JP2009223383A - License management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a license management system for preventing the use of the same client beyond license conditions, and for distributing a license under the consideration of the fairness of a residual period for a user. <P>SOLUTION: The use status information of a license for identifying each of a plurality of licenses managed based on an access number (License Access Number: LA) necessary for issuing a license and validity term information related with the license issued based on the same LA managed for every use PC are used to control the state management and issue and distribution of the license. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a license management server of a license management system that manages licenses of software running on a PC.

  There is a license management system that distributes a license for using license-managed software from a license management server according to a request including LA and PC individual identification information from a PC. In addition, there is a system that allows a license to be returned from a PC to the license management server.

In addition, there is a technique for controlling license distribution using information (used expiration date, usage time, etc.) regarding a used license acquired from a PC when a reacquisition request is received from the PC. (For example, Patent Document 1)
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 06-223040

  When the license managed by the license management server does not have an expiration date, there was no problem in distributing the license including the returned license.

  However, in the above prior art, when a license to be managed has an expiration date, if a license is distributed without considering the expiration date, a license with a short expiration date is distributed to a PC that has acquired the license for the first time. On the other hand, there is a problem that inequality arises for the user that a license that can be used beyond the valid period associated with the LA is distributed to the same PC by returning and re-acquiring.

  In addition, when using information (expiration date, usage time, etc.) about the used license acquired from the PC, it is not possible to cope with information alteration on the PC side.

The license management system of the present invention
A license management system having a license management server connected to a PC through the Internet,
Means for requesting the license management server to obtain and save a license for using the software, and means for using the software with the acquired license;
Means for limiting an available period by an effective period set by the license;
Means for returning the license to the license management server;
The aforementioned license management server
Means for registering and managing software ID, means for issuing and managing LA, means for registering and managing the target software managed by LA, the number of licenses and the validity period;
A means for issuing a license in exchange for PC individual identification information and LA, and a means for storing and managing expiration date information on licenses issued in the same LA for each PC used, and identifying multiple individual licenses managed in the same LA Means for storing and managing usage status information, license usage information for each of the licenses that are regularly managed by the same LA, and expiration dates for licenses issued by the same LA managed for each PC used A means of monitoring for licenses that have expired using information,
If there is a license that has reached the expiration date, it has a means to control and manage the status of the license that has reached the expiration date,
License status management, issuance, and distribution using the license usage information that identifies each of the multiple licenses managed in the same LA and the expiry date information on the licenses issued in the same LA managed for each PC used It is a license management system characterized by controlling.

  The license management server manages the usage status information for each of the multiple licenses associated with 1LA, and distributes licenses with expiration dates in consideration of the contents. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the use exceeding the effective period associated with the LA on the same PC and to perform distribution considering the fairness of the remaining period for the user. Furthermore, return and acquisition of useless licenses can be suppressed by the fairness, and an increase in server load can be prevented.

  In addition, it is possible to control license distribution using only information managed only on the license management server side, and it is possible to cope with information alteration on the PC side.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an entire network system to which one embodiment of the invention according to the present invention is applied.

  A plurality of PCs (102, 103, 104, 105) are connected to the Internet 107 via the LAN 106 and connected to the license management server 101.

  The software can be used by requesting the license management server 101 and acquiring a license necessary for using the software installed in the PC (102, 103, 104, 105). The PC can return the acquired license to the license management server 101.

  The license management server 101 is connected to the Internet 107 and is generally responsible for license management related to license processing, such as issuing and distributing licenses that activate software running on PCs, and returning and redistributing distributed licenses from PCs. I do.

  The license issuing server 101 issues a license in exchange for PC individual identification information (PCid) for uniquely identifying a PC using the software and LA required for issuing the license.

  Further, the license management server 101 is capable of managing a plurality of licenses with one LA and managing licenses with expiration dates. It should be noted that in the expiration date management applied to the license management server, the license consumption of the corresponding license does not stop while the license having the expiration date is being returned to the license management server 101.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a module configuration of the license management server 101 shown in FIG.

  The license management control unit 201 controls the entire license management server.

  The license control unit 202 controls license issuance, return, and reissue in response to a request from the PC.

  The LA control unit 203 performs management and control related to LA such as issuance of LA necessary for license issuance and target software corresponding to the LA, the number of licenses, and setting of an expiration date.

  The LA management information storage unit 204 stores information related to LA such as issued LA, corresponding target software, number of licenses, expiration date, and the like.

  FIG. 3 is a table showing a table (LA management table 301) for managing the later-described SW_id, the number of licenses, and the expiration date of the target software corresponding to the issued LA stored in the LA management information storage unit 204.

  The input / output control unit 205 controls and manages external input / output such as license issuance / return input / output and data input / output such as LA.

  The license information storage unit 206 stores the following information for each of a plurality of licenses associated with 1LA necessary for managing license issuance / distribution and return.

・ License identification number (No to identify multiple licenses of the same LA)
-Status (indicates the current status of the license)
Possible statuses are the following 4 states.

1) Unused: never used
2) In use: Currently in use
3) Return: Returned due to actual use, but can be reused
4) Expired: The license has expired and cannot be used.

-PC individual identification information (PCid of the PC to which this license is assigned)
・ Distribution date (Date and time information when this license was first assigned to a PC)
・ Expiration date (Date and time information of the expiration date of this license)
FIG. 4 is a table showing a per-LA license allocation management table 401 that is a table for managing the information stored in the license information storage unit 206.

  The license information storage unit 206 also stores the following information for managing the expiration date for each license distribution destination PC (license use PC) for each LA.

・ License expiration date (date and time information of the maximum expiration date calculated from the validity period of the corresponding LA)
-PC individual identification information (PCid of the PC to which the license is assigned)
FIG. 5 is a table showing a per-LA license distribution management table 501 that is a table for managing the above information stored in the license information storage unit 206.

  The software information management unit 207 registers and manages the software name of the software to be licensed and the ID (SW_id) that uniquely identifies it.

  The software information storage unit 208 stores the above information.

  FIG. 6 is a table showing a table (software management table) 601 for managing software names and SW_id stored in the software information storage unit 208.

  The expiration date management unit 209 controls and manages the license expiration date.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the license management server 101. As shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 7, reference numeral 701 denotes a display device. On the display screen, for example, a window, an icon, a message, a menu, and other user interface information are displayed. Reference numeral 702 denotes a VRAM, on which an image to be displayed on the display device 701 is drawn. The image data generated in the VRAM 702 is transferred to the display device 701 according to a predetermined rule, whereby an image is displayed on the display device 701. Reference numeral 703 denotes a CDD (Compact Disk Drive), which is a device for reading and writing various control programs and data to and from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or CD-R. This may be a DVD drive.

  A keyboard 704 has various keys for inputting characters. Reference numeral 705 denotes a PD (pointing device), which is used, for example, to indicate an icon, menu, or other object displayed on the display screen of the display unit 701. A CPU 706 controls each device connected to the CPU device based on a control program stored in the ROM 707, HDD (hard disk drive) 709, FDD (flexible disk drive) 710, and external storage device 703. Reference numeral 707 denotes a ROM (Read Only Memory) which holds various control programs and data. Reference numeral 708 denotes a RAM (Random Access Memory), which has a work area for the CPU 706, a data save area during error processing, a control program load area, and the like.

  Reference numeral 709 denotes an HDD as a storage device, which stores various control programs and various data. Reference numeral 711 denotes a network interface, which can communicate with other information processing apparatuses (PCs 102-104) via the Internet 107. A CPU bus 712 includes an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. The control program for the CPU 706 can be provided from the ROM 707, the HDD 709, the FDD 710, and the CDD 703.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a main module configuration necessary for this embodiment of the PC (102 to 104).

  801 is a PC license control unit that performs control processing and management of license functions such as license acquisition, license availability control, license expiration date management, license return, license information input / output, etc. Do.

  A PC license storage unit 802 stores a license acquired from the license management server 101 and related information.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the PC (102, 103, 104, 105) shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes a display device, and on the display screen, for example, a window, an icon, a message, a menu, and other user interface information are displayed. Reference numeral 902 denotes a VRAM on which an image to be displayed on the display device 901 is drawn. The image data generated in the VRAM 902 is transferred to the display device 901 according to a predetermined rule, whereby an image is displayed on the display device 901. A CDD (Compact Disk Drive) 903 is a device that reads and writes various control programs and data with a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or CD-R. This may be a DVD drive.

  A keyboard 904 has various keys for inputting characters. Reference numeral 905 denotes a PD (pointing device), which is used, for example, to indicate an icon, menu, or other object displayed on the display screen of the display unit 901. A CPU 906 controls each device connected to the CPU device based on a control program stored in the ROM 907, HDD (hard disk drive) 909, FDD (flexible disk drive) 910, and external storage device 903. Reference numeral 907 denotes a ROM (Read Only Memory) that holds various control programs and data. Reference numeral 908 denotes a RAM (Random Access Memory), which has a work area for the CPU 906, a data save area during error processing, a control program load area, and the like.

  Reference numeral 909 denotes an HDD as a storage device, which stores various control programs and various data. A network interface 911 can communicate with another information processing apparatus (license management server) via the Internet 106. A CPU bus 912 includes an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. The control program can be provided to the CPU 906 from the ROM 907, HDD 909, FDD 910, and CDD 903.

  Next, with respect to one operation example of the present invention system shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, flowcharts showing the control process of the license management server 101 and the management table shown in FIGS. The flowchart shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and the control process of the PC (102-105) will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the license management server 101, the software name and SW_id that require a license are registered under the control of the software information management unit 207, and stored in the software management table 601 of the software information storage unit 208.

  In addition, for the software registered in the software management table 601 under the control of the LA control unit 203, an LA in which the number of licenses and the expiration date are set is issued, and the LA management table 301 in the LA management information storage unit 204 is issued. save.

  The PC 102 separately obtains the license target software and LA, and installs the software. The acquired license is stored in the license information storage unit 802 under the control of the PC license management information unit 801, and the target software is validated using the stored license to be in a usable state.

  Further, when the license is no longer necessary, the PC 102 returns the license stored in the license information storage unit 802 to the license management server 101 under the control of the license management information unit 801. As a result, the target software is invalidated and becomes unusable.

  More specifically, when the license target software is activated on the PC 102, the PC license storage information unit 802 confirms whether or not the corresponding license exists under the control of the PC license management control unit 801 (S1301).

  If there is no corresponding license, issue a license to the license management server 101 using the LA for the license target software and the PC individual identification number (PCid) of the request PC 102 under the control of the PC license management control unit 801. Request (S1302).

Then, it is determined whether or not a license has been acquired from the license management server 101 (S1304). If the license has been acquired, the acquired license is stored in the PC license storage information unit 802 under the control of the PC license management control unit 801. (S1307), the corresponding software under the control of the PC license management control unit 801 is activated. (S1305) If the license cannot be acquired (S1304), the corresponding software is not started under the control of the PC license management control unit 801. (S1306)
On the other hand, when receiving a license-related request from the PC 102 under the control of the input / output control unit 205, the license management server 101 determines whether the request is acquisition or return of a license under the control of the license control unit 202. (S1001)
In the case of acquisition, the presence / absence of a license that can be distributed is determined using the license allocation management table 401 for each LA corresponding to the requested LA under the control of the license control unit 202. (S1002)
Distributable licenses are licenses that have a status of “unused” or “returned”. If there is no license that can be distributed, no license is assigned. (S1010)
If there is a license that can be distributed, the license control unit 202 controls whether the requested PC (PCid) is registered in the license distribution management table 501 for each LA corresponding to the requested LA under the control of the license LA. Identify the PC that requested (S1003)
If it is not registered, it is determined as the first PC. Then, the PC (PCid) requested to the license distribution management table 501 for each PC for each LA, the license validity period calculated from the validity period of the corresponding LA in the LA management table 301 and the current date and time information is registered in the license validity period. . (S1004)
Next, under the control of the license control unit 202, the license distribution management table 401 for each LA corresponding to the requested LA is used to determine whether there is a license whose status is “unused” that has not been distributed to any PC. . (S1005)
When there is an unused license, the status of the corresponding license in the above-mentioned license allocation management table 401 for each LA is changed to “in use”. In addition, “PCid” of the requested PC to the PC used, the current date and time on the date of first distribution to the PC, and the license expiration date calculated from the corresponding LA validity period and current date information in the LA management table 301 for the expiration date Register the date and time. Then, under the control of the license control unit 202 and the input / output control unit 205, a license having an expiration date of the corresponding LA for the PC 102 is issued and distributed to the PC. (S1011)
If there is no unused license, the license with the longest expiration date among the licenses whose status is “returned” is selected from the license allocation management table 401 for each LA. Then, register the status of the selected license as “in use”, register the “PCid” of the requested PC in the used PC, and the expiration date of the corresponding license for PC102 under the control of the license control unit 202 and the input / output control unit 205 A license with the date and time as the expiration date is issued and distributed to PC102. (S1006)
In S1003, if the requested PC (PCid) is registered in the license distribution management table 501 for each PC corresponding to the requested LA, it is determined whether it is any of the following.

  Whether there is a license whose status registered by the request PC (PCid) is “expired” in the license allocation management table 401 for each LA corresponding to the request LA under the control of the license control unit 202.

Alternatively, whether the license for the requesting PC (PCid) in the license distribution management table 501 for each LA is before the current date and time, the license for the requesting PC has expired. (S1008)
If the license is expired due to expiration, the license is not assigned. (S1010)
If the license is not expired (S1009), the license allocation management table 401 for each LA is searched for a license whose requested PC (PCid) is registered in the used PC from among the licenses whose status is “return”. Then, the presence or absence of a previously used license is determined. (S1101)
If there is a license that has been used before, select the license with the longest expiration date as the license to be distributed. (S1102)
If there is no license that has been used before, the license allocation management table 401 for each LA is searched for a license whose status that can be allocated other than the unused license is “returned”. (S1105)
If there is no license whose status is “returned”, an unused license is selected as a license to be distributed, and the status of the corresponding license in the above-mentioned license allocation management table 401 for each LA is registered as “in use”. In addition, “PCid” of the requested PC to the PC used, the current date and time on the date of first distribution to the PC, and the license expiration date calculated from the corresponding LA validity period and current date information in the LA management table 301 for the expiration date Register the date and time. (S1106)
Then, the license set for the license expiration date of the corresponding PC in the license distribution management table for each PC corresponding to the request LA is issued and distributed to the PC 102. (S1104)
When there is a license that has been used in S1101, a license with the longest expiration date is selected from the corresponding license allocation management table 401 for each LA with the longest expiration date. The status of the corresponding license is changed to “in use”, and the used PC is changed to “PCid” of the requesting PC. (S1102)
Next, the expiration date of the license allocation management table is compared by comparing the expiration date of the selected license with the license expiration date corresponding to “PCid” of the requested PC in the license distribution management table 501 corresponding to the request LA. Determine if is short. (S1103)
If it is shorter, a license having the expiration date and time of the corresponding license is issued under the control of the license management control unit 201 and the license control unit 202 and distributed to the requesting PC. (S1107)
If it is long, a license in which the license expiration date of the corresponding PC in the license distribution management table for each LPC is set is issued and distributed to the PC. (S1104)
Further, the license management server 101 monitors the expiration date of the license corresponding to the LA for which a separate license has been issued.

  With reference to the flowchart FIG. 12 showing the control process, the license expiration date monitoring process periodically executed by the license management server 101 will be described below.

Under the control of the license management control unit 201 and the expiration date management unit 209, all license allocation management tables for each LA are monitored to search for licenses that have reached the expiration date and time. (S1201)
If there is a license that has reached the expiration date, the status of the license is changed to “expired”. (S1202)
After there are no licenses that have reached the expiration date and time, the license distribution management table 501 for each LA is monitored under the control of the license management control unit 201 and the expiration date management unit 209. Find if there is. (S1203)
If there is a PC that has reached the license expiration date, the corresponding license allocation management table 401 is searched to determine whether there is a license distributed to the PC. (S1204)
If there is a distributed license, the status of the corresponding license is changed to “returned” under the control of the license management control unit 201 so that the license can be redistributed (S1205).

1 is a configuration diagram of an entire network system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a module configuration of a license management server 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention. LA management table in one embodiment of the present invention License allocation management table for each LA in an embodiment of the present invention License distribution management table for each PC according to one embodiment of the present invention Software management table in one embodiment of the present invention FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a license management server 101 in an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the module structure of PC102 in one Embodiment of this invention It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of PC102 in one Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart showing a license distribution control process of the license management server 101 in an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart showing a control process of a license management server 101 in an embodiment of the present invention. 11 is a flowchart showing a detailed control process of license allocation & license distribution (S1009). It is a flowchart which shows the control process of PC102 in one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101 License management server
102 pcs
201 License management controller
202 License control
203 LA controller
204 LA management information storage
205 I / O controller
206 License information storage
207 Software Information Management Department
208 Software information storage
209 Expiration Date Management Department

Claims (5)

A license management system having a license management server connected to a PC through the Internet,
The PC requests a license for using the software from the license management server, acquires and saves, and
Means for using software with the acquired license;
Means for limiting an available period by an effective period set by the license;
Means for returning the license to the license management server;
The aforementioned license management server
A means for registering and managing IDs (hereinafter referred to as software IDs) that uniquely identify the licensed software;
A means to issue and manage the access number (License Access Number: hereafter LA) necessary for issuing a license;
Means for registering and managing the target software managed by the LA, the number of licenses and the validity period;
A means for issuing a license in exchange for individual identification information (hereinafter referred to as PC individual identification information) for uniquely identifying a PC that has requested a license, and the LA;
A means of storing and managing expiration date information on licenses issued by the same LA for each used PC,
A means for storing and managing usage status information (PC used, license status, expiration date) that identifies individual licenses managed by the LA,
Licenses that have reached the expiration date using license usage information that identifies multiple licenses that are regularly managed in the same LA, and expiration information related to licenses issued in the same LA that are managed for each used PC A means of monitoring for
If there is a license that has reached the expiration date, it has a means to control and manage the status of the license that has reached the expiration date,
License usage information identifying each of a plurality of licenses managed in the same LA;
Using the expiration date information on the license issued by the same LA managed for each PC used,
A license management system that controls license status management, issuance, and distribution.   2. The license management system according to claim 1, wherein said PC that has passed the expiration date has means for not issuing or distributing a license managed in the same LA. If a license is requested from the PC that has returned the license,
2. The license according to claim 1, further comprising means for issuing / distributing a license with a limited expiration date so as not to exceed an expiration date from the date when the license is first issued for the requesting PC in the same LA. Management system. In the license management server,
Based on the license usage information identifying each of the plurality of licenses managed in the same LA,
2. The license management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for managing a license that has reached its expiration date so that the license is expired and is not subsequently issued / distributed. In the license management server,
With expiration date information regarding licenses issued in the same LA managed for each PC used,
If it detects a license that has expired,
When the license used by the license is the same in the license usage information that identifies each of a plurality of licenses managed in the same LA,
2. The license management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for managing so that the license state of the corresponding license can be changed and subsequently issued and distributed.

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