JP2004030026A - Monitoring method and monitoring system for merchandise term of validity - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To monitor the term of validity of merchandise regardless of an application and a device program and to prevent the alteration of validity management information. <P>SOLUTION: Between the side of a first OS 104 where a monitored AP 102 which performs general job processing and device processing and an AP term monitor 103 which monitors it are installed and the side of a second OS 106 where a term monitoring part 105 storing term of validity information data is installed, the activation information of the monitored AP 102 is exchanged by using an inter-OS message communicating function through a multi OS control part 107. The AP term monitor 103 monitors the activation of the monitored AP 102 at all times and transmits activation request information through the multi OS control part 107 to the validity monitoring part 105 on the side of the second OS 106 when the activation of the monitored AP 102 is requested. The activation monitoring part 105 accesses information stored in a term monitoring control information table and determines whether or not validity is expired and the AP term monitor 103 executes whether or not to activate the monitored AP 102 on the basis of the result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and system for monitoring the expiration date of an application program (AP) or a device program mounted on a computer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With the rapid development of computers, there are a wide variety of application programs (AP) and device programs used therein. For users, finding the best in this plethora of programs has been a daunting task. Therefore, in order for the provider to actually operate the provided program, the user may use a limited time program such as a magazine distribution or a limited time program by download as a free sample for a limited time. is there.
[0003]
Because these are for a limited time, the program must be disabled after the expiration date. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-85578, “File Management Apparatus and Recording Medium that Stores a Program for Executing Its Operation” (hereinafter referred to as A method), a file is provided with a storage period, and the storage period has passed. This is to judge things as unnecessary and delete them, but this is for the user to organize the files for himself and consider the location where the information indicating the storage period is stored and its confidentiality. No need. In this case, since the program is a free sample, it is necessary to disable the program instead of deleting it in consideration of the possibility of using the program after the expiration date.
[0004]
Further, for example, in the "software use right check method" (hereinafter referred to as a "B method") described in JP-A-3-62222, the time of a computer is compared with the contents of an execution history storage means, and the former is compared with the latter. This is a method of prohibiting use when the time limit has expired. However, since the user can falsify the time information of the computer, there is a problem that illegal use cannot be prevented effectively.
[0005]
Further, for example, in “Application program expiration date management device, method and program and recording medium” (hereinafter referred to as C system) described in JP-A-11-85500, a standard time information providing site is accessed by communication means and used. The expiration date monitoring means compares the standard date and time with the expiration date of the application program, and if the expiration date has expired, activation is prohibited. However, there is a problem in that the user requires a communication fee every time the program is executed, and a communication access time is required for accessing the site.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When an attempt is made to realize expiration date monitoring, a means for holding information such as an expiration date using a registry or the like is conceivable. However, in the case of this method, there is a problem that even if the user alters the registry information, the application program whose expiration date has passed is used.
Further, there is a problem that the user can operate the clock function of the computer itself so that the expiration date cannot be reached forever.
[0007]
For this reason, the A, B, and C methods have been proposed. However, as described above, there is a problem that the A method expires and becomes unusable. However, there is a problem that unauthorized use cannot be prevented even after the passage of time, and the C method has a problem that communication cost and communication time are additionally required.
By the way, it is difficult to falsify the second OS (Operating System) from the outside, so it is conceivable to use this system. However, in the past, there has been no one utilizing this.
[0008]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, prevent a product expiration date from being manipulated by others, and perform a product expiration date monitoring method and monitoring capable of performing accurate expiration date monitoring. It is to provide a system.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a method for monitoring the expiration date of a product according to the present invention includes a first OS, a second OS different from the first OS, a computer resource, and a communication between the first OS and the second OS. A method for monitoring an expiration date of an application program or a device program of a computer including a multi-OS control unit having a message communication unit between OSs and a deadline monitoring unit operating on a second OS, comprising: And (3) determining whether or not the monitored AP activated at the time of activation is within the expiration date.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a product expiration date monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, the computer includes a processing device 108 and a memory (main storage device) 101. The memory 101 stores programs of the monitored AP 102, the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103, the first OS 104, the expiration monitoring unit 105, the second OS 106, and the multi-OS control unit 107, and is executed by the processing device 108.
The monitored AP 102 is an application or device program installed on the first OS 104, and is a program for performing general business processing or device processing.
[0011]
The AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 is an application installed on the first OS 104, and is a program for particularly monitoring the activation of the monitored AP 102. That is, the first OS 104 activates the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 in step 703 of FIG. 7 described later, and waits for the activation request information of the monitored AP. The AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 may be mounted on the highly reliable second OS 106. However, since the second OS 106 has the expiration monitoring unit 105, in order to prevent both programs from interfering with each other, It is desirable to mount them separately on separate OSs.
[0012]
The second OS 106 is an OS different from the first OS 104, and is considered to be more reliable than the first OS 104. The expiration monitoring unit 105 is an application installed on the second OS 106, and is a program for determining in particular the expiration date of the monitored AP 102 on the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103. The second OS 106 activates the term monitoring unit 105 in step 702 of FIG. 7 described below, and after the monitored AP 102 starts, determines whether or not the validity period has expired.
[0013]
The multi-OS control unit 107 has the following functions.
(A) Hardware resource division function The multi-OS control unit 107 manages computer resources such as CPU time, memory, external devices, and timers, and divides and provides these resources to each OS. For example, the timer has a function of virtually providing each OS with only one hardware timer. Further, it has a function of reserving I / O resources of an external device used by each OS.
[0014]
(B) Message communication function between OSs This is a function for message communication between processes on each OS. Unlike shared memory communication, the process of the communication partner can be called.
[0015]
(C) Inter-OS Shared Memory Communication Function The multi-OS control unit 107 secures a memory area that can be shared between OSs as a physical memory area independent of each OS physical memory area. For example, a shared memory area is secured in a DRAM (not shown). The shared memory area is divided into several blocks and managed, and each block is given an ID for identifying the block. Each OS can access the shared memory using the shared memory identification ID or the pointer to the physical memory.
[0016]
Each OS performs memory initialization on the assumption that no information is secured in its memory area after startup. For example, when the OS is restarted in the event of an OS failure, the state of the application is saved. Although it cannot be stored, the shared memory area is not initialized because it is outside the area of the OS, and its contents are saved. After restarting, each OS can use the non-volatile memory in software or in a pseudo manner by designating the previously used shared memory identification ID or the pointer to the physical memory.
[0017]
(D) Program start information notification function Program start information notification is a function for notifying another OS of this information when an application or a device program on a certain OS is about to be started.
[0018]
The AP expiration monitor 103 uses the inter-OS message communication function of the multi-OS control unit 107 to determine whether it is a request to start the monitored AP 102 whose expiration date is to be monitored when the application or device program is started, and If the monitored AP 102 to be monitored for the time limit is activated, the program start information is transmitted to the time limit monitoring unit 105 using the program start information notification function. The expiration date monitoring unit 105 determines whether the expiration date is within the expiration date from the information of the expiration date monitoring unit 105 set in advance by the monitored AP 102, and transmits the result to the AP expiration date monitoring monitor 103. If it is determined that the monitored AP 102 has expired, the AP expiration monitor 103 performs expiration processing.
[0019]
If the AP expiration monitor 103 is intentionally tampered with and the contents of the processing become invalid, the program cannot of course be activated and cannot be used by the user. In the present invention, the expiration date monitoring unit 105 has a function of determining whether or not the expiration date is within the important expiration date. The expiration date monitoring unit 105 performs the setting of the expiration date and the import of the date and time of the monitored AP 102. The AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 only receives the judgment result of the expiration monitoring unit 105 and performs the expiration processing. Therefore, as a device for preventing the falsification by the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103, even if a part is falsified, the program is set to be invalid after that point.
[0020]
The system configuration includes a connection to a line 111 via a network for downloading software such as an application and a device program to a computer, and a storage medium such as a CD-R or a flexible disk. To the memory 101 of the computer, and can be executed by the processing device 108. Further, by connecting the computer to the display device 110 such as a display, the AP expiration monitor 103 displays the remaining expiration information that can be used by the monitored AP 102 and the expiration information when the expiration processing of the monitored AP 102 is performed. Is also possible.
[0021]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a term monitoring unit control information table of the term monitoring unit 105 in FIG.
The expiration date monitoring unit control information 201 in the table of FIG. 2 is information that is located in the memory area of the second OS 106 and is accessed by the expiration date monitoring unit 105 that has received the monitored AP activation information notification of the AP expiration date monitoring monitor 103, and It is stored when the monitored AP 102 such as a device program is installed.
As an example, the term monitoring unit control information 201 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The term monitoring unit control information 201 includes a monitored object ID (001) 202 for identifying one or a plurality of monitored APs 102, Monitoring target ID (002) 203, expiration date start information (001) 204 and expiration date setting information (001) 205, and expiration date start information (002) 206 and expiration date setting information (002) ) 207.
[0022]
The expiration date start information (001) 204 stores information on a date (year / month / day / time) at which the monitored AP 102 was installed or a date (year / month / day / time) when the monitored AP 102 was first activated. The expiration date setting information (001) 205 is the absolute value of the expiration date indicating how long the installed monitored AP 102 is valid, or how many days from the expiration date start information (001) 204 are valid. Stores expiration date information. When a new monitored AP 102 is installed, the term monitoring unit control information 201 newly stores the monitored object ID (002) 203, and sets the term of validity start information (002) 206 and the term of validity setting. By newly storing the information (002) 207, the expiration dates of the plurality of monitored APs 102 can be monitored.
[0023]
The current date information 208 is stored in the memory area of the second OS 106. This information is used to store the date and time information of the expiration date start information (001) 204 and the expiration date setting information (001) 205. As the current date / time information 208, information obtained from the date / time and time information held by the hardware or the second OS 106 is used.
[0024]
The AP expiration monitoring monitor control information 209 is placed in the memory area of the first OS 104, and is the same monitoring target ID (001) as the monitoring target ID (001) 202 stored in the memory area of the second OS 106 when the monitored AP 102 is installed. After the expiration date of the monitored AP 102 and the monitored AP 102, when the monitored AP 102 is about to be activated, the expiration date is subjected to processing such as displaying on the display device 110 such as a display that the expiration date has expired. The time processing information (001) 210 is stored. The expiration date processing information (001) 210 may store information on the remaining expiration date that can be used by the monitored AP 102.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is a diagram of a monitored object ID information table provided in the time limit monitoring unit 105 in FIG.
This table is a non-volatile table and is a monitored object ID 301 for identifying one or a plurality of monitored APs 102, validity period start information 302 set when the monitored AP 102 is installed, or when the monitored AP 102 is first activated, and It comprises expiration date setting information 303 for setting an expiration date of the monitored AP 102. When the monitored AP 102 is installed, it is stored in the term monitoring unit 105 in the memory area on the second OS 106. When a plurality of monitored APs 102 are installed, each monitored object ID 301 and the corresponding validity period start information 302 and validity period setting information 303 are added to the table in pairs.
[0026]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the monitored AP 102 is installed in the present invention.
At the time of installing the monitored AP 102, first, it is determined whether or not the multi-OS control unit 107, the second OS 106, the term monitoring unit 105, and the AP term monitoring monitor 103 are present in the memory (step 401). The multi-OS control unit 107, the second OS 106, the deadline monitoring unit 105, and the AP deadline monitoring monitor 103 are installed in this order in the memory (steps 402 to 405). Note that the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 is usually stored in a memory, but may be installed every time depending on the user. Also, the order of installation in the memory may be any order.
[0027]
If the term monitoring unit 105, the second OS 106, the multi-OS control unit 107, and the AP term monitoring monitor 103 already exist, they are not installed in the memory.
The multi-OS control unit 107, the second OS 106, and the first OS 104 install the monitored AP 102 in the memory on the first OS 104 when the time limit monitoring unit 105 and the AP time limit monitor 103 exist in the memory (Step 406).
[0028]
Thereafter, the expiration date monitoring unit control information table setting processing for setting the expiration date start information 302 and the expiration date setting information 303 described in FIG. 3 is performed (step 407). The monitor control information table setting process is performed (step 408). Finally, the period monitoring of the information of the monitored AP 102 on the first OS performs the process of setting the period monitoring unit control information table in the memory area. The AP expiration monitor 103 performs a process for setting an AP expiration monitor control information table in the memory area of the first OS 104.
[0029]
FIG. 5 is a processing flowchart for setting a term monitoring unit control information table in FIG.
Each time a new monitored AP 102 is installed, an ID for identifying one or a plurality of monitored APs 102 is assigned and stored in a memory on the second OS 106 (step 501). The monitored object ID (001) 202 in the deadline monitoring unit control information 201 and the monitored object ID in the AP deadline monitoring monitor control information 209 described later are identification IDs for identifying a plurality of monitored APs 102. , And the same ID. Note that the start time at the time of installation is determined later by describing the start time in a table.
The expiration date start information setting (step 502) reads the year / month / day / time from the current date / time information 208 every time the monitored AP 102 is installed, and stores each expiration date start information 302 in the memory on the second OS 106. To store.
[0030]
In addition, the expiration date start information setting (step 502) can store information on a deadline (year / month / day / time) when the monitored AP 102 was first activated. The expiration date setting information setting (step 503) includes the absolute value of the expiration date indicating how long the installed monitored AP 102 is valid or the number of days from the expiration date start information 302 that is valid. The expiration date information is stored in the memory on the second OS 106.
[0031]
Referring to FIG. 3 as an example, the monitoring target ID 301 of the monitoring target AP 102 installed first is the monitoring target ID (001) 202, and the corresponding expiration date start information 302 and expiration date setting information 303 are respectively 2001/03/10 10: 00: 00: 00 (304) and 2001/04/09 10: 00: 00: 00 (306) are stored in the memory. When the monitored AP 102 is newly installed thereafter, the monitored object ID (002) 203 is stored in the monitored object ID 301, and the corresponding validity period start information 302 and validity period setting information 303 2001/10/10: 10: 10: 05 (305) and 2001/06/08 10:10:05 (307) are stored in the memory of the term monitoring unit control information 201, respectively.
[0032]
FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart for setting the AP time limit monitoring monitor control information table in FIG.
Each time a new monitored AP 102 is installed, the same ID as the monitored target ID 301 allocated in the monitored target ID setting 501 in FIG. 5 is stored in the memory of the AP deadline monitoring monitor control information 209 on the first OS 104 each time. (Step 601).
The expiration time processing information setting stores the processing method after the expiration date of the product of the monitored AP 102 is determined in the memory of the AP expiration time monitoring monitor control information 209 on the first OS 104 (step 602). For example, a message that expires when the product expires, or a message that expires in the remaining days when the remaining expiration date of the product is several days can be displayed on the display device 110 such as a display. .
[0033]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure of the activation process of each program.
After the processing device 108, the first OS 104, the second OS 106, and the multi-OS control unit 107 are started (Step 701), the resource division by the allocation of the computer resources used by the first OS 104 and the second OS 106, for example, the CPU time, the memory, and the external device is performed. Do. Next, the second OS 106 activates the term monitoring unit 105 (Step 702), and the first OS 104 activates the AP term monitoring monitor 103 (Step 703). After the expiration date monitoring unit 105 starts the expiration date monitoring of the AP expiration date monitoring monitor 103, it waits for activation request information of the monitored AP 102 via the inter-OS message communication function (step 704). Subsequently, the AP expiration monitor 103 starts monitoring the activation of one or a plurality of monitored APs 102 (step 705).
[0034]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the expiration date monitoring of the monitored AP 102.
First, it is determined whether or not the first OS 104 is terminated (Step 801). When the first OS 104 is terminated, the expiration date monitoring of the product is terminated (Step 805). If the first OS 104 is not terminated, the AP expiration monitor 103 determines whether there is a start request from the monitored AP 102 (step 802). When there is an activation request for the monitored AP 102, the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 transmits activation request information to the expiration monitoring unit 105 in the second OS 106 via the multi-OS control unit 107 by the inter-OS message communication function.
[0035]
The expiration date monitoring unit 105 determines whether the monitored AP 102 that has requested activation is within the expiration date of the product from the expiration date monitoring control information table (step 803), and returns the determination result to the AP expiration date monitoring monitor 103. When the expiration date is within the expiration date, the number of days remaining is displayed on the display. If the monitored AP 102 is within the expiration date of the product, the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 regards it as being within the expiration date of the product and activates the monitored AP 102. If the expiration date of the product has passed, the AP expiration monitoring monitor 103 performs expiration processing according to the expiration processing information in the AP expiration monitoring monitor control information table stored in the memory area of the first OS 104 ( (Step 804), and the process returns to the determination process (Step 801) of whether or not the first OS is terminated. Further, when the AP expiration monitor 103 does not operate normally due to falsification or the like, even if the monitored AP 102 is activated, there is no response from the AP expiration monitor 103, and the monitored AP 102 waits for a certain period of time. Thereafter, it is detected that there is no response from the AP expiration monitoring monitor, and the monitored AP 102 does not start.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when implementing the method of monitoring the expiration date of a product only on the first OS side, information such as an identification key and the expiration date of a product is retained using a registry or the like. Means for determining whether or not the product has expired can be considered. However, by using the multi-OS environment and having the information of monitoring the expiration date on the second OS side according to the present invention, information for managing the expiration date of the product can be obtained. It can be protected from tampering.
In addition, when using the calendar / clock year / month / day / time possessed by the first OS, the expiration date information of the product can be falsified by changing these dates and times. However, when the second OS or a hardware or calendar function of the hardware is provided, the user cannot change it. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the management information such as the expiration date start information of the product from being falsified.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a product expiration date monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a period monitoring control information table in a memory in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a monitored object ID information table in a memory in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a process when a monitored AP is installed in the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a term monitoring control information table setting process used by the term monitoring unit 105 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an AP time limit monitoring monitor control information table setting process in FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a startup process of each program.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for monitoring an expiration date of a monitored AP.
[Explanation of symbols]
101: memory, 102: monitored AP, 103: AP deadline monitoring monitor,
104: first OS, 105: deadline monitoring unit, 106: second OS,
107: multi-OS control unit, 108: processing device, 109: input / output device,
110: display device, 111: line, 201: deadline monitoring unit control information,
202: Monitored target ID 001, 203: Monitored target ID 002,
204: expiration date start information 001, 205: expiration date setting information 001,
206: expiration date start information 002, 207: expiration date setting information 002,
208: current date and time information, 209: AP deadline monitoring monitor control information,
210: Expiration date processing information 001,
211: Expiration date processing information 002,
301: monitored object ID, 302: expiration date start information,
303: Expiration date setting information.

Claims (5)

A first OS, a second OS different from the first OS, and a plurality of OSs operating without modifying the first OS, and an OS between the first OS and the second OS In a method of monitoring a product expiration date of a computer equipped with a multi-OS control unit having an inter-communication function,
When trying to start the monitored AP on the first OS, if the AP expiration monitoring monitor on the first OS detects a request to start the monitored AP, the monitoring information is transferred to the second OS. Transmitting the activation information to the upper limit monitoring unit via the inter-OS communication function,
The expiration date monitoring unit determines whether the monitored AP to be activated is within the expiration date range by using the current date / time information and the expiration date setting information from the second OS or hardware. Judge and return the judgment result information to the AP expiration monitoring monitor. If the monitored AP is within the expiration date, the AP expiration monitoring monitor activates the monitored AP as it is, and the expiration date is exceeded. A method of monitoring the expiration date of a product, wherein the monitored AP is not activated when the monitoring is performed. In the method for monitoring a product expiration date according to claim 1,
When trying to start the monitored device program on the first OS, the AP expiration monitoring monitor on the first OS detects a start request of the monitored device program and transmits the start information to the second OS. To the deadline monitoring unit on the OS via the inter-OS communication function,
The deadline monitoring unit determines whether the monitored device program to be started is within the validity period by using the current date and time information and the validity period setting information from the second OS or from hardware. And returns the determination result information to the AP time limit monitor,
The AP expiration monitoring monitor activates the monitored device program as it is if the monitored device program is within the expiration date, and does not activate the monitored device program if the expiration date is exceeded. A method for monitoring the expiration date of a product, characterized in that: In the method for monitoring a product expiration date according to claim 1,
At the time of installing the monitored AP, an ID for identifying one or a plurality of monitored APs is assigned, and the ID is set when the monitored AP corresponding to the ID is installed or when the monitored AP is first started. Expiration date information and the expiration date, which is the absolute value of the expiration date of how long the installed monitored AP is valid or the expiration date information of the number of days from the expiration date starting information A method of monitoring a product expiration date, comprising storing setting information and storing the information in a memory area on a second OS. In the method for monitoring a product expiration date according to claim 3,
Each time a monitored AP is newly installed, an ID for identifying the monitored AP, expiration date start information corresponding to the ID, and expiration date setting information are sequentially stored in the same table in the memory area of the second OS. And additionally store
The same ID as the ID assigned to each monitored AP, and the expiration date processing information that describes the expiration date processing method paired with the ID is stored in the memory area on the first OS. As a result, the deadline monitoring unit determines whether the expiration date of the monitored AP to be activated has passed, and the AP deadline monitoring monitor that has received the determination result information sets the expiration date processing set in advance. Take action based on the information,
A method of monitoring a product expiration date, wherein information such as the expiration date or the remaining expiration date of the monitored AP that the AP expiration monitoring monitor is trying to activate is displayed on a display device. A computer product expiration date monitoring system comprising a processing device, a memory for storing programs and data executed by the processing device, and an input / output device and a display device,
The memory includes at least one monitored AP, an AP expiration monitoring monitor mounted on the first OS and monitoring the activation of the monitored AP, and a second OS different from the first OS. And a multi-OS control unit that splits and provides message communication between OSs and hardware resources, the expiration date monitoring unit that determines the expiration date of the monitored AP on the AP expiration monitoring monitor. A featured product expiration date monitoring system.

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