JP2011164790A - License management system, license management apparatus, information processing apparatus, license issue processing method, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the occurrence of useless processing caused by the occurrence of a trouble after receiving a license issue request and installing software. <P>SOLUTION: A license management server 300 includes: an ID extraction part 314 which extracts ID of a target external application and an ID list of existing external applications from the issue request signal when an input/output processing part 311 inputs a license issue request signal; a license issue propriety determination part 315 which determines whether or not the license of the target external application can be issued on the basis of the ID extracted by the ID extraction part 314 and an application coexistence exclusive relation registration table; a license issue part 316 which issues license information corresponding to the target external application when the license issue propriety determination part 315 determines that the license can be issued; and a response signal generation part 317 for generating a response signal including an issue propriety determination result from the license issue propriety determination part 315. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a license issuance processing technique.

  Conventionally, a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to an internal network such as a LAN installed in the same organization such as a company, a school, and a home are connected via an external network such as the Internet. A device management system including a management device that performs maintenance management is known.

  In an image forming apparatus of this type of device management system, software that connects application software (also referred to as a plug-in) (hereinafter simply referred to as “app”) that extends the functions of the image forming apparatus via an external network. It can be downloaded from a distribution server and installed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Specifically, when an application is installed in an image forming apparatus in this type of device management system, for example, a user in the same organization makes a purchase contract for a desired application at a portal sales site or the like, whereby the management apparatus When the application purchase information based on the purchase contract is input, the management device acts as an intermediary device that mediates the processing between the image forming device and the external device (management device, software distribution server, license management server, etc.). On the other hand, an installation request signal requesting execution of installation of the purchased application (hereinafter referred to as “target application”) is transmitted.

  Then, the mediation apparatus that has received the installation request signal transmits a license issuance request signal for requesting issuance of a license to the license management server. Subsequently, the license management server that has received the license issuance request signal generates (issues) license information including a license key corresponding to the target application and transmits the license information to the mediation apparatus.

  Then, the mediation apparatus that has received the license information transmits an application acquisition request signal for requesting acquisition of the target application to the software distribution server. Subsequently, the software distribution server that has received the application acquisition request signal generates application information including the target application and transmits it to the mediation apparatus.

  Then, the mediation device that has received the application information installs a request signal (application information, license information) that requests the image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “target image forming apparatus”) that installs the target application to install the target application. Etc.). As a result, the target image forming apparatus executes installation of the target application.

  However, in the conventional device management system, after installing the target application in the target image forming apparatus, various inconveniences as described below have occurred.

  Specifically, the version of another application essential for using the target application (that is, an existing application already installed in the target image forming apparatus) is an old version, or the target application is used. There are inconveniences such as not being able to use the target app after installation because the other required apps are not installed or the hardware required to use the target app is not installed. .

  In addition, when the target application after installation is used, there are problems such as hindering the execution of other functions by other applications or hindering the operation of hardware that has already been installed.

  Further, due to the occurrence of the inconvenience, after the license management server issues the license information, the process until the target application is installed in the target image forming apparatus, that is, the process in which the mediation apparatus downloads the target application from the software distribution server, There are inconveniences such as the processing that the mediation device makes a request to install the target app to the target image forming device and the processing that the target image forming device installs the target app, and the target app installed in the target image forming device. There were also inconveniences such as the process of uninstalling.

  In particular, in this type of device management system, an application that is installed in each of a plurality of image forming apparatuses in order to change the functions of the plurality of image forming apparatuses at the same time according to the usage form (purpose) of the user of the same organization. May be changed at the same time. In such a case, the inconvenience as described above appears remarkably.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when a new application is installed in the image forming apparatus, the newly installed application cannot be used or a newly installed application is not used. License management system that prevents inconveniences such as hindering the execution of functions of other apps when used, and prevents unnecessary processing from occurring. An object of the present invention is to provide a license management device, an information processing device, a license issuance processing method, a program, and a storage medium.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes a management unit that manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an image forming apparatus connected via a network; Storage means for storing coexistence exclusive relation information indicating coexistence exclusive relations between multiple types of software, receiving means for receiving a license issuance request signal, and software to be installed from the issuance request signal received by the receiving means Extraction means for extracting identification information and identification information of existing software already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed, and based on the identification information extracted by the extraction means and the coexistence exclusive relationship information, Determining means for determining whether or not to issue a license for the software; and If it is determined by the means that the license can be issued, the issuing means for issuing the license information corresponding to the installation target software based on the license information managed by the management means, and the determination result on whether the issue is possible by the determining means Transmitting means for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including the above to the processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal.

  According to the present invention, when the license management apparatus (license management server) receives the license issuance request signal and installs the target software in the image forming apparatus to be installed, the newly installed application is used. If it is not possible to use the newly installed app, it is determined whether there is a possibility of inconvenience such as hindering the function execution of other apps, and inconvenience may occur In this case, since the license is not issued, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience from occurring, thereby preventing unnecessary processing from occurring.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a device management system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the multifunction machine. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a functional configuration of the multifunction machine. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining a detailed configuration of the application installation control service. FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the mediation apparatus. FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining a functional configuration of the mediation apparatus. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the application installation management module. FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the license management server. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram for explaining the functional configuration of the license management server. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the application coexistence exclusive relationship registration table. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing flow when a user purchases an external application in the device management system. FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the license issuance determination process of the license management server in the sequence of FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the app installability determination process of the mediation apparatus in the sequence of FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a coexistence exclusion relationship registration table of applications and hardware configurations. FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the license issuance determination process of the license management server in the sequence of FIG. 11 when the table shown in FIG. 14 is used.

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

(System configuration)
First, various configurations of the device management system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a device management system 1 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the device management system 1 includes an intermediary device 200, a license management server (license management device) 300, an application management server 400, a central management device 500, a Web server 600, etc. Connected through.

  Further, a firewall 90 is provided between the intermediary device 200 and the external network 80. The intermediary device 200 includes a plurality of multifunction devices (image forming devices) (multifunction devices (1) 100-1,... Multi-function machine (N) 100-N) (N: any integer greater than or equal to 2) (hereinafter, a non-specific multi-function machine is simply referred to as multi-function machine 100) is different from the external network 80 (Local Area Network). ) Or other network.

  Here, the firewall 90 monitors the data flowing on the boundary with the outside so as to prevent fraud by a third party who has entered the mediation apparatus 200 through an external network such as the Internet, and detects and blocks unauthorized access. Is what you do.

  An MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) (MFP) 100 has at least two functions of a printer function, a copy function, a facsimile function, a scanner function, and the like, and is an application downloaded from the application management server 400 Software (hereinafter simply referred to as “external application”) (see FIG. 3) can be installed, and is communicably connected to the intermediary device 200 via an internal network such as a LAN. The plurality of multifunction peripherals 100-1,..., 100-N are installed under the management of the same organization such as a company, a school, and a home.

  In addition, when the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment receives an acquisition request for scheduled information from the intermediary device 200, the MFP 100 includes supply status information, jam information, counter information, version information, error information, device setting information, and the like. The setting information of the external application including counter information, parameter information, and the like regarding the external application 118 (see FIG. 3) newly added to 100 is transmitted to the intermediary device 200 as regular information.

  The mediation device 200 is a device that mediates processing performed between the license management server 300, the application management server 400, the central management device 500, the Web server 600, and the like and each multifunction device 100.

  In addition, the mediation apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment transmits the above-described scheduled information transmission request to the multifunction device 100 at regular time intervals in units of methods, and is transmitted from the multifunction device 100 in response to the transmission request. Receiving the scheduled information and transmitting it to the central management device 500.

  The license management server 300 is a device that manages license (use rights) data including a license key of an external application that is downloaded from the application management server 400 and installed in the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The application management server 400 is a device that manages external applications installed in the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The central management device 500 is a server device installed at the manufacturer of the multifunction device 100 or a service center of a service provider company, and is a device that remotely manages the multifunction device 100 that is a management target via the mediation device 200.

  The central management apparatus 500 has a Web UI screen display function for displaying a screen (Web UI) serving as a user interface on a Web page. By connecting to an operation terminal, the central management device 500 can be managed from the Web UI. It is possible to search information such as collecting information and checking error status.

  The Web server 600 is a server device having a portal sales site for software such as applications. That is, a user can purchase a desired external application by accessing the portal sales site of the Web server 600 from a user terminal 700 such as a personal computer (see FIG. 11), the multifunction peripheral 100, or the like. Yes.

  In order to realize remote management, the device management system 1 according to the present embodiment has a function of transmitting and receiving processing requests and responses to methods of applications to be mounted on each device by RPC (Remote Procedure Call). In order to implement RPC, protocols such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) can be used.

  Further, in the above connection environment, since the firewall 90 is provided between the mediation device 200 and the network 80, there is a problem that the central management device 500 is repelled by the firewall 90 when transmitting a request to the mediation device 200. . For this reason, the characteristic that the HTTP response of the firewall 90 can pass is used. In other words, a communication procedure is employed in which the intermediary device 200 periodically polls the central management device 500 and the central management device 500 places a request on the polling HTTP response.

  Therefore, in the following description, when a request is transmitted from the central management device 500 to the mediation device 200, all requests are sent with an HTTP response after periodic polling from the mediation device 200. .

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-function device 100 is configured mainly by a controller 10, an operation display unit 20, and an engine unit (Engine) 60, and the controller 10 and the engine unit 60 are PCI (Peripheral Component Interface). The controller 10 and the operation display unit 20 are connected via a predetermined signal line.

  The controller 10 controls the entire MFP 100, that is, various processes such as a drawing process, a communication process, and an operation input and display process for the operation display unit 20. In the present embodiment, the CPU 11 and the system Memory (MEM-P) 12, North Bridge (NB) 13, South Bridge (SB) 14, ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 16, Local Memory (MEM-C) 17, Hard Disk Device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 103 Etc.

  The North Bridge (NB) 13 and the ASIC 16 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 15, and the MEM-P 12 has a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12b. ing.

  The CPU 11 controls the entire multifunction peripheral 100 in an integrated manner, and is connected to other devices via a chip set including the MEM-P 12, the NB 13, and the SB 14.

  The MEM-P 12 is a system memory used as a memory for storing and developing programs and data, a memory for drawing a printer, and the like. The ROM 12a is a read-only memory used as a memory for storing programs and data, and the RAM 12b is a write / read memory used as a memory for developing programs and data, a drawing memory for printers, and the like. It is memory.

  The NB 13 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 11 to the MEM-P 12, SB 14, ASIC 16, and the like, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 12, a PCI master, and an AP target.

  The SB 14 is a bridge for connecting the NB 13 to a PCI device, a peripheral device, and the like. The SB 14 is connected to the NB 13 via a PCI bus, and a network interface (I / F) unit and the like are also connected to the PCI bus.

  The AGP 15 is a graphics accelerator card bus interface that has been proposed to speed up graphics processing, and makes the graphics accelerator card faster by directly accessing the MEM-P 12 with high throughput.

  The ASIC 16 is an integrated circuit (IC) for image processing having hardware elements for image processing, and has a role of a bridge for connecting the AGP 15, the PCI bus, the HDD 103, and the MEM-C 17.

  The ASIC 16 includes a PCI target, an AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of the ASIC 16, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 17, and a plurality of pieces of image data that are rotated by hardware logic. It consists of a DMA unit that performs data transfer between the DMAC (Direct Memory Access Controller) and the engine unit 60 via the PCI bus.

  Further, the ASIC 16 is connected with an FCU (Facsimile Control Unit) 30, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 40, and an IEEE 1394 (the Institute of Electrical 50 display unit) together with a PCI bus. 20 is connected via a signal line.

  The MEM-C 17 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer, a code buffer, or the like.

  A hard disk device (HDD) 103 is a storage for storing image data, programs, font data, forms, and the like.

  The operation display unit 20 is a user interface for displaying operation methods for using various functions of the multifunction peripheral 100 and receiving operation inputs from the user.

  The engine unit 60 is a printer engine that can be connected to a PCI bus, and is, for example, a monochrome plotter, a 1-drum color plotter, a 4-drum color plotter, a scanner, or a fax unit. The engine unit 60 includes an image processing part such as error diffusion and gamma conversion in addition to a so-called engine part such as a plotter.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the functional configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the MFP 100 includes a black and white laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, a scanner or fax unit, a hard disk device (HDD) 103, and other memory and network interfaces. It has hardware as the above-described engine unit 60 such as the hardware resource 104 and the communication I / F 105, and also has a software group 110 including a platform 120 and an application 130.

  The platform 120 manages the general-purpose OS 121, one or a plurality of hardware resources, arbitrates an acquisition request from the control service, and interprets a processing request from an application to obtain a hardware resource. Various control services (122, 124 to 129, 131, etc.) that generate a request for acquisition of The platform 120 has an application program interface (API) that enables a processing request to be received from the application 130 using a predefined function.

  Here, the general-purpose OS 121 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark), and executes each software of the platform 120 and the application 130 in parallel as processes.

  In addition, the above-described control services include SCS (system control service) 122, ECS (engine control service) 124, MCS (memory control service) 125, OCS (operation panel control service) 126, FCS (fax control service) 127, An NCS (network control service) 128, an NRS (new remote service) 129, an application installation control service 131, and the like are included.

  The process of the SCS 122 performs application management, operation unit control, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.

  The process of the SRM 123 performs system control and resource management together with the SCS 122. The process of the SRM 123 includes a scanner unit, a printer unit and other engines, a memory, an HDD file, and a host I / O (centro I / F, network I / F, IEEE 1394 I / F, R232C I / F, etc.) hardware. Arbitration is performed according to requests from higher layers that use resources, and execution control is performed.

  More specifically, the SRM 123 determines whether the requested hardware resource is available, that is, whether the requested hardware resource is not used by another request. A process for notifying the upper layer that it can be used is executed. The SRM 123 performs hardware resource usage scheduling in response to a request from an upper layer, and directly executes requested contents such as paper conveyance and image forming operation, memory allocation, file generation, and the like by the printer engine.

  The process of the ECS 124 controls the engine unit 60 such as a black and white laser printer (B & W LP) 101, a color laser printer (Color LP) 102, and other hardware resources 104.

  The process of the MCS 125 performs acquisition and release of an image memory, use of a hard disk device (HDD) 103, compression and decompression of image data, and the like.

  The process of the OCS 126 controls the operation display unit (operation panel) 20 (see FIG. 2) serving as information transmission means between the operator (user) and the main body control.

  More specifically, the process of the OCS 126 acquires a key press or touch operation from the operation display unit 20 as a key event, transmits a key event function corresponding to the acquired key to the SCS 122, and an application 130, or a drawing function for drawing and outputting various screens to the operation display unit 20 in response to a request from the various control services, and a function for controlling the operation display unit 20 and the like are composed of pre-registered OCS library parts. . Note that the OCS library is mounted linked to each module of the application 130 and the control service. The OCS 126 may be configured to operate as a process, or the OCS 126 may be configured as an OCS library.

  The process of FCS127 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, fusion transmission / reception, etc. An API for performing the above is provided.

  The NCS 128 process provides a service that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O. More specifically, the data received from the network side by each protocol is distributed to each application. It mediates when sending data from the application to the network side.

  The NRS 129 is an application that implements functions related to remote management via the network and a scheduler function, such as data conversion when data is transmitted and received via the network.

  The application installation control service 131 executes processing related to installation of application software used in the multifunction peripheral 100. Specifically, the application installation control service 131 executes installation processing of the external application 118 and also installs the installed external application 118. Execute the process to acquire the license. In response to a request for transmission of scheduled information from the intermediary device 200, the scheduled information stored in the storage unit of the multifunction peripheral 100 is acquired and transmitted to the mediation device 200.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining a detailed configuration of the application installation control service 131.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the application installation control service 131 includes an installation control unit 131a, a license acquisition unit 131b, a scheduled information acquisition unit 131c, a data reception unit 131d, a data transmission unit 131e, and the like.

  Here, the installation control unit 131a installs the external application 118 received via the mediation apparatus 200 in the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The license acquisition unit 131b acquires the license of the corresponding external application 118 based on the license information received via the mediation apparatus 200.

  When the scheduled information acquisition unit 131c receives a transmission request for scheduled information from the intermediary device 200 at regular intervals, the supply information, jam information, counter information, and version information of the MFP 100 stored in the RAM 12b of the MFP 100 , Information on device status such as error information and device setting information is acquired. In addition, the scheduled information acquisition unit 131c refers to the transmission information list of the external application 118 describing the setting information to be transmitted for remote management in the setting information of the external application 118, and is stored in the external application memory area. The setting information of the external application 118 is acquired.

  The data receiving unit 131d receives a transmission request for scheduled information transmitted from the mediation apparatus 200 at regular intervals.

  The data transmission unit 131e transmits, to the mediation apparatus 200, scheduled information including information on the device state acquired by the management information acquisition unit 131c and setting information of the external application 118.

  Note that each unit (installation control unit 131a, license acquisition unit 131b, management information acquisition unit 131c, data reception unit 131d, data transmission unit 131e, etc.) of the above-described application installation control service 131 has a CPU (processor) 11 in the ROM 12a or HDD 103. This is realized by expanding and executing a program stored in the RAM 12b on the RAM 12b.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the application 130 includes a printer application 111 that is a printer application having a page description language (PDL), PCL, and postscript (PS), a copy application 112 that is a copy application, and a facsimile application. A fax application 113, a scanner application 114 as a scanner application, a network file application 115 as a network file application, a process inspection application 116 as a process inspection application, and a client such as a PC connected to the Internet. Web application 117 that operates as a Web server (http server) for the terminal and displays various screens on a Web browser that operates on the client terminal, and expands the functions And an external application 118 for.

  Each process of the application 130 and each process of the control service realize user services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles while performing inter-process communication by calling functions, sending return values thereof, and sending and receiving messages. is doing.

  As described above, the MFP 100 according to the first embodiment includes a plurality of applications 130 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 130. For this reason, a large number of these processes perform a parallel operation and a parallel operation of threads to perform inter-process communication with each other. User services related to image forming processing such as copying, printers, scanners, and facsimiles are provided.

  Further, the multifunction device 100 can be equipped with an external application 118 developed by a third party such as a customer of the multifunction device 100 or a third vendor in an application layer above the control service layer. In the example of FIG. 3, as the external application 118, a plurality of external applications (1) 118-1,..., External application (M) 118-M (M: an arbitrary integer equal to or greater than 2) (hereinafter, specified) The external application that is not called is simply referred to as the external application 118). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to mount only one external application.

  In the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of application 130 processes and a plurality of control service processes are operating. However, each of the application 130 and the control service process may have a single configuration. It is. Each application 130 can be added or deleted for each application. That is, as described above, the external application 118 can be installed and can be uninstalled.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the mediation apparatus 200.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the mediation apparatus 200 has a hardware configuration using a normal computer. For example, a central processing unit (CPU) 201, a real time clock (RTC) 202, and a hard disk (HDD). (Drive) 203, ROM (Read Only Memory) 204, RAM (Random Access Memory) 205, external storage device 206, NIC (Network Interface Card) 207, display device 208, and input device 209. Yes. Note that the components 201 to 209 are connected to each other via a bus 210.

  Here, the CPU 201 controls the intermediary device 200 in an integrated manner. The RTC 202 is an internal clock that includes an oscillator, a frequency divider, and the like and generates a clock signal. The HDD 203 and the ROM 204 are non-volatile storage media that store various programs executed by the mediation apparatus 200. The RAM 205 maintains various data when executing various programs stored in the ROM 204. The external storage device 206 is a device that performs read / write processing on an external recording medium such as a CD-RW (Compact Disk Rewriteable). The NIC 207 is an interface that connects the MFP 100 via an internal network and external devices (such as the license management server 300, the application management server 400, and the central management device 500) via the external network 80. The display device 208 is a display device using a liquid crystal panel or the like. The input device 209 is an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining a functional configuration of the mediation apparatus 200.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the mediation apparatus 200 includes three layers: an application layer 270, a service layer 280, and a protocol layer 290.

  The application layer 270 includes a device control module 271 and an NRS function module group 272.

  The device control module 271 is a program for performing information management, communication settings, and the like of the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The NRS function module group 272 collects counters of the MFP 100, that is, collection of scheduled information, changes in settings of the MFP 100, error status checks of the MFP 100, counter notifications to the central management device 500, and abnormalities. This is a program that includes each method such as notification and causes the multifunction peripheral 100 to perform an operation in accordance with a request from the central management apparatus 500. Further, the NRS function module group 272 of this embodiment includes an application installation management module 273.

  The service layer 280 includes a security service 281, a communication service 282, and a scheduler service 283.

  The security service 281 is a module that generates and executes a job for preventing unauthorized leakage of internal information or the like to the outside.

  The communication service 282 is a module that realizes transmission / reception of information between the mediation device 200 and the multifunction peripheral 100 and transmission / reception of information between the mediation device 200 and the central management device 500.

  The scheduler service 283 is a module that performs processing of each method group based on predetermined set time information.

  The protocol layer 290 is a module that generates and executes a job for transmitting / receiving information using a protocol corresponding to an information transmission / reception target.

  FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the application installation management module 273.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the application installation management module 273 includes an input / output processing unit 273a, a scheduled management unit 273b, a device state management unit 273c, a license acquisition processing unit 273d, an application acquisition processing unit 273e, an installation request unit 273f, An installation request unit 273g and the like are included.

  Here, the input / output processing unit 273a includes a data receiving unit 273a-1 and a data transmitting / receiving unit 273a-2.

  The data receiving unit 273a-1 receives scheduled information including information (version information) indicating the version of the external application 118 from each multifunction device 100, receives an installation request from the central management device 500, and the license management server. A response signal (to be described later) is received from 300 or application information is received from the application management server 400.

  The data transmission unit 273a-2 transmits the transmission request for the scheduled information input from the device state management unit 273c to each multifunction device 100, and centralizes the scheduled information from each multifunction device 100 received by the data reception unit 273a-1. It transmits to the management apparatus 500. The data transmission unit 273a-2 transmits a license issuance request to the license management server 300, transmits an application acquisition request to the application management server 400, and acquires the external application 118 acquired from the application management server 400 and the license. An installation request including the license information acquired from the management server 300 is transmitted to the multifunction device 100.

  The timed management unit 273b determines whether the time for transmitting the timed information acquisition request to the multi-function peripheral 100 by the scheduler or the like has been reached, that is, whether the time for notification of the timed information to the central management device 500 has been reached. Determine.

  When the device state management unit 273c receives a notification that the fixed time management unit 273b has reached the fixed time, that is, a fixed time has elapsed, the device state management unit 273c transmits the fixed time information to the multi-function device 100 to the data transmission unit 273a-2 described later. Output the request. In addition, the device state management unit 273c searches for the external application 118 installed in the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The license acquisition processing unit 273d is already installed in the installation target external application (hereinafter simply referred to as “target external application”) 118 and the installation target multifunction peripheral (hereinafter simply referred to as “target multifunction peripheral”) 100. The license issuance request signal including the ID list of the existing external application 118 is generated and output to the data transmission unit 273a-2, and the response signal received by the data reception unit 273a-1 is input.

  Further, the license acquisition processing unit 273d recognizes whether or not the license information is issued based on the determination result of whether or not the license is issued included in the input response signal. As a result of the recognition, when it is recognized that the license cannot be issued, a notification signal for notifying that the license is not issued is output to the application acquisition processing unit 273e described later. On the other hand, if it is recognized as a result of recognition that the license can be issued, the license information is acquired from the input response signal, and a notification signal for notifying that the license is issued is output to the application acquisition processing unit 273e.

  The application acquisition processing unit 273e recognizes whether or not the application can be installed based on the notification signal input from the license acquisition processing unit 273d. That is, when a notification signal for notifying that a license is not issued is input from the license acquisition processing unit 273d, an installation disapproval notification signal for the central management device 500 to be notified is generated and output to the data transmission unit 273a-2. On the other hand, when a notification signal for notifying that the license is issued is input from the license acquisition processing unit 273d, an application acquisition request signal for the application management server 400 is generated and output to the data transmission unit 273a-2. In addition, the application acquisition processing unit 273e acquires application information including the external application 118 transmitted from the application management server 400 as a response to the application acquisition request signal via the data reception unit 273a-1.

  When the application acquisition processing unit 273e acquires the application information, the installation request unit 273f receives the application information including the external application 118 acquired by the application acquisition processing unit 273e and the license information acquired by the license acquisition processing unit 273d. An installation request signal for the MFP 100 to be installed is generated and output to the data transmission unit 273a-2.

  When the application uninstall request signal is input via the input / output processing unit 273a, the uninstall request unit 273g generates an uninstall request signal for the MFP 100 to be uninstalled and sends it to the data transmission unit 273a-2. Output.

  Note that each unit of the application installation management module 273 (input / output processing unit 273a, scheduled management unit 273b, device state management unit 273c, license acquisition processing unit 273d, application acquisition processing unit 273e, installation request unit 273f, uninstallation request unit 273g, etc. ) Is realized by a CPU (processor) 201 expanding and executing a program stored in the HDD 203 or the ROM 204 on the RAM 205.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the license management server 300.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the license management server 300 is mainly configured by a control unit 301, a storage unit 302, an input / output unit 303, and a network I / F 304. Each component part is connected to each other via a bus 305.

  Here, the control unit 301 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 301a, a read only memory (ROM) 301b, a random access memory (RAM) 301c, and the like, and performs overall control of the license management server 300.

  The storage unit 302 stores various types of information, and includes a parameter storage area 302a and a coexistence exclusive relationship storage area 302b. Here, the parameter storage area 302a stores various management parameters, a management program executed by the license management server 300, data input by an operator, and the like. In addition, the coexistence exclusive relationship storage area 302b stores an application coexistence exclusive relationship registration table (see FIG. 10) in which coexistence exclusive relationship data indicating coexistence exclusive relationships between a plurality of types of external applications 118 installed in the multifunction peripheral 100 is registered. Is done.

  The input / output unit 303 is an interface for inputting various data by an operator configured by a keyboard, a mouse, a display, and the like.

  The network I / F 304 is an interface for communication connection with the network 80.

  FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram for explaining a functional configuration of the license management server 300.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the license management server 300 includes an input / output processing unit (input / output unit) 311, a license management unit (management unit) 312, a coexistence exclusive relation data storage unit (storage unit) 313, an ID extraction unit (extraction). Means) 314, a license issuance determination unit (determination unit) 315, a license issuance unit (issuing unit) 316, a response signal generation unit (generation unit) 317, an issuance impossible cause identification unit (identification unit) 318, and the like. .

  Here, the input / output processing unit 311 performs signal input / output processing, and includes a data reception unit 311a and a data transmission unit 311b. Specifically, in the input / output processing unit 311, the data reception unit 311 a receives the license issuance request signal from the mediation apparatus 200, and outputs the received license issuance request signal to the license issuance determination unit 315. In the input / output processing unit 311, the data transmission unit 311 b transmits a response signal to the received license issuance request signal.

  The license management unit 312 manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of external applications 118 installed in the multifunction peripheral 100.

  The coexistence exclusive relationship data storage unit 313 is realized in the coexistence exclusive relationship storage area 302b, and an application coexistence exclusive relationship in which coexistence exclusive relationship data indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between a plurality of types of external applications 118 installed in the multifunction peripheral 100 is registered. A registration table (see FIG. 10) is stored.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the application coexistence exclusive relationship registration table T1 (hereinafter simply referred to as “table T1”).

  As shown in FIG. 10, the table T1 includes items such as names, IDs, versions, codes indicating exclusive relationships, and the like of a plurality of types of external applications 118 installed in the multifunction peripheral 100.

  Here, it is shown that the external applications 118 having the same code registered in the item of the code of exclusive relationship have an exclusive relationship.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 10, the application name in which the code “A” is registered in the code item of the exclusive relationship is “application 1”, the version is “1.1”, and the application name is The “application 2” indicates that the external application 118 whose version is “1.1” has an exclusive relationship with each other.

  In addition, in the item of the code of the exclusive relationship, the application name in which the code “B” is registered is “application 1”, the version is “1.1”, the application name is “application 2”, The external application 118 whose version is “1.2” is in an exclusive relationship with each other.

  Here, the external application in the exclusive relationship is an external application in a relationship that may interfere with function execution when installed in the multifunction device 100 and used.

  Returning to FIG. 9, when the input / output processing unit 311 inputs a license issuance request signal, the ID extraction unit 314 receives the ID of the target external application 118 from the issuance request signal and the existing multi-function device 100 already installed. The ID list of the external application 118 is extracted.

  When the license issuance determination unit 315 receives the license issuance request signal from the signal receiving unit 311a, the application ID included in the input license issuance request signal and the table T1 (see FIG. 10) stored in the storage unit 302 are stored. Based on the above, it is determined whether or not a license for an application installed in the multifunction peripheral 100 can be issued, that is, whether or not a license can be issued. Details of the determination process of the license issuance determination unit 315 will be described later.

  Based on the ID extracted by the ID extraction unit 314 and the table T1 stored in the coexistence exclusion relationship data storage unit 313, the license issuance determination unit 315 determines whether the license for the target external application 118 can be issued.

  More specifically, the license issuance determination unit 315 determines whether the external application 118 that has an exclusive relationship with the target external application 118 is based on the ID of the target external application 118 extracted by the ID extraction unit 314 and the table T1. A first determination is made to determine whether or not there is. In addition, when it is determined by the first determination that there is an external application 118 having an exclusive relationship, the license issuance determination unit 315 has an ID of the external application 118 having the exclusive relationship in the ID list of the existing external application 118. A second determination is made to determine whether or not there is a match. Further, when it is determined that there is a match according to the second determination, the license issuance determination unit 315 performs a third determination that determines that the license is not issued, and on the other hand, the license issuance determination unit 315 determines that there is a match according to the second determination. If it is determined that there is no license, a fourth determination is made to determine that the license issuable.

  The license issuing unit 316 issues license information corresponding to the target external application 118 based on the license information managed by the license management unit 312 when the license issuance determination unit 315 determines that the license can be issued.

  The response signal generation unit 317 generates a response signal with respect to the issue request signal including the determination result of the license issuance determination unit 315.

  More specifically, the response signal generation unit 317 generates a response signal including information indicating that the license is not issued when the license issuance determination unit 315 determines that the license is not issued. When the unit 315 determines that the license can be issued, a response signal including information indicating that the license can be issued and the license information issued by the license issuing unit 316 is generated.

  Further, the response signal generation unit 317 includes the issue impossible cause information generated by the issue impossible cause specifying unit 318 described later in the response signal.

  When the license issuance determination unit 315 determines that the license issuance is impossible, the issuance impossible cause identifying unit 318 identifies the cause of issuance impossible based on the table T1 and issues the unissueable cause information indicating the specified issuance impossible reason. Is generated.

  More specifically, the issuance impossible cause identification unit 318 refers to the table T1, and identifies the ID of the target external application 118, the ID list of the existing external application 118 already installed in the target MFP 100, and the table. When it is determined that the cause of license issuance can be removed by upgrading the existing external application 118 already installed in the target MFP 100 based on the code indicating the exclusive relationship registered in T1 The issuance impossible cause information indicating that the existing external application 118 needs to be upgraded is generated.

  Further, the issuance impossible cause identification unit 318 refers to the table T1, and is registered in the ID of the target external application 118, the ID list of the existing external application 118 already installed in the target MFP 100, and the table T1. If it is determined that it is possible to remove the cause of non-issuance by changing the combination of a plurality of types of external applications 118 installed in the target multifunction peripheral 100 based on the code indicating the exclusive relationship that is installed, the installation is performed in the multifunction peripheral 100 Issuance impossible cause data indicating that the combination of the external applications 118 to be changed is necessary.

  It should be noted that each part of the license issuance processing module 310 (input / output processing unit 311, license management unit 312, coexistence exclusive relation data storage unit 313, ID extraction unit 314, license issuance determination unit 315, license issuance unit 316, response signal generation unit 317, issuance impossible cause identification unit 318) is realized by the CPU 301a developing and executing a program stored in the ROM 301b or the like on the RAM 301c.

(Processing operation)
Next, various processing operations in the device management system 1 having the above-described configuration will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing flow when the user purchases the external application 118 in the device management system 1.

  As shown in FIG. 11, in this sequence, first, based on a user instruction, an installation request for an external application 118 to be installed from a user terminal device 700 such as a personal computer to a Web server (portal sales site) 600. The signal is transmitted, and then the installation request signal including the software name and the product key is transmitted from the Web server 600 to the central management apparatus 500, and the central management apparatus 500 that has received the installation request signal transmits the installation request signal to the mediation apparatus. 200 (step S1).

  Subsequently, the mediation apparatus 200 that has received the installation request signal transmits a license issuance request signal to the license management server 300 (step S2).

  Subsequently, the license management server 300 that has received the license issuance request signal performs a predetermined license issuance determination process (see FIG. 12) including a determination as to whether or not a license is issued, and sends a response signal including a determination result as to whether or not a license is issued. It transmits to the mediation apparatus 200 (step S3).

  Subsequently, the mediation apparatus 200 that has received the response signal performs a predetermined application installability determination process (see FIG. 13) including a determination as to whether or not the target external application 118 can be installed in the target multifunction peripheral 100 (step 13). S4) When it is determined that installation is possible, an application acquisition request signal is transmitted to the application management server 400 to acquire corresponding application information, and an installation request signal for the target external application 118 is transmitted to the target multifunction peripheral 100. To do. As a result, the target multifunction peripheral 100 executes the installation process of the target external application 118. On the other hand, when it is determined that the installation is impossible, an installation impossible notification signal for notifying that the installation is impossible is transmitted to the central management apparatus 500 to be notified.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the license issuance determination process of the license management server 300 in the sequence of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the license management server 300, in the license issuance request waiting state, the data receiving unit 311a of the input / output processing unit 311 of the license issuance processing module 310 sends the license issuance request signal transmitted from the mediation apparatus 200. (Step S11), the received license issuance request signal is output to the ID extraction unit 314.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 12, the ID extraction unit 314 extracts the ID of the target external application 118 and the ID list of the existing external application 118 already installed in the target MFP 100 from the input license issuance request signal.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 13, the license issuance determination unit 315 determines whether an ID that matches the ID of the target external application 118 exists in the application ID item of the table T <b> 1 stored in the coexistence exclusive relationship data storage unit 313. Determine whether or not.

  If it is determined by the determination in step S13 that it is present (step S13: YES), then in step S14, the license issuance determination unit 315 stores the ID that matches the ID of the target external application 118. The ID of the external application 118 that is in an exclusive relationship with the target external application 118 is specified with reference to the code registered in the item indicating the exclusive relationship.

  Subsequently, in step S15, the license issuance determination unit 315 determines that the ID that matches the ID of the external application 118 in the exclusive relationship identified in step S13 is extracted in step S12. It is determined whether it exists in the ID list.

  If it is determined in step S15 that it does not exist (step S15: NO), then in step S16, the license issuance determination unit 315 can issue license information corresponding to the target external application 118. Is determined.

  In step S14, even when the external application 118 in the exclusive relationship cannot be detected, NO is determined in step S15, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step S16.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 17, the license issuing unit 316 issues license information corresponding to the target external application 118 based on the license information managed by the license management unit 312.

  Subsequently, in step S18, the response signal generation unit 317 generates a response signal including information indicating whether the license is issued as a result of determining whether the license is issued and the license information issued in step S17, and an input / output processing unit. 311 is output. Thereby, the data transmission unit 311b of the input / output processing unit 311 transmits the response signal to the mediation apparatus 200 as a signal for the license issuance request signal received in the process of step S11.

  On the other hand, if it is determined by the determination in step S13 that it does not exist (step S13: NO), and if it is determined by the determination in step S15 (step S15: YES), then in step S19, The license issuance determination unit 315 determines that the license information corresponding to the target external application 118 cannot be issued.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 20, the response signal generation unit 317 generates a response signal including information indicating that the license issuance is impossible, which is a determination result of whether or not the license issuance is possible, and outputs the response signal to the input / output processing unit 311. Thereby, the data transmission unit 311b of the input / output processing unit 311 transmits the response signal to the mediation apparatus 200 as a signal for the license issuance request signal received in the process of step S11.

  Here, specific processing in the flowchart of FIG. 12 described above will be described below.

  First, in the processing procedure of FIG. 12, when the license information is issued, the target external application 118 has the application name “application 1”, the application ID “model R 002”, and the version “1.2”. The existing external application 118 that is already installed in the target MFP 100 has the application name “application 1”, the application ID “model R 001”, and the version “1.1”. The external application 118 will be described as an example.

  In this case, in step S12, “model R 002” is extracted as the ID of the target external application 118 from the license issuance request signal, and “model R 001” is extracted as the ID list of the existing external application 118. The

  In step S13, since the ID “model R 002” of the target external application 118 exists in the application ID column of the table T1, it is determined YES, and then in step S14, the exclusive relationship of the table T1. As a result of checking the sign indicating, it is determined that there is no external application 118 that is in an exclusive relationship with the target external application 118, so that the determination in the subsequent step S 15 is NO.

  As a result, in the determination in step S16, it is determined that the license of the target external application 118 can be issued. In subsequent step S17, the license information is issued, and in step S18, the license issuance is allowed and issued. A response signal including the license information is transmitted to the mediation apparatus 200.

  First, in the processing procedure of FIG. 12, when the license information is not issued, the target external application 118 has the application name “application 1”, the application ID “model R 001”, and the version “1.1”. The existing external application 118 that is the external application 118 and already installed in the target MFP 100 has the application name “application 2”, the application ID “model R 003”, and the version “1.1”. The case of the external application 118 will be described as an example.

  In this case, in step S12, “model R 001” is extracted as the ID of the target external application 118 from the license issuance request signal, and “model R 003” is extracted as the ID list of the existing external application. .

  In step S13, since the ID “model R 001” of the target external application 118 exists in the application ID column of the table T1, it is determined YES, and then in step S14, the exclusive relationship of the table T1. As a result of checking the code indicating “the model R 003” is identified as the ID of the external application 118 that is in an exclusive relationship with the target external application 118, and in step S15, the ID of the external application 118 that is in the exclusive relationship Since the ID that matches the “model R 003” exists in the ID list of the existing external application 118, it is determined as YES.

  As a result, in the subsequent step S19, it is determined that the license of the target external application 118 cannot be issued, and in a subsequent step S20, a response signal including the license issuance is transmitted to the mediation apparatus 200.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the app installability determination process of the mediation apparatus 200 in the sequence of FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 13, in the mediation apparatus 200, the application receiving request transmitted from the central management apparatus 500 is received by the data receiving unit 273 a-1 of the input / output processing unit 273 a of the application installation managing module 273 in the application installation request waiting state. When the request signal is received, the received application installation request signal is output to the license acquisition processing unit 273d (step S21).

  Subsequently, in step S22, the license acquisition processing unit 273d generates a license issuance request signal including the ID of the target external application 118 and the ID list of the external application 118 already installed in the target MFP 100. The data is output to the input / output processing unit 273a. As a result, the license issuance request signal input by the data transmission unit 273a-2 of the input / output processing unit 273a is transmitted to the license management server 300.

  Subsequently, in step S23 and step S24, a response signal waiting process for the license issuance request signal transmitted in step S22 is executed.

  In the standby process, when the data reception unit 273a-1 of the input / output processing unit 273a receives the response signal transmitted from the license management server 300 (step S24: YES), the received response signal is transmitted to the license acquisition processing unit. To 273d.

  Subsequently, in step S25, the license acquisition processing unit 273d, based on the information indicating the determination result of whether or not the license is issued (the information indicating whether the license is issued or the information indicating that the license cannot be issued) is included in the input response signal. Recognize whether licenses can be issued.

  When the license acquisition processing unit 273d recognizes that the license can be issued by the recognition in step S25 (step S25: YES), in step S26, the license information is acquired from the input response signal. A notification signal for notifying the license issuance is output to the application acquisition processing unit 273e.

  Subsequently, in step S27, the application acquisition processing unit 273e generates an application acquisition request signal for the application management server 400 and outputs the application acquisition request signal to the data transmission unit 273a-2. The application acquisition request signal input by the data transmission unit 273a-2 Is transmitted to the application management server 400.

  Subsequently, in step S28 and step S29, a standby process of application information returned in response to the application acquisition request signal transmitted in step S27 is executed.

  In the standby process, when the data reception unit 273a-1 receives the application information transmitted from the application management server 400 (step S29: YES), the received application information is output to the application acquisition processing unit 273e. Thereby, the application acquisition processing unit 273e acquires application information including the target external application 118.

  Subsequently, in step S30, the installation request unit 273f includes the application information including the external application 118 acquired by the application acquisition processing unit 273e in step S29 and the license information acquired by the license acquisition processing unit 273d in step S26. A request signal is generated and output to the data transmission unit 273a-2. Accordingly, the data transmission unit 273a-2 transmits the input installation request signal to the target multifunction peripheral 100.

  On the other hand, when the license acquisition processing unit 273d recognizes that the license cannot be issued by the recognition in step S25 (step S25: NO), subsequently, in step S31, a notification signal for notifying that the license cannot be issued. Is output to the application acquisition processing unit 273e. Thereby, the application acquisition processing unit 273e recognizes that the installation is impossible, generates an installation impossible notification signal, and outputs it to the data transmission unit 273a-2. Then, the installation impossible notification signal input by the data transmission unit 273a-2 is transmitted to the central management device 500 to be notified.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  In the first embodiment, the license issuance determination unit 315 includes the ID of the target external application 118 and the ID list of the existing external application 118 included in the license issuance request signal, and the table T1 stored in the coexistence / exclusion relation data storage unit 313. However, apart from this, the coexistence exclusive relationship data storage unit 313 has the application and hardware configuration coexistence exclusive relationship registration table T2 as shown in FIG. A second embodiment for determining whether or not a license can be issued will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a coexistence exclusive relationship registration table T2 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “table T2”) of applications and hardware configurations.

  As illustrated in FIG. 14, the table T <b> 2 includes items such as names, IDs, and essential hardware of a plurality of types of external applications 118 installed in the multifunction peripheral 100.

  Here, the information registered in the essential hardware item is information indicating hardware essential for use of the external application 118.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 14, the external application 118 with the application name “application 1” and the application ID “model R 001”, and the external application with the application name “application 1” and the application ID “model R 002”. This shows that the use of the application 118 requires hardware A and hardware B, and the use of the external application 118 with the application name “application 2” and the application ID “model R 003” This indicates that the hardware A is necessary, and that the hardware B is necessary to use the external application 118 whose application name is “application 2” and whose application ID is “model R 004”. Yes.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure of the license issuance determination process of the license management server 300 in the sequence of FIG. 11 when the table T2 shown in FIG. 14 is used.

  As illustrated in FIG. 15, in the license management server 300, in the license issuance request waiting state, the data receiving unit 311 a of the input / output processing unit 311 of the license issuance processing module 310 sends a license issuance request signal transmitted from the mediation device 200. (Step S41), the received license issuance request signal is output to the ID extraction unit 314.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 42, the ID extraction unit 314 extracts the ID of the target external application 118 and the list of existing hardware installed in the target multifunction peripheral 100 from the input license issuance request signal.

  Subsequently, in step S43, the license issuance determination unit 315 determines whether an ID that matches the ID of the target external application 118 exists in the application ID item of the table T2 stored in the coexistence exclusive relationship data storage unit 313. Determine whether or not.

  If it is determined by the determination in step S43 that it exists (step S43: YES), then in step S44, the license issuance determination unit 315 stores the ID that matches the ID of the target external application 118. By referring to the essential hardware item, the hardware essential for using the target external application 118 is specified.

  Subsequently, in step S45, the license issuance determination unit 315 determines whether the ID that matches the ID of the external application 118 in the exclusive relationship identified in step S43 is the existing hardware extracted in step S42. Determine if it exists in the list.

  If it is determined by the determination in step S45 that it exists (step S45: YES), then in step S46, the license issuance determination unit 315 can issue the license information corresponding to the target external application 118. judge.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 47, the license issuing unit 316 issues license information corresponding to the target external application 118 based on the license information managed by the license management unit 312.

  Subsequently, in step S48, the response signal generation unit 317 generates a response signal including information indicating whether the license is issued, which is the determination result of license issuance, and the license information issued in step S47, and an input / output processing unit. 311 is output. Thereby, the data transmission unit 311b of the input / output processing unit 311 transmits the response signal to the mediation apparatus 200 as a signal for the license issuance request signal received in the process of step S11.

  On the other hand, if it is determined by the determination in step S43 that it does not exist (step S43: NO), and if it is determined by the determination in step S45 that it does not exist (step S45: NO), then in step S49 The license issuance determination unit 315 determines that the license information corresponding to the target external application 118 cannot be issued.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 50, the response signal generation unit 317 generates a response signal including information indicating that the license issuance is impossible, which is a determination result of whether the license is issued, and outputs the response signal to the input / output processing unit 311. Thereby, the data transmission unit 311b of the input / output processing unit 311 transmits the response signal to the mediation apparatus 200 as a signal for the license issuance request signal received in the process of step S41.

  In the second embodiment, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits a license issuance request signal including the ID of the target external application 118 and a list of existing hardware to the license management server 300.

  According to the embodiment described above, when the license management server 300 receives the license issuance request signal and installs the target external application 118 in the target multifunction peripheral 100, the newly installed external application 118 is installed. It is determined whether or not there is a possibility that inconvenience such as hindering the function execution of other external applications 118 may occur when using the newly installed external application 118 is not possible. If there is a possibility that it will occur, the license is not issued, so that the inconvenience can be prevented beforehand.

  Accordingly, after the license management server 300 issues the license information, processing until the target external application 118 is installed in the target multifunction peripheral 100, that is, the mediation apparatus 200 receives the target external application from the application management server 400. 118, processing for downloading the target external application 118 to the target MFP 100, processing for installing the target external application 118 by the target MFP 100, processing of the target MFP It is possible to prevent a wasteful process such as a process of uninstalling the target external application 118 installed in the machine 100 from occurring.

  In addition to the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the license issue is determined using both the table T1 and the table T2 shown in the first embodiment. It is possible to adopt the third embodiment. In this case, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits a license issuance request signal including the ID of the target external application 118, the ID list of the existing external application 118, and the list of existing hardware to the license management server 300.

  The present invention has been described based on the exemplary embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea expressed by the claims. It is possible to make changes and modifications.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the device management system 1 that performs maintenance management of a plurality of multifunction devices 100 using the central management device (management server) 500 installed in the service center of the manufacturer of the multifunction device 100 has been described. However, in addition to this, a device management system that performs maintenance management of the multifunction peripheral 100 on the user side using an intermediary device (device management device) 200 connected to an internal network such as a LAN installed on the user side. It is also good. In this case, a function equivalent to that of the central management device 500 is installed in the mediation device 200.

  In the above-described embodiment, an external application (plug-in) 118 can be installed as an image forming apparatus that is maintained and managed by the central management apparatus 500. At least one of a printer function, a copy function, a facsimile function, and a scanner function is installed. The case of a multifunction device having two or more functions has been described, but other than this, for example, an image of a printer device, a copy device, a facsimile device, a scanner device, or the like on which an external application (plug-in) 118 can be installed A forming apparatus may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the mediation device 200, the license management server 300, the application management server 400, the central management device 500, and the like are connected via a network 80 such as the Internet, and the mediation device 200 includes a plurality of multifunction devices. 100 has been described in connection with a network such as a LAN different from the network 80, but in addition to this, for example, the multifunction device 100, the mediation device 200, the license management server 300, the application management server 400, the central management The apparatus 500 and the like may be connected to a single network such as the Internet.

  The various programs executed by the multifunction peripheral (image forming apparatus) 100, the intermediary apparatus 200, and the license management server 300 according to the above-described embodiment are files that can be installed or can be executed in a CD-ROM or flexible disk. (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), USB (Universal Serial Bus), etc. may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and provided, or via a network such as the Internet It may be configured to be provided or distributed.

  In addition, the apparatus configuration, the functional configuration, and the like in the above-described embodiment are described merely as examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 Device management system (license management system)
100, 100-1, 100-2,..., 100-N MFP (image forming apparatus)
200 Mediation device (information processing device)
300 license management server 400 application management server 500 central management device (processing device)
80 Network 90 Firewall 10 Controller 20 Operation display section 60 Engine section 118 External application (software)
131 Application installation control service 131a Installation control unit 131b License acquisition unit 131c Scheduled information acquisition unit 131d Data reception unit 131e Data transmission unit 118, 118 (1) to 118 (M) External application 273 Application installation management module 273a Input / output processing unit 273b Scheduled management unit 273c Device state management unit 273d License acquisition processing unit 273e Application acquisition processing unit 273f Installation request unit 273g Uninstall request unit 310 License issue processing module 311 Input / output processing unit 311a Data reception unit (reception means)
311b Data transmission unit (transmission means)
312 License management section (management means)
313 Coexistence exclusive relation data storage unit (storage means)
314 ID extraction unit (extraction means)
315 License issuance determination unit (determination unit)
316 License issuance department (issuing means)
317 Response signal generator (generator)
318 Issue unacceptable cause identification section (identification means)

JP 2008-016013 A

Claims (18)

Management means for managing license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an image forming apparatus connected via a network;
Storage means for storing coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software;
Receiving means for receiving a license issuance request signal;
Extraction means for extracting identification information of software to be installed and identification information of existing software already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed from the issue request signal received by the receiving means;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a license for the installation target software is issued based on the identification information extracted by the extraction unit and the coexistence exclusion relationship information;
Issuance means for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed based on the license information managed by the management means when the determination means determines that the license can be issued;
Transmitting means for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not to be issued by the determining means to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
A license management apparatus comprising: The transmission means includes
If it is determined that the license is not issued by the determining means, a response signal including information indicating that the license cannot be issued is transmitted,
On the other hand, when the determination unit determines that the license can be issued, a response signal including information indicating that the license can be issued and license information issued by the issuing unit is transmitted. License management device. The determination means includes
Based on the identification information extracted by the extraction means and the coexistence exclusion relationship information, whether or not software that may cause trouble by execution of the installation target software is installed in the installation target image forming apparatus. Determine whether
When it is determined that the software that may cause the trouble is installed, it is determined that the license cannot be issued,
The license management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the software that may cause the trouble is not installed, it is determined that a license can be issued. When the determination unit determines that the license is not issued, the information processing unit further includes a specifying unit that specifies the cause of the issuance impossible based on the coexistence exclusion relationship information and generates issuance impossible cause information indicating the specified issuance impossible reason. ,
The license management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the transmission unit transmits the response signal including the issue impossible cause information generated by the specifying unit. Management means for managing license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an image forming apparatus connected via a network;
Storage means for storing coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software and hardware;
Receiving means for receiving a license issuance request signal;
Extraction means for extracting identification information of software to be installed and configuration information of existing hardware already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed from the issue request signal received by the receiving means;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a license for the installation target software is issued based on the identification information extracted by the extraction unit and the coexistence exclusion relationship information;
Issuance means for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed based on the license information managed by the management means when the determination means determines that the license can be issued;
Transmitting means for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not to be issued by the determining means to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
A license management apparatus comprising: The transmission means includes
If it is determined that the license is not issued by the determining means, a response signal including information indicating that the license cannot be issued is transmitted,
6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the determination unit determines that the license issuance is possible, a response signal including information indicating that the license can be issued and license information issued by the issuance unit is transmitted. License management device. The determination means includes
Based on the identification information extracted by the extraction means and the coexistence exclusion relationship information, hardware essential for execution of the installation target software and hardware that may cause trouble due to execution of the installation target software Determine whether or not the hardware is mounted on the image forming apparatus to be installed;
When it is determined that there is the essential hardware and / or hardware that may cause the trouble, it is determined that the license is not issued,
On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no essential hardware and / or hardware that may cause the trouble, it is determined that a license can be issued. . When the determination unit determines that the license is not issued, the information processing unit further includes a specifying unit that specifies the cause of the issuance impossible based on the coexistence exclusion relationship information and generates issuance impossible cause information indicating the specified issuance impossible reason. ,
The license management apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the transmission unit transmits the response signal including the issuance impossible cause information generated by the specifying unit. A license issuance processing method executed by a management apparatus including a management unit that manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an image forming apparatus connected via a network,
A receiving step for receiving a license issuance request signal;
An extracting step for extracting, from the issue request signal received in the receiving step, the identification information of the software to be installed and the identification information of the existing software already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed;
Based on the identification information extracted in the extraction step by the determination unit and the coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software stored in the predetermined storage unit, the license of the installation target software A determination step for determining whether or not to issue
An issuing step for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed, based on the license information managed by the management unit when the issuing unit determines that the license is issued in the determining step;
A transmitting step for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not issuance by the determining step to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
Including a license issue processing method. A license issuance processing method executed by a license management apparatus including a management unit that manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an image forming apparatus connected via a network,
A receiving step for receiving a license issuance request signal;
An extracting step for extracting, from the issue request signal received in the receiving step, the identification information of the software to be installed and the configuration information of the existing hardware already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed;
Based on the identification information extracted in the extraction step and the coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software and hardware stored in the predetermined storage unit, the determination unit A determination step for determining whether or not to issue a software license; and
An issuing step for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed, based on the license information managed by the management unit when the issuing unit determines that the license is issued in the determining step;
A transmitting step for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not issuance by the determining step to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
Including a license issue processing method. A program that is interpreted and executed by a computer installed in a license management apparatus including a management unit that manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an image forming apparatus connected via a network,
A receiving step for receiving a license issuance request signal;
An extracting step for extracting, from the issue request signal received in the receiving step, the identification information of the software to be installed and the identification information of the existing software already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed;
Based on the identification information extracted in the extraction step by the determination unit and the coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software stored in the predetermined storage unit, the license of the installation target software A determination step for determining whether or not to issue
An issuing step for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed, based on the license information managed by the management unit when the issuing unit determines that the license is issued in the determining step;
A transmitting step for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not issuance by the determining step to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
For causing the computer to execute. A program that is interpreted and executed by a computer installed in a license management apparatus including a management unit that manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an image forming apparatus connected via a network,
A receiving step for receiving a license issuance request signal;
An extracting step for extracting, from the issue request signal received in the receiving step, the identification information of the software to be installed and the configuration information of the existing hardware already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed;
Based on the identification information extracted in the extraction step and the coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software and hardware stored in the predetermined storage unit, the determination unit A determination step for determining whether or not to issue a software license; and
An issuing step for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed, based on the license information managed by the management unit when the issuing unit determines that the license is issued in the determining step;
A transmitting step for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not issuance by the determining step to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
For causing the computer to execute.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 11.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 12. The license management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the issuance request signal including identification information of the installation target software and the identification information of the existing software is transmitted and the response signal is received from the license management apparatus. Input / output processing means;
License acquisition processing means for receiving the response signal at the input / output processing means, acquiring a license from the received response signal, and recognizing whether the license is issued based on the result of the issue availability included in the response signal When,
A software acquisition processing means for notifying the processing device to be notified that an installation is impossible when the license acquisition processing means recognizes that the license cannot be issued;
An information processing apparatus comprising: 6. The license management apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the issuance request signal including identification information of the software to be installed and configuration information of the existing hardware is transmitted and the response signal is received from the license management apparatus. I / O processing means to
License acquisition processing means for receiving the response signal at the input / output processing means, acquiring a license from the received response signal, and recognizing whether the license is issued based on the result of the issue availability included in the response signal When,
A software acquisition processing means for notifying the processing device to be notified that an installation is impossible when the license acquisition processing means recognizes that the license cannot be issued;
An information processing apparatus comprising: A license management system comprising a license management device having a management unit that manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an information processing device and an image forming device connected via a network,
The license management device includes:
Storage means for storing coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software;
Receiving means for receiving a license issuance request signal;
Extraction means for extracting identification information of software to be installed and identification information of existing software already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed from the issue request signal received by the receiving means;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a license for the installation target software is issued based on the identification information extracted by the extraction unit and the coexistence exclusion relationship information;
Issuance means for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed based on the license information managed by the management means when the determination means determines that the license can be issued;
Transmitting means for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not to be issued by the determining means to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
Further comprising
The information processing apparatus includes:
I / O processing means for transmitting the issue request signal including the identification information of the installation target software and the identification information of the existing software to the license management apparatus and receiving the response signal from the license management apparatus; ,
License acquisition processing means for receiving the response signal by the input / output processing means, acquiring a license from the received response signal, and recognizing whether the license is issued based on the result of the issue availability included in the response signal When,
A software acquisition processing means for notifying the processing device to be notified that an installation is impossible when the license acquisition processing means recognizes that the license cannot be issued;
A license management system comprising: A license management system comprising a license management device having a management unit that manages license information corresponding to each of a plurality of types of software installed in an information processing device and an image forming device connected via a network,
The license management device includes:
Storage means for storing coexistence exclusive relationship information indicating the coexistence exclusive relationship between the plurality of types of software and hardware;
Receiving means for receiving a license issuance request signal;
Extraction means for extracting identification information of software to be installed and configuration information of existing hardware already installed in the image forming apparatus to be installed from the issue request signal received by the receiving means;
A determination unit that determines whether or not a license for the installation target software is issued based on the identification information extracted by the extraction unit and the coexistence exclusion relationship information;
Issuance means for issuing license information corresponding to the software to be installed based on the license information managed by the management means when the determination means determines that the license can be issued;
Transmitting means for transmitting a response signal to the issuance request signal including a determination result of whether or not to be issued by the determining means to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the issuance request signal;
Further comprising
The information processing apparatus includes:
Input / output processing means for transmitting the issuance request signal including the identification information of the software to be installed and the configuration information of the existing hardware to the license management apparatus and receiving the response signal from the license management apparatus When,
License acquisition processing means for receiving the response signal at the input / output processing means, acquiring a license from the received response signal, and recognizing whether the license is issued based on the result of the issue availability included in the response signal When,
A software acquisition processing means for notifying the processing device to be notified that an installation is impossible when the license acquisition processing means recognizes that the license cannot be issued;
A license management system comprising:

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