JP2010063061A - Information processing device, image forming apparatus, power supply control method and power supply control program - Google Patents

Abstract

An information processing apparatus is provided in which processing is not stopped in the middle of power-off control when a controller that does not stop power supply to an HDD depending on control for shifting to an energy saving mode is provided.
As a plurality of controllers each having a hard disk drive and executing a job in a shared manner, a main controller for stopping power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode and a power source for the hard disk drive in the power saving mode In an image forming apparatus including an external controller 72 that does not stop supply, when the main power supply is shut off, as a pre-processing, the main controller 70 shifts to the power saving mode and stops supplying power to the hard disk drive, and then The external controller 72 stops the power supply to the hard disk drive.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including a plurality of controllers for sharing jobs.

  In general, a multi-function digital copying apparatus (MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral)) (hereinafter referred to as a multi-function peripheral) having a copy function, a printer function, a network scanner function, a fax function, etc. is a controller for realizing these functions. The apparatus includes a plurality of controllers that share each function, such as an external controller that enables an external device to use the printer function.

  In such a multi-function peripheral, when the main power is turned off (when an operation for turning off the main power is performed by the user), the plurality of controllers perform a shutdown process and then turn off the main power. . However, if there is a controller that could not be shut down before the main power is turned off, a failure may occur in the HDD or the like included in the controller. On the other hand, in Patent Document 1 below, when a power-off process request (SWOFF signal) is issued, a plurality of controllers each perform a shutdown process, and the controller with the longest save process time (time required for the shutdown process) is set. After waiting together, power off control is performed.

JP 2004-262065 A

  However, according to the conventional technique, each controller individually performs a shutdown process, but the order is not considered. In the existing mechanism, when the power is turned off (when the main power is turned off), the multifunction device turns off the power after switching to the energy saving mode. The operation mode when the MFP is set to the energy saving mode (hereinafter, this mode will be referred to as “energy saving setting compatible mode”) will be transferred. By the way, the controller installed in the multi-function peripheral is a controller in which the control of the energy saving mode and the control of the HDD power supply are common, that is, the controller that stops the power supply to its own HDD in the energy saving setting compatible mode (first controller). In contrast, there is a controller (second controller) that does not stop power supply to the HDD in the energy saving setting support mode. Therefore, when performing power-off in a multi-function machine in which these first controller and second controller are mixed, first, each controller performs control to shift to the energy saving mode, and further, in the second controller, Control to stop power supply to the HDD is performed. Therefore, if any controller fails the above control and cannot stop the power supply to the HDD, the first controller returns to the normal mode (resuming the power supply to the HDD). However, the second controller cannot resume the power supply to the HDD. Therefore, the multi-function device has a problem that it cannot continue power-off or return to the normal mode.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and when a controller that does not stop the power supply to the HDD depending on the control to shift to the energy saving mode is provided, the processing is stopped in the middle of the power-off control. It is an object to obtain an information processing apparatus without any problem.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus including a plurality of controllers each having a hard disk drive and executing a job in a shared manner, As a controller, one or more first controllers that stop power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode, and one or more second controllers that do not stop power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode, When the main power supply is cut off, as a pre-processing, each of the first controllers shifts to a power saving mode and stops supplying power to the hard disk drive, and then each of the second controllers The power supply to the drive is stopped.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus that includes a plurality of controllers each of which has a hard disk drive and shares and executes a job for image formation. One or more first controllers that stop power supply to the hard disk drive and one or more second controllers that do not stop power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode, and cut off the main power supply In this case, as the pre-processing, each of the first controllers shifts to a power saving mode and stops supplying power to the hard disk drive, and then each of the second controllers stops supplying power to the hard disk drive. It is characterized by doing.

  The power control method according to the present invention includes a first controller that stops power supply to the hard disk drive provided in the power saving mode, and a first controller that does not stop power supply to the hard disk drive provided in the power saving mode. 2 is a power control method that is executed before shutting off the main power, and the representative controller that is one of the first controllers is the other first controller. A first inquiry step for inquiring of the controller whether or not the transition to the power saving mode is possible, and that all of the responses to the inquiry in the first inquiry step can be shifted to the power saving mode. Indicates a first execution step of causing all the first controllers including itself to shift to the power saving mode; A second inquiry step for inquiring whether or not the power supply to the hard disk drive can be stopped with respect to all of the controllers 2 and all of the responses to the inquiry in the second inquiry step are the power supply to the hard disk drive Includes a second execution step of instructing all of the second controllers to stop supplying power to the hard disk drive.

  Moreover, the power supply control program concerning this invention makes a computer perform the power supply control method as described in any one of Claims 3-6.

  According to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus including a controller that does not stop power supply to the HDD depending on control for shifting to the energy saving mode, it is possible to avoid the process from being stopped during the power-off control. There is an effect that it is possible to avoid failure of the HDD of the controller.

  Exemplary embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiment, a case of an image forming apparatus which is an example of an information processing apparatus will be described.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, this image forming apparatus has a configuration in which a controller 10 and an engine unit (Engine) 60 are connected by a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus. The controller 10 is a controller that controls the entire image forming apparatus and controls drawing, communication, and input from an operation unit (not shown). The engine unit 60 is a printer engine that can be connected to a PCI bus, and is, for example, a monochrome plotter, a one-drum color plotter, a four-drum color plotter, a scanner, or a fax unit. The engine unit 60 includes an image processing part such as error diffusion and gamma conversion in addition to a so-called engine part such as a plotter.

  The controller 10 includes a CPU 11, a north bridge (NB) 13, a system memory (MEM-P) 12, a south bridge (SB) 14, a local memory (MEM-C) 17, and an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). 16 and a hard disk drive (HDD) 18, and the north bridge (NB) 13 and the ASIC 16 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 15. The MEM-P 12 further includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12b.

  The CPU 11 performs overall control of the image forming apparatus. The CPU 11 has a chip set including the NB 13, the MEM-P 12, and the SB 14, and is connected to other devices via the chip set.

  The NB 13 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 11 to the MEM-P 12, SB 14, and AGP 15, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 12, a PCI master, and an AGP target.

  The MEM-P 12 is a system memory used as a memory for storing programs and data, a memory for developing programs and data, a memory for drawing a printer, and the like, and includes a ROM 12a and a RAM 12b. The ROM 12a is a read-only memory used as a program / data storage memory, and the RAM 12b is a writable / readable memory used as a program / data development memory, a printer drawing memory, or the like.

  The SB 14 is a bridge for connecting the NB 13 to a PCI device and peripheral devices. The SB 14 is connected to the NB 13 via a PCI bus, and a network interface (I / F) unit and the like are also connected to the PCI bus.

  The ASIC 16 is an IC (Integrated Circuit) for image processing applications having hardware elements for image processing, and has a role of a bridge for connecting the AGP 15, PCI bus, HDD 18 and MEM-C 17. The ASIC 16 includes a PCI target and an AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that is the core of the ASIC 16, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 17, and a plurality of DMACs (Direct Memory) that perform rotation of image data by hardware logic. Access Controller) and a PCI unit that performs data transfer between the engine unit 60 via the PCI bus. An FCU (Fax Control Unit) 30, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 40, and an IEEE 1394 (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394) interface 50 are connected to the ASIC 16 via a PCI bus. The operation display unit 20 is directly connected to the ASIC 16.

  The MEM-C 17 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer, and the HDD 18 is a storage for storing image data, programs, font data, and forms.

  The AGP 15 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card that has been proposed to speed up graphics processing. The AGP 15 speeds up the graphics accelerator card by directly accessing the MEM-P 12 with high throughput. .

  The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment has a function of an energy saving mode that is a mode that operates with low power consumption, and transitions from the normal mode to the energy saving mode due to a timeout or the like. The transition can also be operated by pressing a power button (not shown) provided in the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment also includes a main power switch (not shown) for starting / stopping the supply of power to the apparatus. When the image forming apparatus is powered on, the main power switch is turned on. Also, when powering off the image forming apparatus, if it is in the energy saving mode, turn off the main power switch as it is, and if it is in the normal mode, press the power button to enter the energy saving mode. Turn off the main power switch. When the main power switch can be turned off, the image forming apparatus displays that fact on the operation display unit.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a functional unit related to the present embodiment in the image forming apparatus of FIG. The image forming apparatus of FIG. 2 includes a main controller 70, an engine controller 71, an external controller 72, and a user interface 73. The main controller 70 and the external controller 72 are connected to a power supply unit (not shown) and a bus (not shown), respectively, and operate with electric power supplied from the power supply unit. The engine controller 71 is connected to the main controller 70 and is supplied with power from the main controller 70. The external controller 72 is connected to an external network such as a LAN and accepts access from an external device.

  The main controller 70 includes a memory 74 and an HDD 75, and executes a copy job and controls the entire image forming apparatus. The engine controller 71 includes a scanner 76 that reads a document in accordance with control from the main controller, and a plotter 77 that prints an image supplied from the scanner 76 on recording paper, and performs these controls. The external controller 72 includes a memory 78 and an HDD 79, and executes a printer job. The user interface 73 accepts input from the user, and performs display on a display unit (not shown) such as an operation panel that the user interface 73 has according to control by the main controller 70.

  Further, the main controller 70 holds a controller information table that associates an identifier (manufacturing number, product number, etc.) that identifies a product and whether or not power-off is possible in the energy saving mode for an external controller that can be connected to the main controller 70. Here, it is assumed that the external controller 72 is a type of controller that does not stop the HDD 79 even when the main body (image forming apparatus) is in the energy saving mode, which is different from the energy saving mode control and the HDD power supply control. Therefore, this image forming apparatus has a specification in which the main power switch cannot be turned off during the energy saving mode. Note that the image forming apparatus may or may not include an external controller.

  Next, an operation related to power-off in the image forming apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, the operation when the main power supply of the image forming apparatus is turned on will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus when a main power-on operation is performed.

  When the main power switch is turned on, power is supplied to each unit from a power source unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus, and each unit is energized and activated (step S1). When activated, the main controller 70 performs processing for detecting an external controller, and determines whether or not the external controller is connected to the image forming apparatus (step S2). Here, the main controller 70 determines that the external controller 72 is connected (step S2: Yes), and requests the external controller 72 to notify the identification number. In response to this, the external controller 72 reads the identification number (manufacturing number and the like) from the memory 78 within itself and notifies the main controller 70 of the identification number. Receiving this, the main controller 70 refers to the controller information table held by itself and reads the entry corresponding to the notified identification number. Then, check whether the external controller (in this case, the external controller 72) is a model that cannot be powered off during the energy saving mode (a model that stops power supply to the HDD in the energy saving mode), and a model that cannot be powered off. (Step S3: Yes), the main controller 70 determines that a shutdown preparation process (details will be described later) is necessary for power-off, and displays a shutdown preparation button on the operation panel of the user interface 73. (Step S4). On the other hand, when it is determined that the external controller is not connected (step S2: No), or when the external controller (here, the external controller 72) is a model that can be powered off during the energy saving mode (step S2). S3: No), the main controller 70 determines that the shutdown preparation process is not necessary for power-off, and does not display the shutdown preparation button on the operation panel of the user interface 73 (step S5).

  When powering off the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, each controller prepares for power off for safety. That is, when the shutdown preparation button is displayed, the user causes the image forming apparatus to execute a shutdown preparation process described later by pressing the button. Thereafter, the main power switch is turned off to shift the image forming apparatus to the power off state. If the shutdown preparation button is not displayed, the power saving button is pressed as usual without causing the shutdown preparation process to be executed. Thereafter, the main power switch is turned off to cut off the power supply to the image forming apparatus.

  Here, the shutdown preparation process described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the shutdown preparation process.

  When the shutdown preparation button is displayed in addition to the fact that printing is possible on the operation panel of the user interface 73, when the user interface 73 detects that the shutdown preparation button has been pressed, it notifies the main controller 70 of that fact. Notification is made (step S11). When the main controller 70 receives a notification that the shutdown preparation button has been pressed, the main controller 70 determines whether or not its own energy saving mode transition is possible. Specifically, for example, it is determined whether there is a job being executed, and if it exists, it is further determined whether the job can be stopped. When the main controller 70 determines that it can shift to its own energy saving mode (step S12: Yes), it inquires of the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 whether the energy saving mode can be shifted (step S13). The main controller 70 waits for responses from the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72, and when both the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 respond that the energy-saving mode shift is OK (step S14: Yes), the engine controller 71 and external controller 72 are commanded to shift to the energy saving mode, and the own energy saving mode shift is executed (step S15). When receiving the command to shift to the energy saving mode, for example, the engine controller 71 stops the plotter 77 and the scanner 76. On the other hand, the external controller 72 only recognizes that the shift to the energy saving mode has been instructed, and does not stop the HDD 79 here.

  Subsequently, the main controller 70 commands the external controller 72 to execute shutdown (step S16). Receiving this command, the external controller 72 executes its own shutdown, that is, powering off the HDD 79. When the external controller 72 responds with a shutdown OK (success) (step S17: Yes), the main controller 70 recognizes that the image forming apparatus can be powered off, and the user interface 73. Is displayed on the operation panel, and all the displays that have been displayed so far, such as a printable display, are deleted (step S20). On the other hand, when the external controller 72 responds with a shutdown NG (failure) or when there is no response (step S17: No), the main controller 70 itself and the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 that have shifted to the energy saving mode. Is controlled to return from the energy saving mode to the normal mode (step S18). In this case, the main controller 70 recognizes that the image forming apparatus is in a state in which power-off cannot be performed, displays on the operation panel of the user interface 73 that power-off is not possible, and displays a printable display. Leave as it is (step S19). When the main controller 70 determines that it is impossible to shift to the energy saving mode (step S12: No), and either the engine controller 71 or the external controller 72 responds that the energy saving mode shift is NG. If it is (step S14: No), the process of step S19 is performed as described above.

  Next, a power-off preparation operation (preparation operation necessary before turning off the main power switch) in the image forming apparatus will be described. First, the operation when the shutdown preparation process is unnecessary will be described. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the operation when the power button is pressed to prepare for power off. As described above, in this case, the shutdown preparation button is not displayed on the operation panel of the user interface 73.

  When detecting that the power button has been pressed, the user interface 73 notifies the main controller 70 to that effect (step S31). Receiving this notification, the main controller 70 prepares to shift itself to the energy saving mode (step S32). Specifically, the process is such as stopping the job being executed or saving the data on the memory 74 to the HDD 75. Then, the main controller 70 transmits an energy saving mode transition request for inquiring whether or not the transition to the energy saving mode is possible to each of the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 (steps S33 and S34) until a response is returned. Wait for a predetermined time. Here, each of the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 determines that the transition to the energy saving mode is possible, and responds to the main controller 70 that the transition is possible (steps S35 and S36). Upon receiving the response, the main controller 70 instructs the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 to shift to the energy saving mode, and turns off the power of its own HDD 75. Further, the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 that have received the command shift to the energy saving mode as already described (step S37). When the main controller 70 completes the energy saving mode transition process, the main controller 70 instructs the user interface 73 to display the energy saving mode (step S38). Receiving this, the user interface 73 displays on the operation panel that it is in the energy saving mode (step S39). When the user who views this display turns off the main power switch, the image forming apparatus is powered off.

  Next, the operation when the shutdown preparation process is necessary will be described. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an operation when the shutdown preparation button is pressed. As described above, in this case, the shutdown preparation button is displayed on the operation panel of the user interface 73 after power-on.

  When detecting that the shutdown preparation button has been pressed, the user interface 73 notifies the main controller 70 to that effect (step S41). Receiving this notification, the main controller 70 prepares to shift itself to the energy saving mode (step S42). Then, the main controller 70 transmits an energy saving mode transition request for inquiring whether or not the transition to the energy saving mode is possible to each of the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 (steps S43 and S44) until a response is returned. Wait for a predetermined time. Here, each of the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 determines that the transition to the energy saving mode is possible, and responds to the main controller 70 that the transition is possible (steps S45 and S46). Upon receiving the response, the main controller 70 instructs the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 to shift to the energy saving mode, and turns off the power of its own HDD 75. Further, the engine controller 71 and the external controller 72 that have received the command shift to the energy saving mode as already described (step S47).

  Subsequently, the main controller 70 requests the external controller 72 to execute a shutdown (step S48), and the external controller 72 that has received this request executes its own shutdown, that is, powering off the HDD 79 (step S49). ). Here, when the external controller 72 responds with a shutdown OK (success) (step S50), the main controller 70 instructs the user interface 73 to display that the power can be turned off (step S51). . Receiving this, the user interface 73 displays on the operation panel that power-off is possible (step S52). When the user who views this display turns off the main power switch, the image forming apparatus is powered off.

  Although the shutdown preparation process is necessary, the user may turn off the main power switch without pressing the shutdown preparation button. In this case, even if the main power switch is turned off, the power off is not executed, and a message that prompts the user to press the shutdown preparation button may be displayed.

  Further, when the power button is pressed in a state where the shutdown preparation button is displayed on the operation panel of the user interface 73, that is, in a state where the external controller 72 that cannot be powered off during the energy saving mode is connected. When the button is pressed, the image forming apparatus shifts to a normal energy saving mode. The control procedure in this case is the same as steps S42 to S47 shown in FIG.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the shutdown preparation process is performed in advance when the power-off operation is performed. Accordingly, in the image forming apparatus including a controller that does not stop the power supply to the HDD depending on the control to shift to the energy saving mode, it is possible to avoid the process from being stopped during the power-off control. Further, it is possible to avoid failure of the HDD of the controller.

  In the above description, the image forming apparatus has been described as an example. However, any apparatus (information processing apparatus) including a plurality of controllers is applicable.

  The information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to an information processing apparatus including a controller that does not stop power supply to the HDD depending on energy saving control.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a functional unit in the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when the image forming apparatus is powered on. It is a flowchart which shows a shutdown preparation process. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement when the power button is pressed down for power-off preparation. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement when the shutdown preparation button is pressed down.

Explanation of symbols

10 Controller 11 CPU
12 System memory (MEM-P)
12a ROM
12b RAM
13 North Bridge (NB)
14 South Bridge (SB)
15 AGP bus 16 ASIC
17 Local memory (MEM-C)
18 Hard disk drive (HDD)
20 Operation display section 30 FCU
40 USB
50 IEEE1394 interface 60 Engine 70 Main controller 71 Engine controller 72 External controller 73 User interface 74, 78 Memory 75, 79 HDD
76 Scanner 77 Plotter

Claims (7)

An information processing apparatus having a plurality of controllers each having a hard disk drive and executing jobs in a shared manner,
As the controller,
One or more first controllers for stopping power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode;
One or more second controllers that do not stop power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode;
With
When shutting off the main power,
Each of the first controllers shifts to a power saving mode to stop power supply to the hard disk drive, and then each of the second controllers stops power supply to the hard disk drive. Processing equipment. An image forming apparatus having a plurality of controllers each having a hard disk drive and sharing and executing a job for image formation,
As the controller,
One or more first controllers for stopping power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode;
One or more second controllers that do not stop power supply to the hard disk drive in the power saving mode;
With
When shutting off the main power,
Each of the first controllers shifts to a power saving mode to stop power supply to the hard disk drive, and then each of the second controllers stops power supply to the hard disk drive. Forming equipment. An information processing apparatus comprising: a first controller that stops power supply to a hard disk drive provided in the power saving mode; and a second controller that does not stop power supply to the hard disk drive provided in the power saving mode. In the power control method to be executed before shutting off the main power,
A representative controller that is one of the first controllers is:
A first inquiry step for inquiring whether the transition to the power saving mode is possible to the other first controller;
When all responses to the inquiry in the first inquiry step indicate that the transition to the power saving mode is possible, the first execution of causing all the first controllers including itself to enter the power saving mode. Steps,
A second inquiry step for inquiring to all of the second controllers whether or not power supply to the hard disk drive can be stopped;
If all of the responses to the inquiry in the second inquiry step indicate that the power supply to the hard disk drive can be stopped, an instruction to stop the power supply to the hard disk drive is issued to all of the second controllers. A second execution step to perform;
A power supply control method comprising: If the response to the inquiry in the first inquiry step includes a response indicating that the transition to the power saving mode is impossible, the representative controller determines to stop the main power supply cutoff preparation process. Processing stop step,
The power supply control method according to claim 3, further comprising: If the response to the inquiry in the second inquiry step includes a response indicating that the power supply to the hard disk cannot be stopped, the representative controller decides to stop the main power supply cutoff preparation process A normal operation return step for returning all the first controllers to the normal mode;
The power supply control method according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising: The representative controller holds controller information for determining which of the other controllers that can be connected to the controller corresponds to the second controller,
When the main power is turned on, the representative controller determines whether or not the second controller is connected based on the controller information, and determines that the second controller is connected. The power supply control method according to claim 3, wherein the power supply control method operates in a state in which an execution instruction of a main power supply cutoff preparation process is allowed.   A power supply control program for causing a computer to execute the power supply control method according to any one of claims 3 to 6.

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