Controller Board - Printronix P7000 Series Maintenance Manual

Chapter 7

Controller Board

Controller Board
The heart of a P7000 printer is the "Hurricane" V5 or V6 controller board,
which controls all printer functions and supports all P7000 models.
The controller board receives and processes all data from the host computer,
builds the printable images, controls all motors, and drives the hammer
springs. Except for the power supply, all logic and drive circuitry for the printer
are contained on the controller board.
The controller board consists of two functional units: the DC (Data Controller)
and the EC (Engine Controller).
The DC is responsible for:
•
Host Input/Output (I/O)
•
Operator I/O
•
Security Interface
•
Print Image Generation
•
Overall High Level (Logical) Control
The EC is responsible for:
•
Operating the print mechanism
•
Monitoring the print mechanism for faults
•
Power shutdown and power saving modes
The EC and DC communicate through semaphore registers. The DC receives
input from the host and operator and returns dot images and LCD messages
to buffers in memory. Image data are passed to the EC upon request, are
processed, then sent to the hammer bank. The EC synchronizes paper,
ribbon, platen, and shuttle motion as it feeds dot data to the hammer drivers.
Figure 67 summarizes this architecture.
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