JP4389881B2 - Communication device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication apparatus that generates a plurality of communication connections and executes communication processing.

  Some apparatuses that execute communication processing using a network realize communication protocol processing such as TCP / IP with an LSI. As a result, high-speed communication processing can be realized even in devices such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) and a mobile phone, which have a weak CPU processing capability.

  In the following Patent Document 1, communication protocol processing can be realized by two methods of hardware processing and software processing. A hardware process is assigned to a process with a heavy processing load, and a software process is assigned to a process with a low processing load.

JP 2002-354064 A

  As described above, the communication protocol processing is realized by LSI, so that the processing speed can be increased. Therefore, even a device having a small CPU capability such as a mobile phone has an advantage in that the communication processing is speeded up. Here, the cellular phone or the like basically executes communication processing with respect to the server as a client terminal. Therefore, the number of communication connections to be generated is not so large, and the number of communication connections to be controlled is limited.

  On the other hand, when the communication device has a server function and a client function, many communication connections are generated. In particular, when functioning as a server, connection requests may be simultaneously received from a plurality of client terminals, and a large number of communication connection generation capabilities are required. Up to such a case, in order to realize communication protocol processing by LSI, a large-scale LSI is required, which increases the device configuration and increases the cost. Alternatively, there is a method of improving the processing capability of the entire system, but again, a high processing capability is required for the CPU, which increases the cost.

  In Patent Document 1, hardware processing and software processing are used properly. However, if hardware processing is assigned to processing with heavy processing load, software processing may be assigned to high priority processing important for the user, and processing that meets the user's request is performed. I can't say that.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of realizing communication processing according to a user's request while properly using hardware processing and software processing.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a communication device capable of controlling a plurality of communication connections, and software processing for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for generating a communication connection by software Means, hardware processing means for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for generating a communication connection in hardware, and processing that requires generation of a communication connection occurs. Control means for generating a communication connection by allocating either the software processing means or the hardware processing means in accordance with setting information, and the control means is configured to control the hardware for high priority processing. Hardware processing means is assigned to the hardware processing means. If resources for generating Nekushon does not remain, characterized in that it is configured for high priority processing allocating the software processing unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the communication apparatus according to the first aspect, the control means sets a processing priority for each application program.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the first or second aspect, the software processing means increases the number of communication connections as long as there is room in system resources.
The invention according to claim 4 is a communication device capable of controlling a plurality of communication connections, and software processing means for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for generating the communication connection by software, and generating the communication connection Hardware processing means for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for hardware, and when processing that requires generation of a communication connection occurs, according to the setting information of the processing set in advance, Control means for generating a communication connection by assigning either software processing means or hardware processing means, and the software processing means increases the number of communication connections as long as there is room in system resources. It is characterized by.

  The communication apparatus according to the present invention assigns either software processing means or hardware processing means according to preset information when processing requiring generation of a communication connection occurs. Thereby, for example, when the processing priority is set as the setting information, the hardware processing is assigned to the processing with high priority, and the processing efficiency is improved.

  Further, according to the setting information, hardware processing is assigned to the set processing to realize high-speed processing, and not only hardware processing but also software processing is used in combination. As a result, the number of connections can be flexibly increased by software processing as long as resources such as memory are available. In other words, the apparatus has an apparatus configuration that makes good use of the advantages of both hardware processing and software processing, is highly flexible as a whole, and has high processing efficiency.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the communication apparatus of the present invention will be described using a digital multi-function peripheral as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a usage pattern in the office 1 of the digital multifunction peripheral 2 according to the present embodiment. A LAN 3 is constructed in the office 1, and a digital multifunction machine 2 is connected to the LAN 3. Further, personal computers (hereinafter referred to as personal computers) 4, 4,... Used by a plurality of employees are connected to the LAN 3. Further, the digital multi-function peripheral 2 is connected to the Internet 5 and can communicate with various servers 6 connected to the Internet 5. The server 6 is, for example, a mail server or a WEB server.

  The digital multi-function peripheral 2 is a device having a large number of functions. The digital multifunction peripheral 2 has a fax function, a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and the like, and also has a network function. Accordingly, the personal computer 4 connected to the LAN 3 can use various functions of the digital multifunction peripheral 2 via the LAN. An employee working in the office 1 uses the digital multifunction device 2 via the LAN using the personal computer 4 or actually moves to the location of the digital multifunction device 2 and performs a copy operation or the like. The digital multifunction device 2 is shared by a plurality of employees.

  Further, as described above, the digital multi-function peripheral 2 can communicate with a mail server or a WEB server connected to the Internet 5. For example, the digital multi-function peripheral 2 transmits outgoing mail to an external SMTP server, or makes an email inquiry to an external POP server. Or the process etc. which acquire a WEB content from an external WEB server are performed. Regarding these processes, the digital multi-function peripheral 2 functions as a client device. That is, the application program that operates on the digital multifunction peripheral 2 operates as a client application with respect to communication processing.

  On the other hand, as described above, the digital multifunction peripheral 2 receives a processing request from the personal computer 4 used by many employees. For example, the digital multifunction peripheral 2 has a function as a WEB server, and receives a request by HTTP from the personal computer 4 that is a client terminal, and executes processing as a WEB server. Alternatively, the personal computer 4 receives a PC-FAX transmission process or an IFAX (Internet fax) transmission process, and executes the process. In these processes, the digital multifunction peripheral 2 functions as a server device with the personal computer 4. That is, the application program that operates on the digital multifunction peripheral 2 operates as a server application with respect to communication processing.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating functional blocks related to communication processing of the digital multifunction peripheral 2. Communication processing executed by the digital multi-function peripheral 2 is realized by software processing and hardware processing. In FIG. 2, the right processing line is a flow of software processing, that is, a communication processing flow for generating a low-speed connection, and the left processing line is a flow of hardware processing, that is, a communication processing flow for generating a high-speed connection. It is.

  The communication process by software indicates a program process, and is a process realized by executing a program on the CPU 21 using hardware resources such as the CPU 21 and the external memory 23. On the other hand, with hardware processing, most communication processing is realized by the operation of the network LSI 22. In communication processing by software processing, the number of communication connections increases or decreases depending on the free capacity of the external memory 23 and the capability of the CPU 21. Therefore, there is a merit that expansion to some extent is possible by adding memory, but the processing is relatively slow because it depends on the capability of the CPU 21. On the other hand, the communication processing by hardware is realized at a high speed because the processing is realized by a dedicated LSI. However, the number of communication connections is fixed because it is defined by hardware specifications.

  The processing block of FIG. 2 will be described. First, the application 211 is a processing block realized by an application program operating on the CPU 21. The application 211 includes a WEB server application, a PC-FAX application, an IFAX application, a printing application, a PC-SCAN application, a mail client application, and the like. The printing and PC-SCAN applications are applications that execute a printing process and a scanning process in response to an instruction from the personal computer 4.

  As described above, the application 211 includes a server application and a client application. The server application is a function in which the digital multifunction peripheral 2 functions as a server, and includes a WEB server application, a PC-FAX application, a printing application, a PC-SCAN application, and the like. The client application is one in which the digital multifunction peripheral 2 functions as a client, and includes a mail client program, an HTTP client program, and the like. The IFAX application functions as a server with the personal computer 4 and functions as a client with the mail server connected to the Internet 5.

  The socket interface 212 is an interface generated for each communication application. The socket interface 212 is a communication interface generated by combining an IP address and a port number. The application 211 can specify a communication partner application through the socket interface 212. The TCP / IP processing unit 213 is a TCP / IP protocol stack, and is responsible for TCP / IP protocol processing. That is, the TCP / IP processing unit 213 is a processing unit that executes the TCP / IP protocol by software processing.

  The network LSI 22 includes an interface 221, a built-in memory 222, a TCP / IP processing unit 223, a control unit 224, and a LAN controller 225. The interface 221 is an interface with the CPU 21 or the CPU bus. The built-in memory 222 is used as a work area for setting a communication connection by hardware. The TCP / IP processing unit 223 is a processing unit that implements TCP / IP protocol processing in hardware. That is, the TCP / IP processing unit 223 is a processing unit that executes the TCP / IP protocol by hardware processing. The control unit 224 exchanges data between the TCP / IP processing unit 213 and the LAN controller 225. The LAN controller 225 performs communication processing at the physical layer level, and transmits / receives data to / from the LAN 3.

  Based on the above configuration, the flow of communication processing according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. When an application program that requires communication processing starts processing, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the application is an application set to generate a high-speed connection (step S1). Specifically, a connection selection program runs on the CPU 21, and the program refers to the connection selection setting file 25 to determine whether it is a process for generating a high-speed connection.

  Tables 1 to 3 show setting examples of the connection selection setting file 25. The connection selection setting file 25 is set from various viewpoints according to the user's request.

  When the connection selection setting file 25 shown in Table 1 is used, a connection to be generated is selected according to the IP communication format. For example, in communication processing using IPv6, a high-speed connection is selected in consideration of execution of IPsec and encryption processing. For communication processing using IPv4, a low speed connection is selected.

  When the connection selection setting file 25 shown in Table 2 is used, a connection to be generated is selected depending on the type of application program.

  For example, among the IFAX applications, a high-speed connection is generated for an application using SMTP, and a low-speed connection is generated for an application using POP3. This is a setting based on a determination that a user who operates the personal computer 4 wants to perform transmission processing at high speed, but that reception can wait for a certain amount of processing time.

  For the print application, a high-speed connection is generated. This reflects the high demand of users to increase the printing process speed and improve business efficiency. Scan (scan) indicates a PC scan application for performing a scanning operation from the personal computer 4. This is also set to generate a high-speed connection, reflecting the high demand for improving business efficiency through high-speed processing.

  In addition, the PC-FAX application is set to generate a low-speed connection. This is because dial transmission processing or the like occurs on the digital multi-function peripheral 2 side, so that even if high-speed processing is executed between the personal computer 4 and the digital multi-function peripheral 2, there is little influence on the overall throughput. It is.

  For HTTP, a high-speed connection is set. This application is an application in which the digital multifunction peripheral 2 functions as a WEB server. This is because when the content stored in the digital multi-function peripheral 2 is referred to, the user has a desire to quickly browse the content.

  When the connection selection setting file 25 shown in Table 3 is used, a connection to be generated is selected depending on whether the application program functions as a server or a client. In the example shown in Table 3, a high-speed connection is assigned to an application in which the digital multifunction peripheral 2 functions as a client.

  As described above, various settings can be made in the connection selection setting file 25 according to the user's request, and the examples shown in Tables 1 to 3 are examples. The application to which the high-speed connection is assigned is determined by various factors such as the user's request and the business form. Therefore, settings different from the setting examples shown in Tables 1 to 3 may be optimal.

  Again, it returns to the flowchart of FIG. When the application to be executed is an application set as a high-speed connection (YES in step S1), the CPU 21 checks whether or not there is a free communication connection number by the hardware of the network LSI 22 (step S2). If there is an empty connection (YES in step S2), a high-speed connection is assigned to the application. As a result, the application generates a high-speed connection using hardware (step S3). Specifically, a TCP / IP connection is generated with the communication partner application using the TCP / IP processing unit 223 of the network LSI 22.

  If the number of communication connections by the hardware of the network LSI 22 is not free (NO in step S2), the CPU 21 determines whether or not switching to a low speed connection is possible (step S4). This is a determination as to whether or not to create a connection by switching to a low-speed connection when there is no available high-speed connection. In order to make this determination, a flag indicating whether or not switching is possible is set in the connection selection setting file 25 shown in Tables 1 to 3. That is, when a high-speed connection is set, whether or not switching to a low-speed connection is permitted is set. In the example shown in Table 2, switching to a low speed connection is permitted for IFAX (SMTP), but switching to a low speed connection is not permitted for Print.

  If switching to a low speed connection is not permitted (NO in step S4), connection generation error processing is performed (step S5). For example, the user is notified of a connection creation error. If switching to a low speed connection is possible (YES in step S4), a low speed connection is generated (step S6). Specifically, by using the TCP / IP processing unit 213, a TCP / IP connection using software is generated with the communication partner application.

  On the other hand, if the application to be executed is not an application set as a high speed connection (NO in step S1), the CPU 21 assigns a low speed connection to the application. Thereby, the application generates a low-speed connection (step S6). Specifically, by using the TCP / IP processing unit 213, a TCP / IP connection is generated with a communication partner application.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, according to the user's request, for example, according to the processing mode, communication mode, application type, etc., it is set whether to allocate a high-speed connection or a low-speed connection for communication processing Is done. That is, the high-speed connection and the low-speed connection are allocated according to the setting information created based on the user's free judgment. The setting standard is not particularly limited, but a typical method is to perform allocation setting according to the priority of processing as described in the present embodiment. By making settings based on priority, high-speed connections are assigned to high-priority processes, and low-speed connections are assigned to low-priority processes. Processing is executed. Thereby, it is possible to improve work efficiency.

  For example, a process that assigns a high-speed connection in the order of arrival may be considered. In this case, if a process with a low priority for a user occurs first, a high-speed connection is assigned to a process with a low priority, and a priority that occurs later. A situation occurs in which a high-speed connection cannot be assigned to a high-level process. In the present invention, such a problem can be avoided. That is, if the high-speed connection is free, a method of using the high-speed connection is not used, and hardware resources are allocated according to the priority set by the user. For example, even when a high-speed connection is available, a low-speed connection is given to a process with a low priority, and a high-speed connection is secured for a process with a high priority.

  The digital multifunction peripheral 2 according to the present embodiment assigns hardware processing to highly important processing and uses the merit of hardware processing, while using not only hardware processing but also software processing. . As a result, the number of connections can be flexibly increased by software processing as long as resources such as memory are available. In other words, if a communication connection is generated only by hardware processing, the speed can be increased, but the number of connections is fixed and lacks flexibility. Further, if a large number of communication connections are to be realized only by hardware processing, the LSI scale becomes too large. These problems are solved by using software processing together. In other words, the apparatus has an apparatus configuration that makes good use of the advantages of both hardware processing and software processing, is highly flexible as a whole, and has high processing efficiency.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the digital multifunction peripheral 2. In the digital MFP 2 shown in FIG. 2, TCP / IP protocol processing by software is not implemented in the network LSI 22, but is processed by the CPU 21. In the modification shown in FIG. 4, in the network LSI 22, the TCP / IP processing unit 223A can execute a high-speed connection or a low-speed connection depending on whether the built-in memory 222 or the external memory 23 is used. By using the external memory 23, memory resources necessary for TCP / IP processing can be flexibly increased, so that the processing speed is low, but it is easy to cope with an increase in the number of connections. When the built-in memory 222 is used, the processing speed is high, but the number of connections is fixed.

  Therefore, when a high-speed connection is assigned to an application, the TCP / IP processing unit 223A generates a communication connection that can be processed at high speed by the built-in memory. On the other hand, when a low-speed connection is assigned to the application, the TCP / IP processing unit 223A generates a communication connection capable of low-speed processing using an external memory.

It is a figure which shows the utilization form of a digital multi-function peripheral. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram related to communication processing of a digital multi-function peripheral. 6 is a flowchart illustrating communication processing of the digital multi-function peripheral. It is a functional block diagram related to communication processing of a digital multi-function peripheral according to a modification.

Explanation of symbols

2 Digital MFP 21 CPU
22 Network LSI
213 TCP / IP processing unit 223 (by software) TCP / IP processing unit (by hardware)

Claims (4)

A communication device capable of controlling a plurality of communication connections,
Software processing means for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for generating a communication connection by software;
Hardware processing means for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for generating a communication connection in hardware;
Control for generating a communication connection by assigning either the software processing unit or the hardware processing unit according to the setting information of the processing set in advance when a process requiring generation of a communication connection occurs Means,
With
The control means is configured to assign the hardware processing means to a high priority process, and when there is no remaining resource for generating a connection in the hardware processing means, the control means A communication device configured to assign software processing means.   The communication device according to claim 1,
  The control means is configured to set a processing priority for each application program.   The communication device according to claim 1 or 2,
  The software processing unit increases the number of communication connections as long as system resources are available.   A communication device capable of controlling a plurality of communication connections,
  Software processing means for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for generating a communication connection by software;
  Hardware processing means for processing a predetermined communication protocol used for generating a communication connection in hardware;
  Control for generating a communication connection by assigning either the software processing unit or the hardware processing unit according to the setting information of the process set in advance when a process requiring generation of a communication connection occurs Means,
With
  The software processing unit increases the number of communication connections as long as system resources are available.

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