Information processing device and image processing system

1. An information processing device comprising:

a first processing unit that processes a first number of a plurality of color signals in parallel at a time and outputs the first number of processed plurality of color signals in parallel;

a first number of buffer circuits corresponding to the first number of processed plurality of color signals, each buffer circuit temporarily storing a respective one of the processed plurality of color signals outputted in parallel from the first processing unit; and

at least two second processing units, each of which reads a different subset having a second number of the processed plurality of color signals from the buffer circuits for further processing, the second number being greater than one and smaller than the first number such that each second processing unit reads a different subset of the processed plurality of color signals, each subset having the second number of the color signals,

each second processing unit further processing the read second number of the color signals in sequence at a time, wherein:

a reading speed of the second processing units to read one color signal from a respective buffer circuit is faster than a writing speed of the first processing unit to write the one color signal to the respective buffer circuit, with the proviso that a ratio of the reading speed to the writing speed is determined based on a ratio of the first number to the second number,

the plurality of color signals each represent visibly different and distinct colors, which are processed in parallel by the first processing unit, and

one subset having the second number of the plurality of color signals, after having been processed by the first processing unit, are subsequently processed in sequence by one of the at least two second processing units, while another subset having the second number of the plurality of color signals are processed in sequence by another of the at least two second processing units.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein

the first number is a number of processable color signals by the first processing unit at a time and the second number is a number of processable color signals by each second processing unit at a time.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein:

each of the at least two second processing units includes a controller, and

upon being notified by the first processing unit of completion of writing of the one color signal to the respective buffer circuit, the controller starts reading of the one color signal from the respective buffer circuit.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein

a processing speed in the at least two second processing units is faster than a processing speed in the first processing unit.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4 , wherein

a ratio of the processing speed in the at least two second processing units to the processing speed in the first processing unit is set based on a ratio of the first number, which is a number of processable color signals by the first processing unit at a time, to the second number, which is a number of processable color signals by the second processing unit at a time.

6. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein

the plurality of color signals are image data.

7. The information processing device according to claim 6 , wherein

the image data is print data.

8. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein

the first processing unit and the first number of the buffer circuits are respectively connected via a first bus that is different from a bus used to input the color signals to the first processing unit, and

the first number of the buffer circuits and the at least two second processing units are respectively connected via a second bus that is different from the bus used to output the color signals from the at least two second processing units after processing.

9. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein:

upon being notified by the at least two second processing units of completion of reading of the processed plurality of color signals, which is assumed to be a unit of processing, from the buffer circuits, the first processing unit starts writing of another processed plurality of color signals, which is a next unit of processing, to the buffer circuits, and

upon being notified by the first processing unit of completion of writing of the another processed plurality of color signals, which is assumed to be a unit of processing, to the buffer circuits, the at least two second processing units start reading of the another processed plurality of color signals, which is a next unit of processing, from the buffer circuits.

10. The information processing device according to claim 9 , wherein

each of the completion of reading and the completion of writing is notified for each processed color signal.

11. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein

the first processing unit, the first number of the buffer circuits, and the at least two second processing units are formed on a single semiconductor substrate.

12. An image processing system comprising:

a first memory connected to a bus;

a first processing unit that processes a first number of a plurality of color signals, which are read from the first memory via the bus, in parallel at a time and outputs the first number of processed plurality of color signals in parallel;

a first number of buffer circuits corresponding to the first number of processed plurality of color signals, each buffer circuit being not connected to the bus and temporarily storing a respective one of the processed plurality of color signals outputted in parallel from the first processing unit;

at least two second processing units, each of which reads a different subset having a second number of the processed plurality of color signals from the buffer circuits for further processing, the second number being greater than one and smaller than the first number such that each second processing unit reads a different subset of the processed plurality of color signals, each subset having the second number of the color signals,

each second processing unit further processing the read second number of the color signals in sequence at a time and storing the further processed color signals in the first memory via the bus; and

an output unit that outputs an image signal corresponding to the further processed color signals read from the first memory via the bus, wherein:

a reading speed of the second processing units to read one color signal from a respective buffer circuit is faster than a writing speed of the first processing unit to write the one color signal to the respective buffer circuit, with the proviso that a ratio of the reading speed to the writing speed is determined based on a ratio of the first number to the second number,

the plurality of color signals each represent visibly different and distinct colors, which are processed in parallel by the first processing unit, and

one subset having the second number of the plurality of color signals, after having been processed by the first processing unit, are subsequently processed in sequence by one of the at least two second processing units, while another subset having the second number of the plurality of color signals are processed in sequence by another of the at least two second processing units.

13. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein

the first processing unit reads the plurality of color signals for processing from a memory via a bus,

the second processing units write the plurality of color signals that are processed by the second processing units to the memory via the bus, and

data is transferred from the first processing unit to the second processing units without using the bus, the data including the plurality of color signals that are processed by the first processing unit and are not yet processed by the second processing units.