JP2007058609A - Data processing system, data processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a situation in which an application program is used illegally after exceeding the time limit of use by managing use period of the application program without being influenced by adjustment of system time etc. <P>SOLUTION: In this system, a second built-in clock 104 for managing the use time limit of the application program is installed independently with a first built-in clock 102 used by regular applications 108. And the system has a constitution in which a license management part 105 manages execution or the ends of the applications 108 based on the second system time acquired from the second built-in clock 104 and the use periods set in the applications 108. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus that manages the usage status of a time-limited application.

  Conventionally, in a data processing apparatus, trial version applications (application programs) that can be used for a limited time period and applications with a license term are provided to end users in various ways. Such an application realizes application use restriction based on the date and time of a built-in clock in a device (data processing apparatus) that has set up the application acquired by the user.

  Specifically, the expiration date and time registered in the program or license file is compared with the date and time of the built-in clock, and if it is within the period, it operates normally (some functions may be limited). Do. Then, if the period has passed, the function is limited or not operated so that it is not illegally used against the intention of the application provider.

Further, in the following Patent Document 1, the device controller counts the number of times each application software is stored in the hard disk when the multi-function function processing is executed, and the count value is determined within a predetermined period of time. It is disclosed that when it is determined that there is a number less than the number of times, the user is notified of the number of times of use of each counted application software via an operation unit or a host computer.
JP 2001-92779 A

  However, in the above method, the date of the device's built-in clock can be returned to the past by the user of the data processing apparatus to make it appear to the application program that it is still within the usage period. I could not prevent it.

  In addition, the built-in clock needs to be corrected due to the time difference of the area (destination) where the device on which the application program is executed is used, and the built-in clock correction function cannot be deleted.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of adjusting the date and time according to the destination and completely preventing unauthorized use of the application after the usage period has elapsed. There is to do.

    The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to prevent a situation in which an application is illegally used beyond the expiration date without being affected by adjustment of the system time or the like. It is to provide a mechanism that can do this.

  The data processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.

  A data processing apparatus capable of executing a predetermined application, wherein a first built-in clock means for measuring an adjustable first system time, and a first system time by the first built-in clock means are independent of the first system time. 2. Execution of the predetermined application based on the second built-in clock means for measuring the system time, the second system time acquired from the second built-in clock means, and the usage period set for the predetermined application Or a management means for managing termination.

  The data processing method of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.

  First built-in clock means for measuring an adjustable first system time, and second built-in clock means for measuring a second system time independently of the first system time by the first built-in clock means. A data processing method in a data processing apparatus, comprising: executing or ending the predetermined application based on a system time acquired from the second built-in clock means and a use period set for the predetermined application It has the management step to manage.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to manage the usage period of an application program without being affected by adjustment of the system time or the like, and to prevent a situation in which an application is illegally used beyond the expiration date.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a data processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the application processing period management function is executed by the data processing apparatus.

  Further, application of the application usage period management function of the present embodiment is not limited by differences in the types of hardware and operating systems in the data processing apparatus. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to various electronic devices such as a general personal computer and a personal data terminal (PAD).

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an application usage period management apparatus, which manages applications whose usage period is determined by a license.

  The application usage period management device 101 includes a first internal clock 102, a date management unit 103, a second internal clock 104, a license management unit 105, a license information holding unit 106, and an application management unit 107.

  The first built-in timepiece 102 includes a backup battery and a timer circuit.

  The second built-in clock 104 is a built-in clock for the application to acquire the date and time. The date and time can be freely adjusted from the date management unit 103 based on an instruction from an operation unit (not shown) or a request from the application. It is possible to do.

  The date management unit 103 acquires or changes the value of the first internal clock 102 according to a request from the application.

  The second built-in clock 104 is a built-in clock for determining an application usage period exceeded, and is used only by the license management unit 105. Also, the second built-in clock 104 cannot be adjusted directly by the application or the device user. That is, the second built-in clock 104 measures the second system time that is not changed as the system, not the adjustable time as in the first system time. Note that the second built-in clock 104 includes a backup battery and a timer circuit.

  In addition, when it is necessary to correct the second system time with respect to the standard time of the manufacturing place in accordance with the destination of the data processing device, the second built-in clock 104 estimates the time difference in advance at the time of manufacturing. 2 System time can be set. After the second system time is set, an adjustment request from the operation unit or the like is not accepted.

  Therefore, it is possible to accurately manage the application deadline with respect to the time difference in the destination.

  The license management unit 105 manages the license of the application 108 and manages the expiration date of the application 108 with reference to the second internal clock 104.

The license information holding unit 106 holds application license files and expiration date information.

  The application management unit 107 provides a user interface and has a function of managing applications such as installation, uninstallation, activation, and stop of applications.

Thus, the data processing apparatus of the present embodiment can execute a predetermined application,
A first built-in clock 102 that counts the adjustable first system time, and a second built-in clock 104 that counts the second system time independently of the first system time by the first built-in clock 102 are provided. The license management unit 105 manages execution or termination of the predetermined application based on the second system time acquired from the second built-in clock 104 and the usage period set for the predetermined application.

  In this case, the license management unit 105 acquires the expiration date from the license information set for a predetermined application.

  The license management unit 105 calculates the expiration date from the system time acquired from the second built-in clock 104 and the usage period set for a predetermined application, and registers it in the license information holding unit 106 as a memory.

  In addition, the license management unit 105 can determine whether the application 108 that is instructed to execute is an application with an expiration date.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention. This example is a processing procedure of the license management unit 105 when an application whose usage period is restricted is installed on a hard disk or the like of the data processing apparatus. S201 to S204 indicate steps.

  The data processing apparatus that executes each step has the following configuration. As a hardware device of the data processing apparatus, for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and an input / output device are provided. And it implement | achieves by loading the application installed in the hard disk by predetermined OS to RAM, and CPU running.

  First, in step S201, the license management unit 105 acquires a license file corresponding to an application to be installed in a nonvolatile memory such as a hard disk.

  Next, in step S202, the license file acquired by the license management unit 105 is analyzed, and it is determined whether the application to be installed is an application with an expiration date. If the license management unit 105 determines that the application is an application with an expiration date, the process proceeds to step S203.

  In step S203, the second built-in clock 104 is referenced to calculate the use period expiration date and time and register it in the license information holding unit 106, and the process proceeds to step S204.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S202 that the application does not have an expiration date, the process proceeds to step S204.

  In step S204, the first built-in clock 102 is referred to, the installation date and time is registered in the license information holding unit 106, and the process ends.

  Here, the installation date and time registered in the license information holding unit 106 is used when the application management unit 107 displays an installation history. Then, when the process of step S204 ends, the license management unit 105 ends the process.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a second data processing procedure in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention. This example is a processing procedure of the license management unit 105 when the application management unit 107 is instructed to start an application with a license. S301 to S306 indicate each step.

  The data processing apparatus that executes each step has the following configuration. As a hardware device of the data processing apparatus, for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and an input / output device are provided. And it implement | achieves by loading the application installed in the hard disk by predetermined OS to RAM, and CPU running.

  First, in step S301, the license management unit 105 determines the license file corresponding to the designated application, the license management unit 105, and the license management unit 105, and the process proceeds to step S302.

  Next, in step S302, the acquired license file is analyzed to determine whether the application is an application with an expiration date. It is assumed that information for identifying whether or not the application has an expiration date is set in the license file.

  If the license management unit 105 determines that the application is an application with an expiration date, the process proceeds to step S303.

  In step S303, the expiration date and time of use of the designated application is acquired from the license information holding unit 106.

  In step S304, the value (current date and time) of the second built-in clock 104 is acquired.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S305, the expiration date / time of use period acquired in step S303 is compared with the value (current date / time) of the second internal clock 104 acquired in step S304, and the license management unit 105 has expired. Determine if.

  If the license management unit 105 determines that the expiration date has expired, the process ends without starting the application 108.

  It is optional whether or not to terminate the application after displaying information indicating that the license is forcibly terminated when the license is expired.

  On the other hand, if the license management unit 105 determines that the usage period has not expired in step S305, the process proceeds to step S306, the application 108 is activated, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the license management unit 105 determines in step S302 that the application does not have an expiration date, the process proceeds to step S306, the application 108 is activated, and the process ends.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a third data processing procedure in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention. This example is a processing procedure when the license management unit 105 checks the usage period of an application in operation. S401 to S406 indicate each step. The data processing apparatus that executes each step has the following configuration. As a hardware device of the data processing apparatus, for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and an input / output device are provided. And it implement | achieves by loading the application installed in the hard disk by predetermined OS to RAM, and CPU running.

  First, the license management unit 105 acquires the license file of the application to be checked from the application 108 in step S401.

  In step S402, the license management unit 105 analyzes the acquired license file and determines whether the application has an expiration date. Here, if the license management unit 105 determines that the application is not an application with an expiration date, this process ends.

  On the other hand, if the license management unit 105 determines in step S402 that the application has an expiration date, the process proceeds to step S403.

  In step S403, the application usage period expiration date / time information (license expiration date / time information) is extracted from the license information holding unit 106.

  In step S404, the current date information is acquired from the second built-in clock 104. In step S405, the license management unit 105 determines whether or not the use period of the application 108 has expired by comparing the use period expiration date and time with the value of the second internal clock 104. Here, if the license management unit 105 determines that the expiration date has not yet expired, this processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the license management unit 105 determines in step S405 that the expiration date has not expired, the process proceeds to step S406.

  In step S406, the application 108 is stopped, and the process ends.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a fourth data processing procedure in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention. This example is a processing procedure executed by the date management unit 103 by a user's correction operation for date information of the data processing apparatus. S501 indicates a step. The data processing apparatus that executes each step has the following configuration. As a hardware device of the data processing apparatus, for example, a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk, and an input / output device are provided. And it implement | achieves by loading the application installed in the hard disk by predetermined OS to RAM, and CPU running.

  When the user operates a pointing device (not shown) to detect that the date / time change is instructed, in step S501, the date management unit 103 corrects the value of the built-in clock 102 and ends the date / time change process.

  In this way, the first and second built-in clocks 102 and 104 are provided, which are divided into a built-in clock for the user and a built-in clock for use period management. For this reason, even if the user changes the clock of the data processing apparatus illegally, it is possible to always perform correct use period management without being affected by the change.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the application is not forcibly operated when the usage period expires. Instead of this, the application itself may be notified that the usage period of the application has expired, and the operation after the usage period has expired may be left to the application itself.

[Third Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the example in which the second built-in timepiece 104 and the like are configured by a backup battery and a timer circuit has been described.

  On the other hand, when the data processing apparatus has a network function, the license management unit 105 acquires the reference time data between steps S302 and S303 shown in FIG. 3 from an approveable website such as a time server. To do. Then, the acquired reference time data and the managed post-installation elapsed period may be calculated to control the execution and termination of the application 108.

  Each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the main features.

  According to the above embodiment, even if the user adjusts the time of the data processing device, it only changes the value of the first built-in clock 102, and the second built-in clock 104 for license management has the adjustment. Will not be reflected.

  For this reason, even if the date and time of the data processing apparatus is illegally operated in a data processing apparatus that can operate the application with a usage time limit, it is possible to reliably prevent unauthorized use of the application after the usage period has elapsed.

  The configuration of a data processing program that can be read by the data processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the memory map shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a memory map of a storage medium for storing various data processing programs readable by the data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  Although not particularly illustrated, information for managing a program group stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, creator, etc. is also stored, and information depending on the OS on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons may also be stored.

  Further, data depending on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, a program for installing various programs in the computer, and a program for decompressing when the program to be installed is compressed may be stored.

  The functions shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 in this embodiment may be performed by the host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, the storage medium storing the software program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the system or apparatus. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  Therefore, as long as it has the function of the program, the form of the program such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS is not limited.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD, etc. Can be used.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. Then, the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server, an ftp server, and the like that allow a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer are also included in the claims of the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition, the functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by executing the program code read by the computer. For example, based on an instruction of the program code, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing. Needless to say, the process includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized.

  Further, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing. Needless to say, the process includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.

  Although various examples and embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will not limit the spirit and scope of the present invention to the specific description in the present specification.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the data processor which shows 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 1st data processing procedure in the data processor which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 2nd data processing procedure in the data processor which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 3rd data processing procedure in the data processor which concerns on this invention. It is. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the storage medium which stores the various data processing program which can be read with the data processor which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Application use period management apparatus 102 1st built-in clock 103 Date management part 104 2nd built-in clock 105 License management part 106 License information holding part 107 Application management part 108 Application

Claims (5)

A data processing apparatus capable of executing a predetermined application,
First built-in clock means for timing an adjustable first system time;
Second built-in clock means for measuring a second system time independently of the first system time by the first built-in clock means;
Management means for managing execution or termination of the predetermined application based on a second system time acquired from the second built-in clock means and a usage period set for the predetermined application;
A data processing apparatus comprising:   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management unit acquires an expiration date from license information set for the predetermined application.   2. The management unit according to claim 1, wherein the management unit calculates a usage time limit from a system time acquired from the second built-in clock unit and a usage period set in a predetermined application, and registers the usage time limit in the memory. Data processing device.   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management unit is capable of determining whether a predetermined application to be executed is an application with an expiration date. First built-in clock means for measuring an adjustable first system time, and second built-in clock means for measuring a second system time independently of the first system time by the first built-in clock means. A data processing method in a data processing apparatus comprising:
Data processing comprising: a management step for managing execution or termination of the predetermined application based on a system time acquired from the second internal clock means and a usage period set for the predetermined application Method.

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