Patent ID: 7102779

Claim:
A method implemented in a printing device, the method comprising: receiving a request to print a document, the request and document being received by the printing device; partitioning the document into one or more blocks; communicating, to each of one or more additional printing devices, at least one of the one or more blocks; beginning processing, at the printing device, of at least one of the blocks; receiving, from the one or more additional printing devices, a set of print-ready bits corresponding to the blocks communicated to the one or more additional printing devices; using, at the printing device, the received print-ready bits to print the document; and for a particular block, if an additional printing devices indicates it has generated the print-ready bits for the block then ceasing processing of the block and using the print-ready bits from the additional printing device to print the block of the document, and otherwise using print-ready bits generated by the printing device to print the block of the document.