Canon U.S.A., Inc., delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent-holder of technology, ranking third overall in the U.S. in 2001. The Canon imageRUNNER networked printer series offers models to support desktop, department, color, and production applications. With a range of speeds, this line offers extensive document finishing and optional multifunctional features.

This review covers the performance of the Canon imageRUNNER series printer, working with various components of the VPS^® suite of Enterprise Output Management solutions from Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc. (LRS). Systems Engineers in the LRS Enterprise Document Engineering (EDE) group performed the testing and evaluation of this printer.

Printer Highlights
The model tested was the imageRUNNER 85, a high-speed, black-and-white production printer designed to handle the demands of large corporate departments, data centers, CRDs, and print-on-demand environments. The printer engine controller utilizes the Canon Image Platform (IP) common device architecture, used throughout the imageRUNNER line.

This printer natively prints PCL and line print data. Using an I-O AFP/IPDS print server, we were able to test AFP printing. We also tested Bi-directional Internet Printing (BIP) support for advanced control of TCP/IP print jobs using VPS/TCPIP. BIP is included in VPS V1 R8.0 fix level 098 and above. BIP combines the communications capability of Printer Job Language (PJL) using the TCP/IP network protocol to extend the output management capabilities of VPS, enabling user control over IP printing and printers. We used VPS Monitor and Control Facility (VMCF) to access printer status and control functions from a web-browser.

The imageRUNNER 85 was updated to beta firmware version 7551.1333.3006 for PCL Echo command support. We established an Ethernet connection to the printer. Once the Ethernet connection initialized, the printer became active, automatically accessing the proper IP configuration from the LRS network.

LRS Product Testing
We tested the imageRUNNER 85 printer with VPS V1R8.0 at fix level 481. We used VPS, VPS/PCL, VPS/IPDS, and VPS/TCPIP to test printing performance with line data, AFP data, and PJL commands.

We used sample printer definitions (DFLTLPD & DFLTSOK) to test line and direct sockets mode printing over VPS/TCPIP to the imageRUNNER 85. These definitions can be found in our sample library (SAMPLIB), which is included with VPS V1R80 (since the end of May 2003). The printer definitions were modified by changing the DEST= keyword to an appropriate user defined destination. The keyword TCPHOST= was added to the printer definition with the TCP/IP address of imageRUNNER 85. We sent both small and large line data print jobs to this printer destination with the resulting output correctly printing.

Our AFP printing tests used printer definitions (PRTIPDSI and P85X60L). We tested the imageRUNNER 85's ability to handle native AFP output from VPS/IPDS as well as converted AFP-to-PCL output from VPS/PCL. The AFP/IPDS print data stream was routed through the I-O 5755dp print server to the Canon printer. We also converted the AFP data stream using VPS/PCL and routed it directly to the printer. We modified the printer definition by changing the DEST= keyword and the TCPHOST= keyword to the appropriate values for the imageRUNNER 85. We sent both small and large AFP print jobs using both routes to this printer, with the resulting output printing as expected.

With PJL commands activated, the imageRUNNER 85 has the ability to communicate printer information to VPS/TCPIP using a direct sockets connection. Utilizing LRS BIP communication, the imageRUNNER 85 successfully provided printer status to VMCF/TSO and VMCF Web Access clients. Error producing conditions such as open paper drawer and out of paper were transmitted from the printer to VMCF. The Timed Unsolicited Status capability of PJL was not supported, requiring the PJLUSTAT keyword value set to (,,,0) to turn off any timed interval.

Testing Overview:

Data stream	Products	Connection	Print Result
Line Data	VPS®, VPS/TCPIP	LPR	successful
Line Data	VPS®, VPS/TCPIP	SOK	successful
AFP Data	VPS®, VPS/PCL, VPS/TCPIP	LPR	successful
AFP Data	VPS®, VPS/PCL, VPS/TCPIP	SOK	successful
AFP Data	VPS®, VPS/IPDS, VPS/TCPIP	SOK	successful
PJL & BIP	VPS®, VPS/TCPIP	SOK	successful

I-O 5755dp Host to Net Gateway Features	Benefits
Offloading of Data Conversion	Eliminates unnecessary IBM Host or PC overhead and speeds up printing by converting EBCDIC data directly on the I-O 5755dp.
True Print Complete	Removes wondering when a print job is complete.
Duplex Support	Prints on both sides of the page for more efficient printing (for duplex printers).
Page Offset Functions	Provides flexibility in page positioning without modifying host applications.
Supports over 100 IPDS Fonts	Provides more fonts to choose from than other IPDS interfaces, including IBM 4312/17 emulation fonts.
On-board FLASH Memory	Allows for field upgrades of interface code. Always supports the latest new features from I-O.
Simultaneous, Multi-Protocol Printing	Maximizes printer utilization by supporting printing from a variety of hosts, servers, and clients.
PrintControl™ Utility	Provides simple configuration from a local or remote network.
Powerful RISC Processor	Takes advantage of the LAN printer's maximum print speed even when processing completes AFP/IPDS jobs.