JP2005078461A - Distributed image processing network system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a distributed image processing network system for improving the efficiency of image processing by making a client automatically acquire the processing capability and state of a server, and making the optimal server perform image processing. <P>SOLUTION: A client who requests data processing acquires the processing capability information of a server 2 which performs data processing by a capability acquiring means, and acquires the operating state information of the server 2 by a status acquiring means, and decides the server 2 which requests the data processing by a deciding means on the basis of those pieces of information. Also, the data processing is requested to the plurality of servers 2, and only the processing result transmitted in the shortest time is printed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a distributed image processing network system between a client and a server sharing a distributed object environment.

  In recent years, an image forming apparatus is connected to a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), and various types of image forming apparatuses such as a copy, a scanner, and a printer are connected to the network. I came. In general, an image forming apparatus such as a printer has a low processing capability. Therefore, a printer driver of an information processing apparatus often performs image processing and the like to create print data that can be printed by the printer and cause the printer to print. .

  However, since it is necessary to execute a program with high processing load such as image processing on the information processing apparatus side, an information processing apparatus with low processing capability takes a long time to print because it takes time for image processing. Become. Therefore, when a plurality of information processing devices capable of data processing related to printing are connected to a network, data processing related to printing is performed on an information processing device having a sufficient data processing execution environment and high processing capability. Therefore, it is efficient to support the function enhancement of an image forming apparatus such as a printer.

In a network to which various devices as described above are connected, the processing capability of a plurality of information processing devices is automatically acquired, and an information processing device having sufficient capability to perform data processing is automatically determined. Network systems that realize efficient distributed processing have been conceived in the past, and have sufficient capability for a printer as a client to query multiple information processing devices about their processing capabilities and perform data processing. By supporting the enhancement of the function of image forming devices such as printers by processing data for printing on an information processing device with a high level of efficiency, the execution environment of information processing devices with high processing capabilities can be used efficiently. It has been proposed to realize typical distributed processing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-175295

  However, in the prior art described in the above publication, a plurality of identical processes are performed when data processing is efficiently performed by a distributed object in an environment where an information processing apparatus capable of performing a plurality of identical processes can be selected. It is necessary for the user to compare the processing capability of the information processing apparatus that can be used, to manually select the information processing apparatus, and to determine the information processing apparatus that requests the processing. For this reason, it is necessary for each user to grasp the processing capability of all information processing devices. Especially when there is a replacement of the information processing devices, the user can determine the processing capability of all information processing devices. It was difficult for each person to grasp. Therefore, the client automatically acquires the processing capability of the information processing apparatus capable of performing the same processing and automatically determines the most suitable information processing apparatus for processing, and the information processing apparatus is more efficient. It is necessary to realize proper data processing.

  In addition, if the client collects only the processing capability related to the print processing of a plurality of information processing devices and determines the information processing device to request processing, the processing capability is inherently high and data processing can be performed at the highest speed. Even if it is an information processing device, if other jobs are already being executed, even if the information processing device is inherently inferior in processing capability, the job is not being executed. In some cases, the data processing can be completed in a shorter time than the information processing apparatus having the highest value. That is, there is a possibility that selecting an information processing apparatus with the highest processing capability at all times may not achieve optimal and efficient distributed processing.

  Therefore, it is possible to realize efficient data processing by automatically determining the optimum information processing device for the client to automatically acquire not only the processing capability of the information processing device but also the operation status and perform data processing. There is a demand for a network system that can do this.

  Therefore, the present invention automatically obtains the processing capability and status of the server, determines the optimum server for requesting data processing, and causes the image processing related to printing to be performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a distributed image processing network system that automatically determines and improves the efficiency of image processing.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a network system including a client that requests data processing and one or more servers that perform at least one data processing of printer language processing and image processing requested by the client. Based on the processing capability information and the status information, the client acquires capability data acquisition means for acquiring the processing capability information of the server from the server, status acquisition means for acquiring status information of the server from the server, and the data Determining means for determining one server to request processing; notifying means for notifying the server that has decided to request data processing; and the data processed by the server from the server Processing result receiving means for receiving the message, and the server communicates from the client. A distributed image processing network system, characterized in that it comprises a processing means for processing data and a processing result transmission means for transmitting the processed the data to the client in response to.

  The invention according to claim 2 is a network system including a client that requests data processing, and a plurality of servers that perform at least one data processing of printer language processing and image processing requested by the client, Based on the capability acquisition means for acquiring the server processing capability information from the server, the status acquisition means for acquiring the server status information from the server, the data processing based on the processing capability information and the status information Determining means for determining a plurality of the servers that request the data processing, notification means for notifying the server that has determined to request the data processing, and the data processed by the server from the server. Processing result receiving means for receiving, the server is notified from the client Distributed image processing, comprising: processing means for processing data in response, processing result transmission means for transmitting the processed data to the client, and printing means for printing the processing result of the processed data It is a network system.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the distributed image processing network system according to the first or second aspect, the client implements a distributed object technology.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the distributed image processing network system according to the first or second aspect, the server implements a distributed object technology.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the distributed image processing network system according to the first or second aspect, the server is a PC.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the distributed image processing network system according to the first or second aspect, the capability obtaining unit obtains the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity, or hard disk capacity of the server.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the distributed image processing network system according to the first or second aspect, the state acquisition unit acquires a screen saver state, a standby state, a remaining memory capacity, or a remaining hard disk capacity of the server.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the distributed image processing network system according to the first or second aspect, the server is a printer.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the distributed image processing network system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the capability acquisition means acquires the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity, hard disk capacity, or maximum printing speed of the server. .

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the distributed image processing network system according to the first or second aspect, the status acquisition unit includes: an energy saving status of the server; a printing status; a remaining page memory capacity; a remaining hard disk capacity; Get application information.

  Here, ORB (Object Request Broker) or CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) is famous as a distributed object technology, and has already been put to practical use in many fields using these technologies. Java (R) is an object-oriented language, and distributed object technologies such as RMI (Remote Method Invocation) or Jini based on the Java (R) platform have been proposed. Has been.

  In addition, since Java (R) and the like execute a program on a VM (virtual machine), the same program code can be executed without depending on the model as long as the VM is installed. The above-described multi-platform environment and distributed object technology make it possible to operate objects in a plurality of execution environments.

  In addition, Web services using XML (Extensible Markup language) -based JXTA or SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) are being developed as a technical base for distributed object environments.

  In object-oriented, data and means (method) for processing the data are handled as a set as a class, so that it is easy to always perform appropriate processing of the data. In addition, since various data or methods can be handled as a class by design, it can take various forms.

  According to the present invention, the client includes capability acquisition means for acquiring server processing capability information from the server, and status acquisition means for acquiring server status information from the server, so that the highest among the plurality of servers. It is possible to select a server that has the processing capability of the server and to automatically grasp the operating status of the server, avoiding servers that require time to process the requested data because other jobs are being executed. Thus, a server that can finish the requested data processing in the shortest time can be automatically selected instead of a manual. As a result, the burden on the user who selects the server is reduced, and the data processing is executed by the server that can always perform the image processing with the optimum processing efficiency, and the data processing is executed in the shortest time. Can be achieved.

  A distributed image processing network system in which data processing is performed by a server that can always perform image processing with optimum processing efficiency and image processing is performed efficiently, and capability acquisition means for acquiring processing capability information of the server to the client And status acquisition means for acquiring server status information.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings based on an example. The present embodiment relates to a case where there is one server or a case where a server that is optimal for executing an efficient process is selected from a plurality of servers and a process is requested.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a network system to which a printer and a server as clients are connected in an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the system configuration of the network system 10, one server 2 and a plurality of printers 3a and 3b, which are clients, are connected via a communication line 11. Note that the number of servers and printers can be increased as necessary.

  In order to share the distributed object environment, the server 2 and the printers 3a and 3b may implement a distributed object technology such as Java (R) VM (Java Virtual Machine) or CORBA.

  Further, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 1 that requests the printer 3 a or 3 b to perform printing processing is connected to the network system 10 via the communication line 11.

  The PC 1 can access an external network system such as the Internet via the communication line 11 and receive text or image information. In addition, image data can be captured via various input / output media. Furthermore, image data can be generated by the PC 1 itself.

  FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a device that functions as a printer such as the printer 3a.

  In FIG. 6, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 controls the printer 3 by a control program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22.

  A RAM (Random Access Memory) 23 temporarily stores data processed by the CPU 21. The CPU 21 stores and reads data in the RAM 23 as necessary.

  A modem 25 is provided that modulates a digital signal in the computer into an analog signal via a LAN controller 24 and a telephone line (analog line) and sends the analog signal to another device.

  Printing is performed via an operation unit display unit 26 such as a touch panel for operating the printer, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 27 that is a storage device, a system controller 28 that controls data in the frame memory 29, and a local bus controller 31. And a local bus controller 30 that performs data control with the printer 32 to be executed. Each of the above components is configured via a main bus 20 that is an external bus that connects the CPU, the memory, and various interfaces.

  In the present embodiment, printer language processing means that a printer command that can be processed for each device in a normal printer is specified, and therefore it is necessary for the server that is requested to perform processing related to the printer language suitable for the client printer. This means performing this processing.

  Further, the image processing refers to performing processing such as conversion from RGB to CMYK, rendering processing, or color conversion for image data that is data displayed on a display or the like. The image data may include text data.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the print data class. It has print data 40 described in a program language generated by a driver of the printer 3 as a client, and post-development data 41 such as bitmap data that can be printed by the printer. As a method, a development program 42 that develops the print data 40 into post-expansion data 41 and a print process 43 that executes printing using the post-expansion data 41 are provided.

  The expansion program 42 may be the program itself, or the actuality of the expansion program may be provided in another class, and only the interface to that class may be implemented.

  FIG. 3 shows a flow until print data is printed.

  First, the control object 44 receives print data described in the program language from the PC 1, and generates a print data object 45 from the print data.

  The control object 44 executes a development program 42, which is a development method, on the print data object 45, and sets the print data object 45 as post-expansion data 41 such as bitmap data. Then, after the development to bitmap data or the like is completed, the control object 44 instructs the print data object 45 to print.

  The print data object 45 can print the print data by giving a print instruction to the print object 46 that performs substantial printing together with an object such as expanded bitmap data.

  FIG. 4 shows a flow in which the flow until the print data shown in FIG. 3 is printed in a distributed object environment composed of clients and servers.

  First, on the printer 3 as a client, the control object 44 receives print data described in the program language from the PC 1 and generates a print data object 45 from the print data.

  Next, on the printer 3 as a client, the control object 44 generates a server proxy object 47 of the server 2 that virtually executes the object on the server 2. On the server side, a stub object 48 that can execute a stub requested from the client 3 is generated. The server proxy object 47 and the stub object 48 can communicate with each other by an ORB (Object Request Broker).

  The print data object 45 is transferred to the server proxy object 47, the print data object 45 is transferred to the server 2, and the server proxy object 47 is instructed to expand the print data object 45. Then, the print data object 45 on the server 2 is expanded into bitmap data or the like, and after the expansion is completed, an expansion completion notification is transmitted.

  When the preparation for receiving the print data object 45 of the control object 44 is completed, the server 2 requests the post-development data. Then, the server 2 transmits to the printer 3 the print data object 45 that has been expanded into bitmap data or the like.

  The control object 44 of the printer 3 issues a print instruction to the received print data object 45. The print data object 45 can execute printing by giving a print instruction to the print object 46 that performs substantial printing together with an object such as expanded bitmap data.

  Next, a more detailed operation example of the network system 10 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 shows a configuration between apparatuses that can be used as a client or a server in the present embodiment.

  First, the printer 3 which is a client requested to print from the user's PC 1 receives a notification of the operating state of the server 2 that performs image processing from the server 2 registered in advance by the processing request destination registration unit. The server 2 requests the client processing request management unit of the operation status notification.

  Prior to requesting the notification, the address of the server 2 is input to the printer 3 as a client in advance and registered in the processing request destination registration unit. In addition, the server 2 is approved in advance for executing processing in response to a data processing request from the printer 3.

  In response to the notification request, the server 2 transmits information indicating the processing capability, such as the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity, or hard disk capacity, by the state monitoring notification unit of the server 2, and The screen saver state, the standby state, the remaining memory capacity or the remaining hard disk capacity indicating the state is transmitted to the processing request destination pre-processing state detection unit of the printer 3.

  Based on data such as a screen saver state, a standby state, a remaining memory capacity, or a remaining hard disk capacity indicating the current state of the server 2, the processing request destination determination unit of the printer 3 is in a state where no other processing is being executed. Next, the server 2 having the highest processing capacity of the CPU, the server having the largest memory capacity, and the server having the largest hard disk capacity is prioritized to determine the server 2 to request processing.

  The printer 3 that has determined the server 2 that requests processing by the processing request destination determination unit of the printer 3 transmits the object that requests processing to the execution state management unit of the server 2 to execute the processing. .

  The server 2 monitors the execution state of the process while monitoring the distributed processing resource monitoring unit so that the object requested to be processed does not illegally access the hard disk or the like.

  The server 2 notifies the printer 3 that the processing is being executed regularly while the object requested for processing is being processed by the execution state management unit.

  In the printer 3, the request processing monitoring unit monitors whether the distributed processing resource management unit of the server 2 has interrupted unauthorized access or interrupted by turning off the power.

  The server 2 notifies the printer 3 that the processing of the requested object has been completed, and the printer 3 deletes the data stored by the load distribution processing data storage unit and ends the series of operations. .

  Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  A feature of this embodiment is that a plurality of servers execute data processing in a distributed image processing network system to which a printer and a server as clients are connected.

  The system configuration of the network system 10 in FIG. 1 is that one server 2 and a plurality of printers 3a and 3b as clients are connected via a communication line 11, but the number of servers is increased to a plurality. A network system 10 capable of connecting a plurality of servers is the system configuration of this embodiment.

  FIG. 5 shows the flow until the print data shown in FIG. 3 is printed when there are a plurality of servers in the distributed object environment shown in FIG. 4 in the distributed object environment consisting of clients and a plurality of servers. The implemented flow is shown.

  First, on the printer 3 as a client, the control object 44 receives print data described in the program language from the PC 1 and generates a print data object 45 from the print data.

  Next, on the printer 3 as a client, the control object 44 generates server proxy objects 47a and 47b of the servers 2a and 2b that virtually execute the objects on the servers 2a and 2b. On the server side, stub objects 48a and 48b that can execute the stub requested by the client 3 are generated. The server proxy objects 47a and 47b and the stub objects 48a and 48b can communicate with each other by an ORB (Object Request Broker).

  The print data object 45 is transferred to the server proxy objects 47a and 47b, the print data object 45 is transferred to the servers 2a and 2b, and the expansion of the print data object 45 is simultaneously instructed to the server proxy objects 47a and 47b. To do. Then, the print data object 45 on the servers 2a and 2b is expanded into bitmap data and the like, and after the expansion is completed, an expansion completion notification is transmitted. In this embodiment, the deployment end notification is not transmitted from the server 2a, but the deployment end notification is transmitted from the server 2b first. Since the preparation for receiving the print data object 45 of the control object 44 has been completed, the server 2b requests post-development data. Then, the server 2b transmits the print data object 45 that has been expanded into bitmap data or the like to the printer 3.

  The control object 44 of the printer 3 issues a print instruction to the received print data object 45. The print data object 45 can execute printing by giving a print instruction to the print object 46 that performs substantial printing together with an object such as expanded bitmap data.

  FIG. 8 shows a configuration when there are a plurality of servers that request processing in the embodiment described with reference to FIG.

  A series of operations between the printer 3 as a client and a plurality of servers are basically the same as those in FIG. The addresses of a plurality of servers are input to the printer 3 as a client in advance and registered in the processing request destination registration unit.

  In response to the notification request, the plurality of servers transmit information such as the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity, or hard disk capacity indicating the processing capability by the status monitoring notification unit of each server, The screen saver state, the standby state, the remaining memory capacity, the remaining hard disk capacity, and the like indicating the above state are transmitted to the processing request destination pre-processing state detection unit of the printer 3.

  Based on data such as a screen saver state, a standby state, a remaining memory capacity or a remaining hard disk capacity indicating the current state of each server, the processing request destination determination unit of the printer 3 is in a state where no other processing is being executed. Next, the server with the highest CPU processing capacity, the server with the largest memory capacity, and the server with the largest hard disk capacity are prioritized, and processing is requested from the servers with the highest priority. Determine multiple servers.

  The printer 3 that has determined a plurality of servers to request processing by the processing request destination determination unit of the printer 3 transmits the object to be processed to the execution state management unit of each server and executes the processing. Let

  When the data processing is completed, each server transmits the processing result to the printer 3. Then, the printer 3 performs the printing process using the processing result of the server that has transmitted the processing result first. Accordingly, since the same processing result transmitted from another server thereafter is not used, the data processing being executed in the other server may be stopped.

  The plurality of servers notify the printer 3 that the process is being executed periodically by the execution state management unit while the object requested to be processed is being processed.

  When the power supply or the like is turned off while the server process is being executed, the printer 3 detects that the distributed processing resource management unit of the server has been interrupted due to power-off by the request processing monitoring unit. Then, the processing request destination registration unit of the printer 3 may be requested again to determine a different server to request processing. In this case, the interrupted processing content may be transmitted to the determined server to perform the recovery operation.

  Next, a third embodiment will be described.

  A feature of the present embodiment is that in a distributed image processing network system in which a printer and a server as clients are connected, a printer capable of high-speed printing as a server, such as an MFP (Multi Function) Printer) etc. are used.

  In the system configuration of the network system 10 in FIG. 1, one server 2 and a plurality of printers 3a and 3b, which are clients, are connected via a communication line 11, but a printer 3a is used as a client. A network system 10 in which the printer 3b is used as the server instead of the server 2 is the system configuration of this embodiment.

  In FIG. 4 described above, in the present embodiment, the processing performed by the server 2 is executed by a printer having a processing capability equivalent to that of the server 2 and having a distributed object environment. By constructing the execution environment of the printer on Java (R) or CORBA, processing on different platforms becomes possible. Therefore, by installing the distributed object technology platform in the MFP or the like, even if the CPU or OS (Operating System) is different, it can behave in the same manner as a PC or server.

  Also in FIG. 5 described above, in the present embodiment, the processing performed by the servers 2a and 2b is executed by a plurality of printers having processing capabilities equivalent to those of the servers 2a and 2b and having a distributed object environment.

  In FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 described above, in this embodiment, the printer 3 which is a client requested to print from the user's PC 1 performs image processing on the printer as a server registered in advance by the processing request destination registration unit. In order to receive a notification of the operating state of the printer as the server that performs the operation, the client processing request management unit of the printer as the server is requested to notify the operating state.

  In response to the above notification request, the printer as the server indicates the processing capability by the status monitoring / notification unit of the printer as the server, indicating the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity, hard disk capacity, or maximum printing speed. And the like, the energy saving state, the printing state, the remaining page memory capacity, the remaining hard disk capacity or the in-use application information indicating the current state are transmitted to the processing request destination pre-processing state detection unit of the printer 3. . The in-use application information is, for example, during copying, during printer printing, during facsimile transmission, or during facsimile reception.

  According to the above embodiment, since the data processing is requested to a plurality of servers on the basis of the processing capability information and the status information, the operation status of each server can be automatically grasped, so that other jobs are executed. Select multiple servers that can finish requested data processing in the shortest time, actually execute the data processing, and adopt the processing result of the server that sent the processing result in the shortest time Can do. Thereby, the processing result of the data processing by the server that actually executes the data processing in the shortest time is used, and the efficiency of the image processing can be improved.

  In addition, since the client implements the distributed object technology, the object can be operated in a plurality of execution environments, so that the user can easily perform an operation without being aware of the difference in the operation environments.

  In addition, since the server implements the distributed object technology, the object can be operated in a plurality of execution environments, so that the user can easily operate without being aware of the difference in the operation environments.

  Further, since the server is a PC, it is easy for the user to provide a server device, and the construction of the distributed image processing network system can be easily performed.

  Further, the capability acquisition means acquires an appropriate performance index generally used for information processing apparatuses when the server is a PC or the like in order to acquire the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity or hard disk capacity of the server. Therefore, the performance information can be easily acquired, and the data processing capability of the server can be appropriately evaluated based on the information.

  In addition, since the status acquisition means acquires the screen saver status, standby status, remaining memory capacity or remaining hard disk capacity of the server, the server is a suitable operating condition index of the information processing apparatus when the server is a PC or the like. Can be properly evaluated.

  Further, since the server is a printer, it is not necessary for the user to provide a server device separately from the printer, and a distributed image processing network system can be easily constructed.

  In addition, the capability acquisition means acquires the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity, hard disk capacity or maximum printing speed of the server, so that the appropriate information processing apparatus generally used when the server is a printer or the like is used. Since it is a performance index, performance information can be easily acquired, and the data processing capability of the server can be appropriately evaluated based on the information.

  In addition, the status acquisition means acquires the energy saving status of the server, the printing status, the remaining page memory capacity, the remaining hard disk capacity, or the in-use application information. Since it is an operation status index, the state of the server can be properly evaluated.

  The present invention can also be applied to a network system between a digital copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, a scanner, a mobile phone, a PDA, a mobile terminal, and a multifunction device thereof.

1 is a schematic diagram of a distributed image processing network system in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of a print data class. It is a figure which shows the flow until print data is printed. It is a figure which shows the flow until the printing data of a 1st Example are printed. It is a figure which shows the flow until the printing data of a 2nd Example are printed. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating an outline of a printer. It is a figure for demonstrating the detailed operation example of 1st Example. It is a figure for demonstrating the detailed operation example of 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

1 PC
2 Server 3a, 3b Printer 10 Network system 21 CPU
23 RAM
27 HDD

Claims (10)

A network system including a client that requests data processing and one or more servers that perform at least one data processing of printer language processing and image processing requested by the client,
The client includes capability acquisition means for acquiring processing capability information of the server from the server;
Status acquisition means for acquiring status information of the server from the server;
Determining means for determining one server to request the data processing based on the processing capability information and the state information;
Notification means for notifying the server that has decided to request the data processing of the data processing request;
Processing result receiving means for receiving the data processed by the server from the server;
The server includes processing means for processing data in response to a notification from the client;
A distributed image processing network system comprising processing result transmission means for transmitting the processed data to the client. A network system including a client that requests data processing and a plurality of servers that perform at least one data processing of printer language processing and image processing requested by the client,
The client includes capability acquisition means for acquiring processing capability information of the server from the server;
Status acquisition means for acquiring status information of the server from the server;
Determining means for determining a plurality of the servers to request the data processing based on the processing capability information and the state information;
Notification means for notifying the server that has decided to request the data processing of the data processing request;
Processing result receiving means for receiving the data processed by the server from the server;
The server includes processing means for processing data in response to a notification from the client;
Processing result transmitting means for transmitting the processed data to the client;
A distributed image processing network system, comprising: a printing unit that prints a processing result of the processed data.   The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the client implements a distributed object technology.   The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the server implements a distributed object technology.   3. The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the server is a PC.   The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the capability acquisition unit acquires the CPU type, frequency, mounted memory capacity, or hard disk capacity of the server.   The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the state acquisition unit acquires a screen saver state, a standby state, a remaining memory capacity, or a remaining hard disk capacity of the server.   The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the server is a printer.   3. The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the capability acquisition unit acquires a CPU type, a frequency, a mounted memory capacity, a hard disk capacity, or a maximum printing speed of the server.   3. The distributed image processing network system according to claim 1, wherein the state acquisition unit acquires an energy saving state of the server, a printing state, a remaining page memory capacity, a remaining hard disk capacity, or in-use application information. .

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