Patent ID: 7349109
Filing Date: 2008-03-25
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An imaging apparatus, comprising: image processing hardware resources; a plurality of imaging processing applications for performing image processing operations using the image processing hardware resources; an operating system; an engine configured to cause image data generated by the plurality of applications to be reproduced and to control an execution order of received process execution requests; and an image data regulation manager that includes a common software platform running on the operating system, accessible from said plurality of image processing applications, and used in common among the applications to interface the engine with the applications, wherein the common software platform is configured to receive operation mode information from each of the plurality of applications according to a unified rule and to issue process execution requests to the engine based on the received operation mode information and to directly control execution of a print job received from any one of the plurality of applications in a common manner, independently of the plurality of applications; the plurality of applications are not configured to issue process execution requests to the engine, but only the common software platform is configured to issue process execution requests to the engine; and wherein the operating system executes the plurality of image processing applications and the common software platform in parallel.