JP4247560B2 - Electronic data sending system, server and electronic data sending method - Google Patents

Description

This application is a domestic priority claim application based on the application dated November 25, 2004.
The present invention relates to a system in which a server sends electronic data in response to access from a client, and more particularly to a system in which electronic data is sent out by a plurality of agency servers under centralized management by a main selling server and a sending method therefor. In the following description, the present invention is described mainly using electronic data as an electronic ticket. Therefore, the following description relates to a system in which a server issues and sells an electronic ticket in response to access from a client. In particular, a system in which an electronic ticket is sold by a plurality of agency servers under centralized management by the original selling server and its system Regarding sales methods.
Specific changes to the contents of the earlier application are the specification of the paragraphs 0001, 0007, 0010, and 0068 of the title and specification of the invention, the claims, and the abstract. As for the scope of claims, the electronic ticket is changed to electronic data. The present invention is a shipping method that enables transfer of electronic data shipping request processing from a requesting client terminal to an intermediate server having a large load in a network environment in which a plurality of servers are hierarchized to a lower server. . Therefore, according to the present invention, the electronic data sending method is not different depending on whether the electronic data is an electronic ticket or its digital contents, for example, music, video, public personal resident information and the like.

  When selling tickets in the box office business, consignment sales of tickets using agents are performed. For example, in the soccer World Cup, FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) assigns tickets to ticket handlers in each country through a general agency (former seller). The ticket purchase applicant obtains a ticket from a ticket handler in each country. In some cases, a sales form in which the manner of consignment is hierarchized in several stages, such as a child agent and a grandchild agent agent, may be taken by further setting up an agent from the agent. However, in such a sales method, when the number of tickets is insufficient or insufficient at a predetermined agency, the allocation cannot be flexibly changed, and the sales efficiency is poor.

  In recent years, with the development of information processing technology using computers, ticket sales have been made more efficient by digitizing tickets (electronic tickets). By installing servers at each of the former dealers, distributors, and end sales stores, and selling electronic tickets with a system that is configured by connecting these servers in a hierarchical (tree) structure through the network, It becomes possible to centrally manage the ticket sales status by a former seller corresponding to the root node (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). By centrally managing the sales status of tickets, it is possible to avoid the excess or shortage of tickets at a specific agency.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a method of selling electronic tickets in a system configured by hierarchically connecting servers.
In FIG. 9, a ticket purchase applicant operates the client terminal 903 to issue a ticket purchase request (request). Then, this request is transmitted from the client terminal 903 to the server 902C of the agency C. The server 902C of the agency C transmits this request to the server 902A of the agency A that is positioned higher than itself in the hierarchical structure of the system. Similarly, the hierarchical structure of the system is sequentially raised, and finally the request reaches the server 901 of the original seller. The original seller server 901 issues a ticket in response to this request and returns a response. This response reaches the client terminal 903 by tracing back the route through which the ticket purchase request is transmitted. When a procedure such as settlement is performed at the client end 903, a ticket is sold to a ticket purchase applicant.

JP 2002-197221 A JP 2001-297242 A

  As described above, by managing the sale of electronic tickets (hereinafter simply referred to as “tickets”) in the network system, even when selling tickets using a large number of agents and dealers, the sales status of all tickets can be monitored. It can be centrally managed by a former seller. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the excess or shortage of tickets at a specific agency. However, in the case of a network system in which servers are simply connected in a hierarchical manner from the original dealer to the terminal dealer in accordance with the form of the ticket sales consignment contract, there is a problem that the load on the server located in the lower layer increases. It was.

  In other words, in such a system, all the servers existing on the route from the client terminal to which the ticket purchase request is issued to the top server until the request issued by the server reaches the top server and is processed. The transaction cannot be terminated. For example, in FIG. 9, the server 902C of the agency C receives the request received from the client terminal 903 and reaches the server 901 of the original seller, and the response is transmitted to the client terminal 903 via the server 902C of the agency C. The transaction continues until. For this reason, the time required for a transaction becomes longer as the server is located in a lower layer, and the load on the server also increases. The technical problem relating to the issue of this electronic ticket exists in the same way in sending out any electronic data (its digital contents, such as music, video, public personal resident information, etc.).

  As a measure to reduce the load on lower-level servers, it is possible to connect all agency servers directly to the original dealer's server regardless of the contract agency form (child agency, grandchild agency, etc.) Conceivable. However, in such a system, since all of the agency servers are managed by the former dealer server, each time the agency increases or decreases its own child agency, the server connection to the former dealer is accepted. It must be obtained and is cumbersome. In addition, each agency must provide information about its own child agency to the original dealer or a higher agency, which may not be preferable depending on the aspect of the agency contract.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the load on a server due to a transaction at the time of ticket issuance in a system that is configured by a plurality of servers and that centrally manages the issuance of electronic tickets by a specific server.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a flexible electronic ticket sales system in which a predetermined agency can easily change the system configuration by increasing or decreasing its own child agency.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an original sale server (original server) that issues an electronic ticket, an agency server that performs sales processing of an electronic ticket issued by the original sale server, an original sale server, and The present invention is realized as a ticket sales system including a client terminal that is connected to an agent server (agent server) and acquires an electronic ticket. In this system, the agency server adds a token for accessing the original selling server in response to the ticket purchase request from the client terminal, and returns it to the client terminal. The client terminal transmits the ticket purchase request with the token added received from the agency server to the original selling server. The original selling server issues an electronic ticket in response to a ticket purchase request to which a token is added. The agency server can be provided with a payment function for performing payment associated with acquisition of an electronic ticket by a client terminal.

  Of course, the present invention can be applied to a case where a request for inquiring or canceling an issued electronic ticket is transmitted from a client terminal in addition to the issue of the electronic ticket. In this case, a token is added to a request for requesting electronic ticket inquiry or cancellation. Then, based on the request to which the token is added, the original selling server executes processing for management work such as inquiry and cancellation of the electronic ticket.

  In addition, this system performs a process for selling an electronic ticket issued by the original selling server, adds a token for accessing the agency server to the ticket purchase request from the client terminal, and returns the ticket to the client terminal. It can be set as the structure further provided with a child agency server. Each child agency server can also set its own child agency server. In this case, the relationship between the servers has a tree structure with the original sales server as a root node.

  In this system, more preferably, each server in the tree structure shares a secret key with a server directly under it. Then, the lower server of the tree structure encrypts at least a part of the token using the secret key. On the other hand, the upper server in the tree structure decrypts at least a partially encrypted token using a secret key shared with the server immediately below.

  The present invention is also realized as a ticket sales system in which a plurality of servers having a tree structure perform electronic ticket sales processing under centralized management by a server corresponding to a root node. This system includes a client terminal that connects to a server of a server group having a tree structure via a network and transmits a request related to an electronic ticket (that is, an electronic ticket purchase request, an inquiry request, a cancel request, etc.), and a request from the client terminal On the other hand, a first server that adds a token for accessing a server located directly above itself in the tree structure and returns it to the client terminal, and a server corresponding to the root node of the tree structure, And a second server that issues an electronic ticket when a request to which a token is added is received by the first server. When the request with the token added is returned from the first server, the client terminal transmits the request with the token added to the first or second server that is the transmission destination specified by the token. .

  Here, more specifically, the server in these systems issues an electronic ticket related to the request to the communication unit for accessing the client terminal via the network and a request related to the electronic ticket from the client terminal. A reception processing unit that adds a token for accessing the original selling server to be sent back to the client terminal via the communication unit, a secret key storage unit that stores a secret key shared between the original selling server and the own server, And an encryption processing unit that encrypts at least a part of the token created by the reception processing unit using the secret key stored in the secret key storage unit. In addition, the client terminal generates a request such as a ticket purchase request for purchasing an electronic ticket and transmits the request to a predetermined server via the communication unit for accessing the server via the network. When a request to which a token for accessing another server is added to a request sent from a given server is received, a token is attached to the destination server specified by the token via the communication unit. When a request is transmitted and an electronic ticket is received from a predetermined server or a destination server specified by a token, a ticket purchase processing unit is provided that stores the electronic ticket in a storage device.

Furthermore, the present invention is also realized as a ticket sales method by a system in which a plurality of servers having a tree structure perform electronic ticket sales processing under centralized management by a server corresponding to a root node. In this method, a predetermined server in a server group having a tree structure receives a ticket purchase request from a client terminal, and responds to the ticket purchase request with a token for accessing a server located immediately above the tree structure. A first step of adding and returning it to the client terminal; and a second step of transmitting the ticket purchase request to which the client terminal has added the token received from the agency server to the destination server specified by the token; A third step of issuing an electronic ticket in response to the ticket purchase request when the server corresponding to the root node receives a ticket purchase request to which a token is added by the server immediately below from the client terminal. It is characterized by.
As described above, this ticket selling method can be similarly applied to a request for inquiry or cancellation of an electronic ticket.

According to the present invention configured as described above, the client terminal sequentially accesses the upper server of the tree structure using the token, and finally accesses the main selling server corresponding to the root node to obtain the ticket. As a result, each server does not need to continue the transaction until a ticket is issued, and the load is reduced.
Further, according to the present invention, each server only needs to recognize the servers immediately above and directly below itself, and it is not necessary for the upper server to manage all the servers below it. A flexible system that can easily change the system configuration by increasing or decreasing the number of agents can be realized.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a ticket sales system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the system of the present embodiment includes a main sale server 10 that is a server of a former seller, an agency server 20 that is a server of an agency, and the original sale server 10 and each agent via a network. And a client terminal 30 connected to the store server 20. The mutual relationship between the original sale server 10 and the agency server 20 has a hierarchical structure (tree structure) corresponding to the form of a consignment contract between the original seller and the agency. That is, there is an agency server 20 of an agency that has a direct consignment contract with the original seller directly below the original sale server 10 as a root node, and a child agency that has an entrustment contract with the agency below it. The tree structure is such that there is an agency server 20. However, the original sale server 10 and each agency server 20 do not need to be directly connected by a network. In the following, when it is necessary to distinguish the individual agency servers 20, they are described as agency servers 20A and 20B with a suffix corresponding to the agency shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, the agency servers 20A and 20B are both directly under the original selling server 10 and are in the same hierarchy. The agency server 20C is a lower hierarchy of the agency server 20A.

  FIG. 1 shows only one client terminal 30 connected to the agency server 20C, but actually there are a plurality of client terminals 30. Further, the client terminal 30 is not necessarily connected only to the lowermost agency server 20 in the hierarchical structure, but the agency server 20 (for example, the agency server 20A in FIG. 1) existing at an intermediate position in the hierarchical structure, The main sale server 10 is also connected. For the connection between the client terminal 30 and the agency server 20 or the main sale server 10, for example, a wide area network using a public line can be used.

  In the present embodiment, upon receiving a ticket purchase request (request) from the client terminal 30, the agency server 20 issues a token for accessing its own higher agency server 20 and returns it to the client terminal 30. . The client terminal 30 accesses the upper agency server 20 using this token, and transmits a ticket purchase request. When this operation is repeated, the client terminal 30 finally transmits a ticket purchase request directly to the original selling server 10 and acquires the ticket.

  In the example of FIG. 1, a ticket purchase request is first transmitted from the client terminal 30 to the agency server 20C, and a token for accessing the agency server 20A is returned from the agency server 20C to the client terminal 30. Next, a ticket purchase request is transmitted from the client terminal 30 to the agency server 20A together with the token acquired from the agency server 20C, and a token for accessing the original sale server 10 is returned from the agency server 20A to the client terminal 30. Is done. Finally, a ticket purchase request is transmitted from the client terminal 30 directly to the main selling server 10 together with the token acquired from the agency server 20A. Then, a ticket related to the purchase request is issued in the main selling server 10 and transmitted from the main selling server 10 to the client terminal 30.

  In the present embodiment, at least a part of the token issued by the agency server 20 is encrypted. The main sale server 10 and each agency server 20 share a unique secret key with the agency server 20 directly below (that is, in the agency relation directly). The token is encrypted by secret key encryption using this secret key.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the original sales server 10 and the agency server 20A share a unique secret key A. Similarly, the original selling server 10 and the agency server 20B share a unique secret key B. Further, the agency server 20A and the agency server 20C share a unique secret key C. Accordingly, the token issued by the agency server 20C can be interpreted only by the agency server 20A, and the token issued by the agency server 20A can be interpreted only by the original selling server 10.

  In this embodiment, two servers sharing a specific secret key are regarded as having a trust relationship. Thereby, in the hierarchical structure of each server determined based on the form of the consignment contract between the original seller and the agency, two servers having a direct vertical relationship have a trust relationship. Conversely, it can be said that the main sale server 10 and each agency server 20 of the present embodiment that are not necessarily interconnected by a network maintain a hierarchical structure by this trust relationship.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a trust relationship between the main sale server 10 and each agency server 20 in the present embodiment.
The hierarchical structure in the ticket sales system of the present embodiment is that the main sale server 10 is at the upper level, and all the agency servers 20 are located immediately below the original sale server 10 (that is, the former seller and all the agencies are located). The simplest form is the one with a direct commission relationship. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), each agency server 20 and the main sale server 10 are in a trust relationship by sharing a unique secret key.

  In addition, each agency can set its own agency (child agency) based on a consignment contract. Thereby, the agency servers 20 of each agency have a hierarchical structure, and the hierarchy of the entire system is deepened. However, as shown in FIG. 2B, each agency server 20 only needs to share a secret key with the agency server 20 directly below and establish a trust relationship. The client terminal 30 can reach the original sales server 10 and obtain a ticket by sequentially accessing the higher-order agency server 20 using the token issued from the agency server 20. That is, in the present embodiment, although the issuer ticket 10 is centrally managed by the original sale server 10, the connection between all the agency servers 20 in which the original sale server 10 and the higher agency server 20 are lower than itself are connected. There is no need to know the relationship. Therefore, each agency can increase or decrease its own child agency arbitrarily and easily without notifying a former seller or a superior agency.

  In the system of the present embodiment, each agency server 20 receives a ticket purchase request from the client terminal 30, but the agency server 20 of the agency having a child agency below is the agency server of the child agency. There are cases where a request with a token issued at 20 is accepted and a request without such a token is accepted. In the following description, for convenience, an agency that has its own child agency is called an intermediate agency, and an agency that does not have its own child agency (that is, only receives requests without tokens) Let's call it a store. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the agency A is an intermediate agency, and the agencies B and C are end agencies.

  In the system of this embodiment, the agency server 20 that has received a ticket purchase request without a token from the client terminal 30 performs ticket sales (including settlement). On the other hand, management operations such as ticket issuance, cancellation, and inquiry are performed only by the original selling server 10 under unified management. The original selling server 10 itself can directly accept a request without a token from the client terminal 30 and sell a ticket. However, for the sake of simplicity, the following description will be made assuming that the original sales server 10 performs only management operations, and only the agency server 20 has the ticket sales rights.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer device suitable as the main selling server 10 and the agency server 20 in the system of the present embodiment.
The computer apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is similar to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 which is a calculation means, and a main memory 103 connected to the CPU 101 via an M / B (motherboard) chipset 102 and a CPU bus. A video card 104 connected to the CPU 101 via an M / B chipset 102 and an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), and a magnetic disk device (HDD) connected to the M / B chipset 102 via a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus ) 105, a network interface 106, a flexible disk drive 108 connected to the M / B chipset 102 via a low-speed bus such as a bridge circuit 107 and an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) bus, and a keyboard / matrix. And a scan 109.

  Note that FIG. 3 merely illustrates the hardware configuration of the computer apparatus that implements the present embodiment, and various other configurations can be employed as long as the present embodiment is applicable. For example, instead of providing the video card 104, only the video memory may be mounted and the image data may be processed by the CPU 101. As an external storage device, ATA (AT Attachment), SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), or the like may be used. A CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable) or DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc Random Access Memory) drive may be provided via the interface.

  The client terminal 30 is a terminal device that is used by a ticket purchase applicant to access the agency server 20 or the main sale server 10 and purchase a ticket. In addition to the computer device shown in FIG. (Personal Digital Assistant) and an information processing apparatus having a network function such as a kiosk terminal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the original sales server 10.
Referring to FIG. 4, the main sale server 10 includes a communication unit 11 for performing data communication with the client terminal 30, a ticket issuing unit 12 for performing processing in ticket management work, and encryption of data transmitted and received. And an encryption processing unit 13 that performs decryption processing. In addition, a secret key storage unit 14 that stores a secret key, a product information database (DB) 15 that is used for ticket management business processing, and a subordinate agency database (DB) that stores information on the agency directly under the trust relationship. 16).

  The communication unit 11 is realized by, for example, the network interface 106 in FIG. 3, receives a request from the client terminal 30, passes the request to the ticket issuing unit 12, and transmits a response received from the ticket issuing unit 12 to the client terminal 30. .

  The ticket issuing unit 12 is realized by, for example, the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103 shown in FIG. 3, and executes management work processing such as ticket issuance, cancellation, and inquiry in response to a request received from the communication unit 11. Then, the ticket issuing unit 12 passes a response notifying that the issued ticket and the procedure such as cancellation have been completed to the communication unit 11 and returns them to the client terminal 30.

  The encryption processing unit 13 is realized by, for example, the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103 in FIG. 3, and performs a decryption process of a request received from the client terminal 30 and an encryption process of a response transmitted to the client terminal 30. The secret key stored in the secret key storage unit 14 is used for the decryption processing and encryption processing by the encryption processing unit 13.

  The secret key storage unit 14 is realized by, for example, a storage device such as the magnetic disk device 105 or the main memory 103 in FIG. 3, and holds a secret key used for encryption and decryption processing by the encryption processing unit 13. There are two types of secret keys held in the secret key storage unit 14, and one is a secret key shared with the agency server 20 directly below itself in the tree structure. This is used by the encryption processing unit 13 to decrypt the token created by the agency server 20 directly below. The other is a secret key that the original sale server 10 has uniquely. This is used to encrypt at least a part of the electronic ticket issued by the ticket issuing unit 12.

  The merchandise information database 15 is realized by a storage device such as the magnetic disk device 105 or the main memory 103 shown in FIG. 3, for example, and stores management information related to ticket issuance (which seat ticket has already been issued, etc.). Each time the ticket issuing unit 12 issues or cancels a ticket in response to a request from the client terminal 30, the ticket issuing unit 12 updates information on the corresponding item in the product information database 15.

  The lower agency database 16 is realized by, for example, a storage device such as the magnetic disk device 105 or the main memory 103 in FIG. 3, and stores information related to the agency server 20 directly under the original sale server 10. It should be noted that the agent server 20 to which the information is registered may be one that is located directly under the original selling server 10, and is the agent server 20 of the intermediate agent or the agent server 20 of the end agent. Does not matter. When the former seller newly makes a ticket sales consignment contract with a predetermined agent, information regarding the agent server 20 of the agent is added. On the other hand, when the contract is canceled with respect to the agency that has already been outsourced, the information regarding the agency server 20 of the agency is deleted, or information indicating that the agency server 20 is invalid Is registered.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the agency server 20.
Referring to FIG. 5, the agency server 20 includes a communication unit 21 for performing data communication with the client terminal 30, a request reception processing unit 22 for issuing a token in response to this request, an encryption processing unit 23, a ticket And a ticket sales processing unit 24 for performing the above sales operations. In addition, a secret key storage unit 25 that stores a secret key, a subordinate agency database (DB) 26 that stores information of an agency directly under a trust relationship, and a customer information database that stores information on customers who sold tickets (DB) 27.

  The communication unit 21 is realized by, for example, the network interface 106 in FIG. Then, a request from the client terminal 30 is received and passed to the request reception processing unit 22, and a response received from the request reception processing unit 22 is transmitted to the client terminal 30.

  The request reception processing unit 22 is realized by, for example, the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103 in FIG. 3, and performs processing by interpreting the request received from the communication unit 21. If the request includes a token issued by the agency server 20 directly under the request, the request reception processing unit 22 replaces the current token with a token issued by the request. On the other hand, if the request does not include a token, the request reception processing unit 22 issues a token and adds it to the request, and passes the request without the token to the ticket sales processing unit 24. After these processes, the request reception processing unit 22 passes the request with the token added (or replaced) as a response to the communication unit 21 and returns it to the client terminal 30.

  The encryption processing unit 23 is realized by, for example, the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103 in FIG. 3, and performs a decryption process of a request received from the client terminal 30 and an encryption process of a response transmitted to the client terminal 30. The secret key stored in the secret key storage unit 25 is used for the decryption processing and encryption processing by the encryption processing unit 23.

  The ticket sales processing unit 24 is realized, for example, by the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103 shown in FIG. 3, and executes settlement associated with ticket sales. As the ticket sales processing unit 24, an existing online payment system using a credit card, electronic money, transfer to a financial institution, or other payment formats can be applied.

The secret key storage unit 25 is realized by a storage device such as the magnetic disk device 105 and the main memory 103 of FIG. 3, for example, and holds a secret key used for encryption and decryption processing by the encryption processing unit 23. There are two types of secret keys held in the secret key storage unit 25, and one is a secret key shared with the agency server 20 directly under the tree structure. This is used for the encryption processing unit 23 to decrypt the token created by the agency server 20 directly below. The other is a secret key shared with the agency server 20 directly above itself in the tree structure.
This is because when the token is added to the request from the client terminal 30 or when the request reception processing unit 22 replaces the token added to the request by the agency server 20 directly below, Used to encrypt the token created by the processing unit 22. However, if the own server is the agency server 20 of the end agency, there is no agency server 20 below the own server, so the secret shared with the first agency server 20 immediately below is secret. The key is not retained.

  The lower agency database 26 is realized by, for example, a storage device such as the magnetic disk device 105 or the main memory 103 in FIG. 3, and stores information related to the agency server 20 directly under the agency server 20 of its own. Note that the agency server 20 in which information is registered may be any server as long as it is located directly under the server itself, whether it is the agency server 20 of the intermediate agency or the agency server 20 of the end agency. Absent. When the own agency newly makes a consignment contract for ticket sales to another agency, information on the agency server 20 of the other agency is added. On the other hand, when the contract is canceled with respect to a predetermined agency for which a consignment contract has already been made, information regarding the agent server 20 of the predetermined agent is deleted or the predetermined agent server 20 is invalidated. Information indicating that is registered. However, when the own server is the agency server 20 of the end agency, the lower agency database 20 is not necessary because there is no agency server 20 lower than the own server.

  The customer information database 27 is realized by, for example, a storage device such as the magnetic disk device 105 or the main memory 103 shown in FIG. 3, and stores customer (ticket purchaser) information obtained by processing by the ticket sales processing unit 24.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the client terminal 30.
Referring to FIG. 6, the client terminal 30 includes a communication unit 31 for performing data communication with the main selling server 10 and the agency server 20, a request issuing unit 32 for generating a ticket purchase request, and a ticket for purchasing a ticket. A ticket purchase processing unit 33 that performs various processes, an input / output control unit 34 that outputs information to the user and receives an input operation by the user, and a storage unit 35 are provided.

  The communication unit 31 is realized by the network interface 106 when the client terminal 30 is configured by the computer apparatus shown in FIG. The communication unit 31 transmits the request received from the ticket purchase processing unit 33 to the agency server 20 or the main sale server 10. Further, the response transmitted from the agency server 20 or the original sales server 10 is received and passed to the ticket purchase processing unit 33.

  The request issuing unit 32 is realized by the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103 when the client terminal 30 is configured by the computer device shown in FIG. The request issuing unit 32 issues a ticket purchase request according to the operation received by the input / output control unit 34, passes the request to the communication unit 31, and transmits it to the agency server 20.

  When the client terminal 30 is configured by the computer device shown in FIG. 3, the ticket purchase processing unit 33 is realized by the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103. The ticket purchase processing unit 33 passes the request with the token transmitted from the agency server 20 to the communication unit 31, and the agency server 20 or the original selling server 10 (that is, the token) that is the transmission destination specified by the token. To the server corresponding to the parent of the agency server 20 that issued Further, when the ticket purchase processing unit 33 acquires a ticket from the original selling server 10, the ticket purchase processing unit 33 stores the ticket in the storage unit 35. In addition, the ticket purchase processing unit 33 transmits a command and necessary information for performing payment to the agency server 20 via the communication unit 31 in order to perform payment associated with ticket purchase online.

  The input / output control unit 34 is realized by the program-controlled CPU 101 and the main memory 103 when the client terminal 30 is configured by the computer apparatus shown in FIG. The input / output control unit 34 controls display means including the video card 104 and a display device (not shown) to display at which stage a series of processing for ticket purchase is, or purchase a ticket. Or display the results. In addition, the input / output control unit 34 accepts a user input operation to input means such as the keyboard / mouse 109 and causes the ticket purchase processing unit 33 to execute processing corresponding to the input operation.

  The storage unit 35 is realized by a storage device such as the magnetic disk device 105 or the main memory 103 when the client terminal 30 is configured by the computer device shown in FIG. The storage unit 35 stores electronic information of tickets that are finally purchased.

Next, the operation at the time of selling a ticket by the system including the main selling server 10, the agency server 20, and the client terminal 30 configured as described above will be described.
In the following description, the case where the system is configured as shown in FIG. 1 is taken as an example. In this system, the first ticket purchase request is transmitted from the client terminal 30 to the agency server 20C of the agency C that is the terminal agency, and the agency server 20A and the original sale server of the agency A that is the intermediate agency. 10 are sequentially accessed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the client terminal 30 at the time of ticket purchase.
Referring to FIG. 7, first, a user (ticket purchaser) operates the client terminal 30 to access the agency server 20C (step 701). When the user selects a desired ticket and performs an operation for purchase, the request issuing unit 32 generates a ticket purchase request based on the operation received by the input / output control unit 34, and the communication unit 31. Is transmitted to the agency server 20C via (step 702). In the ticket purchase request, information on the desired ticket type (event name, date and time) and information on the user are described.

  In the agency server 20C, the request reception processing unit 22 receives the ticket purchase request, passes the ticket purchase request to the ticket sales processing unit 24, and creates a token to be added to the ticket purchase request. The token includes information on the user, payment information to be described later, identification information indicating the own server (here, the agency server 20C) to which the token is added, and a higher-level server (in this case, the agency server 20A) as the next transmission destination. ) Specifying information (transmission destination information) and the like. Then, the cryptographic processing unit 23 uses a secret key shared with the agency server 20A stored in the secret key storage unit 25, and uses the token other than the destination information and its own identification information, for example. Encryption is performed (see FIG. 8).

  On the other hand, the ticket sales processing unit 24 that has received the ticket purchase request from the request reception processing unit 22 extracts information about the user from the ticket purchase request and stores it in the customer information database 27. Then, information (designation of payment method, amount, etc.) and commands necessary for payment are exchanged with the client terminal 30 via the communication unit 21, and payment associated with ticket sales is executed online ( Step 703). Note that, as described above, an existing online payment system can be used to perform the processing related to the payment.

After the settlement processing by the ticket sales processing unit 24 is completed, the request reception processing unit 22 adds the created token to the ticket purchase request received from the client terminal 30 and returns it to the client terminal 30 that transmitted the ticket purchase request. To do.
When the client terminal 30 receives the token-added ticket purchase request returned from the agency server 20C (step 704), the ticket purchase processing unit 33 reads the next transmission destination described in plain text in the token. Then, according to the description of the transmission destination, this token-added ticket purchase request is transmitted to the agency server 20A, which is a server higher than the agency server 20C (step 705).

  In the agency server 20A, the request reception processing unit 22 receives the token-added ticket purchase request and passes it to the encryption processing unit 23. The cryptographic processing unit 23 adds the token to which agent server 20 directly below the identification information described in plain text in the token and the information of the agent server 20 directly below stored in the lower agent database 26. Judge whether or not. Then, a secret key shared with the agency server 20 to which the token is added is taken out from the secret key storage unit 25, and the encrypted part of the token is decrypted using this secret key. Here, since the token is added by the agency server 20C, the decryption process is performed using the secret key C (see FIG. 1) shared with the agency server 20C.

  Next, the request reception processing unit 22 rewrites identification information, transmission destination information, and the like with respect to the token plaintified by the encryption processing unit 23. In addition, the contents of the token before rewriting are summarized and described in a new token. Then, the encryption processing unit 23 uses the secret key stored in the secret key storage unit 25 to encrypt information other than the destination information in the token. In this case, since the higher order server of the agency server 20A is the original sale server 10, the secret key shared between the agency server 20A and the original sale server 10 is used for encryption.

After the above processing, the request reception processing unit 22 adds the rewritten token to the ticket purchase request received from the client terminal 30 and returns it to the client terminal 30 that transmitted the ticket purchase request.
When the client terminal 30 receives the token-added ticket purchase request returned from the agency server 20A (step 704), the ticket purchase processing unit 33 reads the next transmission destination described in plain text in this token. Then, according to the description of the transmission destination, the ticket purchase request to which this token is added is transmitted to the main selling server 10 which is a higher-order server of the agency server 20A (step 705).

  In the original selling server 10, the ticket issuing unit 12 receives this token-added ticket purchase request and passes it to the encryption processing unit 13. The cryptographic processing unit 13 adds the token to which agent server 20 directly below the identification information described in plain text in the token and the information of the agent server 20 directly below stored in the lower agent database 26. Judge whether or not. Then, the secret key shared with the agency server 20 to which the token is added is taken out from the secret key storage unit 14, and the encrypted part of the token is decrypted using this secret key. Here, since the token is added by the agency server 20A, the decryption process is performed using the secret key A (see FIG. 1) shared with the agency server 20A.

  Next, the ticket issuing unit 12 searches the merchandise information database 15 based on the token written by the encryption processing unit 23 and the information described in the ticket purchase request. If there is a ticket related to the ticket purchase request (if it is not already sold), the ticket is issued. Then, the encryption processing unit 13 encrypts at least a part of the ticket using the private key unique to the main selling server 10 stored in the private key storage unit 25. The ticket issuing unit 12 returns the ticket encrypted by the encryption processing unit 13 to the client terminal 30 that transmitted the ticket purchase request.

  When the client terminal 30 receives the ticket returned from the main sale server 10 (step 706), the ticket purchase processing unit 33 stores the received ticket in the storage unit 35 and ends the processing (step 707).

  In the above operation example, the client terminal 30 receives a ticket purchase request with a token after the settlement processing is completed in the agency server 20C. Since the client terminal 30 sequentially accesses the agency server 20A and the original sale server 10 until the ticket is acquired, the agency server 20C having the sales right of the ticket first is used as the system for prepaying the price. This is because it is considered reasonable to make a payment when accessing the. However, depending on various circumstances such as the configuration of the system, the type of the client terminal 30, the contents of the ticket to be sold, etc., it may be preferable to perform the settlement after acquiring the ticket. In such a case, the client terminal 30 stores the first access destination in the storage unit 35, receives the ticket from the main sale server 10, and then accesses the agent server 20C that has been accessed first, and Payment may be made by exchanging with the sales processing unit 24.

Next, an operation when using a sold ticket will be described.
When the client terminal 30 is a mobile information terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA, the electronic information stored in the storage unit 35 is used as it is as a ticket. Further, when the client terminal 30 is a kiosk terminal or the like, a piece of paper printed by converting the electronic information stored in the storage unit 35 into a barcode or the like can be used as a ticket. When using a ticket, the electronic information is directly transferred from the portable information terminal storing the ticket to the ticket inspection apparatus, or the barcode displayed on the display screen of the portable information terminal or the barcode printed on a piece of paper The ticket inspection apparatus reads the code information in order to check the validity of the ticket. In the ticket inspection apparatus, a secret key unique to the main sale server 10 used when encrypting the ticket in the main sale server 10 is set, and the contents of the ticket are decrypted by this secret key.

  Further, when issuing a ticket in the main sale server 10, identification information such as a user ID is extracted from information related to a user included in the token, and the identification information is encrypted with the secret key of the main sale server 10 itself. Can be included. In this way, for example, even if the ticket is stolen on the communication path when the ticket is issued, the identification information encrypted when the ticket is used is decrypted and verified, so that the ticket can be illegally obtained by others. The situation where it is used can be prevented.

  In the above example, the main sale server 10 performs only ticket issue management, and does not assume a case where the client terminal 30 directly accesses the main sale server 10 to purchase a ticket. However, it is also possible for the original sale server 10 itself to accept a first ticket purchase request (that is, no token is added) from the client terminal 30 and sell the ticket directly. In this case, components corresponding to the ticket sales processing unit 24 and the customer information database 27 in the agency server 20 of FIG. 5 are added to the configuration of the main selling server 10 shown in FIG.

  In the above example, it has been described that all the agency servers 20 can accept ticket purchase requests from the client terminals 30 and sell tickets. However, the agency server 20 of the intermediate agency (for example, the agency server 20A in FIG. 1) only relays the ticket purchase request with the token, and sells the ticket to its own agency server 20 for sale. Operation is also possible. In this case, the agent server 20 of the intermediate agent that does not sell tickets does not require the ticket sales processing unit 24 and the customer information database 27 in the configuration shown in FIG. It can be seen that the contents of the present invention are techniques for shifting a transaction processing load on an intermediate server to a lower server in a hierarchical server. Therefore, although the embodiment of ticket sales has been described so far, electronic data delivery methods including all digital contents (music, video, public personal information, etc.) are also included in the content of the present invention.

It is a figure explaining the ticket sales system by this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the trust relationship between the main sale server and agency server in this embodiment. It is the figure which showed typically the example of the hardware constitutions of the computer apparatus suitable as the original sale server and agency server in the system of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the original sale server of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the agency server of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the client terminal of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the client terminal of this embodiment at the time of ticket purchase. It is a figure which shows the example of the data structure of the token added to a ticket purchase request in this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the sales method of the electronic ticket in the system comprised by connecting the server hierarchically.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Original sale server, 11, 21, 31 ... Communication part, 12 ... Ticket issuing part, 13, 23 ... Encryption processing part, 14, 25 ... Secret key storage part, 15 ... Merchandise information database (DB), 16, 26 ... lower agency database (DB), 20 ... agency server, 22 ... request reception processing section, 24 ... ticket sales processing section, 27 ... customer information database (DB), 30 ... client terminal, 32 ... request issuing section, 33 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Ticket purchase processing part 34 ... Input / output control part 35 ... Storage part 101 ... CPU (Central Processing Unit) 103 ... Main memory 104 ... Video card 105 ... Magnetic disk unit (HDD) 106 ... Network interface, 109 ... Keyboard / mouse

Claims (11)

An original server that issues electronic data;
A proxy server that performs processing for sending electronic data issued by the original server;
A client terminal connected to the original server and the proxy server to obtain electronic data;
The proxy server is
A communication unit for communicating with the client terminal;
A database holding information for identifying a proxy server that can issue a token for accessing the local server;
When the electronic data sending request received from the client terminal by the communication unit has not been added with a token or has been added with a token issued by a proxy server registered in the database, the original server or another proxy An acceptance processing unit that issues a token for accessing the server and adds it to the electronic data shipping request, and returns the request to the client terminal by the communication unit;
The client terminal is
A communication unit for communicating with the original server and the proxy server;
A processing unit that causes the communication unit to transmit the electronic data sending request with the token added received from the proxy server by the communication unit to the original server or the other proxy server specified by the token as an access destination And
The origin server is
A communication unit for communicating with the client terminal;
A database holding information for identifying a proxy server that can issue a token for accessing the local server;
When the electronic data sending request received from the client terminal by the communication unit is added with a token issued by the proxy server registered in the database, the electronic data is issued in response to the electronic data sending request An electronic data sending system comprising an issuing unit . The original server and the proxy server each include a secret key storage unit storing a shared secret key,
The proxy server further includes an encryption processing unit that encrypts at least a part of the token using the secret key stored in the secret key storage unit of the server .
The original server further includes an encryption processing unit that decrypts the token, at least a part of which is encrypted, using the secret key stored in the secret key storage unit of the own server. The electronic data sending system according to 1. Claim wherein the proxy server there are a plurality of the said secret key storage unit of the source server, characterized in that the stored unique private key for each proxy server to issue tokens to access the local server 2. The electronic data sending system according to 2. The electronic data delivery system according to claim 1, wherein the proxy server further includes a sales processing unit for performing a settlement accompanying acquisition of electronic data by the client terminal. An electronic data sending system in which a plurality of servers having a tree structure perform sending processing of electronic data under centralized management by a server corresponding to a root node,
A client terminal that connects to a server of the server group forming the tree structure via a network and transmits a request regarding electronic data;
A first server capable of issuing a token for accessing a server located directly above the own server in the tree structure;
And a second server that issues the electronic data to a server corresponding to the root node of the tree structure,
The first server is
A database holding information for identifying another first server located directly under the server in the tree structure;
When the request received from the client terminal has not been added with a token or has been added with a token issued by the other first server registered in the database, it issues the token of its own server. A reception processing unit that adds to the request and returns the request to the client terminal,
The second server is
A database holding information for identifying the first server located directly under the server in the tree structure;
When the request received from the client terminal is attached with a token issued by the first server registered in the database, the issuing unit issues the electronic data in response to the request,
When the request with the token added is returned from the first server, the client terminal sends the request with the token added to the first or second server that is the destination specified by the token. An electronic data sending system characterized by transmitting. A communication unit for accessing a client terminal via a network;
A database holding information for identifying other servers that can issue tokens for accessing the local server;
When a request for electronic data from the client terminal received from the client terminal by the communication unit is not added with a token or a token issued by the other server registered in the database is added, Add a token for accessing the original server that manages the issuance of electronic data related to the request or the proxy server that performs the sending process of the electronic data issued by the original server , and the client terminal via the communication unit A server comprising: a reception processing unit for returning to the server. A secret key storage unit storing a secret key shared between the original server or the proxy server and the own server;
The server according to claim 6 , further comprising: an encryption processing unit that encrypts at least a part of the token created by the reception processing unit using a secret key stored in the secret key storage unit. . A method of sending electronic data by a system in which a plurality of servers having a tree structure perform sending processing of electronic data under centralized management by a server corresponding to a root node,
A predetermined server in the server group having the tree structure includes a database holding information for identifying other servers located immediately below the server in the tree structure, and accepts an electronic data sending request from a client terminal In response to the electronic data sending request , if the electronic data sending request has not been added with a token or has been added with a token issued by the other server specified by the information in the database . A first step of adding a token for accessing a server located directly above the own server in the tree structure and returning it to the client terminal;
Said client terminal, and a second step of transmitting the added electronic data dispatch request token received from the server to the destination server specified by the token,
The server corresponding to the root node includes a database that holds information for identifying other servers located directly below the server in the tree structure, receives an electronic data sending request from the client terminal, and A third step of issuing the electronic data in response to the electronic data sending request when the data sending request is added with a token issued by the other server specified by the information in the database ; An electronic data sending method comprising: In the first step, wherein the predetermined server, to encrypt at least a portion of said token with a secret key shared with the server located immediately above the local server, is added to the electronic data dispatch request The electronic data sending method according to claim 8 . The first step includes
When the predetermined server receives an electronic data sending request to which a token is added by a server directly below the server in the tree structure , the predetermined server decrypts the token using a secret key shared with the server immediately below When,
Said predetermined server, electrons according to the token decoded, in claim 9, characterized in that it comprises the steps of encrypting using the secret key shared with the server directly over the local server in the tree structure Data shipping method. In the third step, the server corresponding to the root node shares the token in the electronic data transmission request to which the token is added by the server immediately below the server in the tree structure with the server directly below The electronic data sending method according to claim 8 , wherein decryption is performed using.

Images