Title of Invention

A METHOD FOR TRANSFERRING A SCANNED DOCUMENT FROM A MULTIFUNCTIONAL PERIPHERAL (MFP) DEVICE TO A REMOTELY CONNECTED DEVICE

Abstract The method is a non-interactive approach to transferring scanned data from an MFP device over a Network. This invention provides a relatively safe data transfer for general documents which do not need high level of security. This approach gives no overhead of SSH layer. Also no wastage of bandwidth when compared to method which suggests the usage of FTP for network transfer of scanned data.
Full Text FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates in general to the field of Multi Functional Peripheral devices (MFP) particularly those with scanners and to individual scanners. Further, this invention relates to scanners / MFPs which are connected to computers in a network. More particularly, this invention relates to a method for non-interactive scan and copy to remote destination using Remote Copy (RCP).
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
US Patent bearing number 6,388,761 proposes a multi functional peripheral device.
In this invention multi-function peripheral device serves as a peripheral device for an information processing unit and is capable of simultaneously executing a plurality functions by multi-task processing. The multi-function peripheral device includes: a transmission/reception unit that transmits and receives data, for performing a plurality of functions, between the multi-function peripheral device and the information processing device; a transmission unit that transmits and receives data to and from a remote transmission device via a transmission line; and a reception speed control unit that, when the transmission unit and the transmission/reception unit operate simultaneously, reduces reception speed at which the transmission/reception unit receives data from the information processing device.

The limitation of the invention in the said patent is that it DOES not propose any method to transfer scanned data from an MFP.
US Patent bearing number 6,604,157 proposes a system and method for allowing a user to select and scan from a peripheral to a target application on a host system.
This invention describes a system for scanning data into a host from a peripheral location. A peripheral, such as a multifunction peripheral having printer and scanner functionality, is coupled to a host, such as a personal computer. The system includes a user interface at the peripheral that can be utilized in selecting a desired target, such as an application or file, at the host. The peripheral user interface also can be used to select a networked site, such as a networked file. Thus, a user can scan desired data at the peripheral to a remote application or file without providing input at the user interface of the host.
Although the said patent talks about a system and method for transferring scanned data, it does not cover the followings:
1. It does NOT specify any particular application
2. It does NOT mention of whether the application to transfer the data runs in a INTERACTIVE or NON INTERACTIVE manner
3. The above patent does NOT cover the settings to be made on the Host PC
4. The patent does NOT cover any aspect of Authentication.

The present art is further discussed herein and the manner and mode of working of scan2ftp (Scan to File Transfer Protocol) is discussed with an illustration.
scan2ftp refers to the process where a document is scanned by an MFP device and then the scanned document is transferred to the required destination by using the ftp protocol.
Referring to figure 1, it is evident that in the present state of art, the document-transfer to the destination is a 2 step-process unless the ftp server is running on the end user's machine. The MFP sends the scanned data to the gateway from where it reaches its final destination through the Internet
File Transfer Protocol, better known as FTP, is a procedure used to upload and download files to and from your web server. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files.
Below is an example of making a ftp connection from the client end:
[phani@floyd ~]$ ftp [email protected] Connecting to siso.co.in... Please enter your username:phani Password: XXXXXXX
ftp> scan2sftp

scan2sftp basically scans a document on an MFP device and then transfers the scanned document to the required destination by using the sftp protocol.
sftp is an interactive file transfer program, similar to ftp, which performs all operations over an encrypted ssh transport. It may also use many features of ssh, such as public key authentication and compression, sftp connects and logs into the specified hostname, then enters an interactive command mode.
Below is an example of making an sftp connection from the client end;
[phani@floyd~]$ sftp [email protected] Connecting to siso.co.in...
The authenticity of host 'siso.co.in (9.182.4.125)' cannot be established.
RSA key fingerprint is 89:7e:08:24:67:c4:9f:24:14:30:08:13:73:02:7b:c2.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added 'siso.co.in,9.185.4.125' (RSA) to the list of known
hosts.
[email protected]'s
password:
sftp>
This invention explains a method for scanning a document and non-interactively

sending it to the required remote destination from MFP using the rep protocol wherein MFP device sends the scanned image as well as the receiving PC run the rsh service; maintaining a "rhosts" file in the user's home directory by both MFP/Host PC, preventing un-authorized access to the service using authentication mechanism.
The "rhosts" file contain the names of all the computers the user wants access to, and the respective username. The MFP uses the NIC to send the scanned data to the gateway from where it reaches its final destination through the Internet. The Scan2RCP Ul, the user sets the configuration for scanning and starts the scan process. An LCD module displays the data entered by the user through the On-MFP keyboard and the scanner module API is invoked by the Ul code to scan the document. The scanner module provides the raw data of the scanned document to the TIFF/PDF/JPEG modules which converts the data to required format, compresses and sends the data to the NIC interface through the Shared memory interface. The NIC interface reads the scanned file through the Shared memory interface and sets up a TCP/IP connection to the remote destination and rcp'c the data on to the Host PC where the remote shell service (rsh) on the Host machine is invoked before the remote copy. RCP is non-interactive and generally used to transfer only a single image/text of scanned data to the destination. With RCP clients, a single command transfers a single file or group of files. RCP connections does not timeout and a connection is kept open to the remote destination as long as the internet connection remains online. With RCP, only one channel is used for transferring data. With RCP scanned document is directly copied to the remote

destination in a single step. To prevent un-authorized access to the service, the service is seamlessly integrated with standard Network Authentication mechanisms such as Kerberos, SMB etc. To prevent un-authorized access to the service an option is provided to enable/disable Authentication support.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention proposes a method for scanning a document and non-interactively sending it to the required remote destination from MFP using the rep (Remote copy) as the protocol.
The following section gives a detailed explanation of scan2rcp and the reasons for it being best suited for scanned data transfers over network where encryption is NOT much of a priority.
The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows Scan to FTP communication Model.
Figure 2 shows Scan to RCP communication Model.

Figure 3 illustrates the interaction between the NIC and MFP.
Figure 4 shows Ul Flow MFP end.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description and drawings are illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the innovation. Numerous specific details are described to provide a through understanding of the present invention. However in certain instances well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail.
Figure 2 shows MFP sending the scanned data to the gateway from where it reaches its final destination through the Internet. Referring to figure 2, both the machines (MFP sending the scanned image as well as the receiving PC) should have the rsh service running. In addition, in order to use the rep command, both MFP/Host PC (copied from and copied to) must have a ".rhosts" file in the user's home directory (the rhosts required on the MFP only if we need to transfer an image from Host PC to MFP). This file should contain the names of all the computers the user wants access to, and the respective username on each. The format is:

hilbert.ms.washington.edu ms100 sauLu.washington.edu 8999999 homer.u.washington.edu johnjtoe zeno.math.washington.edu john_doe
Given below are examples of the command syntaxes that the User would require to type on the Ul of the MFP to transfer scanned files to the remote computer using rep. The rep command is similar to cp except that one of the file names is pre-pended with the name of the remote computer.
Example 1: Copy "imagel" from the MFP to Homer (the name of the remote
computer)
rep imagel homer.u.washington.edu:file2
This creates "image2" (in user's home directory on Homer) which is a copy of "image2"on the local machine.
Important Note: The previous example works only if the user has the same user name on both systems.
Example 2: The username on Hilbert (MFP) is ms100, and on Homer it's
john_doe
rep imagel [email protected]:file2

This creates "image2" in the john_doe account on Homer, which is a copy of "imager in the ms100 account on Hilbert (the MFP).
The MFP uses the NIC (Network Interface Card) to send the scanned data to the gateway from where it reaches its final destination through the Internet. Figure 3 illustrates the interaction between the NIC and MFP.
As can be seen from the stack diagram in Fig. 3, through the Scan2RCP Ul, the user sets the configuration for scanning, authenticates (Optional and Configurable; Uses the NIC Authentication Client for authentication) and starts the scan process. The LCD module displays the data entered by the user through the On-MFP keyboard. The scanner module APIs is invoked in turn by the Ul code to scan the document. The scanner module provides the raw data of the scanned document to the TIFF/PDF/JPEG modules which in-turn uses converts the data to required format, compresses and sends the data to the NIC interface through the Shared memory interface.
The NIC interface reads the scanned file through the Shared memory interface. It sets up a TCP/IP connection to the remote destination and then rcp'c the data on to the Host PC. The remote shell service (rsh) on the Host machine is invoked before the remote copy.

Figure 4 shows Ul Flow MFP end. First the user Choose the menu option -Scan2rcp on LCD on MFP device. User can Select Scan Preferences submenu for setting Resolution, Scan mode(Color, B/W) etc. The user then Choose StartScan sub-menu under Scan2RCP. To prevent un-authorized access to the service, the above service can be seamlessly integrated with any of the standard Network Authentication mechanisms such as Kerberos, SMB etc Authentication to SMB/Kerberos servers is based on what you intend to support. Then it is checked to see whether the authentication is enabled. If yes, the interface prompts for entering the username and password. After the authentication is done rpc command is entered to remote destination.
Advantages of using rep over ftp to transfer scanned data:
1. By default, sftp/ftp is interactive in nature, whereas rep is non-interactive. Most of the time it is required to transfer only a single image/text of scanned data to the destination. Thus, an interactive approach is an additional overhead.
2. The main difference in practical operation between RCP and SFTP/FTP is that for SFTP or FTP a connection is to be set up and then a whole series of operations (including many which are not actually transfers, such as listing or even deleting files on the remote system) are carried out. With many RCP clients, a single command normally transfers a single file or group of files

3. One of the most salient differences between RCP and FTP is that RCP connections will not timeout after 3 minutes or so, a connection can be kept open to the remote destination as long as the internet connection remains online.
4. With ftp/sftp, two separate channels are setup. One for control operations and the other for data. This means that un-necessary network bandwidth is being wasted. With RCP, only one channel is used for transferring data.
5. Also, unless the ftp server is running on the remote destination, it is a 2 step process to transfer scanned data with ftp. In the first step, the MFP uploads the scanned image to the ftp server. Second, the user connects to the ftp server from the remote destination and then downloads the scanned image to his/her machine. Whereas with rep, it is a ONE step process, where the scanned document is directly copied to the remote destination.
Referring to the flowchart in figure 3, the object of invention is to provide the end user a non-interactive usage option to transfer a scanned document from an MFP device to a remote destination. To prevent un-authorized access to this service, the above service can be seamlessly integrated with any of the standard Network Authentication mechanisms such as Kerberos, SMB etc
The foregoing description of illustrated embodiments of the present invention, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed herein. While specific

embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes only, various equivalent modifications are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize and appreciate. As indicated, these modifications may be made to the present invention in light of the foregoing description of illustrated embodiments of the present invention and are to be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Thus, while the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosures, and it will be appreciated that in some instances some features of embodiments of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth. Therefore, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the essential scope and spirit of the present invention. It is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular terms used in following claims and/or to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include any and all embodiments and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended claims.
The above-presented description is of the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention. The manner and process of making and using it is in such a full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable to any person skilled in

the art to which it pertains to make and use this invention. New embodiments in particular, which also lie within the scope of the invention can be created, in which different details of the different examples can in a purposeful way be combined with one another.
This invention is however, susceptible to modifications and alternate constructions from that disclosed above which are fully equivalent. Consequently, it is not the intention to limit this invention to the particular embodiment disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications and alternate constructions coming within the spirit and scope of the invention as generally expressed by the following claims which particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter of the invention.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS
MFP -- Multi Functional Peripheral. Ul - User Interface. FTP - File Transfer Protocol RCP -- Remote Copy


WE CLAIM
1. A method for scanning a document and non-interactively sending it to the required remote destination from MFP using the rep protocol wherein MFP device sends the scanned image as well as the receiving PC run the rsh service] maintaining a "rhosts" file in the user's home directory by both MFP/Host PC, preventing un-authorized access to the service using authentication mechanism.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the "rhosts" file contain the names of all the computers the user wants access to, and the respective username.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the MFP uses the NIC to send the scanned data to the gateway from where it reaches its final destination through the Internet.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein using the Scan2RCP Ul, the user sets the configuration for scanning and starts the scan process.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein an LCD module displays the data entered by the user through the On-MFP keyboard and the scanner module API is invoked by the Ul code to scan the document.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the scanner module provides the raw

data of the scanned document to the TIFF/PDF/JPEG modules which converts the data to required format, compresses and sends the data to the NIC interface through the Shared memory interface.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the NIC interface reads the scanned file through the Shared memory interface and sets up a TCP/IP connection to the remote destination and rcp'c the data on to the Host PC where the remote shell service (rsh) on the Host machine is invoked before the remote copy.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein RCP is non-interactive and generally used to transfer only a single image/text of scanned data to the destination.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein with RCP clients, a single command transfers a single file or group of files.
10. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein RCP connections does not timeout and a connection is kept open to the remote destination as long as the internet connection remains online.
11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein with RCP, only one channel is used for transferring data.
12. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein with RCP scanned document is directly copied to the remote destination in a single step.

13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein to prevent un-authorized access to the service, the service is seamlessly integrated with standard Network Authentication mechanisms such as Kerberos, SMB etc.
14. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein to prevent un-authorized access to the service an option is provided to enable/disable Authentication support.
15. A method for scanning a document and non-interactively sending it to the required remote destination from MFP using the rep protocol MFP substantially as herein described particularly with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 20th day of June 2005
Signature

R. JEEVANANDHAM
Patent Agent
Agent for the Applicant

Documents:

0759-che-2005-abstract.pdf

0759-che-2005-claims.pdf

0759-che-2005-correspondnece-others.pdf

0759-che-2005-description(complete).pdf

0759-che-2005-drawings.pdf

0759-che-2005-form 1.pdf

0759-che-2005-form 26.pdf

0759-che-2005-others.pdf

759-CHE-2005 AMENDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 AMENDED CLAIMS 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 AMENDED CLAIMS 13-03-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 EXAMINATION REPORT REPLY RECEIVED 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 FORM-1 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 FORM-13 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 FORM-13 19-06-2006.pdf

759-CHE-2005 FORM-5 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 01-02-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 AMENDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION 13-03-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 13-03-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 FORM-13 13-03-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 OTHERS 13-03-2013.pdf

759-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 13-03-2013.pdf


Patent Number 255895
Indian Patent Application Number 759/CHE/2005
PG Journal Number 14/2013
Publication Date 05-Apr-2013
Grant Date 28-Mar-2013
Date of Filing 20-Jun-2005
Name of Patentee SAMSUNG INDIA SOFTWARE OPERATIONS PRIVATE LIMITED
Applicant Address BAGMANE LAKEVIEW,BLOCK B NO.66/1 BAGMANE TECH PARK,C.V.RAMAN NAGAR,BYRASANDRA BANGALORE 560 093
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 RAMPURA KRISHNAMURTHY PHANIRAM EMPLOYED AT SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD, INDIA SOFTWARE OPERATIONS (SISO), HAVING ITS OFFICE AT, J.P. TECHNO PARK, 3/1, MILLERS ROAD, BANGALORE 560 052, KARNATAKA, INDIA
PCT International Classification Number G03G 15/00
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 NA