BACKGROUND

[0001] An image forming device may perform various operations as well as an image forming operation such as printing, copying, scanning, faxing, storage, transmission, and coating. A user may scan a document, save, copy, and transmit a scanned document through various operations performed by an image forming device. Peripheral devices may be provided with the image forming device to perform certain operations. For example, the image forming device may include various peripheral devices such as a scanner to scan a document, a finisher to process a printed output, a fax, a control panel to interact with a user, a storage to save data, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Various examples will be described below by referring to the following figures.

[0003] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing installation information of a peripheral device installed in an image forming device according to an example.

[0004] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a user interface to provide installation information of a peripheral device installed in an image forming device according to an example.

[0005] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of utilizing installation information and usage information of a peripheral device collected in an image forming device according to an example.

[0006] FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a process of providing additional information based on installation information and usage information of a peripheral device collected in an image forming device according to an example. [0007] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of identifying additional information to be provided to an image forming device according to an example. [0008] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of obtaining from a server installation information of a peripheral device installed in an image forming device according to an example.

[0009] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an image forming device according to an example.

[0010] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to an example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] An image forming device may include various peripheral devices. A user may select and install a peripheral device in his or her image forming device according to needs and preferences, and business operators that sell or rent image forming devices may recommend to the user peripheral devices suitable for the user's usage environment.

[0012] A peripheral device installed in an image forming device may be replaced with another peripheral device or upgraded to a new peripheral device due to failure, aging, or the like. However, it may be difficult for a user to recognize the effect of the new peripheral device because information about the peripheral device used before replacement is not provided to the user properly. In addition, it may be difficult for the user to calculate a warranty period in a case where dates on which the respective peripheral devices are installed in the image forming device are different from each other. In addition, it may be difficult for the user to notice whether the installed peripheral device is in need of replacement or maintenance.

[0013] An example image forming device may include a processor, a memory to store instructions executable by the processor, and a plurality of connection interfaces to respectively connect with a plurality of peripheral devices. The processor, by executing the instructions, is to obtain first identification information of a first peripheral device currently installed in the image forming device through a connection interface, obtain first installation information of the first peripheral device based on the obtained identification information, obtain second installation information of a second peripheral device of the same type as the first peripheral device which was installed in the image forming device before the first peripheral device, and display the first installation information of the first peripheral device and the second installation information of the second peripheral device.

[0014] Accordingly, a user may conveniently view installation information of the replaced peripheral device and the currently installed peripheral device, and may easily check the usefulness and a warranty period of the peripheral device currently installed in the image forming device. In addition, the user may easily notice whether the installed peripheral device is in need of replacement or maintenance.

[0015] Hereinafter, examples will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the examples described herein.

[0016] Terms including ordinals such as first, second, etc. may be used to identify various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. These terms are used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, a first component may be referred to as a second component, a second component may be referred to as a first component, and their ordinal number may be omitted.

[0017] An "image forming device” or "image forming apparatus" may refer to any kind of device capable of performing an image forming operation, such as a printer, a copier, a scanner, a fax machine, a multi-function printer (MFP) or a display device, etc. The image forming device may also be a two dimensional (2D) image forming device or a 3D image forming device. An "image forming operation performed by the image forming device" may refer to an operation related to printing, copying, scanning, faxing, storage, transmission, coating, etc., or a combination of two or more of the operations described above.

[0018] An image forming device may include a peripheral device. For example, the image forming device may include various peripheral devices such as a scanner to scan a document, a finisher to process a printed output, a fax, a control panel to interact with a user, a storage to store data, etc.

[0019] FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing installation information of a peripheral device installed in an image forming device according to an example.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 1 , identification information of a peripheral device currently installed in an image forming device may be obtained in operation 110. The peripheral device currently installed in the image forming device may be referred to as a first peripheral device. The first peripheral device may include a peripheral device newly installed in the image forming device.

[0021] A peripheral device may be connected to an image forming device through a connection interface of the image forming device. The connection interface may have its own standard according to a type of a peripheral device connected to the connection interface, such as, a scanner, a finisher, a fax machine, a control panel, storage, etc., but is not limited thereto. For example, the connection interface may have a universal standard supported by various peripheral devices. In a case where the connection interface has its own standard according to a peripheral device, all peripheral devices connected to the same connection interface may be identified to be the same type of peripheral devices. Whether peripheral devices are the same type of peripheral devices may be identified based on identification information obtained from the peripheral devices, and may be identified by a server to which the image forming device is connected. [0022] Identification information of a peripheral device may include information allocated to the peripheral device by its manufacturer to identify the peripheral device. In an example, identification information may include a model name, a serial number, a media access control (MAC) address of the peripheral device, or the like, but is not limited thereto.

[0023] In operation 120, installation information of the peripheral device may be obtained in the image forming device based on the obtained identification information. The installation information of the peripheral device may include identification information of the peripheral device. The installation information of the peripheral device may further include information regarding a “born-on” date which may refer to a date that the peripheral device is first used in any image forming device, an “installed date” which may refer to a date that the peripheral device is first installed in the current image forming device, a “connection interface” which may refer to a connection interface to which the peripheral device is connected. The born-on date on which the peripheral device is first used in any image forming device may be a date on which the peripheral device is unpackaged and first installed in any image forming device. Accordingly, the born- on date on which the peripheral device is first used in any image forming device may be the same as or earlier than the installed date on which the peripheral device is first installed in the current image forming device.

[0024] The identification information of the peripheral device obtained from the peripheral device may be compared with identification information of peripheral devices stored in a memory or a storage of the image forming device. The memory or the storage may store identification information of peripheral devices and corresponding installation information of the peripheral devices. In a case where any identification information corresponding to the identification information of the peripheral device obtained from the peripheral device exists in the memory or storage, that is, in a case where the peripheral device is already installed and used in the image forming device, corresponding installation information of the peripheral device may be obtained based on the corresponding identification information. Installation information obtained from the storage which is a peripheral device of the image forming device, may be stored in a memory of the image forming device. The identification information of the peripheral device and the installation information of the peripheral device are described as being obtained in operations 110 and 120, but are not limited thereto. For example, the identification information and installation information of the peripheral device may be simultaneously obtained.

[0025] A peripheral device may support plug and play, and installation information of the peripheral device newly installed in the image forming device may be directly obtained from the peripheral device. In a case where identification information corresponding to the identification information of the peripheral device obtained from the peripheral device does not exist in the memory of the image forming device, that is, in a case where the peripheral device is newly installed in the image forming device, installation information of the newly installed peripheral device may be directly retrieved from the peripheral device. The peripheral device may directly store information regarding a model name, a serial number, a MAC address, a date on which the peripheral device is first used in any image forming device, a date on which the peripheral device is installed in the current image forming device, and a date on which the peripheral device is first installed in a former image forming device. The image forming device may directly obtain at least one of identification information or installation information from a peripheral device.

[0026] A peripheral device may have machine readable instructions operating on a central processing unit CPU in the peripheral device, and the machine readable instructions may provide an interface for transmitting information related to the peripheral device to an image forming device. The image forming device may obtain various information from peripheral devices by calling individual interfaces provided by machine readable instructions of the peripheral devices.

[0027] General-purpose devices such as a storage may be controlled through a driver of an operating system of a main board of the image forming device. Since the operating system provides a general-purpose interface for obtaining information about general-purpose devices, the image forming device may obtain various information from general-purpose devices by calling the general-purpose interface provided by the operating system of the image forming device.

[0028] The installation information obtained from the peripheral device may be stored in a memory of the image forming device. The Installation information of the peripheral device and data used for driving the peripheral device may be backed up in the memory of the image forming device as well as in another peripheral device installed in the image forming device, such as, a storage. The memory of the image forming device may be directly mounted on the main board of the image forming device. In a case where the main board is replaced with a new main board, data backed up in the storage of the image forming device may be restored to the new memory in the new main board. [0029] Installation information of a peripheral device may be obtained from a server to which the image forming device is connected, an example of which will be described later by referring to FIG. 6.

[0030] In operation 130, installation information of a peripheral device formerly installed in the image forming device may be obtained in the image forming device. A peripheral device formerly installed in the image forming device is no longer installed in the current image forming device, and may be referred to as a second peripheral device. The installation information of the formerly installed peripheral device may be obtained with the installation information of the peripheral device currently installed in the image forming device, an example of which will be described later by referring to FIG. 3.

[0031] The identification information and installation information of the peripheral device installed in the image forming device may be stored in the memory of the image forming device, and the identification information of the peripheral device newly installed in the image forming device may be compared with the identification information of the peripheral device stored in the memory of the image forming device. As a result of the comparison, in a case where identification information, such as a serial number of a peripheral device newly installed through a specific connection interface is different from that of a peripheral device installed through the connection interface, the image forming device may identify that a new peripheral device is installed in the image forming device.

[0032] In operation 140, the installation information of the currently installed peripheral device and the formerly installed peripheral device may be displayed in the image forming device. An example display of installation information will be described by referring to FIG. 2.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a user interface to provide installation information of a peripheral device installed in an image forming device according to an example.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 2, installation information 210 of a peripheral device currently installed in an image forming device and an installation history 220 of peripheral devices may be displayed through a graphic user interface 200 of the image forming device. FIG. 2 illustrates an image forming device in which a 10.1 -inch touch screen and a 180 IPM (Images Per Minute) 200SH (sheet) scanner are currently installed as peripheral devices. The graphic user interface 200 of the image forming device may be displayed on a control panel installed in the image forming device, that is, a 10.1 -inch touch screen.

[0035] The installation history 220 of the peripheral devices may include installation information of peripheral devices formerly installed in the image forming device. FIG. 2 illustrates that an 8-inch touch screen and a 1201PM 100SH scanner were installed in the image forming device in the past. The installation information of the peripheral devices formerly installed in the image forming device and the installation information of the peripheral device currently installed in the image forming device may be sorted for each peripheral device and may be arranged in an order of a date installed in the image forming device. [0036] As shown in FIG. 2, the installation information of the formerly installed peripheral device and the installation information of the currently installed peripheral device of the image forming device may be simultaneously displayed in one graphic user interface 200. Accordingly, a user may view a history of a time or a designation of a peripheral device installed in the image forming device at a glance. Based on a date a peripheral device is first installed in the image forming device, a warranty period of each peripheral device may be automatically calculated (for example, each peripheral device may be warranted for 2 years from each installed date), and displayed in the graphical user interface 200.

[0037] The image forming device may print a report including the installation information of the formerly installed peripheral device and the currently installed peripheral device of the image forming device. Accordingly, the user may view a history of installation of peripheral devices in the image forming device at a glance through the printed report. In an example, a user may replace or upgrade a peripheral device according to its warranty period. In addition, even though a seller or manufacturer of the image forming device or the peripheral device does not have their sales history of the peripheral device, the seller or the manufacturer may easily manage inventory of products through the installation information and usage information of the peripheral device collected through a server, and streamline a manpower structure by identifying peripheral devices having a warranty period that has expired.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows that the installation information 210 of the currently installed peripheral device and the installation history 220 of the peripheral device are displayed in the image forming device. However, the examples are not so limited. For example, the installation information and the installation history may be displayed through an application or web service accessible from a mobile device or desktop.

[0039] The control panel may include a graphic menu for selecting the graphic user interface 200, a graphic menu for printing a report including installation information of a peripheral device formerly installed in the image forming device and installation information of a peripheral device currently installed in the image forming device, or the like.

[0040] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of utilizing installation information and usage information of a peripheral device collected in an image forming device according to an example.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 3, installation information of peripheral devices may be collected in an image forming device 10 in operation 300. The installation information of the peripheral devices may be directly collected from the peripheral devices installed in the image forming device 10, or may be collected from a memory of the image forming device 10. Installation information of a peripheral device formerly installed in and removed from the image forming device 10 may be collected from the memory of the image forming device 10.

[0042] In operation 350, usage information of the peripheral devices may be collected in the image forming device 10. The usage information of the peripheral devices may indicate remaining life information, usage history information of the peripheral devices according to usage of the peripheral devices, or the like. Usage information of a peripheral device may be collected for a predetermined period, such as a period from a day the peripheral devices is first installed in the image forming device 10 to the present. The collected installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices may be stored in the memory or storage of the image forming device 10.

[0043] In a case where the memory of the image forming device 10 lacks a space to store information related to a peripheral device, the image forming device 10 may free up storage space by deleting information related to old peripheral devices. In an example, a maximum number of peripheral devices supported in the image forming device 10 and a capacity of the memory of the image forming device 10 may be predetermined. Accordingly, the number of installation histones to be stored for each peripheral device may also be predetermined based on the maximum number of peripheral devices supported in the image forming device 10 and the capacity of the memory of the image forming device 10. Any Information related to the peripheral devices may be backed up in a storage installed in the image forming device 10. The memory of the image forming device 10 may be directly mounted on the main board of the image forming device 10. In a case where the main board is replaced with a new main board, data backed up in the storage of the image forming device 10 may be restored to the new memory in the new main board.

[0044] The remaining life of a peripheral device may depend on the number and intensity of use of the peripheral device. In a case where a specific peripheral device is used intensively within a short period of time, the remaining life of the peripheral device may be rapidly reduced. In order for a user to use the peripheral device for a longer period of time, the image forming device 10 may collect information about the remaining life of the peripheral device.

[0045] In various examples, the remaining life information of the peripheral device may include information regarding the number of pages scanned and the maximum number of scannable pages of a scanner, the number of finished pages and the maximum number of finishable pages of a finisher, the number of times of finishing and the maximum number of times of finishing of the finisher, the number of times of read/writes and the maximum number of times of read/writes of a storage, or the like.

[0046] The usage history of the peripheral device may vary according to a user's setting. In order to meet a setting of each user and improve productivity of users, the image forming device 10 may collect usage history information of peripheral devices.

[0047] The usage history of the peripheral devices may include information regarding the number of pages scanned per day, the number of fax pages transmitted per day, the number of booklet printing, the number of printouts of a predetermined number or more, the number of times of performing optical character recognition (OCR), the remaining capacity of the storage, the size of the printed/scanned document stored in the storage, or the like.

[0048] In operation 360, the installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices collected by the image forming device 10 may be transmitted to a server 20. The installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices may be transmitted from the image forming device 10 to the server 20 to which the image forming device 10 is connected, based on the server 20 requesting the image forming device 10 through a web service. The web service protocol used between the image forming device 10 and the server 20 may be implemented through a Representational State Transfer (REST)ful API, a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) API, or the like, but is not limited thereto. The Installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices may be periodically transmitted. In a case where a request for the installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices from the server 20 is received at the image forming device 10, the image forming device 10 may retrieve data stored in a memory or storage and transmit them to the server 20. The server 20 may store the transmitted installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices.

[0049] In operation 370, the transmitted installation information and usage information of the peripheral device may be analyzed by the server 20. An example operation of the server 20 to analyze installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices will be described later by referring to FIG. 5. [0050] In operation 380, additional information according to an analysis result of the server 20 may be provided to the image forming device 10. As a result of the analysis of the server 20 on the installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices, a user’s peripheral device usage patterns and installation patterns may be identified. The additional information may be provided from the server 20 to the image forming device 10 through a web service. The additional information provided to the image forming device 10 may be stored in a memory of the image forming device 10 or a storage installed as a peripheral device in the image forming device 10. An example of additional information provided to the image forming device 10 will be described by referring to FIG. 4. [0051] FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a process of providing additional information based on installation information and usage information of a peripheral device collected in an image forming device according to an example. [0052] Referring to FIG. 4, a graphic user interface 400 of the image forming device may display installation information 410 of a peripheral device currently installed in an image forming device and an installation history 420 of peripheral devices. The graphic user interface 400 of the image forming device may further display additional information 430 about peripheral devices. The installation information 410 of the currently installed peripheral device, the installation history 420 of the peripheral device, and the additional information 430 about peripheral devices may be implemented to be scrolled.

[0053] FIG. 4 illustrates the graphic user interface 400 including additional information 430 about the scanner. The additional information 430 provided to the image forming device through the graphic user interface 400 of the image forming device may be identified based on installation information and usage information of peripheral devices installed in the image forming device, but is not limited thereto. The additional information 430 provided to the image forming device may be further identified based on installation information and usage information of peripheral devices installed in other image forming devices.

[0054] An example operation of identifying additional information based on installation information and usage information of image forming devices will be described by referring to FIG. 5.

[0055] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of identifying additional information to be provided to an image forming device according to an example. [0056] The example operations illustrated in FIG. 5 may be performed in operation 370 of FIG. 3.

[0057] Referring to FIG. 5, the server may analyze installation information and usage information of peripheral devices installed in the image forming devices in operation 571 . The server may identify information to be added to the additional information through the following example operations. The usage information of the peripheral devices may indicate remaining life information, usage history information of the peripheral devices according to usage of the peripheral devices, or the like.

[0058] In operation 572, the server may identify whether there is a peripheral device that satisfies a predetermined usage condition among peripheral devices installed in an image forming device. For example, the server may identify whether there is a peripheral device that satisfies the conditions of Table 1 among the peripheral devices installed in the image forming device. Table 1 should be understood as an example of use conditions of the peripheral device, and the use conditions may be composed of various variables.

Table 1

[0059] In a case where there is a peripheral device that meets the predetermined usage condition, the server may search for tip information that meets the predetermined usage condition and add it to the additional information in operation 573. The tip information may include information on a countermeasure for handling an error that may occur in the peripheral device. The tip information may include information about a method of taking a precaution against an error that may occur in a peripheral device. For example, in a case where the number of pages scanned by a scanner reaches 95% of the maximum number of scannable pages and the remaining life of the scanner is short, a replacement or upgrade of the scanner may be suggested, an efficient scanning method such as information suggesting ways to save the number of scanned A3 page by scanning both two sides of A4 paper, or the like may be provided to the user. In order to use a finisher and storage for a longer period of time, the user may be provided with tip information that suggests to print without finishing or lower a resolution of printed documents to reduce the number of times of reads/writes of the storage. Tip information corresponding to the predetermined usage condition satisfied by the peripheral device may be provided to the image forming device so that the user may use the corresponding peripheral device for a longer period of time.

[0060] In operation 574, the server may identify whether there is a recommended peripheral device for the image forming device for new installation or replacement. The recommended peripheral device may be identified based on a usage history of the peripheral device. For example, the server may identify whether there is a peripheral device that satisfies the conditions of Table 2 among the peripheral devices installed in the image forming device. For example, in a case where there is a peripheral device that the user uses more frequently, the server may recommend an upper version or a new version of the peripheral device to the user. Table 2 should be understood as an example of use conditions of the peripheral device, and the use conditions may be composed of various variables. The recommended peripheral device may be identified based on installation information of the peripheral device. The server may analyze installation information and usage information collected from a plurality of image forming devices, identify a peripheral device to exhibit higher productivity with currently installed peripheral devices in the image forming device based on installation patterns and usage patterns of peripheral devices of users, and recommend the identified peripheral device to the image forming device.

Table 2

[0061] In a case where there is a recommended peripheral device, the server may retrieve information about the recommended peripheral device and add it to the additional information in operation 575. Information about the recommended peripheral device satisfying a predetermined usage condition may be provided to the image forming device of a user so that the user or image forming device's productivity may be improved. The recommendation information may include a link to purchase the recommended peripheral device, the purchase of the recommended peripheral device may proceed in response to a selection of the link in the image forming device. Additional information, such as recommended information, may be provided through an application or web service accessible on the user's mobile device or desktop as well as the user's image forming device. The user may use his or her mobile device or desktop to purchase the recommended peripheral device. In operation 576, the server may identify whether there is a newly released image forming device. In a case where there is a newly released image forming device, the server may add information about the newly released image forming device to the additional information in operation 577.

[0062] In operation 578, the server may complete the analysis of the installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices. Accordingly, additional information to be transmitted to the image forming device of the user may be identified.

[0063] The user may view installation histories of peripheral devices installed in his/her image forming device, tip information or recommended peripheral device for the image forming device through a graphical user interface or a printed report including installation information of a peripheral device formerly installed in the image forming device, installation information of a currently installed peripheral device, additional information, such as tip information or recommendation information, or the like.

[0064] Because installation information and usage information of peripheral devices are managed by the server, even though a seller or manufacturer of the peripheral devices does not manage sales history of the peripheral devices, warranty periods of the peripheral devices may be managed based on dates the peripheral devices are first installed in image forming devices to meet the needs of a user.

[0065] The server may analyze collected installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices and add marketing information or event information related to the additional information.

[0066] By analyzing the collected installation information and usage information of the peripheral devices, a type of peripheral device that is chosen by a user, or combinations of peripheral devices that are chosen by users may be identified to assist in various business strategies, for example, new product planning, inventory management, production and supply-demand planning, etc. Furthermore, the server may refer to a history of service calls generated for each peripheral device. Accordingly, which peripheral device results in inconvenience and a correlation between a certain combination of peripheral devices may be identified.

[0067] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of obtaining from a server installation information of a peripheral device installed in an image forming device according to an example.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 6, operation 600 is substantially the same as operation 300 of FIG. 3, so a redundant description will be omitted.

[0069] In operation 610, identification information of a peripheral device newly installed in an image forming device 10 may be obtained. In a case where a peripheral device is newly installed in the image forming device 10 and the peripheral device supports plug and play, identification information of the peripheral device may be obtained at the image forming device 10 from the peripheral device. In a case where the peripheral device directly stores its installation information or installation history, the installation information may also be obtained from the peripheral device. [0070] In a case where the peripheral device does not store its installation information or more detailed installation information for the peripheral device is needed, identification information of the peripheral device may be transmitted to the server to obtain installation information of the peripheral device from the server 20 in operation 620.

[0071] In operation 622, installation information of the peripheral device corresponding to the transmitted identification information may be identified in the server 20. The server 20 may store installation information of peripheral devices collected through the example method described above in FIG. 3, and may search from the stored installation information for installation information corresponding to the identification information transmitted from the image forming device.

[0072] In operation 624, the identified installation information may be transmitted to the image forming device 10.

[0073] In operation 640, the installation information collected by the image forming device 10 may be displayed in the image forming device 10.

[0074] In a case where a peripheral device is first unpackaged and installed in the image forming device 10, the server 20 may save the date on which the peripheral device is first unpackaged and installed in the image forming device as a born-on date.

[0075] In a case where the peripheral device is formerly installed in another image forming device, the server 20 may store the date on which the peripheral device is formerly installed in the other image forming device as the born-on date. That is, in response to the identification information transmitted from the image forming device 10, the server 20 may transmit, to the image forming device 10, installation information including the date on which the peripheral device is installed in another image forming device.

[0076] Accordingly, a user may purchase a used peripheral device without worrying about its history, and even though a seller or manufacturer of the peripheral device does not manage the sales history of the peripheral device, a warranty period of the peripheral device is calculated based on an installed date on which the peripheral device is installed in the image forming device, which may promote the sale of used peripheral devices. [0077] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an image forming device according to an example.

[0078] Referring to FIG. 7, the image forming device 700 may include a communication device 710, a user interface device 720, a memory 730, and a processor 740. However, the image forming device 700 may be realized by more or fewer components than the illustrated components. The image forming device 700 may include various peripheral devices.

[0079] The communication device 710 may communicate with an external device. As an example, the communication device 710 may be connected to a network in a wired or wireless manner and communicate with the external device. The external device may be another image forming device, a mobile device, a server, etc.

[0080] The communication device 710 may include a communication module (e.g., a transceiver) that supports one of various wired/wireless communication methods. For example, the communication module may be of a chipset type or may be a sticker/barcode (e.g., a sticker including a near field communication (NFC) tag) including information used for communication. Also, the communication module may be a short range communication module or a wired communication module.

[0081] For example, the communication device 710 may support at least one of Wireless LAN, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct (WFD), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wired Lan, NFC, Zigbee, infrared Data Association (IrDA), 3G, 4G, 5G, or the like.

[0082] The user interface device 720 may include an input unit to receive, from the user, an input to control an operation of the image forming device 700 and an output unit to display a result according to the operation of the image forming device 700 or information regarding a state of the image forming device 700. For example, the user interface device 720 may include a manipulation panel to receive a user input, a display panel to display a screen, etc.

[0083] As an example, the input unit may include at least one device to receive various types of user inputs, such as a keyboard, a physical button, a touchscreen, a camera, a microphone, or the like. Also, the output unit may include, for example, a display panel, a speaker, or the like, but is not limited thereto. For example, the user interface device 720 may include a device that supports various inputs and outputs.

[0084] The memory 730 may store machine readable instructions or a program. The memory 730 may include, for example, a storage that is a peripheral device installed in the image forming device 700, but is not limited thereto. For example, the memory 730 of the image forming device 700 may be distinguished from a storage that is a peripheral device installed image forming device 700. For example, the memory 730 of the image forming device 700 may be a nonvolatile memory, such as a flash memory, mounted on a main board of the image forming device 700, and the storage may be an external storage having a larger capacity than the flash memory such as an embedded Multi Media Card (eMMC), a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SDD), or the like.

[0085] The memory 730 may store instructions to obtain identification information and installation information of a peripheral device installed in the image forming device 700, and to display installation information of a currently installed peripheral device and a formerly peripheral device. The memory 730 may store instructions for performing various example operations described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. Because other functions of the instructions are substantially the same as those described above, redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0086] The memory 730 may be a flash memory type memory, but is not limited thereto. The memory 730 may include at least one from among a flash memory type memory, a hard disk type memory, a multimedia card micro type memory, a card type memory (e.g., a secure digital (SD) memory, an extreme digital (XD) memory, etc.), a random access memory (RAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disc, or the like.

[0087] The processor 740 may control an operation of the image forming device 700 and may include at least one processor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 740 may include at least one processor peculiar to each function or one integrated processor.

[0088] The processor 740 may execute a program stored in the memory 730, read data or a file stored in the memory 730, or store new data or a file in the memory 730. The processor 740 may perform various operations described herein by executing a program or instructions stored in the memory 730, and redundant explanation will be omitted.

[0089] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating instructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to an example.

[0090] Referring to FIG. 8, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 800 includes instructions 810 to obtain identification information of a peripheral device installed in an image forming device, instructions 820 to obtain installation information of the peripheral device installed in the image forming device, instructions 830 to display installation information of a currently installed peripheral device and a formerly installed peripheral device, but is not limited thereto. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 800 may include more or fewer instructions than the instructions illustrated in FIG. 8. The non- transitory computer-readable storage medium 800 may store instructions for performing various example operations described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. Because other functions of the instructions are substantially the same as those described above, redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0091] The example operation methods of the image forming device may be realized as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing therein a command or data executable by a computer or a processor. The abovedescribed example operation methods may be implemented in the form of a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium to store instructions or data executable by a computer or a processor. The above-described example operation methods of the image forming device may be written in a program executable by a computer, and may be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer that operates such a program using a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Examples of such a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), flash memory, compact disc (CD)-ROMs, CD-recordables (Rs), CD+Rs, CD- rewritables (RWs), CD+RWs, and digital versatile disc (DVD)-ROMs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, DVD-RWs, DVD+RWs, DVD-RAMs, blu-ray disc (BD)-ROMs, BD-Rs, BD-recordable low to highs (R LTHs), BD-REs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, magneto-optical data storage devices, optical data storage devices, hard disks, solid-state disks (SSDs), and any device capable of storing machine readable instructions, associated data, data files, and data structures, and providing a processor or computer with machine readable instructions, associated data, data files, and data structures such that the processor or computer may execute the instructions.

[0092] Although examples of the disclosure have been illustrated and described hereinabove, the disclosure is not limited to the abovementioned examples, but may be variously modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure as disclosed in the accompanying claims. These modifications should also be understood to fall within the scope of the disclosure.