JPH01860A - Image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image processing device such as an image information filing device that registers, searches, or communicates image information, for example.

(Prior Art) Recently, image information such as documents, which are generated in large quantities, is read by optical two-dimensional scanning using a two-dimensional scanning device (scanner), and this read image information is stored on an optical disk. Image information filing devices that search for and read out arbitrary image information have been put into practical use.

Such devices edit the retrieved image information, that is, rotate, enlarge, reduce, or cut out a certain document, or combine it with other documents, and then store the edited document on a storage medium, such as an optical disk. Image information editing devices have been developed that sequentially store information or output it in a form that can be visually viewed on an output device such as a CRT display device or a printer.

In such an apparatus, the left end side of a document is defined as the most significant bit MSB, and each byte of data is written as is into a storage medium such as a page memory or an optical disk memory. In such a device, when reading information from a medium that has been previously stored, just by treating the most significant bit MSB as the left edge of the original, as in writing, processes such as display, output, transmission, reception, and editing can be performed. This is done without any contradiction.

It was therefore a single closed device.

However, recently, with the progress of compounding, networking, and systemization, other specifications have been adopted, that is, the left edge of the document is defined as the least significant bit LSB, and each byte of data is stored in page memory, optical disk memory, etc. There is a demand for an oven-type device that can handle writing on storage media, such as one that can communicate with other companies' optical disks or new products that use optical disks with different specifications.

However, as mentioned above, it is a single closed device, and the left edge of the document is defined as the most significant bit of image data, and during communication, data is transmitted starting from the most significant bit, MSB. It has the drawbacks of being complex, having different correspondences between addresses and data, not meeting communication system standards, and not being able to maintain compatibility with conventional models and expandability to connect with various communication devices. Ta.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) As mentioned above, data processing is complicated, the correspondence between addresses and data is different, and it does not meet communication system standards. It eliminates the disadvantage of not being able to maintain connectable scalability, simplifies data processing, allows for the same correspondence between addresses and data, and meets communication system standards. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus that can maintain compatibility with conventional models and expandability that allows connection with various communication devices.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving Problems) The image processing device of the present invention includes a communication control means for transmitting image information to the outside or receiving image information from the outside, and this communication control means. It is composed of converting means for converting the arrangement of multiple bits of image information transmitted or received.

(Function) This invention converts the arrangement of multiple bits of the transmitted image information or received image information when transmitting image information to the outside or receiving image information from the outside. It is.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an image information filing device as an image processing device of the present invention. That is, the image information filing device includes a control module 11, a memory module 10. Image processing module 30, communication control module (communication control means) 31, scanner 20, optical disk device 22, keyboard 23, CRT display device 24, printer 25, magnetic disk device 27, magnetic disk device 28, mouse 29, system bus 41 , and an image bus 42.

The control module 11 includes a CPU 12 that performs various controls.
, and the optical disk device 22 and magnetic disk device 2.
7. It is composed of an interface circuit 17 for connecting the magnetic disk device 28 and the CPU 12, etc. The above-mentioned CPU 12 has the above-mentioned keyboard 2.
3 and a mouse 29 are connected.

The upper three memory modules 10 include the main memory 13, A
It is composed of a page memory 14 as an image memory having a storage capacity corresponding to image information for several pages of a four-size original, a display memory 15 as a display interface, a display control section 16, and the like.

A part of the page memory 14 includes a buffer memory 14
A is provided. Writing and reading from this buffer memory 14a are controlled by a counter (not shown).

The image processing module 30 includes an enlargement/reduction circuit 34 that enlarges and reduces image information, and rotates (90 degrees (90 degrees right), 180 degrees, 270 degrees
(90 degrees to the left)), a compression/expansion circuit (CODEC) as a compression/expansion means that compresses (reduces redundancy) and expands (returns reduced redundancy) image information. 36, by an internal bus 39 that connects the scanner interface 37 for the scanner 20, the printer interface 38 for the printer 25, the scaling circuit 34, the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35, the compression/expansion circuit 36, the scanner interface 37, and the printer interface 38. It is configured.

The communication control module 31 has an interface (RS-232CSGPrB) with external devices such as an FCP (facsimile connection mechanism) and a personal computer.

5C9I) and LAN connected via UCP (Universal Communication Processor) 43
BC connected to (Local Area Network)
P (Bus e-Communication Processor) 44
It is composed of.

The system bus 41 is a bus for control signals, and connects the control module 11, the memory module 10, the image processing module 30, and the communication control module 31. Further, the image bus 42 is a bus for image information, and is adapted to connect the memory module 10, the image processing module 30, and the communication control module 31.

The display memory 32 stores image information actually displayed in the window of the CRT display device 24, that is, image information in the page memory 14, which is enlarged;
Image information that has been reduced, rotated, inserted, or reversed in black and white is stored.

The CPU 2 outputs control signals to each section according to a device configuration stored in advance in a ROM (not shown).

As for the above equipment configuration, the entire device is a system manufactured by Company A, and each equipment is designed to indicate the meaning of the leftmost bit as shown in Table 1, for example. That is, the scanner 20
is handled with the most significant bit MSB on the left side, the printer 25 is handled with the leftmost LSB, and the LAN terminal is handled with the most significant bit MSB on the left side,
One-strand FAX is handled by the host computer with the least significant bit LSB on the left side;
This is handled in Section B.

As a result, in the system manufactured by Company A, the scanner 20
The data sent to the printer 25 is also bit converted, the data sent to the destination disk 19 is not bit converted, and the data sent to the LAN terminal or personal computer is bit converted.
Bit conversion is performed in GP I B55C8I of BCP and UCP, but bit conversion is not performed on data sent to FAX and host computers, that is, bit conversion is not performed in R8232C of FCP and UCP.

The scanner 20 is, for example, a two-dimensional scanning device,
By scanning S (text-!J) two-dimensionally with a laser beam, an electric signal corresponding to the image information on the document is generated i). The optical disc device 22 stores image information read by the scanner 2o on an optical disc (
information storage medium) 19.

The keyboard 23 is used to input a unique search hood and various operation commands corresponding to image information. The CRT display device 24 is an output device, such as a cathode ray tube display device, which is a display device, and displays image information read by the scanner 20 or image information read out from the optical disk device 22. The CRT display device 24 is capable of simultaneously displaying four documents using a maximum of four windows. For example, four pieces of vertically displayed image information are displayed.

Editing such as enlargement, reduction, rotation, and scrolling of the image can be performed independently for each window.

The printer 25 stores image information read by the scanner 20, image information read from the optical disk device 22, CR
The image information displayed on the T-display device 24 is output as a printout, that is, a hard copy.

The magnetic disk device 27 is a hard disk device, and is stored on the optical disk 19 in which the search code inputted using the keyboard 23 and the size and image information for one item corresponding to the search code are stored. Search data consisting of addresses is stored on an anaerobic disk (not shown).
The image information is stored for each item of image information. The magnetic disk device Jun 28 is constituted by, for example, a floppy disk device.

The mouse 29 is a pointing device, for example, by arbitrarily moving the cursor on the CRT display device 24 in the L downward direction, left and right directions, and giving an instruction at a desired position, the cursor can be moved to (,, l). , setting) 7 display contents (for example, various modes, Id+3% image, cut and hold range, icons, etc.).

The above search data includes a search code (image name) consisting of a plurality of search keys, an image storage start track address, an image storage start sector address, an image storage sector number ( image length), image size, reading density, and rotation direction.

L We ,'h The W6 expansion circuit 36 is provided with a bit conversion circuit 36a as a conversion means, the above-mentioned Skisena interface 37 is provided with a bit conversion circuit 37a as a conversion means, and the above-mentioned printer interface 38 is provided with a bit conversion circuit 37a as a conversion means. A bit conversion circuit 38a as a conversion means is included in the bit conversion circuit 38a.
The UCP 43 is provided with a P1-conversion circuit 43a as a conversion means.

The bit conversion circuits 36a, 37a, 38a.

43a, as shown in FIG.
and ROM52. Selector 5 above
1 is "O+" as a bit conversion signal from the CPU 12.
t(,,), as shown in FIG. 11, when the data "Oo" is supplied, the data "00" corresponding to the "00" address ( ” is output, and when data “01” is supplied, the JjG pull “0
Outputs the data “01” corresponding to the “1” address, and...
- When the data "F" is supplied, the corresponding data "F" is output to the storage area 52a of the ROM 52.

In addition, when the "1" signal is supplied as the conversion signal, when the data "OO" is supplied, the RO
It outputs data r00J corresponding to the r00j address in the record/recipient area 52b of M52, and when data "01" is supplied, it outputs data "08" corresponding to the "01" address in the storage area 52b of the ROM52,
...When data rFFJ is supplied, data rFFJ corresponding to the storage area 52b of the ROM 52 is output.

As a result, for example, the bit conversion circuit 36a shown in FIG. 3(a) results in the bit conversion circuit 36a shown in FIG. 3(b).

The standard for the number of pixels set in the compression/expansion circuit 36 is CC
In line with ITT standards, center distribution is the basic model. Furthermore, bit conversion by the bit conversion circuit 36a in the compression/expansion circuit 36 may be performed at the time of inputting data or at the time of outputting data.

By the way, the representation of image data in the system manufactured by Company B defines the left edge of the screen as the most significant bit MSB, as shown in Figure 4(a), and the representation of image data in the system manufactured by Company A is , the left end of the screen is defined as the least significant bit LSB, as shown in FIG.

As a result, in the representation of image data in the system manufactured by Company A, as shown in FIG. 5, the correspondence between bitmap memory addresses and data can be seen as being the same, making handling easier. In other words, the relationship between the most significant bit MSB and the least significant bit LSB of an address, and the most significant bit MSB of data
, and the relationship between the least significant bit LSB can be treated using the same concept.

LSB MSB Address; AO~A25 Data; DO~D15 Also, data access unit (byte or word)
can be changed flexibly, eliminating the need for byte swapping processing (see Figure 6).

Furthermore, it meets the definition of image data transmission in communication systems. In other words, the principle is to transmit in the order of input from the scanner 20, and the normal transmission LSI
It meets the standard for sending from

Note that when the image processing module 30 such as an IPU accesses the page memory 14 from the image bus 42, processing is possible without byte swapping using the above definition.

On the other hand, when the CPU 12 accesses the page memory 14, the byte
Swapping is required. This case can be handled by installing a byte swapping circuit in the memory module 10.

Next, in such a configuration, in the system manufactured by Company A to which the scanner 20 and optical disk 19 manufactured by Company B, and the printer, LAN terminal, and external equipment manufactured by Company A are connected, the processing is performed for the first time. This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

First, the operation when image information read by the scanner 20 is displayed on the CRT display device 24 will be described. First, the operator sets a document on the document table (not shown) of the scanner 20. Then, the scanner 20 scans the original to read it two-dimensionally and convert it into image information. This image information is provided to the scanner interface 37. According to this, the scanner interface 3
Figure 7 shows the supplied data in bytes.
22. stomach , . , ), −−, 〒, . .
. 0, the LSB l'13B is converted to r11000110J.

This converted data is sent to the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35 and
The image passes through the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 and is supplied to the page memory 14 via the image bus 42 . As a result, the image of the document read by the scanner 20 is bit-converted and stored in the page memory 14.

The image information stored in the page memory 14 is then supplied to the display memory 15 via the image bus 42. As a result, the image information stored in the display memory 15 is supplied to the CRT display device 24 via the display control section 16. As a result, the image information read by the scanner 20 is CR
It is displayed on the T display device 24.

Further, the operation when the image information stored in the page memory 14 as described above is recorded on the optical disc 19 by the optical disc device 22 will be explained. First, when a recording instruction is issued while image information is stored in the page memory 14 from the scanner 20 as described above, the image information in the page memory 14 is transferred to the enlargement/reduction circuit 30 via the image bus 42. , are supplied to the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35. The image information processed by the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 and the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35 is supplied to a compression/expansion circuit 36. At this time, the compression/expansion circuit 36 compresses the image information supplied by the bit conversion circuit 36a without bit conversion. This results in
The image information compressed by the compression/expansion circuit 36 passes through the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 and the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35 via the internal bus 39, and is supplied to the buffer memory 14a via the image bus 42. As a result, the image information stored in the buffer memory 14a is supplied to the optical disk device 22 via the interface circuit 17.

As a result, the image information supplied by the optical disc device 22 is stored on one optical disc.

1'lsB LSB
MSBO”, 2nd byte data rl100011
0J is stored on the optical disk 19 as is.

Further, the operation when printing out the image information stored in the page memory 14 as described above using the printer 25 will be explained. First, when a print instruction is issued while image information is stored in the page memory 14 from the scanner 20 as described above, the image information in the page memory 14 is sent to the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 via the image bus 42. It is supplied to the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35. Then, the enlargement/reduction circuit 3
4. The image information processed by the aspect conversion circuit 35 is supplied to the printer interface 38. As a result, the printer interface 38 performs bit conversion of the image information supplied by the bit conversion circuit 38a and outputs it to the printer 25, as shown in FIG. As a result, the printer 25 prints out the supplied image information.

MSB LSB MSBooo
” is converted to r 00001111 J, and the second byte data “LS18100011MdB” is converted to “No. 1
10001 Kidney 8".

Further, the operation when transmitting the image information stored in the page memory 14 as described above to the LAN terminal will be explained. First, as described above, from the scanner 20 to the page memory 1
When an instruction to transmit the image information to the LAN terminal is issued while the image information is stored in the page memory 4, the image information in the page memory 14 is supplied to the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 and the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35 via the image bus 42. Ru. Then, the enlargement/reduction circuit 3
4. The image information processed by the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35 is supplied to a compression/expansion circuit 36. The image information compressed by the compression/expansion circuit 36 passes through the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 and the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35, and passes through the image bus 42 to the buffer memory 14a.
supplied to As a result, the image information stored in the buffer memory 14a is supplied to the UCP 43. Thereby, the UCP 43 converts the supplied image information byte by byte in the bit conversion circuit 43a, and then transmits the converted image information to the LAN terminal via the BCP 44.

Further, the operation when transmitting the image information stored in the page memory 14 as described above to an external device (not shown) such as a personal computer or a host computer will be explained. First, when the image information is stored in the page memory 14 from the scanner 2o as described above, when an instruction to transmit it to an external device is given, the image information in the page memory 14 is transferred via the image bus 42. Enlargement/reduction circuit 34, vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35
supplied to The image information processed by the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 and the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35 is supplied to a compression/expansion circuit 36. As a result, when the host computer (R3232C) is used, the compression/expansion circuit 36 compresses and outputs the supplied image information without bit conversion. This compression/expansion circuit 3
The image information compressed in step 6 passes through the enlargement/reduction circuit 34 and the vertical/horizontal conversion circuit 35, and is supplied to the buffer memory 14a via the image bus 42. As a result, buffer memory 1
The image information stored in 4a is transmitted to an external device (not shown) via UCP 43.

Furthermore, the same operation as described above is performed when image information read from the optical disk 19 by the optical disk device 22 is displayed on the CRT display device 24, printed out by the printer 25, sent to a LAN terminal, or sent to an external device such as a FAX. It looks like this. However, depending on the equipment configuration, bit conversion is performed by the bit conversion circuit 43a.

That is, the image information read from the optical disc 19 is stored in the page memory 14 as it is without bit conversion.
Displayed on the CRT display device 24 and printed on the printer 25
When printed out, the image information from the page memory 14 is converted into bits by the bit conversion circuit 38a and output to the printer 25, and when sent to the LAN terminal, the image information from the page memory 14 is converted into bits by the bit conversion circuit 43a. When the image information from the page memory 14 is bit-converted and output to a LAN terminal and transmitted to an external device such as a FAX via FCP, the image information from the page memory 14 is output to the external device such as a FAX without being bit-converted.

Further, the same operation as described above is performed when image information supplied from the LAN terminal is displayed on the CRT display device 24, printed out on the printer 25, or recorded on the optical disc 19. However, depending on the equipment configuration, the bit conversion circuit 43a performs bit conversion.

That is, the image information supplied from the LAN terminal is bit-converted by the bit conversion circuit 43a and stored in the page memory 14, and after being compressed and expanded, it is displayed on the CRT display device 24 and printed out by the printer 25. When recording on the optical disc 19, the image information from the page memory 14 is bit-converted and output to the printer 25, and when recorded on the optical disc 19, the image information from the page memory 14 is output to the optical disc device 22 without being pit-converted. Ru.

In addition, image information supplied from external devices such as FAX can be
When displaying on the RT display device 24, printing out on the printer 25, or recording on the optical disc 19, the same operation as described above is performed. However, bit conversion is performed depending on the device configuration.

That is, image information supplied from an external device such as a FAX is stored as is in the page memory 14 without bit conversion, and after being compressed and expanded, it is displayed on the CRT display device 24 and printed out on the printer 25. At this time, the image information from the page memory 14 is bit-converted and output to the printer 25, and when recording on the optical disk 19, the image information from the page memory 14 is output to the optical disk device 22 without being bit-converted.

In addition, another machine 2; (A
It operates in the same way even if a computer (manufactured by Company B, manufactured by Company B) is connected. However, bit conversion is performed depending on the equipment configuration (whether made by company A or company B).

In addition, it operates in the same way when various devices are connected to the system made by Company B (see Table 1, Figures 9 and 10), or when various devices made by the same company but with different specifications are connected. It looks like this.

However, bit conversion is performed depending on the device configuration (differences in specifications).

As described above, a bit conversion circuit is provided in the communication control module, and bit conversion processing is performed depending on the type of communication control module and the type of connected system to perform transmission or reception.

This makes data processing easier, the correspondence between addresses and data can be made the same, and it can meet communication system standards.In addition, it is compatible with conventional models and can be expanded to connect with various communication devices. It is possible to maintain sex.

In addition, a bit conversion circuit is provided in the interface circuit,
Bit conversion processing is performed depending on the type of input/output device such as a scanner or printer, and the type of connected device.
It is designed to be printed out.

As a result, reading, printing, registering, and searching can be performed even when the types of data processing of input/output devices such as scanners and printers are different, and compatibility with conventional models and media can be maintained.

In the above embodiment, an optical disk is used as the recording medium, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an optical memory card, a laser card, etc. may be used.

In addition, although the case where a bit conversion circuit is provided in the UCP in the communication control module has been described, the present invention is not limited to this.
It may be provided within P.

Furthermore, in the case of optical discs, the same thing can be said about the relationship between the optical disc media and the drive. In other words, when an optical disc/media recorded by an optical disc drive in a system manufactured by Company B is played back by an optical disc drive in a system manufactured by Company A and stored in page memory, bit conversion processing is also required in the C0DEC in the same way. It is. At this time, it is sufficient to identify the media in the optical disc media and the optical disc drive (whether the media made by company A is the media made by company B), and set whether or not to perform bit conversion based on this. This provides a new advantage in that compatibility between optical disk media devices or systems can be maintained.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, data processing is facilitated, the correspondence between addresses and data can be made the same, it is possible to match the lapel pin of the communication system, and moreover, it is possible to It is possible to provide an image processing device that can maintain compatibility with different models and expandability that allows connection with various communication devices.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a bit conversion circuit, and FIG. The figure is a diagram to explain the least significant bit and the most significant bit in a manuscript, Figure 5 is a diagram to explain how to express image data, and Figure 6 is a diagram to explain the relationship between bitmap memory addresses and data. 7 to 10 are diagrams for explaining the operation. 12...CPU, 14...Page memory, 19...
・Optical disk (information storage medium), 25... printer,
31... Communication control module (communication control means), 36
... Compression/expansion circuit, 37... Scanner interface, 38... Printer interface, 4 B
=・U CP s 36 a % 37 a s 38
a s 43 a...Bit conversion circuit (bit conversion means). Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 1 Figure 2 (a) (b) (a) (b) front 4
rgi 1st knot, Ito 2nd knot, Ito big-MSB is ゛, Sahanaki 1 la: High Ato Swach 0mp゛? )"Fire, horn 6 Figure 11

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) Communication control means for transmitting image information to the outside or receiving image information from the outside, and conversion for converting the arrangement of multiple bits of the image information transmitted or received by this communication control means An image processing device comprising: means; (2) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion means is provided in the communication control means. (3) The conversion means converts the sequence from the least significant bit to the most significant bit to the sequence from the most significant bit to the least significant bit, or converts the sequence from the most significant bit to the least significant bit to the sequence from the least significant bit to the most significant bit. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus performs conversion. (4) Claim 1, characterized in that the determining means determines whether the arrangement of image information for each plurality of bits is from the least significant bit to the most significant bit or from the most significant bit to the least significant bit. The image processing device described. (5) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the converting means inverts each bit of data. (6) The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion means is provided in means for controlling input or output processing of image information.