Method and apparatus for prioritizing print jobs from multiple printer input channels

• US 7,216,347 B1
• Filed: 04/17/2000
• Issued: 05/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Johnson, Charles D., Harrison, Karen L., Liebelt, Linda S.
• Primary Examiner(s): An; Meng-Al T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): To; Jennifer N.
• Application Number:
  US09/550,420
• Time in Patent Office: 2,577 Days
• Field of Search: 709/100, 709/101, 718100-108, 358 115- 116, 400/582
• US Class Current: 718/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1208 resulting in improved quality of the output result, e.g. print layout, colours, workflows, print preview
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/122 with regard to computing resources, e.g. memory, CPU
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1263 based on job priority, e.g. re-arranging the order of jobs, e.g. the printing sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1284 Local printer device

Abstract

A system, apparatus and method for dictating the order that print jobs received over multiple data channels are printed. A priority value is assigned to each data channel that receives print jobs. The priority value of the data channel is imparted to each of the print jobs received via its respective data channel. The relative priorities of the print jobs is determined, and the print jobs are printed in an order corresponding to their relative priority values.

Claims

1. A method for dictating the order that print jobs received over multiple data channels of a printer are printed, comprising:

assigning priority values to data channels of a printer that receive print jobs;

associating the priority value assigned to the data channel of the printer with the print jobs received by the printer at its respective data channel; and

printing the print jobs by the printer in an order corresponding to their associated priority values;

wherein assigning the priority value comprises assigning the priority value upon initialization of a printing device designated for printing the print jobs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning a priority value comprises assigning a different priority value to each data channel that receives the print jobs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning a priority value comprises assigning two or more of the data channels equal priority values, and wherein printing the print jobs comprises printing the print jobs received via the two or more data channels having equal priority values in an order in which they were received via the data channels.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein printing the print jobs in an order corresponding to their associated priority values comprises printing the print jobs in an order from highest priority to lowest priority.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the data channels is dedicated as an internal print data channel to receive internally-generated print jobs.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein assigning the priority value to the data channel that receives print jobs comprises assigning the internal print data channel the highest possible priority.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the priority value to the data channel comprises assigning a priority value to each of the data channels that receives a different predefined group of print job types.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a plurality of the print jobs currently pending have equivalent associated priority values; and

printing the print jobs that have the equivalent associated priority values in an order in which they were received via their respective data channels.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining the order in which the print jobs having equivalent associated priority values were received by monitoring time of arrival of the print jobs.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining the order in which the print jobs having equivalent associated priority values were received by queuing the print jobs having equivalent associated priority values in a first-in-first-out arrangement.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising queuing the print jobs in an increasing order according to their respective priority values, and forwarding the print jobs to a print engine for printing in the order in which the print jobs are queued.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising queuing the print jobs in an order of receipt of the print jobs, and sending the print jobs to a print engine for printing in a sequential order corresponding to the respective priority values associated with the print jobs.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the priority value comprises assigning the priority value via a user interface by a user granted authority to reassign the priority values to selected ones of the data channels.

14. A printing device coupled to receive print jobs transmitted by one or more computing devices, the printing device comprising:

a plurality of data channels at a printing device, the plurality of data channels being configured for receiving print jobs, wherein each of the data channels are assigned respective priority values, and wherein the print jobs received at the data channels assumes the priority value of its respective one of the data channels;

a compare module coupled to receive the priority values corresponding the received print jobs and to identify the print job exhibiting the highest priority; and

a print engine at a printing device, the print engine being configured for printing the print jobs in an order from the highest priority to the lowest priority as identified by the compare module;

wherein the assignment of the priority value comprises assigning the priority value upon initialization of a printing device designated for printing the print jobs.

15. The printing device as in claim 14, further comprising one or more print queues coupled to receive and output the print jobs in an order received, wherein the print jobs are received in the order of the highest priority to the lowest priority.

16. The printing device as in claim 14, further comprising one or more print queues coupled to receive the print jobs in an order received, and to output the print jobs in an order corresponding to their respective priority values.

17. The printing device as in claim 14, further comprising a job monitor module coupled to the plurality of data channels to receive and store the priority values associated with the print jobs that are currently pending.

18. The printing device as in claim 17, wherein the compare module is coupled to the job monitor module to receive the stored priority values, and to identify the print job exhibiting the highest priority in response thereto.

19. The printing device as in claim 14, wherein the plurality of data channels comprise an internal print data channel in which internally-generated print jobs are received.

20. The printing device as in claim 19, wherein the internal print data channel is preassigned to the highest priority in a range of the priority values.

21. The printing device as in claim 20, further comprising a user interface coupled to the internal print data channel to allow a user to select print features to initiate the internally-generated print jobs.

22. The printing device as in claim 21, further comprising an internal print module to generate the internally-generated print jobs corresponding to the selected print features.

23. The printing device as in claim 14, wherein the priority of the print job is inversely proportional to the priority value associated with the print job.

24. A method of dictating the order in which print jobs are printed on a printing device, comprising:

providing a plurality of data channels at a printing device to receive print jobs, wherein the data channels receive predefined groups of print job types;

assigning a priority value to the data channels of the printing device that receive print jobs by assigning the priority value upon initialization of a printing device designated for printing the print jobs;

associating the priority value of the data channels of the printing device with the print jobs received at the respective one of the data channels;

determining relative priorities of the print jobs based on their associated priority values;

printing the print jobs at the printing device in a sequence corresponding to the relative priorities associated with the print jobs.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein printing the print jobs in a sequence comprises printing the print jobs in a sequence of highest priority to lowest priority.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

designating one of the data channels as an internal print data channel 3 to receive internally-generated print jobs; and

pre-assigning a priority value to the internal print data channel that represents the highest possible priority value of a priority value range of priority values.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein assigning the priority values to the data channels comprises assigning the priority values via a user interface to apply user-selected priorities to particular ones of the data channels.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein determining relative priorities of the print jobs comprises comparing the priority values of the print jobs that are currently pending to each other.

29. A computer-readable program storage medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a print server system to process print jobs by performing steps comprising:

assigning priority values to a plurality of data channels of a printer that receive print jobs by assigning the priority value upon initialization of a printing device designated for printing the print jobs;

associating the priority value assigned to each data channel of the printer with print jobs received by the printer at its respective data channel;

determining relative priorities of a plurality of print jobs based on their associated priority values; and

printing print jobs by the printer in a sequence corresponding to the relative priorities associated with the print jobs.

30. A printing device coupled to receive print jobs transmitted by one or more computing devices, the printing device comprising:

a plurality of data channels at the printing device for receiving the print jobs;

means for assigning a priority value to the data channels of the printing device upon initialization of a printing device designated for printing the print jobs;

means for attributing the priority value of the data channels of the printing device to the print jobs received via its respective one of the data channels;

means for comparing the priority values of the print jobs that are pending, and for identifying the print job exhibiting the highest priority; and

means for printing the print jobs by the printing device in an order from the highest priority to the lowest priority.

31. The printing device as in claim 30, further comprising means for queuing the print jobs in the order from the highest priority to the lowest priority.

32. A method for dictating the order that print jobs received over multiple data channels of a printer are printed, comprising:

assigning priority values to data channels of a printer that receive print jobs;

associating the priority value assigned to the data channel of the printer with the print jobs received by the printer at its respective data channel; and

printing the print jobs by the printer in an order corresponding to their associated priority values;

wherein at least one of the data channels is dedicated as an internal print data channel to receive internally-generated print jobs and wherein assigning the priority value to the data channel that receives print jobs comprises assigning the internal print data channel the highest possible priority.

33. A method of dictating the order in which print jobs are printed on a printing device, comprising:

providing a plurality of data channels at a printing device to receive print jobs, wherein the data channels receive predefined groups of print job types;

dedicating at least one of the data channels as an internal print data channel to receive internally-generated print jobs;

assigning a priority value to the data channels of the printing device that receive print jobs;

assigning the internal print data channel the highest possible priority;

associating the priority value of the data channels of the printing device with the print jobs received at the respective one of the data channels;

determining relative priorities of the print jobs based on their associated priority values;

printing the print jobs at the printing device in a sequence corresponding to the relative priorities associated with the print jobs.