Method and apparatus for metering usage of software products using multiple signatures

• US 7,860,239 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2005
• Issued: 12/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Marinella, Calogero Bufalino, Censi, Francesco, Pastorelli, Bernardo, Carbone, Giancarlo, Cerri, Fabio
• Primary Examiner(s): Korzuch; William R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughan; Michael R
• Application Number:
  US11/168,693
• Publication Number:
  US 20060021061A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,009 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 380/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2137 Time limited access, e.g. to a computer or data

Abstract

A method and a corresponding apparatus for metering usage of software products on a computer are proposed. The solution of the invention is based on the idea of associating each product with an installation signature (indicative of the installation of the product on the computer) and with a running signature (indicative of the running of the product on the computer). The products that are installed on the computer are asynchronously determined according to their installation signatures; in this way, any ambiguities (for example, caused by different versions and/or configurations of a product sharing the same executable modules) can be resolved in advance. Therefore, when at run-time the invocation of an executable module is detected it is possible to use only the running signatures to identify the corresponding product uniquely (without the need of additional information about the executable module, such as its size).

Claims

1. A method for metering usage of a software product on a data processing system, comprising:

associating an installation signature with the software product, the installation signature uniquely identifying the software product on the data processing system when the software product is installed on the data processing system;

associating a running signature with the software product, the running signature identifying the software product on the data processing system when the software product is running on the data processing system, the running signature of the software product being distinct from the installation signature of the software product;

detecting a launch of the software product on the data processing system;

providing a global catalogue, the global catalogue specifying for each software product in a group of software products a corresponding installation signature and a corresponding running signature;

extracting a reduced catalogue from the global catalogue, the reduced catalogue including only a group of running signatures corresponding to the group of installed software products;

accessing the reduced catalogue to identify the software product;

identifying the software product using (i) the installation signature and (ii) the running signature; and

using the identified installation signature and running signature to meter usage of the software product.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of identifying the launched software product further comprises:

determining a group of installed software products on the data processing system by determining a group of installation signatures present on the data processing system; and

identifying the software product using the running signature, the running signature uniquely identifying the software product in the group of installed products.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the running signature is associated with more than one software products.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the installation signature includes at least one condition, the software product being considered installed on the data processing system when each one of the at least one condition is satisfied, and wherein the at least one condition is one of (i) availability of a generic software module on the data processing system, (ii) a configuration parameter of the data processing system, and (iii) a specific program to be invoked for analysing the data processing system.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the running signature includes an indication of at least one executable module associated with the software product, the software product being considered running on the data processing system when one of the at least one executable module is invoked.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the indication of the at least one executable module in the running signature is identifying the at least one executable module by a name, and wherein the at least one executable module is associated with more than one software products.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the installation signature is determined after the software product has been installed on the data processing system.

8. A computer usable program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable storage medium including computer usable code for metering usage of a software product on a data processing system, the computer usable code comprising:

computer usable code for associating an installation signature with the software product, the installation signature uniquely identifying the software product on the data processing system when the software product is installed on the data processing system;

computer usable code for associating a running signature with the software product, the running signature identifying the software product on the data processing system when the software product is running on the data processing system, the running signature of the software product being distinct from the installation signature of the software product;

computer usable code for detecting a launch of the software product on the data processing system;

computer usable code for providing a global catalogue, the global catalogue specifying for each software product in a group of software products a corresponding installation signature and a corresponding running signature;

computer usable code for extracting a reduced catalogue from the global catalogue, the reduced catalogue including only a group of running signatures corresponding to the group of installed software products;

computer usable code for accessing the reduced catalogue to identify the software product;

computer usable code for identifying the software product using (i) the installation signature and (ii) the running signature; and

computer usable code for using the identified installation signature and running signature to meter usage of the software product.

9. The computer usable program product according to claim 8, wherein the computer usable code for identifying the launched software product further comprises:

computer usable code for determining a group of installed software products on the data processing system by determining a group of installation signatures present on the data processing system; and

computer usable code for identifying the software product using the running signature, the running signature uniquely identifying the software product in the group of installed products.

10. The computer usable program product according to claim 8, wherein the running signature is associated with more than one software products.

11. The computer usable program product according to claim 8, wherein the installation signature includes at least one condition, the software product being considered installed on the data processing system when each one of the at least one condition is satisfied, and wherein the at least one condition is one of (i) availability of a generic software module on the data processing system, (ii) a configuration parameter of the data processing system, and (iii) a specific program to be invoked for analysing the data processing system.

12. The computer usable program product according to claim 8, wherein the running signature includes an indication of at least one executable module associated with the software product, the software product being considered running on the data processing system when one of the at least one executable module is invoked, wherein the indication of the at least one executable module in the running signature is identifying the at least one executable module by a name, and wherein the at least one executable module is associated with more than one software products.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer usable code is stored in a computer readable storage medium in a data processing system, and wherein the computer usable code is transferred over a network from a remote data processing system.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer usable code is stored in a computer readable storage medium in a server data processing system, and wherein the computer usable code is downloaded over a network to a remote data processing system for use in a computer readable storage medium associated with the remote data processing system.

15. An apparatus for metering usage of a software product on a data processing system, the apparatus comprising:

a storage device including a storage medium, wherein the storage device stores computer usable program code; and

a processor, wherein the processor executes the computer usable program code, and wherein the computer usable program code comprises;

computer usable code for associating an installation signature with the software product, the installation signature uniquely identifying the software product on the data processing system when the software product is installed on the data processing system;

computer usable code for associating a running signature with the software product, the running signature identifying the software product on the data processing system when the software product is running on the data processing system, the running signature of the software product being distinct from the installation signature of the software product;

computer usable code for detecting a launch of the software product on the data processing system;

computer usable code for providing a global catalogue, the global catalogue specifying for each software product in a group of software products a corresponding installation signature and a corresponding running signature;

computer usable code for extracting a reduced catalogue from the global catalogue, the reduced catalogue including only a group of running signatures corresponding to the group of installed software products;

computer usable code for accessing the reduced catalogue to identify the software product;

computer usable code for identifying the software product using (i) the installation signature and (ii) the running signature; and

computer usable code for using the identified installation signature and running signature to meter usage of the software product.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the installation signature includes at least one condition, the software product being considered installed on the data processing system when each one of the at least one condition is satisfied, and wherein the at least one condition is one of (i) availability of a generic software module on the data processing system, (ii) a configuration parameter of the data processing system, and (iii) a specific program to be invoked for analysing the data processing system.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the running signature includes an indication of at least one executable module associated with the software product, the software product being considered running on the data processing system when one of the at least one executable module is invoked, wherein the indication of the at least one executable module in the running signature is identifying the at least one executable module by a name, and wherein the at least one executable module is associated with more than one software products.