Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9298574B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-03-20 02:11:05
Document Index: 395446034

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290', 'art 290']

US9298574B2 - Device management system including reporter server - Google Patents
Device management system including reporter server Download PDF
US9298574B2
US9298574B2 US13/086,779 US201113086779A US9298574B2 US 9298574 B2 US9298574 B2 US 9298574B2 US 201113086779 A US201113086779 A US 201113086779A US 9298574 B2 US9298574 B2 US 9298574B2
US13/086,779
US20120266073A1 (en
Jim VOPNI
2011-04-14 Application filed by Ricoh Co Ltd filed Critical Ricoh Co Ltd
2011-04-14 Priority to US13/086,779 priority Critical patent/US9298574B2/en
2011-04-14 Assigned to RICOH COMPANY, LTD. reassignment RICOH COMPANY, LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: HAAPANEN, TOM, TANAKA, SHUN, VOPNI, JIM
2012-10-18 Publication of US20120266073A1 publication Critical patent/US20120266073A1/en
2016-03-29 Publication of US9298574B2 publication Critical patent/US9298574B2/en
Apparatuses, systems and methods are provided for managing a plurality of information technology devices in an information technology environment in which the plurality of information technology devices are connected to a network.
Turning now to FIG. 11, there is described a reporting unit 290 (which may be used to implement reporting unit 29 illustrated in FIG. 2) in greater detail. The reporting unit 290 includes a controller 290 a, a report interface part 290 b, a first interface part 290 c and a second interface part 290 d. The controller 290 a is configured to control the operations of the reporting unit 290 and the constituent components of the reporting unit such as the report interface part 290 b, first interface part 290 c and second interface part 290 d, so that the parts perform the functionalities described below.
The report interface part 290 b is configured to connect and communicate with an external device, such as external device 30 illustrated in FIG. 2. In particular, the report interface part is configured to receive a data access request from an external device external to the network environment, authenticate the data access request from the external device, and upon authentication, provide requested data in the device data store to the external device, in response to the data access request from the external device.
The report interface part 290 b may be configured to generate and provide one or more user interface screens, which may be transmitted through a network and accessible on a display unit of the external device via a network, such as the network 31 illustrated in FIG. 2 (which may be, for example, the internet). The user interface screens may be configured to receive, from the external device, a user specification of a data access request.
For example, the report interface part 290 b may display the user interface screen A illustrated in FIG. 12, which is configured to receive user selection of a network device, such as one of network devices 25-1 through 25-8. This selection of a network device may correspond to a data access request, i.e. a request for all device data corresponding to that network device. As another example, the report interface part 290 b may display the user interface screen B illustrated in FIG. 13, which is configured to receive user selection of a network device, such as one of network devices 25-1 through 25-8 (e.g. “Printer 25-4”) via, for example, a pull-down selection menu. Moreover, the user interface screen B illustrated in FIG. 13 may be configured to receive user selection of one or more types of device data, such as “IP address”, “Device Status”, “Usage History”, “Consumables Level” and so forth. This selection of a network device and various types of device data may correspond to a data access request, i.e. a request for all device data corresponding to that network device and having the selected type.
The report interface part 290 b may include hardware and/or software configured to display a graphical user interfaces (GUI) and/or an object-oriented user interface on a display part (such as a monitor, display screen, etc.) of the reporting unit 290, network-connected client terminal or external device. The report interface part 290 b accepts inputs via a network or via an input part (such as a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, etc.) of the reporting unit 290, network-connected client terminal or external device. As one example, the report interface part 290 b may include a Web-based user interface or web user interface (WUI) that generates web pages which are transmitted via the network 31 or the Internet and viewed by the user using a web browser program on the external device 30 or a client terminal connected to the network 31. The report interface part 290 b may be implemented utilizing software programs and/or languages such as Java, AJAX, Adobe Flex, Microsoft .NET, or similar technologies.
The report interface part 290 b may communicate with the device data store 28 in order to obtain the device data requested in the data access request received from the external device. For example, if the data access request requests all data from the MFD 25-3, then the report interface part 290 b may transmit a request to the device data store 28 via a network for all the device data corresponding to the MFD 25-3. If the persistent device data is stored in the device data store in a relational database and/or table in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5, then the device data store may extract the device data corresponding to MFD 25-3, and provide this data back to the report interface part 290 b. The report interface part 290 b may then transmit this data back to the external device as a report. An example of such a report is illustrated in FIG. 14.
According to another embodiment, the report interface part 290 b is configured to provide a user interface to the external device to allow a user at the external device to modify a configuration of a network device. For example, the user interface screen A (FIG. 12) may be provided to the external device 30 to allow a user of the external device to select a network device. Thereafter, the report interface part 290 b may display a user interface screen to allow the user of the external device to specify some configuration change to the external device. For example, the user interface screen C illustrated in FIG. 15 may be provided to the external device to allow a user of the external device to specify some configuration change to the external device, such as, for example, changing the assigned device name, assigned device IP Address, assigned device location, assigned device user, firmware version, installed application and so forth.
Thereafter, the first interface part 290 c operates to connect and communicate with any specified core management unit, such as any specified one of the core management units 27-1 and 27-2, to modify a configuration of the specified network device. In particular, the controller 290 a or other part of the reporting unit 290 may determine the specific core management unit associated with the specified network device. For example, the reporting unit 290 may store system configuration information, such as that illustrated in FIG. 16, which identifies which core management units 27-1 and 27-2 are associated with specific network devices. The first interface part 290 c then communicates with the corresponding core management unit associated with the specified network device, and instructs the core management unit to change the configuration of the specified network device. (For example, the core management unit may store the necessary firmware, applications and other executable code that may be transferred to the corresponding network device to be executed by a processor of the corresponding network device). Alternatively, the reporting unit may communicate directly with the network device to change the configuration of the network device.
In FIG. 17, there is shown a flowchart of a method performed by a reporting unit, such as reporting 290 illustrated in FIG. 11, according to an exemplary embodiment.
In S1701, the reporting unit provides a user interface to the external device. In S1702, the reporting unit receives, via the user interface provided in S1701, a user request to modify a configuration of a network device (see FIG. 15, for example). In S1703, the reporting unit communicates with a specific core management unit associated with managing the network device, and instructs the specific core management unit to modify the configuration of the network device, based on the user request received in S1702.
According to another embodiment, the report interface part 290 b is configured to provide a user interface to the external device to allow a user at the external device to select a network device and obtain device data such as device status information from the selected network device. For example, the user interface screen A (FIG. 12) may be provided to the external device 30 to allow a user of the external device to select a network device. Thereafter, the second interface part 290 d operates to connect and communicate with the user-selected network device, such as network devices 25-1 through 25-8, to obtain device status information from the selected network device. For example, if the user selects the network device MFD 25-3, then the second interface part 290 d operates to connect and communicate with the MFD 25-3 to obtain device status information from the MFD 25-3. The report interface part 290 b may then provide the received device data such as device status information to the user of the external device 30 via a user interface screen, such as the user interface screen illustrated in FIG. 14.
In FIG. 18, there is shown a flowchart of a method performed by a reporting unit, such as reporting 290 illustrated in FIG. 11, according to an exemplary embodiment.
In S1801, the reporting unit provides a user interface to the external device (see FIG. 12, for example). In S1802, the reporting unit receives, via the user interface, user selection of a network device. In S1803, the reporting unit communicates with the selected network device to obtain device data such as status information from the selected network device. The reporting unit may provide this device data to the external device via a user interface screen (see FIG. 14, for example).
According to another embodiment, the report interface part 290 b is configured to provide a user interface to the external device to allow a user at the external device to specify device data upload criteria. For example, the user interface screen B (FIG. 13) may be provided to the external device 30 to allow a user of the external device to specify device data upload criteria. As used herein, device data upload criteria refers to the type of information that the core management units upload to the device data store. Alternatively, the device data upload criteria may refer to the type of information that the reporting unit 200 is permitted to access from the device data store, or to the format of the report transmitted from the reporting unit 200 to the external device 30.
The first interface part 290 c operates to connect and communicate with a core management unit, such as core management units 27-1 and 27-2, and communicate the specified device data upload criteria to one or more of the core management units. For example, if the user specifies the network device Printer 25-4 (via the user interface screen B of FIG. 13, for example) then the controller 290 a or other part of the reporting unit 290 may determine that the specific core management unit 27-1 is associated with the specified network device Printer 25-4. (For example, the reporting unit 290 may store system configuration information, such as that illustrated in FIG. 16, which identifies which core management units 27-1 and 27-2 are associated with specific network devices). The first interface part 290 c then communicates with the corresponding core management unit associated with the specified network device, and communicates the specified device data upload criteria to the core management unit. In this way, the core management unit is instructed to only upload device data to the device data store that is in agreement with the specified device data upload criteria. In the example of FIG. 13, the core management unit 27-1 will be instructed to only upload, for the network device Printer 25-4, the following types of device data to the device data store 28: device name, device type, device status, error history and consumables level.
In FIG. 19, there is shown a flowchart of a method performed by a reporting unit, such as reporting 290 illustrated in FIG. 11, according to an exemplary embodiment.
In S1901, the reporting unit provides a user interface to the external device, and in S1902, the reporting unit receives, via the user interface provided in S1901, a user specification of device data upload criteria (see FIG. 13, for example). In S1903, the reporting unit communicates the specified device data upload criteria to one or more of the core management units.
According to one or more of the embodiments described above, one or more of the core management units 27-1 and 27-2 upload device data to the device data store 28. The core management units may upload the device data to the device data store 28 at regular intervals of time, such once every minute, once every hour, once every day, once every week, etc. To aid in this process, each of the core management units 27-1 and 27-2 may keep track of and record an upload time indicating every time an upload has taken place. Further, a core management unit may track a last upload time device data was uploaded, and when the core management unit next uploads data to the device data store at a current upload time, the core management unit only uploads device data collected from the data collection units 26-1 through 26-4 from the last upload time through the current upload time. The core management unit may delete locally stored device data after it is uploaded to the device data store. Moreover, after a core management unit uploads collected device data to the device data store 28, the core management unit may then communicate a notification to the reporting unit 29 to notify the reporting unit that the collected device data has been uploaded to the device data store 28.
In FIG. 20, there is shown a flowchart of a method performed by a core management unit, such as core management units 27-1 and 27-2 illustrated in FIG. 2, according to an exemplary embodiment.
In S2001, the reporting unit obtains, from data collection units associated with the core management unit, device data collected from the network devices assigned to the data collection units. In S2002, the reporting unit may determine a whether a predetermined time interval has elapsed since device data was last uploaded to the device data store. If the reporting unit determines that the predetermined interval has elapsed (S2002, Yes), then the reporting unit uploads the collected device data to the device data store in S2003. (The reporting unit may upload only device data collected by the data collection units from the network devices from a last upload time through the current upload time. Instead or in addition, the reporting unit may upload only device data obtained by the core management unit from the data collection units from a last upload time through the current upload time). The reporting unit then notifies the reporting unit that the collected device data has been uploaded to the device data store in S2004, and the workflow returns to S2001. If the reporting unit determines that the predetermined interval has not elapsed (S2002, No), then the workflow returns to S2001.
According to one or more of the embodiments described above, the reporting unit 29 authenticates the data request, external device 30 and/or a user of the external device 30. The reporting unit 29 may do so by receiving authentication information such as a code, password, key, etc., from the external device 30, and comparing the received authentication information with a series of predetermined authentication codes, passwords, keys, etc., stored at the reporting unit 29. The authentication information may be any information transmitted to the reporting unit 29 for the purposes of login and authentication, such as usernames, passwords, email addresses, screen names, telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, and biometric information (fingerprints, palm prints, voice or speech, retinas or irises, facial expressions or features, signature, etc.).
Further, if the reporting unit 29 authenticates the data request, external device 30 and/or a user of the external device 30, the authentication unit may transmit an authentication token to the external device, wherein the token has an associated period of time after which the token expires. That is, any data access requests from the external device 30 must include the authentication token, and the authentication token expires if not used within a defined usage period.
Moreover, if the reporting unit 29 authenticates a user operating the external device 30, the reporting unit may determine a scope of data to be accessible to the authenticated user, and limit data access by the user to said scope. For example, if the reporting unit determines that the user is a first user entitled to access all information, then the reporting unit will provide any device data from the device data store 28 to the external device 30 that is requested in an access data request. On the other hand, if the reporting unit determines that the user is a second user entitled to access only certain information (such as device data from Printer 25-4), than the reporting unit will only provide device data from the device data store 28 to the external device 30 that corresponds to that certain information (such as device data from Printer 25-4). To aid in this process, the reporting unit 29 may store an access control list, such as that illustrated in FIG. 21.
In FIGS. 22A and 22B, there is shown a flowchart of a method performed by a reporting unit, such as reporting unit 29 illustrated in FIG. 2, according to an exemplary embodiment.
In S2201, the reporting unit receives authentication information from an external device. In S2202, the reporting unit determines whether the external device is authenticated based on the authentication information received in S2201. If the external device is not authenticated (S2202, No), then the workflow returns to S2201. If the external device is authenticated (S2202, Yes), then reporting unit transmits an authentication token to the external device in S2203, the token having an associated period of time after which the token expires.
Thereafter, in S2204, the reporting unit receives a data access request from the external device. If the reporting unit determines that the token is valid, i.e. that the period of time associated with the token has not expired (S2205, Yes), and if the reporting unit also determines that the data requested in the data access request is authorized for the user of the external device (S2206, Yes), then the reporting unit provides the requested device data to the external device in S2207 and the workflow ends. On the other hand, if the reporting unit determines that the token is not valid, i.e. that the period of time associated with the token has expired (S2205, No), or the reporting unit determines that the data requested in the data access request is not authorized for the user of the external device (S2206, No), then the workflow ends.
While the example shown in FIG. 2 includes one reporting unit 29, one device data store 28, two core management units, four data collection units, and eight network devices, it should be appreciated that such numbers of units, devices, terminals and apparatuses are arbitrary and are selected as an example in order to facilitate discussion, and that the subject matter of this disclosure can be implemented in a system including one or more systems, servers, units, apparatuses and terminals. The functions of some of the devices may be combined, and other devices such as scanners, printers and multi-function devices may also be connected to a network, as is well known in the art. Further, the reporting unit, device data store, core management unit, data collection units and network devices may be connected in a different network arrangement to that depicted in FIG. 2.
For example, FIG. 23A shows schematically a system 2300-A for managing a plurality of devices connected to one or more networks, according to an exemplary embodiment. System 2300-A is similar to system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2, except that only one core management unit 27, two data collection units 26-1 and 26-2, and four network devices 25-1 through 25-4 are provided. The core management unit 27, data collection units 26-1-26-2, network devices 25-1 through 25-4, device data store 28 and reporting unit 29 are interconnected via a single network 501. The aforementioned devices may function in a substantially similar manner as the devices illustrated in FIG. 2, and in accordance with one or more of the described aspects and embodiments of this disclosure.
As another example, FIG. 23B shows schematically a system 2300-B for managing a plurality of devices connected to one or more networks, according to another exemplary embodiment. System 2300-B includes a plurality of network devices (i.e. network-connected devices) 25-1 through 25-4, one or more data collection units 26-1 and 26-2, a core management unit 27, device data store 28 and reporting unit 29. The aforementioned devices may function in a substantially similar manner as the devices illustrated in FIG. 2, and in accordance with one or more of the described aspects and embodiments of this disclosure. While the data collection unit 26-1 and network devices 25-1 and 25-2 are interconnected via a network 503, the data collection unit 26-2 and network devices 25-3 and 25-4 are interconnected via another network 504. Moreover, the data collection units 26-1 and 26-2 are interconnected with the core management unit 27 via another network 502. Further, the core management unit 27, device data store 28 and reporting unit 29 are interconnected via yet another network 501.
In the systems illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 23, the data collection units may poll the network devices 25-1 through 25-8 and communicate with the network devices 25-1 through 25-8 using a first network communication protocol, such as SNMP, in order to obtain the device data from the network devices. Thereafter, the data collection units may convert the device data into data having another format (such as HTTP) for transmission to the core management unit 27, device data store 28, reporting unit 29, another network-connected device, a “cloud” server system, and so forth. The core management unit 27 may communicate with the data collection units 26-1 and 26-2 through a particular network communication protocol, such as HTTP via the internet.
Although the network devices 25-1 through 25-8 depicted in FIG. 2 are shown as being connected to the networks 21 and 23, the aspects of this disclosure may be applied to a system for managing a device that is not connected to a network. For example, aspects of this disclosure may be applied to a system for managing a device with use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology.
FIG. 24 depicts an example of a system 2400 according to another exemplary embodiment. The system 2400 includes a data collection unit 246, which may be similar to the data collection units 26-1 through 26-4 depicted in FIG. 2, except that the data collection unit 246 also includes an RFID Reader/Writer 246 a. The system 2400 further includes a device 245 which is an IT asset that is not network-connected, (i.e. a standalone device with no network interface), which may be an electronic stapler, shredder, etc. The device 245 may include an RFID tag 245 a physically incorporated into the device 245, or in some way attached to the device 245. In this way, the RFID reader/writer 246 a of the data collection unit 246 may communicate with the RFID tag 245 a of the device 245, in order to obtain device data from the device 245 or communicate with the device 245, according to the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure described above. Aspects of RFID technology, including the ability for RFID reader/writer devices to communicate with RFID tags, are understood in the art and will not be described in detail in this disclosure.
1. A system for reporting device management information in a network environment, said system comprising:
plural device data collection units, each device data collection unit amongst the plural device data collection units collecting device data from a corresponding plurality of network devices associated with the device data collection unit;
one or more core management units, each core management unit of the core management units being associated with a corresponding group of collection units from amongst the plural device data collection units, and the core management unit communicating with the group of associated collection units to manage and maintain persistent device data collected from the associated collection units;
a device data store that stores the persistent device data collected from the plural device data collection units; and
a reporting unit including a report interface part to provide a user interface to another device to receive device parameter criteria, input by a user of said another device, to specify types of device data to be collected from the plurality of network devices and to be uploaded to the device data store and cause the one or more core management units to upload device data of the types corresponding to the specified device parameter criteria to the device data store,
wherein the report interface part operates to receive a data access request from an external device external to the network environment, authenticate the data access request from the external device, and upon authentication, provide requested data in the device data store to the external device, in response to the data access request from the external device,
wherein the requested data provided by the reporting unit in response to the data access request from the external device includes information indicating whether an error or problem exists or has occurred at one or more of the network devices and information regarding the properties of the device.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the reporting unit includes a first interface part that operates to connect and communicate with any specified one of the core management units, and a second interface part that operates to connect and communicate with any specified one of the network devices.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the report interface part provides a user interface to the external device to allow a user at the external device to modify a configuration of a network device, and the reporting unit communicates through the first interface parts with a specific core management unit associated with managing the network device.
4. The system of claim 2, wherein the report interface part provides a user interface to the external device to allow a user at the external device to select a network device, and the reporting unit communicates through the second interface parts with the selected network device to obtain device status information from the selected network device.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the core management unit tracks a last upload time device data was uploaded, and uploads to the device data store, at a current upload time, collected device data from the last upload time through the current upload time.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the core management unit uploads collected device data to the device data store, and then communicates a notification to the reporting unit to notify the reporting unit that the collected device data has been uploaded to the device data store.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the core management unit, for each network device from which device data is collected by a corresponding collection unit in the group of associated collection units associated with the core management unit, uploads at a regular interval of time to the device data store the device data collected from the network device by the collection unit from a last upload time through a current upload time.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein when the report interface part authenticates the external device, the report interface part transmits an authentication token to the external device, and wherein the token has an associated period of time after which the token expires.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the token transmitted to the external device expires if not used within a defined usage period.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein when the report interface part authenticates a user operating the external device, and upon authentication of the user, determines a scope of data to be accessible to the authenticated user, and limits data access by the user to said scope.
11. A method for a device reporting system for reporting device management information in a network environment said method comprising:
collecting, by each device data collection unit amongst plural device data collection units of the device reporting system, device data from a plurality of network devices associated with the device data collection unit;
communicating, by each core management unit of one or more core management units of the device reporting system, a corresponding group of collection units associated with the core management unit, from amongst the plural device data collection units, to manage and maintain persistent device data collected from the associated collection units;
storing by a device data store the persistent device data collected from the plural device data collection units;
providing a user interface by a reporting unit to another device to receive device parameter criteria, input by a user of said another device to specify types of device data to be collected from the plurality of network devices and to be uploaded to the device data store and causing the one or more core management units to upload device data of the types corresponding to the specified device parameter criteria to the device data store; and
receiving by the reporting unit a data access request from an external device external to the network environment, authenticating the data access request from the external device, and upon authentication, providing requested data in the device data store to the external device, in response to the data access request from the external device,
wherein the requested data provided in response to the data access request from the external device includes information indicating whether an error or problem exists or has occurred at one or more of the network devices and information regarding the properties of the device.
providing, by the reporting unit, a user interface to the external device;
receiving, via the user interface, a user request to modify a configuration of a network device; and
communicating with a specific core management unit associated with managing the network device.
receiving, via the user interface, user selection of a network device; and
communicating with the selected network device to obtain device status information from the selected network device.
tracking a last upload time device data was uploaded, and uploading to the device data store, at a current upload time, collected device data from the last upload time through the current upload time.
uploading collected device data to the device data store, and then communicating a notification to the reporting unit to notify the reporting unit that the collected device data has been uploaded to the device data store.
uploading at a regular interval of time to the device data store the device data collected from a network device by a collection unit from a last upload time through a current upload time.
authenticating the external device, and transmitting an authentication token to the external device, wherein the token has an associated period of time after which the token expires.
authenticating a user operating the external device, and upon authentication of the user, determining a scope of data to be accessible to the authenticated user, and limiting data access by the user to said scope.
US13/086,779 2011-04-14 2011-04-14 Device management system including reporter server Active 2032-12-09 US9298574B2 (en)
US13/086,779 US9298574B2 (en) 2011-04-14 2011-04-14 Device management system including reporter server
US20120266073A1 US20120266073A1 (en) 2012-10-18
US9298574B2 true US9298574B2 (en) 2016-03-29
ID=47007331
US13/086,779 Active 2032-12-09 US9298574B2 (en) 2011-04-14 2011-04-14 Device management system including reporter server
US (1) US9298574B2 (en)
US10042949B1 (en) * 2016-09-19 2018-08-07 Jay D. Farner Extracting data sets from external data stores
CN102984401B (en) * 2012-11-21 2015-04-08 重庆昇通科技有限公司 Initiative access control processing system and method based on callout teleconference services
US9769026B2 (en) * 2015-05-06 2017-09-19 Quest Software Inc. Device asset tracking and service desk using an external network management system as a data source
US9489154B1 (en) 2015-11-05 2016-11-08 Ricoh Company, Ltd. System, apparatus and method for tracking and managing devices
US9672028B1 (en) 2015-11-19 2017-06-06 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Device management system, apparatus and method for notification and scheduling of firmware update
US9807254B2 (en) 2016-04-01 2017-10-31 Ricoh Company, Ltd. System, apparatus and method configured to detect, analyze and/or report impact to output device
US10028087B2 (en) 2016-04-04 2018-07-17 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Locating and tracking missing or relocated devices
2011-04-14 US US13/086,779 patent/US9298574B2/en active Active
U.S. Appl. No. 12/722,367, filed Mar. 11, 2010 of Yuki Uchida et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/722,370, filed Mar. 11, 2010 of Yuki Uchida et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/722,374, filed Mar. 11, 2010 of Yuki Uchida et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/722,376, filed Mar. 11, 2010 of Yuki Uchida et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/722,381, filed Mar. 11, 2010 of Yuki Uchida et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 12/958,686, filed Dec. 2, 2010 of Shun Tanaka.
U.S. Appl. No. 13/014,384, filed Jan. 26, 2011 of Shun Tanaka.
U.S. Appl. No. 13/036,455, filed Feb. 28, 2011 of Shun Tanaka.
U.S. Appl. No. 13/036,558, filed Feb. 28, 2011 of Shun Tanaka.
U.S. Appl. No. 13/036,644, filed Feb. 28, 2011 of Shun Tanaka.
U.S. Appl. No. 13/036,745, filed Feb. 28, 2011 of Shun Tanaka et al.
U.S. Appl. No. 13/086,608, filed Apr. 14, 2011 of Shun Tanaka et al.
US20120266073A1 (en) 2012-10-18
JP6111009B2 (en) 2017-04-05 Method and apparatus for the management of software applications that use a volume pricing
JP4390793B2 (en) 2009-12-24 Printing system, a server and an image forming apparatus
CN101729725B (en) 2012-07-18 Image processing apparatus and image processing apparatus control method
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:TANAKA, SHUN;HAAPANEN, TOM;VOPNI, JIM;REEL/FRAME:026134/0524