Image Forming Apparatus Sleep Mode Packet Discard Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional packet control techniques during sleep mode transitions in image forming apparatuses lead to invalid or discarded packets, causing management mismatches and inaccurate device state management.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a mechanism that includes transmit and receive data discard settings, enabling filter control processing to discard packets during sleep mode transitions, and sending sleep notifications to registered destinations using protocols like UDP or TCP, ensuring accurate device state management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the image forming apparatus goes into sleep mode during sleep preparation, then power consumption is reduced, but network packets received during this period are discarded or transmitted as invalid packets
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by setting discard flags before entering sleep mode. The receive discard flag is set to prevent receiving new packets, and the transmit discard flag is set to prevent transmitting packets that were queued during sleep preparation. This preliminary flagging ensures that no invalid packets are transmitted after wake-up while still allowing the system to enter sleep mode and reduce power consumption.
2Reliability
If packets are discarded during sleep preparation, then invalid packet transmission is prevented, but management applications cannot accurately track device state
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by notifying management applications of the discard flag states. When the receive discard flag or transmit discard flag is set, the system sends notifications to management applications so they can accurately track that the device is in sleep preparation mode. This feedback mechanism prevents information loss about device state while still discarding packets that would be invalid.
3Reliability
If the main CPU processes packets during sleep preparation, then packet handling is maintained, but the device cannot transition to sleep mode efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the packet processing function from the main CPU during sleep preparation by setting discard flags and notifying management applications. This allows the main CPU to stop processing packets and transition to sleep mode without waiting for packet processing to complete. The packet processing function is effectively taken out of the critical sleep transition path, reducing transition time while maintaining reliability through the flag-based control mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving data to and from an external apparatus via a network.