Patent Application
20230017293
This application relates generally to printing via a print server. The application relates more particularly to a connector server between a multifunction peripheral and a print server wherein the connector server includes multiple network adapters.
Document processing devices include printers, copiers, scanners and e-mail gateways. More recently, devices employing two or more of these functions are found in office environments. These devices are referred to as multifunction peripherals (MFPs) or multifunction devices (MFDs). As used herein, MFPs are understood to comprise printers, alone or in combination with other of the afore-noted functions. It is further understood that any suitable document processing device can be used.
Printing for larger enterprises may be managed with a print server, such as with managed print services offered by Pharos or PaperCut. In such systems, a user can send a document to a print server, and release their document for printing at any MFP by logging in. Login can be by a smart card, such as a near-field communication (NFC) device or a radio frequency identification device (RFID). Login can also be accomplished by entering login information on a MFP user interface, or by scanning a barcode or QR code on an MFP.
Various embodiments will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings wherein:
The systems and methods disclosed herein are described in detail by way of examples and with reference to the figures. It will be appreciated that modifications to disclosed and described examples, arrangements, configurations, components, elements, apparatuses, devices methods, systems, etc. can suitably be made and may be desired for a specific application. In this disclosure, any identification of specific techniques, arrangements, etc. are either related to a specific example presented or are merely a general description of such a technique, arrangement, etc. Identifications of specific details or examples are not intended to be, and should not be, construed as mandatory or limiting unless specifically designated as such.
In certain networked printing environments, a connector server is disposed between MFPs and a print server. A connector server, such as one running Toshiba TEC's eConnector software, provides a connection between the MFPs and a print server, such as-party server, such as Pharos Uniprint, through a software application called a connector. While Pharos Uniprint is used in example embodiment herein, it is to be understood that any suitable print management system can be used. A connector server can also do account management, such as quota management or cost assessments. A connector can also subscribe to device event notifications from MFPs. The device notification service of the eConnector connector calls the Subscribe( ) method of MFP output management to subscribe to events. A connector server may have multiple network adapters. If device notifications are attached to different adapters, certain events can be lost or disabled. By way of particular example, a notification service may be attached
By way of particular example, there can be problems when a device notification service is attached to a network mapper (NMAP) adapter instead of a connector's network interface card (NIC) adapter. By way of example, due to a difference in adapter assignments, users may be able manually perform authentication by logging in with their credentials on an MFP, but they cannot perform card authentication.
A connector is bound to a specific adapter in the system. If the device notification service is specifically bound to a second adapter, the service may ignore event-related traffic received from the MFP on the first adapter. In addition, if the adapter to which the device notification service is bound fails, the service may fail if other adapters are not used.
Example embodiments herein solves such problems by allowing the device notification service to blind to the multiple correct adapters simultaneously. It can be described as follows:
The connector gets list of local IP addresses
The connector removes unavailable adapters.
The connector calls MFP output management to subscript to events.
The MFP checks each IP address to make sure it is subscribed correctly.
The MFP sends events to the connector.
The device notification service can use additional adapters on the same network. If a failure occurs, another adapter will be used so that the device notification service can continue to work uninterrupted. The connector can display a list of IP addresses to allow user selection. The connector can automatically delete unavailable or disabled adapters according to administrator settings. For example, delete the following adapters:
Throughput=0
Physical address starts with 00
VPN adapter
Virtual adapter
If the connector server configured by the user has multiple network adapters on the same physical network and protocol subnet, a user may experience unexpected results. Example embodiments herein create multiple TCP/IP connections for a single session. It can be described as follows:
A device notification service can use additional adapters on the same network. If a failure occurs, another adapter will be used so that the device notification service can continue to work uninterrupted. The connector can display a list of IP addresses to allow the user to select. The connector can automatically delete unavailable or disabled adapters according to administrator settings. For example, delete the following adapters.
Throughput=0
Physical address starts with 00
VPN adapter
Virtual adapter
Wi-Fi adapter
In the illustration, MFP 104 includes a touchscreen user interface 127, shown in exploded view at 124′. Print jobs that have been sent to print server 120 can be released by logging in at touchscreen user interface 127, or by a smart card such as NFC or RFID. Login can also be accomplished by reading a barcode, such as QR code 128 on a user device such as smartphone 132. Once logged in, a web interface to print server 120 is suitably displayed on touchscreen 125. However, connection between MFP 104 and print server 120 is handled by connector server 116. Connector server 116 subscribes to device or event notification from MFP 104, and passes a web interface from print server 120. Event notifications are relayed from MFP 104 to print server 120, suitably by subscription.
Connector server 116 includes two or more network adapters, such as an NMAP, NIC, virtual private network (VPN), virtual adapter or Wi-Fi adapter. Certain events, such as a manual login on MFP 104, may arrive through one adapter while other events, such as smartcard or QR code login, may arrive through another adapter. Connector server 116 can relay all monitored events from MFP 104 to print server 120, regardless of which network adapter of the connector server actually received a notification.
Turning now to
Processor 202 is also in data communication with a storage interface 208 for reading or writing to a storage 216, suitably comprised of a hard disk, optical disk, solid-state disk, cloud-based storage, or any other suitable data storage as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art.
Processor 202 is also in data communication with a network interface 210 which provides an interface to a network interface controller (NIC) 214, which in turn provides a data path to any suitable wired interface or physical network connection 220, or to a wireless data connection via wireless network interface 218. Example wireless data connections include cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, wireless universal serial bus (wireless USB), satellite, and the like. Example wired interfaces include Ethernet, USB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), Lightning, telephone line, or the like.
Processor 202 can also be in data communication with any suitable user input/output (I/O) interface 219 which provides data communication with user peripherals, such as displays, keyboards, mice, track balls, touch screens, or the like.
Also in data communication with data bus 212 is a document processor interface 222 suitable for data communication with the document rendering system 200, including MFP functional units. In the illustrated example, these units include copy hardware 240, scan hardware 242, print hardware 244 and fax hardware 246 which together comprise MFP functional hardware 250. It will be understood that functional units are suitably comprised of intelligent units, including any suitable hardware or software platform.
Turning now to
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the spirit and scope of the inventions.
