JP3535694B2 - Data transfer device and method, and image processing device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transfer device and method, and an image processing device.
The present invention relates to data transfer when an image supply device such as a digital camera and an image processing device such as a printer are directly connected via a serial interface defined by EE1394.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printer is a personal computer (PC) which is a host device through a parallel or serial interface such as Centronics or RS232C.
Connected with.

Digital equipment, which is an image supply device such as a scanner, a digital still camera, and a digital video camera, is also connected to the PC. The image data taken in by each digital device is once taken in the hard disk etc. on the PC, then processed by the application software etc. on the PC and converted into the print data for the printer, and passed through the above interface. Then sent to the printer.

In the system as described above, driver software for controlling each digital device, printer, etc. exists independently in the PC, and the image data output from the digital device is used on the PC by the driver software. It is saved as data in a format that is easy and easy to display. The stored data is converted into print data by an image processing method that considers the image characteristics of the input device and the output device.

With a new interface such as the interface defined by IEEE1394 (hereinafter referred to as "1394 serial bus"), it is possible to directly connect the image supply device and the printer. When connecting the image supply device and the printer directly with a 1394 serial bus, use FCP (Functi
A method of including print data in the on Control Protocol) operand can be considered. Further, in the 1394 serial bus, a method of providing a register area for data transfer and writing the data in the register area to perform the data transfer can be considered.

Further, the 1394 serial bus has a plurality of control procedures for data transfer, and data transfer can be performed by a method suitable for each device.

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned technique has the following problems. As described above, the image data output from the image supply device is the PC
Since it is converted into print data by the printer and printed by the printer, even if the image supply device and the printer are directly connected, printing cannot be performed without the PC. There is also a printer called a video printer that directly prints the image data output from a digital video camera, but it is a versatile video printer that can be connected between specific models and can be directly connected to many image supply devices. Absent. That is, it is impossible to directly send the image data from the image supply device to the printer for printing by making use of the function of directly connecting the devices such as the 1394 serial bus.

The above-described method in which the image supply device and the printer are directly connected by the 1394 serial bus and the print data is included in the FCP operand has a problem that the control command and the print data cannot be separated. There is also a problem that transfer efficiency is low because a response is always required. Further, the above-described method of providing a register area for data transfer requires a process for determining whether data can be written in the register area each time data is transferred. Therefore, there is a problem that the overhead of this determination processing becomes large, and the transfer efficiency also decreases.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems individually or collectively, and processes image data transmitted from the host device directly to the target device through communication between the host device and the target device via a 1394 serial bus or the like. The purpose is to perform data transfer suitable for causing the target device to perform.

Another object of the present invention is to execute data transfer with high transfer efficiency, which enables separation of control commands and data.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the overhead required to determine whether data can be written when writing data in the data transfer area.

Another object of the present invention is to make data transfer in which data corresponding to the number of empty blocks in the data transfer area can be collectively transmitted / received.

[0013]

The present invention has the following structure as one means for achieving the above object.

A data transfer method according to the present invention is a data transfer method used between a host device and a target device, wherein the target device is locked by communication by a lock transaction between the host device and the target device. And communicating buffer information related to a receive buffer between the host device and the locked target device,
Data is transmitted from the host device to the target device based on the communicated buffer information.

A data transfer method used between a host device and a target device, wherein the target device is locked by communication by a lock transaction between the host device and the target device, Send a command to the locked target device, generate a response to the command from the target device to the host device, and from the host device to the target device based on buffer information associated with a receive buffer included in the response. Characterized by sending data.

A data transfer apparatus according to the present invention includes a reception buffer between a lock unit that locks the target device through communication by a lock transaction with the target device and the target device locked by the lock unit. And a data transmitting means for transmitting data to the target device based on the buffer information communicated by the communication means.

Further, a lock means for locking the data transfer apparatus by communication by a lock transaction with the host device, and a reception with the host device after the data transfer apparatus is locked by the lock means. It is characterized by having a communication means for communicating buffer information related to the buffer, and a receiving means for receiving data sent from the host device based on the buffer information communicated by the communication means.

Further, lock means for locking the target device by communication by a lock transaction with the target device, command transmission means for sending a command to the target device locked by the lock means, and And a data transmitting unit for transmitting data to the target device based on buffer information related to a reception buffer included in the response.

Further, a lock means for locking the data transfer apparatus by communication by a lock transaction with the host device, and a command sent from the host device after the data transfer apparatus is locked by the lock means. Command receiving means for receiving the data, the generating means for generating response information to the host device in response to the command, and the data transmitted from the host device based on the buffer information related to the receiving buffer included in the response information. And a data receiving unit for performing the same.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A data transfer method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general configuration example of a system to which the present invention is applied, in which a PC 103, a printer 102 and a digital video camera (DVC) 101 are connected using a 1394 serial bus. Therefore, the outline of the 1394 serial bus will be described in advance.

[0022]

[Outline of IEEE1394] With the advent of home digital VTRs and digital video discs (DVDs), video data and audio data (collectively referred to as "AV data")
For example, it is necessary to transfer real-time and information-rich data. To transfer AV data in real time to a PC or other digital device, an interface with high-speed data transfer capability is required. The interface developed from that perspective is 13
94 It is a serial bus.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a network system configured by using a 1394 serial bus. This system is equipped with equipment A to H, between AB, between AC, between BD, between DE, CF
, CG, and CH are connected with a twisted pair cable for 1394 serial bus. Examples of these devices A to H are host computer devices such as personal computers and computer peripheral devices. Computer peripherals include digital VCRs, DVD players, digital still cameras, storage devices that use media such as hard disks and optical disks, CRT and LCD monitors, tuners, image scanners, film scanners,
All computer peripherals such as printers, MODEMs, and terminal adapters (TAs) are covered. The recording method of the printer may be any method such as an electrophotographic method using a laser beam or an LED, an inkjet method, a thermal transfer method of an ink melting type or a sublimation type, or a thermal recording method.

The connection between the respective devices can be a mixture of the daisy chain method and the node branch method, and the connection can be performed with a high degree of freedom. Further, each device has an ID, and by recognizing each other's IDs, one network is configured in the range connected by the 1394 serial bus. For example, one device for each device
94 By simply connecting in a daisy chain with a serial bus cable, each device plays the role of relay, so one network can be configured as a whole.

The 1394 serial bus is Plug and Play.
Corresponding to the function, it has the function of automatically recognizing the device by simply connecting the 1394 serial bus cable to the device and recognizing the connection status. In addition, in the system shown in Fig. 2, when a device is removed from the network or newly added, the bus is automatically reset (the network configuration information up to that point is reset), and A good network. With this function, it is possible to constantly set and recognize the network configuration at any given time.

The data transfer rate of the 1394 serial bus is defined to be 100/200/400 Mbps, and a device having a higher transfer rate supports a lower transfer rate,
Compatibility is maintained. The data transfer mode is asynchronous (A
There is a synchronous transfer mode (ATM) and a synchronous (Isochronous) transfer mode for transferring synchronous data such as real-time AV data. This asynchronous data and synchronous data are transferred in each cycle (usually 125 μs / cycle) following the transfer of the cycle start packet (CSP) that indicates the cycle start,
While giving priority to the transfer of synchronous data, they are transferred together in a cycle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a 1394 serial bus. The 1394 serial bus has a layered structure. As shown in FIG. 3, a connector at the tip of a cable 813 for a 1394 serial bus is connected to the connector port 810. The hardware part 8 is located above the connector port 810.
Physical layer 811 and link layer 812 composed of 00
There is. The hardware unit 800 is composed of an interface chip, of which the physical layer 811 performs encoding and connection-related control, and the like, and the link layer 812 performs packet transfer, cycle time control, and the like.

The transaction layer 814 of the firmware unit 801 manages data to be transferred (transaction) and issues Read, Write, and Lock commands. The management layer 815 of the firmware unit 801 manages the connection status and ID of each device connected to the 1394 serial bus, and manages the network configuration. The above hardware and firmware are the actual configuration of the 1394 serial bus.

The application layer 816 of the software section 802 differs depending on the software used,
How to transfer data on the interface is defined by a protocol such as a printer or AV / C protocol.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an address space in the 1394 serial bus. Each device (node) connected to the 1394 serial bus must have a 64-bit address unique to the node. This address is stored in the memory of the device, and by always recognizing the node address of itself or the partner, data communication can be performed by designating the partner of communication.

The addressing of the 1394 serial bus is IE
This is a method based on the EE1212 standard. In address setting, the first 10 bits are used to specify the bus number, and the next 6 bits are used to specify the node ID.

The 48-bit address used in each device is also divided into 20-bit and 28-bit,
It is used with a structure of 256 MB unit. Of the first 20-bit address space, 0-0xFFFFD is the memory space, 0x
FFFFE is called private space and 0xFFFFF is called register space. The private space is an address that can be used freely within the device, and the register space holds common information between the devices connected to the bus and is used for communication between the devices.

The first 512 bytes of the register space is CSR
The register (CSR core), which is the core of the architecture,
The serial bus registers are placed in the next 512 bytes, the configuration ROM is placed in the next 1024 bytes, and device-specific registers are placed in the remaining unit space.

Generally, to simplify the design of heterogeneous bus systems, nodes should only use the first 2048 bytes of the initial unit space, which results in the CSR core, serial bus registers, configuration ROM and It is desirable that the first 2048 bytes of the unit space are combined to form 4096 bytes.

The above is the outline of the 1394 serial bus.
Next, the features of the 1394 serial bus will be described in more detail.

[0036]

[Details of 1394 Serial Bus] [Electrical Specifications of 1394 Serial Bus] FIG. 5 is a view showing a cross section of a cable for the 1394 serial bus. The 1394 serial bus cable is provided with a power supply line in addition to the two twisted pair signal lines. As a result, it becomes possible to supply power to a device that does not have a power source or a device whose voltage has dropped due to a failure or the like. The voltage of the DC power supplied by the power line is 8 to 40V, and the current is specified to the maximum current of 1.5A. The standard called the DV cable is composed of four wires without the power supply line.

[DS-Link system] Figure 6 shows the data transfer system DS-Link (Data / Strob) used in the 1394 serial bus.
It is a figure for demonstrating an e-link system.

The DS-Link method is suitable for high-speed serial data communication and requires two sets of signal lines. That is, one of the two twisted pair wires sends a data signal and the other sends a strobe signal. The receiving side is characterized in that the clock can be generated by taking the exclusive OR of this data signal and the strobe signal. For this reason, when using the DS-Link method, it is not necessary to mix the clock signal into the data signal, so the transfer efficiency is higher than other serial data transfer methods, and the clock signal can be generated, so the phase-locked loop (PLL)
The circuit becomes unnecessary and the circuit scale of the controller LSI can be reduced accordingly. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to send information indicating that the device is in the idle state when there is no data to be transferred, it is possible to put the transceiver circuit of each device into the sleep state and reduce power consumption. .

[Bus Reset Sequence] A node ID is assigned to each device (node) connected to the 1394 serial bus.
Is given and is recognized as a node that constitutes the network. For example, when there is a change in the number of nodes due to disconnection of network devices or power on / off, that is, when there is a change in the network configuration and it is necessary to recognize the new network configuration, each node that detects the change is on the bus. It sends a bus reset signal to and enters a mode for recognizing a new network configuration. The change in the network configuration is detected by detecting the change in the bias voltage at the connector port 810.

When a bus reset signal is transmitted from a certain node, the physical layer 811 of each node receives the bus reset signal and at the same time transmits the occurrence of the bus reset to the link layer 812, and transmits the bus reset signal to other nodes. To convey. After all the nodes finally receive the bus reset signal, the bus reset sequence is activated. Note that the bus reset sequence is activated when a cable is plugged or unplugged, or when the hardware detects a network error, etc., and it is also possible to give a command directly to the physical layer 811 such as host control by a protocol. Is activated. When the bus reset sequence is activated, the data transfer
It is temporarily suspended, waits for a bus reset, and resumes under the new network configuration after the bus reset ends.

[Sequence of Node ID Determination] After the bus reset, each node starts an operation of giving an ID to each node in order to construct a new network configuration. A general sequence from the bus reset to the node ID determination at this time will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 to 9.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a series of sequence examples from the generation of the bus reset signal to the determination of the node ID and the data transfer. Each node constantly monitors the generation of the bus reset signal in step S101, moves to step S102 when the bus reset signal occurs, and is directly connected to each other in order to obtain a new network configuration in a state where the network configuration is reset. A parent-child relationship is declared between the nodes. Then, step S102 is repeated until it is determined in step S103 that the parent-child relationship has been determined among all the nodes.

When the parent-child relationship is determined, the process proceeds to step S104, a root node is determined, and in step S105, a node ID setting operation for giving an ID to each node is performed. Node IDs are set from the root node in a predetermined node order,
Step S105 is repeated until it is determined in step S106 that all nodes have been given IDs.

When the setting of the node ID is completed, the new network configuration is recognized by all the nodes, and the data transfer between the nodes becomes possible.
The data transfer is started in step S107, and the sequence returns to step S101 to monitor the generation of the bus reset signal again.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed example from the monitoring of the bus reset signal (S101) to the determination of the root node (S104), and FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed example of the node ID setting (S105, S106).

In FIG. 8, the generation of the bus reset signal is monitored in step S201, and when the bus reset signal is generated, the network configuration is temporarily reset. Next, in step S202, as a first step of re-recognizing the reset network configuration, each device resets the flag FL with data indicating that it is a leaf node. Then, in step S203, each device checks the number of ports, that is, the number of other nodes connected to itself, and in step S204,
According to the result of step S203, the number of undefined ports (whose parent-child relationship is not determined) is checked in order to start the declaration of the parent-child relationship. Here, the number of undefined ports is
Immediately after the bus reset, the number is equal to the number of ports, but as the parent-child relationship is determined, the number of undefined ports detected in step S204 decreases.

Only the actual leaf node can declare the parent-child relationship immediately after the bus reset. Whether or not it is a leaf node can be known from the confirmation result of the number of ports in step S203, that is, if the number of ports is "1", it is a leaf node. The leaf node is step S205.
Then, the parent-child relationship is declared to the node of the connection partner, "I am a child, the partner is a parent", and the operation is completed.

On the other hand, the node whose number of ports is "2 or more" in step S203, that is, the branch node, is "the number of undefined ports>1" immediately after the bus reset. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S206, and a branch is made to the flag FL. Data indicating a node is set, and in step S207, the node waits for another node to declare a parent-child relationship. A parent-child relationship is declared from another node,
The branch node which received it returns to step S204 and confirms the number of undefined ports. If the number of undefined ports is "1", the other nodes connected to the remaining ports are checked in step S205. You can declare a parent-child relationship of "I am a child and the other is a parent". If the branch node has an undefined port number of “2 or more”, the step S207 is performed.
Will wait for another node to declare a parent-child relationship again.

When the number of undefined ports of any one branch node (or a leaf node which, exceptionally, can make a child declaration but does not operate quickly) becomes “0”, the parent-child relationship of the entire network. Has been declared, and the only node whose undefined port number has become "0", that is, the node that has been determined to be the parent of all nodes, sets the data indicating the root node in the flag FL in step S208, It is recognized as a root node in step S209.

Thus, the procedure from the bus reset to the declaration of the parent-child relationship among all the nodes in the network is completed.

Next, the procedure for giving an ID to each node will be described. The leaf node can initially set the ID. Then, the IDs are set in order of leaf → branch → root, starting from the smallest number (node number: 0).

In step S301 of FIG. 9, the process branches according to the type of node, that is, leaf, branch and route, based on the data set in the flag FL.

First, in the case of a leaf node, step S302
After setting the number of leaf nodes (natural number) existing in the network in the variable N, each leaf node requests the node number from the root node in step S303.
If there are multiple requests, the root node determines in step S304.
Arbitration is performed in step S305, the node number is given to one node, and the other nodes are notified of the result indicating the failure to acquire the node number.

The leaf node which could not acquire the node number by the determination in step S306 repeats the node number request in step S303. On the other hand, the leaf node that has acquired the node number notifies all the nodes by broadcasting the ID information including the acquired node number in step S307. When the broadcast of the ID information is finished, the variable N representing the number of leaves is decremented in step S308. Then, the procedure of steps S303 to S308 is repeated until the variable N becomes “0” by the determination of step S309, and after the ID information of all leaf nodes is broadcast, the process proceeds to step S310,
Move on to ID setting.

The branch node ID is set almost in the same way as the leaf node. First, in step S310, the number of branch nodes existing in the network (natural number) is set to the variable M.
Then, in step S311, each branch node requests the node number from the root node. In response to this request, the root node performs arbitration in step S312, gives one branch node a young number following the leaf node in step S313, and shows the acquisition failure for branch nodes that could not acquire the node number. To notify.

The branch node, which has determined that the acquisition of the node number has failed in the determination in step S314, repeats the request for the node number in step S311. On the other hand, the branch node that has acquired the node number is step S315,
All nodes are notified by broadcasting ID information including the acquired node number. When the broadcast of the ID information ends, in step S316, a variable M indicating the number of branches is displayed.
Is decremented. Then, by the determination in step S317, the procedure of steps S311 to S316 is repeated until the variable M becomes “0”, and after the ID information of all the branch nodes is broadcast, the process proceeds to step S318, and the ID of the root node. Move on to settings.

When the process up to this point is completed, only the root node is the only node that has not finally obtained an ID, so step S3
At 18, the lowest number not given to other nodes is set as the own node number, and at step S319 the root node
Broadcast ID information.

This is the end of the procedure until the IDs of all nodes are set. Next, a specific procedure of the node ID determination sequence will be described using the network example shown in FIG.

In the network shown in FIG. 10, nodes A and C are directly connected under the root node B, nodes D are directly connected under the node C, and nodes E and nodes are under the node D. It has a hierarchical structure in which F is directly connected. The procedure for determining the hierarchical structure, the root node, and the node ID is as follows.

After the bus reset occurs, in order to recognize the connection status of each node, a parent-child relationship is declared between the ports directly connected to each node. The parent and child here mean that the upper layer of the hierarchical structure is “parent” and the lower layer is “child”. In FIG. 10, it is the node A that first declares the parent-child relationship after the bus reset. As described above, the declaration of the parent-child relationship can be started from the node (leaf) to which only one port is connected. This means that if the number of ports is "1", it is recognized as the end of the network tree, that is, the leaf node, and the parent-child relationship is determined from the node that operates first among those leaf nodes. Become. In this way, the port of the node that declares the parent-child relationship is set as the "child" of the two nodes connected to each other, and the node of the other node is the "parent".
Is set. Thus, between nodes AB, between nodes ED,
A "child-parent" relationship is set between the node FDs.

Further, the hierarchy is moved up by one, and a node having a plurality of ports, that is, a node that receives a parent-child relationship declaration from another node among branch nodes sequentially declares the parent-child relationship to the upper node. In Figure 10, first the node
After the parent-child relationship between DE and DF is determined, node D declares the parent-child relationship to node C, and as a result, node DC
A "child-parent" relationship is set between them. Having received the parent-child relationship declaration from node D, node C declares a parent-child relationship with node B connected to the other port, which establishes a "child-parent" relationship between nodes CB. It

In this way, the hierarchical structure as shown in FIG. 10 is constructed, and the node B which has become the parent at all the finally connected ports is determined as the root node. There is only one root node in one network configuration. Further, when the node B declared the parent-child relationship from the node A promptly declares the parent-child relationship to another node, another node such as the node C may become the root node. . That is, any node may become the root node depending on the timing at which the declaration of the parent-child relationship is transmitted, and even if the network configuration is the same, a specific node does not always become the root node.

When the root node is determined, each node ID
Enter the decision mode of. All nodes have a broadcast function that notifies all other nodes of the determined own ID information. The ID information is broadcast as ID information including a node number, information on a connected position, the number of ports it has, the number of connected ports, and parent-child relationship information of each port.

The node number allocation is started from the leaf node as described above, and the node numbers are 0, 1, 2, ...
Are assigned. Then, by broadcasting the ID information, it is recognized that the node number has already been assigned.

When all the leaf nodes have acquired the node numbers, the branch node moves to the next branch node and the node numbers following the leaf nodes are assigned. Like leaf nodes, branch nodes are assigned node numbers in order.
ID information is broadcast, and finally the root node broadcasts its own ID information. Therefore, the root node always owns the highest node number.

As described above, the ID setting of the entire hierarchical structure is completed, the network configuration is constructed, and the bus initialization work is completed.

[Control Information for Node Management] As a basic function of the CSR architecture for node management, the CSR core shown in FIG. 4 exists on a register. The positions and functions of these registers are shown in FIG. 11, and the offsets in the figure are relative positions from 0xFFFFF0000000.

In the CSR architecture, 0xFFFFF0000200
Registers related to the serial bus are arranged.
The location and function of these registers are shown in Figure 12.

Further, at the location starting from 0xFFFFF0000800, information on node resources of the serial bus is arranged. The locations and functions of these registers are shown in Figure 13.

Although the CSR architecture has a configuration ROM to represent the function of each node,
This ROM has a minimum format and a general format, 0xFFFFF000040
Placed from 0. In the minimum format, only the vendor ID is represented as shown in FIG. 14, and this vendor ID is a unique value represented by 24 bits in the world.

Further, the general format is as shown in FIG. 15 and has information about the node. In this case, the vendor ID can be held in the root directory (root_directory). Also, a bus info block
And the root leaf has a 64-bit globally unique device number including the vendor ID. This device number is used to continuously recognize the node after reconfiguration such as bus reset.

[Serial Bus Management] The protocol of the 1394 serial bus is as shown in FIG.
11, link layer 812 and transaction layer 814
It consists of Among them, bus management provides basic functions for node control and bus resource management based on the CSR architecture.

A node that performs bus management (hereinafter referred to as "bus management node") exists only on the same bus and provides a management function to other nodes on the serial bus. Control, performance optimization, power management, transmission rate management, configuration management, etc.

The bus management function is roughly divided into three functions: a bus manager, a synchronous (isochronous) resource manager and a node control function. Node control is CS
It is a management function that enables inter-node communication in the physical layer 811, link layer 812, transaction layer 814, and application by R. The synchronous resource manager is a management function necessary for performing synchronous data transfer on the serial bus, and manages the transfer bandwidth of synchronous data and allocation of channel numbers. To perform this management, the bus management node is dynamically selected from the nodes having the synchronous resource manager function after the initialization of the bus.

Further, in the configuration in which the bus management node does not exist on the bus, the node having the synchronous resource manager function performs a part of the functions of the bus management such as the power management and the control of the cycle master. In addition, bus management is a management function that provides a service that provides a bus control interface to applications.The control interface has a serial bus control request (SB_CONTROL.request) and serial bus event control confirmation (SB_CONTROL.confirmation). ) And serial bus event notification (SB_EVENT.indication).

The serial bus control request is used when the application requests the bus management node for bus reset, bus initialization, bus state information, and the like. The serial bus event control confirmation is the result of the serial bus control request, and is notified from the bus management node to the application. The serial bus event notification is for notifying an application from a bus management node of an event that occurs asynchronously.

[Data Transfer Protocol] In the data transfer of the 1394 serial bus, synchronous data (synchronous packet) that needs to be transmitted periodically and asynchronous data (asynchronous packet) that allows data transmission / reception at arbitrary timing are simultaneously transmitted. It exists and guarantees the real-time property of the synchronized data. In data transfer, bus arbitration is performed to request the bus use right and obtain the bus use permission prior to the transfer.

In the asynchronous transfer, the sending node ID and the receiving node ID are sent as packet data together with the transfer data. When the receiving node confirms its own node ID and receives the packet, it returns an acknowledge signal to the transmitting node, thus completing one transaction.

In the synchronous transfer, the transmitting node requests the synchronous channel together with the transmission speed, and the channel ID is sent as packet data together with the transfer data. The receiving node confirms the desired channel ID and receives the data packet. The number of channels required and the transmission rate are determined by the application layer 816.

These data transfer protocols are defined by three layers, a physical layer 811, a link layer 812 and a transaction layer 814. The physical layer 811 performs physical / electrical interface with a bus, automatic recognition of node connection, bus arbitration of bus usage right between nodes, and the like. Link layer 81
2 performs cycle control for addressing, data check, packet transmission / reception, and synchronous transfer. The transaction layer 814 performs processing related to asynchronous data. The processing in each layer will be described below.

[Physical Layer] Next, the bus arbitration in the physical layer 811 will be described.

The 1394 serial bus always arbitrates the bus use right before data transfer. 13
94 Each device connected to the serial bus forms a logical bus-type network that transmits the same signal to all devices in the network by relaying the signals transferred on the network. Bus arbitration is necessary to prevent this. This allows only one node to make a transfer at a given time.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the request for the right to use the bus.
17 is a diagram for explaining permission to use the bus. When the bus arbitration starts, one or more nodes request the bus usage right from the parent node.
In FIG. 16, the node C and the node F request the bus use right. Parent node that received this request (node in Figure 16
A) further relays the request for the right to use the bus by the node F by requesting the right to use the bus toward the parent node. This request is finally delivered to the root node that performs arbitration.

The root node which has received the request for the right to use the bus determines which node is to be given the right to use the bus. This arbitration work can be performed only by the root node, and the node that wins the arbitration is given permission to use the bus. FIG. 17 shows a state where the bus use permission is given to the node C and the bus use right request of the node F is denied.

The root node sends a DP (data prefix) packet to the node that loses the bus arbitration to inform that the request for the right to use the bus is rejected. The request for the right to use the bus of the node that loses the bus arbitration is held until the next bus arbitration.

As described above, the node which wins the arbitration and is permitted to use the bus can start data transfer thereafter. Here, a series of flow of bus arbitration will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The bus must be idle for the node to be able to initiate a data transfer. A predetermined idle time gap length (for example, sub-action gap) set individually for each transfer mode is used to confirm that the bus has been idle at the end of the previously started data transfer. When a predetermined gap length is detected, each node determines that the bus has become idle. Each node, step S4
At 01, it is determined whether or not a predetermined gap length corresponding to data to be transferred such as asynchronous data or synchronous data is detected. The bus right required to initiate the transfer cannot be requested unless a predetermined gap length is detected.

When the predetermined gap length is detected in step S401, each node determines in step S402 whether there is data to be transferred, and if there is, the signal requesting the right to use the bus is routed in step S403. Make a call. As shown in FIG. 16, the signal indicating the request for the right to use the bus is finally delivered to the root node while being relayed to each device in the network. If it is determined in step S402 that there is no data to be transferred, the process returns to step S401.

When the root node receives one or more signals requesting the right to use the bus in step S404, the root node proceeds to step S4.
Check the number of nodes that requested the usage right in 05. Step S4
According to the judgment of 05, if there is only one node requesting the use right, the bus use right after that is given to that node. If there are a plurality of nodes that have requested the right to use, arbitration work is performed in step S406 to narrow down the number of nodes to which the bus use permission is given immediately after. This arbitration work does not give permission to use the bus only to the same node every time, but gives permission to use the bus equally (fair arbitration).

The process of the root node is step S407.
The process branches according to one node that has won the arbitration in step S406 and the other nodes that have lost the arbitration. If there is one node that has won the arbitration or one that has requested the bus use right, a permission number indicating the bus use permission is sent to the node in step S408. The node receiving this permission signal starts the transfer of the data (packet) to be transferred immediately after that (step S41).
0). In addition, the node that has lost the arbitration indicates in step S409 that the request for the bus right is rejected.
DP (data prefix) packet is sent. The process of the node that received the DP packet returns to step S401 to request the right to use the bus again. The process of the node for which the data transfer is completed in step S410 also returns to step S401.

[Transaction Layer] There are three types of transactions: read transaction, write transaction and lock transaction.

In the read transaction, the initiator (request node) reads data from a specific address in the memory of the target (response node). In a write transaction, the initiator writes data to a specific address in the target memory. In the lock transaction, reference data and update data are transferred from the initiator to the target. The reference data is combined with the data of the address of the target to become a designated address indicating a specific address of the target. Then, the data of the designated address is updated by the update data.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a request / response protocol for read, write, and lock commands based on the CSR architecture in the transaction layer 814. Request, notification, response, and confirmation shown in the figure are services in the transaction layer 814. It is a unit.

Transaction request (TR_DATA.request)
Is a packet transfer to the response node, transaction notification (TR_DATA.indication) is a notification that the request has arrived at the response node, transaction response (TR_DATA.response) is an acknowledgment transmission, and transaction confirmation (TR_DATA.confirmation) is an acknowledgment reception. Is.

[Link Layer] FIG. 20 shows the link layer 812.
In the figure showing the service in, the link request (LK_DATA.reque
st), a link notification (LK_DATA.indication) for notifying the response node of packet reception, and a link response (LK_DATA.respons) for sending an acknowledge from the response node.
e), link confirmation of acknowledge transmission of requesting node (LK_DA
It is divided into service units (TA.confirmation). One packet transfer process is called a sub-action, and there are two types: an asynchronous sub-action and a synchronous sub-action. The operation of each sub-action will be described below.

[Asynchronous Sub-Action] An asynchronous sub-action is an asynchronous data transfer. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing temporal transition in asynchronous transfer. The first sub-action gap shown in FIG. 21 shows the idle state of the bus. When this idle time reaches a predetermined value, a node desiring data transfer requests a bus use right, and bus arbitration is executed.

When the use of the bus is permitted by the bus arbitration, the data is then packet-transferred, and the node that receives this data returns a reception confirmation return code ACK after a short gap of ACK gap and returns a response. Data transfer is completed or the response packet is returned. The ACK consists of 4-bit information and 4-bit checksum, and contains information indicating success, busy status, or pending status, and is immediately returned to the node that sent the data.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the format of an asynchronous transfer packet. The packet has a header part in addition to the data part and the data CRC for error correction, and the destination part ID, source node ID, transfer data length, various codes, etc. are written in the header part.

Asynchronous transfer is one-to-one communication from the sending node to the receiving node. The packet sent from the source node is distributed to each node in the network, but each node ignores the packets other than the packet addressed to itself, so that only the node designated as the destination receives the packet.

[Split Transaction] The service in the transaction layer 814 is performed by a set of transaction request and transaction response shown in FIG. Here, if the processing in the link layer 812 and the transaction layer 814 of the target (response node) is sufficiently fast, the request and the response are not processed by independent sub-actions of the link layer 812 but are processed by one sub-action. It will be possible. However, if the processing speed of the target is slow, it is necessary to process the request and response in separate transactions. This operation is called a split transaction.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an operation example of the split transaction. In response to a write request from the controller of the initiator (request node), the target returns pending. As a result, the target can return confirmation information for the write request of the controller, and can gain time for processing the data. And
After enough time to process the data, the target
Notify the controller of the write response and terminate the write transaction. Note that the link layer 812 can be operated by another node between the request and response subactions at this time.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a temporal transition of a transfer state when a split transaction is performed. Sub-action 1 represents a request sub-action and sub-action 2 represents a response sub-action.

In sub-action 1, the initiator sends a data packet indicating a write request to the target, and the target receiving the response ends the request sub-action by returning a pending indicating the above confirmation information by an acknowledge packet.

Then, after the sub-action gap is inserted, in sub-action 2, the target sends a write response with no data packet, and the initiator receiving this response returns a complete response with an acknowledge packet, and the response sub The action ends.

The time from the end of subaction 1 to the start of subaction 2 is the minimum time corresponding to the subaction gap, and the maximum time can be extended to the maximum waiting time set in the node. .

[Synchronous sub-action] This synchronous transfer, which can be said to be the greatest feature of the 1394 serial bus,
It is suitable for transferring data that requires real-time transfer such as AV data. Further, while asynchronous transfer is one-to-one transfer, this asynchronous transfer can uniformly transfer data from one source node to all other nodes by the broadcast function.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a temporal transition in the synchronous transfer. The synchronous transfer is executed on the bus at regular time intervals, and this time interval is called a synchronous cycle. Sync cycle time is
125 μs. The cycle start packet (CSP) 2000 indicates the start of this synchronization cycle and has a role of synchronizing the operation of each node. The CSP2000 is sent by the node called the cycle master, and after the transfer in the previous cycle is completed and the specified idle period (sub-action gap 2001) has passed, the CSP2000 that signals the start of this cycle is sent. To do. In other words, the time interval for transmitting this CSP2000 is 125 μS.

Further, as shown by channel A, channel B and channel C in FIG. 25, by assigning channel IDs to a plurality of types of packets in one synchronization cycle, these packets can be distinguished and transferred. it can. As a result, it is possible to perform real-time transfer between a plurality of nodes substantially at the same time, and the receiving node need only receive the data of the desired channel ID. This channel ID does not represent the address of the receiving node or the like, but is only a logical number for data. Therefore,
A packet transmitted will be distributed from one source node to all other nodes, that is, will be broadcast.

Prior to packet transmission by synchronous transfer, bus arbitration is performed as in asynchronous transfer. However, since it is not one-to-one communication like asynchronous transfer, there is no ACK of the return code for reception confirmation in synchronous transfer.

Further, the iso gap (synchronization gap) shown in FIG. 25 represents an idle period necessary to confirm that the bus is in the idle state before performing the synchronous transfer. The node that has detected the predetermined idle period determines that the bus is in the idle state, and requests the bus use right when it wants to perform the synchronous transfer, so that the bus arbitration is performed.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a packet format for synchronous transfer. The data part and error correction data are included in the various packets divided into each channel.
In addition to the CRC, there is a header part, and the transfer data length, the channel number, other various codes, and the header CRC for error correction are written in the header part as shown in FIG.

[Bus Cycle] Actually, in the 1394 serial bus, synchronous transfer and asynchronous transfer can coexist.
FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a temporal transition of a transfer state when synchronous transfer and asynchronous transfer are mixed.

Here, as described above, the synchronous transfer is executed prior to the asynchronous transfer. The reason is that after CSP,
This is because synchronous transfer can be activated with a gap (isochronous gap) shorter than the idle period gap (subaction gap) required to activate asynchronous transfer. Therefore, the synchronous transfer has priority over the asynchronous transfer.

In the general bus cycle shown in FIG. 28, the CSP is transferred from the cycle master to each node at the start of cycle #m. The CSP synchronizes the operation of each node, waits for a predetermined idle period (synchronization gap), and then the node that attempts to perform synchronous transfer participates in bus arbitration and enters packet transfer. In FIG. 28, channel e, channel s, and channel k are sequentially transferred in synchronization.

After repeating the operations from the bus arbitration to the packet transfer for the given channels, when the synchronous transfer in the cycle #m is completed, the asynchronous transfer can be performed. That is, when the idle time reaches the sub-action gap where asynchronous transfer is possible, the node that wants to perform asynchronous transfer participates in the bus arbitration. However, asynchronous transfer can be performed only when a sub-action gap for activating asynchronous transfer is detected between the end of synchronous transfer and the time (cycle synch) at which the next CSP should be transferred. .

In cycle #m shown in FIG. 28, two packets (packet 1 and packet 2) including ACK are transferred by asynchronous transfer after the synchronous transfer of three channels. After this asynchronous packet 2, since the time (cycle synch) at which the cycle m + 1 should be started is reached, the transfer in the cycle #m is finished. However, when the time to send the next CSP (cycle synch) is reached during an asynchronous or synchronous transfer, the transfer is not forcibly interrupted, and after the transfer ends, the CSP of the next synchronous cycle is sent after an idle period. To do. That is, when one synchronization cycle continues for 125 μs or more, the extension of the next synchronization cycle is shortened from the reference 125 μs. In this way, the synchronization cycle exceeds 125 μs
It can be shortened.

However, in order to maintain the real-time transfer, the synchronous transfer is executed every cycle if necessary, and the asynchronous transfer may be postponed to the subsequent synchronous cycle due to the shortened synchronous cycle time. The cycle master also manages such delay information.

[FCP] The AV / C protocol is a function control protocol FC for controlling devices on the 1394 serial bus.
P (Functional Control Protocol) is prepared. FC
Asynchronous packets specified by IEEE1394 are used for the transmission and response of P control commands. In FCP, the node on the control side is called the controller and the node on the controlled side is called the target.The FCP packet frame sent from the controller to the target is the AV / C command frame, and conversely the FCP packet frame returned from the target to the controller is the AV. / C Call it a response frame.

In FIG. 29, node A is the controller and node B is
Shows the case of a target.Of the register addresses prepared for each, 512 bytes from address 0x0000B00 are the command register and 512 bytes from address 0x0000D00 are the response register, which are specified by the packet frame using asynchronous transfer. The data is written in the register of the specified address. At this time, the controller sends the AV / C command frame and the target
The response relationship of the AV / C response frame is called an AV / C transaction. In a typical AV / C transaction, the target needs to send a response frame to the controller within 100 ms after receiving the command frame.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a packet format of an asynchronous transfer including an FCP packet frame. An AV / C transaction is performed by inserting a command frame or a response frame into the data area of the asynchronous data packet shown in FIG. To be executed.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing the structure of the AV / C command frame, and FIG. 32 is a diagram showing the structure of the AV / C response frame.
For FCP packet frames, the header ctype and responds
After the e, subunit_type, subunit_ID, the data part of FCP is connected.

Ctype indicates the command type in the command frame, and includes CONTROL, STATUS, INQUIRY, NOTIFY
Shows each state of.

Response indicates a response code in the response frame, and ACCEPTED, REJECTED, IN_TRA
It shows each status such as NSITION, IMPLEMENTED, CHANGED, and INTERIM.

Also, subunit_type is the device classification, su
bunit_ID indicates the instance number.

The data portion of the FCP has an operation code + operand configuration, and it is possible to control the target using various AV / C commands and to make an AV / C response.

Operation code in command frame (opc
ode) is one of the command groups shown in the command column shown in FIG. 50, and each command is executed with the content according to the command type set in ctype.

The command in which "CONTROL" is designated by the ctype means a control command and controls the target device or sets the target with the contents set after the operand (oprand). The command for which "STATUS" is specified by ctype is for obtaining the status corresponding to the command. The command for which "INQUIRY" is specified by ctype is for inquiring about the contents that can be set by the command. ctype to "NOTIF
The command for which "Y" is specified is for confirming the command.

For each command, the contents required for each command are set in the operand and written in the command frame.

As the operation code in the response frame, the response code shown in the response column of FIG. 50 is set. Each response has an operand corresponding to each response. In the operand of the response, information indicating whether the command has been normally executed or ended in error is set, so that error processing can be performed according to this operand.

[0130]

[LOGIN protocol]

[Communication Using LOGIN Protocol] FIG. 33 is a diagram comparing the interface of the 1394 serial bus with each layer of the OSI model often used in LAN. The physical layer 1 and the data link layer 2 of the OSI model correspond to the physical layer 811 and the link layer 812 which are the lower layers 4 of the interface of the 1394 serial bus. The transport protocol layer 5 and the presentation layer 6 in the interface of the 1394 serial bus existing on the lower layer 4 correspond to the upper layer 3 including the network layer, the transport layer, the session layer and the presentation layer of the OSI model. Also, L
The OGIN protocol 7 operates between the lower layer 4 of the interface of the 1394 serial bus and the transport protocol layer 5.

In Example 1 shown in FIG. 33, a device conforming to the serial bus protocol (SBP-2) 8 for a peripheral device such as a printer is provided with the LOGIN protocol 7 so that the device of the other end is in SBP-2. You can notify that you want to exchange data using a compliant protocol.

In the example 2 shown in FIG. 33, the device protocol specialized on the interface of the 1394 serial bus is used.
As for 9 as well, by providing the LOGIN protocol 7, it is possible to determine whether or not the devices support each other's protocol.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing the basic operation of the LOGIN protocol 7. When the printer device executes the print task 10 from the host device, first, the printer protocol A prepared by the printer, Select which of B and C to select for print data exchange.
It is determined based on the communication according to the N protocol 7, and then the print data is exchanged according to the determined printer protocol. That is, when a printer device that supports several printer protocols is connected to the host device, the transport protocol 5 prepared for the host device is first determined by the LOGIN protocol 7, and the transport protocol of the host device is determined. Five
The print task 10 is processed by selecting a printer protocol suitable for the above and exchanging print data and commands according to the selected printer protocol.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing an example of a connection form in the 1394 serial bus, which supports a plurality of printer protocols (m
LOGIN for the printer 11 that provides ulti-protocol support)
Devices that implement Protocol 7 (PC12, Scanner 13, D
VC14 etc.) is connected. Printer 11
By switching the printer protocol according to the transport protocol 5 of the partner device requesting the connection, which is determined by the LOGIN protocol 7, it becomes possible to process the print task from each device without any problem.

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing the flow of the login operation. In step 1: The host device locks the target device (in this case a multi-protocol printer). The target device checks the capability (including the transport protocol) of the host device, and the capability is stored in the register 503 described later.

In step 2: Print data communication is performed according to the protocol set in step 1.

In Step 3: The host device
Disconnect from the target device.

FIG. 37 shows the 1394 serial bus of the printer which is the target device for the LOGIN protocol 7.
Indicates CSR, lock register (lock) 501, protocol register (protocol) 502, capability register (capabili
ty) 503 is shown. These registers are located at defined addresses in the initial unit space of the 1394 serial bus address space. In other words, as explained using Fig. 4, 0xFFFFF in the first 20 bits of the address width of 48 bits given to the device is called the register space, and the first 512 bytes of that register are the core of the CSR architecture ( CSR core) is located.

The lock register 501 indicates the lock state of the resource, the value "0" indicates the log-in possible state,
A value other than "0" indicates that you are already logged in in the locked state. The capability register 503 indicates a protocol that can be set for each bit, and indicates that the protocol corresponding to the bit of the value "1" can be set, "0".
Indicates that the protocol corresponding to is not configurable.
The protocol register 502 indicates the currently set protocol, and the value of the bit corresponding to the bit of the capability register 503 corresponding to the set protocol becomes “1”. FIG. 38 is a flowchart showing the login processing in the host device.

In order to start the login, first, the data of the lock register 501, the protocol register 502 and the capability register 503 of the target device to be logged in, for example, the printer, is confirmed by a read transaction. Where the capability register
From the data of 503, it is confirmed whether the target device supports the protocol used by the host device for communication (step S601).

If the protocol of the host device is not supported by the target device, the login is canceled in the next step S602. If the data in the lock register 501 is other than “0”, it is considered that another device is currently logged in and the login is stopped. Login register 50
If the data of 1 is "0", it is considered that login is currently possible (step S602).

If the login is possible, the process shifts to the resource lock process, and "1" is written in the lock register 501 of the printer using the lock transaction to set the login (step S603). In this state, the target device is locked and cannot be controlled by other devices, nor can the register be changed.

With the resources of the target device locked as described above, the protocol is set next. The printer of this embodiment, which is the target device,
In order to support multiple printer protocols, one must know which protocols the host device can use before receiving print data. In this embodiment, the write transaction of the host device sets the corresponding bit of the protocol register 502 of the printer to notify the printer of the protocol to be used (step S604).

At this point, the protocol used by the host device for communication is notified to the target device, and the target device is in the locked state. Therefore, the host device currently logged in to the target device sends data, in this case print data. Do (step
S605).

When the data transmission is completed, the host device logs out from the printer by clearing the lock register 501 and protocol register 503 of the target device (step S606).

FIG. 39 is a flow chart showing the login processing of the printer which is the target device. The printer is usually waiting to be logged in from the host device. Since the print request from the host device is started by reading the lock register 501, the protocol register 502, and the capability register 503 of the printer, it is necessary to keep the register readable by another device.

It is now assumed that the printer is locked by the host device which is going to execute the printout (step S701). The printer then waits for notification of the protocol used from the host device (step S702).
The reason why the printer waits for the notification of the used protocol after the lock state is set is to prevent the protocol register 503 from being rewritten by a request from another device during the login.

When the use protocol is notified (step S703), the printer switches its protocol to the notified use protocol (steps S704, S706 and S708) and performs communication in accordance with the protocol of the host device. (Steps S705, S707 or S709).

When the communication is completed, the printer confirms that the lock register 501 and the protocol register 503 are cleared (step S710), and returns to the state of waiting for login (step S701).

[Example Considering Device without LOGIN Protocol] FIG. 40 is a diagram for explaining an example considering a device not implementing LOGIN protocol 7. Compared with the first example shown in FIG. 34, The feature is that it also supports devices that do not have LOGIN protocol 7 but have protocol D. That is, not only devices with LOGIN protocol 7 but also existing protocol D (eg AV / C protocol)
The printer protocol is added to the device that does not have the LOGIN protocol 7 on the printer side in order to guarantee the printing operation even for the device that supports only the.

Explaining this operation, when the printer recognizes that the host device does not support the LOGIN protocol 7 by the print request made at the beginning of the connection, the printer uses the protocol D to communicate with the host device. If the communication is tried and the communication is established, the print task 10 is executed according to the protocol D.

FIG. 41 is a diagram comparing the configuration shown in FIG. 40 with each layer of the OSI model. In Example 3, an AV device 15 conforming to the current AV / C protocol in which the LOGIN protocol 7 is not implemented is shown. Is used as a model. Example 4 is the LOGIN protocol
It is modeled on a scanner 16 that implements a non-standard protocol for scanners that do not implement 7.

That is, even for a device having a protocol that does not implement the LOGIN protocol 7, if the printer can support the protocol of the device, the types of devices that can use the printer can be expanded. .

[0154]

[Direct Print Protocol] The printing procedure of the printer and the image supply device according to the present invention will be described below. However, the printer and the image supply device are directly connected to each other to form an image based on the image data supplied from the image supply device. The protocol used by the printer is called "Direct Print Protocol (DPP)".

The basics of DPP are a command register (command) for writing a command and a response register (response) for writing a response to the command in the initial unit space (indicated by the unit space in FIG. 4) of the 1394 serial bus. ), A data register (data) for writing transfer data, and a format register (format) for handling format information corresponding to a data format of each transfer data.

FIG. 42 is a diagram showing this register map, and the command register and response register are the same as those described with reference to FIG. In the following description, an example will be described in which an image supply device is a controller and a printer is a target, and image data is supplied from the image supply device to the printer to print an image.

The command register 42-1 is 0x on the printer side.
It is located at a fixed address of FFFFF0000B00, has a memory space of 512 bytes, and is for the image supply device to write various commands to the printer. Of course, when the command register is also provided on the image supply device side, the command can be written from the printer. The command written in the command register 42-1 is called a command frame.

The response register 42-2 is arranged at a fixed address of 0xFFFFF0000D00 on the image supply device side, and
It has a 2-byte memory space, and is for writing the responses to various commands written to the printer from the image supply device. Of course, when the response register is also provided on the printer side, the response can be written from the image supply device. The response written in the response register 42-2 is called a response frame. In Fig. 29, the upper address 0xFF
FF is omitted in the description.

The data register 42-3 uses FFFFFF0003000h as the default address, BlockAddress, BufferConfig
It is set to any valid address by the command (command that defines the address of the data register). The memory space of the data register 42-3 is BlockSize, BufferConfi
It is set within the range determined in advance by the g command (command that defines the memory space of the data register). The data register 42-3 is a register for transferring data between the image supply device and the printer, and print data is written from the image supply device to the printer when printing is performed. In the print data, the data written in the data register 42-3 according to the data format of the preset image format is called a data frame.

The format register 42-4 is a group of registers corresponding to each data format described later, and each register serves as a register for setting format information necessary for each data format.
That is, the format register 42-2 is a register for writing format information from the image supply device to the printer. The format information written in the format register 42-2 is called a format frame.

FIG. 43 is a diagram showing the flow of frames from the image supply device to the printer, showing the flow of command frames, response frames, data frames, and format frames. The printer prints according to the frames output from the image supply device. To do.

The command sent from the image supply device to the printer is written in the command register 43-4 of the printer as a command frame. This command is a command for performing the printing shown in FIG. The response to this command is written by the printer in the response register 43-2 of the image supply device. This response includes information indicating whether the command was executed correctly and the return value for the command. The print data sent from the image supply device to the printer is
The data frame is written in the data register 43-6 of the printer. The format information sent from the image supply device to the printer is written in the format register 43-7 of the printer as a format frame.

FIG. 44 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the format register 43-7. Format register 43-7 includes read-only register INQUIRY 44-1 for inquiry and read / write register CONTROL / STATU for setting and information acquisition.
It is classified into S 44-2. INQUIRY 44-1 and CONTROL / ST
ATUS 44-2 is composed of register groups with the same configuration. That is, the registers 44 that make up the register group
-3 to 44-7 and registers 44-9 to 44-13.

More specifically, the format register group is a common register group (print com
n register group) registers 44-3 and 44-4
(44-9 and 44-10) and registers 44-5 to 44-7 (44-11 to 44-13) which form a printer format register group.

The common register group is a group of registers in which registers common to all data formats are collected, and registers common to all printers GLOBAL 44-3 (44)
-9) and the register LOCAL 44-4 (44
-10) and.

The printer format register group is a register group in which unique information is collected for each data format, and registers format [1] 44-5 (44-11) to forma
t [n] consists of n registers up to 44-7 (44-13). The registers format [1] to format [n] correspond to the data format described later, and one printer format register group is allocated for each data format to be mounted.

The address of each format register is given to the image supply device as a response to the command for setting the data format.

FIG. 45 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the status register status register 44-8 of the common register group. The status register 44-8 is a 32-bit common status register (common status register) 45-1 that holds a status common to printers of each vendor.
And a vendor specific status (vendor specific status registe) that holds the status defined by each vendor.
r) 45-2 and In addition, the v flag (vendor status avai
lable flag) enables vendor-specific status register 45-
The extension to 2 is defined as follows.

The information held in the common status register 45-1 is as follows. error.warning: Status such as error and warning paper state: Status related to recording paper print state: Status related to printing status

FIG. 46 shows the register GL of the common register group.
It is a figure which shows the detailed example of the information hold | maintained at OBAL 44-3 (44-9). Register GLOBAL 44-3 (44-9) is a register that holds information common to all printers equipped with DPP (Direct Print Protocol), that is, information that does not differ by printer type. FIG. 46 shows an example of this, and shows media-type 46-1 indicating the type of recording medium, paper-size 46-2 indicating the size of recording paper, page-margin 46-3 indicating the margin value of the page, Page-len indicating the length
gth 46-4, indicating page offset page-offset 46-
5, a print-unit 46-6 indicating the printer unit information, a color-type 46-7 indicating the color type of the printer, a bit-order 46-8 indicating the bit order of data, etc. are included.

FIG. 47 shows the register LO of the common register group.
It is a figure which shows the detailed example of the information hold | maintained at CAL 44-4 (44-10). The register LOCAL 44-4 (44-10) is a register that holds information unique to each printer model equipped with DPP, that is, a collection of information that differs depending on the printer type. Fig. 47 shows an example of this, showing the type of recording paper unique to the printer, paper 47-1, and the color matching method.
It includes CMS 47-2, such as ink 47-3, which indicates the type of ink in an inkjet printer.

FIG. 48 is a diagram showing an example of information held in the register format [1] 44-5, which is an example in which information on EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) which is one of the image data formats is held. . In this case, the ratio of the input X direction inX-rate 48-1, the ratio of the input Y direction inY-rate 48-
2. Includes output X-direction ratio outX-rate 48-3 and output Y-direction ratio outY-rate 48-4. In this case given EXIF
Printing is possible by scaling the format image data in the XY direction according to the contents of each register.

FIG. 49 is a diagram showing an example of information held in the register format [2] 44-6, which is an example in which information on the Raw RGB format, which is one of the image data formats, is held. The Raw RGB format uses R (r
It is an image format composed of ed), G (green), and B (blue) data. In this case, the rate of the input in the X direction inX-rate
49-1, Input Y-direction ratio inY-rate 49-2, Output X-direction ratio outX-rate 49-3, Output Y-direction ratio outY-rate 4
9-4, XY-size 49-5 showing fixed pixel size of XY, bit-pixel 49-6 showing number of bits per pixel, X-size 49-7 showing number of pixels in X direction, number of pixels in Y direction Indicates
Y-size 49-8, plane 49-9 indicating the number of color planes, X-resolution 49-10 indicating resolution in the X direction, Y-resolution 49-11 indicating resolution in the Y direction, pixel- indicating the type of pixel fo
Including rmat 49-12 etc. In this case, the given Raw RGB
The image data of the format can be printed by performing scaling in the XY directions and conversion of the resolution according to the contents of each register, and further processing based on information regarding the image size.

FIG. 50 is a diagram showing a list of commands and responses to the commands. Commands are classified into several types. As for the classification, "status" related to status, "control" for printer control,
"Block / buffer" for setting data transfer, "Channel" for channel setting, "Transfer" for transfer method, "Format" for format setting, "Login" for login, "Data" for data transfer, etc. .

More specifically, "status"
GetS command to get printer status as
There is tatus and its response GetStatusresponse 50-1.

"Control" includes a command PrintReset for resetting the printer and its response.
PrintResetResponse 50-2, Print instructing to start printing
Start and its response PrintStartResponse 50-3,
PrintStop and its response P to stop printing
rintStopResponse 50-4, Insert to instruct the supply of recording paper
tPaper and its response InsertPaperResponse 50-
5, EjectPaper to instruct to eject recording paper and its response EjectPaperResponse 50-6, CopyStart to instruct to start copying image data and its response CopySta
rtResponse 50-7, CopyEnd for instructing the end of image data copy and its response CopyEndResponse
There are 50-8 etc.

[0177] As "block / buffer", BlockSize that specifies the size of a block and its response B
lockSizeResponse 50-9, BlockAddress specifying the address of the block and its response BlockAddressResp
onse 50-10, FreeBlock to get the number of free blocks and its response FreeBlockResponse 50-11, WriteBlocks and its response to write data to the block WriteBlocksResponse 50-12, BufferConfig to specify buffer information and its response Buff
erConfigResponse 50-13, and SetBuffer and its response SetBufferResponse 50-14 that specify the start of data acquisition from the buffer.

[0178] As "channel", OpenChannel for opening a channel and its response OpenChannelRe
sponse 50-15 and CloseC to close the channel
hannel and its response CloseChannelResponse 50-
There are 16 and so on.

As “transfer”, TransferMethod designating a data transfer method and its response TransferMethod
Response 50-17 etc.

As the “format”, SetFormat for setting the format and its response SetFormatResp
onse 50-18 etc.

"Login" means Lo to log in.
gin and its response LoginResponse 50-19, Logout to logout and its response LogoutResponse
50-20, and Reconnect that performs reconnection and its response, ReonnectResponse 50-21.

The above commands are written in the command frame.

Further, as "data", there are WriteBlock 50-22, WriteBuffer 50-23 for writing data, and PullBuffer 50-24 for reading data. These commands write and read data frames, and have no corresponding response.

The image supply device sets the value corresponding to each command shown in FIG. 50 to the operation code (opcode) of the command frame shown in FIG. 31 and writes the value in the command register 43-4 of the printer to print. Will execute the command. The response to the command has the same value as the command. The printer sets the response in the operation code of the response frame shown in FIG. 32 and writes it in the response register 43-2 of the image supply device. By this response, the image supply device can receive the execution result of each command.

FIG. 51 is a diagram showing an example of an image data format supported by DPP. The printer must support at least one of these formats, raw image data. It can also optionally support multiple other formats.

FIG. 52 is a diagram showing the flow of the format setting process. First, the image supply device, in step S500
The SetFormat (INQUIRY) command is sent to the printer, and the printer returns a SetFormat response in step S501. Based on the response returned, the image supply device
Know the address of the INQUIRY register.

Next, the image supply device operates in step S502.
Sends a SetFormat (CONTROL / STATUS) command to the printer, and the printer returns a SetFormat response in step S503. From the returned response, the image supply device knows the address of the printer's CONTROL / STATUS register.

The image supply device starts from step S504-1.
Read the INQUIRY register of the printer with S504-m to know the format supported by the printer and the format setting items. Next, the image supply device performs step S505.
-1 to S505-n read the printer's STATUS / CONTROL register to know the format setting value, and step S5
From 06-1 to S506-n, write data to the STATUS / CONTROL register of the printer and set the format.

The following two types of packets are used for data transfer in DPP. -Control command packet for flow control-Packet for data transmission

In this embodiment, five types of data transfer methods are listed below depending on the difference between the flow control method and the data transmission method. In any method, the control command for flow control conforms to FCP. . Transfer method 1: Response model Transfer method 2: Simple response model
Model) Transfer method 3: Push large buffer model (PUSH Large
Buffer Model) Transfer method 4: Pull buffer model (PULL Buffer Model) Transfer method 5: Synchronous model (Isochronous Model)

In the actual transfer, one of the above methods is selected and set, and the procedure is the same as the format setting procedure shown in FIG. As shown in Fig. 53, TransferMethod is used for commands and TransferMethod is used for responses.
Use MethodResponse.

FIG. 53 is a diagram showing an example of a procedure for setting the data transfer method. Image supply device is command type IN
QUIRY Trasfer Method command and response are used to acquire the currently available printer data transfer method (S600-1 and S600-2), and command type CONTROL / STAT
By US Transfer Method command and response,
Get and set the data transfer method currently set for the printer (S600-3 and S600-4).

By the way, in any of the above-mentioned five methods, the control command for flow control is FC which is a protocol for controlling the device on the 1394 serial bus.
Complies with P. FCP control command transfer, send-
The response is always performed by an asynchronous write transaction.

FIG. 54 is a diagram showing a register map in the address space of the 1394 serial bus of the registers necessary for the transfer method 1 and the transfer method 2. In this embodiment, the node on the controlling side is the image supply device (corresponding to the controller in FCP) and the node on the controlling side is the printer (corresponding to the target in FCP).

From the offset 0x0B00 of the register space to the 512-byte command register (601-1 and 601-7), from the offset 0x0D00 for both the image supply device and the printer
512-byte response register (601-2 and 601-8)
With. These registers comply with the FCP protocol and AV / C commands.

The flow control is performed by these command registers (601-1 and 601-7) and response register (601-
2 and 601-8) to write a command frame 601-4 and a response frame 601-5. A dedicated data frame is defined for transfer of print data. That is, register space offset 0x3000
To the block size data register (601-3 and 6
01-9) is provided and the print data is transferred by writing the data frame 601-6 to the data registers (601-3 and 601-9). The block size is 512 bytes, for example.

FIG. 55 is a diagram showing an example of a data packet frame, which comprises a data header 602-1 and a data payload 602-2.

FIG. 56 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the data header 602-1. The upper 8 bits are a block count area 603-1 and the lower 8 bits are a reserved area S603-2 for the future. The block count area 603-1 is used internally by the target (printer) and is a counter for counting the number of blocks transferred by one block transfer. Since the block count area 603-1 has 8 bits, it can take a value from 0 to 255.

FIG. 57 is a diagram showing data packet frame processing in the printer in block transfer. The data packet received by the printer is first written into the data register 604-1 of the printer. The printer has buffers (604-2 to 6045) of the same size as the data packets, and the data packets written in the data register 604-1 are sequentially stored in these buffers (604-2 to 6045). Be transferred. The number of these data buffers is preferably 255, which is equal to the maximum value of the block count number, but may be less than this. Here, each buffer corresponds to the block count value. A data packet with a block count of “0” is stored in the buffer of Block [0], a data packet with a block count of “1” is stored in the buffer of Block [1], and so on. , Stored. The data packets stored in the buffers (604-2 to 604-5) are expanded in the printer memory space 604-6 after the data header 602-1 is removed.

[Transfer method 1] Transfer method 1, which is a Response Model, defines a data packet frame for data transmission, provides a data register, and transfers print data by a write transaction while performing flow control by a control command. It is a method to do.

FIG. 58 is a diagram showing FreeBlock commands and responses in the transfer method 1. In the transfer method 1, prior to the transfer of data, the FreeBlock command and response are used to acquire information indicating how many data packets the image supply device transfers.

The image supply device transfers the FreeBlock command by a write transaction (S605-1), and the printer returns an ACK packet indicating confirmation of the transaction (S605-2). Printer is currently available FreeBl
A FreeBlock response is returned to notify the ockCount (S605-3), and the image supply device returns an ACK packet indicating confirmation of the transaction (S605-4).

FIG. 59 is a diagram showing an example of a data transfer flow in the transfer method 1. Image supply device is DPP L
The ogin command and response are used to log in to the printer (S606-1 and S606-2), and the format used for data transfer is set using the format register group (S606-3). Then, open the logical channel using the OpenChannel command and response (S606
-4 and S606-5). Then the data transfer starts,
The print data is transferred in the data packet format shown in FIG. Further, the packet transfer is performed by the reference numerals 604-2 to 6 in FIG.
Transfer of a number of blocks equal to the number of data buffers on the printer side shown in 04-5 is performed as one cycle.

Transfer of print data in transfer method 1 is performed as follows. The image supply device obtains the number of FreeBlocks of the printer by the FreeBlock command and response (S606-6 and S606-7), and sequentially transfers the same number of data packets as the number of FreeBlocks by WriteBlock (S606-8). Note that WriteBlock is a command for transferring a packet for print data from the data register 601-3 shown in FIG. 54 to the data register 601-9. However, WriteBlo
The ck command has no response, and the data register 601-
ACK to confirm that data packet is stored in 9
The packet is returned from the printer (S606-9).

[0205] Then, the number of Writes equal to the number of FreeBlocks
Block transfer, which consists of packet transfer by Block command and corresponding ACK packet return, is repeated until a series of print data is output from the image supply device.
FreeB of printer by Block command and response
The number of locks is acquired.

When the transfer of the print data is completed, the image supply device closes the logical channel by the CloseChannel command and response (S606-10 and S606-11), and the DP
Log out from the printer using the P Logout command and response (S606-12 and S606-13).

[Transfer method 2] Simplified Response Model
The transfer method 2 is the same as the transfer method 1 except that the number of Free Blocks is acquired.

FIG. 60 is a diagram showing an example of a data transfer flow in the transfer method 2. Image supply device is DPP L
The ogin command and response are used to log in to the printer (S607-1 and S607-2), and the format used for data transfer is set using the format register group (S607-3). Then, open the logical channel using the OpenChannel command and response (S607
-4 and S607-5). Then the data transfer starts,
The print data is transferred in the data packet format shown in FIG. Further, the packet transfer is performed by the reference numerals 604-2 to 6 in FIG.
Transfer of a number of blocks equal to the number of data buffers on the printer side shown in 04-5 is performed as one cycle.

The transfer of print data in transfer method 2 is performed as follows. Image supply device is WriteBlocks
FreeBlock of printer by command and response
Get the numbers (S607-6 and S607-7). However, step S6
The 07-7 response is IN because the number of Free Blocks after that is acquired only by the response from the printer side.
It is a TERIM (provisional) type. The image supply device sequentially sends the same number of data packets as the number of obtained FreeBlocks to the W
Transfer by riteBlock (S607-8), and the above-mentioned ACK packet is returned from the printer (S607-9). And Fre
The block transfer consisting of the packet transfer by the WriteBlock command and the corresponding return of the ACK packet corresponding to the number of eBlocks is repeated until a series of print data is output from the image supply device. However, the FreeBlock number in the block transfer after the second round is notified to the image supply device by the WriteBlocks response sent from the printer at each end of the block transfer cycle (S607-10). This WriteBlocks response is of CONTINUE type in order to continue acquisition of the number of FreeBlocks only by the response of the printer.

When the transfer of the print data is completed, the image supply device closes the logical channel by the CloseChannel command and response (S607-11 and S607-12), and the DP
Log out from the printer by the P Logout command and response (S607-13 and S607-14).

[Acquisition Method of FreeBlock Number] The acquisition method of the FreeBlock number, which is the difference between the transfer method 1 and the transfer method 2, will be described in detail below.

FIG. 61 shows steps S606-6 and S of transfer method 1.
FIG. 59 is a diagram showing the FreeBlock command and response in 606-7 in detail, including the ACK packet of the write transaction omitted in FIG. 59. Both the initiator device (image supply device) and the target device (printer) are linked layer And the case where the processing speed of the transaction layer is relatively low.

When the image supply device writes the FreeBlock command in the command register by the write transaction (S608-1), the above-mentioned ACK packet indicating pending is returned from the link layer of the printer (S608-2). next,
The image supply device sends a FreeBlock command with no data (S608-3), receives an ACK packet (S608-4) indicating complete from the printer, and ends one write transaction.

Subsequently, the printer returns a FreeBlock response, which is also written in the response register as a FreeBlock response including the number of FreeBlocks, similarly to the FreeBlock command in step S608-1 (S608-5). From the link layer of the image supply device, an ACK packet indicating pending is returned (S608-6), a FreeBlock response with no data (S608-7) is sent, and an ACK packet indicating complete is received (S608-8). , One write transaction ends.

On the other hand, in the method of acquiring the number of FreeBlocks in the transfer method 2, since only the FreeBlock response from the printer is used in the second and subsequent cycles of the block transfer cycle of the print data, only the operations of steps S608-5 to S608-8 are performed. so
You can get the number of FreeBlock.

The acquisition of the number of Free Blocks is necessary for each cycle of block transfer. Therefore, the transfer method 2 can reduce the number of packets transferred on the bus more than the transfer method 1.

FIG. 62 shows WriteB of transfer method 1 and transfer method 2.
It is a figure which shows lock in detail. WriteBlock does not require a response, so WriteBlock (S609-1), ACK packet indicating pending (S609-2), WriteBlock with no data (S609-
3) and ACK packet (S609-4) indicating complete, data can be transferred in half the procedure compared to command and response transfer, and the processing of the link layer and transaction layer is relatively A relatively high speed data transfer can be executed even at a low speed.

FIG. 63 shows WriteB of transfer method 1 and transfer method 2.
It is a figure which shows lock in detail, when the processing of a link layer and a transaction layer is fast enough. In this case, the procedure is WriteBlock (S610-1) and ACK packet (S610-2) indicating complete, and more efficient data transfer can be executed.

FIG. 64 shows Writ when a bus reset occurs.
It is a figure explaining the error process of eBlock, and has shown the case where a bus reset generate | occur | produced at the time of n (= 0-255) packet transfer of a certain block transfer cycle. In a write transaction, a normal data packet transfer failure can be detected by an ACK packet, but an error when a bus reset occurs cannot be detected. Therefore, in the present embodiment, error processing is executed according to the following procedure. That is, the number of FreeBlocks is acquired (S611-1), and WriteBlock is performed n times (from S611-2 to S611-
6) When a bus reset occurs here (S611-7), the image supply device determines that the WriteBlock immediately before the bus reset occurs.
Perform [n] again (S611-8), and then continue normal processing (S611-9 to S611-14).

[Transfer method 3] FIG. 65 shows PUSH Large Buffer M
It is a figure which shows the structural example of the command register, response register, and data register of the image supply device and printer in odel.

For commands and responses between the FCP-compliant image supply device and the printer, write a command frame 65-7 as command request data from the command register 65-1 of the image supply device to the command register 65-4 of the printer. And the response register 65-5 of the printer to the response register 65 of the image supply device.
It is executed by writing response frame 65-8 as response data to -2.

For the data frame 65-9, the FCP
Unlike, the data frame 65-9 is used for a one-way operation of writing image data from the data register 65-3 of the image supply device to the data register 65-6 of the printer using a write transaction.

FIG. 66 is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the PUSH buffer model between the image supply device and the printer. Login, Logout, OpenChannel, CloseChann in command frame and response frame
Since the operation of el and format setting is the same as that of the transfer method 1 described above, detailed description will be omitted.

In FIG. 66, the image supply device is Buff.
Inquire about the buffer area of the printer by INQUIRY of the erConfig command (S701). In response to this, the printer returns the buffer size and the buffer address in the BufferConfig response (S702).

Next, the image supply device is BufferConfig.
Use the command CONTROL to set the buffer size and buffer address of the printer that writes the data (S70
3). In response to this, the printer returns a response indicating that the setting is completed by the BufferConfig response (S704).

Subsequently, the image supply device uses SetBuffer.
The command NOTIFY is used to notify the printer that data transfer will be started (S705). In response to this, the printer responds with INTERIM of the SetBuffer response that it is ready to receive data (S706) and starts data transfer. And the printer is SetBuffe
The CONTINUE of the r response notifies the image supply device that the data transfer to the initially set buffer area is completed (S709).

Write Buffer in step S707 indicates a data frame writing operation by the image supply device, and is an operation for sequentially writing data to the buffer address set in the printer.

WriteTransactionResponse in Step S708
Indicates a response packet when a data frame is synchronously transferred. As mentioned above, if the data acquisition speed of the printer is fast enough, the processing can be completed by using the acknowledge of one write transaction, but if it takes time to acquire the data, an independent response as a split transaction will be sent. Will occur.

[0229] Step S710 shows a transfer process of a plurality of data frames. That is, data is transferred by successive write transactions for the buffer size set by the BufferConfig command. Such a data transfer method using continuous write transactions is called a "PUSH type data transfer method" or abbreviated as "PUSH method".

FIG. 67 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the data packet in the data frame. Since the data can be written by directly addressing the buffer of the printer, the data packet 67-1 has a structure that does not include a header or the like. be able to.

FIG. 68 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the data register and the buffer of the printer. The data written in the data register 68-1 is the memory space 68-2 of the printer indicated by the BufferAddress determined by the offset Destination_Offset.
Will be written directly to the address. Since the offset value is incremented by the data length Data_Length, the data can be continuously written in the area indicated by the buffer size BufferSize by repeatedly writing the data to consecutive buffer addresses.

[Transfer Method 4] FIG. 69 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a command register, a response register and a data register of the image supply device and the printer in the PULL Buffer Model.

For commands and responses between the FCP-compliant image supply device and the printer, write a command frame 69-7 as command request data from the command register 69-1 of the image supply device to the command register 69-4 of the printer. And the response register 69-5 of the printer to the response register 69 of the image supply device.
It is executed by the operation of writing the response frame 69-8 as the response data in -2.

For the data frame 69-9, the FCP
Unlike, the data frame 69-9 is used for a one-way operation of reading image data from the image supply device data register 69-3 to the printer data register 69-6 using a read transaction.

FIG. 70 is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the PULL buffer model between the image supply device and the printer. Login, Logout, OpenChannel, CloseChann in command frame and response frame
The operation of el and format setting is the same as that of the transfer method 1 described above, and the commands and responses (S711 to S714) of BufferConfig and SetBuffer are the same as those of the transfer method 3 described above, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

In FIG. 70, the image supply device is SetB.
The NOTIFY of the uffer command notifies the printer that the data transfer can be started (S715). On the other hand, the printer replies INTERIM of the SetBuffer response that it is ready to receive data (S716) and starts data transfer. And the printer is SetBuffer
The response CONTINUE notifies the image supply device that the data transfer to the initially set buffer area is completed (S719).

The printer requests a read transaction by the PullBuffer request (S717). On the other hand, the image supply device transfers the data by the PullBuffer response packet (S718), and the data is sequentially written in the buffer address set in the printer.

Step S720 shows a transfer process of a plurality of data frames. That is, data is transferred by continuous read transactions for the buffer size set by the BufferConfig command. Such a data transfer method using continuous read transactions is called a "PULL type data transfer method" or abbreviated as "PULL method".

FIG. 71 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the data register and the buffer of the image supply device. In the memory space 72-2 of the image supply device indicated by BufferAddress determined by the offset Destination_Offset set in the data register 71-1. The address data is read by a read transaction. Since the offset value is incremented by the data length Data_Length, the data can be continuously read from the area indicated by the buffer size BufferSize by repeatedly reading the data for consecutive buffer addresses.

[Transfer method 5] Transfer method 5, which is an Isochronous Model, is a method in which the transfer of print data using the asynchronous write transaction of transfer method 1 described above is replaced with the transfer of print data using the synchronous write transaction. is there. The structure of the data packet is the same as that shown in FIGS. 55 and 56. Also, the data packet frame processing in the printer in block transfer is
This is the same as the process shown in 57.

According to this transfer method, data can be transferred at a fixed time by using the synchronous write transaction.

In addition, by performing block transfer, if an error occurs when the print data for one page is collectively transferred, the print data for one page is retransmitted, which takes time. However, if print data is transferred in smaller block units, for example, in print band units in an inkjet printer or the like, it is possible to efficiently retransmit print data when an error occurs.

FIG. 72 is a diagram showing a command frame and a response frame for flow control. The image supply device writes the command frame in the command register 75-3 of the printer by the asynchronous write transaction. On the other hand, the printer writes the response frame for the command in the response register 75-2 of the image supply device by the asynchronous write transaction.

FIG. 73 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of printing processing. First, similarly to the transfer method 1 described above, the image supply device sends a Login command to the printer (S507). In response to this, the printer returns a Login response (S508), and the connection is established.

Next, similarly to the transfer method 1 described above, the image supply device performs format setting (S509) and opens.
Send the Channel command to the printer (S510). In response, the printer returns an OpenChannel response (S511),
The logical channel is opened.

[0246] Next, the image supply device is FreeBlock.
Send the command to the printer (S512). In response to this, the printer returns a FreeBlock response (S513). This FreeBlo
The ck response includes the number of Free Blocks and Error Status. The FreeBlock number is the number of block buffers secured in block units in the printer's memory space.
rStatus is for notifying the image supply device of error information in the previous block transfer. Note that the printer is the first Fr after the logical channel is opened.
Normal is always returned in ErrorStatus for the eeBlock command.

Subsequently, the image supply device block-transfers the print data by the synchronous transaction (S51
Four). At this time, the image supply device transmits the data packets for the number indicated by the number of FreeBlocks.

Next, the image supply device sends a FreeBlock command to the printer (S515). In response to this, the printer returns a FreeBlock response (S516). If the ErrorStatus of this response indicates abnormality, that is, if an error has occurred in the previous block transfer, the image supply device retransmits the data transferred in step S514 (S517). After this,
Until data transfer ends normally, steps S515, S516
And the processing of S517 is repeatedly executed. Also, ErrorStatu
If s indicates normal, the image supply device sends the number of FreeBlock data packets included in the FreeBlock response (S517).

The printer can recognize whether or not an error has occurred by referring to the block count (FIG. 73) in the header portion of the transferred data. When the number of FreeBlocks is larger than the number of blocks of data to be transferred, the image supply device sends dummy packets of a number corresponding to the larger number.

Thereafter, the transfer of data by the synchronous transaction is repeated until the series of print data are all output from the image supply device.

When the data transfer is completed, the image supply device closes the logical channel by the CloseChannel command and the response (S518) as in the transfer method 1 described above.
And S519), logout from the printer using the DPP Logout command and response (S520 and S52).
1).

As described above, according to this embodiment, the image supply device and the printer are directly connected by the 1394 serial bus or the like, the image data of the image supply device is directly sent to the printer, and the image based on the image data is printed by the printer. Can be printed on.

Since the control command and the print data can be separated, it is possible to provide an efficient data transfer system on a 1394 serial bus or the like.

Also, it is possible to provide a data transfer system capable of recovering a transfer error in the 1394 serial bus.

Further, by notifying the number of empty blocks concerning the register area for data transfer, it becomes unnecessary to judge whether writing is possible at the time of writing data in the register area, and the overhead required for the judgment is eliminated. A scheme can be provided. Further, since the data of the notified number of empty blocks are collectively transmitted and received, it is possible to provide a data transfer method with good transfer efficiency.

Further, it is possible to provide a data transfer method capable of selecting a data transfer method suitable for a transfer destination device from a plurality of data transfer methods.

When data is transferred from the host device to the target device, the command and the response thereto are exchanged only with the command instructing the start of the data transfer and the response to the command, that is, the start of the data transfer. After that, by not transmitting the command, it is possible to provide a data transfer method that avoids a decrease in transfer efficiency due to the command transmission.

Further, when data is transferred between the host device and the target device, it is possible to provide a data transfer method by the PUSH method or the PULL method.

It is also possible to provide a data transfer method capable of performing synchronous transfer and asynchronous transfer in the same transfer procedure when transferring data between the host device and the target device.

In addition, when data transfer is performed between the host device and the target device, if a transfer error occurs in a certain data unit in the synchronous transfer, a data transfer method is provided in which the data unit can be retransferred. can do.

Further, when data is transferred between the host device and the target device, it is possible to provide a data transfer method capable of performing correct data transfer even if a bus reset occurs.

Further, it is possible to provide a peripheral device such as a printer using the above-mentioned data transfer method.

[0263]

[Modification] In the above-described embodiment, a command based on FCP and a response to the command are used,
Although the example of using the method of setting information in the response and notifying it to the host device has been described, a method of mapping the register on the memory, which is a feature of the memory bus model of IEEE1394, is also conceivable.

In this case, the command is executed by writing the command data in the command register assigned to the specific address of the memory. Similarly, a response is indicated by reading the data in the response register assigned to a particular address in memory.

Therefore, when the target device recognizes that the command is written in the command register,
The command is executed, and then the result and information are written in the response register. The host device can obtain the command execution result and information by reading the response register of the target device after writing the command in the command register.

As described above, the present invention can be realized by using the registers in the memory bus model.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the IEEE19
Although an example of configuring a network using the serial interface defined in 34 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and any serial interface such as a serial interface called Universal Serial Bus (USB) is used. It can also be applied to a network configured using faces.

[0268]

Other Embodiments Even when the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus including one device (for example, a copying machine). Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Further, the object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium having a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or apparatus, and to supply the computer (or CPU or M or M of the system or apparatus).
Needless to say, this is also achieved by the PU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM,
CD-R, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instructions of the program code. It is needless to say that this also includes a case where the above) performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that a case where the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0272]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The host device and the target device communicate with each other via a 1394 serial bus or the like, and data transfer suitable for causing the target device to process the image data directly sent from the host device to the target device can be performed.

Further, the control command and the data can be separated, and the data transfer can be performed with high transfer efficiency.

In addition, when writing data in the data transfer area, it is possible to reduce the overhead required for determining whether data can be written.

Further, it is possible to perform data transfer in which data corresponding to the number of empty blocks in the data transfer area can be collectively transmitted / received.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general configuration example of a system to which the present invention is applied,

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a network using a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an address space in a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a cross section of a cable for a 1394 serial bus,

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the DS-Link system of the data transfer system adopted in the 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a series of sequence examples from generation of a bus reset signal to determination of a node ID and enabling data transfer,

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a detailed example from monitoring a bus reset signal to determining a root node;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed example of node ID setting,

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of network operation of a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the functions of the 1394 serial bus CSR architecture;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing registers related to a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing registers relating to node resources of a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 14: 1394 serial bus configuration
Figure showing the minimum format of ROM,

FIG. 15: 1394 serial bus configuration
Figure showing the general format of ROM,

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a request for a bus use right;

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining permission to use a bus;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the flow of arbitration in the 1394 serial bus,

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a request / response protocol for read, write, and lock commands based on the CSR architecture in the transaction layer,

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing services in a link layer,

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing temporal transition in asynchronous transfer;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a format of a packet for asynchronous transfer,

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an operation example of a split transaction,

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a temporal transition of a transfer state when performing a split transaction,

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing temporal transition in synchronous transfer;

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a packet format for synchronous transfer,

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing details of fields of a packet format for synchronous transfer on a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a temporal transition of a transfer state when synchronous transfer and asynchronous transfer are mixed;

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an AV / C transaction operation on a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a packet format of asynchronous transfer including an FCP packet frame;

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing the structure of an AV / C command frame;

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing the structure of an AV / C response frame;

FIG. 33 is a diagram comparing the interface of the 1394 serial bus with each layer of the OSI model,

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing the basic operation of the LOGIN protocol,

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing an example of a connection form in a 1394 serial bus;

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a flow of a login operation,

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing CSR of a 1394 serial bus provided in a printer which is a target device for the LOGIN protocol;

FIG. 38 is a flowchart showing login processing in the host device,

FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing a login process of a printer which is a target device.

FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a device that does not implement the LOGIN protocol is considered.

41 is a diagram comparing the configuration shown in FIG. 40 with each layer of the OSI model;

FIG. 42 is a diagram showing a register map,

FIG. 43 is a diagram showing a frame flow from an image supply device to a printer;

FIG. 44 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a format register,

FIG. 45 Status Register of Common Register Group
Diagram showing detailed configuration example of status register,

FIG. 46 is a diagram showing a detailed example of information held in the register GLOBAL of the common register group;

FIG. 47 is a diagram showing a detailed example of information held in the register LOCAL of the common register group;

FIG. 48 is a diagram showing an example of information held in a register format [1],

FIG. 49 is a diagram showing an example of information held in a register format [2],

FIG. 50 is a diagram showing a list of commands and responses to the commands;

FIG. 51 is a diagram showing an example of image data format supported by DPP,

FIG. 52 is a diagram showing a flow of format setting processing,

FIG. 53 is a diagram showing an example of a data transfer method setting procedure;

FIG. 54 is a diagram showing a register map in the address space of the 1394 serial bus of the registers required for transfer method 1 and transfer method 2;

FIG. 55 is a diagram showing an example of a data packet frame,

FIG. 56 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a data header,

FIG. 57 is a diagram showing data packet frame processing in the printer in block transfer;

FIG. 58 is a diagram showing FreeBlock commands and responses in transfer method 1,

FIG. 59 is a diagram showing an example of a data transfer flow in transfer method 1.

FIG. 60 is a diagram showing an example of a data transfer flow in transfer method 2;

FIG. 61 is a diagram showing in detail the FreeBlock command and response in transfer method 1;

FIG. 62 is a diagram showing in detail WriteBlocks of transfer method 1 and transfer method 2;

FIG. 63 is a diagram showing details of WriteBlock of transfer method 1 and transfer method 2;

FIG. 64 is a diagram for explaining error processing of WriteBlock when a bus reset occurs;

FIG. 65 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a command register, a response register, and a data register of an image supply device and a printer in the PUSH Large Buffer Model,

FIG. 66 is between an image supply device and a printer
Diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the PUSH buffer model,

FIG. 67 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a data packet in a data frame,

FIG. 68 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the data register and the buffer of the printer,

FIG. 69 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a command register, a response register, and a data register of the image supply device and the printer in the PULL Buffer Model,

FIG. 70 is between an image supply device and a printer
Diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the PULL buffer model,

71 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the data register and the buffer of the image supply device, FIG.

72 is a diagram showing a command frame and a response frame for flow control, FIG.

FIG. 73 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print processing flow.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Naohisa Suzuki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Jiro Tateyama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Incorporated (72) Inventor Atsushi Nakamura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) Reference JP-A-6-216970 (JP, A) JP-A-5-276344 (JP , A) JP-A-6-197133 (JP, A) JP-A-7-46294 (JP, A) JP-A-8-340338 (JP, A) JP-A-8-70486 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 29/10 G06F 13/00 351 G06F 13/38 350 H04L 13/08

Claims (18)

(57) [Claims] 1. A data transfer method used between a host device and a target device, wherein the target device is locked by communication by a lock transaction between the host device and the target device , A data transfer method, comprising: communicating buffer information related to a reception buffer with the locked target device, and transmitting data from the host device to the target device based on the communicated buffer information. . 2. The buffer information includes at least one of a size of a buffer for receiving data included in the target device and information indicating the number of available buffers. The data transfer method described in item 1. 3. The host device transmits data in data amount units based on the buffer information, and the target device receives data transmitted in data amount units based on the buffer information. Term
The data transfer method according to claim 1 or claim 2. Wherein wherein said host device the target device, the bus to fit or conform to the IEEE1394 standard, or of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is connected via a bus to meet or comply with the USB standard The data transfer method described in any one. 5. An image processing apparatus, wherein image data is transmitted to the target device by the data transfer method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. An image processing apparatus, which processes image data received from the host device by the data transfer method according to claim 1. Description: And locking means for the communication by the lock transaction between 7. Target device for locking the target device, between a locked the target device by the locking means, the communication buffer information associated with the received buffer And a data transmission unit that transmits data to the target device based on the buffer information communicated by the communication unit. 8. The buffer information includes at least one of a size of a buffer for receiving data included in the target device and information indicating the number of available buffers. The data transfer device according to item 7. 9. The data transfer device according to claim 7, wherein the data transmission by the data transmission unit is performed in a data amount unit based on the buffer information. 10. A data transfer apparatus, and locking means for locking said data transfer apparatus by the communication by the lock transaction between a host device, the data transfer device by the locking means is locked
And then, the to and from the host device, and a communication means for communicating the buffer information associated with the receiving buffer, receiving means for receiving data sent from said host device based on the buffer information communicated by said communication means A data transfer device comprising: 11. The buffer information includes at least:
11. The data transfer device according to claim 10, wherein the data transfer device includes one of a size of a buffer for receiving data and information indicating the number of available buffers. 12. The data transfer device according to claim 10, wherein the receiving unit receives data sent in a data amount unit based on the buffer information. 13. A data transfer method used between a host device and a target device, wherein the target device is locked by communication by a lock transaction between the host device and the target device , Send a command to the locked target device, generate a response to the command from the target device to the host device, and from the host device to the target device based on buffer information associated with a receive buffer included in the response A data transfer method characterized by transmitting data. 14. The buffer information includes at least:
14. The data transfer method according to claim 13, wherein one of the size of a buffer for receiving data included in the target device and the information indicating the number of available buffers is included. 15. The host device transmits data in a data amount unit based on the buffer information, and the target device receives data transmitted in a data amount unit based on the buffer information. The data transfer method according to claim 13 or claim 14. 16. The host device and the target device are buses conforming to or conforming to the IEEE1394 standard,
Alternatively, the data transfer method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the data transfer is performed by a bus conforming to or conforming to the USB standard. 17. Locking means for locking the target device through communication by a lock transaction with the target device, command transmitting means for sending a command to the target device locked by the locking means, and obtaining from the target device. A data transfer device comprising: a receiving unit that receives a response to the command, and a data transmitting unit that sends data to the target device based on buffer information related to a receiving buffer included in the response. 18. A data transfer apparatus, and locking means for locking said data transfer apparatus by the communication by the lock transaction between a host device, the data transfer device by the locking means is locked
And then, a command receiving means for receiving a command sent from said host device, and generating means for generating a response information to the command to the host device, the buffer information associated with the receiving buffer included in the response information And a data receiving unit that receives data sent from the host device based on the data transfer apparatus.