University of Hannover Institute of Concrete Construction Uses Sentinel to License and Protect its SMMEXS Structural Test and Monitoring Software.
Challenge
The Institute of Concrete Construction, a division of the University of Hannover, uses National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW development tools to create its Structural Monitoring Modular Expert System (SMMEXS) software. The institute offers engineers and research partners, the use of its SMMEXS software, on a per project basis, to monitor the structural integrity of bridges, wind turbines, and towers. Since SMMEXS is used on a per project basis, it was important that the institute was able to license the software and its components for individual project use – and then to
enforce that licensing to guard against overuse. In addition, the proprietary algorithms contained in its sophisticated software represent valuable intellectual property, which the institute needed to protect from the possibility of reverse engineering, tampering, and theft. In looking toward the future, the institute also wants the ability to license its software for embedded applications and users seeking either a limited or an expanded set of features and functions.
