JP2013065337A - Relay server, content distribution system and content distribution method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optimize content to be distributed to a user terminal on the network side to be made into distributable according to various conditions on the side of the user terminal 10 without increasing processing loads on the side of a content server 40.SOLUTION: A gateway server 20 (relay server) acquires content which can be separately output to content with information for a predetermined area including the information for the predetermined area for users existing in the predetermined area and content without the information for the predetermined area including no information for the predetermined area from a content server 40. The gateway server 20 acquires an existence area of a user terminal 10 as a separate output condition from a terminal position management system which cannot be accessed from the content server 40, and when the acquired existence area corresponds to the predetermined area, distributes the content with the information for the predetermined area to the user terminal 10, and when the acquired existence area does not correspond to the predetermined area, distributes the content without the information for the predetermined area.

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay server, a content distribution system, and a content distribution method for distributing content to user terminals.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a content distribution system that optimizes content distributed from a content provider to a user terminal by the user selecting optimal content according to the billing mode of the user terminal (for example, Patent Documents). 1).

  In this content distribution system, when the charge form of the user terminal is a flat rate system in which a fixed fee is charged regardless of the amount of communication data, the user selects content with high added value such as high resolution and video. . On the other hand, when the billing mode of the user terminal is a non-fixed amount billing according to the amount of communication data, the user selects content with low added value such as a low resolution / still image. The content provider distributes the content selected by the user to the user terminal. In such a content distribution system, it is necessary for the user terminal to determine its own billing form and select content corresponding to the determined billing form, which increases the processing load on the user terminal side.

JP 2007-129472 A

  By the way, in the content distribution system as described above, in order to reduce the processing load on the user terminal side, on the content server side that provides the content, the content to be distributed to the user terminal is optimal according to the charging form of the user terminal It is also assumed that

  However, when content is optimized on the content server side, the content server needs to acquire the charging form of the user terminal and select the content according to the charging form of the user terminal. The load will increase.

  Such a problem is not limited to the case of distributing content according to the billing mode of the user terminal, and it is possible not only to increase the processing load on the user terminal side but also to increase the processing load on the content server side. A mechanism for optimizing content distributed to terminals has been desired.

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and optimizes the content distributed to the user terminal on the network side according to various conditions on the user terminal side without increasing the processing load on the content server side. It is an object of the present invention to provide a relay server, a content distribution system, and a content distribution method that can be distributed.

  The relay server according to the present invention includes a content acquisition unit that acquires content in a format that can be distributed from the content server in response to a content distribution request from the user terminal, and content that is distributed to the user terminal based on the distribution condition. A content distribution unit, and the content acquisition unit does not include information with a content for a predetermined area including information for a predetermined area intended for a user in a predetermined area and information for the predetermined area Content that can be sorted out into information-free content for a predetermined area is acquired, and the content sorting unit receives presence of the user terminal as the sorting condition from a terminal location management system that is a system that cannot be accessed from the content server. The service area is acquired, and the acquired service area is the predetermined error. When the information corresponds to the predetermined area, the content with information for the predetermined area is distributed to the user terminal, and when the acquired area does not correspond to the predetermined area, the content without information for the predetermined area is distributed. And

  According to this configuration, the relay server that has acquired content in a format that can be sorted out from the content server sorts out the content to be delivered to the user terminal based on the sorting conditions, thus increasing the processing load on the content server side. Instead, content distributed to the user terminal can be optimized and distributed on the network side according to various conditions on the user terminal side.

  In addition, content can be distributed according to the area where the user terminal is located, content for a specific area can be reliably delivered to user terminals located in the area, and user terminals that are not located in the area Delivery to can be prevented.

  In addition, the content distribution system of the present invention includes a user terminal that issues a content distribution request, a content server that distributes the content, and a relay server that relays the content transmitted from the content server to the user terminal. The content server is a system that distributes content in a format that can be sorted out in response to a content distribution request from a user terminal, the relay server receives content in a format that can be sorted out from the content server, and the content server The content server distributes the content to be distributed to the user terminal based on the distribution condition acquired from the inaccessible system, and the content server includes information for a predetermined area targeted for a user who is in the predetermined area Information-oriented computer for specified areas Content that can be sorted out to the predetermined area without information for the predetermined area, and the relay server sends the content from the terminal location management system that is the inaccessible system as the sorting condition When the acquired area of the user terminal is acquired and the acquired area of the user terminal corresponds to the predetermined area, the content with information for the predetermined area is distributed to the user terminal, and the acquired area of If the information does not correspond to the predetermined area, the content-less content for the predetermined area is distributed.

  The content distribution method of the present invention also includes a step of transmitting a content distribution request issued from the user terminal to the content server, and acquires content in a format that can be distributed from the content server in response to the content distribution request from the user terminal. And the step of distributing the content to be distributed to the user terminal based on the distribution condition acquired from the system inaccessible from the content server, and in the acquiring step, the content server To obtain content that can be divided into content with information for a predetermined area that includes information for a predetermined area and information without content for a predetermined area that does not include information for the predetermined area. In the step of sorting out, If the location area of the user terminal is acquired from the terminal location management system, which is an inaccessible system, as the sorting condition, and the acquired area corresponds to the predetermined area, the information for the predetermined area Content with content is distributed to the user terminal, and when the acquired area does not correspond to the predetermined area, content without information for the predetermined area is distributed.

  According to the present invention, a relay server capable of optimizing and distributing content distributed to a user terminal on the network side according to various conditions on the user terminal without increasing the processing load on the content server side, and content distribution A system and a content distribution method can be provided.

1 is a schematic diagram of a content distribution system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the gateway server which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A) Content in a sortable format according to the first embodiment of the present invention, (b) Content for a flat-rate system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and (c) First content of the present invention It is a figure for demonstrating the content for non-fixed amount systems which concerns on embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the content delivery method which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the gateway server which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A) Content in a sortable format according to the second embodiment of the present invention, (b) Content for a flat-rate system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and (c) Second content of the present invention It is a figure for demonstrating the content for non-fixed amount systems which concerns on embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the content distribution system 1 includes a user terminal 10, a gateway server 20, a customer management system 30, and a content server 40.

  The user terminal 10 is, for example, a mobile terminal, and is connected to the gateway server 20 via a base station or the like (not shown). The gateway server 20 (relay server) is a server of a communication carrier that relays communication between the user terminal 10 and the content server 40. The customer management system 30 is a system that manages user attributes (for example, billing form, user age, etc.) of the user terminal 10 that makes a contract with a telecommunications carrier, and is connected to the gateway server 20. The customer management system 30 can be accessed from the gateway server 20 managed by the telecommunications carrier, but cannot be accessed from the content server 40 not managed by the telecommunications carrier. The content server 40 is a server that distributes content to the user terminal 10 via the gateway server 20.

  In such a content distribution system 1, the gateway server 20 (relay server) acquires content that can be distributed from the content server 40, and distributes content to be distributed to the user terminal 10 based on predetermined distribution conditions. . Therefore, in the content distribution system 1, the content distributed to the user terminal 10 can be optimized on the network side according to various conditions on the user terminal 10 side without increasing the processing load on the content server side.

  In the first embodiment, in the content distribution system 1, the gateway server 20 distributes content to be distributed to the user terminal 10 based on whether the billing mode of the user terminal 10 is a fixed amount system or a non-fixed amount system. An example will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the gateway server 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the gateway server 20 includes a content distribution request receiving unit 21, a content acquisition unit 22, a content analysis unit 23, a customer management system search unit 24, a user attribute determination unit 25, and a content processing unit. 26 and a content distribution unit 27.

  The content distribution request receiving unit 21 receives a content distribution request and identification information (for example, a telephone number or a contractor number) of the user terminal 10 from the user terminal 10. Here, the content distribution request is a request for content distribution to the content server 40, and includes the content server 40 and content identification information (for example, URL: Uniform Resource Locator). In addition, the content distribution request receiving unit 21 transfers the content distribution request received from the user terminal 10 to the content server 40.

  The content acquisition unit 22 acquires content distributed from the content server 40 in response to the content distribution request described above.

  The content analysis unit 23 analyzes whether or not the content acquired by the content acquisition unit 22 is a content that can be sorted out. The content analysis unit 23 notifies the customer management system search unit 24 of the fact that the analysis result is in a format that can be output separately. If the analysis result is not the content in a format that can be output separately, the content distribution unit 27 To that effect.

  Here, the content in a format that can be sorted out is an HTML file including a tag area for sorting out the content. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), content in a format that can be divided into content for a flat rate system and content for a non-flat rate system is a flat rate tag a for distributing the content for a flat rate system a And a tag non-flat rate tag b for distributing non-flat rate content.

  In the flat-rate tag a, the moving image content “img src =“ / images / xxxxx_flash.swf ”” is specified as the fixed-rate content. In addition, as content for the flat-rate system, not only video content but also large-capacity content such as high-resolution content may be designated.

  The non-fixed price tag b designates still image content “img src =“ / images / xxxxx.gif ”” as non-fixed price content. In addition, as content for non-flat-rate systems, not only still image content but also small-capacity content such as low-resolution content may be designated.

  The customer management system search unit 24 performs customer management using the identification information of the user terminal 10 included in the content distribution request from the user terminal 10 as a key when the content is in a format in which the analysis result by the content analysis unit 23 can be output. The system 30 is inquired about the charging form of the user terminal 10. Note that the customer management system search unit 24 may obtain the billing form of the user terminal 10 from the contract information stored in the storage unit (not shown) in the gateway server 20 without referring to the customer management system 30. Good.

  The user attribute determination unit 25 determines whether the charge form of the user terminal 10 acquired by the customer management system search unit 24 is a fixed amount system or a non-fixed amount system. The user attribute determination unit 25 determines to distribute the content for the flat-rate system when the charging form of the user terminal 10 is a flat-rate system, and for the non-flat-rate system when the charging mode of the user terminal 10 is a non-flat-rate system Decide to distribute the content.

  The content processing unit 26 processes content that can be taken out and acquired from the content server 40 in accordance with the determination result by the user attribute determination unit 25.

  Specifically, when the user attribute determination unit 25 decides to distribute the content for the fixed amount system, the content processing unit 26, as shown in FIG. 3B, the fixed amount specified by the fixed amount tag a. The HTML file is processed so that the control content “img src =“ / images / xxxxx_flash.swf ”” is distributed. On the other hand, when the user attribute determination unit 25 determines to distribute the content for the non-flat rate system, as shown in FIG. 3C, the content processing unit 26 sets the non-flat rate specified by the non-flat rate tag b. The HTML file is processed so that the control content “img src =“ / images / xxxxx.gif ”” is distributed.

  The content distribution unit 27 distributes the content processed by the content processing unit 26 to the user terminal 10. Further, the content distribution unit 27 distributes the content acquired from the content server 40 to the user terminal 10 as it is when the analysis result by the content analysis unit 23 is not content in a format that can be output.

  Next, a content distribution method in the content distribution system 1 according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the content distribution method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the user terminal 10 transmits a content distribution request to the content server 40 and identification information of the user terminal 10 to the gateway server 20 (step S11).

  The gateway server 20 transfers the content distribution request received from the user terminal 10 to the content server 40 (step S12).

  The content server 40 transmits the content specified by the content distribution request to the gateway server 20 (step S13). The content server 40 can transmit content in a format that can be sorted out and content in a format that cannot be sorted out to the gateway server 20, but here, the content in a format that can be sorted out is transmitted. Shall.

  The gateway server 20 inquires of the customer management system 30 about the charging form of the user terminal 10 using the identification information of the user terminal 10 included in the content distribution request received in step S11 as a key (step S14).

  The customer management system 30 transmits the inquiry result of the charging form of the user terminal 10 (step S15).

  The gateway server 20 distributes the content for the flat rate system to the user terminal 10 when the charging mode of the user terminal 10 is a flat rate system, and the content for the non-flat rate system when the charging mode of the user terminal 10 is a non-flat rate system. Distribute to the user terminal 10 (step S16).

  Next, the content distribution method according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail focusing on the operation of the gateway server 20. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the gateway server 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the content distribution request receiving unit 21 receives a content distribution request for the content server 40 and identification information of the user terminal 10 from the user terminal 10. The content distribution request receiving unit 21 transfers the received content distribution request to the content server 40 (step S21).

  The content acquisition unit 22 acquires the content distributed in response to the content distribution request in step S21 from the content server 40 (step S22).

  The content analysis unit 23 analyzes whether or not the content acquired in step S22 is content that can be put out (step S23). Specifically, the content analysis unit 23 determines whether or not the content acquired in step S22 includes a flat-rate tag a and a non-flat-rate tag b. If the content acquired in step S22 is content that can be sorted out, the process proceeds to step S24.

  If the content acquired in step S22 is not content that can be sorted out, the content distribution unit 27 distributes the content acquired in step S22 to the user terminal 10 as it is (step S25).

  On the other hand, when the content is in a format that can be distributed, the customer management system search unit 24 uses the identification information of the user terminal 10 received in step S21 as a key to the customer management system 30 to charge the user terminal 10 (Step S24).

  The user attribute determination unit 25 determines whether the billing mode of the user terminal 10 inquired in step S24 is a fixed amount system or a non-fixed amount system (step S26).

  When the billing form of the user terminal 10 is a flat rate system, the content processing unit 26 processes the content acquired in step S22 so as to distribute the flat rate system content specified by the flat-rate system tag a. The content distribution unit 27 distributes the processed content to the user terminal 10 (step S27).

  When the charge form of the user terminal 10 is non-flat rate, the content processing unit 26 processes the content acquired in step S22 so as to distribute the non-flat rate content specified by the non-flat rate tag b. . The content distribution unit 27 distributes the processed content to the user terminal 10 (step S28).

  According to the content distribution system 1 according to the first embodiment, the gateway server 20 distributes the content to be distributed to the user terminal 10 based on whether the charging mode of the user terminal 10 is a fixed amount system or a non-fixed amount system. Sort out. For this reason, the content distributed to the user terminal 10 can be optimized on the network side in accordance with the billing mode of the user terminal 10 without increasing the processing load on the content server 40 side. Furthermore, the content server 40 can deliver high-value-added large-capacity content regardless of whether or not the billing mode of the user terminal 10 is a non-flat rate system, and the user terminal whose billing mode is a flat rate system 10 can deliver a large amount of content with high added value.

  Moreover, according to the content distribution system 1 which concerns on 1st Embodiment, the gateway server 20 which the communication carrier which the user terminal 10 contracts manages distributes a content separately. For this reason, it is possible to distribute the optimum content led by the network side to the external content provider who manages the content server 40 without knowing the charging form related to the privacy of the user terminal 10.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, in the second embodiment, in the content distribution system 1, the gateway server 20 distributes the content to be distributed to the user terminal 10 based on whether or not the user age of the user terminal 10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined age. An example is demonstrated centering on difference with the gateway server 20 of 1st Embodiment.

  The content acquisition unit 22 according to the second embodiment includes information for a predetermined age that includes information for a predetermined age targeted for a user who is a predetermined age or older, and content without information for a predetermined age that does not include information for a predetermined age. Get content that can be distributed to Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6A, content in a format that can be sorted out according to the second embodiment includes a tag c for a predetermined age for distributing information for a predetermined age.

  The customer management system search unit 24 according to the second embodiment inquires of the customer management system 30 about the user age of the user terminal 10 instead of the charging form of the user terminal 10 using the identification information of the user terminal 10 as a key. The user attribute determination unit 25 determines whether the user age of the user terminal 10 acquired by the customer management system search unit 24 is greater than a predetermined age (for example, 20 years old). When the user age of the user terminal 10 is greater than the predetermined age, the user attribute determination unit 25 determines to distribute the content with information for the predetermined age including the information for the predetermined age, and the user age of the user terminal 10 is greater than the predetermined age. If it is not large, it is decided to distribute the content for the predetermined age that does not include the information for the predetermined age.

  The content processing unit 26 according to the second embodiment processes content that can be sorted out and acquired from the content server 40 in accordance with the determination result by the user attribute determination unit 25. Specifically, when the user attribute determination unit 25 determines to distribute content with information for a predetermined age, the content processing unit 26 is designated by a tag for a predetermined age as shown in FIG. 6B. The HTML file is processed so that the information “img src =“ / images / yyyyy_flash.swf ”” for the predetermined age is distributed. On the other hand, the content processing unit 26, when the user attribute determination unit 25 decides to distribute the content without information for the predetermined age, as shown in FIG. 6C, the predetermined age specified by the tag c for the predetermined age The HTML file is processed so that the information “img src =“ / images / yyyyy_flash.swf ”” is not distributed.

  According to the content distribution system 1 according to the second embodiment, the gateway server 20 can distribute the content to be distributed to the user terminal 10 based on the user age of the user terminal 10. For this reason, the content delivered to the user terminal 10 can be optimized on the network side according to the user age of the user terminal 10 without increasing the processing load on the content server 40 side. Furthermore, the content server 40 can distribute various contents without worrying about the user age of the user terminal 10.

  Moreover, according to the content distribution system 1 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, the gateway server 20 which the communication carrier which the user terminal 10 contracts manages distributes a content separately. For this reason, it is possible to distribute the optimum content led by the network side to the external content provider who manages the content server 40 without knowing the user age related to the privacy of the user terminal 10.

[Third embodiment]
Next, in the third embodiment, in the content distribution system 1, the gateway server 20 outputs content to be distributed to the user terminal 10 based on whether or not the area where the user terminal 10 is located corresponds to a predetermined area. An example of dividing will be described focusing on differences from the gateway server 20 of the second embodiment.

  The content acquisition unit 22 according to the third embodiment includes information with content for a predetermined area including information for a predetermined area targeted for a user located in the predetermined area, and content without information for an area that does not include information for the predetermined area. Acquire content that can be sorted out.

  The user attribute determination unit 25 according to the third embodiment determines whether or not the located area of the user terminal 10 acquired by a terminal location management system (not shown) corresponds to a predetermined area. When the area where the user terminal 10 is located corresponds to the predetermined area, the user attribute determination unit 25 determines to distribute the content with information for the predetermined area including the information for the predetermined area, and the area where the user terminal 10 is located If it does not correspond to the predetermined area, it is determined to distribute the content without information for the predetermined area that does not include information for the predetermined area.

  The content processing unit 26 according to the third embodiment is acquired from the content server 40 according to the determination result by the user attribute determination unit 25 so as to distribute or not distribute information for a predetermined age, similarly to the second embodiment. Process content that can be distributed.

  According to the content distribution system 1 according to the third embodiment, the gateway server 20 can distribute the content to be distributed to the user terminal 10 based on whether the area where the user terminal 10 is located is a predetermined area. . For this reason, the content delivered to the user terminal 10 can be optimized on the network side according to the area where the user terminal 10 is located, without increasing the processing load on the content server 40 side. Furthermore, the content server 40 can distribute various contents without grasping the area of the user terminal 10.

[Other embodiments]
In the first and second embodiments described above, an example in which the customer management system search unit 24 of the gateway server 20 is referred to the billing form and the user age of the user terminal 10 has been described. However, user attributes managed by the customer management system 30 Other information regarding the content may be inquired, and the content may be sorted out based on other user attributes other than the billing form of the user terminal 10 and the user age.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Content delivery system 10 ... User terminal 20 ... Gateway server 30 ... Customer management system 40 ... Content server 21 ... Content delivery request receiving part 22 ... Content acquisition part 23 ... Content analysis part 24 ... Customer management system search part 25 ... User attribute Judgment part 26 ... Content processing part 27 ... Content distribution part a ... Tag for flat-rate system b ... Tag for non-flat-rate system c ... Tag for predetermined age

Claims (4)

A content acquisition unit that acquires content in a format that can be sorted out from the content server in response to a content distribution request from a user terminal;
A content distribution unit that distributes content to be distributed to the user terminal based on distribution conditions;
The content acquisition unit can be classified into content with information for a predetermined area including information for a predetermined area targeted for a user located in the predetermined area and content without information for a predetermined area not including the information for the predetermined area. Get content,
The content distribution unit acquires a location area of the user terminal as the distribution condition from a terminal location management system that is a system that cannot be accessed from the content server, and the acquired area is the predetermined area The content with information for the predetermined area is distributed to the user terminal, and the content without information for the predetermined area is distributed when the acquired area does not correspond to the predetermined area. Relay server to be used. The relay server is a relay server of the communication carrier connected via a base station to a user terminal that contracts with the communication carrier,
The relay server according to claim 1, wherein the content distribution unit distributes the content with information for the predetermined area or the content without information for the predetermined area to the user terminal via the base station. A user terminal that issues a content distribution request;
A content server for delivering content;
A content distribution system comprising: a relay server that relays content transmitted from the content server to the user terminal;
Delivering content in a format that can be sorted out by the content server in response to a content delivery request from a user terminal,
The relay server receives content in a format that can be distributed from the content server, and distributes content to be distributed to the user terminal based on a distribution condition acquired from a system that is inaccessible from the content server,
The content server is a content that can be divided into content with information for a predetermined area that includes information for a predetermined area and information without content for a predetermined area that does not include information for the predetermined area, for users in the predetermined area Deliver
The relay server acquires the area where the user terminal is located as the distribution condition from the terminal location management system that is the inaccessible system, and when the acquired area corresponds to the predetermined area, A content distribution system, wherein the content with information for a predetermined area is distributed to the user terminal, and the content without information for the predetermined area is distributed when the acquired area does not correspond to the predetermined area. Transmitting a content distribution request issued from the user terminal to the content server;
Acquiring content in a format that can be sorted out from the content server in response to a content distribution request from the user terminal;
Distributing the content to be distributed to the user terminal based on a distribution condition acquired from a system inaccessible from the content server,
In the obtaining step, information with content for a predetermined area including information for a predetermined area targeted for a user who is in a predetermined area and content without information for a predetermined area not including the information for the predetermined area are obtained from the content server. Get content that can be distributed to
In the step of distributing, the area of the user terminal is acquired as the distribution condition from the terminal location management system, which is the inaccessible system, and the acquired area corresponds to the predetermined area Distributing the content with information for the predetermined area to the user terminal, and distributing the content with no information for the predetermined area when the acquired area does not correspond to the predetermined area .

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