM sharing ends.
ted400002.

In the following embodiments, the image output unit is a printer, but the same control is performed by a network transmission module or a facsimile transmission module.

Hereinafter, the three operations of the normal operation of the input system, the normal operation of the output system, and the RAM sharing operation will be described in detail.

Input System Normal Operation FIG. 2 shows a message flow of the input system normal operation. The image input unit 100001 requests the image data controller for the capacity of the image data to be created and the location of the HD finally desired to be stored as StorageReq 200001. Upon receiving the StoringReq 20001, the image data controller 10002
It is checked whether there is a continuous area in which the requested image data can be stored in 003 or the RAM 10004. Now, if it is determined that the image data can be stored in the RAM 100003, the image data controller 100002 sends a DMA controller (not shown) as a source address to the image path 100010 (specifically, depending on the image input device, a fixed address for a scanner, PDL R
If it is an IP, the image path 100011 (specifically, the RAM 100003) is used as a destination address using the head address of the memory for storing the internal developed image.
), And the requested image size as the number of transfer bytes. DMA
When the preparation for image data transfer such as transfer is completed, the image input device
dy200002 is returned. Image data controller 1
00002 sends StoringReady200002 to the image input unit 100001, and at the same time, Estima
Notify tedlimage 200003 to the image output unit. Upon receiving the Storing Ready 200002, the image input unit 100001 starts transferring image data. When the transfer of the image data is completed, the DMA controller generates a data transfer completion interrupt, and upon receiving the data transfer, the image input unit 100001 stores the completed data.
d200004 to the image data controller 100002
Notify. StoredCompleted2000
04 received the image data controller 100002,
The image transfer from the RAM 100003 to the HD 100005 starts. The image path 100011 is connected to a DMA controller (not shown) and a PCI controller (not shown).
The image data is set to the image path 100013 from. When the transfer is completed, the DMA controller generates a data transfer completion interrupt, and upon receiving the data transfer, the image data controller 100002 causes the coefficient semaphore Direct of this image to be transmitted.
Check ctReading 400001, and if no one has taken it, discard the image data secured in the RAM 100003.

Output System Normal Operation FIG. 3 shows a message flow of the output system normal operation. Estimate from image data controller 100002
The output operation starts when dImage 200003 is received.

EstimatedImage 20000
3, the image output unit 100006 starts preparations necessary for the image output, and at the same time, in the print schedule queue, outputs each image which is to be output earlier than the image n and for which image data has not been read out yet. , The time Tp (k) required to convey the output sheet, the inter-sheet time Td (k) to be taken between the output sheet and the previous output sheet, the predicted image data request time Te (n) is determined, and this value is estimated.
This is returned to the image data controller 100002 as edImageReadReqTime300004.

Te (n) = SUM (Tp (i) + Td
(I)) From i = 0 to n-1 Td (0) is the time required to convey from the paper cassette to the printing position. Image data controller 100002 returns Es
timedImageReadReqTime30
0004 is stored as Tdirect (n), and the storage time Tr1 in the RAM for the image data n is stored.
(N), Storage time Th from RAM to HD100005
(N), Storage time Tr from HD100005 to RAM
2 (n) is calculated, and the total Tnormal is calculated.

Tnormal (n) = Tr1 (n) + T
h (n) + Tr2 (n) The image data controller 100002
If t (n) is later than Tnormal (n), do nothing.

When the preparation for video input of the printer is completed, the image output unit 100006 outputs the ImageReadRe
q300001 to the image data controller 100002
Request to. Image data controller 100002 is I
Upon receiving messageReadReq300001, it prepares to read the image from HD100005. First, a search is made for the RAM 100003 or a continuous area for storing the image specified in the RAM 100004. It is assumed that an area is found in the RAM 100004. Next, the image data controller 100002 transfers the start address of the image data stored in the HD 100005 as a source and the start address of an area found in the RAM 100004 as a destination to a DMA controller (not shown) and a PCI controller (not shown) as transfer bytes. The size of the requested image data is set as a number, and transfer is started. Transfer completed, D
Upon receiving a data transfer completion interrupt from the MA controller, the image data controller 100002
DMA settings from 00004 to the image output unit 100006 are performed. When the setting to the DMA controller is completed, the image data controller 100002
Read Ready 300002 to the image output unit 1000
06 is notified. Image output unit 100006 is Image
Upon receiving ReadReady300002, the printer notifies the printer of the start of image data transfer. The image output unit 100006, which has completed the transfer and received the transfer interrupt from the DMA,
ImageRe in the image data controller 100002
Send adCompleted300003. Image data controller 100002 is ImageReadCo
Upon receiving the sampled 300003, the coefficient semaphore DirectReading400001 of the image is received.
(One is not released if it does not have one), and the coefficient semaphore DirectReading4 from the output system is released.
DirectR means that all 00001 have been released
outputComplete400002 is output to the image data controller 100002 input system. The image output unit 100006 completes the predetermined image output, and the image data controller 100
002, and sends ImageDeleteReq300005. Image data controller 100002 is Imag
Upon receiving eDeleteReq300005, the image in the HD100005 instructed is discarded.

The RAM shared Operation FIG 4 is a message flow of RAM shared operations. The image data request predicted time Te (n) is obtained, and this value is referred to as Est.
imagedImageReadReqTime300
3 is returned to the image data controller 100002 until it is returned to the image data controller 100002.
If it is faster than normal (n), the RAM is shared with the output system. Image data controller 100002
First, the coefficient semaphore DirectReadin of this image
g400001 is acquired so that the input system does not discard the image data in the RAM when the storage of the image data in the HD 100005 is completed.

Next, the output system sets an image for this image.
When ReadCompleted300003 is received (ImageReadReq300001, Image
ReadReady300002, ImageRead
The operation of the Completed 300003 is similar to that of FIG. 3), and the coefficient semaphore Direct is used as described above.
Release one Reading400001. As described above, the image input unit 100001 stores the StoredComp
Let Let 200004 be the image data controller 10
0002, the input system returns to HD100005
This coefficient semaphore DirectRea is stored when the
Check ding400001, and if anyone takes it, the coefficient semaphore DirectRe from the output system
D which means that all of the "adding400001" has been released
Wait for directReadCompleted400002 and discard the RAM.

It is assumed that ImageReadReq3 for this image is performed three times before the storing operation from the RAM to the HD is completed.
If there were 0000001, then I for each
Until the messageReadCompleted300003 is received, the RAM cannot be discarded even if the storage in the HD100005 is completed.

Apparatus Communication Control The apparatus described so far in the present invention (FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the communication mode of the device shown in FIG. 5, and FIG.
The following describes an example in which a network copy is performed from the device A to the device B using the message flow diagram of FIG.

The devices A and B operate asynchronously with each other, and the image output unit 100006 of the device A and the image input unit 500001 of the device B are connected via a network. Here, the image data controller 100002
, Another image output unit 100008 and an image request time prediction unit 100009 are provided.

First, StartJobRe from device A to device B
Issue q600003. When device B receives this,
The image data controller 50002 of the device B has a RAM
It calculates when a continuous area capable of storing the requested image data in the 50003 or the RAM 50004 becomes free.
This calculation simply determines the time at which the input of a job to be processed before the job ends. That is, the entire job including the job is rescheduled, and the estimated job start time T at which the job can be input is set.
j (StoringES as described above)
TimeReq600005, StoringESTi
me600006).

Next, the apparatus B sets the estimated job start time T
j is returned as a StartStartReq600003 response to the device A as JobStartEsTime600004.

When the apparatus A receives the JobStartEsTim
When e600004 is received, the image request time prediction unit 100007 of the device A makes this JobStartEsTim
e600004 (Tj) to EstimatesImag
Handle as eReadReqTime300004.

Thereafter, the operation is the same as that described with reference to FIGS.

The tandem job control 7 is a message flow of tandem job control operations.
Here, in the configuration having two image output units shown in FIG. 5, image data is transmitted from one image output unit 100006 of the device A to the image input unit 500001 of the device B,
At the same time, the same image data is transferred to the other image output unit 100008 of the device A.

In a multiple job in which a plurality of image output units are assigned to the same image, unlike the simplex control, the image data controller 100002 performs the above communication control (FIG. 6) to execute JobStartEsTime60.
0004 (EstimatedImageReadRe
From the following three values obtained by adding Tj obtained from qTime300004) to the single control, it is determined whether to share the RAM.

Tj Tdirect (n) Tnormal (n) Specifically, the RAM is shared when the following conditions are satisfied.

Condition 1. Tj <Tdirect (n) Condition 2. Tdirect (n) <Tnormal (n) When the above condition is satisfied and the RAM is shared, the image data controller 100002 sets the coefficient semaphore Dir
ectReading400001 is acquired.

The image output unit 100006 uses ImageR
readReq300001 to the image data controller 1
00002 required. Image data controller 100
002 receives the ImageReadReq300001, notifies the image output unit 100006 of the ImageReadReady300002, and outputs the image output unit 10000.
6 receives the ImageReadReady300002 and transmits the image data transferred from the RAM to the image input unit 50.
0001 and the image output unit 100006 sends an ImageRead to the image data controller 100002.
Up to the transmission of Completed 300003, the operation is the same as the normal operation of the output system and the device communication control described above.
M, the same image data is transferred from the image output unit 100006 to the image data controller 100002.
imageReadCompleted300003 and receive ImageR from Image output unit 100008
Upon receiving the eadCompleted 300003, when the shared RAM image has been used, one coefficient semaphore DirectReading 400001 is released, and if no one is sharing at that time, the shared RAM is discarded.

[0051]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, image processing can be performed at high speed.
The COT can be speeded up, and the image processing can be speeded up without expensive RAM or HD.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a single device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a message flow of a normal operation of an input system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a message flow of a normal operation of an output system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a message flow of a RAM sharing operation.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a communication mode of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a message flow of device communication control.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a message flow of multiple job control.

[Explanation of symbols]

100001, 500001 Image input unit 100002, 500002 Image data controller 100003, 500003 RAM 100004, 500004 RAM 100005, 500005 HD 100006, 500006 Image output unit 100007, 500007 Image request time prediction unit 100008 Image output unit 100009 Image request time prediction unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C087 AA03 AA09 BA03 BB10 BC02 BC05 BC14 CB10 2C187 AD03 CD06 5C062 AA02 AA05 AB02 AB11 AB22 AB30 AB43 AC07 AC38 AC43 AC67 AF06 AF10 BA04 5C073 AA03 AB07 BA06 BB09 BD02 CD12

Claims (19)

[Claims] A first storage unit that stores image data; a second storage unit that has a larger storage capacity than the first storage unit and stores image data; and supplies image data to the first storage unit. Image input means, image output means for outputting based on image data read from the first storage means, image data between at least one of the image input means and the image output means and an external device Communication means for transmitting and receiving; and control means for controlling the first storage means, the second storage means, the image input means, the image output means and the communication means, wherein the control means uses the communication means. As a result of transmitting and receiving the information about the image data with the external device, if the predetermined condition is satisfied, the image data read from the first storage means is stored in the second storage means. An image processing apparatus, wherein the image is supplied to the image output means without being stored. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data input unit includes an image data generation unit that generates image data. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image output unit includes an image data consuming unit that creates a medium output from the image data. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is that the communication unit transmits a job start request to the external device, and the external device that receives the job start request receives an image related to the job. A predicted job start time Tj at which data can be received is received from the external device by the communication unit, and the image data of the job is transferred from the first storage unit to the second storage unit more than the predicted job start time Tj. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time Tn is stored once and then stored again in the first storage means at a later time Tn. 5. The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the image output unit has at least two output units, and the predetermined condition is that the image data from the first storage unit is output to the two output units. A job start request is transmitted to the external device by the communication unit with respect to a multiple job that simultaneously supplies the image data to the other of the two output units while supplying the job to one of the two output units. A predicted job start time Tj at which the image data of the job can be received and started is received from the external device. The predicted job start time Tj, the time Te at which the image output unit needs the image data of the job, and the job Between the time Tn at which the image data according to the above is temporarily stored in the second storage means from the first storage means, and then is stored again in the first storage means. In, Tj <Tn and Te <T
n is a case where any one of n is satisfied. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the external device is an image processing apparatus having the same configuration as the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. . 7. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data generating means has a scanner function of reading an original and generating image data. 8. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data generating means has a function of generating image data from PDL data. 9. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data generating means has a facsimile data development function for generating image data from facsimile data. 10. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data consuming means has a printer function of printing image data on a paper medium. 11. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image data consuming means has a function of generating FAX data from image data. 12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit supplies the read image data to the image data consuming unit while supplying the image data read from the first storage unit to the image data consuming unit. 2. An image processing apparatus characterized by storing data in parallel to two storage means. 13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job attribute includes an output setting. 14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job attribute includes input information. 15. The image processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the input information includes a paper size. 16. The image processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the input information includes information as to whether or not the input is a mixed original input. 17. Transmission / reception of information relating to image data with an external device using a communication unit, and when a predetermined condition is satisfied as a result of the transmission / reception, the first
Image processing characterized in that image data read from a storage unit is supplied to an image output unit that performs output based on the image data without storing the image data in a second storage unit having a larger storage capacity than the first storage unit. Method. 18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined condition is that the communication unit transmits a job start request to the external device, and the external device that has received the job start request can start accepting image data of the job. A predicted job start time Tj is received from the external device by the communication unit, and the image data relating to the job is temporarily stored in the second storage unit from the first storage unit before the predicted job start time Tj. An image processing method, wherein the time Tn at which the storage in the first storage means is completed again is later. 19. The image processing device according to claim 17, wherein the image output unit has at least two output units, and the predetermined condition is to supply image data from the first storage unit to one of the two output units. In addition, for a multiple job that supplies the image data to the other of the two output units at the same time, a job start request is transmitted to the external device by the communication unit, and the image related to the job is transmitted to the external device that receives the job. A predicted job start time Tj at which data reception can be started is received from the external device, and the predicted job start time Tj, the time Te at which the image output means needs the image data relating to the job, and the image data relating to the job are determined. Tj is stored between the first storage means in the second storage means and the time Tn when the storage in the first storage means is completed again. Tn and Te <T
n is a case where any of n is satisfied.