Patent ID: 7537297

Claim:
A printer controller for a MEMS-based pagewidth inkjet printer, the printer controller comprising: memory circuitry for storing compressed and encoded page data; and central processor circuitry that comprises: a bus connected to the memory circuitry; page data input circuitry connected to the bus for receiving the encoded page data from the memory circuitry for expansion processing; page decoding circuitry connected to the bus and configured to carry out decoding processes on the page data; a printhead interface connected to the bus to receive the expanded and decoded page data from the page data input and decoding circuitry and to write corresponding print data to a printhead of the printer; and a central processor connected to the bus and programmed to co-ordinate processing carried out by the page data input and decoding circuitry and data receiving and writing by the printhead interface, wherein the decoding circuitry includes JPEG decoding circuitry that is configured to perform a contone page decompression process on the encoded page data, EDRL expansion circuitry to decompress EDRL-compressed bi-level images and halftoning and compositing circuitry to halftone contone data and composite bi-level data.