Hewlett-packard Company

Scott D Bonar

Chris Richard Gunning

Todd A Fischer

Cooper G Urie

Mark A Fahrenkrug

Harold C Ockerse

Mark E Hodges

Steven J Jahr

James H Bigelow

Jamie Escandon

In an imaging system including firmware and a user interface control panel, a firmware-based internal page component is capable of receiving and registering internal page data from a source external to the page component itself. The internal page component can install a control panel display menu item corresponding to the registered internal page, and then capture user control panel input relating to that page. The component can then open a data pipe, and invoke the internal page data. The data pipe can be provided in the form of a VIO channel, e.g., invoking a print job, or can involve converting internal page data to a format capable of being viewed by a web browser. The internal page component can be installed as a part of the firmware of the imaging system. Internal page data can be received from a source external to the imaging system firmware, for example, from a storage device such as a flash disk, RAM disk, or hard disk. The internal page component can be embodied as a firmware-based dynamic internal page system. The internal page system includes an internal page registration mechanism adapted and constructed to register internal pages from page sources external to the firmware of the imaging system. The internal page system also includes an internal page retrieval mechanism adapted and constructed to selectively retrieve internal pages from the page sources. A method of handling internal pages in an imaging system including firmware is also provided.

Dynamic internal page registration and retrieval system

An image data transfer mechanism is disclosed having a source device, processing circuitry, and a target device. The source device is operative to transmit digital data. The processing circuitry is coupled to the source device for receiving the image data from the source device. The target device has memory, and is coupled with the processing circuitry. The target device is operative to receive the image data, while the memory is allocatable as a frame buffer for receiving the image data. A method is also disclosed.

Use of a printer frame buffer to hold image data received from a source device which cannot be paced

A peripheral device (such as a printer) locates shareable resources on an accessory by using an offset mechanism on the accessory. The offset mechanism includes one or more offset values stored in a first memory location on the accessory. The one or more offset values are indicative of offsets of one or more resources within the accessory memory. The one or more accessory resources are shareable with the peripheral device. A further offset value is stored in a second memory location on the accessory. The further offset value is indicative of an offset for determining the first memory location on the accessory. Additionally, a base address is stored in yet another memory location on the accessory and provides a general reference point for locating the first memory and accessory resources as mapped into the peripheral's memory. In a preferred embodiment, the offset mechanism of the present invention is implemented as an enhanced feature of the PCI Local Bus Specification. For example, the first memory location is disposed in the PCI defined Memory Address Space of the accessory, and the second memory location and base address are both disposed in the PCI defined Configuration Address Space of the accessory. Advantageously, the present invention enables a peripheral device to locate resources on an accessory without knowing in advance where the resources are located on the accessory.

Accessory based resource offset mechanism for a PCI bus in a printer

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Meridian, ID, United States of America

Scott D Bonar