Methods and apparatus for determining the status of a peripheral device using a coupling device that interfaces a host device with the peripheral device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9268506-B1
Application number	US-201514621215-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 12, 2015
Priority date	Feb 21, 2014
Publication date	Feb 23, 2016
Grant date	Feb 23, 2016

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method comprising coupling an apparatus to a peripheral device and coupling the apparatus to a computing device. The apparatus is configured to (i) receive a first job request from the computing device to be performed by the peripheral device and (ii) transmit the first job request to the peripheral device. The method further comprises instructing a user of the computing device to create a first predetermined situation at the peripheral device. The method further comprises In response to the apparatus transmitting the first job request to the peripheral device, waiting, by the apparatus, for a first status message from the peripheral device. The first status message corresponds to the first predetermined situation created by the user at the peripheral device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
communicating, by an apparatus, with a peripheral device;
communicating, by the apparatus, with a computing device, wherein the apparatus is configured to (i) receive a first job request from the computing device to be performed by the peripheral device and (ii) transmit the first job request to the peripheral device;
instructing, by logic included in the apparatus, a user of the computing device to create a first predetermined situation at the peripheral device; and
responsive to the apparatus transmitting the first job request to the peripheral device,
receiving, by the apparatus, a first status message from the peripheral device, wherein the first status message corresponds to the first predetermined situation created by the user at the peripheral device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
comparing, by the logic included in the apparatus, the first status message with sets of status messages; and
based upon comparing the first status message with sets of status messages, selecting a set of status messages to associate with the peripheral device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the peripheral device comprises a printing device and the set of status messages relates to various statuses of the printing device.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising based upon the set of status messages, identifying the peripheral device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device comprises a printing device and the status reporting mechanism is one of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) endpoint, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1284.4 print channel using print job language (PJL) or IEEE 1284.4 print management language (PML) message channel query.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
based upon the first status message, creating a set of status messages for the peripheral device; and
storing the set of status messages in a memory of the apparatus.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving an unknown status message;
instructing, by the apparatus, the user to identify a status of the peripheral device;
based upon the status of the peripheral device, creating a new status message for the peripheral device; and
adding the new status message to the set of status messages in the memory of the apparatus.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device comprises a printing device and the set of status messages relates to various statuses of the printing device, and wherein instructing a user of the computing device to create a situation at the peripheral device comprises instructing the user to one of (i) remove all paper in input trays of the printing device, (ii) send a job with a particular paper size to the printing device, (iii) open a lid of the printing device, (iv) open a door of the printing device, (v) create a jam within the printing device, or (vi) remove toner cartridge(s).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first predetermined situation at the peripheral device comprises a first fault condition in the peripheral device, wherein the first fault condition in the peripheral device prohibits the peripheral device from executing the first job request received from the apparatus.

10. An apparatus comprising:
a plurality of interfaces, wherein a first interface of the plurality of interfaces is configured to couple the apparatus to a computing device, wherein a second interface of the plurality of interfaces is configured to couple the apparatus to a peripheral device, wherein the first interface is separate from the second interface, and wherein the apparatus is separate from each of (i) the computing device and (ii) the peripheral device;
memory configured to store logic, wherein the logic is configured to
instruct a user of the computing device to create a first predetermined situation at the peripheral device, and
responsive to the apparatus transmitting a first job request to the peripheral device,
wait for a first status message from the peripheral device, wherein the first status message corresponds to the first predetermined situation created by the user at the peripheral device; and

a processor configured to execute the logic.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the logic is further configured to:
compare the first status message with sets of status messages; and
based upon comparing the first status message with sets of status messages, select a set of status messages to associate with the peripheral device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the logic is further configured to, based upon the set of status messages, identify the peripheral device.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the logic is further configured to:
receive an unknown status message;
instruct the user to identify a status of the peripheral device;
based upon the status of the peripheral device, create a new status message for the peripheral device; and
add the new status message to the set of status messages in the memory.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the peripheral device comprises a printing device, and wherein the logic is further configured to, if no status message is received by the apparatus, disable status reporting of the apparatus for the printing device.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the peripheral device comprises a printing device and the set of status messages relates to various statuses of the printing device, and wherein instruct a user of the computing device to create a situation at the peripheral device comprises instructing the user to one of (i) remove all paper in input trays of the printing device, (ii) send a job with a particular paper size to the printing device, (iii) open a lid of the printing device, (iv) open a door of the printing device, (v) create a jam within the printing device, or (vi) remove toner cartridge(s).

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first predetermined situation at the peripheral device comprises a first fault condition in the peripheral device, wherein the first fault condition in the peripheral device prohibits the peripheral device from executing the first job request received from the apparatus.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
communicate with a peripheral device;
communicate with a computing device;
receive a first job request from the computing device to be performed by the peripheral device;
request a user of the computing device to create a first predetermined situation at the peripheral device, wherein the first predetermined situation comprises one of (i) removing all paper in an input tray of the peripheral device, (ii) opening a lid of the peripheral device, (iii) opening a door of the peripheral device, (iv) creating a jam within the peripheral device, or (vi) removing a toner cartridge from the peripheral device;
transmit the first job request to the peripheral device; and
in response to (i) the user of the computing device creating the first predetermined situation at the peripheral device and (ii) transmitting the first job request to the peripheral device, receive a first status message from the peripheral device, wherein the first status message corresponds to the first predetermined situation created by the user at the peripheral device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , having further computer-executable instructions stored thereupon wh

Assignees

• Marvell Int Ltd

Inventors

• Huang Ying

Classifications

• G06F3/1232

  Transmitting printer device capabilities, e.g. upon request or periodically · CPC title

• G06F3/1229

  Printer resources management or printer maintenance, e.g. device status, power levels · CPC title

• G06F3/1292 Primary

  Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing · CPC title

• G06F3/1209

  resulting in adapted or bridged legacy communication protocols, e.g. emulation, protocol extension · CPC title

• H04N1/00973 Primary

  from a remote device, e.g. receiving via the internet instructions input to a computer terminal · CPC title