Output management system and method for enabling printing via wireless devices

• US 20030078965A1
• Filed: 08/21/2002
• Published: 04/24/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Kyocera MITA Corporation (Kyocera Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Peerless Systems Corp. (Mobius Acquisition LLC)
• Inventors: Treptow, Jay A., Wong, Gregory H., Fan, Shengkuo, Luepke, Jack W., Curtis, Alan D., Cocotis, Thomas A., Emmett, David M., Henderson, Kristofer P., Nellor, Howard J.
• Application Number:
  US10/225,581
• Publication Number:
  US 20030078965A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1204 resulting in reduced user or operator actions, e.g. presetting, automatic actions, using hardware token storing data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/122 with regard to computing resources, e.g. memory, CPU
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1236 Connection management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1238 Secure printing, e.g. user identification, user rights for device usage, unallowed content, blanking portions or fields of a page, releasing held jobs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1265 Printing by reference, e.g. retrieving document/image data for a job from a source mentioned in the job
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1268 Job submission, e.g. submitting print job order or request not the print data itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1288 in client-server-printer device configuration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1292 Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/029 Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10015 Access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. using brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 : using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 : Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 : Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 : Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00416 : Multi-level menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32767 : in response to a user operation, e.g. actuating a switch H04N1/32769 and H04N1/32771 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00 : Hand-off or reselection arrangements

Abstract

A system and method for managing output such as printing, faxing, and e-mail over various types of computer networks. In one aspect, the method provides for printing via a wireless device. The system provides renderable data to the wireless device by which a user-interface (UI) may be rendered. The UI enables users to select source data and an output device on which the source data are to be printed. The source data are then retrieved from a local or remote store and forwarded to a print service, which renders output image data corresponding to the source data and the output device that was selected. The output image data are then submitted to the output device to be physically rendered. The user-interfaces enable wired and wireless devices to access the system. The system enables documents to be printed by reference, and enables access to resources behind firewalls.

Claims

1. A method for printing via a wireless device, comprising:

providing renderable data to the wireless device by which a user-interface (UI) may be rendered on the wireless device;

enabling a user to select source data to be printed via the UI;

enabling the user to select an output device or use a default output device on which the source data are to be printed via the UI;

receiving the source data via at a print service;

rendering output image data corresponding to the source data and one of the output device that was selected or the default output device via the print service; and

submitting the output image data to the output device to be printed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless device comprises a wireless web-enabled device.

3. The method of claim 2, the wireless web-enabled device comprises a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)-enabled device, and wherein the renderable data comprise WML (Wireless Markup Language) data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless device comprises an IEEE 802.11-enabled device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless device comprises a Bluetooth-enabled device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the source data are stored on the wireless device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the source data are stored on a remote store that is located remotely from the wireless device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user-interface enables a user to navigate the remote store to select the source data.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the remote store is on a private network that may not be directly accessed by the wireless device, further comprising providing a proxy that enables the wireless device to access the private network.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the proxy comprises a virtual private network (VPN) proxy.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is facilitated by an output management system, further comprising:

enabling the user to select and/or specify one or more favorite output devices from among output devices accessible via the output management system; and

storing information with the output management system pertaining to those output devices selected and/or specified by the user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-interface further enables a user to specify a network server to access source data from.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-interface further enables a user to search for an output device via one or more search parameters.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the print service generates the output image data by performing the operations of:

determining a file type of the source data;

determining an appropriate application to load via the print service to generate the output image data; and

initiating a print action to cause the application in combination with a print subsystem to generate the output image data.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing print preview data to the wireless device comprising, when rendered on the user-interface, a simulated representation of a printed output to be produced by the output device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the source data corresponds to a text-based document, further comprising providing navigation controls via the user interface to enable a user to navigate to various portions of the simulated representation of the printed output.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the source data correspond to a spreadsheet-type document, further comprising providing navigation controls via the user interface to enable a user to navigate to various portions of the simulated representation of the printed output, including moving horizontally and vertically within a single page of a spreadsheet document corresponding to the source data.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the source data includes an original image, further comprising generating a thumbnail image of the original image that is sized and configured to be displayed on a screen of the wireless device, based on display characteristics of the screen.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the output image data in a repository;

retrieving the output image data from the repository; and

forwarding the output image data to the output device.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing job status information to the user via the user-interface.

55. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing job status information to the user via the user-interface.

70. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending a reference identifying a location of the source data on the remote store to the print service, and in response to receiving the reference, retrieving the source data via the print service using the reference.

71. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a location of the wireless device;

dynamically determining a default output device based on the location of the wireless device.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the method is facilitated by a output management system that includes a plurality of wireless data access points (WDAPs), further comprising:

storing data identifying a topological location of said plurality of WDAPs and output devices that are accessible via those WDAPs; and

determining a default output device based on its proximity to a WDAP through which the output management system is accessed by the wireless device.

21. A method for printing via a Bluetooth-enabled originating device, comprising:

receiving input from the Bluetooth-enabled originating device via a Bluetooth device emulator corresponding to a query to detect the presence of nearby Bluetooth-enabled output devices;

emulating a Bluetooth-enabled output device via the Bluetooth device emulator to make the Bluetooth-enabled originating device think that such a Bluetooth-enabled output device is in communication with the Bluetooth-enabled originating device;

receiving a print request from the Bluetooth-enabled originating device to print source data on an output device corresponding to the Bluetooth-enabled output device that is being emulated;

receiving or retrieving source data corresponding to the print request;

generating output image data corresponding to the source data and the output device; and

submitting the output image data to the output device to be physically rendered by the output device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the output device is a non-Bluetooth-enabled output device.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the source data are received from the Bluetooth-enabled originating device.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the source data are retrieved from a remote store.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

emulating a Bluetooth-enabled network browse operation via the Bluetooth device emulator;

enabling a user of the Bluetooth-enabled originating device to select the source data to be printed from a file store via the network browse operation being emulated; and

retrieving the source data from the file store.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the source data are provided to or retrieved by a print service that generates the output image data.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein in response to receiving or retrieving the source data at the print service, performing the operations of:

determining a file type of the source data;

determining an appropriate application to load via the print service to generate the output image data; and

initiating a print action to cause the application in combination with a print subsystem to generate the output image data.

28. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

linking the Bluetooth device emulator in connection with an output management system;

identifying a user of the Bluetooth-enabled device;

retrieving Bluetooth device parameters from the output management system corresponding to output devices that may be accessed via the output management system; and

emulating those output devices via the Bluetooth device emulator using the Bluetooth device parameters to make the Bluetooth device think it is in direct communication with Bluetooth-enabled output devices corresponding to said one or more of the output devices being emulated.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

identifying a user of the Bluetooth-enabled device

retrieving Bluetooth device parameters from the output management system corresponding to one or more output devices the user may access; and

emulating said one or more output devices via the Bluetooth device emulator.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein the user-interface enables a user to select source data stored on a remote store.

31. The method of claim 21, wherein the Bluetooth device emulator operates as a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) over Bluetooth conduit, further comprising:

serving WAP-based content via the Bluetooth device emulator to the Bluetooth-enabled originating device by which a user interface may be rendered; and

enabling a user to select a document from a remote store to be printed by a selected output device.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the remote store is on a private network that may not be directly accessed by the wireless device, further comprising providing a proxy that enables the wireless device to access the private network.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the private network includes a firewall to prevent access from unauthorized users, and the proxy comprises a virtual private network (VPN) proxy.

34. A method for printing on a private network behind a firewall from an originating device outside of the firewall, comprising:

establishing a pass-through communication link between an output management system component located behind the firewall and an output management system component outside the firewall, said pass-through communication link passing through the firewall;

providing renderable data to the originating device by which a user-interface may be rendered on the originating device;

enabling a user to select source data to be printed via the user-interface;

enabling the user to select an output device on the private network on which the source data are to be printed;

retrieving the source data from a store;

rendering output image data corresponding to the source data and the output device that was selected;

sending the output image data from the output management system component outside the firewall to the output management system component located behind the firewall; and

submitting the output image data from the output management system component located behind the firewall to the output device to be physically rendered by the output device.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein each of the output management system components located outside of and behind the firewall comprise message center components that provide management of other components in an output management system.

36. The method of claim 34, further comprising sending data from the output management system component located behind the firewall to the output management system component outside of the firewall over the pass-through communication link identifying one or more output devices located behind the firewall that may be accessed via the output management system component located behind the firewall.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the output management system component located outside of the firewall comprises a server component and the output management system component behind the firewall comprises a client component.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein the pass-through communication link comprises a virtual private network (VPN) link.

39. The method of claim 34, wherein the originating device comprises a web-enabled wireless device.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein the originating device comprises a Bluetooth-enabled device.

41. The method of claim 34, wherein the store comprises a local store on the originating device.

42. The method of claim 34, wherein the store comprises a remote store that is located remotely from the wireless device.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the remote store is located on the private network.

44. The method of claim 34, wherein a print service is used to generate the output image data by performing the operations of:

determining a file type of the source data;

determining an appropriate application to load via the print service to generate the output image data; and

initiating a print action to cause the application in combination with a print subsystem to generate the output image data.

45. The method of claim 34, further comprising providing print preview data to the wireless device comprising, when rendered on the user-interface, a simulated representation of a rendered output to be produced by the output device.

46. A method for printing on a private network behind a firewall from an originating device outside of the firewall, comprising:

establishing a pass-through communication link between an output management system component located behind the firewall and an output management system component outside the firewall, said pass-through communication link passing through the firewall;

providing renderable data to the originating device by which a user-interface may be rendered on the originating device;

enabling a user to select source data to be printed via the user-interface;

enabling the user to select an output device on the private network on which the source data are to be printed;

forwarding the source data or a reference thereto from the output management system component located outside of the firewall to the output management component located behind the firewall;

rendering output image data corresponding to the source data and the output device that was selected; and

submitting the output image data to the output device to be physically rendered by the output device.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein each of the output management system components located outside of and behind the firewall comprise message center components that provide management of other components in an output management system.

48. The method of claim 46, further comprising sending data from the output management system component located behind the firewall to the output management system component outside of the firewall over the pass-through communication link identifying one or more output devices located behind the firewall that may be accessed via the output management system component located behind the firewall.

49. The method of claim 46, wherein the output management system component located inside the firewall comprises a server component, and submitting the output image data to the output device comprises providing the output image data to a client, and in response to receiving the output image data, the client submits the output image data to the output image device for rendering.

50. The method of claim 46, wherein the originating device comprises a web-enabled wireless device.

51. The method of claim 46, wherein the originating device comprises a Bluetooth-enabled device.

52. The method of claim 46, wherein the source data comprise a document that is stored on the originating device, further comprising receiving the source data from the originating device at the output management system component outside the firewall.

53. The method of claim 46, wherein the source data is stored on a remote store, further comprising retrieving the source data from the remote store.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the remote store is located on the private network, and the source data are retrieved from a location identified by the reference to the source data.

56. The method of claim 46, wherein a print service is used to generate the output image data by performing the operations of:

determining a file type of the source data;

determining an appropriate application to load via the print service to generate the output image data; and

initiating a print action to cause the application in combination with a print subsystem to generate the output image data.

57. The method of claim 46, further comprising providing print preview data to the wireless device comprising, when rendered on the user-interface, a simulated representation of a rendered output to be produced by the output device.

58. A method for printing on a private network behind a firewall from an originating device outside of the firewall, comprising:

establishing communication link between the originating device and an output management system component located behind the firewall, said communication link comprising a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel passing through the firewall;

providing renderable data to the originating device by which a user-interface may be rendered on the originating device;

enabling a user to select source data to be printed via the user-interface;

enabling the user to select an output device on the private network on which the source data are to be printed;

forwarding the source data or a reference thereto from the originating device to the output management system component located behind the firewall via the VPN tunnel;

rendering output image data corresponding to the source data and the output device that was selected; and

submitting the output image data to the output device to be physically rendered by the output device.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the user interface comprises a plurality of interactive web pages and the VPN tunnel is facilitated by a common gateway interface (CGI) VPN proxy located outside of the firewall in combination with a VPN switch located at the firewall.

60. The method of claim 58, wherein the originating device comprises a VPN-enabled device and the VPN tunnel is facilitated by a client side component running on the VPN-enabled device and a VPN switch located at the firewall.

61. The method of claim 58, wherein the output management system component located behind the firewall comprises a server component, and submitting the output image data to the output device comprises providing the output image data to a client, and in response to receiving the output image data, the client submits the output image data to the output image device for rendering.

62. The method of claim 58, wherein the originating device comprises a web-enabled wireless device.

63. The method of claim 58, wherein the originating device comprises a Bluetooth-enabled device.

64. The method of claim 58, wherein the source data comprise a document that is stored on the originating device, further comprising receiving the source data from the originating device via the VPN tunnel at the output management system component behind the firewall.

65. The method of claim 58, wherein the source data is stored on a remote store, further comprising retrieving the source data from the remote store.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the remote store is located on the private network, and the source data are retrieved from a location identified by the reference to the source data.

67. The method of claim 58, further comprising providing job status information to the user via the user-interface.

68. The method of claim 58, wherein a print service is used to generate the output image data by performing the operations of:

determining a file type of the source data;

determining an appropriate application to load via the print service to generate the output image data; and

initiating a print action to cause the application in combination with a print subsystem to generate the output image data.

69. The method of claim 58, further comprising providing print preview data to the wireless device comprising, when rendered on the user-interface, a simulated representation of a rendered output to be produced by the output device.