JP5419953B2 - Information processing method, apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing method, apparatus, and program, and more particularly, to a client server type information processing method, apparatus, and program for applying an information communication service according to a user position in a mobile terminal.

  In recent years, cellular phones and the like having an Internet access function typified by smartphones have been spread. These mobile terminals are used at locations where the user has moved, and advanced functions and services using the location information are being developed and used.

  As an example, when an information search is performed using a search keyword such as “ramen” in the information search function, there is a service that preferentially outputs a “ramen” store close to the location of the terminal as a search result.

  Positioning result by GPS receiver function provided in terminal device as this location information, measurement or estimation result by identification of mobile phone base station used by terminal device for communication, wireless LAN (Local Area Network) existing around terminal device The estimation result based on the location information of the base station is used.

  In particular, GPS receivers are standard equipment for high-performance mobile terminals and are widely used.

  In addition, in order to solve the problems when using a GPS receiver, which will be described later, a wireless LAN location information measurement service provider performs measurement in advance using a device equipped with a position measuring means such as a GPS receiver, thereby obtaining an Ethernet (registered trademark). ) Prepare a database that combines the MAC (Media Access Control) address of each wireless LAN base station that communicates with a standard wireless circuit and the location information obtained by GPS positioning. The location information associated with the wireless LAN base station can be acquired by making an inquiry to the database using the MAC address of the above wireless LAN base station, and is widely used in terminal devices having a wireless LAN communication function.

  In addition, as location information, ID such as store name and store website URL may be used instead of latitude and longitude coordinate values, and by preparing a database in which the MAC address of the wireless LAN base station and the store name are linked in advance, There is a technology that makes it possible to provide means for easily accessing information provided by neighboring stores (see, for example, Patent Literature IV).

JP 2008-219500 A

  However, the conventional position information measurement and estimation system has the following problems.

  Positioning with the GPS receiver function is so accurate that a measurement with an error of about a few meters is possible in an open space, but on the principle that positioning is performed by receiving radio waves transmitted from an artificial satellite, it is artificial such as indoors and underground malls. There is a problem that it cannot be used in places where radio waves from satellites do not reach. In addition, when the sky is not open such as in a building street, there is a problem that accuracy is lowered due to radio wave reflection of the building. In addition, even if it is a place where radio waves can be received, it takes time to receive GPS radio waves if the approximate position of the GPS satellite is not known. There is a problem that it is often necessary.

  Positioning using a mobile phone base station can be used anywhere within the mobile phone communication range, but the positioning accuracy is low due to the wide coverage area of the mobile phone base station, generally with an accuracy of 100 m to several km error However, since the position of the terminal can only be estimated, it can be used for applications where there is no problem in the approximate area estimation, but there is a problem that it cannot be used for applications requiring accuracy of several meters to several tens of meters.

  The method of using the location information of the wireless LAN base station that exists in the vicinity of the terminal device is based on the short positioning range of the wireless LAN radio wave and high positioning due to the presence of a large amount of wireless LAN base stations compared to the mobile phone base station. There is an advantage that accuracy can be expected, and position information can be specified in a shorter time than positioning by a GPS receiver. However, because the wireless LAN location information measurement service provider relies on GPS, and the location of the location depends on GPS when it prepares a database by repeatedly measuring the movement while receiving wireless LAN radio waves in a car equipped with a measurement device in advance. As with the GPS method, there is a problem that it is impossible to obtain the location information of wireless LAN base stations in indoor and underground shopping areas that cannot receive satellite radio waves.

  As a means for solving this problem, the position information in the database is not necessarily limited to only positioning by GPS, and there may be a method in which a wireless LAN position information measurement service provider sets by some means. For example, in Patent Document 1, an operator of a commercial store associates a MAC name of a wireless LAN base station installed in those stores or a wireless LAN MAC address that can be received in the vicinity of the store with the store name and registers them in the database. A method is proposed. However, the preparation of a database by this method has a problem that it is significantly more expensive than a vehicle equipped with a GPS positioning device. In addition, there is a problem that a service that can be applied is necessarily limited in a database in which specific information such as a store name and a store homepage URL is linked to a MAC address of a wireless LAN base station. Furthermore, there is a problem that registration in the database is not performed even if there is a wireless LAN base station in a place where there is no entity that registers the store name, the URL of the store homepage, and the like.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points. Even in a place where high-accuracy positioning cannot be performed, input assistance according to the location of the user's terminal device, adjustment of search results, and other functions of the server client service. It is an object of the present invention to provide a client server type information processing method, apparatus, and program capable of realizing a function adapted to a position.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention (Claim 1) is an information processing method in a client server type information processing system in which a plurality of terminal devices and a server are connected via a network,
The terminal device
When a search service start screen is accessed near a specific wireless LAN (Local Area Network) base station, the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the base station is collected and transmitted to the server together with user input information. ,
The server
The MAC address and the user input information are associated with each other and stored in the address / user input information storage means,
A set of a specific MAC address that is statistically significantly characteristic and the user input information is extracted from the address / user input information storage means and stored in the feature storage means.

The present invention (Claim 2) is the terminal device,
Simultaneously with the user's input operation or prior to the user's input operation, scan the surrounding wireless LAN, collect the MAC address, notify the server of the MAC address group,
In the server,
The service content is adjusted in accordance with user input significantly characteristic of the MAC address.

Further, according to the present invention (Claim 3), in the server,
When a search keyword is received from the user,
A recommended keyword is selected from the feature storage means and output.

The present invention (Claim 4) is the server,
When a search result clicked by the user is received,
The order of search results searched from the feature storage means is adjusted.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the user performs some input operation from the terminal device, the MAC address group of the wireless LAN base station existing around the terminal device is scanned, and the user input and the MAC Address groups can be linked and stored, and a statistically significant combination can be extracted from combinations of input information of a large number of users and MAC addresses of wireless LAN base stations.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to adapt to a place where GPS radio waves do not reach such as an underground shopping street, which is impossible with the conventional method of positioning by GPS. In addition, an operator of a commercial store using the method of Patent Document 1 registers the MAC address of the wireless LAN base station installed in those stores or the MAC address of the wireless LAN that can be received around the store and the store name in the database. The problem of the cost that was a problem with the method to be stored, and the problem that registration to the database is not performed in a place where the subject who registers the store name, the URL of the store homepage, etc. does not exist There is an effect that the user's operation is eliminated by directly creating the database. Further, by creating a database by a user input operation corresponding to the service to be adapted, there is further an effect that the problem that the adaptable service that is further problematic in the method of Patent Document 1 is limited can be solved.

  Further, according to the invention of claim 2, a statistically significant combination among the combinations of the user input extracted by the invention of claim 1 and the MAC address of the wireless LAN is used, thereby providing a new When a user uses a service provided by the server, the MAC address of the wireless LAN around the terminal device can be notified to the server, and the contents of the service can be adjusted using a user input group characteristic of the MAC address as a parameter. It becomes.

  As a result, the information corresponding to the position of the user is extracted from the database created according to claim 1, and the service content provided by the server can be adjusted accordingly.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the service provided by the server in the invention of claim 2 is an information search service, and the adjustment of the service content is output as selection of a recommended keyword. It is possible to recommend keywords that many users input in a statistically significant manner in the vicinity of the wireless LAN to users who use the information search service in the vicinity of the address. As a result, when a new user accesses the search service start page near the same wireless LAN base station, a search keyword that many users input characteristically near a specific wireless LAN base station is entered. It can be displayed as a recommended keyword, and the effect of saving the user's input operation is obtained.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the service provided by the server in the invention of claim 2 is an information search service, and the adjustment of the service content is the adjustment of the search result order, whereby the MAC of a specific wireless LAN For users who use information search services in the vicinity of addresses, output search results with search result data selected statistically and significantly by many users in the vicinity of the wireless LAN. Is possible.

It is a block diagram of the information processing system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence chart of the operation | movement in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the information processing system in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence chart of operation in a 2nd embodiment of the present invention.

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

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an information processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The system shown in FIG. 1 includes terminal devices 1 and 3 and a service providing server 2.

  Since the terminal devices 1 and 3 have the same configuration, only the terminal device 1 will be described.

  The terminal devices 1 and 3 are terminal devices used by users of the information search service, and include a wireless LAN scanning unit 12 for acquiring MAC addresses of peripheral wireless LANs. The terminal device 1 shown in the figure includes a keyboard 11 as a user information input means and a display 13 as an information display means. These are replaced with a voice recognition function, a liquid crystal touch panel, and a display 13 instead of the keyboard 11. Any function that accepts input from the user, such as a text-to-speech output function, and a function that outputs data from the server may be used. Further, although the terminal device 1 normally includes a CPU, a memory, a communication function, and the like, it is not shown in the figure because it is not necessary for the description of the present invention. As long as the terminal device 1 includes the wireless LAN scanning unit 12, it may be a general smartphone, personal computer, information appliance, or the like.

  The service providing server 2 is data including user input information input by the user in the terminal device 1 and MAC address groups of wireless LAN base stations existing around the terminal device 1 collected by the terminal device 1 by the wireless LAN scanning unit 12. A data receiving unit 21 that receives the data, a MAC address that stores the data received by the data receiving unit 21: a user input storage unit 22, and a statistical process on the data stored in the storage unit 22, A feature pair extracting unit 23 that extracts user input information that is statistically significant for each MAC address; a MAC address feature table 24 that stores a set of MAC addresses and user input information extracted by the feature pair extracting unit 23; , A service providing unit 25 that performs some information service in response to an input from a user on the search side, and a standard service response output by the service providing unit 25, a terminal device A service content adjustment unit 26 that adjusts the MAC address of the wireless LAN base station around the terminal device 1 transmitted from the terminal device 1 and adjusts the result by referring to the MAC address feature table 24 and transmits the result to the terminal device 1 is included. .

  The MAC address: user input storage unit 22 and the MAC address feature table 24 are storage media such as a hard disk, and the MAC address: user input storage unit 22 receives the received MAC address and user input information corresponding to the address. Is stored. The MAC address feature table 24 stores the MAC address extracted by the feature pair extraction unit 23 and the user input information that has the feature as a set.

  In this way, by storing the user input information and the surrounding MAC address where the user exists in the storage means, it is not necessary to perform position positioning, and a statistically significant characteristic from these combinations. Various combinations can be extracted.

  The operation of the information processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence chart of the operation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The search service user inputs a search keyword using the keyboard 11 of the terminal device 1 and transmits it to the service providing server 2. At this time, the terminal device 1 scans and collects the MAC addresses of wireless LAN base stations existing in the vicinity by the wireless LAN scanning unit 12, and the MAC address group is combined with the user input (for example, a “restaurant” service providing server 2 (step 11).

  The data receiving unit 21 of the service providing server 2 delivers the user input of the information to the service providing unit 25, delivers the MAC address group to the service content adjusting unit 26, and sends the information to the MAC address: user input storage unit 22. Record (step 12). The recording method may be a table using a MAC address or user input information as a key, or a simple appending type as seen in the access log of the WEB server. MAC address: The user input storage unit 22 stores a combination of a large number of MAC addresses and user input information as a result of a long time use by a large number of users. In the example of FIG. 1, MAC address "32: 61: 3C: 4E: B6: 05" and user input information "Restaurant" "Timetable" "Timetable Yurakucho" "Timetable Yurakucho" "Cat" ... etc. are stored. The

  The feature pair extraction unit 23 performs statistical processing on the data group accumulated in the MAC address: user input storage unit 22 and extracts user input information that appears statistically and significantly characteristically at a specific MAC address. (Step 13). As statistical processing, a set of user input information associated with a specific MAC address may be regarded as a document, and tf · idf that is used in the information retrieval field as a standard (for example, JP 2005-115791 A) may be used. Poisson probabilities may be used, and any other method is not relevant to the essence of the present invention.

  The feature pair extraction unit 23 records the extracted set in the MAC address feature table 24 using the MAC address as a key (step 14). The feature pair extraction unit 23 may perform statistical processing in batches at regular intervals, or may perform processing every time a certain amount of unprocessed data is accumulated in the MAC address: user input storage unit 22, The timing at which the process is performed is not related to the essence of the present invention.

  The service providing unit 25 receives user input information from the data receiving unit 21 and outputs a standard service response (step 15). In the present embodiment, an information search result for a search keyword that is a user input is output, but the mechanism that leads to this output is not described because it is outside the scope of the present invention.

  Here, if a new user uses the terminal device 3 to access the service providing server 2 with the terminal device 3 in order to use the service provided by the service providing server 2, the wireless communication of the terminal device 3 is performed at this time. The LAN operation unit 32 scans and acquires the MAC address of the surrounding wireless LAN base station, and transmits it to the data receiving unit 21 of the service providing server 2 (step 16).

  The data receiving unit 21 delivers the MAC address group to the service content adjusting unit 26.

  The service content adjustment unit 26 receives the MAC address group of the wireless LAN existing around the terminal device 3 from the data reception unit 21, and stores the user input information group characteristically linked to the MAC address group in the MAC address feature table 24. The user input information group that is acquired by referring (step 17) and is characteristically linked to the MAC address group is transmitted to the terminal device 3 as a recommended keyword (step 18).

  The terminal device 3 displays the received recommended keyword on the display 33, and searches the service providing server 2 by selecting the displayed recommended keyword instead of the user inputting the search keyword using the keyboard 31. A request is transmitted (step 19). As a method for realizing a search request by the selection, a URL in which a recommended keyword is set in advance as a parameter may be used as an html link used in a general information communication service.

In the example of FIG. 1, when there is a wireless LAN base station with the MAC address “32: 61: 3C: 4E: B6: 05” around the terminal device 1
"Timetable Yurakucho"
Is output as a recommended keyword.

  Although not described in the present embodiment, in order to avoid data quality deterioration due to mischief or malicious input, which is unavoidable when using inputs from a large number of users as information sources, the data receiving unit 21 and users It is also preferable that an NG word filter is provided between the input storage units 22 so that prohibited words registered in advance are not stored.

  It is also preferable to have a function of identifying the cookie and the ID of the terminal device and not storing the subsequent input in the user input storage unit 22 from the terminal device that has input the prohibited word.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 3 shows a configuration of an information processing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the terminal devices 1 and 3 and the service providing server 2 shown in the figure is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment described above, but the user input information acquired by the data receiving unit 21 is The search result click information (URL), and the information output from the service content adjustment unit 26 is the search result rank.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence chart of the operation in the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The search service user inputs a search keyword using the keyboard 11 of the terminal device 1 and transmits it to the server 2. At this time, the terminal device 1 collects the MAC addresses of the wireless LAN base stations existing in the vicinity by the wireless LAN operation unit 12, and transmits the MAC address group together with the search keyword to the server 2 (step 21).

  The data receiving unit 21 of the service providing server 2 delivers the search keyword among the information to the service providing unit 25. The service providing unit 25 receives the search keyword from the data receiving unit 21 and outputs the information search result to the service content adjusting unit 26. Since the mechanism leading to this output is outside the scope of the present invention, description thereof is omitted. To do.

  The service content adjustment unit 26 receives a MAC address group of wireless LANs existing around the terminal device 1 from the data reception unit 21, receives a search keyword from the service provision unit 25 to the data reception unit 21, and relates to the keyword. Then, a user input group that is characteristically linked to the MAC address group is obtained by referring to the MAC address characteristic table 24 (step 23), and the output of the service providing unit 25 is obtained by the user input group that is characteristically linked to the MAC address group. The search result is adjusted as described later (step 24), and then transmitted to the terminal device 1 (step 25). The details of the adjustment will be described later.

  The terminal device 1 displays the search result transmitted from the service providing server 2 on the display 13. The user selects and clicks a candidate determined to match the search request from the search results displayed on the display 13 (step 26).

  The terminal device 1 transmits the clicked item, the search keyword, and the MAC address group of the wireless LAN existing around the terminal device 1 acquired by the wireless LAN operation unit 12 to the service providing server 2 ( Step 27).

  In the terminal device 1, if the search target of the information search service is a WEB document by the click, the WEB document to be clicked is accessed, or if the search target is information stored in a unique DB of the information search server 2. Although the action of displaying more detailed information of the click target occurs, it is not described because it is not related to the essence of the present invention.

  The data receiving unit 21 of the service providing server 2 receives the information and records it in the MAC address: user input storage unit 22 (step 28). The recording method may be a table using a MAC address or user input as a key, or a simple write-once type as seen in an access log of a Web server. The MAC address: user input storage unit 22 stores a combination of a plurality of MAC addresses, search keywords that are user inputs, and items clicked from the search results based on the long-term use of a large number of users.

  The feature pair extraction unit 23 performs statistical processing on the data group accumulated in the MAC address: user input storage unit 22 and extracts user input information that appears statistically and significantly characteristically at a specific MAC address. (Step 29). As statistical processing, a set of MAC input and user input information having the same search keyword is extracted from all data, and a set of user input information associated with a specific MAC address in the data group is taken as one document, and the data group Are extracted as a document set. In addition, it is not limited to this example, You may use tf * idf normally used in the information search field | area. As another method, Poisson probability may be used, and any other method is not related to the essence of the present invention.

  The feature pair extraction unit 23 stores the extracted {MAC address + user input information} pair in the MAC address feature table 24 using the MAC address as a key (step 30). The feature pair extraction unit 23 may perform statistical processing in batches at regular intervals, or perform processing every time a certain amount of unprocessed data is accumulated in the MAC address: user input storage unit 22. In other words, it is not related to the essence of the present invention.

  Here, when a new user makes a search request to the service providing server 2 using the service provided by the service providing server 2, the search service user uses the keyboard 31 of the terminal device 3. The search keyword is input using, and transmitted to the service providing server 2. At this time, the terminal device 3 collects MAC addresses of wireless LAN base stations existing in the vicinity by the wireless LAN scanning unit 32, and transmits the MAC address group together with the search keyword to the service providing server 2 (step 31). .

  The data receiving unit 21 of the service providing server 2 delivers the search keyword among the information to the service providing unit 25. The service providing unit 25 receives the search keyword from the data receiving unit 21 and outputs the information search result to the service content adjusting unit 26. The mechanism leading to this output is out of the scope of the present invention, and will be described. Absent.

  The service content adjustment unit 26 receives a MAC address group of wireless LANs existing around the terminal device 3 from the data reception unit 21 and receives a search keyword from the service provision unit 25 to the data reception unit 21.

  Based on these pieces of information, the service content adjustment unit 26 acquires a user input group that is characteristically associated with the MAC address group in relation to the search keyword with reference to the MAC address feature table 24 (step 32). This information is extracted from the MAC address: MAC address stored in the user input storage unit 22, the search keyword that is the user input, and the set of candidates clicked from the search result, as shown in FIG. In the example, the search keyword and the clicked candidate.

  In the example of FIG. 3, if a wireless LAN base station with the MAC address “32: 61: 3C: 4E: B6; 05” exists around the terminal device 3, the “restaurant: http: // Since “/ hoge / hoge” is recorded in the MAC address feature table 24, if the search keyword is “restaurant”, the service content adjustment unit 26 acquires “http: // hoge / hoge”.

  After acquiring the information, the service content adjusting unit 26 adjusts the search result output from the service providing unit 25 so that “http: // hoge / hoge” is higher in the search result (step 33). And transmitted to the terminal device 3 (step 34).

As an example of the adjustment method, the item may be moved by a predetermined number higher than the search result order before adjustment of the item, or the MAC address: the user input storage unit 22 clicks the candidate around the MAC address. The number of times may be extracted, and the number of values obtained by a linear or non-linear function that parameterizes the number of times may be moved up. Or any method such as simply moving to the top of the search results is not relevant to the essence of the present invention.
The terminal device 3 displays the received search result on the display 33 (step 35).

  In addition, the service content adjustment unit 26 determines a statistically significant combination of the extracted user input and the MAC address of the wireless LAN in a service different from the system or service that collects the combination. Available for adjustment.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the service provided by the service providing server 2 is a communication service, and the adjustment of the service content is selected and output as an input recommended keyword. For a user who uses a communication service in the vicinity of an address, it is possible to output, as an input recommendation keyword, a keyword that many users input in a statistically significant manner in the vicinity of the wireless LAN.

  The operation of each component of the terminal devices 1 and 3 and the operation of the component of the service providing server 2 shown in FIG. 1 are constructed as a program, and installed and executed on a computer used as the terminal device or the service providing server. Or can be distributed via a network.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.

1, 3 Terminal device 2 Service providing server 11, 31 Keyboard 12, 32 Wireless LAN scanning unit 13, 33 Display 21 Data receiving unit 22 MAC address: User input storage unit 23 Feature pair extracting unit 24 MAC address feature table 25 Service providing unit 26 Service Content Adjustment Department

Claims (8)

An information processing method in a client server type information processing system in which a plurality of terminal devices and a server are connected via a network,
The terminal device
When a search service start screen is accessed near a specific wireless LAN (Local Area Network) base station, the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the base station is collected and transmitted to the server together with user input information. ,
The server
The MAC address and the user input information are associated with each other and stored in the address / user input information storage means,
A method of information processing, comprising: extracting a specific statistically significant specific MAC address and the user input information from the address / user input information storage means, and storing the extracted information in the feature storage means. The terminal device
Simultaneously with the user's input operation or prior to the user's input operation, scan the surrounding wireless LAN, collect the MAC address, notify the server of the MAC address group,
The server
The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the service content is adjusted in accordance with a user input significantly characteristic of the MAC address. The server
When a search keyword is received from the user,
3. The information processing method according to claim 2, wherein a recommended keyword is selected from the feature storage means and output. The server
When a search result clicked by the user is received,
The information processing method according to claim 2, wherein the order of search results retrieved from the feature storage unit is adjusted. An information processing apparatus in a client server type information processing system in which a plurality of terminal devices and a server are connected via a network,
From the terminal device, when the terminal device accesses the search service start screen in the vicinity of a specific wireless LAN base station, the MAC address of the base station collected and user input information are received, and the MAC address and Data receiving means for associating the input information of the user and storing it in the address / user input information storage means;
A feature pair extraction unit that extracts a specific MAC address and the user input information that are statistically significantly characteristic from the address / user input information storage unit, and stores in the feature storage unit;
Service content adjustment means for adjusting service content according to user input significantly characteristic of the MAC address;
An information processing apparatus comprising: The service content adjustment means includes:
When a search keyword is received from the user,
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for selecting and outputting a recommended keyword from the feature storage means. The service content adjustment means includes:
When a search result clicked by the user is received,
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising means for adjusting a rank of search results searched from the feature storage means. Computer
The information processing program for functioning as each means of the information processing apparatus of any one of Claims 5 thru | or 7.

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