Blockchain License Management Framework for Real-Time Usage Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional licensing solutions for software and network functions are inflexible, prone to errors, and increase operational overhead, making it difficult to efficiently manage licenses, especially in agile environments where services are rapidly scaled up or down.
Innovation Solution
A blockchain-based license management framework that utilizes smart contracts to record licensing agreements between parties, enabling real-time monitoring and recording of usage actions, and creating transaction records on an operation blockchain, thus providing a transparent, secure, and flexible license management system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional licensing solutions are used to manage licenses through licensing keys and pooling, then license control is established, but flexibility of deployment is reduced and operational overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of conventional licensing (licensing keys, pooling mechanisms, vendor manager databases) with a blockchain-based system. Smart contracts automatically enforce licensing terms, and the distributed ledger provides transparent tracking of license usage without requiring centralized management infrastructure, thus improving deployment flexibility while maintaining reliable license control.
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain-based licensing system enables self-service operation where the smart contracts automatically monitor and enforce licensing terms without human intervention. The system autonomously tracks usage, validates licenses, and manages entitlements, eliminating the need for vendor operators to manually manage licensing databases while maintaining accurate license control.
2Measurement precision
If vendor licensing managers continuously monitor licensing entitlement and deploy lightweight servers for periodic synchronizations, then license accuracy is maintained, but operational overhead and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical monitoring system (vendor licensing managers, lightweight servers, periodic synchronizations) with an automated blockchain-based monitoring system. Smart contracts continuously track license usage on the distributed ledger, providing accurate real-time monitoring without requiring vendor-deployed infrastructure or manual intervention, thus reducing operational overhead while maintaining measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain system provides continuous feedback on license usage through the distributed ledger. Every license transaction is recorded and immediately visible to all participants, enabling real-time monitoring and automatic enforcement of licensing terms without requiring separate monitoring infrastructure or periodic synchronization cycles.
3Ease of operation
If human-based management is used to update vendor manager databases in real-world situations, then license tracking is performed, but errors increase and revenue management accuracy decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces human-based manual management of licensing databases with an automated blockchain system. Smart contracts automatically execute licensing logic, and the distributed ledger immutably records all transactions, eliminating human error while maintaining ease of operation through automated processes that require no manual database updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The system operates autonomously with smart contracts self-executing licensing terms and the blockchain automatically maintaining the ledger. This eliminates the need for human operators to manually update databases, thereby removing the source of human error while keeping the system easy to operate through automated workflows.
4Productivity
If services are rapidly scaled up or down in agile environments, then service agility is improved, but conventional licensing solutions cannot efficiently manage licenses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the rigid mechanical licensing system with a flexible blockchain-based system. Smart contracts automatically adapt to changing service scales by executing licensing logic based on actual usage recorded on the blockchain. This enables rapid service scaling while maintaining efficient license management through automated, real-time tracking and enforcement.
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain-based licensing system is dynamic and adapts automatically to changing service requirements. As services are scaled up or down, the smart contracts continuously monitor usage patterns and adjust license allocations in real-time, providing both the agility needed for rapid scaling and the efficiency of automated license management.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are described for license management. A system for license management includes a smart contract that records a licensing agreement between a first party and a second party on usage of a network function. The smart contract is persisted in a trade blockchain. The system also includes an e-licensing manager agent. The e-licensing manager agent retrieves the licensing agreement from the smart contract. The e-licensing manager agent monitors a usage of the network function by the second party in real-time based on the licensing agreement, record actions of the usage of the network function, and create a transaction record based on the recorded actions in an operation blockchain.