JP2010165101A - Network device, application acquisition method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network device which can perform flexible license management with respect to installation of an application and to provide an application acquisition method. <P>SOLUTION: The network device acquires the application from an application providing system which provides the application through a network. The network device includes: a storage section which stores installed list information which shows information on already acquired application by an own device; a first determination section which determines whether the application is already acquired based on the application list information received from the application providing system and the installed list information which shows the information on the application acquired already by the own device; and a second determination section which determines, when the first determination section has determined that the application is not acquired yet, whether it is necessary to acquire the license of this application. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network apparatus and an application acquisition method for acquiring the application from an application providing system that provides the application via a network.

  Image processing devices such as printers, facsimile machines, digital copiers, scanner devices, digital multifunction devices, and digital cameras are managed devices, and the service center management device (external device) is connected to a public line or network such as the Internet. A remote management system for remotely managing a management apparatus is already known.

  Further, a technique for upgrading the version of an application of a managed device using this remote management system is already known (for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, there are two types of installing an application: a new installation and an update of an already installed application to a new version. However, in the past, when installing these two types of software, the only way to obtain a license was to select whether or not to receive the license.

  However, acquiring all licenses is time-consuming for the user, and if the application is installed without acquiring all the licenses separately, the center side that manages the provision of applications to the user However, there was a problem that the application to be provided could not be managed.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a network apparatus and an application acquisition method capable of performing flexible license management for application installation.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following network device and application acquisition method.

  The present invention relates to a network device that acquires an application from an application providing system that provides an application via a network, in which the network device stores installed list information indicating information of an application that has already been acquired by the device, A first determination unit for determining whether or not an application has already been acquired based on application list information received from the application providing system and installed list information indicating information on an application that has already been acquired by the own device; A network device, comprising: a second determination unit that determines whether or not a license for the application needs to be acquired when it is determined that the application has not been acquired by one determination unit. When To have.

  Further, the present invention may be characterized in that the network device further comprises display means for displaying a list for acquiring applications based on the determination results of the first determination unit and the second determination unit.

  According to the present invention, in the network device, the application list information includes license necessity information indicating whether or not a license is necessary, and the second determination unit determines that the first determination unit has not acquired the license necessity information. In this case, it is possible to determine whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license based on the license necessity information.

  The present invention also relates to an installation method for obtaining an application using a network device that obtains an application from the application providing system that provides the application via the network. Whether or not the application has already been acquired based on the storage step for storing the completed list information, the application list information received from the application providing system, and the installed list information indicating the information of the application already acquired by the own device. A first determination step for determining and a first determination step for determining whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license for the application when it is determined that the application is not acquired in the first determination step; It is summarized as application acquisition method characterized by comprising: a determination step of, a.

  Further, the present invention may be characterized in that the application acquisition method includes a display step of displaying the application to be acquired on the display unit based on the determination results of the first determination step and the second determination step. .

  According to the present invention, in the application acquisition method, the application list information includes license necessity information indicating whether a license is required, and the second determination step is not acquired in the first determination step. When it is determined, it can be characterized in that it is determined whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license based on the license necessity information.

  According to the network device and the application acquisition method of the present invention, it is possible to determine whether a newly added application or an already acquired application and determine whether to acquire a license. It is possible to provide a network device and an application acquisition method capable of performing flexible license management for providing an application.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus management system to which a network apparatus according to an embodiment is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic structural example of the hardware of the network device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the example of schematic structure of the software of the network device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the example of a schematic function structure of the plug-in management module of the network device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic functional structural example of a management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the schematic function structural example of an activate server. It is a figure which shows the example of a schematic function structure of an application delivery server. It is a sequence diagram which shows the example of the flow of activation processing. It is a figure which shows the example of installed list information. It is a figure which shows the example of application list information. It is a figure which shows the example of a comparison list. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of control operation in the image forming apparatus management system to which the network apparatus according to the embodiment is applied. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of control operation in the image forming apparatus management system to which the network apparatus according to the embodiment is applied. It is a flowchart which shows the control operation example of the application information comparison part of the network device which concerns on this embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of determining whether or not an application needs to be activated in the network device according to the present embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example when an application is selected from a display unit in the network device according to the present embodiment.

  Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration example of image forming apparatus management system]
First, the configuration of an image forming apparatus management system as an embodiment to which a network apparatus and an application acquisition method of the present invention are applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration example of an image forming apparatus management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  This management system includes a plurality of multifunction peripherals 100 (101, 102, 103) each serving as a managed device, a management device 300, an application distribution server 500, an activate server 400, and a shared database 600. , A management system comprising The application providing system 700 includes a management device 300, an activation server 400, an application distribution server 500, and a shared database 600.

  In this embodiment, the multifunction peripheral 100 communicates with the management apparatus 300, the application distribution server 500, and the activate server 400 via a network (for example, a network such as a public line network or the Internet) according to a customer's network environment. Connect as possible. Note that various electronic devices such as a copying machine, a printer, and another image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine can be used instead of the multifunction peripheral 100.

[Example of hardware configuration of MFP]
Next, the hardware configuration of the MFP 100 of FIG. 1 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the multifunction peripheral 100 of FIG. The MFP 100 is an image forming apparatus that can realize various functions including a copying machine, a printer, a FAX (fax) device, and a scanner device (service), that is, a copy function, a printer function, a FAX function, and a scanner function. . As shown in FIG. 2, the MFP 100 includes a controller board 110, an operation panel 120, an FCU (fax control unit) 121, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) / I / F 122, an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 1394. It comprises an I / F 123, a plotter / scanner engine 124, and a peripheral device 125. These configurations are hardware resources for performing image processing such as image reading, printing (image formation), and image information transmission of a document.

  The controller board 110 comprehensively controls each unit of the multifunction peripheral 100. Various functions can be realized by the control. The operation panel 120 is an interface for an operator who performs operations on the multifunction peripheral 100, and includes various operation keys (also referred to as operation switches or operation buttons) for performing data input and job execution instructions, and various types of information. It includes a character display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or CRT (Cathode-ray Tube).

  The FCU 121 controls communication with an image forming apparatus such as an external device such as a FAX apparatus or a modem function (FAX communication function) or another multifunction peripheral via a public line in the communication network 200. . The USB I / F 122 and the IEEE 1394 I / F 123 are USB standard and IEEE 1394 standard interfaces (direct interfaces) for directly connecting to and communicating with external devices.

  The plotter / scanner engine 124 prints the image information read by the scanner (image reading unit) and the print information received from the external device as a visible image on paper (may be another recording medium). This corresponds to a plotter (image forming unit). If the print information received from an external device such as a PC (not shown) is not image information for printing but character code or drawing information, the controller board 110 converts them into image information for printing.

  Peripheral machine 125 sorts (sorts), punches (perforates) paper that has been printed by automatic document feeder (ADF) that automatically feeds the document to the image reading position of the scanner or plotter / scanner engine 124. ), A post-processing apparatus that performs post-processing such as stapling. The controller board 110 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 112, an SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) 113, a flash memory 114, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 115, a remote management system memory 116, an NIC ( Network Interface Card) 117, modem 118, and the like.

  The CPU 111 is an arithmetic processing unit that performs data processing (control of each function) via the ASIC 112. The CPU 111 activates (executes) a boot program in the flash memory 114 via the ASIC 112 to read out an OS image, loads the SDRAM image into the SDRAM 113, develops the OS, and activates the expanded OS. After that, various functions are realized by reading programs such as applications and services in the flash memory 114 (or HDD 115) as necessary, loading them into the SDRAM 113, expanding them, starting them, and controlling the device. be able to.

  The ASIC 112 is designed to share a device to be controlled by the CPU 111 and to support high efficiency of development of applications and the like from the viewpoint of architecture. The SDRAM 113 is a memory used as a program memory for storing various programs, a work memory used by the CPU 111 during data processing, or the like. The flash memory 114 is a non-volatile memory (NV-RAM) that stores various non-volatility data (for example, management information such as model number and IP address) in addition to a boot program and an OS image.

  The HDD 115 is a hard disk device (storage unit) that is a non-volatile storage medium, and can store various programs including applications. The remote management system memory 116 is a non-volatile memory that stores various types of information for realizing each function (remote management function) in the remote management system. The information for realizing the remote management function includes, for example, information (communication path information) indicating a communication path with the application providing system 700 including destination information of the management apparatus 300, the application distribution server 500, and the activation server 400. It is.

  The NIC 117 is an interface connected to communicate with the management apparatus 300, the application distribution server 500, and the activate server 400 via the Internet in the network 200 of FIG. The modem 118 is communicably connected to the management apparatus 300 via a public line in the network 200.

[Example of software configuration of MFP]
Next, the software configuration of the MFP 100 in FIG. 1 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. In addition, although the process by each program shown below is actually executed by the CPU 111 operating according to the program, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the program executes the process. Thereafter, the same applies to the case where the program is described as performing some processing.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a software configuration example of the multifunction peripheral 100 of FIG. The MFP 100 includes a storage unit 181 corresponding to the plotter / scanner engine 124, the flash memory 114, or the HDD 115 in FIG. 2, and other hardware resources 182 (for example, NIC 117, modem 118, FCU 121). USB / I / F 122, IEEE 1394 / I / F 123, etc.) and a software group including a platform 190 and an application 191.

  The platform 190 interprets a processing request from the application 191 and generates a hardware resource acquisition request, and a system resource that manages one or a plurality of hardware resources and arbitrates the acquisition request from the control service. A manager (SRM) 170 and a general-purpose OS 171 are included. Programs constituting these software are stored in the storage unit 181.

  The control service is formed of a plurality of service modules, and includes an OCS (operation panel control service) 160, an ECS (engine control service) 161, an MCS (memory control service) 162, an NCS (network control service) 163, and an FCS. (Fax control service) 164, SCS (system control service) 165, and a plug-in management module 166. The platform 190 has an application program interface (API) that can receive a processing request from the application 191 using a predefined function.

  The general-purpose OS 171 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes the software of the platform 190 and the application 191 in parallel as processes. The process of the SRM 170 performs system control and resource management together with the SCS 165. The process of the SRM 170 performs execution control in accordance with a request from an upper layer using hardware resources such as the plotter / scanner engine 124, the storage unit 181, and other hardware resources 182.

  Specifically, the SRM 170 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available (whether it is not used by another request), and if it is available, the requested hardware resource is Tell the upper layer that it is available. Further, the SRM 170 performs use scheduling of hardware resources in response to a request from an upper layer, and directly executes the request contents (for example, paper conveyance by the plotter, image forming operation, memory reservation, file generation, etc.).

  The process of the OCS 160 controls the operation panel (operation panel) 120 serving as an information transmission unit between the operator (user) and the main body control. The OCS 160 acquires a key press from the operation panel 120 as an input event, sends an input event function corresponding to the acquired key to the SCS 165, and requests various operations from the application 191 or the control service to the operation panel 120. A drawing function for drawing and outputting a screen, a function for controlling the operation panel 120, and the like are configured from a portion of the OCS library registered in advance. This OCS library is mounted linked to each module of the application 191 and the control service. Note that all of the OCS 160 may be configured to operate as a process, or all of the OCS 160 may be configured as an OCS library.

  The ECS 161 process controls the plotter / scanner engine 124 and other hardware resources 182. The MCS 162 process acquires and releases image memory, uses a hard disk drive (HDD), compresses and decompresses image data, and the like. The process of the NCS 163 is a process for providing a service that can be commonly used for applications requiring network I / O. Data received from the network side according to each protocol is distributed to each application 191, or the application 191. Mediates when sending data to the network side. Specifically, it has server daemons such as ftpd, httpd, lpd, snmpd, telnetd, and smtpd, and client functions of the same protocol.

  The process of FCS 164 includes facsimile transmission / reception using PSTN / ISDN network from each application layer of the system controller, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed by BKM (backup SRAM), facsimile reading, facsimile reception printing, and fusion transmission / reception. An API (Application Program Interface) is provided. The process of the SCS 165 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.

  The application 191 is an application for a printer (plotter) having a copy application 151 that is a copy application, a fax application 152 that is a facsimile application, and a page description language (PDL), PCL, and Postscript (PS). A printer application 153, a scanner application 154 that is a scanner application, a network file application 155 that is a network file application, a web application 156 that is a web application, and external applications 157, 158,. Etc. Each process of the application 191 and each process of the control service realize user services relating to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, facsimiles, etc. while performing inter-process communication by calling functions, sending their return values, and sending and receiving messages. ing.

  As described above, the MFP 100 includes a plurality of applications 191 and a plurality of control services, all of which operate as processes. In each of these processes, one or a plurality of threads are generated and parallel execution is performed in units of threads. The control service provides a common service to the application 191. For this reason, a large number of these processes perform parallel operations and parallel operations of threads to perform inter-process communication with each other and perform cooperative operations. User services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles are provided. Further, in the multifunction device 100, a third party such as a customer of the multifunction device 100 or a third vendor can develop and install an external application on the application layer above the control service layer. 2 shows an example in which external applications 157, 158,... Are installed.

  In the MFP 100, a plurality of application 191 processes and a plurality of control service processes are operating. However, the application 191 and the control service processes may each have a single configuration.

[Functional configuration example of plug-in management module]
Next, a functional configuration of the plug-in management module 166 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the plug-in management module 166 of FIG. The plug-in management module 166 includes a display processing unit 201, an installation processing unit 202, an application download unit 203, an application information comparison unit 204, a comparison list creation unit 205, a remote management unit 206, and an installed list storage unit 207. . The storage unit 207 includes information of an application storage unit 208, a version storage unit 209, a license presence / absence information storage unit 210, and a license necessity information storage unit 211.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the storage unit 207 stores an installed list that is a table indicating information of applications already installed in the apparatus. The installation processing unit 202 provides an installation service for starting application software by writing it into the nonvolatile memory and a service for removing (uninstalling) the application software from the nonvolatile memory. In addition, when the license file does not exist in the application to be installed, the activation process is performed, the license file is acquired from the activation server 400, and the installation is performed.

  The remote management unit 206 manages information acquired through communication with an external device. For example, when the application list information 301 indicating the application information provided on the management apparatus 300 side as shown in FIG. 8 is acquired, the remote management unit 206 acquires the information and passes it to the application information comparison unit 204. I'm doing it. The application information comparison unit 204 searches the installed list information 250 stored in the storage unit 207 based on the application list information 301 acquired by the remote management unit 206, and stores the application list information 301 and the installed list information 250. Make a comparison. Details of the application list comparison process will be described later. The comparison list creation unit 205 creates comparison list information 350 based on the information compared by the application information comparison unit 204. The display processing unit 201 is a unit that performs processing so that the comparison list 350 created by the comparison list creation unit 205 or the like can be displayed on a display unit such as an operation panel.

[Functional configuration example of management device]
Next, a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the management apparatus 300 of FIG. 5 is shown. The management device 300 includes a communication unit 401, a device information collection unit 402, a determination unit 403, a product ID generation unit 405, a registration unit 406, and a device management information storage unit 407. The communication unit 401 is a USB standard or IEEE 1394 standard interface (direct interface) for performing communication by directly connecting to an external device. The device information collection unit 402 is a means for collecting device information for uniquely identifying a managed device, such as the device number information of the MFP 100 that is a management target.

  The determination unit 403 is a unit for acquiring device information and determining whether the device is a correct partner from the device information. The product ID generation unit 405 is a product ID necessary for permitting acquisition of an application to be acquired using device information acquired from the multifunction device 100 and an application ID indicating information of an application to be acquired by the multifunction device 100. Is a generation unit that generates The registration unit 406 is a unit for registering the installed list information of the multifunction peripheral 100 that is a managed device in the storage unit 407 and registering a product ID indicating permission to acquire an application in the shared DB 600.

[Functional configuration example of activate server]
Next, a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the activate server 400 of FIG. 6 is shown. The activate server 400 includes a communication unit 421, a search unit 422, a determination unit 423, and a license file creation unit 424. The communication unit 421 is a USB standard or IEEE 1394 standard interface (direct interface) for performing communication by directly connecting to an external device. The determination unit 423 performs a search in the search unit 422 to determine whether or not the product ID acquired from the management apparatus 300 transmitted from the multifunction device 100 is registered in the shared DB 600, and whether or not the license file may be transmitted to the multifunction device 100. Judgment is made. If the license file transmission is permitted as a result of the determination, the license file created by the license file creation unit 424 is sent to the copying machine 100.

[Functional configuration example of application distribution server]
Next, a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the application distribution server 500 of FIG. 7 is shown. The application distribution server 500 includes a communication unit 501, a determination unit 502, an application storage unit 503, and a search unit 504. The communication unit 501 is a USB standard or IEEE 1394 standard interface (direct interface) for directly connecting to an external device for communication. The determination unit 502 determines whether or not the application can be distributed based on the license file acquired from the activation server 400 transmitted from the multifunction device 100. As a result of the determination, if distribution of the application is permitted, a search is performed based on the license file from the application stored in the application storage unit 503, and the application is distributed to the copier 100.

[Activation processing]
Next, the activation process will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. When there is an application acquisition request from the multifunction device 100 (st451), the management apparatus 300 adds the device ID indicating the device information of the multifunction device 100 transmitted in addition to the application acquisition request and the application information of the application to be acquired. The product ID is generated from the application ID indicating (st452). When the product ID is generated, the management apparatus 300 registers the product ID in the shared database 600 (st453).

  The management apparatus 300 transmits the generated product ID to the multifunction device 100 (st454). In this example, in order to permit activation, first, a product ID is sent to the activation server 400 (st455). Upon receiving the data, the activate server 400 searches the shared database 600 using the sent product ID and checks whether information has already been registered (st456). If it is not registered in shared database 600, it is determined that application acquisition is not permitted. If it is already registered, activation server 400 transmits a license file to copying machine 100 as permission for activation (st457).

  Thereafter, if the activation is permitted on each MFP 100 side, the installation process is continued, and if an error is detected, an error is notified and the process is interrupted. Receiving the license file, the multi-function device 100 transmits the license file to the application distribution server 500 (st458). Upon receiving the license file, the application distribution server 500 authenticates the license file and distributes the application (st459).

[Configuration example of installed list information]
FIG. 9 is a management table showing a configuration example of the installed list information 250 indicating information of the application 191 in FIG. The installed list information 250, which is a management table, includes an application identifier 251, a version identifier 252, a license necessity information identifier 253, and a license presence / absence information identifier 254, and is stored in the installed list information storage unit 132 in the storage unit 181. The

  The application identifier 251 is information indicating an application name such as a copy application or a FAX application. The version identifier 252 is information indicating a version name such as V1.0 or V1.1.

  The license necessity information identifier 253 is information for identifying whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license file in order to install each application. The license necessity information identifier 253 stores a license number (for example, each license file number 002314, 230018, etc.) in addition to information on whether to acquire a license file, and whether the license files are the same. Possess information to identify The license presence / absence information identifier 254 includes identification information for identifying whether or not the application already acquired in the multifunction peripheral 100 has a license and information on whether or not the application is a temporary license. The temporary license here refers to a license with some restrictions added, such as a license with a time limit as shown by 255 in FIG. 9 or a license with a count limit. As described above, the installed list information 250 indicates information of the application 191 that already exists in the multifunction peripheral 100.

[Configuration example of application list information]
Next, application list information 301 received by the multifunction peripheral 100 from the management apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The application list information 301 includes an application identifier 302, a version identifier 303, and a license necessity information identifier 304. The application identifier 302 is information indicating an application name such as a copy application or a FAX application. The version identifier 303 is information indicating version names such as V1.0 and V1.1. The license necessity information identifier 304 is information for identifying whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license file in order to install each application. The license necessity information identifier 304 stores a license number (for example, each license file number 002314, 230018, etc.) in addition to information on whether or not to acquire a license file, and identifies whether the license files are the same. I have information to do.

[Configuration example of comparison list information]
Next, the comparison list 350 created by the comparison list creation unit 205 will be described with reference to FIG. The comparison list 350 includes a check item 351, an application identifier 352, a version identifier 353, a license necessity information identifier 354, a license presence / absence information identifier 355, and an activation necessity identifier 356. The check item 351 is a check column for selecting an application to be acquired by the user from application items in the comparison list 350. The application identifier 352 is information indicating an application name such as a copy application or a FAX application.

  The comparison list creation unit creates a comparison list based on the judgment of the application information comparison unit. The determination of the application information comparison unit will be described in detail later. The version identifier 353 is information indicating version names such as V1.0 and V1.1. The license necessity information identifier 354 is information for identifying whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license file in order to install each application. The license necessity information identifier 354 stores a license number (for example, each license file number 002314, 230018, etc.) in addition to information on whether to acquire a license file, and identifies whether the license files are the same. I have information to do.

  The activation necessity identifier 356 is information indicating whether or not activation is required based on the license presence / absence information identifier 254 included in the installed list information 250 and the license necessity information identifier 304 included in the application list information 301. Is an identifier. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the installed list as shown in FIG. 9 for the application that requires the license necessity information identifier 304 included in the application list information 301 (see 305 of the copy application V1.1 in the embodiment). If the license presence / absence information identifier 254 included in the information 250 is present (see 255 of the copy application V1.0 in the embodiment), the activation necessity identifier 356 included in the comparison list information 350 is as shown in FIG. (Refer to 357 of the copy application V1.1 in the embodiment), it is assumed that the license has already been acquired and the activation necessity identifier 356 is displayed as “x”, and it is not necessary to activate.

  As described above, when an application having the same license is acquired, the activation necessity identifier 356 is x because it is not necessary to activate the application.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the installed list as shown in FIG. 9 for the application that requires the license necessity information identifier 304 included in the application list information 301 (see the copy application V2.0 306 in the embodiment). If the license presence / absence information identifier 254 included in the information 250 is present (see 255 of the copy application V1.0 in the embodiment), the activation necessity identifier 356 included in the comparison list information 350 is as shown in FIG. (Refer to 358 of the copy application V2.0 in the embodiment) It is determined that the license has not been acquired, and the activation necessity identifier 356 is displayed as ◯. Even if this is the same application, a separate license may be required for upgrading. Since the license necessity information is managed by the license number to determine whether or not the license file is the same, it is identified here that activation is necessary.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of control in the image forming apparatus management system configured as described above will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

  First, the multifunction peripheral 100 makes an application list request from the management apparatus 300 (st501). Upon receiving the application list request from the multifunction device 100, the management apparatus 300 transmits the application list to the multifunction device 100 (st502). The multifunction device 100 receives the application list transmitted from the management device 300.

  Next, the process (st503) will be described. The multi-function device 100 reads the installed list information table stored in the storage unit 207, compares it with the application information comparison unit 204, and the comparison list creation unit 205 displays the comparison information based on the compared information in FIG. A comparison list 350 as shown is created. The comparison list 350 created by the comparison list creation unit 205 is displayed on the display unit via the display processing unit 201. The application information comparison unit 204 controlled here will be described in detail later. When the application selected by the user from the application items selected in the comparison list 350 needs to be activated, the activation process is executed. Further, whether to execute the activation process is determined from the activation necessity identifier 356 included in the information of the comparison list 350.

  When activation is performed, the multifunction peripheral 100 transmits to the management apparatus 300 an apparatus ID that is unique information that identifies the multifunction peripheral 100 and an application ID that indicates information related to the application of the application item selected from the comparison list. Then, a product ID acquisition request is made (st504). In this example, the management apparatus 300 can mutually authenticate with the multifunction peripheral 100 to confirm that they are correct partners, and requests a product ID from the management apparatus 300 on the assumption that encrypted communication (SSL communication) is performed. By doing so, the product ID is passed. Therefore, when a product ID acquisition request is received from the multifunction device 100, a product ID is generated from the application ID of the application selected by the user and the device ID of the multifunction device 100 that has received the request (st505), and the management apparatus 300 shares the shared database. The registration is performed in 600 (st506).

  The registered management apparatus 300 transmits the product ID to the multi-function device 100 (st507). Thereafter, the product ID is passed to the plug-in management module 166 to make a plug-in request. Then, the plug-in management module 166 collects necessary information including the product ID to make a license file request to the activate server 400, sends the product ID to the activate server 400, requests a license file, and tries to acquire it (st508). ).

  Upon receiving the license file request, the activation server 400 authenticates the product ID to the shared database 600 based on the received product ID (st509). If this result is permitted, the activation server 400 sends a license to the MFP 100. The file is transmitted (st510). If the license file cannot be correctly acquired as a result of the license acquisition process, a process to notify that is performed. In this embodiment, since the product ID is provided by the management apparatus 300, the management apparatus 300 is notified of the activation failure using a communication protocol.

  The MFP 100 that has acquired the license file transmits the license file to the application distribution server 500 (st511), downloads the application from the application distribution server 500 (st512), executes the installation, adds the application, and installs the list 250. Register at. The multi-function device 100 transmits the newly registered installed list 250 to the management apparatus 300 (st513). The management apparatus 300 that has received the installed list 250 registers the installed list in the shared DB 600 (st514).

  Next, a case where it is determined that the activation process is unnecessary will be described. First, the multifunction peripheral 100 makes an application list request from the management apparatus 300 (st551). Upon receiving the application list request from the multifunction device 100, the management apparatus 300 transmits the application list to the multifunction device 100 (st552). The multifunction device 100 receives the application list transmitted from the management device 300. Next, the process (st553) will be described. The multi-function device 100 reads the installed list information table stored in the storage unit 207, compares it with the application information comparison unit 204, and the comparison list creation unit 205 displays the comparison information based on the compared information in FIG. A comparison list 350 as shown is created.

  The comparison list 350 created by the comparison list creation unit 205 is displayed on the display unit via the display processing unit 201. When the application selected by the user from the application items selected in the comparison list 350 needs to be activated, the activation process is executed. Further, whether to execute the activation process is determined from the activation necessity identifier 356 included in the information of the comparison list 350.

  As a result of the determination, if the application selected by the user from the selected application items has already acquired the license file, the activation process is not necessary and the activation process is omitted. The MFP 100 transmits the license file already acquired in the storage unit 207 to the application distribution server 500 (st554), downloads the application from the application distribution server 500 (st555), executes installation, adds the application, and is installed. Register in the list 250. The multi-function device 100 transmits the newly registered installed list 250 to the management apparatus 300 (st556). The management apparatus 300 that has received the installed list 250 registers the installed list in the shared DB 600 (st557).

  As described above, the multifunction peripheral 100 refers to the installed list information 250 management table based on the application list information 301 transmitted from the management apparatus 300 when downloading an application. Whether the license file is necessary or not depending on whether the application needs to be activated or not, the license necessity information identifier 304 included in the application list information 301, and the license presence / absence information identifier 254 stored in the multifunction device 100, To determine whether a license is required. Therefore, flexible license management can be performed for the use of the program.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment relating to the control of the application information comparison unit 204 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. First, a flow for performing control to display the application list information 301 to be acquired on the display unit of the multifunction peripheral 100 when the application list information 301 is received from the management apparatus 300 will be described.

  First, the multifunction peripheral 100 makes an application list request from the management apparatus 300 (st601). Next, the multifunction peripheral 100 receives the application list information 301 from the management apparatus 300 that has received the application list request (st602). Therefore, the multifunction peripheral 100 reads the installed list information table stored in the storage unit 207 (st603), and the application information comparison unit 204 compares the installed list information 250 with the application list information 301 (st604). The following processing is executed. As an actual process, the plug-in management module 166 refers to the installed list information table stored in the storage unit 181 as referred to in FIG. First, a search is performed based on the application identifier 251 included in the information of the application list, and it is determined whether or not there is a device that has the same application identifier as the existing application identifier in the MFP 100.

  When it is determined that they do not match (st605), they are to be displayed on the display unit (st609), and when they are determined that they match (st606), the version information identifier 252 included in the information of the application list. A search is performed based on the above, and it is determined whether or not there is a device in which the same application identifier as the existing version identifier matches in the MFP 100. If it is determined that they do not match (st607), they are to be displayed on the display unit (st609). If it is determined that they match (st608), the application has already been acquired, so The license presence / absence information identifier 254 included in the installed list information 250 is searched to determine whether a license file has been acquired.

  If the license file has not been acquired, it is an object to be displayed on the display unit (st609), and if the license file has been acquired (st610), it is deleted from the application items displayed on the display unit of each multifunction device 100 (st611). ). In addition, as a criterion for determining whether or not a license file has been acquired, the application information comparison unit 204 does not determine an application having a temporary license as a license file when the license file is a temporary license. Therefore, when a temporary license is acquired, it is a target to be displayed on the display unit.

  The application information comparison unit 204 controls the application items created by the comparison list creation unit 205 as described above. The comparison list creating unit 205 creates a comparison list based on the compared information, and displays the comparison list on the display unit via the display processing unit 201.

  Next, the flow of a determination process (activation necessity identifier 356) for determining whether or not each application of the application item to be displayed needs to be activated will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to obtain a license from the license necessity information identifier 304 included in the application list information 301 for each application of the selected application item (st650). If it is determined that a license needs to be acquired based on the license necessity information identifier 304 (st651), the application determines whether a license has already been acquired. The determination as to whether or not it has already been acquired is made based on the license presence / absence information identifier 254 included in the installed list information 250. If it is determined that the license has been acquired (st652), it is not necessary to perform the activation process, so that the activation process x is displayed on the display unit (st655). If the license has not been acquired (st653), it is determined that the activation process needs to be performed, and the activation process ○ is displayed on the display unit (st656). If it is determined that it is not necessary to acquire a license based on the license necessity information identifier 304 (st654), it is determined that it is not necessary to perform the activation process, and the activation process x is displayed on the display unit (st657).

  The above-described control is performed to control the determination result as to whether or not it is necessary to activate each application of the application items displayed on the display unit.

  Next, a flow when the user selects an application to be acquired from among the application items displayed on the display unit will be described with reference to FIG. First, the user selects an application to be acquired from the application items (st700). Next, it is determined whether the application has already been installed. In this determination, the application information comparison unit 204 compares the application identifier included in the installed list information 250 and the application list information 301 with the version information identifier, and determines whether or not they match. If the application has already been installed (st701), it is determined that the application has already been installed, the activation process (st703) is executed, and the process ends.

  If they do not match (st702), it is determined whether the selected application needs to be activated. This is determined based on whether the activation process ○ or the activation process x. If the activation process is ○ (st704), the activation process is executed (st705), and then the application is installed (st706) and the process is terminated. If the activation process is x (st707), application installation (st708) is performed and the process ends.

  By performing the control as described above, it is possible to determine whether it is a newly added application or an application that has already been acquired, and it is possible to determine whether to acquire a license. Flexible license management.

  In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus management apparatus system for remotely managing (billing) a multifunction peripheral having a communication function has been described as an example of the electronic apparatus according to the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the communication Of course, network home appliances, vending machines, medical equipment, power supply devices, air conditioning systems, gas, water, electricity, etc. with communication functions as well as image forming device management device systems that remotely manage image forming devices other than multifunction devices with functions The present invention is applicable to a remote management system that remotely manages various electronic devices having a communication function, including a weighing system, AV equipment, amusement equipment, and a computer that can be connected to a network.

[Program related to this invention]
This program is stored in a computer (CPU) that controls an electronic device, an installation execution unit, a notification information reception unit, a product ID transmission unit, a license necessity information reception unit, a license request transmission unit, a license acquisition unit, an application related to the present invention. This is a program for realizing functions as an acquisition unit and an initial value setting unit, and by causing a computer to execute such a program, the above-described effects can be obtained.

  Such a program may be stored in a storage unit such as a ROM provided in the electronic device from the beginning, a nonvolatile memory (flash ROM, EEPROM, etc.), or an HDD (hard disk device), but is a recording medium. Record on a CD-ROM or a non-volatile recording medium (memory) such as a memory card, flexible disk, MO, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD + R, DVD + RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, or DVD-RAM. It can also be provided. Each program described above can be executed by installing a program recorded in the recording medium in an electronic device and causing the CPU to execute the program, or by causing the CPU to read and execute the program from the recording medium. Furthermore, it is possible to download and execute an external device that is connected to a network and includes a recording medium that records the program, or an external device that stores the program in the storage unit.

  As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus, a license management method, and a license management program capable of performing flexible license management for use of a program.

100 MFP 101 MFP 102 MFP 103 MFP 110 Controller Board 111 CPU
112 ASIC
113 SDRAM
114 Flash memory 115 HDD
116 Memory for remote management system 117 NIC
118 Modem 120 Operation panel 121 FCU
122 USB I / F
123 IEEE1394 ・ I / F
124 Plotter / scanner engine 125 Peripheral device 151 Copy application 152 Fax application 153 Printer application 154 Scanner application 155 Net file application 156 Web application 157, 158 External application 160 OCS
161 ECS
162 MCS
163 NCS
164 FCS
165 SCS
166 Plug-in management module 170 SRM
171 General-purpose OS
181 Storage unit 182 Other hardware resources 190 Platform 191 Application 200 Network 201 Display processing unit 202 Installation processing unit 203 Application download unit 204 Application information comparison unit 205 Comparison list creation unit 206 Remote management unit 207 Storage unit 208 Application storage unit 209 Version Storage unit 210 License presence / absence information storage unit 211 License necessity information storage unit 250 Installed list information 251 Application identifier 252 Version identifier 253 License necessity information identifier 254 License presence / absence information identifier 300 Management device 301 Application list information 302 Application identifier 303 Version identifier 304 License Necessary Information Identifier 350 Ratio List 351 Check item 352 Application identifier 353 Version identifier 354 License necessity information identifier 355 License necessity information identifier 356 Activation necessity identifier 400 Activate server 401 Communication unit 402 Device information collection unit 403 Determination unit 405 Product ID generation unit 406 Registration unit 407 Storage Unit 421 communication unit 422 search unit 423 determination unit 424 license file creation unit 500 application distribution server 501 communication unit 502 determination unit 503 application storage unit 504 search unit 600 shared database 700 application providing system

JP 2004-139572 A

Claims (6)

In a network device that acquires the application from the application providing system that provides the application via the network,
The network device has a storage unit that stores installed list information indicating information of applications that have already been acquired by the device,
A first determination unit that determines whether or not an application has already been acquired based on application list information received from the application providing system and installed list information indicating information of an application that has already been acquired by the device;
A second determination unit that determines whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license of the application when the first determination unit determines that the application is not acquired;
A network apparatus comprising:   2. The network device according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying a list for acquiring applications based on the determination results of the first determination unit and the second determination unit. The application list information includes license necessity information indicating whether a license is necessary,
The second determination unit, when determining that the license is not acquired by the first determination unit, determines whether it is necessary to acquire a license based on the license necessity information. Item 3. The network device according to Item 1 or 2. In a method of acquiring the application using a network device that acquires the application from a application providing system that provides the application via a network,
A storage step of storing installed list information indicating information of an application that has already been acquired by the network device;
A first determination step of determining whether or not an application has already been acquired based on the application list information received from the application providing system and installed list information indicating information of an application that has already been acquired by the own device; ,
A second determination step of determining whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license of the application when it is determined in the first determination step that the application has not been acquired;
An application acquisition method comprising:   5. The application acquisition method according to claim 4, further comprising a display step of displaying an application to be acquired on a display unit based on the determination results of the first determination step and the second determination step. The application list information includes license necessity information indicating whether a license is necessary,
The second determination step determines whether or not it is necessary to acquire a license based on the license necessity information when it is determined that the license is not acquired in the first determination step. Item 6. The application acquisition method according to Item 4 or 5.

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