KR100596398B1 - Method for providing multi-service at open platform based gateway and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a method and system for providing a multi-service on a gateway based on an open platform. The home gateway provides a service to a service user through the application after receiving an application program for performing a service and is provided at the service user side. The service manager registers a home gateway, registers service information from at least one service provider, and transmits an application program for performing a service requested from the service user among the registered service information to the home gateway. This makes it easy to provide new and diverse services without changing or reinstalling the home gateway.

Open platform, home gateways, applications

Description

Method for providing multi-service on open platform based gateway and system therefor {Method for providing multi-service at open platform based gateway and system therefor}

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a multi-service providing system according to the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process of registering a home gateway in a service management system according to the present invention;

3 and 5 are views illustrating a process of providing a service requested by a user in a service management system according to the present invention;

4 and 6 are diagrams illustrating a method of remotely managing a home gateway by a service management system according to the present invention;

7 is a diagram illustrating the structure of an open home network;

8 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a digital home service management system;

9 is a diagram illustrating a method of providing a VoD service;

10 is a diagram illustrating a flow of providing a home viewer service;

11 illustrates a flow of providing a remote management service;

12 is a view illustrating a flow of providing a telemedicine service, and

13 is a diagram illustrating an RSH protocol.

The present invention relates to a multi-service providing method and a system thereof, and more particularly, to a method and a system for providing various services using a remote management system on an open platform-based home gateway operating on a network.

Recently, as interest in home networks has increased, how to integrate and deliver various services available on the conventional Internet has become an important discussion point. For example, looking at home services that are currently being serviced, VoD gives users a lot of inconvenience because different service providers use different codecs and players. Users need to subscribe to different service providers, and download and install different players according to such providers. If a conflict occurs during the installation process, it is difficult to find a solution.

Standardization may be the first solution to this problem, but it may be an obstacle to service providers' differentiated service provision, and it takes a lot of time for consensus points based on many investigation periods and various interests. The second solution is to utilize a large Internet Service Provider (ISP). In large ISPs, for each subscribing user, all services are provided according to their standards. This is an easy way to achieve service integration, but the service contracted with a specific operator is not available to users who do not subscribe to such ISP provider.

The last possible way is to use an open structure. As many networks, including backbone networks, are now open-minded, they can be used to deliver services from various service providers on an open platform.

In the case of services provided through the conventional home gateway, only services that were initially determined to be provided on the gateway are provided, and when a new service is to be provided, it is inconvenient to upload a new program or use a new gateway. There is a ham.

In addition, when a problem occurs in a conventional home gateway, there is an inconvenience that a professional A / S engineer must travel to support it. In order to eliminate this inconvenience, a company that wants to provide a new service is developing a device that is used for the service and developing methods to remotely manage it.

However, more and more devices are controlled through a conventional home gateway, and problems such as system conflicts arise when each service provider performs remote management of the devices.

In addition, one service provider providing all services while managing a home gateway has a problem in that it is difficult to accommodate various services that will continue to occur in the future.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to remove the inconvenience caused by the installation of each application for the installation of the home gateway and the service for each service provider in the past, a number of service providers provide a service easily and the role of the service provider To provide a multi-service providing method and system for maximizing the user's convenience by minimizing.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, an embodiment of a multi-service providing method according to the present invention includes: (a) registering a home gateway based on an open platform provided at a service user side; (b) registering service information from at least one service provider; (c) transmitting, to the home gateway, an application program for performing a service received from the service user among the registered service information; And (d) providing a service to the service user through an application program of the home gateway.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, an embodiment of a multi-service providing system according to the present invention is provided to the service user who provides a service to a service user through the application after receiving an application for performing a service. A home gateway provided; And a service manager that registers the home gateway, receives service information from at least one service provider, and transmits an application program for performing a service received from the service user among the registered service information to the home gateway. Include.

This makes it easy to provide new and diverse services without changing or reinstalling the home gateway.

Hereinafter, a method and a system for providing a multi-service according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram showing the structure of a multi-service providing system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the multi-service providing system includes a service provider 100, a service management system 110, a home gateway 120, and a service user 130.

The service provider 100 is a VoD (Video on Demnad) service that delivers content (video) to the home, a home viewer service that is a kind of service related to home security, and a remote that can control various home devices outside the home. Provide control services or telemedicine services. In addition, the service provider may provide various services using the home network.

The service management system 110 registers services of the home gateway 120 and the service provider 100. Since the service management system 110 is connected to the service user 130 and the service provider 100 through a network, the service management system 110 may be easily registered through a web page.

First, a case in which the home gateway 120 is registered will be described.

The service management system 110 receives a registration request from the service user 130 having a home gateway based on an open platform through online or offline. The service management system 110 receives the personal information of the service user, and approves the registration if it is determined that the user has no problem using the service based on the personal credit information of the service user. The personal information includes home gateway 120 information on the service user 130 side.

In addition, the home gateway 120 initializes when an operation is started by the service user 130. In addition, after the service user 130 is approved to register with the service management system 110, the home gateway 120 transmits and registers management information including its location information and a network address to the service management system 110. do. This management information includes information necessary for the service management system 110 to manage the home gateway 120 remotely through a network.

When the service management system 110 receives the management information from the home gateway 120, the service management system 110 determines whether it is a legitimate home gateway on the service user side based on the information registered from the service user 130 and the management information. If it is a legitimate home gateway, the service management system 110 transmits and installs an application for home gateway management (hereinafter, referred to as a “management bundle”) to the home gateway 120.

At this time, the home gateway 120 is based on an open platform and an application program (hereinafter referred to as a "bundle") is installed according to a predetermined protocol on the open platform. After installing the management bundle in the home gateway, the service management system 110 remotely manages the home gateway 120 while sending and receiving messages through the installed management bundle.

The home gateway 120 uses an open platform because the bundle of the services that can provide the service and control the service on the gateway must be configured according to a predetermined standard. Bundles are a collection of drivers for devices that need to be serviced and programs needed to run them, so service providers only need to develop applications (bundles) for the open platform according to the services they want to provide. The developed bundle runs on an open platform, so it can provide developed services on any home gateway on which the open platform runs.

Next, a case in which the service of the service provider 100 is registered will be described.

The service management system 110 registers service information to be provided by at least one service provider. In addition, the service management system 110 registers an application program (hereinafter, referred to as a "service bundle") for providing a service from each service provider. The service management system 110 verifies that the registered service bundle is operating normally on the open platform. After the verification is completed, the service management system 110 advertises the service information to the service user 130 through a web page.

In the above, the service registration of the service user 130 and the service provider 100 has been described. Hereinafter, the service providing process according to the service application of the service user 130 will be described.

The service user 130 selects and applies for a service to be serviced from service information provided by the service management system 110. Then, the service management system 110 transmits and installs a bundle for a service for performing the requested service to the home gateway 120 of the service user. The service bundle for performing a service includes a driver and a function suitable for a system of a service user, and operates on an open platform of the home gateway 120.

The service requested by the service user 130 is provided to the service user 130 through the service bundle of the home gateway 120.

In the conventional method of providing a service, it is difficult to apply a new service and to support a new device because a portal site is constructed for each service and operated only by a program on a designated gateway. However, according to the present invention, a driver for various devices in a home is provided. Increased user convenience by providing from a remote location, and authentication function, service provision and operation, and gateway management are performed in the service management system, so that effective service application is possible.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process of registering a home gateway in a service management system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the service management system 110 receives a predetermined information when the service user 130 accesses a web page of the service management system 110 to apply for service registration (S200) and receives the service user 130. If it is determined that the problem is not a problem using the service on the basis of the personal credit information of the approve the registration to use the service (S210).

After the service user 130 is registered, the home gateway 120 of the service user 130 starts operation to perform initialization (S220). The service management system 110 detects the initialization of the home gateway 120 on the service user 130 side. In addition, the home gateway 120, which has been initialized, transmits management information including its location information and a network address to the service management system 110 (S230). The service management system 110 checks whether the home gateway 120 is the home gateway of the service user 130 based on the management information received from the home gateway 120 and the information input when registering from the service user 130. Register the home gateway 120.

Then, the service management system 110 transmits and installs the home gateway management to the home gateway 120 using the network address of the home gateway 120. The management bundle is driven on the open platform of the home gateway, and the service management system 110 manages the home gateway 120 through the management bundle (S250).

That is, the management bundle installed in the home gateway 120 checks the state of the home gateway 120 periodically or continuously and transmits the result to the service management system 110. In addition, the management bundle requires reinstallation of the management bundle when a problem occurs in the home gateway 120. If a failure occurs in the service bundle for service provision at the home gateway 120, the management bundle transmits the fact to the service management system 110 and requires the reinstallation of the service bundle for service provision. In addition, the service management system 110 performs this through a management bundle pre-installed in the home gateway 120 when a management bundle is reinstalled or a service bundle is to be updated to provide a new function.

3 and 5 are views illustrating a process of providing a service requested by a user in a service management system according to the present invention.

3 and 5, the service provider 100 develops a bundle of services to be provided to a home gateway having an open platform. The bundle 300 developed for service provision at the home gateway 120 is registered through a web page of the service management system 110 (S320 and S500).

The service management system 110 verifies whether the service information and the service bundle registered in the service management system 110 operate properly on the open platform of the home gateway 120 (S510). When the verification is completed, the service management system 110 advertises the new service to the service user 130 through the home page (S520). The service management system 110 separately manages a web page for service registration of the service provider 100 and a web page for service advertisement to the service user.

When the service user 130 accesses a web page provided by the service management system, the service management system 110 presents information about a new registered service so that the service user can apply.

The service user 130 requests a service found through the advertisement through a web page of the service management system 110 (S530). The service management system 110 installs the bundle 300 for the service applied to the home gateway 120 through the management bundle 310 already installed on the home gateway 120 and remotely manages it (S330, S540). The service bundle 300 installed in the home gateway 120 to provide a service includes all the drivers and functions necessary to provide the service to the service user 130. Therefore, the service user 130 is provided with the service through the service bundle 300 installed in the home gateway 120 (S550).

4 and 6 are diagrams illustrating a method for remotely managing a home gateway by a service management system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the service management system 110 always measures the state of the home gateway 120 installed in the home of the service user (S600). The service management system 110 only needs to know the state of the home gateway 120 to provide a service when service is available, and if the service is not possible, the service management system 110 is able to perform service again through proper control of the home gateway 120 remotely. Because you can make.

In order to perform this function, the service management system 110 transmits and installs the management bundle 400 to the home gateway 120 at the time of registration of the home gateway 120. The management bundle 400 checks the state of the home gateway 120 from time to time and delivers the state to the service management system 110. When a problem occurs in the home gateway 120 (S610), the management bundle 410 Re-installation is required (S620).

When the problem of the home gateway 120 occurs in the service bundle 420 which performs a service without being in the management bundle 410 (S630), the management bundle 410 is connected to the service management system 110. This problem is transmitted through a message, and if necessary, the reinstallation of the service bundle 420 is required (S640).

In addition, when the management bundle 410 or the service bundle 420 is to be updated to provide a new function, the service management system 110 performs this under remote control through the management bundle 410.

Hereinafter, the necessity and functions of the service management system according to the present invention will be described and various digital home services will be described.

7 is a diagram illustrating the structure of an open home network.

8 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a digital home service management system.

Current services are provided on a variety of platforms from a variety of operators. This makes the service more profitable by differentiating them from the provider's point of view, but it brings a lot of inconvenience for the user. Since different services have different service control and management methods, it is difficult to accommodate multiple services, and the provision of a new service requires a change in the management method of a currently operating service framework, thus hampering service improvement and development. In addition, all services must be provided depending on the equipment of a specific equipment vendor (eg, a gateway developer).

This problem can be easily solved by applying the concept of open. It is possible to accommodate multiple services on a single platform.

DSM (Digital-Home Service Management) system, that is, the service management system according to the present invention takes the open platform called OSGi (www.osgi.org) solves the problem of the acceptance aspect of various services and manages through these services to be. That is, the service management system is in charge of service management such as service life cycle management and QoS control so that various services of various service providers can be smoothly provided to subscribers, and a system for managing service subscribers and gateways that service providers have performed. to be.

The functions of the service management system can be broadly divided into service management functions for service user / provider management and service gateway management, and service distribution functions for service quality guarantee. These functions are implemented in a separate server located in the WAN, and the service distribution function operates by controlling edge switches or routers on the subscriber access network for efficient QoS and traffic control.

In order to understand the open structure, a brief explanation is added as follows. The open platform OGSi is applied to the gateway used by the user. The OSGi applied manages the devices connected to the gateway, and these managed devices require different drivers for management and operation. For these things, according to the OSGi-specified driver standards (called bundle specifications in OSGi), service providers who use the equipment develop only bundles (applications) for them. This will be taken.

It looks at the service using the service management system according to the present invention.

1) VoD service

VoD (Video on Demand) service is a service that delivers the desired content (video) in the house at a desired time. Among many home services, the service has been found to be highly profitable. A service providing method for this is illustrated in FIG. 9.

First, the service provider registers the movie information (content information) in its VoD server and a bundle for playing the content on the server on the gateway to the service management system. When the service user enters through the user portal provided by the service management system, the user gets information about the new content, and the user subscribes to the service for the new content.

Then, the service management system delivers the bundle for controlling and managing the service to the gateway and proceeds to the installation work. The delivered bundle has information about the server providing the requested VoD, so the gateway requests the content directly from the service provider's content server, and the content is provided to the user through a TV or monitor screen.

In other words, the user simply enters the user portal of the service management system through a TV or a PC and requests only a service, and all other tasks are handled between the service management system and the bundle. Tapping processes such as billing and stamping are handled automatically within the service management system.

As a result, service providers having various contents need to register their own content information and bundles only in the service management system, thereby easily providing various contents.

2) home viewer system

Home viewer service is a kind of service related to home security. It refers to a service in which a user who is away from home monitors the inside of his or her home with a camera installed in the home through a PDA, a laptop or a mobile phone. A service providing method for this is illustrated in FIG. 10.

By adding the automatic motion detection function and the automatic contact function to the security company, it is possible to implement a function that detects the movement of an illegally intruder in the home and reports it to the security company.

Service providers can deliver bundles and home cameras just like the VoD service described earlier. Users access and request services through the home viewer portal provided by the service management system from the outside. There is a service request, and the service management system downloads a bundle for camera control and management to the gateway in the home. In this case, the home viewer service includes a user interface (UI) directly down the gateway.

When a user's request for service usage comes in, the service management system connects the user to the gateway user interface, and the user can directly view an image sent by the camera through the user interface on the gateway. The authentication process is done through a service management system, which prevents an external intruder from sneaking up on these services.

In the case of a camera currently installed on the service management system, the network camera may include up and down adjustment and zoom functions. However, even in the case of a web camera that can be easily obtained even if it is not such an expensive camera, only the appropriate bundle can be provided by the service provider to provide such a service.

3) remote control service

Remote control service is a service that can control various home appliances from inside or outside the home. For example, turning on lights remotely or controlling equipment such as washing machines and air conditioners. The most demonstrated business in the home network business is the development of home appliances. A service providing method for this is illustrated in FIG. 11.

The service provider delivers bundles and indoor devices for controlling various indoor devices. These devices comply with various specifications depending on the device. From PLC using home power supply to RF wireless communication, and recently Blue Tooth, users can authenticate through the user portal of service management system and apply for remote control service.

When a service is requested, a web service bundle and a control bundle with a user interface are delivered to the user's gateway and installed to control and manage the indoor devices. The user can directly control the indoor devices through the user interface on the gateway after the service request.

When controlling indoor devices, important operations such as opening and closing of gas valves and doors often occur, so all logs and events are stored for all operations that occur, and authentication is not based on ID / Password. Provide services with caution.

4) Telemedicine Service

The remote career service is a service in which a user checks his or her health status through medical equipment in a home, stores it in a remote server, and then checks the health status of the home user based on this data. The service providing method for this is illustrated in FIG. 12.

Service providers can collect data from telemedicine servers and telemedicine devices (blood pressure monitors, pulse meters, etc.) and these telemedicine devices, and provide bundles with a user interface. Thereafter, these services are registered in the service management system and receive money from the user according to the charging information generated later. As with all services in front of the user, start with the process of applying for a service.

After the service request, the bundle is installed on the gateway and the user enters the service portal on the service management system, and the telemedicine and service web screens can be viewed. (If there is already data measured last time, you can see the doctor's instructions.) As the screen shows, the user moves the remote medical equipment and the measured data is automatically sent to the remote diagnosis server. Stored. Data stored in the remote diagnosis server goes through the authentication and diagnosis process of the medical license holder, and the diagnosis result is provided on the screen when the user logs in to the service management system.

Thus, the four services provided in the service management system were discussed. The service itself may be implemented even if it does not go in an open structure, but the structure of the service management system according to the present invention is essential for integrating and managing various services and providing all services with effort for simple application to the user.

Certification is the foundation of all systems and is directly related to critical content such as billing. In particular, when you want to see and use the indoor devices from outside the home, such as a home network is more important.

For this authentication, the service management system uses user authentication and security using TLS, certificate-based user authentication, RSH protocol for gateway authentication, and VPN for securing the internal network. 13 is a diagram illustrating the flow of an RSH protocol.

TLS is used to establish an authentication and secure channel when a user attempts to access through the web. This is a standard specification supported by most web browsers. When the service management system applies TLS, it uses a method of encrypting and transmitting only important data to be encrypted instead of encrypting the entire web page.

Certificate-based user authentication can be authenticated only by TLS based on ID / Password, but services that require extreme security such as remote control are also provided at the same time.

The internal network currently operates as a private network, so you can use private domains of VPN and ISP companies for trusted domains that do not have security problems or for future system applications.

Gateway-level authentication and security follows the RSH protocol defined by OSGi R3. The RSH protocol recommended by OSGi is a protocol designed by considering the characteristics of home gateway devices. It is a protocol that provides both message authentication and message source authentication using HMAC and 3DES.

RSH is applicable to HTTP's GET request / response structure. All messages using RSH are signed for source authentication and encrypted for message confidentiality.

From the basic structure of the service management system that delivers and manages home services to users, how various services are delivered and processed in practice, and the authentication techniques that are inevitably necessary in this process.

In summary, the service management system is a core equipment of an open home network, and is in charge of service management such as service life cycle management and QoS control so that various services of various service providers can be provided to subscribers smoothly. Act on management of service subscriber and gateway.

The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like, and may also be implemented in the form of a carrier wave (for example, transmission over the Internet). Include. The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

So far I looked at the center of the preferred embodiment for the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the present invention is shown in the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

According to the present invention, a new service can be easily applied without changing or reinstalling the home gateway by using a home gateway having an open platform. Various services can be easily provided, and service providers can also focus on development rather than managing and maintaining services. Using an open platform, any service provider can easily provide services. In addition, the user's convenience is maximized by minimizing the role of the service provider in the procedure of providing the service.

Claims (8)

In the service management system provides a multi-service, (a) registering an open platform-based home gateway provided at a service user side; (b) registering service information from at least one service provider; (c) transmitting, to the home gateway, an application program for performing a service received from the service user among the registered service information; And (d) providing a service to the service user through an application program of the home gateway. The method of claim 1, And the application program includes a driver and a function suitable for the system of the service user, and operates on the open platform. The method of claim 1, In step (a), (a1) receiving a service registration request from the service user; (a2) registering management information including network address and location information of the home gateway after approval of the registration request; And (a3) transmitting the application program for managing the home gateway to the home gateway. The method of claim 1, In step (b), (b1) registering a service to be provided from at least one service provider; (b2) verifying that the service operates normally on an open platform; And (b3) advertising the service to the service user. A home gateway provided on the service user side for providing a service to a service user through the application after receiving an application program for performing a service; And A service manager that registers the home gateway, receives service information from at least one service provider, and transmits an application program for performing a service requested from the service user among the registered service information to the home gateway; Multi-service providing system, characterized in that. The method of claim 5, The application program includes a driver and a function suitable for the system of the service user, and the multi-service providing system, characterized in that running on the open platform of the home gateway. The method of claim 5, After the service manager approves the service registration request received from the service user, the service manager registers management information including the network address and location information of the home gateway, and transmits an application for managing the home gateway to the home gateway. Multi-service providing system, characterized in that. The method of claim 5, And the service manager registers a service to be provided by the at least one service provider, verifies whether the service operates normally on an open platform, and then advertises the service to the service user.

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