| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an efficient and reliable diagnosis, in an image forming apparatus comprising freely exchangeable devices. <P>SOLUTION: Freely exchangeable connection devices such as an image forming function unit 202 and UI devices 14, 15, 16 are provided on the periphery of an I/O bridge unit 140. Electrical signals are transmitted between main devices such as the I/O bridge unit 140 and the image forming function unit 202 by PCI Express (R), thus establishing one-to-one connection between the device and the I/O bridge unit 140. A processing flow control unit 300 controls each unit of the apparatus so that the path route of image data is decided for performing efficient image processing as the entire apparatus and the decided path route will be reflected. A failure diagnosis control unit 310 receives processed data from each image forming function unit 202 on the basis of test data for failure diagnosis via the I/O bridge unit 140, and executes failure diagnosis processing of each image forming function unit 202 independently on the basis of the processed data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI |
