Title of Invention

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING PRINTING ERRORS IN A CLUSTERED PRINTER NETWORK

Abstract The present inventio0n relates to a method of harnessing the COTS (Commodity off the shelf) networked MFPS/Printers to form a system that can grow/shrink on the fly to enaqble error recovery while making hard copies. The new art targets a method of building a distributed and dynamic system which is capable of automatically recovering from errors, utilizing the currently available hardware such as network capable multifunctional peri[herals and small printers (with possible simple firmware modification). The logic and the intelligence of the system are completely distributed and the system is dynamic/programmable.
Full Text FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates, in general, to the multifunctional peripheral (MFP) devices including scanners, printers, copiers, etc. Further, this invention relates to a cluster of loosely knit printers or multifunctional peripherals (such as those which include any/all of CCD device, copier, scanner and facsimile device along with a device that is capable of making hard copies of the digital documents) that interconnect with each other using a network interface device wherein each member of the system is expected to possess certain amount of intelligence to enable error handling. More particularly, this invention encompasses a hardcopy error recovery mechanism for a cluster of printers and multi functional devices that posses central or node level intelligence.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In order to understand the existing technology in the field of this invention, a brief overview of the following US patents is presented.
US Patent: 6,707,563 titled "Multiple print engine with error handling capability":
The above patent describes a multiple print engine configuration which allows a plurality of workstations to create individual print jobs and then transfer them to a distributing processor. The distributing processor is operable to spool the jobs in a print spooler and then perform software RIP on the print jobs. The RIP process divides the jobs into multiple individual jobs which are stored in the page buffer. An image task manager in conjunction with an engine manager is then operable to selectively distribute the pages to multiple print engines. They are distributed in such a manner that they are placed in the output bins in the order that the pages were received in the print jobs.
US Patent: 6,598,087 titled "Methods and apparatus for network-enabled virtual printing)":
This specification describes a virtual printer for transmitting information from one application to another application. In one embodiment of the said invention, the virtual printer includes a print driver for capturing information, and a communication system for communicating the captured information to a remote system.
The related art mentioned in US patent no. 6,707,563 has a structure that comprises of a print server that perform many tasks such as rasterizing the data, distributing the data and doing error recovery with the help of error messages from client.
The second patent under related art section (patent number 6,598,087) talks about how to submit a print job to a virtual printing system via network (using HTTPS/ mail) to a computer acting as a virtual printer and the art of distributing the same.
In both the related arts, there is a central server which does most of the processing. The tasks that come to the central server always which never does any print job and this task is always forwarded to a real printer (Engine). The central server is supposed to posses enough processing power and application programs (which translates to more memory) for distributing the job, arranging the printer pages in order or to provide help in doing so.
Referring now to figure 1, a block diagram of the overall operation of the virtual printing system is given. A plurality of workstations 10 are provided, which workstations 10 comprise general personal computers or other terminals that allow a user to create print jobs. Each of the workstations is networked through a network interface 12, which is a conventional type of general network interface such as an Ethernet RTM network interface. This allows each workstation 10 to send its print job to a central processor 14, which processor is operable to process the print jobs in accordance with the system of the above referred invention and distribute these print jobs to multiple print engines 16. As described in the patent document, the processor 14 is operable to disassemble the print job, parse the print job into different paces and distribute the parsed pages in a predetermined manner in
accordance with the present invention. A print job, although initiated as a series of pages, is sent as a single job to a printer. Typically, printers receive the print job in a conventional manner, which is a string of digits and the printers determine whether the codes are for an end of page command, etc. However, most print operations within a given workstation 10 are designed such that the print job is to be sent to a single printer and, therefore, the codes are all "bundled" in a common string or job.
Figure 2 is a block diagram of a virtual printer 400. Virtual printer 400 may, for example, be implemented in financial officer computer. Printer 400 includes an application layer 402 that communicates with a graphical display interface 404, a user interface 406, and a spooler interface 408, e.g., WinSpool in the Windows operating system. Interface 404 communicates with a graphics device interface 410 that communicates with a print driver 412. Print driver 412 captures text output, e.g., in ASCII, while providing a reasonable approximation of the document layout. Graphical components are discarded. Since the output is plain text, driver 412 supports fixed width fonts to help preserve document layout. Other fonts are supported through substitution with the designated fixed width font. Additionally, the supported fonts are small point sizes, in order to prevent the application from truncating, or overlaying text. Driver 412 also supports large paper sizes (E or larger), to prevent text from wrapping.
Virtual printer 400 also includes a spooler 414 that communicates with WinSpool 408 and GDI 410. Spooler 414 communicates with a print driver user interface 416 and a print processor 418, which communicate with a language port monitor. Interface 416 allows custom properties to be associated with the virtual printer. These properties include information that is required to transmit information over the Internet. These properties are stored to preserve the settings with the user's profile, and include the URL to post the data to, UserlD, Password, Password Policy, Always Ask (every time a document is submitted, the port monitor prompts the user for their password), and Remember Password (the print driver user interface stores the password, and provides the password to the port monitor).
Additionally, and when transmitting information to be extracted as described in the said patent application, in print scraping, print driver user interface 416 limits properties of the printer, so the user cannot alter the layout of the document. For example, driver 412 does not allow the user to alter the paper size. The paper size is fixed to huge paper (E or larger) to reduce the possibility of wrapping. The Driver does not allow the user to select multiple copies for printing, nor does driver 412 allow a user to select duplex printing. Driver 412 also supports small, fixed width fonts, through substitution, and discards graphics.
Even though the systems described herein above are somewhat effective in achieving their respective objectives, they have some weaknesses and drawbacks.
1. The related art on multiple print engines always needs a central server which can process the entire job and make sure that the job is complete.
2. It always distributes the jobs, which make collection of printed copies a considerable task.
3. It sends out data after rasterizing. The normal printers need modification to recognize rasterized data instead of the data that come as PCL/PJL etc.
4. The cluster is more or less static. It needs dedicated hardware.
5. It is a system that has all the data sources on one side of the server and all print engines on other side. Hence it does not address problems that arose when the sink itself becomes the source
6. The second system is more centered on just distributing the job to many printers. It does not have any auto error recovery means. It needs full fledged computer and it is driver based.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of this invention is to invent a hardcopy error recovery mechanism for a cluster of printers and MFP devices that posses central or node level intelligence.
It is another object of this invention to invent a method of harnessing the COTS (Commodity off the shelf) networked MFPS/Printers to form a system that can grow/shrink on the fly to enable error recovery while making hard copies.
The present art targets a method of building a distributed and dynamic system which is capable of automatically recovering from errors, utilizing the currently available hardware such as network capable multifunctional peripherals and small printers (with possible simple firmware modification). The logic and the intelligence of the system are completely distributed and the system is dynamic/programmable.
Accordingly, this invention comprises a method of building a distributed and dynamic system of multifunctional peripheral devices including printing devices on a network which is capable of automatically recovering from errors comprising the steps of:
a. populating every MFP in the system with the list of peer MFPs;
b. capturing an error by an MFP;
c. checking with the next peer from the said list when error occurs;
d. transferring the remaining job to the new MFP;
e. intimating the initial user about the transfer; and
f. passing a count to keep the total number of pages/copies that need to be printed to the new device.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings and the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates load balancing and error recovery with plurality of print engines in prior art.
Figure 2 shows the architecture of a virtual printer as available prior art
Figure 3 is a pictorial representation of the proposed architecture.
Figure 4 shows message and data transmission between network peers.
Figure 5 shows a flow chart of the proposed method.
Figure 6 illustrates the updating of peer list according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail.
When a print job is on, there can be many errors that cause the print job to be halted. Operator intervention is usually required to resolve such conditions. But at times, this too becomes time consuming and the job is eventually delayed. Paper jams, over heating or paper/ink getting over are some of the issues that can cause such situations. In more non conventional systems such as multifunctional peripherals, one can think of other errors such as memory insufficiency etc. Example of one such situation is that a delayed fax has taken up almost all memory and there is a requirement for collate copy/print. One needs to store entire data on MFP to do the collate copy, else for multiple copies, the data needs to be sent to the MFP again and again. Under such circumstances, the device can contact another device (whose address is stored in the memory of the former device) and transfer the
remaining job to the new device provided it is free/has sufficient memory to accommodate new job. This will be known when the first machine tries to contact the next machine. The second machine will reject the job if it won't be in a position to process the same. The first machine will then contact some other machine present in its list to complete the unfinished job.
Since most of the multi function devices have a network card and a general purpose processor, the task of discovering the error and taking an action on the same can be left to the device it self. The new method is as follows.
1. Every MFP has a list of peer MFPs that is populated either by an operator initially or done with the help of printer discovery protocols or an extension of the same.
2. When a MFP captures an error, it checks with the next peer from its list and transfers the remaining job to the new MFP. Capturing these errors is done by most of the MFPs today. Toner level, paper jam & memory remaining etc will be known to the system as they occur. The sensors monitoring the toner level and paper jam will intimate the device about the corresponding errors, whereas, the memory level will always be known to the system as the same information gets updated when a new job is added or finished.
3. If small printers which support this are available, they can communicate with an application running in the PC to which they are attached and communicate with rest of the system. This will give the option of including the printers without network support to participate in the cluster. (This is not a dedicated print server. It is a normal application like a print server combined with a simple program that can choose a free peripheral from a set of MFPs and other such servers running in the network.)
4. Each time a job is transferred in this manner, the initial user is intimated about the transfer. The final device in the chain sends a message if the job is processed completely or if it is dropped after certain number of futile tries. The intimation is sent using e-mails. This can be sent to the original owner or to the administrator of the first machine as decided at the time of job submission. Optionally a network message can be sent to a particular machine. The number of retries will be transmitted along with the job. This will act like 'time to live' and will be decremented after every handover. When this number becomes zero, the job is dropped.
Figure 3 shows a proposed system with multiple MFPs connected to the network. The network consists of multifunctional peripheral devices including scanners, printers, copiers, etc. This cluster of loosely knit printers or multifunctional peripherals that interconnect with each other using a network interface device wherein each member of the system is expected to possess certain amount of intelligence to enable error handling. Since most of the multi function devices have a network card and a general purpose processor, it can discover the error and take an action on the same.
Figure 4 Shows the diagrammatic representation of the working of such a cluster. The administrator initially populates the peer list or enables the auto discovery of cluster members. This is a one time activity. When a submitted job is blocked due to any error, the system sends the job to the next printer in the list. The next printer does the same if there is any error in the execution of the job. The handover is communicated to the owner so that the tracking of the document becomes easier. At the end, when the job is over, a message is sent from the final machine to the owner.
Figure 5 gives the flow chart of how the invention works. A job is first submitted to a member in the system. Then a check is made to ensure the job whether done successfully. If the job is done successfully a message is sent to the owner of the job giving the status. Again a check is made to see which file is having the error. Then the client which is free to execute the interrupted job is found. If a client is detected, the rest of the job is assigned to the new client and this is notified to the owner. There is a specified time for which a free client is searched to take up the job. If the time is out a failure notice is send and the job is stored or discarded.
The machines can discover each other using broadcast and add other machines to its own list. If any of these machines are found to be disconnected from the network, they will be removed from the dynamic list of the other machines. (Since many machines can be discovered in this manner, operator should limit such discovery to local network by defining proper masks). But if one machine is manually added by an administrator, the administrator alone can remove the same.
In the present invention, a list of peer printers that can be populated dynamically/with the help of an operator is made available to the devices on the network. Further, the present invention also uses the concept of transferring the half completed job from one MFP from other to complete the same. A count of the total number of pages/copies that need to be printed is kept. This is also passed to the new device.
The peer list allows the group to expand with out much hardware change. Existing technologies such as printer discovery protocol or an extension of the same (if required) to make it dynamic are used. It is possible to have systems that can determine the geographic location of multifunction peripherals. Samsung Korea is working on one such system. This invention can be combined with the above mentioned one to enable the printer to determine a nearest neighbor. This can optionally be nearest neighbor to the actual owner of the job. (In the later case, the owner's geographical location needs to be made known to the printer)
The followings are the advantageous of the present invention:
• It is easy to add/delete a member to this system
• The system does not do load balancing etc like its predecessors. This makes it light weight. This is because the handover occurs only when there is an error. Since there is no deliberate distribution of the job, and also because the remaining job is always handed over to one server, which is next in the list, the system under consideration is not meant to do much processing w.r.t. load balancing. This may not be fully true when we try to club this with the
idea of selecting peers which are geographically closer.
• The system does not require any change in existing hardware, but minimal software changes are needed
• It helps the operator to save time by handling the already running jobs during an error is fixed
• Since the each member does a handover only when there is error, there is not much requirement for any special method of collecting the document. Chances are very less that the job will undergo more than 2/3 handovers. (This follows from the fact that the probability of error on different servers is independent of each other. Hence, the combined probability of more than 2 or 3 servers simultaneously experiencing errors will be very small)
• When a new job is given to a member, it can act as the central server for that job (only if necessary). This is possible since the tasks are very light
Other embodiments of the present invention can be achieved by making the following modifications:
1. The system can work even without conventional printers connected to PCs (Only networked MFPS)
2. The system can work without dynamically updating of peers list using discovery protocol
3. The system can work as a simple software programs that are present on networked computers with printers
4. This system can in some ways be replaced by a set of print engines that are centrally controlled
It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted above. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a computer, printer or a multi function device.
Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart there from.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS
MFP: Used as a synonym for multifunctional peripheral, multifunction device etc. COTS: Commodity off the shelf
Printer discovery protocol: A network protocol that enables the printers in the network to be discovered.





WE CLAIM
1. A method of building a distributed and dynamic system of multifunctional peripheral devices including printing devices on a network which is capable of automatically recovering from errors comprising the steps of:
a. populating every MFP in the system with the list of peer MFPs;
b. capturing an error by an MFP;
c. checking with the next peer from the said list when error occurs;
d. transferring the remaining job to the new MFP;
e. intimating the initial user about the transfer; and
f. passing a count to keep the total number of pages/copies that need to be printed to the new device.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said method utilizes the currently available hardware such as network capable multifunctional peripherals and small printers.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the logic and the intelligence of the system are completely distributed and the system is dynamic/programmable.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said method involves transferring an incomplete print job to any of peers in the system when an error occurs.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the captured error is intimated to the device using the monitoring sensors in the MFP.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein under an error, the device can contact another device whose address is stored in its memory and transfer
the remaining job to the new device.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said job is transferred to the new device provided it is free and has sufficient memory to accommodate new job.
8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein intimating the initial user about the said transfer is done using e-mail and/or network message.
9. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein as the multi function devices have a network card and a general purpose processor, the task of discovering the error and taking an action on the same can be left to the device it self.
10. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein every MFP has a list of peer MFPs that is populated either by an operator initially or done with the help of printer discovery protocols.
11. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when an MFP captures an error, it checks with the next peer from its list and transfers the remaining job to the new MFP.
12. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein each time a job is transferred, the initial user is intimated about the transfer.
13. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the final device in the chain sends a message when the job is processed completely or when it is dropped after certain pre-specified number of futile tries.
14. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a count of the total number of pages/copies that needs to be printed is passed to the new device.
15. A method of building a distributed and dynamic system of multifunctional
peripheral devices including printing devices on a network which is capable of automatically recovering from errors such as substantially herein described particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

159-che-2005 abstract.pdf

159-CHE-2005 AMENDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION 06-03-2012.pdf

159-CHE-2005 AMENDED CLAIMS 06-03-2012.pdf

159-che-2005 claims.pdf

159-che-2005 correspondence others.pdf

159-che-2005 description (complete).pdf

159-che-2005 drawings.pdf

159-CHE-2005 EXAMINATION REPORT REPLY RECEIVED 06-03-2012.pdf

159-CHE-2005 FORM-1 06-03-2012.pdf

159-che-2005 form-1 19-06-2006.pdf

159-che-2005 form-1.pdf

159-che-2005 form-13 19-06-2006.pdf

159-che-2005 form-18.pdf

159-CHE-2005 FORM-5 06-03-2012.pdf

159-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 06-03-2012.pdf

159-che-2005 power of attorney.pdf


Patent Number 253003
Indian Patent Application Number 159/CHE/2005
PG Journal Number 24/2012
Publication Date 15-Jun-2012
Grant Date 14-Jun-2012
Date of Filing 24-Feb-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-560093
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 SUSEELAN BHARGAVI SARIN EMPLOYED AT SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO. LTD., INDIA SOFTWARE OPERTATIONS (SISO), HAVING ITS OFFICE AT, J.P. TECHNO PARK, 3/1, MILLERS ROAD, BANGALORE 560 052.
PCT International Classification Number G06C1/00
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 NA