Printer configuration system

Claim 1

A method for use with a printing system including a client and a set of one or more print related devices both of the client and the set of one or more print related devices being communicatively coupled with network, each of the one or more print related devices employing an advertising protocol to communicate with the client and each of the one or more print related devices being registered with a registry service, the registry service storing configuration information regarding each of the one or more print related devices, wherein, through use of the advertising protocol and the stored configuration information the client is provided with the capability to communicate with each print related device for the sake of transferring print related information therebetween, comprising: a) communicatively coupling an unconfigured print related device, which employs the advertising protocol, to the network; b) transmitting the advertising protocol to the network from the unconfigured print related device for indicating that the unconfigured print related device is to be configured; c) writing a first set of information, which varies as a function of the advertising protocol, to a first memory location; d) reading the first set of information from the first memory location with an installation utility; e) in response to said reading of (d), creating a second set of information for the unconfigured print related device and writing the second set of information to a second memory location, wherein said (e) comprises creating objects, representative of the unconfigured print related device, and writing copies of the created objects into the second memory location; and f) processing the second set of information, including the created objects, for providing configuration information regarding the unconfigured print related device to the registry service, the unconfigured print related device being configured with the configuration information to transfer print related information with the client.

Claim 2

A method for use with a printing system including a client and a set of one or more print related devices both of the client and the set of one or more print related devices being communicatively coupled with network, each of the one or more print related devices employing an advertising protocol to communicate with the client and each of the one or more print related devices being registered with a registry service, the registry service storing configuration information regarding each of the one or more print related devices, wherein, through use of the advertising protocol and the stored configuration information the client is provided with the capability to communicate with each print related device for the sake of transferring print related information therebetween, comprising: a) communicatively coupling an unconfigured print related device, which employs the advertising protocol, to the network; b) transmitting the advertising protocol to the network from the unconfigured print related device for indicating that the unconfigured print related device is to be configured; c) writing a first set of information, which varies as a function of the advertising protocol, to a first memory location; d) reading the first set of information from the first memory location with an installation utility; e) in response to said reading of (d), creating a second set of information for the unconfigured print related device and writing the second set of information to a second memory location, wherein said (e) comprises creating objects, representative of the unconfigured print related device, and writing copies of the created objects into the second memory location; and f) processing the second set of information, including the created objects, for providing configuration information regarding the unconfigured print related device to the registry service, the unconfigured print related device being configured with the configuration information to transfer print related information with the client.

Claim 9

A method for use with a printing system including a client and a set of one or more print related devices, both of the client and the set of one or more print related devices being communicatively coupled with a network, the printing system further including multiple network portions, each of the one or more print related devices employing an advertising protocol to communicate with the client and each of the one or more print related devices being registered with a registry service, the registry service storing configuration information regarding each of the one or more print related devices, wherein, through use of the advertising protocol and the stored configuration information the client is provided with the capability to communicate with each print related device for the sake of transferring print related information therebetween, comprising: a) communicatively coupling an unconfigured print related device, which employs the advertising protocol, to the network such that the unconfigured print related device transmits the advertising protocol indicating that the unconfigured print related device is to be configured; b) writing a first set of information, which varies as a function of the advertising protocol, to a first memory location; c) reading the first set of information from the first memory location with an installation utility; d) in response to said reading, creating a second set of information for the unconfigured print related device and writing the second set of information to a second memory location; e) processing the second set of information so that configuration information regarding the unconfigured print related device is provided to the registry service and the unconfigured print related device is configured for transferring print related information with the client, wherein said scanning includes scanning less than all of the multiple network portions; and f) scanning the network periodically to determine if an unconfigured print related device is transmitting the advertising protocol, wherein said scanning includes scanning less than all of the multiple network portions.

Claim 10

A method for use with a printing system including a client and a set of one or more print related devices, both of the client and the set of one or more print related devices being communicatively coupled with a network, the printing system further including multiple network portions, each of the one or more print related devices employing an advertising protocol to communicate with the client and each of the one or more print related devices being registered with a registry service, the registry service storing configuration information regarding each of the one or more print related devices, wherein, through use of the advertising protocol and the stored configuration information the client is provided with the capability to communicate with each print related device for the sake of transferring print related information therebetween, comprising: a) communicatively coupling an unconfigured print related device, which employs the advertising protocol, to the network such that the unconfigured print related device transmits the advertising protocol indicating that the unconfigured print related device is to be configured; b) writing a first set of information, which varies as a function of the advertising protocol, to a first memory location; c) reading the first set of information from the first memory location with an installation utility; d) in response to said reading, creating a second set of information for the unconfigured print related device and writing the second set of information to a second memory location; e) processing the second set of information so that configuration information regarding the unconfigured print related device is provided to the registry service and the unconfigured print related device is configured for transferring print related information with the client, wherein said scanning includes scanning less than all of the multiple network portions; and f) scanning the network periodically to determine if an unconfigured print related device is transmitting the advertising protocol, wherein said scanning includes scanning less than all of the multiple network portions.

Claim 11

A method for use with a printing system including a client and a set of one or more print related devices, both of the client and the set of one or more print related devices being communicatively coupled with a network, the network being defined by a plurality of network subsystems, each of the one or more print related devices employing an advertising protocol to communicate with the client and each of the one or more print related devices being registered with a registry service, the registry service storing configuration information regarding each of the one or more print related devices, wherein, through use of the advertising protocol and the stored configuration information the client is provided with the capability to communicate with each print related device for the sake of transferring print related information therebetween, comprising: a) communicatively coupling an unconfigured print related device, which employs the advertising protocol, to the network such that the unconfigured print related device transmits the advertising protocol indicating that the unconfigured print related device is to be configured; b) writing a first set of information, which varies as a function of the advertising protocol, to a first memory location; c) reading the first set of information from the first memory location with an installation utility; d) in response to said reading and meeting a preselected condition, creating a second set of information for the unconfigured print related device and writing the second set of information to a second memory location, wherein said d) includes finding that the preselected condition has been met when it is determined that the unconfigured print related device is within at least one of the plurality of network subsystems; and e) processing the second set of information so that configuration information regarding the unconfigured print related device is provided to the registry service and the unconfigured print related device is configured for transferring print related information with the client.

Claim 12

A method for use with a printing system including a client and a set of one or more print related devices, both of the client and the set of one or more print related devices being communicatively coupled with a network, the network being defined by a plurality of network subsystems, each of the one or more print related devices employing an advertising protocol to communicate with the client and each of the one or more print related devices being registered with a registry service, the registry service storing configuration information regarding each of the one or more print related devices, wherein, through use of the advertising protocol and the stored configuration information the client is provided with the capability to communicate with each print related device for the sake of transferring print related information therebetween, comprising: a) communicatively coupling an unconfigured print related device, which employs the advertising protocol, to the network such that the unconfigured print related device transmits the advertising protocol indicating that the unconfigured print related device is to be configured; b) writing a first set of information, which varies as a function of the advertising protocol, to a first memory location; c) reading the first set of information from the first memory location with an installation utility; d) in response to said reading and meeting a preselected condition, creating a second set of information for the unconfigured print related device and writing the second set of information to a second memory location, wherein said d) includes finding that the preselected condition has been met when it is determined that the unconfigured print related device is within at least one of the plurality of network subsystems; and e) processing the second set of information so that configuration information regarding the unconfigured print related device is provided to the registry service and the unconfigured print related device is configured for transferring print related information with the client.