Patent ID: 8732710

Claim:
An electronic device that exercises control over a plurality of unit processes, comprising: grouping means for grouping the plurality of unit processes to be executed by the electronic device; creation means for creating a process step table in which an execution sequence of a plurality of unit programs is defined, for each of the plurality of unit processes; storage means for storing the process step table for each of the plurality of unit processes, and storing the plurality of unit programs listed in each of process step tables; determining means for determining whether a received command is directed to update the process step table and determining whether the received command updating the process step table is authorized data; updating means for updating the process step table stored in the storage means when the received command is determined to be authorized data; reading means for reading and decompressing the process step table stored in the storage means and incrementing a process step number counter; control means for controlling the plurality of unit programs for the execution of the plurality of unit processes by the electronic device such that the control means is configured to control the execution of various combinations of the plurality of unit processes; execution means for executing the plurality of unit programs thereby exercising control over components of the electronic device and to execute control of the plurality of unit processes; said execution means for further executing, in the defined execution sequence and when any predetermined one of the plurality of unit processes is directed, the plurality of unit programs defined in any of the process step tables corresponding to the directed plurality of unit processes.