Mediation Server Routing for Printer Image Data Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Printers without stored optical codes cannot receive documents from portable devices, as they cannot be identified by the server, leading to a failure in transmitting and printing image data.
Innovation Solution
A management system and image-processing apparatus communication interface that allows for the transmission and storage of image data without requiring apparatus-specific information, enabling printers to process and print images by requesting and receiving storage locations for original and target image data through a mediation server and temporary storage server.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a printer stores an optical code for identification, then the portable device can capture and transmit the code to the server for document transmission, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the portable device and the printer. The server stores printer identification information and manages the document transmission process, eliminating the need for the printer to store optical codes locally. The portable device communicates with the server, which then routes documents to the appropriate printer based on captured image data.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring the original printer to store and display an optical code, the system creates a digital copy of the printer's identification information and stores it on the server. The portable device captures an image of the printer (which may include a simplified code or identifier), and the server uses this captured image to retrieve the corresponding printer identification from its database, enabling document routing without physical optical code storage on the printer.
2Device complexity
If the printer does not store an optical code, then the device complexity is reduced, but the portable device cannot transmit documents to the printer as the server cannot identify the target printer
Solution Approach 1:
The server acts as a central intermediary that stores printer identification information and manages the matching process. When a portable device captures an image of a printer, the extracted identification data is sent to the server, which retrieves the corresponding printer information from its database and facilitates document transmission, eliminating the need for optical code storage on the printer itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by having the server pre-store printer identification information and establish the matching database before any document transmission occurs. This allows the system to quickly and reliably match captured printer images with the correct target printer during actual document transmission, ensuring reliability without adding complexity to the printer hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
A controller in a management system performs: in response to receiving a first request, transmitting first information to an image-processing apparatus, the transmitted first information being acquired by a terminal apparatus; receiving the first information acquired by the terminal apparatus and original image data stored in the terminal apparatus; storing the received original image data at a first storage location in the image data storage, the first storage location being specified by the received first information; receiving a second request; in response to receiving the second request, transmitting the second information to the image-processing apparatus; receiving the second information and a third request from the image-processing apparatus; and in response to receiving the third request; transmitting target image data based on the received original image data to the image-processing apparatus, the target image data being stored in the second storage location specified by the received second information.