Wait-band alleviation via host-pc buffering
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorSTEVEN K. HINES
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is a print system and method for providing wait-band alleviation of printers via host buffering. The print system of the present invention is embodied in a software-driven scheme with independent multithreading operations for efficiently controlling and maximizing print jobs and includes a host computer connected to a printer, an operating system functioning on the host computer, an application running on the operating system and producing an image to be printed, and a printer driver interacting with the operating system. The software-driven buffering scheme and multithreading system provides simultaneous operation of software-driven components as well as hardware, to thereby provide continuous throughput of data to the printer.
Claims36
A print system for printing digital data on a printer, said print system comprising:
- a printer monitoring device coupled to the printer for translating the digital data into printer readable data by the printer and for providing communication with the printer;
- a first executable device for continuously retrieving and storing portions of the digital data;
- a second executable device for continuously processing said stored portions of the digital data and for continuously sending said processed portions of the digital data to the printer via said printer monitoring device;
- and
- wherein said first executable device and said second executable device operate simultaneously.
A method for printing digital data on a printer, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) continuously retrieving and storing portions of the digital data;
- (b) continuously processing and translating said stored portions of the digital data into printer readable data by the printer;
- (c) continuously sending said processed and translated data to the printer;
- (d) continuously monitoring status information of the printer;
- and
- (e) wherein steps (a)-(d) operate simultaneously.
A print system for printing digital data on a printer, comprising:
- a computer coupled to the printer and having a digitally readable medium, wherein the digital data resides on said digitally readable medium;
- an operating system residing on said digitally readable medium for operating applications and controlling functions of said computer;
- a language monitor running on said operating system for translating the digital data into printer readable data by the printer and for providing communication with the printer;
- and
- wherein said language monitor is preprogrammed to execute a first thread for continuously retrieving and storing portions of the digital data and to simultaneously execute a second thread for continuously processing portions of said stored digital data and for continuously sending said processed portions of the digital data to the printer.
A computer-readable medium for causing a computer to function as a print system, comprising:
- a computer-readable storage medium;
- a computer program stored on said medium;
- said computer program having a language monitor for translating generated digital data into printer readable data by a printer and for providing communication with said printer;
- wherein said language monitor is preprogrammed to execute a first thread for continuously retrieving and storing portions of said generated digital data on the computer-readable storage medium and to simultaneously execute a second thread for continuously processing portions of said stored digital data and for continuously sending said processed portions of said digital data to said printer;
- wherein said computer program stored on the computer-readable storage medium functions to cause the computer to function as a print system for printing said digital data.
A computer-implemented process for printing digital data residing on a readable medium of a source computer to a printer, comprising the steps of:
- (a) initially retrieving and storing a first portion of the digital data;
- (b) retrieving and storing remainder portions of the digital data;
- (c) processing and translating said stored portions of the digital data into printer readable data by the printer;
- (d) sending the processed and translated data to the printer;
- (e) monitoring status information of the printer;
- and
- (f) performing steps (b)-(e) simultaneously and continuously so that the digital data is printed on the printer without printing pauses thereby maximizing printing throughput.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.