Image forming apparatus

1. An image forming apparatus that divides one page of print data described in page description language into bands, transforms each of the bands to intermediate code blocks, and expands the intermediate code blocks into bitmap data along the order of the blocks on each of the bands, comprising:

a CPU that executes a program;

a memory device in which a data area is reserved, the memory device is connected to the CPU;

a compression/decompression processor that compresses the bitmap data and decompresses compressed data of the bitmap data, the compression/decompression processor is capable of compressing and decompressing in parallel, and

a print engine controller that is connected to the CPU,

wherein the data area has a first bitmap data area, a second bitmap data area and a third bitmap data area, each of the first, the second and the third bitmap data areas has a size of one band, and

the CPU executes the program, to perform the steps of:

(1) transforming each of the bands to intermediate code blocks, and storing the intermediate code blocks in the data area;

(2) for three bands of the bands along the order of the bands and the blocks,

(a) causing the compression/decompression processor to decompress compressed data of one of the three bands in the data area except for the first block in the band, and storing the decompressed bitmap data in the data area;

(b) rasterizing each of the intermediate data blocks in the band and synthesizing the rasterized data and the decompressed bitmap data in the band; and

(c) causing the compression/decompression processor to compress the synthesized bitmap data and storing the compressed data in the data area, and

(3) with the compression/decompression processor, decompressing the compressed data of the step (2)(c) and transmitting to the print engine controller one page of the bitmap data generated by decompressing the compressed data of the step (2)(c), and

the CPU performs the steps (2) and (3) in parallel,

the compression/decompression processor is an ASIC connected to the CPU and has a first decompression unit, a second decompression unit, and a first compression unit which are capable of operating in parallel, and the first decompression unit is used in the step (a), the first compression unit is used in the step (c) and the second decompression unit is used in the step (3),

according to the program, the CPU performs the steps (a), (b) and (c) and the step (3) in different respective tasks in parallel, and

wherein for each of the steps (a), (b) and (c), a band identification code and a block identification code are stored in the data area for identifying a band and a block processed currently, and

according to the program, the CPU updates the band identification code and the block identification code when each of the steps (a), (b) and (c) is finished on each of the first, the second and the third bitmap data area, and performs the steps (a), (b) and (c) of a block in a band identified with the value of the band identification code and the block identification code along the order of (a), (b), (c).

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the data area has an area where the intermediate code blocks of one band are stored and an area where the compressed data of one band are stored.