Virtual Hardware License Manager for Resource Utilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems face inefficiencies in managing hardware resources across computing devices, leading to unnecessary license renewals and revenue loss due to multiple application instances accessing the same resources, and lack effective methods for managing access and relinquishing rights to these resources.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a local virtual hardware license manager that sends a virtual hardware license request to a license management system, validates the request, and provides a signed hardware resource document to a hardware resource manager, updating access repositories to enable or relinquish access to hardware resources by application instances, thereby optimizing resource allocation and reducing redundant license purchases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple application instances are allowed to access hardware resources, then resource utilization increases, but license management complexity and revenue loss increase due to redundant license purchases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a local virtual hardware license manager as an intermediary component that sits between application instances and hardware resources. This manager validates license requests locally, tracks hardware resource access, and communicates with the remote license management system only when necessary. This intermediary approach enables multiple application instances to access hardware resources efficiently while maintaining proper license validation and preventing redundant purchases, thus resolving the contradiction between resource utilization and management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The local virtual hardware license manager implements self-service capabilities by autonomously validating license requests from application instances without requiring constant remote system intervention. It maintains local state information about hardware resource access and license validity, allowing it to make immediate decisions about granting or denying access. This self-service mechanism reduces the complexity of centralized license management while enabling efficient resource sharing among multiple application instances.
2Ease of operation
If centralized license management is used, then license validation is simplified, but access efficiency and resource allocation speed decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the license management functionality into two distinct parts: a local virtual hardware license manager that handles rapid validation decisions and a remote license management system that maintains central authority. The local manager is segmented as an independent component with its own validation logic and state tracking, allowing it to operate autonomously and quickly. This segmentation enables simple centralized validation rules to be enforced locally without the performance penalty of constant remote communication, thus resolving the contradiction between validation simplicity and access efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The local virtual hardware license manager performs preliminary validation actions by pre-loading license validation rules and maintaining local state information about hardware resource access. When an application instance requests access, the local manager can immediately validate the request against pre-established criteria without waiting for remote system responses. This preliminary action approach maintains the simplicity of centralized license policies while dramatically improving access speed by eliminating latency associated with remote validation for each request.
3Reliability
If hardware resources are allocated to application instances, then resource availability improves, but tracking and managing access rights becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The local virtual hardware license manager serves as an intermediary that maintains local tracking of hardware resource access rights. It keeps state information about which application instances have valid access to which hardware resources, eliminating the need for the remote license management system to track every access event. This local tracking mechanism ensures reliable resource availability while simplifying access rights management by distributing the tracking burden to the local level where it is most relevant.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the local virtual hardware license manager continuously monitors and reports hardware resource access status to both application instances and the remote license management system. When access rights change or hardware resource allocation is modified, the local manager provides immediate feedback to update local state and notify relevant parties. This feedback loop ensures reliable resource availability while maintaining simplified access rights tracking through automated status synchronization rather than complex manual management.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing hardware resources includes obtaining, by a local virtual hardware license manager, a license request from an application instance, in response to the license request: sending a virtual hardware license request to a license management system, wherein the virtual hardware license request comprises a hardware resource list, making a first determination that a response to the virtual hardware license request validates the virtual hardware license request, and in response to the first determination: providing, based on the hardware resource list, a signed hardware resource document to a hardware resource manager managing a hardware resource, wherein the hardware resource list specifies the hardware resource, updating a hardware resource access repository to specify enabled access of the hardware resource by the application instance, and initiating access to the hardware resource by the application instance.