Integrating discovery functionality within a device and facility manager
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for advertising a device over a network, comprising:
- executing, on the device, a device facility manager comprising a plurality of concurrently executing threads, each of which executes separately from one or more applications that each provides a service to one or more other devices;
wherein a device manager thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, detects one or more changes to the device via an application programming interface (API) through which the device manager thread receives information that is specific to a platform of the device,wherein a web services discovery thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, performs, on behalf of the one or more applications, a set of one or more functions specified by a web services discovery specification;
in response to the device manager thread detecting, via the API, a change to a capability of a first service of one or more services hosted on the device, the device manager thread, on the device;
updating metadata of the device to cause the metadata to reflect the change to the capability of the first service, andcommunicating with the web services discovery thread to indicate that metadata has changed;
the web services discovery thread, on the device, causing, on behalf of the first service, a message to be sent over the network in response to the communication from the device manager thread, wherein the message indicates that the metadata has changed,wherein the device is one of;
a multi-function peripheral, a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, and a scanner.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are provided for implementing the WS-DeviceProfile standard as a multi-threaded process (“DFM”) executing on a multi-function peripheral (“MFP”). The DFM takes care of the discovery of devices and services on a network. The DFM also acts as a facility manager. The DFM implements various web services in a single component that applications can re-use. The DFM insulates these applications from some of the more complex details of the web services that the DFM implements. The MFP may comprise several different applications that each use web services provided by the DFM. The threads of the DFM can handle separate tasks concurrently. For example, one thread, of the multi-threaded DFM, may perform one or more functions specified by the WS-DeviceProfile protocol, while another thread may perform one or more functions specified by a WS-Discovery protocol.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for advertising a device over a network, comprising:
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executing, on the device, a device facility manager comprising a plurality of concurrently executing threads, each of which executes separately from one or more applications that each provides a service to one or more other devices; wherein a device manager thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, detects one or more changes to the device via an application programming interface (API) through which the device manager thread receives information that is specific to a platform of the device, wherein a web services discovery thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, performs, on behalf of the one or more applications, a set of one or more functions specified by a web services discovery specification; in response to the device manager thread detecting, via the API, a change to a capability of a first service of one or more services hosted on the device, the device manager thread, on the device; updating metadata of the device to cause the metadata to reflect the change to the capability of the first service, and communicating with the web services discovery thread to indicate that metadata has changed; the web services discovery thread, on the device, causing, on behalf of the first service, a message to be sent over the network in response to the communication from the device manager thread, wherein the message indicates that the metadata has changed, wherein the device is one of;
a multi-function peripheral, a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, and a scanner. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 16)
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6. One or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media storing instructions for advertising a device over a network, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processors causes:
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executing, on the device, a facility manager comprising a plurality of concurrently executing threads, each of which executes separately from one or more applications that each provides a service to one or more other devices; wherein a device manager thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, detects one or more changes to the device via an application programming interface (API) through which the device manager thread receives information that is specific to a platform of the device, wherein a web services discovery thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, performs, on behalf of the one or more applications, a set of one or more functions specified by a web services discovery specification; in response to the device manager thread detecting, via the API, a change to a capability of a first service of one or more services hosted on the device, the device manager thread, on the device; updating metadata of the device to cause the metadata to reflect the change to the capability of the first service, and communicating with the web services discovery thread to indicate that metadata has changed; the web services discovery thread, on the device, causing, on behalf of the first service, a message to be sent over the network in response to the communication from the device manager thread, wherein the message indicates that the metadata has changed, wherein the device is one of;
a multi-function peripheral, a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, and a scanner. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 17)
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11. An apparatus for advertising a device over a network, comprising:
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one or more hardware processors; and a computer-readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by said one or more hardware processors, causes; executing, on the device, a management device facility manager comprising a plurality of concurrently executing threads, each of which executes separately from one or more applications that each provides a service to one or more other devices; wherein a device manager thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, detects one or more changes to the device via an application programming interface (API) through which the device manager thread receives information that is specific to a platform of the device, wherein a web services discovery thread, of the plurality of concurrently executing threads, performs, on behalf of the one or more applications, a set of one or more functions specified by a web services discovery specification; in response to the device manager thread detecting, via the API, a change to a capability of a first service of one or more services hosted on the device, the device manager thread, on the device; updating metadata of the device to cause the metadata to reflect the change to the capability of the first service, and communicating with the web services discovery thread to indicate that metadata has changed; the web services discovery thread, on the device, causing, on behalf of the first service, a message to be sent over the network in response to the communication from the device manager thread, wherein the message indicates that the metadata has changed, wherein the device is one of;
a multi-function peripheral, a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, and a scanner. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 18)
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Specification