Remote printing method and system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling

Abstract

This paper proposes a remote printing method and system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling. This method integrates cloud printing capabilities into a SaaS platform, which manages tenants' print tasks. Printers only need to install a print plug-in on their PCs and connect to printers to print. This solution does not require printers to have remote printing capabilities and is particularly suitable for remote printing scenarios with older printers that lack networking capabilities. In this method, users upload print tasks to the SaaS platform, which then sends the print tasks to the user's authorized PCs, thereby improving user information security.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of remote printing, and in particular to a remote printing method and system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling. Background Art

[0002] Traditional cloud printing systems consist of user terminals, cloud printing servers, and printers with remote printing capabilities. Users submit print jobs to the cloud printing server through their terminals, and the cloud printing server dispatches the print jobs to printers with remote printing capabilities for printing.

[0003] In the SaaS service scenario, the printing devices owned by the tenants of various SaaS services are complex, some old devices do not have remote printing capabilities, and the data printed by the tenants are customer privacy, and there are information security risks when transmitted through a third party. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Purpose of the invention: The present invention aims to propose a remote printing method and system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling to at least partially overcome the shortcomings of current cloud printing solutions.

[0005] Summary of the invention: To achieve the above objectives, the present invention proposes the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, a remote printing method based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling is provided, which is applicable to a remote printing system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling, wherein the remote printing system includes: a SaaS platform, a user terminal, a PC, and a printer; the method includes:

[0007] Connecting the PC to its local printer;

[0008] The user logs in to the SaaS platform through the PC, downloads the pre-deployed PC printing plug-in from the SaaS platform and installs it on the PC, and establishes a communication link between the PC and the SaaS platform through an SSE long link;

[0009] The user obtains the fingerprint token issued by the SaaS platform through authorization operation, and saves the fingerprint token to the PC printing plug-in on the PC side;

[0010] The user logs in to the SaaS platform through the user terminal and submits a print task;

[0011] The SaaS platform converts the print task into a PostScript intermediate format, and then sends the print task and the user's fingerprint token to the user-authorized PC via an SSE long link;

[0012] The PC verifies the fingerprint token through the PC printing plug-in. After the verification is passed, the print task is converted into a format that is adapted to the local printer protocol, and then the print task after format conversion is sent to the corresponding printer to perform the printing operation.

[0013] As an optional implementation of the method of the first aspect, the user obtains the fingerprint token issued by the SaaS platform through an authorization operation, specifically including:

[0014] The user initiates a fingerprint token acquisition request to the SaaS platform through the PC printing plug-in;

[0015] The SaaS platform generates the fingerprint token based on the software number of the PC print plug-in and sends it to the PC print plug-in; the software number of the PC print plug-in is a unique number assigned to the PC print plug-in by the SaaS platform when the user downloads the PC print plug-in.

[0016] Furthermore, the method further comprises:

[0017] After the SaaS platform generates the fingerprint token, it encrypts the fingerprint token through a preset encryption protocol and sends it to the PC printing plug-in;

[0018] The PC print plug-in decrypts the fingerprint token based on the decryption process of the encryption protocol.

[0019] As an optional implementation manner of the method of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0020] After the SaaS platform obtains the print task, it builds a print queue for each user's print task;

[0021] The SaaS platform obtains the list of PC terminals authorized by the user and the working status of the printers associated with each PC terminal in the PC terminal list, and distributes the printing tasks in the user's print queue to the PC terminals in the PC terminal list according to a preset scheduling strategy.

[0022] As an optional implementation of the method described in the first aspect, the SaaS platform monitors the execution status of the printing task in real time. If there is an interrupted printing task, the SaaS platform reprints the unfinished printing task based on the completion status of the printing task.

[0023] Secondly, it provides a remote printing system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling, including: SaaS platform, user terminal, PC and printer;

[0024] The PC is connected to its local printer and is connected to the SaaS platform via an SSE long link. The PC is installed with a PC print plug-in downloaded from the SaaS platform, and the PC print plug-in stores a fingerprint token for a legitimate user issued by the SaaS platform.

[0025] In response to the user logging into the SaaS platform through the user terminal and submitting a print task, the SaaS platform

[0026] Convert the print task into a PostScript intermediate format, and then send the print task and the user's fingerprint token to the PC end storing the user's fingerprint token via an SSE long link;

[0027] The PC verifies the fingerprint token through the PC printing plug-in. After the verification is passed, the print task is converted into a format that is adapted to the local printer protocol, and then the print task after format conversion is sent to the corresponding printer to perform the printing operation.

[0028] As an optional implementation manner of the system according to the second aspect, the PC terminal is specifically used for:

[0029] In response to the authorization operation initiated by the user after logging into the SaaS platform on the PC, a fingerprint token acquisition request is initiated to the SaaS platform through the PC printing plug-in;

[0030] The SaaS platform generates the fingerprint token based on the software number of the PC print plug-in and stores it in the PC print plug-in; the software number of the PC print plug-in is a unique number assigned to the PC print plug-in by the SaaS platform when the user downloads the PC print plug-in.

[0031] Furthermore, after the SaaS platform generates the fingerprint token, it encrypts the fingerprint token through a preset encryption protocol and sends it to the PC printing plug-in; the PC printing plug-in decrypts the fingerprint token based on the decryption process of the encryption protocol.

[0032] As an optional implementation manner of the method of the first aspect, the SaaS platform is specifically used for:

[0033] After the SaaS platform obtains the print task, a print queue is constructed for each user's print task;

[0034] The SaaS platform obtains the list of PC terminals authorized by the user and the working status of the printers associated with each PC terminal in the PC terminal list, and distributes the printing tasks in the user's print queue to the PC terminals in the PC terminal list according to a preset scheduling strategy.

[0035] As an optional implementation manner of the method of the first aspect, the SaaS platform is specifically used for:

[0036] The SaaS platform monitors the execution status of the printing tasks in real time. If there are interrupted printing tasks, the SaaS platform will reprint the unfinished printing tasks based on the completion status of the printing tasks.

[0037] Beneficial effects: Compared with the prior art, the remote printing method based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling proposed in the present invention has the following advantages:

[0038] This method integrates cloud printing capabilities into the SaaS platform, which manages the tenants' printing tasks. The printing side only needs to install a printing plug-in on the PC and connect to the printer to achieve printing. This solution does not require the printer to have remote printing capabilities and is especially suitable for remote printing scenarios of old printers that do not have networking capabilities.

[0039] In this method, the user uploads the printing task to the SaaS platform, and the SaaS platform sends the printing task to the PC authorized by the user, thereby improving the user's information security.

[0040] In this method, the PC and the SaaS platform maintain communication through the SSE long link. After the user authorizes the PC, the SaaS platform sends the printing task to the authorized PC through the SSE long link. Therefore, during the validity period of the SSE long link, the user no longer needs to log in to the SaaS platform through the PC, but can directly submit the printing task to the SaaS platform through the user terminal, thus realizing login-free printing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Figure 1 A flowchart of a remote printing method based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling according to an embodiment;

[0042] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram of a remote printing system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling involved in an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. However, it should be understood that the present invention may be implemented in various forms, and the following exemplary and non-limiting embodiments shown in the drawings and described below are not intended to limit the present invention to the specific embodiments described.

[0044] It should be understood that, where technically feasible, the technical features listed above for different embodiments may be combined with each other to form additional embodiments within the scope of the present invention. In addition, the specific examples and embodiments described in the present invention are non-limiting, and the structures, steps, and sequences described above may be modified accordingly without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0045] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 A flow chart of a remote printing method based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling is given as an example. The method is applicable to a remote printing system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling. The remote printing system includes: a SaaS platform, a user terminal, a PC and a printer.

[0046] like Figure 1 As shown, the method includes steps S100 to S110. The entire process mainly includes two stages, namely the authorization stage and the printing stage. First, the authorization stage is introduced. The authorization stage includes steps S100 to S104.

[0047] S100: Connect the PC to its local printer.

[0048] The PC and its local printer can be connected via a wired or wireless connection, as long as data can be transmitted between the PC and the printer. The PC can be connected to one or more printers.

[0049] S102: The user logs in to the SaaS platform through the PC, downloads the pre-deployed PC printing plug-in from the SaaS platform and installs it on the PC, and establishes a communication link between the PC and the SaaS platform through the SSE long link.

[0050] The above-mentioned SaaS platform is pre-deployed with PC printing plug-ins for different printing systems. The PC printing plug-in mainly provides printer driver functions. After the PC printing plug-in is installed on the PC, the local printer can be discovered through registry scanning or local network.

[0051] When establishing an SSE long link between a PC and a SaaS platform, the user needs to log in to the SaaS platform on the PC. The users described in this embodiment are all tenants of the SaaS platform. These tenants have submitted their identity authentication information when registering on the SaaS platform. Therefore, the user's behavior of logging in to the SaaS platform on the PC can be used as the SaaS platform's identity authentication mechanism for the PC. If the user successfully logs in to the SaaS platform on the PC, the SaaS platform can preliminarily determine that the PC is legitimate. At this point, the SaaS platform can establish a long link with the PC through the SSE protocol.

[0052] S104: The user obtains the fingerprint token issued by the SaaS platform through authorization operation, and saves the fingerprint token to the PC printing plug-in on the PC side.

[0053] Before users can remotely print from a PC, they need to authorize the printing process on that PC.

[0054] In one embodiment, after logging into the SaaS platform, the user can directly initiate a fingerprint token acquisition request to the SaaS platform on the authorization page of the SaaS platform. The SaaS platform generates a fingerprint token based on the software number of the PC printing plug-in. The SaaS platform sends the fingerprint token to the PC printing plug-in for storage, and saves the fingerprint token locally.

[0055] In another embodiment, since an SSE long link has been established between the PC and the SaaS platform, the user can initiate a fingerprint token acquisition request to the SaaS platform through the PC printing plug-in on the PC. The SaaS platform sends the fingerprint token to the PC printing plug-in for storage, and saves the fingerprint token locally.

[0056] In the above two implementations, the software number of the PC print plug-in is a unique number assigned to the PC print plug-in by the SaaS platform when the user downloads the PC print plug-in.

[0057] In the above two implementations, after generating the fingerprint token, the SaaS platform can encrypt the fingerprint token through a preset encryption protocol and send it to the PC printing plug-in. The PC printing plug-in can decrypt the fingerprint token based on the decryption process of the encryption protocol, thereby ensuring the security of the fingerprint token during transmission.

[0058] At this point, the user completes the authorization process on the PC.

[0059] Next, the printing stage is introduced, which includes steps S106 to S110.

[0060] S106: The user logs in to the SaaS platform through the user terminal and submits a print task.

[0061] The above-mentioned user terminals can be smart terminals such as mobile phones, computers, and Pads.

[0062] The SaaS platform can also provide printing templates for users to choose from. Users can select the corresponding printing template according to printing requirements (such as page layout) and upload the original data to be printed to generate the above-mentioned printing tasks.

[0063] S108: The SaaS platform converts the print task into a PostScript intermediate format, and then sends the print task and the user's fingerprint token to the user-authorized PC via an SSE long link.

[0064] After the SaaS platform obtains the print tasks submitted by the user, it converts the print tasks submitted by the user into a PostScript intermediate format. Then, based on the user's account information, it searches locally for the fingerprint token associated with the user's account information and the list of PCs authorized by the user (in the authorization stage, the SaaS platform associates and stores the generated fingerprint token, PC ID, and user's account information), and pushes the PostScript format print task and the fingerprint token together to the PC in the PC list through the SSE long link.

[0065] When transmitting data, the SaaS platform can choose an encryption protocol (such as IPP over HTTPS) to ensure the reliability of the data transmission process.

[0066] In addition, the SaaS platform can also provide print task management services. That is, after the SaaS platform obtains print tasks, it builds a print queue based on the user. For a user's print queue, the SaaS platform obtains the user's authorized PC list and the operating status of the printers associated with each PC in the PC list. Based on the preset scheduling policy, it distributes the print tasks in the user's print queue to the PCs in the PC list.

[0067] The above-mentioned scheduling strategy can be set according to demand, and this embodiment does not limit this. For example, the scheduling strategy can be the distance priority principle (i.e., selecting the PC closest to the user), the lowest printer load principle (i.e., selecting the PC with the lowest printer load), etc.

[0068] S110: The PC verifies the fingerprint token through the PC printing plug-in. After the verification is passed, the print task is converted into a format that is compatible with the local printer protocol, and then the print task after the format conversion is sent to the corresponding printer to perform the printing operation.

[0069] The PC side compares the received fingerprint token with the locally stored fingerprint token for consistency. If they are consistent, it is determined that the fingerprint token verification has passed. Otherwise, it is determined that the fingerprint token verification has failed.

[0070] After the fingerprint token verification is passed, the PC printing plug-in converts the print task in the PostScript intermediate format into a format that is compatible with the printer protocol (such as IPP / AirPrint / ESC-POS) according to the printer protocol of the local printer, and then sends it to the corresponding printer for printing.

[0071] In some implementations, the SaaS platform can also monitor the execution status of printing tasks in real time. If there is an interrupted printing task, the SaaS platform can determine the unprinted content as a new printing task based on the completion status of the printing task, and then republish the new printing task to the corresponding PC, triggering the PC to reprint the new printing task.

[0072] Optionally, in the above-mentioned remote printing method based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling, the remote printing function provided by the SaaS platform can be integrated into the SaaS platform in the form of an SDK.

[0073] Corresponding to the above-mentioned remote printing method based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling, this embodiment also provides a remote printing system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling to implement the above-mentioned method. Figure 2 The following figure shows the system's architecture. The system includes a SaaS platform, user terminals, a PC, and a printer. The PC communicates with its local printer and with the SaaS platform via a long SSE link. The PC has a PC print plug-in downloaded from the SaaS platform installed, which stores the fingerprint token for legitimate users issued by the SaaS platform.

[0074] In response to the user logging into the SaaS platform through the user terminal and submitting a print task, the SaaS platform converts the print task into a PostScript intermediate format, and then sends the print task and the user's fingerprint token to the PC side where the user's fingerprint token is stored through an SSE long link.

[0075] The PC side verifies the fingerprint token through the PC printing plug-in. After the verification is passed, the print task is converted into a format that is compatible with the local printer protocol, and then the print task with the converted format is sent to the corresponding printer to execute the printing operation.

[0076] Optionally, the PC side is specifically used for: responding to the authorization operation initiated by the user after logging into the SaaS platform on the PC side, initiating a fingerprint token acquisition request to the SaaS platform through the PC printing plug-in; obtaining the fingerprint token generated by the SaaS platform based on the software number of the PC printing plug-in and storing it in the PC printing plug-in; the software number of the PC printing plug-in is a unique number assigned to the PC printing plug-in by the SaaS platform when the user downloads the PC printing plug-in.

[0077] Specifically, after the SaaS platform generates a fingerprint token, it encrypts the fingerprint token through a preset encryption protocol and sends it to the PC printing plug-in; the PC printing plug-in decrypts the fingerprint token based on the decryption process of the encryption protocol.

[0078] Optionally, the SaaS platform is specifically used to: build a print queue for each user's print task after the SaaS platform obtains the print task; the SaaS platform obtains the user's authorized PC list and the working status of the printer associated with each PC in the PC list, and according to the preset scheduling strategy, allocates the print tasks in the user's print queue to the PC in the PC list.

[0079] Optionally, the SaaS platform is specifically used for: the SaaS platform monitors the execution status of printing tasks in real time. If there are interrupted printing tasks, the SaaS platform will reprint the unfinished printing tasks based on the completion status of the printing tasks.

[0080] The technical features of the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-mentioned embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0081] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementations of the present invention, and while their descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention patent application. It should be noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art would be able to make numerous variations and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and these variations and improvements fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention patent application shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A remote printing method based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling is applicable to a remote printing system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling, characterized in that: The remote printing system includes: a SaaS platform, a user terminal, a PC terminal and a printer; the method includes: Connecting the PC to its local printer; The user logs in to the SaaS platform through the PC, downloads the pre-deployed PC printing plug-in from the SaaS platform and installs it on the PC, and establishes a communication link between the PC and the SaaS platform through an SSE long link; The user initiates a fingerprint token acquisition request to the SaaS platform through the PC print plug-in; the SaaS platform generates a fingerprint token based on the software number of the PC print plug-in and encrypts the fingerprint token through a preset encryption protocol and sends it to the PC print plug-in; the software number of the PC print plug-in is a unique number assigned to the PC print plug-in by the SaaS platform when the user downloads the PC print plug-in; The PC print plug-in decrypts the fingerprint token based on the decryption process of the encryption protocol and saves the fingerprint token; The user logs in to the SaaS platform through the user terminal and submits a print task; The SaaS platform converts the print task into a PostScript intermediate format, and then sends the print task and the user's fingerprint token to the user-authorized PC via an SSE long link; The PC verifies the fingerprint token through the PC printing plug-in. After the verification is passed, the print task is converted into a format that is adapted to the local printer protocol, and then the print task after format conversion is sent to the corresponding printer to perform the printing operation.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: After the SaaS platform obtains the print task, it builds a print queue for each user's print task; The SaaS platform obtains the list of PC terminals authorized by the user and the working status of the printers associated with each PC terminal in the PC terminal list, and distributes the printing tasks in the user's print queue to the PC terminals in the PC terminal list according to a preset scheduling strategy.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The SaaS platform monitors the execution status of the printing tasks in real time. If there are interrupted printing tasks, the SaaS platform will reprint the unfinished printing tasks based on the completion status of the printing tasks.

4. The remote printing system based on multi-tenant collaborative scheduling is characterized by: include: SaaS platform, user terminal, PC and printer; The PC is connected to its local printer and is connected to the SaaS platform via an SSE long link. The PC is installed with a PC printing plug-in downloaded from the SaaS platform. The PC terminal responds to the authorization operation initiated by the user after logging into the SaaS platform on the PC terminal, and initiates a fingerprint token acquisition request to the SaaS platform through the PC printing plug-in; The SaaS platform generates a fingerprint token based on the software number of the PC print plug-in and encrypts the fingerprint token through a preset encryption protocol and sends it to the PC print plug-in; The software number of the PC print plug-in is a unique number assigned to the PC print plug-in by the SaaS platform when the user downloads the PC print plug-in; The PC print plug-in decrypts the fingerprint token based on the decryption process of the encryption protocol and saves the fingerprint token; In response to the user logging into the SaaS platform through the user terminal and submitting a print task, the SaaS platform Convert the print task into a PostScript intermediate format, and then send the print task and the user's fingerprint token to the PC end storing the user's fingerprint token via an SSE long link; The PC verifies the fingerprint token through the PC printing plug-in. After the verification is passed, the print task is converted into a format that is adapted to the local printer protocol, and then the print task after format conversion is sent to the corresponding printer to perform the printing operation.

5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that The SaaS platform is specifically used for: After the SaaS platform obtains the print task, a print queue is constructed for each user's print task; The SaaS platform obtains the list of PC terminals authorized by the user and the working status of the printers associated with each PC terminal in the PC terminal list, and distributes the printing tasks in the user's print queue to the PC terminals in the PC terminal list according to a preset scheduling strategy.

6. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that The SaaS platform is specifically used for: The SaaS platform monitors the execution status of the printing tasks in real time. If there are interrupted printing tasks, the SaaS platform will reprint the unfinished printing tasks based on the completion status of the printing tasks.

Images