Storage arbiter for high resolution output systems

摘要

A storage arbiter (10) for controlling storage device accessacross a network (N1) of raster image processors (14) (RIPs), outputdevices (16) and storage devices (20). The storage arbiter (10) coordinates the read/write requests from the RIPs (14) and outputdevices (16) to the storage devices (20). The storage arbiter (10) assignsa command priority level to each access request, with outputdevices (16) given a higher level than RIPs (14). A request queue ofpending access requests is maintained for each storagedevice (20). As new requests for access to a storage device (20) arereceived, they are added to the request queue for thatstorage device. When a storage device (20) becomes available, the oldest request with the highest priority level in the corresponding request queue is initiated. <IMAGE>