Failover Raster Image Processor for Printing System Error Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional raster image processors (RIPs) in printing systems often fail to handle errors efficiently, leading to lost time and resources as the entire processing stops or continues with errors, especially in production printing where faster page processing is critical.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a failover RIP system that detects errors, activates a secondary RIP with different configuration strategies such as reduced memory usage, additional resources, or band processing to render pages that cannot be processed by the primary RIP, ensuring continued job processing without stopping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional RIP processes pages serially or in parallel using uniform configuration, then processing speed is improved, but system reliability deteriorates when errors occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the RIP functionality into multiple independent RIP instances with different configurations. When an error occurs in one RIP, only that specific RIP is affected, while other RIPs continue processing pages normally. This segmentation isolates failures and maintains overall system productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the configuration parameters of RIP instances to create specialized variants. Some RIPs are configured with higher memory allocation for resource-intensive pages, while others use reduced memory for simpler pages. This parameter variation allows the system to handle different page types optimally and recover from errors more effectively.
2Stability of the object's composition
If all RIP instances use equivalent system resources for uniform processing, then processing consistency is maintained, but adaptability to error conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by configuring different RIP instances with specialized resource allocations tailored to specific processing needs. Each RIP instance has customized memory limits and resource priorities suited to its designated page types, enabling differentiated error handling strategies without compromising overall processing consistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The RIP system dynamically adjusts which RIP instance processes which pages based on real-time conditions. When errors are detected, the system can redirect pages to alternative RIP instances with appropriate configurations, making the system adaptable to changing error conditions while maintaining processing uniformity through intelligent load distribution.
3Productivity
If the RIP continues processing after an error occurs, then productivity is maintained, but processing quality deteriorates due to potential errors in output
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a front end as an intermediary between page input and RIP processing. The front end monitors RIP output quality and can intervene to redirect problematic pages to alternative RIP instances with different configurations. This intermediary ensures that only quality-approved output proceeds while maintaining continuous productivity through automated error detection and correction.
Data Source
AI summary
A printing system includes a printing device. The printing device includes a raster image processor (RIP) system that renders pages of a print job for printing. The RIP system processes pages of the print job in parallel. It also processes job is parallel. If an error occurs when processing a page using a standard RIP, then the RIP system activates a failover RIP. The failover RIP uses a different strategy for processing the page than a standard RIP. The failover RIP is configured to implement the strategy. A failover queue is used to store error pages to wait for processing by the failover queue. The processed page is outputted from the failover RIP to a front end of the RIP system.