Abstract:
A network system includes a plurality of client computers coupled to a transmission network, each of the client computers capable of generating commands and data for used in burning; a burner device capable of burning burn data onto discs; and a network server coupled between the transmission network and the burner device for receiving the burn commands and the data transferred from the transmission network and controlling the operation of the burner device.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a network system and the method for the same, and more specifically, to a network system and the method for the same allowing a plurality of client computers to share a burner device.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is an illustration of a conventional network system  10 . The network system  10  comprises a network server  12 , a burner device  14 , a client computer  16 , and a transmission network coupled between the network server  12  and the client computer  16 .  
         [0005]     In the network system  10 , the client computer  16  generates data to be burned and exchanges data with the network server  12  via the transmission network  18 . For example, the client computer  16  transfers generated data to be burned to the network server  12  through the transmission network  18 , and the network server  12  can control the operation of the burner device  14 . Practically speaking, the network server  12  controls the burner device  14  to burn data onto a disc.  
         [0006]     However, only the network server  12  has access to control the operation of the burner device  14  in the network system  10 . In other words, the burner device  14  is directly controlled only by the network server  12  and provides no direct accessibility to the client computer  16  coupled to the transmission network  18 . This shall result to wasteful device resources and poor resource sharing. The client computer  16  burns data on a disc only when the burner device  14  is installed directly on the client computer  16 . That is, the burner device  14  must be unplugged from the network server  12  and installed on the client computer  16 , or the data to be burned must be firstly copied to the network server  12 .  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The claimed invention provides a network system allowing a plurality of client computers to share a burner device. The network system comprises a plurality of client computers coupled to a transmission network, each of the client computers capable of generating burn commands and data; a burner device capable of burning data onto discs; and a network server coupled between the transmission network and the burner device for receiving burn commands and data transferred from the plurality of client computers via the transmission network and controlling the operation of the burner device.  
         [0008]     The claimed invention also provides a method for burning data from a plurality of client computers. The method comprises steps of arranging data from the plurality of client computers in order, when a network server receives burn commands and data from the plurality of client computers, and burning data from the plurality of client computers in the order arranged in the previous step.  
         [0009]     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of a conventional network system.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is an illustration of a first exemplary embodiment of a network system according to the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is an illustration of a second exemplary embodiment of a network system according to the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart for the operation of the network system in  FIG. 3   
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]     Please refer to  FIG. 2 , which is an illustration of a first exemplary embodiment of a network system  20 . The network system  20  comprises a network server  22 , a bus  24 , a burner device  14 , a transmission network  18 , and a first client computer  26 . The burner device  14  is coupled with the network server  22  via the bus  24  and the transmission network  18  is coupled between the network server  22  and the first client computer  26 . The transmission network  18  can be an Ethernet, and the bus  24  can be a universal serial bus  24  (USB), or an integrated drive electronics (IDE) bus.  
         [0015]     In the network system  20 , the first client computer  26  generates data to be burned, and corresponding burn commands using an internal burn unit  30 . The transmission network  18  transmits the data toe be burned and the burn commands generated by the first client computer  26  to the network server  22 . The network server  22  receives the data to be burned and the burn commands transmitted through the transmission network  18  by a receiving unit  28  of the network server  22 , and controls the burner device  14  to burn the data to be burned onto a disc according to the burn commands. The receiving unit  28  of the network server  22  is coupled between the transmission network  18  and the burner device  14 .  
         [0016]     In such way, the first client computer  26  coupled with the transmission network  18  can remotely control the operation of the burner device  14 .  
         [0017]     Please refer to  FIG. 3 , which is an illustration of a second exemplary embodiment of a network system  40 . In addition to the burner device  14 , the bus  24 , the transmission network  18 , and the first client computer  26 , the network system  40  further comprises a network server  42  and a second client computer  46 . The burner device  14  is coupled with the network system  42 , and the second client computer  46  is coupled with the transmission network  18 , as well.  
         [0018]     In the network system  40 , the second client computer  46  can also generate data to be burned and corresponding burn commands using the internal burn unit  30 . The transmission network  18  transmits the data to be burned and the burn commands generated by the first and second client computers  26 ,  46  to the network server  42 . The network server  42  receives the data to be burned and the burn commands transmitted through the transmission network  18  by the receiving unit  28  of the network server  42 . The receiving unit  28  of the network server  42  is coupled between the transmission network  18  and the burner device  14 .  
         [0019]     When the burner device  14  continuously burns data onto a disc, the network server  42  may receive other data to be burned and burn commands from the transmission network  18  (For example, the network server  42  may receive data to be burned and burn commands generated by the second client computer  46  when the burner device  14  is continuously burning data generated by the first client computer  26  onto a disc.). The network server  42  may also receive data to be burned and burn commands from the first and second client computers  26 ,  46  via the transmission network  18  at the same time. In order to keep the burner device  14  as busy as possible, i.e., the burner device  14  can process burn work of the second client computer  46  despite burn work of the first client computer  26  being unfinished, the network server  42  of the network system  40  further comprises a scheduling unit  48  for analyzing the burn commands generated by the first and second client computers  26 ,  46 , and for arranging the data to be burned by the burner device  14  in order, the data being generated by the first and second client computers  26 ,  46 . The scheduling unit of the network server  42  is coupled between the receiving unit  28  and the burner device  14 . The scheduling unit  48  arranges the data in order according to the receiving-completed time of data from the plurality of client computers  26 ,  46 , data with earlier receiving-completed time having higher priority to be burned.  
         [0020]     Additionally, the network server  42  further comprises a status indicator  44  for displaying the status of operation of the burner device  14 . For example, when the burner device  14  is burning data onto a disc, the status indicator  44  indicates “busy”. Contrarily, when the burner device  14  doesn&#39;t burn any data, the status indicator  44  indicates “available”. The status indicator  44  is coupled with the burner device  14 .  
         [0021]     Please refer to  FIG. 4 , which illustrates a flow chart  100  for the operation of the network system  40 . The flow chart  100  comprises the following steps:  
         [0022]     Step  102 : Start;  
         [0023]     (The receiving unit  28  of the network server  42  receives the data to be burned and the burn commands generated by the first and second client computers  26 ,  46 , stores the data and the commands in a spool (not shown), and keeps track of receiving-started time and receiving-completed time of the data to be burned. The burner device  14  burns the data in the spool onto a disc.)  
         [0024]     Step  104 : Check if there is data to be burned in the spool waiting to be burned onto a disc; if there is, Step  106  is executed; otherwise, Step  104  is executed;  
         [0025]     Step  106 : Select the earliest receiving-completed data for burning according to the completion time;  
         [0026]     Step  108 : Check if there is any burner device available in the network system  40 ; if there is, Step  110  is executed; otherwise, Step  106  is executed;  
         [0027]     (check if the status indicator  44  indicates “available”)  
         [0028]     Step  110 : Use burner device that is available in Step  108  to burn the data selected in Step  106  onto a disc, and indicate the available burner device as “busy”; and  
         [0029]     (the status indicator  44  indicates a sign of “busy”)  
         [0030]     Step  112 : After the burning is completed, notify the user of the completion of burning, and indicate the busy burner device as “available.” 
         [0031]     In the exemplary embodiments according to the present invention, the burn units  30  of the first and second client computers  26 ,  46 , and the receiving unit  28  along with the scheduling unit  48  of the network server  22 ,  42  can be firmware or program code stored in a memory.  
         [0032]     Compared with the prior art, the network system (including the network systems  20 ,  40 ) of the present invention provides all the client computers (such as the first client computer  26  and the second client computer  46 ) that are coupled to the transmission network  18  with shared burner device  14  for resource sharing. Secondly, it is not necessary to connect the burner device  14  directly to the first or second client computers  26 ,  46 , the data to be burned generated by the client computers does not have to be copied to the network servers  22 ,  42  (only the network servers  22 ,  42  connect to the burner device  14 ), and data to be burned from the client computers can be burned onto a disc. Finally, a scheduled burn process can be achieved by the network system of the present invention.  
         [0033]     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.