Flexible license file feature controls
First Claim
1. A remote feature activation system, comprising:
- a computer; and
a medium, readable by the computer, the medium being encoded with a data record, the data record being readable by the computer, for licensing a computational component, the computational component having configuration information different from the data record, the data record comprising;
at least one of a platform type, a serial number associated with the computational component, a platform identifier, an application name, a version, a license expiration date, and a right-to-use indicator;
at least a first identifier for at least a first operational feature;
a first mode setting for the at least a first operational feature; and
a lock setting for the at least a first operational feature, wherein, when the lock setting has a first value, the first mode setting in the data record takes precedence over a second mode setting in the configuration information and, when the lock setting has a second value different from the first value, the second mode setting takes precedence over the first mode setting.
24 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to licensing data structures for telecommunication systems. The data structures comprise (a) a lock setting or status to permit the contents of the license file for an operational feature to take precedence over the corresponding translation information for the operational feature or to be used as a default setting if there is not corresponding translation information for the operational feature; (b) first and second value settings for an operational feature to permit a value associated with the operational feature to be set anywhere in the range defined by the first and second value settings; and (c) a right-to-use field for an operational feature that is separate from a setting field for the operational feature to provide flexibility in altering the setting field without deleting the operational feature. The present invention further provides a methodology for providing temporary licenses having different features enabled/disabled than a permanent license.
212 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A remote feature activation system, comprising:
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a computer; and a medium, readable by the computer, the medium being encoded with a data record, the data record being readable by the computer, for licensing a computational component, the computational component having configuration information different from the data record, the data record comprising; at least one of a platform type, a serial number associated with the computational component, a platform identifier, an application name, a version, a license expiration date, and a right-to-use indicator; at least a first identifier for at least a first operational feature; a first mode setting for the at least a first operational feature; and a lock setting for the at least a first operational feature, wherein, when the lock setting has a first value, the first mode setting in the data record takes precedence over a second mode setting in the configuration information and, when the lock setting has a second value different from the first value, the second mode setting takes precedence over the first mode setting. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for configuring a computational component, comprising:
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providing, configuration information for configuring the computational component and license information for controlling use of the computational component within predetermined parameters, wherein the license information comprises at least a first identifier for at least a first operational feature, a mode setting for the at least a first operational feature, and a lock setting for the at least a first operational feature and comparing, by a computer, the configuration information with the license information such that; when the lock setting has a first value, the mode setting in the data record for the at least a first operational feature takes precedence over any corresponding mode setting in the configuration information and when the lock setting has a second value different from the first value, any respective mode setting in the configuration information for the at least a first operational feature takes precedence over the corresponding mode setting in the data record. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for configuring a computational component, comprising:
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providing configuration information for configuring the computational component and license information for controlling use of the computational component within predetermined parameters, wherein the license information comprises at least a first identifier for at least a first operational feature, a mode setting for the at least a first operational feature, and a lock setting for the at least a first operational feature and comparing, by a computer, the configuration information with the license information such that; when the lock setting has a first value, the mode setting in the data record for the at least a first operational feature takes precedence over any corresponding mode setting in the configuration information and when the lock setting has a second value different from the first value, any respective mode setting in the configuration information for the at least a first operational feature takes precedence over the corresponding mode setting in the data record, wherein the data record further comprises at least a second identifier for at least a second operational feature and first and second value settings for the at least a second operational feature and the configuration information comprises a third value setting for the at least a second operational feature and further comprising; comparing, by a computer, the configuration information associated with the at least a second operational feature with the license information associated with the at least a second operational feature such that; when the third value setting is less than the first value setting, selecting the first value setting as the setting for the at least a second operational feature; when the third value setting is more than the second value setting, selecting the first value setting as the setting for the at least a second operational feature; and when the third value setting is between the first and second value settings, selecting the first value setting as the setting for the at least a second operational feature. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A remote feature activation system, comprising:
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a computer; and a computer readable medium encoded with a data record for licensing a computational component, the data record being processable by the computer, comprising; at least a first identifier for at least a first operational feature; first and second value settings for the at least a first operational feature, wherein the computational component has configuration information different from the data record and further comprising; at least a second identifier for at least a second operational feature; a mode setting for the at least a second operational feature; and a lock setting for the at least a second operational feature, wherein, when the lock setting has a first value, the mode setting in the data record takes precedence over the configuration information and, when the lock setting has a second value different from the first value, the mode setting is a default value. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for configuring a computational component, comprising:
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providing configuration information for configuring the computational component and license information for controlling use of the computational component within predetermined parameters, wherein the data record comprises at least a first identifier for at least a first operational feature and first and second value settings for the at least a first operational feature and the configuration information comprises a third value setting for the at least a first operational feature and further comprising; comparing, by a computer, the configuration information associated with the at least a first operational feature with the license information associated with the at least a first operational feature such that; when the third value setting is less than the first value setting, selecting the first value setting as the setting for the at least a first operational feature; when the third value setting is more than the second value setting, selecting the first value setting as the setting for the at least a first operational feature; and when the third value setting is between the first and second value settings, selecting the first value setting as the setting for the at least a first operational feature. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A remote feature activation system, comprising:
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a computer; and a computer readable medium encoded with a data record for licensing a computational component, the data record being processable by the computer and comprising; at least one of a platform type, a serial number associated with the computational component, a platform identifier, an application name, a version, a license expiration date, and a right-to-use indicator; a right to use indicator associated with the at least a first operational feature, the right to use defining a right to use the at least a first operational feature; a mode and value setting for the at least a first operational feature, the mode setting at least one of sets and configures the at least a first operational feature and the value setting defines a quantity associated with the at least a first operational feature; and a lock setting for the at least a first operational feature, wherein, when the lock setting has a first value, a first mode setting in the data record takes precedence over a second different mode setting in the configuration information and, when the lock setting has a second value different from the first value, the second mode setting takes precedence over the first mode setting. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A remote feature activation system, comprising:
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a computer; and a memory comprising a data record for licensing a computational component, the computational component having configuration information different from the data record and the data record being readable by the computer, the data record comprising; a plurality of a platform type, a serial number associated with the computational component, a platform identifier, an application name, a version, a license expiration date, and a right-to-use indicator; at least a first identifier for at least a first user selectable operational feature; a first mode setting for the at least a first operational feature; and a lock setting for the at least a first operational feature, wherein, when the lock setting has a first value, the first mode setting in the data record takes precedence over a second mode setting in the configuration information and, when the lock setting has a second value different from the first value, the second mode setting takes precedence over the first mode setting.
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38. A method, comprising:
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maintaining, by a computer of a manufacturer, a remote feature activation application and a licensing database, the database comprising, for each customer and product pairing, a plurality of features of the corresponding product, which features may be used by the product, and a set of indicators indicating whether or not each corresponding feature is activated or deactivated on the product; after a license has been generated and delivered to a first customer for a first product of the manufacturer, the first product having been purchased by the first customer, providing, by the manufacturer'"'"'s computer and to the first customer, a first plurality of features, which first plurality of features may be used by the first product and the respective indicator values for each feature; thereafter receiving, from the first customer and while the license is valid, a request to at least one of activate and deactivate one or more of the first plurality of features in the first product; in response, at least one of activating and deactivating, by the manufacturer'"'"'s computer, the one or more of the first plurality of features in the first product; and generating and delivering, by the manufacturer'"'"'s computer, to the first customer a new license for the first product, the new license reflecting the at least one of activated and deactivated one or more features. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification