Image log management system, storage medium, and image log management method

Abstract

An image log management system, a storage medium, and an image log management method, the image log management system being provided with: a plurality of devices each storing a block chain comprising blocks having transaction information including an image log as image data representing data to be processed, the devices being communicably connected to each other; and a processor that performs: a process for generating new transaction information including an image log of a resolution determined on the basis of the frequency of addition of a plurality of recent blocks that have been added to the block chain, the new transaction information including an image log of a resolution determined on the basis of the frequency of addition of the plurality of recent blocks that have been added to the block chain; and sending the new transaction information to the plurality of devices, and adding the block with the new transaction information to the block chain.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an image log management system, a storage medium and an image log management method. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, when processing target data is processed, image data representing the processing target data remains as an image log.

[0003] For example, patent document 1 discloses an image forming device comprising a first memory disposed within the device and a second memory connected to the outside of the device, and the image forming device stores log information including image data representing a job (such as a printing job or a copying job) performed in the device in the first memory and the second memory.

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-28606

[0005] However, if the image log is tampered with as described above, the original function of the image log may not be fulfilled. Therefore, for example, the image log may be managed so that the image log is not tampered with.

[0006] Here, a technology called blockchain is known. Blockchain has the following structure: data units called blocks containing transaction information including information of recorded objects are connected like a chain. Blockchains are stored in multiple devices (also called nodes) that are directly connected to each other for communication. With such a structure, tampering with the data of the recorded object is suppressed. By using blockchain to manage image logs, in other words, by including image logs in the transaction information of each block constituting the blockchain, tampering with the image logs can be suppressed.

[0007] When using blockchain to manage image logs, the frequency at which transaction information containing image logs (more specifically, blocks containing the transaction information) is appended to the blockchain (referred to as the transaction information appending frequency in this specification) is low, which may become a problem. For example, if the transaction information is appended to the blockchain at a low frequency, unprocessed transaction information may accumulate.

[0008] In particular, since image data such as image logs have a larger data volume than data generally managed using blockchain (such as transaction information of virtual currency), reducing the frequency of adding transaction information tends to be a problem. Summary of the invention

[0009] An object of the present invention is to suppress a decrease in the frequency of adding transaction information when managing image logs using blockchain, compared to a case where the resolution of image logs included in transaction information is fixed.

[0010] The invention involved in Scheme 1 is an image log management system, characterized in that it comprises: a plurality of devices, each storing a blockchain composed of blocks having transaction information, and being communicatively connected to each other, wherein the transaction information includes an image log as image data representing processing object data; and a processor, wherein the processor performs the following processing: generating new transaction information, wherein the new transaction information includes an image log having a resolution determined based on the frequency of addition of the most recent plurality of blocks that have been appended to the blockchain; and sending the new transaction information to the plurality of devices, and appending a block having the new transaction information to the blockchain.

[0011] According to the image log management system described in Scheme 1, the invention involved in Scheme 2 is characterized in that, when the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks appended to the blockchain is lower than a predetermined appropriate frequency value, the processor generates new transaction information including an image log having a resolution smaller than the most recent resolution of the image log included in the transaction information possessed by the most recent multiple blocks.

[0012] According to the image log management system of claim 2, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the processor sets the current resolution, which is the resolution of the image log included in the new transaction information, to a value calculated based on the latest resolution.

[0013] According to the image log management system described in Scheme 3, the invention involved in Scheme 4 is characterized in that if the calculated current resolution is smaller than the predetermined minimum resolution, the processor does not send the new transaction information to the multiple devices and interrupts the processing related to the processing object data.

[0014] According to the image log management system described in any one of Schemes 1 to 4, the invention involved in Scheme 5 is characterized in that the header information of each block of the blockchain contains information indicating the resolution of the image log contained in the transaction information of the block.

[0015] According to the image log management system described in any one of solutions 2 to 4, the invention involved in solution 6 is characterized in that the header information of each block of the blockchain contains information indicating the appropriate frequency value.

[0016] According to the image log management system described in any one of claims 2 to 4, the invention involved in claim 7 is characterized in that the processor changes the appropriate frequency value of the entire blockchain based on an instruction from a user.

[0017] The invention involved in Scheme 8 is a storage medium, characterized in that it stores an image log management program that enables a computer that can access a blockchain to perform the following processing, wherein the blockchain is stored in multiple devices that are communicatively connected to each other and is composed of blocks with transaction information, and the transaction information includes an image log as image data representing processing object data: generating new transaction information, the new transaction information including an image log with a resolution determined based on the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks that have been appended to the blockchain and the most recent resolution of the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information of the most recent multiple blocks; and sending the new transaction information to the multiple devices, and appending the block with the new transaction information to the blockchain.

[0018] The invention involved in Scheme 9 is an image log management method, characterized in that it includes the following steps: generating new transaction information, the new transaction information including an image log of a resolution determined based on the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks that have been appended to the blockchain and the most recent resolution of the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information possessed by the most recent multiple blocks, the blockchain being stored in multiple devices that are communicatively connected to each other and consisting of blocks having transaction information, the transaction information including an image log as image data representing processing object data; and sending the new transaction information to the multiple devices, and appending the block having the new transaction information to the blockchain.

[0019] Effects of the Invention

[0020] According to the first, eighth or ninth aspect of the present invention, when image logs are managed using blockchain, the frequency of adding transaction information can be suppressed compared to the case where the resolution of the image logs included in the transaction information is fixed.

[0021] According to the second aspect of the present invention, the resolution of the image log included in the new transaction information can be reduced based on the comparison between the addition frequency of the latest block and the appropriate frequency value.

[0022] According to the third aspect of the present invention, the current resolution can be set to a value corresponding to the most recent resolution.

[0023] According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the current resolution from becoming an inappropriate resolution as an image log.

[0024] According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the processor can acquire the previous resolution from the header information of the block without analyzing the transaction information included in the block.

[0025] According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the processor can acquire the appropriate frequency value from the header information of the block.

[0026] According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the user can determine the appropriate frequency value. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.

[0028] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the image log management system involved in this embodiment;

[0029] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an image processing device involved in this embodiment;

[0030] Figure 3 It is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of a blockchain;

[0031] Figure 4 is a conceptual diagram representing the contents of a block header;

[0032] Figure 5 It is a conceptual diagram representing the content of transaction information;

[0033] Figure 6 This is a flowchart showing the flow of processing by the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

[0034] Explanation of symbols

[0035] 10-blockchain control system, 12-image processing device, 20-communication IF, 22-input IF, 24-display, 26-printer, 28-scanner, 30-memory, 32-blockchain, 40-block, 42-header, 44-transaction information, 50-processor, 52-normal processing unit, 54-transaction information creation unit, 56-block creation processing unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Figure 1 : is a schematic diagram of the structure of the image log management system 10 involved in this embodiment. The image log management system 10 is configured to include multiple devices that are multiple nodes of the blockchain. In this embodiment, the image log management system 10 is composed of multiple image processing devices 12 that are multiple nodes of the blockchain. In this specification, the image processing device 12 included in the image log management system 10 is simply referred to as the image processing device 12. The image processing device 12 is a device having a printing function, a copying function, a scanning function, a FAX function, etc., such as a multifunction machine. In addition, although in Figure 1 Only three image processing devices 12 constituting the image log management system 10 are shown in FIG. 1 , but the image log management system 10 may include a greater number of image processing devices 12 .

[0037] The image processing devices 12 are connected to each other via a communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network) so as to be communicable by P2P (Peer to Peer). P2P is a communication method in which devices communicate directly without going through a server.

[0038] In the image log management system 10 involved in the present embodiment, the image logs formed in each image processing device 12 are managed by using blockchain, thereby suppressing their disappearance or tampering. Image logs are image data representing the processing object data in the image processing device 12. For example, in the case where the image processing device 12 performs a printing process, the image data of the printing object becomes the image log. In addition, the processing object data is not limited to the image data of the printing object. For example, the image log is used for effective use in business represented by suppressing information leakage and tracking. Specifically, for example, the image log is used to manage, monitor, and track when, who, and what kind of processing was performed in which image processing device 12.

[0039] As mentioned above, compared with data generally managed by blockchain (such as virtual currency transaction information), the data capacity of image logs tends to be larger. In addition, since image logs are image data, the larger the resolution, the larger the data capacity, and the smaller the resolution, the smaller the data capacity.

[0040] The details will be described later. Blockchain is a form of distributed database composed of multiple blocks connected. The distributed database here means that the blockchain of the same content is stored in each image processing device 12. Each block constituting the blockchain contains one or more transaction information that is the object of management. In this embodiment, each transaction information becomes an image log. In addition, each block contains a hash value of the block information of the previous block that was last added to the blockchain (hereinafter, for convenience, it is expressed as the hash value of the block). Block information is information including transaction information contained in the block. The hash value is a value obtained by irreversibly converting the object data (here, the block information of the previous block). Therefore, if the transaction information contained in a certain block disappears or is tampered with, the hash value contained in all subsequent blocks is different from the regular value. Through such a structure, the disappearance or tampering of transaction information (in this embodiment, the image log) is suppressed.

[0041] If blocks can be easily added to the blockchain, users can easily add illegal blocks (for example, blocks containing tampered transaction information, etc.) to the blockchain. Therefore, in the blockchain, restrictions for adding new blocks are usually set. As one of such restrictions, an algorithm called PoW (Proof of Work) is proposed. PoW is a structure that allows the processor of the node of the blockchain (in this embodiment, the image processing device 12) to repeat calculations, and when the calculation results meet the specified conditions, new blocks are allowed to be added to the blockchain. In the blockchain in this embodiment, PoW is also used as a restriction for adding new blocks.

[0042] The process for adding a new block to the blockchain is called a block creation process. In the block creation process based on PoW, the processor of the node calculates the hash value of the block by inputting the block information of the latest block added to the blockchain into the hash function, that is, the synthetic value synthesized by synthesizing one or more transaction information contained in the block, the hash value of the previous block of the block and the random value. As a hash function, for example, a function such as SHA-256 is used. In addition, if the calculated hash value is less than a specified threshold (called a difficulty target), the block creation process is successful and the new block is allowed to be added to the blockchain. A hash value less than the threshold is called a correct hash value. When the calculated hash value is above the threshold, the processor changes the random value and calculates the hash value again. In addition, due to the characteristics of the hash function, if the input data (here is the random value) is slightly different, the output hash value will change significantly. In this way, the processor repeats the calculation of the hash value while changing the random value until the hash value is less than the threshold value (in other words, until the correct hash value is obtained). Generally speaking, the amount of calculation required to obtain the correct hash value is huge.

[0043] As described above, a large amount of computation is required to make the block creation process successful. Therefore, a scheme is proposed in which multiple nodes collaborate to perform block creation processing. The collection of nodes that collaborate to perform block creation processing is called a mining pool. In this embodiment, a mining pool can also be formed by multiple image processing devices 12, and multiple image processing devices 12 (specifically, their processors) collaborate to perform block creation processing.

[0044] Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the image processing device 12. The image processing device 12 performs printing processing, scanning processing, copying processing, FAX processing, etc., which are the original processing of the image processing device 12. In this specification, such original processing of the image processing device 12 is referred to as normal processing. In addition to performing normal processing, the image processing device 12 in this embodiment also performs block creation processing. The image processing devices 12 included in the image log management system 10 have the same structure as each other, so one image processing device 12 is described here.

[0045] The communication IF (InterFace) 20 is constituted by, for example, a network adapter, etc. The communication IF 20 plays a role of communicating with other devices via a communication line. In particular, in this embodiment, the communication IF 20 plays a role of communicating with other image processing devices 12 by P2P.

[0046] The input IF 22 is composed of, for example, buttons or a touch panel, etc. The input IF 22 is used when the user inputs an instruction to the image processing device 12 .

[0047] The display 24 is constituted by, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, etc. Various screens are displayed on the display 24 in accordance with instructions from a processor 50 described later.

[0048] The printer 26 is, for example, a laser printer or an inkjet printer, and is a mechanism that performs a printing process to form an image on a printing medium such as paper based on an input print job. When the printer 26 is a laser printer, the printer 26 is composed of, for example, a photosensitive drum, a charging roller, a transfer roller, a fixing roller, and a toner. When the printer 26 is an inkjet printer, the printer 26 is composed of a nozzle, a charging electrode plate, a deflection electrode plate, and ink.

[0049] The scanner 28 is composed of a light source and an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device), etc. The scanner 28 is a mechanism that performs a scanning process of acquiring image data by optically reading a paper medium.

[0050] The memory 30 is configured to include a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an eMMC (embedded MultiMedia Card), a ROM (Read Only Memory), or a RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory 30 stores an image log management program for operating each unit of the image processing device 12. In addition, the image log management program can also be stored in a computer-readable non-temporary storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or an SD card. The image processing device 12 can read and execute the image log management program from such a storage medium. And, as Figure 2 As shown, a blockchain 32 is stored in the memory 30 .

[0051] Figure 3 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the structure of the blockchain 32. As described above, the blockchain 32 has a structure in which a plurality of blocks 40 are linked. Each block 40 includes a header 42 and transaction information 44.

[0052] Figure 4 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the contents of the header 42 included in each block 40. Figure 4 As shown, in the present embodiment, the header 42 includes version information, a hash value of the previous block 40, a timestamp, an average resolution of the image log, and an appropriate frequency value. The version information is information indicating the version of the software or protocol related to the blockchain 32. The hash value of the previous block 40 is the correct hash value calculated when the previous block 40 is appended to the blockchain 32. The timestamp is information indicating the time when the block 40 is appended to the blockchain 32. The average resolution of the image log is the average resolution of one or more image logs included in one or more transaction information 44 of the block 40. The appropriate frequency value is information indicating an appropriate value for the frequency of adding the block 40 to the blockchain 32. The method for generating the header 42 or the method for using each information included in the header 42 will be described later.

[0053] Figure 5 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the content of the transaction information 44 included in each block 40. Figure 5As shown, in this embodiment, the transaction information 44 includes an image log, information indicating the resolution of the image log, a job log about a job related to the image log, and a device ID. As described above, the image log is image data indicating the processing target data in the image processing device 12. The job log includes, for example, a job ID for uniquely identifying the job, a user ID for uniquely identifying the user who executed the job, information indicating the type of the job (e.g., print, scan, copy, FAX, etc.), and the job reception date and time. The device ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying the image processing device 12 that executed the processing related to the image log.

[0054] Return to Figure 2 The processor 50 is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 50 is communicatively connected to the communication IF 20, the input IF 22, the display 24, the printer 26, the scanner 28, and the memory 30 via a data bus. The processor 50 functions as a normal processing unit 52, a transaction information creation unit 54, and a block creation processing unit 56 through the image log management program stored in the memory 30.

[0055] The general processing unit 52 and the transaction information creation unit 54 are mainly functions related to the creation and transmission of the transaction information 44 included in the block 40 .

[0056] The normal processing unit 52 performs control for executing normal processing based on a job as a processing command input by the user to the image processing device 12. For example, when a print job is received from the user, the normal processing unit 52 causes the printer 26 to execute a print process. Also, for example, when a scan job is received from the user, the normal processing unit 52 causes the scanner 28 to execute a scan process. Specifically, after receiving a job from a user via the communication IF 20, the normal processing unit 52 authenticates the user, and executes processing related to the job when there is an instruction from the authenticated user.

[0057] When the normal process under the control of the normal processing unit 52 starts, the transaction information creation unit 54 creates the transaction information 44 (see Figure 5). Specifically, the transaction information creation unit 54 generates an image log based on setting the resolution of the image log for the job related to the normal processing. In addition, the transaction information creation unit 54 obtains the job log of the job and its own device ID (which can be pre-stored in the memory 30), and includes them in the transaction information 44. The details of the setting process of the resolution of the image log performed by the transaction information creation unit 54 will be described later. In addition, in this specification, the transaction information 44 added to the blockchain 32 is referred to as new transaction information 44. The transaction information creation unit 54 simultaneously sends the created new transaction information 44 to other image processing devices 12 included in the image log management system 10.

[0058] In this way, when normal processing is executed in each image processing device 12 included in the image log management system 10, new transaction information 44 is simultaneously transmitted from the image processing device 12 that has executed the normal processing to other image processing devices 12. Each image processing device 12 accumulates and stores the transaction information 44 acquired from any one of the plurality of image processing devices 12 included in the image log management system 10 (including the image processing device itself) in the memory 30.

[0059] In addition, as will be described in detail later, the transaction information creation unit 54 may fail to generate an image log with an appropriate resolution. In the present embodiment, generating an image log with an appropriate resolution becomes a processing completion condition for a job. Therefore, when an image log with an appropriate resolution cannot be generated, the processing unit 52 usually stops the execution of the job, and the transaction information creation unit 54 stops generating new transaction information 44 related to the job, and does not send the new transaction information 44 to other image processing devices 12.

[0060] The block creation processing unit 56 is a function related to block creation processing of the block 40 including the new transaction information 44 transmitted from the own device or another image processing device 12 .

[0061] The block creation processing unit 56 performs block creation processing for the block 40 containing the new transaction information 44, i.e., the new block 40, at a predetermined timing (for example, when the new transaction information 44 accumulated in the memory 30 reaches a predetermined number, or at a predetermined time interval). As described above, in the present embodiment, the block creation processing unit 56 performs the block creation processing in cooperation with the block creation processing unit 56 of other image processing devices 12, but the block creation processing unit 56 of one image processing device 12 may perform the block creation processing alone.

[0062] The block creation process performed by the block creation processing unit 56 is as described above. That is, the block creation processing unit 56 calculates a hash value of a composite value of one or more new transaction information 44, a hash value of the previous block 40, and a random number. And, if the hash value as a result of the block creation process satisfies the condition of being less than a threshold value set by the difficulty setting unit 58 described later, the block creation process is successful. The block creation processing unit 56 repeats the calculation of the hash value while changing the random number until a correct hash value is obtained.

[0063] When the block creation process is successful, the block creation processing unit 56 generates a header 42 (see Figure 4 ). Specifically, the block creation processing unit 56 obtains the version of the software or protocol related to the blockchain 32 and sets it as the version information. In addition, the block creation processing unit 56 obtains the hash value of the previous block 40 and includes it in the header 42. In addition, the block creation processing unit 56 obtains the time when the new block 40 is appended to the blockchain 32 and sets it as the timestamp. In addition, the block creation processing unit 56 calculates the average resolution of one or more image logs contained in one or more transaction information 44 possessed by the new block 40, and includes it in the header 42. In addition, the appropriate frequency value is predetermined, for example, stored in the memory 30. The block creation processing unit 56 obtains the appropriate frequency value and includes it in the header 42.

[0064] As described above, the appropriate frequency value is information indicating an appropriate value for the frequency of adding blocks 40 to the blockchain 32. If the frequency of adding blocks 40 to the blockchain 32 is too high or too low, an adverse situation may sometimes occur. For example, if the frequency of adding blocks 40 to the blockchain 32 is too low, new transaction information 44 that is not added to the blockchain 32 will accumulate. On the contrary, if the frequency of adding blocks 40 to the blockchain 32 is too high, the difficulty of the block creation process becomes lower, thereby increasing the possibility that the blocks 40 of the blockchain 32 are tampered with. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the appropriate frequency value is predetermined, and the block creation processing unit 56 includes the appropriate frequency value in the header of each block 40. In addition, the appropriate frequency value uses the same value in the entire blockchain 32, and is not different for each block 40.

[0065] The processor 50 of each image processing device 12 may be configured to change the appropriate frequency value according to an instruction from the user. That is, the user may be able to change the appropriate frequency value. As described above, since the appropriate frequency value uses the same value in the entire blockchain 32, when the user changes the appropriate frequency value, the appropriate frequency value of the entire blockchain 32 is changed. For example, the upper limit and lower limit of the appropriate frequency value that can be set by the user may be predetermined to prevent the user from setting an inappropriate appropriate frequency value.

[0066] In addition, in the present embodiment, the appropriate frequency value is included in the header 42 of each block 40, but the information indicating the appropriate frequency value may not be included in the header 42, but may be stored in a device (such as a server, etc.) accessible from each image processing device 12. However, as described later, when determining the resolution of the image log, the appropriate frequency value is referred to by each image processing device 12, and by including the appropriate frequency value in the header 42 of the block 40, there is no need to prepare a separate device for storing the appropriate frequency value, and each image processing device 12 can obtain the appropriate frequency value within the framework of the blockchain 32.

[0067] The block creation processing unit 56 generates a header 42 and a new transaction information 44 (see Figure 5 )’s new block 40. And, the new block 40 is appended to the blockchain 32.

[0068] The following describes in detail the process of determining the resolution of the image log performed by the transaction information creation unit 54. The transaction information creation unit 54 determines the resolution of the image log included in the new transaction information 44 based on the frequency of addition of the most recent multiple blocks 40 that have been added to the blockchain 32. As described above, in this specification, the block 40 that was last added to the blockchain 32 is referred to as the previous block 40, but the multiple blocks 40 that were most recently added to the blockchain 32, including the previous block 40, are referred to as the most recent multiple blocks 40. In addition, in this specification, the resolution of the image log included in the new transaction information 44 is referred to as the current resolution.

[0069] The transaction information creation unit 54 obtains the timestamp from each of the headers 42 of the most recent multiple blocks 40. And, based on the interval between the times indicated by the timestamps of the most recent multiple blocks 40, the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks 40 is calculated. For example, when the most recent multiple blocks 40 are composed of the first to third blocks 40, the transaction information creation unit 54 sets the average value of the difference between the time indicated by the timestamp included in the header 42 of the first block 40 and the time indicated by the timestamp included in the header 42 of the second block 40, and the difference between the time indicated by the timestamp included in the header 42 of the second block 40 and the time indicated by the timestamp included in the header 42 of the third block 40 as the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks 40.

[0070] Furthermore, when the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is low, the transaction information creation unit 54 sets the current resolution to be smaller than the predetermined default resolution, and when the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is high, the current resolution is set to the default resolution. When the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is high, the current resolution may also be set to be larger than the default resolution.

[0071] The smaller the resolution of the image log, the smaller the data capacity of the image log. Therefore, since the amount of calculation for calculating the hash value for the new block 40 containing the image log as the new transaction information 44 is reduced, as a result, the amount of calculation until the correct hash value for the new block 40 is obtained is also reduced. In other words, the block creation time required for the block creation process of the new block 40 is reduced. As a result, the direction of increasing the frequency of adding new blocks 40 to the blockchain 32 is improved, that is, the decrease in the frequency of adding new blocks 40 (i.e., new transaction information 44) to the blockchain 32 is suppressed.

[0072] In the present embodiment, the transaction information creation unit 54 compares the frequency of addition of the most recent multiple blocks 40 with the above-mentioned appropriate frequency value. And, when the frequency of addition of the most recent multiple blocks 40 is lower than the appropriate frequency value, the transaction information creation unit 54 makes the current resolution smaller than the predetermined default resolution. In particular, when the frequency of addition of the most recent multiple blocks 40 is lower than the appropriate frequency value, the transaction information creation unit 54 can make the current resolution smaller than the most recent resolution, which is the resolution of the image included in the transaction information 44 of the most recent multiple blocks 40, for example.

[0073] The transaction information creation unit 54 obtains the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information 44 of the most recent multiple blocks 40 based on the average resolution of the image log included in the headers 42 of the most recent multiple blocks 40. For example, when the most recent multiple blocks 40 are composed of the first to third blocks 40, the transaction information creation unit 54 further calculates the average resolution of the image log indicated in the header 42 of the first block 40, the average resolution of the image log indicated in the header 42 of the second block 40, and the average resolution of the image log indicated in the header 42 of the third block 40, and sets the average resolution as the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information 44 of the most recent multiple blocks 40.

[0074] In addition, in the present embodiment, the average resolution of the image log is included in the header 42 of each block 40, but the average resolution of the image log may not be included in the header 42. In this case, the transaction information creation unit 54 can obtain the resolution of each image log included in the latest multiple blocks 40 by referring to the multiple transaction information 44 included in each of the latest multiple blocks 40. However, by including the average resolution of the image log in the header 42 of each block 40, the transaction information creation unit 54 does not need to refer to the transaction information 44 of each block 40, and can obtain the resolution of the image included in the transaction information 44 of the latest multiple blocks 40 by referring to the header 42.

[0075] When the addition frequency of the most recent plurality of blocks 40 acquired in this manner is lower than the appropriate frequency value, the transaction information creating unit 54 makes the current resolution smaller than the most recent resolution.

[0076] Furthermore, the transaction information creation unit 54 may set the current resolution to a value calculated based on the most recent resolution. In particular, the transaction information creation unit 54 may determine the current resolution based on the relationship between the addition frequencies of the most recent blocks 40 and the appropriate frequency values ​​and the most recent resolution.

[0077] For example, it is assumed that the appropriate frequency value is once every 10 minutes (i.e., a new block 40 is added to the blockchain 32 at a frequency of once every 10 minutes). Here, when the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is once every 40 minutes, the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is lower than the appropriate frequency value and is 1 / 4 of the appropriate frequency value. In this case, the transaction information creation unit 54 sets the current resolution to 1 / 2 of the most recent resolution (because the data size of the image log is proportional to the square of the resolution) so that the frequency of adding the new block 40 is close to the appropriate frequency value (set to 4 times) so that the data size of the image log included in the new transaction information 44 becomes 1 / 4. On the other hand, when the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is once every 5 minutes, the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is above the appropriate frequency value. In this case, as described above, the transaction information creation unit 54 sets the current resolution to the default resolution (without reducing the current resolution).

[0078] The current resolution determined as described above may also become a very small value. For example, in the above example, when the current resolution is set to 1 / 2 of the most recent resolution, when the most recent resolution is, for example, 20 dpi, the current resolution becomes 10 dpi. Such a low-resolution image log becomes unusable as an image log. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the minimum resolution is predetermined, and when the calculated current resolution is less than the minimum resolution, the transaction information creation unit 54 does not generate an image log. As a result, the transaction information creation unit 54 does not send new transaction information 44. And, as described above, in each image processing device 12 involved in the present embodiment, generating an image log of an appropriate resolution becomes a condition for completing the processing of the job, so when the current resolution is less than the minimum resolution, the processing unit 52 usually interrupts the processing of the job related to the image log.

[0079] The image log management system 10 according to the present embodiment is briefly described above. Figure 6 The flowchart shown in FIG. 1 illustrates the processing flow of the image processing device 12 .

[0080] In step S10 , the normal processing unit 52 starts normal processing, which is processing related to the job, based on the job input by the user.

[0081] In step S12 , the transaction information creating unit 54 calculates the addition frequency of the latest plurality of blocks 40 based on the time stamp included in the header 42 of each of the latest plurality of blocks 40 .

[0082] In step S14, the transaction information creation unit 54 determines whether the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 calculated in step S12 is lower than the appropriate frequency value. When the frequency of adding the most recent multiple blocks 40 is greater than the appropriate frequency value ("No" in step S14), the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16, the transaction information creation unit 54 sets the current resolution to the default resolution. In addition, as described above, in step S16, the transaction information creation unit 54 may also make the current resolution greater than the default resolution. After step S16, the process proceeds to step S28 described later.

[0083] In step S14, when the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks 40 is lower than the appropriate frequency value ("Yes" in step S14), the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, the transaction information creation unit 54 obtains the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information 44 of the most recent multiple blocks 40 based on the average resolution of the image log included in the header 42 of the most recent multiple blocks 40.

[0084] In step S20, the transaction information creation unit 54 determines whether the resolution of the image log included in the most recent multiple blocks 40 obtained in step S18 is greater than the minimum resolution. In addition, in each image processing device 12 included in the image log management system 10, the minimum resolution is sometimes different from each other. In such a case, when the image log included in the most recent block 40 is generated by other image processing devices 12, it may occur that the resolution of the image log included in the most recent block 40 is smaller than the minimum resolution in this device. When the resolution of the image log included in the most recent multiple blocks 40 is less than the minimum resolution ("No" in step S20), the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, the normal processing unit 52 interrupts the processing of the job started in step S10. And, the normal processing unit 52 notifies the user that the job is interrupted.

[0085] When the resolution of the image logs included in the most recent blocks 40 is greater than or equal to the minimum resolution ("Yes" in step S20), the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, the transaction information creation unit 54 determines the current resolution based on the relationship between the addition frequency of the most recent blocks 40 and the appropriate frequency value and the most recent resolution.

[0086] In step S26, the transaction information creation unit 54 determines whether the current resolution determined in step S24 is greater than or equal to the minimum resolution. If the current resolution is less than the minimum resolution, the process proceeds to step S22. If the current resolution is greater than or equal to the minimum resolution, the process proceeds to step S28.

[0087] In step S28 , the transaction information creating section 54 generates an image log for the job whose processing started in step S10 , that is, an image log of the current resolution determined in step S24 .

[0088] In step S30 , the transaction information creation section 54 generates new transaction information 44 including the image log generated in step S28 .

[0089] In step S32, the transaction information creation unit 54 simultaneously sends the new transaction information 44 generated in step S30 to the other image processing devices 12 included in the image log management system 10. In the present embodiment, by simultaneously sending the new transaction information 44 including the image log, it is determined that the image log is generated. Therefore, when the new transaction information 44 is simultaneously sent in step S30, the normal processing unit 52 performs the processing of the job started in step S10 and completes the processing. After the processing of the job is completed, the normal processing unit 52 notifies the user that the processing of the job has been completed.

[0090] Afterwards, the block creation processing unit 56 of each image processing device 12 included in the image log management system 10 executes the block creation processing of the new block 40 including the new transaction information 44 sent simultaneously in step S32. When the block creation processing is successful, the new block 40 is appended to the blockchain 32.

[0091] As mentioned above, although the embodiment according to the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0092] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the processor refers to a processing device in a broad sense, and is configured to include at least one of a general-purpose processing device (e.g., a CPU (Central Processing Unit)) and a dedicated processing device (e.g., a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or a programmable logic device, etc.). As a processor, it can be composed of one processing device, or it can be composed of the cooperation of a plurality of processing devices existing in physically separated locations.

[0093] (Note) (1)

[0095] An image log management system, characterized by comprising:

[0096] A plurality of devices each storing a blockchain composed of blocks having transaction information including an image log as image data representing processing target data, and connected to each other so as to be communicable; and

[0097] processor,

[0098] The processor performs the following processing:

[0099] generating new transaction information, the new transaction information including an image log of a resolution determined based on a frequency of addition of a plurality of recent blocks that have been added to the blockchain; and

[0100] The new transaction information is sent to the plurality of devices, and a block having the new transaction information is added to the blockchain. (2)

[0102] The image log management system according to (1) is characterized in that:

[0103] When the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks appended to the blockchain is lower than a predetermined appropriate frequency value, the processor generates new transaction information including an image log having a resolution smaller than a recent resolution of the image log included in the transaction information possessed by the most recent multiple blocks. (3)

[0105] The image log management system according to (2) is characterized in that:

[0106] The processor sets a current resolution, which is a resolution of the image log included in the new transaction information, to a value calculated based on the latest resolution. (4)

[0108] The image log management system according to (3) is characterized in that:

[0109] If the calculated current resolution is smaller than a predetermined minimum resolution, the processor does not transmit the new transaction information to the plurality of devices and interrupts processing related to the processing target data. (5)

[0111] The image log management system according to any one of (1) to (4), characterized in that:

[0112] The header information of each block of the blockchain includes information indicating the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information of the block. (6)

[0114] The image log management system according to any one of (2) to (4), characterized in that the header information of each block of the blockchain includes information indicating the appropriate frequency value. (7)

[0116] The image log management system according to any one of (2) to (4), characterized in that:

[0117] The processor changes the appropriate frequency value of the entire blockchain according to an instruction from a user. (8)

[0119] An image log management program, characterized in that a computer that can access a blockchain performs the following processing, wherein the blockchain is stored in a plurality of devices that are communicatively connected to each other and is composed of blocks having transaction information, wherein the transaction information includes an image log that is image data representing processing target data:

[0120] generating new transaction information, the new transaction information including an image log having a resolution determined based on an addition frequency of a plurality of recent blocks that have been added to the blockchain and a resolution that is a most recent resolution of resolutions of image logs included in transaction information of the plurality of recent blocks; and

[0121] The new transaction information is sent to the plurality of devices, and a block having the new transaction information is added to the blockchain.

[0122] According to the invention involved in (1) or (8), when the image log is managed using blockchain, the frequency of adding transaction information can be suppressed compared to the case where the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information is fixed.

[0123] According to the invention as set forth in (2), the resolution of the image log included in the new transaction information can be reduced based on the comparison between the addition frequency of the latest block and the appropriate frequency value.

[0124] According to the invention as set forth in (3), the current resolution can be set to a value corresponding to the most recent resolution.

[0125] According to the invention as set forth in (4), it is possible to prevent the current resolution from becoming an inappropriate resolution as an image log.

[0126] According to the invention described in (5), the processor can obtain the last resolution from the header information of the block without analyzing the transaction information contained in the block.

[0127] According to the invention described in (6), the processor is able to obtain the appropriate frequency value from the header information of the block.

[0128] According to the invention as set forth in (7), the user can determine the appropriate frequency value.

[0129] The above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention are provided for the purpose of illustration and description. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention do not fully and exhaustively include the present invention, and do not limit the present invention to the disclosed methods. Obviously, various modifications and changes are self-evident to those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs. The present embodiment is selected and described in order to most easily understand the principles of the present invention and its application. Thus, other technicians in the art can understand the present invention through various variations optimized for specific uses assumed to be various embodiments. The scope of the present invention is defined by the above claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An image log management system, characterized in that: have: A plurality of devices each storing a blockchain composed of blocks having transaction information including an image log as image data representing processing target data, and connected to each other so as to be communicable; and processor, The processor performs the following processing: generating new transaction information, the new transaction information including an image log of a resolution determined based on a frequency of addition of a plurality of recent blocks that have been added to the blockchain; and The new transaction information is sent to the plurality of devices, and a block having the new transaction information is added to the blockchain.

2. The image log management system according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the addition frequency of the most recent multiple blocks appended to the blockchain is lower than a predetermined appropriate frequency value, the processor generates new transaction information including an image log having a resolution smaller than a recent resolution of the image log included in the transaction information possessed by the most recent multiple blocks.

3. The image log management system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The processor sets a current resolution, which is a resolution of the image log included in the new transaction information, to a value calculated based on the latest resolution.

4. The image log management system according to claim 3, characterized in that: If the calculated current resolution is smaller than a predetermined minimum resolution, the processor does not transmit the new transaction information to the plurality of devices and interrupts processing related to the processing target data.

5. The image log management system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The header information of each block of the blockchain includes information indicating the resolution of the image log included in the transaction information of the block.

6. The image log management system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: The header information of each block of the blockchain includes information indicating the appropriate frequency value.

7. The image log management system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that: The processor changes the appropriate frequency value of the entire blockchain according to an instruction from a user.

8. A storage medium, characterized in that: An image log management program is stored which causes a computer that can access a blockchain to perform the following processing, wherein the blockchain is stored in a plurality of devices that are communicatively connected to each other and is composed of blocks having transaction information, wherein the transaction information includes an image log of image data representing processing target data: generating new transaction information, the new transaction information including an image log having a resolution determined based on an addition frequency of a plurality of recent blocks that have been added to the blockchain and a resolution that is a most recent resolution of resolutions of image logs included in the transaction information of the plurality of recent blocks; and The new transaction information is sent to the plurality of devices, and a block having the new transaction information is added to the blockchain.

9. An image log management method, characterized in that: The steps include: generating new transaction information including an image log having a resolution determined based on an addition frequency of a plurality of recent blocks added to a blockchain and a resolution that is the most recent resolution of resolutions of image logs included in the transaction information included in the plurality of recent blocks, the blockchain being stored in a plurality of devices that are communicably connected to each other and being composed of blocks having transaction information including an image log that is image data representing processing target data; and The new transaction information is sent to the plurality of devices, and a block having the new transaction information is added to the blockchain.

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