JP2006031522A - Content relay distribution server, content relay distribution computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content relay server in which a content relay distribution server manages centralizedly an access control for every content to be distributed and relays the content of a content server. <P>SOLUTION: The content relay distribution server has an identification module selection means for selecting an identification module for judging access permission to the contents based on a request message received from a user terminal, an identification information inspection means for separating identification information from the request message and inspecting the identification information by the selected identification module, transfers the request message to the content server which holds the contents and relays an obtained response to the user terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a content relay distribution server that relays content while relaying it while controlling access to the content server in response to a request message from a user terminal on the Internet.

  In recent years, information transmission on the Internet, which has become commonplace, has been attracting attention as a method for dynamically processing information contents according to users because it is easier to update information than recording media such as printed matter and CDs. ing. In this trend, there are many businesses that sell valuable and valuable content and provide it for promotional purposes. For example, sell content to provide content only to paying users, or to provide content only to member users, users who have won a lottery, or users who have purchased products Companies and companies used for sales promotion need to distribute contents only to specific users who have been authenticated under the protection of an authentication system according to the business form. Here, these content providers purchase not only their own content but also content from other content creation companies and distribute the content.

In Patent Document 1, content distribution is managed by a URL managed by a content provider company, and when an access request is received by a URL from a user, the URL is sequentially switched according to a predetermined procedure, and an appropriate content is set. A relay technique for distributing to servers has been disclosed. (Prior art 1)
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-215499 (pages 3 to 4, FIG. 1 to FIG. 11) discloses a relay in which a global address relay server managed by a content provider relays content from a private address content server. Techniques are disclosed. (Prior art 2) JP 2004-30227 A (pages 5 to 9, FIG. 1 to FIG. 7)

  By the way, since these relay servers need to introduce different authentication systems according to the business model of the company that is the service entity that uses the content for sales and sales promotion, the prior art 1 has an increased business model and authentication. As the number of methods increases, the number of relay servers must be increased, the number of relay servers increases, and the construction cost and operation management cost increase. In the prior art 2, a method of introducing an authentication system to each content provider server is also conceivable. However, as the number of authentication methods increases, the construction cost also increases. On the other hand, the method of receiving content from the content server includes the URL method of the prior art 1 and the message method of the prior art 2. In either method, the content server information is included in the content to be returned. Since it is still included, it is not preferable from the viewpoint of information management because it is impossible to conceal information that the user does not want to be informed.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such a conventional technique, and an object of the present invention is to provide a service for providing a user terminal with a business model service connected to the Internet and using different authentication methods. Access to the content server in the content relay distribution server that relays the service provided by the service server between the content server and the user terminal, and corresponding to the URL included in the request message In a content relay distribution server that switches control, the content relay distribution server centrally manages access control of service servers of different authentication methods, thereby reducing the load of access control on the content server performed by the service server Content server access control at the same time In addition, since the content relay distribution server relays the content, the service server does not have to hold the content, so content update management becomes unnecessary, It is to provide a content relay distribution server that can protect information related to the content server by concealing content server information existing in the server.

  The present invention solves the above problems by the following means. That is, the invention of claim 1 includes a plurality of authentication modules (for example, a program such as a password authentication module) for inspecting whether or not access to content is possible, storage means for storing an authentication module reference file and an address conversion file, Authentication module selection means for selecting an appropriate authentication module based on a request message (for example, information for accessing content = URL) received from the user terminal, and the selected authentication module is activated, and the authentication result is displayed. When an authentication result that can be accessed is obtained by the received authentication information checking means and the authentication module, the request message received from the user terminal is transferred to another server that holds the content data. That relays the response to the user terminal. And Ceiling acquisition unit, which is a content relay distribution server equipped with.

The invention of claim 2 preferably includes storage means for storing an authentication module reference file, and the authentication module selection means selects the authentication to be selected in accordance with the URL included in the request message from the user terminal. 2. The content relay distribution server according to claim 1, wherein an authentication module is selected by referring to an authentication module reference file that defines a module.

Preferably, the invention of claim 3
The authentication information inspection unit functions to pass a request message from a user terminal and terminal information (for example, an IP address of the user terminal) to the selected authentication module as authentication information to be inspected. Or it is a content relay delivery server of Claim 2.

The invention of claim 4 preferably includes storage means for storing an address conversion file, and the content acquisition means determines the URL included in the request message from the user terminal according to the URL. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request message is transferred to another server holding content data with reference to an address conversion file that defines a conversion table for replacing the URL of another server that transfers the message. It is a content relay delivery server as described in any one of Claim 3.

Preferably, when the content acquisition unit receives a response from the other server that has transferred the request message, the URL of the other server is included in the link destination address therein. If the HTML data is included, the address conversion file is referred to, the URL representing the other server is converted into HTML data replaced with an appropriate URL representing the content relay distribution server itself, and the user terminal is converted. The content relay distribution server according to claim 4, which is provided.

Preferably, in the content relay distribution server according to claim 3, the authentication module is preferably configured to decrypt a request message from a user terminal encrypted by a predetermined method. is there.

Preferably, the authentication module functions to process the authentication information extracted from the request message or the terminal information into the request message, and incorporate the authentication information into the request message. The content relay distribution server described.

The invention of claim 8 is preferably the content relay distribution server according to claim 1 or 2, wherein predetermined authentication information is stored in advance in a built-in storage means.

The invention of claim 9 is preferably a computer program that causes a computer to operate as the content relay distribution server according to any one of claims 1 to 7 by being incorporated in the computer.

URL is an abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator, and is a description method of the address of information on the Internet, and is composed of a server name, folder name, file name, information type, and the like.

  According to the present invention, a content relay distribution server that relays between a content server and a user terminal relays content provided by a service server of a business model of an individual authentication method that is connected to the Internet. In the content relay distribution server that switches the access control to the content server in response to the URL included in the request message, the content relay distribution server concentrates the access control of service servers of different authentication methods individually. By managing, the load of access control to the content server performed by the service server can be reduced, and at the same time, the access control of the content server can be made unnecessary. By relaying The content server does not need to have content, so content update management is not required, and content server information existing in the content can be concealed to protect information related to the content server. To provide a distribution server.

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

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a network configuration diagram of a content relay distribution server of the present invention. Is connected to a plurality of service servers 13, content servers 12, and user terminals 11 under the environment of the Internet 14. The content relay distribution server 10 is located between the user terminal 11 and the content server 12 and relays content requested by the user terminal 11 from the content server 12 to the user terminal 11. Upon receiving the content request URL from the user terminal 11, the content relay distribution server 10 switches the content request URL to the URL of the content server based on the access authority, acquires the desired content from the content server 12, It transmits to the user terminal 11.

The user terminal 11 transmits a request message (for example, a content request URL expressed in URL format) to the content relay distribution server 10. This content request URL includes authentication information (for example, information such as identity confirmation and access authority confirmation) as identity parameters and access authority confirmations as URL parameters.

The content server 12 holds content provided by the service server 13. The content server 12 returns the desired content in response to the content acquisition request from the content relay distribution server 10. The service server 13 explicitly provides a content providing service to the user terminal 11.

  FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the content relay distribution server. In the content relay distribution server, when the content request URL is received in accordance with the content request from the user terminal 11, the authentication module selection unit 104 performs the authentication module 103 for inspection according to a predetermined procedure determined by the service server. Is specified based on the content request URL by referring to the authentication module reference file 105a and selecting the corresponding authentication module 103.

  Next, the authentication information checking means 101 delivers the request message and terminal information from the user terminal 11 to the authentication module 103, and checks the identity verification and access authority confirmation. Next, the content acquisition unit 102 converts the content request URL into the URL of the content server 12 with reference to the address conversion file 105b under the checked access authority, and acquires the desired content.

  Finally, if the URL description of the content server 12 exists in the content, the content acquisition unit 102 replaces the content request URL with the content request URL and transmits the content to the user terminal 11.

The content server 12 returns the requested content stored in the content server 12 in response to the content acquisition request from the content relay distribution server 10, and responds to a direct request from the user terminal 11. Will not respond.

Note that the authentication information is transmitted to verify that the service server has authenticated the user terminal (for example, user terminal information), user information (for example, login information, user ID), and the user's possession of usage rights. Information (for example, serial key), valid time of authentication, and the like, which are necessary for using the content. This authentication information is incorporated in the request message and used by the content relay distribution server 10 and the content server 12.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an authentication module reference file in the content relay distribution server of the present invention. The authentication module reference file 105a designates the authentication module 32 that checks whether the content request URL 31 received from the user terminal 11 is permitted to access the content. For example, “HYPERLINK“ http://contents-gateway.co.jp/travel/ ”http://contents-gateway.co.jp/travel/” 31a is received from the user terminal 11 as the content request URL. In some cases, the password authentication module “module A” 32a indicates that an inspection is performed. On the other hand, when "HYPERLINK" http://contents-gateway.co.jp/prize/ "http://contents-gateway.co.jp/prize/" 31b is received as the content request URL, public key authentication The module “module C” 32b indicates that an inspection is performed.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an address conversion file in the content relay distribution server of the present invention. The address conversion file 105b specifies the URL 42 of the content server corresponding to the content request URL 41 received from the user terminal 11. For example, when “HYPERLINK“ http://contents-gateway.co.jp/travel/ ”http://contents-gateway.co.jp/travel/” 41a is received as the content request URL, the content exists. The URL of the content server 12 is “HYPERLINK” http://contents-gateway.co.jp/travel/ ”http://a-travel.co.jp/travel/” 42a.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a processing procedure performed by the content relay distribution server and the user terminal according to the present invention. The content relay distribution server 10 is a processing flow that receives a content request URL from the user terminal 11, acquires and relays the requested content from the content server 12, and sends it back to the user terminal 11.
(1) The authentication information inspecting means of the content relay distribution server receives the content request URL from the user terminal. (Step S80)
(2) Based on the content request URL, the authentication module selection means refers to the authentication module reference file and selects an authentication module. (Step S81)
(3) The authentication information checking means passes the request message and terminal information from the user terminal to the selected authentication module, and the authentication module confirms the identity authentication and the access authority of the content, and returns the result to the authentication information checking means. . (Step S82)
(4) If the authentication result is valid, proceed to the next step. (Step S83) If the authentication result is not valid, an unacceptable message is returned to the user terminal. (Step S89)
(5) The content acquisition unit refers to the address conversion file and converts the content request URL into the URL of the content server. (Step S84)
(6) The content acquisition unit acquires content from the content server. (Step S85)
(7) The content acquisition means determines whether the acquired content is HTML data. (Step S86) If the acquired content is HTML data, proceed to the next step. If the acquired content is not HTML data, the process proceeds to (8).
(8) If the URL of the content server is included in the HTML content, the content acquisition means refers to the address conversion file and replaces it with the original content request URL. (Step S87)
(9) The content acquisition unit transmits the content to the user terminal 11. (Step S88)

In (3), the authentication module can pass the user ID to the content server by, for example, incorporating the user ID extracted from the request message and the terminal information into the parameter of the content request URL. By using this user ID, the content server can provide a detailed content service (for example, previous access information).

  FIG. 6 is an example of a screen provided by the service server to the user terminal in order to provide content to the member. The member login page 61 is a screen provided from the service server 13 for a user who is a member to enter a member ID and password and receive member authentication. When the login button 61a of the member login page 61 is pressed, the member ID and password are transmitted to the service server 13, and upon authentication, the member-dedicated page 62 is returned from the service server 13 to the user terminal. .

  In the “to content” button of the member-only page 62, “http://contents-gateway.co.jp/travel/index.html” 63a is designated as link information as a content request URL. The encrypted authentication information value 63b and “crypt = hof4a2u43sranoyu” are assigned to the URL variable.

  When the “to content” button 62 a on the member-only page 62 is pressed, a content request URL 63 a and authentication information 63 b of link information are transmitted to the content relay distribution server 10. The content relay distribution server 10 selects an authentication module using the content request URL 63 of the received link information, performs authentication, converts it to the URL of the content server, acquires the content from the content server, and acquires the user. The process of returning to the terminal is as described above.

(Second embodiment)
As a second embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which a user who has purchased a product for which a campaign is being held on the Internet is authenticated by the content relay distribution server for the serial number attached to the product in order to participate in the campaign. .

FIG. 7 is an example of a screen for inputting a serial number attached to a product on the user terminal. When a serial number is entered in the serial number input field 92 and the “input completion button” 93 is pressed, the serial number is embedded in the request URL 91 linked to the “input completion button” 93, and content relay distribution is performed. It is transmitted to the server 10. For example, if the serial number “12681991” is entered, the request URL “HYPERLINK“ http://contents-gateway.co.jp/shop/index.html ”http://contents-gateway.co.jp/shop/ It is assigned to the variable 91b of index.html "91a and transmitted to the content relay distribution server 10.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram in which the serial number attached to the product is authenticated by the content relay distribution server. The serial number authentication information 105c is stored in the storage unit 105 of the content relay distribution server for serial number verification. The user terminal 11 receives a serial number input screen from the service server 12. When the user inputs the serial number on the serial number input screen and presses the input completion button 93, the serial number authentication information is incorporated as information of the content request URL to the content relay distribution server, and this content request URL Is transmitted to the content relay distribution server. The authentication information inspection unit 101 of the content relay distribution server receives the request URL in which the serial number is incorporated as the authentication information 105d from the user terminal 11. The authentication information checking means 101 passes a request message from the user terminal including the serial number to the serial number authentication module 105b, and the serial number authentication module 105b compares the serial number with the serial number authentication information 105c, and the result is checked with the authentication information check. Return to means 101. If the authentication is obtained, the content acquisition unit 102 refers to the address conversion file 105b based on the request URL, accesses the content server 12, acquires the desired content, and transmits it to the user terminal.

  In the embodiment described above, the method of inputting the serial number with the key in the serial number input field has been described. However, the same effect can be obtained by reading with a camera or a scanner and performing OCR processing.

(Third embodiment)
As a third embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which a user contracted with an Internet provider is authenticated by a content relay distribution server in order to receive provision of member information. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a content relay server having IP address authentication. The content relay distribution server authenticates the serial number attached to the product. The storage means 105 of the content relay distribution server stores an IP list 105d for IP address verification. The user terminal 11 transmits a request message including the content request URL to the content relay distribution server. The authentication module selection means 104 selects the IP authentication module 103 by referring to the authentication module reference file based on the request URL. The authentication information checking means 101 passes the request message from the user terminal and the terminal information including the IP address to the selected IP authentication module 103, and the IP authentication module 103 compares the IP address with the IP list 105d and authenticates the result. It returns to the information inspection means 101. If the authentication is obtained, as described above, the content acquisition unit 102 refers to the address conversion file, converts the request URL into the URL of the content server 12, acquires the desired content, Send to the user terminal.

  As described above in detail, according to the first embodiment, when a service server of a business model with different authentication methods connected to the Internet provides content to the server and the user terminal, content relay distribution is performed. The server centrally manages the access control of service servers with different authentication methods to reduce the load of access control to the content server performed by the service server, and at the same time eliminates the need for authentication processing by the content server. The server mechanism can be simplified, and further, the content relay distribution server relays the content, so the service server does not have to hold the content, so the load of content update management becomes unnecessary. In addition, content server information existing in the content is concealed In Rukoto, it is possible to protect the information about the content server, to provide a content relay distribution server.

In addition, according to the second embodiment and the third embodiment, since the content can be relayed and distributed only by the authentication of the content relay distribution server without being authenticated by the service server, the service server mechanism can be greatly simplified. To provide a content relay server that can reduce development load, shorten the period until service provision, and improve the service level.

Network configuration diagram of content relay server according to the present invention Detailed configuration diagram of content relay server according to the present invention Explanatory drawing of the authentication module reference file by this invention Explanatory drawing of the address translation file according to the present invention Processing flow of content relay distribution server according to the present invention Explanatory diagram of URL and authentication information transmitted on member-dedicated page according to the present invention Explanatory drawing of the mechanism of serial number authentication information by the campaign according to the present invention Configuration diagram of a content relay server with serial number authentication according to the present invention Configuration diagram of content relay server with IP address authentication according to the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Content relay delivery server 11 User terminal 12 Content server 13 Service server 101 Authentication information inspection means 102 Content acquisition means 103 Authentication module 104 Authentication module selection means 105 Storage means 105a Authentication module reference file 105b Address conversion file 105c Serial number authentication information 105d IP list 31 Content request URL
32 Authentication module information 41 Content request URL
42 Content Server URL Information 61 Member Login Page 61a Login Button 62 Member Exclusive Page 62a “To Content” Button 90 Campaign. Serial number input page 92 Conserial number input field 93 Input completion button

Claims (9)

A plurality of authentication modules that inspect whether content can be accessed;
An authentication module selection means for selecting an appropriate authentication module based on the request message received from the user terminal;
An authentication information inspecting means for activating the selected authentication module and receiving the authentication result;
When an authentication result that can be accessed is obtained by the authentication module, the request message received from the user terminal is transferred to another server holding content data, and a response from the other server is sent to the user. Content acquisition means for relaying to the terminal;
A content relay distribution server. A storage means for storing the authentication module reference file;
The authentication module selection means is configured to select an authentication module by referring to an authentication module reference file that defines an authentication module to be selected according to a URL included in a request message from a user terminal. The content relay distribution server according to claim 1. The content relay distribution according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the authentication information inspecting unit functions to pass a request message and terminal information from a user terminal as authentication information to be inspected to a selected authentication module. server. A storage means for storing the address translation file;
The content acquisition means refers to an address conversion file that defines a conversion table for replacing the URL included in the request message from the user terminal with the URL of another server that forwards the request message according to the URL. The content relay distribution server according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the request message is configured to be transferred to another server having content data. When the content acquisition unit receives a response from the other server that has transferred the request message, and includes HTML data including the URL of the other server in the link destination address, 5. The URL according to claim 4, wherein the URL representing the other server is referred to the address conversion file, converted into HTML data replaced with an appropriate URL representing the content relay distribution server itself, and provided to the user terminal. Content relay distribution server. The content relay distribution server according to claim 3, wherein the authentication module is configured to decrypt a request message from a user terminal encrypted by a predetermined method. The content relay distribution server according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the authentication module functions to process the authentication information extracted from the request message or the terminal information into the request message and incorporate it into the request message. The content relay distribution server according to claim 1, wherein predetermined authentication information is stored in advance in a built-in storage unit. A computer program that causes a computer to operate as the content relay distribution server according to any one of claims 1 to 7 by being incorporated in the computer.

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