JP2009130558A - Information delivery system and information delivery method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information delivery system and an information delivery method which delivers information transmitted by an arbitrary mobile station to unspecified mobile stations located within a specific area. <P>SOLUTION: In the system for simultaneously delivering information unspecified mobile stations in a mobile communication network having a plurality of base stations, a delivery area is determined on the basis of specific information of a base station 102 receiving information from a mobile station (201), and at least a portion of information is simultaneously delivered to unspecified mobile stations (202 to 204) connected to the base station corresponding to the delivery area. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information distribution system and an information distribution method in a mobile communication network, and particularly in a designated area using a broadcast distribution function such as a cell broadcast service (hereinafter abbreviated as “CBS” as appropriate). The present invention relates to an information delivery system and an information delivery method for performing broadcast delivery of information to mobile station users existing in Japan.

  The cell broadcast service is a function that broadcasts CBS messages to all mobile stations located in a specific geographical area (one or more cells), and includes GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications). Technical specifications regarding CBS for (System) are defined (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). In recent years, various techniques for providing information on weather, traffic, disasters, etc. using this cell broadcast service function have been proposed.

  For example, according to the information transmission system disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a disaster occurs, the base station in the disaster occurrence area sends the disaster information and the transmission destination to the mobile terminal in the communication area of the base station. Send a cell broadcast short message containing it. The owner of the mobile terminal that has received the cell broadcast short message can transmit a message to the destination using the short message function. If the destination is a message dial, the short message server converts the text information into voice information, registers the message and the telephone number of the mobile terminal of the sender in association with each other, and registers the message in the message dial server. If it is a bulletin board, the message and the telephone number of the mobile terminal of the caller are associated with each other and registered in the message bulletin board server.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a message broadcast service providing system that allows a cell broadcast service (CBS) to be easily used by a third information provider other than a specific information provider based on an open API technology. Is disclosed. Specifically, an information provider connects to a message broadcast application server, creates a broadcast message using a service interface provided from the server, and identifies a broadcast area. The broadcast message and broadcast area information are processed by the cell broadcasting center (CBC) of the mobile communication system through the open API, and the broadcast message is transmitted to all mobile communication terminals in the broadcast area.

JP 2007-243247 A JP 2007-104617 A 3GPP TS 23.041 V7.0.0

  According to Patent Literature 1, when a disaster occurrence is notified to a cell broadcast short message server from a disaster detection device provided in advance, a base station in the disaster occurrence area sends a mobile terminal in the communication area of the base station. Disaster information is transmitted. However, it is often the person who is actually in the vicinity of the site that can obtain information on the site and grasp the latest situation the earliest. Patent Document 1 does not disclose a system that allows a person who is present at such a site to easily transmit information.

  On the other hand, according to Patent Document 2, an information provider can transmit a broadcast message to all mobile communication terminals in a region where the information provider desires using a mobile communication terminal. However, in the system of Patent Document 2, it is necessary for an information provider to provide a service interface by connecting a mobile communication terminal possessed by a message broadcast application server. Furthermore, the information provider must specify the message broadcasting area through the provided service interface. As described above, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to go through a procedure of connection to a predetermined server and provision of an interface from the server even if emergency information is to be transmitted quickly, and the system is complicated. In addition, the operation procedure is complicated and it is difficult to quickly transmit urgent information.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an information distribution system, an information distribution method, and an information distribution method capable of distributing information transmitted from an arbitrary mobile station to an unspecified mobile station located in the distribution area, and It is to provide a broadcast distribution control device.

  An information distribution system according to the present invention is a system for performing broadcast distribution of information to unspecified mobile stations in a mobile communication network having a plurality of base stations, wherein the base station receiving one piece of information from one mobile station Broadcast area distribution means for determining a distribution area based on specific information, and broadcast distribution of at least a part of the one information to an unspecified mobile station connected to a base station corresponding to the distribution area And a broadcast distribution means.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information which arbitrary mobile stations transmitted can be easily delivered to the unspecified mobile station located in a delivery area.

1. System Overview FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, an example using a mobile communication system having a function of performing broadcast communication with a mobile station located in an arbitrary geographical area is shown. The mobile communication system includes a radio access network 101, and the radio access network 101 includes a plurality of base stations (BTS) 102. Further, in order not to complicate the description, it is assumed here that the mobile stations 201 to 204 are connected in the radio area 102c of one base station 102. Further, it is assumed that each mobile station has a function of receiving information that is broadcast.

  The core network 103 includes a broadcast distribution control station 104. The broadcast distribution control station 104 has at least a distribution area determination function and a broadcast distribution function. The broadcast distribution control station 104 determines the distribution area 102c based on the area information of the base station 102 by the distribution area determination function, and executes the broadcast distribution to the mobile stations 202-204 in the distribution area 102c by the broadcast distribution function. To do.

  In addition, an information disclosure server 105 capable of publishing information transmitted from the mobile station can be provided and connected to the radio access network 101 by the core network 103. In the case of such a configuration, the information disclosure server 105 transmits public information or information on a predetermined item related to the public information to the broadcast distribution control station 104 together with the area information of the base station 102. The broadcast communication control station 104 can broadcast and distribute public information received from the information disclosure server 105 or information on a predetermined item to the specific area 102c by using the distribution area determination function and the broadcast distribution function.

  Next, in each of the information distribution systems when the information disclosure server 105 is not used and when it is used, the information addressed to the predetermined address transmitted from the mobile station 201 is broadcast to other mobile stations 202-204 in the same area. The operation will be described.

1.1) When the information disclosure server 105 is not used First, when information addressed to a predetermined address is transmitted from the mobile station 201 (S301), the information is transmitted from the base station 102 that has received the information to the radio access network 101 and the core. The data is transferred to the broadcast distribution control station 104 through the network 103 (S302). According to the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the destination of transmission information is a predetermined address determined on the carrier side, and the information addressed to the predetermined address is added with the area information of the base station 102 that received it. It is transferred to the broadcast distribution control station 104.

  The broadcast distribution control station 104 transmits transmission information to the base station 102 in the specific area 102c specified by the area information (S303), and transmission information from the base station 102 to unspecified mobile stations 202-204 in the specific area 102c. Is broadcast (S304). In this way, the information transmitted from the mobile station 201 is broadcast to the mobile stations 202-204 connected to the area 102c that is the same as or close to the mobile station 201 and is displayed at each mobile station.

1.2) When using the information disclosure server 105 First, when information addressed to a predetermined address is transmitted from the mobile station 201 (S301), the information is transmitted from the base station 102 that has received the information to the radio access network 101 and the core network. The information is transferred to the information disclosure server 105 through 103 (S310). According to the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the destination of transmission information is a predetermined address determined on the carrier side, and the information addressed to the predetermined address is added with the area information of the base station 102 that received it. It is transferred to the information disclosure server 105. Information received from the core network 103 is disclosed by the information disclosure server 105 in a predetermined format.

  Further, the information disclosure server 105 transmits information on predetermined items of the public information to the broadcast distribution control station 104 through the core network 103 (S311). It is desirable that the information of the predetermined item is the minimum necessary information indicating at least the genre of the message to be transmitted and the area information. A small amount of transmission information is also desirable from the viewpoint of reducing network load. As an example, the information of the predetermined item includes the subject or title of the information transmitted by the mobile station 201, the area information of the base station 102 that has received the information from the mobile station 201, and the information disclosed by the information disclosure server 105. Can include at least public site information.

  The broadcast delivery control station 104 transmits predetermined item information to the base station 102 specified by the area information (S303), and the predetermined item information is transmitted from the base station 102 to the unspecified mobile stations 202-204 in the specific area 102c. Information is transmitted (S304). In this way, predetermined item information indicating the content of the information transmitted from the mobile station 201 is broadcasted to the mobile stations 202-204 connected to the area 102c that is the same as or close to the mobile station 201, and is displayed at each mobile station. . In addition, the user of the mobile station 202-204 that has received the predetermined item information can access the displayed site information to see more detailed information published on the information disclosure server 105.

  As described above, when a user intends to broadcast emergency information, the information can be immediately delivered to other unspecified users in the same area or nearby areas. Conversely, emergency information from users of other mobile stations in the same area or neighboring areas can be acquired immediately. Therefore, since there are few human and physical mediations between the generation of information and the broadcast distribution, it is possible to minimize the delay time resulting therefrom.

  In addition, information that is distributed by broadcast can be obtained by obtaining the main points such as the subject name and disclosure destination information, and then obtaining detailed information by accessing the public information server as necessary. it can. By transmitting a message with a small amount of information first in this way, an unnecessary increase in network traffic can be prevented.

2. First Embodiment Hereinafter, as an example, a UMTS network including a cell broadcast service CBS as a part of a core network is taken, and an information distribution system and its operation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the CBS function, and can be applied to any mobile communication network having a function that enables broadcast distribution of information from an area where a mobile station exists to another mobile station existing in the area. is there.

2.1) System Configuration FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an information distribution system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) includes a plurality of base stations (Node B) 10 and a radio network controller (RNC: Radio Network Controller) 11. Here, for simplification, only base stations 10.1 and 10.2 are illustrated, and a plurality of user terminals (mobile stations) UE1 to UE4 are camping-connected to the cell of base station 10.2.

  Each mobile station has a display unit and a key input unit, and is a communication terminal having a CBS reception function and a normal mail function, and is typically a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone. When the user creates an emergency information mail, the message creation screen is displayed on the display unit by starting up the mail software of the mobile station, and the subject and message of the mail are written using the key input unit or the like. As will be described later, it is desirable to include a keyword indicating the genre of emergency information to be distributed in the subject or title of an email. In this way, the mail is transmitted by designating a predetermined fixed address as a destination. As will be described later, the mobile station is provided with a switch for setting ON / OFF of the CBS reception function and ON / OFF for each Message ID for specifying the type of the CBS message, and the CBS message that has been broadcasted. Can be received or discarded by the user's intention.

  In addition, the core network performs management and control of SGSN (Serving GPRS Support Node) 12 and GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node) 13 that support packet switching, and determination of CBS message distribution areas and broadcast distribution, which will be described later. It is assumed that a cell broadcast center (CBC) 14 and an IP network 15 are included. An example of the IP network 15 is the Internet.

  The GGSN 13 and the CBC 14 can be connected to the mail server 16 and the Web server 17 through the IP network 15. In this embodiment, the mail server 16 and the Web server 17 cooperate to publish information such as an emergency information message transmitted from the user on the electronic bulletin board 18. Specifically, a form of an electronic bulletin board 18 for user-originated emergency information distribution is prepared in advance on the Web server 17, and the received emergency information message is set as one topic on the electronic bulletin board 18 as described below. It can be made public.

2.2) Publication on the electronic bulletin board FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the public information form on the electronic bulletin board. In the electronic bulletin board 18, categorization is performed by genre according to genre keywords (“accident”, “incident”, “disaster”, “failure”, “congestion”, etc., which will be described later) included in the subject of the mail transmitted by the mobile station UE1. Topics are formed. A user who accesses the electronic bulletin board 18 can check the contents and write a comment for each topic. The topic of the emergency information message can be set up by the emergency information mail as described above, and the comment can be written on the Web. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, there are four topics of the genre “accident”, and one writing (writing 1) is added to the topic 1.

  The layout and display format of the electronic bulletin board 18 are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, even if the keyword character is not entered in the subject part of the emergency information message or the subject part is blank, the keyword is extracted from the message by a known or new search algorithm, It is also possible to determine genre division based on this.

  The distribution information is not limited to the emergency information message. For example, even in the case of information such as advertisements and advertisements for an unspecified number of mobile stations existing in a certain area, the electronic bulletin board 18 is similarly used by specifying a fixed address different from the case of emergency information. Is also possible.

2.3) Information distribution sequence Next, the mobile station UE1 sends an emergency information message to a predetermined fixed address by e-mail, and the information distribution system according to the present embodiment transmits the emergency information message to other mobile stations UE2-UE4 in the same cell. An example of the case of broadcast distribution will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an information distribution procedure in the information distribution system shown in FIG. Here, the information distribution system is divided into the mobile station UE1, GGSN13, mail server 16, Web server 17, CBC14 and mobile station UE2-UE4 on the receiving side, and the operation and distribution sequence will be specifically described. To do.

S1) Emergency information mail creation First, when the user of the mobile station UE1 needs to send some emergency information message, the user creates an emergency information message by the same method as the general mail creation of the mobile station UE1. To do. The created emergency information message is mailed using a fixed address preset on the carrier side as an emergency destination as a destination address (S1).

  In general, the creation of an emergency information message requires quickness. For this reason, apart from a general mail transmission operation, for example, an “emergency information message transmission button” is provided in advance in the operation unit of the mobile station, and a predetermined fixed address is addressed by operating the button. The e-mail creation screen may be displayed on the display unit. In addition, an “emergency information transmission menu” is displayed on the menu displayed on the display unit of the mobile station UE1, and the user is allowed to select so that a mail creation screen with a predetermined fixed address as a destination is displayed. Is also preferable.

  It is desirable to include a keyword indicating the genre of emergency information to be distributed in the subject or title part of this mail. The genre keyword refers to the category of emergency information to be transmitted, and includes, for example, accidents, incidents, disasters, breakdowns, and traffic jams. In this case, the user may be prompted to input characters, but it is also preferable to display the keyword list on the display unit so that the user can select. The selected genre is included in the subject or title of the email.

  As a specific example, as shown in step S1 of FIG. 4, the subject of the mail is “falling rock accident occurred (near ΔΔΔ bridge)”, and the text specifically explains the content. It can be created like “Stone, falling rocks in the vicinity of the ΔΔΔ bridge, warning of passersby”.

S2) Area information addition The emergency information message mail is first transmitted to the base station 10.2 to which the mobile station UE1 is camp-connected, and further forwarded to the GGSN 13 through the RNC 11 and the SGSN 12. The GGSN 13 adds cell information of the base station 10.2 to which the source mobile station UE1 is camping connected as area information, and an emergency information message with the area information added is transmitted to the mail server 16 through the IP network 15. (S2).

S3) Address determination and e-mail information disclosure When the mail server 16 receives e-mail from the core network, the e-mail server 16 determines whether or not the destination address is a predetermined fixed address. The emergency information message to which is added is transferred to the Web server 17. The Web server 17 publishes an emergency information message in the form shown in FIG. 3 on the electronic bulletin board 18 for user-originated emergency information delivery, and the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that is the site address of the publication destination, the area information described above, and The genre information of the mail is transmitted to the CBC 14 of the core network (S3).

S4) Determination of distribution area The distribution area determination unit of the CBC 14 determines the distribution area of the CBS message in consideration of the installation environment of the base station 10.2 specified by the area information (S4). For example, when the base station 10.2 is installed in an area where the base stations are densely populated, such as in the center of a city, the CBS message is not a cell unit of the base station but a control unit of the switching station. It is desirable to determine the distribution area. That is, the range including the cells of base stations installed around the base station 10.2 can be determined as the distribution area. The broadcast distribution unit of the CBC 14 distributes the changed notification information to the mobile stations existing in the distribution area thus determined. In addition, about the delivery area determination part and broadcast delivery part of CBC14, the same delivery area determination function and broadcast delivery function are realizable by running a program on a computer.

S5) Start of CBS message reception The mobile station that has received the broadcast information recognizes that there is CBS message delivery, and starts receiving the CBS message (S5).

S6) Distribution of the CBS message The broadcast distribution unit of the CBC 14 sends the CBS message to the mobile station camping on the determined distribution area, the subject of the emergency information message, the genre, and the publication URL of the electronic bulletin board 7. To be distributed (S6).

S7) Recognition of CBS message The mobile station that has received the CBS message recognizes the received CBS message in accordance with the preset conditions if the CBS reception function and ON / OFF of the Message ID are set in advance as described above. The acceptance or destruction can be automatically determined (S7). The mobile station that has received the received CBS message displays the subject, genre, and disclosure destination URL of the received emergency information message on the display unit in a predetermined form 20 (see FIG. 2).

  Since the CBS message is broadcasted regardless of the intention of the user on the receiving side, the user on the receiving side does not necessarily want to receive it. Of course, when the content is information such as advertisements and advertisements, for example, even if it is an emergency information message, it is considered that emergency information regarding traffic congestion is often unnecessary for a user who does not drive a car. Therefore, in the mobile station in the present embodiment, it is possible to accept and display in advance only the CBS message that the user desires to distribute, and to select information according to the intention of the user on the receiving side.

S8) Access to public destination When the CBS message is displayed, the user can access the displayed public URL, check the topic of the electronic bulletin board 18, and write a comment on the topic. (S8). In other words, the gist of emergency information is broadcast by CBS message, but more detailed information is received by the user himself / herself accessing the server.

2.4) Effects As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the user obtains any emergency information, the user can immediately create and send a mail with a specific destination address, and immediately the same area or neighborhood The information can be distributed to other unspecified users in the area. Conversely, emergency information from users of other mobile stations in the same area or neighboring areas can be acquired immediately. Accordingly, since human and physical mediation is less than that of the existing information distribution system, it is possible to minimize the delay time resulting therefrom.

  Further, the emergency information is first delivered with the main points such as the subject indicating the contents and the disclosure destination information, and the user who sees it can obtain the detailed information by accessing the disclosure destination as necessary. Thus, since only a message with a small amount of information is transmitted at first, an unnecessary increase in network traffic can be prevented.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to immediately obtain emergency information according to the user's interest. This is because the scale of a specific area is smaller than that of an existing information distribution system, and emergency information specialized for that area can be distributed quickly. In particular, if the CBS reception function and Message ID ON / OFF are set in advance, the CBS message received according to the preset conditions can be recognized, and its acceptance or discard can be automatically determined. Automatic screening can be performed accordingly.

3. Second Embodiment The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other modifications or embodiments can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, instead of sending an emergency information message by e-mail, it is also possible for the user to send it as voice information using the mobile station's telephone function. Hereinafter, an information distribution system in which a user transmits a voice emergency information message will be described. The description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram showing an information distribution system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an MSC (Mobile-Service Switching Center) 30 and a GMSC (Gateway MSC) 31 that support circuit switching are provided in the core network, and the GMSC 31 can be connected to the emergency information storage server 33 through the public network 32. To do.

  In the emergency information storage server 33, a predetermined telephone number (or address) fixed on the carrier side is set in advance. The emergency information storage server 33 is a server for registering voice information. However, the emergency information storage server 33 has a function of converting voice information into character information, and transmits the character information to the CBC 14 or the Web server 17.

  In this embodiment, a user who wants to send emergency information first calls a fixed telephone number using the telephone function of the mobile station UE1 (S10), and registers an emergency information message by voice in the emergency information storage server 33 ( S11). The registered message is converted into character information by the voice character conversion function of the emergency information storage server 33. As described above, this character information is broadcast from the CBC 14 to the receiving mobile station (S12). Alternatively, the character information can be transferred to the Web server 17 and published on the electronic bulletin board 18 (S12), and broadcasted by the same sequence as S3 to S8 described below.

  Thus, by transmitting a message by voice, even a user who is unfamiliar with the mail function can quickly distribute emergency information to surrounding users.

  As another embodiment, for example, when the user transmits an emergency information message, it is also preferable to specify the urgency level (high, medium, low, etc.) indicating the level of urgency. When the urgency level is set, for example, the user on the receiving side can check the electronic bulletin board only for urgent information having a high urgency level by receiving the urgency level together with the CBS message. It is also possible to set in advance so as to receive only messages with a high degree of urgency in the above-mentioned mobile station pre-setting.

  Further, the contents of the emergency information mail may be directly delivered as a CBS message to the receiving mobile station only via the mail server 16 without passing through the Web server 17. By doing so, it is possible to save time for the user on the receiving side to access the electronic bulletin board 18 and further speed up the information distribution process.

  The present invention is applicable to a broadcast distribution system in a mobile communication network.

It is a schematic block diagram of the information delivery system by one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an information distribution system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the public information form by an electronic bulletin board. It is a sequence diagram which shows the information delivery procedure in the information delivery system shown in FIG. It is a system configuration | structure figure which shows the information delivery system by 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101 radio access network 102 base station 102c distribution area 103 core network 104 geographical area broadcast control station 105 public server 201-204 mobile station 10.1, 10.2 base station 11 radio network control station 12 SGSN
13 GGSN
14 CBC
15 IP network 16 Mail server 17 Web server 18 Electronic bulletin board 20 Mobile station display example 30 MSC
31 GMSC
32 Public network 33 Emergency information storage server

Claims (12)

A system for broadcasting information to unspecified mobile stations in a mobile communication network having a plurality of base stations,
A distribution area determining means for determining a distribution area based on the specific information of the base station that has received one information from one mobile station;
Broadcast delivery means for broadcasting at least a part of the one information to an unspecified mobile station connected to a base station corresponding to the delivery area;
An information distribution system comprising:   The information disclosing means further comprising: information disclosing means for receiving the specific information of the base station that has received the one information from the one mobile station and the one information from the base station, and disclosing the one information. 2. The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the means transmits at least a part of the one information and the base station specific information to the distribution area determination means.   The information disclosing means transmits the disclosing position information of the one information to the distribution area determining means, and the broadcast distributing means transmits the one information to an unspecified mobile station connected to a base station corresponding to the distribution area. 3. The information distribution system according to claim 2, wherein at least a part of the information and the public position information are broadcast.   The information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the one mobile station transmits the one information using predetermined destination information.   5. The mobile station according to claim 1, wherein each mobile station has a setting unit that presets a condition for determining whether or not to receive information broadcast from the broadcast distribution unit. 5. Information distribution system described in 1. A broadcast distribution control device for performing broadcast distribution of information to unspecified mobile stations in a mobile communication network having a plurality of base stations,
A distribution area determining means for determining a distribution area based on the specific information of the base station that has received one information from one mobile station;
Broadcast delivery means for broadcasting at least a part of the one information to an unspecified mobile station connected to a base station corresponding to the delivery area;
A broadcast distribution control device characterized by comprising: A method of broadcasting information to unspecified mobile stations in a mobile communication network having a plurality of base stations,
Determine the delivery area based on the specific information of the base station that received the one information from one mobile station,
Broadcasting and distributing at least part of the one information to an unspecified mobile station connected to a base station corresponding to the distribution area;
An information delivery method characterized by the above. The information of the base station that has received the one information from the one mobile station and the one information are disclosed by the information disclosing means that has received the information from the base station,
8. The information distribution method according to claim 7, wherein the distribution area is determined by receiving information on the base station from the information disclosing means.   The information distribution method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the one mobile station transmits the one information using predetermined destination information.   The information delivery method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein each mobile station determines whether or not to receive broadcasted information according to a preset condition.   A mobile station in the information distribution system according to claim 5. A program for realizing in a computer the function of a broadcast distribution control device for performing broadcast distribution of information to unspecified mobile stations in a mobile communication network having a plurality of base stations,
A distribution area determining means for determining a distribution area based on the specific information of the base station that has received one information from one mobile station;
Broadcast delivery means for broadcasting at least a part of the one information to an unspecified mobile station connected to a base station corresponding to the delivery area;
Is implemented on the computer.

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