JP2002185528A - Ip multicast communication device and method for providing contents - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IP multicast communication device and a method for providing contents that can accelerate the circulation of the contents in the Internet by achieving efficient and safe contents circulation platform and a contents business by ICPs and a communication service by ISPs. SOLUTION: The IP multicast communication device comprises a means for transmitting IP unicast data acquired from an IP unicast data transmission/ reception means to an IP multicast address and a port number that are specified by a transmission terminal via an IP multicast data transmission/reception means, and a means for transmitting IP multicast data acquired from the IP multicast data transmission/reception means to an IP unicast address and a port number that are specified by a reception terminal via the IP unicast data transmission/reception means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IP (Internet Protocol) multicast communication apparatus and a content providing method, and more particularly, to an IP unicast network using an IP unicast network.
The present invention relates to an IP multicast communication apparatus and a content providing method for realizing a content business by providing efficient and secure content delivery means in the Internet including a P multicast network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when data is transmitted to a plurality of receiving terminals in an IP unicast network,
In a multicast network, the transmitting terminal
When the P multicast data is transmitted to the network, the relay router copies the data as necessary and transfers the data to each receiving terminal, so that the load on the transmitting terminal and the network can be reduced. However, most of the Internet is still an IP unicast network, and the IP multicast network is in a form included in the IP unicast network. Therefore, the number of terminals connected to the IP multicast network is small, and the terminals connected to the IP unicast network cannot transmit and receive IP multicast data. For this reason, a method and system for multicast communication on the Internet (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2429)
62)), by receiving IP multicast data and converting the destination address to an IP unicast address, data reception by a terminal that cannot receive IP multicast data is realized.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems.

First, the prior art does not assume that a transmitting terminal connected to an IP unicast network transmits data. Therefore, the communication terminal must always be connected to the IP multicast network.
In order for the multicast gateway to receive IP multicast data, IGMP (IETF
REC2236) You need to wait until you receive the Queryy message. Therefore, even if the multicast gateway receives a reception request message from the receiving terminal, the multicast gateway cannot immediately transmit data to the receiving terminal.

Further, in the prior art, the receiving terminal cannot specify a destination port number. The receiving terminal is Fire
If it exists inside the Wall, the destination address and destination port number that the receiving terminal can receive are limited, so if the receiving terminal cannot specify the destination port number, data may not be received.

Next, the prior art does not perform user authentication. Therefore, it is not possible to prevent a user who does not have the right to request the content transfer processing to be used. Further, the related art does not record the history regarding the transmission status and the reception status of the content. ICP (Internet Contents Provider)
Information about the content reception status is important information for deciding a conventional business development, but there is no mechanism for recording this information. ISP (Internet S
Also for the Ervice Provider), information on the transmission status and the reception status of the content is important information for providing a communication service. Further, in the IP multicast communication, the receiving terminal cannot be limited. That is, I
A receiving terminal connected to the P multicast network can receive all IP multicast data. Therefore, it is impossible to prevent a recipient who does not have the right to receive the content from using the content.

[0007] Finally, the prior art does not have a mechanism for managing information relating to the recipient and the reception status of the content, and therefore cannot transmit an advertisement suitable for the recipient to each recipient.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and realizes an efficient and secure content distribution platform on the Internet, and realizes a content business by ICP and a communication service by ISP, thereby realizing a content on the Internet. An object is to provide an IP multicast communication device and a content providing method capable of accelerating distribution.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

According to the present invention (claim 1), there is provided an IP unicast network comprising an IP unicast router group and a line capable of transmitting IP unicast data and having only IP unicast data. There is an IP multicast network composed of a group of IP multicast routers and lines capable of transferring both the IP unicast data and the IP multicast data, and the IP unicast network is connected to the Internet including the IP multicast network. , An IP multicast communication device connected to the IP multicast network,
Terminal-side control message transmitting / receiving means 101 for processing control messages from terminals and routers; user management means 103 for managing users; content management means 104 for managing transmission terminal information and reception terminal information;
Data transfer processing means 107 for processing and transferring P datagrams, data transfer recording means 108 for recording the transfer history of IP datagrams, and transferring IP unicast data received from the transmitting terminal to data transfer processing means 107 At the same time, the IP unicast data transmitting / receiving means 106 for transferring the IP unicast data obtained from the data transfer processing means to the receiving terminal, and the IP multicast data received from the IP multicast router are transferred to the data transfer processing means 107. An IP multicast data transmitting / receiving unit 109 for transmitting the IP multicast data obtained from the data transfer processing unit to the IP multicast data;
Is the IP address specified by the transmitting terminal for the IP unicast data acquired from the IP unicast data transmitting / receiving means 106.
A means for transferring to the multicast address and port number via the IP multicast data transmitting / receiving means 109; and a means for transferring the IP multicast data acquired from the IP multicast data transmitting / receiving means 109 to the IP unicast address and port number designated by the receiving terminal. Means for transferring via the cast data transmitting / receiving means 106.

The present invention (claim 2) provides a user management means 1
03, means for pre-registering a user who can perform a content transfer request, means for performing authentication using a user name and a password when a content transfer request is received from the user, and in case of,
Means for executing a content transfer process desired by the user and not responding to the content transfer processing request when the authentication fails.

According to the present invention (claim 3), in the data transfer recording means 108, when the data transfer processing means 107 carries out content transfer processing, a sender identifier including a source address and a port number, or , A receiver identifier including a destination address and a port number, a content identifier including an IP multicast address and a port number, a transmission start time, a transmission stop time, and information on a used band.

According to the present invention (claim 4), the data transfer processing means 107 encrypts the content received from the transmission terminal and transfers the encrypted content to the IP multicast address and port number designated by the transmission terminal. Receiving the content specified by the receiving terminal, decrypting the content, and transferring the content to the destination address and port number specified by the receiving terminal.

According to the present invention (claim 5), the user management means 1
03, means for recording the target type of interest of the receiver of the receiver device, and the data transfer processing means 107 refers to the target type of interest of the receiver when transmitting the content to the receiver terminal. To select and send the ad content.

The present invention (claim 6) provides an IC for transmitting contents on the Internet, in which the IP unicast network includes the IP multicast network.
Pay Pe, which is composed of P, a receiver for receiving the content, and an ISP for charging the content and the communication.
r In the content provision method in the View system,
The ICP sends the content to the content recipient via the ISP, the ISP notifies the ICP of the communication record of the content of the ICP, and the ICP specifies the recipient from the communication record, and Collect the content fee, I
The communication fee is paid to the SP.

The present invention (claim 7) provides an IC for transmitting contents on the Internet, in which the IP unicast network includes the IP multicast network.
Pay Pe, which is composed of P, a receiver for receiving the content, and an ISP for charging the content and the communication.
r In the content provision method in the View system,
The ICP transmits the content to the recipient via the ISP, and the ISP collects a content fee from the recipient on behalf of the ICP, and for the ICP, a communication fee and a billing agency fee from the content fee. Pass the deducted amount.

The present invention (claim 8) provides an IC for transmitting contents on the Internet in which the IP unicast network includes the IP multicast network.
P, a receiver that receives the content, and an ISP that manages the advertisement based on the preference of the receiver, inserts and transfers the advertisement into the content obtained from the ICP, and charges the content and communication. In a method for providing content in an advertising system, an ISP
Notifies the ICP of the communication record of the content and the advertisement acquired from the ICP, and the ICP collects the advertisement fee from the advertiser by transmitting the communication record to the advertiser, and pays the communication fee to the ISP.

The present invention (claim 9) provides an IC for transmitting contents on the Internet in which the IP unicast network includes the IP multicast network.
P, a receiver that receives the content, and an ISP that manages the advertisement based on the taste of the receiver, inserts and transfers the advertisement to the content obtained from the ICP, and charges the content and communication. In a method for providing content in an advertising system,
Provide the recipient information to the ICP, the ICP manages the recipient information, passes the recipient information to the ISP, transmits an advertisement matching the recipient's preference via the ISP,
Notifies the ICP of the communication record for the transmission of the advertisement,
By notifying the advertiser of the communication record, the CP collects a larger advertisement fee than usual and pays the ISP a communication fee.

As described above, according to the present invention, the IP multicast communication apparatus can convert the IP unicast data
In order to perform conversion to P multicast data and conversion from IP multicast data to IP unicast data, the efficiency between a transmitting terminal connected to the IP unicast network and a plurality of receiving terminals connected to the IP unicast network is improved. Content distribution is possible.

Further, since user authentication is performed, it is possible to know the limitation of the sender / receiver and the status of content transmission / reception.

Further, the use of contents can be limited to only a specific recipient by the data encryption and decryption functions, and the advertisement can be selected and transmitted for each recipient by using the recipient information. .

[0022]

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the system of the present invention.

The system shown in FIG. 1 has an IP address having an IP unicast address as a destination address of an IP datagram.
There is IP multicast data having an IP multicast address as a destination address of the unicast data and the IP datagram, and an IP unicast network composed of a group of IP unicast routers 30, 31 capable of transferring only IP unicast data and a line. 200 and I
IP multicast router 4 capable of transferring both P unicast data and IP multicast data
There is an IP multicast network 100 composed of groups 0, 41, and 42 and lines.
There is an Internet that contains zero.

IP multicast communication devices 50 and 51,
Reference numeral 52 denotes a function for connecting to the IP multicast network 100 and processing control messages from the terminals 10 and 20 and the routers 30 and 31; a user management function for managing senders and receivers of content (hereinafter, users); Has a content management function of managing the sending terminal information and receiving terminal information of the content, a data transfer processing function of processing and transferring the received IP datagram, and a data transfer recording function of recording the transfer history of the IP datagram. .

IP multicast communication devices 51, 52
Receives the reception request message from the receiving terminals 21 and 22, immediately requests the IP multicast data designated by the receiving terminals 21 and 22 from the IP multicast router, and receives the I multicast data received from the IP multicast router.
The P multicast data is transferred to the IP unicast address and port number specified by the receiving terminal.

Further, the IP multicast communication device 50,
The users 51 and 52 register in advance a user who can perform a content transfer processing request, perform authentication using a user name and a password when receiving a content transfer processing request from the user, and perform authentication when the authentication is successful. In the meantime, the transfer processing of the content desired by the user is performed. On the other hand, if the authentication fails, the content transfer request is not accepted.

Also, the IP multicast communication device 50,
Reference numerals 51 and 52 denote a sender identifier (a source address and a port number), a receiver identifier (a destination address and a port number), and a content identifier (an IP multicast address and a port number) when a content transfer process is performed. , The information about the transmission start time, the transmission stop time, and the band used.

Also, the IP multicast communication device 50,
51 and 52 encrypt the content received from the transmitting terminal 10, transfer the content to the IP multicast address and the port number designated by the transmitting terminal 10, receive the content designated by the receiving terminal, decrypt the content, and receive the content. Transfer to the destination address and port number specified by the terminal.

Further, the IP multicast communication device 5
0, 51, and 52 are used when transmitting the content to the recipient.
Select the ad content according to the type of interest of each recipient,
Send.

[0030]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] The transmitting terminal 10 in FIG. 2 described above transmits a transmission request message 60 to the IP multicast communication device 50 in order to realize efficient transmission of contents. The transmission request message 60 includes a content identifier (IP multicast address, port number) for specifying the content, a sender identifier (source address, source port number), a user name, and a password. When the transmission request message is received by IP multicast communication device 50, transmitting terminal 10 transmits the content as IP unicast data 70 to IP multicast communication device 50.

The IP multicast communication device 50 receives the content from the transmission terminal 10 and transmits it as IP multicast data 80 using the content identifier. Next, the receiving terminals 20, 21, and 22
Sends reception request messages 61, 62, 63 to the IP multicast communication devices 51, 52 in order to receive the content transmitted by the IP multicast communication devices 51, 52. Receive request message 6
1, 62, and 63 have content identifiers (IP multicast addresses and port numbers) that specify the content;
It contains the recipient identifier (destination address, destination port number), user name, and password.

IP multicast communication devices 51, 52
Requests the IP multicast router 42 for content by transmitting IGMP messages 64 and 65. IP multicast communication devices 51, 52
Transmits the contents to the IP multicast data 82, 8
When it is received as No. 3, it is transmitted as IP unicast data 71, 72, 73 to the receiving terminals 20, 21, 22.

For data distribution in an IP multicast network, it is assumed that a general IP multicast routing protocol and IGMP will be used. IP
The receiving terminals 23 and 24 directly connected to the multicast network send the IGMP messages 66 and 67 to the
By transmitting the content to the multicast router 41, the content is received.

As described above, even when the transmitting terminal 10 is not directly connected to the IP multicast network (when the router 30 closest to the transmitting terminal is an IP unicast router), contents can be transmitted by IP multicast. Content can be efficiently delivered to a large number of recipients.

Further, even when the receiving terminals 20, 21, and 22 are not directly connected to the IP multicast network (when the router 31 closest to the receiving terminal is an IP unicast router), transmission is performed by IP multicast. Since the content can be received, all the receiving terminals can receive the content. Therefore,
According to the present invention, the efficiency of content delivery and the number of content senders and receivers can be increased.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the IP multicast communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. An IP multicast communication device (50, 51, 52) shown in the figure includes a terminal-side control message transmitting / receiving unit 101, a control message processing unit 1
02, user management unit 103, content management unit 104,
It comprises an IGMP message transmitting / receiving unit 105, an IP unicast data transmitting / receiving unit 106, a data transfer processing unit 107, a data transfer recording unit 108, and an IP multicast data transmitting / receiving unit 109.

The terminal-side control message transmitting / receiving unit 101
A control message is transmitted / received to / from the transmitting / receiving terminal.

The control message processing unit 102 processes the terminal-side control message received from the transmitting / receiving terminal, and controls the user management unit 103 and the content management unit 104.
If necessary, the IGMP message transmitting / receiving unit 10
5 exchanges IGMP messages.

The IGMP message transmitting / receiving unit 105
This is a part that transmits and receives IGMP messages to and from the P multicast router.

The user management section 103 authenticates a terminal-side control message in order to limit the use of the IP multicast communication devices 50, 51, and 52 to users registered in advance.

The content management unit 104 is a part that manages the destination of the content received by the IP multicast communication devices 50, 51, and 52 and manages the encryption key (decryption key). The IP unicast data transmitting / receiving unit 106 transmits the IP unicast data received from the transmitting terminal 10 to the data transfer processing unit 107, or transmits the IP unicast data received from the data transfer processing unit 107 to the receiving terminals 20, 21, 22.

IP multicast data transmission / reception unit 109
Transmits the IP multicast data received from the data transfer processing unit 107 to the IP multicast router 40, or transmits the IP multicast data received from the IP multicast router 42 to the data transfer processing unit 107.
Send to

The data transfer processing unit 107 processes the IP datagrams received from the IP unicast data transmission / reception unit 106 and the IP multicast data transmission / reception unit 109 by referring to the content management unit 104.
Further, IP unicast data transmitting / receiving sections 106 and I
This is a part to be transmitted to the P multicast data transmission unit 109.

The data transfer recording unit 108 records the history of the actual transfer of data by the data transfer processing unit 107.

In the figure, a dotted line between the functional blocks indicates a control flow, and a solid line indicates a data flow.

FIG. 4 is a sequence chart (No. 1) showing the operation in the IP multicast communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] In the basic control and data flow shown in FIG.
A processing procedure from when a transmission request is made to 0 to when data is actually transmitted will be described with reference to FIG. Also in FIG. 4, the dotted line indicates the flow of control, and the solid line indicates the flow of data.

When transmitting terminal 10 transmits a content, a message is transmitted to terminal side control message transmitting / receiving section 101 (step 201), and terminal control message transmitting / receiving section 101 transmits the message to control message processing section 102. (Step 202). The control message processing unit 102 analyzes the contents of the message and authenticates the sender (steps 203 and 204).

Next, the sender identifier and the content identifier are registered in the content management unit 104 (step 205,
206), and notifies the transmitting terminal 10 that the registration has been completed (steps 207 and 208).

The transmitting terminal 1 that has received the registration completion notification
0 transmits data to the IP unicast data transmission / reception unit 106 (step 209). The IP unicast data transmission unit 106 inquires of the content management unit 104 about the destination of the content (step 211), and receives the destination of the content (step 212). As a result, the data transfer processing unit 107 transmits the data to the IP multicast data transmission / reception unit 109 by IP multicast (step 213). Further, IP multicast data transmitting / receiving section 109 transmits the data to the IP multicast router (step 214). Finally, the data transfer processing unit 107 records the transmission history in the data transfer recording unit 108 (Step 215).

On the other hand, in the basic control and data flow of FIG. 3, the processing procedure from when the receiving terminal 20 makes a reception request to the IP multicast communication device 51 and when the data is actually received is shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a sequence chart (No. 2) showing the operation in the IP multicast communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

When the receiving terminal 20 receives a content, first, a terminal-side control message is transmitted from the receiving terminal 20 to the terminal-side control message transmitting / receiving section 101 (step 301).
The message received by the control message processing unit 1
02 (step 302). The control message processing unit 102 analyzes the message content and authenticates the recipient with the user management unit 103 (step 30).
3, 304).

Next, the control message processing unit 102 registers the receiver identifier and the content identifier in the content management unit 104 (steps 305 and 306). further,
The control message processing unit 102 sets the content identifier to I
The GMP message is transmitted to the transmitting / receiving unit 105 (step 30).
7) IGMP to the IP multicast router 42
The message is sent (step 308). Then, the control message processing unit 102 notifies the receiving terminal 20 that the registration has been completed via the terminal-side control message transmitting / receiving unit 101 (steps 309 and 310).

The IP multicast router 42 receiving the IGMP message in step 308 transmits the IP multicast data to the IP multicast data transmitting / receiving section 109 (step 311).

IP multicast data transmission / reception unit 109
Receives the IP multicast data, the IP multicast data is transmitted to the transfer / transfer processing unit 107 (step 312). The data transfer processing unit 107 inquires of the content management unit 104 about the destination of the content (steps 313 and 314). The data transfer processing unit 107 transfers the data to the IP unicast data transmitting / receiving unit 106 (Step 31)
5). The IP unicast data transmitting / receiving unit 106
The data is transmitted to the receiving terminal 20 by unicast (step 316).

Finally, the data transfer processing section 107 records the transmission history in the data transfer recording section 108 (step 3).
17).

Next, the user management unit 103 will be described.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the sender management table and the receiver management table of the user management unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the user management unit 103 includes a sender management table 40
1 and a recipient management table 411.

The sender management table 401 includes a user name 402,
It is composed of a password 403 and a sender identifier 404,
It manages user information of the transmission terminal 10 that transmits contents to the IP multicast communication device 50 by IP unicast. The user name 402 is a user account name, the password 403 is a password corresponding to the account name one-to-one, the SA (Source Address) in the sender identifier 404 is the source IP address of the IP unicast data, and the SP (Source Port) indicates the source port number of the IP unicast data.

On the other hand, the recipient management table 411 contains the user name 4
12, password 413, advertisement 414, recipient identifier 4
15, an IP multicast communication device 51,
It manages the user information of the receiving terminals 20, 21, and 22 that request the content by IP unicast to 52.

The user name 412 is the account name of the user, the password 413 is the password corresponding to the account name one-to-one, the advertisement 414 is the type of advertisement to be delivered to the user, and the DA (Destinat
ion Address) indicates the destination IP address of the IP unicast data, and DP (Destination Port) indicates the destination port number of the IP unicast data.

By performing authentication using the management tables 401 and 411, it is possible to limit users of the communication service to specific users registered in advance.

Next, the content management unit 104 will be described.

The content management unit 104 stores the U
It has a CMC (IP unicast / IP multicast) conversion table 501 and an MCUC (IP multicast / IP unicast) conversion table 511. FIG. 7 shows a UCMC conversion table and a MC of the content management unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is an example of a UC conversion table.

The UCMC conversion table 501 contains the sender identifier 5
02, a content identifier 503, and an encryption key 504, and are used when the IP multicast communication device 50 converts the content from the IP unicast data 70 to the IP multicast data 80. Sender identifier 5
02 is the sender identifier 40 in the sender management table 401
Same as 4. The content identifier 503 is the IP multicast address and port number of the IP multicast data 80. The encryption key 504 is used for encrypting data when encryption is required during data transfer.

The MCUC conversion table 511 includes a content identifier 512, a decryption key 513, and a receiver identifier 514. The IP multicast communication devices 51 and 52 transfer the content from the IP multicast data 82 and 83 to the IP unicast data 71 and 72, Used when converting to 73. The content identifier 512 is the IP multicast address and port number of the IP multicast data 82, 83. The decryption key 513 is used for decrypting the IP multicast data 82 and 83 when they are encrypted. The recipient identifier 514 is the same as the recipient identifier 415 in the recipient management table 411,
There may be a case where a plurality of recipients exist for one content.

Next, the data transfer recording section 108 will be described.

The data transfer / recording unit 108 operates as shown in FIG.
It comprises a C transmission record table 601 and a UC transmission record table 611. FIG. 8 is an example of the MC transmission record table and the UC transmission record table of the data transfer recording unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The MC transmission record table 601 records the history of the IP multicast communication device 50 transmitting the content as the IP multicast data 80 on behalf of the transmission terminal 10, and includes a sender identifier 602, a content identifier 603, a transmission start Time 604, transmission stop time 60
5. The band 606 is used.

The sender identifier 602 is stored in the sender management table 40
1 is the same as the sender identifier 404, and the user name can be determined from this value. The content identifier 603 is
Content identifier 503 in UCMC conversion table 501
The content can be determined from this value. Transmission start time 604 and transmission stop time 6
05 indicates the time when transmission of content as IP multicast data is started and stopped. Band 6 used
06 indicates the band of the content.

On the other hand, the UC transmission record table 611 includes a receiver identifier 612, a content identifier 613, and a transmission start time 6.
14, a transmission stop time 615, and a use band 616, and records the history of the transmission of the contents as IP unicast data 71, 72, 73 by the IP multicast communication devices 51, 52 to the receiving terminals 20, 21, 22. ing. The recipient identifier 612 is the same as the recipient identifier 415 in the recipient management table 411, and the user name can be determined from this value. Content identifier 613 is MC
It is the same as the content identifier 512 in the UC conversion table 511, and it can be determined from this value what content has been transmitted. Transmission start time 614 and transmission stop time 615
Indicates the time at which transmission of content as IP unicast data was started and the time at which transmission was stopped. Bandwidth used 616
Indicates the band of the content.

The data transfer / recording unit 108 can grasp the transmission / reception status of the content of each user, and can realize a content business by ICP and a communication business by ISP.

Next, the data transfer processing unit 107 will be described.

FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the data transfer processing unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The data transfer processing unit 107 has a U
It comprises a CMC converter 701 and an MCUC converter 711.

The UCMC conversion section 701 is a section that receives IP unicast data from the IP unicast data transmission / reception section 106 and transmits it to the IP multicast cast data transmission / reception section 109 as IP multicast data.

The sender identification unit 702 performs the UCMC conversion table 5
01, the sender of the IP unicast data is identified, and it is determined whether the data needs to be encrypted. If encryption is required, the encryption unit 70
3 and transmits the data to the address & port number assigning unit 704 after the encryption processing. On the other hand, when it is not necessary to perform encryption, the data is transmitted to the address & port number assigning unit 704. Address & Port Number Assignment Unit 704
Then, the destination address and port number of the data are determined with reference to the UCMC conversion table 501, and the IP multicast data is transmitted. At the time of IP multicast data transmission, a transmission history is recorded in the MC transmission record table 601.

The above data encryption function can prevent the receiving terminals 23 and 24 directly connected to the IP multicast network in FIG. 2 from using the contents. Also, the IP multicast communication device 5
Since the data is decrypted in steps 1 and 52, there is no need to decrypt the data in each of the receiving terminals 20, 21 and 22, and the key management becomes easy. Further, even a receiving terminal having a low calculation processing capability can receive contents.

The MCUC conversion section 711 is a section that receives IP multicast data from the IP multicast data transmission / reception section 109 and transmits it to the IP unicast data transmission / reception section 106 as IP unicast data. The content identification unit 712 refers to the MCUC conversion table 511 to determine whether the content needs to be identified and decrypted. If the data needs to be decrypted, the data is transmitted to the decryption unit 713, and the data is transmitted to the data duplication unit 714 after the decryption processing. On the other hand, if the data does not need to be decrypted, the data is transmitted to the data replication unit 714. The data replication unit 714 refers to the MCUC conversion table 511,
The content is copied by the number of receiving terminals. Also, by referring to the recipient management table 411, the advertisement type is determined, an advertisement is inserted for each recipient in the content, and transmitted to the address & port number assigning unit 716. The address & port number assigning unit 716 refers to the MCUC conversion table 511, determines the destination address and port number of the data, and
Transmit as P unicast data. When transmitting IP unicast data, a transmission history is recorded in the UC transmission record table 611.

With the above-mentioned advertisement function, it is possible to realize the distribution of the advertisement that suits each recipient's preference.

[Second Embodiment] In this embodiment, an example is shown in which even a transmission terminal having a low calculation processing capacity can transmit contents to a large number of reception terminals.

FIG. 10 shows a system configuration according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the transmitting terminal 11 transmits contents as IP unicast data 74 to the IP multicast communication device 53, and the receiving terminals 25 and 26
The contents are received as IP unicast data 75 and 76 from the P multicast communication device 53. Accordingly, also in the present embodiment, the transmitting terminal 11 does not need to perform data replication for the number of receiving terminals, so that even a transmitting terminal having a low calculation processing capability can transmit contents to a large number of receiving terminals. It is possible.

The transmitting terminal 11 and the receiving terminals 25 and 26
Since data is not directly transmitted and received between the receiving terminals 2
It is not necessary for the users 5 and 26 to know the information of the transmitting terminal 11, and if only the content identifier is known, the desired content can be received.

[Third Embodiment] In this embodiment, Pay Per
The business model of View (hereinafter referred to as PPV) will be described.

First, the ICP transmits the content 801 to the recipient of the content (hereinafter simply referred to as the recipient) via the ISP. Next, the ISP sends the transmission record 8
02 to ICP. The ICP identifies the recipient from the communication record, collects a content fee 803 from the recipient,
The communication fee 804 is paid to the ISP.

Thus, ICP informs the receiver of I
Since the content is delivered by P unicast, the recipient can be specified. In addition, since the recipient who has not made a contract cannot use the contents, the PPV system can be charged.

Further, the receiver can view many contents via the Internet.

Further, the ISP can provide a new communication service. Further, currently, the charging method in the IP multicast communication service is generally fixed charging (charge is determined according to the data band on the transmission side). However, IP
In the data delivery by multicast, the load on the network usually increases as the number of recipients increases. Using the above method, pay-as-you-go billing (depending on the number of recipients) is possible.

[Fourth Embodiment] Also in this embodiment, P
Another business model of the PV system will be described.

FIG. 12 shows an example of realizing a business model according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

First, the ICP transmits the content 811 to the recipient via the ISP. The ISP collects the content fee 812 from the recipient on behalf of the ICP,
The amount 813 obtained by subtracting the communication fee and the charging agency fee from the content fee is passed to the CP.

Thus, the ICP can receive the accounting service from the ISP. In addition, the recipient can view many contents via the Internet.

Further, the ISP can provide an accounting service in addition to the communication service. [Fifth Embodiment] In this embodiment, a business model of an advertising system will be described.

FIG. 13 shows an example of implementing a business model according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

First, the ICP transmits the contents and the advertisement 901 to the recipient via the ISP. Next, ISP
Transmits the transmission record 902 to the ICP. ICP is
By transmitting the communication record 903 to the advertiser, an advertisement fee 904 is collected and a communication fee 905 is paid to the ISP.

Thus, the advertiser can accurately grasp the number of recipients of the advertisement. In addition, the ICP enables business with advertisement revenue. In addition, the recipient can view the content for free via the Internet. In addition, ISPs can provide new communication services.

[Sixth Embodiment] In this embodiment, another business model of the advertising system will be described.

FIG. 14 shows an example of realizing a business model according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

First, the recipient provides recipient information 910 to the ICP. The ICP sends the recipient information 911 to the I
In addition to transmitting to the SP, via the ISP, the content and the advertisement 912 suitable for each recipient are transmitted to the recipient. Next, the ISP stores the transmission record 913 in an IC
Tell P. The ICP collects an advertisement fee 915 larger than usual by transmitting the communication record 914 to the advertiser, and pays the ISP a communication fee 916.

As a result, the advertiser can make targeted advertisements, so that more effective advertisements can be made. ICPs can also earn more advertising revenue. Also, the recipient can access via the Internet
You can watch the content for free. Furthermore, I
The SP can provide a new communication service.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified and applied within the scope of the claims.

[0105]

As described above, according to the present invention, the transmission / reception terminal connected to the IP unicast network can efficiently transmit / receive the content by the IP multicast communication device.

Further, the transmitting / receiving terminal is registered in the IP multicast communication device, and the authentication is performed, whereby
Transmission and reception terminals can be limited.

Also, by recording the history of each transmission and reception of the content in the IP multicast communication device, the transmission and reception history of the content can be recorded.

Further, by providing the IP multicast communication device with an encryption function, illegal use of contents can be prevented.

[0109] Further, by registering the taste of the recipient as the recipient information of the content in advance, an effective advertisement can be made.

Thus, the content business on the Internet can be spread.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an IP multicast communication device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sequence chart (part 1) illustrating an operation in the IP multicast communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sequence chart (part 2) illustrating an operation in the IP multicast communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an example of a sender management table and a receiver management table of the user management unit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 shows a U of the content management unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is an example of a CMC conversion table and an MCUC conversion table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a data transfer recording unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
It is an example of a C transmission record table and a UC transmission record table.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a data transfer processing unit according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an example of implementing a business model according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an example of realizing a business model according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an example of implementing a business model according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an example of implementing a business model according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 11 Sending terminal 20, 21, 22, 25, 26 Receiving terminal 30, 31 IP unicast router 40, 41, 42 IP multicast router 50, 51, 52, 53 IP multicast communication device 74, 75, 76 IP unicast Data 100 IP multicast network 101 Terminal-side control message transmission / reception unit, terminal-side control message transmission / reception unit 102 Control message processing unit, control message processing unit 103 User management unit, User management unit 104 Content management unit, Content management unit 105 IGMP message transmission / reception unit IGMP message transmitting / receiving unit 106 IP unicast data transmitting / receiving unit, IP unicast data transmitting / receiving unit 107 data transfer processing unit, data transfer processing unit 108 data transfer recording unit, data Transmission recording unit 109 IP multicast data transmission / reception unit, IP multicast data transmission / reception unit 200 IP unicast network 401 Sender management table 402 User name 403 Password 404 Sender identifier 411 Recipient management table 412 User name 413 Password 414 Advertising 415 Recipient identifier 501 UCMC Conversion Table 502 Sender Identifier 503 Content Identifier 504 Encryption Key 511 MCUC Conversion Table 512 Content Identifier 513 Decryption Key 514 Receiver Identifier 601 MC Transmission Record Table 602 Sender Identifier 603 Content Identifier 604 Transmission Start Time 605 Transmission Stop Time 606 Use Band 611 UC transmission record table 612 Receiver identifier 613 Content identifier 614 Transmission start time 615 Transmission stop time 616 Bandwidth used 7 01 UCMC conversion unit 702 Sender identification unit 703 Encryption unit 704 Address & port number assignment unit 711 MCUC conversion unit 712 Content identification unit 713 Decryption unit 714 Data duplication unit 715 Advertisement insertion unit 716 Address & port number assignment unit 801 Content 802 Communication record 803 Content fee 804 Communication fee 811 Content 812 Content fee 912 Content and advertisement 902 Communication record 903 Communication record 904 Advertising fee 905 Communication fee 910, 911 Recipient information 912 Content and advertisement 913 Communication record 914 Communication record 915 Advertising fee 916 Communication fee

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 17/60 332 G06F 17/60 332 H04L 12/46 H04L 12/46 Z

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An IP datagram having a destination address of IP
Data having a unicast address (hereinafter referred to as IP unicast data) and data having an IP multicast address as a destination address of an IP datagram (hereinafter, referred to as IP unicast data)
IP multicast data), and a router capable of only transferring the IP unicast data (hereinafter referred to as IP multicast data)
Network consisting of unicast routers) and lines (hereinafter referred to as IP unicast network)
And a network (hereinafter, an IP multicast network) composed of a group of routers (hereinafter, an IP multicast router) capable of transferring both the IP unicast data and the IP multicast data, and a line (hereinafter, an IP multicast network). Is connected to the IP multicast network in the Internet including the IP multicast network.
A P-multicast communication device, comprising: a terminal-side control message transmitting / receiving means for processing a control message from a terminal and a router; a user managing means for managing a content transmitter / receiver (hereinafter, referred to as a user); A content management means for managing information and a content receiving terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a receiving terminal) information; a data transfer processing means for processing and transferring a received IP datagram; A data transfer recording means for recording a transfer history of the IP datagram in the processing means; an IP unicast data transferred from the transmitting terminal to the data transfer processing means; IP unicast data transmitter / receiver that transfers cast data to the receiving terminal And IP multicast data transmitting and receiving means for transferring the IP multicast data received from the IP multicast router to the data transfer processing means and transmitting the IP multicast data obtained from the data transfer processing means to the IP multicast router. The data transfer processing means includes: an IP address that specifies the IP unicast data acquired from the IP unicast data transmission / reception means by the transmitting terminal.
P multicast address and port number to the IP
Means for transferring via the multicast data transmitting / receiving means; and transmitting the IP multicast data obtained from the IP multicast data transmitting / receiving means to the IP unicast address and port number designated by the receiving terminal.
Means for transferring via P unicast data transmission / reception means. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user management means includes means for registering in advance a user who can make a content transfer request, and authentication by a user name and a password when receiving a content transfer request from the user. And means for performing transfer processing of the content desired by the user when the authentication is successful, and not responding to the content transfer processing request when the authentication fails. IP multicast communication device. 3. The data transfer recording means, when the content transfer processing is performed by the data transfer processing means, a sender identifier including a source address and a port number, or a destination address and a port number. 2. The IP multicast communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for recording information on a receiver identifier, a content identifier including an IP multicast address and a port number, a transmission start time, a transmission stop time, and a used bandwidth. 4. The data transfer processing means encrypts the content received from the transmission terminal, transfers the content to an IP multicast address and a port number specified by the transmission terminal, and transmits the content specified by the reception terminal. 2. The IP multicast communication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for receiving, decoding the content, and transferring the content to a destination address and a port number designated by the receiving terminal. 5. The user management means has means for recording a target type of interest of a receiver of the receiver device, and the data transfer processing means, when transmitting content to the receiver terminal, The IP multicast communication device according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement content is selected and transmitted with reference to the target type of interest of the receiver. 6. An IP unicast network comprising an ICP for transmitting content, a content receiver for receiving content, and a ISP for charging for content and communication on the Internet including the IP multicast network. In the content providing method in the Per View system, the ICP transmits a content to a content recipient via the ISP, the ISP notifies the ICP of a communication record of the content of the ICP, A content providing method, wherein the ICP specifies a recipient from the communication record, collects a content fee from the recipient, and pays a communication fee to the ISP. 7. An IP unicast network is composed of an ICP for transmitting contents, a receiver for receiving contents, and an ISP for charging for contents and communication on the Internet including the IP multicast network. In the content providing method in the View system, the ICP transmits the content to the receiver via the ISP, and the ISP transfers a content fee from the receiver to the I
A content providing method, wherein the content is collected on behalf of a CP, and an amount obtained by subtracting a communication fee and a charging agency fee from the content fee is passed to the ICP. 8. The IP unicast network manages an ICP for transmitting content, a recipient for receiving the content, and an advertisement based on the preference of the recipient on the Internet including the IP multicast network, and acquires the advertisement from the ICP. A content providing method in an advertising system comprising an ISP that inserts and transfers an advertisement into the content and charges the content and communication, wherein the ISP stores a communication record of the content and the advertisement acquired from the ICP. A content providing method comprising: notifying an ICP; and transmitting the communication record to an advertiser, thereby collecting an advertisement fee from the advertiser and paying the ISP a communication fee. 9. The IP unicast network manages, on the Internet including the IP multicast network, an ICP for transmitting content, a recipient for receiving the content, and an advertisement based on the preference of the recipient. A content providing method in an advertising system comprising an ISP that inserts and transfers an advertisement into the content obtained from the ISP and charges the content and communication, wherein the recipient provides recipient information to the ICP. The ICP manages the recipient information, passes the recipient information to an ISP, transmits an advertisement that matches the recipient's preference via the ISP, and the ISP responds to the transmission of the advertisement. Notifying the communication record to the ICP, the ICP notifying the advertiser of the communication record Te, collect a large amount of advertising rates than usual, the ISP
A content providing method characterized by paying a communication fee to a user.