KR20050083247A - Method and apparatus for providing location based ring back tone service - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing location based ringback tone service are disclosed. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing a location-based ringback tone service, comprising: obtaining location information of a called terminal; And determining a sound source to be provided for a ringback tone service to the calling terminal based on the location information of the called terminal. According to the present invention, by providing a predetermined sound source to the caller terminal according to the location of the called party terminal, the caller has an effect that can predict the location of the receiver before the call with the receiver, call ring tone service, call background sound service, call effect sound service Or it can be applied to various fields such as beading service.

Description

Method and apparatus for providing location based ring back tone service

The present invention relates to providing a ring back tone service, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing a location based ring back tone service through a mobile communication network.

In accordance with the development of mobile communication technology and the demand for new services of mobile communication subscribers, various ring back tone services, such as a ring back tone service, a call back tone service, or a call effect tone service, are provided to mobile subscribers. The ring back tone service is a call back tone that provides a variety of sound sources instead of a simple mechanical tone to the caller terminal attempting the call. The call background sound service is a service that provides background music while a call is connected, and the call effect sound service is a service that listens to a predetermined sound effect when a subscriber presses a specific key during a call.

The conventional ringback tone service merely provides a sound source designated by the service subscriber to the caller terminal that attempts to call the service subscriber terminal.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a location-based ringback tone service that provides the user with a sound source preset by the user according to the location of the called party terminal using the location information of the called party terminal provided from the components of the mobile communication network. A method and apparatus are provided.

In order to achieve the above object, the location-based ringback tone service providing method according to the present invention,

A method for providing a location-based ring back tone service through a mobile communication network, the method comprising: obtaining location information of a called terminal; And determining a sound source to be provided for a ringback tone service to the calling terminal based on the location information of the called terminal.

The determining of the sound source may include determining the sound source to be provided to the calling terminal by searching the location-based sound source database in which the identification information of the location-based ringback tone service subscribers and the sound source information to be provided to the calling terminal for each subscriber's location are stored. It is preferable that it is a step.

The determining of the sound source may include: authenticating the calling terminal using identification information of the calling terminal; And if the calling terminal is authenticated, determining a sound source to be provided for a ringback tone service to the calling terminal.

In addition, the location-based ringback tone service is preferably at least one of a ring back tone service, a call background tone service or a call effect sound service.

In order to achieve the above object, the apparatus for providing a location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention,

An apparatus for providing a location based ring back tone service through a mobile communication network, the apparatus comprising: identification information of the location based ring back tone service subscribers and sound source information to be provided to a calling terminal attempting to call a subscriber terminal for each subscriber's location; Location-based sound source database for storing the; And a controller for searching the location-based sound source database according to the inputted location information of the service subscriber station and determining a sound source to be provided for a ringback tone service to the calling terminal.

The location-based sound source database stores information about a calling terminal to provide a sound source according to the service for each subscriber, and the controller searches for the location-based sound source database and attempts to call the subscriber terminal. If the calling terminal is authenticated as being a calling terminal previously stored in the location-based sound source database, it is preferable to determine a sound source to be provided to the calling terminal.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram of an entire system for providing a location-based ringback tone service according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ring back tone service refers to all ring back tone based application services such as a ring back tone service, a call background tone service, or a call effect tone service.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system for providing a location-based ringback tone service according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an originating terminal 1, a mobile communication network 3, a terminating terminal 5, a control server 7, and an RBT service. System 9.

The originating terminal 1 is a terminal which attempts to make a call to the terminating terminal 5 via the mobile communication network 3. The calling terminal 1 is a mobile communication terminal such as a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a general wired telephone.

The mobile communication network 3 is a communication network which connects a call to a mobile communication terminal and another mobile communication terminal or a mobile communication terminal and a general landline. Although not shown in the drawings, the mobile communication network 3 includes a plurality of network components such as a repeater, a control station, and a switch. In addition, in this embodiment, the mobile communication network 3 includes a network element for providing location information of the called terminal 5 to the control server 7. Network elements for providing location information of the terminating terminal 5 to the control server 7 will be described later. On the other hand, those skilled in the art to which the present invention belongs will be able to know the detailed configuration of the mobile communication network 3, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The called terminal 5 is a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA). In this embodiment, the user of the called terminal 5 is a subscriber subscribed to the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention.

The control server 7 is a server that receives the location information of the called terminal 5 from the network elements of the mobile communication network 3 and controls the process for providing the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention.

Under the control of the control server 7, the RBT service system 9 provides the calling terminal 1 with a sound source preset by the user of the called terminal 5 in accordance with the position of the called terminal 5.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the control server 7 and the RBT service system 9 are directly connected, but are not limited thereto and may be connected by a network such as the Internet.

2 is a diagram showing network elements of a mobile communication network 3 providing location information of a terminating terminal 5.

The Home Location Register (HLR) 31 is a system that manages service items provided to mobile subscribers and manages the exchange where the subscriber's terminal is currently located.

Position Determination Entity (PDE) 33 is a device for measuring the position of the mobile communication terminal using a predetermined positioning method. The location of the terminal is classified into a GPS (Global Positioning System) method using a satellite and a CELL ID method. In the CELL ID scheme, the HLR 31 obtains the location information of the terminal using the page function and provides it to the MPC 35. The CELL ID method has an error range of about 1 km.

The mobile position center (MPC) 35 receives a request for transmission of location information of a specific mobile communication terminal from the control server 7, and acquires location information of the corresponding terminal through interworking with the PDE 33 and / or the HLR 31. After learning, the controller transmits the location information of the terminal to the control server 7.

3 is a block diagram of a control server 7 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the control server 7 includes a communication unit 71, a control unit 73, and a location-based sound source database 75.

The communication unit 71 interworks with the mobile communication network 3 to receive data from the mobile communication network 3 or to transmit data to the mobile communication network 3 under the control of the control unit 73. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the control server 7 is directly connected to the mobile communication network 3, but is not limited thereto. That is, the control server 7 may be connected to the mobile communication network 3 via a network such as the Internet. At this time, the communication unit 71 performs an interworking function with the Internet.

The communication unit 71 receives, from the mobile communication network 3, location information of the called terminal 5 to which the calling terminal 1 attempts to call. Location information of the called terminal 5 is generated by the HLR 31, the PDE 33 and the MPC 35, which are the components of the mobile communication network 3, as described with reference to FIG. Delivered.

The location-based sound source database 75 stores information about sound sources designated by the location-based ringback tone service subscribers according to the present invention to be provided to the caller terminal according to their location.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the location-based sound source database 75. Referring to FIG. 4, the location-based sound source database 75 is provided to the calling terminal that attempts to call the subscriber terminal according to the identification information field of the location-based ringback tone service subscribers, the location field designated by the subscriber, and each location according to the present invention. A sound source information field is provided.

Referring back to FIG. 4, the service subscriber "Hong Gil-dong" provides a ringback tone of sound source # 1 to the caller terminal when his location, more precisely, the location of his terminal is home, and his terminal is at work. In addition, when the source # 2 is provided to the caller terminal and the location of its own terminal is other region, it can be seen that it is registered in the location-based sound source database 75 to provide the source # 3 to the caller terminal.

On the other hand, the representative information available as service subscriber identification information may be a telephone number of the subscriber terminal. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various types of information for identifying a subscriber are available.

Location information designated by each subscriber can be expressed in various forms such as longitude, latitude, altitude, cell ID, address, and prominent geographical name. Finally, the sound source information is information for identifying each sound source.

The controller 73 searches the location-based sound source database according to the location information of the called terminal 5 received from the communication unit 71 to determine what is the sound source corresponding to the location information of the called terminal 5. When the sound source to be provided for the ringback tone service is determined to the calling terminal 1, the control unit 73 delivers the sound source information to be provided to the calling terminal 1 through the communication unit 71. The RBT service system 9 reproduces the music file corresponding to the received sound source information and delivers the reproduced sound to the calling terminal 1 through the mobile communication network 3.

On the other hand, the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention may provide the location-based ringback tone service only to the caller registered in advance by the service subscriber, not all callers attempting to call the service subscriber. Although not shown in FIG. 4, the caller information field is further added to the location-based sound source database 75, and the location-based ringback tone service is provided only to callers registered in the field. Like the service subscriber information field, the caller information field stores information for identifying the caller, for example, the telephone number of the caller terminal.

That is, the controller 73 searches the location-based sound source database 75, checks whether the telephone number of the calling terminal 1 which attempted to call the service subscriber according to the present invention is a caller registered in advance by the service subscriber, If it is authenticated that the caller is registered in advance, the sound source to be provided to the caller terminal 1 is determined.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block diagram of the RBT service system 9 shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 5, the RBT service system 9 includes an Intelligent Peripheral Server 91, an IP 93, and a Contents Provider (CP) Server 95.

The IP server 91 receives the sound source information to be provided from the control server 7 to the calling terminal 1 and instructs the IP 93 to play a music file corresponding to the sound source information.

In addition, the IP server 91 stores a database in which information about subscribers who have subscribed to a conventional service, for example, a ring back tone service, which is not a location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention, and a sound source code designated by each subscriber as a ring back tone is stored. It may also include.

IP 93 comprises a data storage medium storing a plurality of music files for location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention. The IP 93 reproduces the music file corresponding to the sound source information received from the IP server 91 from the data storage medium and delivers the reproduced sound to the calling terminal 1 through the mobile communication network 3.

The CP server 95 serves as a gateway between the content provider side and the IP 93 or the content provider side and the IP server 91 which provide a music file corresponding to the content for the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention. Perform. In addition, the sound source provided from the content provider side is converted into a format reproducible by the IP 93, or charging processing for content use is performed.

The location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention provides a preset sound source to the caller terminal according to the location of the called party's terminal subscribed to the service, so that the caller can predict the position of the receiver before talking to the receiver. Therefore, the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention can be applied to a service subscriber, a carrier, or various purposes.

Hereinafter, some application examples of the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention will be described.

First, the caller who subscribes to the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention can tell the caller a specific ringback tone according to the caller's location so that the caller can predict the location of the service subscriber. Even if the call is not made due to the absence of the called party, the caller can predict the called party's location. In particular, when talking between lovers, family members or friends, it may cause the fun of using the mobile communication network. In addition, in the case of the parent, by subscribing the child's mobile communication terminal to the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention, information on the current location of the child can be obtained only by attempting a call to the child's mobile communication terminal.

Second, it can be applied to location-based mobile advertising. When a called party who subscribes to a location-based mobile advertising service visits a specific company or store, a simple message service (SMS) sends a message that allows a service provider who has identified the called party's location to set a Biz ring on the called party's terminal. Use to transmit to the called party terminal. Bizring refers to any ringback tone provided to the calling terminal for the promotion of a particular company, store or product.

The called party who receives the SMS message from the communication service provider sets the Biz ring as the ringback tone of his terminal. Alternatively, the control server 7 automatically sets a specific Biz ring as the ringback tone of the called party terminal without a manual setting process by the called party.

Thereafter, a caller who attempts to make a call to the called party while staying in the area of the company or store receives a Biz ring containing the commercial advertisement contents of the company or store. When the called party leaves the business or shop area, the Biz ring that was set is deleted and restored to the ringback tone that was originally set by the called party.

A member who subscribes to a mobile advertisement applying the location-based ringback tone service according to the present invention sets the advertisement bead ring as his or her ringback tone, and a telecommunications company provides a subscription member with a benefit such as a certain point or a discount rate. .

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. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing a preset sound source according to the location of the receiver terminal to the caller terminal, the caller has the effect of predicting the position of the receiver before the call. In particular, during a call between a lover, family member or friend, the caller can predict the location of the recipient before the call is made, or even if the call is not made due to the absence of the recipient, the caller can predict the location of the receiver, thus making it fun to use the mobile terminal. May cause. In the case of a parent, information about the current position of the child can be obtained by simply attempting to make a call to the child's mobile terminal, and in the case of a company, the parent may be used for various purposes such as mobile advertising.

1 is a schematic diagram of an entire system for providing a location-based ringback tone service according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a diagram showing network elements of a mobile communication network 3 providing location information of a terminating terminal 5;

3 is a block diagram of a control server 7 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the location-based sound source database 75;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block diagram of the RBT service system 9 shown in FIG. 1.

Claims (10)

A method of providing a location based ring back tone service through a mobile communication network, Obtaining location information of the called terminal; And And determining a sound source to be provided for a ringback tone service to the calling terminal based on the location information of the called terminal. According to claim 1, The sound source determination step, Determining at least one sound source to be provided to the calling terminal based on the location information of the called terminal from among predetermined sound sources for providing to the calling terminal according to the location of the called terminal. According to claim 1, The sound source determination step, Searching for a location-based sound source database storing identification information of the location-based ringback tone subscribers and sound source information to be provided to a caller terminal for each subscriber's location, and determining a sound source to be provided to the caller terminal; . According to claim 1, The sound source determination step, Authenticating the calling terminal using identification information of the calling terminal; And If the calling terminal is authenticated, determining a sound source to be provided for a ringback tone service to the calling terminal. According to claim 1, The location-based ringback tone service is at least one of a ring back tone service, a call background tone service or a call effect tone service. According to claim 1, The sound source determination step, Determining at least one sound source to be provided to a caller terminal for advertisement of a company, a store, or a product based on the location information of the called terminal. An apparatus for providing a location based ring back tone service through a mobile communication network, A location-based sound source database storing identification information of the location-based ringback tone service subscribers and sound source information to be provided to a calling terminal attempting to call a subscriber terminal for each subscriber's location; And And a controller for searching the location-based sound source database according to the inputted location information of the service subscriber station and determining a sound source to be provided for a ringback tone service to the calling terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein The location-based sound source database, stores information about the calling terminal to provide a sound source according to the service for each subscriber, The controller may search the location-based sound source database to determine a sound source to be provided to the caller terminal if the caller terminal attempting to call the subscriber terminal is authenticated as a caller terminal previously stored in the location-based sound source database. Characterized in that the device. The method of claim 7, wherein The location-based ringback tone service is at least one of a ring back tone service, a call background tone service or a call effect tone service. The method of claim 7, wherein The control unit, And determining at least one sound source to be provided to a caller terminal for advertisement of a company, a store, or a product based on the location information of the called terminal.