SERIAL RASTER IMAGE PROCESSORS USED FOR ERROR CORRECTION IN A PARALLEL RASTER IMAGE PROCESSOR ENVIRONMENT

• US 20120314240A1
• Filed: 06/13/2011
• Published: 12/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Randell, Rivadeneira, Roberts, Arthur R., Ward, David
• Granted Patent: US 8,780,373 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1213 at an intermediate node or at the final node
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/124 Parallel printing or parallel ripping
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1284 Local printer device
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1856 characterized by its workflow
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1857 involving parallel processing in the same printing apparatus

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for error correction in a parallel RIP environment. The system is operable to receive a print job comprising logical pages, to separate the logical pages into segments, to distribute the segments to parallel RIPs for interpretation and rasterization, and to transmit the segments to a serial RIP for interpretation. The system is further operable to determine that a parallel RIP has encountered a dependency error that prevents the parallel RIP from rasterizing one of the segments, and to instruct the serial RIP to rasterize the one segment responsive to detecting the dependency error.

Claims

1. A print controller, comprising:

at least two parallel Rasterization Image Processors (RIPs);

a serial RIP; and

a control unit operable to receive a print job comprising a plurality of logical pages, to separate the logical pages into segments, to distribute the segments to the parallel RIPs for interpretation and rasterization, to transmit the segments to the serial RIP for interpretation, to determine that a parallel RIP has encountered a dependency error that prevents the parallel RIP from rasterizing one of the segments, and to instruct the serial RIP to rasterize the one segment responsive to detecting the dependency error.

2. The print controller of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit is further operable to instruct the serial RIP to rasterize segments only responsive to detecting that the segments include a dependency error.

3. The print controller of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit is further operable to halt distribution of segments to the parallel RIP that encountered the dependency error, to flush the one segment from the parallel RIP, and to resume distribution of segments to the parallel RIP.

4. The print controller of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit is further operable to instruct the serial RIP to interpret the segments concurrently with the parallel RIPs.

5. The print controller of claim 1, wherein:

the control unit is further operable to separate the logical pages into the segments by detecting page boundaries between individual logical pages and generating a segment for each individual logical page based on the page boundaries.

6. The print controller of claim 1, wherein:

the serial RIP is further operable to interpret the one segment by identifying a pointer in the one segment that refers to a resource defined by another segment, to access a definition for the resource stored in memory, and to utilize the definition for the resource to generate a display list for the resource.

7. A method comprising:

receiving a print job comprising a plurality of logical pages;

separating the logical pages into segments;

distributing the segments to at least two parallel Raster Image Processors (RIPs) for interpretation and rasterization;

transmitting the segments to a serial RIP for interpretation;

determining that a parallel RIP has encountered a dependency error that prevents the parallel RIP from rasterizing one of the segments; and

instructing the serial RIP to rasterize the one segment responsive to detecting the dependency error.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

instructing the serial RIP to rasterize segments only responsive to detecting that the segments include a dependency error.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

halting distribution of segments to the parallel RIP that encountered the dependency error;

flushing the one segment from the parallel RIP; and

resuming distribution of segments to the parallel RIP responsive to instructing the serial RIP to rasterize the segment.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

instructing the serial RIP to interpret segments concurrently with the parallel RIPs.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein:

separating the logical pages into segments comprises;

detecting page boundaries between individual logical pages; and

generating a segment for each individual logical page based up the page boundaries.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

interpreting, with the serial RIP, the one segment by identifying a pointer in the one segment that refers to a resource defined by another segment;

accessing, with the serial RIP, a definition for the resource stored in memory; and

utilizing, with the serial RIP, the definition for the resource to generate a display list for the resource.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying programmed instructions which, when executed by a processor, are operable for performing a method comprising:

receiving a print job comprising a plurality of logical pages;

separating the logical pages into segments;

distributing the segments to at least two parallel Raster Image Processors (RIPs) for interpretation and rasterization;

transmitting the segments to a serial RIP for interpretation;

determining that a parallel RIP has encountered a dependency error that prevents the parallel RIP from rasterizing one of the segments; and

instructing the serial RIP to rasterize the one segment responsive to detecting the dependency error.

14. The medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

instructing the serial RIP to rasterize segments only responsive to detecting that the segments include a dependency error.

15. The medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

halting distribution of segments to the parallel RIP that encountered the dependency error;

flushing the one segment from the parallel RIP; and

resuming distribution of segments to the parallel RIP responsive to instructing the serial RIP to rasterize the segment.

16. The medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

instructing the serial RIP to interpret segments concurrently with the parallel RIPs.

17. The medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

separating the logical pages into segments comprises;

detecting page boundaries between individual logical pages; and

generating a segment for each individual logical page based on the page boundaries.

18. The medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

interpreting, with the serial RIP, the one segment by identifying a pointer in the one segment that refers to a resource defined by another segment;

accessing, with the serial RIP, a definition for the resource stored in memory; and

utilizing, with the serial RIP, the definition for the resource to generate a display list for the image.