Method for determining optimal batch sizes for processing print jobs in a printing environment
AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsSudhendu Rai, Samaresh C. Maitra
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A print job is partitioned into sub-jobs or “batches” to shorten the turnaround time for completing the processing of the print job. The sizes of the batches are chosen so as to minimize the turnaround time. The batch sizes are optimized based on factors affecting the turnaround time. The batches may be processed concurrently in a pipelined fashion to minimize the turnaround time.
Claims11
In a printing environment having equipment for processing print jobs, a method, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a selected print job;
- dividing the selected print job into batches, where a size of each of the batches is selected to substantially optimize a time period it takes for the selected print job to be fully processed;
- to determine the total production time Tprod, which includes the time taken to process the first batch followed by the time to process the subsequent batches, use the following equation, where ri represents the processing time of each operation per production item, i represents the number of the operation in sequence, r1 represents the time it takes to print a single copy of the document, hi represents the inter-batch handling time, S1 represents the setup time for each operation, and N represents the number of production items in the print job:
- T prod = ∑ i = 1 i = n [ br i + h i ] + S 1 + [ max ( br i + h i ) ] ( N b - 1 ) ;
- and
- processing the batches separately and concurrently to complete processing of the print job.
A medium for storing instructions for performing a method in a printing environment having equipment for processing print jobs, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a selected print job;
- dividing the selected print job into batches, where a size of each of the batches is selected to substantially optimize a time period it takes for the selected print job to be fully processed, wherein the size of each of the batches is based at least in part on the time it takes for the printing environment to switch from processing a first batch to processing a second batch for each operation that is required to complete the processing of the print job;
- and
- processing the batches separately and concurrently to complete processing of the print job, wherein each batch is processed by a subset of the equipment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.