WO2004070610A2

WO2004070610A2 - Method for installing a plug-in program

Info

Publication number: WO2004070610A2
Application number: PCT/EP2004/001120
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rolf Demitz; Klaus Geissler; Ernst LÜTHE; Wolfgang Maier-Hinze
Original assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
Priority date: 2003-02-06
Filing date: 2004-02-06
Publication date: 2004-08-19
Also published as: EP1597671A2; DE10304877A1; WO2004070610A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for installing a plug-in program (426) in a device (40), comprising the following steps: transmitting a device code (422) of the device from the device to a computer (430); inputting a manufacturer code via a user interface of the computer; forming a first key (436) from the device code and from the manufacturer code; reading a second key (428) from a data carrier (424); comparing the first and second keys; transmitting the plug-in program stored on the data carrier to the device in the event the first and second keys correspond.

Description

description

Procedure for installing a plug-in program

The present invention relates to a method for installing a plug-in program, a data carrier with a plug-in program and an automation system.

Various software protection concepts are known from the prior art, which are used to avoid unauthorized use

Use the software to be protected. On the one hand, there are hardware-based solutions.

In hardware-based solutions, for example, a so-called dongle must be connected to the computer in order to enable the protected software to be executed. Hardware-based software protection concepts of this type have the disadvantage that they are relatively user-unfriendly and, moreover, are often eliminated for cost reasons.

On the other hand, it is also known to protect software with a license number against unauthorized use. When installing the software, a license number communicated to the customer when purchasing the software license must be entered in an input window of the set-up program. A disadvantage of such a software-based solution is that it does not offer adequate protection against unauthorized use. For example, such a software-based protection concept fails if the customer uses the same license number to install the software multiple times on different computers or even communicates the license number to third parties.

Software protection concepts are particularly relevant for so-called open systems. An open system generally consists of at least one basic software, the interfaces of which are disclosed to third-party manufacturers, so that third-party manufacturers can use interoperable plug-ins for the basic software can create. Such open system concepts are used in particular in the field of automation technology to implement open control architectures based on hardware and software components from various manufacturers. An example of a corresponding basic software is OpenCNC (http://www.mdsi2.com/deutsch/gerbrochure.html).

The product SIMATIC iMap from Siemens AG

(http: // www.siemens.de/cba/products/html__00/imap.html) is used for the plant-wide and cross-manufacturer merging of distributed applications. Previously created software components are imported into SIMATIC iMap and stored in a library. The components for all PROFInet-compatible devices can be integrated as library elements via the disclosed interface of SIMATIC iMap.

The software protection concepts known per se can be used for software protection of the basic software of open systems and of the plug-in programs for the basic software. If different hardware and / or software-based protection concepts are used by the various software manufacturers, conflicts can arise between the individual protection concepts.

In some cases, the software protection concepts are not compatible with each other, so that sensible combinations of components cannot be implemented because of such incompatibilities. Even if the individual protection concepts are compatible with one another, the combination of the various manufacturer-specific software protection concepts can lead to difficult-to-handle and user-unfriendly systems, which are also limited in their flexibility. It is generally not possible for the various software manufacturers to agree on a uniform software protection concept to avoid these disadvantages, since the protection system of the manufacturer of the Basic software would have to be disclosed to third-party manufacturers.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing an improved method for installing a plug-in program and a data carrier with such a plug-in program and an automation system with a device on which the plug-in program can be installed , In particular, this is intended to create a software protection concept which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.

The objects underlying the invention are each solved by the features of the independent claims. Preferred embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

The software protection according to the invention is based on a combination of a device identifier and a manufacturer identifier. A specific device on which the use of the plug-in program is authorized is clearly identified via the device identifier. For example, the so-called media access control (MAC) address of a device can be used as such a device identifier.

This device identifier is communicated to the software manufacturer of the plug-in program by the user, for example. The manufacturer then generates a key from this device identifier and its manufacturer identifier. This key is stored together with the plug-in program on a data medium, such as. B. a CD-ROM, stored.

The installation of the plug-in program is then carried out, for example, as follows: First, the device identifier of the device on which the plug-in program is to be installed is queried. Then via a user interface the manufacturer ID of the manufacturer of the plug-in program to be installed is requested.

A key is in turn formed from the device identifier and the manufacturer identifier using the same encryption method. The key previously created by the manufacturer and stored on the data carrier is then compared with the key generated by the user during installation. If the two keys match, the transmission of the plug-in program to the device is enabled so that it can be used there in connection with basic software.

In particular, this procedure offers the possibility of implementing a two-stage software protection concept:

- The basic software of the open system can be protected by a proprietary protection concept from the manufacturer of the basic software. It is not necessary to disclose this proprietary protection concept of the basic software, since this mechanism is only used to protect the basic software.

- The manufacturer of the basic software offers software support, for example in the form of a so-called wizard, in order to offer third-party manufacturers a uniform, convenient software protection concept to protect their plug-in software. Such software support can be part of a development kit. This avoids incompatibilities between different software protection concepts from different third-party manufacturers, since all software components are protected with the same mechanism and the basic software ensures that this protection concept is compatible with that of the basic software.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device on which the plug-in program is installed to be a so-called intelligent camera. In addition to the actual camera function, an intelligent camera has an image processing unit with various image processing methods for extracting image features. Such intelligent cameras and image processing programs are known per se from the prior art (compare the product commission from Siemens AG, http: // www. Ad. Siemens. De / machine vision / html 00 / produkte / produkte / provis .htm ).

In particular, the program version Provision V2.1 supports an open interface for the integration of self-created plug-in test elements, which can be used just like all standard test elements. In this way, the test program can be conveniently configured regardless of the standard range of functions.

The individual test elements can easily be created in the programming language C ++ and used in commission. This allows the user to combine the convenience of project planning with commission with the flexibility of high-level language programming. Many SIMATIC Machine Vision partner companies have already developed such plug-in test elements.

The present invention thus makes it possible in a convenient manner, for. B. to provide another image processing method for the image processing program as a plug-in, the authorized use of the plug-in program is guaranteed by the software protection concept according to the invention.

For the installation of the plug-in program, the device is preferably connected to an external computer, in particular a conventional personal computer. This connection can be made via a network connection or a bus connection of the

Automation system are manufactured, for. B. via a fieldbus or Profibus. Alternatively, a separate β tes cable or wireless only for the purpose of installation between the computer and the device a local connection. The device identifier, in particular the MAC address of the device, is queried via this connection and / or the plug-in program is transmitted via this connection.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a so-called hash key is formed from the device identifier and the manufacturer identifier in order to carry out a key transformation. A hash function is used to form this hash key transformation. B. is specified by the development kit for the plug-in program.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a key is formed from the device identifier and the manufacturer identifier using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) method.

The CRC method is a common method for error detection in digital signal transmission. To carry out a CRC process, a message chain is divided using a keyword. Such a keyword is also called a generator polynomial. The key word is known to both the sender and the recipient. The remainder of the division forms the so-called checkword, which is used to check that the message transmission is error-free. A CRC method is known for example from US 4,283,787.

According to the invention, this CRC method, which is used per se from the prior art for error detection in digital message transmission, is used to implement a software protection concept. For this purpose, the device identifier is linked to the manufacturer identifier to form a string. This concatenation is then divided by a keyword. The remainder of the division serves as the key. This method is used by the manufacturer to generate the key that is stored on the data carrier. The same procedure is also carried out by the user with the same keyword in order to create a checkword from the device identifier queried by the device and that via the

To form the user interface entered manufacturer ID. If the checkword stored on the data carrier matches the checkword created by the user, the authorization for using the plug-in on the device concerned follows from this.

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. Show it:

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart for creating a data carrier according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart for generating a key for storage on the data carrier,

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram of an installation of the plug-in on a device,

Figure 4 is a block diagram of an automation system with an intelligent camera.

FIG. 1 shows the steps for creating a data carrier with a plug-in for basic software and a software protection mechanism. In step 100, the plug-in program is created. This can be done within a development environment with the help of a so-called development kit, which is made available by the manufacturer of the basic software to the third-party manufacturer of the plug-in. This development kit includes a plug-in wizard with an encryption process. This encryption method is preferably only passed on as a binary code, to ensure software protection of third-party plug-in components.

After programming the plug-in program in step 100, the encryption process of the plug-in wizard is started in step 102.

In step 102, an input window appears with the request to enter the third-party identification. After this entry, a further input window appears in step 104 with the prompt for a unique device identifier of the device authorized to use the plug-in. This device identifier is preferably the MAC address of the authorized device. This is communicated to the third party manufacturer by the user. The third-party manufacturer enters this MAC address in the input window.

In step 106, the MAC address and the manufacturer's identification are then encrypted by means of a key transformation of the encryption method of the plug-in wizard.

In step 108 the plug-in program is stored on a data carrier with the key generated in step 106.

FIG. 2 shows an example for the implementation of an encryption method in step 106. To carry out the encryption method, a chain is formed in step 200 from the MAC address and the third-party identification. In step 202, this concatenation is divided using a keyword. The keyword is secret and part of the encryption process of the plug-in wizard. This key word is a so-called generator polynomial, as is known per se from CRC methods. The remainder of the division of the chaining by the generator polynomial in step 202 is the result of the key transformation, ie the so-called checkword. This is output in step 204 for storage on the data carrier. The is of particular advantage

Use of this CRC check procedure particularly in applications with high performance requirements, such as in image processing, since the CRC check procedure works particularly quickly. Alternatively, hash methods can also be used, which are also fast.

FIG. 3 shows the procedure for installing the plug-in program on a device. In step 300, the data carrier is inserted into a corresponding reading device of a personal computer. Alternatively, e.g. B. over an Internet connection to the disk, for. B. the hard drive of a third-party server can be accessed.

In step 302, the set-up program for installing the plug-in program is started. A connection is then established in step 304 between the personal computer and the device on which the plug-in is to be installed.

In step 306, the MAC address is requested from the device and transmitted via the connection to the personal computer. In step 308, an input window appears on the screen of the personal computer, asking for the third-party identification of the plug-in to be installed. This third-party identification is entered by the user, for example, on the keyboard of the personal computer.

In step 310, the MAC address queried by the device in step 306 and the third-party identification entered in step 308 are then encrypted. The The encryption method used in step 310 is the same as the encryption method in step 106 (see FIG. 1).

In step 312, it is checked whether that in step 108

(compare FIG. 1), the key stored on the data carrier is identical to the key generated in step 310. If this is not the case, a corresponding message for the user is output in step 314 via the user interface. From there, the sequence control goes back to step 308 in order to grant the user a renewed input attempt for the correct third-party identification.

If it is determined in step 312 that the keys are indeed identical, the plug-in program is transferred from the data carrier to the device in step 316, so that the plug-in program in the device in connection with the basic software can be used.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an automation system. The automation system has an intelligent camera 400 with a CCD camera module 402 for the delivery of image data 404.

The camera module 402 is connected to an image processing unit 406, which is integrated in the intelligent camera 400. An image processing program 408 is installed in the image processing unit 406. The image processing program 408 is basic software that is supplied by the manufacturer of the intelligent camera 400.

The image processing methods 410, 412, ... for common image processing applications are already included in the scope of this basic software. For example, the image processing method 410 is used to recognize a bar code. The Image processing method 412 is used, for example, to recognize a fill level and to compare the detected fill level with a desired fill level.

As a result of the image processing, the image processing unit 406 outputs image features 414 via an interface 416, e.g. B. to a network 418 of the automation system, so that the image features 414 can be transmitted to an automation component 420.

If the image processing method 410 is used, the image features 414 are, for example, the recognized bar code. In the case of the image processing method 412, on the other hand, it is the information as to whether the detected fill level is in a target range or whether

Level is above or below the target range. With the aid of this information, the automation component 420 can initiate a corresponding readjustment.

The intelligent camera 400 also has a memory 422 in which the MAC address is stored as the device identifier of the intelligent camera 400.

In the event that the image processing methods 410 included in the basic scope of the image processing program 408,

412, ... are not sufficient for the user, he can buy a specialized image processing method for a special application from a third-party manufacturer. A data carrier 424 is supplied by the third-party manufacturer, for example, on which a specialized image processing method 426 in the form of a plug-in for the image processing program 408 is stored. A key 428 is also stored on the data carrier 424. The data carrier 424 is created, for example, by the third-party manufacturer using the method shown in FIG. A personal computer 430 is provided to install the image processing method 426. A set-up program 432 runs on the personal computer 430 and has been loaded into the personal computer 430 from the data carrier 424, for example. The set-up program 432 contains a program module 434 with a sequence control for realizing an installation wizard. The set-up program 432 also has an encryption module 436 for implementing the encryption, which has also been used to generate the key 428. Furthermore, the set-up program 432 has a comparison module 438. Via a user interface 440, e.g. B. via a keyboard, the user can enter a third-party identification 442.

The procedure for installing the image processing method 426 on the intelligent camera 400 is as follows:

The user inserts the data carrier 424 into a corresponding reading device of the personal computer 430. Alternatively, a data connection between the PC 430 and e.g. B. a server from the third-party manufacturer, in order to be able to access from the PC 430 a data carrier on the server side with the image processing method 426 and the key 428.

For example, the set-up program 432 is loaded from the data carrier 424 and started on the personal computer 430. The user is then asked to identify via the user interface 440 the device of the automation system on which the additional plug-in program is to be installed. In the example case considered here, the user gives z. B. graphically interactive on the intelligent camera 400. For this purpose, for example, a block diagram of the automation system can be displayed on the user interface. B. Click to select the device on which the plug-in is to be installed. The set-up program 432 then queries the MAC address of the device of the automation system selected by the user, ie in the case considered here by the intelligent camera 400. Based on this query, the image processing unit 406 accesses the memory 422, reads the MAC address from the memory 422 and transmits it via the interface 416 and the network 418 to the personal computer 430.

Via the user interface 440, the set-up program 432 prompts the user to enter the third-party identification 442 of the third-party manufacturer who created the image processing method 426. With the aid of the third-party identification 442 and the MAC address from the memory 422, a key transformation is carried out by the set-up program 432 by means of the encryption module 436.

The resulting key is compared by the comparison module 438 with the key 428 of the data carrier 424. If both keys match, the use of the

Image processing method 426 is authorized as a plug-in of image processing program 408 on intelligent camera 400, and the corresponding plug-in is then transmitted, i. H. of the image processing method 426 from the personal computer 430 via the network 418 to the intelligent camera 400. There the image processing method 426 can be used as a plug-in for the image processing program 408 for the special application desired by the user.

This process can be repeated for different image processing methods or other plug-ins for the implementation of special applications, which gives a high degree of flexibility to adapt the automation system to new applications.

Claims

claims

1. A method for installing a plug-in program (426) in a device (400), comprising the following steps:

Transmission of a device identifier (422) of the device from the device to a computer (430),

Entering a manufacturer identification (442) via a user interface (440) of the computer,

Formation of a first key (436) from the device identifier (422) and the manufacturer identifier (442),

- reading a second key (428) from a data carrier (424),

Comparison of the first and second keys,

- If the first and second keys match: transmission of the plug-in program stored on the data carrier to the device (400).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the device is an intelligent camera with an image processing program (408), the plug-in program being provided for the image processing program.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the plug-in program is an image processing method.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the device identifier is the media access control (MAC) address of the device.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 4, wherein the transmission of the device identifier and / or the The plug-in program is transmitted via a network connection (418) or a bus connection, in particular via a Profibus or fieldbus.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, wherein the first key is a hash key.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 6, wherein the first key is formed by a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) method.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein to carry out the CRC method, the device identifier (422) and the manufacturer identifier are chained together and the chaining is divided by a keyword, the result of the division being the first keyword (436 ) acts.

9. Data carrier with a plug-in program (426) and a key (428), the key being a device identifier

(422) and a manufacturer identifier is formed.

10. A data carrier according to claim 9, wherein the key is a hash key.

11. The data carrier of claim 9, wherein the key is the checkword of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) method.

12. A data carrier according to claim 9, 10 or 11, with an installation program for performing the following steps:

Interrogation of a device identifier (422) from a device (400),

- Entering a manufacturer ID via a user interface (440), Formation of a key (436) from the device identifier and the manufacturer identifier,

- comparison (438) of the key with the key stored on the data carrier,

Transfer (418) of the plug-in program stored on the data carrier to the device.

13. Data carrier according to one of the preceding claims 9 to 12, wherein the device identifier is the media access control (MAC) identifier of the device for which the plug-in program is intended.

14. Data carrier according to one of the preceding claims 9 to 13, wherein the plug-in program is an image processing method (428) for an image processing program (408) of the device.

15. Automation system with a device (400) which has a device identifier (422), the device having means (406) for executing a program (408), and with a computer (430) which can be connected to the device and has means for reading a Data carrier (424), a plug-in (426) for the program (408) being stored on the data carrier, and with an installation program (432) for carrying out the following steps:

Entering a manufacturer ID via a user interface of the computer

Formation of a first key (436) from the device identifier and the manufacturer identifier, Reading a second key (428) from a data carrier (424),

Comparison of the first and second keys,

- if the first and second keys match: transfer of the plug-in program stored on the data carrier to the device.

16. Automation system according to claim 15, wherein the device is an intelligent camera (400).

17. Automation system according to claim 15 or 16 with a network (418) or a bus system for transmitting the device identifier and / or the plug-in program.