Temporary printer firmware upgrade

[0001] The systems and methods described herein generally relate to printing device firmware. More particularly, the systems and methods described herein relate to temporarily upgrading firmware in a printing device.

[0002] Large enterprises that maintain several printing devices are sometimes slow to adopt or qualify new versions of firmware for the printing devices. For various reasons, an individual within the enterprise may desire to upgrade to a new version of a printing device driver before others using the same printing device are allowed to upgrade. If the printing device is upgraded before user computers are also updated, then compatibility problems will arise within the enterprise.

[0003] Furthermore, when a new version of printing device firmware is approved and made available, upgrades to printing devices and computer that utilize the printing devices can be slow and sequential. There is typically a lag between the time one or more printing devices receive firmware upgrades and the time that each computer using the printing devices gets an updated driver. During this period, compatibility problems can also arise.

[0004] Systems and methods are described herein for temporarily upgrading printing device firmware. A printing device user may utilize a new or different version of the firmware in the printing device without affecting other users of the same printing device and without having to wait for enterprise approval to upgrade to the user's requirements. When the user submits a print job to the printer, a temporary version of the printing device's new firmware is downloaded together with a print job to be processed. The printing device copies the firmware image into printing device memory and uses the new image to process the associated print job. When processing is complete, the printing device deletes the newly received firmware and resumes operation utilizing the original firmware.

[0010] The following description sets forth one or more specific implementations and/or embodiments of systems and methods for temporarily upgrading printing device firmware. The systems and methods incorporate elements recited in the appended claims. These implementations are described with specificity in order to meet statutory written description, enablement, and best-mode requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent.

[0011] Also described herein are one or more exemplary implementations of systems and methods for temporarily upgrading printing device firmware. Applicant intends these exemplary implementations to be examples only. Applicant does not intend these exemplary implementations to limit the scope of the appended claims. Rather, Applicant has contemplated that the claimed systems and methods might also be embodied and implemented in other ways, in conjunction with other present or future technologies.

Computer-Executable Instructions

[0012] An implementation of a system and/or method for temporarily upgrading printing device firmware may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Computer-Readable Media

[0013] An implementation of a system and/or method for temporarily upgrading printing device firmware may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise “computer storage media” and “communications media.”

[0014] “Computer storage media” include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile/video disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by a computer.

[0015] “Communications media” typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as carrier wave or other transport mechanism. Communication media also includes any information delivery media.

[0016] Methods, printing systems, printing devices and computer-readable media, according to various implementations, relate to temporarily upgrading printing device firmware. A printing device, as used herein, means any device that applies a printing material to one or more types of print media, such as a laser printer, an inkjet printer, a dry material printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, a plotter, and the like.

[0017] When a user of a shared printing device desires to take advantage of new firmware available for the printing device, but the printing device firmware cannot be upgraded permanently, the user stores a printing device driver and the new printing device firmware in a user computer. The printing device driver is configured to download the new printing device firmware with each print job submitted from the computer. Alternatively, the user may be prompted before each print job as to whether the user wishes to utilize the new or existing printing device firmware.

[0018] If the user chooses to utilize the new printing device firmware, a print job packet is created that includes the print job data, the new printing device firmware, and an indicator used to communicate to the printer that the print job packet contains print job data and new firmware. When the printing device receives a print job that includes the indicator, the printing device loads the new firmware. In one implementation, only particular firmware modules that differ from the existing firmware modules are loaded. The existing firmware and/or modules are retained.

[0019] The print job is extracted from the print job packet and the print job is performed utilizing the new printing device firmware. Thereafter, the printing device deletes the newly loaded firmware and/or firmware modules and continues to operate as before, with the original printing device firmware.

[0020] Thus, a user who may be experiencing problems with present firmware can take advantage of new firmware that may solve the user's problem. Or, the user may benefit from new features included in new firmware that is not included in the existing firmware. For any reason the user may desire to utilize the new printing device firmware, the user can do so without disrupting printing by other users of the printing device.

Exemplary Environment

[0021] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a distributed network environment 100 in which the present concepts may be implemented. The environment 100 includes multiple computers 110 connected to a network 120. A shared printing device 130 is also connected to the network, enabling the multiple computers 110 to print from the printing device.

[0022] It is noted that although only four computers 110 are shown in FIG. 1, there may be from one to any practical number of computers 110 connected to the network 120. Likewise, although only one printing device 130 is shown connected to the network 120, there may be more than one printing devices 130 connected to the network.

[0023] The following described implementations may be implemented in the printing device 130 and one or more of the computers 110 connected to the network 120.

Exemplary Printing System

[0024] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary printing system 200. The printing system includes a printer 202 and a host computer 204. Although a printer 202 is shown in FIG. 2, it is noted that any printing device may be utilized in the described implementation without departing from the scope of the concepts described herein.

[0025] The printer 202 includes a processor 206, an input/output (I/O) port 208 for communicating with the host computer 204 and/or a network (not shown), a display 210, and a user interface 212 that may be a keypad or a software-based user interface that is shown on the display 210 (which may be a touch sensitive display). The printer 202 includes one or more print media 214 (e.g. paper, transparencies, etc.) and one or more print materials 216. The print material 216 may be any type of print material designed to be applied to the print media 214 to form characters on the print media 214, such as laser printer toner, ink-jet printer ink, dry material (ribbon, powder, etc.), plotter pens, and the like. Other components typically found in printers to render them operational are assumed to be included in the printer 202, but are not shown in FIG. 2 due to size considerations.

[0026] The printer 202 also includes printer memory 218 that stores permanent firmware 220 that controls operation of the printer 202. In the present example, the permanent firmware 220 includes a temporary firmware upgrade module 222 that controls detection, loading and deleting of temporary firmware 224 stored in the printer memory 218. Also shown stored in the printer memory 218 is a print job packet 226, which will be described in greater detail below.

[0027] The host computer 204 is connected to the printer 202 by any means known in the art, such as a parallel cable, a serial cable, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable, an infrared (IR) connection, a network interface card (NIC), etc. The host computer 204 includes a communications/input/output (COM-I/O) port 230 to facilitate this functionality.

[0028] The host computer 204 also includes a processor 232, a user interface 234 and mass storage 236, such as a hard disk drive or the like. Other components typically found in a computer are assumed to be included in the host computer 204, although not all are shown. The host computer 204 also includes computer memory 238 that stores a printer driver 240 designed to operate in conjunction with the printer 202. The printer driver 240 includes a temporary firmware upgrade module 242 that has a temporary firmware upgrade 244 and an indicator 246 included therein.

[0029] The computer memory 238 is shown storing a print job 248 that is a part of the print job packet 226 shown in the computer memory 238 as well as the printer memory 218. As shown and described herein, the print job packet 226 is duplicated in two or more places. However, it is noted that the print job packet 226 may only be located in one of said places at any given time.

[0030] The host computer 204, by virtue of the temporary firmware upgrade module 242 contained therein, is configured to transmit the print job packet 226 over a connection to the printer 202. The print job packet 226 includes at least the print job 248, the temporary firmware upgrade 244 and the indicator 246. Other implementations may include more data in the print job packet 226. Likewise, at least one implementation may not require the indicator 246 in the event that the permanent firmware 220 in the printer 202 is configured to automatically recognize—without an indicator—a print job that requires a temporary firmware upgrade.

[0031] When the host computer 204 prepares to transmit the print job 248 to the printer 202, the temporary firmware upgrade module 242 creates the print job packet 226 by attaching the temporary firmware upgrade 244 to the print job 248. The indicator 246 is also attached to the print job packet 226 to notify the printer 202 that new firmware must be loaded before the print job 248 is processed.

[0032] The print job packet 226 is transmitted to the printer 202 via a direct connection or a network connection. When the printer 202 receives the print job packet 226, the temporary firmware upgrade module 222 in the permanent firmware 220 detects the presence of the indicator 226 in the print job packet 226. The temporary firmware upgrade module 222 then extracts the temporary firmware upgrade 244 from the print job packet 226 and stores the temporary firmware upgrade 244 in the printer memory 218 as the temporary firmware 224. In an alternative implementation, the temporary firmware upgrade 244 is not the complete new version of firmware. Instead, the temporary firmware upgrade 244 includes only particular firmware modules that are different between the permanent firmware 220 version and the temporary firmware upgrade 244 version.

[0033] Once the temporary firmware 224 is loaded in the printer 202, the print job 248 is processed by the printer 202. When the print job 248 is complete, the temporary firmware upgrade module 222 deletes the temporary firmware 224 from the printer memory 218 and the printer 202 is restored to operation with the permanent firmware 220.

[0034] In another implementation, the temporary firmware upgrade module 222 is not present in the permanent firmware 220, but is transmitted with the print job packet 226 and includes instructions to the printer 202 that are executed before the printer 202 attempts to execute the print job 248. After the first execution of the temporary firmware upgrade module 222, certain code may remain in the printer memory 218 so that the temporary firmware upgrade module 222 will not have to be reloaded in the future.

[0035] Methodological Implementation: Temp. FW Upgrade: Computer

[0036] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting but one implementation of a methodological implementation 300 of temporarily upgrading firmware in a printing device. In the following discussion, continuing reference will be made to the elements and reference numerals shown in FIG. 2. The methodological implementation shown in FIG. 3 describes a process carried out in the host computer 204.

[0037] At block 302, the print job 248 is submitted to a printer by the host computer 204. If the print job 248 is to utilize a different version of firmware than is presently included in the printer 202 (“Yes” branch, block 304) then the temporary firmware upgrade module 242 in the host computer 204 attaches the temporary firmware upgrade 244 to the print job 248 (as indicated at block 306). The indicator 246 is set at block 308 by attaching the indicator 246 to the print job 248 and the temporary firmware upgrade 244 to form the print job packet 226. The print job packet 226 is then submitted to the printer 202 at block 310.

[0038] If the print job 248 is able to utilize the permanent firmware 220 present in the printer (“No” branch, block 304), then the print job 248 is simply submitted normally.

[0039] There are several ways in which the host computer 204 can determine if the print job 248 is to utilize the permanent firmware 220 stored in the printer memory 218 or not. In one implementation, as part of a print job submission process, the printer driver 240 prompts a user via the user interface 234 as to whether the user desires to use the permanent firmware 220 or not. The user may then indicate a preference for the permanent firmware 220 or the temporary firmware upgrade 244.

[0040] A drawback to this implementation is that the user is required to take an action in addition to the normal printing process. To resolve this problem, the printer driver 240 may include a feature with which the user can enable and disable the temporary firmware upgrade module 242.

[0041] In another implementation, the printer driver 240 is configured to automatically detect a version of the permanent firmware 220 used in the printer 202. The printer driver 240 then enables the temporary firmware upgrade module 242 if the detected version of permanent firmware 220 is different from the version embodied by the temporary firmware upgrade 244. The temporary firmware upgrade module 242 then carries out the process to utilize the temporary firmware upgrade 244 in the printer 202.

[0042] A problem with this particular implementation may be that the user may not always need to supplant the permanent firmware 220, but only desires to do so with certain print jobs, such as print jobs that include special features such as intense graphics. Providing user control over the temporary firmware upgrade feature can overcome this particular problem.

Methodological Implementation: Temporary FW Upgrade: Printer

[0043] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting but one implementation of a methodological implementation 400 of temporarily upgrading firmware in a printing device. In the following discussion, continuing reference will be made to the elements and reference numerals shown in FIG. 2. The methodological implementation shown in FIG. 4 describes a process carried out in the printer 202.

[0044] At block 402, the printer 202 receives the print job packet 226 from the host computer 204. At this point, the printer 202 is not aware if the received job is a typical print job or a print job packet 226. The temporary firmware upgrade module 222 examines the print job packet 226 to determine if the indicator 246 is present (block 404). If the indicator 246 is not detected (“No” branch, block 404), then the print job 248 is processed at block 406.

[0045] If the indicator 246 is detected (“Yes” branch, block 406), then the temporary firmware upgrade module 222 loads the temporary firmware upgrade 244 at block 408. At block 410, the printer 202 processes the print job 248 using the temporary firmware 224. When the print job 248 is complete, the temporary firmware upgrade module 222 deletes the temporary firmware 224 (block 412) and the printer 202 resumes operation under the control of the previously used firmware 220.

[0046] As previously discussed, the temporary firmware upgrade 244 may include an entire version of printer firmware or just particular firmware modules that have been updated from a current version of firmware. If only particular modules have been updated, then those modules are loaded before the print job is processed. Afterward, only those particular modules are deleted from the printer memory 218. Cutting and pasting of individual modules may require some risk that some of the current firmware 220 may be unintentionally deleted. However, downloading an entire firmware version with each print job may require more resources than is desirable. These are considerations that may be taken into account when designing a particular implementation.

[0047] Implementation of the systems and methods described herein provide a way for an individual user to load and utilize a different version of printing device firmware than is presently installed on a shared printing device. The user can enable desirable features contained in the different version of the firmware while allowing other printing device users to continue their use of the printing device without interruption or nuisance.

[0048] Although the systems and methods have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological steps, it is to be understood that the systems, methods and articles of manufacture defined in the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described. Rather, the specific features and steps are disclosed as particular forms of implementing the claimed systems, methods and articles of manufacture.