Image processing apparatus, access control method, recording medium

• US 8,250,291 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2009
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Ohno, Satoru
• Primary Examiner(s): Gu, Shawn X
• Application Number:
  US12/627,437
• Publication Number:
  US 20100169539A1
• Time in Patent Office: 995 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining

Abstract

An image processing apparatus includes a nonvolatile memory device including a first storage area configured to store one or more predetermined information items; a secondary storage device including a second storage area configured to store the predetermined information items; and an access control unit configured to control access to the first storage area and the second storage area in response to an access request to access the predetermined information items.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a nonvolatile memory device including a first storage area configured to store one part of a plurality of predetermined information items;

a secondary storage device including a second storage area configured to store another part of the plurality of the predetermined information items;

an access control unit configured to control access to the first storage area and the second storage area in response to an access request to access the plurality of predetermined information items; and

a determining unit configured to determine whether both the nonvolatile memory device and the secondary storage device can be used,

wherein the access control unit controls access to the first storage area and the second storage area based on a determination result of the determining unit.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the first storage area stores a table in which identifiers for identifying the plurality of the predetermined information items and storage areas indicating where the plurality of the predetermined information items are stored are associated with each other;

and

the access control unit specifies either the first storage area or the second storage area as an access destination, based on the table.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the determining unit determines that both the nonvolatile memory device and the secondary storage device can be used, the access control unit allows access to the first storage area and the second storage area.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the determining unit determines that the secondary storage device cannot be used, and a predetermined information item that is an access target of the access request is stored in the first storage area, the access control unit allows access to the first storage area.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

when the determining unit determines that the secondary storage device cannot be used, and a predetermined information item that is an access target of the access request is stored in the second storage area,

the access control unit rejects access to the second storage area when the access request is a request to write the predetermined information item that is the access target in the second storage area, and

the access control unit reads a predetermined setting value stored in the first storage area when the access request is a request to read the predetermined information item that is the access target from the second storage area.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an interchanging unit configured to interchange the predetermined information items previously stored in the first storage area and the second storage area.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the interchanging unit interchanges the storage areas of the plurality of the predetermined information items previously stored in the first storage area and the second storage area based on an importance level of the predetermined information items.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the interchanging unit places the interchanged plurality of the predetermined information items in the first storage area in a descending order of the importance level.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the interchanging unit interchanges the storage areas of the plurality of the predetermined information items previously stored in the first storage area and the second storage area based on a usage frequency of the image processing apparatus of a user corresponding to each of the previously stored plurality of the predetermined information items.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the interchanging unit places the interchanged plurality of the predetermined information items in the first storage area in a descending order of usage frequencies.

11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the interchanging unit places the interchanged plurality of the predetermined information items in the first storage area according to a user-specified setting.

12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the user-specified setting is a setting for protecting the interchanged plurality of the predetermined information items.

13. An access control method, comprising:

storing one part of a plurality of predetermined information items in a first storage area in nonvolatile memory;

storing another part of the plurality of predetermined information items in a second storage area in secondary storage device;

controlling access to the first storage area and the second storage area in response to an access request to access the plurality of predetermined information items;

determining a result whether both the nonvolatile memory and the secondary storage device can be used; and

controlling access to the first storage area and the second storage area based on the result of the determining.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing an access control program that is executed in an image processing apparatus, the access control program causing the image processing apparatus to perform the steps of:

storing one part of a plurality of predetermined information items in a first storage area in nonvolatile memory;

storing another part of the plurality of the predetermined information items in a second storage area in secondary storage device;

controlling access to the first storage area and the second storage area in response to an access request to access the plurality of the predetermined information items;

determining a result whether both the nonvolatile memory and the secondary storage device can be used; and

controlling access to the first storage area and the second storage area based on the result of the determining.