JP2003271360A - Peripheral equipment, storage medium and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize an accounting on which the actual load of a job is reflected. <P>SOLUTION: This peripheral equipment for receiving and processing a job from an information processor through a network is provided with a means for acquiring user ID and a password from the attribute of a job, a user authenticating means for authenticating a user from the acquired user ID and password, a changing means for charging the authenticated user for the processing of the job, and a charging information storing means for storing the charging information of each user. The charging means is able to charge the user according to a time required for various processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to charging for job processing of peripheral devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a job is charged for processing, the charge target is, for example, the number of copies for a copy job or the number of prints for a print job.

[0003]

However, there are the following problems. When charging for processing various jobs, the charge amount should properly reflect the cost required for processing the job. In the past, the charge for prints and copies was made on the basis of the number of processed media.

However, when considering a print job, for example, even if the number of prints is the same, the device occupancy time at the time of printing is different for each job, and the charge per sheet does not accurately reflect the total cost for processing the job. I could not say.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a peripheral device for receiving and processing a job from an information processing device via a network, wherein a user ID and password are obtained from the attributes of the job. A user authentication means for performing user authentication with the acquired user ID and password, a charging means for charging the authenticated user for processing the job, and charging information for each user. And a billing information storage unit for storing the billing information, and the billing unit bills according to the time required for various processes.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a hardware configuration of peripheral equipment showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, CPU 101, RAM 102, and LCD
A keyboard 103, a keyboard 104, a ROM 105, a communication interface 106, a scanner engine 107, a printer engine 108, a FAX board 109, and a DISK 110 are interconnected via a system bus 120. The program to control peripheral devices is ROM105 or DISK1
The data is stored in the RAM 10, is read out to the RAM 102 as needed, and is executed by the CPU 101. Also, ROM10
5. In addition to the control program, the DISK 110 stores attribute information indicating functions and states of peripheral devices and jobs processed by the peripheral devices, job data to be output, and the like. Also, the CPU 101 is the communication interface 1
It communicates with the outside through 06.

In this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, in the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 101 receives a user's input from the keyboard 104 via the system bus 120, and the RAM 102, LCD 103, ROM 105, A communication interface 106, a scanner engine 107,
Printer engine 108, FAX board 109, DISK
110 to control and implement. The peripheral device having the above-described configuration allows the scanner engine 107 to be selected to issue a scan job. Also, the printer engine 108 is selected so that a print job can be issued. Also, the printer engine 108 and the scanner engine 107 are selected so that a copy job can be issued. Further, the scanner engine 109, the printer engine 108, and the fax board 109 are selected to enable issuing of fax transmission jobs and fax reception jobs.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a network in which the peripheral equipment shown in FIG. 1 operates.

In FIG. 2, an MFP 201 represents the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1 capable of processing a print job, a scanner job, a copy job, a FAX transmission job and a FAX reception job. PC 202 and PC 203 are network 210
Shows a personal computer connected to. A workstation, another peripheral device, or another device may be connected to the MFP 201 via the network 210. User is PC202 or PC2
03, print job, scanner job, copy job, fax to MFP 201 via network 210
You can request a send job or a fax receive job.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of user authentication data held by the peripheral device shown in FIG.
05 and DISK110.

In FIG. 3, 301 and 302 indicate that this data is composed of a set of a user ID and a password. The user ID indicated by 303 is 0000, and the corresponding password indicated by 304 is 11111111. Also, the user ID indicated by 305 is 1111 and the corresponding password indicated by 306 is 22222.
222. The user ID indicated by 305 is 33.
33 and the corresponding password shown at 308 is 4
4444444. The user authentication data shown in FIG. 3 is an example, and it is assumed that there are as many pairs of user IDs and passwords as there are user IDs performing user authentication. Also, FIG.
The user authentication data indicated by may be composed of a set of a user ID and a password, or may be composed of a set of a value obtained by encoding the user ID and a password.

In the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1, user authentication can be performed by comparing a set of a user ID and a password designated from the outside with the user authentication data shown in FIG. Further, the user designated by the combination of the user ID and the password may be authenticated by other user authentication means.

FIG. 4 is a flow in which the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1 performs user authentication for a job received from the outside.
In the process of FIG. 4, the job includes a set of user ID and password, and the peripheral device of FIG. 1 compares the set of user ID and password with the user authentication data shown in FIG. User authentication is performed by.

In step 401, the user ID and password are acquired from the job. In step 402, a user ID that matches the user ID acquired in step 401 is searched for from the user authentication data shown in FIG. Step 4
In 03, if the user ID retrieved in step 402 exists in the user authentication data of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step 404, and if it does not exist, the process proceeds to step 406. In step 404, the password acquired in step 401 is compared with the password corresponding to the user ID found in step 402. If they match, step 405.
If not, go to step 406.
In step 405, the user authentication is successful and the process ends. In step 406, the user authentication is failed and the process ends.

FIG. 5 shows an example of billing information for each user held by the peripheral device shown in FIG.
It is stored in K110.

In FIG. 5, 501 and 502 indicate that the accounting information for each user is composed of a set of user ID and accounting amount, and the user ID indicated by 503 is 0000,
The charge amount 504 is 100. The user ID indicated by 505 is 1111 and the charge amount 506 is 2
00. The user ID indicated by 507 is 333.
3, and the charge amount 508 is 0.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the update processing of the billing information for each user shown in FIG. In the processing of FIG. 6, the peripheral device of FIG. 1 charges for the processing of the executed job,
The charging information for each user shown in FIG. 5 is updated and the result is shown in FIG.
It is stored in the ROM 105 or the DISK 110.

In step 601, the charge amount for processing the job executed by the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1 is calculated. In step 602, the user ID authenticated by the flow of user authentication shown in FIG. 4 is searched from the charging information for each user shown in FIG. In step 603, step 604
The charge amount of the user ID retrieved in step 601 is added by the charge amount calculated in step 601, the charge information for each user shown in FIG. 5 is updated, the result is saved, and the process is ended.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the calculation formula of the charge amount for the processing of the job shown in step 601 of FIG. In FIG. 7, A indicates a charge amount to be calculated, K1 is a charge proportional constant determined by the job type, etc., and α1 is a hardware-specific charge coefficient for calculating the charge amount from the occupied time of the chargeable hardware. Indicates. Further, Tx is the occupied time of the hardware to be charged, and is the CPU 101 or the scanner engine 1 shown in FIG.
06 or printer engine 107 or fax board 1
08 or DISK110 occupied time is shown.

The calculation amount shown in FIG. 7 is used to calculate the charge amount proportional to the occupied time of any hardware required for processing the job.

FIG. 8 is a second example of the calculation formula for calculating the charge amount for the job processing shown in step 601 of FIG. In FIG. 8, A indicates the calculated charge amount, K2
Indicates a charge proportional constant determined by the job type, etc.
α2, β2, and γ2 are the respective hardware-specific charge coefficients for calculating the charge amount from the occupied time of the chargeable hardware. Further, Tx, Ty, and Tz are the occupied times of the hardware to be charged, and the CPU 101 or the scanner engine 1 shown in FIG.
06 or printer engine 107 or fax board 1
08 or DISK110 occupied time is shown. Further, the number of hardware to be charged is three in the example shown in FIG. 8, but may be any other number.

According to the calculation formula of FIG. 8, the charge amount is calculated by the sum of the values proportional to the occupied time of each of a plurality of arbitrary hardware required for job processing.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of processing for predicting the charge amount and presenting it to the user before processing the job.

In FIG. 9, the peripheral device of FIG. 1 analyzes the job before starting the processing of the received job, predicts the charge amount for the processing of the job, and presents it to the user.
In step 901, the attribute of the job is analyzed to calculate the occupied time required for the processing for the hardware to be charged. In step 902, the occupancy time obtained in step 901 is used to calculate the charge amount for the processing of the job according to the charge amount calculation formula shown in FIG. 7 or 8. In step 903, the expected billing amount calculated in step 902 is presented to the user who requested the job by the PC 202 or PC 203 in FIG. 2 and inquired whether or not the job is actually processed. In Step 904, Step 90
In response to the inquiry of No. 3, if execution of the job process is OK, the process proceeds to step 905, and if execution is NO, the process proceeds to step 906 and the process is completed. At step 905, the job is processed, and the charging information for each user shown in FIG. 5 is updated and stored according to the flow of the charging information update shown in FIG. 6 according to the result, and the processing is ended.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the calculation formula of the charge amount for the processing of the job shown in step 601 of FIG. Figure 1
In 0, A indicates a charge amount to be calculated, K3 is a charge proportional constant determined by a job type, etc., and α3 is DISK11 occupied by a job result generation file to be charged.
The charging coefficient peculiar to the hardware for calculating the charging amount from the occupied amount of 0 is shown. Further, Sx represents the occupancy amount of the DISK 110 occupied by the job result generation file to be charged.

The calculation amount shown in FIG. 10 is used to calculate the charge amount proportional to the occupied time of any hardware required for processing the job.

FIG. 11 shows the flow of processing for predicting the charge amount and presenting it to the user before processing the job.

In FIG. 11, the peripheral device of FIG. 1 analyzes the job before starting the processing of the received job, predicts the charge amount for the processing of the job, and presents it to the user. In step 1101, the attributes of the job are analyzed,
The occupancy amount of the DISK 110 occupied by the file generated as a result of the processing is calculated. In Step 1102, Step 11
Using the occupancy amount obtained in 01, the charge amount for the processing of the job is calculated by the charge amount calculation formula shown in FIG. In step 1103, the expected billing amount calculated in step 1102 is presented to the user who requested the job by the PC 202 or the PC 203 in FIG. 2, and an inquiry is made as to whether or not the job is actually processed. In step 1104, the job processing is OK in response to the inquiry in step 1103.
If so, the process proceeds to step 1105. If the execution is NO, the process proceeds to step 1106 to end the process. In step 1105, the job is processed, and the charging information for each user shown in FIG. 5 is updated and stored according to the flow of the charging information update shown in FIG. 6 according to the result, and the processing is ended.

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.), one device (for example, copying machine, facsimile machine) It may be applied to a device consisting of.

Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented by a computer in an apparatus or system connected to the various devices so that the various devices are operated to implement the functions of the above-described embodiments. What is implemented by supplying the program code of software for operating the above-mentioned various devices according to the program stored in the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is also included in the scope of the present invention.

Further, in this case, the program code itself of the software realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself constitutes the present invention. As a transmission medium of the program code, a communication medium (a wired line such as an optical fiber or a wireless line) in a computer network (LAN, WAN such as the Internet, a wireless communication network, etc.) system for propagating and supplying the program information as a carrier wave. Etc.) can be used. Further, means for supplying the program code to a computer, for example, a recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. A flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used as a recording medium for storing the program code.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the supplied program code by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) in which the program code is operating in the computer or other. It goes without saying that the program code is also included in the embodiment of the present invention when the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with the application software of the above. Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit based on the instruction of the program code. It is needless to say that the present invention also includes cases where the above perform a part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective portions shown in the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of the embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is thereby provided. It should not be construed as limiting. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or the main features thereof.

[0035]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention
According to the tenth aspect of the invention, in the peripheral device that receives and processes the job from the information processing device, by charging according to the occupied time or occupied amount of the CPU, the external storage device, or the engine, the target medium is processed. It is possible to obtain the effect that it is possible to perform billing that reflects the total cost for job processing that is independent of the number of sheets.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a peripheral device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a network in which the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1 operates.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of user authentication data held by the peripheral device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process in which the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1 performs user authentication for a job received from the outside.

5 is a diagram showing an example of billing information for each user held by the peripheral device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a billing information update process for each user shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a first example of a calculation formula of a charge amount for processing the job shown in step 601 of FIG. 6;

8 is a diagram showing a second example of a calculation formula of a charge amount for processing the job shown in step 601 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process of predicting a charge amount and presenting it to the user before processing a job.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a third example of a calculation formula of a charge amount for processing the job shown in step 601 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process of predicting a charge amount and presenting it to the user before processing a job.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 CPU 105 ROM 107 Scanner Engine 108 Printer Engine 109 FAX board 110 DISK

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A peripheral device that receives and processes a job from an information processing device via a network, and means for acquiring a user ID and a password from the attributes of the job; and a user using the acquired user ID and password. The charging means includes: a user authenticating means for authenticating; a charging means for charging the authenticated user for processing the job; and a charging information holding means for storing charging information for each user. Is a peripheral device that is charged according to the time required for various processes. 2. The peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the billing information is determined according to a CPU occupation time of the peripheral device required for processing the job. 3. The peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the billing information is determined according to an occupied time of the external storage device of the peripheral device required for processing the job. 4. The peripheral device according to claim 1, wherein the billing information is determined according to an occupied time of the engine of the peripheral device required for processing the job. 5. The billing information is determined according to a sum of numerical values obtained by multiplying an occupied time of each of the CPU, the external storage device, and the engine of the peripheral device required for processing the job by an arbitrary coefficient. The peripheral device according to claim 1. 6. The peripheral device according to claim 2, wherein an estimated occupied time of hardware to be charged is calculated before the processing of the job is started, and is calculated from the estimated occupied time. A peripheral device for presenting an expected charge amount for processing the job to the user. 7. The charging information is determined according to a memory occupation amount of the peripheral device required for processing the job or a memory occupation amount of a file generated as a result of the processing of the job. The peripheral device according to item 1. 8. The expected occupancy amount of the charged memory is calculated before the processing of the job is started, and the estimated rent amount for the processing of the job calculated from the estimated occupancy amount is presented to the user. The peripheral device according to claim 7. 9. A computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for realizing the functions of the respective units of the peripheral device according to claim 1 by a computer. 10. A program for causing a computer to realize the function of each unit of the peripheral device according to claim 1.