JPWO2010026799A1 - Content download system, agent, and content download method - Google Patents

Abstract

Including a first wireless communication network (NW), a second wireless communication NW comprising an access point (AP) and a cache server corresponding to the AP, a content server, and location information via the first wireless communication NW A mobile terminal that transmits a download request for the content, and an agent that records the location information of the AP and the cache server corresponding to the AP in association with each other, and the agent acquires the content from the content server when the download request is received Then, the designated AP is determined based on the position information of the mobile terminal and the position information of the AP, the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP is specified, and the content is cached in the designated cache server. The portable terminal moves to the wireless area of the designated AP. The designated cache server transmits content to the portable terminal via the designated AP when the portable terminal moves into the wireless area of the designated AP.

Description

  The present invention relates to a content download system.

  The content download service is a service in which a user downloads content from a content server on the Internet using wireless access by a mobile terminal. For wireless access using a mobile terminal, for example, a system with a wide wireless area but a low communication speed, such as a mobile phone system represented by a third generation mobile phone, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), There are systems such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) that have a narrow wireless area but a high communication speed. When performing wireless access using a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal moves with the user. Therefore, it becomes a problem for the content download system to provide content download efficiently according to the movement of the mobile terminal. Related art that provides content download according to the movement status of a mobile terminal using the characteristics of a wireless system is disclosed as follows.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-038242 discloses a train download service system that can provide efficient access at a low cost when a user on the train accesses the Internet or the like. A train download service system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-038242 is a train used to download content requested from an arbitrary terminal in the train from a content server connected to a predetermined network and provide the content to the terminal. It is an internal download service system. The station premises wireless communication means is installed at each of a plurality of stations, and can perform wireless communication with a terminal in the train or an in-house server in a state where a train exists in the premises of each station. The proxy download unit is connected to the in-station wireless communication unit, and accesses the corresponding content server as a proxy of the request source in accordance with a download request from the terminal or the in-house server, and acquires and accumulates the requested content. The data acquisition station specifying means specifies a station from which data requested by the terminal or the in-house server is acquired. The content transfer means transfers the content acquired by the proxy download means to the terminal or the in-house server via the station premises wireless communication means belonging to the station specified by the data acquisition station specifying means.

  Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-026977 discloses a content reservation distribution system that allows content to be downloaded in various locations in a short time. The content reservation delivery system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-026977 includes a first wireless communication system having a first service area and a first data transfer rate, a second service area narrower than the first service area, and a first service area. A content reservation distribution system that performs reservation distribution between a content server that provides content and a mobile communication device via a second wireless communication system having a second data transfer rate that is higher than a data transfer rate of 1. . The mobile communication device transmits a download reservation information for the desired content to the content server via the first wireless communication system, and transmits a download request for the desired content to the content server via the second communication system. Request transmitting means and means for receiving desired content transmitted from the content server via the second communication system. Means for receiving download reservation information; means for receiving a download request; and means for transmitting desired content to the mobile terminal device via the second communication system in accordance with the received download reservation information and download request. With.

  Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-033439 discloses a data distribution system in which a data user can acquire desired data while moving. The data distribution system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-033439 is a data distribution system that distributes information to mobile terminals via a plurality of access points connected to a network. The access point and the mobile terminal can transmit and receive using Bluetooth. The information preparation means prepares information. The means for predicting predicts the position of the mobile terminal. The means for selecting selects an access point near the predicted mobile terminal location. The transmission means uses the information prepared by the preparation means from the selected access point to the mobile terminal using Bluetooth.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-196008 discloses a data distribution system that enables effective caching for a specific user who performs mobile access using a mobile device. A management apparatus in a data distribution system disclosed in JP-A-2006-196008 includes a mobile computer connected to the Internet via a wireless network, an information server that provides WWW (World Wide Web) information to the mobile computer via the Internet, It is a management device that can be connected to a plurality of cache servers that cache information transferred from the information server to the mobile computer. The means for receiving is information regarding the connection position in the wireless network of the mobile computer notified from the mobile computer at a predetermined timing, and when the mobile computer is related to a special user registered in advance, at least the mobile Identification information specifying one or a plurality of WWW information stored in the mobile calculation notified from the mobile computer when the computer is connected to the network is received. The selecting means selects one or a plurality of cache servers arranged in the vicinity of the mobile computer using the information regarding the connection position of the mobile computer notified from the mobile computer. The means for performing control includes, in advance, the selected WWW information selected based on the notified identification information related to the special user and the information provider that provides the WWW information by the information server. Control is performed to cache selected WWW information depending on information related to a registered special information provider that designates the special user.

JP 2004-038242 A JP 2005-026977 A JP 2005-033429 A JP 2006-196008 A

  The information distribution system according to the related technology described above is a technology for performing information distribution at a specific place at high speed and efficiently. Therefore, information distribution in a situation where the user moves freely is not considered. Furthermore, no consideration is given to optimal information deployment according to the movement of users and the network conditions.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a content download system that can efficiently download content to a mobile terminal in accordance with the movement status of the mobile terminal.

  Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide a content download system capable of selecting an access point at which a mobile terminal can efficiently download content.

  The content download system of the present invention includes a first wireless communication network that forms a first wireless area and performs communication at a first communication speed, and a second wireless area that is narrower than the first wireless area. A second wireless communication network that performs communication at a second communication speed that is higher than the communication speed; the second wireless communication network is installed corresponding to the access point that constitutes the second wireless area; A cache server that temporarily stores content, a content server that stores content, a mobile terminal that transmits a download request for content including current location information via the first wireless communication network, and an access point Location information for each access point and the cache server corresponding to the access point An agent that records and responds, when receiving the download request, the agent acquires the content from the content server and accesses based on the location information of the mobile terminal and the location information of the access point included in the download request The designated access point is determined from the points, the designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point is identified from the cache servers, and the content is cached in the designated cache server. When the mobile terminal moves into the wireless area of the designated access point, the designated cache server transmits content to the mobile terminal via the designated access point.

The agent of the present invention is used in the above-described content download system.

  The content download method of the present invention includes a first wireless communication network that forms a first wireless area and performs communication at a first communication speed, and a second wireless area that has a narrower wireless area than the first wireless area. In a content download system including a second wireless communication network that performs communication at a second communication speed that is higher than a communication speed, a mobile terminal, an agent, and a content server, the second wireless communication network includes a second wireless area. And a cache server that is installed in correspondence with the access point and temporarily stores the content, storing the content, and via the first wireless communication network, the current location Sending a download request for content including information and an access point The location information and the cache server corresponding to the access point are recorded for each access point, the step of acquiring the content from the content server when the download request is received, and the mobile terminal included in the download request Determining a designated access point from the access points based on the location information and the location information of the access point; identifying a designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point from the cache servers; and to the designated cache server The step of caching the content, the step of moving into the wireless area of the designated access point, and the content being sent to the portable terminal via the designated access point when the mobile device moves into the wireless area of the designated access point. And a step of.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the content download system which can download a content to a portable terminal efficiently according to the movement condition of a portable terminal can be provided.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a content download system capable of selecting an access point capable of efficiently downloading content to a mobile terminal.

  The objects, effects, and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content download system in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a difference in radio area between the mobile communication network and the high-speed radio access network in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority is high priority in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a selection screen for selecting the priority of content in the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority in the first embodiment is medium priority. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram when the location information management unit 203 determines a designated AP when the priority in the first embodiment is medium priority. FIG. 9 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority is low priority in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram when the location information management unit 203 determines the designated AP when the priority is low priority in the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content download system in the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of the monitoring apparatus 300 in the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the second embodiment.

  A content download system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, the content download system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the content download system in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content download system in the present embodiment.

  The content download system according to the present embodiment includes a mobile terminal 100, a network A (hereinafter, NW-A) 101, base stations 102-1 to n, a network B (hereinafter, NW-B) 103, an access point ( (AP) 104-1 to n, cache servers 105-1 to 10-n, the Internet 107, content server 108, and agent 200 are provided.

  First, the NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to 10-n will be described. The NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to 102-n constitute a mobile communication network represented by a third generation mobile phone, for example. The NW-A 101 is a conventional mobile communication network including devices such as a base station control device that controls the base stations 102-1 to 102-n, an exchange, and a location registration server. Base stations 102-1 to 102-n are connected to NW-A 101, respectively. Each of the base stations 102-1 to 102-n can communicate with the mobile terminal 100 by radio. The portable terminal 100 can communicate by connecting to the NW-A 101 via the base stations 102-1 to 102-n. The NW-A 101 is connected to the Internet 107. Therefore, the mobile terminal 100 can access the Internet 107 via the base stations 102-1 to 10-n and the NW-A 101. Since the mobile communication network including the NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to 102-n is based on the conventional technology, detailed description is omitted. Although only three base stations are illustrated as base stations 102-1 to 102-n, there are actually more (n stations: n is an integer of 0 or more).

  Next, the NW-B 103 and the APs 104-1 to n will be described. The NW-B 103 and the APs 104-1 to 10-n constitute an IP (Internet Protocol) network based on high-speed wireless access represented by a wireless LAN, WiMAX, or the like. The NW-B 103 is configured by connecting a number of network switches, network routers, or transmission devices. The APs 104-1 to n are connected to the NW-B 103, respectively. Each of the APs 104-1 to 104-n can communicate with the mobile terminal 100 by radio. The portable terminal 100 can communicate by connecting to the NW-B 103 via the APs 104-1 to n. The NW-B 103 is connected to the Internet 107 via the agent 200. Therefore, the portable terminal 100 can access the Internet 107 via the APs 104-1 to n and the NW-B 103. Since the high-speed wireless access by the NW-B 103 and the APs 104-1 to AP-n is configured by a conventional technique, detailed description thereof is omitted. Note that APs 104-1 to 10-n only illustrate three APs, but there are actually more (n stations: n is an integer of 0 or more).

  Note that a mobile communication network including NW-A 101 and base stations 102-1 to n (hereinafter referred to as mobile communication network includes NW-A 101 and base stations 102-1 to n). -The communication speed is lower than the high-speed wireless access network by B103 and APs 104-1 to n (hereinafter referred to as the high-speed wireless access network includes NW-B103 and APs 104-1 to n). Specifically, the communication speed of the mobile communication network is several hundred kbps to several Mbps, while the communication speed of the high-speed wireless access network is several Mbps to several tens Mbps. Therefore, when downloading data of the same capacity, the download time of the data differs depending on whether the mobile communication network is used or the high-speed wireless access network is used. This tendency becomes more prominent as the amount of data to be downloaded becomes larger.

  In addition, the wireless area of the mobile communication network is wider than the wireless area of the high-speed wireless access network. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a difference in radio area between the mobile communication network and the high-speed radio access network in the present embodiment. Radio areas (base station areas in the drawing) 120-1 to 120-n of the base stations are radio areas by the base stations 102-1 to 102-n, respectively. The centers of the radio areas 120-1 to 120-n of the base stations are base stations 102-1 to 102-n, respectively. In addition, AP wireless areas (indicated as AP areas in the drawing) 121-1 to AP wireless areas 121-n are wireless areas formed by APs 104-1 to n, respectively. The centers of the AP radio areas 121-1 to 121-n are APs 105-1 to 105-n, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless area formed by the base stations 102-1 to 10-n is wider than the wireless area formed by the APs 105-1 to 105-n. Usually, the radio areas each constituted by the base stations 102-1 to 10-n range from a radius of several kilometers to 10 and several kilometers around the base stations 102-1 to 10-n. On the other hand, the wireless area constituted by the APs 104-1 to n is narrower than the wireless area constituted by the base stations 102-1 to n. Usually, the wireless areas formed by the APs 104-1 to 10-n have a radius of several tens to several hundreds of meters centering on the APs 104-1 to n. The wide wireless area here is not limited to the wireless area formed by each of the base stations 102-1 to n and APs 104-1 to n. That is, even when the wireless area configured by all of the base stations 102-1 to n and all of the APs 104-1 to n is considered as a whole, the wireless areas configured by the base stations 102-1 to n are It includes the meaning that it is wider than the wireless area formed by the APs 105-1 to 105-n. In FIG. 2, the wireless areas 120-1 to n by the base stations 102-1 to n and the wireless areas 121-1 to 121-n by the APs 104-1 to n are circular as in the case where an omnidirectional antenna is used. This area is for simplicity of explanation. The radio area is not limited to this because it varies depending on the outputs of the base stations 102-1 to n and APs 104-1 to n and the directivity of the antenna to be used.

  Next, the Internet 107 will be described. The Internet 107 is connected to NW-A 101 and NW-B 103. The Internet 107 is connected to the content server 108. The Internet 107 transfers data for communication performed between the NW-A 101, the NW-B 103, and the content server 108. The Internet 107 and the NW-B 103 are connected via the agent 200. This differs depending on the connection position of the agent 200 in the network, and is not limited to this. For example, the agent 200 may be connected only to the Internet 107 and installed as an access server on the Internet 107. Note that the Internet 107 is configured by conventional techniques, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the mobile terminal 100 will be described. The mobile terminal 100 downloads content from the content server 108. The mobile terminal 100 includes an antenna and a wireless transmission / reception unit (not shown) for performing wireless communication with the base stations 102-1 to n and APs 104-1 to n, respectively. The mobile terminal 100 can communicate by connecting to the NW-A 101 via the base stations 102-1 to 102-n. The portable terminal 100 can be connected to the NW-A 101 via the base stations 102-1 to 102-n and further connected to the agent 200 via the Internet 107. In addition, the mobile terminal 100 can communicate by connecting to the NW-B 103 via the APs 104-1 to n. The portable terminal 100 transmits a content download request to the agent 200 via the mobile communication network. In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 100 transmits the content download request including the location information of the mobile terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver (not shown), and can acquire the current position of the mobile terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 includes the position information of the mobile terminal 100 acquired by the GPS receiver in the content download request and transmits it to the agent 200. Based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100, the agent 200 determines an AP (hereinafter, designated AP) from which content can be downloaded from among the APs 104-1 to 104-n. The mobile terminal 100 receives information notification of the designated AP (hereinafter referred to as AP information notification) from the agent 200. When the mobile terminal 100 enters the wireless area of the APs 104-1 to 104-n notified by the AP information notification, the mobile terminal 100 accesses the AP and notifies the agent 200 via the NW-B 103 of the access point arrival notification (hereinafter, AP arrival notification). Send. Thereafter, the mobile terminal 100 downloads content data from a corresponding cache server (hereinafter, designated cache server) corresponding to the designated AP. Thus, in the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 100 transmits a content download request via the mobile communication network. Since the content download request has a small data capacity, it is hardly affected even if it is transmitted via a mobile communication network having a low communication speed. Moreover, since the base stations 102-1 to 10-n constitute a wide wireless area, the mobile terminal 100 can easily transmit a content download request. Further, the mobile terminal 100 downloads content via the high-speed wireless access network. The content has a large data capacity compared to a request message or the like. The portable terminal 100 can efficiently download content using the high communication speed of the APs 104-1 to n.

  Next, the content server 108 will be described. The content server 108 stores content data to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 100. The content server 108 is connected to the Internet 107 and can be accessed via the Internet 107. In the present embodiment, when the content server 108 receives a content download request from the agent 200, the content server 108 transmits the designated content to the agent 200. Also, only one content server 108 is shown for simplicity of explanation, but in reality, a larger number of content servers 108 exist on the Internet.

  Next, the cache servers 105-1 to 10-n will be described. The cache servers 105-1 to 105-n temporarily store the content data and download the content data to the mobile terminal 100. Each of the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n is connected to the NW-B 103. The cache servers 105-1 to 105-n are installed corresponding to the APs 104-1 to 104-n, respectively. For example, the cache server 105-1 is installed corresponding to the AP 104-1. This means that the cache server 105-1 stores the content that the mobile terminal 100 downloads in the wireless area of the AP 104-1. Similarly, the cache servers 105-2 to n are installed corresponding to the APs 104-2 to n, respectively. This means that the cache servers 105-2 to 10-n store the contents that the mobile terminal 100 downloads in the wireless areas of the APs 104-2 to n. In the present embodiment, cache servers 105-1 to 105-n are installed corresponding to the APs 104-1 to AP-n, respectively. In this case, a plurality of cache servers corresponding to one AP may be installed, or conversely, one cache server corresponding to a plurality of APs may be installed. These are matters determined based on the traffic volume of the system and are not limited. In the present embodiment, the agent 200 determines a designated AP based on location information included in a content download request transmitted by the mobile terminal 100. The agent 200 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. The agent 200 temporarily caches the content in the designated cache server. The portable terminal 100 enters the designated AP wireless area. When the designated cache server receives the synchronization command from the agent 200, the designated cache server transmits the cached content to the mobile terminal 100.

  Next, the agent 200 will be described. The agent 200 receives a content download request from the mobile terminal 100, downloads content from the content server 107, and downloads content to the mobile terminal 100. When the content is downloaded to the mobile terminal 100, the agent 200 determines a designated AP among the APs 104-1 to n based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100 included in the content download request, and the cache server 105-1 to The designated cache server is specified from n. The agent 200 transmits the content to the designated cache server, and causes the designated cache server to cache the content temporarily. When the agent 200 caches the content in the designated cache server, the agent 200 notifies the portable terminal 100 of the designated AP. When the mobile terminal 100 enters the wireless area of the designated AP, the mobile terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification to the agent 200. When the agent 200 receives the AP arrival notification, the agent 200 transmits a content synchronization request (hereinafter, content synchronization request) to the designated cache server. When the designated cache server receives the content synchronization request, it downloads the cached content to the mobile terminal 100.

  Here, the configurations of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n according to the first embodiment. The agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n include a processing unit 10, a storage unit 11, a communication unit 12, an input / output unit 14, and an internal bus 14. The processing unit 10, the storage unit 11, the communication unit 12, and the input / output unit 14 are electrically connected via an internal bus 14 and can transmit and receive signals. The storage unit 11 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and the like, and functions of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n. A processing program for realizing the above, data, and the like are recorded. The processing unit 10 is configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and executes the processing program recorded in the storage unit 11 to thereby perform the functions of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n. Realize. The communication unit 12 includes a communication port and the like, and performs communication with other devices. The input / output unit 13 includes a keyboard, a mouse, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and the like. Note that the functions of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n can be realized by a program or can be realized by hardware.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the present embodiment. Each function of the agent 200 is realized by the configuration of the agent 200 as described above. The agent 200 includes a synchronization processing management unit 201, a content management unit 202, a location information management unit 203, a location information management table 204, a server determination unit 205, and a communication processing unit 206.

  The position information management table 204 records the position information of the APs 104-1 to n in correspondence with the APs 104-1 to n. Further, the location information management table 204 records the scheduled movement path 32 of the user. The planned movement route 32 is a user's action schedule. For example, the scheduled movement path 32 is a movement schedule on a specific day or a repeated continuous movement path such as every day or every week. The planned movement route 32 is registered in advance by the user accessing the agent 200 from the portable terminal 100 or from another information terminal.

  The position information management unit 203 includes the position information of the mobile terminal 100 included in the content download request, the position information of the APs 104-1 to n recorded in the position information management table 204, or the movement recorded in the position information management table 204. Based on the planned route 32, the designated AP is determined. When the location information management unit 203 receives a content download request from the mobile terminal 100, the location information management unit 203 determines a designated AP and notifies the server determination unit 205 of it.

  The server determination unit 205 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP determined by the location information management unit 203. The server determination unit 205 records each AP 104-1 to n and the cache server 105-1 to n corresponding to each other. When the designated AP is notified from the location information management unit 203, the server determination unit 205 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP, and notifies the content management unit 202 and the synchronization processing management unit 201.

  The content management unit 202 transmits a content synchronization request to the designated cache server. When the content management unit 202 receives an AP arrival notification from the mobile terminal 100, the content management unit 202 transmits a content synchronization request to the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP that has reached the wireless area.

  When the download of content to the mobile terminal 100 is interrupted, the synchronization processing management unit 201 stores the content data portion (hereinafter, the data portion) that has been downloaded. When the mobile terminal 100 moves between a plurality of designated APs, downloading of desired content may not be completed with only one designated AP. The synchronization processing management unit 201 stores the data portion where the town load has been completed in the portable terminal 100, so that when downloading from another designated cache server again, the download is resumed from the data portion. To request. For this reason, it is possible to prevent data from being downloaded twice and to efficiently download desired content.

  The above is the description of the configuration of the content download system in the present embodiment.

[Description of operation method]
Next, an operation method of the content download system in the present embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the user can select a priority when downloading content. The priority is a degree representing how urgently the user needs the content. In the present embodiment, a case of classification into three types of priority will be described. The three types of priority are high priority, medium priority, and low priority. Of the three priorities, high priority is the most urgent and low priority is the least urgent. In the case of high priority, the portable terminal 100 downloads content using the mobile communication network (NW-A 101 and base stations 102-1 to 102-n). In the case of medium priority, the mobile terminal 100 moves under the designated AP notified from the agent 200 and downloads the content. In the case of low priority, the mobile terminal 100 selects an appropriate AP 104-1 to n in accordance with the movement of the mobile terminal 100 and downloads the content.

(Operation method for high priority)
First, in this embodiment, an operation method when the user selects content acquisition with high priority will be described. FIG. 5 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority is high priority in the present embodiment. In the case of high priority, the portable terminal 100 downloads content using the mobile communication network (NW-A 101 and base stations 102-1 to 102-n).

(Step S10)
The user inputs a content acquisition request to the mobile terminal 100. In the present embodiment, the user inputs the priority when inputting the content acquisition request. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a selection screen for selecting the priority of content in the present embodiment. The user can select the priority of the content on the selection screen as shown in FIG. The priority may be set every time the user inputs a content acquisition request, or may be set in advance depending on the type of content. In this description, it is assumed that the user selects priority with high priority. When the content acquisition request is input, the mobile terminal 100 includes the current location information of the mobile terminal 100 in a content download request (shown as a content acquisition request in the drawing) of the desired content (hereinafter, desired content). The priority is transmitted to the agent 200 using the mobile communication network. The content download request includes a content server 108 for storing the desired content, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the storage location of the desired content in the content server 108, and the like. The information mobile communication network and the Internet 107 transfer the content download request to the agent 200.

(Step S20)
The agent 200 receives the content download request. The agent 200 transmits a desired content download request to the content server 108 that stores the desired content based on the content download request.

(Step S30)
The content server 108 receives a content download request from the agent. The content server 108 transmits the desired content to the agent 200. It should be noted that the content acquisition from the content server 108 by the agent 200 is based on the conventional technology, and the description thereof is omitted.

(Step S40)
The agent 200 acquires desired content from the content server 108. The agent 200 determines a content download method to the mobile terminal 100 based on the priority included in the content download request from the mobile terminal 100. In this description, the priority is set to high priority. The agent 200 transmits the desired content to the mobile terminal 100 using the mobile communication network.

(Step S50)
The portable terminal 100 receives desired content via a mobile communication network.

  The above is the operation method of the content download system when the priority is set to high priority in the present embodiment. When the priority is set to high priority, the desired content can be downloaded using a wide wireless area of the mobile communication network.

(Operation method for medium priority)
Next, an operation method when the user selects content acquisition with medium priority in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority in this embodiment is medium priority. In the case of medium priority, the mobile terminal 100 moves under the designated AP notified from the agent 200 and downloads the content.

(Step S100)
The user inputs a content acquisition request to the mobile terminal 100. In this description, it is assumed that the user selects medium priority. When the content acquisition request is input, the mobile terminal 100 includes the current location information and priority of the mobile terminal 100 in the content download request of the desired content, and uses the mobile communication network to send the content to the agent 200. Send. The content download request includes a content server 108 for storing the desired content, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the storage location of the desired content in the content server 108, and the like. The information mobile communication network and the Internet 107 transfer the content download request to the agent 200.

(Step S110)
The agent 200 receives the content download request. Based on the content download request, the agent 200 transmits a content download request for the desired content to the content server 108 that stores the desired content.

(Step S120)
The content server 108 receives a content download request from the agent 200. The content server 108 transmits the desired content to the agent 200. It should be noted that the content acquisition from the content server 108 by the agent 200 is based on the conventional technology, and the description thereof is omitted.

(Step S130)
The agent 200 acquires desired content from the content server 108. The agent 200 determines a content download method to the mobile terminal 100 based on the priority included in the content download request from the mobile terminal 100. In this description, the priority is set to medium priority. When the agent 200 determines that the priority is medium priority, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100 included in the content download request. The position information management unit 203 determines a designated AP based on the position information of the mobile terminal 100 and the position information of the APs 104-1 to n recorded in the position information management table 204.

  FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram when the location information management unit 203 determines a designated AP when the priority in the present embodiment is medium priority. Referring to FIG. 8, there are a radio area 120-2 of the base station 102 and radio areas 121-2, 4, 5 of APs 104-2, 4, and 5. The distances 20, 21, and 22 are distances from the mobile terminal 100 to the APs 104-2, 4, and 5, respectively. In the present embodiment, the location information management unit 203 determines the AP that is closest to the mobile terminal 100 from the APs 104-2, 4, and 5 as the designated AP. For example, referring to FIG. 8, the distance 21 is the closest. Therefore, in this case, the location information management unit 203 determines that the AP 104-4 is a designated AP. The location information management unit 203 outputs the information on the designated AP to the server determination unit 205. The server determination unit 205 inputs the designated AP from the location information management unit 203. The server determination unit 205 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 notifies the content management unit 202 of the designated cache server.

(Step S140)
The content management unit 202 is notified of the designated cache server from the server determination unit 205. The content management unit 202 transmits the desired content to the designated cache server. The designated cache server receives and stores the desired content.

(Step S150)
The server determination unit 205 notifies the mobile terminal 100 of a designated AP (hereinafter, AP information notification). The server determination unit 205 transmits an AP information notification including the position information of the designated AP. The AP information notification is transferred using the mobile communication network. When receiving the AP information notification from the agent 200, the portable terminal 100 notifies the user of the position of the designated AP. As a method for the mobile terminal 100 to notify the user of the information on the designated AP, a method for displaying and notifying the position of the mobile terminal 100 and the position of the designated AP on the map data may be used. If the building name or spot name corresponding to the location information of the designated AP is recorded in advance, a method of notifying by that name may be used. The method for notifying the user of the information on the designated AP is not limited to these as long as the user who has received the notification can move to the wireless area of the designated AP. As described above, in this embodiment, the agent 200 notifies the user of the position of the designated AP, and prompts the user to move under the wireless area of the designated AP.

(Step S160)
The user moves into the wireless area of the designated AP. If the user does not want to move to the designated AP notified by the AP information notification, the content is downloaded by changing to another priority. For example, an item “change to another priority” is provided on the notification screen of the designated AP to the user. When the user selects such an item, the portable terminal 100 transmits a priority change request to the agent 200. When the agent 200 receives the change request, the agent 200 may change to a content download method corresponding to the priority included in the change request.

(Step S170)
When the mobile terminal 100 detects that it has entered the wireless area of the designated AP, the mobile terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification to the agent 200. The mobile terminal 100 detects that it has entered the wireless area of the designated AP from the notification information transmitted by the designated AP. The APs 104-1 to n (including the designated AP) transmit the broadcast information including an AP identifier such as an ESSID (Extended Service Set IDentifier) or a MAC (Media Access Control) address of each AP. A method may be considered in which the portable terminal 100 acquires the identifier of the designated AP by an AP information notification received from the agent 200. When the identifier of the designated AP included in the AP information notification matches the identification information of the APs 104-1 to n included in the broadcast information transmitted by the APs 104-1 to n, the portable terminal 100 transmits the radio of the designated AP. Detect that the area has been reached. Moreover, it is good also as a method which performs the simultaneous call with respect to the identifier of the portable terminal 100 from the designation | designated AP side, and the portable terminal 100 responds to a simultaneous call. In this case, when the designated cache server receives the desired content data from the agent 200, a method of acquiring the identifier of the mobile terminal 100 at the same time can be considered. The designated cache server notifies the designated AP of the identifier of the mobile terminal 100. Thereby, the designated AP can make a simultaneous call to the wireless area of the designated AP including the notified identifier of the mobile terminal 100. The portable terminal 100 notifies the agent 200 of the AP arrival notification using either the mobile communication system or the high-speed wireless access system.

(Step S180)
The agent 200 receives an AP arrival notification from the mobile terminal 100. The agent 200 detects that the mobile terminal 100 exists under the wireless area of the designated AP by receiving the AP arrival notification. The synchronization processing management unit 201 transmits a content synchronization request for desired content to the designated cache server.

(Step S190)
The designated cache server receives the content synchronization request from the agent 200. The designated cache server downloads the stored desired content to the mobile terminal 100 (synchronization processing).

(Step S200)
The portable terminal 100 performs wireless communication with the designated AP and downloads desired content from the designated cache server.

(Step S210)
The designated cache server transmits a synchronization process completion notification to the agent 200 when the download (synchronization process) of the desired content to the mobile terminal 100 is completed.

(Step S220)
The content management unit 202 receives a synchronization processing completion notification from the designated cache server. If another user does not need the desired content of the designated cache server, the content management unit 202 transmits a content deletion request (hereinafter referred to as a cache deletion request) to the designated cache server.

(Step S230)
When the designated cache server receives a cache deletion request from the agent 200, the designated cache server deletes the desired content.

  The above is the operation method of the content download system when the priority is set to the medium priority in the present embodiment. The agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100 and the location information of the APs 104-1 to n, and transmits the desired content to the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. In addition, the user confirms the position information of the designated AP notified from the agent 200 on the portable terminal 100. In this way, the user can know the designated AP that is close to the user's position and capable of high-speed data communication, moves under the designated AP, and efficiently delivers the content by high-speed data communication. It can be downloaded. In addition, when the user does not want to move under the designated AP, it is possible to change to another content acquisition method by changing the priority.

  When the user is moving, the mobile terminal 100 may transmit an update request for the designated AP to the agent 200 including the current location information of the mobile terminal 100. When the agent 200 receives the update request, the agent 200 may select the designated AP again based on the current location information of the mobile terminal 100. Alternatively, the user may select a designated AP from a number of designated AP candidates. The agent 200 extracts a plurality of designated AP candidates and transmits them to the mobile terminal 100. The user selects one AP as a designated AP from among a plurality of designated AP candidates and inputs the selected AP to the mobile terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 notifies the agent 200 of the designated AP selected by the user. The agent 200 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP notified from the mobile terminal 100, and transmits the desired content to the designated cache server. Such an operation method may be used.

(Operation method for low priority)
Next, in the present embodiment, an operation method when the user selects content acquisition with low priority will be described. FIG. 9 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority is low priority in the present embodiment. In the case of low priority, the mobile terminal 100 selects an appropriate AP 104-1 to n in accordance with the movement of the mobile terminal 100 and downloads the content. In this description, it is assumed that the user has recorded an action schedule in the position information management table 204 in advance.

(Step S300)
The user inputs a content acquisition request to the mobile terminal 100. In this description, it is assumed that the user selects the priority as low priority. When the content acquisition request is input, the mobile terminal 100 includes the current location information and priority of the mobile terminal 100 in the content download request of the desired content, and uses the mobile communication network to send the content to the agent 200. Send. The content download request includes a content server 108 for storing the desired content, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the storage location of the desired content in the content server 108, and the like. The mobile communication network and the Internet 107 transfer the content download request to the agent 200.

(Step S310)
The agent 200 receives the content download request. Based on the content download request, the agent 200 transmits a content download request for the desired content to the content server 108 that stores the desired content.

(Step S320)
The content server 108 receives a content download request from the agent. The content server 108 transmits the desired content to the agent 200. It should be noted that the content acquisition from the content server 108 by the agent 200 is based on the conventional technology, and the description thereof is omitted.

(Step S330)
The agent 200 acquires desired content from the content server 108. The agent 200 determines a content download method to the mobile terminal 100 based on the priority included in the content download request from the mobile terminal 100. In this description, the priority is set to low priority. When the agent 200 determines that the priority is low priority, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100 included in the content download request. The position information management unit 203 determines the designated AP based on the position information of the mobile terminal 100 and the user's action schedule recorded in the position information management table 204.

  Here, FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram when the location information management unit 203 determines the designated AP when the priority in the present embodiment is low priority. Referring to FIG. 10, there are radio areas 120-1 to 120-3 of the base stations 102-1 to 10-3 and radio areas 121-1 to 121-6 of the APs 104-1 to 6. The location information management table 204 records the scheduled travel route 32 from the departure point 30 to the arrival point 31 of the user. The user's planned travel route 32 can be considered as the planned travel route 32 of the mobile terminal 100 as it is. The planned movement path 32 is recorded in the position information management table 204 in advance by the user. In this description, only one planned travel route 32 is shown, but a plurality of planned travel routes 32 are registered. Here, the departure point 30 is, for example, a home, and the arrival point 31 is, for example, a school or a company. As the scheduled movement route 32, a frequently used route such as a commuting route may be registered, or a route that can be used once such as a trip or a business trip may be registered. The planned movement route 32 may be registered by using a map, or may be performed by registering a passing point such as a station or a bus stop on the way.

  The mobile terminal 100 moves through the wireless areas of several APs by moving along the planned movement route 32. In this description, it passes through the wireless areas 121-1, 2 and 6 of the APs 104-1, 2 and 6. The location information management unit 203 determines APs 104-1, 2 and 6 as designated APs. The location information management unit 20 may record the range of the wireless area of the APs 104-1 to APn-n in advance and determine the AP 104-n that provides the wireless area through which the planned movement route 32 passes as the designated AP. Alternatively, an AP whose position information is close to the planned movement route 32 may be selected as the designated AP. In this way, an AP that is not sure to pass through the wireless area can be designated as an AP, and even if the mobile terminal 100 passes under the wireless area of the AP, the content is downloaded. be able to.

  The location information management unit 203 notifies the server determination unit 205 of the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 identifies a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. In this description, the server determination unit 205 determines cache servers 105-1, 2 and 6 (not shown) corresponding to APs 104-1, 2 and 6 which are designated APs as designated cache servers. The server determination unit 205 notifies the content management unit 202 of the designated cache server.

(Step S340)
The content management unit 202 is notified of the designated cache server from the server determination unit 205. The content management unit 202 transmits the desired content to the designated cache server. The designated cache server receives and stores the desired content. When the server determination unit 205 is notified of a plurality of designated cache servers, the content management unit 202 transmits the desired content to each designated cache server.

(Step S350)
The user moves into the wireless area of the designated AP along the scheduled movement route 32.

(Step S360)
When the portable terminal 100 detects that it has entered the wireless area of the designated AP, the portable terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification to the agent 200. When the priority is low priority, the portable terminal 100 does not detect which AP is the designated AP. Therefore, the mobile terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification every time it enters the AP wireless area. The mobile terminal 100 may include the identifier of the designated AP of the wireless area where the mobile terminal 100 currently exists (hereinafter referred to as an arrival designated AP) in the AP arrival notification and transmit it to the agent 200. The agent 200 can determine which of the designated APs has reached the wireless area of the designated AP, based on the identifier of the designated AP.

(Step S370)
The agent 200 receives an AP arrival notification from the mobile terminal 100. By receiving the AP arrival notification, the agent 200 detects that the mobile terminal 100 exists under the wireless area of the arrival designated AP. The synchronization processing management unit 201 transmits a content synchronization request for desired content to a designated cache server corresponding to the arrival designation AP (hereinafter, arrival designation cache server).

(Step S380)
The arrival designation cache server receives the content synchronization request from the agent 200. The arrival designation cache server downloads the stored desired content to the mobile terminal 100 (synchronization processing).

(Step S390)
The portable terminal 100 performs wireless communication with the designated AP and downloads desired content from the designated cache server.

(Step S400)
When the mobile terminal 100 is moving, downloading of desired content may not be completed while passing through one arrival designation AP. If the mobile terminal 100 moves out of the wireless area of the arrival specification AP before the content download is completed, the arrival specification cache server downloads the data of the desired content to the mobile terminal 100 (synchronized). Processing) Information indicating that the processing has been completed (hereinafter, synchronization information) is notified to the agent 200. The synchronization processing management unit 201 of the agent 200 acquires synchronization information from the arrival designation cache server and stores it. By doing in this way, when the portable terminal 100 enters the wireless area of another designated AP next time, it is possible to resume downloading of the desired content from the data portion where the previous download was interrupted. That is, when mobile terminal 100 next moves into the wireless area of another designated AP, AP arrival notification is transmitted to agent 200. The agent 200 receives the AP arrival notification from the mobile terminal 100 again. The synchronization processing management unit 201 specifies the download restart position in the desired content data for the mobile terminal 100 based on the stored synchronization information. The synchronization processing management unit 201 notifies the download restart position to the arrival designation cache server corresponding to the current arrival designation AP. The current arrival designation cache server downloads the desired content from the data portion notified from the agent 200 (synchronization processing). Thus, the content download system repeats step S350 to step S400 until the mobile terminal 100 completes downloading of the desired content.

(Step S410)
When all of the desired content downloads (synchronization processing) to the mobile terminal 100 are completed, the arrival designation cache server transmits a synchronization processing completion notification to the agent 200.

(Step S420)
The content management unit 202 receives a synchronization processing completion notification from the arrival designation cache server. When other users do not need the desired content, the content management unit 202 transmits a content deletion request (hereinafter referred to as a cache deletion request) to all designated cache servers.

(Step S430)
When each designated cache server receives a cache deletion request from the agent 200, it deletes the desired content.

  The above is the operation method of the content download system when the priority is set to low priority in the present embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100 and the planned movement path 32 of the user stored in the location information management table, and sends it to the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. Send the desired content. Each time the portable terminal 100 moves to the wireless area of the designated AP, the portable terminal 100 downloads content from the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. When the download of the desired content is interrupted, the synchronization processing unit 201 stores to what data portion the desired content has been downloaded. When the synchronization processing unit 201 receives the AP arrival notification from the portable terminal 100 again, the synchronization processing unit 201 notifies the arrival designation cache server of the data portion of the desired content to be downloaded again. By doing in this way, the next arrival specification cache server can detect the data part to be downloaded again even when the download of the desired content is interrupted, so that the download to the mobile terminal 100 can be performed efficiently. Can do. In addition, the user can efficiently download desired content using the high-speed wireless access system as he / she moves along the planned travel route 32 registered in advance.

  In the present embodiment, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the planned movement route 32 registered in advance by the user. This may be an operation method for determining a designated AP by predicting a future user, that is, the movement route of the mobile terminal 100 based on the movement route history of the user. In this case, the location information management table 204 of the agent 200 records a travel route history for each portable terminal 100. The location information management unit 203 determines the travel route of the mobile terminal 100 from the present to the future based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100, information such as the current date and time, and the history of the travel route of the mobile terminal 100. I expect. The location information management unit 203 may determine, for example, an AP having a wireless area through which the predicted movement route passes as a designated AP based on the predicted movement route, or has a wireless area close to the predicted movement route. The AP may be determined as the designated AP.

  The above is the description of the operation method of the content download system in the present embodiment.

  Thus, according to the content download system of the first embodiment, it is possible to select a content download method according to priority. When the priority is high priority, the mobile terminal 100 can download using a wide wireless area of the mobile communication network system. When the priority is medium priority, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the location information of the mobile terminal 100 and notifies the mobile terminal 100 of it. The portable terminal 100 can move to the wireless area of the designated AP and download the desired content using the high-speed wireless access system. Further, when the priority is low priority, the agent 200 determines a plurality of designated APs based on the scheduled movement route 32 registered in advance by the user. The mobile terminal 100 downloads content every time it moves to the wireless area of the designated AP. Therefore, it is possible to download the desired content while the user moves along the scheduled movement path 32. If the download of the desired content is not completed while the mobile terminal 100 passes through the wireless area of one designated AP, the agent 200 stores up to the data portion where the download of the desired content is completed. When the mobile terminal 100 moves to the wireless area of the next designated AP, the agent 200 resumes the download from the data portion after the download of the desired content is completed. Therefore, the portable terminal 100 is efficient because it does not download the desired content in duplicate.

  The above is the description of the content download system according to the first embodiment.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the content download system according to the second embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the agent 200 acquires the usage status of each AP based on the communication status between the mobile terminal 100 and the agent 200, and determines the designated AP in consideration of the usage status of the AP.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the content download system in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The configuration of the content download system of this embodiment is almost the same as the configuration of the first embodiment. Therefore, it demonstrates centering on the point which has a difference with 1st Embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content download system in the present embodiment.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the content download system of the present embodiment includes a mobile terminal 100, a network A (hereinafter, NW-A) 101, base stations 102-1 to n, and a network B (hereinafter, NW-). B) 103, access points (hereinafter referred to as APs) 104-1 to 104-n, cache servers 105-1 to 105-n, the Internet 107, content server 108, and agent 200, and further includes a monitoring device 300. . Further, the agent 200 in the present embodiment is different from the configuration in the first embodiment.

  First, the monitoring device 300 will be described. The monitoring device 300 monitors the communication status between the mobile terminal 100 and the agent 200. The monitoring device 300 acquires communication data between the mobile terminal 100 and the agent 200 that are duplicated in the relay device from the relay device that configures the NW-B 103. Based on the communication data, monitoring device 300 totals AP statistical information of APs 104-1 to n. The AP statistical information represents the communication state of each AP. The AP statistical information includes data on the number of mobile terminals 100 accessed by each AP, a used bandwidth, and communication quality. The items included in the AP statistical information are not limited to these items. Other items may be used as long as the data can determine the communication state of the APs 104-1 to AP-n. Further, the monitoring device 300 is not limited to acquiring communication data by data duplication in the relay device, but can also physically acquire communication data by connecting an optical tap to an optical fiber connecting between the relay devices. The AP statistical information may be acquired directly from each AP.

  FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of the monitoring apparatus 300 in the present embodiment. The monitoring apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment includes a data reception unit 301, a data analysis unit 302, an information management unit 303, and an information transmission unit 304.

  The data receiving unit 301 receives the copied communication data from the relay device. The data receiving unit 301 outputs the received communication data to the data analyzing unit 302.

  The data analysis unit 302 analyzes communication data. The data analysis unit 302 extracts the source and destination IP addresses, the port number, the identifier of the portable terminal 100, and the identifier of the AP from the communication data. The data analysis unit 302 outputs the extracted data to the information management unit 303.

  Based on the IP address and port number of the source and destination, the port number, the identifier of the mobile terminal 100, and the identifier of the AP, the information management unit 303 uses the AP information and bandwidth used by each mobile terminal 100 for communication. Detect communication quality. For example, when TCP is used, the communication quality is determined by the number of packet retransmissions. The communication quality determination method can also be determined by acquiring information such as packet transmission delay time and AP failure information. The information management unit 303 outputs the extracted information to the information transmission unit 304.

  The information transmission unit 304 acquires data from the information management unit 303 and totals the number of mobile terminals 100 accessing the AP, the used bandwidth, and the communication quality (hereinafter, AP statistical information). The information transmission unit 304 outputs AP statistical information of each AP to the agent 200. As described above, the agent 200 can acquire the state information of the APs 104-1 to AP-n based on the AP statistical information output by the monitoring apparatus 300. Note that the information transmission unit 304 periodically outputs AP statistical information to the agent 200. The information transmitting unit 304 may output the AP statistical information to the agent 200 at predetermined time intervals, or when a certain threshold is set for the change amount of the AP statistical information and the threshold is exceeded. In addition, AP statistical information may be output to the agent 200.

  Next, the agent 200 will be described. The agent 200 of this embodiment determines a designated cache server based on AP statistical information acquired from the monitoring device 300.

  FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the present embodiment. Each function of the agent 200 of this embodiment is realized by the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. As in the first embodiment, the agent 200 includes a synchronization processing management unit 201, a content management unit 202, a location information management unit 203, a location information management table 204, a server determination unit 205, and a communication processing unit 206. And a line quality management unit 207 and a control communication unit 208.

  The control communication unit 208 receives AP statistical information transmitted by the information transmission unit 304 of the monitoring device 300. The control communication unit 208 outputs the AP statistical information to the line quality management unit 207.

  The line quality management unit 207 stores AP statistical information for each of the APs 104-1 to n.

  When determining the designated cache server from among the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n, the server determination unit 205 of the present embodiment performs determination based on the AP statistical information stored in the line quality management unit 207. In the AP statistical information, the server determination unit 205 of the present embodiment sets a threshold for the number of mobile terminals 100 accessing the designated AP, the used bandwidth, and the communication quality. For example, when the number of mobile terminals 100 accessing the designated AP is equal to or greater than a certain threshold, the server determination unit 205 excludes the designated AP from the designated AP. This is because APs accessed by the mobile terminal 100 by a number equal to or greater than a certain threshold are considered to have poor communication transfer efficiency. Alternatively, if the number of TCP retransmission packets is equal to or greater than a certain threshold in the communication quality of the designated AP, the server determination unit 205 excludes the designated AP from the designated AP. The reason why the number of TCP packet retransmissions exceeds a certain threshold value is that there are many packet losses and the communication quality of the designated AP is considered low. Thus, the server determination unit 205 determines whether or not to exclude the designated AP from the target based on the AP statistical information. Note that the determination performed by the server determination unit 205 is not limited to the above. For example, the determination may be performed by setting a certain threshold for the use band of the designated AP, or the AP statistical information indicates an AP failure. When the information is included, the determination may be made so as to remove the AP having a failure from the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 determines whether or not the designated AP is targeted, and determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP that is targeted.

  The above is the description of the configuration of the content download system in the present embodiment. In addition, since it is the same as that of 1st Embodiment about the structure except having mentioned above, description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Description of operation method]
Next, an operation method of the content download system according to the present embodiment will be described. The operation method of the content download system of this embodiment is almost the same as the operation method of the first embodiment. For this reason, the operation method will be described focusing on the differences from the first embodiment.

  In the operation method of the content download system according to the present embodiment, the server determination unit 205 stores the line quality management unit 207 in step S130 described with reference to FIG. 7 and step S330 described with reference to FIG. Based on the AP statistical information, an operation for determining whether or not the designated AP is targeted is added. In this description, it is assumed that the line management unit 207 of the agent 200 has received and stored AP statistical information from the information transmission unit 304 of the monitoring apparatus 300 in advance.

  In step S <b> 130 and step S <b> 330 of the present embodiment, the server determination unit 205 inputs a designated AP from the location information management unit 203. The server determination unit 205 inquires the line quality management unit 207 about AP statistical information of the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 determines whether or not the designated AP is targeted based on the AP statistical information of the designated AP acquired from the line quality management unit 203. When the server determination unit 205 determines to exclude the designated AP from the target, the server determination unit 205 removes the designated AP from the target. The server determination unit 205 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the target designated AP. The server determination unit 205 outputs the designated cache server to the content management unit 202.

  The above is the description of the operation method of the content download system of the present embodiment. Note that the operation methods other than those described above are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  Thus, according to the content download system of the second embodiment, the monitoring apparatus 300 aggregates AP statistical information and transmits it to the agent 200. The agent 200 determines whether or not to target the designated AP based on the AP statistical information, and determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. With this configuration, the agent 200 can determine the designated AP according to the AP usage state. Therefore, the mobile terminal 100 can download content using an AP in good condition.

  The above is the description of the content download system of the second embodiment.

  So far, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

  In addition, this application claims the priority based on the Japanese application number 2008-225173 on September 2, 2008, and the disclosed content in the Japanese application number 2008-225173 is incorporated in this application by reference.

Claims (23)

A first wireless communication network that configures a first wireless area and performs communication at a first communication speed;
A second wireless communication network that configures a second wireless area that is narrower than the first wireless area and performs communication at a second communication speed that is faster than the first communication speed;
The second wireless communication network is
An access point constituting the second wireless area;
A cache server installed corresponding to the access point and temporarily storing content;
A content server for storing the content;
A portable terminal that transmits a download request for the content including the current location information via the first wireless communication network;
An agent that records the location information of the access point and the cache server corresponding to the access point for each access point;
When the agent receives the download request, the agent acquires the content from the content server, and based on the location information of the mobile terminal and the location information of the access point included in the download request, Determining a designated access point from the cache server, identifying a designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point from the cache servers, and caching the content to the designated cache server,
The mobile terminal moves into a wireless area of the designated access point,
The designated cache server transmits a content to the portable terminal via the designated access point when the portable terminal moves into a wireless area of the designated access point. A content download system according to claim 1,
When the agent caches the content in the designated cache server, the agent notifies the mobile terminal of location information of the designated access point. A content download system according to claim 2,
When detecting that the mobile terminal has moved into the wireless area of the designated access point, the mobile terminal transmits a notification of arrival in the wireless area of the designated access point to the agent,
When the agent receives the notification of arrival, the agent transmits a synchronization command for the content to the designated cache server,
When the cache server receives the synchronization command, the cache server transmits the content to the mobile terminal. A content download system according to claim 3,
The agent determines the access point closest to the mobile phone terminal as the designated access point based on the location information of the mobile phone terminal and the location information of the access point. A content download system according to claim 1,
The agent stores a planned movement route for the mobile terminal to move, and determines a plurality of designated access points from the access points based on the location information of the access point and the planned movement route, Identifying a plurality of designated cache servers corresponding to each of the plurality of designated access points from the cache server, and caching the content to each of the plurality of designated cache servers,
The mobile phone moves into a wireless area of the arrival designated access point among the plurality of designated access points,
Among the plurality of designated cache servers, the arrival designation cache server corresponding to the arrival designation access point is moved via the arrival designation access point when the mobile phone terminal moves into the wireless area of the arrival designation access point. A content download system for transmitting content to the mobile terminal. A content download system according to claim 5,
Each time the mobile terminal moves to a different wireless area of the access point, it sends an arrival notification to the agent,
When the agent receives the arrival notification, if the access point constituting the wireless area to which the mobile terminal has moved is one of the plurality of designated access points, the agent designates the designated access point as the arrival designation. Notify the content synchronization instruction to the arrival designation cache server corresponding to the arrival designation access point as an access point,
When the arrival designation cache server receives the synchronization command, the arrival designation cache server transmits the content to the mobile terminal via the arrival designation access point. The content download system according to claim 6,
The content download system, wherein the agent determines the access points close to the planned travel route as a plurality of designated access points based on the location information of the access point and the planned travel route. A content download system according to claim 7,
If each of the designated cache servers does not complete downloading of the content before the mobile terminal moves from the wireless area of the designated access point corresponding to the designated cache server to the outside of the wireless area, The data part of the downloaded data is notified to the agent,
When the mobile terminal moves into the wireless area of another arrival designation access point, the agent notifies the other arrival designation cache server corresponding to the other arrival designation access point of the data portion,
The other arrival designation cache server determines a download restart position of the content based on the data portion, and transmits the content from the download resume position to the mobile terminal via the arrival designation access point. Content download system. A content download system according to claim 8,
The content download system, wherein the agent records a travel route history of the mobile terminal and stores the planned travel route predicted based on the history. A content download system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein
A monitoring device that further aggregates AP statistical information indicating a communication state of the access point for each access point;
The content download system, wherein the agent determines, as the designated access point, an access point having a good communication state among the designated access points based on the AP statistical information collected by the monitoring device. A content download system according to claim 10,
The content download system, wherein the AP statistical information is communication quality based on the number of mobile terminals accessing the access point, a used bandwidth, and the number of retransmissions of TCP packets.   An agent used in the content download system according to any one of claims 1 to 11. A first wireless communication network that configures a first wireless area and performs communication at a first communication speed;
A second wireless communication network that configures a second wireless area that is narrower than the first wireless area and performs communication at a second communication speed that is faster than the first communication speed;
In a content download system comprising a mobile terminal, an agent, and a content server,
The second wireless communication network is
An access point constituting the second wireless area;
A cache server installed corresponding to the access point and temporarily storing content,
Storing the content;
Transmitting a download request for the content including the current location information via the first wireless communication network;
Recording the location information of the access point and the cache server corresponding to the access point in association with each access point;
Receiving the download request from the content server upon receiving the download request;
Determining a designated access point from the access points based on the location information of the mobile terminal and the location information of the access point included in the download request;
Identifying a designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point from the cache servers;
Caching the content to the designated cache server;
Moving into a wireless area of the designated access point;
A content download method comprising: transmitting the content to the mobile terminal via the designated access point when the mobile terminal moves into a wireless area of the designated access point. A content download method according to claim 13,
The content download method further comprising the step of notifying the portable terminal of location information of the designated access point when the content is cached in the designated cache server. The content download method according to claim 14, wherein the step of transmitting the content to the mobile terminal includes:
When detecting that the designated access point has moved into the wireless area of the designated access point, a notification of reaching the wireless area of the designated access point to the agent;
Receiving the arrival notification, transmitting the content synchronization command to the designated cache server;
And a step of transmitting the content to the mobile terminal when the synchronization command is received. The content download method according to claim 15, wherein the step of determining the designated access point includes:
A content download method comprising: determining, based on the location information of the mobile phone terminal and the location information of the access point, the access point closest to the mobile phone terminal as the designated access point. A content download method according to claim 13,
Further comprising the step of storing a scheduled travel route of the mobile terminal to be moved,
Determining the designated access point comprises:
Determining a plurality of designated access points from among the access points based on the location information of the access points and the planned travel route,
Identifying the designated cache server comprises:
Identifying a plurality of designated cache servers corresponding to each of the plurality of designated access points from the cache server,
Caching the content comprises:
Caching the content to each of the plurality of designated cache servers;
The moving step includes
Moving into the wireless area of the arrival designated access point of the plurality of designated access points,
The step of transmitting the content to the mobile terminal includes:
A content download method including a step of transmitting the content to the portable terminal via the arrival designated access point when the portable terminal moves into a wireless area of the arrival designated access point. The content download method according to claim 17, wherein the step of transmitting the content to the mobile terminal via each designated access point includes:
Sending an arrival notification to the agent each time it detects that it has moved to a wireless area of a different access point;
If the access point that constitutes the wireless area to which the identifier has moved when receiving the arrival notification is one of the plurality of designated access points, the arrival point is designated as the arrival designated access point. Notifying the synchronization instruction of the content to the arrival specified cache server corresponding to the specified access point;
Receiving the synchronization command, and transmitting the content to the mobile terminal via the arrival-designated access point. The content download method according to claim 18, wherein the step of determining the plurality of designated access points comprises:
A content download method comprising: determining, as a plurality of designated access points, the access point that is close to the planned travel route based on the location information of the access point and the planned travel route. A content download method according to claim 19,
If the download of the content is not completed before the mobile terminal moves from the wireless area of each designated access point corresponding to each designated cache server to the outside of the wireless area, the downloaded data of the content is completed Notifying the agent of the part;
When the mobile terminal moves into a wireless area of another arrival designation access point, notifying the data portion to another arrival designation cache server corresponding to the other arrival designation access point;
Determining a download resumption position of the content based on the data portion; and transmitting the content from the download resumption position to the mobile terminal via the arrival designation access point. . The content download method according to claim 20, wherein the step of storing the planned travel route includes:
Recording a history of the travel route of the mobile terminal;
A content download method including the step of storing the planned travel route predicted based on the history. A content download method according to any one of claims 13 to 21, comprising:
Further comprising the step of aggregating AP statistical information indicating the communication state of the access point for each access point;
Determining the designated access point comprises:
A content download method comprising: determining, as the designated access point, an access point having a good communication state among the designated access points based on the AP statistical information collected by the monitoring device. A content downloading method according to claim 22,
The content downloading method, wherein the AP statistical information is communication quality based on the number of the mobile terminals accessing the access point, a used bandwidth, and the number of TCP packet retransmissions.

Images