CREDIT MANAGEMENT DEVICE FOR COMPUTERIZED EQUIPMENT

Abstract: A credit management device for computerized equipment, to be connected to a user computer, characterised by comprising: an interface for connection to the computer (4), a bulk memory (6) containing coded information and connectable to said computer, a processor unit (8), a first memory (12) containing the credit management programs and the decoding programs for the data stored in the bulk memory (6), a second random access memory (14) containing the information relative to the credit of that user, and means for externally incrementing said credit.

Description: Credit management device for computerized equipment This invention relates to a credit management device fo computerized equipment. Data banks are known which a user can access to obtai required information in the most varied sectors of huma activity. The relationship between the data bank and user i generally governed by an appropriate contract defining a cos per unit of time or per individual information item or base on other tariff criteria, this cost being debited eithe directly after each data bank access or cumulatively a predetermined time intervals or in another form previousl agreed between the data bank and user. The user may also b required to set up a current account which the data bank ca directly debit and which the user tops up from time to time. A drawback of this type of relationship is the fact tha the data bank is located far from the user, who to gai access requires suitable connection means and has to pay th cost of this connection. In addition the handling of the accounting procedur between the data bank and the user can be complicated for th data bank, especially in the case of a wide spread of user and a high data bank access rate. Special data banks are also known created on th premises of the user, who is supplied with informatio contained in supports of various kinds such as hard disks, optical disks, magnetic tapes etc. and who then extracts from the thus created data bank the information which he requires at any given time. This leads to substantial simplification of the accounting procedure between the data bank, who sells the information in one lot, and the user who uses it, and in addition obviates any need for a connection between the data bank and the user. However the user is compelled to purchase a complex of information which in practice he can use only to a limited and partial extent, resulting in a cost which is not commensurate with its effective use. The object of the present invention is to create on the premises of each user a data bank containing information on the specific sector of activity of the user, to allow the user to withdraw from this personalized data bank that information which he requires at any given time, and finally to handle the accounting procedure at an individual level in a dynamic form, in the sense of correlating the costs involved in obtaining given information with the effective utilization of the data bank from which this information is withdrawn. This object is attained according to the invention through a credit management device as described in claim 1. A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a simplified block diagram of the device according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a functional scheme relative to the use of the device of Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a functional scheme relative to the debitin operation; and Figure 4 shows a functional scheme relative to the credi incrementing operation. As can be seen from the figures, the device according t the invention comprises an input/output circuit 2 connecte to a user computer 4, which is connected to a bulk memory storing the coded information to be extracted on the basis o the specific user requirements. The input/output circuit 2 i also connected to a processor unit 8 connected to a ROM 1 storing the credit management programs and a table of secre codes 12 for access to a RAM 14 storing the informatio relative to the user credit. The operation of the device according to the inventio firstly requires the bulk memory 6 to be loaded with th information to be later extracted by the user on the basis o his specific requirements. This information is coded and it decoding requires the use of the programs stored in the RO 10. This coded information can be stored on hard disks, o magnetic tapes or on any other memory support. For the operation of the device it is also necessary t previously load into the ROM 10 the decoding programs for th data stored in the bulk memory 6 and the secret code tabl 12. The bulk memory 6 and the ROM 10 are loaded by usua installation procedures. Finally for the operation of the device, the RAM 14 ha to be loaded with the user credit information. Thi information can consist for example of a value correspondin to the amount which the user has previously paid to th information distributor or the provider of the service, an is subject to downward or upward variation depending o whether the user has extracted information from the bul memory 6 or has incremented his credit by further payments generally when this credit has fallen below a predetermine minimum value. Having set up the device of the invention in thi manner, its operation is as follows: if the user wishes to access the bulk memory 6, he selec from the main menu of the computer 4 the information concerned and feeds to the computer a command which activates the extraction program. This program feeds a debit request signal to the CPU 8, which firstly checks in the secret code table 12 that the request is authorized, ie that the access codes are correct. If affirmative the CPU 8 causes the computer 4 to extract the information from the bulk memory 6, and after extracting this bulk memory the computer causes th CPU to debit the user's account by the relative sum. Thi debiting operation is shown schematically in Figure 3; afte receiving from the computer 4 the command and the secret cod to access the RAM 14, the CPU 8 checks that the code is exac by comparison with those stored in the table 12, and if th result is positive causes the debiting operation to tak place by reducing the amount of user credit held in the RA 14. After this operation the CPU 8 causes the computer 4 t decode the information extracted from the bulk memory 6 an to make it available externally. The information can be mad available in various ways according to its nature, and Figur 2 shows three examples of its utilization. In this respect the information can consist of a series of data or image which can be displayed and/or printed, or can consist of program, for example for causing an embroidery machine t form a particular design in which case the information can b provided on punched tape or on a disk for use in thi machine. With the passage of time the value of this credit store in the RAM 14 clearly falls continuosly, and when it ha passed below a predetermined value (which can also b negative) , a credit increment operation is required. Thi operation, which involves the payment by the user of a su equal to the desired increment, requires the intervention o an external operator, generally the information distributor. This operator provides coded information to the RAM 14 which then increments the stored value. The operation, whic involves (see Figure 4) feeding the computer 4 with th enabling code for that user, then checking its correctness b the CPU 8, and if positive accessing the RAM 14 to change th credit value, can be effected by the operator directly on th computer 4 by a keyboard or disk or via a modem. It can als be effected directly by the user, to whom the operator wil then have previously provided the necessary code instructions. In this case it is preferable that th instructions which the user feeds to the RAM 14 at th appropriate time to increment his credit should also includ an instruction for changing the RAM access code at eac credit incrementation, in order to prevent misuse by th user. This change can also be made to occur automatically a each incrementation of credit to the RAM 14 by modifying th access code to the RAM using a particular algorithm stored i the ROM 10. From the aforegoing it is apparent that the device o the invention totally attains the stated object, in that i enables each user to have available on his own premises complex of information to be extracted and used on the basi of his requirements and to pay for such information i relation to its effective utilization.

Claims: C L A I M S 1. A credit management device for computerized equipment to be connected to a user computer, characterised b comprising: - an interface for connection to the computer (4) , - a bulk memory (6) containing coded information an connectable to said computer, - a processor unit (8) , - a first memory (12) containing the credit manageme programs and the decoding programs for the data stored the bulk memory (6) , - a second random access memory (14) containing t information relative to the credit of that user, and - means for externally incrementing said credit. 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in th the means for incrementing credit are memory suppor connectable directly to the user computer. 3. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in th the means for externally incrementing credit comprise a mod via which the instructions to effect this increment can transmitted by the credit operator to the user computer. 4. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in th the means for externally incrementing credit comprise algorithm which is stored in the first memory (10) and which on each access to the random access memory (14) changes the code providing access to it.

Inventors: BATTISTON ARRIGO, BATTISTON, ARRIGO
Applicants: BATTISTON ARRIGO, BATTISTON, ARRIGO
Application year: 1993
Main classification: G07F7
IPC codes: G07F7