CN112130774A

CN112130774A - Printing method, printing device, printer and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN112130774A
Application number: CN201910556807.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵刘岗; 韩路
Original assignee: Shanghai Hannto Technology Inc; Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Hannto Technology Inc; Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-06-25
Filing date: 2019-06-25
Publication date: 2020-12-25

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a printing method, a printing device, a printer and a storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: a printer in the printer set receives a print job; splitting a printing task into N subtasks according to the printing task; distributing the N subtasks to M printers in the printer set, wherein M is less than or equal to S, S is the number of the printers contained in the printer set, and any one of the M printers is distributed with at least one subtask; and sending the task parameters and the printing data of the distributed subtasks to corresponding printers in the M printers, wherein the task parameters and the printing data are used for the M printers to print the corresponding subtasks respectively. According to the technical scheme, one printing task can be split into a plurality of subtasks and distributed to a plurality of printers for printing, the printing task can be shared and processed in parallel, and the printing speed is improved.

Description

Printing method, printing device, printer and storage medium

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of printer technologies, and in particular, to a printing method and apparatus, a printer, and a storage medium.

Background

In the related art, a file is usually sent to a designated printer for printing through a terminal when the file is printed, and a long printing time is consumed when the file is printed in a large amount, which is very disadvantageous to the improvement of the work efficiency, so how to increase the printing speed when the file is printed becomes a technical problem which needs to be solved urgently.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a printing method, a printing apparatus, a printer and a storage medium, wherein the technical scheme is as follows:

according to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a printing method including:

a printer in the printer set receives a print job;

splitting the print task into N subtasks according to the print task, wherein N is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2;

distributing the N subtasks to M printers in the printer set, wherein M is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2 and less than or equal to S, and S is the number of printers in the printer set, wherein at least one subtask is distributed to any one of the M printers;

and sending the task parameters and the printing data of the distributed subtasks to corresponding printers in the M printers, wherein the task parameters and the printing data are used for the M printers to respectively print and complete the corresponding subtasks.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

receiving first notification information which is sent by other printers and indicates that a preset printing function is started;

and adding the printer supporting the preset printing function into the printer group according to the first notification information.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

receiving second notification information sent by each printer in the printer group, wherein the second notification information comprises: printing capability information and/or current printing state information of a corresponding printer;

and selecting the M printers from the printer set according to the printing capacity information and/or the current printing state information.

Optionally, the selecting the M printers from the printer group according to the printer capability information and/or the current printing state information includes:

sorting the printing capacity information of each printer in the printing unit to obtain a first sorting result;

sorting the printing states of the current printing state information of each printer in the printer set to obtain a second sorting result;

and selecting the M printers according to the first sequencing result and the second sequencing result.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and determining the number of the distributed subtasks and/or the printing quantity of a single subtask according to the printing capacity information and/or the current printing state information of the M printers.

Optionally, the method further comprises: determining whether the printing task meets a splitting condition according to the acquired printing parameters of the printing task;

splitting the print job into N subtasks according to the print job, including:

when the print task meets the splitting condition, splitting the print task into the N subtasks.

Optionally, the determining, according to the acquired printing parameters of the print job, whether the print job meets a splitting condition includes at least one of:

determining whether the printing time required for completing the printing task by a single device exceeds a time threshold value or not according to the printing parameters of the printing task;

determining whether the total printing data volume of the printing task exceeds a quantity threshold value according to the printing parameters;

wherein the printing parameters include at least one of:

printing the total number of pages;

printing the total number of copies;

an amount of print data for a single copy of the print job.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

receiving subtask execution state information of the M printers in the process of printing the completed subtask;

and determining the completion state information of the printing task according to the execution state information of the subtasks.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

determining that the printing state of at least one printer in the M printers is abnormal according to the subtask execution state information;

when at least one printer in the M printers has abnormal printing state, sending a stop instruction for indicating the printing stop of the subtask to the printer with the abnormal printing state, and redistributing the subtask of the printer with the abnormal printing state to other printers with normal printing state in the printer group.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a printing apparatus including:

a first receiving module configured to receive a print job from a printer located in the printer group;

a splitting module configured to split the print job into N subtasks according to the print job, wherein N is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2;

the distribution module is configured to distribute the N subtasks to M printers in the printer group, wherein M is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2 and less than or equal to S, S is the number of printers included in the printer group, and any one of the M printers is distributed with at least one subtask;

and the first sending module is configured to send the task parameters and the print data of the assigned subtasks to corresponding printers in the M printers, wherein the task parameters and the print data are used for the M printers to respectively print the corresponding subtasks.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a second receiving module configured to receive first notification information indicating that a predetermined printing function is started, which is transmitted by the other printer;

and the joining module is configured to join the printer supporting the preset printing function into the printer group according to the first notification information.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a third receiving module, configured to receive second notification information sent by each printer in the printer group, where the second notification information includes: printing capability information and/or current printing state information of a corresponding printer;

a selection module configured to select the M printers from the set of printers according to the printing capability information and/or the current printing status information.

Optionally, the selection module is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a first determining module configured to determine the number of assigned subtasks and/or the print amount of a single subtask according to the print capability information and/or the current print status information of the M printers.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

the second determination module is configured to determine whether the printing task meets a splitting condition according to the acquired printing parameters of the printer task;

the splitting module further configured to:

and when the printing task meets the splitting condition, dividing the printing task into the N subtasks.

Optionally, the first determining module is specifically configured to at least one of:

determining whether the total printing data volume of the printing tasks exceeds a quantity threshold value according to the printing parameters of the printing tasks;

wherein the printing parameters include at least one of:

printing the total number of pages;

printing the total number of copies;

an amount of print data for a single copy of the print job.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a fourth receiving module configured to receive the subtask execution status information of the M printers during the completion of the subtask printing;

a third determination module configured to determine completion status information of the print job according to the sub-job execution status information.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a fourth determination module configured to determine that a printing status of at least one of the M printers is abnormal according to the subtask execution status information;

and the second sending module is configured to send a stop instruction indicating that the printing of the subtask is stopped to the printer with the abnormal printing state when at least one printer in the M printers has the abnormal printing state, and redistribute the subtask of the printer with the abnormal printing state to other printers with the normal printing state in the printer group.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a printer including:

a processor;

a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

wherein the processor is configured to:

a printer in the printer set receives a print job;

In another aspect of the disclosed embodiments, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, the program being executed by a processor to perform the steps of any of the printing methods described above.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can have the following beneficial effects:

receiving a print job by a printer located within the printer group; splitting the printing task into N subtasks according to the printing task; then distributing the N subtasks to M printers in the printer group, wherein M is less than or equal to S, S is the number of printers contained in the printer group, and any one of the M printers is distributed with at least one subtask; and sending the task parameters and the printing data of the distributed subtasks to corresponding printers in the M printers, wherein the task parameters and the printing data are used for the M printers to respectively print and complete the corresponding subtasks. Therefore, after a printer in the printer set receives a print task, the print task is split, and the split subtasks are distributed to M printers in the printer set for printing, that is, the embodiment can split the print task into a plurality of subtasks and distribute the plurality of subtasks to the plurality of printers, and the plurality of printers are used for sharing and processing the print task in parallel, so that the printing speed of the print task is greatly improved, the time for a user to wait for the completion of the print task is saved, and the problem that the printing time of the print task in one printer in the related art is long is solved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of printing according to one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a user interface for a printing method, shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is another user interface diagram illustrating a method of printing according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a printer cluster, shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another network architecture of a printer cluster, shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a scenario of a printing method according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a printer shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, like numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present invention. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the invention, as detailed in the appended claims.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the disclosure relates to a printer, which mainly refers to a printer receiving an original printing task, wherein the printer is connected with a terminal device and used for printing a file to be printed, such as a text file, a picture and the like, sent by the terminal device. Here, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, or the like, as long as the terminal device can send a file to be printed to the printer, and can be connected to the printer to control the printer to print the file to be printed, which is not limited in this disclosure. In the embodiment of the disclosure, the terminal device may be connected to the printer through a wired network, or may be connected to the printer through a wireless network, where the wireless network connection may be a Wi-Fi connection, a bluetooth connection, or the like.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method of printing, as shown in FIG. 1, according to an exemplary embodiment, the method comprising the steps of:

step 101: a printer in the printer set receives a print job;

here, the print job is initiated by the terminal device to a printer in the printer group;

step 102: splitting the printing task into N subtasks according to the printing task;

wherein N is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2;

step 103: distributing the N subtasks to M printers in a printer set;

wherein M is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2 and less than or equal to S, and S is the number of printers included in the printer group, wherein at least one of the subtasks is allocated to any one of the M printers;

step 104: sending the task parameters and the printing data of the distributed subtasks to corresponding printers in the M printers;

and the task parameters and the printing data are used for the M printers to respectively print and finish the corresponding subtasks.

Here, the printer group is established by printers capable of communicating with each other based on a predetermined establishment condition, and the printer group may be established before receiving a print job.

Specifically, the printer that receives the print job can receive information sent by other printers, so that which printers satisfy the predetermined establishment condition can be determined from the information, and the printers that satisfy the predetermined establishment condition can be added to the printer group.

It should be noted that the other printers herein may be understood as other printers capable of directly or indirectly communicating with the printer that receives the print job, for example, other printers in the same lan except the printer that receives the print job may be understood as other printers. Here, the same local area network may be, for example, a local area network of the same office building; or, the two networks may be local area networks of the same group or the same company.

Here, the predetermined establishment condition may include at least one of:

the printer starts a preset printing function;

the printer has the same model as the printer receiving the printing task;

within a predetermined range from the geographic location of the printer receiving the print job.

Here, the predetermined establishment condition is a case where the printer starts a predetermined print function, the method includes: receiving first notification information which is sent by other printers and indicates that a preset printing function is started; and adding the printer supporting the preset printing function into the printer group according to the first notification information, so as to establish the printer group.

Here, the first notification information is obtained by the printer communicating with another printer via the network.

In an embodiment, the printer receiving the print job may periodically send an instruction inquiring whether the predetermined print function is started to other printers in the network, and determine whether the corresponding printer starts the predetermined print function based on a reply of the other printers to the instruction whether the predetermined print function is started.

In another embodiment, when a printer in the network starts a predetermined function, the message is broadcasted through the network, wherein the broadcast message carries an identifier of the printer corresponding to the start of the predetermined function, so that the printer receiving the task can know which printers start the predetermined printing function through the broadcast message.

It should be noted that each printer is provided with a physical button or a virtual button for activating or deactivating a predetermined print function.

Here, the printer in which the printer starts the predetermined print function may be the printer which starts the predetermined print function based on an operation instruction by receiving the operation instruction of the user for starting the predetermined function.

Further, for the establishment of the printer group, which printers are added to the printer group can be determined according to the selection of the user.

Specifically, S printers are selected to establish a printer group from among printers capable of directly or indirectly communicating with the printers by logging in built-in configuration software or a configuration website and based on selection operations of a user.

Wherein, through configuration software or configuration website, at least one of printer model, printer name, printer position, etc. of the printer capable of directly or indirectly communicating with the printer receiving the printing task is displayed on the displayable screen; the S printers are selected based on a user' S selection operation by at least one of a model number of the printer, a printer name, and a printer position displayed on the displayable screen.

For example, the user may select a printer model that is commonly used by the user at ordinary times by using the model of the printer displayed on the displayable screen, where the display screen displays the relevant information of the printers in the form of a list, and the user may select S printers by checking in the list.

In some embodiments, the displayable screen may be a screen of the printer itself, please refer to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic user interface diagram of a printing method according to an exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 2, a display screen 201 is provided on the printer 20, information related to the printers is displayed on the displayable screen, and the user may select the S printers by checking.

Of course, in other embodiments, the displayable screen may be a screen of a terminal connected to a printer, please refer to fig. 3, and fig. 3 is a schematic view of a user interface of a printing method according to an exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the printer 20 is connected to a terminal device 30, information related to the printer is displayed on a touch screen of the terminal device, and a user may select the S printers by pointing to the printer to be selected through a touch operation.

Therefore, the user can control which printers are added into the printer set, printing optimization service is provided for the user, and user experience is improved.

The preset establishing condition is the condition that the preset establishing condition has the same type as that of the printer receiving the printing task, and because the printer type of each printer in the established printing unit is the same, the preset establishing condition can ensure that the preset establishing condition is the same as the file format, the file paper type and the like which are supported by the printer receiving the printing task, and can reduce the abnormity caused by the problem of unsupported file format, paper type and the like in the execution process of the subtasks.

The preset establishing condition is the condition that the geographical position range of the printer receiving the printing task is within the preset range, and because the geographical position of each printer in the established printing unit is within a certain range, the execution of the subtasks of the printing task can be ensured to be within a certain geographical position range, and the distance time for a user to take the file is saved.

In one embodiment, based on the printer group, M printers may be automatically selected based on the characteristics of the individual printers of the printer group.

Specifically, the method further comprises: receiving second notification information sent by each printer in the printer group, wherein the second notification information comprises: printing capability information and/or current printing state information of a corresponding printer; and selecting the M printers from the printer group according to the printing capacity information and/or the current printing state information.

Here, the printing capability information includes, but is not limited to, a printing file format supported by the printer, a printed file paper size, the number of remaining paper, the number of remaining ink, whether color printing is supported, a printing speed, and the like; the current printing status information includes, but is not limited to, a usage status of the printer, a power-on status of the printer, a network connection status of the printer, and the like.

And according to the second notification information sent by each printer, roughly knowing the printing capability information and/or the current printing state information of each printer.

According to the printing capacity information of each printer, the size of file paper, the number of residual paper, the printing speed and the like which can be printed by each printer can be known, so that the current printing capacity of each printer can be known. For example, the printing capabilities may indicate how many pages the printer may currently print, whether color printing is supported, printing speed, and the like. Therefore, the printing capability can be determined based on the printing capability information of each of the different classes. It is understood that the more remaining sheets are printed, the higher the printing speed, indicating the higher the printing capability.

Similarly, the use status of each printer, the power-on status of the printer, the network connection status of the printer, etc. can be known from the current printing status information of each printer, so that the current printing status of each printer can be known. For example, the print status may indicate whether the printer is currently in a power-on state or a power-off state; indicating the current network connection state or the network disconnection state of the printer; indicating whether the printer has been stuck during the history of use. Therefore, the printing state can be determined according to the current printing state of each different class. It can be understood that if the printer is in the power-on state, the network connection state is good, and the printer is in a low-jamming state, the printing state is good.

In this embodiment, for some printers with poor printing capability or poor current printing state, the sub-tasks may not be allocated during the printing task, so as to avoid the printing efficiency being low due to the poor printing capability or poor printing state of these printers.

In an embodiment, said selecting said M printers from said set of printers according to said printing capability information and/or said current printing status information comprises: sorting the printing capacity information of each printer in the printing unit to obtain a first sorting result; sorting the printing states of the current printing state information of each printer in the printer set to obtain a second sorting result; and selecting the M printers according to the first sequencing result and the second sequencing result.

In practice, in a specific application, the M printers may be selected according to a setting rule and based on the first sorting result and the second sorting result.

In an embodiment, the selecting the M printers according to the setting rule and based on the first sorting result and the second sorting result includes: and according to the first sequencing result and the second sequencing result, respectively selecting M nonrepeating printers which are ranked at the top from the first sequencing result and the second sequencing result. For example, if M is 10, and if the printer corresponding to the first 5 bits in the first sort result and the printer corresponding to the first 5 bits in the second sort result are not duplicate printers, the printer corresponding to the first 5 bits may be selected from the first sort result, and the printer corresponding to the first 5 bits may be selected from the second sort result; if there is a duplicate, then the selection is sequenced, for example, if there is a duplicate, then a printer that does not duplicate the previously selected printer may be selected from the first sort result, or a printer that does not duplicate the previously selected printer may be selected from the second sort result, and so on.

In another embodiment, the selecting the M printers according to the first sorting result and the second sorting result according to the setting rule includes: respectively selecting corresponding printers with front K bits from the first sorting result and the second sorting result, wherein K is a positive integer which is greater than M and less than or equal to S; respectively calculating the printing capacity information and the current printing state information of the printer corresponding to the front K bits based on the respective weights of the printing capacity information and the current printing state information to obtain a third sequencing result; and selecting the M printers according to the third sorting result.

For example, the capability value indicated by the capability information of the printer a is 100, and the status value indicated by the status information is 20; the capability value indicated by the capability information of the printer B is 50, and the status information is 100; the weight based on the capability information is 10%, and the weight of the status information is 90%; calculating to obtain a value of 28 corresponding to the printer A; printer B corresponds to a value of 95. That is, although the printer a ranks top in the first sort result, since the weight value of the capability information is low, it may not be ranked top M bits in the third sort result. The M printers selected in the mode can better ensure the smooth completion of the printing tasks, thereby improving the processing speed of the printing tasks.

In another embodiment, the selecting the M printers from the printer group according to the printing capability information and/or the current printing status information may further include: and selecting the M printers which can currently complete at least one subtask from the printer set according to the printer capability information and/or the current printer state information and the minimum data volume of the subtasks.

Therefore, the minimum data size of the subtasks is compared with the printing capacity and/or the printing state of each printer, so that the printer incapable of printing the minimum subtasks does not participate in the printing of the printing task, and the error rate in the printing process can be further reduced.

Here, the task parameter includes at least one of the following of the subtasks: printing page number, printing paper size, printing direction and the like; for example, the number of printed pages is 1 to 10 pages, and the number of printed copies is 2. The task parameters of different subtasks can be different, for example, the printing page number corresponding to the task parameter of the subtask 1 is 1-10 pages, and the printing page number corresponding to the task parameter of the subtask 2 is 11-20; the task parameters of different subtasks may be the same, for example, the number of print copies corresponding to the task parameter of subtask 1 is 1, and the number of print copies corresponding to the task parameter of subtask 2 is also 1.

Here, the print data may be all data of the file to be printed, for example, all data contents of the file to be printed; the print data may also be print data corresponding to the job parameter, for example, 1-10 pages of the document to be printed, and the printer data is only data of 1-10 pages of the document to be printed.

It should be noted that the print data may be distributed to M printers that perform cooperative printing by the printer that receives the print job, or the printer that receives the print job may upload the print data to the network, and then the other printers may obtain the corresponding print data from the network. In either way, it is understood that the print job is sent by the printer that received the print job and received by other printers that cooperatively process the print job.

In this embodiment, there are various ways to determine the splitting of the print job into N subtasks, specifically, but not limited to, at least one of the following:

after the total printing data amount of the printing task is averagely divided into N parts by adopting an average division method, determining the task parameter and the printing data of each part to determine the task parameter of the subtask; for example, the total number of pages is N pages, which can be divided into N subtasks with 1 print job; or the total number of copies is N, and the system can be divided into N subtasks with 1 print job.

Determining the number of the assigned subtasks and/or the printing amount of a single subtask according to the printing capability information and the current printing state information of the M printers.

It will be appreciated that printers with greater printing capabilities and better printing conditions, for example, the faster the printing speed, the more paper left, etc., the more print data in the subtasks that can be assumed by the printer, and thus, the number of subtasks and/or the amount of printing per subtask that can be allocated by printers of different capabilities may vary.

Specifically, in some embodiments, the comprehensive capability information of the M printers is determined based on the printing capability information and/or the current printing state information of the M printers, and the number of subtasks that can be allocated and/or the printing amount of a single subtask may be greater for a printer with higher comprehensive capability indicated by the comprehensive capability information.

In this way, for the printers in the printing unit with unbalanced comprehensive capabilities to cooperatively complete the printing task, the embodiment can enable the printer with strong comprehensive capabilities to bear more printing amount, and enable the printer with weaker comprehensive capabilities to bear less printing amount, so as to further improve the printing speed.

This embodiment can carry out reasonable split to the printing ability people according to the printing ability and the printing state of each printer in M individual printer, can be faster accomplish whole print task in coordination, improves printing speed.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises: determining whether the printing task meets a splitting condition according to the acquired printing parameters of the printing task; the step 102 may further include: when the printer task meets the splitting condition, splitting the printer task into the N subtasks.

Here, the splitting condition may be determined based on a splitting instruction, for example, by receiving a splitting instruction input to a printer by a user, the print job is split.

The splitting condition can also be a preset splitting condition so that the printer can intelligently judge which printing tasks need to be split, and the printing speed is improved.

Specifically, the determining whether the print job meets a splitting condition according to the acquired print parameters of the print job includes at least one of:

determining whether the total printing data volume of the printing task exceeds a data volume threshold value according to the printing parameters of the printing task;

wherein the printing parameters include at least one of:

printing the total number of pages;

printing the total number of copies;

an amount of print data for a single copy of the print job.

Here, it should be noted that although the printing parameters may refer to parameters set for a print job, such as the size of printed paper, the total number of printed pages, the total number of printed copies, and whether the print parameter is horizontal or vertical, the printing parameters are for the print job, and the job parameters are for the subtasks.

Further, in order to monitor the whole printing process and timely handle the printing exception. The method further comprises the following steps: receiving subtask execution state information of the M printers in the process of printing the completed subtask; and determining the completion state information of the printing task according to the subtask execution state information.

Here, the M printers periodically broadcast the execution status information of their own execution subtasks to the network, or the printers that received the print job periodically inquire the execution status information of the subtasks from the respective M printers, so that the entire printing process can be conveniently monitored.

Of course, in some embodiments, it may be that the abnormality information is broadcasted to the network again when an abnormality occurs, where the abnormality information also carries an identifier of the printer where the abnormality occurs, so that the user may know which printer has the abnormality. And the abnormal information is received by the printer which receives the printing task and is returned to the terminal equipment, and at the moment, the user can timely repair the abnormality through the description information of the abnormal information and the identifier of the printer indicated by the abnormal information.

For example, the abnormality information indicates that the printer a has no paper available, and at this time, the user can replenish the printer a with paper in a timely manner.

Of course, in other embodiments, the method further comprises: determining that the printing state of at least one printer in the M printers is abnormal according to the subtask execution state information; when at least one printer in the M printers has abnormal printing state, sending a stop instruction for indicating the printing stop of the subtask to the printer with the abnormal printing state, and redistributing the subtask of the printer with the abnormal printing state to other printers with normal printing state in the printer group.

Therefore, the user is not required to carry out abnormal restoration on the printer with the abnormal printing state, the abnormal restoration time is saved, the idle other printers are used for completing the subtasks of the printer with the abnormal printing state, the printing speed is improved, and the user experience is further improved.

In another embodiment, the abnormal information of the abnormal printing state and the corresponding identifier of the printer can be fed back to the terminal device, so that the user can repair the printer with the abnormal printing state in time after the printing task is finished, and the abnormal printing state in the next printing task is reduced.

In the above embodiment, the print job is split into N subtasks, the N subtasks are allocated to M printers in the print group for processing, and the M printers cooperate to complete the print job based on the job parameters and print data of the allocated subtasks, so that the print job can be distributed among the M printers for parallel printing, the print speed of the entire print job can be increased, and the problem of long printing time in the related art is solved.

Further, the present disclosure provides a specific embodiment to further understand the printing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure.

In the field of printers, the speed of the printer is affected by the printing speed of the hardware inherent to the printer. And multiple print jobs or print jobs also require serial processing. Even if a user has a plurality of printers, when a plurality of pages need to be printed when initiating a printing task or a plurality of copies need to be printed on a document, only one printer can be used for serial printing, and the printing time is long. And because the individual that is isolated each other between the multiple printers, can not be fine utilize the printing ability of each printer, even if need utilize, also need the manual split print task of user, manually disassemble print task into a plurality ofly to establish print task respectively on different printers, you just can accelerate printing speed like this, but let the manual work of user disassemble the task, issue a plurality of printers again, the operation is very loaded down with trivial details, moreover makes mistakes very easily.

Therefore, the embodiment provides a printing method, which can exert the advantage of parallel printing of a plurality of printers and improve the printing speed.

In this embodiment, a plurality of printers are configured as a printer group, and when the printer enables an intelligent print task optimization function, the printer can use intelligent speed optimization when processing a print task sent by a user. After the printer receives the printing task, the printer which receives the printing task can reasonably split the printing task through intelligent operation processing, and simultaneously submits task parameters and printing data corresponding to the split subtasks to other printers in the printing unit, so that the other printers can complete the printing task cooperatively. For example, the range of the number of pages of the printing content is split, or the number of printed copies is split, so that a plurality of printers can simultaneously perform parallel printing, the printing time can be reduced by times, and the printing experience of a user is greatly improved.

Specifically, referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network architecture of a printer group according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 4, printers in a network may establish a connection through a predetermined communication protocol, for example, through an MDNS (multicast Domain Name System) protocol, or a DNS-SD (DNS Service Discovery) protocol, or a BONJOUR protocol; the BONJOUR Protocol is a name of apple for an MDNS-based open zero setup network standard, and can automatically discover computers, devices, and services on an IP (Internet Protocol Address) network, and here, automatically discover a printer on the IP network. Each printer can notify the network of the printing capability information of the printer and the current printing state information. So that each printer can discover other printers in the network. The main printer can inquire and update the printing capability information and the current printing state information of each printer and communicate and exchange information with other printers. Here, the main printer may be understood as a printer that receives a print job from the terminal device described in the above embodiment.

Here, the notification of the printing capability of the printer and the status information of the printer through the MDNS protocol, the DNS-SD protocol, or the BONJOUR protocol may be understood as the second notification information described above.

Meanwhile, the main printer can also determine the number of the distributed subtasks and/or the task amount of a single subtask through the second notification information; and respectively sending the task parameters and the printing data of the subtasks to each printer. The implementation method is the same as the above embodiment, and therefore, the description is omitted.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating another network structure of a printer group according to an exemplary embodiment, and as shown in fig. 5, a user may select a certain number of printers to establish the printer group by detecting printers supporting an intelligent optimized printing function from a network according to configuration software of the printers or a web page built in the printers. Here, the intelligent optimized printing function may be understood as a predetermined function described in the above embodiment, that is, a unit printing function; the number here is understood to mean S in the above-described embodiment, i.e. the number of printers of the printer group. For example, in fig. 5, the printer a, the printer B, the printer C, and the printer D are illustrated as a printer group.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic view of a scene of a printing method according to an exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, a printer a is a main printer, and when the printer a receives a printer task, the printer a analyzes the print task of a user, where the printer task has m pages and n copies, the printer a preliminarily calculates time consumption required by the printer, analyzes status conditions of each printer of a current printer group and capability conditions of the printer, determines task parameters of subtasks through a predetermined algorithm, and reasonably decomposes the print task; creating a subtask, distributing the subtask to each printer of the printer group, transmitting task parameters, performing network distribution on print data through an initiating printer or directly performing network sharing on the data of the initiating printer, and simultaneously processing the subtask by the initiating printer.

As shown in fig. 6, the print job includes m pages and n copies, and the total print data amount is divided into 4 copies and distributed to a printer a, a printer B, a printer C, and a printer D, respectively, where the printer a is a main printer, that is, a printer that receives the print job. The task parameters of the subtasks allocated to the printer A are m1 pages and n1 shares, the task parameters of the subtasks allocated to the printer B are m2 pages and n2 shares, the task parameters of the subtasks allocated to the printer C are m3 pages and n3 shares, and the task parameters of the subtasks allocated to the printer D are m4 pages and n4 shares. Therefore, the printing task is split to improve the printing speed and make full use of other printers in the printer set.

Further, in the process of processing each subtask, the initiating printer a updates and counts the state of each printer and the state of each subtask, if the printer has an abnormal occurrence, the user is notified of a corresponding prompt, and the user performs corresponding processing to finally complete the processing of the whole printing task.

In this embodiment, the number S of printers in the printer group is the same as the number M of printers for completing printing in cooperation.

In this embodiment, compared to the related art, when the number of pages output by a print job of a user is large, the printing time is very long, so that the user needs to wait for a long time to take a final print file. According to the printing method provided by the embodiment, the establishment of the printing unit is realized by establishing a communication mechanism between the printers, the maintenance of each printer and the task state of the printing unit is carried out, the printing task is reasonably decomposed by processing through an intelligent optimized printing algorithm, the subtask is created, the subtask is distributed to each printer of the printing unit, and the task parameter is transmitted to complete the printing task, so that the printing time of the printing task can be reduced by times, and the waiting time of a user is greatly shortened.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a printing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment, and referring to fig. 7, the apparatus includes: a first receiving module 701, a splitting module 702, an allocating module 703 and a first sending module 704;

the first splitting module 701 is configured to receive a print job from a printer in the printer group;

the splitting module 702 is configured to split the print job into N subtasks according to the print job, where N is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2;

the allocating module 703 is configured to allocate the N subtasks to M printers in the printer group, where M is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2 and less than or equal to S, and S is the number of printers included in the printer group, where at least one of the subtasks is allocated to any one of the M printers;

the first sending module 904 is configured to send the task parameters and the print data of the assigned subtasks to corresponding printers of the M printers, where the task parameters and the print data are used for the M printers to print the corresponding subtasks respectively.

In an optional embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

In an optional embodiment, the selection module is specifically configured to:

In an optional embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

a first determining module configured to determine the task parameters corresponding to the assigned subtasks according to a predetermined algorithm based on the printing capability information and/or the current printing status information of the M printers;

in an optional embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

the splitting module further configured to:

In an optional embodiment, the first determining module is specifically configured to at least one of:

wherein the printing parameters include at least one of:

printing the total number of pages;

printing the total number of copies;

an amount of print data for a single copy of the print job.

In an optional embodiment, the apparatus further comprises:

With regard to the apparatus in the above-described embodiment, the specific manner in which each module performs the operation has been described in detail in the embodiment related to the method, and will not be elaborated here.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a printer 800 according to an example embodiment. For example, the printer 800 may be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, and the like.

Referring to fig. 8, printer 800 may include one or more of the following components: processing component 802, storage 804, power component 806, multimedia component 808, audio component 810, input/output (I/O) interface 812, sensor component 814, and communications component 816.

The processing component 802 generally controls the overall operation of the printer 800, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing components 802 may include one or more processors 820 to execute instructions to perform all or a portion of the steps of the methods described above. Further, the processing component 802 can include one or more modules that facilitate interaction between the processing component 802 and other components. For example, the processing component 802 can include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component 808 and the processing component 802.

The memory 804 is configured to store various types of data to support operation at the device 1200. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on printer 800, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and so forth. The memory 804 may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile memory devices such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks.

Power components 806 provide power to the various components of printer 800. Power components 806 may include a power management system, one or more power sources, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for printer 800.

The multimedia component 808 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the printer 800 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 808 includes a front facing camera and/or a rear facing camera. The front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data when the printer 800 is in an operating mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode. Each front camera and rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capability.

The audio component 810 is configured to output and/or input audio signals. For example, audio component 810 includes a Microphone (MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when printer 800 is in an operational mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals may further be stored in the memory 804 or transmitted via the communication component 816. In some embodiments, audio component 810 also includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 812 provides an interface between the processing component 802 and peripheral interface modules, which may be keyboards, click wheels, buttons, etc. These buttons may include, but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

Sensor assembly 814 includes one or more sensors for providing status evaluation of various aspects to printer 800. For example, sensor assembly 814 may detect the open/closed status of printer 800, the relative positioning of components, such as a display and keypad of printer 800, sensor assembly 814 may also detect a change in the position of printer 800 or a component of printer 800, the presence or absence of user contact with printer 800, orientation or acceleration/deceleration of printer 800, and a change in temperature of printer 800. Sensor assembly 814 may include a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of a nearby object without any physical contact. The sensor assembly 814 may also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor assembly 814 may also include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component 816 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the printer 800 and other devices in question. The printer 800 may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 816 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 816 further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In an exemplary embodiment, the printer 800 may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors or other electronic components for performing the above-described methods.

In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, such as the memory 804 comprising instructions, executable by the processor 820 of the printer 800 to perform the above-described method is also provided. For example, the non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical data storage device, and the like.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein instructions of the storage medium, when executed by a processor of a terminal, enable the terminal to perform the page display method according to the above embodiments.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements described above and shown in the drawings and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of printing, comprising:

a printer in the printer set receives a print job;

distributing the N subtasks to M printers in the printer group, wherein M is a positive integer equal to or greater than 2 and less than or equal to S, and S is the number of printers in the printer group, wherein any one printer in the M printers is distributed with at least one subtask;

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

and selecting the M printers from the printer group according to the printing capacity information and/or the current printing state information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said selecting said M printers from within said set of printers based on said printing capability information and/or said current printing status information comprises:

sorting the printing capacity information of each printer in the printing group to obtain a first sorting result;

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the printing task meets a splitting condition according to the acquired printing parameters of the printing task;

splitting the print job into N subtasks according to the print job, including:

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the determining whether the print job satisfies a splitting condition according to the acquired print parameters of the print job comprises at least one of:

wherein the printing parameters include at least one of:

printing the total number of pages;

printing the total number of copies;

an amount of print data for a single copy of the print job.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

and determining the completion state information of the printing task according to the subtask execution state information.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

10. A printing apparatus, comprising:

and the first sending module is configured to send the task parameters and the printing data of the assigned subtasks to corresponding printers in the M printers, wherein the task parameters and the printing data are used for the M printers to respectively print and complete the corresponding subtasks.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the selection module is specifically configured to:

14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

15. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

the splitting module further configured to:

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the second determining module is specifically configured to at least one of:

wherein the printing parameters include at least one of:

printing the total number of pages;

printing the total number of copies;

an amount of print data for a single copy of the print job.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

19. A printer, comprising:

a processor;

a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

wherein the processor is configured to:

a printer in the printer set receives a print job;

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, characterized in that the program is executed by a processor to implement the method steps of any of claims 1 to 9.