JPH09314930A - Printing control device, printing device control method, printing system, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] A desired printing process is performed while avoiding a decrease in print quality and a decrease in processing capability as much as possible. SOLUTION: When the rendering time of a specific band exceeds a predetermined value and a time degradation occurs, the rendering time is recalculated by merging with an adjacent band of the specific band (S34) to determine whether or not the time degradation occurs. A judgment is made (S35). When the time degradation occurs, the degradation rendering is executed, but when the time degradation does not occur, it is determined whether or not the new band memory area can be acquired (S36), and when it can be acquired, the banding process is executed. If it cannot be acquired, all the previously created pages are discharged (S37), and then it is determined again whether a new band memory area can be acquired (S38). When acquisition is possible, banding processing is executed, and when acquisition is not possible, degraded rendering is executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing control device, a printing device control method, a printing system, and a printer driver. More specifically, the present invention relates to an electronic editing / working system using a workstation (WS) or a personal computer (PC).
Desktop publishing (D
Page description language (Page Descrip) used for printing applications such as TP), spreadsheets, and word processors.
The present invention relates to a print control device for controlling a printing device such as a page printer having a built-in option language (hereinafter referred to as PDL), a control method for the printing device, a printing system and a printer driver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a printing apparatus having a built-in PDL, PostScript (Po
stScript), which has a high-level graphics function, and a format which is inferior to the graphics function, which is typified by Canon LIPS and Hewlett-Packard PCL, but is capable of high-speed printing. There is something that the user wants to use, the host computer,
It is generally used properly according to the network environment and the like.

By the way, in the above-mentioned printing apparatus capable of high-speed printing represented by LIPS and PCL, a full-page memory for storing a drawing result according to the sheet size of the recording sheet designated by the resolution of the printer engine is provided. Without using the full page memory, a band memory (for example, a height of 512 × 2 planes) smaller than that of the full page memory is retained, rendering processing for converting PDL data into a bitmap to create a page image, and video transfer to a printer. The banding process is performed in parallel with real-time processing.
Along with high-speed printing, the memory capacity is reduced.

However, in the above banding process, when the objects to be drawn are concentrated in a specific band, the rendering process takes time, so the rendering process is not completed during the video signal transfer time to the printer of the specific band. Therefore, there is a drawback that video transfer overrun occurs, and if the processing is continued, some data is not printed and the printed contents are missing.

Therefore, in order to eliminate such a drawback, in the conventional banding process, when it is determined that the rendering time required for the rendering process is not in time as compared with the video transfer to the printer, and time degradation occurs, To perform a degraded rendering process that reduces the print resolution and shifts to full paint mode, or to print in full paint mode from the beginning, first secure a memory area for a full page of print resolution and analyze the print data. It is drawn after temporarily storing the intermediate information.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional techniques have the following problems. That is, (1) when performing a degrading rendering in which the resolution is reduced and the mode shifts to the full paint mode, the print quality deteriorates due to thinning processing. (2) In the full paint mode, the memory area for the full page is first Since it is secured, there is a problem that the memory area for storing the intermediate information is reduced and, as a result, the processing capability is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a print control apparatus and a print control apparatus capable of performing a desired print process while avoiding a decrease in print quality and a decrease in processing capability as much as possible. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus control method and a printing system.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a print control apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a plurality of input information analyzing means for analyzing input information and at least an analysis result of the input information analyzing means. A storage unit having an intermediate information storage region for dividing and storing in bands and a band raster memory region for storing bitmap data corresponding to the input information for each band, and an analysis result of the input information analyzing unit for the band Rendering means for converting the data into bitmap data for each band, banding means for transmitting the stored contents of the band raster memory area to the printing device in parallel with the rendering means, and rendering time for each band based on the input information. The first prediction means for predicting, and the van based on a predetermined condition including at least a prediction result of the first prediction means. A first judging means for judging whether or not the banding means can be executed for each band; and when the first judging means judges that the banding means cannot be executed, the print resolution is lowered and rendering is performed. In the print control apparatus including the degrading rendering unit that executes the above, when the first determination unit predicts that the rendering time of the specific band is a predetermined time or more and it is determined that the banding unit cannot be executed, Degrading rendering avoiding means capable of avoiding degrading rendering, wherein the degrading rendering avoiding means fuses the specific band and at least one band adjacent to the specific band, and the fusion means A second predictor for re-estimating the rendering time for the fused fusion band; Second judgment means for judging whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired when the prediction result of the second prediction means is less than the predetermined time, and the second judgment It is characterized by further comprising first banding executing means for executing the banding means when it is determined by the means that the new band raster memory area can be acquired.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a printing apparatus, which includes an analysis step of analyzing input information, a storage step of dividing the analysis result into a plurality of bands and storing the bands in an intermediate information storage area, and the intermediate step. A rendering process for converting the input information stored in the information storage region into bitmap data and a transfer process for performing the rendering and transferring the storage contents stored in the band raster memory region to the printing device are executed in parallel. For each band, a banding step, a prediction step of predicting a rendering time for each band based on the input information, and whether or not the banding step can be executed based on a predetermined condition including at least a prediction result of the rendering time. Judgment step to judge and print when it is judged that the banding step cannot be executed In a method for controlling a printing apparatus, which includes a degrading rendering step of rendering with reduced image resolution, the degrading rendering is performed when the rendering time of a specific band is predicted to be a predetermined time or longer and the banding step cannot be performed. And a degrading rendering avoiding step, wherein the degrading rendering avoiding step fuses the specific band with at least one band adjacent to the specific band, and then combines the fused band with the specific band. The rendering time is repredicted, and when the prediction result is less than the predetermined time, it is determined whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired, and the new band raster memory area is acquired. If it is determined that It is characterized by performing the Gusuteppu.

Further, in a printing system according to a seventeenth aspect, an information processing device for converting print information into a predetermined data format, a printing device to which the print information is output, and the printing device and the information processing device are provided. A print control device interposed between the input control device and the print control device, wherein the print control device analyzes input information, and intermediate information for storing at least the analysis result of the input information analysis device divided into a plurality of bands. Storage means having a storage area and a band raster memory area for storing bitmap data corresponding to the input information for each band, and rendering for converting an analysis result of the input information analysis means into bitmap data for each band Means, banding means for sending the stored contents of the band raster memory area to the printing device in parallel with the rendering means, and the input information. First prediction means for predicting the rendering time for each band based on the above, and whether or not the banding means can be executed based on a predetermined condition including at least the prediction result of the first prediction means for each band A printing system comprising: first determining means for determining; and, if it is determined by the first determining means that the banding means cannot be executed, the print resolution is lowered to execute rendering by degrading rendering means. Further, when the print control apparatus determines that the rendering time of the specific band is longer than a predetermined time by the first determination unit and it is determined that the banding unit cannot be executed, the degrading rendering can be avoided. Has a degrading rendering avoiding means, and the degrading rendering avoiding means Fusing means for fusing the specific band and at least one band adjacent to the specific band, second prediction means for re-predicting the rendering time for the fused band fused by the fusing means, and When the prediction result of the second prediction means is less than or equal to the predetermined time, the second judgment means for judging whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired, and the second judgment means It is characterized by further comprising first banding executing means for executing the banding means when it is determined that the acquisition of the new band raster memory area is possible.

Further, a storage medium according to claim 25 is an input information analysis program for analyzing input information, an intermediate information storage area for storing at least an analysis result of the input information analysis program divided into a plurality of bands, and the storage medium. A band raster memory area for storing bitmap data corresponding to input information for each band is secured in the storage means, and the analysis result of the input information analysis program and the bitmap data are associated with each of the secured areas. A storage area management program for storing the same, a rendering program for converting the analysis result of the input information analysis means into bitmap data for each band, and a storage device for storing the storage content of the band raster memory area in parallel with the rendering program. Based on the input information and the banding program to be sent to A first prediction program for predicting a rendering time for each band, and a first judgment program for each band based on a predetermined condition including at least a prediction result of the first prediction program. And a degrading rendering program for executing rendering by lowering the printing resolution when it is determined that the banding program cannot be executed by the first determining program. A degrading rendering avoidance program capable of avoiding the degrading rendering when it is determined that the rendering time of the specific band is predicted to be longer than a predetermined time by the determination program and execution of the banding program is impossible,
The degrading rendering avoidance program re-predicts the rendering time for the fusion program that fuses the specific band and at least one band adjacent to the specific band, and the fusion band fused by the fusion program. A second prediction program, and a second judgment program for judging whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired when the prediction result of the second prediction program is the predetermined time or less. And a first banding execution program for executing the banding program when it is judged by the second judgment program that the new band raster memory area can be acquired.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is an internal structural diagram of a laser beam printer (LBP) as an embodiment of a printing apparatus mounted in a printing system according to the present invention.

The laser beam printer 1 includes an apparatus body 2
An operation panel 3 provided on the upper surface of the printer, a print main body 4 for performing a predetermined print operation, and a printer controller 5 for analyzing the input character data, control data, etc. to control the print operation of the print main body 4. It consists of and.

The printing main body 4 stores predetermined recording paper (cut paper) and supplies the recording paper through a paper feed cassette 7 having a paper feed roller 6 and an appropriate number of conveying rollers 8. The electrostatic drum 9, an optical system 10 for irradiating the electrostatic drum 9 with a laser beam, a developing device 11 for accommodating toner of a predetermined color and arranged around the electrostatic drum 9, Fixing device 1 for fixing the toner image developed by developing device 11
2 and the discharge roller 1 for the document data etc. printed on the recording paper
3 and a paper discharge unit 14 that discharges the paper to the outside.

The optical system 10 includes a semiconductor laser 15 for emitting a laser beam having a predetermined wavelength, and the semiconductor laser 1.
Laser driver 17 for driving 5 and rotary polygon mirror 18
And a reflecting mirror 1 for reflecting the laser light entering through the rotary polygon mirror 18 and supplying the laser light onto the electrostatic drum 9.
9 and 9.

In the laser beam printer 1 thus constructed, the video signal from the printer controller 5 is input to the laser driver 17, and the laser light emitted from the semiconductor laser 15 is turned on / off according to the video signal. Switch over. The laser light is oscillated in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 18 to scan the electrostatic drum 9, an electrostatic latent image such as a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 9, and the electrostatic latent image is formed. It is developed via the developing device 11. Then, the toner image adhered on the electrostatic drum 9 is transferred to recording paper fed from the paper feed cassette 7, and then the toner image is fixed on the recording paper by the fixing device 12, and the recording paper is discharged. The paper is discharged to the paper discharge unit 14 via the rollers 13.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the print control device according to the present invention.
0 is a host computer 21 such as a workstation
The print information from the host computer 21 is transmitted to the printer controller 5 of the laser beam printer 1 via the print control device 20.

That is, the host computer 21 creates various print information (for example, characters, images, vector graphics) as an application, converts the data into PDL format (hereinafter referred to as PDL data), and sends it to the print control device 20. . The connection form between the host computer 21 and the print control device 20, that is, the communication form may be serial, network, bus connection, or the like, and from the viewpoint of efficiency, a high-speed communication path is desirable.

Therefore, in the print control device 20, 2
A font ROM 3 stores character glyph information such as bit patterns or outlines of characters, character base lines and character metric information, and is used for printing characters. Reference numeral 24 denotes a panel IOP which controls detection of a switch input of the operation panel 3 mounted on the apparatus body 2 and display on a liquid crystal display (LCD). Reference numeral 25 denotes an expansion I / F, which controls interface operations with expansion modules (font ROM, program ROM, RAM, hard disk) of the laser beam printer 1.

Reference numeral 26 is a program ROM that stores the control programs executed by the CPU and shown in the flow charts of FIGS. 4, 10, 11, 15, 16, and 18, which will be described later. As shown in the memory map 19 of FIG. 19, an input information analysis program 71 for analyzing input information, and at least an input information analysis program 71
The analysis result of the input information analysis program 71 is ensured by securing a frame information storage area 28 for storing the analysis result of (1) and storing it in a plurality of bands and a band raster memory area 29 for storing bitmap data corresponding to the input information for each band. And a storage area management program 72 that constitutes a memory manager 38 that stores the bitmap data in association with the secured areas 28 and 29, and rendering that converts the analysis result of the input information analysis means into bitmap data for each band. Rendering program 73 that constitutes the processing unit 30
A banding program 74 for sending the stored contents of the band raster memory area 29 to the LBP 1 in parallel with the rendering program 73; a first prediction program 75 for predicting the rendering time for each band based on the input information; A first judgment program 76 for judging for each band whether or not the banding program 74 can be executed based on a predetermined condition including the prediction result of the first prediction program 75, and the banding program 74 by the first judgment program 76. When it is determined that the execution of the above is impossible, the degraded rendering program 77 for reducing the print resolution and executing the rendering is stored.

Further, in the program ROM 26, when the first judgment program 76 predicts that the rendering time of a specific band is longer than a predetermined time and it is judged that the banding program 74 cannot be executed, the degrading rendering can be avoided. A degradation rendering avoidance program 78 for storing the data is stored.

Degrading Rendering Avoidance Program 7
8 is a fusion program 79 for fusing a specific band and at least one or more bands adjacent to the specific band,
A second prediction program 80 for re-predicting the rendering time for the fusion band fused by the fusion program 79, and a new band raster corresponding to the fusion band when the prediction result of the second prediction program 80 is less than a predetermined time. A second judgment program 81 for judging whether or not a memory area can be acquired, and a first judgment program 81 for executing a banding program when the second judgment program 81 judges that a new band raster memory area can be acquired. And a banding execution program 82.

Further, the program ROM 26 has a second
When the prediction result of the prediction program 80 of No. 1 is longer than a predetermined time, it is determined by the first degradation rendering execution program 83 that executes the degradation rendering program 77 and the second determination program 81 that a new band raster memory area cannot be acquired. Release program 84 for releasing the unnecessary frame information storage area 28 after the rendering processing by the rendering program 73 has been performed, and the fusion band after the middle frame information storage area 28 is released by the release program 84. A third judgment program 85 for judging whether the corresponding new band raster memory area can be acquired, and a banding program 74 when the third judgment program 85 judges that the new band raster memory area can be acquired.
A second banding execution program 86 for executing
A second degradation dendering execution program 87 that executes a degradation rendering program 77 when it is determined by the third determination program 85 that a new band raster memory area cannot be acquired is stored.

Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of one device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a storage medium of a system or an apparatus. In this case, the system or the device can enjoy the effects of the present invention by the system or the device reading the storage medium storing the program represented by the software for achieving the present invention.

The program itself read from this storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program constitutes the present invention. Examples of the storage medium that supplies the program include a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, and a non-volatile memory card.

The memory manager 38 changes the band raster memory area 29 for each print job based on at least one of the input information from the LBP 1 and the input information from the host computer 21. Processing for changing and designating height, processing for changing band raster memory area 29 by at least one or more of frame information storage area 28, print resolution, presence / absence of double-sided printing, or combination thereof, frame information storage area When there is an empty area of a predetermined capacity or more, the empty area is set to the band raster memory area 2
9 includes a process of expanding the band raster memory area 29.

Reference numeral 27 is a management RAM, which is an input buffer area 22, a frame information area 28 for storing intermediate information when the control program is operating, and a band raster memory for storing a band image designated by PDL data. It has various memory areas such as the area 29.
The input buffer area 22 stores PDL data sent from the host computer 21 to the print control device 20. In addition, the frame information area 28 is the input PDL.
The data analysis result is converted into page object information (frame information) and the frame information is stored as intermediate information. Further, the band / raster memory area 29 has a variable length by operating the operation panel 3 or via a utility program on the host computer 21, and a memory of at least two bands (for example, for performing banding processing described later) (for example, , Page width x band height 256 or 5
A memory of 12 × 2) is required, and when banding processing is not performed, it is necessary to transfer an image in synchronism with the printer, so it is necessary to secure a memory area for a full bit map.

A rendering processing unit 30 synchronizes with the video transfer to the laser beam printer 1 and the ASIC.
By executing the rendering process (the process of converting the frame information 28 stored in the frame information storage unit 28 into the bit map data for storing in the band raster memory described later) in parallel by the (application-specific IC) ,
Achieve banding processing with a small memory capacity.

Reference numeral 31 is a printer interface (I / F)
The memory information stored in the band / raster memory area 29 is transferred as video information to the laser beam printer 1 in synchronization with the horizontal / vertical synchronization signals of the laser beam printer 1, and the video information is further transferred. The control command transmission to the laser beam printer 1 and the status reception from the laser beam printer 1 are performed at a speed lower than the speed. The printer I / F unit 31 can use dedicated software or can be configured by hardware, but it is preferable to efficiently use the dedicated software.

In this embodiment, the case where the laser beam printer 1 is used as the printing apparatus is described. However, when the valve jet printer is used, head control and transfer of video information according to head sizes of a plurality of lines are performed. Do.

33 is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Se
t Computer: a CPU capable of high-speed operation such as a reduced instruction set computer) and is connected to each of the above components. The CPU 33 sends P to the input buffer area 22.
A communication task 34 for performing DL data storage processing, a page information generation task 35 for analyzing PDL data to generate page analysis information, and an operation for controlling the operation of the rendering processing unit 30 and a rendering processing cannot be executed by the ASIC. A rendering task 36 that executes soft rendering when a command is issued, an engine task 37 that sends a control command to the laser beam printer 1 and receives a status from the laser beam printer 1, and a memory manager that manages the management RAM 27. 38, and controls the operation of the entire control device.
Each task operates under a multitasking operating system (OS) capable of simultaneously executing a plurality of tasks, and the priority of each task at the time of execution is engine task 37 → rendering task 36 → communication task 34. → The page information generation task 35 is set in the order in which real-time processing is requested.

In the print control device 20 having the above-described configuration, the P sent from the host computer 21 is sent.
The DL data is stored in the input buffer area 22 by the communication task 34, the PDL data is scanned by the page information generation task 35, and the analysis result is stored in the frame information storage area 28 of the management RAM 27. Then, the rendering processing unit 30 sets A for the frame information stored in the frame information storage area 28.
Hard rendering by SIC or soft rendering by the rendering task 36 is performed, and the rendered data converted into bitmap data is stored in the band raster memory area 29 for each band.
Next, the bitmap data (memory information) stored in the band / raster memory area 29 is transferred to the printer I / F 31.
Is transmitted as video information to the laser beam printer 1 in synchronism with the horizontal / vertical synchronization signals of the laser beam printer 1, and further, the engine task 37 transmits a control command to the laser beam printer 1 and a status from the laser beam printer 1. Reception is performed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the management memory RAM 27 has a memory configuration table 41 in which resource information that may be dynamically changed for each job is stored. , A static memory area 42 that acquires the memory capacity required for each task when the power is turned on, and holds the memory capacity until the power is turned off without depending on the difference in the memory configuration or the emulated PDL translator. Dynamic memory area 4 where the memory area changes for each job
3, and font download, form overlay,
And a file system area 44 used as a storage area for macro instructions.

Next, the memory management method of the memory manager 38 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

In step S1, failure diagnosis of various memories and hardware is executed as printer initialization processing.
If there is an error, a warning to that effect is given and the processing is stopped.

Next, in step S2, a static memory for each task is acquired and memory initialization processing is performed. That is, the static memory capacity required by each task is designated to acquire the static memory from the memory manager 38. Specifically, when the initialization function of each task requests the memory manager 38 to acquire static memory in a predetermined order, the memory manager 38 allocates the static memory of each task in the predetermined order as shown in FIG. Sequential allocation Meets the above request. In this embodiment, the required static memory is sequentially acquired in the order of the communication task 34, the font scale 45 for scaling a vector font, the page information generation task 35, the rendering task 36, and the engine task 37. When the initialization of each task is completed, the memory manager 38 stores the start address a and the end address b of the static memory area 42.

At the initialization stage, the memory configuration table 41 is in the default state, and the memory manager 38 refers to the memory configuration table 41 to manage the memory.

Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not an input operation has been performed on the operation panel 3 and a state change request (pressing, releasing, inputting a numerical value, etc.) from the operation panel 3 has been issued. Then, when there is a request for state change, the request content is analyzed, the request content is added to the memory configuration table 41 (step S4), and then the process proceeds to step S7.

On the other hand, when there is no status change request from the operation panel 3, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether or not a memory (resource) change request command has been input from the utility program or the like on the host computer 21. To do. When the answer is negative (No), the process returns to step S3 and the above-described processing is repeated, while when the answer is affirmative (Yes), the corresponding command, that is, the memory capacity of the band raster memory, the band memory The required memory capacity of the band / raster memory is calculated according to an input command such as height change, print resolution change, double-sided printing presence / absence, full paint / banding switching, etc. (step S6), and the process proceeds to step S7.

Next, in step S7, it is determined whether or not a job start command is input. If the jib start command is not input, the process returns to step S3 to repeat the above-described processing, while the job start command is input. If so, the process proceeds to step S8. At this stage, the optimum band height for the new job is determined.

Next, in step S8, a dynamic memory is acquired. Like the static memory, the dynamic memory refers to the memory configuration table 41 and requests the required capacity to the memory manager 38 for each task. The memory manager 38 sequentially acquires the dynamic memory area 36 having a predetermined memory capacity from the end address b of the static memory area 42 according to the requested order of the dynamic memory. In this embodiment, the rendering task 36 acquires the polypen table area, the CLIP object pool area, the frame information storage area 28, the band / raster memory area 29, and the dither pattern area from the memory manager 38, and the communication task 34 inputs them. Buffer 22
The memory area is acquired from the memory manager 38, and the page information generation task 35 acquires the cache table area from the memory manager 38.

The memory capacity of the band / raster memory area 29 is determined by considering the system memory, print resolution, presence / absence of double-sided printing, and the like, which is the optimum capacity at the time of power-on, for example, the number of frame information storage areas 28. 1 is preset and the band height is also stored in advance in the memory configuration table 41.

For example, when the total memory capacity of the management RAM 27 is 4 Mbytes, the memory area of the frame information area 28 is 2 Mbytes, and the print resolution is 600 DPI and A4.
When vertical paper (= 210 mm) is banded at a height of 512 mm, the band raster memory area 29 has a memory capacity of (512 × 210 × 600 / 25.4) × 2/8 = 52.
It requires about 4K bytes.

Next, in step S9, the management RAM 2
The remaining portion of 7 is secured as the file system area 44. As described above, the file system area 44 is used as a storage area for font download, form overlay, and macro instruction, and about 500 Kbytes are allocated under the above conditions. Since the file system area 44 is not released even after the job is finished and is left and shared between print jobs, the memory manager 38 acquires the memory area of the file system area 44 from the end address of the management RAM 27. , Efficiently perform garbage collection after releasing dynamic memory.

When the acquisition of the file system area 44 is completed, the process proceeds to step S10, the input PDL data is analyzed by the method described later and the rendering process is executed, and in the subsequent step S11, the printing based on the analysis result of the PDL analysis is performed. Information is transferred to the laser beam printer 1 to perform printing.

Next, in step S12, it is determined whether or not the job is completed. If not, step S12 is executed.
On the other hand, while returning to step 10, when it is finished, garbage collection of the file system area 44 is performed to remove unnecessary data, and a free area is formed (step S1).
3). The free area is the file system area 44.
The objects acquired in the memory are formed by allocating them to a continuous space from the end address of the memory space. Here, the file system object is F, which is common in a disk.
Since it takes the form of an AT table (File Access Table), the user who uses the memory of the file system area 44 through the ID is not affected by the change of the real address due to garbage collection.

Next, in step S14, the dynamic memory release processing is executed in task units in the reverse order of the dynamic memory acquisition order. That is, the rendering task 36, the communication task 34, the page information generation task 35, which is the task order in which the dynamic memory is acquired, and the engine task 37, the page information generation task 35, the communication task 34, and the rendering task in the reverse order of the engine task 37. In the order of 36, the memory manager 38 is requested to release the dynamic memory related to such task, and finally all the dynamic memory is released, and the process returns to step S3. As a result, the memory manager 38 can release the dynamic memory only by storing the current end address of the dynamic memory area 43.

FIGS. 5A to 5D are memory maps of the management RAM 27 showing how the free area formed in the file system area 44 changes.

FIG. 5A is a memory map showing the state when the job is judged to have been completed in step S12. In the management RAM 27, the remaining memory other than the static memory area 42 and the dynamic memory area 43 is shown. Although the area is allocated as the file system area 44, each command area stored in the file system area 44 is sequentially acquired from the end address of the file system area 44, and the free area is an area near the memory address of the dynamic memory area 43. Has been formed.

Then, in step S13, garbage collection of the file system area 44 is performed and unnecessary data is removed. As a result, as shown in FIG.
The free area in the file system area 44 increases.
Further, when all the dynamic memories are released in step S14, the area where the dynamic memories are released becomes the free area of the file system area 44, as shown in FIG. 5C.

Next, when the print job is started again, the dynamic memory is acquired from the start address of this free area, and the file system area 44 decreases and the dynamic memory area 43 as shown in FIG. 5D.
Is formed.

As a result, it is possible to secure an optimum memory configuration according to jobs of different PDLs.

However, as described in the section [Problems to be Solved by the Invention], in order to prevent the deterioration of the printing quality, even when the banding process cannot be performed due to the time degradation. It is desirable to avoid the rendering process. In the present embodiment, the degraded rendering is avoided by the below-described degraded rendering avoiding means as much as possible. It is also possible to adjust the frequency of time degradation by making the memory capacity of the raster memory capacity 29 variable.

The relationship between the memory capacity of the band / raster memory area 29 and other memory capacity such as the memory capacity of the frame information storage area 28 will be described below.

The memory capacity (total memory capacity) of the management RAM 27 is TM, the memory capacity of the band / raster memory area 29 is BM, the memory capacity of the frame information storage area 28 that is dynamically acquired for each job is PM, and the static memory area. If the memory capacity of 42 is SM (fixed), the memory capacity of the file system area 44 is FM, and other memory capacity such as a dither pattern and an input buffer is omitted, the memory configuration in single-sided printing is represented by Formula (1).

TM≈BM + PM + SM + FM (1) Since the memory capacity TM of the management RAM 27 is constant,
As is clear from the equation (1), when the memory capacity BM of the band / raster memory area 29 is set large, it is necessary to reduce the memory capacity PM of the frame information storage area 28 or the memory capacity FM of the file system area 44. . Therefore, in this case, the possibility of time degradation is reduced, but since a large amount of image input overflows the intermediate information stored in the frame information storage area 28, the possibility of memory degradation is increased. That is, setting the memory capacity BM of the band / raster memory area 29 to a large value is effective in reducing time degradation when characters and the like are concentrated in a specific band.

On the other hand, when the memory capacity BM of the band / raster memory area 29 is set small, the memory capacity PM of the frame information storage area 28 can be set large, and the frequency of memory degradation is reduced, but time degradation is performed. Will increase in frequency. That is, setting the memory capacity BM of the band / raster memory area 29 small is effective for data such as bitmaps.

Next, the print resolution REZ is set to, for example, 600.
Consider the default configuration when changing from DPI to 300 DPI.

REZ (600): band height (60
0), band width (600) REZ (300): band height (300), band wid
When th (300) is set as the default band width (300) = band width (600) / 2 band height (300) = 2 × band height (600), the memory capacity of the band raster memory area 29 is Even if they are logically the same, it is possible to obtain an area on the recording paper that is four times as large at 300 DPI as at 600 DPI, and it is possible to reduce the occurrence frequency of time degradation. Therefore, in this case, it is possible to reduce the frequency of memory degradation without reducing the memory capacity of the band raster memory area 29 and increasing the possibility of time degradation.

In the double-sided printing, the frame information storage area 28 requires a large capacity for improving the processing capacity and for jam recovery as compared with the single-sided printing. The memory capacity BM of the band raster memory area 29 needs to be reduced by default with the increase (see the equation (1)).

In this embodiment, by default, the memory capacity BM of the band raster memory area 29 corresponding to the memory capacity TM of the management RAM 27 is written as a database in the memory configuration table 41 at the time of startup, and the user can The memory capacity BM can be changed later for each job.

Next, an outline of the rendering processing executed by the rendering processing unit 30 will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing an outline of the rendering processing executed by the rendering processing unit 30. As an element of the rendering processing, geometric information of various drawing data, that is, which portion is drawn. Mask information 45 capable of expressing a signal of “0” or “1” indicating 1 bit by 1 bit, and background information 4 indicating in what pattern the mask information 45 is periodically applied.
6, the source (S) and the band already rendered
A logical drawing method 47 (SET (D = is stored between the destinations (D) stored in the raster memory area 29).
S), OR (D = D + (S and BG)), XOR (D
= D xor (S and BG)), AND (D = (D and
There are three elements (S and BG)), and in the figure, 48 is the corresponding rendering result.

As the types of the background information 46, there are a background pattern that sticks to the mask without repeating as an image, and a tile pattern that sticks to the mask information 45 by repeating the pattern in the vertical and horizontal directions. Can be specified. In the present embodiment, since the laser beam printer 1 for monochrome printing is used, each information such as an image and a tile is designated as black and white information. However, it is possible to use a color printer such as a valve jet printer or a color laser beam printer. Easy to expand.

Further, in the present embodiment, the mask information 45 includes run length (black area run information for each scan line in the X direction), trapezoid (convex polygon where edges do not intersect), bit map image. The bitmap font has a structure suitable for a high-speed rendering processing unit. For example, the mask information 45 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7A, a pentagon is divided into five triangles whose edges do not intersect as shown in FIG. 7B.
In addition, the connection processing of the apexes of lines as shown in FIG.
Line connection information (round, miter, triangle) is applied to the work area in the management RAM 27 by applying the DDA algorithm.
After taking into consideration the above, min x for each Y scan line,
The final external shape is held in the run length method with max x as the pair information, and is prepared for high-speed rendering to be described later.

Further, each mask object finally generated has a plurality of bands (band 1, band 1 and band 2) acquired at the job start time in order to perform rendering with a memory capacity smaller than the full page memory, that is, banding processing. Band 2 ... Band 5) is divided, each mask object is classified into each band, and a link list as shown in FIG. 9 is created in each band using the next pointer described later.

The band height follows the value determined for each job when the dynamic memory is acquired (step S8). Further, regarding mask information (for example, a pentagon shown in FIG. 7B) over a plurality of bands, pentagon information is shared by each band.

10 and 11 are flowcharts of the PDL analysis and rendering processing routine executed in step S10 (FIG. 4). Steps S21 to S29 are PDL analysis (page information generation task 35).
And step S30 to step S38 correspond to the rendering process (rendering task 36). Since these two tasks are often required to perform real-time processing especially in the rendering task 36, they are implemented as separate tasks on the real-time OS, and the rendering task 36 has a higher operation priority than the page information generation task 35. Set high and work.

In FIG. 10, first, in step S21, the communication task 34 fetches the PDL data transmitted from the host computer 21 into the input buffer 22 by interrupt processing or the like.

Next, in step S22, the page information generation task 35 analyzes the PDL data according to the specifications of the PDL language. In order to execute the emulation of a plurality of PDL data, it is necessary to automatically determine the leading hundreds of bytes of the PDL data by using a predetermined keyword.

Next, in step S23, it is determined whether or not the result of analyzing the PDL data command is a drawing command, for example, a character, vector, or image drawing. If the PDL data is a drawing command, step S2
4, the drawing command is converted into a page object format supported by the rendering processing unit 30 and stored in the frame information storage area 28 as intermediate information.

The intermediate information has a variable length size, and when it is used as a ring buffer and reaches the end address of the frame information storage area 28, the next is the frame information storage area 28.
By storing from the beginning, the finite memory is reused.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the data format of the analysis result of the intermediate information stored in the frame information storage area 28. The intermediate information has a status flag 49 indicating whether or not hard rendering is possible. However, when the status flag 49 is "1", the band raster memory area 2
9 is executed by the ASIC, and when the status flag 49 is "0", the rendering task 36 executes soft rendering.

Further, each intermediate information is stored in the mask pointer 50.
The mask information 45 is stored in the address designated by the, the BG information 46 is stored in the address designated by the background (BG) pointer 51, and the logical drawing information 47 is stored in the logical drawing mode area 48. This each mask object,
The BG object requests the memory manager 38 for a required size and acquires it in the frame information storage area 28.

The next pointer 53 is a pointer indicating whether or not there is a next drawing object. When the next pointer 53 is "0", it indicates the end of the intermediate information, and when it is other than "0", it indicates the next. Indicates the address of the information of.

The intermediate information is basically mask information 4
Created every time 5 is input, page information generation task 3
The logic drawing information 47 and the BG information 46 hold the latest state by the data analysis by 5, and by combining with the mask information 45, the method of painting the mask information 45 and the method of logic drawing are designated.

Returning to FIG. 10, in step S25, for the mask information 45 divided into each band m (m = 1, 2, ..., M), the decoding time required at the time of rendering is set.
Pred decode (m) is added every time a page object (intermediate information) is created in each band m, and
Foreground time required for mask calculation pred forgr
d (m) is calculated, and the foreground time pred forgrd
Predict the rendering time pred render (m) based on (m). The rendering time pred render (m) is specifically predicted based on Expression (2). pred render (m) = pred forgrd (m) x (background color depth) x (calculation factor depending on the type of logical drawing) (2) Here, the foreground time pred forgrd (m) is calculated by the equation (3). It is calculated. pred forgrd (m) = pred decode (m) tens (the number of words in the X direction of the mask when decoding for each line in the X direction) x (height) ... (3) That is, the rendering time pred render (m) is for each band. It is held every m.

The decoding time pred decode (m) is
Although it is approximately proportional to the data amount of the created object, for example, a triangle tri in band 3 in FIG.
As for the decoding time of 1 and tri4, extra time is required to obtain the offset of the starting point of the polygon in band 3 from the starting point of band 2.

When it is determined in step S23 that the PDL data is not a drawing command, the process proceeds to step S26, and it is determined whether the PDL data is various attribute (background, logical drawing) setting command. When the answer is negative (No), the corresponding process is executed in step S27, and then the process returns to step S22 to repeat the above process. That is, dump processing is performed on the current state for the purpose of, for example, debug processing, and step S22 is performed.
Return to

On the other hand, the answer in step S26 is affirmative (Yes
In the case of s), the process proceeds to step S28, the corresponding state storing process is executed, and the process proceeds to step S29.

In this case, for example, when "point designation fill" is designated or the memory capacity of the frame information storage area 28 overflows with one page of PDL data, banding may be executed in real time processing. Since this is not possible, the full paint flag is set to "1" and rendering in the full paint mode is executed in the rendering processing described later.

Next, in step S29, P for one page is
It is judged whether or not the DL analysis is completed, and the answer is negative (N
In the case of o), it returns to step S22 and repeats the above-mentioned processing.

Next, the rendering task 36 after step S30 will be described.

The rendering task 36 is a task for performing raster drawing in the band raster memory area 29. When the answer to step S29 is affirmative (Yes), it is first determined whether or not banding processing can be executed. (Step S30).

Here, it is judged that the banding process cannot be executed in the following cases.

(1) This is the case where the full paint flag is set to "1" because the above-mentioned "point designation fill" command exists in the page. That is, in this case, since the rendering result is required for all pages, it is determined that banding processing is impossible.

(2) This is a case where the memory capacity of the frame information storage area 28 for holding intermediate information (page object) overflows due to a large amount of image input, resulting in a memory degradation.

(3) For the rendering time pred render (m) for each band m calculated in step S25,
This is a case where time degradation occurs because any band exceeds a predetermined threshold value. That is, since banding processing requires parallel processing of video signal transfer to the laser beam printer 1 and rendering to bands, once recording paper is fed to the laser beam printer 1 and recording is started, either band When the value exceeds the predetermined threshold value, the banding process cannot be performed in time, and it is determined that the banding process is impossible.

Then, in step S30, the above (1)-
If it does not correspond to (3) and therefore it is determined that the banding process is possible, the process proceeds to step S31 to execute the banding process, and on the other hand, the banding process is not possible because of any of the above (1) to (3). If it is determined that the time is degraded in the band m, that is, it is determined whether or not the above (3) is satisfied, and the above (1) or (2) is performed. If yes, the process proceeds to step S33 to execute the degraded rendering.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S32 that the time degradation has occurred in band m, the degradation rendering avoiding means shown in and after step S34 of FIG. 11 is executed.

That is, in step S34 of FIG.
The rendering time is recalculated by merging with the adjacent band of the band m. That is, for band m, band (m +
1) or the band information of the band (m-1) is merged, and the rendering time pred render (2m) is calculated for the new double height band based on the mathematical expression (2), Predict the rendering time pred render (2m).
Then, in step S35, it is determined whether or not a time degradation has occurred with respect to the newly predicted rendering time pred render (2m). That is, it is determined whether or not the newly predicted rendering time pred render (2m) (twice the previous rendering time pred rende (m)) is within a predetermined threshold, and whether or not time degradation can be avoided. To judge. And the rendering time pred
When render (2m) is not within the predetermined threshold value, it means that time degradation has occurred again, and abandoning the avoidance of degradation rendering, and step S33 (FIG. 10).
Proceed to and execute degraded rendering.

On the other hand, the rendering time pred render
When (2 m) is within the predetermined threshold, the band raster memory area 29 is twice the band height n up to the previous time.
Judges whether it can be secured in the frame information storage area 28 (step S36), and the answer is affirmative (Y
In the case of (es), the process proceeds to step S31 and the banding process is executed. This makes it possible to avoid the degrading rendering even when the time degrading occurs in step S32.

The answer to step S36 is negative (No).
In this case, it is determined that page objects (intermediate information) of a plurality of pages are stored in the frame information storage area 28, and in this case, there is a possibility of failing to secure the band / raster memory area 29 that requires a large capacity. Therefore, the memory manager 38 ejects all previously created pages (step S37). Then, after such paper discharge, it is again determined whether or not a new band / raster memory area 29 can be acquired (step S38). When the answer is negative (No), the process proceeds to step S33 to execute the degrading rendering, while when the answer is affirmative (Yes), the process proceeds to step S31 to execute the banding process. This makes it possible to avoid the degrading rendering even when the time degrading occurs in step S32.

That is, in order to perform the banding process as described above, two band memories having the height n which is the optimum band height at the time of starting the job are stored in the band / raster memory area 29. Then, when a time degradation occurs when there is an empty memory area of height (n × 2) in the frame information storage area 28, it is adjacent to the band m where the time degradation is occurring. The possibility of time degradation is calculated again for a new band that is a composite of band (m + 1) or band (m-1), and when no time degradation occurs, the height of the band raster memory area 29 (n × 2) is calculated. , A band / raster memory area 29 of newly acquired height (n × 2) in the frame information storage area 28
The banding process is executed by utilizing. That is, even when a time degradation occurs, it is possible to perform the banding process while avoiding the degradation rendering, and it is possible to perform printing at high speed without degrading the printing quality.

That is, the degraded rendering requires thinning, rearrangement within the frame information of objects and full memory drawing processing, as described later, as compared with the banding processing, which requires a long processing time, resulting in high processing efficiency. In order to reduce the deterioration, in the present embodiment, the banding process is executed while avoiding the degraded dendering as much as possible.

If the frame information storage area 28 is significantly expanded by adding memory, for example, a plurality of bands adjacent to the band m, for example, three bands (for example, band (m-1), band (M-2), band (m
It is also preferable to fuse with (+1)) to newly perform rendering at the band height (n × 4).

If the frame information storage area 28 has a sufficient empty area, a new band raster memory may be acquired by using the empty area.

Next, the banding process executed in step S31 will be described with reference to FIG.

That is, in the banding process,
First, the rendering processing unit 30 activated by the rendering task 36 reads the frame information 28 created in the management RAM 27 by the page information creation task 35. Next, the scan line information (x min, x max) at the Y coordinate is extracted based on the mask information 45, and the latest background information 46 and logical drawing information 47 are referred to,
The calculated result is written in the band raster memory area 29 as the destination information. Then, all the mask information 45 of the same band should be drawn, the next pointer 53 is searched, and the rendering process is executed. Note that the flag "0" is set when rendering is completed, and the flag "1" is set when rendering is in progress.

In FIG. 13, the frame information storage area 2
The data of each band of 8 (band 0, band 1, ... Band m) exists in a continuous memory space, but in reality, each intermediate information may be in any address space, The object information of has a list structure linked by pointers. Further, the page number for which page analysis is performed is not the same as the page number for which rendering is performed, and generally, rendering is performed for a page after page analysis.

In FIG. 14, since the time degradation occurs in step S32 (FIG. 6), the banding process is performed after the recalculation of the rendering time (step S36,
If the answer to step S38 is affirmative (Yes).

That is, when a time degradation occurs in band 1 of page (i + 1) of FIG.
The band 0 and the band 1 of the +1) page are fused to increase the band height, and the band raster memory area 29 of the corresponding memory capacity is acquired at the head portion of the frame information 28. Here, the case where the band / raster memory area 29 is secured after the i-th page is discharged in step S37 is shown.

The rendering processing unit 30 renders the page object of the band m according to the mask information 45, the background information 46, and the logical drawing information 47 as described above, and is sent from the laser beam printer 1 as parallel processing. In synchronization with the incoming horizontal sync signal, the memory information of the band (m-11) that has been rendered is sent to the laser beam printer 1 as a video signal via the printer I / F 31.

By executing these processes for all the bands, printing on the laser beam printer 1 is executed.

In this embodiment, the memory information of two bands is provided, and the band being rendered (band m) and being transferred to the laser beam printer 1 (band (m-1)) is switched at a predetermined time interval, and real time is realized. The rendering process of is realized. This makes it possible to locally increase the band height and reduce the occurrence frequency in terms of time degradation even with respect to local concentration of objects.

Next, the degraded rendering executed in step S33 will be described.

In the degraded rendering, rendering in the full paint mode is performed by forcibly reducing the printing resolution.

First, in order to secure a full paint memory corresponding to the paper size of the recording paper in the memory of the band / raster memory area 29 and the frame information storage area 28, the existing frame information is rendered with a reduced resolution,
Allocate full memory while deleting the object. For example, when the frame information storage area 28 overflows when banding processing is normally performed at 600 DPI,
Rendering is performed by reducing the resolution of each object to 300 DPI. At this time, as the total memory capacity of the band / raster memory area 29 and the frame information storage area 28,
It is necessary to secure the memory capacity of the maximum paper size that can be used with at least 300 DPI.

By the way, since the rendering processing unit 30 is required to simplify and speed up the processing, it is impossible to perform real-time resolution conversion of run length and convex polygon information at the time of rendering. Therefore, the following processing is executed by the page information generation task 35 before executing the degraded dendering processing.

That is, when the resolution is reduced from 600 DPI to 300 DPI, for example, as pre-processing for the degraded dendering, one run length is set for two lines, and the vertex coordinates of the convex polygon are recalculated (reduced to 1/2). ) Is executed. This is executed by the page information generation task 35 for all the mask information 45 in the page buffer. The run length is, for example, 2 at 600 DPI.
Xl are the start and end points of the X-coordinate of each of the lines j and j + 1 (where j and j + 1 are Y-coordinate values).
(J), xr (j), xl (j + 1), xr (j + 1)
Then, the X coordinate of the start point / end point of one scan newly thinned out at 300 DPI is as in the formulas (4) and (5), and the Y coordinate is j / 2.

New xl (j) = min (xl (j), xl (j + 1)) / 2 (4) new xr (j) = min (xr (j), xr (j + 1)) / 2 (5) ) Regarding the image, the image itself as the background information of the page object does not change, and x, y
The scaling factor in each direction is multiplied by 1/2. Then, thereafter, in the rendering process, the reduction process based on this scale factor is executed.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the rendering procedure of full paint rendering as degraded dendering.

In step S41, the mask information 45 and the background information 46 whose resolution has been converted by the page information generation task 35 are input, and it is determined in step S42 whether or not the input object is a drawing command. If it is not a drawing command, the process proceeds to step S45, where the background information 46 and the logical drawing information 47 are
After substituting the global variables as the plurality of latest information, the process proceeds to step S46.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the command is a drawing command, the process proceeds to step S43, objects such as mask information 45, background information 46, and logical drawing information 47 are collected, and rendering is executed in subsequent step S44.

Then, in step S46, it is determined whether or not the rendering process of the mask information 45 for one page is completed, and if the answer is negative (No), step S41.
On the other hand, when the answer is affirmative (Yes), the rendered memory information is sent to the laser beam printer 1 in synchronization with the horizontal / vertical synchronization signals of the laser beam printer 1 via the printer I / F 31 (step S4
7), the process ends.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the memory change from the operation panel 3 and the request to change the memory capacity in the band / raster memory area 29 by command input are designated as different paths, and the memory capacity in the band / raster memory area 29 designated later is specified. The change request is made by rewriting the first specified request.
As shown in, the job control language (Job
Language, abbreviated as JL below. ), A band / raster memory configuration change command is provided to analyze the memory configuration change request at the start of the job (step S51),
2 may be configured to obtain the required dynamic memory. FIG. 17 shows a configuration example of JL. JL here
Is a language that wraps the PDL, and is used to set up the machine environment to be used for each PDL analysis job and to inquire about machine resources, which is useful when a printer is shared by multiple host computers in a network environment. is there. Further, by using JL, the status setting of various printers designated by the operation panel 3 is not necessarily required, so that a printer without the operation panel can be realized and cost reduction can be achieved. it can.

Further, in the laser beam printer 1 which emulates a plurality of PDL data, the optimum memory configuration differs depending on the ability of the PDL data. In such cases,
In particular, since the band and raster memory areas 29 have different memory capacities, it is necessary to perform an optimal memory arrangement for each PDL data.

In other words, in this case, the PDL command analysis unit has a memory memory having an optimum memory configuration for each PDL.
18 is held as a default, and as shown in FIG. 18, the default memory configuration information is stored in the database or program at the time of automatic PDL determination from the data input from the host computer 21 (step S61). It is acquired from the ROM and stored in the memory configuration table 41 (step S62). Then, for the memory configuration information explicitly designated by the operation panel 3, the above-mentioned JL, or the memory change command, the required memory capacity is recalculated and the default designation is rewritten (step S6).
3), the process proceeds to step S7 in FIG. 4 and the same processing as in the above-described embodiment is executed.

[0120]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, banding processing can be performed while avoiding deguded rendering as much as possible even when the rendering time is longer than the video transfer to the printing apparatus. As a result, it is possible to prevent the print quality from deteriorating and it is possible to avoid the deterioration of the processing capacity as much as possible.

If the capacity of the band / raster memory area that is considered to be appropriate for each print job is made variable and the banding process is predicted to fail due to a time factor, the memory may be vacant or printing may be performed from now on. By printing and ejecting all page information other than the above, the band height can be increased to reduce the frequency of time degradation, improve overall processing capability, and improve print quality. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal structural diagram of a laser beam printer as an embodiment of a printing apparatus used in a printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing details of a print control apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a memory map of a management RAM installed in the print control apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a memory management procedure of a memory manager.

FIG. 5 is a memory map showing how the free area formed in the file system area 44 changes.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart (1/2) showing a processing procedure of PDL analysis and rendering processing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart (2/2) showing a processing procedure of PDL analysis and rendering processing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a data format of an analysis result of intermediate information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing elements of rendering processing and rendering results.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of mask information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a connection process of line apex portions of mask information.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a link list obtained based on mask information.

FIG. 13 is a memory map showing an example of banding processing.

FIG. 14 is a memory map showing another example of banding processing.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a degraded rendering.

FIG. 16 is a main part flowchart showing a first modified example of the management procedure of the memory manager.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a job control language used in the first modification.

FIG. 18 is a main part flowchart showing a second modification of the management procedure of the memory manager.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a memory map of a program ROM.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Laser Beam Printer (Printing Device) 20 Printing Control Device 21 Host Computer (Information Processing Device) 27 Management RAM (Storage Unit) 28 Frame Information Storage Area (Intermediate Information Storage Area) 29 Band Raster Memory Area 30 Rendering Processing Unit (Rendering) Means) 33 CPU (banding means, first prediction means, second prediction means, first judgment means, second judgment means, third
Determination means, degraded rendering means, degraded rendering avoidance means, fusion means, banding execution means, degraded rendering execution means, release means)

Claims (31)

[Claims] 1. Input information analysis means for analyzing input information, at least an intermediate information storage area for storing an analysis result of the input information analysis means divided into a plurality of bands, and bitmap data according to the input information. Storage means having a band raster memory area for storing each band,
Rendering means for converting the analysis result of the input information analysis means into bitmap data for each band, banding means for sending the stored contents of the band raster memory area to a printing device in parallel with the rendering means, and the input First prediction means for predicting a rendering time for each band based on information, and whether or not the banding means can be executed based on a predetermined condition including at least a prediction result of the first prediction means for each band Print control including first determining means for making a determination and degrading rendering means for performing rendering by lowering the print resolution when the first determining means determines that the banding means cannot be executed. In the device, the rendering time of the specific band is predicted to be a predetermined time or more by the first determination means. And a degrading rendering avoiding means capable of avoiding the degrading rendering when it is determined that the banding means cannot be executed, and the degrading rendering avoiding means includes at least the specific band and the adjacent to the specific band. Fusing means for fusing one or more bands, and second re-prediction of rendering time for the fused bands fused by the fusing means
And a second judgment means for judging whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired when the prediction result of the second prediction means is less than the predetermined time. A print control apparatus comprising: a first banding executing unit that executes the banding unit when it is judged by the second judging unit that the new band raster memory area can be acquired. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first degrading rendering executing means for executing the degrading rendering means when the prediction result of the second predicting means is equal to or longer than the predetermined time. Print controller. 3. When the second judgment means judges that the acquisition of the new band raster memory area is impossible, the intermediate information storage area which has become unnecessary by the rendering processing by the rendering means is released. A releasing means, a third determining means for determining whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired after the releasing of the intermediate information storage area by the releasing means, and the third determining means. Second banding executing means for executing the banding means when it is judged by the judging means that the new band raster memory area can be acquired.
It is characterized by further comprising a second degraded rendering execution means for performing the degraded rendering means when it is determined by the third determination means that the new band raster memory area cannot be acquired. The print control device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The band raster memory area is variable on a print job basis based on at least one of input information from the printing apparatus and input information from an external device. The print control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the band raster memory area is changed by designating a band height. 6. The band raster memory area is variable depending on at least one of the intermediate information storage area, print resolution, and double-sided printing, or a combination thereof. To claim 5
The print control device according to any one of 1. 7. The band raster memory area is expanded when the empty area having a predetermined capacity or more is present in the intermediate information storage area, and the empty area is used as the band raster memory area. Item 7. The print control device according to any one of items 6. 8. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input information is a page description language. 9. An analysis step of analyzing input information, a storage step of dividing the analysis result into a plurality of bands and storing in an intermediate information storage area, and a bitmap of the input information stored in the intermediate information storage area. A banding step of executing a rendering process for converting into data and a transfer process for performing the rendering process in parallel and transferring the storage content stored in the band raster memory area to a printing device, and the banding step based on the input information. A prediction step of predicting a rendering time for each band, a judgment step of judging whether or not the banding step can be executed based on a predetermined condition including at least a prediction result of the rendering time, and a execution of the banding step If it is determined that the In a method for controlling a printing apparatus including a delay rendering step, when the rendering time of a specific band is predicted to be a predetermined time or more and it is determined that the banding step cannot be executed, the degradation rendering avoidance is enabled to avoid the degradation rendering. And further comprising the step of avoiding the degraded rendering merging the particular band with at least one or more bands adjacent to the particular band, and then re-predicting rendering time for the fused fusion band. If the prediction result is less than or equal to the predetermined time, it is determined whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired, and when it is determined that the new band raster memory area can be acquired, Characterized by performing a banding step Method for controlling the printing apparatus. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the degraded rendering step is executed when the re-estimated rendering time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time. 11. When it is determined that the acquisition of the new band raster memory area is impossible, the intermediate information storage area, which has become unnecessary due to the rendering process by the rendering step, is released, and after the release, the intermediate information storage area is released. Judge whether it is possible to acquire a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band. If it is judged that acquisition is possible, execute the banding step, while if it is judged that acquisition is impossible, execute the degrading rendering step. The method for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein 12. The band raster memory area is variable on a print job basis based on at least one of input information from the printing apparatus and input information from an external device. A method for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 11. 13. The method of controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the band raster memory area is changed by designating a band height. 14. The band raster memory area is variable depending on at least one of the intermediate information storage area, print resolution, and whether or not double-sided printing is performed, or a combination thereof. Claim 1
4. The method for controlling a printing device according to any one of 3 above. 15. The band raster memory area is expanded when the empty area having a predetermined capacity or more exists in the intermediate information storage area, and the empty area is used as the band raster memory area. Item 15. A method for controlling a printing device according to any one of Items 14. 16. The method for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the input information is a page description language. 17. An information processing device for converting print information into a predetermined data format, a printing device for outputting the print information, and a print control device interposed between the printing device and the information processing device. The print control device according to the input information, the input information analysis means for analyzing the input information, the intermediate information storage area for storing at least the analysis result of the input information analysis means divided into a plurality of bands, and the input information. Storage means having a band raster memory area for storing bitmap data for each band, rendering means for converting the analysis result of the input information analysis means into bitmap data for each band, and parallel to the rendering means. And a banding means for sending the stored contents of the band raster memory area to a printing device, and a rendering for each band based on the input information. A first predicting means for predicting a banding time, and a first judging means for judging whether or not the banding means can be executed for each band based on a predetermined condition including at least a prediction result of the first predicting means. And a degrading rendering unit that performs rendering by lowering the printing resolution when the first determining unit determines that the banding unit cannot be executed, and the print control device However, when the first determination unit predicts that the rendering time of a specific band is longer than a predetermined time and it is determined that the banding unit cannot be executed, there is a degradation rendering avoidance unit capable of avoiding the degradation rendering. And the degrading rendering avoidance means is arranged to connect the specific band and the specific band adjacent to each other. Fusion means for fusing at least one or more bands, second prediction means for re-predicting the rendering time for the fusion band fused by the fusion means, and a prediction result of the second prediction means When it is less than a predetermined time, it is possible to acquire a new band raster memory area by the second judging means for judging whether or not the new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired. A printing system comprising: a first banding execution unit that executes the banding unit when it is determined that the printing system is possible. 18. The degrading rendering first executing means for executing the degrading rendering means when the prediction result of the second predicting means is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, the print control device. The printing system according to claim 17. 19. When the print control device determines that the acquisition of the new band raster memory area is impossible by the second determination means, the rendering processing by the rendering means has already been performed, and the intermediate processing is no longer necessary. A releasing means for releasing the information storage area, and a third judgment for determining whether or not it is possible to acquire a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band after the intermediate information storage area is released by the releasing means. Means, a second banding executing means for executing the banding means when it is determined by the third determining means that the new band raster memory area can be acquired, and the new band by the third determining means. When it is determined that the raster memory area cannot be acquired, the degraded rendering method that executes the degraded rendering means is executed. 19. The printing system according to claim 17 or 18, further comprising a line means. 20. The band raster memory area is variable on a print job basis based on at least one of input information from the printing apparatus and input information from the information processing apparatus. A printing system according to any one of claims 17 to 19. 21. The band raster memory area is changed by designating a band height.
21. The printing system according to claim 20. 22. The band raster memory area is variable depending on at least one of the intermediate information storage area, print resolution, and double-sided printing, or a combination thereof. 22. The printing system according to claim 21. 23. The band raster memory area is expanded when the empty area having a predetermined capacity or more exists in the intermediate information storage area and the empty area is used as the band raster memory area. Item 23. The printing system according to any one of Items 22. 24. The printing system according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined data format is a page description language. 25. An input information analysis program for analyzing input information, an intermediate information storage area for storing at least an analysis result of the input information analysis program divided into a plurality of bands, and a bitmap data corresponding to the input information. A storage area management program that secures a band raster memory area for storing each band in a storage unit, and stores the analysis result of the input information analysis program and the bitmap data in association with each secured area. A rendering program for converting the analysis result of the input information analyzing means into bitmap data for each band; a banding program for sending the storage contents of the band raster memory area to a printing device in parallel with the rendering program; Predict rendering time for each band based on information A first predicting program, and a first judging program for judging whether or not the banding program can be executed for each band based on a predetermined condition including at least a prediction result of the first predicting program; In a storage medium storing a degradation rendering program that reduces the print resolution and executes rendering when the determination program of No. 1 determines that the banding program cannot be executed, A degradation rendering avoidance program capable of avoiding the degradation rendering when the rendering time is predicted to be longer than a predetermined time and it is determined that the banding program cannot be executed; and the degradation rendering avoidance program, specific A fusion program that fuses at least one band adjacent to the band, a second prediction program that re-predicts the rendering time for the fusion band fused by the fusion program, and a second prediction program. A second judgment program for judging whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired when the prediction result is the predetermined time or less, and the new band raster memory by the second judgment program. A storage medium, comprising: a first banding execution program that executes the banding program when it is determined that an area can be acquired. 26. A first degradation rendering execution program for executing the degradation rendering program when the prediction result of the second prediction program is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, and further comprising:
The storage medium according to 5. 27. When it is determined by the second determination program that the acquisition of the new band raster memory area is impossible, the rendering information is already processed by the rendering program and the unnecessary intermediate information storage area is released. A release program, a third determination program for determining whether or not a new band raster memory area corresponding to the fusion band can be acquired after the release of the intermediate information storage area by the release program, and the third program A second banding execution program for executing the banding program when the new band raster memory area is determined to be obtainable by the determination program
A second degrading rendering program is provided for executing the degrading rendering program when it is determined by the third determining program that the acquisition of the new band raster memory area is impossible. The storage medium according to claim 25 or 26. 28. The storage area management program includes a process of changing the band raster memory area on a print job basis based on at least one of input information from the printing apparatus and input information from an external device. The storage medium according to any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein: 29. The storage according to claim 25, wherein the storage area management program includes processing for changing the band raster memory area by designating a band height. Medium. 30. The storage area management program includes processing for changing the band raster memory area according to at least one of the intermediate information storage area, print resolution, and whether or not double-sided printing is performed, or a combination thereof. 30. The storage medium according to claim 24, wherein the storage medium is a storage medium. 31. The storage area management program includes a process of expanding the band raster memory area by using the empty area as the band raster memory area when the empty area of a predetermined capacity or more exists in the intermediate information storage area. 31. The storage medium according to claim 25, wherein the storage medium is a storage medium.