| 摘要 |
<p>A front-end system for the conversion of graphical data and coded font data into a serial pixel-bit stream for a raster output scanner, such as a laser printer, comprises a front-end controller (16), input/output means (22, 24) which can be connected to a computer (129 or a data netwok, a memory for the storing of graphical data and coded font data, a fine formatter (26) for determining the final printing format, a bitmap memory for storing a bit representation of the page to be printed, a bitmap filler (28) for expanding the data and placing them into the bitmap memory, and a bitmap reader (30). The functions of the front-end controller (16) and of the input/output means (22, 26) are implemented in a first processor (32), and the functions of the fine formater (26) and the bitmap filler (28) are implemented in a second processor (34), while the bitmap reader (30) is formed by dedicated hardware logic. With this construction, a high speed page processing can be achieved with a reduced number of processors.</p> |
