Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.p.

Athena Christodoulou

Christopher Tofts

Richard Taylor

A method of analysing a network having a plurality of computing and infrastructure elements, some of which run agents that monitor one or more network phenomenon, the method comprising the steps of: disabling a selected infrastructure element on which it is not possible to run a monitoring agent; acquiring data from an element adjacent a disabled element; and generating, from the acquired data, a signature representative of the selected element being inoperative.

Network analysis

Apparatus for producing an electronic model of a communications network or system having at least one host and a plurality of nodes connected thereto, directly or otherwise, the apparatus comprising means for obtaining data relating to at least some of the nodes and/or the host and means for creating an electronic model of the system or network using the data. The apparatus comprises a trusted computer host for use in analysing the network. The trusted computer host comprises means for detecting nodes on the network. As nodes are detected, sampling probes are inserted at each such node wherever possible. The probes take measurements at the respective nodes and return the resultant data to the trusted computer host. For a case where it is not possible to insert a probe at a detected node, the trusted computer host comprises means for performing traffic analysis and obtaining a profile of behavior between that node and the network host. The data received from the probes and the traffic analysis data is used by model simulation means in the trusted computer host to create a model of the network.

Network system analysis

An information technology network comprises a plurality of printers and at least one computing entity which serves as a print manager. The print manager is adapted to process print jobs by distributing the ripping process between two or more different printers, and then returning disparately ripped data to a single printer for physical marking of documents with indicia in accordance with the ripped data.

Method and apparatus for embodying documents

A computer network comprises plural computer systems connected to plural printers. Each computer system comprises at least one application program for generating print data for one or more of the printers. One of the computer systems is partially employed as a stock control computer. An application program stored on the stock control computer runs a model of the overall system, including maintaining an up-to-date schedule of all print jobs on the system, and maintains a log of all media resources (i.e., paper) available to each printer. The application program ensures that the printers have suitable media resources and/or that print jobs are allocated to printers where appropriate media resources are available, if possible.

Method of, computer program for, and system for maintaining print system media resources

A multi-stage or process operation, such as the printing of a document from a data file in the form of a word processing document may be performed either by passing the document directly along a relatively fast network link to a printer, or by passing the document along a relatively slow link to a printer, where the document is ripped, and then passing the ripped data along a further relatively fast link to printer. To determine the optimum course of action in view of a policy demanding speed of printing the probable speed of each course of action is determined, and the course of action most likely to yield a result in conformity with the policy is selected.

Performance of a multi-stage service within an information technology network

Print jobs requested are scheduled to be performed during available time slots, and on suitable printers having lowest associated overhead cost. In the event that no technically suitable printer is available a print services management programme determines whether it is economically viable to cancel one or more pre-scheduled print jobs in favour of the requested job, taking into account, for example, the price of the requested job and scheduled jobs. In a development a bidding routine establishes at what price it is viable to cancel a scheduled job in favour of a requested job, and that price is then offered to a customer. Future work inflow is predicted and represented in the form of virtual jobs which are scheduled in the same manner as actual jobs, but whose value is representative of the likelihood of the job maturing into an actual job. In a further development, demand on printer hardware arising from the scheduling of virtual jobs is used to monitor predicted future hardware requirements, and when virtual demand exceeds a threshold, an order is placed for procurement of further hardware.

Management of print services

A fault manifested in a network between two network nodes is investigated by selecting highest probability failure modes of resources which form network pathways between the two nodes, and probing the network to establish whether any of the highest probability failure modes are the cause of the fault. If not then a group of lower probability failure modes are selected and the network is probed once again to establish whether any of the lower probability failure modes are the cause of the fault. This process may be repeated until the fault is diagnosed. Resources are defined at the discretion of an administrator, and so may be clustered groups of computing entities and network links, or defined at a level of particularity such that functional elements within a computing entity such as a network card and a driver are defined as resources.

Fault diagnosis in a network

A computer network has plural computer systems, plural printers and a server. Each computer system has an application program for generating print data for the printers. The server has a workflow management program which (1) monitors and controls the flow of jobs computer systems send the printer and (2) a computer model representing the current system state. In response to a network event occurring, e.g., a hardware failure or a new print job, the program makes plural computer model copies and makes each copy perform an alternative event management operation. The program generates a set of prediction data from each computer model copy. Each set of prediction data represents a predicted future network state in response to each event management operation. A preferred event management operation is selected by comparing each generated set of prediction data with a reference set of prediction data.

Method of managing workflow in a computer-based system

A network connects plural computer systems to plural printers. A program of each computer system generates data supplied to at least one printer. A print spooler of each computer system stores the print data. Each printer comprises a daemon and local memory. A data control module monitors, via the network, data relating to a print job stored on a computer system and job timing information relating to preferred time for processing the print job. The daemon retrieves a copy of the data when the network becomes available to transfer the data, and stores the print data on the local memory. The retrieval and storage operations occur before the time specified in the job timing information. When the network traffic is low each printer locally stores data that are retrieved and stored prior to the time specified in the job timing information.

Print device and method of acquiring print data with a data link or network

An exemplary embodiment is an apparatus for compressing data having an arbitrary probability distribution, the apparatus being configured to obtain a set of samples from said data, create a phase distribution model of said sample data set, and perform a search function adapted to select the elements forming said phase distribution model by evaluating one or more values of the elements within the model and determine those that best fit the distribution of the example data set.

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Bristol, United Kingdom

Athena Christodoulou