JP2002152458A - Picture formation system, software acquisition method and computer readable recording medium with program for allowing computer to execute the method recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately and efficiently acquire and execute software matched with a picture formation device after the picture formation device is started. SOLUTION: A composite machine 10 selects desired software components from the list of software components stored in a server 20, and acquires the selected software components and authentication information from the server, and controls the processing operation of the software components based on the acquired authentication information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having hardware resources such as a display unit, an operation unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit, and performing a complex service such as a printer, a copy or a facsimile, and an image forming apparatus. The present invention relates to an image forming system in which a server that provides a software component to an apparatus is connected to a network, a software acquisition method, and a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute the method. The present invention relates to an image forming system, a software obtaining method, and a recording medium capable of appropriately and efficiently obtaining and executing software suitable for the image forming apparatus after the apparatus has been operated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printers, copiers, and facsimile machines have generally been provided in separate housings, respectively. However, recently, the functions of these devices have been housed in a single housing. 2. Description of the Related Art Devices (hereinafter, referred to as “multifunction peripherals”) are known.

In this multifunction machine, a display unit, a printing unit, an imaging unit, and the like are provided in a single housing, and software corresponding to a printer, a copying machine, and a facsimile machine are provided, respectively. Is operated as a printer, copier or facsimile machine.

The use of such a multifunction machine eliminates the need to separately provide a printer, a copier, and a facsimile in a room, so that total cost and space can be reduced.

[0005]

However, in such a multifunction peripheral, it is common to ship a plurality of pieces of software having predetermined functions incorporated therein, and therefore, after the multifunction peripheral is operated, the function is updated or the function is updated. How to properly expand is an important issue.

For example, in the case of employing a technique of downloading software from a server via a network and executing the software on a multifunction peripheral, it is possible to prevent malicious software from being downloaded from an unauthorized server. In addition to this, it is necessary to deny software access requests from unauthorized terminals impersonating legitimate MFPs.

[0007] It is not appropriate to permit the execution of a function other than the function contracted in advance even with a legitimate copying machine.
A function (software) meaningless from the viewpoint of the hardware configuration of the copying machine is not worth downloading. From these facts, it is important how to properly and efficiently acquire and execute software suitable for the MFP after the MFP has been operated.

According to the present invention, an image forming system capable of appropriately and efficiently acquiring and executing software suitable for an image forming apparatus after the operation of the image forming apparatus, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable recording medium that records a software acquisition method, and a program that causes a computer to execute the method.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems are solved,
In order to achieve the object, an image forming system according to the first aspect of the present invention has hardware resources such as a display unit, an operation unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit, and performs an image providing a complex service such as a printer, a copy or a facsimile. In an image forming system in which a forming apparatus and a server that provides a software component to the image forming apparatus are connected to a network, the image forming apparatus includes software stored in the server displayed on the display unit. Selecting means for selecting a desired software component from a list of components; obtaining means for obtaining the software component selected by the selecting means and the authentication information from the server; and obtaining the authentication information obtained by the obtaining means. Software obtained by the obtaining means And control means for controlling the processing operation of the component, characterized by comprising a.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus selects a desired software component from the list of software components stored in the server displayed on the display unit, and selects the selected software component and the selected software component. Since the authentication information is obtained from the server and the processing operation of the software component is controlled based on the obtained authentication information, the execution operation of the software component can be changed according to the authentication result.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the control unit determines a range of resources that can be used by the software component among resources of the image forming apparatus. It is characterized in that it is restricted based on authentication information.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the range of resources that can be used by the software component among the resources of the image forming apparatus is limited based on the authentication information. The operation of the software component can be restricted.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the authentication based on the authentication information has failed, the control unit displays the display unit of the resource. And controlling the operation unit so that it can be used by the software component, and if authentication based on the authentication information succeeds, control is performed so that all resources can be used by the software component.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the authentication based on the authentication information fails, control is performed so that the display unit and the operation unit of the resources can be used by the software component, and the resources are controlled based on the authentication information. If authentication is successful, control is performed so that all resources can be used by the software component. Therefore, if authentication fails, only the minimum necessary resources can be used.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the third aspect of the present invention, the authentication information includes information relating to a right to use each resource by the software component, and the control unit includes: It is characterized in that the availability of each resource by the software component is determined based on the information on the use authority.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the authentication information includes information on the right to use each resource by the software component, and based on the information on the right to use, the information of each resource by the software component is used. Since the availability is determined, the availability can be quickly and efficiently determined.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first to fourth aspects, when the image forming apparatus succeeds in authentication based on the authentication information, the image forming apparatus transmits the authentication request to the server. The image processing apparatus further includes a transmitting unit configured to transmit configuration information of the image forming apparatus, wherein the server dynamically organizes software components executable on the image forming apparatus based on the configuration information received from the image forming apparatus. And returning the organized software components to the image forming apparatus.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus succeeds in the authentication based on the authentication information, the image forming apparatus transmits the configuration information of the image forming apparatus to the server. Based on the configuration information received from the MFP, dynamically composes the software components executable on the image forming apparatus, and returns the composed software components to the image forming apparatus. In this case, it is possible to acquire an optimal software component that matches the software configuration or hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the transmitting unit transmits identification information of the image forming apparatus to the server. Software that can be executed on the image forming apparatus based on the configuration information and / or the contract form specified based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus and based on the specified configuration information and / or the contract form The software components are dynamically organized, and the organized software components are returned to the image forming apparatus.

According to the present invention, the identification information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the server, and the server transmits the configuration information of the image forming apparatus and / or the configuration information of the image forming apparatus based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus. Alternatively, a contract form is specified, software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized based on the specified configuration information and / or contract form, and the composed software components are returned to the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to acquire an optimal software component suitable for the software configuration, the hardware configuration, or the contract form of the image forming apparatus.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, the server comprises:
A WWW server that functions on the Internet, wherein the image forming apparatus further includes a browser that browses a page described in HTML.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the server is a WWW server functioning on the Internet, and the image forming apparatus is provided with a browser for browsing a page described in HTML. And the server can communicate according to the HTTP protocol.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the seventh aspect, the software component obtained by the obtaining means operates as a plug-in of the browser.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the acquired software component operates as a plug-in of the browser, so that the software component can be executed easily and quickly.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the seventh aspect, the image forming apparatus further includes a virtual machine capable of executing an intermediate code independent of a CPU. Executing software components stored in the server in the form of the intermediate code.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus has a Java applet (Java (registered trademark) Applet) capable of executing intermediate code independent of the CPU.
t), and the virtual machine executes software components stored in the server in the form of intermediate code. Therefore, the same software component is executed by various image forming apparatuses of different types. can do.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first to ninth aspects, when a third vendor registers a software component with the server, the third vendor manages the server. The registration fee is paid to the managing vendor.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, when a third vendor registers a software component in a server, the third vendor pays a registration fee to a vendor managing the server. Third, software components can be registered by a third vendor without causing disadvantages of the original vendor.

An image forming system according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the image forming system according to the first to tenth aspects, each time the image forming apparatus acquires the software component from the server. It is characterized in that the server charges the vendor as an advertisement fee.

According to the eleventh aspect of the invention, each time the image forming apparatus acquires a software component from the server, the server charges the vendor as an advertisement fee for the software component. The fairness between the vendor who developed the wear component and the original vendor can be achieved.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first to eleventh aspects, when the server of the third vendor is registered in the image forming apparatus as a server that can be authenticated, It is characterized by paying a registration fee.

According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, when registering the server of the third vendor as an authenticable server in the image forming apparatus, the third vendor pays a registration fee. Can also impose an appropriate burden.

The image forming system according to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the image forming system according to the first to twelfth aspects, wherein the usage fee of the image forming apparatus and / or Alternatively, the registration fee paid by a third vendor is changed.

According to the thirteenth aspect, the usage fee of the image forming apparatus and / or the registration fee paid by the third vendor are changed according to the range of the resources that can be used by the image forming apparatus. In addition, an appropriate usage fee and / or registration fee can be collected according to the use range of the resource.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software acquisition method which has hardware resources such as a display unit, an operation unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit, and performs an image providing a composite service such as a printer, a copy or a facsimile. A method for acquiring software in an image forming system in which a forming apparatus and a server that provides a software component to the image forming apparatus are connected to a network, wherein the image forming apparatus is displayed on the display unit. A selection step of selecting a desired software component from a list of software components stored in the server; an acquisition step of acquiring the software component and the authentication information selected in the selection step from the server; and The acquisition based on the acquired authentication information And a control step of controlling the processing operation of the software component obtained by extent, characterized in that it contains.

According to the fourteenth aspect, the image forming apparatus selects a desired software component from the list of software components stored in the server displayed on the display unit, and selects the selected software component and Since the authentication information is obtained from the server and the processing operation of the software component is controlled based on the obtained authentication information, the execution operation of the software component can be changed according to the authentication result.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the control step determines a range of resources that can be used by the software component among resources of the image forming apparatus. The restriction is based on the authentication information.

According to the fifteenth aspect, the range of resources that can be used by the software component among the resources of the image forming apparatus is limited based on the authentication information. The operation of the software component can be restricted.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fifteenth aspect, the control step includes the steps of:
The display unit and the operation unit of the resources are controlled so that they can be used by the software component, and if the authentication based on the authentication information is successful, all the resources can be used by the software component. It is characterized by controlling.

According to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, when the authentication based on the authentication information fails, control is performed so that the display unit and the operation unit of the resources can be used by the software component, and the control is performed based on the authentication information. If the authentication succeeds, all resources are controlled so that they can be used by software components.
If the authentication fails, it is possible to use only the minimum necessary resources.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the sixteenth aspect, the authentication information includes information on a right to use each resource by the software component, and the control step includes: And determining whether the software component can use each resource based on the information on the usage authority.

According to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the authentication information includes information on the right to use each resource by the software component, and based on the information on the right to use, the information of each resource by the software component is used. Since the availability is determined, the availability can be quickly and efficiently determined.

According to a eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus succeeds in authentication based on the authentication information, A transmitting step of transmitting the configuration information of the image forming apparatus, wherein the server dynamically organizes software components executable on the image forming apparatus based on the configuration information received from the image forming apparatus. And returning the organized software components to the image forming apparatus.

According to the eighteenth aspect, when the image forming apparatus succeeds in the authentication based on the authentication information, the image forming apparatus transmits the configuration information of the image forming apparatus to the server. Based on the configuration information received from
Since the software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized and the composed software components are returned to the image forming apparatus, if the authentication is successful, the software of the image forming apparatus is It is possible to obtain the optimal software component that matches the configuration or hardware configuration.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the eighteenth aspect, in the transmitting step, the identification information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the server. The configuration information and / or contract type of the image forming apparatus is specified based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus, and the specified configuration information and / or
Alternatively, software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized based on a contract form, and the composed software components are returned to the image forming apparatus.

According to the nineteenth aspect, the identification information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the server, and the server transmits the configuration information and / or the configuration information of the image forming apparatus based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus. Alternatively, a contract form is specified, software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized based on the specified configuration information and / or contract form, and the composed software components are returned to the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to acquire an optimal software component suitable for the software configuration, the hardware configuration, or the contract form of the image forming apparatus.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fourteenth aspect, the server is a WWW server functioning on the Internet, and the image forming apparatus is described in HTML. A browser that browses the created page.

According to the twentieth aspect, the server is a WWW server functioning on the Internet, and the image forming apparatus is provided with a browser for browsing a page described in HTML. And the server can communicate according to the HTTP protocol.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the twentieth aspect, the software component acquired in the acquiring step operates as a plug-in of the browser. .

According to the present invention, the acquired software component operates as a browser plug-in, so that the software component can be executed easily and quickly.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the twentieth aspect, the image forming apparatus has a virtual machine capable of executing an intermediate code independent of a CPU. Execute software components stored in the server in the form of the intermediate code.

According to the twenty-second aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus is provided with a virtual machine such as a Java Applet capable of executing an intermediate code independent of the CPU. Since the software components stored in the server in the form are executed, the same software components can be executed by various types of image forming apparatuses.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fourteenth to twenty-second aspects, when a third vendor registers a software component with respect to the server, the third vendor operates the server. A registration fee is paid to a vendor that manages the registration.

According to the twenty-third aspect, when a third vendor registers a software component in a server, the third vendor pays a registration fee to a vendor managing the server. Third, software components can be registered by a third vendor without causing disadvantages of the original vendor.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fourteenth aspect of the invention, each time the image forming apparatus acquires the software component from the server, The server charges the vendor as the advertisement fee.

According to the twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, every time the image forming apparatus acquires a software component from the server, the server charges the vendor as an advertisement fee for the software component. The fairness between the vendor who developed the wear component and the original vendor can be achieved.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fourteenth to twenty-fourth aspects, when registering a server of a third vendor as an authenticable server in the image forming apparatus, Is characterized by paying a registration fee.

According to the twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, when the server of the third vendor is registered as an authenticable server in the image forming apparatus, the third vendor pays a registration fee. Can also impose an appropriate burden.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the software acquisition method according to the fourteenth to twenty-fifth aspects of the present invention, the usage fee of the image forming apparatus is reduced according to the range of resources available to the image forming apparatus. And / or changing the registration fee paid by the third vendor.

According to the twenty-sixth aspect, the usage fee of the image forming apparatus and / or the registration fee paid by the third vendor are changed according to the range of resources that can be used by the image forming apparatus. In addition, an appropriate usage fee and / or registration fee can be collected according to the use range of the resource.

A recording medium according to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention records a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of the fourteenth to twenty-sixth aspects, so that the program becomes machine-readable. Thus, the operation of any one of claims 14 to 26 can be realized by a computer.

[0062]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the accompanying drawings, an image forming system according to the present invention, a software obtaining method,
Preferred embodiments of a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute the method and the method are recorded will be described in detail.

First, the system configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming system according to the present embodiment and a hardware configuration of a multifunction peripheral 10.

As shown in the figure, the image forming system is a multifunction machine 10 that requires a software component.
And a server 20 that supplies a software component in response to a request from the multifunction peripheral 10 is connected via a network 30.

Here, the MFP 10 includes a CPU 11
ROM 12, RAM 13, flash memory 14, FA
An X controller 15, a scanner 16, a plotter 17, a large-capacity storage device 18, and a network I / F unit 19 are provided.

The CPU 11 stores the software stored in the ROM 12 or the flash memory 14 in the main storage (R
AM13) is a central processing unit that executes the program by loading it on the ROM. The ROM 12 is a read-only memory.
Reference numeral 13 denotes a readable and writable volatile memory, and a flash memory 14 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory. In the embedded software, it is also possible to execute a program stored in the ROM 12 without reading the program into the RAM 13.

A facsimile controller 15 is a controller for controlling facsimile transmission and reception. A scanner 16 is an image input unit for optically reading an original, and a plotter 17
Is an image output device that prints image data and the like on printing paper, a mass storage device 18 is a secondary storage medium such as a hard disk that stores various software and the like, and a network I / F unit 19 This is a processing unit that manages the interface.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of the multifunction peripheral 10 shown in FIG. The multifunction peripheral 10 shown in FIG. 1 displays a list of software components stored in the server 20 on a display unit, and when a user selects a corresponding software component, the software component stored in the server 20 is displayed. Download to the device and extend its function.

At this time, the multifunction peripheral 10 performs authentication based on the authentication information received from the server 20, and determines whether to use the resources of the device according to the authentication result. That is, a component downloaded from a server that has been successfully authenticated can use all the functions of the device, but a component downloaded from a server that has failed authentication is restricted in its use. For example, in the MFP, the use of the print function and the scan function is restricted, and only the graphic display on the display unit can be executed.

When the device identification information (ID) is transmitted to the server 20 that has been successfully authenticated, the server 20
Can search for customer information, display software components according to the information, and transmit a list of the software components to the multifunction peripheral 10. When software or hardware configuration information is transmitted to the server 20,
The server can display executable software components and transmit a list of the software components to the multifunction peripheral 10.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the multifunction peripheral 10 includes a black-and-white line printer (B & W LP) 101, a color line printer (Color LP) 102, other hardware resources 103, and the like. The wear group 110 includes a platform 120 and an application 130.

The platform 120 is a general-purpose OS 121
And an SRM (System Resource Manager) 123 having an SCS (System Control Service) 122, and various control services 141 to 145. General-purpose OS
121 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes each control service on the platform 120 and each software of the application 130 in parallel as processes.

By using the open source UNIX, the security of the program can be ensured, the network can be supported, and the source code can be easily obtained. Furthermore, royalties for OS and TCP / IP are not required, and outsourcing is also facilitated.

The SRM 123, together with the SCS 122, controls the system and manages resources, and includes an engine such as a scanner unit and a printer unit, a memory, and the like.
HDD file, host I / O (Centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE1394 I / F, RS232
Arbitration is performed in accordance with a request from an upper layer using hardware resources such as CI / F, and execution control is performed.

More specifically, the SRM 123 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether the requested hardware resource is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is determined. The upper layer is notified that the wear resource is available. In addition, hardware resource use scheduling may be performed in response to a request from an upper layer, and the content of the request (for example, paper conveyance and image forming operation by a printer engine, memory reservation, file generation, etc.) may be directly implemented. .

The SCS 122 includes (1) application management,
(2) Operation unit control, (3) system screen display (job list screen, counter display screen, etc.), (4) LED display, (5) resource management, and (6) interrupt application control. Specifically, in (1) application management, a process of registering an application and notifying the information to another application is performed. For the registered application, the engine status is notified according to the system setting or the request setting from the application. In addition, the registered application is inquired about the transition to the power mode, the inquiry about the possibility of the transition of the system state such as the interruption mode, and the like.

In (2) operation section control, exclusive control of the operation section use right of the application is performed. Then, the key information from the operation unit driver (OCS) is exclusively notified to the application having the right to use the operation unit. This key information performs mask control for temporarily stopping notification according to a state transition of the system such as during application switching.

In the (3) system screen display, a warning screen corresponding to the engine status is displayed according to the contents of a request from the application having the operating unit use right. Some of them turn on / off the warning display depending on the state of the application such as a user restriction screen. Other than the engine status, display control is performed on a job list screen for displaying a job reservation / execution status, a counter screen for displaying total counters, and a screen indicating that a CSS is being reported. Regarding these system screen displays, the application is not requested to release the right to use the operation unit, but is drawn as a system screen covering the application screen.

(4) In the LED display, the warning LE
D, display control of system LEDs such as application keys. The application-specific LED is directly controlled by the application using a display driver.

In (5) resource management, an application (ECS) provides a service for exclusive control of engine resources (scanner, staple, etc.) which must be mutually exclusive when executing a job.
In the interrupt application control, control and service for giving priority to a specific application are performed.

The control service includes ECS (Engi
ne Control Service) 141 and MCS (Memory Contr
ol Service) 142 and OCS (Operation panel Cont)
rolService) 143 and FCS (FAX Control Servic)
e) 144 and NCS (Network Control Service) 14
There are five.

The ECS 141 is a monochrome line printer (B & B).
W LP) 101, Color line printer (Color LP) 10
2. It controls an engine such as the hardware resource 103 and performs image reading and printing operation, status notification, jam recovery, and the like.

More specifically, a series of copy / scan / print operations are realized by sequentially issuing print requests to the SRM 123 in accordance with the specification of the job mode received from the application 130. It is assumed that a job to be handled by the ECS 141 has a scanner (SCANNER) specified as an image input device or a plotter (PLOTTER) specified as an image output device.

For example, in the case of a copy operation, "SCANNE
R → PLOTTER ”,“ SCANNER → MEMORY ”for file storage, and“ SCANNER → FAX_IN ”for facsimile transmission. In addition, when printing stored files or printing from the printer application 131, “MEMORY → PLOTTER” is specified,
"FAX_OUT → PLOTTER" for facsimile reception
Is specified.

Although the definition of a job differs depending on the application, a processing operation for one set of images handled by the user is defined as one job. For example, in a copy ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) mode, an operation for reading one set of originals placed on a platen is one job, and in the platen mode, one read operation until the final original is determined is one job. . In the case of the copy application 132, the operation of copying one bundle of documents is one job, and in the case of the fax application 133, the operation of transmitting one document or the operation of receiving one document is one job. In the case of, the printing operation of one document is one job.

The MCS 142 performs a memory control. Specifically, the MCS 142 acquires and releases an image memory,
It uses a hard disk drive (HDD) and compresses and expands image data.

The functions required to manage the information required as image data files stored in the hard disk device include (1) file access (generation /
Delete / open / close) function (including exclusive processing),
(2) File name / ID management (file / user) /
Management of various file attributes such as password management / storage time management / number of pages / data format (compression method, etc.) / Access restriction / creation application / print condition management (management of physical page-based image data as a file),
(3) Combining / inserting / file / page units
Disconnection function, (4) file sort function (accumulation time order / user ID order, etc.), (5) notification of all file information (for display / search), (6) recovery function (file / page discard of damaged file), (7) There is an automatic file deletion function.

The functions for holding and accessing image data in a memory such as a RAM include (1) a function of acquiring file and page / band attribute information from the application 130, and (2) an application 13
Secure, release, and read image data area from 0 (Rea
d), there is a Write function.

The OCS 143 is a module for controlling an operation panel serving as information transmission means between the operator and the main body control. The OCS 143 is a process for notifying the main body control of key operation events of the operator, and a library function for each application to construct a GUI. , A process of managing the constructed GUI information for each application, a process of reflecting the display on the operation panel, and the like.

The OCS 143 includes (1) a library providing function for GUI construction, (2) an operation unit hardware resource management function, and (3) a VRAM drawing / LCD display function (hardware display, display application switching and display). Language switching,
(Dark window display, message / icon blink display, message link display), (4) hard key input detection function, (5) touch panel key input detection function, (6)
It has an LED output function and (7) a buzzer output function.

The FCS 144 includes facsimile transmission / reception from each application layer of the system controller using the PSTN / ISDN network, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by a BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, fusion transmission / reception. API for performing the following.

More specifically, the FCS 144 is (1)
The document requested to be sent from the application layer is sent to PSTN /
A transmission function for transmitting to a facsimile receiver using the ISDN network, (2) a facsimile reception screen received from the PSTN / ISDN network, a reception function for transferring and printing various reports to each application layer, and (3) a fax board Phonebook quotation / registration function for quoting and registering facsimile management items such as phonebooks and group information stored in (4) BK mounted on fax board
Fax log notification function for notifying applications that need transmission / reception result history information and the like stored in M
(5) FC when the status of the fax board changes
It has an event notification function for notifying the application registered in S of an event that has changed.

The NCS 145 is a group of modules for providing services that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O. The NCS 145 distributes data received from the network side by each protocol to each application, Mediates when sending data from the to the network side. Specifically, ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd,
It has a server daemon such as smtpd and a client function of the same protocol.

The application 130 includes a page description language (PDL), a PCL, and a postscript (PS).
Printer application 131, a copy application 132, a copy application 132, a facsimile application 133, a facsimile application, a scanner application 134, a scanner application, and a distributed system on the Internet. WWW browser 135 for browsing WWW (World Wide Web) pages, download application 136 for downloading software components and the like from server 20, and authentication processing application for performing authentication processing based on authentication information received from server 20. 137. The download application 136 and the authentication processing application 137 will be described later in detail.

As described above, in the multifunction peripheral 10, the common parts of the application 130 and the control service are grouped as the platform 120, and the control services 141 to 145 are provided on the platform 120.
And the respective applications 131 to 137 are installed.
To 145 and each of the applications 131 to 137 can be handled as software components.

Next, the configuration of the server 20 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the server 20 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the server 20 is a WWW server that can browse pages using a WWW browser of the multifunction peripheral 10, and includes an interface unit 21, an encryption processing unit 22, an authentication information transmission unit 23, software It has a wear component storage unit 24, a customization processing unit 25, and a control unit 26.

The interface unit 21 has a TCP / IP
It is a data input / output unit connected to a LAN (Internet) using a protocol, and exchanging data using HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol).

The encryption processing unit 22 is a processing unit that encrypts authentication information composed of a hash value of a software component using a secret key or a public key held inside the apparatus. The authentication information transmitting unit 23 is a processing unit that transmits authentication information for authenticating whether or not the server 20 is registered in the MFP 10 in response to a request from the MFP 10.

Software component storage unit 24
Is a software database that stores software components developed by a device development vendor or a third vendor. The customization processing section 25
The processing unit searches the software component storage unit 24 for a software component suitable for the model and configuration of the multifunction peripheral 10 when receiving the configuration information of the device configuration such as the software configuration and the hardware configuration. The control unit 26 is a control unit that controls the entire server 20, and outputs the request to a desired processing unit according to the content of the request received from the MFP 10.

Next, downloading of software components using the download application 136 of the MFP 10 shown in FIG. 2 is realized by (1) plug-in implementation and (2) Java applet (Java Applet).
Will be described.

(1) Case of Realizing by Plug-in FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the case of realizing the download by the plug-in. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the URL and HTML description of the software component of the server 20. It is a figure showing an example.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the software component placed on the server 20 has an extension “gw”, and the authentication information has an extension “aut”. . In the figure, the URL of the HTML file including the link to the component list, the URL of the software component 1, the URL of the authentication information for the software component 1, the URL of the software component 2, and the software component 2
The URL of the authentication information for is shown.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the link is displayed on the browser in the MFP 10 (step S40).
1) When the user selects the link displayed on the browser and the reference destination of the link is the URL with the extension gw (step S402), the browser activates a plug-in for software download. I do.

This plug-in first starts with a reference destination U
The extension of the RL is converted to aut (step S403), and a request is sent to the server (step S404). When the server 20 receives this request (step S405), the authentication information is transmitted to the MFP 10 (step S406), and the MFP 10 obtains the authentication information (step S407).

Thereafter, when the user accesses the reference destination URL in the multifunction device 10 (step S408), the server transmits a software component in response to the access (steps S409 to S410), and the multifunction device 1
0 downloads the software component (step S411).

Then, after performing the authentication process described later (step S412), the MFP 10 executes the downloaded software component by a plug-in (step S413).

The “comp_list.html” is shown in FIG.
However, in addition to the above, HTML including a software component can be described using an embed tag or an object tag.

(2) Java Applet
When the reference destination of the link of the software component is an HTML file including a Java applet,
The software component described as the Java applet can be downloaded and executed. However, in this case, the multifunction peripheral 10 uses a JVM (Java
Virtual Machine).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a software component is downloaded using Java. FIG. 7 shows an example of a link destination HTML file and a software configuration of the MFP 10 in this case. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, when a link is displayed on the multifunction device 10 as a browser (step S601), a reference destination shown in FIG. 7A is selected on the browser to access the reference destination (steps S602 to S602). In step S604, an applet (SoftwareComponentLoader.class) for downloading a software component from the server 20 is downloaded (steps S605 to S606).

Then, when this applet is executed on the JVM (step S607), the applet becomes “softwa
The component indicated by the "re" parameter and the "authentica
The authentication information indicated by the “action” parameter is downloaded (steps S608 to S611), authentication is performed using the authentication information (step S612), and the software component is executed on the JVM (step S61).
3).

The software configuration of the MFP 10 in such a case is as shown in FIG. 7B. The standard Java classes implemented using the OCS and NCS, and the ECS, MCS, SCS, FCS A control class group that wraps each of the components operates on the JVM, and the downloaded component realizes processing using these class libraries.

Next, the authentication processing application 137 shown in FIG.
(1) A case of realizing with a common encryption key, (2) a case of realizing with a public key, and (3) a case of realizing with a certificate. Here, it is assumed that the authentication information includes a magic number “RICOH”, a hash value (Message Digest) of the software component, and a resource use right. For example, the permission to use this resource is: permission.scanner = true permission.plotter = false permission.storage = false permission.fax = false permission.panel = true permission.network = true

(1) Case of Realizing with Common Encryption Key FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the MFP 10 when authentication is performed using the common encryption key.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a concept of performing authentication using a common encryption key.

As shown in FIG. 9, the multifunction peripheral 10 stores the same common encryption key as the server 20 in the ROM from the time of shipment, and the server 20 of the device development vendor uses the common encryption key to authenticate the authentication information. Encrypted data (comp1.aut in the plug-in example)
1.gw)

Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when the MFP 10 acquires the authentication information (step S801), the RO
This data is decrypted using the common encryption key held in M (step S802), and the magic number included in the decrypted data is checked (step S803).

If the magic number is not correct (No at Step S804), it is regarded as an authentication failure and a minimum resource such as only the display unit and the operation unit is specified (Step S809).

On the other hand, if the magic number is correct (Yes at step S804), a hash value is calculated from the downloaded software component (step S805), and whether the hash value matches the value included in the authentication information is determined. (Step S80)
6) If the two do not match (No at Step S806), the minimum resource is identified as an authentication failure (Step S809).

On the other hand, if they match (Yes at step S806), it is checked whether the authority information is described in a correct format (step S80).
7) If it is described in the correct format (Yes at step S807), it is regarded that the authentication is successful, and the resources available to the software component are specified (step S808). If not described in the correct format (step S807)
No), the minimum resources are identified as authentication failure (step S809).

In this case, there are two methods shown in FIG. 10 for a third vendor to provide software components. Specifically, as shown in FIG.
There is a method in which a third vendor pays a registration fee to the device development vendor, and in return, the software component is made public on the server 20 of the device development vendor.

As shown in FIG. 13B, the third vendor pays a certification fee to the device development vendor, and in return for the certification fee, the device development vendor creates encrypted authentication information and creates a third party. This will be sent to the vendor server 40. It should be noted that the certification fee is changed at any time according to the setting of authority.

(2) Realization with Public Key FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the concept of performing authentication using a public key. As shown in FIG.
In advance, the public key of the device development vendor is stored in the ROM from the time of shipment, and the server 20 of the device development vendor
Data obtained by encrypting the authentication information using the secret key corresponding to the public key is stored together with the software component.

Then, the MFP 1 that has obtained the authentication information
0 means that the data is decrypted using the public key held in the ROM. The subsequent authentication procedure is the same as the case using the common key.

Here, in order for the third vendor to provide the software component, in addition to the two methods shown in the case of the common key, as shown in FIG. 11, the third vendor ships the public key and the authority to use the resource. There is a method of storing the information in the ROM sometimes. In such a case, a larger contract fee is usually paid.

When the above common key is used, the third vendor must disclose the common key to the device development vendor. Therefore, this method is not practical. Since no decrease occurs, no particular problem occurs.

As described above, when the public key of the third vendor is stored in the ROM in advance, the right to use the resource can be freely set by the third vendor. By decrypting the decrypted data on the MFP 10 purchased and downloaded from the development vendor, it is possible to prevent the third vendor from freely setting the authority.

(3) Case of Realizing with Certificate FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the concept of performing authentication with a certificate. In FIG.
Holds the public key of the device development vendor as a certificate authority at the time of shipment, and the server 20 for publishing the software component holds the certificate of the server public key issued by the device development vendor (certificate authority). ing. This certificate is encrypted with the private key of the device development vendor (certificate authority), and the server 20 attaches the encrypted certificate to the head of the above authentication information.

The multifunction peripheral 10 that has obtained the authentication information decrypts the certificate attached to the authentication information with the public key of the device development vendor (certificate authority) holding the ROM, and if this decryption is successful, The server public key is extracted from the certificate, and the authentication information is decrypted using the public key. The subsequent authentication procedure is the same as in the above-described example.

In this case, in order for the third vendor to provide the software component, as shown in FIG. 13, a certification fee is paid and the device development vendor (certificate authority)
Receive a more encrypted server public key certificate.

When the method using the public key described above is used, it is difficult to newly add a server of a third vendor whose public key is not burned to the ROM at the time of shipment.
According to this method, an arbitrary third vendor can be added.

Next, transmission of device information from the MFP 10 to the server 20 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. Here, the device information such as the optional hardware configuration and the installed software configuration of the multifunction peripheral 10 and the serial number is transmitted as an HTTP header.

For example, when an ADF is provided as an option, a header of X-Ricoh-MFP-Option: ADF is added to the HTTP request. For a serial number, X-Ricoh-MFP-Serial : 123-456-789 is added to the HTTP request and notified to the server 20.

At this time, in order to prevent unnecessary leakage of device information, (1) encryption of header information or (2)
An independent authentication protocol can be used. This (1) encryption of the header information can use a common encryption key or a public key as already described in the authentication. Specifically, the encryption of the header information is performed by the encryption key held in the ROM of the multifunction peripheral 10. The value of the header will be encrypted. In the method using a certificate, since an encryption key cannot be obtained in advance, this method cannot be used. Further, since the server of the third vendor cannot decode the header information, the server is limited to the server of the device development vendor.

(2) When using an independent authentication protocol, a method using a certificate can be applied. However, as described above, the authentication of the server and the download of the software component need to be independent from each other instead of performing the server authentication at the same time when the software component is downloaded.

Specifically, when accessing a server for the first time, for example, a specific path such as http://www.ricoh.co.jp/certificate is requested, and a correct certificate is Is returned, it is considered that the server authentication is successful, and the request including the header encrypted with the public key included in the certificate is transmitted again. According to this method, the header information is transmitted only to the authenticated server, so that the security can be further improved. Also,
Device information can also be used in a server of a third vendor.

Next, customization of the list in the server 20 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a case where the list is customized according to the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 10.

As shown in the figure, the MFP 10 sends the list request and the configuration information (A, B, C, D) to the server 2.
When transmitted to 0, the server 20 acquires device configuration information from the HTTP request. Thereafter, based on the configuration of the device, available software components are searched from the software component storage unit 24, an HTML list is generated, and the list is returned to the MFP 10.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a case where the list is customized according to the device ID of the multifunction peripheral 10. As shown in the drawing, in this case, the multifunction peripheral 10 transmits the serial number (device ID) of the device,
Searches the customer database using this device ID,
The configuration information of the MFP 10 is acquired.

Thereafter, in a manner similar to the case shown in FIG. 14, an available software component is searched from the software component storage unit 24, an HTML list is generated, and the list is returned to the MFP 10.

At this time, the components displayed in the software component list can be changed according to the contract form for each customer. For example, it is possible to rank components according to their complexity and usefulness, and to change the components displayed in the list according to the level of the contract fee.

In the case of a third vendor, customer information cannot be retrieved from the serial number, but upon receiving a contract fee from the third vendor, the device development vendor provides only the device configuration information to the third vendor. You can also.

Next, customization of software components in the server 20 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for describing customization of software components in the server 20 shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the server 20 confirms whether or not it is possible to generate an application that operates based on the generation information in the application configuration information database and the configuration information received from the multifunction peripheral 10, and confirms whether the generated application has been generated. A list of software components of the application is transmitted to the multifunction peripheral 10.

As described above, in addition to simply searching for a component that matches the device configuration and returning the list,
Such a list can also be generated dynamically. In this case, the server 20 must be equipped with a compile environment for software components. However, as shown in the figure, the server 20 is implemented by reconfiguring the software components with a compile switch for each device configuration. be able to. Thereby, components can be provided to many devices without preparing components for many device configurations in advance.

As described above, in the present embodiment,
The multifunction peripheral 10 selects a desired software component from a list of software components stored in the server 20, acquires the selected software component and authentication information from the server, and executes the software component based on the acquired authentication information. , The execution operation of the software component acquired by the user himself / herself can be changed according to the authentication result.

In the present embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a multifunction machine has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other image forming apparatuses. .

[0147]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus selects a desired software component from the list of software components stored in the server displayed on the display unit. Since the selected software component and the authentication information are acquired from the server and the processing operation of the software component is controlled based on the acquired authentication information, the execution operation of the software component acquired by the user himself / herself will be performed. There is an effect that an image forming system that can change the value according to the authentication result can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the range of resources that can be used by the software component among the resources of the image forming apparatus is limited based on the authentication information. The operation of the acquired software component can be restricted, thereby preventing the user from executing the malicious software, and the device development vendor can pay for the certification against the third vendor. There is an effect that a possible image forming system can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the authentication based on the authentication information fails, control is performed so that the display unit and the operation unit of the resources can be used by the software component, and the authentication information is transmitted. If the authentication based on the authentication succeeds, all resources are controlled so that they can be used by the software component.If the authentication fails, only the minimum necessary resources can be used. This provides an effect that an image forming system that can avoid a situation in which malicious software wastes a large amount of paper using a printing function or the like can be obtained.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the authentication information includes information on the right to use each resource by the software component, and based on the information on the right to use, each resource by the software component is used. Since the system is configured to determine whether or not to use the image forming apparatus, it is possible to obtain an image forming system capable of quickly and efficiently determining whether or not to use the image forming apparatus.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus succeeds in the authentication based on the authentication information, the configuration information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the server, and the server forms the image. Based on the configuration information received from the device,
Since the software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized and the organized software components are returned to the image forming apparatus, if the authentication is successful, the software of the image forming apparatus is There is an effect that an image forming system capable of acquiring an optimal software component suitable for the configuration or the hardware configuration is obtained.

According to the present invention, the identification information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the server, and the server transmits the configuration information of the image forming apparatus and the configuration information of the image forming apparatus based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus. And / or specifying a contract form, dynamically compiling software components executable on the image forming apparatus based on the specified configuration information and / or contract form, and transmitting the composed software components to the image forming apparatus. Since the image forming apparatus is configured to be returned, it is possible to obtain an image forming system capable of acquiring an optimal software component suitable for a software configuration, a hardware configuration, or a contract form of the image forming apparatus.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the server is a WWW server functioning on the Internet, and the image forming apparatus is provided with a browser for browsing a page described in HTML. The apparatus and the server can communicate according to the HTTP protocol, and the adoption of the open standard WWW provides an effect that an image forming system capable of greatly reducing the cost of server development can be obtained.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the acquired software component is configured to operate as a plug-in of the browser, so that the image forming can easily and quickly execute the software component. An effect is obtained that a system can be obtained.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus is provided with a virtual machine such as a Java Applet capable of executing an intermediate code independent of the CPU. Is configured to execute the software components stored in the server in the form of, so that the same software components can be executed by various types of image forming apparatuses. There is an effect that an image forming system that can be developed can be obtained.

According to the tenth aspect, when a third vendor registers a software component in a server, the third vendor pays a registration fee to a vendor managing the server. Therefore, there is an effect that an image forming system capable of registering a software component by a third vendor without inviting a disadvantage of the original vendor is obtained.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, each time the image forming apparatus acquires a software component from the server, the server charges the vendor as an advertisement fee for the software component. An effect is obtained that an image forming system that can achieve fairness between the vendor who developed the software component and the original vendor is obtained.

According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, when the server of the third vendor is registered as an authenticable server in the image forming apparatus, the third vendor pays a registration fee. However, there is an effect that an image forming system capable of imposing an appropriate load can be obtained.

According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the usage fee of the image forming apparatus and / or the registration fee paid by the third vendor are changed according to the range of resources available to the image forming apparatus. Therefore, an effect is obtained that an image forming system capable of collecting an appropriate usage fee and / or a registration fee according to the use range of the resource can be obtained.

According to the fourteenth aspect, the image forming apparatus selects a desired software component from a list of software components stored in the server displayed on the display unit, and selects the selected software component. In addition, the authentication information is obtained from the server, and the processing operation of the software component is controlled based on the obtained authentication information. There is an effect that a software acquisition method that can be changed is obtained.

According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the range of the resources that can be used by the software component among the resources of the image forming apparatus is limited based on the authentication information. The operation of the acquired software component can be restricted, thereby preventing the user from executing the malicious software, and the device development vendor can pay for the certification against the third vendor. There is an effect that a possible software acquisition method is obtained.

According to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, when the authentication based on the authentication information fails, control is performed so that the display unit and the operation unit of the resources can be used by the software component, and the authentication information is transmitted. If the authentication based on the authentication succeeds, all resources are controlled so that they can be used by the software component.If the authentication fails, only the minimum necessary resources can be used. This has the effect that a software acquisition method that can avoid a situation in which malicious software wastes a large amount of paper using a printing function or the like can be obtained.

According to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the authentication information includes information relating to the authority to use each resource by the software component, and based on the information relating to the utilization authority, each resource by the software component. Since the system is configured to determine whether or not to use the software, it is possible to obtain a software acquisition method that can quickly and efficiently determine whether to use the software.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus succeeds in the authentication based on the authentication information, the configuration information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the server. Based on the configuration information received from the apparatus, the software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized, and the configured software components are configured to be returned to the image forming apparatus. In this case, there is an effect that a software acquisition method capable of acquiring an optimal software component suitable for the software configuration or the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus is obtained.

According to the nineteenth aspect, the identification information of the image forming apparatus is transmitted to the server.
Specifying configuration information and / or a contract form of the image forming apparatus based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus;
Based on the specified configuration information and / or contract type,
Since the software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized and the organized software components are returned to the image forming apparatus, the software configuration, the hardware configuration, or the contract form of the image forming apparatus is configured. There is an effect that a software acquisition method capable of acquiring an optimal software component conforming to the above can be obtained.

According to the twentieth aspect, the server is a WWW server functioning on the Internet, and the image forming apparatus is provided with a browser for browsing a page described in HTML. The device and the server can communicate according to the HTTP protocol, and the adoption of an open standard called WWW provides an effect of obtaining a software acquisition method capable of greatly reducing the cost of server development.

According to the twenty-first aspect of the present invention, the acquired software component is configured to operate as a browser plug-in, so that software that can execute the software component easily and quickly is provided. There is an effect that an acquisition method can be obtained.

According to the invention of claim 22, the image forming apparatus is provided with a virtual machine such as a Java Applet capable of executing an intermediate code independent of the CPU. Is configured to execute the software components stored in the server in the form of, so that the same software component can be executed by various types of image forming apparatuses,
In the development stage, there is an effect that a software acquisition method that can be developed while simulating on a personal computer is obtained.

According to the twenty-third aspect, when a third vendor registers a software component in a server, the third vendor pays a registration fee to a vendor managing the server. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a software acquisition method that enables registration of software components by a third vendor without inviting disadvantages of the original vendor.

According to the invention of claim 24, each time the image forming apparatus acquires a software component from the server, the image forming apparatus charges the vendor at the server as an advertisement fee for the software component. This has the effect of obtaining a software acquisition method that enables fairness between the vendor who developed the software component and the original vendor.

According to the twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, when the server of the third vendor is registered as an authenticable server in the image forming apparatus, the third vendor pays a registration fee. However, there is an effect that a software acquisition method capable of imposing an appropriate burden can be obtained.

According to the twenty-sixth aspect, the usage fee of the image forming apparatus and / or the registration fee paid by the third vendor are changed according to the range of resources available to the image forming apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a software acquisition method capable of collecting an appropriate usage fee and / or a registration fee according to the use range of the resource.

According to the twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, by recording a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to any one of the fourteenth to twenty-sixth aspects, the program becomes machine-readable. Accordingly, there is an effect that a recording medium capable of realizing the operation of any one of claims 14 to 26 by a computer can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of an image forming system and a hardware configuration of a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a software configuration of the multifunction peripheral illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when downloading is realized by a plug-in.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a URL and an HTML description of a software component included in a server.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a software component is downloaded using Java.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a link destination HTML file and a software configuration of the MFP in this case.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the multifunction peripheral when authentication is performed using a common encryption key.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the concept of performing authentication using a common encryption key.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method of providing a software component by a third vendor.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a concept of performing authentication using a public key.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the concept of performing authentication using a certificate.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method of providing a software component by a third vendor.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a case where a list is customized according to the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a case where a list is customized according to a device ID of a multifunction peripheral.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining customization of software components in the server shown in FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 MFP 11 CPU 12 ROM 13 RAM 14 Flash memory 15 FAX controller 16 Scanner 17 Plotter 18 Large-capacity storage device 19 Network I / F unit 20, 40 Server 21 Interface unit 22 Encryption processing unit 23 Authentication information transmission unit 24 Software Component storage unit 25 Customization processing unit 26 Control unit 30 Network 101 B & WLP 102 ColorLP 103 Other hardware resources 110 Software group 120 Platform 121 General-purpose OS 122 SCS 123 SRM 130 Application 131 Printer application 132 Copy application 133 Fax application 134 Scanner application 135 WWW Browser 136 Download application 137 Authentication processing application 14 ECS 142 MCS 143 OCS 144 FCS 145 NCS

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 1/00 G03G 21/00 392 H04N 1/32 G06F 9/06 660C F-term (Reference) 2C061 AP01 AP03 AP04 AP07 BB17 CL10 HH01 HQ17 HR07 HS07 HX10 2H027 DA50 EJ03 EJ06 EJ08 EJ09 EJ13 EJ15 ZA07 5B076 FB05 FC10 5C062 AA02 AA05 AA13 AA29 AB20 AB23 AB38 AC35 AC41 AF00 BA04 BC03 5C0BB AB90 BB07

Claims (27)

[Claims] An image forming apparatus having hardware resources such as a display unit, an operation unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit, and performing a composite service such as a printer, a copy, or a facsimile, and software for the image forming apparatus. In an image forming system in which a server that provides a component is connected to a network, the image forming apparatus selects a desired software component from a list of software components stored in the server displayed on the display unit. Means, acquisition means for acquiring the software component and the authentication information selected by the selection means from the server, and processing of the software component acquired by the acquisition means based on the authentication information acquired by the acquisition means Control means for controlling the operation; Image forming system comprising the. 2. The image according to claim 1, wherein the control unit limits a range of resources that can be used by the software component among resources of the image forming apparatus based on the authentication information. Forming system. 3. If the authentication based on the authentication information fails, the control unit controls the display unit and the operation unit of the resources to be used by the software component. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein, when the authentication based on the information is successful, control is performed such that all the resources can be used by the software component. 4. The authentication information includes information on a right to use each resource by the software component, and the control unit determines whether or not each resource can be used by the software component based on the information on the right to use. The image forming system according to claim 3, wherein 5. The image forming apparatus further includes a transmission unit configured to transmit configuration information of the image forming apparatus to the server when the authentication based on the authentication information succeeds, wherein the server is The software component executable on the image forming apparatus is dynamically organized based on the configuration information received from the forming apparatus, and the composed software component is returned to the image forming apparatus. The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The transmitting unit transmits identification information of the image forming apparatus to the server, and the server transmits the configuration information of the image forming apparatus based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus. And / or specifying a contract form, dynamically organizing software components executable on the image forming apparatus based on the specified configuration information and / or contract form, and combining the organized software components with the image forming apparatus. The image forming system according to claim 5, wherein the image is returned to the image forming apparatus. 7. The server according to claim 1, wherein the server is a WWW server that functions on the Internet, and the image forming apparatus is an HTM server.
The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a browser that browses a page described in L. 8. The image forming system according to claim 7, wherein the software component obtained by the obtaining unit operates as a plug-in of the browser. 9. The image forming apparatus further includes a virtual machine capable of executing an intermediate code independent of a CPU, wherein the virtual machine executes a software component stored in the server in the form of the intermediate code. The image forming system according to claim 7, wherein: 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein when a third vendor registers a software component with the server, the third vendor pays a registration fee to a vendor that manages the server. An image forming system according to any one of the preceding claims. 11. The server according to claim 1, wherein each time the image forming apparatus acquires the software component from the server, the server charges the vendor as an advertisement fee for the software component. 11. The image forming system according to any one of 10 above. 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the third vendor pays a registration fee when registering the server of the third vendor as an authenticable server in the image forming apparatus.
12. The image forming system according to any one of 11. 13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a use fee of the image forming device and / or a registration fee paid by a third vendor are changed according to a range of resources available to the image forming device. An image forming system according to any one of the preceding claims. 14. An image forming apparatus having hardware resources such as a display unit, an operation unit, a printing unit, and an imaging unit and performing a composite service such as a printer, a copy, or a facsimile, and software for the image forming apparatus. A software acquisition method in an image forming system in which a server that provides a component is connected to a network, wherein the image forming apparatus determines a desired software component from a list of software components stored in the server displayed on the display unit. A selection step of selecting a software component; an acquisition step of acquiring the software component and the authentication information selected by the selection step from the server; and an acquisition step of acquiring the authentication information based on the authentication information acquired by the acquisition step. Software components A software acquisition method, comprising: a control step of controlling a processing operation. 15. The software according to claim 14, wherein the control step restricts a range of resources that can be used by the software component among resources of the image forming apparatus based on the authentication information. Wear acquisition method. 16. The control step controls, when the authentication based on the authentication information fails, the display unit and the operation unit of the resources to be used by the software component. 16. The software acquisition method according to claim 15, wherein, if the authentication based on is successful, control is performed so that all resources can be used by the software component. 17. The authentication information includes information on a right to use each resource by the software component, and the control step determines whether each of the resources can be used by the software component based on the information on the right to use. 17. The software acquisition method according to claim 16, wherein is determined. 18. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising a transmitting step of transmitting configuration information of the image forming apparatus to the server when the authentication based on the authentication information is successful, wherein the server forms the image. 15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized based on the configuration information received from the apparatus, and the composed software components are returned to the image forming apparatus. 18. The software acquisition method according to any one of items 17 to 17. 19. The transmitting step includes transmitting the identification information of the image forming apparatus to the server, and based on the identification information received from the image forming apparatus by the server, the configuration information of the image forming apparatus and / or Alternatively, a contract form is specified, and software components executable on the image forming apparatus are dynamically organized based on the specified configuration information and / or contract form, and the organized software components are stored in the image forming apparatus. The software acquisition method according to claim 18, wherein the software is returned. 20. The server according to claim 1, wherein the server is a WWW server that functions on the Internet, and the image forming apparatus is an HT server.
The software acquisition method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, further comprising a browser that browses a page described in ML. 21. The software acquisition method according to claim 20, wherein the software component acquired in the acquisition step operates as a plug-in of the browser. 22. The image forming apparatus has a virtual machine capable of executing CPU-independent intermediate code, and the virtual machine executes software components stored in the server in the form of the intermediate code. 21. The software acquisition method according to claim 20, wherein: 23. The server according to claim 14, wherein when the third vendor registers the software component with the server, the third vendor pays a registration fee to a vendor managing the server. The software acquisition method according to any one of the above. 24. The server according to claim 14, wherein each time the image forming apparatus acquires the software component from the server, the server charges the vendor as an advertisement fee for the software component. 23. The software acquisition method according to any one of 23. 25. The third vendor pays a registration fee when registering a server of the third vendor as an authenticable server in the image forming apparatus.
25. The software acquisition method according to any one of items 24 to 24. 26. The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, wherein a use fee of the image forming device and / or a registration fee paid by a third vendor are changed in accordance with a range of resources that can be used by the image forming device. The software acquisition method according to any one of the above. 27. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 14 is recorded.