The
license manager provides an automated process that reduces the need for
human interaction associated with licensing components, distribution of the same,
product distribution, debugging, product building,
assembly, installation, configuration and maintenance. In addition, there is an interface for use by regulators that allows the regulators to test and to receive notifications from the
license manager. Finally, there is a
third party interface to facilitate equipment add-ons to the
system. The
license management system provides enablement / disablement of
software products, generation and maintenance of accounting records, and logs for licenses that are generated and distributed throughout the
system. An audit trail is also created that includes who authorized the purchase of the license, as well as audit trails relating to different
system levels to verify system security. Finally, a change
notification system provides for the control of any changes to the system and monitors these changes on a multi-tiered level within the system.