Method and apparatus for printing from a mobile device
View Patent ↗A system and method by which to implement revenue sharing between printer vendors and network service providers or operators. In one example, a method for providing printing access to a mobile device may include acts of requesting information from a printer, receiving the information at a mobile device, providing the information to a communications subsystem of a mobile network operator, based on the information, acquiring a printing capability of the printer, sending the printing capability from the communications subsystem to the mobile device, and upon receipt of the printing capability, if the printing capability is enabled, sending a print request from the mobile device to the printer. A corresponding apparatus may be used to implement the method, which may be provided as instructions encoded on a computer readable medium.
1. A method of providing printing access to a mobile device having a local communications subsystem and a mobile network communications subsystem, the method comprising the acts of:
receiving, over a local communications subsystem of a printer, a print inquiry from the local communications subsystem of the mobile device;
providing, over the local communications subsystem of the printer, information from the printer to the local communications subsystem of the mobile device responsive to the print inquiry, the information uniquely identifying the printer;
receiving, over the local communications subsystem of the printer, a print request from the local communications subsystem of the mobile device responsive to a determination that a revenue sharing arrangement exists between the printer and a network service provider of the mobile device;
printing responsive to the print request; and
sending a print complete notification to the local communications subsystem of the mobile device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of providing the information includes providing at least one of a serial number of the printer, a model name of the printer, an ink cartridge serial number, an ink cartridge model number, and a name of a vendor of the printer.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of receiving the print request includes receiving data corresponding to an image to be printed.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising an act of providing, over the mobile network communications subsystem of the mobile device, printing options information to the mobile device, the printing options information identifying whether the revenue sharing arrangement between the printer and the network service provider of the mobile device is one of enabled and limited.
5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising an act of displaying, on the mobile device, a limited number of printing options in response to the revenue sharing arrangement between the printer and the network service provider of the mobile device being limited.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of sending the print complete notification includes sending information including at least one of a printer billing identification code, a number of pages printed, and a number of ink units consumed during the act of printing.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the print complete notification is a first print complete notification, the method further comprising an act of sending, over the mobile network communications subsystem of the mobile device, a second print complete notification from the mobile device to the network service provider, the second print complete notification includes at least one of the printer billing identification code, the number of pages printed, and the number of ink units consumed during the act of printing.
8. A computer-readable medium having non-transient computer-readable signals stored thereon that define instructions that, as a result of being executed by a computer, instruct the computer to perform the method of claim 1 .