SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VARIABLE TIME-BASED LICENSING
First Claim
1. A software licensing system, comprising:
- a computer including a computer readable medium and processor operating thereon;
a chips cache which stores activated chips;
a chips pool which stores inactive chips;
a chips accounting manager, operable to receive license requests for software tools and to determine whether to grant the license request;
a license manager which tracks active chips and manages activated chip check-in and checkout;
wherein when the chips accounting manager receives a license request for a software tool the chips accounting managerdetermines whether the chips cache includes sufficient chips to access the software tool,if there are insufficient chips, checks whether inactive chips in the chip pool can be activated and added to the chips cache, andif there are sufficient chips, notifies the license manager to check out the sufficient chips from the chips cache and grant access to the software tool.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for variable time-based licensing is provided, which includes a chips cache which stores activated chips and a chips pool which stores inactive chips. In this context “chips” can be considered a currency which can be traded to use software tools for a period of time associated with each chip. The system further includes a chips accounting manager, operable to receive license requests for software tools and to determine whether to grant the license request; and a license manager which tracks active chips and manages activated chip check-in and checkout. When the chips accounting manager receives a license request for a software tool the chips accounting manager determines whether the chips cache includes sufficient chips to access the software tool. If there are insufficient chips, the chips accounting manager checks whether inactive chips in the chip pool can be activated and added to the chips cache. If there are sufficient chips, the chips accounting manager notifies the license manager to check out the sufficient chips from the chips cache and grant access to the software tool.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A software licensing system, comprising:
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a computer including a computer readable medium and processor operating thereon; a chips cache which stores activated chips; a chips pool which stores inactive chips; a chips accounting manager, operable to receive license requests for software tools and to determine whether to grant the license request; a license manager which tracks active chips and manages activated chip check-in and checkout; wherein when the chips accounting manager receives a license request for a software tool the chips accounting manager determines whether the chips cache includes sufficient chips to access the software tool, if there are insufficient chips, checks whether inactive chips in the chip pool can be activated and added to the chips cache, and if there are sufficient chips, notifies the license manager to check out the sufficient chips from the chips cache and grant access to the software tool. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A software licensing system, comprising:
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a computer including a computer readable medium and processor operating thereon; a chips cache which stores activated chips; a chips pool which stores inactive chips; a chips accounting and license manager, operable to receive license requests for software tools, determine whether to grant the license request, track activated chips, and manage activated chip check-in and checkout; wherein when the chips accounting and license manager receives a license request for a software tool the chips accounting and license manager determines whether the chips cache includes sufficient chips to access the software tool, if there are insufficient chips, checks whether inactive chips in the chips pool can be activated and added to the chips cache, if there are sufficient chips, checks out the sufficient chips from the chips cache and grants access to the software tool. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A software licensing system, comprising:
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a computer including a computer readable medium and processor operating thereon; a chips accounting manager, executing on the computer, operable to receive license requests for software tools and to determine whether to grant the license request, wherein the chips accounting manager includes a first interface to communicate with a chips pool and a chips cache, and a second interface adapted to communicate with a license manager; wherein when the chips accounting manager receives a license request for a software tool the chips accounting manager determines, using the first interface, whether the chips cache includes sufficient chips to access the software tool, if there are insufficient chips, checks, using the first interface, whether inactive chips in the chips pool can be activated and added to the chips cache, if there are sufficient chips, notifies, using the second interface, the license manager to check out the sufficient chips from the chips cache and grant access to the software tool. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for managing software licenses in a software licensing system, comprising:
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storing activated chips in a chips cache; storing inactive chips in a chips pool; receiving, at a chips accounting manager, license requests for software tools, wherein the chips accounting manager is adapted to communicate with a license manager which controls access to one or more software tools; wherein when the chips accounting manager receives a license request for a software tool the chips accounting manager determines whether the chips cache includes sufficient chips to access the software tool, if there are insufficient chips, checks whether inactive chips in the chip pool can be activated and added to the chips cache, if there are sufficient chips, notifies the license manager to check out the sufficient chips from the chips cache and grant access to the software tool. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer readable storage medium including instructions stored thereon for managing software licenses in a software licensing system, that when executed by a computer cause the computer to:
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store activated chips in a chips cache; store inactive chips in a chips pool; receive, at a chips accounting manager, license requests for software tools, wherein the chips accounting manager is adapted to communicate with a license manager which controls access to one or more software tools; wherein when the chips accounting manager receives a license request for a software tool the chips accounting manager determines whether the chips cache includes sufficient chips to access the software tool, if there are insufficient chips, checks whether inactive chips in the chip pool can be activated and added to the chips cache, if there are sufficient chips, notifies the license manager to check out the sufficient chips from the chips cache and grant access to the software tool. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A software licensing management system comprising:
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a computer, including a computer readable medium and processor operating thereon; and a graphical user interface (GUI) configured to determine, from a software licensing system executing on the computer, a number of available chips, a number of chips in use, and an estimate of time to runout, display representations of the number of available chips, the number of chips in use, and the estimate of time to runout, receive an input to control the number of chips in use, and control the software licensing system based on the input. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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Specification