MFD Cloud Matching Distributed Users with Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current document rendering systems require users to have prior knowledge of MFD location, capability, and availability, leading to inefficiencies and security risks, as users often frequent unsuitable locations and face job loss or theft in public areas.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilizes an MFD cloud with a back end unit and client application to match distributed users with available MFDs based on job criteria, providing secure rendering job management and authentication through a public and private cloud infrastructure, including GPS-based location services and virtual print queues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If users rely on prior knowledge of MFD location and availability, then they can access rendering services, but they waste time traveling to unsuitable locations and risk job loss or theft in public areas
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors MFD status (availability, capability, location) and provides real-time feedback to users through the client application. This feedback loop enables users to make informed decisions about job submission without needing prior knowledge of MFD conditions, thereby reducing time waste and job security risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The server acts as an intermediary between users and MFDs, managing job queues and matching jobs with appropriate MFDs based on real-time status information. This intermediary layer protects users from direct exposure to public MFD locations, securing jobs while optimizing access efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If users frequent fixed MFD locations regardless of capability or availability, then they maintain routine, but they miss opportunities to use more suitable or convenient MFDs
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically matches users with MFDs based on real-time conditions rather than fixed routines. The client application queries the server for currently available and suitable MFDs, enabling users to adapt their location choices to changing conditions, thereby improving both convenience and rendering efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters used for MFD selection from static (fixed location) to dynamic (real-time availability, capability, and location factors). By evaluating multiple parameters simultaneously, the system identifies the most suitable MFD for each user's current needs, optimizing both convenience and productivity.
3Loss of information
If companies provide product information after purchase through conventional media, then they maintain communication channels, but they expend enormous time, money, and effort with limited effectiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The MFD cloud system serves multiple functions: it enables document rendering, provides product information delivery, and facilitates user-MFD matching. By integrating these functions into a single platform, the system eliminates the need for separate conventional media channels, reducing energy expenditure while maintaining effective communication.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for matching distributed users with distributed MFDs is disclosed, which incorporates a MFD cloud, a back end unit, and a client application. The MFD cloud is composed of a large number of geographically distributed MFDs and can be logically divided into a public cloud and a private cloud. The back end unit maintains a persistent state of each MFD associated with the MFD cloud. The client application permits the distributed users to submit a rendering job in association with a job criterion to the back end unit which responds with a sorted list of nearby available MFDs that meet the job criterion. The user can select a MFD from the list and turn-by-turn directions from a user's current location to the selected MFD can be provided for collecting the rendering job. The system data can be kept current by periodically sending a status associated with each MFD.