JP2002056074A - Equipment use contracting system using communication network - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an equipment use contracting system using a communication network, which can be used without making a user purchase a facility equipment, by permitting a service dealer to lend the facility equipment to the user with whom use is contracted and managing the use of the facility equipment through the communication network such as the Internet that is recently widely spread as an information infrastructure. SOLUTION: When the contract user starts using the facility equipment, a home server 1 accesses a certification server 2 through the communication network N1, transmits certification request information following home ID, and receives certification permission information against the request. It releases the equipment use lock of the facility equipment 3 used based on certification permission information, returns the equipment use lock to an original state when the use of the equipment is terminated and transmits termination notice information including equipment use result to the certification server 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a service provider,
Equipment use contract system using a communication network that allows users to use equipment without purchasing equipment by renting out equipment and managing the use of the equipment through a communication network to users who have signed a use contract. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, refrigerators, dwellings and offices have been used.
Equipment such as home appliances such as air conditioners and office products such as facsimile machines and personal computers are widely used, but these equipment are generally expensive, so service providers lease these equipment. It is often lent to the user in the form.

[0003]

By the way, conventionally,
Since a fixed lease fee is collected from the user every predetermined period, the lease fee remains unchanged and unfair even if the user frequently or rarely uses the equipment.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a service provider rents equipment in the form of a lease to a user who has signed a use contract, and the use of the equipment is recently reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device use contract system using a communication network that can be used without purchasing equipment by managing the device through a communication network such as the Internet, which is widely used as an information infrastructure. .

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an equipment use contract system using a communication network for connecting equipment installed in a contract user's house or the like. Home server, and an authentication server connected to the home server via the communication network and having a device management database including device management information of the home server corresponding to each contracted user. When starting to use the equipment, access the authentication server via the communication network, send the authentication request information with the home ID,
Upon receiving the authentication permission information for this request, the equipment use lock of the equipment used is released based on the authentication permission information. Send the notification information to the authentication server.

In the device use contract system using the communication network according to the second aspect, the home server and the equipment are connected to each other via the home network. The device usage record such as the number of times of use and the use operation mode is collected at a predetermined cycle or at a predetermined timing through the home network.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the device use contract system using the communication network, authentication conditions for each home server such as a home ID are registered in advance in the device management information of the device management database. When the authentication request information is received from the home server, the home ID included in the authentication request information is compared with the authentication condition registered in the device management database, and when they match, the authentication permission information is transmitted to the home server. To deliver.

In the device use contract system using the communication network according to the fourth aspect, the authentication server distributes an application program for operating the equipment in addition to the authentication permission information.

In the device use contract system using the communication network according to the present invention, each time the authentication server receives the end notification information from the home server, the authentication server accumulates the device use record in the device management database, and stores the device use record in the device management database. The usage fee for each device and each home server is calculated from the results.

[0010] In the device usage contract system using the communication network according to the sixth aspect, the authentication server classifies each of the equipment devices and stores any one of the number of usage times, usage time, and usage fee stored in the device management database; Alternatively, when a combination of these conditions satisfies a predetermined condition, device use lock release information of the equipment that satisfies the predetermined condition is transmitted to the home server.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the device use contract system of the present invention.

In this system, an authentication server 2 operated by a service provider is connected to a communication network N1 such as the Internet.
A home server 1 installed in each of a dwelling unit and an office is connected. In this system, the authentication server 2 includes a device management database D, and the home server 1 includes home appliances such as a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a television, and a lighting device, a facsimile device, a personal computer, and the like via a home network N2. Equipment 3 composed of office products and the like are connected.

Each of the equipments 3 has a built-in micro device developed by using the embedded micro Internet technology. When a plug is inserted into an outlet and a power switch is turned on, power is supplied to the home network N2. The home server 1 can be accessed via the. Here, as described above, each of the equipment 3 is not limited to the mode in which power is supplied through the outlet, and may use, for example, a power supply control method developed using a power line carrier technology. Power can be supplied together with the control signal through the same signal line.

The equipment 3 is normally locked with a device usage lock that prohibits its use. When the device usage lock release information is received from the home server 1 in an operation described later, the device usage lock is locked. Is released, and it becomes possible to operate with an application program stored in advance.

The characteristic operation of the present invention having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. That is, when using the equipment 3, the contract user plugs the equipment 3 into an outlet. Then, since the equipment 3 accesses the home server 1 via the home network N2, the home server 1 receiving the access accesses the authentication server 2 via the Internet N1 (100) and is assigned in advance. Home ID
Is transmitted (101).

In the device management database D provided in the authentication server 2, authentication conditions such as the home ID described above for each home server 1 are registered in advance. Is received, the home ID included in the information is compared with the authentication condition registered in advance in the device management database D, and if they match (Y of 102), the authentication permission information is transmitted to the home server 1. (103). On the other hand, as a result of the collation, if they do not match (N of 102), the use of the equipment 3 is rejected (104).

Upon receiving the authentication permission information from the authentication server 2, the home server 1 transmits the above-described device use lock release information to the facility device 3 to release the device use lock of the facility device 3 ( 105). Then, the equipment 3 can be operated by the application program, and when its use is finished (106), the home server 1 receives this and sends the equipment use lock information to the equipment 3. Send (10
7) The equipment use lock state is set, and the equipment use results of the equipment 3 (use time, use count, use operation mode, etc.)
Is transmitted to the authentication server 2 (10
8). It is not always necessary to store the application program described above in the equipment 3 in advance.
The program may be distributed from the authentication server 2 to the equipment 3 via the home server 1 as shown in 109 in the figure. At this time, the authentication server 2 is an ASP (application service provider) with an authentication function.
Will play a role.

Here, the equipment use results of the equipment 3 are managed by the equipment 3 itself, and the home server 1 collects the data at a predetermined cycle (for example, every 24 hours) or at a predetermined timing (for example, the equipment 3 is set to the device use locked state), and when transmitted to the authentication server 2, it is accumulated in the device management database D, and is used when the authentication server 2 performs the following processing. Used.

That is, the authentication server 2 uses its equipment 3 based on the equipment usage record in the equipment management database D.
The usage fee is calculated for each home server 1 and the usage fee is added to the device usage record. The calculated usage fee may be billed to the contract user at predetermined intervals, such as at the end of each month. In addition, the authentication server 2 determines whether any of the number of times of use, the time of use, and the usage fee, or a combination thereof, among the device usage records in the device management database D satisfies a predetermined condition. If there is equipment 3 that clears this condition,
It accesses the home server 1 to which the equipment 3 is connected, and transmits the device use lock release information described above. The home server 1 having received this transmits the device use lock release information to the corresponding facility device 3 and does not transmit the device use lock information described above even when the use of the facility device 3 is completed by the above-described operation. . As a result, the equipment 3 can always be used without receiving the authentication of the authentication server 2.

[0020]

As can be understood from the above description, in the equipment use contract system using the communication network according to the first aspect of the present invention, the home server is used when the contract user starts using the equipment. Accesses the authentication server, transmits the authentication request information with the home ID, receives the authentication permission information corresponding to this request, and releases the equipment use lock of the equipment to be used based on the authentication permission information. The authentication server checks the use of the equipment
In recent years, by managing the information through a communication network that is widely used as an information infrastructure, the user can use the equipment without purchasing the equipment.

When the use of the equipment is finished, the home server sends end notification information including the use result of the equipment to the authentication server. Therefore, the home server connects to the home server for each home server by the authentication server. It is possible to manage the use results of the installed equipment.

In the device use contract system using the communication network according to the second aspect, the home server records the device use record such as the use time, the number of times of use, and the use operation mode of each of the household equipment devices through the home network. Since the collection is performed, the device use results can be easily collected.

In the device usage contract system using the communication network according to the third aspect, when the authentication server receives the authentication request information from the home server, the authentication server stores the home ID included in the authentication request information and the device management database. Since the registered authentication conditions are checked, the equipment connected to the home server can be used only when they match, and the unauthorized use of the equipment due to unauthorized access is prevented before it occurs. Can be.

In the device use contract system using the communication network according to the fourth aspect, the authentication server distributes the application program for operating the equipment in addition to the authentication permission information. Is authenticated by the authentication server, the application program of the equipment is distributed, and the equipment can operate even if the application program is not stored in the equipment in advance.

[0025] In the device usage contract system using the communication network according to the fifth aspect, the authentication server accumulates device usage records from the home server in a device management database, and uses the device usage records for each device and each home server. , The service provider operating the authentication server can bill the contract user for the calculated usage fee at predetermined intervals, such as at the end of each month.

In the device use contract system using the communication network according to the present invention, the authentication server determines whether any one of the number of times of use, the time of use, and the fee for use of each facility device, or a combination thereof, satisfies a predetermined condition. When cleared, the device use lock release information of the equipment that has cleared the predetermined condition is transmitted to the home server, so that the equipment can be used without obtaining authentication permission from the authentication server before use. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a device use contract system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a characteristic operation of the device use contract system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Home server 2 ... Authentication server 3 ... Equipment D ... Equipment management database N1 ... Communication network N2 ... Home network

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A home server connected to equipment installed in a house or the like of a contract user, and a device connected to the home server via a communication network and including device management information of the home server corresponding to each contract user. An authentication server having a management database, wherein the home server accesses the authentication server via the communication network and transmits authentication request information with the home ID when the contract user starts using the equipment. , Receiving the authentication permission information for this request, releasing the equipment use lock of the equipment used based on the authentication permission information, and returning the device use lock to the original at the end of use, including the device use record A device use contract system using a communication network, wherein the end notice information is transmitted to an authentication server. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the home server and the equipment are connected to each other via a home network, and wherein the home server has a use time, a use count, and a use operation mode for each of the equipment. A device usage contract system using a communication network, wherein device usage results such as the above are collected at a predetermined cycle or at a predetermined timing through the home network. 3. The device management information of the device management database according to claim 1, wherein authentication information for each home server, such as a home ID, is registered in advance in the device management information of the device management database. When receiving the authentication request information, the home ID included in the authentication request information
And an authentication condition registered in the device management database. If the authentication conditions are matched, the authentication permission information is delivered to the home server. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication server distributes an application program for operating the equipment in addition to the authentication permission information. Contract system. 5. The authentication server according to claim 1, wherein each time the authentication server receives the end notification information from the home server, the authentication server accumulates a device use record in a device management database, and stores the device use record for each device. And a device usage contract system using a communication network, wherein the usage fee is calculated for each home server. 6. The authentication server according to claim 1, wherein the authentication server is one of a usage count, a usage time, and a usage fee stored in a device management database separately for each equipment device, or a combination thereof. However, when a predetermined condition is cleared, device use lock release information of the equipment that has cleared the predetermined condition is transmitted to a home server, the device use contract system using a communication network.