Network peripheral server discovery method
Contents
1. retrieving by the client data including that which speci fies whether the peripheral has the additional function from servers on the list of servers having peripherals and 10 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 identifying by the client peripherals having the addi tional function by examining data retrieved in said step of retrieving from the list of servers 2 The method according to claim 1 further comprising steps of removing servers having peripherals lacking the addi tional function from the list of servers having periph erals and permitting a user to select from the list of servers having peripherals 3 The method according to claim 2 further comprising a step of accepting by the client a user specified peripheral not on the list of servers having peripherals 4 The method according to claim 1 wherein said data comprises a peripheral ID string 5 The method according to claim 1 wherein the basic function is a print function and the additional function is a scan function 6 The method according to claim 1 further comprising a step of assigning a network address to the peripheral having the additional function 7 The method according to claim 6 wherein said step of assigning comprises adding a predetermined address incre ment to a network address for a peripheral having the basic function associated with a same server as the peripheral having the additional function2. Therefore the client 12 adds one to the advertised print server socket number when accessing the scan server socket As discussed above this method conserves network band width because the present invention will only issue SNMP queries when attempting to discover scan devices whereas the periodic SAP advertisements are sent on a continual basis typically every two seconds After the client 12 removes servers 10 that do not support scanning from the data list for each server 10 remaining in the list the client 12 checks to determine that the server 10 contains the required firmware for the specific software application block 22 To determine that the server 10 contains the required firmware the client 12 sends a SNMP query to determine if a certain scan management informa tion base MIB object exists on the server 10 For example the MIB object could be a time out variable used by the software application If the object does not exist the server 10 returns an error in response to the client s 12 request and the server 10 is removed from the data list of servers 10 Subsequently the client 12 determines if any servers 10 remain on the data list block 24 If servers 10 remain on the list the client 12 displays a list of peripherals 16 attached to the servers 10 on a page shown in FIG 4 and waits for the user to either select one of the servers 10 or indicate that the desired server is not in the list block 26 Referring to FIG
3. discovery software to find all available servers which meet certain criteria However as will be discussed below each of several known methods has its own benefits and attendant problems A problem exists when the user attempts to physically locate servers on the network since this action can be time consuming and prone to user error Servers are usually remotely located requiring the user to leave the workstation in search for one or more servers that can establish a connection to the peripheral that the user wants to use The user is often not aware of some or all of the locations of the servers on the network If the user does physically locate the server it is sometimes possible to ascertain the address of the server by viewing a sticker placed on the server by a network administrator or some other person Likewise if the address is not written on the server some servers contain a button that the user can press to send the server s address to an attached printer Additionally even after the user deter mines the address of the server that he desires the user must manually enter the server s address and such manual entry is prone to errors by the user Additional problems exist when using a name lookup service such as a domain name service DNS protocol or service advertising protocol SAP to find the server DNS is used for transmission control protocol internet protocol TCP IP protocol networks and SAP is used for sequenced p
4. 12 United States Patent Kumpf et al US006839755B1 10 Patent No US 6 839 755 B1 45 Date of Patent Jan 4 2005 54 75 73 21 22 51 52 58 56 NETWORK PERIPHERAL SERVER DISCOVERY METHOD Inventors David A Kumpf Rocklin CA US Glenn R Garcia Grass Valley CA US David L Smith Pittsburgh PA US Assignee Hewlett Packard Development Company L P Houston TX US Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 868 days Appl No 09 163 787 Filed Sep 30 1998 Int e RE G06F 15 173 G06F 15 16 US Cl uenerit 709 225 709 228 Field of Search 709 203 219 709 225 217 228 226 229 358 1 15 1 13 710 3 4 15 36 42 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 548 722 A 8 1996 Jalalian et al 709 220 5 590 288 A 12 1996 Castor et al 5 687 320 A 11 1997 Wiley et al 5 774 662 A 6 1998 Sakagawa 5 784 560 A 7 1998 Kingdon et al 5 928 335 A 7 1999 Morita 5 933 580 A 8 1999 Uda et al 358 1 13 FOR USER TO RESPOND 6 101 528 A 8 2000 Butt 709 203 6 101 555 A 8 2000 Goshey et al 709 321 6 131 120 A 10 2000 Reid 709 225 6 177 934 B1 1 2001 Sugiuraet al 345 335 6 195 604 B1 2 2001 Chen etal 709 220 6 195
5. generally used for configuring and monitoring network devices It is contemplated that similar protocols can be used by the present invention After determining which servers 10 possess peripherals 16 that support scanning the client 12 removes servers 10 from the data list that do not support scanning By engaging in the above two step process i e searching for JETDIRECT EX servers and then using SNMP to determine if the server 10 supports scanning the present invention reduces SAP traffic For example typical clients 12 use SAP to discover print servers 10 and also use SAP to discover scan servers 10 on the SPX IPX network This requires the server 10 to send SAP requests for both print and scan services Importantly the present invention reduces network traffic caused by SAPs since the client 12 only requires the server 10 to advertise its print services and not scan services By requiring the server 10 to advertise only its print services the client 12 effectively cuts in half the number of SAPs arriving from the server 10 After it is determined that the server 10 supports scan functions the scan socket number on the server 10 is established and the client 12 takes advantage of the fact that the server s 10 scan socket number is always equal to the advertised print socket number plus one For a multifunction peripheral attached to a physical server port a separate socket is maintained for its separate functions e g print and scan
6. network address of a desired server 10 block 32 From the foregoing description it should be understood that an improved method has been shown and described which has many desirable attributes and advantages The present invention can discover and allow the user to select specific network peripheral servers Additionally the present invention reduces SAP traffic and supports multiple network protocols While various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described it should be understood that other modifications substitutions and alternatives are apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art Such modifications substi tutions and alternatives can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which should be determined from the appended claims Various features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims What is claimed is 1 A network client peripheral server discovery method for a client to discover peripheral servers having peripherals with an additional function in addition to peripherals with a basic function the method comprising steps of announcing by servers on the network that they have peripherals having the basic function searching by a client on the network for announcements by servers having the basic function forming by the client a list of servers having peripherals having the basic function based upon announcements discovered in said step of searching
7. 1 The method according to claim 9 further comprising a step of assigning a network address to the peripheral having the additional function 12 The method according to claim 11 wherein said step of assigning comprises adding a predetermined address increment to a network address for a peripheral having the basic function associated with the server that serves the peripheral having the additional function
8. 3138V1 38V S33 TIV dl WO DE SHL NI H38 IN YHOMLSN U3LOYNHO 1H93 18913 HL 81N3 IHN YHOMLAN HIN LHOI3 NV HLIM N38 HOVI INM WEIEN WO138 SINN JHL 2 ZS DOUT JHL NO 0 08 FAAL 33 XCOMLSN 038811 INNT FHL NJ 1 HN WOON JHL ON C8NMLLNOO NOLINHRIOINOO ESNNYOS XEONUSN TISAON JL DH US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 10 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Patent BON 1385399115 SYM NOLLWUNDIINOD YINNYIS XHOMLSN 8 Ol US 6 839 755 B1 1 NETWORK PERIPHERAL SERVER DISCOVERY METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to software and more particularly to software for discovering peripheral server devices on a network Computer network servers are an integral segment of the computer industry Networks establish connections with at least one server which in turn initiate connections with one or more peripherals Such peripherals perform many functions including scanning Some peripherals namely multifunction peripherals combine scanning with various other functions such as printing sending and receiving facsimiles and copying When a user wishes to perform a function for example a scan it is important to determine which servers if any can establish a connection with a peripheral containing the required scan capabilities Known methods to determine available network servers include the user physically locating the server using a name lookup service to ascertain the server s name or using
9. 4 the user responds by mouse clicking on the name of the desired peripheral 16 or by clicking on a check box if the desired peripheral 16 is not listed Returning to FIG 3 if the user selects a scanner block 28 the client 12 stores parameters of the accompanying server 10 in persistent memory e g WINDOWS 95 and NT registry so that the parameters are available to the client 12 when the software application is executed at a later time block 30 While a client 12 could perform a discovery operation every time the user wishes to scan this is not the preferred embodiment since the discovery operation takes time to perform Alternatively if no servers 10 exist in the data list block 24 or the user decides not to select a peripheral 16 from the list block 28 the user can mouse click a next button shown in FIG 4 to select a server 10 of the user s choice For US 6 839 755 B1 5 example the peripheral 16 may have been turned off when the client 12 performed the discovery operation Referring to FIG 5 is a page with instructions to locate a server address is shown The user can mouse click a test button on the JETDIRECT EX server 10 connected to a printer and the printer will print a JETDIRECT EX status page including the JETDIRECT address Thereafter the user clicks a next button on the instruc tion page to display a network selection page as shown in FIG 6 which prompts the user to select a network used by the
10. 712 B1 2 2001 Pawlowski et al 710 19 6 223 223 B1 4 2001 Kumpf etal 709 227 6 237 032 B1 5 2001 Scoville et al 709 221 6 289 371 B1 9 2001 Kumpf etal 709 203 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS EP 0756400 1 1997 EP 0859309 8 1998 cited by examiner Primary Examiner Jason D Cardone 57 ABSTRACT A multifunction peripheral server discovery method with reduced network traffic is disclosed Peripheral servers on a network advertise their basic function such as print and clients seeking peripherals with an additional function such as scan retrieve ID strings of peripherals having the basic function to determine if the additional function is available The method also permits a user of a client on the network to enter addresses of peripherals not discovered when the client searches for peripherals having the additional function The method also permits selection of a network protocol to be used by the client An additional preferred step in the method is a determination of whether discovered peripherals having the additional function are compatible with a software application run by the client 12 Claims 10 Drawing Sheets PROMPT USER TO ENTER NETWORK ADDRESS OF DESIRED SERVER RVER AND Ser EE IN PERSISTENT DATABASE SO THAT THEY ARE AVAILABLE TO CLIENT APPLICATION WHEN EXECUTED AT A LATER TIME U S Patent Jan 4 2005 Sheet 1 of 10 US 6 839 755 B1 SERVER JET DIRECT E
11. 8 A network client peripheral server discovery method for a client to discover peripheral servers having peripherals with an additional function in addition to peripherals with a basic function the method comprising steps of announcing by servers on the network that they have peripherals having the basic function searching by a client on the network for announcements by servers having the basic function forming by the client a list of servers having peripherals having the basic function based upon announcements discovered in said step of searching retrieving by the client data including that which speci fies whether the peripheral has the additional function from servers on the list of servers having peripherals identifying by the client peripherals having the addi tional function by examining data retrieved in said step of retrieving from the list of servers and determining whether a peripheral having the additional function is compatible with a client software applica tion 9 The method according to claim 8 wherein said step of determining comprises sending a query to a server that serves the peripheral having the additional function to determine if a predetermined object exists on the server that serves the peripheral having the additional function 10 The method according to claim 9 wherein the object is a management information database object supporting a specific operation of the additional function 1
12. X NETWORK 14 CLIENT FIG 1 US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 2 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Patent MEN LONOHd JHL OL 8333397310 SY EH ONT VWO NO WOU ON IYNOLLICOY 03 NOSI ONT HL 804 DEIOUNI JHL T Du 193410131 dH Xa Sir SLEOAAS LVHL THOON 1038013 dH NY MEI JE NOA NO SIUSINIUd JHL 804 LHN AVAE JHL 7 WOH JHL 01 CSHOVLLY 1030900 UNEL ONIMOTIOS 3H1 03H DO ONINNIS38 30038 KE XSOMLSN V WO NYOS OL SUVAMLI0S ENOA 349 3809 NOA dH TIM CUYZIM SIHL EE amp Ol U S Patent Jan 4 2005 Sheet 3 of 10 US 6 839 755 B1 SEARCH NETWORK FOR SPECIFIC SERVERS 8 DETERMINE IF SERVER IS ATTACHED O PERIPHERAL THAT CAN SUPPORT SOFTWARE 20 WARE 2 REMOVE SERVERS WITH NON COMPATIBLE FIRMW 2 YES 4 NO 32 DISPLAY LIST OF PERIPHERALS AND WAIT FOR USER TO RESPOND PROMPT USER TO ENTER NETWORK ADDRESS OF DESIRED SERVER R SH ELE PERIPHERAL PERIPHERAL AND SERVER FIRMWARE FEATURES COMPATIBLE DEVICE 38 STORE PARAMETERS OF SELECTED SERVER YES IN PERSISTENT DATABASE SO THAT THEY AREAVAILABLE TO CLIENT APPLICATION WHEN EXECUTED AT A LATER TIME 0 DONE FIG 3 US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 4 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Patent ON SS3ud ONY W3NNVOS 0301530 JHL LINIS JAORY 31911 LON SI U3NNYOS BNOA 31 3H3H Y03H D r DH OL0Hd ONNO4 N338 3AVH SHSNNVOS YEOMAN ONIMOTION HI EE US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 5 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Pa
13. acket exchange internetwork protocol exchange SPX IPX protocol networks A problem with using the name lookup operation is that the user must know the name of the server the user is looking for Sometimes the network administrator writes the name on the server but often the server is remotely located Another problem with using the name lookup is that the name lookup operation will only find servers for the name that the user entered Thus the name lookup will not find servers of a different name that the user may wish to employ Further problems exist with known discovery software due to SAP packet traffic on the network Among other things SAP packets indicated the type of service being offered as well as a network access point 1 e network and socket address which clients can use when accessing the server While SAP gives scan servers and other service providers the ability to periodically advertise their services on the network the SAP packet traffic causes congestion on 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 the network For example traditional servers send a separate SAP for each socket being advertised i e for each print socket and each scan socket Thus under the traditional scheme a three port server would generate six SAPs since the server would send a separate SAP advertisement for each print and scan socket Likewise a one port server would generate two SAPs on a regular basis An
14. at is adapted to discover peripheral servers that a peripheral specific software can utilize which reduces SAP traffic and supports multiple network protocols Turning now to the drawings and particularly FIG 1 a server 10 of the present invention establishes a connection between a client 12 on a network 14 and a peripheral 16 such as a scanner While the server 10 referred to is used as part of a Hewlett Packard JETDIRECT EX box package it is contemplated that the server 10 can be part of a card that connects via a bus interface to the peripheral 16 or as part of an internal central processing unit CPU of the peripheral 16 The JETDIRECT EX box is shown and described in a Hewlett Packard user manual part no 5967 2290 and is incorporated by reference herein For purposes of illustrating the present invention it is assumed that the user is searching for a peripheral 16 that can support scan functions but artisans will appreciate its applicability to searching for peripherals performing other functions Referring to FIG 2 a welcome screen is dis played on a client display which may be a personal com puter PC for example The screen prompts a user through various steps to insure that the peripheral 16 is properly set up and attached to a server 10 that supports scanning and that both the peripheral 16 and the server 10 are powered on Referring to FIGS 2 and 3 after the user clicks a next button on the discovery welcome
15. client 12 e g either TCP IP or SPX IPX After selecting the appropriate network the user mouse clicks a next button on the network selection page Referring to FIGS 2 7A 7C an appropriate page will appear depending on the network selected by the user prompting the user to enter the server 10 address block 32 FIG 7A is arranged for TCP IP networks and FIGS 7B 7C are arranged for the SPX IPX networks After the user enters the server address the client 12 contacts the server and determines whether compatible peripheral 16 and server firmware features exist as described above block 34 If the peripheral 16 and server 10 meet the requirements of the software application block 36 parameter for the server 10 are stored in persistent memory so that they are available to the client 12 at a later time block 30 Referring to FIG 8 the client 12 displays a successful configuration page to end the discovery opera tion Referring again to FIG 3 if the peripheral 16 and the server 10 do not meet the software application s requirements the client 12 prompts the user to determine if the server 10 should be used regardless of the fact that the server 10 is not compatible block 38 If the user still desires to use the incompatible server 10 the client 12 stores the server s parameters in persistent memory block 30 and displays the successful configuration page shown in FIG 8 Otherwise the user is prompted to enter a new
16. other problem with known discovery software is its inflexibility Typically discovery software only allows the user to select from a group of discovered servers There are times however that the user may wish to enter a known server address Additionally there are times that a user must enter a server address because the discovery software failed to find any servers Accordingly it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved method for discovering network peripheral servers Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for reducing SAP traffic Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for allowing the user to manually enter a server address Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the attached drawings SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a method that is implemented by software and is adapted to discover periph eral servers that a peripheral specific software can utilize The method reduces service advertising protocol SAP traffic and supports multiple network protocols The method also permits the user of a client on a network to enter addresses of peripherals that have not been discovered when the client searches for peripherals having an additional function such as the scan function for example The method also permits selection of a net
17. screen the client 12 software of the present invention hereinafter referred to as the client 12 searches the network 14 for specific servers 10 e g JETDIRECT EX boxes block 18 The client 12 uses a service location protocol SLP for a TCP IP network 14 or a SAP for a SPX IPX network 14 to elicit responses for all servers 10 of the specified type The servers 10 will use SAP to announce a print function for each attached periph eral 16 This is true even if an attached peripheral only performs a function other than print The client determines that the specific servers 10 has been found by matching a name of the server 10 that was found to a list of names that the client 12 is searching e g JETDIRECT EX boxes Based on the matches the client 12 produces a data list of potential servers 10 Importantly and referring to FIG 3 for each server 10 on the data list the client 12 next determines if a peripheral 16 attached to the server 10 is compatible with a software application for which the discovery operation is being performed e g a scan software application block 20 To determine if the peripheral 16 can scan the client 12 retrieves a peripheral ID string from the server 10 using a simple network management protocol SNMP and parses 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 the ID string to determine if the peripheral 16 supports scanning The SNMP is a standard network protocol that is
18. tent SANIINOD OL lt LXSN SCH 39vd SALWIS 1938 0130 Y INK TUM H3 NC JHL T YIINIUHNOA 01 3193NN00 193810197 JHL NO 01108 1831 HL SS38d Y ONINNYOS UNI S Oddf5 38I0130 OO 1VHL VOA OL NOLLVINZANIOO YNOA OL 3339 O d Sf VIS Y DV 39ve SALVIS 103810137 V INIHd HOEV2S IHL 30NIN00 OL ABOMLIN FHL NO YINNYIS H3Id00 8 1 001 13083541 dH 8NOA CINH JON 010 QENZIM NOLLVENOLINOO JHL A X ee DH US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 6 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Patent NU OL DN So3td 9 DH e TN O Al KEEN 0011 130835 V1 cH BNOJOL H3LAANOD YNOA LOSNNOO OL GISA YHONUSN 30 321 IHL LINIS EES US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 7 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Patent SANINOO 01 DX3N SS3dd E mimi M00138 53X09 3H NI SS3800V dl IHL YILNI 7 39d SALVLS 19361013F JHL NO 5S3800V dl 031381 HL Ni 1 SEH dl 3H1 ON HHOML N ddI VNOHNWS H OA J8NBIANOO OL 390 SI EH 3H1 803 GH dl FHL Ee VL DH US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 8 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Patent SANILNOD OL DON S938d o MO38 XO8 JHL NI SS380CV uv Mae 63 LOVRv HO JN DW AHL da 1N3 1014 SALVIS LOSHICLSVSHL 30 dOL3HL 2Y SCHU MH NVI 0313841 INIT IHL ONIA 1 SH HWH SHL Nu AJOMLIN TIRAON Y NO BINAWOS ENOAZENDIINOO OD SI 193901 JHL 804 SS3800y 3EVMOUYH JHL dl DIM US 6 839 755 B1 Sheet 9 of 10 Jan 4 2005 U S Patent 30NIN0001 lt LXSN SS3Ud E ALdN3 XOG 3HL JAVIT NMONYNN 0
19. work protocol to be used by the client computer DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is an overview of the network system FIG 2 is a preferred discovery welcome page FIG 3 is a flow chart illustrating functions of the net worked scan server discovery method of the present inven tion FIG 4 is a preferred discovery server list page FIG 5 is a preferred page containing instructions to locate a server address FIG 6 is a preferred network selection page FIGS 7A 7C are preferred network address entry pages and FIG 8 is a preferred successful configuration page TABLE OF ACRONYMS This patent utilizes several acronyms The following table is provided to aid the reader in determining the meaning of the several acronyms CPU central processing unit DNS domain name service ID identification IP internet protocol US 6 839 755 B1 3 continued TABLE OF ACRONYMS This patent utilizes several acronyms The following table is provided to aid the reader in determining the meaning of the several acronyms IPX internetwork protocol exchange MIB management information base PC personal computer SAP service advertising protocol SLP service location protocol SNMP simple network management protocol SPX sequenced packet exchange TCP transmission control protocol DETAILED DESCRIPTION Broadly stated the present invention is directed to a method implemented principally by software th
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