JP2018055170A - Charging method, charging device, and charging program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a charging method and the like capable of performing accurate and detailed setting of volume charging, without the need of manufacturing of function to software.SOLUTION: A charging method comprises steps of: obtaining rules for charging in each of software or each of specific functions of the software, and a price calculation formula using the rules; measuring a consumption of the software or the specific functions of the software, according to the obtained rules; and outputting charging information on the basis of the measured consumption and the price calculation formula using the rules.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for charging software.

  The software distribution system is generally a sales contract based on a sell-off system, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) and sold at a store or mailed according to an order. ing.

  On the other hand, with regard to software distribution methods, software is also distributed for a fee or free of charge via the Internet. In particular, with the advent of cloud computing (hereinafter also referred to as “cloud”), there is an increasing number of cases where pay-as-you-go billing is performed according to user usage. For example, in the cloud service of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), it is necessary to perform pay-per-use for software operating on the server. In response, software vendors and cloud service vendors are responding as follows.

  In other words, for example, measures are taken to create a mechanism for pay-per-use in accordance with the cloud environment in software. Alternatively, it is possible to manage the usage-based charging of the software by calculating the fee by regarding the startup time of the server in which the software is installed as the usage time of the software.

  Here, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that realizes charging (pay-as-you-go) according to the amount of use of software and provides a new software service form using a network.

  In addition, Patent Document 2 provides a development environment for an electronic device by assigning each development device of the electronic device to each user assigned to the project, and accurately manages the system associated with the development of the electronic device. A method for enabling efficient and low-cost operation is disclosed.

JP-A-10-078867 JP 2001-306775 A

  As described above, when calculating the fee considering the server startup time as the software usage time, when only one software is used in an environment where multiple software to be charged is installed on the server However, there is a risk that all software will be charged. Therefore, there is a problem in that accurate metering cannot be performed.

  The technique described in Patent Document 1 requires an advanced program called a charge management agent that realizes usage based usage for charge management. However, there are many softwares in which such a program has not been created, and there is a problem that a software vendor needs to add a function to such software.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 2, the same accounting standard is applied for accounting management of a plurality of tools. For example, the usage amount is calculated based on the number of operations instead of the activation time, or a specific function is activated. In such a case, there is a problem that it is not possible to perform detailed usage-based billing such as additional billing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a charging method and the like that can perform accurate and detailed setting of pay-per-use without requiring a function to be built into software. Main purpose.

  The first charging method of the present invention acquires a rule for charging for each software or a specific function of the software and a price calculation formula using the rule, and according to the acquired rule The usage amount of the software or a specific function of the software is measured, and charging information based on the measured usage amount and the price calculation formula using the rule is output.

  The first charging device of the present invention includes an acquisition means for acquiring a rule for charging for each software or each specific function of the software, and a price calculation formula using the rule, and the acquired Output accounting information based on the measurement means for measuring the usage amount of the software or a specific function of the software according to the rule, the measured usage amount, and the price calculation formula using the rule Output means.

  The first charging program of the present invention includes a process for acquiring a rule for charging for each software or for each specific function of the software, a price calculation formula using the rule, and the acquired rule A process of measuring the usage amount of the software or a specific function of the software, a process of outputting billing information based on the measured usage amount and the price calculation formula using the rule, Is executed by a computer.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to perform accurate and detailed setting of pay-per-use, without requiring a function for software.

It is a flowchart which shows the process of the charging method which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the price information stored in the price information storage part of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the measurement rule stored in the measurement rule memory | storage part of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the contract information stored in the contract information storage part of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the usage information stored in the usage information storage part of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the accounting information stored in the accounting information storage part of the accounting device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the software information registration phase of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the measurement rule registration screen displayed by the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the price information registration screen displayed by the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the software use phase of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the contract information registration screen displayed by the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the charging process part of the charging device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the charging device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the server information which the server information acquisition part of the charging device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention acquired. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions which implement | achieve the apparatus shown to each embodiment.

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

First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing processing of a charging method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the charging method according to the first embodiment first obtains a rule for charging and a price calculation formula using the rule for each software or for each specific function of the software. (S110).

  Next, the billing method according to the first embodiment measures the usage amount of the software or a specific function of the software according to the acquired rule (S120). Then, the charging method according to the first embodiment outputs charging information based on the measured usage amount and a price calculation formula using a rule (S130).

  By adopting the above configuration, according to the first embodiment, the usage amount can be calculated by setting the charging standard for each specific function of the software, not only for each software. Thus, there is an effect that detailed and accurate billing setting can be performed without requiring the creation of this function.

Second Embodiment FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a billing apparatus 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the charging apparatus 200 includes an input / output unit 210, a control unit 220, a usage amount measuring unit 230, a charging processing unit 240, a price information storage unit 250, a measurement rule storage unit 260, a contract information storage unit 270, A usage information storage unit 280 and a billing information storage unit 290 are provided.

  The billing apparatus 200 has a function of calculating a billing amount according to price information and contract information and providing the billing amount to a user in order to charge for usage-based billing for software used in a cloud service, for example.

  An outline of each component will be described.

  The input / output unit 210 of the charging apparatus 200 has an interface for accepting input of software price information, measurement rules for performing metered charging, contract information, etc., or an interface for providing charging information to the user. .

  The control unit 220 stores information acquired via the input / output unit 210 in the price information storage unit 250, the measurement rule storage unit 260, and the contract information storage unit 270, the usage amount measurement unit 230, the billing processing unit 240, and the like. To control.

  The usage amount measurement unit 230 reads the contract information stored in the contract information storage unit 270 in response to an instruction from the control unit 220, measures the usage amount related to the accounting standard of the software, and uses the measurement result as the usage information storage unit. Stored in H.280. The software operates on a server provided by a software vendor or cloud service vendor that can communicate with the billing apparatus 200, and the usage measurement unit 230 corresponds to the contract information stored in the contract information storage unit 270. It is assumed that a function capable of measuring the usage amount of the charging standard of the software to be used is previously provided.

  The billing processing unit 240 reads the usage information stored in the usage information storage unit 280 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 220, and calculates billing. The charging processing unit 240 stores charging information including the calculation result in the charging information storage unit 290.

  Next, an outline of information stored in the storage unit will be described.

  The price information storage unit 250 stores software price information obtained through the input / output unit 210 and used for calculating usage-based billing. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of price information stored in the price information storage unit 250. As shown in FIG. 3, the price information includes a model number, a software name, and a price calculation formula.

  The measurement rule storage unit 260 stores a measurement rule for measuring the usage amount of software. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of measurement rules stored in the measurement rule storage unit 260. As shown in FIG. 4, the measurement rule includes a rule name, a software name, a measurement rule, a target function, and a keyword.

  The contract information storage unit 270 stores contract information registered by a user or software vendor. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of contract information stored in the contract information storage unit 270. As shown in FIG. 5, the contract information includes a contract number, a user ID, a model number, and a server name.

  The usage information storage unit 280 stores usage information that is the amount of software used by the user. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of usage information stored in the usage information storage unit 280. As shown in FIG. 6, the usage information includes a date, a contract number, a rule name, and a usage amount. The usage amount indicates the result of measuring the measurement rule corresponding to the rule name shown in FIG. For example, the usage amount “100” corresponding to the rule name “rule1” indicates the output count of the keyword “finish” in “soft1.txt”.

  The billing information storage unit 290 stores billing information including a billing amount calculated according to the usage amount for each user. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of billing information stored in the billing information storage unit 290. As shown in FIG. 7, the billing information includes a contract number and a billing amount.

  Here, the charging apparatus 200 has a software information registration phase and a software usage phase. The software information registration phase is a phase in which the software vendor registers the definition of pay-per-use in order to charge for pay-per-use of software. The software use phase is a phase in which the use of software by the user is monitored and a charge amount is calculated.

  First, the software information registration phase will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the charging apparatus 200 in the software information registration phase.

  The software vendor determines a rule and a price for measuring the usage amount for each software or for each specific function of the software according to the characteristics of the software to be provided, and notifies the charging apparatus 200 of a registration request.

  Upon receiving a registration request for software information (S310), the charging apparatus 200 registers a measurement rule (also simply referred to as “rule”) for software subject to pay-per-use (S320) and registers price information. (S330).

  This will be specifically described below. The input / output unit 210 of the charging apparatus 200 displays a screen for registering information related to the software that is subject to metered charging.

  The software vendor sets a measurement rule for measuring the usage amount of software for each software or for each specific function of the software. Measurement rules include, for example, “specific process start count”, “specific process start time”, “data output count”, “data output size”, “output count of specific keyword of output data”, “output data” Time between specific keywords ". The process is a process for realizing a specific function of software.

  For example, when “the number of activations of a specific process” is applied as a measurement rule, the number of times the target process is activated is counted as the usage amount of the process. The software vendor may select and define any one of the above measurement rules according to the software characteristics. Note that the measurement rule is not limited to the above example.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement rule registration screen 350 according to the present embodiment displayed by the input / output unit 210. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the input / output unit 210 receives, for example, input of a software name, a measurement rule, and a target function.

  The software name is a name of software for registering the measurement rule. A measurement rule is a measurement rule applied to the software. The input / output unit 210 may display the measurement rule as described above on the screen so that it can be selected. In addition, when “the number of outputs of the specific keyword of the output data” or “the time between the specific keywords of the output data” is selected as the measurement rule, the input / output unit 210 inputs the keyword to be detected. It may be accepted.

  The target function is a function in software to which the measurement rule is applied, and may be a process name, a file name, or the like.

  When the above information is input to the input / output unit 210, the control unit 220 attaches a unique “rule name” to the information, and the measurement rule storage unit 260 as a measurement rule as shown in FIG. To store. In FIG. 4, for example, “rule1” and “rule2” are applied to software named “soft1”. The application target of “rule1” is a function “soft1.txt” of “soft1”, and the application target of “rule2” is a function of “soft1.log” of “soft1”. “Rule2” specifically indicates that the time between the keywords “START” and “END” output from “soft1.log” is measured.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the price information registration screen 360 according to the present embodiment displayed by the input / output unit 210. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the input / output unit 210 receives, for example, input of software name, measurement rule * unit price, and price calculation formula.

  The software name is a name of software for registering price information. The software name may be a name of an optional function of the software.

  The measurement rule * unit price is a unit price for the measurement rule and the measurement rule (charging standard). Similarly to the measurement rule registration screen 350 shown in FIG. 9, the input / output unit 210 may display a measurement rule on the screen so that it can be selected. The price calculation formula may be a price calculation formula formed by combining one or a plurality of “measurement rules * unit price”.

  When the above information is input to the input / output unit 210, the control unit 220 attaches a unique “model number” to the information, and stores it in the price information storage unit 250 as price information as shown in FIG. 3. Store. In FIG. 3, for example, “rule1” and “rule2” are applied to the price calculation of “soft1”, and the price is calculated as the sum of “rule1 * 10 yen” and “rule2 * 20 yen” per second. Will be shown.

  With the above procedure, measurement rules and price information are registered in the software information registration phase.

  Next, the software usage phase will be described. When the user or the cloud service vendor inputs the software contract information to the input / output unit 210, the user starts using the software.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the charging apparatus 200 in the software use phase. With reference to FIG. 11, the operation of charging apparatus 200 in the software usage phase will be described.

  When receiving a software use request (Yes in S410), the input / output unit 210 accepts registration of contract information (S420). FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a contract information registration screen 450 displayed by the input / output unit 210 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the input / output unit 210 receives, for example, a user ID (IDentification), a model number, and a server name. The user ID is identification information of a user who uses the software. The model number is a model number of software used by the user. The server name is the name of the server on which the target software is installed.

  When the above information is input to the input / output unit 210, the control unit 220 attaches a unique “contract number” to these pieces of information, and the contract information storage unit 270 as contract information as shown in FIG. 5. Register with. When the contract is terminated, the contract information may be deleted from the contract information storage unit 270.

  When the contract information is registered as described above, the control unit 220 instructs the usage amount measurement unit 230 to measure the usage amount based on the contract information. In response to the instruction, the usage amount measurement unit 230 monitors the process and output data in real time according to the measurement rule corresponding to the model number included in the registered contract information (S430).

  Specifically, the usage amount measurement unit 230 reads out the price calculation formula corresponding to the model number from the price information storage unit 250 and sends the measurement rule information included in the price calculation formula from the measurement rule storage unit 260. read out. Then, the usage measuring unit 230 monitors the number of data outputs and the number of process activations in real time for the target function of the corresponding software according to the read measurement rule.

  Then, for example, the usage amount measuring unit 230 calculates the total usage amount for each measurement rule on the same day, and stores it in the usage information storage unit 280 (S440).

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the usage amount measurement unit 230 registers, for example, the date, the contract number, the rule name, and the calculated usage amount in the usage information storage unit 280 for each measurement rule as usage amount information.

  Billing calculation is performed using the usage information registered as described above.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of billing calculation by the billing processing unit 240. With reference to FIG. 13, the charging calculation operation by the charging processing unit 240 will be described.

  For example, the control unit 220 instructs the billing processing unit 240 to perform billing calculation in units determined for each contract, for example, every day, every month, or every year. The control unit 220 may also instruct the accounting processing unit 240 to perform accounting calculation in response to a user request. Note that the charging calculation timing is not limited to these.

  When receiving the billing calculation instruction (S510), the billing processing unit 240 reads the price information from the price information storage unit 250 and reads the usage information from the usage information storage unit 280 (S520). The charging processing unit 240 calculates the charging amount by substituting the usage amount into the price calculation formula for each model number (S530). Then, the billing processing unit 240 totals the calculated billing amount for each contract number, and stores the result in the billing information storage unit 290 as billing information as shown in FIG.

  The charging device 200 provides the user with the charging information calculated as described above at a predetermined timing.

  For example, the input / output unit 210 may display a screen for accepting a request for charging information output together with a contract number. When the input / output unit 210 accepts a contract number and billing information output request from the user, the input / output unit 210 notifies the control unit 220 of the request. Upon receiving the above notification, the control unit 220 reads the billing amount corresponding to the contract number from the billing information storage unit 290 and displays it on the screen via the input / output unit 210. The control unit 220 may also output the charge amount to a file or the like.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the charging apparatus 200 has a measurement rule for measuring the usage amount for each software or for each specific function of the software, and a price calculation formula using the measurement rule. Usage-based billing definitions including Then, the usage amount of the software or the specific function is measured according to the measurement rule, and the charge amount is calculated according to the price calculation formula.

  By adopting this configuration, according to the second embodiment, in the calculation of the pay-as-you-go billing for the software, the billing apparatus 200 sets the billing standard for each software or for each specific function of the software, and uses the amount. Since the calculation is performed, it is possible to perform pay-as-you-go without having to create a charge management function for the software. In addition, the charging device 200 can set a charging standard for each specific function of software, not limited to each software, so that detailed and accurate charging such as special charging for a specific function such as an option license is performed. The effect that setting can be performed is obtained.

Third Embodiment FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a billing apparatus 300 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the charging apparatus 300 includes a server information acquisition unit 310 and a server information storage unit 320 in addition to the configuration of the charging apparatus 200 described in the second embodiment. In the charging apparatus 300, the same components as those of the charging apparatus 200 described in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The server information acquisition unit 310 acquires configuration information such as software installed on the server and user information of the software. The server information storage unit 320 stores software configuration information and user information acquired by the server information acquisition unit 310.

  It is assumed that the server information acquisition unit 310 has a function capable of acquiring configuration information of software installed in a server provided by a software vendor or a cloud service vendor and user information for each configuration in advance. Then, it is assumed that the usage amount measuring unit 230 has a function capable of measuring the usage amount of the billing standard for the software indicated by the software information acquired by the server information acquisition unit 310 and its specific function.

  The server information acquisition unit 310 responds to a request from a user or at a predetermined timing from a server provided by a software vendor or a cloud service vendor, and configuration information of installed software or a user for each configuration. Get information. The server information acquisition unit 310 stores the acquired information in the server information storage unit 320.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of server information acquired by the server information acquisition unit 310. As shown in FIG. 15, the server information includes configuration information of installed software for each server and user information for each configuration.

  In the input / output unit 210 of the charging apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment, the server information acquisition unit 310 registers the measurement rule and price information described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10 in the second embodiment. It is also accepted for software that has acquired.

  And the usage-amount measurement part 230 measures usage-amount according to the registered measurement rule also about the software acquired as mentioned above.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, the charging apparatus 300 includes the server information acquisition unit 310 and the server information storage unit 320 that acquire and store configuration information of software installed in the server. For example, it is possible to obtain an effect that the software individually installed on the server by the user can be charged.

  Further, since the server information acquisition unit 310 acquires the user information of the software in the server, it is possible to charge according to the usage amount even when the software is illegally used, such as use after the end of the software use contract. An effect is obtained. Note that whether or not the software use contract has ended can be determined based on whether or not the use of the software is not included in the contract information stored in the contract information storage unit 270.

  Each unit of the charging devices 200 and 300 shown in FIGS. 2 and 14 is realized by the hardware resources illustrated in FIG. In other words, the configuration shown in FIG. 16 includes a processor 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13, an external connection interface 14, a recording device 15, and a bus 16 for connecting each component.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, as an example executed by the processor 11 shown in FIG. 16, after supplying a computer program capable of realizing the above-described functions to the charging apparatuses 200 and 300, the computer program is processed by the processor. A case has been described in which 11 is realized by reading out to the RAM 12 and executing it. However, some or all of the functions shown in the blocks of the charging apparatuses 200 and 300 shown in FIGS. 2 and 14 may be realized as hardware.

  The supplied computer program may be stored in a computer-readable storage device such as a readable / writable memory (temporary storage medium) or a hard disk device. In such a case, the present invention can be understood as being configured by a code representing such a computer program or a storage medium storing such a computer program.

  The present invention has been described above with reference to the above-described embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. That is, the present invention can apply various modes that can be understood by those skilled in the art, such as various combinations and selections of the various disclosed elements, within the scope of the present invention.

11 processor 12 RAM
13 ROM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 External connection interface 15 Recording apparatus 16 Bus | bath 200,300 Charge apparatus 210 Input / output part 220 Control part 230 Usage amount measurement part 240 Charge processing part 250 Price information storage part 260 Measurement rule storage part 270 Contract information storage part 280 Usage information storage part 290 Billing information storage unit 310 Server information acquisition unit 320 Server information storage unit

Claims (7)

Obtain a rule for charging for each software or a specific function of the software and a price calculation formula using the rule,
Measure the usage amount of the software or a specific function of the software according to the acquired rule,
A charging method for outputting charging information based on the measured usage amount and the price calculation formula using the rule. The charging method according to claim 1, wherein the rule includes information indicating a process for realizing the software or a specific function of the software, and a charging standard in the process. The charging method according to claim 2, wherein the price calculation formula includes the charging standard and a unit price for the charging standard. Get software information stored on the server,
The charge according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rule and the price calculation formula for each software or each specific function of the software are acquired based on the acquired software information. Method. Acquisition means for acquiring a rule for charging for each software or each specific function of the software, and a price calculation formula using the rule;
Measuring means for measuring the usage amount of the software or a specific function of the software according to the acquired rule;
An accounting device comprising: output means for outputting accounting information based on the measured usage amount and the price calculation formula using the rule. Server information acquisition means for acquiring software information stored in the server is further provided,
The said acquisition means acquires the said rule and the said price calculation formula for every said software or every specific function of this software based on the server information acquired by the said server information acquisition means. Billing device. Processing for acquiring a rule for charging for each software or each specific function of the software and a price calculation formula using the rule;
A process of measuring a usage amount of the software or a specific function of the software according to the acquired rule;
A billing program that causes a computer to execute processing for outputting billing information based on the measured usage amount and the price calculation formula using the rule.

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