Cloud Gateway for Policy-Based Public Domain Scanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing policy-based printing and scanning systems are limited to closed private domain environments, making it difficult for on-the-go users to access and print or scan documents in public locations without reliable access to policy-based services.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based public server system that supports policy-based scanning operations by determining the user's organization domain, applying policies, and managing credit values to allow or deny scan jobs, enabling scanning in public locations through a public scan service.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If policy-based printing and scanning systems operate within a closed private domain environment, then security and policy control are maintained, but accessibility and usability for on-the-go users in public locations are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway server as an intermediary between the private domain policy-based printing system and public domain scanners. The gateway receives scan requests from public scanners, validates user credentials, applies organizational policies, and routes requests to appropriate private domain scanners or returns results. This mediator enables public access while maintaining policy control and security boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is segmented into distinct domains: private domain (organizational scanners and policies), public domain (public scanners and users), and gateway (connection point). This segmentation allows each domain to operate independently with appropriate security levels while enabling controlled interaction through the gateway, resolving the contradiction between accessibility and policy control.
2Ease of operation
If users access scanning services in public locations, then mobility and convenience are improved, but reliable access to policy-based scanning services and credit value verification becomes problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway server acts as a reliable intermediary that users can access from any public location. It maintains connection to the private domain infrastructure, ensuring that even when users are mobile and in public locations, they can reliably access scanning services through the gateway's mediation, which handles authentication, policy application, and credit verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway server creates a virtual interface that replicates the private domain scanning service functionality in the public domain. By copying the essential service interface and authentication mechanisms through the gateway, users can access the same policy-based scanning services from public locations as they would from private domain scanners, ensuring service reliability regardless of location.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a public scan service is implemented, then accessibility to scanning devices is improved, but complexity of managing policies, ledgers, and credit values across domains increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway server centralizes the management complexity of policies, ledgers, and credit values. Instead of distributing this complexity across multiple public scanners and private domain systems, the gateway serves as a single point of management that handles authentication, policy application, credit verification, and billing. This concentrates the management complexity in one controllable location while maintaining broad service availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway merges multiple functions into a single system: public scanner interface, user authentication, policy enforcement, credit management, and private domain communication. By combining these previously separate functions into one integrated gateway, the system reduces overall complexity while improving service availability across multiple scanners and locations.
Data Source
AI summary
A policy-based system is implemented to allow access to a private domain to print using a public domain. The private domain includes private servers that store documents. The public domain includes servers and a printing device. A public policy server uses a domain list and a protocol connection with a private authentication server to validate a user and identify which private domain to access. The public policy server receives requests from the printing device to process a print job of a document in the private domain. The policy-based system also determines whether scanning operations for a document are allowed for a public scan service using remaining credit values and the policy. The public scan service is cloud-based and includes a public server to interact with printing devices through the cloud-based service.