JP2003271328A - Image processor and its data transferring method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor and its data transferring method for quickly executing an operation to store and image-output image data without increasing any memory quantity for the image processing. <P>SOLUTION: In outputting image data inputted from a scanner (2070) by a printer (2095), and storing the image data to an RAM (2002), an image processing part 2 (2162) image-outputs the image data to the printer (2095) based on tile image data generated and transferred by an image processing part 1 (2163), and copies the tile image data, and transfers the copied tile image data to the RAM (2002). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for processing tile image data of a predetermined size and a data transfer method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus such as a digital multi-functional peripheral, image data read by an image scanner or the like is developed as a raster image in an image memory for one page and an image is printed based on the image data. It was done.

[0003]

However, the above conventional image forming apparatus has the following problems. That is, in order to print the read image data and store the image, the read image data is once expanded in the raster memory. Then, the developed image data is recorded in a data storage device HDD or the like and then printed. Therefore, there is a drawback that it takes a long time to print the read image data.

The present invention is for solving the above-mentioned problems, and outputs an image based on the generated tile image data, copies the tile image data, and transfers the copied tile image data to a storage device. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and a data transfer method thereof that can perform an operation of storing image data and outputting an image at high speed without increasing the amount of memory for image processing.

Also, the image generation block and the image output block are connected by a unidirectional bus, and the image output block duplicates the image data transferred from the image generation block via the unidirectional bus. An image processing apparatus that stores image data and outputs the image by transferring the image data to the storage apparatus at high speed while minimizing the contention of the bus with other processing and the data thereof. The purpose is to provide a transfer method.

Further, by outputting the image based on the generated image data, copying the image data, and transferring the copied image data to the storage device, the operation of storing the image data and outputting the image can be executed at high speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus and a data transfer method for the same.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus of the present invention is an image processing apparatus for processing tile image data of a predetermined size, and generates tile image data. The image forming apparatus further includes a generation unit, an image output unit that outputs an image based on the tile image data generated by the generation unit, and a storage unit that stores the image data. The image output unit includes the tile image data generated by the generation unit. And outputting the image based on the above, copying the tile image data, and transferring the copied tile image data to the storage means.

Further, the image processing apparatus of the present invention is an image processing apparatus for processing tile image data of a predetermined size, the generating means for generating tile image data, and the tile image generated by the generating means. An image output unit for outputting an image based on the data and a storage unit for storing the image data are provided, and the generation unit and the image output unit are connected by a unidirectional bus. The image data transferred from the generation unit via the unidirectional bus is duplicated, and the duplicated image data is transferred to the storage unit.

Further, the image processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a generating means for generating image data, an output image outputting means for outputting an image based on the image data generated by the generating means,
Storage means for storing image data, wherein the image output means outputs an image based on the image data generated by the generation means, duplicates the generated image data, and stores the duplicated image data in the storage means. It is characterized by transferring.

A data transfer method for an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is a data transfer method for an image processing apparatus which is connected to a storage device for storing image data and which processes tile image data of a predetermined size. A generation step of generating tile image data, and an image output step of outputting an image based on the tile image data generated in the generation step, wherein the image output step is based on the tile image data generated in the generation step. The tile image data is copied while the image is output, and the copied tile image data is transferred to the storage device.

Further, the data transfer method of the image processing apparatus of the present invention is based on an image generation block which is connected to a storage device for storing image data and which generates tile image data of a predetermined size, and the tile image data. A data transfer method of an image processing device having an image output block for outputting an image, wherein the image generation block and the image output block are connected by a unidirectional bus, and the unidirectional bus is connected in the image output block. It is characterized in that the image data transferred from the image generation block is duplicated and the duplicated image data is transferred to the storage device.

A data transfer method for an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is a data transfer method for an image processing apparatus connected to a storage device for storing image data, the method including a generating step of generating image data, and the generating step. An output image output step of outputting an image based on the image data generated in the step, wherein the image output step outputs an image based on the image data generated in the generation step and duplicates the generated image data, The image data is transferred to the storage device.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Overall Configuration of System] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an entire network system including a digital multi-function peripheral to which the present invention can be applied.

Reference numeral 1001 denotes a digital multi-function peripheral, which is composed of a scanner and a printer, and an image read from the scanner is read by a local area network (1010).
Images can be sent to (to be referred to as a LAN below) or images received from the LAN can be printed out by a printer. Further, the image read from the scanner can be transmitted to the PSTN or ISDN (1030) by a FAX transmission unit (not shown), or the image received from the PSTN or ISDN can be printed out by the printer.

A database server 1002 manages a binary image and a multivalued image read by the digital multi-function peripheral (1001) of the present invention as a database. 10
A database client 03 of the database server (1002) can browse / search image data stored in the database (1002).

An electronic mail server 1004 can receive an image read by the digital multi-function peripheral (1001) as an electronic mail attachment. Reference numeral 1005 denotes an email client, which is an email server (100
It is possible to receive and view the mail received in 4) and to send e-mail.

A WWW server 1006 provides the HTML document to the LAN, and the HTML document provided by the WWW server can be printed out by the digital multi-function peripheral (1001). Reference numeral 1007 denotes a DNS server, which manages a database in which the correspondence between the host name and the IP address is described, so that the IP address can be referred to from the host name in response to a request from the digital multi-function peripheral (1001). ing.

Reference numeral 1011 is a router for the LAN (1010).
Is connected to the Internet / Intranet (1012). The above-mentioned database server (1002) and WWW server (100
6), an electronic mail server (1004), and a device similar to the digital multi-function peripheral (1001) of the present invention.
0, 1021, 1022, 1023 are connected. On the other hand, the digital multi-function peripheral (1001) uses the FAX machine (10) via the PSTN or ISDN (1030).
31) and can be transmitted and received.

A printer (1040) is also connected to the LAN so that the image read by the digital multi-function peripheral (1001) can be printed out.

[Hardware Configuration of Digital Multifunction Peripheral] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall hardware configuration of the digital multifunctional peripheral (1001).

Controller Unit (20
00) is a scanner (20) which is an image input device.
70) and a printer (20) which is an image output device.
95) and a LAN (2011) or public line (WAN) (2051) connection on the other hand, it is a controller for inputting / outputting image information and device information and developing images of PDL data.

The CPU (2001) is a processor that controls the entire system. In this embodiment, an example using two CPUs is shown. These two CPUs are a common CPU
It is connected to the bus (2126) and further connected to the system bus bridge (2007).

The system bus bridge (2007) is a bus switch and includes a CPU bus (2126), a RAM controller (2124) and a ROM controller (212).
5), IO bus 1 (2127), sub-bus switch (2)
128), the IO bus 2 (2129), the image ring interface 1 (2147), and the image ring interface 2 (2148).

The sub-bus switch (2128) is the second bus switch, and includes the image DMA1 (2130), the image DMA2 (2132), the font expansion unit (3134),
Sort circuit (2135), bitmap trace unit (2
136) is connected, arbitrates the memory access request output from these DMAs, and connects to the system bus bridge.

The RAM (2002) is a CPU (2001)
Is a system work memory for operating, and is also an image memory for temporarily storing image data. RAM
In this embodiment, which is controlled by the controller (2124), an example in which a direct RDRAM is adopted is shown.

The ROM (2003) is a boot ROM in which a system boot program is stored. R
It is controlled by the OM controller (2125).

The image DMA1 (2130) is connected to the image compression unit (3131) and is connected to the register access ring (21).
37), the image compression unit (2131) is controlled on the basis of the information set via the information (37) to read the uncompressed data on the RAM (2002), compress the data, and write back the compressed data. , JPEG is used as a compression algorithm.

The image DMA2 (2132) is connected to the image decompression unit (2133) and connected to the register access ring (21
37), the image decompression unit (2133) is controlled based on the information set via (3), and the compressed data in the RAM (2002) is read, decompressed, and the decompressed data is written back. An example in which JPEG is adopted as a decompression algorithm will be shown.

The font decompression unit (2134) transfers P from the outside via the LAN controller (2010) and the like.
ROM based on font code included in DL data
(2003) or the compressed font data stored in the RAM (2002) is expanded. In this embodiment, an example in which the FBE algorithm is adopted has been shown. The sort circuit (2135) is a circuit for rearranging the order of the objects in the display list generated at the stage of expanding the PDL data. Bitmap trace circuit (21
Reference numeral 36) is a circuit for extracting edge information from the bitmap data.

The IO bus 1 (2127) is a kind of internal IO bus, and is a controller of a USB bus which is a standard bus, a USB interface (2138), a general-purpose serial port (2139), and an interrupt controller (2).
140) and the GPIO interface (2141) are connected. The IO bus 1 has a bus arbiter (not shown).
Is included.

The operation unit I / F (2006) is an operation unit (U
I) (2012) and the interface unit, the operation unit (2
The image data displayed in 012) is output to the operation unit (2012). It also plays a role of transmitting information input by the system user from the operation unit (2012) to the CPU (2001).

The IO bus 2 (2129) is a kind of internal IO bus, and is composed of general-purpose bus interfaces 1 and 2 (21).
42) and the LAN controller (2010) are connected. The IO bus 2 includes a bus arbiter (not shown).

General-purpose bus interface (2142)
Is a bus bridge that consists of two identical bus interfaces and supports a standard IO bus. In this embodiment, an example in which the PCI bus (2143) is adopted is shown.

An HDD (2004), which is an external storage device, is a hard disk drive that stores system software and image data. Disk controller (214
4) and is connected to one PCI bus (2143).

The LAN controller (2010) is a MA
C circuit (2145), PHY / PMD circuit (2146)
It is connected to the LAN (2011) via the to input / output information. The Modem (2050) is connected to the public line (2051) and inputs / outputs information.

Image ring interface 1 (214
7) and image ring interface 2 (2148)
Connects the system bus bridge (2007) to an image ring (2008) that transfers image data at high speed, and compresses the data compressed after tiling into the RAM (2002), tile image processing unit 1 (2163), and tile image processing. Part 2 (2
162), a DMA controller that transfers data between the tile image processing units 3 (2149).

The image ring (2008) is composed of a combination of unidirectional connection paths. Image ring (200
8) is an image ring interface 3 (2153),
Image ring interface 4 (2154), image ring interface 5 (2158), image ring interface 6 (2159), image ring interface 7 (2101), image ring interface 8 (2
102), a unidirectional connection image data transfer ring is formed, and the image processing unit 1 (2163) and the image processing unit 2 (2
162), the image processing unit 3 (2149) and the system control unit 2150 are connected. Inside each image processing unit, the tile expansion unit, the command processing unit, the status processing unit, and the tile compression unit are connected via an image ring interface.

In the image processing unit 1 (2163), the command processing unit (2150) is connected from the image ring interface 3 (2153), and the register setting request issued by the CPU (2001) input through the image ring is issued. , To the image input interface 2112. Further, based on a register read request issued by the CPU (2001), information is read from the corresponding register and transferred to the image ring interface 4 (2154).

The status processing unit (2151) monitors the information of the image input interface 2112, and the CPU (2
An interrupt bucket for issuing an interrupt to 001) is generated and output to the image ring interface 4 (2154). Tile compression unit (2152)
Is a bus bridge that is connected to the image ring interface 4 (2154), is connected to the tile bus (2107), compresses the image data before compression input from the image input interface 2112, and transfers the compressed image data to the image ring (2008). Is. In this embodiment, J is used for multi-valued data.
An example in which Packbits is adopted as a compression algorithm for PEG and binary data is shown.

Image input interface (2112)
Receives the raster image data that has been subjected to the corrected image processing by the scanner image processing unit (2114) as an input, and performs the structural conversion into the tile image and the clock synchronization by the predetermined method set through the command processing unit (2150). The tile is compressed and output to the tile compression unit 2152. The scanner image processing unit (2114) performs corrected image processing on the image data scanned by the scanner (2070) that is an image input device.

In the image processing unit 2 (2162), the command processing unit (2156) is connected from the image ring interface 5 (2158), and the register setting request issued by the CPU (2001) input through the image ring is sent. , To the image output interface 2113. Further, based on the register read request issued by the CPU (2001), the information is read from the corresponding register and transferred to the image ring interface 6 (2159).

The status processing unit (2151) monitors the information of the image output interface 2113, and the CPU (2
An interrupt packet for issuing an interrupt to 001) is generated and output to the image ring interface 6 (2159).

The tile expansion unit (2155) is a bus bridge which is connected to the image ring interface 5 (2158) and expands the compressed image data input from the image ring and transfers it to the image output interface (2113). . In this embodiment, JPEG is used for multilevel data,
An example of adopting Packbits as a decompression algorithm is shown for binary data. Image processing unit for printer (211)
In 5), corrected image processing for printer output is performed, and the result is output to Printer (2095).

In the image processing unit 3 (2149), the tile decompression unit (2103) uses the image ring interface 7
Tile bus (2107) in addition to connection to (2101)
Is a bus bridge which is connected to the CPU, expands the compressed image data input from the image ring, and transfers the expanded image data to the tile bus (2107). In this embodiment, the multivalued data has JP
An example of adopting Packbits as an expansion algorithm for EG and binary data is shown.

The tile compression unit (2106) is connected to the image ring interface 8 (2102) and is also connected to the tile bus (2107) to compress the image data before the compression input from the tile bus to obtain the image ring. (200
It is a bus bridge that transfers to 8). In this embodiment,
An example in which JPEG is adopted for multi-valued data and Packbits is adopted for binary data as a compression algorithm is shown.

The command processing unit (2104) is connected to the register ring bus (2109) in addition to the connection to the image ring interface 7 (2104), and the register issued by the CPU (2001) input through the image ring. The setting request is written in the corresponding block connected to the register setting bus (2109). In addition, the CPU (200
Based on the register read request issued from 1), the information is read from the corresponding register via the register setting bus. The image is transferred to the image ring interface 8 (2102).

The status processing unit (2105) monitors the information of each image processing unit, generates an interrupt bucket for issuing an interrupt to the CPU (2001), and outputs it to the image ring interface 8 (2102).

In the tile bus (2107), in addition to the above blocks, a multilevel halftoning unit (2119), which is a functional block,
A binarization unit (2118), a color space conversion unit (2117), an image rotation unit (2030), and a resolution conversion unit (2116) are connected.

Here, the image rotation unit (2030) rotates the image data. The resolution conversion unit (2116) changes the resolution of the image. The color space conversion unit (2117) converts the color spaces of the color and grayscale images. The binarization unit (2118) is a multi-value (color, gray scale)
Binarize the image. The multi-value conversion unit (2119) converts the binary image into multi-value data.

The memory control unit (2122) is connected to the memory bus (2108), and according to the request of each image processing unit,
By the preset address division, the image memory 1 and the image memory 2 (2123) are subjected to operations such as writing and reading of image data and refreshing if necessary. In this embodiment, the image memory is SDRAM
An example using is shown.

The controller shown in FIG.
Unit is configured on one board. And
System control unit (2150), image processing unit 1 (216
3), the image processing unit 2 (2162), the image processing unit 3 (21
49) are configured as ASICs on the board, and the ASICs are connected by an image ring (2008) which is a unidirectional bus, and data transfer is performed.

[Tile Image (Packet) Format]
Controller Unit in the present embodiment
In (2000), image data, CPU (2001)
Command and interrupt information issued from each block are transferred in a packetized format.

In this embodiment, three different types of packets are used: the data packet shown in FIG. 3, the command packet shown in FIG. 4, and the interrupt packet shown in FIG.

(Data Packet) The format of the data packet in this embodiment is shown in FIG. Figure 3
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The image data (3002) in tile units of pixel × 32 pixels is divided and handled. As shown in FIG. 3 (A), necessary header information (3001) and image additional information (3003) are added to the image in tile units to form a data packet.

The information contained in the header information (3001) will be described below. The packet type is distinguished by the PcktType (3004) in the header information (3001). The PcktType (3004) includes a repeat flag. When the image data of the data packet is the same as the image data of the data packet transmitted immediately before, the repeat flag is set.

ChipID (3005) indicates the ID of the chip that is the target of packet transmission. Data
Type (3006) indicates the type of data. Pa
geID (3007) indicates a page, and JobI
D is a Job ID (30 for managing with software)
08) is stored.

The Tile number is a combination of the Tile coordinate (3009) in the Y direction and the Tile coordinate (3010) in the X direction and is represented by YnXn. As shown in FIG. 3B, in this embodiment, YnXn is determined in order from the upper left of the page. The data packet may or may not be compressed image data. In the present embodiment, as the compression algorithm, an example in which JPEG is used in the case of multi-value color (including multi-value gray scale) and Packbits is used in the case of binary is shown. The distinction between the compressed case and the non-compressed case is shown by the CompressFlag (3017).

Process Instruction
(3011) is left-justified and is set in the processing order, and each processing unit shifts the processed Process Instruction to the left by 8 bits. Process Instr
action (3011) is UnitID (3019)
And 8 sets of Mode (3020) are stored. U
nitID (3019) designates each processing unit, and M
ode (3020) is an operation mode in each processing unit
Is specified. As a result, one packet contains eight Un
It can be processed continuously.

PacketByteLength (30
12) indicates the total number of bytes in the packet. Image
eDataByteLength (3015) is the number of bytes of the image data, ZDataByteLength (30
16) represents the number of bytes of the image additional information, and the ImageD
dataOffset (3013), ZDataOffs
et (3014) represents the offset from the beginning of the packet of each data.

(Packet Table) FIG. 6 shows a packet table in this embodiment. Each packet is a Pack
It is managed by et Table (6001).

The components of the Packet Table (6001) are as follows. When 0 is added to the Table value by 5 bits, the start address of the packet is
(6002), the packet Byte Length (6
005). That is, Packet Addre
ss Pointer (27bit) + 5b0000
0 = Packet head Address and Packet
Length (11 bits) + 5b000000 = byte length of packet, the relational expression holds.

The Packet Table (6001) and the Chain Table (6010) are not divided. Packet Table (6001) is always arranged in the scanning direction, and Yn / Xn = 000/00.
10,000 / 001/002 ,. ． ． ． It is lined up in that order. This Packet Table (60
The entry of 01) uniquely indicates one tile. The entry next to Yn / Xmax becomes Yn + 1 / X ₀ .

If the packet has exactly the same data as the previous packet, the packet is not written in the memory and the entry of the Packet Table is the same as the first Packet Address Po.
Stores inter and PacketLength. 1
Two packet entries point to one packet data. In this case, the RepeatFlag (6003) of the second table entry is set.

If the packet is divided into a plurality of pieces by Chain DMA, DivideFlag (600
4) is set, and the Chain Table number (6006) of the Chain Block containing the head part of the packet is set.

The entry of Chain Table (6010) is Chain Block Address (60
11) and Chain Block Length (60
12), and 0 is stored in the last entry of the table for both Address and Length.

(Command Packet) FIG. 4 shows the format of the command packet in this embodiment. This packet format is for accessing the register setting bus (2109). By using this packet, the image memory (21
Access to 23) is also possible.

The ChipID (4004) stores an ID representing the image processing unit to which the command packet is transmitted. PageID (4007), JobID (400
8) stores the Page ID and Job ID for managing by software. Packet ID (400
9) is represented in one dimension. X-coo of data packet
Use only rdinate. The packet byte length (4010) is fixed at 128 bytes.

A maximum of 12 commands can be stored in the packet data part (4002) with one set of the address (4011) and data (4012) as one command. The command type of write or read is C
mdType (4005), the number of commands is C
mdnum (4006).

(Interrupt Packet) FIG. 5 shows the format of the interrupt packet in this embodiment. This packet format is sent from each image processing unit to the CPU
This is for notifying an interrupt to (2001). When the status processing unit of each image processing unit transmits an interrupt packet, the status processing unit must not transmit the interrupt packet until the next transmission is permitted.

The packet byte length (5006) is 1
It is fixed at 28 Bytes. Packet data part (500
In 2), status information (5007) of each internal module of the image processing unit (2149) is stored. The status processing unit can collect the status information of each module in the image processing unit and collectively send the status information to the system control unit (2150).

The ChipID (5004) has a system controller (2150) as a destination of the interrupt packet.
Is also IntChipID (5005)
Stores an ID representing the image processing unit that is the source of the interrupt packet.

[Image Processing Operation] The image processing operation of the digital multi-function peripheral of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 illustrates a data flow path in the operation of reading image data, generating image tile data, printing out the same with the printer 2095, and simultaneously storing the image data tile in the RAM (2002).

The image data is read by the scanner (2070). Here, the image data is sequentially processed as raster data by the image processing unit (211) for the scanner.
4). Image processing unit for scanner (211
4) performs necessary image processing in the order of raster data and transfers it to the image input interface (2112).

The image input interface (2112) develops the image data transferred in raster order in the image memory (2161) in raster format. The image memory (2161) has a minimum capacity of 32 lines of raster data. When the image data for 32 lines is expanded in the image memory (2161), the image input interface (2112) becomes 32 pixels ×
The tile image data of 32 lines is read out in units of FIG.
Generates a data packet according to the format.

Next, an image input interface (211)
2) uses the generated data packet in the tile compression unit (21
52). The tile compression unit (2152) performs JPEG compression on the image tile data (3002) included in the data packet. The JPEG-compressed data packet is transferred to the image ring interface 4 (2154). The image ring interface 4 (2154) transfers the data packet to the image ring interface 5 (2158) via the image ring (2008).

Image ring interface 5 (215
In 8), when the data packet output to the printer in advance is received, the tile image data included in the data packet is copied. Then, to the copied tile image data, a header including information to be transferred to the system control unit is attached to newly generate a data packet,
Transfer to the image ring interface 6 (2159). The image ring interface 6 (2159) sequentially transfers the data packets via the image ring (2008).

Image ring interface 5 (215
8) transfers the data packet to the system control unit (2150) and simultaneously transfers the data packet to the tile decompression unit (2155). Tile extension (215
In 5), the tile image data included in the data packet is JPEG-decompressed and converted into uncompressed image data. The decompressed image data is transferred to the image output interface (2113).

The image output interface (2113) which receives the tile image data receives the tile image data as
Raster development is performed on the image memory (2160). The expansion is performed in tile units, but in the image memory (2160) in the form of raster data. In this way, when the raster data is all developed as the raster data for 32 lines output by the printer, the image output interface (2113) starts reading data in raster order. The image output interface (2113) that has read the data in raster order transfers this data to the printer image processing unit (2115).

A printer (2095) that has received raster data via the printer image processing unit (2115)
Prints an image based on the raster data.

On the other hand, the image ring interface 5 (2
158) and the system controller (215
The data packet transferred to 0) is the image ring interface 6 (2159), the image ring interface 7 (2101), and the image ring interface 8
(2102) and is transferred to the system control unit (2150) via the image ring (2008).

The system controller (2150) stores the transferred data packet in the RAM (2002). The image data block stored in the RAM (2002) is finally stored in the external storage device (2004).

In this way, the scanner (2070)
It is possible to easily achieve the operation of saving the image read by the printer (2095) and printing the image at the same time, and at the same time, the system controller (2150) saves the image.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the processing executed by the CPU (2001) in the above-mentioned operation of storing the image data in the RAM (2002) at the same time as outputting the image read by the scanner (2070) by the printer (2095). Is.

The processing settings in each image processing section are as follows:
It is executed using the command packet shown in FIG. That is, the CPU (2001) generates a command packet including setting information for executing the above operation, transfers the generated command packet to the image processing units 1 to 3, and transfers the transferred command packet to each image processing unit. The command processing unit receives the processing setting of each internal block according to the setting information included in the received command packet.

In the flowchart of FIG. 8, first, in step S101, the packet forwarding setting is performed so that the packet transferred from the image processing unit 1 (2163) to the image processing unit 2 (2162) is also forwarded to the system control unit (2150). To do. As described above, this setting is performed using the command packet.

In step S102, the DMA of the system controller (2150) is activated. This DMA is a DMA for inputting a data packet generated based on the image data read by the scanner (2070) from the image ring interface 2 (2148) and storing it in the RAM (2002).

In step S103, the scanner (20
70) is started and image data reading is started. Based on the image data read by the scanner (2070), the image processing unit 1 (2163) generates a data packet according to the format of FIG. The generated data packet is sent to the image ring interface 4 (215
4) to the image ring (2008).

The packet transferred from the image ring (2008) is input to the image ring interface 5 (2158). The image ring interface 5 (2158) that receives the packet sends the packet to the image processing unit 2 (2
162), and at the same time, a copy of the packet is transferred to the system control unit (2150) via the image ring interface 6 (2159).

Next, in step S104, the printer (2095) is activated. The activated printer (20
95), the raster image data developed by the packets sequentially input from the image ring interface 5 is transferred. The printer (2095) outputs an image print based on the raster image data.

In step S105, the scanner (20
At 70), it is determined whether the image reading is completed. Here, the determination is repeated until the image reading by the scanner (2070) is completed.

In step S106, the scanner (20
It is determined whether the print output of the image data read in step 70) is completed. Here, the printer (20
The determination is repeated until the image print output is completed in 95).

In step S107, the scanner (20
It is determined whether all the packets based on the image data read in 70) are stored in the RAM (2002). This is a determination as to whether the packet DMA through the image ring (2008) has ended. This D
When MA ends, all operations end.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the image processing unit 1 packetizes the tile image data generated based on the image data from the scanner and transfers the packetized image data to the image processing unit 2. Generates raster data based on the transferred tile image data and outputs the raster data to the printer, copies the tile image data, packetizes the copied tile image data, and transfers the packet to the RAM. Thereby, the operation of storing the image data from the scanner in the RAM and printing it out can be executed at high speed. Further, since the image duplication is performed in tile image data units, high-speed image output and storage processing can be executed without increasing the memory amount in the image processing unit 2.

Further, the image processing unit 1 and the image processing unit 2 are connected by an image ring which is a unidirectional bus, and the image processing unit 1
When storing the tile image data generated in 1. in the RAM, the image processing unit 2 copies the image data transferred from the image processing unit 1 via the image ring, and transfers the copied image data to the RAM. did. As a result, the data path from the image processing unit 1 for image input to the image processing unit 2 for image duplication and image output can be shortened, so that high-speed operation can be achieved while minimizing bus competition with other processing. Various image output and storage processes can be executed.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a digital multi-function peripheral has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other devices such as a facsimile machine and a printer can be used. It is also applicable in.

The present invention can be applied not only to a digital multi-function peripheral or a facsimile device alone, but also to a system composed of a plurality of devices. For example, when performing remote copy in a system including a plurality of digital multi-function peripherals, an image input side (corresponding to the functions of the scanner and controller of the above embodiment) and an image output side (functions of the controller and printer of the above embodiment) The present invention can be applied to any of the devices (corresponding to

C corresponding to the image processing apparatus of the present invention
The input source of the image data to the controller unit is not limited to the scanner, but may be another image input device such as a digital camera or a communication medium for connecting to an external device such as a network or a public line.

Similarly, Controller U
The output destination of the image data from the nit is not limited to the printer, and a communication medium for connecting to an external device,
It may be another external storage device different from the storage destination inside the Controller Unit.

In addition, the Contro in the above embodiment
Although the ller unit is configured on one board, the present invention is not limited to this, and the system control unit and the ASICs of the image processing units may be configured on a plurality of boards.

[0101]

As described above, the present invention claims 1.
According to the inventions described in (4) and (6), an image is output based on the generated tile image data, the tile image data is duplicated, and the duplicated tile image data is transferred to a storage device to store the image data and output the image. There is an effect that the operation to be performed can be executed at high speed without increasing the amount of memory for image processing.

According to the fourth and ninth aspects of the present invention, the image generation block and the image output block are connected by a unidirectional bus, and the image output block generates an image through the unidirectional bus. By duplicating the image data transferred from the block and transferring the duplicated image data to the storage device, the operation of storing the image data and outputting the image can be performed to minimize the bus contention with other processing. However, there is an effect that it can be executed at high speed.

According to the fifth and tenth aspects of the present invention, the image data is output based on the generated image data, the image data is duplicated, and the duplicated image data is transferred to the storage device. There is an effect that the operation of storing the image and outputting the image can be executed at high speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an entire network system including a digital multi-function peripheral to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an overall hardware configuration of a digital multi-function peripheral (1001).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format of a data packet in the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a command packet in this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of an interrupt packet in this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a packet table in the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an image processing operation by the digital multi-function peripheral of this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a CPU (2001) in the operation shown in FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the.

[Explanation of symbols]

2001 ROM 2002 RAM 2008 image ring 2095 printer 2112 image input interface 2113 Image output interface 2114 Image processing unit for scanner 2115 Image processing unit for printer 2149 Image processing unit 3 2150 System control unit 2152 Tile compression unit 2154 Image ring interface 4 2155 Tile extension 2158 Image ring interface 5 2160 image memory 2161 image memory 2162 Image processing unit 2 2163 image processing unit 1 2070 Scanner

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C187 AD14 AE07 BF01 CC08 DB33                       DB36 DD03 GA03 GA07 GB08                 5B021 AA02 BB01 BB05 CC05 DD10                       QQ04                 5B057 AA20 CA12 CA19 CB12 CG09                       CH01 CH11 CH14 CH16

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An image processing device for processing tile image data of a predetermined size, comprising: generating means for generating tile image data; and image output for outputting an image based on the tile image data generated by the generating means. And a storage unit for storing image data, wherein the image output unit outputs an image based on the tile image data generated by the generation unit, duplicates the tile image data, and outputs the duplicated tile image data. An image processing apparatus, which transfers to the storage means. 2. The tile image data is packet data in which attribute information is added to the tile image data, and the image output means stores the packet data in which information to store in the storage means is added in the storage means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The generating unit generates the tile image data based on the raster data input from the image reading device, and the image output unit converts the generated tile image data into raster data for image output. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the converted raster data is output to the image forming apparatus. 4. An image processing device for processing tile image data of a predetermined size, comprising: generating means for generating tile image data, and image output for outputting an image based on the tile image data generated by the generating means. Means and a storage means for storing image data, wherein the generation means and the image output means are connected by a unidirectional bus, and the image output means generates the generation via the unidirectional bus. An image processing apparatus characterized by copying the image data transferred from the means, and transferring the copied image data to the storage means. 5. The image output device includes a generation unit that generates image data, an output image output unit that outputs an image based on the image data generated by the generation unit, and a storage unit that stores the image data. An image processing apparatus, which outputs an image based on the image data generated by the generation means, duplicates the generated image data, and transfers the duplicated image data to the storage means. 6. A data transfer method for an image processing device, which is connected to a storage device for storing image data, and which processes tile image data of a predetermined size, the method comprising: generating tile image data; And an image output step of outputting an image based on the tile image data generated in the generation step, the image output step, the image output based on the tile image data generated in the generation step and the tile image data is duplicated, A data transfer method, wherein the copied tile image data is transferred to the storage device. 7. The tile image data is packet data in which attribute information is added to the tile image data, and the image output step stores the packet data in which information to store in the storage device is added. The data transfer method according to claim 6, wherein the data is transferred to a device. 8. The generating step generates the tile image data based on the raster data input from the image reading device, and the image outputting step converts the generated tile image data into raster data for image output. 7. The data transfer method according to claim 6, wherein the converted raster data is output to the image forming apparatus. 9. An image processing device, comprising an image generation block connected to a storage device for storing image data, for generating tile image data of a predetermined size, and an image output block for outputting an image based on the tile image data. The data transfer method according to claim 1, wherein the image generation block and the image output block are connected by a unidirectional bus, and the image output block transfers an image transferred from the image generation block via the unidirectional bus. A data transfer method comprising: copying data and transferring the copied image data to the storage device. 10. A data transfer method for an image processing device connected to a storage device for storing image data, comprising: a generating step of generating image data; and an output of outputting an image based on the image data generated in the generating step. An image output step, wherein the image output step outputs an image based on the image data generated in the generation step, copies the generated image data, and transfers the copied image data to the storage device. Characteristic data transfer method.