JP2014102763A - Data conversion device, data restoration device, image forming apparatus, image forming system, data conversion program, and data restoration program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the amount of transmitted data related to an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: A data conversion device acquires a plurality of pieces of data related to an image forming apparatus, and comprising an address part and a numerical part that corresponds to the address part and has an aligned bit number m; extracts, for head data of the pieces of data, a value of a numerical part of the head data as a difference value, and extracts, for second and subsequent data, a difference between a numerical part of the data and a numerical part of data immediately before the data, as a difference value having a bit number n that is smaller than the bit number m; and converts the acquired data into a plurality of pieces of data comprising an address part and a difference part corresponding to the address part.

Description

  The present invention relates to a data conversion apparatus, a data restoration apparatus, an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, a data conversion program, and a data restoration program.

  In an image forming apparatus and an image forming system that output image data sent from an image processing apparatus to a recording medium such as paper, functions are becoming more complicated in order to realize high image quality and high stability.

  On the other hand, there is still a high need for cost reduction for the purpose of obtaining cost competitiveness, and it is indispensable to reduce the data storage capacity of the storage means installed in the image forming apparatus etc. contrary to the complexity of functions. It has become.

  In recent years, various types of data are collected and analyzed from an image forming apparatus connected to a communication line such as a network, so that the user of the image forming apparatus (how it is used) and the usage status ( It has become possible to provide new added value such that maintenance, replenishment of consumables, troubleshooting, etc. can be performed without any user contact.

  On the other hand, the amount of data handled is increasing due to the complexity of functions installed in image forming apparatuses and the increase in devices connected to the network.

  Therefore, the amount of data must be reduced and network traffic must be reduced as much as possible. However, there is still a high need to collect a wide variety of data in order to improve analysis accuracy.

  As a document describing a technique for reducing the data amount, there is, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-282411.

JP-A-6-282411

  An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of reducing the amount of data transmitted through a communication line.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of reducing the amount of data stored.

  In order to solve the above problems, a data conversion apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and includes an address portion and a numerical value portion corresponding to the address portion and having a first number of bits aligned. The first acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of configured data and the plurality of pieces of data acquired by the first acquisition unit extract the value of the numerical part of the data as a difference value The second and subsequent data is a difference in which the difference between the numerical part of the data and the numerical part of the data immediately before the data is a second bit number smaller than the first bit number. A difference value extracting means for extracting as a value; and the data acquired by the first acquiring means is composed of the address portion and a difference value corresponding to the address portion extracted by the difference value extracting means. Multiple Conversion means for converting the data, to have a characterized.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the difference value extracting unit is configured to calculate the value of the numerical part of the first data and the numerical value part immediately before the second and subsequent data. If the difference value is greater than the value represented by the second number of bits, the value is divided by the second number of bits, and each of the divided values is assigned to the value. The corresponding address part is assigned and extracted as a difference value arranged in the lower bit order.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an adding means for adding a value of the second number of bits before the plurality of data converted by the converting means. It is characterized by having.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the third aspect, the difference value extracting unit is configured to calculate a value of the numerical value part of the first data and the numerical value part immediately before the second and subsequent data. The difference value is divided from 1 bit by a bit number that is 1 bit less than the first bit number, and the bit number that minimizes the overall size of the divided value is the second bit number. It is characterized by.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the first aspect of the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein a plurality of the data acquired by the first acquisition unit are aligned by the numerical value part. The apparatus further comprises an aligning unit, wherein the difference value extracting unit extracts difference values of the plurality of data arranged by the first aligning unit.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the plurality of data are data of a lookup table, and the address portion is a sequence of the lookup table. Alternatively, the input values are discontinuous, and the numerical value part is an output value corresponding to the input value of the lookup table.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a data restoration device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is configured to acquire a plurality of the data converted by the conversion unit according to any one of the first to sixth aspects. For the plurality of pieces of data acquired by the acquisition unit and the second acquisition unit, the numerical value part of the first data is given a difference value of the data, and the numerical values of the second and subsequent data A restoration unit that restores a plurality of the data by adding a sum of a difference value of the data and an addition value obtained by adding the difference value from the leading data to the data immediately before the data; It is characterized by having.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the seventh aspect, when the data having the same value in the address portion continues, the restoring means calculates a difference value corresponding to the preceding address portion. A sum of a difference value obtained by combining a difference value corresponding to the subsequent address part with the upper bit and an addition value obtained by adding the difference value from the leading data to the data immediately before the data It is given to the numerical part of the data.

  The invention according to claim 9 further comprises reading means for reading the value of the second number of bits added by the adding means in the invention according to claim 8, wherein the restoring means is the reading means. The plurality of pieces of data acquired by the second acquisition unit are restored based on the value of the second number of bits read by the unit.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, a plurality of the data restored by the restoration means are arranged in the address section. It further has these.

  The invention according to claim 11 is the case of the invention according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein a plurality of the data is data in a lookup table in which the address portion has a discontinuous input value. The method further comprises a continuation unit that complements a plurality of discontinuous portions of the plurality of data after the restoration unit restores the plurality of pieces of data.

  In order to solve the above problem, an image forming system according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention includes the data conversion device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, and performs an image forming process on the image data. A data restoration apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 11 and a storage for storing a plurality of the data restored by the data restoration apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus via a communication line And a processing device provided with the means.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image forming apparatus according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention includes a data conversion apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, and a plurality of the data converted by the data conversion apparatus. It has a memory | storage means which memorize | stores data, and the data decompression | restoration apparatus as described in any one of Claim 7 to 11, It performs the image formation process with respect to image data, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  In order to solve the above problem, a data conversion program according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and includes an address part and a numerical part corresponding to the address part and having a first number of bits aligned. For the first acquisition process for acquiring a plurality of configured data and the plurality of data acquired in the first acquisition process, the leading data extracts the value of the numerical part of the data as a difference value The second and subsequent data is a difference value for extracting the difference value from the numerical value part in the data immediately before the data as a difference value having a second bit number smaller than the first bit number. The data acquired in the extraction process and the first acquisition process is converted into a plurality of data composed of the address part and the difference value corresponding to the address part extracted in the difference value extraction process. Conversion process of the, and wherein the causing a computer to execute the.

  In order to solve the above problem, a data restoration program according to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention provides a second acquisition step of acquiring a plurality of the data converted in the conversion step of the fourteenth aspect, and the second acquisition step For a plurality of the data acquired in the acquisition process, the numerical value part of the first data is given a value of the difference value of the data, and the second or subsequent numerical value part of the data is the difference of the data Causing a computer to execute a restoration process of restoring a plurality of the data by adding a sum of a value and an addition value obtained by adding a difference value from the leading data to the data immediately before the data. Features.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of data transmitted through the communication line as compared with the case where the data in which the address part and the numerical value part are set is transmitted as it is. Further, the amount of data stored can be reduced as compared with the case where the data in which the address portion and the numerical value portion are set is stored as it is.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, the value of the numerical part of the first data and the value of the difference from the immediately preceding numerical part of the second and subsequent data are larger than the value expressed by the second number of bits. Even if it exists, the difference value is expressed by the second bit number smaller than the first bit number.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the total data size can be minimized without previously matching the number of bits obtained by dividing the difference value with the receiving side.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, data conversion can be executed by the second number of bits that minimizes the data size of the transmission data.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the numerical value part is not aligned, the numerical value part is aligned and the difference value is extracted.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the amount of data transmitted through the communication line can be reduced as compared with the case where the data in the lookup table in which the input value and the output value are set is transmitted as it is. Further, the amount of data stored can be reduced as compared with the case where the data of the lookup table in which the input value and the output value are set is stored as it is.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, a plurality of data composed of an address part and a numerical value part can be acquired in a short time.

  According to the invention of claim 8, a plurality of data composed of the address part and the numerical part can be acquired in a short time.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of data composed of the address part and the numerical value part can be acquired in a short time.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of data composed of an address part and a numerical part can be acquired in a short time.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the data amount of data having a larger capacity than the data of the lookup table composed of continuous values.

  According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the amount of data transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the processing apparatus through the communication line can be reduced as compared with the case where the data in which the address part and the numerical value part are set is transmitted as it is. Can do.

  According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the amount of data stored in the storage means can be reduced as compared with the case where the data in which the address portion and the numerical value portion are set is stored as it is.

  According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the amount of data transmitted through the communication line can be reduced as compared with the case where the data in which the address portion and the numerical value portion are set is transmitted as it is. Further, the amount of data stored can be reduced as compared with the case where the data in which the address portion and the numerical value portion are set is stored as it is.

  According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of data composed of the address part and the numerical value part can be acquired in a short time.

1 is a block diagram showing an image forming system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram functionally illustrating the contents of each component in the image forming system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of data handled by a printer constituting the image forming system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data which sorted the data of FIG. 3 by the numerical part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data which encoded the data of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data which extracted the difference value from the data of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data which encoded the data of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data of the difference value divided | segmented in the data of FIG. 7 with an address part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data of the difference value divided | segmented and transmitted through the data of FIG. 8 with an address part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data corresponding to FIG. 8 with a decimal number. It is explanatory drawing which shows the transmission data corresponding to FIG. 9 with a decimal number. It is explanatory drawing which shows the modification of transmission data by the decimal number. 3 is a flowchart illustrating data conversion processing executed by a control unit of the printer constituting the image forming system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing data restoration processing executed by a control unit of a server constituting the image forming system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In order to obtain the number of bits of the numerical value part in which the total number of bits of the converted data is minimized in the data conversion process executed by the control unit of the printer constituting the image forming system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process of. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the total bit number of the data after conversion in the process of FIG. 15, and the bit number of a numerical value part. FIG. 5 is a block diagram functionally explaining the contents of each component in an image forming system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the look-up table handled with the printer which comprises the image forming system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the input image signal and output image signal by the look-up table of FIG. It is a figure which shows another example of the look-up table handled with the printer which comprises the image forming system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 21 is a graph showing a relationship between an input image signal and an output image signal according to the lookup table of FIG. 20.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment as an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

  (First embodiment)

  As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming system 10A according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a computer 100 as an image processing apparatus, a printer 200A as an image forming apparatus, and a server 300 as a processing apparatus. The communication line 400 is connected.

  As the communication line 400, a local area network (LAN = Local Area Network), a wired communication line such as a telephone line, a wireless communication line such as a wireless LAN, and a combination of these communication lines are applied. . In the present embodiment, data communication is performed between the computer 100, the printer 200A, and the server 300 in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol, for example, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol).

  A computer 100 as an image processing apparatus sends image data to the printer 200A to make a print request. The computer 100 has a function of storing data (to be described later) related to the computer 100 and a function of converting the stored data.

  The printer 200A as an image forming apparatus performs an image forming process based on the image data from the computer 100, and outputs a printed matter as a result of the image forming process. Various types of printers such as a color printer such as a tandem developing printer and a rotary developing printer, or a monochrome printer are applied to the printer 200A.

  The server 300 as a processing device has a function of restoring data transmitted from the printer 200A, a function of storing the restored data and the data as it is transmitted from the printer 200A, and a function of displaying and notifying necessary information. Have Further, the server 300 transmits corresponding data to the printer 200A in response to a data acquisition request from the printer 200A.

  The computer 100, the printer 200A, and the server 300 connected to the communication line 400 are not limited to one, and a plurality of computers may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the computer 100 includes a display unit 101 that displays image data and information related to creation of the image data, an input unit 102 that inputs input information such as an image formation instruction for the image data, and the like. A storage unit 103 that stores information related to operations and the like, a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as “communication I / F”) 104 that controls an interface for communication, and a control unit 105 that controls these components are provided.

  The storage unit 103 has a first storage area, a second storage area, and a third storage area (not shown).

  The first storage area is an area for storing an application, an operating system, a program corresponding to a communication protocol, a device driver, a program corresponding to a processing procedure executed by the computer 100, for example, a hard disk or a ROM (read only memory). Etc.

  The second storage area is an area for storing image data, and includes, for example, a hard disk, a RAM (a read / write memory as needed), and the like.

  The third storage area is an area (work area) that stores a program read from the first storage area, image data read from the second storage area, and data exchanged during data communication. For example, a RAM. In addition, the third storage area has a work area that is used during arithmetic processing.

  The control unit 105 reads and executes a program from the first storage area to the third storage area, thereby performing data communication regarding image forming processing with the printer 200A, for example. The control unit 105 controls the entire computer 100, and is constituted by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example.

  The printer 200A includes a storage unit 201A (storage unit) that stores necessary information, a printing unit 202 that executes image formation processing (printing processing), and a communication interface that controls an interface for communication (hereinafter referred to as “communication I / F”). 203), a display / operation unit 204 that operates as a user interface, and a control unit 205A that controls the entire printer 200A including these components.

  The storage unit 201A is read from a first storage area (not shown) that stores firmware such as data and parameters necessary for performing an image forming process (electrophotographic process), and the first recording area. A second storage area for storing data relating to the printer 200A detected by various firmware (not shown) provided in the printer 200A, the printer 200A, or image data received via the communication I / F 203 (Not shown). The storage unit 201A is specifically configured by, for example, a ROM or a RAM.

  The printing unit 202 prints an image corresponding to the image data on a recording medium such as paper under the control of the control unit 205A.

  The display / operation unit 204 has a display function (display means) for displaying various types of information to the user, and an operation function (reception means) for receiving an instruction from the user.

  The control unit 205A controls the entire printer 200A, and includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 205A generates a print image based on the received image data, for example, by reading the firmware from the first storage area of the storage unit 201A to the second storage area and executing it, and prints the print processing thereof Request to the unit 202. In addition, the control unit 205A reads the firmware from the first storage area of the storage unit 201A to the second storage area and executes it, thereby converting the data related to the printer 200A stored in the second storage area. And functions as a data converter (details will be described later). The converted data is transmitted to the server 300 via the communication I / F 203.

  The server 300 includes a storage unit 301 (storage unit) that stores necessary information, a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as “communication I / F”) 302 that controls an interface for communication, and a display / operation unit 303 that operates as a user interface. A control unit 304 that controls the entire server 300 including these components is provided.

  The storage unit 301 includes a first storage area (not shown) for storing firmware, firmware read from the first recording area, data related to the printer 200A received via the communication I / F 302, and the like. And a second storage area (not shown) for storing the data as it is. The storage unit 301 is specifically configured by, for example, a ROM or a RAM.

  The display / operation unit 303 has a function (notification means) for displaying (notifying) various kinds of information to the user, and an operation function (reception means) for receiving an instruction from the user.

  The control unit 304 controls the entire server 300, and is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 304 reads the firmware from the first storage area of the storage unit 301 to the second storage area and executes it to restore the conversion data related to the printer 200A stored in the second storage area, for example. And functions as a data restoration device (details will be described later).

  In the image forming system 10A having the above-described configuration, an address part and an m-bit (first bit number) numerical part corresponding to the address part are set in the storage part 201A of the printer 200A. A plurality of data is stored. Some of the data is extracted from the storage unit 201 </ b> A and transmitted to the server 300 periodically or in response to a request from the server 300.

  Here, in the image forming system 10A of the present embodiment, data is converted and transmitted from the printer 200A to the server 300 by the control unit 205A as a data conversion apparatus as follows. Further, in the server 300 that has received the converted data, the data is restored by the control unit 304 as a data restoration device.

  Hereinafter, data conversion by the control unit 205A and data restoration by the control unit 304 will be described.

  An example of a plurality of data stored in the storage unit 201A of the printer 200A is shown in FIG. In the data shown in the figure, there are numerical parts “523”, “925”... “214”, “802” corresponding to 999 addresses “001” to “999”, respectively. The maximum value of the numerical part is “64084” (FIG. 4). When encoded, the maximum value is “1111101001010100”, and the number of bits m of the numerical part is 16.

  Therefore, the data conversion device which is the control unit 205A functioning as the first acquisition unit acquires these data from the storage unit 201A.

  Next, the data conversion apparatus which is the control unit 205A functioning as the first sorting unit sorts (aligns) the acquired data in ascending order by the numerical value part. FIG. 4 shows the sorted data, and FIG. 5 shows the encoded data. In addition, you may sort in descending order.

  Some data is already sorted by the numerical value part at the time of acquisition from the storage unit 201A. In the case of such data, it is needless to say that sorting in the data conversion device which is the control unit 205A is not necessary (that is, the first sorting means is unnecessary).

  Subsequently, the data conversion device, which is the control unit 205A that functions as a difference value extraction unit, extracts the value of the numerical part of the data as a difference value for the top data of the plurality of data in ascending order, For the second and subsequent data, the difference value with the numerical value part in the data immediately before the data is extracted as the difference value. FIG. 6 shows data obtained by extracting the difference values, and FIG. 7 shows data obtained by matching the difference values. In FIG. 6, the address, the numerical value part, and the difference value are shown, but in FIG. 7, only the address and the difference value are shown.

  The extracted difference value is expressed by n bits (second bit number) smaller than m bits (first bit number) in the numerical part. For example, in the present embodiment, when the numerical value part is m = 16 bits, the difference value is expressed by n = 8 bits, for example.

  Here, when the value of the numerical part of the first data or the value of the difference from the immediately preceding numerical part of the second and subsequent data is larger than the value expressed by n bits, the value is expressed by n bits. To divide. Then, an address corresponding to the divided value is given to each of the divided values, and the difference value is extracted in order from the lower bit to the higher bit.

  That is, in FIG. 8, for the data indicated by the symbol S, the difference value is larger than the value represented by 8 bits. Therefore, for these data, the difference value is divided into 8 bits, and as shown in FIG. 9, an address corresponding to the value is assigned to each of the divided values S1 and S2, and lower bits (values) It is extracted as a difference value arranged in order from the bit of S1 to the upper bit (bit of value S2).

  Unencoded data corresponding to FIG. 8 is shown in FIG. 10, and unencoded data corresponding to FIG. 9 is shown in FIG.

  Note that the value of the numerical part of the first data and the value of the difference from the immediately preceding numerical part in the second and subsequent data are expressed by the number of bits smaller than the number of bits of the numerical part without being divided in this way. The data need not be divided. Moreover, in this Embodiment, although the difference value is divided | segmented into two, you may divide | segment into three or more.

  If the difference value is extracted in this way, the data conversion apparatus that is the control unit 205A that functions as the conversion unit converts the data acquired by the function as the first acquisition unit into the address unit and the difference value extraction unit. Are converted into a plurality of data composed of difference values corresponding to the address portion extracted by the function (FIGS. 9 and 11). The plurality of converted data is transmitted from the printer 200A to the server 300.

  In the present embodiment, the original data is composed of 16 bits and 999 data (15984 bits). If the difference value is 8 bits, it is 8744 bits, and if the difference value is 5 bits, it is 5920 bits. Therefore, the amount of data to be transmitted is reduced as compared with the case where the numerical value part is transmitted as it is to the server 300 through the communication line 400 without using the difference value.

  Here, when the bit number n of the difference value is not matched between the printer 200A that is the data sending side and the server 300 that is the data receiving side (that is, the server 300 has the difference value). When the value of the number of bits n is unknown), the data conversion device which is the control unit 205A functioning as an adding unit may add the value of the number of bits n before the plurality of converted data.

  When a value of bit number n is added in front of a plurality of data thus converted, the data conversion apparatus that is the control unit 205A that functions as a difference value extraction unit has a bit number n of 1 to (m -1)), the numerical part is divided to create data, that is, the value of the numerical part of the first data and the value of the difference from the immediately preceding numerical part in the second and subsequent data are calculated from 1 bit (m- 1) Create data divided by bits (= number of bits 1 bit less than the first number of bits), and set the number of bits that minimizes the overall size to the number of bits n (that is, the second number of bits) May be.

  Now, the server 300 on the receiving side that has received the converted data from the printer 200A restores the data by performing the reverse procedure to that described above. Then, the restored data is stored in the storage unit 301 as a database.

  That is, in the server 300, the data restoration device that is the control unit 304 that functions as the second acquisition unit acquires the plurality of data converted by the control unit 205A that functions as the conversion unit.

  Next, the data restoration device, which is the control unit 304 functioning as restoration means, assigns the difference value of the data to the numerical value part of the top of the acquired data, and the second and subsequent data. Data is restored by giving the sum of the difference value of the data and the addition value obtained by adding the difference values from the first data to the data immediately before the data to the numerical value portion of the data.

  Subsequently, the data restoration device which is the control unit 304 functioning as the second sorting unit sorts (aligns) the plurality of data restored by the restoration unit in ascending order or descending order in the address part. The plurality of data restored so that the address part becomes the key data by sorting is stored in the storage unit 301 as the storage unit as described above (stored in the storage unit 301).

  Note that in the case of data that has already been sorted in the address portion at the time of restoration, it is not necessary to sort in the data restoration device that is the control unit 304 (that is, the second alignment means is unnecessary). Of course.

  Here, since the difference value corresponding to the address portion is divided by n bits in the control unit 205A as the conversion unit of the printer 200A, data having the same value in the address portion of the acquired data may continue. In that case, the data restoration device, which is the control unit 304 functioning as restoration means, obtains the difference obtained by combining the difference value corresponding to the subsequent address part with the upper bits of the difference value corresponding to the preceding address part. The sum of the value and the added value obtained by adding the difference value from the first data to the immediately preceding data is added to the numerical value part of the data.

  In addition, when the value of the bit number n is added by the control unit 205A that functions as an adding unit of the printer 200A, the data restoration device that is the control unit 304 that functions as the reading unit uses the value of the bit number n. read. Then, the data restoration device, which is the control unit 304 functioning as a restoration unit, restores the plurality of data acquired by the second acquisition unit based on the read bit number n.

  Next, the data conversion described above will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. 13, and the data restoration will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the data conversion process will be described.

  In FIG. 13, the control unit 205A of the printer 200A first sorts the acquired data in ascending order by numerical values (step S10), and extracts the Cth data and numerical values (step S11).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the value of C is larger than 1 (step S12). If not, that is, if C = 1, the C-th data becomes the first data. The address part is stored in A0, the numerical part is stored in V0 (step S13), and the value of the numerical part V0 is set as the value of the difference value part D (step S14).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the difference value part D is n bits or less (step S15). If the value is n bits or less, data having an address part A0 and a difference value part D is created (A (1 ) = A0, V (1) = D) (step S16). Then, d indicating the order of the address part and the difference value part is defined as “d + 1” (the value of d is incremented by “+1”) (step S17), and C indicating the order of the data is defined as “C + 1”. (The value of C is incremented by +1) (step S18), and the process returns to step S12.

  In step S15, if the value of the difference value part D is not n bits or less, the value of the difference value part D is divided by n bits, and D (1), D (2). Define D (P) (step S19). For the least significant bit (X = 1) (step S20), data having an address portion of A0 and a difference value portion of D (X) is created (A (d) = A0, V (d) = D. (X)) (Step S21).

  Then, X indicating the bit order is defined as “X + 1” (the value of X is incremented by “+1”) (step S22), and d indicating the order of the address part and the difference value part is defined as “d + 1” ( The value of d is incremented by “+1” (step S23), and it is determined whether the transferred bit is the last bit (X> P or not) (step S24). If the determination result in step S24 is not the last bit, the processing from step S21 to step S23 is repeated, and if it is the last bit, the process proceeds to step S18 described above.

  When it is determined in step S12 that the value of C is larger than 1 (that is, when the data to be processed is the second and subsequent data), the address part of the C-th data is A1, and the numerical part is The value is stored in V1 (step S25), and a value obtained by subtracting the value of the numerical part of the data immediately before the data from the value of the numerical value of the data is used as the value of the difference value part D (D = V1-V0) (step S26).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the value of the difference value portion D is n bits or less (step S27). If the value is n bits or less, data having an address portion A1 and a difference value portion D is created (A (d ) = A1, V (d) = D) (step S28). Then, d indicating the order of the address part and the difference value part is defined as “d + 1” (the value of d is incremented by “+1”) (step S29), and it is determined whether or not the data is the last data (step S30). ).

  If it is determined in step S30 that the data is the last data, the data conversion process is terminated. If it is determined that the data is not the last data, the address part A1 is defined as the address part A0, and the numerical value part V1 is the numerical value part. It is defined as V0 (A0 = A1, V0 = V1) (step S31), and the process proceeds to step S18.

  In step S27, if the value of the difference value part D is not n bits or less, the value of the difference value part D is divided by n bits, and D (1), D (2). Define D (P) (step S32). For the least significant bit (X = 1) (step S33), data having an address portion of A1 and a difference value portion of D (X) is created (A (d) = A1, V (d) = D. (X)) (Step S34).

  Then, X indicating the bit order is defined as “X + 1” (the value of X is incremented by “+1”) (step S35), and d indicating the order of the address part and the difference value part is defined as “d + 1” ( The value of d is incremented by “+1” (step S36), and it is determined whether the transferred bit is the last bit (X> P) (step S37). If the determination result in step S37 is not the final bit, the processing from step S34 to step S36 is repeated, and if it is the final bit, the process proceeds to step S30 described above.

  The above processing is repeated until it is determined as the last data in step S30.

  Next, the data restoration process will be described.

  In FIG. 14, the control unit 304 of the server 300 first defines C indicating the order of the acquired data, d indicating the order of the address part and the difference value part as 1 and extracts the first, respectively. The value of the division number E of the value part is defined as 0 (step S40).

  Next, it is determined whether or not d indicating the order of the address part and the difference value part is greater than 1 (step S41). If not, that is, if d = 1, the first data is obtained. The address part of the data is stored in A0, and the difference value part is stored in V0 (step S42). Then, data having an address portion of A0 and a numerical value portion of V0 is created (A (1) = A0, V (1) = V0) (step S43). Thereafter, d indicating the order of the address part and the difference value part is defined as “d + 1” (the value of d is incremented by “+1”) (step S44), and the process returns to step S41.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S41 that the value of d is greater than 1 (that is, if the address portion to be processed and the difference value portion are the second and later), the address portion of the d-th data is set to A1. The difference value portion is stored in V1 (step S45), and it is determined whether the value of the address portion is different from the value of the previous address portion (whether A1 ≠ A0) (step S46).

  If it is determined in step S46 that the value of the address part is different from the value of the previous address part, the sum value of the difference value part V1 of the d-th data and the difference value part V0 of the previous data is set to V1. (Step S47), C indicating the data order is defined as “C + 1” (the value of C is incremented by “+1”) (Step S48). Then, data having an address portion of A1 and a numerical value portion of V1 is created (A (C) = A1, V (C) = V1) (step S49). Then, the value of the division number E in the difference value portion is defined as 0 (step S50), and it is determined whether or not the data is the last data (step S51).

  If it is determined in step S51 that the data is the last data, the data restoration process is terminated. If it is determined that the data is not the last data, the address part A1 is defined as the address part A0, and the numerical value part V1 is the numerical value part. It is defined as V0 (A0 = A1, V0 = V1) (step S52), and the process proceeds to step S44.

  If it is determined in step S46 that the value of the address part is not different (same) as the value of the previous address part, E indicating the number of divisions of the difference value part is defined as “E + 1” (value of E "+1 increment"), and a value obtained by combining the difference value corresponding to the address portion of this data with the upper bit of the difference value corresponding to the immediately preceding address portion is set as the difference value portion V1 (step S53). The sum value of the difference value portion V1 of the data and the difference value portion V0 of the immediately preceding data is set as V1 (step S54). Next, the address portion is A1, the numerical value portion is V1, and the data overwritten on A (C) and V (C) created last time (in step S49) is created (A (C) = A1, V ( C) = V1) (step S55), the process proceeds to the above-described step S51.

  Next, the creation of transmission data with the number of bits n that minimizes the overall size in the data conversion apparatus that is the control unit 205A that functions as a difference value extraction unit will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the number n of bits is defined as “1” (step S60), and the transmission data is divided by 1 bit with respect to the value of the numerical part of the first data and the value of the difference from the immediately preceding numerical part in the second and subsequent data. Is created (step S61). Then, the sum of the number of bits in the address part and the number of bits n is multiplied by the number of data to determine the total number of bits of transmission data (step S62).

  Then, n indicating the number of bits is defined as “n + 1” (the value of n is incremented by “+1”) (step S63), and it is determined whether the number of bits n is the same as the number of bits m (step S64). If it is determined in step S64 that the bit number n is not the same as the bit number m, the process returns to step S61 and repeats the process up to step S63.

  If it is determined in step S64 that the number of bits n is the same as the number of bits m, the value of the number of bits n that minimizes the total number of bits (n) obtained in step S62 is obtained. Transmission data is created (step S65).

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 15, an example of the relationship between the value of the number of bits n used for conversion and the value of the total number of bits of transmission data created thereby is shown in FIG.

  In the case shown in the figure, since the total number of bits of transmission data is minimized when divided by 5 bits, it can be seen that 5-bit transmission data is created.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the control unit 205A as the data conversion device provided in the printer 200A, the address unit and the numerical unit aligned with the address unit and having the number of bits m are arranged. For multiple data with a set of, the first data extracts the value of the numerical part as the difference value, and the second and subsequent data are the difference value from the numerical part of the previous data, the number of bits It is extracted as a difference value having a bit number n smaller than m and converted into a plurality of data composed of an address portion and a difference value corresponding to the address portion.

  Therefore, if the converted data is transmitted from the printer 200A to the server 300 through the communication line 400, the amount of data to be transmitted is compared to the case where the data in which the address part and the numerical part are set is transmitted as it is. Is reduced. Therefore, the receiving server 300 receives and restores the reduced amount of data, so that a plurality of data composed of the address part and the numerical part are acquired in a short time.

  In addition, the total number of bits of data transmitted by a simple process of extracting the difference value is greatly reduced. Since the larger the number of data to be processed at a time, the smaller the total number of bits, the larger the data size reduction effect.

  Further, since the address part and the numerical value part are a set of data, the sending printer 200A determines which data is sent each time, so the sending printer 200A and the receiving server are preliminarily determined. 300 does not need to be matched, and the number of data is reduced accordingly.

  And by reducing the size of the transmission data in this way, more data is transmitted in a short time, so if you send all the data you want to send, the data size will increase and it will take too much transmission time, Eliminates the need for sorting operations. As a result, since all necessary data is obtained in a timely manner on the receiving side, the state of the image forming apparatus in the user or line is grasped in more detail based on the data, and quick response to trouble and predictive diagnosis, Accurate consumables delivery is realized.

  Further, if the value of the numerical part of the first data and the value of the difference from the immediately preceding numerical part of the second and subsequent data are divided by n bits, these values are more than values expressed by n bits. Even if the value is large, the difference value is expressed by n bits smaller than m bits, and the amount of data to be transmitted is reduced.

  If the number of divided bits is added to the converted data, the entire data size is minimized without matching in advance between the printer 200A on the sending side and the server 300 on the receiving side.

  (Second Embodiment)

  An image forming system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 17, in the image forming system 10 </ b> B, a computer 100 as an image processing apparatus and a printer 200 </ b> B as an image forming apparatus are connected via a communication line 400.

  Here, the computer 100 has the same configuration as that described in the first embodiment. Further, the storage unit 201B of the printer 200B has the functions of the storage unit 201A and the storage unit 301 in the first embodiment, and the control unit 205B includes the control unit 205A and the control unit 304 in the first embodiment. It has a function. Note that the printing unit 202 and the communication I / F 203 are the same as those described in the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the case where the data of the printer 200A is transmitted to the server 300 has been described. However, depending on the type of data, some data is stored in the printer 200B. In the second embodiment, such data conversion processing and restoration processing will be described.

  Here, the case where the storage destination is in the printer 200B will be described, and it does not indicate where the storage destination is depending on the type of data. That is, depending on data handling, the storage destination may be only in the printer 200B, only the server 300 shown in the first embodiment, or both. Therefore, in the lookup table (Look Up Table) described below, the storage destination in the present embodiment is the storage unit 201B of the printer 200B, but the storage unit 301 (FIG. 2) of the server 300 or both. There may be.

  In image processing such as input / output characteristic conversion, color space conversion, and halftone, image processing is performed using a lookup table (hereinafter referred to as “LUT”) that is referred to during these processing. There is. In this case, the image processing using the LUT can be finely adjusted, but an LUT is required for each color and each screen, and in order to increase the image quality, the number of screens and the number of gradations are increased. The LUT size increases, and the storage capacity of the storage unit 201B that stores the LUT data is increased.

  Further, in the image processing using the LUT as described above, it is necessary to change the LUT according to the type of input data. For example, in the case of character data, it is necessary to use an LUT for improving the legibility of characters, and in the case of photo data, it is necessary to use an LUT for improving color reproducibility. Accordingly, since a plurality of LUTs are required for one image process, the storage capacity of the storage unit 201B that stores these LUTs is increased.

  That is, performing image processing using the LUT inevitably increases the storage capacity.

  Therefore, the LUT data is stored in the printer 200B of the image forming system 10B shown in the present embodiment and the control unit 205B having the function of the control unit 205A (data conversion device) of the printer 200A described in the first embodiment. The data conversion described in the first embodiment is executed by the storage unit 201B having the function of the unit 201A (storage unit). Further, the control unit 205B having the function of the control unit 304 (data restoration apparatus) of the server 300 and the storage unit 201B having the function of the storage unit 301 (storage means) described in the first embodiment are used in the first embodiment. The data restoration described in the embodiment is executed.

  Here, FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the LUT data for gradation correction as an example of the LUT data, and FIG. 19 shows the relationship between the input image signal and the output image signal subjected to the gradation correction with the LUT data in FIG. It is a graph. In these drawings, a continuous tone value gradation correction LUT for converting an 8-bit (0-255) input image signal (Cin) into an 8-bit (0-255) output image signal (Cout). Is shown.

  Here, in the LUT data shown in FIG. 18, an input image signal (Cin) as an input value corresponds to an address portion, and an output image signal (Cout) as an output value corresponds to a numerical value portion.

  In the data conversion, the first data is extracted as a difference value from the value of the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the numerical part of the data, and the second and subsequent data are output corresponding to the numerical part of the data. The difference value between the image signal (Cout) and the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the numerical value part in the data immediately before the data is extracted and stored as a difference value.

  In other words, the value of the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the first input image signal (Cin) is stored in the storage unit 201B, and the previous input is corresponding to the second and subsequent input image signals (Cin). A difference value between the output image signal (Cout) value of the image signal (Cin) and the output image signal (Cout) value of the target input image signal (Cin) is stored (Δ [0] = Cout [0], Δ [i]. = Cout [i] -Cout [i-1] (i = 1 to 255)).

  In data restoration, the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the numerical value part of the first data is given the value of the difference value of the data, and the output image corresponding to the numerical value part of the second and subsequent data. The signal (Cout) is given a sum of a difference value of the data and an addition value obtained by adding the difference values from the first data to the data immediately before the data.

  That is, the conversion data stored in the storage unit 201B is read at the time when the printer 200B is turned on or when it returns from the sleep mode. Then, as the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the leading input image signal (Cin), a difference value of the input image signal (Cin) is given. Further, as the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the second and subsequent input image signals (Cin), the input image signal (Cin) is calculated from the difference value of the input image signal (Cin) and the first input image signal (Cin). ) Is added to the input image signal (Cin) immediately before the sum of the difference values.

  In this way, the output image signal (Cout) value corresponding to the input image signal (Cin) value is calculated (Cout [0] = Δ [0], Cout [i] = Cout [i−1] + Δ [i]. (I = 1 to 255)), the gradation correction LUT composed of the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the input image signal (Cin) 0 to 255 is developed in the storage unit 201B such as the RAM or the ASIC, and the gradation correction is performed. (See FIG. 19).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the amount of data is reduced by data conversion and stored in the storage unit 201B. At the time of restoration, the converted data is read and restored, so the storage unit The amount of data stored in 201B is reduced.

  Note that the gradation correction LUT does not decrease the output image signal (Cout) as the input image signal (Cin) increases. In addition, from the viewpoint of suppressing tone jump (a state in which the continuity of gradation is lost in the image and a boundary is partially generated and a striped pattern is seen), an output image is output with an adjacent input image signal (Cin). The signal (Cout) does not change greatly.

  Therefore, the difference value stored in the storage unit 201B is 2 to 4 bits (3 to 15) when the output image signal (Cout) is 8 bits (255), and the value is held as data. Thereby, the storage capacity of the storage unit 201B is further suppressed.

  The LUT data may be discontinuous tone values instead of the continuous tone values as shown in FIGS.

  Here, FIG. 20 is a diagram showing LUT data for gradation correction as another example of the LUT data, and FIG. 21 is a relationship between the input image signal and the output image signal subjected to gradation correction with the LUT data in FIG. It is a graph which shows. In these drawings, gradation correction of discontinuous gradation values for converting a 10-bit (0 to 1023) input image signal (Cin) into a 10-bit (0 to 1023) output image signal (Cout) is performed. LUT is shown.

  In the case shown in the figure, in the data conversion, 33 points out of 32 points out of 1024 LUT data are extracted and stored in the storage unit 201B in the first input image signal (Cin) as described above. The value of the corresponding output image signal (Cout) is stored, and the output image signal (Cout) value of the previous input image signal (Cin) and the target input corresponding to the second and subsequent input image signals (Cin). The difference value of the image signal (Cin) with respect to the output image signal (Cout) value is stored (Δ [0] = Cout [0], Δ [i] = Cout [i] −Cout [i−1] (i = 1). ~ 32)).

  In the data restoration, the conversion data stored in the storage unit 201B is read at the timing when the printer 200B is turned on or when the printer 200B returns from the sleep mode. Then, as the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the leading input image signal (Cin), a difference value of the input image signal (Cin) is given. Further, as the output image signal (Cout) corresponding to the second and subsequent input image signals (Cin), the input image signal (Cin) is calculated from the difference value of the input image signal (Cin) and the first input image signal (Cin). ) Is added to the input image signal (Cin) immediately before the sum of the difference values.

  In this way, the output image signal (Cout) value corresponding to the input image signal (Cin) value is calculated (Cout [0] = Δ [0], Cout [i] = Cout [i−1] + Δ [i]. (I = 1 to 32)). Then, the data restoration device, which is the control unit 205B that functions as a continuation unit, uses a linear interpolation, various approximate expressions, or performs smoothing processing on the calculated LUT value with a digital filter, thereby discontinuous data. The portion is complemented, and a gradation correction LUT composed of 1024 output image signals (Cout) corresponding to the input image signals (Cin) 0 to 1023 is developed in a storage unit 201B such as a RAM or an ASIC to perform gradation correction. Perform (see FIG. 21).

  Therefore, it is possible to reduce the data amount of data having a larger capacity than the LUT data composed of continuous values.

  Note that the gradation correction LUT does not decrease the output image signal (Cout) as the input image signal (Cin) increases. Further, from the viewpoint of suppressing tone jump, the output image signal (Cout) does not change greatly between adjacent input image signals (Cin).

  Therefore, the difference value stored in the storage unit 201B is a value of 6 to 8 bits (63 to 255) when the output image signal (Cout) is 10 bits (1023), and the value is held as data. Thereby, the storage capacity of the storage unit 201B is further suppressed.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment, the embodiment disclosed in this specification is an example in all respects and is limited to the disclosed technology. Should not be considered. That is, the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed restrictively based on the description in the above-described embodiment, but should be construed according to the description of the scope of claims. All modifications are included without departing from the technical scope equivalent to the described technique and the gist of the claims.

  When the above-described data conversion and data restoration programs are used, they may be provided via a network or stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

  That is, the program including the image processing program is not limited to being recorded in a storage device such as a hard disk, and the program may be provided as follows.

  For example, the program may be stored in the ROM, and the CPU may load the program from the ROM to the main storage device and execute it.

  The program may be stored and distributed in a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, MO (magneto-optical disk), or flexible disk.

  Further, the image processing apparatus or the like may be connected to the server apparatus or the host computer via a communication line (for example, the Internet), and the program may be executed after downloading the program from the server apparatus or the host computer. Good. In this case, examples of the download destination of the program include a memory such as a RAM and a storage device (storage medium) such as a hard disk.

  In the above description, the case where the present invention is applied to a technique related to an image forming apparatus that records using toner is shown. For example, the present invention relates to a technique related to an ink jet type image forming apparatus that records with discharged ink. You may apply.

10A, 10B Image forming system 100 Computer 101 Display unit 102 Input unit 103 Storage unit 104 Communication interface 105 Control unit 200A, 200B Printer 201A, 201B Storage unit 202 Printing unit 203 Communication interface 204 Operation unit 205A, 205B Control unit 300 Server 301 Storage Unit 302 communication interface 303 operation unit 304 control unit 400 communication line

Claims (15)

A first acquisition unit that is related to the image forming apparatus and acquires a plurality of data that includes an address part and a numerical part corresponding to the address part and having a first number of bits aligned;
For the plurality of data acquired by the first acquisition means, the first data extracts the value of the numerical part of the data as a difference value, and the second and subsequent data are the numerical value part of the data A difference value extracting means for extracting a difference value from the numerical value part in the data immediately before the data as a difference value having a second bit number smaller than the first bit number;
Conversion means for converting the data acquired by the first acquisition means into a plurality of data composed of the address portion and a difference value corresponding to the address portion extracted by the difference value extraction means;
A data conversion device comprising: The difference value extraction means includes:
In the case where the value of the numerical part of the data at the head and the value of the difference from the previous numerical part in the second and subsequent data are larger than the value expressed by the second number of bits, Dividing the value by the second number of bits, adding the address part corresponding to the value to each of the divided values, and extracting as a difference value arranged in the lower bit order;
The data conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Further comprising adding means for adding the value of the second number of bits before the plurality of data converted by the converting means;
The data conversion apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The difference value extraction means includes:
The value of the numerical part of the first data and the value of the difference from the previous numerical part of the second and subsequent data are divided from 1 bit by the number of bits that is 1 bit less than the first bit number, and divided. The number of bits that minimizes the overall size of the value is the second number of bits.
The data conversion apparatus according to claim 3. A first alignment means for aligning the plurality of data acquired by the first acquisition means by the numerical value part;
The difference value extracting means extracts difference values of the plurality of data arranged by the first arranging means;
The data conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data conversion apparatus is a data conversion apparatus. The plurality of data is data of a lookup table, the address portion is a continuous or discontinuous input value of the lookup table, and the numerical value portion is an output value corresponding to the input value of the lookup table. ,
The data conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data conversion apparatus is a data conversion apparatus. Second acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of the data converted by the conversion means according to any one of claims 1 to 6;
For the plurality of data acquired by the second acquisition means, the numerical value part of the first data is given a value of the difference value of the data, and the numerical part of the second and subsequent data is A restoring unit that restores a plurality of the data by adding a sum of a difference value of the data and an addition value obtained by adding a difference value from the leading data to the data immediately before the data;
A data restoration apparatus comprising: The restoration means includes
When the data having the same value in the address portion continues, the difference value obtained by combining the difference value corresponding to the subsequent address portion with the upper bit of the difference value corresponding to the preceding address portion and the head A value of a sum with an addition value obtained by adding a difference value from the data to the data immediately before the data is given to the numerical value part of the data.
The data restoration device according to claim 7. A reading means for reading the value of the second number of bits added by the adding means;
The restoring means restores the plurality of data acquired by the second acquiring means based on the value of the second number of bits read by the reading means;
The data restoration device according to claim 8. A second alignment means for aligning the plurality of data restored by the restoration means at the address part;
The data restoration device according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized by the above. In the case where the plurality of data is data in a lookup table in which the address portion has a discontinuous input value, after the plurality of data is restored by the restoration means, the discontinuous portions of the plurality of the data are complemented Further comprising a continuous means for continuous processing,
The data restoration device according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein An image forming apparatus comprising the data conversion device according to claim 1 and performing an image forming process on image data;
12. A data restoration apparatus according to claim 7, connected to the image forming apparatus via a communication line, and storage means for storing a plurality of the data restored by the data restoration apparatus. Having a processing device,
An image forming system. A data conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 6;
Storage means for storing a plurality of the data converted by the data converter;
A data restoration device according to any one of claims 7 to 11,
An image forming apparatus that performs an image forming process on image data. A first acquisition process related to the image forming apparatus for acquiring a plurality of data composed of an address portion and a numerical portion corresponding to the address portion and having a first number of bits aligned;
For a plurality of the data acquired in the first acquisition process, the first data extracts the value of the numerical part of the data as a difference value, and the second and subsequent data are data immediately before the data. A difference value extracting step of extracting a difference value from the numerical value part as a difference value having a second bit number smaller than the first bit number;
A conversion process for converting the data acquired in the first acquisition process into a plurality of data including the address part and a difference value corresponding to the address part extracted in the difference value extraction process;
A data conversion program for causing a computer to execute. A second acquisition process of acquiring a plurality of the data converted in the conversion process according to claim 14,
For a plurality of the data acquired in the second acquisition process, the numerical value part of the first data is given a value of the difference value of the data, and the numerical part of the second and subsequent data is A restoration process of restoring a plurality of the data by giving a sum of a difference value of the data and an addition value obtained by adding a difference value from the leading data to the data immediately before the data;
A data restoration program characterized by causing a computer to execute.

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