CN100559822C - image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to handle the image processing apparatus and the image processing method of predetermined original image with the unit of divided image data, utilize the present invention, control so that transmitting to external device (ED) based on when predetermined input source has been imported the view data of divided image data, under the situation of having interrupted handling at the external device (ED) that will handle original image, the discarded successively divided image data of having imported.

Description

image processing device

This application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with a filing date of December 25, 2002, an application number of 02159559.3, and an invention title of "image processing device and image processing method".

technical field

The present invention relates to an image processing device and an image processing method that process a predetermined original image in units of divided image data.

Background technique

Conventionally, when an image output device such as a printer or a digital multifunction machine prints image data input from an image scanner, the input image data is temporarily expanded into raster image data in an image memory for one page. Then, the image data in raster form is printed on the image output device.

However, raster development of image data for high image quality with 4 bytes of data in one pixel unit at a resolution of 600 dpi and A4 (297 mm x 21 mm) requires a huge memory capacity of about 140 Mbytes. Moreover, the need for such a large-capacity memory leads to an increase in the cost of the device.

In recent years, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-008002 and the like have proposed a technique of dividing page image data into blocks of a predetermined size and performing image processing in units of divided image data. By using this technique of dividing image data, image processing and storage processing in units of pages becomes unnecessary. In addition, it is possible to avoid the above-mentioned problem of cost increase, and to improve the efficiency of image processing.

However, processing image data by dividing image data may complicate data management or image processing. For example, when the image output device is in an interrupted state such as a paper jam, the operation for recovering from the interrupted state becomes troublesome.

Contents of the invention

The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing device and an image processing method that can easily control recovery from an interrupted state without performing complicated processing in the transmission path of divided image data.

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing device for processing images is provided, including: an input mechanism for inputting first image data; an image compression mechanism for dividing a second image from the first image data The data is image compressed; the storage mechanism is used to store a plurality of the second image data compressed by the image compression mechanism; the image decompression mechanism is used to store the multiple compressed second image data stored in the storage mechanism. decompressing the second image data; an output mechanism for outputting a plurality of the second image data decompressed by the image decompression mechanism; and a discarding mechanism for interrupting image output by the output mechanism In this case, the plurality of second image data decompressed by the image decompression unit is discarded, wherein, after the output unit stops outputting images, the image decompression unit stores the plurality of second image data stored in the storage unit The compressed second image data is decompressed, and the discarding means discards a plurality of the second image data decompressed by the image decompression means after the output means stops outputting images.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing device for processing images, comprising: an input mechanism for inputting first image data; an image compression mechanism for segmenting the first image data Image compression of the second image data; storage mechanism, used to store a plurality of said second image data compressed by said image compression mechanism; image decompression mechanism, used to store multiple images stored in said storage mechanism decompressing the compressed second image data; an output mechanism for outputting a plurality of the second image data decompressed by the image decompression mechanism; and a discarding mechanism for resetting the output mechanism When image output is interrupted, discarding a plurality of second image data decompressed by the image decompression means, wherein when the second image data is to be output by the output means, the discarding means discards For the second image data, when the second image data is not to be output by the output means, the discarding means does not discard the second image data.

Description of drawings

The above objects of the present invention will be clarified from the following drawings and detailed description based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a network configuration in a case where an image output device to which the present invention is applied is connected to a network and used.

2A to 2C are block diagrams showing configuration examples of an image output device using an image processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3A-3B are diagrams illustrating the format of data packets used within the image processing device controller of FIGS. 2A-2C.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the format of a command packet used within the image processing device controller of FIGS. 2A-2c.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the format of an interrupt packet used within the image processing device controller of Figs. 2A-2c.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing the format of a packet table used in the image processing device controller of Figs. 2A-2c.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a data path between blocks in image input processing in the first and second embodiments.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a data path between blocks in image output processing according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing data transfer control in the image output interface.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when a paper jam occurs in the first embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a data path between blocks in image output processing according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when a paper jam occurs in the second embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing a data transmission path between blocks related to an image processing operation and a processing procedure in the third embodiment.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing unit (2149) in the third embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating details of the processing of the slice extension unit 1 (2103) in the fourth embodiment.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[the first embodiment]

(network configuration)

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a network configuration in a case where the digital multifunctional machine of the present invention is used by being connected to a network.

As shown in the figure, each network constituting device is connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) (2011). Wherein, 1001 is a digital multifunctional machine applicable to the present invention. A digital multifunctional machine (1001) has a scanner unit for reading images and a printer unit for printing images.

The digital multifunction machine (1001) can output images read from the scanner unit to a LAN (Local Area Network) (2011), or print out images received from the LAN (2011) by the printer unit. In addition, the image read from the scanner unit can also be sent to PSTN (Public Telephone Network) or ISDN (2051) by a FAX sending device not shown in the figure, or received from PSTN or ISDN (2051) by the printer unit. Image.

1002 is a database server that manages binary images and multi-valued images read by the digital multifunction machine (1001) as a database. 1003 is a client of the database server (1002), capable of browsing/retrieving image data stored in the database server (1002).

1004 is an e-mail server having an e-mail sending and receiving function, a mailbox function, and the like. 1005 is a client of the email server (1004), and can send and receive email via the email server (1004). The e-mail server (1004) and e-mail client (1005) can also send and receive images read by the digital multifunction machine (1001) as attached files in e-mail.

1006 is a WWW server that provides HTML files to the LAN (2011). The HTML file provided by this WWW server (1006) can be printed out by the digital multifunctional machine (1001).

In addition, a DNS server (1007) for managing domain name services and a printer (1040) are also connected to the LAN (2011). In addition, the LAN (2011) is connected to the Internet/intranet (1012) through a router (1011).

In addition, on the Internet/intranet (1012), as shown in the figure, there are also devices identical to the above-mentioned network constituent devices, namely, a digital multifunctional machine (1023), a database server (1021), a WWW server (1022), the situation of email server (1024) etc.

In addition, the digital multifunctional machine (1001) can communicate with the FAX device (1031) via PSTN or ISDN (2051).

(Structure of digital multifunctional machine)

2A to 2C are block diagrams showing configuration examples of the digital multifunctional machine of the present invention. In addition, although an example in which the present invention is applied to a controller of a digital multifunctional machine is described in this embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to an image processing device having any other configuration.

In the digital multifunctional machine of FIG. 2A, a controller (2000) having an image processing unit (2149) is connected to a scanner (2070) as an image input device or a printer (2095) as an image output device. In addition, data can be exchanged with external devices or image input and output can be performed via LAN (2011) or public line (WAN) (2051). In addition, as will be described later, the controller (2000) can process various files to be used by the printer (2095), the external storage device (2004), and the network connected to FIG. 1 in units of tile images (packets). Images processed by external devices such as equipment.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the system control unit (2150) includes a CPU (2001) inside, and controls the entire digital multifunction machine. In this embodiment, an example using two CPUs is shown. The two CPUs are connected to the system bus bridge (2007) through a common CPU bus (2126).

2007 is a system bus bridge that functions as the first bus switch. CPU bus (2126), RAM controller (2124), ROM controller (2125), IO bus 1 (2127), sub-bus switch (2128), IO bus 2 (2129), image ring interface 1 (2147) and image Ring interface 2 (2148) is connected to this system bus bridge (2007).

2128 is a sub-bus switch functioning as a second bus switch. Image DMA1 (2130) image, DMA2 (2132), font extension unit (3134), classification circuit (2135) and bitmap tracing unit (2136) are connected to this sub-bus switch (2128). The sub-bus switch (2128) coordinates memory access requests output from these DMAs and makes connections to the system bus bridge (2007).

The RAM (2002) is a system work memory for the CPU (2001) to operate, and is also an image memory for temporarily storing image data. This RAM (2002) is controlled by a RAM controller (2124). In this embodiment, the RAM (2002) is, for example, a direct RDRAM.

ROM (2003) is a boot ROM, which stores the boot program of the system. This ROM (2003) is controlled by a ROM controller (2125).

The image DMA 1 (2130) is connected to the image compression unit (2131), based on the information set by the register access ring (register access ring) (2137), to utilize the image compression unit (2131), in the RAM (2002) It controls the reading of uncompressed data, compression, and rewriting of compressed data. In this embodiment, for example, JPEG is used as a compression algorithm.

The image DMA2 (2132) is connected to the image expansion unit (2133), and based on the information set by the register access ring (2137), the uncompressed data in the RAM (2002) is read using the image expansion unit (2133). , expansion, and the rewriting of expanded data are controlled. In this embodiment, corresponding to the above-mentioned compression algorithm, JPEG is used as the expansion algorithm.

The font extension unit (2134) converts the compressed font data stored in the ROM (2003) or RAM (2002) based on the font code contained in the PDL (page description language) data transmitted from the outside through the LAN interface (2010) or the like. to expand. In this embodiment, for example, the FBE algorithm is used.

The sorting circuit (2135) is a circuit for changing the order of objects in the display list generated at the stage of expanding the PDL data.

The bitmap tracing circuit (2136) is a circuit for extracting edge information from bitmap data.

IO bus 1 (2127) is a kind of internal IO bus, is connected as the controller of the USB bus of standard bus, USB interface (2138), universal serial port (2139), interrupt controller (2140) and GPIO interface ( 2141). A bus arbiter (not shown) is included in the IO bus 1 .

The operation unit I/F (2006) is connected to the operation unit (UI) (2012), and outputs image data for display on the operation unit (2012) to the operation unit (2012). In addition, it also plays a role of transmitting information input by the user from the operation unit (2012) to the CPU (2001).

The IO bus 2 (2129) is a kind of internal IO bus, and connects the general bus interfaces 1 and 2 (2142) and the LAN controller (2010). A bus arbiter (not shown) is included in the IO bus 2 .

The universal bus interface (2142) is composed of two identical bus interfaces, and is a bus bridge supporting the standard IO bus. In this embodiment, an example using the PCI bus (2143) is shown.

In FIG. 2A, the external storage device (2004) is a hard disk drive (HDD), and stores system software, image data, and the like. This external storage device (2004) is connected to another PCI bus (2143) through a disk controller (2144).

The LAN controller (2010) is connected to the LAN (2011) through the MAC circuit (2145) and the PHY/PMD circuit (2143) to input and output information. A modem (2050) is connected to a public line (2051) to input and output information.

In FIG. 2B, image ring interface 1 (2147) and image ring interface 2 (2148) are interfaces for connecting to an image ring (image ring) (2008) that transmits image data at high speed. In addition, these interfaces function as a DMA controller that transfers compressed image data between the RAM (2002) and the image processing unit (2149).

The image ring (2008) is a bus composed of a pair of unidirectional connection paths (image ring 1 and image ring 2). As shown in Figure 2C, the image ring (2008) is in the image processing unit (2149), and is connected to the slice expansion unit (2103) and the command processing unit through the image ring interface 3 (2101) and the image ring interface 4 (2102). (2104), state processing unit (2105) and slice compression unit (2106). In this embodiment, an example in which two sets of slice expansion units (2103) and three sets of slice compression units are installed is shown.

The slice expansion unit (2103) is connected to the image ring interface 3 (2101), and also connected to the slice bus (2107). The slice expansion unit (2103) is a bus bridge that expands the compressed image data input from the image loop (2008) and transfers it to the slice bus (2107). In this embodiment, as the expansion algorithm, for example, JPEG is used for multi-valued data, and Pack Bits (pack bit compression method) is used for binary data.

The slice compression unit (2106) is connected to the image ring interface 4 (2102), and is also connected to the slice bus (2107). The slice compression unit (2106) is a bus bridge that compresses uncompressed image data input from the slice bus (2107) and transfers it to the image loop (2008). In this embodiment, corresponding to the expansion algorithm described above, JPEG is used for multi-valued data and Pack Bits is used for binary data as a compression algorithm.

The command processing unit (2104) is connected to the image ring interfaces 3 and 4 (2101, 2102), and is also connected to the register setting bus (2109). The command processing unit (2104) writes a register setting request issued from the CPU (2001) and input through the image ring (2008) to the block connected to the register setting bus (2109). In addition, based on a register read request issued by the CPU (2001), information is read from the register via the register setting bus (2109) and transmitted to the image ring interface 4 (2102).

The state processing unit (2105) performs each image data processing unit (multivaluation unit (2119), binarization unit (2118), color space conversion unit (2117), image rotation unit (2030) and resolution conversion unit (2119) described later. unit (2116)), generate an interrupt packet for issuing an interrupt to the CPU (2001), and output it to the image ring interface 4 (2102).

The following functional blocks are connected to the slice bus (2107) in addition to the above-mentioned blocks. These are reproduction unit interface (2110), image input interface (2112), image output interface (2113), multivaluation unit (2119), binarization unit (2118), color space conversion unit (2117), image rotation unit (2030) and a resolution transformation unit (2116).

The playback unit interface (2110) is an interface for inputting bitmap images generated by the playback unit (2060) described later. The reproduction unit (2060) and the reproduction unit interface (2110) are connected by a common video signal (2111). The reproduction unit interface (2110) is connected to the memory bus (2108) and the register setting bus (2109) in addition to the slice bus (2107). Then, the input raster image is converted into a slice image structure by a predetermined method set in the register setting bus (2109), and the clock is synchronized and output to the slice bus (2107).

The image input interface (2112) inputs the raster image data that has undergone corrected image processing by the image processing unit (2114) for the scanner, and performs structure conversion and Clock synchronization, and output to the chip bus (2107).

The image output interface (2113) receives slice image data from the slice bus (2107), converts the structure to a raster image and changes the clock rate, and outputs the raster image to an image processing unit (2115) for a printer. In addition, as will be described later, control information and status information are sent and received between the image output interface (2113) and the printer (2095), and from the received status information, it is possible to detect occurrence of an interruption of the printer (2095) such as a paper jam. information. Furthermore, the image output interface (2113) can discard slice image data when the processing of the printer (2095) is interrupted.

An image rotation unit (2030) rotates image data. A resolution conversion unit (2116) changes the resolution of image data. This resolution conversion unit (2116) also functions as a scaling processing unit. A color space conversion unit (2117) performs color space conversion of color and grayscale images. A binarization unit (2118) binarizes a multivalued (color, grayscale) image. A multivalued unit (2119) converts a binary image into multivalued data.

The external bus interface unit (2120) is through the image ring interface 1, 2, 3, 4 (2147, 2148, 2101, 2102), the command processing unit (2104), and the register setting bus (2109) accepts the output from the CPU (2001). write and read requests, and convert the output to the bus bridge of the external bus 3 (2121). The external bus 3 (2121) is connected to an image processing unit (2115) for a printer and an image processing unit (2114) for a scanner in this embodiment.

The memory control unit (2122) is connected to the memory bus (2108), and according to the request of each image data processing unit (2116, 2117, 2118, 2119, 2030) in the image processing unit (2149), the image that has previously been divided into addresses The memories 1 and 2 (2123) write and read image data, and perform operations such as updating as necessary. In this embodiment, for example, SDRAM is used as an image memory.

An image processing unit (2114) for a scanner performs predetermined correction image processing on image data scanned by a scanner (2070) as an image input device. Also, an image processing unit (2115) for a printer performs predetermined image correction processing for image formation and output, and outputs the result to a printer (2095).

The reproduction unit (2060) develops the PDL code or the intermediate display list into a bitmap image.

(package structure)

Next, the format of a packet used for processing image data in this embodiment will be described. The controller (2000) in the implementation form transmits image data, commands of the CPU (2001) and interrupt information issued by each image data processing unit (2116, 2117, 2118, 2119, 2030) in a packaged form. In the package data, there are the following types.

(1) Data packet (Figure 3)

As shown in FIG. 3A, the packet is composed of image data (3002) in slice units divided by a predetermined number of pixels (32 pixels×32 pixels in this embodiment), and holds a header of control information described later. It is composed of tag information (3001) and image additional information (3003).

As shown in FIG. 3B , for example, a document of one page is divided into a plurality of pieces, and piece data is generated for each piece. Here, it is assumed that an original document of A4 size (210×297 mm) is read by a scanner (2070) at a resolution of 600×600 dpi. At this time, when 1 inch is 25.4 mm, the number of pixels of the image is 4961 pixels in length x 7016 pixels in width. Furthermore, when divided into slices of 32×32 pixels, 34320 pieces of slice data are generated from an A4-size document.

Next, the information included in the header information (3001) will be described.

The packet type is identified by PcktType (3004) in header information (3001). In PcktType (3004), a repeat flag is included, and when the image data (3002) is the same as the image data of the previous transmitted packet, the repeat flag is set.

ChipID (3005) indicates the destination of the packet. ImageType (3006) indicates the type of image data. PageID (3007) indicates the page number of the image data. JobID (3008) stores a job ID for managing image processing by software.

PacketIDY ( 3009 ) and PacketIDX ( 3010 ) indicate at which slice in the image the image data included in the packet (or specified) corresponds. The slice position combines the Y direction (PacketIDY (3009)) and the X direction (PacketIDX (3010)), and is represented by YnXn.

There are cases where data is compressed and cases where data is not compressed. In this embodiment, an example of using JPEG for multi-value color (including multi-value gradation) and using Pack Bits for binary is shown as the compression algorithm. The difference between compressed and non-compressed is indicated by CompressFlag (3017).

Process Instruction (3011) is composed of Processing Units 1-8 which are combinations of 5-digit UnitID (3019) and 3-digit Mode (3020), and each processing Unit is processed sequentially from the left (lower order). The processed UnitID and Mode are discarded, and the Process Instruction is shifted to the left by 8 bits as a whole, so that the next processed UnitID and Mode are located at the left end. Process Instruction (3011) stores up to 8 combinations of UnitID (3019) and Mode (3020). UnitID (3019) designates each image data processing unit, and Mode (3020) designates an operation mode in each image data processing unit. Thereby, for the image data contained in (or designated) in one image packet, it is possible to instruct continuous processing by a total of up to eight image data processing units.

PacketByteLength (3012) indicates the total number of bytes of the packet. ImageDataByteLength (3015) indicates the number of bytes of image data. ZDataByteLength (3016) indicates the number of bytes of image additional information. ImageDataOffset ( 3013 ) and ZDataOffset ( 3014 ) indicate the offsets of the image data and image additional data from the start position of the pack, respectively.

(2) command package (Figure 4)

It is a packet for accessing the register setting bus (2109). By using this package, the CPU (2001) can access the image memory (2123). This command packet is composed of a header (4001) and a command (packet data part) (4002).

In the ChipID (4004) of the header (4001), the ID indicating the image processing unit (2149) to which the command packet is transmitted is stored.

PageID ( 4007 ) and JobID ( 4008 ) store PageID and JobID for software management, respectively. Packet ID is expressed in one dimension (4009). Only use the X-coordinate of the Data Packet. PacketByteLength (4010) is fixed at 128 bytes.

In the packet data section (4002), a combination of address (4011) and data (4012) is regarded as one command, and a maximum of 12 commands can be stored. The type of the command whether to write or read is represented by CmdType (4005), and the number of commands (4006) is represented by Cmdnum.

(3) Interrupt package (Figure 5)

The interruption packet is composed of a header (5001) and interruption data (packet data part) (5002), and is used for notification of interruption from the image processing unit (2149) to the CPU (2001).

After the state processing unit (2105) sends the interrupt packet, it cannot send the interrupt packet until the next sending is allowed. PacketByteLength (5006) is fixed at 128 bytes.

The state information (5007) of each internal module of the image processing unit (2149) is stored in the packet data unit (5002). The interrupt processing unit (2105) can collect the status information of each module in the image processing unit (2149), and transmit them to the system control unit (2150).

ChipID (5004) stores the ID indicating the system control unit (2150) to which the interrupt packet is transmitted. In addition, the internal chip ID (5005) stores the ID indicating the image processing unit (2149) to which the interrupt packet is transmitted.

(Structure of Packet Table)

Each of the aforementioned packets is managed by a packet table (6001) as shown in FIG. 6 . This packet table is used as a pair with image data, and when the image data is expanded to RAM (2002) in FIG. 2, it is managed on RAM (2002). In addition, when the image data is stored in the external storage device (2004), this packet table (6001) is also stored in the external storage device (2004) at the same time. When the image data stored in the external storage device (at 200) is expanded to RAM (2002) again, the packet table (6001) is also read to RAM (2002) at the same time, and address information, and rewrite the address information.

When 5 bits of 0 are added to the value of the table, it becomes the packet start address (Packet StartAddress) (6002), and the packet byte length (Packet Byte Length) (6005). That is, packet address pointer (27 bits)+5b0000=packet start address, and PacketLength (11 bits)+5b0000=Packet Byte Length.

Assume that the packet table (6001) and the chain table (Chain Table) (6010) are not divided.

The packet table (6001) is usually arranged along the scanning direction in the order of Yn/Xn=000/000, 000/001, 000/002, . . . An entry in this packet table (6001) uniquely represents one slice. Also, the next entry of Yn/Xmax is Yn+1/X0.

In the case that the packet has exactly the same data as the previous packet, the packet is not written into the memory, and the same packet address pointer and packet length as the first entry in the information table entry are saved. It becomes a form in which two table entries indicate one packet data. In this case, the Repeat Flag (6003) of the second table entry is set.

Under the situation that bag is truncated into a plurality of by chain DMA, Divide Flag (6004) setting is set, will add the linked list number (6006) setting of the chain block at the initial part of this bag.

The entry of the linked list (6010) is composed of Chain Block Address (6011) and Chain BlockLength (6012), and in the last entry of the table, 0 is stored in both Chain Block Address (6011) and Chain Block Length (6012).

(image input action)

Next, the image input operation of dividing the image data read by the scanner (2070) into slice images, generating packets from the slice images, and storing them in the RAM (2002) will be described.

Fig. 7 shows the data transfer path and processing steps between the blocks associated with the image input action. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to FIG. 7 as appropriate in addition to the block diagrams of FIGS. 2A to 2C .

First, an image is read by a scanner (2070). Here, the read image data is sequentially sent to the image processing unit for the scanner as raster data (2114). The image processing unit (2114) for the scanner performs necessary image processing according to the order of the raster data, and sends the raster data to the image input interface (2112). The image input interface (2112) transmits the image data transmitted in raster order to the memory control unit (2122) through the memory bus (2108).

The memory control unit (2122) expands to the image memory 1 (2123) in the form of a raster. This image memory 1 (2123) is constituted by raster data of 32 lines as a minimum capacity. After the image data of 32 lines is expanded to the image memory 1 (2123), the image input interface (2122) starts to read out in units of slice images of 32 pixels×32 lines. The reading of this piece of image is performed through the memory control unit (2122) and the memory bus (2108).

The image input interface (2112) adds a header (3001) and Z data (3003) to the generated slice image (3002), and generates a data packet in the format shown in FIG. 3 . Here, path information for storing image data in RAM (2002) is described in Process instruction (3001). This path information is information indicated by a command packet or the like from the system control unit (2150), and is stored in the image input interface (2112) in advance.

Next, the image input interface (2112) requests connection to the slice compression unit 1 (2106) to the slice bus (2107). Then, after being connected to the slice compression unit 1 (2106) through the slice bus (2107), the image input interface (2112) transmits the data packet to the slice compression unit 1 (2106).

Slice compression unit 1 (2106) performs JPEG compression on the data packet. The data packet compressed by JPEG is sent to the image ring interface 4 (2102). The image ring interface 4 (2102) transmits the data packet to the system control unit (2150) through the image ring (2008). The system control unit (2150) saves the transmitted data packet in RAM (2002).

In this way, a data packet is generated from the image read by the scanner (2070), and after data compression, it is stored in the RAM (2002) of the system control unit (2150).

(image output operation)

Next, an image output operation for printing an image by the printer (2095) based on the packet stored in the RAM (2002) of the system control unit (2150) will be described.

Figure 8 shows the data transfer path and processing steps between the blocks associated with this action. Hereinafter, description will be made with appropriate reference to this FIG. 8 in addition to the block diagrams of FIGS. 2A to 2C .

First, the data packet output from the system control unit (2150) is input to the image ring interface 3 (2101) through the image ring (2008). In addition, here, in the Process Instruction (3011), the system control unit (2150) describes the path information for outputting the image data in the RAM (2002) to the printer (2095).

The image ring interface 3 (2101) selects the slice expansion unit 1 (2103), and transfers the packet. This slice extension unit 1 (2103) is selected according to the above-mentioned ProcessInstruction (3011) of the packet format.

The slice expansion unit 1 (2103) performs JPEG expansion on the slice image of the packet, and converts it into uncompressed image data. Next, the slice extension unit 1 (2103) makes a connection request to the image output interface (2113) to the slice bus (2107). Then, when the slice extension unit 1 (2103) is connected to the image output interface (2113) through the slice bus (2107), the data packet is sent to the image output interface (2113).

The image output interface (2113) that has received the packet transmits the slice image of the packet to the memory control unit (2122) via the memory bus (2108). The memory control unit (2122) expands the transferred slice image to the image memory 2 (2123). This expansion is performed in units of slices, and is performed in the form of raster data inside the image memory 2 (2123).

When the raster data is fully expanded as 32 lines of raster data output by the printer (2095), the image output interface (2113) starts to read data in raster order. This raster data is read out via the memory control unit (2122) and the memory bus (2108). The image output interface (2113) which has read the data in raster order transmits the data to the image processing unit (2115) for the printer. Then, the printer (2095) that has received the raster data performs printing based on the raster data.

(composite action of digital multifunctional machine)

The digital multifunctional machine of this embodiment can perform copying operations using the scanner (2070) and printer (2095) by combining the above-mentioned image input operation and image output operation.

In addition, by storing the data package of RAM (2002) in the external storage device (2004) after the above-mentioned image input operation is performed, the image filing operation can be performed.

In addition, by re-expanding the data packet in the RAM (2002) into raster data, and converting it into a predetermined format and outputting it to a LAN or public line, it is possible to perform a fax transmission operation or an image transmission operation according to a predetermined protocol such as mail transmission.

In addition, in the image output operation described above, the PDL print operation can be performed by inputting slice data from the playback unit (2060) that performs playback processing based on PDL data from an external device.

In addition, after the data packet of RAM (2002) is processed in the image processing unit (2149), the image processing action of saving in RAM (2002) can be performed again, and the image using this processing channel can also be used as needed. Processing actions are performed in combination with the above-described actions.

The main operations that can be performed by the digital multifunction machine of this embodiment have been described above. When these processes are performed, each processing block in the image processing unit (2149) is secured in units of slices by configuring the image processing to be performed in packets. Therefore, in the image processing unit (2149), image data related to a plurality of motions can be mixed. In addition, control information for image processing is included in headers of various packets, and the CPU (2001) hardly needs to manage and control image processing in the image processing unit (2149) once the packets are generated. According to these configurations, the digital multifunctional machine of this embodiment can execute image processing related to each operation in parallel when executing a plurality of operations in parallel.

(Action at the time of paper jam)

Next, the operation when a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095) will be described.

When a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095), the printer cannot receive image data after the paper jam occurs. As a result, a plurality of packets stagnates in the transmission path during the printing operation shown in FIG. 8 . At the same time, the DMA activated for the printer in the system control unit (2150) is also in an interrupted state.

In this state, in order to clear the paper jam in the printer (2095) and perform the printing operation again, it is necessary to clear all the image piece data stagnant in the path. In addition, it is also necessary to interrupt the DMA of the system control unit (2150) halfway and restart the control.

The present embodiment is characterized in that a mechanism is provided to perform recovery operation after paper jam without such complicated control.

The image output interface (2113) of the controller of the present embodiment is provided with a mechanism for detecting a paper jam in the printer (2095). The image output interface (2113) that detects a paper jam does not transmit data packets transmitted thereafter to the image processing unit (2115) for the printer, and discards them immediately.

After that, the image output interface (2113) sequentially discards the transmitted data packets, and receives all the data packets used to form the image.

Data transfer control in the image output interface (2113) is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 . In addition, the process of this flowchart is realized by the internal CPU (not shown) of the image output interface (2113) executing the control program stored in the internal memory (not shown).

First, settings are made for transferring image data from the RAM (2002) to the printer (2095) in accordance with an instruction from the CPU (2001) via a register setting bus or the like. Then, start to receive the data packet transferred from RAM (2002) (S901).

After the data transfer is started, the printer (2095) is monitored for the occurrence of a paper jam. Operation status information is sent from the printer (2095) every predetermined time interval, and the image output interface (2113) judges whether a paper jam occurs based on the information (S902).

When it is determined in step S902 that a paper jam has not occurred, normal data transfer control is performed. That is, slice images are extracted from the received data packets, a plurality of slice images are rasterized in the image memory (2123), and the generated bitmap data are sequentially output to the image processing unit (2115) for the printer ( S903).

Then, it is judged whether the transfer of all data set in step S901 has been completed (S904), and if it is judged not to be completed, the process returns to step S902 to continue data transfer. When it is judged that the data transfer has ended, the data transfer control in the case of normal operation is ended.

On the other hand, when a paper jam is detected in step S902, control is performed to sequentially discard received packets (S905). This control continues until the data set in step S901 are all received. And, if all the data set in step S901 are received and discarded, the data transmission control at the time of paper jam ends.

Through such an operation, even if a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095) and the image output operation is interrupted, all the circuits on the path up to the image output interface (2113) can perform the same operation as the normal operation.

The DMA of the system control unit (2150) can also end in normal operation. , when the DMA has normally ended, in the system control unit (2150), it is judged whether a paper jam has occurred in the printer (2095), and if a paper jam has occurred, the re-output action of the image is carried out.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the printing operation control performed by the CPU (2001) of the system control unit (2150). Next, description will be given based on the flow chart.

First, the DMA for image printing is activated (S1001). Here, the packet for performing the operation shown in FIG. 8 is transferred from the system control unit (2150) to the image processing unit (2149).

Then, it is judged whether or not activation of the printing DMA has been completed (S1002). That is, it is judged whether or not the transfer of the data packet to the image processing unit (2149) has been completed. At this time, in the image processing unit (2149), the image processing of the data packet and the data transfer to the printer (2095) are already being performed.

If it is determined in step S1002 that the DMA has ended, it is determined whether or not a paper jam has occurred (S1003). If paper jam occurs, go to step S1004.

In the printer (2095), it is judged whether or not the paper jam has been eliminated. If the paper jam is eliminated, return to step S1001 to start printing again.

On the other hand, if no paper jam occurs in step S903, the printing operation is normally terminated. In this embodiment, it is possible to perform reprinting after a paper jam by such easy control.

As described above, in this embodiment, the data transfer is controlled so that when a paper jam occurs in the printer and a printout interruption is detected, the image output interface receives the packet data transferred by the DMA. After that, the received packet data is discarded in sequence.

As a result, since the transport path from the system control unit to the printer can perform the same operation as the normal operation, the operation at the time of recovering from a paper jam can be easily controlled.

[Second Embodiment]

In the first embodiment, the structure in which the recovery operation in the data transmission path is easily performed has been described, but in some cases, the initialization operation of each component included in the data transmission path must be performed. In the present embodiment, the description will mainly be made of a structure that facilitates the initialization operation in each data processing unit after a paper jam.

(image output operation)

In this embodiment, an image output operation of printing an image with a printer (2095) based on a packet stored in the RAM (2002) of the system control unit (2150) will be described. In this embodiment, the image print is output after being rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the original image.

Figure 11 shows the data paths and processing steps between the blocks associated with this example action. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to this FIG. 11 as appropriate in addition to the block diagrams of FIGS. 2A to 2C .

First, the data packet output from the system control unit (2150) is input to the image ring interface 3 (2101) through the image ring (2008). At this time, the data packets are output in the order of positions where the image is rotated by 90 degrees as a whole. In addition, here, in the Process Instruction (3001), the system control unit (2150) describes the path information for outputting the image data in the RAM (2002) to the printer (2095).

The image ring interface 3 (2101) selects the slice expansion unit 1 (2103), and transfers the packet. The slice extension unit 1 (2103) is selected according to the above-mentioned ProcessInstruction (3011) of the packet format.

The slice expansion unit 1 (2103) performs JPBG expansion on the slice image of the packet, and converts it into uncompressed image data. Next, the slice extension unit 1 (2103) makes a connection request to the image rotation unit (2030) to the slice bus (2107).

After being connected to the image rotation unit (2030) through the slice bus (2107), the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) transmits the data packet to the image rotation unit (2030).

An image rotation unit (2030) receives the transmitted data packet, and extracts a slice image from the received data packet. Furthermore, an image rotation unit (2030) generates a slice image in which the pixel number structure of the slice image is rotated by 90 degrees. After the image rotation unit (2030) rotates the slice image, it regenerates a data packet from the slice image, and makes a connection request to the slice bus (2107) to the image output interface (2113).

After being connected to the image output interface (2113) through the slice bus (2107), the image rotation unit (2030) transmits the data packet to the image output interface (2113). The image output interface (2113) that has received the data packet transmits the data packet to the memory control unit (2122) through the memory bus (2108).

The memory control unit (2122) expands the slice image of the transmitted packet to the image memory 2 (2123). The expansion is performed in units of slices, and is stored in the form of raster data in the image memory 2 . When the raster data is fully expanded as 32 lines of raster data output by the printer (2095), the image output interface (2113) starts to read data in raster order. This raster data is read out via the memory control unit (2122) and the memory bus (2108).

The image output interface (2113) of the data read out in raster order transmits the data to the image processing unit (2115) for the printer.

A printer (2095) that has received the raster data prints an image based on the raster data.

The image input operation that can save the image slice data read by the scanner (2070) to the RAM (2002) of the system control unit (2150) described in FIG. 7, and the image input operation described in FIG. Image slice data in the RAM (2002) of the image control unit (2150) is executed in combination with image output operations for image printing by the printer (2095). That is, at this time, a copying operation using a 90-degree rotation of the scanner (2070) and the printer (2095) can be performed.

(Action at the time of paper jam)

Next, the operation when a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095) in this embodiment will be described.

Similar to the first embodiment, when a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095) during rotary printing in FIG. 11, the printer (2095) cannot accept image data after the paper jam occurs. As a result, a plurality of packets stagnates in the transmission path during the printing operation shown in FIG. 11 . Simultaneously, the DMA activated for printing in the system control unit (2150) is also in an interrupted state.

In this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, there is provided a mechanism that can easily control the recovery operation after such a paper jam without performing complicated controls.

The CPU (2001) uses a serial port to communicate serially with the printer (2095), and monitors the status of the printer (2095) all the time. When a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095), the CPU (2001) detects that a paper jam has occurred in the printer (2095) through this serial communication.

The CPU (2001) that detected the paper jam interrupts the DMA of the system control unit (2150) midway. When the DMA of the packet transfer is interrupted in the system control unit (2150), a packet indicating that the DMA transfer of the packet has been interrupted is generated by the video ring interface 1 (2147).

This packet is a special packet. For example, the packet whose PacketIDY-coordinate (3009) and PacketIDX-coordinate (3010) in FIG. 3 are both maximum values indicates that the data transfer DMA is interrupted in the middle. Hereafter, this package is called a purge package.

The image ring interface 1 (2147) generates this clear packet, and after the image data transfer DMA is interrupted, it is sent to the image ring interface 3 (2101) of the image processing unit (2149) as the last packet.

The video ring interface 3 (2101) processes this clear packet in the same manner as a normal packet, and transfers it to the slice expansion unit 1 (2103). The slice extension unit 1 (2103) having received the clear packet interrupts all the internal processing and returns to the initial state.

Next, the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) transmits the clear packet to the image rotation unit (2030) via the slice bus (2107).

The image rotation unit (2030) having received the clear packet interrupts the internal processing similarly to the slice expansion unit 1 (2103), and returns to the initial state. Next, the image rotation unit (2030) transmits the clearing packet to the image output interface (2113) through the chip bus (2107).

The image output interface (2115) that has received the clearing package clears the image data that cannot be output due to paper jam in the printer. The image data previously expanded to the image memory 2 (2123) is also cleared in the same manner. At the same time return to the initial state.

The clearing operation by clearing packets in this way uses the same path as the processing path shown in FIG. 11 . Through this clearing action, even if a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095) and the image output action is interrupted, all circuits on the path up to the image output interface (2113) are returned to the initial state by the clearing packet.

The DMA of the system control unit (2150) is interrupted by the CPU (2001) and returns to the initial state. In this way, in image printing, the circuits on the path for transmitting image slice data all return to the initial state by clearing the packet. After removing the paper jam of the printer (2095), the re-output operation of the image can be performed.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing printing operation control performed by the CPU (2001) of the system control unit (2150). Next, description will be given based on the flow chart.

First, the DMA for image printing is activated (S1201). Here, the packet for performing the operation shown in FIG. 8 is transferred from the system control unit (2150) to the image processing unit (2149).

Next, it is determined whether or not a paper jam has occurred (S1202). At this time, in the image processing unit (2149), image processing of the data packet and data transfer to the printer (2095) are being performed. If a paper jam occurs in step S1202, the CPU (2001) interrupts the DMA for printing (S1203).

In step S1204, the image ring interface 1 (2147) transmits the clear packet to the image processing unit (2149). With this clear packet, all the circuits on the path for transmitting slice images for printing inside the image processing unit (2149) are initialized.

In step S1205, a judgment is made as to whether or not the paper jam has been cleared in the printer (2095) and the clearing of the sheet image has been completed. If the paper jam is eliminated and the clearing of the sheet image is completed, the process returns to step S1201 to start the printing operation again.

If no paper jam occurs in step S1202, the image printing operation is normally terminated. In this embodiment, it is possible to perform reprinting after a paper jam by such easy control.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when it is detected that a paper jam occurs in the printer and the print output is interrupted, a clear packet for notifying the interruption is sent to the image processing unit. In the unit, image processing is initialized according to the cleanup package.

As a result, since the conveyance path to the printer and the image processing unit can be easily restored to the original state, the operation at the time of restoration after a paper jam can be easily controlled.

[the third embodiment]

As described in the first embodiment, when the digital multifunctional machine of the present invention executes a plurality of operations in parallel, image processing related to each operation can be executed in parallel. In this embodiment, the paper jam recovery operation during parallel processing will be described.

This operation consists of two processing operations targeting one image data. One is an image processing operation in which color conversion processing is performed on image data stored in RAM (2002), and the processed image data is temporarily stored in RAM (2002). The other is an image output operation of sequentially printing out the image data stored in the RAM (2002) after the image processing operation by the printer (2095). The digital multifunctional machine of this embodiment can control these two operations separately, and can simultaneously execute these two operations in parallel.

Since the above-mentioned image output operation in this parallel processing is the same as that described in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted here. Next, the image processing operation in this parallel processing will be described in detail.

(image processing action)

An image processing operation of performing color space conversion processing on a packet stored in the RAM (2002) of the system control unit (2150) and storing it again in the RAM (2002) will be described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a data transfer path and processing steps between blocks associated with an image processing action. In the following description, in addition to the block diagrams of FIGS. 2A to 2C , this FIG. 13 will also be appropriately referred to.

First, in the system control unit (2150), the DMA for data processing is activated independently of the DMA for the above-mentioned image output operation. The DMA for image output operation and the DMA for color space conversion are arbitrated in the system control unit (2150), and the image data is sequentially transmitted in packet units in the image loop (2008). In addition, here, in the Process Instruction (3011) of the packet, the system control unit (2150) describes the route information for outputting the image data of the RAM (2002) to the printer (2095).

In FIG. 13, the data packet subjected to color space conversion is input from the image ring interface 3 to the image processing unit 1 (2149) from the image ring (2008). The image ring interface 3 (2101) transfers the input packet to the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) according to the Process Instruction (3011).

The path up to the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) is repeated with the packet path for the above-mentioned image output operation. Therefore, two pieces of image data are transmitted along the same path in units of packets.

Next, the packet of the JPEG expansion of the slice image by the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) is sent to the color space conversion unit (2117) through the slice bus (2107). A color space conversion unit (2117) performs color space conversion processing on the slice image based on the set parameters. The parameter setting is preset before the DMA transfer starts. The color space conversion unit (2117) transfers the packet on which the conversion processing of the slice image has been performed to the slice compression unit 1 (2106) via the slice bus (2107).

The slice compression unit 1 (2106) performs JPEG compression on the slice image of the transferred packet. The JPEG-compressed data packets are sent to the image ring interface 4 (2101). The image ring interface 4 (2101) transmits the data packet to the system control unit (2150) through the image ring (2008). The system control unit (2150) saves the transferred data packets in RAM (2002).

The image data of the color space conversion process and the image output operation described in the first embodiment are time-divisionally transmitted in units of packets on the path leading to the slice extension unit 1 (2103). This color space conversion process is performed as a parallel operation of image processing for the entire image data.

(Action at the time of paper jam)

Next, a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095) when the above printing operation and the color space conversion process are performed in parallel.

In this case, the transfer of the packet for the image output operation in the slice extension unit 1 (2103) is interrupted. And, as a result, the packet stagnates in the slice extension unit 1 (2103). The slice expansion unit (2103) cannot perform the next packet input when the packet is stagnated in order to perform packet-by-packet processing. For this reason, the packet transfer of the color space conversion process that is running as a parallel operation is also interrupted.

In order to avoid such a situation, in this embodiment, when a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095), the image output interface (2113) is switched to accept and discard a package that cannot be output by the printer (2095). Actions.

The processing in the image processing unit (2149) of this embodiment will be described using the flowchart of Fig. 14 . The processing in this flowchart is realized by each processing block in the image processing unit (2149) such as the image output interface (2113) operating based on instruction information of various packets received from the system control unit (2150).

First, the video ring interface 3 (2101) receives a packet including an instruction to perform the processing in FIG. 13 and FIG. 8 (S1401). Then, each processing block in the image processing unit (2149) starts an image processing operation and an image output operation based on the received packet (S1402). In addition, as described above, the image output processing operation of FIG. 8 is executed for the packet for which the image processing operation of FIG. 13 is executed. Therefore, in actual parallel processing, the processing of steps S1401 and S1402 related to the image processing operation is executed at a timing earlier than the processing related to the image output operation.

When the parallel processing starts, the image output interface (2113) monitors whether a paper jam occurs in the printer (S1403).

If there is no paper jam during parallel processing, the image processing operation of FIG. 13 and the image output operation of FIG. 8 are performed on the data packets sequentially transmitted from the system control unit (2150) (S1404).

Then, it is judged whether the parallel processing has ended (S1405). This determination is made by the status processing unit (2105) based on status information notified from processing blocks related to parallel processing such as the image output interface (2113) and the color space processing unit (2117).

Here, if the parallel processing has not ended, the paper jam monitoring in step S1403 and the parallel processing in step S1404 are continued. On the other hand, when it is determined that the parallel processing has ended, the normal parallel processing ends by completing the printout of the processed image data.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S1403 that a paper jam has occurred, the recovery operation is started. That is, the image output interface (2115) sequentially discards the packets of the image processing operation, while continuing to process the packets of the image processing operation (S1406). Then, the DMA for printing is activated again, and the image processing operation is restarted. In addition, the system control unit (2105) at this time performs the same control operation as in Fig. 10 .

By performing the above processing, the parallel processing at the time of paper jam is completed. In this way, in the event of a paper jam, the recovery operation of the image output operation can be performed, and the image processing operation can be normally completed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the recovery operation during parallel processing, the image output interface unrelated to the image processing operation sequentially discards packets related to the image output operation.

This makes it possible to easily perform control such that the processing of packets related to the image processing operation is continued while performing the recovery operation related to the image output operation. Furthermore, since the other processing can be continued, it is possible to minimize the reduction in processing efficiency due to paper jams.

Although in the present embodiment, the data packets are sequentially discarded at the image output interface when paper is jammed, other processing blocks may be used to discard the data packets. That is, the same effect can be obtained if the packet is discarded in the image memory (2123) or the like in a processing path that does not overlap with the packet transmission path of the image processing operation, for example.

[Fourth Embodiment]

In this embodiment, a case where the recovery operation is performed using the cleanup packet of the second embodiment while parallel processing in units of tasks is in progress will be described.

In this embodiment, the control software of the digital multifunctional machine executes the printing task and the image sending task in parallel. At this time, as hardware, the image processing unit (2149) also processes packets related to these two tasks in parallel.

Here, based on the print job of this embodiment, the rotation printing operation shown in FIG. 11 described in the second embodiment is executed. On the other hand, based on the image transmission task of this embodiment, the image processing operation and image transmission operation shown in FIG. 13 are executed on the packets stored in the RAM (2002). The image transmission operation in this embodiment is to perform raster expansion on the HDD (2004) on a page-by-page basis from the data packet stored again in the RAM (2002), and transmit the expanded image data to an external device. In this embodiment, image data is compressed by JBIG, converted into a TIFF file, and sent to a personal computer as an e-mail. In addition, the method of image transmission is not limited to this form, and general FAX transmission, etc., image transmission conforming to other format conversions and protocols may also be used.

In this embodiment, the recovery operation in case a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095) while these two jobs are being processed in parallel will be described.

(Action at the time of paper jam)

Similar to the second embodiment, when a paper jam occurs during rotary printing in FIG. 11, the printer (2095) cannot receive image data after the paper jam occurred. As a result, a plurality of packets stagnates in the transmission path during the printing operation shown in FIG. 11 . At the same time, in the system control unit (2150), activation of the DMA for printing is also in an interrupted state.

In this embodiment, since the print job and the image sending job are processed in parallel, when the same clear packet as that in the second embodiment is sent in the above-mentioned state, the slice extension unit (2103) will not be able to reach the image of the image sending job. Data are all cleared.

Therefore, in this embodiment, setting clears the data packet in the image processing unit (2149) by using the task ID (3008) of the header of the clearing packet as identification information, so that the recovery operation after paper jam can be easily controlled. mechanism.

In this embodiment, the CPU (2001) performs serial communication with the printer (2095) using one serial port, and monitors the state of the printer (2095) all the time. When a paper jam occurs in the printer (2095), the CPU (2001) detects that a paper jam has occurred in the printer (2095) through the serial communication.

The CPU (2001) that detected the paper jam interrupts the DMA of the system control unit (2150) midway. When the DMA transfer of the data packet is interrupted in the middle of the system control unit (2150), a clear packet indicating that the DMA transfer of the data packet is interrupted is generated by the video ring interface 1 (2147).

The clear packet in this embodiment is the same clear packet as in the second embodiment, and PacketIDY-coordinate (3009) and PacketIDX-coordinate (3010) in Fig. 3 are all packets with the maximum value, indicating that the data packet transmission DMA has been interrupted midway . However, the difference from the second embodiment is that the job ID (3008) in the header is used as the identification information of the packet to be cleared.

In this embodiment, since it is desired to clear the data packets of the print job, the job ID of the print job is described in the job ID (3008).

The image ring interface 1 (2147) generates this clear packet, and after the image data packet transfer DMA is interrupted, it is sent to the image ring interface 3 (2101) of the image processing unit (2149) as the last packet.

The video ring interface 3 (2101) processes this clear packet in the same manner as a normal packet, and transfers it to the slice expansion unit 1 (2103). Here, details of processing in the slice extension unit 1 (2103) are described using the flowchart of FIG. 15 . In addition, it is assumed that the slice expansion unit (2103) of this embodiment has internal CPU capability and memory capacity capable of executing slice expansion processing and clearing packet processing in parallel.

First, the slice extension unit 1 (2103) receives a clear packet (S1501), and judges whether the task ID (3008) of the received clear packet is the same as the task ID (3008) of the held data packet (S1502).

Here, when it is judged that the held data packets are related to printing, and the job IDs (3008) are the same, the data packets are cleared (S1503), that is, the slice extension unit 1 (2103) interrupts all internal ongoing operations. Processing, return to initial dynamics.

Next, the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) transmits the clear packet to the image rotation unit (2030) via the slice bus (2107).

On the other hand, in step S1502, when it is judged that the held packet is related to the image transmission job and the job IDs (3008) are different from each other, the packet expansion process is continued (S1505).

Also in this case, the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) transfers the clear packet to the image rotation unit (2030) via the slice bus (2107) (S1504).

The above is the clear packet processing of the slice expansion unit 1 (2103), and the same processing is performed in other processing blocks such as the color conversion processing unit (2117).

The image rotation unit (2030) that has received the clear packet clears the data packets of the print job and returns to the initial state, similarly to the slice expansion unit 1 (2103) following the process shown in FIG. 15 . The image rotation unit (2030) then transmits the clear packet to the image output interface (2113) through the slice bus (2107).

The image output interface (2113) that has received the clear packet clears the image data of the print job. Also, in the same manner, the image data previously developed in the image memory 2 (2123) is cleared, and the initial state is returned. As above, the purge operation by purge packets uses the same path as the processing path in FIG. 11 .

In this way, by using the job ID (3008) of the clear packet, all the circuits on the processing path return to the initial state only for the data packet of the print job. On the other hand, the processing of the packets of the image transmission task can continue as usual.

Furthermore, after the paper jam of the printer (2095) is eliminated, by performing the re-output operation of the image, the parallel processing of the print job and the image transmission job can be performed again.

In parallel processing, the printing operation control performed by the CPU (2001) of the system control unit (2150) is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 . However, in step S1204 of the present embodiment, the image ring interface 1 (2147) transmits a purge packet having a print job ID. With this clear packet, all the circuits on the path for transmitting the slice image for printing inside the image processing unit (2149) are initialized.

As described above, in this embodiment, when a task related to the image output operation is interrupted during parallel processing, only the packet of the image output operation is cleared by using the task ID in the header as identification information.

In this way, it is possible to easily perform control so that the processing of the data packets related to the image transmission job is continued while the recovery operation on the print job is being performed. Furthermore, since the processing of the image transmission job can be continued, it is possible to minimize reduction in processing efficiency due to paper jams. In addition, since the condition of the data packet to be cleared can be specified by the clear packet, the flexibility of the restoration operation is improved.

In this embodiment, the case of canceling a print job has been described, but it does not limit the type or number of jobs. Therefore, recovery operations related to other jobs such as a FAX reception job and a PDL print job can also be described in the same manner as in the present embodiment.

In addition, for example, in the configuration of this embodiment, when a failure occurs in the network for image transmission, the recovery operation of this embodiment can also be applied. That is, in this case, a clear packet for interrupting image transmission and initializing the image processing operation of FIG. 13 is generated, and the image output operation of FIG. 8 is continued while initializing each block. As a result, the print job can be ended normally.

In addition, since the clear packet and the data packet of this embodiment contain various attribute information, it is not necessary to limit the application of the recovery operation of this embodiment to parallel processing that meets conditions such as tasks or processing operations. That is, it is also possible to perform the same restoration operation as in the present embodiment according to other conditions and attribute information. For example, when it is desired to interrupt the image output of a specific page during execution of one image processing operation, the packet can be cleared in units of pages by using the page ID of the header as identification information.

[Other implementation forms]

In the foregoing, a digital multifunction machine has been described as an example in the above embodiments, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention can also be applied to other image output devices such as a stand-alone printer and a facsimile. In addition, for example, the present invention can also be applied to operations using multiple devices, such as remote copying in which image processing is performed by a digital multifunction machine and output is performed by another printer connected to a network.

Therefore, the input source of the image data is not limited to the internal controller or the internal memory, and may be a network, a communication line, or the like. In addition, the output destination of image data is not limited to image output devices such as printers, but may also be external storage devices, connection devices such as network interfaces or modems, and PCs or other digital multifunctional machines connected to the connection devices. Moreover, the present invention can be applied to the image processing unit of the previous stage, so that when image input operations, image output operations, image file filing operations, and image transmission operations related to these input sources are performed, the devices of these output destinations This recovery operation can be performed when an interrupted state of processing occurs.

As mentioned above, the present invention has been described with reference to ideal embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes can be made within the scope shown in the claims.

Claims (5)

1. An image processing device for processing images, comprising: an input mechanism for inputting first image data; an image compression mechanism for performing image compression on the second image data divided from the first image data; a storage mechanism for storing a plurality of the second image data compressed by the image compression mechanism; an image decompression mechanism, configured to decompress the plurality of compressed second image data stored in the storage mechanism; output means for outputting a plurality of said second image data decompressed by said image decompression means; and discarding means for discarding the plurality of second image data decompressed by the image decompression means when the output means interrupts image output, Wherein, after the output mechanism stops outputting images, the image decompression mechanism decompresses the plurality of compressed second image data stored in the storage mechanism, and The discarding unit discards the plurality of second image data decompressed by the image decompression unit after the output unit stops outputting images. 2. An image processing device for processing images, comprising: an input mechanism for inputting first image data; an image compression mechanism for performing image compression on the second image data divided from the first image data; a storage mechanism for storing a plurality of the second image data compressed by the image compression mechanism; an image decompression mechanism, configured to decompress the plurality of compressed second image data stored in the storage mechanism; output means for outputting a plurality of said second image data decompressed by said image decompression means; and discarding means for discarding the plurality of second image data decompressed by the image decompression means when the output means interrupts image output, Wherein, when the second image data is to be output by the output mechanism, the discarding mechanism discards the second image data, and when the second image data is not to be output by the output mechanism, the discarding mechanism The second image data is not discarded. 3. The image processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second image data is formed into a packet including attribute information on the second image data and the second image data. 4. The image processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that: Also included is determining means for determining whether or not the second image data is to be output by the output means based on the attribute information on the second image data. 5. The image processing device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: An image processing mechanism is also included for processing the second image data formed into a data packet; The attribute information includes image processing information to be performed by the image processing mechanism, and the image processing mechanism performs one of image processing based on the image processing information.

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