IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM THEREFOR

• US 20140090028A1
• Filed: 09/26/2013
• Published: 03/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Matsugashita, Hayato
• Granted Patent: US 9,306,923 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/121 Restricting unauthorised execution of programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/41 where a single sign-on provides access to a plurality of computers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/608 Secure printing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/00 Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00; network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorised activity G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0807 using tickets, e.g. Kerberos cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using tickets or tokens H04L9/3213
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0815 providing single-sign-on or federations

Abstract

When a request for acquiring authorization information is received from a resource service application that is a request source, an image forming apparatus transmits a request for further delegating an authorization delegated from a user to the resource service application to an authorization server system together with first authorization information, and acquires second authorization information issued based on the first authorization information from the authorization server system.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus connectable via a network with a server and configured to provide a resource service to an external apparatus connected via the network, the image forming apparatus comprising:

a first acquisition unit configured to acquire first authorization information issued by an authorization server approving delegation of a user'"'"'s authorization for using the resource service;

a resource service application; and

in a case a request for acquiring authorization information is received from the resource service application, a second acquisition unit configured to transmit the request further delegates the authorization to the authorization server together with the first authorization information, and acquire second authorization information issued based on the first authorization information from the authorization server.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resource service application is installed on top of an operating system of the image forming apparatus.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires automatically the second authorization information from the authorization server.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information associated with the first authorization information and the second authorization information are managed while being associated with each other, and

wherein the resource service application acquires the second authorization information from the second acquisition unit and uses the resource service by using the acquired second authorization information instead of the first authorization information.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires a resource service application ID of the resource service application and transmits the request for further delegating the authorization delegated from the user to the resource service application to the authorization server system together with the first authorization information and the resource service application ID, and second acquisition unit acquires the second authorization information managed in association with the resource service application ID from the authorization server.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a case the resource service application acquires the second authorization information from the second acquisition unit and receives the resource service using the acquired second authorization information, and if a resource service application ID managed in association with the second authorization information transmitted from the resource service application is set to the server in advance, the resource service application receives the resource service.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a framework configured to manage a life cycle of a resource service application that operates in a resource service application execution environment provided by a virtual machine,

wherein the framework manages a resource service application ID of the resource service application in a case where the resource service application is installed while confirming that the resource service application is not altered, and

wherein the second acquisition unit acquires the resource service application ID via the framework.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the resource service application requests an object of an interface for calling the second acquisition unit to the framework, acquires the object of the interface to which the resource service application ID is set, and transmits the resource service application ID set to the interface to the second acquisition unit together with the request for acquiring the authorization information defined in the object of the interface.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resource service application transmits a request for acquiring the authorization information to the second acquisition unit in a case where a function required to use the resource service requested by the user.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, wherein, if an expiration date of the first authorization information has been passed already, the second acquisition unit transmits reissue information required to reissue the first authorization information, acquires newly issued first authorization information, and further acquires second authorization information issued based on the newly issued first authorization information from the authorization server.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the server is a server configured to provide at least one of image processing services including a print service and a form service, and

including at least one image processing unit of a print unit and a scanner unit.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is controllable by a smart-phone.

13. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus connectable via a network with a server configured to provide a resource service to an external apparatus connected via the network, the method comprising:

causing a first acquisition unit to acquire first authorization information issued by an authorization server approving delegation of a user'"'"'s authorization for using the resource service; and

causing a second acquisition unit, in a case where a request for acquiring authorization information is received from a resource service application, the second acquisition unit transmits a request for further delegating the authorization to the authorization server together with the first authorization information, and acquires second authorization information issued based on the first authorization information from the authorization server.

14. A storage medium storing a program for causing an image forming apparatus to perform a method according to claim 13.