DLNA device and image forming method thereof

• US 8,537,389 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2010
• Issued: 09/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HP Printing Korea Co., Ltd. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Dae-Hyun
• Primary Examiner(s): SINGH, SATWANT K
• Application Number:
  US12/654,793
• Publication Number:
  US 20110051175A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,352 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1205 resulting in increased flexibility in print job configuration, e.g. job settings, print requirements, job tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1246 by handling markup languages, e.g. XSL, XML, HTML
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1287 via internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1292 Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4117 for generating hard copies of the content, e.g. printer, electronic paper interfaces to printers G06F3/12; printing data G06K15/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805

Abstract

A DLNA device includes a communication interface to receive at least one of content and content information through the Internet or receive at least one of content and content information which are stored in a device within the DLNA network, a storage unit to store the received content and content information, a user interface to display the content based on the content information and receive a printing command for the content from a user, a printing job generation unit to generate printing data for the content, based on the content information and the printing command from the user, and a controller to control the communication interface such that the generated printing data is printed by the image forming apparatus.

Claims

1. A digital living network alliance (DLNA) device which is connected to an image forming apparatus through a DLNA network and is connected to an external network, the DLNA device comprising:

a communication interface to receive at least one of content and content information through the external network or receive at least one of content and content information which are stored in a device within the DLNA network;

a storage unit to store the received at least one of content and content information;

a user interface to display the received content based on the content information and receive a printing command for the content from a user;

a printing job generation unit to generate printing data for the content, based on the content information and the printing command from the user; and

a controller to control the communication interface such that the generated printing data is printed by the image forming apparatus.

2. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content is at least one of image data, text data, an HTML document, an XML document, a file which can be direct-printed by the image forming apparatus without an additional converting process, or combinations thereof.

3. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, if a printing command for a certain portion of the content is received, the printing job generation unit generates a new content corresponding to the certain portion of the content and generates printing data for the generated new content.

4. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the storage unit stores the generated new content and information about the new content in the form of a lookup table.

5. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication interface receives a plurality of the contents, and the storage unit stores a plurality of templates which are written by XHTML-Print data, the user interface receives a selection of one of the plurality of templates, and the printing job generation unit generates printing data by combining the selected template and a selected one of the contents.

6. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the printing data is XHTML-Print data.

7. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores at least one of a name, a storage location, a type of the received content, or combinations thereof, in the form of a lookup table.

8. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 7, wherein, if a request to provide the content is received from the image forming apparatus, the controller controls the communication interface to transmit the content using the lookup table in response to the request.

9. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller processes the received content such that the received content is shared across the DLNA network.

10. The DLNA device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the external network is an internet.

11. An image forming method of a digital living network alliance (DLNA) device which is connected to an image forming apparatus through a DLNA network and is connected to an external network, the image forming method comprising:

receiving at least one of content and content information through the external network or receiving at least one of content and content information which are stored in a device within the DLNA network;

storing the received at least one of content and content information;

receiving a printing command for the content from a user;

generating printing data for the received content, based on the content information and the printing command from the user; and

transmitting the generated printing data to the image forming apparatus.

12. The image forming method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the content is at least one of image data, text data, an HTML document, an XML document, a file which can be direct-printed by the image forming apparatus without an additional converting process, or combinations thereof.

13. The image forming method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:

displaying the content based on the content information; and

receiving a printing command for a certain portion of the content,

wherein the generating comprises generating a new content corresponding to the certain portion of the content and generating printing data for the generated content in response to the receiving the printing command for the certain portion.

14. The image forming method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising storing the generated new content and information about the new content in the form of a lookup table.

15. The image forming method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the displaying comprises displaying a plurality of templates which are written by pre-stored XHTML-Print data, the method further comprising:

selecting one of the plurality of templates; and

generating the printing data by combining the selected template and the selected content in response to the selecting the template.

16. The image forming method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the printing data is XHTML-Print data.

17. The image forming method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising storing at least one of a name, a storage location, a type of the received content, or combinations thereof, in the form of a lookup table.

18. The image forming method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a request to provide content is from the image forming apparatus; and

transmitting the content using the lookup table in response to the receiving the request.

19. The image forming method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising processing the received content such that the content is shared across the DLNA network.