MXPA00003176A - Data processing system, apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable terminal machine which controls the execution of a downloaded program depending on a usage time limit when a sub program downloaded from a video game machine is stored in the storage device, the time of communication with the videogame machine obtained from the clock is recorded in the sub program as a time stamp. At the time of the startup of the sub program, the portable terminal machine calculates the usage time limit based on the time of communication and compares this usage time limit against the current time obtained from the clock and stops the startup of the sub program if the usage time limit has been exceeded.

Description

SYSTEM, APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING DATA BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system and method for processing data using a transferred program from abroad, together with an apparatus and method for processing data, and particularly to a system and method for processing data, together with an apparatus and method to process appropriate data for application to a system using a video game machine and a portable information communications terminal.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND TECHNIQUE Many types of domestic video game apparatus such as video game machines and personal computers or other such home consoles use programs that are transferred from abroad. Examples of these programs include programs distributed as shared software (shareware). Shared software is a type of software that differs from public domain software and free software (freeware) in that it is allowed to be used for a certain fixed period on a test-use basis, and then paid for it when it is going to use seriously. Shared software can be obtained cheaply through the Internet or other means of communication or through CD-ROM or other recording media. By using such shared software, the user can only use the software that he likes. Upon passing, such shared software is preferably used by obtaining it on CD-ROM or other recording medium which is loaded into a video game machine or other home console, or in some other way is used in a portable terminal after being transferred from a video game machine. However, programs conventionally distributed as shared software have the problem that once they have been transferred, they can be used indefinitely. In particular, when a program recorded on CD-ROM or other recording medium is transferred from a video game machine, it is difficult to handle this transfer from the side of the video game machine or from the side of the recording medium, so there is a problem since a program recorded on a single recording medium can be transferred legally multiple times. The present invention arises in light of the aforementioned problems at the time in which conventional shared software is transferred, and its objective is to provide a system and method for processing data, together with an apparatus and method for processing data thereby, When a program read by a main unit is transferred to a subunit, the transfer time is recorded in the program, so that the execution of the program transferred to the subunit can be controlled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the objects of the invention, the data processing system according to the present invention is a data processing system in which a sub-unit is removably connected by means of a connector to a main unit performing the processing of data. data, the main unit has a program supply to supply a program to the sub unit, and the sub unit has a store to store the program supplied by the program supply and the communication time with the main unit; a clock to mark time; a time comparator to compare a time limit of use, which is a time limit until the program is executable in the subunit and which is obtained, based on the communication time, against a time obtained from clock; and an execution control that exercises control of the execution of the program based on the results of the comparison made by these means of time comparison. In the data processing system, the program provided by the main unit is transferred to the subunit, and the limit of time of use obtained, based on the time in which the transfer is presented, is compared against the current time obtained from the clock and the execution of the program transferred to the subunit is controlled depending on the results. In addition, the data processing system has a program provided from the main unit to the subunit which is read by the main unit through a program reader from a recording medium loaded removably in the main unit.; the main unit has a program comparator that compares the program stored in the storage of the subunit against which it is read from the recording medium by the program reader; the subunit has a time updating means for updating the usage time limit, and this time updating means updates the usage time limit of the stored program depending on the comparison results of the program comparator. The data processing system according to the present invention compares the program that is read by the main unit from the recording medium against the program stored in the subunit and updates the usage time limit of the program stored in the subunit depending on the that the stored program of the subunit is or not that which is read from the recording medium loaded in the main unit. In addition, the data processing system according to the present invention is characterized in that the sub-unit has wireless reception means that receive wireless signals coming from the outside and absolutely accurate absolute time information. The current time obtained from the clock can be corrected based on the absolute time information. The data processing system according to the present invention corrects the time obtained from the clock of the subunit with the absolute time obtained by the wireless reception means. The method for processing data in accordance with the present invention is a method for processing data in which a sub-unit is removably connected to a main unit performing the data processing, in which a program provided from the main unit is stored. towards the subunit and the communication time with the main unit and a limit of time of use is compared, which is a time limit during which the program is executable in the subunit and which is based on the time of communication, against the current time; and the control of programs is based on the results of this comparison. The method for processing data transfers a program provided by the main unit to the subunit, compares the current time against the time limit of use obtained based on the time in which the transfer was presented, and controls the program transferred to the subunit depending on these results. In addition, the program supplied from the main unit to the subunit is one that the main unit has read from a recording medium loaded removably in the main unit, the program stored in the subunit is compared against the one read from recording medium, and the time limit of use of the program stored in the subunit is updated depending on the results of this comparison. The method for processing data compares the program read from the recording medium by the main unit against the program stored in the subunit and updates the usage time limit of the program stored in the subunit depending on whether the program stored in the subunit is or not the one that was read from the recording medium loaded in the main unit. The data processing apparatus has storage means for storing a program supplied by the data processing equipment and the communication time with the data processing equipment; a clock to mark time; a time comparator for comparing a time limit of use, which is a time limit during which the program is executable in the subunit and which is obtained based on the communication time, against a time obtained from the clock and a control that controls the operation of the program based on the comparison results made by this time comparator. The data processing apparatus transfers a program supplied by the data processing equipment, compares the current time obtained from the clock against the time limit of use obtained based on the time in which the transfer was presented, and the control of the operation of the program transferred, depends on these results. In addition, the program in the data processor apparatus is one read by the data processor equipment from a removably loaded recording medium in the data processor equipment.; it has a time updater to update the usage time limit, and this time updater updates the time limit of use of the program depending on the comparison results of the program against which it was read from the recording medium. The data processing apparatus compares the program that is read by the data processing equipment from the recording medium against the stored program and updates the usage time limit of the stored program depending on whether the stored program is the one that is stored or not. read from the recording medium loaded in the data processor equipment. Moreover, the data processing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it has a wireless receiver that receives wireless signals coming from outside. The wireless receiver receives absolutely accurate absolute time information, and the current time obtained from the clock can be corrected based on the absolute time information. The data processing apparatus corrects the time obtained from the clock with the absolute time obtained by the wireless receiver.

The method for processing data has a program supplied from the data processing equipment and the communication time with the data processing equipment is stored. A usage time limit, which is a time limit until the program is operable and which is obtained based on the communication time, is compared against the current time; and the control of the operation of the program is based on the results of this comparison. The method for processing data transfers a program supplied by the data processing equipment, compares the current time against the time limit of use obtained based on the time in which the transfer was presented, and controls the operation of the transferred program depending on this results. In addition, the program of the method for processing data is one that the data processing equipment has read from the recording medium loaded removably in the data processing equipment, the program is compared against the program read from the recording medium. , and the time limit of use of the program is updated depending on the results of this comparison. The method for processing data compares the program read from the recording medium by the data processing equipment against the stored program and updates the usage time limit of the stored program depending on whether or not the stored program is read to. from the recording medium loaded in the data processor equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a video game machine and a portable terminal that constitutes a data processing system which is a working mode of the present invention. Figure 2 is a flow diagram showing a series of steps for performing the transfer of a subprogram and the updating of a time stamp in the data processing system, as a series of procedures for carrying out the transfer of the subprogram. Figure 3 is a flow diagram showing a series of steps for performing the transfer of a subprogram and the updating of a date clock in the data processing system, as a series of procedures for updating the aforementioned date clock of the subprogram mentioned above. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the format of the subprogram. Fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing a series of steps for performing the subprogram transfer procedure and the updating procedure of the dater clock in the aforementioned data processing system, as a series of procedures for performing the transfer procedure of the subprogram. Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing a series of steps for performing the subprogram transfer procedure and the procedure for updating the time stamp in the data processor system, as a series of procedures for performing the clock update procedure dater of the subprogram. Figure 7 is a flow chart showing a series of procedures for executing the program transferred to the portable terminal in the portable terminal. Figure 8 is a plan view showing the structure of an entertainment system which is a specific example of the data processing system consisting of the video game machine and the portable terminal. Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the structure of the entertainment system. Figure 10 is a diagram showing the structure of an electronic portable device which is a specific example of the portable terminal. Figure 11 is a block diagram showing the structure of a video game device which is a specific example of the video game machine.

Figure 12 is a block diagram showing the structure of the electronic portable device which is a specific example of the portable terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY Figure 1 shows a data processing system 10 consisting of a video game machine 20 such as a home console and a portable terminal 30 that transfers a program from its video game machine 20. The data processing system 10 consists of the video game machine 20 which is the main unit that performs the data processing and the portable terminal 30 which is a subunit of the video game machine 20 that transfers a program from the video game machine 20 and the program runs. The portable terminal 30 is electrically releasably connected to the video game machine 20 by an input block 32 which is for example a connector. The video game machine 20 performs the processing of the program data stored in the recording medium (not shown) loaded in a block of recording medium (not shown) 24 and thus acts as a so-called entertainment device that Play video games or similar. In addition, the portable terminal 30 acts as a portable information communications terminal or a personal digital assistant (PDA), which has wireless communication features. The video game machine 20 is provided with a program supply means for supplying a program to the external equipment, a program reader for reading a program recorded on the recording medium (not shown), a CPU 21 provided with the functions of a program comparison means for performing the comparison of two programs, together with a communications block 22, controller 23, recording media block 24, main memory 25, graphics processor 26 and function block 27. In the video game machine 20, these various blocks are connected by a bus bar 28. The communications block 22 has functions to communicate with the external equipment. The communication block 22 can be electrically connected to the input block 32 of the portable terminal 30, for example, and in this way the video game machine 20 can perform serial data communication with the portable terminal 30. The controller 23 has functions to perform the input control. That is, in the video game machine 20, a user for example, is able to feed various types of information used by this controller 23. The recording medium block 24 is where the recording means (not shown) are loaded , the portion of a pickup block consisting of reading data from the recording medium and the like.

Examples of recording media include so-called CD-ROMs and the like. The recording medium block 24 reads the data from the recording medium in which the programs are recorded including the programs that are transferred by the portable terminal 30. The main memory 25 is a storage block for storing programs and some other types of data. For example, the main memory 25 may have the function of keeping the recorded programs in the recording means (not shown) loaded in the recording medium block 24. In addition, the main memory 25 also stores data from the portable terminal 30. which are sent by the communications block 22. The graphics processor 26 is constituted as the portion that performs image processing in the input data. That is, the graphics processor 26 performs for example the graphic processing of images displayed on the screen (not shown). More specifically, the graphics processor 26 also performs so-called processing of polygonal graphics and the like. The function block 27 constitutes all blocks other than those described above, for example, the display block (not shown), the power supply block or connector block for connection to a non-volatile memory card system or the like. The CPU 21 has functions to control the various blocks described above. For example, when reading a program recorded in the recording medium (not shown) and transferring it to the portable terminal 30, the CPU 21 exercises this control and controls the input / output of data with the portable terminal 30. In addition, the CPU 21 it is provided with functions for comparing a program read from the recording medium (not shown) and a program transferred by the portable terminal 30. The video game machine 20, having such a composition can play video games based on the program recorded on the CD-ROM or other recording medium as usual. In addition, the video game machine 20 is further designed so that the non-volatile memory card system described above is removable. On the other hand, the portable terminal 30 is provided with the CPU 31 provided with the functions of a time comparison means comparing two times, an execution control that exercises control over the operation of the programs, and a time updater that updates the time information stored in a program; an input block 32 which is the connector for sending and receiving data to and from the video game machine 20; a clock 33 which is a clock to mark the correct time; and a storage device 34 which is a storage means for storing the program received from the video game machine 20 or the like or other data and the like; as well as a search receiver 35 which is a wireless reception means and a screen 36 and the like. In this portable terminal 30, these various blocks are connected by a bus 37. The input block 32 has functions for realizing communication with the external equipment. This input block 32 can be electrically connected to the communication block 22 of the video game machine 20 and with this it can perform serial data communication with the video game machine 20. Through the input block 32, the portable terminal 30 transfers programs or the like recorded in the recording medium (not shown) loaded in the block of the recording medium 24 of the video game machine 20. The clock 33 marks the time. As described below, the portable terminal 30 uses this clock 33 to determine the time of the TS clock register recorded at the moment of transferring a program from the video game machine 20. Here, the TS timer represents the time information and, as will be described later, it is registered in the program transferred from the video game machine 20. With the clock 33, at the same time that the user can read the time after executing a program to verify the time, the time can not be changed arbitrarily except by correction by means of the search receiver 35 as will be described later. The storage device 34 is a storage block for storing various types of data consisting of the recording medium (not shown) or non-volatile memory or the like, for example. This storage device 34 stores the program transferred from the video game machine 20. In addition, the storage device 34 also stores the TS timer which is information that accompanies the program as the current time obtained from the clock 33 at the time that the program is transferred from the video game machine 20. Moreover, the storage device 34 also stores data from the input of the video game machine 20 via the input block 32, or the data received from a station external transmitter (not shown) by the search receiver 35 as will be described later, for example. The search receiver 35 receives the data transmitted from a transmitting station or the like (not shown) by means of IrDA or other infrared or microwave transmission. The search receiver 35 regularly receives exact time data from a transmitting station or the like (not shown). With this, the portable terminal 30 is constituted in such a way that the CPU 31 corrects in a regular manner the time marked by the clock 33. The screen 36 has functions to display some types of information. Screen 36 displays various types of text information and image information and the like on an LCD panel (not shown) or the like. The CPU 31 controls the operation of the various blocks described above. For example, the CPU 31 takes the recorded time as the TS timer in the program transferred from the video player 20 and adds the determined time DT to obtain the TL usage time limit and compares it against the current time obtained from the clock 33. Furthermore, depending on the results of this comparison, the CPU 31 controls the execution of the program transferred from the video game machine 20. Furthermore, the CPU 31 updates the time recorded as a TS clock in the transferred program from the video game machine 20. In addition, the CPU 31 corrects the clock time 33 based on the time data from the search receiver 35, and also controls the input / output of data to and from the video game machine 20. The portable terminal 30 having a construction as such is formed so that it can be removed from the video game machine 20, and can transfer programs from the video game machine 20 and furthermore can exchange data with the video game machine 20. In the system data processor 10 consisting of the video game machine 20 and the portable terminal 30 described above, using a series of steps shown in figures 2 and 3, a program is transferred from the video game machine 20 to the portable terminal 30, and the TS datekeeper clock of the transferred program is updated. Notice that in the following explanation, the program loaded in the recording medium block 24 of the video game machine 20 is called the master program and the program transferred by the portable terminal 30 and stored in the storage device 34 is called the subprogram, and in addition, the program running on the video game machine 20 at the time these procedures are performed is called the execution program.

First, as shown in Figure 2, in step S1 the video game machine 20 determines whether or not the portable terminal 30 is connected to the video game machine 20. Here, if the portable terminal 30 is connected to the video game machine 20, in step S2 the video machine 20 uses the CPU 21 to read the subprogram stored in the storage device 34 of the portable terminal 30. However, if the portable terminal does not is connected to the video game machine 20, the video game machine 20 repeats the procedure of step S1. Next, the video game machine 20 uses the CPU 21 for comparing the subprogram stored in the portable terminal 30 that was read in step S2 and the main program read from the recording medium loaded in the recording medium block 24 of the video game machine, and in step S3 determines whether the IDs of these programs are similar or not. Here, the ID is defined as the identification information for the program that is contained in such information as, for example, FN file name and FS file size which will be described later. In step S3, if the subprogram stored in the storage device 34 of the portable terminal 30 does not resemble the main program recorded in the recording medium, in step S4, the video game machine 20 commands the portable terminal 30 transfers the subprogram and uses the CPU 21 to supply the main program in the recording medium to the storage device 34 of the portable terminal 30 and convert it into the subprogram. After receiving this command, the portable terminal 30 transfers the subprogram in step S5. At this time, the portable terminal 30 takes the time obtained from the clock 33 at the moment in which the subprogram was transferred, registers it in the subprogram as the timer clock TS and stores that subprogram in the storage device 34. This completes the transfer of the subprogram to the portable terminal 30 in the data processing system 10. On the other hand, when the subprogram stored in the storage device 34 of the portable terminal 30 is compared to the main program recorded in the recording medium in step S3 , if the IDs of those programs are similar, ie the subprogram has been transferred from the main program recorded on the same recording medium, as shown in step S6 of figure 3, the video game machine 20 instructs the portable terminal 30 to update the TS timer of the subprogram. After receiving this command, in step S7 the portable terminal 30 uses the CPU 31 to change (update) the TS clock of the subprogram stored in the storage device 34 with the current time obtained from the clock 33. This completes the updating of the Subprogram timer TS clock in the data processor system 10.

The format of the subprogram that was transferred to the portable terminal 30 or that has the updated TS clock by means of these steps has a structure such as that shown in FIG. 4. That is, the subprogram transferred from the gaming machine of video 20 to portable terminal 30 has a PD program data region and an FH file initiator region. The PD program data region consists of the current subprogram data. On the other hand, the FH file initiator region consists of an FN file name used to identify the name of the subprogram, the size of the FS file that indicates its size, TS dater clock that indicates the time the subprogram was transferred or the time in which it was updated, and the determined time DT that is adjusted as the period of use to test for the subprogram. That is, when the video game machine 20 determines in step S3 whether or not the subprogram stored in the portable terminal was read in step S2 and the main program read from the recording medium loaded in the media block of the device. recording 24 of the video game machine 20 looks like, this determination can be made by referring to the FN file name and the FS file size for example. Note that the series of steps described above are performed under the control of the execution program running on the video game machine 20. Specifically, for example, when the execution program is run on the video game machine 20 , the series of procedures described in the steps of figures 5 and 6 is performed. As shown in figure 5, in step S 1 1 the video game machine 20 shows a menu screen on the screen ( not shown). For example, this menu screen may display a menu bar or the like that allows the user to make a selection so that the subprogram may or may not be transferred to the portable terminal 30. In the video game machine 20, in step S12 the user follows the menu shown on the screen (not shown) and uses the controller 23 to make a selection so that the subprogram is or is not transferred from the recording medium loaded in the video game machine 20 to the portable terminal 30. Here, if the selection is made to perform the transfer, in step S13 the transfer procedure is performed in the data processing system 10. Note that this transfer procedure is defined as performing the procedure from step S1 to He passed S5 shown in Figure 2. Next, in the data processing system 10, in step S14 a determination is made as to whether the transfer procedure described above is complete or not, and if it is determined to be complete, it is The transfer procedure ends and the execution program operation is terminated. However, if it is determined that the transfer procedure is not complete, the processing in the data processing system 10 is repeated starting from step S13. On the other hand, if a selection is made in step S12 so that the subprogram is not transferred to the portable terminal 30, in the video game machine 20, as shown in step S15 of figure 6 , the user can choose whether or not to update the TS dater clock of the subroutine already stored in advance in the storage device 34 of the portable terminal 30. When the selection is made in step S15 to update the TS dater clock, in step S16 the updating procedure is performed in the data processing system 10. Note that the update procedure referred to herein means performing steps S1 to S3 of figure 2 and steps S6 to S7 of figure 3. After , in the data processing system 10, in step S17 a determination is made as to whether or not the updating procedure of the TS timer is complete, and if this is determined to be complete, the current procedure The process is terminated and the operation of the execution program is terminated. However, if it is determined that the transfer procedure is not complete, the processing in the data processing system 10 is repeated starting from step S16. In this way, in the data processing system 10, the execution program can be executed to transfer a subprogram to the portable terminal 30 from the main program stored in the recording medium loaded in the video game machine 20. In addition, in the data processing system 10, if the program to be transferred to the portable terminal 30 is the same transferred from the recording medium loaded in the video game machine 20, the TS timer of the subprogram stored in the portable terminal 30 can be updated whenever required. In figure 7, the series of procedures performed at the time of execution in the portable terminal 30 of the subprogram transferred from the recording medium loaded in the video game machine 20 is described. In step S21 the portable terminal 30 initiates the subprogram transferred from the main program recorded in the recording medium loaded in the video game machine 20, and step S22 adds the determined time DT to the timer TS recorded in the file initiating region FH of the subprogram to calculate the limit of TL usage time. Then, in step S23, the portable terminal 30 uses the CPU 31 to compare the usage time limit TL against the current time obtained from the clock 33, to determine whether the current time is or is not an earlier time of the time limit TL. Here, if the current time is a time before the usage time limit TL, the portable terminal 30 uses the CPU 31 to continue execution of the subprogram as in step S24.

On the other hand, if the current time is a time after the usage time limit TL, ie the current time has exceeded the usage time limit TL, in step S25 the portable terminal 30 stops the start of the subprogram by means of the CPU 31 and shows on the screen 36 an error message so that the subprogram can not be started. By means of the series of procedures explained above, in the data processing system 10, at the moment in which the subprogram transferred from a main program recorded in the recording medium loaded in the video game machine 20 is going to be executed in the portable terminal 30 the current time obtained from the clock 33 is always compared against the TL usage time limit calculated by adding the determined time DT to the TS timer recorded in the subprogram, and in this way can avoid the execution of the subprogram when the time limit of use TL has been exceeded. In this way, in the data processing system 10, at the moment in which the program is transferred from the video game machine to the portable terminal 30, it is possible to adjust the period over which the subprogram is usable. For this reason, in the data processing system 10, only a user possessing the main program can extend the TL usage time limit of the subprogram by regular updating of the TS timer of the subprogram stored in the portable terminal 30. Therefore , in the data processing system 10, it is possible to avoid the illegal use of a subprogram whose TL usage time limit has been exceeded by a user who does not own the main program. Furthermore, in the data processing system 10, the time clock TS of the subprogram is determined by the time obtained from the clock 33 in the portable terminal 30. The clock 33 can not be intentionally altered by the user, but rather is regularly corrected by the CPU 31 based on the absolutely accurate information of absolute time received by the search receiver 35, so that an absolutely accurate time can be indicated almost every time. Therefore, in the data processing system 10, the TL usage time limit of the subprogram can be handled reliably. In addition, in the data processing system 10, since the TL usage time limit of the subprogram can be handled reliably, the determined DT time of the subprogram can be used as a period of trial use. The present invention is not limited to the work mode described above, and in the video game machine 20, there is no need for the main program to be recorded on CD-ROM or other recording medium, but rather it can also be obtained, for example by communication with the outside. Furthermore, in the data processing system 10, the program is not the only thing read from the recording medium by the CPU 21 which is the program reading means of the video game machine 20, since it is also it is possible to read normal or similar data, and this data or the like can be supplied to the portable terminal 30. Moreover, in the data processing system 10, it is also possible to delete a subprogram whose time limit of use TL has been exceeded at the time of the transfer process or update procedure described above. Furthermore, the format of the subprogram is not limited to that shown in FIG. 4, but rather, the region for the given DT time can be replaced with the TL usage time limit, for example. In doing this, in the data processor system 10, there is no need to calculate the TL usage time limit in step S22 shown in FIG. 7, so that it is sufficient to reference the TL usage time limit. In addition, in the data processing system 10, the main program and the execution program are different programs, but there is no need for them to be limited to this construction, since the main program can be a program that includes an equivalent program to the execution program. That is, in the data processing system 10, the main program may or may not run on the video machine 20 during the transfer procedure or the update procedure described above. Figures 8-12 show a specific example in which the data processing system 10 presented as the work mode described above is presented more specifically as an entertainment system. In these figures 8-12, the video game machine 20 and the portable terminal 30 can constitute the data processing system 10 described above making an entertainment system consisting of a video game device 301 and an electronic portable device 400. . That is to say, the video game machine 20 corresponds to the video game device 301 and the portable terminal 30 corresponds to the portable electronic device 400. Specifically, considering the correspondence of the video game machine 20 with the video game device 301, the CPU 21 of the video game machine 20 described above corresponds to the CPU 351 of the video game device 301 shown in Figure 1 1. In addition, the CPU 31, the input block 32, the clock 33, the storage device 34 and search receiver 35 of the portable terminal 30 correspond to the controller 441, the connector 442, the clock function block 445, the non-volatile memory 446 or the program memory block 441a and the wireless receiver 449, respectively, shown in Figure 12A. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the video game device 301 reads a program recorded in the recording medium and executes the program in response to the instruction of the user (player). Here, the execution of a game mainly means the control of the progress, screen and audio portions of the games.

The main unit 302 of the video game device 301 is enclosed in an almost rectangular envelope, which is provided with a disk loading block 303 at the center in which a CD-ROM or other optical disk is loaded as the medium recording in which programs such as video games or a main program that is to be transferred to portable electronic device 400 are recorded; a reset switch 304 for intentionally reinitializing the video game, a power switch 305, a disk change switch 306 used when loading the optical disk described above, and two slots 307A and 307B. The video game device 301 is configured so that the program can be supplied not only from the recording medium but also via a communication circuit. The slots 307A and 307B are places in which a portable electronic device 400 or a controller 320 can be connected. In addition, a memory card system (not shown) may also be connected to these slots 307A and 307B. The controller 320 has a first and a second control block 321 and 322, an L button 323 L, an R button 323 R, a start button 324, a selections button 325, control blocks 331 and 332 that can allow analogous control , a mode selection switch 333 that selects the control mode of these control blocks 331 and 332 and a display block 334 used to display the selected control mode.

In addition, a vibrating mechanism (not shown) is provided inside the controller 320. This vibrating mechanism can transmit the vibration to the controller 320 depending on the progress of the video game, for example. The controller 320 is electrically connected to the slot 307B of the main unit 302 via a connector 326. For example, connecting two controllers 320 to the slots 307A and 307B allows two users to be able to share this entertainment system so that These can play games one by one. The slots 307A and 307B are not necessarily limited to two groups as in this example. As shown in Figures 10A to 10C, the electronic portable device 400 has a housing 401, and is provided with a control block 420 for feeding various types of information, a screen 430 consisting of a glass screen liquid (LCD) or the like, and a window 440 for performing infrared wireless communication, for example, using a wireless communication means 448. The housing 401, consists of an upper shell 401a and a lower shell 401b, inside contains cards that carry memory elements and the like. This housing 401 is of such a shape that it can be inserted into the slots 307A and 307B of the main unit 302 of the video game device 301.

The window 440 is provided at the other end of the almost oval shaped housing 401. The screen 430 occupies almost half the area of the upper shell 401a constituting the housing 401 and is provided in a position close to the window 440. The block control 420 has one or more buttons 421 and 422 used for feeding events or making various selections, and is formed on upper shell 401a in the same manner as window 440, and is provided at the opposite end of the shell. window 440 while at the same time occupying almost half of the area. The control block 420 is formed on a cover member 410 which is rotatably supported by the housing 401. The buttons 421 and 422 are arranged so that they penetrate the cover member 410 from the upper surface of the cover member 410 towards the lower surface. In addition, the buttons 421 and 422 are supported by the cover member 410 so that they can move in the direction in which they appear and disappear from the upper surface of the cover member 410. The portable electronic device 400 has a board within it. of the housing 401 in a position facing the position of arrangement of the cover element 410, and switch contacts are provided on this board. When the cover member 410 is in the closed state, the contacts of the switch are provided in positions corresponding to the positions of the various buttons 421 and 422. Whereupon, when the buttons 421 and / or 422 are pressed, the switch contacts they make contact with the diaphragm switches or with other pressure switches. As shown in Figure 9, the portable electronic device 400 on which the control block 420 and the like are formed on the cover element 410, is inserted into the main unit 302 of the video game device 301 with the cover element 410 in the open state. This completes a description of the appearance of the video game device 301 and the portable electronic device 400. The circuit structure of the video game device 301 and the portable electronic device 400 is as shown in Figs. 1 and 12. As shown in Figure 11, the video game device 301 is provided with a control system 350 consisting of a central processing unit (CPU) 351 and the peripherals thereof, a graphics system 360 consisting of a graphics processing unit (GPU) 362 that performs reproduction in a transient storage of frames 363 and the like, a sound system 370 consisting of a sound processing unit (SPU) that generates music and sound effects and the like, an optical disk control block 380 that performs control of the optical disk in the which the program is recorded, a communications control block 390 that controls the signals coming from the controller 320 to which the instructions coming from the user are fed, the memory card (not shown) that stores the game parameters and the like and the input / output of data from the portable electronic device 400, a bus 395 that connects each of the blocks described above A parallel interface I / O (PIÓ) 396 and serial interface I / O (SIO) 397 that constitute the interface with the other equipment. The control system 350 is provided with the CPU 351, a peripheral control block 352 that performs the interrupt control and direct memory access control (DMA) and the like, a main memory (main storage unit) 353 that consists of random access memory (RAM), and a read-only memory (ROM) 354 that stores programs such as the so-called operating systems that handle the main memory 353, the graphics system 360, the sound system 370 and the like. The CPU 351 controls this complete video game device 301 by executing the operating system stored in the ROM 354. For example, when the power is turned on to the video game device 301, the CPU 351 of the control system 350 executes the operating system stored ROM 354 and therefore the CPU 351 starts to control the graphics system 360, the sound system 370 and the like. When the operating system is executed, the CPU 351 starts the complete video game device 301 in order to verify the operation or the like, and then controls the optical disk control block 380 so that the program recorded on the optical disk be executed. By executing this program, the CPU 351 controls the graphics system 360 and the sound system 370 and the like in response to power from the user, and thereby controls the display of images and the generation of sound and music effects. Notice that the CPU 351 corresponds to the CPU 21 of the video game machine 20 described above, and to know that it performs the restoration of the processing for the data received by the portable electronic device 400. For example, the graphics system 360 may have the function of the graphics processor 26 of the video game machine 20 described above. The graphics system 360 is provided with a geometry transfer machine (GTE) 361 which performs the coordinated conversion and another processing GPU 362 performs the reproduction of images in accordance with the reproduction instructions from the CPU 351, the transient storage of the tables 363 stores the images reproduced by GPU 362, and image decoder 364 decodes image data that is compressed and encoded by discrete cosine transforms or other orthogonal transforms. GTE 361 is equipped with a parallel processor mechanism that can execute a plurality of operations in parallel, for example, and can quickly perform coordinated conversion, light source calculations, parallel and vector operations in response to requests from operation from the CPU 351. Specifically, in the case of performing the operation of matched shading in which a triangular polygon is reproduced in the same color, CTE 361 can perform the coordinate operations for a maximum of almost 1, 500,000 polygons per second, and thereby, in the video game device 301, the load on the CPU 351 can be reduced and in addition, the coordinated operations are They can perform quickly. Furthermore, in accordance with the reproduction instructions from the CPU 351, GPU 362 performs the reproduction of polygons or the like in the transient storage of frames 363. TGPU 362 can perform the reproduction of a maximum of almost 3,600,000 polygons per second. Furthermore, the transient storage of frames 363 consists of the dominated double-port RAM, so that playback from GPU 362 and transfer from the main memory 353 can be performed simultaneously with the reading for the purpose of deployment. The transient storage of frames 363 can have a capacity of 1 MB, for example, so that it is handled as an array of 1024 pixels horizontally by 512 pixels vertically, each 16 bits deep. In addition, frame transient storage 363 is provided with a display region for output as video output, together with a CLUT region that stores a color look up table (CLUT) referenced when GPU 362 performs the reproduction of polygons or the like, and a texture region that stores the textures that are subject to coordinated conversion at the time of reproducing and forming the maps towards the polygons or the like reproduced by means of GPU 362. The CLUT region and the texture region are updated dynamically in accordance with the updates for the deployment region. Under control of the CPU 351, the image decoder 364 decodes still or moving picture image data stored in the main memory 353 and stores it in the main memory 353. By storing the image data in this manner restored in the transient storage of frames 363 by GPU 362, these can be used as the background for images reproduced by GPU 362. The sound system 370 is provided with a SPU 371 that generates music and sound effects and the like under the instructions of the CPU 351, a transient storage of sounds 372 that stores data in wave form and the like by means of SPU 371, and a speaker 373 that provides the emission of music and sound effects and the like generated by SPU 371. SPU 371 is provided with an ADPCM decoding function to restore sound data that are converted from 16-bit sound data to a 4-bit differential signal. PCM differential adapter (ACPCM); a reproduction function for generating sound effects and the like reproducing the waveform data stored in the transient sound storage 372, and a modulation function for modulating and reproducing the waveform data stored in the transient sound storage 372 The sound system 370 can be used as a sample sound source by generating music and sound effects and the like based on the waveform data stored in the transient sound storage 372 based on the instructions from the CPU 351 The optical disk control block 380 is provided with an optical disc player 381 which reproduces the programs and the data and the like recorded on a CD-ROM or other optical disc, a decoder 382 that decodes the programs and similar data that are recorded with the addition of error correction codes (ECC), for example, and of a transient storage 3 83 which accelerates the reading of data from the optical disc by temporary storage of data from the optical disc player 381. The sub CPU 384 is connected to the decoder 382. The audio data recorded on the optical disc that is read by the player of optical discs 381 include, in addition to the aforementioned ADPCM data, the so-called PCM data consisting of an audio signal subjected to analog-digital conversion. Here, like the ADPCM data, the audio data recorded by expression of the 16-bit digital signal spreads at 4 bits is decoded by the decoder 382 and then fed to the SPU 371, digital / analog conversion and other procedures they are made in the SPU 371 and then used to activate the speaker 373. Furthermore, just as the PCM data, the audio data recorded as 16-bit digital data is decoded by the decoder 382 and then used to activate the horn 373. In addition, the communications control block 390 is provided with a communication controller 391 that performs communication control with the CPU 351 via the bus 395, and a communications control 391 is provided to perform the communication control with the connector 309 of the controller connected to the controller 320 for feeding instructions from the user together with the memory card a (not shown) as auxiliary storage for storing game parameters and other data, as well as the slots of the memory card 308A and 308B to which the portable electronic device 400 is connected as shown in Figure 9. The video game device 301 having the structure described above may have functions similar to those of the video game machine 20 described above. That is, the video game device 301 transfers a program or the like recorded in the recording medium via the communication controller 391 to the portable electronic device 400.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 12A, the portable electronic device 400 is provided with a controller 441, connector 442, power means 443, deployment means 444, clock function block 445, non-volatile memory 446 , speaker 447, wireless communicator 448 and wireless receiver 449 as data exchange means, battery 450, power supply terminal 451 which constitutes an energy storage means and a diode 452. Control means 441 can be constituted using a microcomputer (abbreviated as micom in the figure). For example, the controller 441 may be constituted to have the functions of the CPU 31 of the portable terminal 30 described above. Controller 441 has a program memory block 441a therein which provides storage for programs. The connector 442 constitutes the input block 32 of the portable terminal 30 described above and consists of a connector which is connected to the slots of other information equipment or the like. The feeding device 443 consists of the control buttons to control the stored program. The screen 444 constitutes the screen 36 of the portable terminal 30 described above. The screen 444 may consist of a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like, which is a screen for displaying various types of information.

The clock function block 445 constitutes the clock 33 of the portable terminal 30 described above. Clock function block 445 displays time, and may display time on screen 444, for example. In addition, the clock function block 445 also determines the time when a program is transferred from the video game device 301, and this time is recorded in the subprogram as the time clock and furthermore stored in the nonvolatile memory 446 of the device. portable electronic 400. Non-volatile memory 446 is a device that stores various types of data. The memory used for the non-volatile memory 446 can be flash memory or another type of semiconductor memory device that keeps the information stored even if the power is turned off. The portable electronic device 400 is provided with a battery 450 so that the static random access memory (SRAM) which can increase the data feed / output speed can also be used for the non-volatile memory 446. The non-volatile memory 446 corresponds to the storage device 34 of the portable termination 30 described above, so that it stores the subprogram transferred from the main program recorded in the recording medium or the like of the video game device 301.

In addition, since the portable electronic device 400 is provided with a battery 450, it can operate independently when it is removed from the slots 307A and 307B of the main unit 302 of the video game device 301. The battery 450 may be for example a secondary rechargeable cell. When the portable electronic device 400 is inserted into the slots 307A and 307B of the video game device 301, the battery 450 is supplied with power from the video game device 301. In this case, the power terminal 450 is connected to the connection end of the battery 450 by a reverse flow prevention diode 451 and the power is supplied at the time of connecting with the main unit 302 of video game device 301. The wireless communicator 448 is the portion that performs the communication of data with the external equipment by means of infrared or similar. In addition, the wireless communicator 448 is also the portion that receives various types of data sent from other memory cards or the like. The wireless receiver 449 is the portion that receives absolutely accurate time information to correct the time indicated by the clock function block 445, for example, or various types of data that are sent by wireless transmission. The horn 447 is a means of generating sound that generates sounds depending on the program or the like.

The various blocks described above are each connected to the control means 441 and operate in accordance with the control of the control means 441. The control items for the control means 441 are those shown in Figure 12B. The control means 441 is provided with a connection interface to the main unit for the information equipment, a memory interface for the data feed / output to and from the memory, a deployment interface, a data interface, and control input, an audio interface, a wireless communication interface, clock control and a program transfer interface. The portable electronic device 400 is provided with the functions of the portable terminal 30 previously explained together with the button switches or other power means 443 for controlling the running program and deployment means 444 using a liquid crystal display (LCD) ) or similar, and in this way also has the functions of a portable gaming device that can run gaming applications. Furthermore, the portable electronic device 400 also has the function of being able to store programs or subprograms transferred from the main unit of the video game device 301 in the program memory block 441 to inside the microcomputer 441, so that the programs and The various type of driver software that runs on the portable electronic device 400 can be easily changed.

In addition, the portable electronic device 400 can have the same functions as the portable terminal 30. That is, the portable electronic device 400 transfers a subprogram via the connector 442 from the main program recorded on the CD-ROM or the like loaded in the device. video game 301 and stores this subprogram in non-volatile memory 446 or in the memory block in program 441 a. At this time, the current time obtained from the clock function block 445 is added to the subroutine as the timer clock TS, and the given time DT or the usage time limit information TL is also added. The portable electronic device 400 receives regular feeding of an absolutely accurate time by the wireless receiver 449 from an external transmitting station or the like, and the control means 441 regularly corrects the time indicated by the clock function block 445. When the subprogram is executed in the portable electronic device 400, the control means 441 determines whether the TL usage time limit of the subprogram has been exceeded or not, and stops the start of the subprogram if the TL usage time limit of the subprogram has been exceeded. The data processing system 10 consisting of a video game machine 20 and a portable terminal 30 can prevent the illegal transfer of subprograms and can also function as an entertainment system.

As described in detail above, in the data processing system, a sub-unit is removably connected by means of connection to a main unit performing the data processing, the main unit uses a supply of programs to supply a program to the subunit and the subunit stores the supplied program and the communication time with the main unit, and a time comparator compares a usage time limit, which is a time limit until when the program is executable in the subunit and which is obtained based on the time of communication, against a time obtained from the clock, and exerts control of execution of the program based on the results of this comparison. Therefore, in the data processing system it is possible for the program supplied by the main unit to be transferred to the subunit, and the time limit of use obtained based on the time in which the transfer is presented is compared against the current time obtained from the clock, and the execution of the program transferred to the subunit is controlled depending on these results. Furthermore, in the data processing system, the program supplied from the main unit to the subunit is that which is read by means of a program reader from a recording medium removably loaded in the main unit. The main unit uses a program comparison means to compare the program stored in the storage of the subunit against which it is read from the recording medium by the program reader. The subunit uses a time updater to update the usage time limit of the stored program depending on those comparison results. Therefore, the data processing system compares the program that is read by the main unit from the recording medium against the program stored in the subunit and in this way it is possible to update the usage time limit of the program stored in the subunit. depending on whether or not the program stored in the subunit is the one that has been read from the recording medium loaded in the main unit. In addition, in the data processing system, the subunit uses a wireless receiver to receive absolutely accurate absolute time information and corrects the current time obtained from the clock based on the absolute time information. Therefore, the data processing system can correct the time obtained by the clock of the subunit with the absolute time obtained by the wireless receiver, and in this way the clock can indicate an absolutely accurate time almost every time and therefore , the time limit of use of the program transferred to the subunit can be managed reliably. At the moment the program is transferred from the main unit to the subunit, it is possible to adjust the period over which the subprogram is usable. For this reason, only a user who owns the main program can extend the time limit of use of the transferred program by regularly updating the time limit of use of the transferred program. It is possible to avoid the illegal use of a transferred program whose time limit of use has been exceeded by a user who does not possess the program registered in the recording medium. Moreover, in the data processing system, since the time limit of program use transferred to the subunit can be handled reliably, it is possible to adjust a period of use to test for the use of a transferred program. In the method for processing data, a subunit is removably connected to a main unit that performs the data processing, and a program supplied from the main unit to the subunit and the communication time with the main unit is stored; a time limit of use, which is a time limit until the program is executable in the subunit and which is obtained based on the communication time, is compared against the current time; and the control of program execution is based on the results of this comparison. Therefore, in the method to process data it is possible to transfer to the subunit a program supplied by the main unit, compare the current time against the time limit of use obtained based on the time in which the transfer was presented, and exercise control of the execution of the program transferred to the subunit depending on those results. In addition, in the method for processing data the program supplied from the main unit to the subunit is one that was read from a recording medium loaded removably in the main unit, the program stored in the subunit is compared against the read from of the recording medium, and the time limit of use of the program stored in the subunit is updated depending on the results of this comparison. Therefore, in the method for processing data it is possible to compare the program read from the recording medium by the main unit against the program stored in the subunit and update the time limit of use of the program stored in the subunit depending on which program stored in the subunit whether or not the one that was read from the recording medium loaded in the main unit. In the method for processing data, at the moment a program is transferred from the main unit to the subunit, it is possible to adjust the period over which the subprogram is usable. For this reason, only a user who owns the main program can extend the time limit of use of the transferred program by regularly updating the time limit of use of the transferred program. On the other hand, the method to process data allows to avoid the legal use of a transferred program whose limit of time of use has been exceeded by a user who does not have the program recorded in the recording medium. In the data processing apparatus, a program supplied by the data processing equipment and the time of communication with the data processing equipment are stored, and the usage time limit, which is a time limit until the program is operated on the subunit and which is obtained based on the communication time, is compared by a time comparator against a time obtained from the clock and in this way it is possible to control the execution of the program based on these comparison results . Therefore, the data processing apparatus allows transferring a program supplied by the data processing equipment, comparing the current time obtained from the clock against the time limit of use obtained based on the time in which the transfer was presented, and exercising control of the execution of the transferred program depending on these results. Furthermore, in the data processing apparatus according to the present invention, the program is one read from a recording medium loaded removably in the data processing equipment and a time updater updates the time limit of use of the program depending on of the results of the comparison of the program against the program read on the recording medium by the data processing equipment. With this, the data processing apparatus according to the present invention allows to compare the program that is read by the data processing equipment from the recording medium against the stored program and update the usage time limit of the stored program depending on whether the The stored program is or is not the one that was read from the recording medium loaded in the data processing equipment. In addition, the data processing apparatus uses a wireless receiver to receive absolutely accurate absolute time information, and corrects the current time obtained from the clock based on the absolute time information. Therefore, the data processing apparatus according to the present invention allows to correct the time obtained by the clock based on the absolute time information received by the wireless receiver, and in this way the clock can indicate an absolutely accurate time almost at any time and therefore, the time limit of use of the transferred program can be handled reliably. In the data processing apparatus, at the moment a program is transferred from the main unit to the subunit, it is possible to adjust the period over which the subprogram is usable. For this reason, only a user who owns the main program can extend the time limit of use of the transferred program by updating in a way, regulating the time limit of use of the transferred program. Moreover, it is possible to avoid the illegal use of a transferred program whose time limit of use has been exceeded by a user who does not possess the program recorded on the recording medium.

Also, in the data processing apparatus, since the time limit of use of the program transferred to the subunit can be handled reliably, it is possible to adjust a period of use to test to use the transferred program. In the method for processing data, a program supplied from the data processing equipment and the time of communication with the data processing equipment are stored, a usage time limit is compared, which is a time limit until when said program is executable and which is obtained based on said communication time, against the current time, and the control of the execution of said program is exercised based on the results of this comparison. With this, the method for processing data in accordance with the present invention allows transferring a program supplied by the data processing equipment, comparing the current time against the time limit of use obtained based on the time when the transfer was presented, and exercise control over the execution of the transferred program depending on these results. Furthermore, in the method for processing data in accordance with the present invention, the program is one that was read from a recording medium loaded removably in the data processing equipment, the program is compared to the one read from from the recording medium, and the time limit of use of the program is updated depending on the results of this comparison.

Therefore, the data processing method allows to compare the program read from a recording medium by the data processing equipment against the stored program and update the usage time limit of the stored program and update the time limit of use of the program stored depending on whether the stored program is the one that was read from the recording medium loaded in the data processing equipment. In the method for processing data, at the moment a program is transferred from the main unit to the subunit, it is possible to adjust the period over which the subprogram is usable. For this reason, only a user who owns the main program can extend the usage time limit of the transferred program by regularly updating the usage time limit of the transferred program. Moreover, the method for processing data in accordance with the present invention makes it possible to avoid the illegal use of a transferred program whose time limit of use has been exceeded by a user who does not possess the program recorded on the recording medium.

Claims (24)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. - A data processing system characterized in that a subunit is removably connected by a connector to a main unit performing the data processing, a data processing system comprising: a main unit having: a supply of programs to supply a program to said subunit, said subunit having storage capacity to store said program supplied by said program supply and the communication time with said main unit; a clock to mark time; a time comparator for comparing a limit of time of use, which is a time limit until when said program is executable in said subunit and which is obtained based on said communication time, against a time obtained from said clock; and execution control means that control the execution of said program based on the results of the comparison made by said time comparator.

2. The data processing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the program supplied from said main unit to said subunit is one that was read by said main unit through a program reader coming from a recording medium loaded with removable way in said main unit; said main unit having a program comparator comparing said program stored in said subunit against that which was read from said recording means by said program reader; said subunit having a time updater to update said usage time limit, and said time updater updates said usage time limit of said program stored in said storage means depending on the comparison results of said program comparison means. .

3. The data processing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that when said execution control means determine by means of said time comparator that the current time obtained from said clock has exceeded said time limit of use, the execution of said program is prohibited.

4. The data processing system according to claim 2, further characterized in that when said time updating means determine by means of said program comparator that said program was read from said recording medium, said time limit of use of said program is updated.

5. The data processing system according to claim, further characterized in that said time limit of use is a time found by adding a certain time to the time when said program was supplied from said main unit to said subunit.

6. The data processing system according to claim 2, further characterized in that said time updater updates said usage time limit by adding said determined time to said current time obtained from said clock.

7. The data processing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that said subunit has a wireless receiver that receives wireless signals from the outside, and said wireless receiver receives absolutely accurate information of absolute time, and said current time obtained from said clock can be corrected based on said absolute time information.

8. The data processing system according to claim 7, further characterized in that by regularly receiving absolutely accurate absolute time information by said wireless receiver, said subunit is forced to correct said current time obtained from said clock based on said absolute time information.

9. The data processing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that said main unit is a video game machine and said subunit is a portable information terminal.

10. In a method for processing data characterized in that a subunit is removably connected to a main unit performing the data processing, a method for processing data which comprises: storing a program supplied from said main unit to said subunit and time communication with the main unit; which comprises a time limit of use, which is a time limit until when said program is executable in said subunit and which is obtained based on said communication time, against the current time; and the control of the execution of said program is based on the results of this comparison.

The method for processing data according to claim 10, further characterized in that said program supplied from said main unit to said subunit is one that said main unit has read from a recording medium loaded removably in said main unit. , said program stored in the subunit is compared against the program read from said recording means and said time limit of use of said program stored in said subunit is updated depending on the results of the comparison.

12. The method for processing data according to claim 10, further characterized in that when it is determined that said current time has exceeded the usage time limit, the execution of said program is prohibited.

13. - The method for processing data according to claim 1 1, further characterized in that when it is determined that said program was read from said recording medium, said time limit of use of said program is updated.

14. The method for processing data according to claim 1 1, further characterized in that said usage time limit is updated by adding a certain time to said current time.

15. A data processing apparatus comprising: storage for a program supplied by the data processing equipment and the communication time with said data processing equipment; a clock to mark time; a time comparator to compare a time limit of use, which is a time limit until the program is executable in the subunit and which is obtained based on the communication time, against a clock time; and an execution control that exercises control of said program based on the comparison results made by said time comparator.

16. The data processing apparatus according to claim 15, further characterized in that said program is one read by said data processing equipment from a recording medium removably loaded in said data processing equipment; has a time updater to update said usage time limit, and said time updater updates said time limit of use of said program depending on the results of said data processing equipment comparing said program against that which was read from of said recording medium.

17. The data processing apparatus according to claim 15, further characterized in that when said execution control means determine by means of said time comparator that the current time obtained from said clock has exceeded the time limit of use, the execution of said program is prohibited.

18. The data processing apparatus according to claim 16, further characterized in that when said time updater determines by said data processing equipment that said program was read from a recording medium, said limit of use of said program is updated .

19. The data processing apparatus according to claim 15, further characterized in that said time limit of use is a time that is adding a certain time to the time when said program was supplied from said data processing equipment.

20. The data processing apparatus according to claim 16, further characterized in that said usage time limit is updated by adding said determined time to said current time obtained from said data processing equipment.

21. The data processing apparatus according to claim 15, further characterized in that said apparatus has a wireless receiver that receives wireless signals from the outside, and said wireless receiver receives absolutely accurate information of absolute time and said current time obtained from said Clock can be corrected based on that absolute time information.

22. The data processing apparatus according to claim 21, further characterized in that by regularly receiving absolutely accurate absolute time information by said wireless receiver, said current time obtained from said clock is forcedly corrected based on said information. of absolute time.

23. A method for processing data comprising: storing a program supplied from a data processing equipment and the communication time with said data processing equipment; that it includes a limit of time of use, which is a time limit until when said program is executable and which is obtained based on said communication time, against the current time; and control the execution of said program based on the results of this comparison.

24. The data processing apparatus according to claim 23, further characterized in that said program is one that said data processing equipment has read from a recording medium loaded removably in said data processing equipment, said program is compared against which it is read from said recording medium, and said time limit of use of said program is updated depending on the results of the comparison.