KR100236973B1 - Service guide apparatus and its operation method - Google Patents

Abstract

1. TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a service guidance relay device and its operation method.

2. The technical problem to be solved by the invention

The present invention is configured to be located in the same location as the proxy (Proxy) server to manage the service user and server information to provide a service guide relay device for providing all types of services provided by the registered server to the registered user and its operation To provide a way.

3. Summary of Solution to Invention

The present invention is to install a centralized service guide relay server so that users can use the server to provide individual services as a single window, the user and the server both register their related information in a predetermined format, the service guide The relay server aggregates each piece of information and, if necessary, converts the application tools and protocols to the user terminal and downloads them or executes them in the middle, and provides the service by converting them in the middle. .

4. Important uses of the invention

The present invention is used in the technology for providing individual services in the Internet-based service.

Description

Service guide relay device and its operation method

The present invention relates to a service guide relay device and a method of operating the same, which provides a more convenient service to a user through a single window by centralizing various types of information services (for example, multimedia applications). The service guide relay device and its operation method which allow the user to provide all the registered services through a single window by centrally managing the services for the individual service provision method using the Internet-based service.

The present invention can be applied to and installed in a proxy server or firewall location of a local network in a manner of centrally managing services providing individual services in an internet based service.

In general, most services based on the Internet are a common service providing method that can be serviced in a browser installed by a user when selecting a service using the Plug and Play function of the Internet. Such services use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) of the Internet, which is suitable for plain text or data files but is often unsuitable for video-related services that require large size and high bandwidth.

In order to solve such a problem, there have been many ways to provide individual services using its own protocols and application tools. However, in order to receive these services, users have to install the protocols and application tools directly by accessing the servers that provide the individual services, and when various servers exist, all of them must be installed individually. It was.

Therefore, in order to install the centralized service guide relay server and provide the individual services with a single window, the user and the server both register their related information in a predetermined format. In the case where application information and protocol conversion are needed by combining each information, it should be downloaded and executed on the user terminal or converted in the middle to provide a service. To this end, it is essential to have the technology to find relevant application tools by combining relevant information and to relay the necessary information.

The present invention devised to meet the needs as described above is to provide all services registered through a single window to the user by centrally managing services for the individual service providing method using a common service providing method as an Internet-based service. Its purpose is to provide a service guidance relay device and its operation method. In particular, the service guidance relay device and its operation method for providing all types of services provided by the registered server to registered users by centrally managing the service user and server information by configuring to be located in the same location as the proxy server The purpose is to provide.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication network to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a service guidance relay device according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for operating a service guidance relay device according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a detailed flowchart of an embodiment of a user registration process of the operation method of the service guide relay apparatus according to the present invention.

5 is a detailed flowchart of an embodiment of a user registration process in a method of operating a service guide relay device according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a detailed flowchart of an embodiment of a service using process of the operation method of the service guide relay apparatus according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

200: service guide relay server 201: user

202: video server 203: user registration device

204: server registration device 205: service search device

206: information management device 207: application providing device

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a relay device for providing various services provided by a server to a user terminal, wherein the user terminal is connected to the user terminal and receives user information necessary for the relay device from the user terminal. First registration means for registering in accordance with the procedure of; Second registration means connected to the server to register respective servers and to register services provided by the registered corresponding server according to a second predetermined procedure; Information management means for managing information registered in the first and second registration means in accordance with the first and second predetermined procedures; Information retrieval means for providing an environment in which retrieval target information can be retrieved according to a request of the user terminal, and retrieving the retrieval target information desired by a user from the information management means and serving the user terminal; And register and manage individual application tools and protocols provided by the server, and require a special application to provide a service. If the download is available, the application is downloaded to the user terminal to allow the user to directly perform the application. Characterized in that it comprises an application providing means for providing a service by placing a relay function.

In addition, the present invention provides a method for operating a relay device for providing various services provided by a server to a user terminal, comprising: providing a user registration, server registration-related menu, service use menu to the user terminal through a main menu screen; Stage 1; In the user registration related menu window, after registering user information when selecting initial user registration, a user identifier and password are assigned to the user, and when the user information is changed or deleted, the user ID and password are authenticated according to the authentication result. A second step of changing and deleting the user information; In the server registration related menu window, after registering the server information when selecting the first server registration, a server identifier and password are assigned to a user, and when the server information is changed or deleted, the server identifier and password are authenticated according to the authentication result. Changing and deleting the server information, and registering a service provided by the registered server according to an individual and public service registration method; And in the service use menu window, authenticate the user when the user uses the service, collect service-related information and user-related information when selecting the registered user's information, and check whether or not the service is possible. And a fourth step of providing a registered service according to the open service registration method.

The present invention provides a more comfortable service to a user through a centralized service by centralizing services that are widely distributed. When a heterogeneous environment is generated by registering a service environment of an information provider and a user instead of simply connecting information providers. This is done by the relay server.

In general, a method of providing a service to a user includes a common service providing method through common protocols and procedures, and an individual service providing method through a predetermined protocol or application tool between the service provider and the user.

However, in the case of an individual service providing method, a user may know an access method to application tools and protocols provided by service providers and receive a service through related functions. To this end, since the user is provided, all the access methods for the service providers of the service must be known and the corresponding function must be handled by the user terminal.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a relay server function in the centralized service guidance function so that a user can receive a service through a single window rather than an individual access of the service provider, and the service provider also uses his or her own protocol and application tools. It is possible to provide convenience of service provision by registering to the service guide relay server instead of providing each time.

Accordingly, the present invention may provide a service of any type provided by a registered server to a registered user by configuring a service guide relay server at a location such as a proxy server to centrally manage user and server information.

In the present invention, a common service providing method is an Internet-based service, and as an exemplary individual service provided, a video on demand (VOD) service is shown as an embodiment.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication network to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network to which the present invention is applied includes a user area 100 and a server area 101, and a service guide relay server 102 for relaying them.

The user area 100 shows an area where the users 103 are located, and is accessible to the service guidance relay server 102 of the present invention and includes all video servers 104 registered by a defined registration procedure.

The service guidance relay server 102 according to the present invention can be provided at any location, but is configured at a proxy server location of an intranet having a guaranteed bandwidth in order to provide a quality service to a user.

A proxy server is an HTTP server running on a firewall device that allows users within the firewall to access the external network, and maintains the information serviced in the device by using caching. When a request for the service occurs again, the service is provided immediately.

Here, the reason why the service announcement relay server 102 exists in this position is to limit the bandwidth problem occurring when connecting to the remote servers only on the server side and not to consider this from the user side.

2 is a configuration diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a service guide relay device according to the present invention, which centrally manages user and server information and provides a service guide relay server 200 to provide a registered user with all types of services provided by a registered server. ).

As shown in FIG. 2, the service guidance relay server 200 according to the present invention is connected to the user terminal 201 and receives user information necessary for the service guidance relay server 200 from the user terminal 201. A user registration device 203 for registering according to a registration procedure, and a server registration device 204 for registering respective servers connected to the server 202 and registering information provided by a registered corresponding server according to a registration procedure. And an information management device 206 for managing the registered information according to the registration procedure, and an environment in which the search target information can be searched according to a request of the user terminal 201, and the search target information desired by the user. Service management device 205 to search for information management device 206 and provide it to user terminal 201 and individual application tools and protocols provided by server 202, and to manage and provide services. In this case, a special application is required, and the application providing apparatus 207 is provided to download to the user terminal 201 when the download is possible, so that the user can perform the application directly, and to provide a service by providing a relay function when it is impossible.

The user registration device 203 inputs necessary information from the service guide relay server 200 and performs a registration procedure (208). In this case, as necessary information, enter the user's name, social security number, credit card number, and the like. In addition, since the application tool necessary for providing a service can be extracted by knowing the characteristics of the user terminal, the configuration of the user terminal and support for service enablement are input. In addition, the terminal information includes video related playback capabilities, installed protocols and application tools.

The server registration device 204 performs registration with respect to each of the servers 202 and registration of services provided by each server 202 in the same manner as in the user registration device 203 (209). In this case, the server registration information includes an address of the server 202, information of an administrator, a location of a service providing file, and the like, and a service registration method is input to search for a service of a registered server 202. Here, in the service registration method, the server administrator separately registers the corresponding service according to the menu of the service guide relay server 200 and prepares a catalog file to retrieve the corresponding catalog file at a specific time from the service guide relay server 200. If there is a change, there is an open service registration method that reflects immediately.

The service retrieval apparatus 205 provides a service retrieval method according to the user's request 210 so that the service retrieval unit 205 can search for each field, cumulative number, and person. In this case, the services to be searched refer to a service 214 registered by the individual service registration and disclosure service registration procedures as described above.

The information management device 206 manages all the information input by the registration procedure, configures a database for this purpose, and extracts and provides appropriate information to the service retrieval device 205 or related device when requested.

The application providing device 207 registers and manages individual application tools and protocols provided by the server 202, and downloads them to the user as necessary or downloads (213) or directly engages in the service guide relay server 200 to provide a service. To be able. The necessity of such an application tool is determined by combining the user information and the service related information in the service retrieval apparatus 205, and is executed by requesting the application providing apparatus 207 if necessary (212).

3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for operating a service guide relay device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main menu screen of the service guide relay server 200 includes a registration related menu, a service using menu, and a help using menu.

The registration related procedure 300 is divided into a user and a server according to the registration target (301).

First, in case of user registration, if you input all the necessary information for the first time registration, you are assigned a unique identifier password.In case of change and deletion, you can access the information through the assigned identifier and password to change information or cancel user registration itself. There is (302).

On the other hand, in the case of server registration, only the related information entered in the procedure and the user registration is different. In this case, the service registration method must also be specified. In the case of the individual service registration method, the service guide relay server 200 is accessed according to the registration related procedure to separately register the related services, and in the case of the open service registration method, only the server If registered, the service guide relay server 200 searches for the relevant catalog file in the registered server and automatically registers the service. Therefore, a separate registration procedure for the service is not necessary. When the service item to be provided is changed, it is reflected in the promised catalog file. (304, 305).

Now, a procedure using the registered information will be described.

The service usage menu 306 verifies that the user is a valid user when there is a service usage request (307), selects a service title (308), generates a support tool (309), and then starts the service (310). After the use is terminated service (311).

The help usage menu 312 may select and view a necessary item for each item (313), which depends on the help providing method used in most systems. The above procedure is continued on the main menu screen until the service guidance relay server 200 is terminated.

4 is a detailed flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a server registration process in a method of operating a service guide relay device according to the present invention.

As shown in Figure 4, the server registration process of the operation method of the service guide relay server 200 according to the present invention, by first analyzing the registration target in the server registration initial screen (400), and the server according to the registration target You will be switched to the service registration screen.

As a result of the analysis, the server checks whether it is the first registration (401), and when registering for the first time, inputs relevant information and performs a registration procedure. In other words, enter the server address (IP address) and administrator's information (e-mail address) (402), and use this information to monitor the server's status, etc. A method of registering services is selected (403).

Here, in the case of the individual registration method, the service registration from the initial server registration screen to access the service registration, and in the case of the public registration method, the service guidance relay server 200 to access the file by entering the location of the catalog file To be able.

When the predetermined items are all entered, a registration request is made (404), and the service guide relay server 200 assigns a unique identifier to the server for which registration is requested, receives a password, and confirms registration from the administrator of the server (405).

The service guide relay server 200 stores the input information through the information management device 306.

If the test result is not registered for the first time, it means access for change or deletion. First, the user receives the assigned identifier and password (406) and verifies (407). It moves to the initial screen and allows the user to input again if the password is incorrect (408). In this case, if the identifier and the password match, it receives the desired operation and transitions to the corresponding function (409).

In this case, when the input operation is a deletion, the deletion request is made to the service guidance relay server 200 (410), and the information management device 206 of the service guidance relay server 200 provides a service and an application related to the server and the server. The providing device and the like are deleted (411).

When the input operation is a change, the information management device 206 of the service guide relay server 200 may display related information of the corresponding server to change the item to be changed, that is, enter the change item. If a change request is made later (412) (413), the information management device 206 of the service guidance relay server 200 reflects it (414). At this time, the item that may affect the registration service is not changeable.

Meanwhile, in the server registration screen, access to the service registration procedure may be performed by a server in which a service registration method is set as an individual registration method. To verify this, the server is verified whether the server is registered through the identifier and the password of the server (415,416). In this case, if the server is not registered, the screen transitions to the initial screen of the registration procedure. If the server is registered, the title of the service to be registered, the location of the service providing file, and the service type are input (417).

When the individual service providing method is required, the corresponding application tool is input (418), and the service guide relay server 200 can use the service tool if necessary by inputting the location of the application tool.

Finally, the information management device 206 of the service guide relay server 200 reflects the service requested to be registered and displays the related information again to allow the administrator to confirm it (419, 420).

FIG. 5 is a detailed flowchart illustrating a user registration process in a method of operating a service guidance relay device according to the present invention, and shows a flow similar to that of a server registration method.

As shown in FIG. 5, the user registration process in the operation method of the service guidance relay server 200 according to the present invention first analyzes whether user registration is first (501).

As a result of the analysis, when the user registration is the first registration, personal information is input (502). At this time, the input information is personal details, tastes and credit card numbers. Here, the credit card number is configured for future commercial services.

Thereafter, the personality information of the terminal used by the user is input together with the personal identification information (503). In this case, since the terminal characteristics may be very diverse, the terminals that can be provided by the service guide relay server 200 are divided into specific groups and displayed to the user. At this time, the user selects one of the displayed groups, and if the terminal is not displayed, registration is denied. In addition to the terminal group, additional terminal characteristics include a terminal operating system, service-related resources, and installed protocols. Service-related resources include whether to own a video decoding function or whether to own a stream protocol supporting application tool, and input information in case the related application tool or resource is insufficient.

If a registration request is made after all items have been entered (504), the registration process is completed by assigning a user identifier and a password (505). The user must reflect this when changing his or her environment or image, so the change and delete function is called.

As a result of the analysis, the user is not registered for the first time but is a registered user in the case of change and deletion, so that the user can access the corresponding function after verifying the registration (506) through the assigned identifier and password (506). In this case, the non-registered user is moved to the initial registration screen, and if the password is inconsistent, the identifier and the password are input again. On the other hand, in the case of a registered user, access is allowed (509), in the case of deletion, the corresponding user information is deleted (510, 511), and in the case of a change, a changeable item is displayed to be changed (512 to 514).

6 is a detailed flowchart illustrating a service using process in an operation method of a service guide relay device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the service using process of the service guide relay apparatus operating method according to the present invention first determines whether the user is registered through the user verification step 601 through the assigned identifier and password ( 602).

As a result of the determination, after the unregistered user is notified of the service unavailable and notified to perform the registration procedure (603), the user moves to the main menu screen.

As a result of the determination, in the case of the registered user, the service is selected through the verification step (604). This means a service that can be provided by the service guide relay server 200 and assumes VOD as a representative service.

Selecting a service 604 displays means for retrieving titles for the related service. The basic search method provides a method of searching for titles in the order of registration, and provides various search methods by field, main character, and popularity according to a user's taste (605).

When the titles are displayed through the selected search method and one of the displayed titles is selected (606), the service-related information and the user-related information are collected (607) to determine whether the service is possible without the intermediate media function (608).

As a result of the determination, if the service is available, the service can be started immediately (609, 610).

As a result of determination, if the user environment does not receive the service of the selected title, the service application tool is searched (611) to check whether it is supported (612). Here, the service application tool registers the application tools necessary for registering the service together. These are managed by the application providing device 207 of the guide relay server 200.

As a result, if the application tool is operable in the user environment, after generating the support tool (614), the environment is set through the download or the relay method (615 to 618).

As a result of the check, if it is impossible to provide the application tool in the user environment, the user is notified of this (613), and another service item is selected.

In the above process, if the application tool available to the user is selected, the relevant function should be installed (614). In this case, if the download is necessary, the service guide relay server 200 or an application tool having the registered server is downloaded and installed in the user terminal, and the user waits until the service waits (615 to 617). On the other hand, if downloading is not possible, the service guide relay server 200 generates relevant relay information in order to perform the relay server function (618) to start the service (609). Possible relays include format conversion, protocol conversion, and buffer management.

As described above, the present invention can provide services to registered users through a window through various services of registered servers, and can provide a basic structure for expanding a service area by continuously adding necessary functions. . In particular, it is possible to provide a customized service between the service provider and the user by maintaining a variety of registration information, it is possible to provide a more efficient way to the user environment by adding a relay function rather than a simple application download.

As described above, the present invention can be variously substituted, modified, and changed without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is not limited.

As described above, the present invention can provide a service to a user regardless of the role of a uniform window and a type of service for an individual service providing method (a method of providing a service content, an application, and a user environment are different) in a multimedia environment. It works.

Claims (2)

A relay device for providing various services provided by a server to a user terminal, comprising: a first registration connected to the user terminal to receive user information necessary for the relay device from the user terminal and to register according to a first predetermined procedure; Way; Second registration means connected to the server to register respective servers and to register services provided by the registered corresponding server according to a second predetermined procedure; Information management means for managing information registered in the first and second registration means in accordance with the first and second predetermined procedures; Information retrieval means for providing an environment in which retrieval target information can be retrieved according to a request of the user terminal, and retrieving the retrieval target information desired by a user from the information management means and serving the user terminal; And register and manage individual application tools and protocols provided by the server, and require a special application to provide a service. If the download is available, the application is downloaded to the user terminal to allow the user to directly perform the application. Service guidance relay device comprising an application providing means for providing a service by providing a relay function. A method of operating a relay apparatus that provides various services provided by a server to a user terminal, the method comprising: a first step of providing a user registration and servo registration related menu and a service use menu to the user terminal through a main menu screen; In the user registration related menu window, after registering user information when selecting initial user registration, a user identifier and password are assigned to the user, and when the user information is changed or deleted, the user ID and password are authenticated according to the authentication result. A second step of changing and deleting the user information; In the server registration related menu window, after registering the server information when selecting the first server registration, a server identifier and password are assigned to a user, and when the server information is changed or deleted, the server identifier and password are authenticated according to the authentication result. Changing and deleting the server information, and registering a service provided by the registered server according to an individual and public service registration method; And in the service use menu window, authenticate the user when the user uses the service, collect service-related information and user-related information when selecting the registered user's information, and check whether or not the service is possible. And a fourth step of providing a registered service according to the open service registration method.