JP2019149687A - Relay device, communication system, and communication history storage method - Google Patents

Abstract

To make it possible to store a communication history when a mobile terminal acquires content even if data sent and received by the mobile device is encrypted.SOLUTION: A relay device 2 includes: a transmission unit 233 that transmits to a mobile terminal a relay address including an identifier that uniquely identifies a combination of an address of content scheduled to be acquired by a mobile terminal that uses a communication network provided by a predetermined communication carrier and terminal identification information; a relay unit 234 that acquires content and transmits to an access source to the relay address on the basis of the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address when access to the relay address is accepted; and a storage control unit 235 that stores in the storage unit as communication history information on billing to providers who support services that undertake communication costs related to the use of communication networks by associating an amount of communication required for acquiring content with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay device, a communication system, and a communication history storage method.

  Conventionally, when a mobile terminal acquires content via a mobile phone network, a telecommunications carrier that provides the mobile phone network provides a cost for communication performed for content acquisition to a provider that provides the content. A sponsored data service to request is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional sponsored data service. As shown in FIG. 5, the communication carrier monitors the communication of the mobile terminal 102 in the communication network N provided by itself, and records the communication history related to the content acquisition when the mobile terminal 102 acquires the content. To do. Then, based on the communication history, the communication carrier charges the provider of the communication cost related to the content acquisition without charging the user of the mobile terminal 102. The provider records the access to the content of the mobile terminal 102, collates the access with the bill for the communication cost related to the acquisition of the content, and pays the communication cost to the communication carrier.

JP 2017-121079 A

  In recent years, content analysis providers that analyze web content provide a proxy server to analyze web access, and access from a mobile terminal to a content providing apparatus is made via the proxy server. .

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the mobile terminal accesses the content providing apparatus via the proxy server. As shown in FIG. 6, communication between the mobile terminal 102 and the proxy server 103 may be encrypted by using HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) or the like.

  In this case, communication data transmitted and received between the mobile terminal 102 and the proxy server 103 that passes through the communication network N provided by the communication carrier is also encrypted. For this reason, there is a problem that the communication carrier cannot record a communication history related to content acquisition when the mobile terminal 102 acquires content via the proxy server 103.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and even when data transmitted and received by a mobile terminal is encrypted, a communication history when the mobile terminal acquires content can be stored. It is an object to provide a relay device, a communication system, and a communication history storage method that can be used.

  A relay device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a relay device that relays communication in a communication network provided by a predetermined communication carrier, and from the terminal that performs communication using the communication network, the terminal The relay apparatus including, as parameter information, an address of content to be acquired, an acquisition unit that acquires terminal identification information that identifies the terminal, and an identifier that uniquely identifies a combination of the terminal identification information and the address of the content When the access to the relay address is accepted, the content is acquired based on the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address. A relay unit that transmits the content to the access source to the relay address; Corresponding to a service that undertakes communication costs related to the use of the communication network at the time of providing the content by associating the communication amount required for acquiring the content with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address And a storage control unit that stores the communication history information regarding the billing to the provider in charge in the storage unit.

  When the content corresponding to the address acquired by the acquisition unit corresponds to the service, the transmission unit includes the identifier as parameter information, and uses the address of the relay device as the relay address of the content. May be sent to.

  When the content corresponding to the address acquired by the acquisition unit corresponds to the service, the relay device generates the identifier and associates the identifier with the terminal identification information and the address in the storage unit. And further comprising an identifier generation unit for storing, and upon receiving access to the relay address, the relay unit specifies an address of the content stored in the storage unit in association with the identifier included in the relay address. May be.

  The relay device is a gateway in the communication network, and the relay unit corresponds to the identifier when the content is acquired by accessing the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address. When the content having the terminal identification information as the content request source and the terminal identification information as the transmission destination is received, the content may be transmitted to the access source to the relay address.

  A communication system according to a second aspect of the present invention is a communication system including a relay device that relays communication in a communication network provided by a predetermined communication carrier and a terminal that performs communication using the communication network. Then, the terminal notifies the relay device of terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and an address of the content to be acquired by the terminal, and uniquely combines the combination of the terminal identification information and the content address. A notification unit that acquires an address of the relay device that includes an identifier to be identified as parameter information as a relay address of the content, and a content acquisition unit that makes an acquisition request for the content with the relay address as a destination, The relay device acquires an address of the content and the terminal identification information from the terminal. , Upon receiving access to the relay address and a transmission unit that transmits the relay address to the terminal, the content is acquired based on the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address, and the content is The relay unit that transmits to the access source to the relay address, the communication amount required to acquire the content, and the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address are associated with each other at the time of providing the content. And a storage control unit that stores the communication history information regarding the billing to the provider corresponding to the service undertaking the communication cost related to the use of the communication network in the storage unit.

  The communication history storage method according to the third aspect of the present invention provides an address of content that the terminal intends to acquire from a terminal that performs communication using a communication network provided by a predetermined communication carrier that is executed by a computer. A step of acquiring terminal identification information for identifying the terminal, and an address of the computer including, as parameter information, an identifier for uniquely specifying a combination of the terminal identification information and the address of the content, and a relay address of the content When the access to the relay address is received, the content is acquired based on the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address, and the content is transferred to the relay address. Sending to the access source; and Corresponding to a service that undertakes communication costs related to the use of the communication network at the time of providing the content by associating the amount of communication required for acquisition with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address Storing in a storage unit as communication history information relating to billing to a provider.

  According to the present invention, even when data transmitted and received by a mobile terminal is encrypted, the communication history when the mobile terminal acquires content can be stored.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the communication system which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the portable terminal which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the relay apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of a process when the portable terminal in this embodiment acquires a content from a content provision apparatus. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the conventional sponsored data service. It is a figure which shows the example which a portable terminal accesses a content provision apparatus via a proxy server.

[Outline of Communication System S]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a communication system S according to the present embodiment. The communication system S includes a mobile terminal 1 and a relay device 2. The communication system S is used to realize a sponsored data service that charges a provider that provides the content for the cost of communication performed when the mobile terminal 1 acquires the content from the content providing device 4.

  In the present embodiment, the content providing device 4 is, for example, a web server that provides content. The content providing device 4 is operated by a provider corresponding to the sponsored data service. When the content is provided from the content providing device 4, the provider bears the cost related to the communication performed in the communication network N. In the present embodiment, the content providing apparatus 4 is not included in the communication system S, but is not limited thereto, and may be included in the communication system S.

  The proxy server 3 is, for example, a server used by a content analysis company that analyzes web content to perform analysis related to web access. The proxy server 3 encrypts communication between the portable terminal 1 and the proxy server 3 by communicating with the portable terminal 1 using a communication protocol such as HTTPS.

  The mobile terminal 1 is a mobile phone such as a smartphone, for example, and performs communication using the communication network N. In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 1 can acquire content from the content providing device 4 via the proxy server 3.

  The relay device 2 is, for example, a gateway in a communication network N provided by a predetermined communication carrier. The relay device 2 is managed by, for example, a telecommunications carrier that provides the communication network N. The relay device 2 monitors communication of the mobile terminal 1 in the communication network N, and records a communication history related to acquisition of content of the mobile terminal 1.

  When the communication between the mobile terminal 1 and the proxy server 3 is encrypted, the relay device 2 cannot specify that the mobile terminal 1 is acquiring content, and communication related to content acquisition. The history cannot be recorded. In contrast, when the mobile terminal 1 acquires content from the content providing device 4 via the proxy server 3, the relay device 2 performs content via the proxy server 3 and the relay device 2 as shown in FIG. Control to get.

The relay device 2 specifies terminal identification information for identifying the mobile terminal 1 when relaying communication when the mobile terminal 1 acquires content from the content providing device 4. The relay device 2 stores communication history information in which a communication amount required for content acquisition is associated with the terminal identification information. By doing in this way, even if the communication data transmitted / received between the portable terminal 1 and the proxy server 3 are encrypted, the relay apparatus 2 communicates when the portable terminal 1 acquires content. History can be stored.
Hereinafter, configurations of the mobile terminal 1 and the relay device 2 will be described.

[Configuration example of mobile terminal 1]
First, the configuration of the mobile terminal 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile terminal 1 according to the present embodiment.
The mobile terminal 1 includes an input unit 11, a display unit 12, a wireless unit 13, a storage unit 14, and a control unit 15.

The input unit 11 includes, for example, a button, a contact sensor arranged so as to be superimposed on the display unit 12, and receives an operation input from the user of the mobile terminal 1.
The display unit 12 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The display unit 12 displays various information according to the control of the control unit 15.

  The radio unit 13 modulates the signal output from the control unit 15 to generate an RF (Radio Frequency) signal, and transmits the RF signal via an antenna (not shown) to an access point (not shown) or a base station (not shown). Wireless transmission to the figure. The radio unit 13 demodulates the RF signal received from the access point or the base station via the antenna, and outputs a signal obtained by the demodulation to the control unit 15.

  The storage unit 14 is, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage unit 14 stores various programs for causing the mobile terminal 1 to function. For example, the storage unit 14 stores a content acquisition program that causes the control unit 15 of the mobile terminal 1 to function as a notification unit 151, a content acquisition unit 152, and an output unit 153 described later. Here, the content acquisition program is, for example, a browser application or a browsing application for browsing content.

  The control unit 15 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 15 controls functions related to the mobile terminal 1 by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 14. The control unit 15 functions as a notification unit 151, a content acquisition unit 152, and an output unit 153 by executing the content acquisition program. Details of these functions will be described later.

[Configuration Example of Relay Device 2]
Next, the configuration of the relay device 2 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the relay device 2 according to the present embodiment.
The relay device 2 includes a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a control unit 23.

The communication unit 21 is a communication interface for transmitting / receiving information to / from the mobile terminal 1, the proxy server 3, and the content providing device 4.
The storage unit 22 is, for example, a ROM and a RAM. The storage unit 22 stores various programs for causing the relay device 2 to function. For example, the storage unit 22 stores a relay program that causes the control unit 23 of the relay device 2 to function as an acquisition unit 231, an identifier generation unit 232, a transmission unit 233, a relay unit 234, and a storage control unit 235 described later.

  The control unit 23 is, for example, a CPU. The control unit 23 controls functions related to the relay device 2 by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 22. The control unit 23 functions as an acquisition unit 231, an identifier generation unit 232, a transmission unit 233, a relay unit 234, and a storage control unit 235 by executing the relay program.

[Processing flow related to content acquisition]
Hereinafter, the functions of the control unit 15 and the control unit 23 will be described with reference to a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of processing when the mobile terminal 1 acquires content from the content providing device 4. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing when the mobile terminal 1 in the present embodiment acquires content from the content providing device 4. Here, an example in which the content acquisition program executed by the mobile terminal 1 is a browser application will be described.

  First, the notification unit 151 of the mobile terminal 1 transmits, to the relay device 2, notification information including a content URL indicating an address of content to be acquired by the mobile terminal 1 among the content provided by the content providing device 4. The terminal identification information and the content URL are notified (S1). For example, the notification unit 151 of the mobile terminal 1 monitors the URL accessed by the mobile terminal 1, and transmits notification information to the relay device 2 when the URL is a content URL. The packet that stores the notification information includes the IP address of the portable terminal 1 as information of the transmission source.

  The acquisition unit 231 of the relay device 2 acquires from the mobile terminal 1 the address of the content scheduled to be acquired by the mobile terminal 1 and terminal identification information for identifying the mobile terminal 1. Specifically, the acquisition unit 231 acquires the content URL indicating the address of the content included in the notification information received from the mobile terminal 1, and the source IP included in the packet storing the notification information. An address is acquired as terminal identification information. The terminal identification information is not limited to the IP address, and may be other information as long as the information can identify the mobile terminal 1.

  Subsequently, the identifier generation unit 232 of the relay device 2 generates an identifier that uniquely identifies the combination of the terminal identification information and the content URL (S2). Specifically, based on the content URL acquired by the acquisition unit 231, the identifier generation unit 232 determines whether the content corresponding to the content URL corresponds to the sponsored data service. If the identifier generation unit 232 determines that the content corresponding to the content URL acquired by the acquisition unit 231 corresponds to the sponsored data service, the identifier generation unit 232 generates an identifier. For example, the identifier generation unit 232 generates an identifier by generating a hash value of a character string in which a content URL and terminal identification information are connected. By doing in this way, the relay apparatus 2 can prevent an identifier from being generated when the content URL does not correspond to the sponsored data service.

  When the generated identifier is not already stored in the storage unit 22, the identifier generation unit 232 stores the identifier in the storage unit 22 in association with the terminal identification information acquired by the acquisition unit 231 and the content URL (S3). ).

  Subsequently, when the content corresponds to the sponsored data service, the transmission unit 233 of the relay device 2 transmits the relay URL as the relay address of the content to the mobile terminal 1 that is the transmission source of the notification information (S4). ). Specifically, the transmission unit 233 transmits the URL as the address of the relay device 2 including the identifier generated by the identifier generation unit 232 as parameter information to the mobile terminal 1 as a relay URL. By doing in this way, the relay apparatus 2 can prevent receiving unnecessary access that does not support the sponsored data service.

When receiving the relay URL, the notification unit 151 of the portable terminal 1 stores the relay URL in association with the content URL in the storage unit 14.
The content acquisition unit 152 of the portable terminal 1 establishes a TLS (Transport Layer Security) connection as an encrypted communication path to the host name of the proxy server 3 preset in the browser application (S5).

Subsequently, the content acquisition unit 152 transmits a content acquisition request to the proxy server 3 using a TLS connection (S6). Here, the content acquisition unit 152 transmits a content acquisition request addressed to the relay URL received from the relay device 2 using a TLS connection. Since the mobile terminal 1 is connected to the proxy server 3 and the TLS connection, the mobile terminal 1 transmits a content acquisition request to the proxy server 3.
Upon receiving the content acquisition request, the proxy server 3 transmits a content acquisition request with the relay URL indicated by the content acquisition request as a destination (S7).

  Subsequently, when the relay unit 234 of the relay device 2 accepts access to the relay URL, the relay unit 234 acquires the content based on the content URL corresponding to the identifier included in the relay URL, and obtains the content as an access source to the relay URL. Send to.

  Specifically, when the relay unit 234 acquires a content acquisition request destined for the relay URL from the proxy server 3, the relay unit 234 extracts an identifier included as parameter information in the relay URL. Then, the relay unit 234 specifies the content URL associated with the extracted identifier and the terminal identification information in the storage unit 22 (S8).

  The relay unit 234 transmits a content acquisition request addressed to the specified content URL to the content providing apparatus 4 (S9). Here, when accessing the content URL corresponding to the identifier included in the relay URL and acquiring the content, the relay unit 234 uses the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier as the content request source.

  When receiving the content acquisition request from the relay device 2, the content providing device 4 transmits the content to the relay device 2 (S10). Here, since the content request source is the terminal identification information, the content providing apparatus 4 can specify the mobile terminal 1 based on the terminal identification information and provide the content corresponding to the mobile terminal 1. . For example, the content providing device 4 associates the terminal identification information with the content state (for example, the resolution when the content is a moving image) and stores the information in the storage unit in advance. The content providing device 4 specifies the state of the content associated with the terminal identification information indicating the content request source, and transmits the content in the state to the relay device 2.

  When receiving the content from the content providing device 4, the relay unit 234 of the relay device 2 transmits the content to the proxy server 3 that is the access source to the relay URL (S11). Specifically, when the relay unit 234 receives, from the content providing device 4, content having terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay URL as a transmission destination, the relay unit 234 transmits the content to the proxy that is the access source to the relay URL. Send to server 3.

When the proxy server 3 receives the content from the relay device 2, the proxy server 3 transmits the content to the mobile terminal 1 that is the content acquisition request source using the TLS connection (S12).
When the content acquisition unit 152 receives content from the proxy server 3, the output unit 153 of the mobile terminal 1 outputs the content to the display unit 12.

  When the content providing device 4 transmits the content, the content providing device 4 stores the communication history information in which the terminal identification information indicating the request source of the content is associated with the communication amount when the content is transmitted in its storage unit (S13). Here, the content providing apparatus 4 may include information indicating the date and time when the content is transmitted in the communication history information.

  The storage control unit 235 of the relay device 2 associates the communication amount required for content acquisition with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay URL, to the provider corresponding to the sponsored data service. Is stored in the storage unit 22 as communication history information related to the request (S14). Accordingly, the predetermined communication provider providing the communication network N subtracts the communication fee corresponding to the communication related to the content from the charge to the portable terminal 1 based on the communication history information, and the communication fee to the content provider. Can be charged.

[Effect in this embodiment]
As described above, the relay device 2 according to the present embodiment transmits the URL of the relay device 2 including the identifier that uniquely identifies the combination of the terminal identification information and the content URL as parameter information to the mobile terminal 1 as the relay URL. . When receiving the access to the relay URL, the relay device 2 acquires the content based on the content URL corresponding to the identifier included in the relay URL, and transmits the content URL to the access source to the relay URL. Then, the relay device 2 associates the communication amount required for content acquisition with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address, and the communication history related to the billing to the provider corresponding to the sponsored data service. The information is stored in the storage unit 22 as information.

  By doing in this way, even if the data which the portable terminal 1 transmits / receives are encrypted, the relay apparatus 2 can memorize | store the communication history when the portable terminal 1 acquires a content.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary. is there. For example, the relay device 2 is a gateway in the communication network N, and when acquiring content based on an identifier included in the relay URL, the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier is used as the content request source. Not limited to this. When the content providing apparatus 4 specifies the request source of content by acquiring cookie information or the like in HTTP, the gateway in the communication network N may not function as the relay apparatus 2.

  Further, the specific embodiments of the distribution / integration of the devices are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and all or a part of them may be configured to be functionally or physically distributed / integrated in arbitrary units. Can do. In addition, new embodiments generated by any combination of a plurality of embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment produced by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Portable terminal, 11 ... Input part, 12 ... Display part, 13 ... Radio | wireless part, 14 ... Memory | storage part, 15 ... Control part, 151 ... Notification part, 152 ... Content acquisition unit, 153 ... Output unit, 2 ... Relay device, 21 ... Communication unit, 22 ... Storage unit, 23 ... Control unit, 231 ... Acquisition unit, 232 ... identifier generator, 233 ... transmitter, 234 ... relay, 235 ... storage controller, 3 ... proxy server, 4 ... content provider, N ... communication network , S: Communication system

Claims (6)

A relay device that relays communication in a communication network provided by a predetermined carrier,
From a terminal that communicates using the communication network, an acquisition unit that acquires an address of content that the terminal plans to acquire, and terminal identification information that identifies the terminal;
A transmission unit that transmits, as parameter information, an address of the relay device that includes, as parameter information, an identifier that uniquely identifies a combination of the terminal identification information and the address of the content;
When receiving access to the relay address, the relay unit acquires content based on the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address, and transmits the content to the access source to the relay address;
Corresponding to a service that undertakes communication costs related to the use of the communication network at the time of providing the content by associating the communication amount required for acquiring the content with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address A storage control unit for storing in the storage unit as communication history information relating to billing to the provider,
A relay device comprising: When the content corresponding to the address acquired by the acquisition unit corresponds to the service, the transmission unit includes the identifier as parameter information, and uses the address of the relay device as the relay address of the content. Send to
The relay device according to claim 1. An identifier generating unit that generates the identifier when the content corresponding to the address acquired by the acquiring unit corresponds to the service, and stores the identifier in the storage unit in association with the terminal identification information and the address Further comprising
When the relay unit receives access to the relay address, the relay unit specifies the address of the content stored in the storage unit in association with the identifier included in the relay address.
The relay device according to claim 1 or 2. The relay device is a gateway in the communication network;
When the relay unit obtains the content by accessing the content address corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address, the relay unit uses the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier as a content request source, and When receiving the content with information as a transmission destination, the content is transmitted to the access source to the relay address.
The relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A communication system comprising a relay device that relays communication in a communication network provided by a predetermined communication carrier, and a terminal that performs communication using the communication network,
The terminal
The terminal identification information for identifying the terminal and the address of the content scheduled to be acquired by the terminal are notified to the relay device, and an identifier for uniquely specifying a combination of the terminal identification information and the address of the content is parameter information. A notification unit that acquires an address of the relay device included as a relay address of the content;
A content acquisition unit that makes an acquisition request for the content destined for the relay address;
Have
The relay device is
An acquisition unit that acquires the address of the content and the terminal identification information from the terminal;
A transmission unit for transmitting the relay address to the terminal;
When receiving access to the relay address, the relay unit acquires content based on the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address, and transmits the content to the access source to the relay address;
Corresponding to a service that undertakes communication costs related to the use of the communication network at the time of providing the content by associating the communication amount required for acquiring the content with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address A storage control unit for storing in the storage unit as communication history information relating to billing to the provider,
Having
Communications system. The computer runs,
Obtaining an address of content scheduled to be acquired by the terminal and terminal identification information for identifying the terminal from a terminal that performs communication using a communication network provided by a predetermined communication carrier;
Transmitting the address of the computer including, as parameter information, an identifier that uniquely identifies a combination of the terminal identification information and the address of the content to the terminal as a relay address of the content;
Receiving access to the relay address, obtaining content based on the address of the content corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address, and transmitting the content to the access source to the relay address;
Corresponding to a service that undertakes communication costs related to the use of the communication network at the time of providing the content by associating the communication amount required for acquiring the content with the terminal identification information corresponding to the identifier included in the relay address Storing in the storage unit as communication history information related to billing to the provider who is doing,
A communication history storage method comprising:

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