JP2941293B2 - High-speed still image transfer method - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transfer method between information devices using a network, and in particular, to transfer a document of a plurality of pages between electronic files using an optical disk. The present invention relates to a high-speed still image transfer method suitable for such a case.

[Conventional technology]

The conventional optical disk file device is the 35th IPSJ
Proceedings (III), 2509
As described from page 25 to page 2510, optical disk file device manufacturers are often used in a stand-alone configuration, and therefore, optical disk file device manufacturers have been developing technology with the aim of reducing the size, cost, and ease of use of the device. I went. One of the functions required for the file device of the comparative type is a high-speed page turning function.

The high-speed page turning is a function of reading compressed image data stored on an optical disk into a control memory and performing expanded display of the display in parallel, thereby displaying images of the corresponding document continuously and sequentially on the display. In the current stand-alone system, high-speed display of an A4 document in 0.5 seconds is realized.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

Since the above prior art was developed on the premise of a stand-alone configuration, the optical disk file devices were
No consideration was given to ensuring performance in a networked configuration connected by N, and there was a problem of a decrease in page turning speed in the networked configuration. The display of an image in the high-speed page turning operation is meaningless unless it is sufficiently fast, and the display interval is (a) the optimal value of the response time / display time in the interactive system is within 1 second. (B) The response time of the page break command in the program editor should be within 0.3 to 0.5 seconds.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the time required for processing from data reading to data display, which occurs between a file station holding image data and a station where a user searches for the image data via a LAN.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the data transfer time itself after reading data in a file station.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a configuration in which a file station and a plurality of search stations are connected to a LAN, and a mode in which a search speed is emphasized and a mode in which a plurality of search stations share a file. The purpose is to expand the range of usage of the user.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, when data is transferred from a file station holding image data to a search station displaying an image, a process of reading compressed image data from an optical disk in the file station and searching the data via a LAN. Are executed in parallel.

In order to parallelize the data read process and the data transfer process, a page turning request issued from the search station to the file station is held on the file station side, and the compressed image data read from the optical disk is read on the file station side. Parallelization is realized by performing it continuously.

Further, the file station pre-reads the image data from the optical disk and transfers it to the search station. In the search station, the transferred data is buffered in a memory or the like, so that the display request can be immediately responded to. Is reduced in data transfer time.

Further, the image control unit in the file station and the image control unit in the search station are directly connected, and a communication path dedicated to image data is provided between the buses of the image control unit.

In order to achieve the above other objectives, the interface between the optical disk file device and the LAN communication control processor has been changed from a startup type based on commands from the main unit to an independent operation type that operates independently of the main unit. It was done.

In order to achieve the above and other objects, one search station monopolizes a file station, a search station and a file station exchange data at a high speed of one-to-one, and a plurality of search stations share a file station. In this case, two types of multiple sharing modes are provided.

[Operation] The reading of the compressed image data from the optical disk in the file station is executed by the slave processor of the image control unit, and the process of transferring the read data to the search station is executed by the main processor of the general-purpose WS unit. Since both processes are performed by different processors, it is possible to process the data read from the optical disk and the data transfer in parallel, whereby the image can be transferred from the remote search station to the file station via the network. It is possible to provide a high-speed response to the information searcher. Also, at present, the request issued from the search station to the file station for each page,
The file station holds one request for each document, and reading of the first and subsequent pages from the optical disk is continuously performed on the file station side, and there is no need to issue a request for each page from the search station side. Control means is provided. In the above parallel processing, the page read processing must be closed in the file station, and this method makes it possible. The file station does not stop reading until a stop command from the search station is received, so that the file station can search continuously until the end of the document.

Speeding up by data buffering operates such that image data is pre-read from the optical disk of the file station and stored in the image memory of the search station. As a result, when a request to view the next image occurs at the search station, the data at hand can be displayed (searched) without waiting for the time to transfer the next image from the file station.

The image control unit direct connection method directly connects an image control unit in a file station and an image control unit in a search station, and exchanges image data without the intervention of a general-purpose work station. A communication path dedicated to image data is set separately from a communication path for code data. Ethernet-type LAN uses 2 m of transceiver on the transmission line
Although it must be separated as described above, by using a multi-port type transceiver to which a plurality of transceiver cables can be connected, it is possible to have dedicated communication paths for code data and image data, respectively.

The improved interface method of data transfer has a buffer for image data on the optical disk file device main unit side, and if the main unit side is ready for reception, the received data is passed from the LAN communication control processor as it is and the reception preparation is not completed. Even save the data to the buffer. As described above, the data transfer time can be reduced by operating the LAN communication control processor independently of the main unit.

In the two-mode parallel system, a switch is provided on the search station side to set the exclusive high-speed mode or the multiple sharing mode, and the user uses the exclusive high-speed mode and the multiple sharing mode depending on the switch.

〔Example〕

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration example of an optical disk network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transmission line 1 has a terminating resistor 2 at its end, and the file station 5 and the search station 7 are joined to the network by the transceiver 3, the transceiver cable 4, and the LAN communication control processor 8. Here is file station 5
The optical disk unit 6 includes an optical disk unit 6 such as an optical disk library, and the search station 7 shares the optical disk.

Next, based on FIG. 2, the data flow in the case of the stand-alone and the case of the network configuration will be described taking page turning as an example. The data flow is indicated by the dotted arrow. First, the configuration of FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the file station 5 and the search station 7 shown in FIG. 1 in more detail. The file station 5 and the search station 7 are roughly divided into a general-purpose work station (WS) section and an image control section. The general-purpose WS unit mainly handles management of the image control unit and code data, and includes the main processors 12a and 12b, the main memories 13a and 13b, and the LAN.
The communication control processors 8a, 8b etc.
Connected. The image control unit controls the optical disk unit 6 and the slave processor 19 on the image data buses 16a and 16b.
a, 19b, control memories 18a, 18b, image processors 20a, 20b, display memories 21a, 21b, and displays 22a, 22b are connected.

When used as a stand-alone unit, there are two processes of reading compressed image data from the optical disk unit 6 to the control memory 18a by the slave processor 19a, and expanding and displaying compressed image data from the control memory 18a to the display memory 21a by the image processor 20a. There is processing. In the stand-alone page turning function, the two processes are performed in parallel, that is, after reading the compressed image data of the first page, the expanded display process of the same page and the reading process of the second page are simultaneously performed.
The display time is shortened by parallel processing such as expansion of the page and reading of the third page. However, this is a stand-alone system, that is, a system that has an optical disk on its own and is effective only when the optical disk is used only by oneself.

In the case of the network configuration, a data transfer process by LAN is inserted between the read process from the optical disk and the decompression display process. Therefore, parallel processing in a network configuration according to the present invention is required. Hereinafter, the processing operation according to the present invention will be described step by step.

When a request comes from the search station 7, the file station 5 reads the compressed image data from the optical disk 6 to the control memory 18a. Then, the data for LAN transfer,
The data is transferred from the control memory 18a of the image control unit to the main memory 13a of the general-purpose workstation unit. Here, the main processor 12a executes a process for LAN transfer, and the data is sent to the LAN 15 via the LAN communication control processor 8a. In the search station 7 receiving this, the data received by the LAN communication control processor 8b is temporarily stored in the main memory 13b by the main processor 12b, and then stored in the control memory 18b of the image control unit. Thereafter, the display is expanded to the display memory 21b from the control memory 18b by the image processor 20b. At present, since the reading instruction of the optical disk is issued by the slave processor 19b of the search station 7, the display time is added by the amount of the LAN transfer compared to the stand-alone time. In the parallel processing according to the present invention, the reading instruction of the optical disk is not issued one by one from the image control unit slave processor 19b of the search station for each page, but the slave processor 19a of the file station manages the instruction. Read disk, LAN
Data transfer and data decompression display in parallel,
The feature is that the display time is reduced.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of each processor in the case of the conventional sequence, and FIG. 4 shows the operation of each processor in the case where the present invention is implemented.

Referring to FIG. When a search request is sent from the user to the search station, the file station receiving the search station (39) first activates the slave processor by the main processor (35). The started secondary processor prepares an instruction for reading out the compressed image data from the optical disk of the file station (36) and passes it to the main processor (3).
7). The main processor sends a read instruction to the file station by the LAN communication control processor (38). The file station receiving this (39) sends the read instruction to the slave processor (40), and the slave processor reads the data from the optical disk (41). Thereafter, the main processor prepares to send the image data to the search station (42), and the data is transferred by the LAN communication control processor (43), (44). At the search station receiving the data, the main processor performs the receiving process and transfers the data to the control memory of the image control unit (4).
Five). The image processor of the image controller reads the data from the control memory and expands and displays the data on the display memory (46).
The search station issues an instruction to read the next data when data is input to its own control memory (48). Thereafter, as in the case of the first page read sequence, the transfer of the read instruction by the main processor (49), the transmission operation of the LAN communication control processor for both the search station and the file station, and the main processor transmitting the instruction to the slave processor (5)
2) The slave processor reads the optical disk (53).

Next, FIG. 4 will be described. When a search request is sent from the user to the search station, the main processor of the search station starts the slave processor (55). The started slave processor prepares an instruction to read compressed image data from the optical disk of the file station (56). The reading instruction here is not for each page as described with reference to FIG. 3, but for a larger unit such as a document or a file. The main processor receiving the request was (57) LAN
A read instruction is sent to the file station by the communication control processor (58). The received file station (59) causes the main processor to transmit a read instruction to the slave processor (60), whereby the slave processor reads data from the optical disk (61). After that, the main processor prepares to send the image data to the search station (62), and LA
N Data is transferred by the communication control processor, but (6
3), (64), this time, the second page of data is immediately read because the optical disk read control is performed by the file station side slave processor (69). In the search station receiving the first page, the main processor performs reception processing and transfers data to the control memory of the image control unit (65). The image processor decompresses and displays the data from the control memory to the display memory (66). In the file station, the main processor sends the read second page to the search station. By changing the system shown in FIG. 3 to the system shown in FIG. 4, the operating time of the processor is wasted, which leads to a reduction in the display time.

FIG. 5 shows a page turning sequence of a local (stand alone), current network configuration “remote 2 parallel” and a network configuration “remote 3 parallel” after adopting the present invention.

According to the present embodiment, in a system as shown in FIG. 1 in which optical disk files are LAN-connected, there is an effect of shortening a response time when retrieving file station information from a retrieval station.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a high-speed data transfer system using data buffering. The system configuration and the device configuration for implementing the present invention are the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIGS.
It is as shown in the figure.

The concept of data buffering will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, a file station 5 for holding an optical disk and a search station 7 for searching for information on the file station 5 are connected by a LAN 15. In the figure, 6 is an optical disk held by the file station, 5b is an image controller of the file station, 5a
7a is a general-purpose work station section server program of a search station, 7a is a general-purpose section application program, 81 is a general-purpose section remote access program, 7b is an image control section of a search station, 82 is a data buffer, 22b
Is a display CRT. In this configuration, when a search request for a document image is received from the search station, the file station 5 reads out the compressed image data from the optical disk 6 one after another, passes through the image control unit 5b, the general-purpose workstation unit 5a, and performs the search. Transfer data to the station. In the search station 7, since data are received one after another via the remote access program 81, all of them are pooled in the data buffer 82 created in the control memory of the image control unit. In response to a user request for the next page, the data read from the data buffer 82 is output to the display CRT 22b.

The present invention can be applied to an optical disk file network system as in the first embodiment,
The present invention can also be applied to the construction of a network between general-purpose workstations having a CD-ROM device as a peripheral device.

According to this embodiment, the buffered data is:
Since it can be handled in the same way as in the case of stand alone, there is an effect that a quick response equivalent to the search in stand alone can be obtained.

Third Embodiment FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of directly connecting image control units. In the conventional configuration, both the file station and the search station are used as general-purpose work stations 5a and 7a.
To the transceiver on the transmission line by the transceiver cable 4. In the image controller direct connection system according to the present invention, in addition, the image controllers 5b and 7b of the file station and the search station are connected to the transceiver on the transmission line by a new transceiver cable 86. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 85 denotes a multiport transceiver capable of accommodating the transceiver cable 4 and the transceiver cable 86.

FIG. 8 shows the configuration and data flow of the same system in which new LAN communication control processors 88a and 88b are provided and a second communication path 89 is set. Conventionally, data sent from the control memory 18a of the file station 5 via the general-purpose workstation is easily transferred between the image controllers.

According to the present embodiment, since image data can be directly exchanged between the image control units, there is an effect that high-speed image data transfer can be performed.

Fourth Embodiment In the first embodiment, a method in which data read processing from an optical disk in a file station and data transfer processing to a search station are performed in parallel will be described, and the apparent data transfer time can be reduced by the parallel processing. did. Further, the independent operation interface system reduces the data transfer time itself. This will be described with reference to FIG. 91 is the main processor of the optical disk file system, 92 is the data buffer, 97 is the shared memory of the LAN communication control processor, 100 is its communication buffer, 98 is the local memory of the LAN communication control processor, and 99 is the line data reception buffer. And 95, an interface between the main processor 91 and the LAN communication control processor 97. Conventionally, the seventh
As shown in FIG. 9A, a reception command 93 is issued to the interface only when a buffer 92 is ready in the main processor 91, and the interface is thereby provided with a communication buffer.
The method of transferring the data copied to 100 to the higher order was adopted. However, since the interface unit 95 is configured to be started by the timer 94, a loss of waiting time and one
The amount of data transferred each time was net. In this regard, in the method (b), the received data 99 is sent to the interface unit 95 via the communication buffer 100 irrespective of the presence or absence of the reception command from the main processor unit 91. If no receive command is issued, save buffer 10
Although it is necessary to pool the data in 1, there is an effect of reducing the processing time by 55% as compared with (a) in data movement (20 msec per 1 kB becomes 9 msec). This method requires a data buffer in the interface section as described above, so it is conceivable that the number of search stations that can be supported by the file station is limited.However, regarding this method, the performance-oriented method or the number of stations is considered. There are provided two modes of the conventional system that emphasizes.

FIG. 10 shows a state in which the file station 5 is communicating with a plurality of search stations 7 and a state in which the file station 5 communicates with the search station 7 on a one-to-one basis. In each of these, the one-to-many multiple sharing mode is paired with the command-activated interface of FIG. 9 (a), and the one-to-one exclusive high-speed mode is paired with the independent operation type interface of FIG. 9 (b). It is.

The present embodiment is not limited to the optical disk file device, but also has a similar problem in a workstation for constructing a server workstation type distributed network, and selects either the exclusive high-speed mode or the multiple shared mode according to the user's application. There is an effect that can be.

〔The invention's effect〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

By reading data from the optical disk and transposing data by the LAN in parallel, it is possible to speed up the response to the user's search request. This is made possible by the file station holding successive page turning requests from the search station.

Further, by performing pre-reading and buffering of image data, a quicker response is possible.

Further, by providing a second communication path directly connecting the image control units of the file station and the search station, high-speed image transfer can be performed.

In addition, the interface between the information device main unit and the LAN communication control processor is set so that the communication control processor can operate independently of the main unit, and the search mode is provided with two modes: an exclusive high-speed mode and a multiple sharing mode. A multi-user system mode or a speed system mode that emphasizes high-speed search can be selected according to the application.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical disk network system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a LAN-connected file station and a search station and data flow, and FIG. 3 is a conventional diagram of each processor. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of each processor when the invention is implemented, FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the parallelism of processing from reading to display of an optical disk, and FIG. 6 is a data diagram. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of the failing, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the image control unit direct connection method, and FIG. 8 is a configuration and data flow when a communication path directly connecting the image control units is created based on FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a method of changing an interface between the information device main body and the LAN communication control processor, and FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram showing a multiple sharing mode and an exclusive high-speed mode. 1 ... transmission line, 5 ... file station, 6 ... optical desk unit, 7 ... search station, 8 ... LAN
Communication control processor, 12a / 12b ... Main processor, 13a
· 13b ··· Main memory, 19a · 19b ··· Subordinate processor, 18a ·
18b: Control memory, 20a / 20b: Image processor, 21a
21b Display memory 81 Remote access program 82 Data buffer 85 Multiport transceiver 86 Transceiver cable 88a 88b
LAN communication control processor for image control unit, 89: direct communication path between image control units, 92: data buffer, 95: interface unit between main processor and LAN communication control processor, 9
7: Shared memory, 98: Local memory, 99: Line data reception buffer, 100: Communication buffer, 101 ...
Evacuation buffer.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Susumu Matsui 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi, Ltd.System Development Laboratory Co., Ltd. (72) Matsuaki Terada 1099 Address Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Shares (56) References JP-A-63-35068 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04N 1/00-1/21 G06F 17 / 30

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A file station capable of filling a large amount of image data using a large-capacity storage medium such as an optical disk, registering an image in the file station from a remote location, and searching for file station information. In a still image information network including a search station, a transmission path for connecting the file station and the search station, a process of reading requested image data from the optical disk in the file station, and transferring image data to the search station. This is a high-speed still image transfer method that provides a high-speed response to the image information searcher from the remote search station to the file station via the network by performing the processing in parallel. , Etc., and the reading of the first and subsequent pages from the optical disk is continuously performed on the file station side, and there is provided control means which does not need to issue a request for each page from the search station side. A high-speed still image transfer method characterized in that data read processing and data transfer processing are parallelized. 2. A file station capable of filling a large amount of image data by using a large-capacity storage medium such as an optical disk, registering an image in the file station from a remote location, and searching for file station information. In a still image information network including a search station, a transmission path for connecting the file station and the search station, a process of reading requested image data from the optical disk in the file station, and transferring image data to the search station. This is a high-speed still image transfer method that provides a high-speed response to image information searchers from a remote search station to a file station via a network by performing processing in parallel. In response to a request from the user, the image data of the first page and subsequent pages are also pre-read, the data is transferred to the search station, and the transferred data is buffered in the image memory. A high-speed still image transfer method characterized in that the apparent image data transfer time is reduced by supporting the above. 3. A file station capable of filling a large amount of image data by using a large-capacity storage medium such as an optical disk, registering an image in the file station from a remote location, or searching for file station information. In a still image information network including a search station, a transmission path for connecting the file station and the search station, a process of reading requested image data from the optical disk in the file station, and transferring image data to the search station. A high-speed still image transfer method that provides a high-speed response to image information searchers from a remote search station to a file station via a network by performing processing in parallel, and is stored in the image control unit of the file station. The image data is transferred from the file station to the search station by the LAN connecting the general-purpose workstation sections as well as the code data, but the image control section in the file station and the image control section in the search station are directly connected. In addition to a conventional communication path for exchanging code data between general-purpose workstation units, a second communication path dedicated to image data is provided to improve data transfer performance. High-speed still image transfer method. 4. A file station capable of filling a large amount of image data using a large-capacity storage medium such as an optical disk, registering an image in the file station from a remote, and searching for file station information. In a still image information network including a search station, a transmission path for connecting the file station and the search station, a process of reading requested image data from the optical disk in the file station, and transferring image data to the search station. This is a high-speed still image transfer method that provides a high-speed response to image information searchers from a remote search station to a file station via a network by performing processing in parallel. One search station is a file station. Exclusive high-speed mode that monopolizes the application and exchanges data 1: 1,
A high-speed still image transfer system, wherein two of a plurality of sharing modes in which a file station is shared by a plurality of search stations are set and these can be selected. 5. A high-speed still image transfer system in a network system, the network comprising: a file station capable of firing a large amount of image data using a large-capacity storage medium such as an optical disk; A search station for remotely registering an image in a file station or searching for information on a file station, and a transmission line for connecting the file station to the search station. The image from the file station to the search station. In order to speed up the data transfer, the reading process of the requested image data from the optical disk in the file station and the image data transfer process to the search station are performed in parallel, so that the file can be read from the remote search station via the network. Fast still image transfer method of the optical disc use to provide a fast response to the image information searcher to Teshiyon.