MFP Billing Management via Local Charging Tables
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of charging for services provided by Multi Function Peripherals (MFPs) that collaborate with external servers leads to inaccurate billing due to intertwined processing, resulting in potential duplicate or missed charges, making precise charging management difficult.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus and method that stores separate charging information for MFP usage and cooperative job execution, allowing for accurate charging by referencing the appropriate table based on the job type, thereby ensuring consistent billing practices for both apparatus and cooperative jobs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If separate charging information is stored for apparatus jobs and cooperative jobs, then charging accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides charging information into separate storage regions: one for apparatus job charging information and another for cooperative job charging information. This segmentation allows independent management of different charging types, improving accuracy while maintaining clear organizational structure that mitigates complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a charging information management unit that acts as an intermediary between job execution and billing. This unit automatically determines job type and selects appropriate charging information, eliminating the need for manual intervention and reducing operational complexity despite increased data structure complexity.
2Measurement precision
If frequent inquiries are made to external servers for charging information, then charging accuracy is improved, but communication load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by storing charging information locally in the image processing apparatus before actual job execution. This pre-stored information is immediately accessible during job processing, eliminating the need for frequent real-time inquiries to external servers and significantly reducing communication load while maintaining charging accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The apparatus serves itself by maintaining local charging information databases for both apparatus and cooperative jobs. The charging information management unit autonomously retrieves and applies appropriate charging data without external server intervention, making the system self-sufficient and minimizing communication requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
An image processing apparatus stores therein a use charging table that shows a charging condition with respect to use of the image processing apparatus and a cooperative job charging table that shows a charging condition with respect to execution of a cooperative job. In the case where a received job is an apparatus job to be executed only by the image processing apparatus, the use charging table is read. Charging processing is performed based on the read charging table, and a remaining amount is calculated. In the case where a received job is a cooperative job to be executed by the image processing apparatus and a service providing apparatus cooperatively with each other, the cooperative job charging table is read, and charging processing is performed with reference to the read cooperative job charging table as necessary.