COLOR MAP WRAPPERS AND PACKAGES

Abstract

A memory structure stores a plurality of color maps; the entity, when decompressed by a printer driver, comprises a plurality of first-level wrappers, each first-level wrapper including at least one feature to identify a corresponding color map, and a recipe for defining and locating packages to construct the color map; the recipe having at least one locator for each second-level wrapper; and a plurality of second-level wrappers of different types, each second-level wrapper enclosing a corresponding package.

Description

COLOR MAP WRAPS AND PACKAGES BACKGROUND 2D and 3D printing systems include one or more replaceable printing components, or cartridges, such as inkjet cartridges, toner cartridges, organic photoconductor (OPC) drums, ink supplies (2D or 3D), 3D printing agent supplies, build material supplies, etc. Some of these components may be commonly referred to as cartridges. Cartridges may contain printing material. The printing material is a certain color, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, black, white, etc. Different printing systems can be designed to operate with different types of printing materials that have different colorant characteristics in addition to color, such as chemical composition, particle / pigment weight, etc. Examples of components without printing material are fuser units. Printing systems convert from one color space to another, for example, from a screen color space to a printer color space. Examples of color conversion between color spaces include RGB to CMYK, common in many printing systems, or RGB to monochrome. Color conversions can be performed by the printer using CLUT (Color Look-Up Tables), also known as color maps or color charts. Color maps can be configured according to the colors of the printing material, the type of printing material, the type of printing media, the printer model, and so on. Recently, on certain printing platforms, color maps have been stored in memories attached to replaceable printing components. When the cartridge is installed, the color map can be downloaded from the cartridge's memory. Typically, a limited-space EEPROM is used for these memories, and more space increases the cost per unit. For this reason, the color maps are compressed. Certain cartridge color maps are called channel maps because they are actually partial color maps, or single-channel color maps, associated with the specific color of the printing material on the replaceable component. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Non-limiting examples will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagram of an example of an integrated circuit memory structure; Fig. 2 is a diagram of an example of an integrated circuit; Fig. 3 is a diagram of an example of a memory structure; Fig. 4 is a diagram of an example of a printer; and

[0009] Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an example of a printing method. zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi DETAILED DESCRIPTION The content of other applications and patents cited in this disclosure is incorporated by reference. In this disclosure, color maps for single-color channels may also be referred to as channel maps or partial color maps. Channel maps or partial color maps can be used for single-color cartridges. A printer driver can combine the channel maps on the different installed cartridges to construct a multidimensional color map for color conversion between color spaces. A channel map for black, or forming table, could form a one-dimensional color map on its own. In other examples, certain compressed portions of a partial color table (i.e., channel), or difference tables, can be stored in cartridge memory, while a base table or reference table can be stored in printer-side memory. The difference table and the reference table must then be combined to obtain the foil color table.Reference is made to International Patent Application Publications Nos. W02018 / 009226A1, W02018 / 009235A1, W02018 / 009234A1, and W02018 / 009238A1, incorporated by reference. Therefore, a partial color chart may include a channel map for a multidimensional color chart, a difference chart, a cartridge-side channel, or a color map to be further combined with a printer-side base reference chart, or any combination thereof. Unless specifically defined, a color map may comprise any of these channel maps, partial color maps, or any one-dimensional or multidimensional color map, in compressed or uncompressed format. Examples of transforming wrappers are discussed in International Patent Publication No. WO2016 / 028272A1. These transforming wrappers locate color maps or color map components stored from primitive data in a cartridge memory. The transforming wrapper contains metadata so that a printer driver can quickly locate the channel map at runtime, using at least one of the labels, properties, and conditions, when a new cartridge is installed. One embodiment in that publication relates to a compressed, foiled channel map comprising a high-resolution neutral axis, seed nodes, and a delta table. Another embodiment in that publication involves a recipe for the printer driver to decode such a compressed color map. A similar compressed color map is discussed in more detail in U.S. Patent Publication No. 9621764.These color maps use pyramid-based compression schemes. Other color maps and color conversion techniques, referred to as DCT (discrete cosine transform) type color maps and color conversion, are disclosed in the aforementioned international patent application publications Nos. W02018 / 009226A1, zccifrnn / eznz / B / Yi W02018 / 009235A1, W02018 / 009234A1, and W02018 / 009238A1. In certain implementations, these color maps have a reference table stored on the printer side, and a difference table is stored on the cartridge side. In this disclosure, these compressed DCT-type difference color tables may be referred to as DCT color maps or DCT-type color maps. DCT color maps may comprise quantized DCT coefficients, residual nodes, and a deltascale multiplier. For monochrome print cartridges, a CBAT (Coefficient Bit Allocation Table) may be included on the cartridge side. This disclosure addresses alternative wrappers and packages (transforms) for constructing DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) color maps, or at least difference tables. An architecture and structure were designed to easily store and locate DCT color maps in cartridge memory, using a novel layered wrapper, recipe, and package structure, which allows the printer driver to quickly locate and construct the color maps at runtime. Figure 1 illustrates a memory structure 1 that may be part of an IC (integrated circuit) bonded to or otherwise integrated with a replaceable print component. The memory structure 1 stores color map data comprising envelopes 5, 9A, and 9B, and primitive data comprising packets HA and IB. The envelopes may be transformer envelopes, but in this document they may be referred to simply as envelopes. The color map data may (but need not) be related to a print material contained by the print component or otherwise related to the print component and the memory structure 1. For example, the color map packets may pertain to cyan, while the print material may be cyan. Note that certain color map data may be stored in the memory structure 1 that relates to a color different from the color of the print material.For example, color map packages belonging to cyan could be stored in a black cartridge memory structure. The wrappers include higher-level components here defined as first-level wrappers 5 (e.g., color map wrappers) to locate lower-level components here defined as second-level wrappers 9A, 9B (e.g., DCT wrappers, waste wrappers), using locators 15 in recipe 3. Wrappers 5, 9A, 9B and recipe 3 are for locating the corresponding data packets 11A, 1IB by combining components to construct the color map. The locators 15 are provided in recipe 3. The packets 11A, 1IB form the primitive data, for example, encoded as DCT tables and waste tables (as illustrated) and / or compressed. Examples of packets 11A, 1IB include a DCT packet, a waste packet, a deltascalar zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi packet, and a CBAT packet. Packages 11A and 11B can be considered to belong to a lower third level. A color map is constructed by the printer driver using a combination of the 11A and 1IB packages belonging to a selected color map, as defined in recipe 3. The first-level wrapper 5 facilitates the selection of packages for the color map and the location of the corresponding second-level wrappers 9A and 9B and HA and 1IB packages. The second-level wrappers 9A and 9B enclose the corresponding color map packages 11A and 11B for decoding and combining / solving to construct the color maps. The second-level wrapper 9A and 9B can be considered metadata for the enclosed package 11A and 11B to aid in locating the package 11A and 1IB. Since that primitive data is inserted into the second-level wrapper 9A, 9B, a second-level wrapper 9A, 9B has a larger data size than a first-level wrapper 5.Recipe 3 facilitates the location of second-level wrappers 9A and 9B, and packages 11A and 11IB, based on their locators. Recipe 3 can have at least two functions, including identifying the color map's building blocks (i.e., packages) for constructing the color map and locating these building blocks. In some examples, a second-level wrapper 9A or 9B and a package HA or 11B can be shared by multiple first-level wrappers. In this example, the contents of wrappers 5, 9A, and 9B are defined as metadata for locating packages HA and 1IB. This does not include metadata that could be contained within wrappers 5, 9A, 9B, and / or Recipe 3, such as primitive data or color map construction instructions. The 15 locators are metadata. Examples of 15 locators are color channels, labels, properties, and package types, which refer to similar labels, etc., in the lower wrappers 9A and 9B. Labels can identify a media, axis, theme, print mode, quality, table type, a supply family ID, and / or a print platform ID for a corresponding color map. The wrapper metadata facilitates the resolution of color map components at printer runtime. In some examples, the wrappers consist only of metadata. Packages 11A and 9B are stored in the primitive data. Packages 11A and HB can be considered primitive data 13 because they form the basic building blocks for constructing color maps, unlike metadata, which is used to describe other data components, such as primitive data. In this disclosure, metadata can be used to locate primitive data such as packages. Higher-level metadata, such as first-level wrappers 5, can be used to locate lower-level metadata, such as second-level wrappers 9A and 9B. The 11A and 11B packages are of different types, such as a DCT package and a waste package. A plurality of color maps (and color map wrappers 5) can be associated with an equal plurality of packages of each type HA and 11B. Therefore, subsets of packages, of a first type HA and a second different type 11B, must be combined to obtain a single color map selected based on recipe 3. In other examples, there are three or four packages of different types 11A and 11B. The layered packaging and wrapping structure can facilitate the immediate download and subsequent local storage, for example, in flash memory, of color map data by a printer's driver. This allows the driver to easily resolve the color map components at runtime, with relatively little added latency to the print job or the printing system (if applicable), such as when powering on a printer or installing a new print cartridge. After installing the new cartridge, printing can continue with updated color maps for the newly installed cartridges, resulting in potentially better, or at least updated, color control.The disclosed wrapper structure provides layers of flexibility and control by wrapping color table components (e.g., PFD records) in bundle objects, describing the bundles with metadata (such as tags and properties), and referencing the bundles in multi-level components (wraps) using recipes that are resolved at runtime. Because of this novel structure, the color map data, including wrappers and primitive data, can be compressed into a single data blob, which in turn can allow for greater data space savings compared to compressing individual bundles. As will be discussed later, DCT-type color map packages can be used to facilitate conversion between different dimensionalities and characteristics of color spaces, such as from ID to ID for monochromatic or grayscale color conversion, examples of which may be called mold tables; from 3D to ID for channel maps, such as RGB to K, RGB to C, RGB to M, RGB to Y, RGB to R, RGB to G, or RGB to B; from 3D to 3D for color maps such as RGB to RGB; and from 3D to 4D for color maps such as RGB to CMYK. Conversions between different dimensionalities (ID, 3D, 4D), as well as color spaces (RGB, CMYK) and channels (R, G, B, C, M, Y, K), may, in this disclosure, be referred to as dimensionalities. The examples of the layered DCT color map wrap approach in this disclosure can increase the efficiency, accuracy, flexibility, and / or modularity of the color conversion system. Figure 2 illustrates an example of an integrated circuit 217 for a replaceable printing component. The replaceable printing component may include a reservoir containing printing material of a predetermined color, such as C, Y, M, or K. The printing material may include toner, ink, and / or any 2D or 3D printing agent. The integrated circuit 217 includes a memory 201 for storing data, including color map data. The color map data includes first- and second-level wrappers 205, 209A, and 209B comprising metadata, and corresponding packets 211A and 211B containing primitive data 213. The wrappers 205, 209A, and 209B and the packets 211A and 211B may be compressed together.Each 211A, 211B package may have been separately encoded or compressed by splitting the difference table into a quantized DCT coefficient table (DCT package), residue nodes to aggregate to selective nodes in the DCT table outside an error threshold (residue package 211B), and, in certain examples, a delta scalar multiplier (deltascalar package, see Fig. 3). For printing, each 211A, 211B package must be decoded separately before constructing the color map. Integrated circuit 217 may include interface contacts 219 to, when installed, communicate component-related data, such as color map data, to the printer driver in response to a request from a printer driver. Contacts 219 may be provided external to integrated circuit 217 and / or the printing component to contact a printer driver interface bus, for example, an I2C serial interface bus.Integrated circuit memory 201 can store print data 225 other than color map data, such as print component characteristics, including a print material color and / or a product ID and / or serial number of the replaceable component. Print data 225 may include a print material level in the component, which can be updated by the printer driver based on drop count, page count, sensor information, and / or other (e.g., cyclic) information, such as the cycles of a toner transfer component roller. Print data may include wear information. Print data may include service information, such as the frequency or history of major ink events, or historical usage information. Print data may include a manufacturing date, a date of first installation, etc.Print data may include printer information about the printer, the printer fleet, or the printer platform, or several different printers, in which the cartridge is installed and / or has been previously installed. Print data may include a product and / or cartridge ID, OEM trademark information, digital signatures, etc. In one example, at least some of the print data may be digitally signed. Integrated circuit 217 may be a microcontroller, such as a secure microcontroller, comprising a CPU 225, authentication hardware 220, and firmware 223 for cryptographic authentication of communications between the printer controller and integrated circuit 217, and / or other secure authentication features. When the replaceable print component is installed in the printer, an authentication session may be initiated.After successful authentication, printer driver 1 can authorize printing. After zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi authentication, integrated circuit 217 can transmit its data, including color map data, to the printer's internal memory in response to an authenticated request. Different color maps have been designed for different media, qualities, printing modes, dimensions, etc. From a plurality of different 205 color map wrappers, a corresponding plurality of color maps can be constructed by combining decoded 211A and 21IB packages wrapped in second-level 209A and 209B wrappers. The 205 color map wrapper includes 227 tags that represent one or more of the desired color map's characteristics. An example of a 227 tag or characteristic is the medium (e.g., glossy or flat), because different color maps can be used for different media types. Print quality, axis, table type, printing mode, and theme are other example 227 tags. A printer driver can select a color map based on one or more 227 tags and / or other characteristics.The color map wrapper is a first-level wrapper, and its 227 labels may be referred to as 227 first-level labels. The 209A and 209B second-level wrappers may be provided with their own 233A and 233B second-level labels. In the illustrated example, the second-level wrappers include the 209A DCT wrappers and the 209B waste wrappers that are wrapped around a corresponding 211A DCT pack and 21IB waste pack. Each color map wrapper 205 can include a color map recipe 203 to indicate the components used to construct the color map. In this example, recipe 203 identifies second-level wrappers 209A and 209B using locators 221A and 22IB. Locators 221A and 22IB can identify second-level labels 233A within second-level wrappers 209A and 209B. Locators 221A and 22IB can identify first-level labels 227 and / or second-level labels 233A and 233B, for example, by referencing or including the first- or second-level labels.For example, recipe 203 can identify at least one second-level wrapper 209A or 209B by reciting the first-level tags 227 or by providing a reference to its first-level tags 227, so that the printer driver can identify the second-level wrapper 209A, 209B that has second-level tags 233A, 233B that are the same as the first-level tags 227. An example of a locator 221A, 221B that includes a reference to the first-level tag 227 can be coded as parent_tag. This makes it easier for a printer driver to read the locators 221 A, 22IB, which refer to the first-level labels 227, and then locate the second-level labels 233A, 233B, which are the same as the first-level labels 227, to find the corresponding packages 211A, 21IB.For example, color map wrapper 205 belongs to bright media* and second-level wrappers 209A, 209B, as linked by recipe 203, also belong to bright media. Therefore, first- and second-level wrappers 205, 209A, 209B can have the same first- and second-level labels 227, 233A, zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi. 233B, respectively. It is mentioned that for metadata to function correctly, wrappers 205, 209A, and 209B can have overlapping tags, properties, and other features. This aspect of certain wrapper structure examples can facilitate more efficient compression of wrappers and packages as a single compressed data container: redundant data can lead to higher compression ratios. In another example, locators 221A, 22IB (or just a locator 221) can include second-level tags 233A, 233B that are different from the first-level tags 237A, 237B of the same color map wrapper 205, for example, where wrappers located 209A, 209B / packets 211A, 211B are shared with another color map wrapper and color map. For example, a color map might be for glossy media, so the characteristics of the color map wrapper 205 also belong to glossy media. Recipe 203 may choose to locate second-level wrappers 209A, 209B belonging to another color map for another medium (e.g., flat) including, for example, partial or full copy, second-level labels 233A, 233B from the other color map for other media as locators 221A, 221B in your recipe 203.In such an example, the first-level labels might belong to bright, while the second-level labels belong to simple media. Thus, an individual second-level wrapper 209A or 209B and package 211A, 211B, or combinations of second-level wrappers 209A and 209B and packages 211A, 211B, can be shared by a plurality of recipes 203 and color map wrappers 205. This can also allow for fewer packages to be stored in memory 201. Second-level wrappers 209A and 209B include a plurality of DCT 209A wrappers. Each DCT 209A wrapper comprises second-level labels 233A, which represent features of an associated DCT 211A package. The associated DCT 211A data package can be wrapped by the DCT 209A wrapper. The DCT 209A wrapper and the associated 211A package can be configured to construct the color map corresponding to the color map wrapper 205, which identifies the DCT 209A wrapper in its recipe 203. The second-level labels 233A can be identified by the locators 221A of the first-level recipe 203. The DCT 211A wrappers enclose the 211A data package so that the printer driver can directly retrieve the 211A package by following the wrappers.Similarly, the second-level wrappers include a plurality of waste wrappers 209B, each waste wrapper 209B comprising the second-level labels 233B, and enclosing the associated waste package 21 IB. The primitive data stores a plurality of coded DCT packages 211A and waste packages 21 IB locatable by the DCT wrappers 209A and the waste wrappers 209B. The top-level recipe 203 links the DCT package 211A to its associated waste package 21 IB, via the corresponding second-level wrappers 209A and 209B. zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi To generate a color map selected by a printer driver, for example, based on a selected medium or other selected characteristic, the printer driver, after downloading and decompressing the data from memory 201, locates the corresponding color map wrapper 205 based on the tags 227 and / or other characteristics. The DCT packet 211A and the associated waste packet 21IB are located through the wrapper structure, and each packet 211A, 21IB is decoded. The nodes of the decoded waste packet are added to the selected nodes of the decoded DCT packet, and the table thus constructed is added to the nodes of a reference table stored in the host printer, where the color map is obtained.The disclosed wrapper structure allows for rapid location and resolution of color table components by the printer driver during runtime, while also facilitating adaptations and combinations at the individual package level. This structure enables the use of a wide and relatively broad range of color table dimensions and print materials. It also facilitates ready adaptations for continuously adding updated color maps to print components, for example, in response to changes in print materials, hardware changes on the print platform, customer requests, software changes, updates, and so on.Color map updates can involve the addition of new media types, new color conversion dimensionalities or color spaces, new print material compositions or colors, new printheads, new toner transfer components, new replaceable print components, and so on. The currently disclosed examples can facilitate rapid color map updates, even when the printer or replaceable component SKU (stock keeping unit) remains the same. The color map packages and transformer wrappers in this disclosure facilitate the use of the same DCT compression, package structures, and printer firmware across a relatively wide range of different printing and printer supply platforms, including toner- and ink-based printing platforms, which may be unprecedented in the printing industry. In certain cases, DCT-type color maps and the novel packet scheme offer greater flexibility than other compression methods, such as the previously mentioned pyramid-based color maps (with a neutral axis, seed nodes, and delta tables), in terms of loss, accuracy, and flexibility. For example, DCT-based compression can be relatively accurate, with low or no loss of color accuracy during conversion, if desired, while maintaining acceptable data sizes. Furthermore, DCT color maps can have smaller data sizes than other color map types, which is convenient for the relatively small flash or EEPROM memories of the microcontrollers used to store them.One reason for the smaller size may be because a reference table is stored on the printer side and the cartridge only stores the difference table that will be combined with that reference table. The wrapper structure of the various examples in this disclosure makes it easier to compress all components together, including separately encoded packages, because the wrappers allow components to be located after decompression. Compressing all packages together can provide a higher compression ratio than separate compressions (for example, of color map components without transformer wrappers) because redundancies between packages can be compressed more efficiently. Inherent redundancies between different wrappers (labels, properties, or other features) can ensure that the wrappers do not significantly increase the data size of the single compressed wrapper. Furthermore, a single compression dictionary (for example, zlib) can be created for the entire bundle of wrappers and packages, unlike separate dictionaries for each compressed record.In turn, the reduced data size can result in at least one of the following: storing more color maps, using cheaper memory structures, and / or more available space for other data features. The reduced data size can also provide more flexibility regarding which IC or memory storage hardware to use for the cartridge, such as from different vendors or OEMs (original equipment manufacturers). Figure 3 illustrates another example of a memory structure 301 for storing print data, including color map data. The memory structure comprises first- and second-level wrappers 305 and 309A-D. The first-level wrapper 305 includes a recipe 303 for identifying the second-level packet wrappers 309A-D, which contain the packets 311A-D for constructing the color map. The wrappers are composed of metadata to facilitate the rapid location of the desired packets 311A-D, each locatable by its corresponding second-level wrapper 309A-D. The combined wrappers 205 and 309A-D, and the packets 311A-D, can be stored as a compressed file, to be decompressed together using a single decompression dictionary. The first-level color map wrapper 305 may comprise first-level properties and / or tags 327. Properties may be specific to a color map type. For example, properties identify at least one of the dimensionalities 329 and the color channel 328 of the respective color map. Dimensionality 329 may refer to the dimensionalities of the input and output color space for conversion, examples of which are given above. Again, an example of dimensionality 329 is a color map that converts from 3D to ID, for example, from RGB to C, Y, M, or K. Another example of dimensionality 329 is from ID to ID, for example, for monochrome printing zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi using black printing material (K).A color map belonging to a single-color printing material can be a channel map for further combination with the channel maps of the other three printing materials to construct a multi-color foil map for conversion to the CMYK output color space, hence the 3D to ID dimensionality. The color channel property 328 can specify the color belonging to the respective color map, such as C, Y, M, or K. The first and / or second-level labels 327, 333A, and 333B can be defined by certain characteristics of the respective color map or package 311A-D that help locate and resolve the color map components. Examples of first and / or second-level labels 327 and 333A-D include: print media, theme, axis, print system platform, print component family (e.g., cartridge or supply), table type, media type, and print quality. Examples of print media are glossy, smooth, matte, and coated (e.g., paper). Examples of print qualities are best, normal, and draft. Examples of axes are process neutral and black neutral, which refer to the color separations for the neutral axis in a color space. Process neutral can mean that the neutral colors are composed of CMYK. Black neutral can mean that the neutral colors use only the K dye.The table type can refer to a color map class, such as a multimedia map class (for example, a server-side map), a gamut map class (for example, for UI maps), or a fuser data table (or fuser blob) for color maps in replaceable electrophotographic fuser unit memories. For example, a theme tag can be used for custom color maps for specific themes such as Office RGB, Vivid RGB, or Adobe RGB. The theme tag can be used in conjunction with a gamut map table type. Recipe 303 identifies the different second-level wrappers 309A-D to locate the packages 311A-D for constructing the color map. Recipe 303 comprises locators that include label locators 321A-D, or simply labels. The label locators 321A-D include, or refer to, the first-level labels 327A-D, or include second-level labels 333A-D, to locate the second-level wrappers based on their second-level labels 333A-D, as explained above. Recipe 303 further identifies each second-level wrapper 309A-D by package type 337A-D and / or a color channel 339A-D. The color channel 339A-D in recipe 303 may refer to the properties of the second-level wrappers 309A-D. The color channel 339A-D of recipe 303 may, but does not need to, correspond to the color channel property 328 of color map wrapper 305, depending on the package to be located.The color channel 339A-D in recipe 303 may refer to the color channel property of the respective package 311A-D and the corresponding color map. Second-level wrappers 309A-D are provided with properties (not illustrated), which may include a color channel (which can again be used to locate the second-level wrapper using the color channel 339A-D in recipe 303). These properties may be included in the second-level wrappers along with the second-level labels 331A-D and the packages 311A-D. The illustrated example wrapper structure includes four types of 337A-D packages: DCT package 311A, waste package 313B, deltascale package 311C, and CBAT package 31ID. These are identified and located accordingly by the 337A-D package type in recipe 303. A wrapper structure for a monochrome color channel (e.g., black print color) can contain all four 337A-D wrapper and package types. Other color map data for other dimensionalities or color channels can have three 337A-337C wrapper and package types, so the CBAT wrapper 309D and package 31IB can be stored in a host printer instead of the replaceable component memory structure 301. Second-level wrappers 309A-D of various types may include such second-level labels 333A-D. Second-level wrappers 309A-D may wrap associated packages 311A-D.Second-level wrappers include at least one deltascale wrapper (309C), enclosing a deltascale multiplier (311C). A deltascale multiplier, which may be referred to simply as the deltascale, is a value used to alter the range of the decoded / uncompressed DCT data. The deltascale effectively comprises a compression ratio to alter the quantization step size and the resulting compression error, which is a product of a DCT calculation. The selection of the deltascale multiplier affects the compression of the color map and its individual components. The deltascale multiplier is used to reposition the unpacked (i.e., decoded) DCT values ​​within the appropriate range so that a reverse DCT operation can be performed to create the difference table and, subsequently, the color table.For example, the deltascale includes or is a stage size mentioned in previous publications of international patent applications Nos. W02018 / 009226A1, W02018 / 009235A1, W02018 / 009234A1, and W02018 / 009238A1. The deltascale multiplier must be used by the print driver to modify the decoded DCT and / or the waste package to which it is linked by the associated recipe. Each deltascale wrapper 309C is identified by recipe 303, for example, through the respective tag locators 321C and deltascale package type 337C, and / or properties. The deltascale wrapper 309C comprises second-level tags 327C and a deltascale package 311C. The deltascale wrapper 309C may comprise properties. In one example, a deltascale wrapper 309C and / or a deltascale package 311C is shared by different colormap wrappers 305. For example, these different colormap wrappers 305 zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi may have different properties but the same deltascale locators 321C in recipe 303. For example, the same deltascale can be used to construct different colormaps that have different characteristics. In another example, the printing material of a component to which the memory structure is attached or will be attached is black and / or suitable for monochrome printing. Second-level wrappers 309A-D may include a plurality of CBAT 309D wrappers. Again, each CBAT wrapper is identified by the associated recipe 303, for example, through the tag locators 32ID and CBAT type 337D, and / or properties. Each CBAT 309D wrapper may comprise second-level tags 333D and wrap around a corresponding CBAT 31 ID packet. The primitive data includes a plurality of CBAT 31 ID packets associated with the plurality of deltascale 309D wrappers. The contents of each CBAT 31 ID packet can be configured to be decoded by a printer driver, to read / decode / analyze / resolve the DCT 311A ​​packet linked to the CBAT 31 ID packet by the associated recipe 303. The 311A-D packets stored in memory structure 301 must be located, decoded, and combined by a printer driver for the reconstruction of the color map. The instructions that cause the printer driver to construct the color map, using the retrieved 311A-D packets defined by recipe 303, can be called construction instructions. In one example, the construction instructions are stored on the printer side. The same construction instructions can correspond to a plurality of different 303 recipes, or different construction instructions can be stored and used by the printer driver to reconstruct different color maps.In one example, recipe 303 comprises a build operator 326 that refers to the build instructions corresponding to recipe 303 and packages 311A-D identified by recipe 303, whose build instructions are stored in a pluggable host printer memory. When read by the printer driver, build operator 326 enables the printer driver to locate the build instructions corresponding to recipe 303 in the printer's firmware. Build operator 326 is associated with the packages located 311A-D in recipe 303. In another example, also illustrated in Fig. 3, different second-level wrappers belonging to the same 337C packet type are grouped together, and each group is identified by a group header. For example, when unpacked, the wrapper structure may comprise a string of 309A DCT wrappers, a string of waste wrappers, and a string of deltascalars, each string forming a separate group of second-level wrappers belonging to a single type. Each group contains a single-type 311A, B, C, or D packet wrapped by the zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi second-level wrappers of each 309A, B, C, or D group. Cartridge memories for monochrome printing, such as black printing media cartridges, may further comprise a string of CBAT wrappers and packets forming a separate group of second-level wrappers. Each string may comprise uninterrupted continuous data.The strings or groups are configured as groups after decompression. Each group can encompass multiple color maps, and a color map can be composed of packets from different groups (i.e., packet types). In an decompressed state, each group can be headed by a single group header, or it can comprise a label indicating the packet type to which the 309A-D second-level wrappers and 311A-D packets belong. Examples of packet types are DCT, waste, deltascale, and / or CBAT. In one example, the 337A-D packet type in recipe 303 makes it easier for the printer driver to locate the 309A-D second-level wrappers by group because groups can be labeled by packet type or by packet type. In some examples, a group comprises only a deltascale wrapper and / or only a CBAT wrapper. For clarification purposes only, Fig. 4 illustrates a printer-side interface and logic for interacting with the wrapper and package structure of this disclosure. A printer 451 may include a printer driver 453 and firmware build instructions 455 and memory 457. Printer interface contacts 459 may be provided for connecting / interacting with the replaceable component's integrated circuit. Memory 457 may comprise a CBAT 409 for decoding the packages and a reference table 461 that will be added to the difference table to reconstruct a final color table. The difference table is constructed using the DCT, residue, and deltascale packages mentioned above. A CBAT may be stored in the memory of the replaceable component's integrated circuit, and the CBAT initially stored in that memory can be used to reconstruct the color table.Additionally, a dictionary 465 can be stored on the printer so that the printer driver 453 can decompress the compressed data container from wrappers and packages. Construction instructions 455 for reconstructing a color map may comprise at least one of (i) instructions for locating a color map wrapper for a selected / desired color map, (ii) instructions for locating the packets based on the wrappers, (iii) instructions for decoding the located packets, e.g., using the CBAT, and (iv) instructions for reconstructing the color map using the decoded packets, using the deltascale and reference table. Figure 5 illustrates a printing method with updated color conversion according to certain examples in this disclosure. A replaceable component is installed in block 500. The replaceable component may be provided with an integrated circuit and / or memory structure from one of the examples in this disclosure. In block 510, compressed metadata (wraps) and the primitive date are transmitted from memory to the printer, for example, based on a read request from the printer driver, according to an I2C protocol. The data set may be stored in the printer's internal memory, for example, in flash memory, easily accessible by the printer driver. The entire color map dataset can comprise the compressed plurality of wrappers and packages and can be decompressed by the printer driver (block 515) using a single dictionary. The wrappers and packages can be stored in decompressed format in the printer's memory. In block 520, the printer (for example, based on a preset, automatic selection, or default mode) and / or the user (for example, when selected manually) can identify print color characteristics, such as print mode (for example, grayscale vs. color, draft vs. best mode, etc.), color space(s), print media, theme, axis, table type, etc. These characteristics can determine which color map to select. Such characteristics can correspond to certain labels or properties of the wrappers, based on which a color map can be selected and resolved. Therefore, in block 530, the printer driver can locate the wrappers that correspond to these characteristics, without having to navigate through the entire data set, by using the first- and second-level wrappers.In block 540, the localized packets can be decoded using the corresponding CBAT and deltascale multipliers. A color map reconstruction process can then be initiated. In block 550, waste nodes can be added to selected nodes of the decoded CBAT map to create a difference table. This difference table can then be added to the reference table in printer-side memory to obtain the reconstructed color map. In block 560, the print driver can convert the source digital image data into physical image color data based on the constructed color map and instruct an image transfer component (toner transfer component, printhead, etc.) to print the image onto a medium based on the physical image color data. The disclosed primitive data can comprise multiple packages to construct multiple color maps—for example, more than 10 or more than 20 color maps—corresponding to different media types, dimensionalities, and so on. While the packages are encoded separately for separate reconstruction for the different color maps, the wrappers and primitive data can be compressed into a single compressed wrapper. For example, where different packages (DCT, residue, deltascale) used to be compressed together into a single color map, and where these multiple individually compressed color maps were stored in memory (with certain examples of this disclosure), the plurality of color map packages can be compressed together, so that in decompressed format the packages are grouped by type into different color maps. In several examples in this disclosure, an entire set of wrapper data, including metadata and packages, including primitive data, is compressed. Therefore, the compressed set must be decompressed before the printer driver (firmware) can decode the individual components. In one example, zlib can be used to compress the data set as a single entity. A zlib library can be stored and used by the printer to improve compression. In the context of this disclosure, decoding can refer to a number of actions, including conversion, deserialization (where an object is created from a series of bytes), unpacking (a form of compression where, for example, two 4-bit values ​​are stored in a single byte), or transformation (where one series of bytes is converted into another series of bytes through an algorithm or formula, as with DCT).Decoding can also encompass the action of analyzing and / or resolving. Decompression is not necessarily part of decoding: not all components of the wrappers or packages need to be compressed because the entire dataset is already compressed. However, some decoding is involved in order to construct the color maps. The compression and encoding of the color map data may have occurred at an initial stage of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) color map generation. From there, the generated, encoded, and compressed color map data can be copied to different memories.Copies of such generated, encoded, and compressed color map data, whether copied by the same OEM or by third parties, shall also be considered generated, compressed, and encoded color map data, even if the generation of such data only involved copying the already generated, encoded, and compressed color map data or a portion thereof. The same applies to copies of copies, etc. It is also observed that the new types of tables and dimensionalities are compatible with the new DCT package structure and wrappers, for example: RGB->RGB (3D>3D color maps), CMYK->CMYK (4D->4D color maps) and CMYK->C or M or Y or K (4D-MD channel maps). The various examples of wrapper and package structures in this disclosure can result in a greater number of custom color maps stored in a relatively smaller data space. Wrapper and package structures can add previously unused dimensions and functionalities, so that color conversion and color printing can be improved for these new input and output color spaces. Ultimately, the compressed example wrapper and package structures can affect or improve colors physically printed on media for a wide range of printing materials and technologies (e.g., inkjet vs. laser toner) through continuously updatable color maps specific to that material or technology. It is also observed that the color channels of the stored packages do not necessarily have to be related to the print material contained in the cartridge. For example, different color channel packages can be stored in print components that do not contain print material (e.g., fuser components), print components that contain a print material different from the color channel (e.g., black print material associated with a cyan color channel package), or the color map or package is not customized for the specific print material because the print material is from a third party (e.g., refilled cartridges).It is understood that the custom color map data for the wrapper and package structure in this disclosure is to be created only once and then copied repeatedly for the print components for which the color map data was developed or for which the color map data was not specifically developed. Both the originally generated (e.g., compressed) color map data and the copied color map data are included within the scope of this disclosure.

Claims

1. An integrated circuit for a replaceable printing component associated with a printing material of a predetermined color, the integrated circuit characterized in that it comprises a memory that stores printing data, including wrappers and packages, for constructing a plurality of color maps and interface contacts for, when connected to a printer controller, in response to a request from the printer controller, communicating the printing data to the printer controller, the printing data including a plurality of color map wrappers, different color map wrappers corresponding to different color maps, each color map wrapper including a first-level label indicating a medium for a color map, and a color map recipe for constructing the color map,The recipe identifies second-level wrappers, each including a DCT (discrete cosine transform) wrapper and a waste wrapper, by at least one locator included in the recipe; a plurality of DCT wrappers, each DCT wrapper comprising at least one second-level label corresponding to the locator, and wrapped around a color map DCT packet; and a plurality of waste wrappers, each waste wrapper comprising at least one second-level label corresponding to the locator, and wrapping around a color map waste packet; wherein each DCT packet is associated with a corresponding waste packet through the color map recipe.

2. The integrated circuit according to claim 1 characterized in that, in order to generate a selected color map, the DCT packet and the associated waste packet must be decoded, and the nodes of the decoded waste packet must be added to the selective nodes of the decoded DCT packet, and the table thus constructed must be added to the nodes of a reference table stored in the host printer by the printer driver.

3. The integrated circuit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the recipe defines and locates the packages with which to construct a selected color map.

4. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that each locator refers to second-level labels of the second-level wrappers, the locator comprising the first-level labels or a reference to the first-level labels of the first-level wrapper, to identify a second-level wrapper having second-level labels that are the same as the first-level labels of the first-level wrapper, or second-level labels, by which the located second-level wrapper is shared with another color map. zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi 5. The integrated circuit according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that each locator further comprises a color package and / or channel type for locating a respective second-level envelope.

6. The integrated circuit according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first and second level labels specify the medium and / or an axis of the respective color map.

7. The integrated circuit according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the color map envelope comprises properties, the properties specifying a dimensionality and / or color channel for the respective color map.

8. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that at least one second-level wrapper and the corresponding package are associated with more than one color map wrapper and color map.

9. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the packages comprise metadata, so that once a new component-replaceable integrated circuit is connected to the printer driver, a printer driver can locate the individual packets of the metadata, without reading all the primitive data of the color map, to construct the color map and print on a medium using the color map.

10. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the second-level wrappers include at least one deltascale wrapper, each or the deltascale wrapper being identified in the associated recipe by a locator; and the or each deltascale wrapper comprises at least one second-level label corresponding to the locator, and wraps around a deltascale packet to be used by the print controller to decode the DCT and / or waste packet to which it is linked by the associated recipe.

11. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the printing material is black and / or suitable for monochrome printing; the second-level wrappers include a plurality of CBAT (Coefficient Bit Allocation Table) wrappers, each CBAT wrapper being identified in the associated recipe by a locator; each CBAT wrapper comprising at least one second-level label corresponding to the locator, and being wrapped around a CBAT packet configured to be decoded by a printer driver to decode the DCT packet associated with the CBAT packet by the recipe.

12. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the packets must be decoded and / or combined to construct a color map by the printer controller based on a set of predetermined zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi construction instructions in the printer, and each recipe comprises a construction operator that refers to the construction instructions corresponding to the recipe.

13. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim characterized in that a plurality of different second-level wrappers and associated packages, associated with different color maps but having the same package type, are grouped into a continuous data string, the memory structure storing different groups of different package types.

14. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the packets must be decoded separately to construct the color maps from the combination of different packets, and the wrappers and packets associated with the plurality of color maps stored in memory are compressed as a single data container, to be decompressed as a single data container.

15. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the wrappers and packages must be decompressed as a single data container using a single dictionary.

16. The integrated circuit according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first and second level labels specify a table type.

17. The integrated circuit according to any preceding claim characterized in that the second-level envelopes comprise properties comprising a color channel.

18. A printing material cartridge characterized in that it comprises an integrated circuit according to any of the preceding claims and a reservoir containing the printing material associated with the color map.

19. A print cartridge memory structure that stores a single compressed data container that includes a plurality of color maps, the data container, when decompressed by a printer driver, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of first-level wrappers, each first-level wrapper being associated with a color map from the plurality of color maps and including at least one feature for identifying a corresponding color map, and a recipe for defining and locating packages for constructing the color map, the recipe having at least one locator for each second-level wrapper belonging to one of the packages;a plurality of second-level wrappers of different types, each second-level wrapper including at least one label to facilitate its location by the locator, and enclosing a package to be decoded by the printer driver and a plurality of said wrapped packages of different types, wherein the packages of different types are to be combined to obtain a single map of zccifrnn / eznz / B / YiAi color selected based on the recipe, and the second-level wrappers comprise DCT table wrappers and waste node table wrappers and their wrapped packages comprise DCT tables and waste node tables, respectively.

20. The print cartridge memory according to claim 19 characterized in that at least one feature includes at least one of a dimensionality, color channel, medium, axis type, table type, theme and print mode, each individual feature or combination of features belonging to a different color table resulting in a different printed output versus the same digital input image.

21. The print cartridge memory according to claim 19 or 20 characterized in that the plurality of color maps must be decompressed by the printer driver using a single decompression dictionary.

22. The print cartridge memory of any in accordance with claims 19-21 characterized in that the locator comprises at least one label, package type and color channel.

23. The print cartridge memory according to any of claims 19-22 characterized in that the wrappers contain metadata and the packets form primitive data.

24. The print cartridge memory according to any of claims 19-23 characterized in that the second-level wrappers further comprise deltascale wrappers and / or CBAT wrappers and their wrapped packages comprise deltascale multipliers and / or CBATs, respectively.

25. The print cartridge for connection to a host printing apparatus characterized in that it comprises the memory of any of claims 19-24.

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