Mobile Printing Server Mediator for Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing printing solutions for iOS-based mobile devices, such as AirPrint, are limited in larger environments due to restrictive printer access management, lack of standardized user interfaces, and the inability to grant printing rights to users rather than devices, making administration cumbersome and limiting the number of usable printing devices.
Innovation Solution
A method where a mobile terminal communicates with a server via a wireless link to manage printing devices, using user-specific keys and profiles to authorize and select available printers, allowing for centralized administration and improved printer access control, enabling printing from a wider range of devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If AirPrint protocol is used for printing from mobile devices, then printing functionality is provided, but printer access management becomes cumbersome and limited to small environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary component between mobile devices and printers. This server centrally manages printing rights, user authentication, and printer discovery, eliminating the need for direct peer-to-peer management. The server receives print jobs from mobile devices, validates user permissions, and forwards them to appropriate printers, thereby simplifying access management in large environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The server implements universal printing rights management that applies across multiple devices and printers. Instead of configuring each device- printer pair individually, the system uses a unified authentication mechanism where users are granted access to specific printers through centralized policies. This multi-functional approach handles device authentication, printer discovery, job routing, and permission validation in a single system.
2Ease of operation
If printing rights are assigned to devices rather than users, then device-level control is achieved, but user portability and flexibility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional device-centric printing rights model by implementing user-centric rights management. Instead of binding printing permissions to specific devices, the system assigns rights to users and allows them to access authorized printers from any mobile device. This inversion enables users to maintain printing access across multiple devices while administrators retain control through centralized user profile management.
3Ease of operation
If printers are made accessible to all mobile devices, then ease of use is improved, but security and authorized access control are weakened
Solution Approach 1:
The server performs preliminary authentication and authorization actions before allowing any print job to proceed. When a mobile device attempts to access printers, the server first verifies the user's identity and checks their printing rights against authorized printer lists. Only after this preliminary validation does the server establish communication with the printer and permit data transmission, thereby preventing unauthorized access while maintaining ease of use for authenticated users.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The invention relates to a printing method, an arrangement for implementing the printing method, a corresponding computer program, and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium, which in particular make it possible to increase the number of printing devices that can be used by a mobile device. For this purpose, a printing method is proposed in which a mobile device (102) communicates with a server (110) via a wireless communication interface and sends data intended for printing to a printing device (108) via the server (110). Data is stored on the mobile device (102) that includes information identifying at least one printing device (104, 106, 108) and at least one key assigned to the printing device (104, 106, 108).The procedure comprises the following: establishing a communication connection between the mobile device (102) and the server (110), identifying available printing devices (104, 106, 108) on the server (110), sending information about the available printing devices (104, 106, 108) from the server (110) to the mobile device (102), selecting a available printing device (108) on the mobile device (102), sending the data intended for printing or information enabling the server (110) to retrieve the data intended for printing from a remote storage location in a data network from the mobile device (102) to the server (110), checking the validity of one or more keys sent by the mobile device (102) on the server (110), and, depending on the validity of the key(s), sending the data intended for printing to the selected printing device (108).