Working Smarter with Salutation and JetSend

by Nancy Cox

At first glance, Salutation and HP's JetSend protocols look like competing technologies. Both protocols enable devices to work smarter by interoperating without user intervention. Salutation and JetSend let you send information from one application or device such as a digital camera or a scanner directly to another application or device such as a copier or fax machine without having to manipulate the format or drivers of the end device. Both are supported by prominent network product manufacturers such as Cisco Systems, Canon and Matsushita.

Although the two protocols have a common goal to increase the intelligence of networked devices, they have implemented their design concepts in different ways. Salutation has a rich discovery ability that lets you launch a broadcast query over the network to find and determine the capabilities of devices that suit your requirements. In contrast, JetSend is a device-to-device content negotiation protocol. Once you have selected the device to perform a print function, for example, two JetSend-enabled devices will connect, negotiate the optimal data types, and then exchange information to print the document. JetSend does not provide the ability to find other JetSend devices through network searches as does Salutation.

JetSend supports the "ad hoc" communication environment, where the user is focused on sending information rather than "printing" from an application. For example, JetSend offers solutions if you have a requirement to ensure that a document is delivered. With JetSend, you can send a color document to a black and white printer, but you may not know that it was not printed in color. JetSend's focus is on communication of content, not on the traditional "printing" model.

On the other hand, with Salutation you determine the capabilities of the device by searching for the one that supports your requirements, or make a sender based decision to use functions lower than you need. With JetSend the mapping of document to function is performed by the receiver, so the receiver determines the quality of the output that they choose to receive.

Salutation was developed by an industry consortium as a device and network independent protocol. JetSend was developed by one prominent vendor, HP, so not all hardware manufacturers will agree on certain tradeoffs. For example, JetSend suggests that all JetSend enabled devices support a minimum of 300x300 pixel resolution. This aligns well with some FAX machines on the market, including HP's but is less than optimal for the large volumes of existing equipment that support 200x200 or less.

Salutation's capability discovery provides benefits in environments with a central directory such as Novell's NDS or Microsoft's Active Directory for NT5. These solutions need to know what is connected to the network so that the devices can be managed by the administration software. According to Jim Hammons, Alliances Programs Manager, HP, in addition to working with Salutation, HP is committed to making any changes the market requires to take advantage of directory services as LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol).

Members of the Salutation Consortium, including HP, recognized that to include JetSend in Salutation would extend the reach of both protocols and provide dramatic benefits including increased functionality and ease of use. As a result, HP and the Salutation Consortium have launched two initiatives. The first will identify JetSend technology as an attribute of current Salutation Functional Units. A "Functional Unit" identifies a capability such as printing regardless of the device providing the function. A copier, for example, may have a printer functional unit. This approach allows a Salutation user querying the network for a printer or fax machine to include JetSend-enabled devices in the search.

The second initiative investigates the creation of a JetSend Functional Unit. This will allow Salutation users querying the network to locate all JetSend-enabled devices, including printers, fax machines, PCs or copiers. JetSend would then allow the devices themselves to negotiate the best way to share information. This integrated approach lets you discover and select devices that are JetSend enabled.

JetSend has made significant progress in two key areas that Salutation will be able to leverage; JetSend Lite Protocol and infrared capabilities. Currently, the Salutation specification and implementations define an architecture that supports BOTH 'client' and 'server' products. But there are devices that might want to work only as a server (digital camera) or client (palmtop). A subset of the Salutation Architecture to address these devices would enable a lighter weight implementation. HP predicts that JetSend Lite will only require 40K to 50K of memory.

Although infrared is an industry standard interface, it lacks the ability to determine what is on the other end of the 'light beam'. JetSend, which already supports infrared, can build interoperability between different devices. Salutation, which specifies infrared, but lacks an infrared implementation, can give a more detailed capabilities exchange allowing for better device modeling.

HP is also working on adding more devices and supporting more network protocols and operating systems as well as the capability to let JetSend enabled devices communicate through a corporate firewall.

What is the future of these two protocols? According to Barry Tepper, Sr. Consultant for Converging Digital Peripherals with CAP Ventures, ideally, both protocols should be merged into one that is completely open and free of charge to the vendors. "Vendors shouldn't have to support both protocols in the same machine." Merging the two protocols would provide interoperability with all devices similar to the Group III standard for fax machines. "Fax's brilliance is that it always works."

In contrast, Jim Hammons confirms that JetSend is not in the broadcast query market and so would not compete with Salutation. He recommends that vendors continue to support both protocols, where appropriate, for the value added functionality that their combination provides. "The complementary relationship of Salutation and JetSend gives users on the network the mutual benefits of smarter devices and a much easier usage model. We look forward to continued work with the Salutation Consortium to better meet the needs of users of both technologies."

For more information on Salutation and JetSend, access their Web sites at http://www.salutation.org and http://www.JetSend.HP.com.