KR20070088633A - Delicate metering of computer usage - Google Patents

Abstract

A pay-per-use or metered-use computer uses a balance manager to monitor usage and update a value balance according to a first usage schedule when the computer is in active use. When the activity level of the computer is reduced below a threshold, the balance manager may update the value balance according to a second usage schedule. Activity level of the computer is determined by monitoring the activity level of a one or more components of the computer including input devices, communication controllers, and the processing unit. Rules can be applied to determine when to switch between usage schedules and if credits to the value balance should be made.

Description

Method of measuring computer usage and computer readable medium storing the same

This patent application is part of US Patent Application No. 11 / 006,837, filed December 8, 2004, which is part of US Patent Application No. 10 / 989,122, filed November 15, 2004.

Pay-as-you-go or pay-per-use (PPU) business models are used in many commercial sectors, from mobile phones to commercial laundries. In developing an immediate payment business, for example, a provider, such as a mobile phone provider, provides the use of hardware (mobile phone) at a price lower than the market price as a transaction for the subscriber to stay in his network. In this particular example, the customer pays little or no mobile phone as a transaction to sign a contract that becomes a subscriber for a certain amount of time. In the contract process, the service provider recovers the hardware cost by charging the customer for using the mobile phone.

The immediate payment business model is based on usage metering. For mobile phone providers, the metered usage is minutes or megabytes of data transmitted. In the immediate payment business model for computers, where a service provider or underwriter subsidizes the cost of hardware to anticipate future revenues, various aspects of usage can be monitored or measured. However, it is not always possible to rely on every source to measure data. If the data indicates that the computer is in use, but is not actually in use, the subscriber may not get full value from the subscription by his application. Conversely, if the computer is in use but not metered, the service provider does not receive legitimate compensation.

The ability to accurately track usage, especially usage associated with metered contracts, can be an important part of a business model that allows subscribers to purchase and use computers at prices below market prices in terms of subscription payments by subscription. . However, due to computer usage tracking, some situations may arise where there is ambiguity as to whether or not the condition being measured exists. For example, a service provider selling processor usage in minutes may require periodic virus scans that are programmed to run at midnight Sunday. The virtual scan takes 1.5 hours. When performing the necessary tasks without providing any direct benefit to the subscriber, it is not clear whether the subscriber should be billed for CPU usage. Similarly, a subscriber may be viewing a long document even when almost all processors are inactive. At this point, the subscriber has a direct benefit, but according to strict processor activity, the computer may appear to be inactive. So-called "precise measurement" makes a decision about whether or not a computer should be measured using a variety of inputs and business rules. The instrumentation program can also evaluate display status, communication, hard disk activity, and even programs running by the processor to determine whether usage should be collected. For example, some activities, such as mouse movements, may themselves be sufficient to activate instrumentation. Before deciding whether or not a computer should be instrumented, it may be necessary to consider other conditions, such as running a virus checker, to evaluate other activities, such as disk access.

1 is a simplified representative block diagram of a computer network.

2 is a block diagram of a computer that may be connected to the network of FIG.

3 is a block diagram of a license provisioning module of the computer of FIG.

4 is a flow chart illustrating a method of measuring computer usage of FIG. 2.

5 is a graph depicting the computer usage profile of FIG. 2.

While the following text discloses a detailed description of a number of different embodiments, it should be understood that the legal scope of the detailed description is defined by the representation of the claims disclosed at the end of this disclosure. Although it will not be impossible to describe all possible embodiments, the detailed description should be construed as illustrative only and not as a description of all possible embodiments. Many other embodiments may be implemented using techniques that are or will be developed after the filing date of the present patent application, which will still be in accordance with the claims of the present invention.

Also, as described herein, the term ' Unless a term is explicitly defined in this patent application using a sentence or similar sentence, such as "here," the meaning of the term is clearly beyond its plain or ordinary meaning or It is to be understood that no such term is intended to be limiting, and that such terms should not be construed as limiting the scope based on any description made in any section of this patent application (except in the context of the claims of the present invention). To the extent that reference is made to any term recited in a claim at the end of this patent application to be compatible with a single meaning in this patent application, it is only made to clarify the reader not to be confused, but such term of claim is used in its single meaning. Are not intended to be implied or to be limited by other means. By citing the function, and the "means" is a word without the range of, any claim element does not define a claim element is not intended to be interpreted to apply claim 6 Article 112 US patents.

Many of the functions of the present invention and many of the principles of the present invention are best implemented in or using integrated circuits such as application specific integrated circuits (ICs) and software programs or instructions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such software instructions and programs, when assisted by the concepts and principles disclosed herein, may be influenced by, for example, availability time, current technical and economic considerations, and require considerable effort and multiple design choices. And ICs may be easily generated with minimal experimentation. Thus, for the sake of simplicity and minimization of the risk of obscuring the principles and concepts according to the invention, further descriptions of such software and ICs, if any, may be limited to those necessary in relation to the principles and concepts of preferred embodiments of the invention. will be.

1 illustrates a network 10 that can be used to implement a PPU computer system. The network 10 may be the Internet, a virtual private network (VPN), or any other network that communicatively connects one or more computers, communication devices, databases, and the like. Network 10 may be connected to personal computer 12 and computer terminal 14 via Ethernet 16, router 18, and landline 20. On the other hand, network 10 may be wirelessly connected to laptop computer 22 and personal digital assistant 24 via wireless communication station 26 and wireless link 28. Similarly, server 30 may be connected to network 10 using communication link 32, and mainframe 34 may be connected to network 10 using other communication link 36. have.

2 illustrates a computing device in the form of a computer 110 that may be connected to the network 10 and used to implement one or more components of a dynamic software provisioning system. Components of computer 110 may include, but are not limited to, system bus 121 that couples various system components, including processing device 120, system memory 130, and system memory to processing device 120. It is not limited. The system bus 121 may be any of a variety of bus structures, including a memory bus or a memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. As an example, such an architecture may include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, an Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, and the Video Electronics Association. Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, also known as the Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and mezzanine bus.

The computer 110 may also include a license provisioning module 125 (LPM). LPM 125 is described in more detail in FIG. 3. In brief, LPM 125 facilitates immediate payment or PPU operation of computer 110. LPM 125 manages usage metering, administers sanctions when metered usage expires, manages the request, receipt, and processing of data to repopulate computer 110 for future use.

Computer 110 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 110 and includes volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and fixed media. As one example, computer readable media may include computer storage media and communication media. Computer-readable media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and fixed media implemented in any method or technology for storing information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROMs, digital versatile disks or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, Or any other medium that can be used to store desired information and can be accessed by the computer 110, but is not limited thereto. Typically, communication media embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data with modulated data signals, such as carrier waves or other transmission mechanisms, and include any information delivery media. The term " modulated data signal " means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed such that information in the signal is encoded. As an example, communication media includes, but is not limited to, wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

System memory 130 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, such as ROM 131 and RAM 132. Typically, a basic input / output system (BIOS) (BIOS) is stored in the ROM 131, which includes a basic routine that assists in transferring information between elements within the computer 110, for example during startup. Typically, RAM 132 includes data and / or program modules that are currently in operation and / or can be accessed by processing device 120. As an example, FIG. 2 includes, but is not limited to, an operating system 134, an application program 135, other program modules 136, and program data 137.

The computer 110 may also include other removable / fixed, volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media. As an example, FIG. 2 illustrates a hard disk drive 141 that reads from or writes to a fixed, nonvolatile magnetic medium, a magnetic disk drive 151 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk 152, and Illustrates an optical disc drive 155 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disc 156, such as a CD ROM or other optical medium. Other removable / fixed, volatile / nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, DVDs, digital video tapes, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. It doesn't work. Typically, hard disk drive 141 is connected to system bus 121 via a fixed memory interface, such as interface 140, and typically magnetic disk drive 151 and optical disk drive 155 are connected to interface 150. It is connected to the system bus 121 by the same removable memory interface.

The drive shown in FIG. 2 and associated computer storage media described above provide computer 110 with storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and other data. In FIG. 2, for example, hard disk drive 141 is shown as storing operating system 144, application program 145, other program module 146, and program data 147. Note that these components may be the same as or different from the operating system 134, the application program 135, the other program modules 136, and the program data 137. Herein, operating system 144, application program 145, other program module 146, and program data 147 are given different numbers to indicate that they are at least different copies. A user may enter commands and information into the computer 110 through input devices such as a keyboard 162 and pointing device 161, commonly referred to as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Another input device may be a camera for transmitting images over the Internet, known as web cam 163. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, antenna for satellite broadcast reception, scanner, and the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 120 through a user input interface 160 connected to the system bus, but by other interfaces and bus structures, such as parallel ports, game ports, or universal serial buses (USB). Can be connected. In addition, the monitor 191 or other type of display device is connected to the system bus 121 via an interface such as a video interface 190. In addition to the monitor, the computer may include other output devices such as a speaker 197 and a printer 196 that may be connected via the output peripheral interface 190.

Computer 110 may operate in a network environment using logic connections with one or more remote computers, such as remote computer 180. Remote computer 180 may be a personal computer, server, router, network PC, peer device, or other common network node, and typically includes most or all of the elements described above with respect to computer 110, although FIG. Only memory memory device 181 is shown. The logical connection shown in FIG. 2 includes a LAN 171 and a WAN 173, but may include other networks. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-scale computer networks, intranets and the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 110 is connected to the LAN 171 via a network interface or adapter 170. When used in a WAN networking environment, computer 110 typically includes a modem 172 or other means for establishing communications over WAN 173, such as the Internet. The modem 172, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 121 via the user input interface 160, or other suitable mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted in connection with the computer 110, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. As an example, FIG. 2 shows a remote application program 185 as resident on memory device 181, but is not limited to such. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and may employ other means for establishing a communication link between the computers.

3 shows a more detailed block diagram of the LPM 125. In detail, the LPM 125 includes an enforcement add-on module 252 for forcing the computer 110 to operate in a specific state, an instrumentation module 254 for measuring the usage of provisioned resources on the computer 110, and a service provider ( Transaction engine 256 for processing provisioning packets received from the device (not shown), a secure storage manager 258 for providing secure storage to the provisioning packets, a communication module 260 for communicating with a service provider, and a user for May include a user experience module 262.

Enforcement module 252 may be inserted into login logic 264 of computer 110. When a user logs into the computer 110 using the login logic 264 or requests the use of a provisioned resource, the enforcement module 252 sends balance information to the measurement module 254. You can query If enforcement module 252 determines that computer 110 has sufficient money for the requested activity, it may cause computer 110 to operate in its normal mode, and the user may log into computer 110 or request the requested resource. Can be used. On the other hand, if the enforcement module 252 determines that the computer 110 does not have a sufficient amount available, the user interface may deny login or access to the requested resource and the user interface to add the amount to the available balance. You can invoke.

In order to execute the enforcement task, the enforcement module 252 may disable or sanction resources under the direct influence or control of the computer 110. Sanctions associated with external peripherals may be implemented by operations on appropriate controllers, such as, for example, input or output controllers 170, 190, 195, but in some cases it may be necessary to enforce sanctions on the peripherals themselves. .

The metrology module 254 can include a balance manager 266 that reads and verifies the current balance available to use the provisioned resources to update the current balance. The metrology module 254 may also include a configuration manager 268 for determining effective system configuration information, such as authorized, or chargeable peripherals. In addition, the metrology module 254 may include a reliable clock manager 270 to maintain a constantly increasing timer. The metrology module 254 can provide a mechanism for monitoring how often, how many, or for what period of time the computer 110, or components thereof, are used. The metrology module 254 can use a hook within the operating system to count application startup when metering usage by the application. Alternatively, the metrology module 254 can monitor the processing unit 120 cycles or usage to determine how many times the computer 110 or individual application was actually in operation. In another embodiment, the trusted watch manager 270 can be monitored to determine if a given authorized usage period, such as a calendar month or 30 days, has expired.

The reliable clock manager 270 can use the reliable hardware clock 272 to accomplish the task of maintaining a monotonically changing timer. The reliable clock manager 270 may be used to provide the system time, or the clock manager 270 may be used to provide a time service for measuring usage only. The balance manager 266 and the trusted watch manager 270 may be very sensitive and sensitive to the security operation of the LPM 125 and thus may be subject to various security attacks during the operation of the LPM 125.

The enforcement add-on module 252 and the metrology module 254 can work together to implement activation and deactivation of provisioned resources on the computer 110. Enforcement add-on module 252 can function as an event dispatcher that calls balance manager 266 based on a schedule event, but balance manager 266 can determine what action to take when called in response to an event. . Examples of various events that may cause the enforcement add-on module 252 to invoke the balance manager 266 include (1) logon events, (2) system unlock events, (3) recovery from hibernation events, (4) wake-up from standby events, (5) user triggered events such as requests to use peripherals, (6) logoff events, (7) packet downloads, (8) timer ticks, and so on. Balance manager 266 accepts this event as input and returns the resulting action to trial add-on module 252.

Transaction engine 256 may process the provisioning packet to update the balance in balance manager 266. Transaction engine 256 may guarantee to update the balance by consuming any provisioning packet only once. Transaction engine 256 may be designed to perform atomic updates and reconciliation transactions, thereby updating both balances and resource provider accounts, or neither balances nor resource provider accounts.

To process provisioning packets, transaction engine 256 may include digital signature verification circuitry 267. The digital signature verification circuit 267 is adapted to decrypt the provisioning packet regardless of whether the provisioning packet is received electronically via the Internet, locally from the LAN, from a removable medium, manually, or by another transmission method. May have circuitry and / or software. Using a common public key infrastructure (PKI), a message can be decrypted and, once encrypted, the integrity and authenticity of provisioned packets can be verified by generating a hash and checking against the digital signature. For example, the specific encryption algorithm employed, such as RSA ^™ or elliptic curve, is not critical. Digital signature techniques, including sender verification and content verification, are well known and are not discussed in detail herein.

The secure storage manager 258 allows the LPM 125 to store balance data in a secure manner, so that the user cannot modify it and is only accessible by the LPM 125. After the provisioning packet is downloaded by the LPM 125, it can be stored in the secure storage manager 258. Similarly, the balance counter and packet consumption counter may be stored in the secure storage manager 258. The secure storage manager 258 may also store data used in the setup and operation of the local provisioning module 125. In addition, software for determining activity levels, rules or algorithms associated with usage schedules, and their corresponding thresholds may be stored in secure storage manager 258. In general, this is the very data that, if compromised, can be used to circumvent control over PPU or prepay operation. Among such data may be a unique identifier, which may be a number or code that may be used to distinguish one computer 110 from another. The unique identifier can be used to prepare digitally signed provisioning packets that can only be used on a single device. The provisioning packet may be data received to add an amount to the balance manager 266, new or updated usage schedules, or new rules or thresholds for activity assessment.

Some of the data associated with authentication of the provisioning packet may be stored in secure storage manager 258. For example, transaction sequence numbers can be used to discourage or prevent replay attacks. In addition, "no-earlier-than" dates can be extracted and stored from provisioning packets to discourage or prevent clock tampering attacks. In one embodiment, the start date may be the date / time at which the provisioning packet was generated. Since the use of the provisioning packet cannot occur before the provisioning packet is generated, nothing can set the clock of the computer 110 to a predetermined date or time before the most recent date of the last provisioning packet after considering the time zone.

The state data stored by the secure storage manager 258 may be used to indicate whether the computer 110 is in a fully operational mode or whether the computer 110 or application is subject to certain restrictions or sanctions. While most software can be stored or executed from general-purpose system memory 130, there may be some executable code such as, for example, an application, routine, or driver that can ideally be tamper resistant. For example, to prevent tampering and theft, it may be necessary to protect the routine itself for setting up a reliable hardware clock 272.

The metering or usage data generated or used by the metering module 254 may require a lot of protection provided by the system memory 130 and therefore may be stored in the secure storage manager 258. The metering or usage data may include, for example, the remaining usage unit number, the maximum allowable usage unit number, the list of metered applications, or the stop date / time. The subscription plan by application may be closely related to the subscription data by measurement or application. As discussed above, to provide flexibility, a user may be allowed to select from a subscription plan with multiple subscriptions. Subscription plans for these applications may include time-based usage, multiple hours of use, application-specific usage with multiple activities or usages, as well as other inputs and outputs, as well as other inputs including combinations of these uses. Can be. The protection of the subscription plan by application can be important because it is not desirable for the user to change or create a new plan that could lead to theft use. If the subscription plan by application requires PPU or metered use, appropriate business rules, even if not present, can be safely downloaded and stored in secure storage manager 258.

A certificate revocaton list (CRL) can be used to determine whether the current root certificate is valid. If not retrieved in real time from the host, the CRL can be stored securely in a local manner to prevent tampering that could allow theft use by presenting provisioned packets signed by compromised or unauthorized secret keys. Although the public key of the root certificate is in the public domain and technically does not require protection, the root certificate can be stored in the secure storage manager 258 for provisioning packet verification. In the illustrated implementation, the secure storage manager 258 is implemented as a dynamic link library (dll) so that the user experience module 262 can access the secure storage manager 258.

The data encryption key can be used to store data in the secure storage manager 258, and only a module having the data encryption key can read data from the secure storage manager 258, thus providing secure storage manager 258. This ensures that the data stored in is secure. Secure storage manager 258 includes LSA subsystem 274 in communication with local security authority (LSA) database 276, storage driver 278 in communication with secure hardware storage 280, and A file system driver 282 may be in communication with a file 284 on the computer 110. To enhance security, other implementations of the secure storage manager 258 may have multiple stored in the secure storage manager 258 so as to cross-reference each copy to ensure that no single copy of data is tampered with. You can also use copy data from. The implementation of the LPM 125 described herein has a secure storage manager 258 implemented in software, but in other implementations, the secure storage manager 258 may be implemented in hardware.

The communication module 260 is a packet / certificate request manager 286 that requests provisioning packets and / or certificates from a service provider or purchases additional provisioning packets, and a web that allows the LPM 125 to communicate with the network 10. May include a service communication manager 290.

The packet / certificate request manager 286 may receive a request to download a packet or certificate. In addition, the packet / certificate request manager 286 may be responsible for acknowledging the service provider (not shown) upon successful download of the certificate or provisioning packet. Packet / certificate request manager 286 may communicate using a provisioning protocol. Packets downloaded by the packet / certificate request manager 286 may be stored in the secure storage manager 258.

Due to the purchase manager 288, the user of the computer 110 receives payment information from the user and passes the payment information to the service provider or funding account (not shown) to add the amount to the local balance by purchasing the provisioning packet. can do. For example, a local retailer may add an amount to a funding account using a purchase of a scratch card and then update the balance by creating, validating and using a provisioning packet downloaded. Both packet / certificate request manager 286 and purchase manager 288 may communicate with network 10 using web service communication manager 290. The web service communication manager may communicate with the network 10 using the network service manager 292 and the network interface card 294 (NIC). In one implementation, the web service communication manager 290 may be used to communicate with the network 10, and in other embodiments, other communication tools, such as a file transfer protocol (FTP), may be used to communicate with the network 10. Note that there is.

User experience module 262 includes an activation user interface 296 (UI) that prompts the user to enter an InitKey that allows packet / certificate request manager 286 to download a certificate from the service provider (not shown), and the LPM. May include a notification UI 298 that allows 125 to interact with the user. In addition, activation UI 296 may invoke purchase manager 288 to allow the user to purchase additional provisioning packets for recharging balances.

The notification UI 298 may include various user interfaces that allow a user to query current balance information, usage history, and the like. Notification UI 298 may be invoked by user or login logic 264. In situations where the balance available to use the provisioned resources is low, the login logic 264 may call the notification UI 298 to notify the user that additional purchases may be needed. The notification UI may be active at all times and provide the notification service to the user via a taskbar icon, control panel applet, balloon popup, or by using any other well known UI method.

In operation, computer 110 measures PPU or other metered usage by any of several mechanisms, such as elapsed usage time, calendar time, application startup, and the like. At least on the surface, the easiest method of measurement may be a simple operating time. For example, 10 hours of pre-paid usage can be purchased and provisioned in the purchase balance manager 266. The usage time can be measured and subtracted from the total accumulated balance. In the case of spending 10 hours of use, the enforcement module 252 may suspend the operation of the computer 110 or enforce other sanctions as described above.

When tracking and recording any metric for determining PPU, measurement accuracy can be an important key for customer satisfaction. If the measurement is in the service provider's favor, the customer is dissatisfied and is likely to receive a competitive offer. On the other hand, if the measurement is in favor of the customer, the service provider cannot realize the financial goal.

As mentioned above, the most obvious technique, in particular the technique of measuring time, is likely to be wrong due to the interpretation of the monitored condition. To help ensure computer usage, and in particular, fair metering to accurately measure time, multiple criteria can be analyzed to determine whether usage should be measured.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of measuring the amount of use of the computer 110. Computer 110, or more specifically, balance manager 266, may measure usage of the computer according to a first usage schedule. The usage schedule may be the same as the direct usage, for example, subtracting one minute paid time for each minute of measured usage. Alternatively, the usage schedule can be converted between quotes and time, such as one cent per minute. The first usage schedule may represent a number of classes and specific items, for example, in another embodiment, the usage schedule is, for example, one cent per minute for the first 60 minutes and 0.5 cents per minute after the first 60 minutes. You can adapt a discount such as As can be appreciated, another operation is associated with measuring usage 302. For example, by selecting a measurement, a comparison with the allowed usage can be made and warnings or sanctions relating to the consumption of prepaid use can be executed concurrently with the steps outlined herein. Such behavior is discussed in detail in the related application 11 / 006,837 referenced above, and therefore is not discussed herein to clarify the concept of the invention.

In addition to usage, relevant information may also be recorded 304 that may be useful in recovering data during unplanned outages such as power outages. Such related information may include the time between measurements. Activity levels may also be monitored (306). If the activity level is above the threshold, select the “Yes” branch and continue to measure usage at block 302. Monitoring activity levels may include monitoring the status of one or more components within computer 110 to obtain a more complete understanding of the overall computer 100 status. The activity level of the computer 110 is such as input devices 161, 162, printer 196, web camera 163, hard disk drive 141, communication devices 170, 172, and processing device 120. May correspond to the activity level of one of the devices or a combination thereof. Each component may have separate thresholds that contribute to a separate activity level, i.e., the overall threshold level, for use in the final metrology decision. For illustration purposes, input from mouse 161 may always be interpreted as activity above a usage threshold. If activity from a series of primary devices, such as input devices 161 and 162, is detected to be below an activity threshold, no branch from block 306 is selected. The activity may be further evaluated 308 to determine if the second activity indicates that the overall activity is below a threshold. In the simplest case, to stop the deduction from the usage balance, all monitored activity levels must be below their respective thresholds for the balance manager 266. However, as described below, the rules for this determination may be more complex.

If further evaluation is performed at block 308, the activity level of other components, such as processing unit 120, may be above a normal threshold, but the size of the activity may be a screen saver, virus checker, software update process, housekeeping utility. If due to a known background process, such as the like, the rule may stop selecting the “Yes” branch at block 308. Then, in the end, the balance manager 266 may run out according to the second usage schedule. That is, the balance manager 266 may, for example, deduct from the usage balance to the second grade, which is 10% of the first grade, or stop all deduction from the usage balance. The actual usage schedule in use at any given moment may be selected from any of the multiple usage schedules in accordance with various rules and / or contractual arrangements.

On the other hand, after observing another inactivity indicator at block 306, the activity level of another component, such as, for example, processing device 120 again, may be below an activity threshold, but at block 308 Analysis of device 120 activity indicates that an image capture program is running that periodically processes the picture from the camera and posts it to a website. Operating the webcam may be an example of a computer's low activity usage, which is counted as active usage in some cases by contract, so no branch at block 308 may be selected, and the balance manager 266 may not have any users. Even if the computer 110 is not physically used, the usage balance can be continuously deducted. Alternatively, in this example, the webcam usage may be measured by applying a rule according to a second or third usage schedule that is lower than the rank of the first usage schedule but does not deduct at all. It is clear that multiple usage schedules and corresponding measurement classes can be developed based on analysis and rules of usage activity.

Referring briefly to FIG. 5, a graph depicting an activity profile shows an analysis of the activity level of the computer 110. An exemplary profile 402 of the overall computer 110 activity level over time shows the activity level falling below the threshold level 404 for a period of time and then rising back above the activity threshold. In this example, the rule is that usage is switched from measurement using the first usage schedule, as shown by graph segment 408, before switching to the second usage schedule, shown by graph segment 410. Before, requires that the activity level remain below the threshold for a predetermined time "A 406". Due to the delay, it may be determined that the user is present and has left computer 110 rather than reading a page of the document. The balance manager 266 may use the duration of the period “A 406” to adjust the usage balance after switching to the second user schedule. The delay period "A 406" may be assigned to the user's usage balance. As such, the user is given credit for the time used to meet inactivity requirements before switching to the second usage schedule. In other situations, the balance manager 266 may deduct or debit the usage balance, for example, when a delay occurs when transitioning from a non-measured rating to a measured rating. As shown by graph line 412, balance manager 266 may return to measure according to the first usage schedule when activity level returns above threshold 404. Some hysteresis can be added to the rule so that the threshold level can change depending on the direction of activity level (decrease or increase).

The usage profile of FIG. 5 may represent the overall activity level of the computer. Similarly, as described above, the usage profile of FIG. 5 may represent one of a plurality of usage profiles. For example, a usage profile may be maintained for the hard disk drive 141, the communication devices 170, 172, or the processing device 120 to indicate several component level devices. In order to make a more precise evaluation, the usage profile can be created at a subcomponent level, for example, a range of system memory 132 or a sector of hard disk drive 141 storage. As discussed above, the usage profile may be evaluated separately, or use a direct or weighted sum to reach an overall metrology related decision. In another example, the length of time that the component or resource should be in the idle state may vary, for example, the period “A 406” may be shortened or lengthened depending on the component. At the same time, the vertical axis of the usage profile represents either a simple two-value on / off scale, or a percentage change in the content of a range of memory, such as, for example, memory 132, i.e., a percentage change per unit time. It can have discrete measurements such as

4, as described above, the balance manager 266 may adjust 310 the balance according to any delay that may be imposed by a rule for determining the activity level. If all the criteria are met, the balance manager 266 may measure usage according to the second usage schedule (312), ie, deduct the amount from the balance in different grades, or not at all. When an event occurs that moves the activity level back above the threshold (314), the measure may return to rating according to the first usage schedule at block 302.

In the above, some specific embodiments have been described, including hardware and software embodiments for precise measurement of computer usage. A more fair and accurate way of determining and measuring beneficial usage is initiated by monitoring and evaluating the activity levels of one or more components of computer 110 and applying appropriate business rules. This is helpful for a wide range of home, office and corporate PPU or instrumented use applications. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would, however, be able to make various modifications to these embodiments, including but not limited to the use of multiple rating schedules, different combinations of hardware or software for activity monitoring, as well as rather complex rules associated with determining a suitable usage schedule. I will understand that it can change. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this patent application.

Claims (18)

As a method of measuring the amount of computer usage, Measuring usage of the computer according to a first usage schedule; Monitoring the activity level of the computer; And When the activity level of the computer reaches a threshold, measuring the usage of the computer according to a second usage schedule. The method of claim 1, And the second usage schedule measures usage at a lower rate than the first usage schedule. The method of claim 1, Monitoring the activity level of the computer further comprises monitoring the activity level of a plurality of components of the computer, Wherein the threshold corresponds to an activity level of at least one of the plurality of components. The method of claim 1, Recording the usage of the computer according to any one of the first and second usage schedules. The method of claim 1, After the activity level of the computer maintains at least a predetermined level for a period of time, the activity level of the computer reaches a threshold of the activity level. The method of claim 5, After the activity level of the computer at least maintains the predetermined level, adjusting the amount of usage corresponding to the period of time. The method of claim 1, The activity level of the computer corresponds to an activity level of one of an input device, a printer, a web camera, a hard disk drive, a communication device, and a processing device. The method of claim 1, The activity level of the computer reaches the threshold corresponding to an application running on the computer. The method of claim 8, The activity level of the computer reaches the threshold corresponding to the application running on the computer, except when the application is one of a screen saver, a virus checker, a utility, and an update. A computer adapted to measure usage, A memory for storing data and program codes; And A processor coupled to the memory, the processor executing a measurement program to sense an activity level of the computer and measure usage in response to the activity level of the computer. The method of claim 10, The metrology program determines an activity level of at least one of an input device, a printer, a web camera, a hard disk drive, a communication device, a display driver, and a processor. The method of claim 10, And the metrology program is evaluating metering usage corresponding to the processor activity level that is at least one of a utility, a screen saver, a virus checker, an update, and the metrology program and is an activity level below an idle threshold. The method of claim 10, The metrology program stops metering computer usage corresponding to an activity level of the computer below a threshold. The method of claim 10, The memory stores metrology data associated with the computer usage, and the program adjusts the usage data according to a profile of the activity data. A computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for use in a computer, the computer executable instructions executing a measurement method; Evaluating the activity level of the components of the computer; And In response to an activity level of a component of the computer, determining when to activate a measurement of computer usage. The method of claim 15, The computer usage metering measures a usage time and is in one of an on state and an off state in response to an activity level of a component of the computer. The method of claim 15, Evaluating the activity level of the components of the computer further includes computer executable instructions for evaluating the activity level of at least one of an input device, a printer, a web camera, a storage device, a communication device, and a processor. . The method of claim 17, Evaluating the activity level of the processor further comprises computer executable instructions for evaluating execution of at least one of a screen saver, a virus checker, a utility, and an update.

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