JP6991949B2 - Billing information generation program, billing information generator and billing information generation method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a billing information generation program, a billing information generation device, and a billing information generation method for generating billing information of the service used.

Conventionally, a blockchain, which is a distributed database, has been proposed as a data recording method that is difficult to falsify, and is used in various systems (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 to 3).

Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system, 2008. Somplinsky, Y. et al. , Zohar, A. : Accelerating bitcoin's transaction processing. Fast money grows on trees, not chains. IACR Cryptography ePrint Archive 2013 (2013) 881. Lewenberg, Y. et al. , Sampolinsky, Y. , Zohar, A. : INCLUSIVE black chain protocols. In: Financial Cryptography and Data Security-19th International Conference, FC2015, San Juan, Puerto Rico, January 26-30, 2015, Revised Select Pa. (2015) 528-547.

By the way, a service program provided via a network by a cloud server or the like (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a service) may be charged a fixed amount or a pay-as-you-go system as a consideration for use.
The usage record data for calculating such usage charges is required to be accurately recorded without falsification.

However, when the service is shared, it is difficult to accurately record how much it was used by which user. In particular, when one application executed by a user uses a plurality of services, it is difficult to appropriately distribute rewards to service providers according to the usage record.

An object of the present invention is to provide a billing information generation program, a billing information generation device, and a billing information generation method that can appropriately charge a service usage fee in an environment in which a shared service is executed.

The billing information generation program according to the present invention executes a service shared by a plurality of users in response to a request from an application, and provides an execution result to the application, and when the service is executed, the execution step is described. Along with the identifier of the user who executed the application, the recording step of recording the usage record data in the blockchain is to be executed by the computer.

The usage record data may include an execution start time and an execution end time of the service.

The usage record data may include the input data size for the service.

The billing information generation program may allow the computer to perform mutual authentication with the service in the execution step.

The billing information generation program may allow the computer to authenticate the validity of the application in the execution step.

In the recording step, the computer may record the input data to the service and the execution result in the blockchain by the billing information generation program.

The billing information generation program may be given an electronic signature for guaranteeing its own legitimacy to the application.

The billing information generation device according to the present invention executes the billing information generation program.

In the billing information generation method according to the present invention, the billing information generation device executes the service in response to a request from the application via the billing information generation program, and records the usage record data in the blockchain. do.

In the billing information generation method, the billing device refers to the blockchain and distributes the reward of each provider of the service at a ratio corresponding to the usage record data of each of the plurality of services executed from the application. You may.

According to the present invention, a service usage fee can be appropriately charged in an environment in which a shared service is executed.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the whole structure of the service provision system which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the charge information generation apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which illustrates the procedure of the charge information generation method which concerns on embodiment.

Hereinafter, an example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a service providing system 100 according to the present embodiment.
The service providing system 100 records the execution user of the application and the usage record for each service in order to return the usage fee of the service used by the application to the service provider.

In the present embodiment, the service is shared by a plurality of users, for example, a data analysis program by AI (Artificial Integrity), and provides analysis results for input data from an application.

The service providing system 100 is a billing information generation device 1 that provides an application execution environment, a server group 2 such as a cloud in which various services used by the application are arranged, and a database that stores the service usage record. It is provided with a certain blockchain 3.

In the execution environment of the billing information generation device 1, a communication interface with an application arranged so that the application can be executed or arranged in an external terminal is provided.
Further, in this execution environment, API (Application Programming Interface) as a billing information generation program that relays between the application and the service is provided for each service.
The billing information generation device 1 executes a service (for example, analysis program A or B) in response to a request from the application by this API, and returns the execution result to the application.

At this time, the billing information generation device 1 writes the start time and end time of the service, the input data size, and the like as the service usage record data in the blockchain 3 by the API.
When the billing program incorporated in the blockchain 3 or the external device refers to this usage record data, the usage fee for each service is charged to the user of the application. In addition, the virtual currency function implemented in the blockchain 3 makes it easy to carry out payment procedures from the user's account to the service provider's account.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the billing information generation device 1 according to the present embodiment.
The billing information generation device 1 is an information processing device (computer) such as a server device or a personal computer, and includes a control unit 10 and a storage unit 20, as well as various data input / output devices and communication devices.

The control unit 10 is a part that controls the entire billing information generation device 1, and realizes various functions in the present embodiment by appropriately reading and executing various programs stored in the storage unit 20. The control unit 10 may be a CPU.

The storage unit 20 is a storage area for various programs and various data for making the hardware group function as the billing information generation device 1, and may be a ROM, RAM, flash memory, hard disk (HDD), or the like.
Specifically, the storage unit 20 provides, for example, Java (registered trademark) VM (Virtual Machine) as an execution environment and various services as a program for causing the control unit 10 to execute each function of the present embodiment. Store the API to execute.

The control unit 10 includes an authentication unit 11, an execution unit 12, and a recording unit 13 as functional units realized by APIs arranged for each service.

The authentication unit 11 authenticates the validity of this application in response to a request from the application.
The application holds, for example, a set of an ID and a digital signature, a token, or the like as authentication information, and requests the API to execute a service with this authentication information. By confirming the validity of the application by the authentication information, the authentication unit 11 prevents unauthorized use and processes only the request from the legitimate application.

Further, the API may be given an electronic signature for guaranteeing its own validity. The application confirms the validity of the API by this digital signature. As a result, the application and the API mutually authenticate each other.

The execution unit 12 executes a service shared by a plurality of users via a network in response to a request from the application, and provides an execution result to the application.
At this time, the execution unit 12 may execute mutual authentication between the API and the target service. The API is also provided by the service provider, and only in the combination of the legitimate API and the service, the request from the application is processed and the execution result of the service is returned to the application.
For mutual authentication, an existing protocol can be used, and for example, a security protocol such as SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security) may be used.

The recording unit 13 records the usage record data in the blockchain 3 together with the ID of the user who executed the application and the authentication information acquired by the authentication unit 11 when the service is executed by the execution unit 12.
Further, the recording unit 13 may further record the input data to the service and the execution result in the blockchain 3.

The usage record data includes the execution start time and execution end time of the service, or the input data size to the service, using the ID of the user who executed the application and the ID of the service or the ID of the API as keys. The execution start time is, for example, the time when the API calls the service, and the execution end time is, for example, the time when the execution result is received from the service.
The billing program charges the user for each service according to the usage time from the execution start time to the execution end time or the data size.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating the procedure of the billing information generation method according to the present embodiment.
In this example, the analysis programs A and B are used as services from one application.

In step S1, the user terminal executes the application.
In step S2, the application calls the analysis program A via the API.
In step S3, the API records the data input to the analysis program A and the call time in the blockchain 3 together with the ID of the executor of the application.

In step S4, the analysis program A executes the analysis process and returns the analysis result to the application via the API.
In step S5, the API writes the execution end time of the analysis program A in the blockchain 3 together with the ID of the executor of the application.

In step S6, the application calls the analysis program B via the API.
In step S7, the API records the data input to the analysis program B and the call time in the blockchain 3 together with the ID of the executor of the application.

In step S8, the analysis program B executes the analysis process and returns the analysis result to the application via the API.
In step S9, the API writes the execution end time of the analysis program B in the blockchain 3 together with the ID of the executor of the application.

In step S10, the application ends execution and outputs the result to the user terminal.
In step S11, the billing program refers to the blockchain 3 and derives the usage time of the analysis program A and the analysis program B, respectively, and calculates the usage fee based on the usage time.
In step S12, the billing program transmits a payment request for the calculated usage fee to the user terminal which is the executor of the application.

In step 13, the user terminal performs payment processing in virtual currency based on the payment request.
In step S14, the user terminal records the payment transaction in the blockchain 3 as the payment is processed.

In this example, although the user terminal is provided separately from the billing information generation device 1, the user terminal itself may be configured as the billing information generation device 1, or the application may be arranged in the user terminal.

According to the present embodiment, the billing information generation device 1 provides an application execution environment, and when the application uses a service such as a shared analysis program, the billing information generation device 1 executes the service from the execution environment via the API. .. At this time, the billing information generation device 1 records the service usage record data in the blockchain 3 by API.
Therefore, the billing information generation device 1 guarantees completeness and can be verified by a third party by writing the usage record data that is the basis for billing to the blockchain 3.

As a result, the service usage fee is appropriately charged in the environment where the shared service is executed. In addition, when multiple services are executed from an application, the billing device that executes the billing program determines the usage rate of each service among service providers, for example, with respect to the usage fee of the application according to the fixed or usage record. Rewards can be appropriately distributed at appropriate rates.

The service providing system 100 records service usage record data on the blockchain 3, and for example, the service providers mutually verify the recorded data to provide an appropriate billing mechanism without a specific administrator. realizable.

As the usage record data that is the basis of billing, for example, the execution start time and execution end time of the service, or the input data size to the service is used.
Thereby, for example, the period from the API call to the receipt of the return value of the service can be charged as the usage time, or the data size input to the service, that is, the amount of data to be analyzed can be charged.

In the service providing system 100, the API and the service are mutually authenticated so that the service can be executed only in a regular combination.
As a result, it is possible to prevent spoofing and unauthorized use such as using the service without using the API, and appropriate service provision and billing are realized.
Further, in the service providing system 100, the API can suppress unauthorized use by authenticating the validity of the application.

Further, the API records the input data to the service and the execution result in the blockchain 3, enabling verification of the processing content of each service and facilitating the detection of an illegal service or API.
In addition, the API is given an electronic signature for guaranteeing its own validity, so that an unauthorized API call by the application is suppressed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Moreover, the effects described in the above-described embodiments are merely a list of the most suitable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects according to the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments.

In the above-described embodiment, the API and the service have a one-to-one relationship, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the API may selectively execute a plurality of services. In this case, for example, a service to be executed by the application is specified, and the API records the usage record data together with the service ID in the blockchain 3.

In the above-described embodiment, the service usage time or the input data size has been described as a billing standard, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the billing standard such as the number of times the service is used or the output data size may be appropriately set according to the content of the service, and the usage record data stored in the blockchain 3 by the API is also determined according to the set standard. May be done.

1 Billing information generator 2 Server group 3 Blockchain 10 Control unit 11 Authentication unit 12 Execution unit 13 Recording unit 20 Storage unit 100 Service provision system

Claims (10)

In combination with a service shared by multiple users on an external server, it is provided as an API to the device that calls the service.
An execution step that calls and executes the service in response to a request from the application and provides the execution result to the application.
A billing information generation program for causing the device to execute a recording step of recording usage record data of the service in a blockchain together with an identifier of a user who has executed the application when the service is executed. The billing information generation program according to claim 1, wherein the usage record data includes an execution start time and an execution end time of the service. The billing information generation program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the usage record data includes an input data size for the service. The billing information generation program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, for causing the device to execute mutual authentication with the service in the execution step. The billing information generation program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, for causing the device to authenticate the validity of the application in the execution step. The billing information generation program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, for causing the device to record the input data to the service and the execution result in the blockchain in the recording step. The billing information generation program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which is given an electronic signature to guarantee its own validity for the application. A billing information generation device that executes the billing information generation program according to any one of claims 1 to 7. The billing information generation method according to claim 8, wherein the billing information generation device executes the service in response to a request from the application via the billing information generation program, and records the usage record data in the blockchain. .. The billing according to claim 9, wherein the billing device refers to the blockchain and distributes the reward of each provider of the service at a ratio corresponding to the usage record data of each of the plurality of services executed from the application. Information generation method.

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