BACKGROUND

[0001] Fluidic dies may include an array of fluidic actuators (e.g., nozzles and/or pumps), where the fluidic actuators may be actuated to cause displacement of fluid within a fluidic chamber. Some example fluidic dies may be printheads, where the fluid may be ink.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0002] Features of the present disclosure are illustrated by way of example and not limited in the following figure(s), in which like numerals indicate like elements, in which:

[0003] FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an example apparatus including a fluidic actuator control circuit and a controller to control a plurality of fluidic actuators;

[0004] FIG. 2A depicts a block diagram of an example system in which the example apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 may be implemented;

[0005] FIG. 2B depicts a block diagram of an example actuator group which may be implemented in the system depicted in FIG. 2A, the example actuator group including a fluidic actuator control circuit and a plurality of primitives;

[0006] FIG. 2C depicts a schematic diagram of an example on-die logic, which may be implemented in the example fluidic actuator control circuit depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2B;

[0007] FIG. 2D depicts a diagram of an example waveform of data packets to control fluidic actuators, which may be implemented in the example apparatus and the example system depicted in FIGS. 1 , 2A, and 2C; [0008] FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of an example method for monitoring a fluidic actuator under test including suppressing print data for groups of fluidic actuators associated with the fluidic actuator under test; and

[0009] FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an example non-transitory computer-readable medium that may have stored thereon machine-readable instructions to cause suppression of print data for a group of fluidic actuators associated with a fluidic actuator under test.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the present disclosure are described by referring mainly to examples thereof. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the examples. It will be apparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art, that the examples may be practiced without limitation to these specific details. In some instances, well known methods and/or structures have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the description of the examples. Furthermore, the examples may be used together in various combinations.

[0011] Throughout the present disclosure, the terms "a" and "an" are intended to denote one of a particular element or a plurality of the particular element. As used herein, the term "includes" means includes but not limited to, the term "including" means including but not limited to. The term "based on" means based in part on or based entirely on.

[0012] In some example designs (e.g., including inkjet or additive printer designs), sensors may sense a property of fluid in the chamber, e.g., sense the presence of vapor forming a drive bubble in a fluidic chamber used to propel droplets of printing fluid onto paper or another print target (e.g., an additive build material). Examples of fluidic dies may include fluidic actuators (e.g., nozzles and/or pumps). The fluidic actuators may include thermal resistor-based actuators, piezoelectric membrane-based actuators, electrostatic membrane actuators, mechanical/impact driven membrane actuators, magneto-strictive drive actuators, or other suitable devices that may cause displacement of fluid in response to electrical actuation. Fluidic dies described herein may include a plurality of fluidic actuators, which may be referred to as an array of fluidic actuators. An actuation event orfiring event, as used herein, may refer to singular or concurrent actuation of fluidic actuators of the fluidic die to cause fluid displacement.

[0013] In example fluidic dies, the array of fluidic actuators may be arranged in sets of fluidic actuators, where each such set of fluidic actuators may be referred to as a “primitive” ora “firing primitive.” The number of fluidic actuators in a primitive may be referred to as a size of the primitive. The set of fluidic actuators of a primitive generally have a set of actuation addresses with each fluidic actuator corresponding to a different actuation address of the set of actuation addresses. In some examples, electrical and fluidic constraints of a fluidic die may limit which fluidic actuators of each primitive may be actuated concurrently for a given actuation event. Primitives facilitate addressing and subsequent actuation of fluidic actuator subsets that may be concurrently actuated for a given actuation event to conform to such constraints. In some examples, the array of fluidic actuators may be arranged in columns of fluidic actuators that may include a plurality of primitives.

[0014] To illustrate by way of example, a fluidic die may include 2 actuator columns per ink slot or arrays of ink feed holes, with 132 primitives per actuator columns, and 8 firing FETs per primitive (each associated with an address and a fluidic actuator). In this instance, with each primitive including eight fluidic actuators (with each fluidic actuator corresponding to different ones of the addresses 0 to 7), and where electrical and fluidic constraints limit concurrent actuation to one fluidic actuator per primitive, a total of 132 fluidic actuators (one from each primitive) may be actuated for a given actuation event. For example, for a first actuation event, the respective fluidic actuator of each primitive corresponding to address “0” may be actuated. Fora second actuation event, the respective fluidic actuator of each primitive corresponding to address “5” may be actuated. As will be appreciated, the example is provided merely for illustration purposes, such that fluidic dies contemplated herein may include more or fewer fluidic actuators per primitive, more or fewer primitives per actuator columns, and more or fewer primitives per die.

[0015] Example fluidic dies may include fluidic chambers, channels, orifices, and/or other features, which may be defined by surfaces fabricated in a substrate of the fluidic die by etching, microfabrication (e.g., photolithography), micromachining processes, or other suitable processes or combinations thereof. Some example substrates may include silicon-based substrates, glass-based substrates, gallium arsenide-based substrates, and/or other such suitable types of substrates for microfabricated devices and structures. As used herein, fluidic chambers may include ejection chambers in fluidic communication with nozzle orifices from which fluid may be ejected, and fluidic channels through which fluid may be conveyed. In some examples, fluidic channels may be microfluidic channels where, as used herein, a microfluidic channel may correspond to a channel of sufficiently small size (e.g., of nanometer sized scale, micrometer sized scale, millimeter sized scale, etc.) to facilitate conveyance of small volumes of fluid (e.g., picoliter scale, nanoliter scale, microliter scale, milliliter scale, etc.).

[0016] In some examples, a fluidic actuator may be arranged as part of a nozzle where, in addition to the fluidic actuator, the nozzle includes an ejection chamber in fluidic communication with a nozzle orifice. The fluidic actuator may be positioned relative to the fluidic chamber such that actuation of the fluidic actuator causes displacement of fluid within the fluidic chamber that may cause ejection of a fluid drop from the fluidic chamber via the nozzle orifice. Accordingly, a fluidic actuator arranged as part of a nozzle may sometimes be referred to as a fluid ejector or an ejecting actuator.

[0017] In some example nozzles, the fluidic actuator may include a thermal actuator which is spaced from the fluidic chamber by an insulating layer, where actuation (sometimes referred to as “firing”) of the fluidic actuator heats the fluid to form a gaseous drive bubble within the fluidic chamber that may cause a fluid drop to be ejected from the nozzle orifice, after which the drive bubble collapses. In some examples, a cavitation plate is disposed within the fluidic chamber so as to be above the fluidic actuator and in contact with the fluid within the chamber, where the cavitation plate protects material underlying the fluidic chamber, including the underlying insulating material and fluidic actuator, from cavitation forces resulting from generation and collapse of the drive bubble. In some instances, the cavitation plate may be metal (e.g., tantalum).

[0018] In some examples, a fluidic actuator may be arranged as part of a pump where, in addition to the fluidic actuator, the pump includes a fluidic channel. The fluidic actuator may be positioned relative to a fluidic channel such that actuation of the fluidic actuator generates fluid displacement in the fluid channel (e.g., a microfluidic channel) to convey fluid within the fluidic die, such as between a fluid supply (e.g., fluid slot) and a nozzle, for instance. A fluidic actuator arranged to convey fluid within a fluidic channel may sometimes be referred to as a non-ejecting actuator. In some examples, similar to that described above with respect to a nozzle, a metal cavitation plate may be disposed within the fluidic channel above the fluidic actuator to protect the fluidic actuator and underlying materials from cavitation forces resulting from generation and collapse of drive bubbles within the fluidic channel.

[0019] Fluidic dies may include an array of fluidic actuators (such as columns of fluidic actuators), where the fluidic actuators of the array may be arranged as fluid ejectors (i.e., having corresponding fluid ejection chambers with nozzle orifices) and/or pumps (having corresponding fluid channels), with selective operation of fluid ejectors causing fluid drop ejection and selective operation of pumps causing fluid displacement within the fluidic die. In some examples, the array of fluidic actuators may be arranged into primitives.

[0020] During operation of a fluidic die, conditions may arise that adversely affect the ability of the nozzles to properly eject fluid drops and pumps to properly convey fluid within the die. For example, a blockage may occur in a nozzle orifice, ejection chamber, or fluidic channel, fluid (or components thereof) may become solidified on surfaces within a fluidic chamber, such as on a cavitation plate, or a [0021] To determine when such conditions are present, techniques have been developed to measure various operating parameters (e.g., impedance, resistance, current, and/or voltage) of nozzles and/or pumps using a sense electrode that is disposed so as to be exposed to an interior of the fluidic chamber. In one case, in addition to protecting fluidic actuators and other elements from cavitation forces, cavitation plates may also serve as such sense electrodes. In some examples, the sense electrode may be used to measure an impedance of fluid within the chamber, where such impedance may be correlated to a temperature of the fluid, fluid composition, particle concentration, and a presence of air or vapor, among others, for instance. [0022] Drive bubble detect (DBD) is one technique that measures parameters indicative of the formation and collapse of a drive bubble within a fluidic chamber to determine whether a nozzle or pump is operating properly. In some examples, for a given fluidic chamber, during an actuation event, a voltage is applied to the corresponding fluidic actuator to vaporize a component of a fluid (e.g., water) to form a drive bubble within the fluidic chamber. In some examples, at a selected time after commencement of the firing event (e.g., after the start of formation but before collapse of the drive bubble), DBD monitoring circuitry of the fluidic die may selectively couple to the cavitation plate within the fluidic chamber. The monitoring circuitry may measure a resulting voltage on the cavitation plate, with the voltage being indicative of properties of the resulting drive bubble. The properties of the drive bubble may be used to infer the operating condition of the nozzle or pump (e.g., the nozzle/pump is operating properly, a nozzle orifice is plugged, etc.).

[0023] To fire actuators, unique primitive data may be written to each primitive and address data may be conveyed to each primitive. The address data, which may be conveyed to each primitive via a data packet, may select which actuator within the primitive fires based on the primitive data. An actuator within a primitive may fire when a) data loaded into that primitive indicates firing should occur, b) the address conveyed to that primitive matches an actuator address in the primitive, and c) a primitive receives a fire signal. In certain techniques, a Fire Pulse Group (FPG) may be a single data packet and a “print column” may be multiple data packets or FPGs. In this instance, an extra DBD FPG is added at an end of a print column to initiate monitoring of a select actuator. To perform a DBD measurement on an actuator, that actuator must be fired, and then no actuator in the selected primitive should be fired until the measurement is complete to avoid corruption of the measurement, which may take a predetermined amount of time (e.g., 10 ps or more). As such, the additional DBD FPG inserted into every print column may cause reduced print speed and increased data path complexity due to a requirement for, e.g., shifting primitive data for the primitive under measurement. [0024] The present disclosure implements in-page DBD-based fluidic actuator health sensing. In some examples, on-die logic and data path manipulation may be implemented, in which a single native FPG within a print column may be modified to be the DBD FPG, which selects a fluidic actuator for measurement and initiates a DBD measurement. In contrast to prior solutions, the print system may not send the extra DBD FPG at the end of a print column. Additionally, after the DBD FPG is sent, the print system may continue to send native (non-DBD) FPGs at the normal rate, with no interrupts to the standard FPG timing. This is made possible by on-die logic that may intelligently ignore firing commands for a subset of the fluidic actuators in order to prevent corruption of the ongoing DBD measurement. In some examples, an entire column group or a single primitive of fluidic actuators may be masked for avoiding corruption of the DBD measurements.

[0025] In some examples disclosed herein, an apparatus may include a plurality of fluidic actuators, and a fluidic actuator control circuit to control operation of the plurality of fluidic actuators. The fluidic actuator control circuit may have on-die logic that is coupled to the plurality of fluidic actuators. In this instance, a controller may generate a signal to cause the fluidic actuator control circuit to control the plurality of fluidic actuators and to monitor a condition of a selected fluidic chamber. In some examples, based on the signal, the on-die logic may suppress an operation of a selected fluidic actuator corresponding to the selected fluidic chamber for a predetermined time period.

[0026] Through implementation of the features of the present disclosure, a controller may implement generation of data packets for in-page actuator health sensing with little to no reduction in maximum print speed and which may significantly reduce complexity for DBD integration in the data path. Additionally, actuator suppression may be implemented without discernible impact to print quality by using on-die logic circuits to control suppression of groups of actuators in per-column groups or per-primitive.

[0027] Reference is first made to FIG. 1 , which depicts a block diagram of an example apparatus 100 including a controller 102 and a fluidic actuator control circuit 104 to control a plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n, in which the variable “n” may represent a value greater than one. The apparatus 100, according to some examples of the present disclosure, may be a fluidic die having a plurality of fluidic chambers (not shown). Each of the plurality of fluidic chambers may be associated with a corresponding fluidic actuator 106 (illustrated as fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n) and an electrode (not shown) exposed to an interior of the fluidic chamber. Each of the fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n may be electrically and/or physically separated from a corresponding fluidic chamber and electrode, such as by an insulating material (not shown), which may be an oxide layer.

[0028] As shown, the fluidic actuator control circuit 104 may include on-die logic 108, for instance an on-die logic circuit. As discussed herein, the controller 102 may generate data 110 to cause the fluidic actuator control circuit 104 to control the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n. In addition, the controller 102 may monitor a condition of a selected fluidic chamber associated with a selected fluidic actuator 106-1 to 106-n. In some examples, based on receipt of the data 110, the on-die logic 108 may suppress an operation of a selected fluidic actuator of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n corresponding to the selected fluidic chamber for a predetermined time period. As discussed herein, the selected fluidic actuator may be a predefined group of actuators among the fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n or a certain one of the fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n.

[0029] FIG. 2A depicts a block diagram of an example system in which the example apparatus 100 depicted in FIG. 1 may be implemented. FIG. 2B depicts a block diagram of an example actuator group 202-1 , which may be implemented in the system 200 depicted in FIG. 2A. The example actuator group 202-1 may include a fluidic actuator control circuit 104 and a plurality of primitives 222-1 to 222-p, in which the variable “p” may represent a value greater than one. FIG. 2C depicts a schematic diagram of an example on-die logic 108, which may be implemented in the example fluidic actuator control circuit 104 depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2B. FIG. 2D depicts a diagram of a waveform of data packets to control the fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n, which may be implemented in the example apparatus 100 and/or the example system 200 depicted in FIGS. 1 , 2A, and 2C. It should be understood that the example apparatus 100 depicted in FIG. 1 , and the example system 200 depicted in FIG. 2A may include additional features and that some of the features described herein may be removed and/or modified without departing from the scopes of the apparatus 100 and/or the system 200.

[0030] In some examples, a print controller 204 may send data packets 206 via a data channel to the controller 102. The data packets 206 may include native FPG or DBD FPG. The controller 102 may include a data parser 208 coupled to the print controller 204 to receive the data packets 206. The data parser 208 may distribute primitive and address data 210 to actuator groups 202- 1 to 202-m, in which the variable “m” may represent a value greater than one.

[0031] The primitive and address data 210 may be standard primitive and address data where the data 210 identifies which fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n are to fire. The primitive and address data 210 may be generated based on the FPG or DBD FPG. For instance, the primitive and address data 210 may be firing data or DBD firing data in which the data for most columns will be based on standard FPG data, but for one column or actuator group, will identify a single primitive that is to be fired for measurement using DBD methods. In other words, the address data 210 (e.g., FPG data) may be serialized high-speed data for the columns and the data parser 208 may deserialize and distribute the address data 210 to each column separately.

[0032] The data parser 208 may communicate to a monitoring controller 212 that a DBD FPG has been received. The monitoring controller 212 may communicate, via an I/O bus 214, to a respective actuator group 202-1 to 202-m, a DBD measure command and receive DBD data from the fluidic actuator 106-1 to 106-n under test.

[0033] The data parser 208 may communicate to a fire signal generator 216 that FPG data packets have been received from the print controller 204, in which the FPG data packets may identify the fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n that are to be fired. The fire signal generator 216 may generate and communicate fire signals 218 to respective actuator groups 202-1 to 202-m to cause certain ones of the fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n to fire.

[0034] In some examples, the monitoring controller 212 may communicate a monitoring-in-progress signal 220 to a respective actuator group 202-1 to 202- m. The monitoring-in-progress signal 220 may identify the actuator group 202-1 to 202-m that is associated with a selected fluidic actuator that is to be measured. In some examples, each of the actuator groups 202-1 to 202-m may include a fluidic actuator circuit and/or an on-die logic 108, as depicted in FIG. 2B. In response to the monitoring-in-progress signal 220, the on-die logic 108 may suppress operation of a fluidic actuator under test (e.g., a selected fluidic actuator) for a predetermined amount of time or suppress operation of a group of fluidic actuators associated with the fluidic actuator under test for a predetermined amount of time. In some examples, the controller 102 may control the on-die logic 108 to concurrently suppress the operation of the selected fluidic actuator and allow normal operation of the plurality of fluidic actuators other than the selected fluidic actuator during a predetermined time period.

[0035] For instance, as depicted in FIG. 1 , the on-die logic 108 may be coupled to a plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n. The fluidic actuators 106- 1 to 106-n may include a primitive, and as such, the on-die logic 108 in this case may control a single primitive. In some examples, each of the actuator groups 202-1 to 202-m as depicted in FIG. 2A may include an on-die logic 108 to control the fluidic actuators in the respective actuator groups 202-1 to 202-m. In this case, each actuator group 202-1 to 202-m may be a primitive, in which a separate on- die logic 108 may control each primitive. By way of particular example, the fluidic actuator control circuit 104 may control a subset of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n, in which the subset of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n includes a primitive of fluidic actuators. The primitive of fluidic actuators may be a group of fluidic actuators, such as for instance the actuator group 202- 1 to 202-m, in which a single fluidic actuator among the group of fluidic actuators is operated at a given time. [0036] Alternatively or additionally, as depicted in FIG. 2B, an on-die logic 108 may be coupled to multiple primitives 222-1 to 222-p to be controlled together as a group. In some examples, the fluidic actuator control circuit 104 may control a subset of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n to be suppressed for the predetermined time period. The subset of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106- 1 to 106-n may include the selected fluidic actuator corresponding to the selected fluidic chamber. For instance, the subset of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n may be the actuator group 202-1 , which are to be suppressed as a group for the predetermined time period. The fluidic actuator control circuit 104 may also control remaining ones of the plurality of fluidic actuators, for instance outside of the actuator group 202-1 , to operate normally during the predetermined time period.

[0037] In some examples, a single on-die logic 108 may control a plurality of primitives included in each of the actuator groups 202-1 to 202-m. For instance, as depicted in FIG. 2B, the actuator group 202-1 may include a plurality of primitives 222-1 to 222-p, each of which a single on-die logic 108 may suppress as a group. In this instance, the on-die logic 108 may allow the fire signal 218 and the primitive and address data 210 to pass to the primitives 222-1 to 222-p based on the status of the monitoring-in-progress signal 220. By way of particular example, the fluidic actuator control circuit 104 may control a subset of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n, in which the subset of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n includes a predefined number of primitives of fluidic actuators. The on-die logic may suppress all of the fluidic actuators in the predefined number of primitives of fluidic actuators based on the monitoring-in-progress signal 220 during the predetermined time period.

[0038] In some examples, the fluidic die may include a plurality of groups of fluidic actuators, in which each of the plurality of groups of fluidic actuators may be a primitive 222-1 to 222-p. By way of particular example, each fluidic actuator of the plurality of groups of fluidic actuators (e.g., primitives 222-1 to 222-p) may be associated with a respective fluidic chamber and each of the plurality of groups of fluidic actuators (e.g., primitive 222-1 to 222-p) may be controlled to cause one fluidic actuator per group to be actuated at a time. An on-die logic circuit (e.g., on- die logic 108) may be coupled to a predetermined number of the plurality of groups of fluidic actuators. A controller, such as the controller 102 and/or the fluidic actuator control circuit 104, may monitor a selected fluidic actuator among the plurality of groups of fluidic actuators. The on-die logic circuit may suppress operation of the predetermined number of the plurality of groups of fluidic actuators for a predetermined time period while the selected fluidic actuator is being monitored. In some examples, the controller 102 and/or the fluidic actuator control circuit 104 may control remaining ones of the plurality of groups of fluidic actuators to operate normally during the predetermined time period.

[0039] By way of particular example and for purposes of illustration, FIG. 2C depicts an example on-die logic 108. In this instance, the fluidic actuator control circuit 104 disposed on the fluidic die may include the on-die logic 108. The on-die logic 108 may include a plurality of logic gates to selectively prevent signals including print data, for instance a control signal, from reaching the selected fluidic actuator corresponding to the selected fluidic chamber during the predetermined time period. For instance, the on-die logic 108 may include AND functions coupled to each of the primitive and address data 210-1 (also referred to herein as a print data signal), a clock signal 210-2, and/or the fire signal 218. In this instance, the monitoring-in-progress signal 220 may pass through an inverter function before being input to the AND functions in order to disable the respective signals when the monitoring process is in progress.

[0040] In some examples, all of the primitive and address data 210-1 , a clock signal 210-2, and the fire signal 218 may be masked, or alternatively or additionally, the on-die logic 108 may suppress respective primitives 222-1 to 222-p based on a single signal being disabled.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 2D, a waveform for the data packets 206 received from the print controller 204 may include a plurality of native print data 224 when the monitoring-in-progress signal 220 is inactive. The native print data 224 may have a predefined period ti, for instance, 2 ps. In this case, data sent to and fired by all fluidic actuator groups 202-1 to 202-m may be normal print data. [0042] For purposes of illustration, it will be assumed that the print controller 204 identifies fluidic actuator group 202-1 among fluidic actuator groups 202-1 to 202-m and primitive 222-1 in the actuator group 202-1 as being the actuator group and primitive to be monitored. Initially, the print controller 204 may determine whether normal print data (FPG) or DBD data packets (DBD FPG) are to be sent. For instance, the print controller 204 may generate data 206, which may include native print data 224, data 226, and native print data 228, as depicted in FIG. 2D. Based on a determination that DBD data packets are to be sent, the print controller 204 may modify the data 226 such that the data for all actuators in the selected group 202-1 are nulled out, except that the data 230 and firing data 232 for the selected primitive 222-1 under test is made active. Data 230 and firing data 232 may identify which primitive in the actuator group 202-1 will undergo DBD measurement. In this instance, the print controller 204 may concurrently send normal print data 238 for all non-selected actuator groups 202- 2 to 202-m. The normal print data 238 may be associated with the plurality of fluidic actuators other than the selected fluidic actuator, and the on-die logic 108 may allow normal operation of the plurality of fluidic actuators other than the selected fluidic actuator during the predetermined time period t2 in response to receipt of the normal print data 238.

[0043] During the monitoring process, the on-die logic 108 may prevent the fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n in the selected actuator group 202-1 from firing for a predetermined time period t2. The predetermined time period t2 may be selected and/or may be based an amount of time to be used to monitor and test a selected fluidic actuator 106-1 and/or a selected actuator group 202-1. The predetermined time period t2 may thus be user-defined, for instance, around 10 ps. In addition, the monitoring controller 212 may generate and send the monitoring-in-progress signal 220 during the predetermined time period t ₂ . The monitoring-in-progress signal 220 associated with the selected fluidic actuator, and the on-die logic 108 may suppress the operation of the selected fluidic actuator for the predetermined time period t2 in response to the monitoring-in- progress signal 220. The on-die logic 108 may suppress or null out the fire signal 236 for the selected actuator group 202-1 during the predetermined time period t2. As such, for instance, print data 234 received for the selected actuator group 202-1 may be ignored. In some examples, when the on-die logic 108 is coupled to a plurality of primitives 222-1 to 222-p, the fire signal 236 may be nulled out for all primitives 222-1 to 222-p.

[0044] Alternatively or additionally, multiple on-die logic 108 may be disposed such that, for instance, a different on-die logic 108 may be coupled to each of the primitives 222-1 to 222-p. In this case, the print controller 204 may null out the firing signal 236 for a selected primitive 222-1 , while sending normal print data for non-selected primitives 222-2 to 222-p.

[0045] Turning now to FIG. 3, there is shown a flow diagram of an example method 300 for monitoring a fluidic actuator under test including suppressing print data 234 for groups of fluidic actuators associated with the fluidic actuator under test. It should be understood that the example method 300 may include additional features and that some of the features described herein may be removed and/or modified without departing from the scope of the example method 300.

[0046] At block 302, a controller 102 on a fluidic die may receive data 226 from a print controller 204 to monitor a fluidic actuator 106-1 under test among a plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n. At block 304, the controller 102 may send print data 238 to the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n based on the received data 110. At block 306, the controller 102 may generate, based on the received data 110, a first signal 220 indicating that a monitoring process for the fluidic actuator under test 106-1 is in progress.

[0047] At block 308, the on-die logic 108 may suppress the print data 234 for a group of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n associated with the fluidic actuator under test 106-1. The on-die logic 108 may suppress the fire signal 236 for a predetermined time period t2 based on the first signal 220 indicating that the monitoring process is in progress.

[0048] The controller 102 may control remaining ones of the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-2 to 106-n other than the group of fluidic actuators 202-1 associated with the fluidic actuator under test 106-1 to concurrently operate based on the print data 238 during the predetermined time period t2. [0049] Turning now to FIG. 4, there is shown a block diagram of an example non-transitory computer-readable medium 400 that may have stored thereon machine-readable instructions 402-408 to suppress print data for a group of fluidic actuators associated with a fluidic actuator under test. It should be understood that the example non-transitory computer-readable medium 400 depicted in FIG. 4 may include additional instructions and that some of the instructions described herein may be removed and/or modified without departing from the scope of the non-transitory computer-readable medium 400 disclosed herein.

[0050] The computer-readable medium 400 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The term “non-transitory” does not encompass transitory propagating signals. The description of the computer-readable medium 400 is also made with reference to the features depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 for purposes of illustration. Particularly, the controller 102 of the apparatus 100 or the print controller 204 implemented in the system 200 may execute some or all of the instructions 402-408 included in the computer-readable medium 400.

[0051] The computer-readable medium 400 may be implemented as a memory in the apparatus 100 or the system 200. The computer-readable medium 400 may be an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that contains or stores executable instructions. The memory may be, for example, Read Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, solid state drive, Random Access memory (RAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage device, an optical disc, or the like.

[0052] The computer-readable medium 400 may have stored thereon computer-readable instructions 402-408 that a processor or a controller, such as the controller 102 or the print controller 204 depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, may execute. The controller 102 or the print controller 204 may be a processor, a semiconductor-based microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or other hardware device. Although the apparatus 100 is depicted as having a single controller 102 and the system is depicted as having a single print controller 204, it should be understood that the apparatus 100 and/or the system may include additional controllers, processors, and/or cores without departing from a scope of the apparatus 100 and/or the system 200. In this regard, for instance, references to a single controller 102 or a single print controller 204 may be understood to additionally or alternatively pertain to multiple controllers 102 and/or multiple print controllers 204.

[0053] The controller 102 may fetch, decode, and execute the instructions 402 to receive data from a print controller 204 to monitor a fluidic actuator 106-1 under test among a plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n.

[0054] The controller 102 may fetch, decode, and execute the instructions 404 to send print data 210 to the plurality of fluidic actuators 106-1 to 106-n based on the received data 110.

[0055] The controller 102 may fetch, decode, and execute the instructions 406 to generate, based on the received data 110, a first signal 220 indicating that a monitoring process for the fluidic actuator group 202-1 under test is in progress.

[0056] The controller 102 may fetch, decode, and execute the instructions 408 to suppress the print data 234 and/or the fire signal 236 for a group of fluidic actuators 202-1 associated with the fluidic actuator 106-1 under test. The controller 102 may suppress the print data 234 and/or the fire signal 236 for a predetermined time period t2 based on the first signal 220 indicating that the monitoring process is in progress.

[0057] The controller 102 may control remaining ones of the groups of plurality of fluidic actuators 202-2 to 202-m other than the group of fluidic actuators 202-1 associated with the fluidic actuator under test 106-1 to concurrently operate based on the print data 238 during the predetermined time period t ₂ .

[0058] Although described specifically throughout the entirety of the instant disclosure, representative examples of the present disclosure have utility over a wide range of applications, and the above discussion is not intended and should not be construed to be limiting, but is offered as an illustrative discussion of aspects of the disclosure.

[0059] What has been described and illustrated herein is an example of the disclosure along with some of its variations. The terms, descriptions and figures used herein are set forth by way of illustration and are not meant as limitations. Many variations are possible within the spirit and scope of the disclosure, which is intended to be defined by the following claims - and their equivalents - in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.