WO2010079192A1

WO2010079192A1 - Method for processing print orders using a portable data carrier

Info

Publication number: WO2010079192A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/050096
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas Stocker
Original assignee: Giesecke & Devrient Gmbh
Priority date: 2009-01-08
Filing date: 2010-01-07
Publication date: 2010-07-15
Also published as: DE102009004111A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for processing print orders using a portable data carrier (7), in particular a chip card, wherein the portable data carrier (7) is personalized for a user by storing a predetermined user identity on the portable data carrier (7), and the predetermined user identity is associated with print orders that are generated for the user. In the method according to the invention, a printer identification of a printer (4) is read out from a transponder (5) attached to the printer (4) without contact and stored on the portable data carrier (7) by means of a mobile terminal (6) to which the portable data carrier (7) is connected. Then, a piece of printing information comprising the read-out printer identification is transmitted over a wireless communication connection of the mobile terminal (6) to a communication network (1) to which the printer (4) having the read-out printer identification is connected. Finally, at least a part of only those print orders with which the predetermined user identity is associated is output over the communication network (1) to the printer (4) having the read-out printer identification.

Description

C o n n e c o m e n t i o n c o n t e n t i o n c o n t o r th e m i t h i l e s t e s t a n g e s t o te s s

The invention relates to a method for processing print jobs using a portable data carrier, in particular a chip card, and a corresponding communication system.

When processing print jobs, it is often desirable for a document to be printed to be printed on a specific printer remote from a user's workstation. To prevent confidential documents from being stolen by unauthorized third parties when outputting to a printer, it should be ensured that the user is at the printer when printing the document.

Various methods are known in the prior art which enable the printing of documents based on an authentication of a user or by direct interaction of a user with a printer.

The document EP 1465071 Bl describes an information processing system in which a user, with the aid of a mobile terminal, causes a print-out of a document at a printer. In this case, a corresponding bar code is photographed or read on the printer via the terminal and then transmitted wirelessly to an information system. This system detects the identity of the printer based on the barcode and initiates the printing of the document on that printer. The document further describes that, instead of barcodes, RF identifications of the printer can also be used to determine its identity. The method of this document has the disadvantage that no efficient mechanisms are provided which Avoid or prevent a document by an unauthorized person.

In the publication JP 200807738 A, an additional email with a user identity is sent to the printer when transferring print jobs to a printer. Then the user has to present the email via his mobile phone to a reader of the printer. If the user identity associated with the print job matches the presented user identity, the print job is executed.

US 2006/0227371 A1 describes a printing method in which the presence of a user in the area of a printer is detected via an RF sensor which the user carries with him. Document US 2008/0117452 A1 describes the authentication of a printing process by means of a chip card which is read in by a computer.

The object of the invention is to provide a method and a communication system for processing print jobs, which ensure simply and reliably that the printed documents of a print job generated for a user also reach this user.

This object is achieved by the method according to claim 1 and the communication system according to claim 15. Further developments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

In the method according to the invention, print jobs are processed by means of a portable data carrier, the data carrier being stored for a user by depositing a predetermined user identity on the data carrier. is personalized and print jobs that are generated for the user, the predetermined user identity is assigned.

In the method according to the invention, in a step a) by means of a mobile terminal to which the portable data carrier is connected, a printer identification of a printer is read without contact from a transponder attached to the printer and stored on the portable data carrier. The connection of the portable data carrier with the mobile terminal takes place in particular by the fact that the data carrier is inserted or plugged into the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal is preferably a mobile terminal, for example a mobile phone, a laptop, a PDA and the like. The term "transponder" is to be understood broadly and encompasses any radio communication device with which the corresponding printer identification can be read out without contact, but preferably the transponder is an RFID tag in which sufficient details are available from the prior art known NFC communication (NFC = Near Field Communication, also known as near field communication) data are read out.

In the method according to the invention, in a second step b) a print information comprising the read-out printer identification is transmitted via a wireless communication connection of the mobile terminal to a communication network to which the printer is connected with the read-out printer identification. Finally, in a step c), at least part of exclusively those print jobs to which the predetermined user identity is assigned are output to the printer with the read-out printer identification via the communications network. That is, the transmission of the printer identification, the output of print jobs of the user with the predetermined user but the user can not initiate the issue of other unassigned print jobs.

The inventive method is characterized in that a portable personalized data carrier is used to authenticate a print job. In this case, an output of the print job is effected on a printer selected by the user only if the user identity matches on the data carrier with the user identity for which a print job is generated. With the method according to the invention, a high level of security is achieved in that the user who initiates the execution of a print job on a printer desired by him also agrees with the user who caused the print job to be generated, for example by pressing the print symbol a mouse in a word processing program on a computer.

In a preferred embodiment of the inventive method, the mobile terminal is operated in a mobile network mobile device, wherein in step b) the pressure information is transmitted with the interposition of the mobile network to the communication network.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, in the method, print jobs are processed by means of a portable data carrier in the form of a subscriber identification card of the mobile radio network in which the mobile radio terminal is operated. If appropriate, the corresponding subscriber identification of the subscriber identification card can be used as the user identity. As subscriber identification cards are preferably SIM and / or USIM cards of a GSM or UMTS mobile network into consideration. In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the print information comprises the predetermined user identity stored on the portable data carrier, wherein the print information is generated in particular in such a way that the printer identification is signed with the predetermined user identity. As a result, an authenticated via the user identity print information is generated in a particularly simple manner.

In a further embodiment of the inventive method, the print jobs are stored on a management computer in the communication network, in particular a server, in a (virtual) queue, wherein each print job is assigned a respective user identity of the user for whom the print job was generated. This achieves management of the print jobs within the communication network to which the printer is connected.

In a further, particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, in step c) of the method, the user identities of the respective print jobs deposited in the administration computer are compared with the predetermined user identity in the print information, in which case the respective print job is executed. This provides an efficient mechanism to ensure that only those print jobs are printed where the original user for whom the print job was generated agrees with the user who prints the print job over the wireless transmission of a printer ID at the printer.

In a further refinement of the method according to the invention, provision is made for a deposit of the print jobs in a management computer. at least partially omitted. This is achieved in that one or more print jobs are stored on the portable data carrier and in step b) is transmitted as print information of at least one of the print jobs stored on the portable data carrier together with the printer identification to the communications network. The assignment of the predetermined user identity to the print job thus takes place in that the print job is stored on a portable, personalized with the predetermined user identity disk. In this embodiment, the print job itself is initially not stored in the communication network, but rather is transmitted to the communications network after the selection of the printer to be used for the output.

In a preferred variant of the above embodiment, the print job (s) stored on the portable data carrier with and / or without the interposition of the mobile terminal are stored on the portable data carrier by a corresponding computer on which the print job was generated. For example, the print jobs can be transferred directly by a corresponding card reader and writer on the computer to the portable data carrier. Likewise, for example, a wireless Bluetooth or infrared connection between the mobile terminal with inserted therein data carrier and the computer for transmitting the print jobs are used on the disk.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, before the transmission of the print information to the communication network, the portable data carrier provides the or the stored print jobs with additional information, in particular with a digital watermark. To this This achieves a personalized printout of the document of the corresponding print job on the printer.

In a further, particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a user can influence which of his print jobs are printed on a selected printer. This is accomplished by providing the user with a selection function on the mobile terminal prior to issuing a print job in step c), via which the user can select which of the print jobs associated with the predetermined user identity should be printed.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the number of printouts of the same print job can be limited. This is achieved by recording on the portable data carrier how many times a predetermined print job is output to the printer, whereby upon reaching a predetermined maximum number of issued print jobs, no further of the predetermined print jobs are sent to the printer for at least a predetermined period of time. ben.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, a transponder is used which is attached to the printer in such a way that the transponder is destroyed by the printer at least in the event of unauthorized removal. In this way, abuse is avoided in that an unauthorized third party attaches the transponder of another printer to the printer selected by the user. The user will not be able to print to the printer where the document is to be printed. The unauthorized third party may, however, contact the printer position where the document will be printed and thus unauthorizedly acquire the printed document.

In a further refinement of the method according to the invention, the abuse described above is avoided in that the mobile terminal is provided with a printer location for each printer identification, the mobile terminal determining its location (for example via GPS) and subsequently by the mobile terminal and / or the portable data carrier is checked, whether the determined location with the Printer's printer location agrees with the read printer identification. In the case of a mismatch, an error is output that causes the document not to be printed first. The information about the location of the printer may e.g. be read from the transponder or be provided via another source the mobile device or the portable data carrier.

In addition to the method described above, the invention further relates to a communication system for processing print jobs, comprising a communication network with one or more connected printers, to each of which a transponder is attached, a mobile terminal and a portable data carrier, for a user by depositing a predetermined user identity is personalized on the portable data carrier, wherein print jobs, which are generated for the user, the predetermined user identity is assigned. During operation of the communication system, a method is carried out in which: a) a printer identification of a printer is made contactless by means of the mobile terminal to which the portable data carrier is connected the transponder attached to the printer is read and stored on the portable data carrier; b) a print information comprising the read-out printer identification is transmitted via a wireless communication link of the mobile terminal to the communication network to which the printer is connected to the read-out printer identification; c) at least a part of only those print jobs to which the predetermined user identity is assigned is output to the printer with the read-out printer identification.

With the communication system according to the invention, it is possible to carry out any variant of the method according to the invention described above.

Embodiments of the invention are described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Show it:

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a communication system with which a first embodiment of the method according to the invention can be carried out;

Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of the first embodiment of the method according to the invention; 3 is a schematic representation of a communication system in which a second embodiment of the method according to the invention can be carried out; and

4 shows a flow chart which illustrates the steps of the second embodiment of the method according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a communication network 1, which is indicated by corresponding connecting lines between components of the communication network. Connected to the communication network are a personal computer 2, a server 3, and a printer 4 with an RFID tag 5 attached thereto, wherein the print jobs generated by a user on the computer 2 are to be printed by the printer 4. All print jobs in the communication network are stored in a virtual queue on the server 3. There is also stored for each print job a user identity that specifies by which user the print job was generated. First of all, when generating the print jobs on the computer 2, it has not yet been determined on which printer the respective documents are to be printed. The choice of which printer to use is done by means of a mobile phone 6 containing on its SIM card 7 a corresponding user identity corresponding to the user identity with which the user has generated the print jobs on the computer 2. If appropriate, the user identity can be chosen such that it corresponds to the subscriber identity stored on the SIM card.

In order now to effect printing of the print jobs present on the server 3 at the printer 4, the user reads the data of the printer at the printer by means of the mobile telephone via a corresponding NFC interface attached RFID tags 6 from. The data of the RFID tag 6 contain an identification of this printer in the form of an address with which the printer in the communication network 1 can be addressed. In an expedient embodiment, the printer identification contains its own signature, which is checked by the SIM card 7 in order to determine the authenticity of the printer identification. The read-out and if necessary checked for authenticity printer identification is then stored on the SIM card 7 of the mobile phone 6 and processed so that the printer identification with the deposited on the SIM card 7 user identity is sgn ned. The signed printer identification is transmitted via the mobile radio network 8, in which the mobile device 6 is operated, to the communication network 1 and forwarded to the server 3, which then checks whether it contains print jobs in its queue, which are provided by the user with the user identity were generated, with which the received printer identification is signed. If this is the case, the server gives the print job to the printer 4 based on the read-out printer identification.

FIG. 2 shows the flow of the method performed in the communication system of FIG. 1. At the beginning of the process in step S1, the print job for printing a document on a personal computer 2 is generated by a user. The print job is assigned a corresponding user identity of the user. In step S2, the personal computer 2 first sends the document to be printed to a virtual queue in the server 3. In step S3, the user goes to the printer 4 where he desires the print-out of the corresponding document. The user then reads in step S4 the RFID tag 5 of the printer 4 via his mobile phone 6, and then in step S5, a signature for the read RFID information of the printer 4 using the SIM card 7 is generated. In step S6, the SIM card of the mobile phone 6 then transmits the Si Finally, the server 3 determines that a corresponding document is present in its queue, which corresponds to the signature of the received message, whereupon the server in step S7 issues the document to the printer 4, which outputs this Document is then printed in step S8.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a communication system in which a second variant of the method according to the invention can be carried out. Components which correspond to components of FIG. 1 and are shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1. In contrast to the first embodiment, a print job in the form of a document to be printed is not sent directly via the communication network 1 to a server, but stored on the SIM card 7 of the mobile phone 6. For this purpose, the SIM card is removed from the mobile phone and contacted by a corresponding card reader contact with the personal computer 2, where the print job was created. Optionally, the transmission of the print job can also be done with the interposition of the mobile phone 6 with inserted therein SIM card 7, for example via a corresponding wireless interface parts of the mobile phone, such as Bluetooth or infrared. On the SIM card 7, a user identity is deposited, which may also be the subscriber identification of the SIM card in the mobile network. By storing the print job on the SIM card 7 is thus an assignment of the print job to the user identity of the SIM card.

The SIM card 7 is then inserted into the mobile phone 6 and a user, who is indicated in Fig. 3 by reference B, then goes with the mobile phone 6 in the vicinity of the printer 4. Analogous to the method of the first embodiment is then via the mobile phone fon the RFID information of the RFID tag 5 of the printer 4 read. This information is sent via the mobile network 8 to the communication network 1, whereupon the print job is then output to the printer 4 and the corresponding document is printed.

In Fig. 4 is again the flow of the in the communication system of FIG.

3 clarified procedure. First, a user generates a print job on the computer 2 in step S100, whereupon the document to be printed of the print job is stored on the SIM card 7 in step S1.02. Subsequently, the user sets the SIM card in step S 03 in the mobile phone 6 and goes in step Sl 04 with the mobile phone 6 to the printer 4, where the document is to be printed. In step S105 then the RFID information of the RFID tag of the printer

4 read out via the mobile phone 6. This information is received by the SIM card 7, whereupon the SIM card in step Sl 06 sends the document to be printed together with the RFID information of the printer 4 via the mobile network 8 to the communication network 1. In step Sl 07, the received document is output to the printer 4 in accordance with the read-out RFID information. Finally, in step Sl 08, the printout of the document takes place on the printer 4.

The embodiments of the method according to the invention described above are characterized in that a printing process is always personalized with the interposition of a SIM card. This increases the security of printing a document in that a print job associated with a user identity can only be printed on a user-desired printer using that user identity. The information on which printer is to be printed, is based on the sufficient time out of the state The technology known NFC communication read out from an RFID tag. In order to enable a printout of a document on different printers, an interoperable output format (eg PostScript) is preferably used for the print job.

In a preferred embodiment, the user also has the option of selecting one or more documents from a list of documents to be printed, which are then to be printed. The selection function is realized in a preferred embodiment by a smart card web server application on the SIM card. The application generates on the browser of the mobile phone a corresponding selection display, via which the user can select the document to be printed.

The variants of the method according to the invention described above can be very easily integrated into an existing infrastructure, because existing printers can be easily retrofitted with corresponding RFID tags. There is thus no special printer hardware required. Furthermore, newer-generation mobile phones are usually also equipped with a corresponding NFC interface for reading out the data of the RFID tag.

In the above-described second embodiment of the method according to the invention, furthermore, a personalized printout of the print job stored on the SIM card can be achieved by the SIM card adding individual information to the print job prior to transmission to the communications network. For example, the print job can be provided with a digital watermark. In addition, it can be provided that the frequency of output of a print job is is limited and the SIM card contains an application which correspondingly counts down a counter designating the issue numbers. If a maximum number of outputs of a predetermined print job is reached, a further printout can be prevented, for example, for a predetermined period of time. This ensures that the printer is not overcommitted by the print job of a single user.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A method for processing print jobs using a portable data carrier (7), in particular a chip card, wherein the portable data carrier (7) for a user by depositing a predetermined user identity on the portable data carrier (7) is personalized and print jobs, which generated for the user who is assigned predetermined user identity, in which: a) by means of a mobile terminal (6) to which the portable data carrier (7) is connected, a printer identification of a printer (4) contactlessly from one to the Printer (4) attached transponder (5) is read and stored on the portable data carrier (7); b) a print information comprising the read-out printer

Identification via a wireless communication connection of the mobile terminal (6) to a communication network (1) is transmitted to which the printer (4) is connected to the read-out printer identification; c) at least a part of only those print jobs to which the predetermined user identity is assigned to the printer (4) with the read-out printer identification via the communication network (1) is output.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that in step a) the printer identification is read from a transponder (5) in the form of an RFID tag via NFC communication.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the mobile terminal (6) in a mobile network (8) operated mobile radio terminal, wherein in step b) the pressure information under Zwi rule circuit of the mobile network (8) to the communication network (1) is transmitted.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that printing orders by means of a portable data carrier (7) in the form of a

Subscriber identification card of the mobile network (8) are processed, in particular using a SIM and / or USIM card of a GSM and / or UMTS mobile network.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the print information includes the predetermined user identity, the print information is generated in particular such that the printer identification is signed with the predetermined user identity.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the print jobs are stored on a management computer (3) in the communication network (1), in particular a server, in a queue, each print job is assigned a respective user identity of the user for which the

Print job was generated.

7. The method according to claim 5 and 6, characterized in that in step c) the user identities of the respective print jobs, which are deposited in the management computer (3) are compared with the predetermined user identity in the print information, wherein in the case of a match of the respective print job is performed.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one or more print jobs are stored on the portable data carrier (7), wherein in step b) as print information at least one of the on the portable data carrier (7) stored print jobs together with the printer -

Identification to the communication network (1) is transmitted.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the one or more on the portable data carrier (7) stored print jobs with and / or without interposition of the mobile terminal (6) from a computer (2) on which the print job was generated on the portable data carrier (7) are stored.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the portable data carrier (7) prior to transmitting the print information to the communication network (1) provides the or the stored print jobs with additional information, in particular with a digital watermark.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that prior to the issuance of a print job in step c) the user via a user interface on the mobile terminal (6) a selection function is provided, via which the user can choose which of the predetermined user identity assigned to print jobs.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the portable data carrier (7) is detected, How many times a predetermined print job is output to the printer (4), wherein upon reaching a predetermined maximum number of issued print jobs, no further of the predetermined print jobs are output to the printer (4) at least for a predetermined time.

13. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the method, a transponder (5) is used, which is attached to the printer (4) such that the transponder (5) at least at an unauthorized removal from the printer (5). 4) is destroyed.

14. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile terminal (6) for each printer identification, a printer location is provided, wherein the mobile

Terminal (6) determines its location and then checked by the mobile terminal (6) and / or the portable data carrier (7), whether the determined location with the printer location of the printer (4) with the read-out printer identification match is correct, whereby in case of a mismatch an error is issued.

15. A communication system for processing print jobs, comprising a communications network (1) with one or more printers (4) connected thereto, on each of which a transponder (5) is mounted, a mobile terminal (6) and a portable data carrier (7), which is personalized to a user by depositing a predetermined user identity on the portable data carrier (7), wherein print jobs generated for the user be associated with the predetermined user identity, wherein in the operation of the communication system, a method is feasible, in which: a) by means of the mobile terminal (6) to which the portable data carrier (7) is connected, a printer identification of a printer (4) read out contactlessly from the transponder (5) attached to the printer (4) and stored on the portable data carrier (7); b) a print information comprising the read-out printer identification via a wireless communication connection of the mobile terminal (6) to the communication network (1) is transmitted to which the printer (4) is connected to the read-out printer identification; c) at least a part of exclusively those print jobs to which the predetermined user identity is assigned, to the

Printer (4) with the read-out printer identification via the communication network (1) is output.

16. The communication system according to claim 15, which is configured such that a method according to one of claims 2 to 14 in which

Communication system is feasible.