JPH01292422A - Distributed processing system for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer that prints graphic/image data and character data by developing them into a dot pattern, and particularly relates to a printer that develops and prints graphic/image data and character data into a dot pattern. The present invention relates to a preferred distributed processing method for printers.

[Conventional technology]

The conventional distributed processing method for printers is to prepare a processor dedicated to character data processing and a processor dedicated to graphic/image data processing, and process character data and graphic/image data in parallel using each dedicated processor. Met. Note that related processing methods for this type of printer include, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 180678/1983.

[The invention tries to solve 1! ! Problem] In the above conventional technology, high-speed continuous printing is possible when character data and graphic/image data are mixed.
If the data is only character data or graphic/image data, only the processor dedicated to it will operate, and the other processor will be idle, so the advantages of distributed processing will not be utilized at all. For this reason, when handling a large amount of character data, for example, when the data is only character data and the character size is small, such as when printing it on a paper cup, it takes time to expand it to the page memory, etc. However, there was a problem that high-speed continuous printing was not possible.

An object of the present invention is to provide a distributed processing method that enables high-speed continuous printing even when only a large amount of character data is processed in a printer equipped with multiple processors and capable of processing character data and graphic/image data. It's about doing.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above object is to provide a printer comprising a main processor that receives character data, graphic/image data from a host system, and a plurality of sub-processors that process the character data or graphic/image data according to instructions from the main processor. At least some of the plurality of sub-processors are provided with a function of processing character data and graphic/image data, and when the main processor receives the character data and graphic/image data from the host system, the main processor processes some of the sub-processors. Processing of figure/image data,
Instructing the remaining sub-processors to process character data and receiving only character data from the host system is achieved by instructing all of the plurality of sub-processors to process character data, respectively.

[For production]

In the present invention, for a page containing only character data, the character data for one page is shared among the plurality of subprocessors, and two types of data, graphic/image data and character data, are processed. For a certain page, some subprocessors perform graphic and image processing,
By having the remaining sub-processors perform character processing, the plurality of sub-processors operate without waste, and even in the case of printing a large amount of one-character data, continuous printing is possible without deteriorating performance.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the printer processor configuration that forms the center of the present invention. The main processor 1 receives character data, graphic/image data from a host system, and instructs the sub-processors 2 and 3 to process the data. Each of the sub-processors 2 and 3 has functions for performing character processing and graphic/image processing, and processes character data and graphic/image data in accordance with instructions from the main processor 1. In the following, for pages with text data and graphic/image data, subprocessor 2 processes the text,
For pages containing only one character data for which graphics/image processing is performed by the sub-processor 3, the character processing is performed by both processors 2 and 3, respectively.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operations of the main processor 1 and character processing sub-processor 2 when character data and graphic/image data are received from the host system. In addition, in parallel with the character processing of sub-processor 2, sub-processor 3
Although graphic/image processing is performed in this step, it is omitted in FIG.

The character code sent from the higher-level system is usually in line units. The character code is converted into a corresponding font address by the main processor 1 and stored in the page buffer 5. When one page's worth of data is stored in the page buffer 5, the main processor 1 sends a command to the sub-processor 2 using the address A1 of the page buffer 5 as a parameter in order to develop the data into a dot image in the page memory 4. Give deployment instructions. Thereafter, the main processor 1 obtains A2, which is the next row address. on the other hand,
The sub-processor 2 develops font data 6 indicated by the font address from the page buffer 5 of A1 into the page memory 4. Then, when the line end code is found, an interrupt is issued to the main processor 1. In response to this, the main processor 1 instructs the processor 2 to expand the next line using A2 as a parameter, and then obtains the next line address A3. Thereafter, the same process is repeated.

Although omitted in Fig. 2, when figure/image data is sent from the upper system, the main processor 1 instructs the sub-processor 3 to process the figure, and in response, the sub-processor 3 develops the figure. For example, it is expanded to a buffer separate from the page buffer 4 and output as the logical sum of the two.6 Figure 3 shows the main processor 1 and sub processor 2 when only character data is received from the host system.
3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of No. 3. FIG. Note that in FIG. 3, the page buffer 5 for managing font addresses and the like corresponding to character codes on a line-by-line basis is omitted.

When only character data is received from the host system, main processor 1 instructs sub-processors 2 and 3 to share character processing. In this case, the main processor 1 instructs each sub-processor 2 and 3 to expand the line using the line start address AN (N is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and corresponds to the line number) of the page buffer 5 as a parameter. A parameter indicating from which address in the page memory 4 the data can be expanded is also passed to the page memory 4. This information can be easily obtained from the line size information of the page buffer 5. The main processor 1 sequentially adds the row size information and provides the row position to be expanded to the sub processors 2 and 3 as the row address of the page memo IJ 4. FIG. 3 shows a case where the sub-processor 2.3 initially expands every two rows into the page memory 4 in accordance with instructions from the main processor 1.

In the embodiment, the sub-processors 2 and 3 are both equipped with the functions of character processing and graphic/image processing, but for example, the sub-processor 2 is assumed to have only the character processing function,
It goes without saying that the sub-processor 3 may have only the function of processing characters, graphics, and images.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, in a printer equipped with a plurality of processors and capable of processing character data and graphic/image data, even in the case where only character data is printed in large quantities, performance is reduced. This has the advantage that the large amount of character data can be printed continuously without any problems.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the printer processor configuration according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the operation when character data and graphic/image data are included, and FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining the operation when only character data is included. It is a diagram. 1...Main processor, 2.3...Sub processor, 4...Page memory, 5...Buffer memory. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A printer comprising a main processor that receives character data, graphic/image data from a host system, and a plurality of sub-processors that process character data or graphic/image data according to instructions from the main processor, At least some of the sub-processors have a function of processing character data and graphic/image data, the rest have a function of processing character data, and the main processor receives character data and graphic/image data from the host system. When it receives only character data from the upper system, it instructs some of the subprocessors to process graphic/image data and the remaining subprocessors to process character data. A distributed processing method for printers characterized by instructing data processing.