Control board, image forming apparatus having the same, control board management method, computer program, and computer-readable storage medium

An image forming apparatus which comprises a main-board and a plurality of sub-boards which control loads on portions of said apparatus and forms an image by causing each sub-board to control operation required for image formation, wherein

• each of said plurality of sub-boards includes:
• providing means for providing a board type ID for specifying a type of board,
• read means for reading an installation location ID representing a location in said apparatus on which said sub-boards have been installed, and
• transmission means for transmitting the board type ID and the installation location ID read by said read means to said main-board after said sub-board has been installed at the installation location, and
• said main-board includes:
• communication control means for controlling communication through a plurality of common communication connectors,
• configuration information acquisition means for acquiring configuration information expressed by a combination of the board type ID and the installation location ID transmitted from said sub-board by said transmission means through one of said plurality of common communication connectors,
• analysis means for analyzing the configuration information acquired by said configuration information acquisition means and which ordinal number of a connector, of said plurality of common communication connectors, has received the information, and
• control means for controlling said sub-board on the basis of information analyzed by said analysis means.

A management method, in a control board to be implemented in an electric unit and including a main-board and a plurality of sub-boards which control loads on portions of the electric unit, which manages connection between the main-board and the plurality of sub-boards, comprising:

• a providing step of providing a board type ID for specifying a type of board from each of the plurality of sub-boards;
• a read step of reading an installation location ID representing a location in the electric unit at which each of the plurality of sub-boards is to be installed;
• a transmission step of transmitting the board type ID and the installation location ID read at said read step to the main-board after each of the plurality of sub-boards has been installed at the installation location;
• a configuration information acquisition step of acquiring configuration information expressed by a combination of the board type ID and the installation location ID transmitted from the sub-board at said transmission step through one of the plurality of common communication connectors provided on the main-board;
• an analysis step of analyzing the configuration information acquired at said configuration information acquisition step and which ordinal number of a connector, of the plurality of common communication connectors, has received the information;
• and
• a control step of controlling said sub-board on the basis of information analyzed at said analysis step.