JP6045163B2 - Communication system and time information utilization method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication system using time information.

  Conventionally, in the high precision time synchronization protocol IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 1588 standard, time information is shared among a plurality of nodes connected to the network by exchanging time information on the network. Is possible. Each node conforming to the IEEE 1588 standard corrects the time information in consideration of the propagation delay of the communication path when receiving the time information from the adjacent node, and prevents the occurrence of an error due to the propagation delay of the time information. Realize synchronization.

  For example, in Patent Document 1 below, in a communication system configured by connecting a plurality of user stations and one base station, time synchronization is established between the base station and the user station, and the data input time to the transmission side Is added to the packet as time stamp information and transferred, and the receiving side adjusts the output timing based on the time stamp value of the received packet.

  Patent Document 2 below discloses a technique in which information relating to an input time to a communication port is added to a packet signal and transmitted in a packet communication device.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-069093 (FIG. 1) JP 2010-010910 A (FIG. 20)

  However, according to the above conventional technique, although means and configuration for transmitting accurate time information to the user side of the communication system are shown, a method for actually and accurately using accurate time information without fraud Is not established. For this reason, for example, when a malicious user tries to operate an application on a communication system using a time that is intentionally shifted with respect to an accurate time, there is a problem that the unauthorized operation cannot be prevented. It was. In particular, it is considered to be obvious in cases where trading is started at a certain time using an information communication system such as electronic transactions and auctions.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system that can prevent unauthorized use of time information by a user operation.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides an application server and a time server connected to a communication network, and a user terminal that receives a service requiring time information from the application server is a subscriber. A communication system connected to the communication network via a termination device and a station-side device, and establishing time synchronization between the time server and the subscriber termination device, wherein the subscriber termination device It is provided with timer means that operates at a time synchronized with the server, and determines whether or not a predetermined time has passed by comparing it with time information from the timer means, and passes through its own device based on the result of the determination And controlling the validation / invalidation of the data transmitted / received.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use of time information by a user operation.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system and a network. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of each device configuring the communication system. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication processing unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control operation of each device when providing a service using time information. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication processing unit according to the second embodiment.

  Embodiments of a communication system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system and a network having a mechanism for sharing time information among a plurality of users. The communication system includes a time server station 1, an application server station 2, a communication network 3, subscriber accommodation stations 4-1, 4-2, and user houses 5-1 to 5-5.

  The time server station 1 has time information serving as a reference when time synchronization is performed, and the time at which the time information is distributed to the subscriber terminal devices and application server stations 2 installed in the user homes 5-1 to 5-5. Have a server.

  The application server station 2 provides some service to the users A to E via the communication network 3. In providing the service, the application server station 2 is an application server that performs processing using the transmission / reception times of the data that the application server station 2 transmits to the users A to E and the data that the application server station 2 receives from the users A to E. Have.

  The subscriber accommodation stations 4-1 and 4-2 connect a plurality of subscriber terminal devices installed in the user homes 5-1 to 5-5 to the communication network 3.

  In user homes 5-1 to 5-5, installed subscriber terminal devices accommodate user terminals. The subscriber termination device has a function of performing time synchronization based on time information distributed from the time server station 1.

  Regarding the time synchronization between the time server station 1 and the application server station 2 and between the time server station 1 and the subscriber terminal devices installed in the user homes 5-1 to 5-5, the above-mentioned IEEE 1588 standard or the like This can be realized by performing processing based on the above. Since there is already a known reference document such as the same standard, detailed description is omitted.

  In FIG. 1, user terminals possessed by users A to E are respectively connected to subscriber accommodation stations 4-1 or 4-2 via subscriber terminal devices installed in user homes 5-1 to 5-5. The communication server 3 is connected to the application server station 2 and the time server station 1 via the communication network 3. In this example, the users A, B, and E receive a service provided by the application server station 2. Users A, B, and E have subscriber termination devices having a time synchronization function in user homes 5-1, 5-2, and 5-5, respectively, regardless of the distance from each server station. The time on the subscriber terminal device matches with high accuracy. For this reason, even if the service is highly dependent on time accuracy, the service can be received fairly.

  Explain in more detail the mechanism for maintaining fairness. Since it is a service via the communication network 3, some data transmission / reception is performed between the application server station 2 and the user (user terminal). Therefore, a mechanism is required in which the temporal difference in information input / output due to the transmission distance or the like in the two transmission directions does not appear.

  First, with respect to the user direction from the application server station 2 side, for example, the application server station 2 transmits, in the user direction, data encrypted based on an encryption key that is not effective unless a predetermined time is reached. The subscriber terminal device and the devices in the application server station 2 or the subscriber accommodation station 4-1 and 4-2 perform processing associated with the time information in the subscriber terminal device. Thereby, the time when all users can obtain information can be aligned.

  On the other hand, for the application server station 2 direction from the user side, for example, the time information is imprinted on the data from the user side and output, and after the validity of the time is confirmed in the subscriber terminal device, the application server station 2 direction Send to. Thereby, it becomes possible to judge fairly the time when all the users transmitted information.

  The configuration of the station side device, subscriber terminal device, user terminal, etc. in the subscriber accommodation stations 4-1 and 4-2 in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of each device configuring the communication system. In the communication system, a time server 10 is provided in the time server station 1, an application server 20 is provided in the application server station 2, and subscriber accommodation stations 4-1 and 4-2 (referred to as a subscriber accommodation station 4 in FIG. 2). ) And the subscriber terminal device 50 and the user terminal 60, respectively, in the user homes 5-1 to 5-5 (represented as the user home 5 in FIG. 2).

  The time server 10 includes a time information distribution unit 11. The application server 20 includes a synchronization state determination unit 21 and a service operation unit 22. The station-side device 40 includes a communication control unit 41, an F / W (firmware) download unit 42, and a timer application 43. Further, the subscriber termination device 50 includes a line termination unit 51, a communication processing unit 52, a synchronization monitoring unit 53, a time synchronization unit 54, an F / W update unit 55, a timer function 56, and a user IF unit 57. And comprising. The user terminal 60 includes an IF unit 61, a communication line processing unit 62, and an application processing unit 63.

  The communication control unit 41 of the station side device 40, the line termination unit 51 of the subscriber termination device 50, the user IF unit 57 of the subscriber termination device 50, and the IF unit 61 of the user terminal 60 perform data communication according to their respective transmission methods. Implement the function to do.

  The time synchronization unit 54 of the subscriber terminal device 50 and the time information distribution unit 11 of the time server 10 have a processing function for establishing time synchronization.

  The communication processing unit 52 of the subscriber terminal device 50 extracts information necessary for the time synchronization and transmits the information to the time synchronization unit 54. Further, the communication processing unit 52 has a function of performing the reverse process to communicate with the time information distribution unit 11 of the time server 10.

  The F / W download unit 42 of the station side device 40 and the F / W update unit 55 of the subscriber terminal device 50 download the F / W for operating the subscriber terminal device 50 from the station side device 40, and A function of automatically updating the terminal device 50 is provided. Furthermore, a timer function 56 for using the time information in association with user data in the subscriber terminal device 50 using the F / W download and F / W update functions described above from the station side device 40 to the timer application ( This is realized by downloading (program) 43.

  In the user terminal 60, the application processing unit 63 interprets and generates data corresponding to the service, and the communication line processing unit 62 performs transmission / reception processing of the data. The communication line processing unit 62 also has a function of marking the transmission time in the data when transmitting data.

  Next, an operation for providing an actual service in a timely manner in the communication system will be described. First, the service operation unit 22 in the application server 20 transmits information corresponding to the provided service to each user. As a method of transmitting this information, either a method of simultaneously distributing to users A, B, and E participating in the service (multicast transfer) or a method of individually distributing (unicast transfer) may be used. At this time, even if they are delivered simultaneously, there is no guarantee that they will arrive at the subscriber terminal device 50 to which each user is connected at the same time due to differences in transmission path lengths.

  Therefore, for the information distributed by the application server 20, the application server 20 or the station side device 40 encrypts the information and transmits it, and transfers it to the user terminal 60. The encrypted key information is transmitted from the application server 20 or the station side device 40 to the subscriber terminal device 50, and the communication processing unit 52 of the subscriber terminal device 50 is based on the time information from the timer function 56. The key information is transferred to the user terminal 60 when the predetermined time has come. Note that when the amount of information from the application server 20 is small and repeatedly transmitted continuously, the communication processing unit 52 decrypts the encryption after the predetermined time and transfers the information to the user terminal 60. Also good.

  On the other hand, for information transfer from the user terminal 60 to the application server 20, the time information stamped on the data from the user terminal 60 is after a predetermined time in the communication processing unit 52 of the subscriber terminal device 50. Make sure. The communication processing unit 52 performs an operation of discarding incompatible data, that is, data before a predetermined time.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the communication processing unit 52 according to the present embodiment. The communication processing unit 52 includes a time information extraction unit 521, a time information inspection unit 522, and a filter unit 523. The time information extraction unit 521 extracts time information stamped on the data from the user terminal 60 and transmits the time information to the time information inspection unit 522. The time information inspection unit 522 compares the time information with the time input from the timer function 56 and performs the above confirmation. Based on the confirmation result, the filter unit 523 transfers only data in which time information after the set time is stamped.

  As described above, the timer application 43 which is a program for operating the timer function 56 is downloaded from the station side device 40 which is the host device to the subscriber termination device 50, and the subscriber termination device 50 operates based on the timer application 43. Data transmission / reception to the user terminal 60 is controlled using the timer function 56. Therefore, every user is equal and can receive a service after a predetermined time. Further, the subscriber terminal device 50 can check the time information of the data from the user terminal 60 based on the timer function 56, thereby preventing an illegal act by a malicious user. Thus, it can be said that the subscriber termination device 50 controls the validation / invalidation of data transmitted / received via the own device.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control operation of each device when providing a service using time information in the communication system. First, the station side device 40 downloads the timer application 43 to the subscriber terminal device 50, and the subscriber terminal device 50 acquires the timer function 56 (step S1). The application server 20 encrypts the data to be transmitted along with the service provided to the user terminal 60 by itself or the station side device 40 and transmits the data to the user terminal 60 (step S2). The subscriber terminal device 50 determines whether or not a predetermined time has been reached based on the time information from the timer function 56 (step S3). The subscriber terminal device 50 stands by until a predetermined time (step S3: No), and transmits the key information for encryption to the user terminal 60 when the predetermined time is reached (step S3: Yes). (Step S4).

  The time information use method according to the present embodiment can provide an application use environment that uses time information fairly to individual users. “Fairly” means, for example, when an “early wins” service is provided on the communication system such that the earlier the time when the user performed the process, the earlier the order of handling, is provided on the communication system. It refers to fairness.

  Note that although the timer function 56 provided in the subscriber terminal device 50 is acquired from the timer application 43 downloaded from the station side device 40, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the subscriber terminal device 50 may acquire at least a part of the timer function 56 from the timer application 43 downloaded from the station side device 40.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the communication system in which the application server and the subscriber termination device synchronize with the time server, the subscriber termination device operates in synchronization with the time information from the application server side. The timer function is downloaded and acquired from the station side device, which is the host device of the subscriber terminal device. The application server or the station side device encrypts and transmits the data to the user terminal, and the subscriber terminal device determines whether or not a predetermined time has come based on the time information from the timer function, and determines the predetermined time. When the time comes, the key information for encryption is transmitted to the user terminal. Thereby, each user terminal can receive a service equally after a predetermined time.

  In addition, the subscriber terminal device confirms the difference between the time information of the timer function and the time information added to the data transmitted from the user terminal. Accordingly, even in uplink transmission from the user terminal toward the application server, all users are equal, data can be transmitted after a predetermined time, and services can be equally received. In addition, fraudulent acts by malicious users can be prevented.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the user terminal imprints time information on data and transmits it to the application server. In the present embodiment, the subscriber terminal device stamps time information on transmission data from the user terminal. A different part from Embodiment 1 is demonstrated.

  The configuration of the communication system and the network, and the functional block configuration of each device constituting the communication system are the same as those in the first embodiment (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The difference from the first embodiment is only the time check method in the communication processing unit 52 of the subscriber terminal device 50. For information transfer from the user terminal 60 to the application server 20, the communication processing unit 52 extracts data that requires time information from the data from the user terminal 60, writes the time information, and multiplexes with other data. Perform the transmission operation.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the communication processing unit 52 according to the present embodiment. The communication processing unit 52 includes a specific data extraction unit 524, a time information insertion unit 525, and a multiplexing unit 526. The specific data extraction unit 524 extracts data from the user terminal 60 and transmits the data to the time information insertion unit 525. The time information insertion unit 525 inserts the time input from the timer function 56 into the data. The multiplexing unit 526 performs multiplexing processing with other data and transfers it to the server direction.

  Thus, in this Embodiment, it decided to stamp time information in the communication processing part of a subscriber terminal device with respect to the data transmitted from a user terminal. Even in this case, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the present embodiment, a method for monitoring the accuracy of time synchronization established in the communication system will be described. A different part from Embodiment 1, 2 is demonstrated.

  The subscriber termination device 50 includes a synchronization monitoring unit 53 that monitors the accuracy of time synchronization established with the time server 10. When the synchronization monitoring unit 53 detects deterioration in accuracy of time synchronization with the time server 10, the synchronization monitoring unit 53 notifies the application server 20. The application server 20 determines the operation of the service to be provided based on the notification from the synchronization monitoring unit 53 of the subscriber terminal device 50. For example, if it is determined that the time synchronization accuracy is not sufficient, the application server 20 stops providing the service until the time synchronization accuracy is restored between the subscriber terminal device 50 and the time server 10. be able to.

  In addition, the application server 20 includes a synchronization state determination unit 21 that establishes time synchronization with the time server 10 and monitors the accuracy of time synchronization. When the synchronization state determination unit 21 detects deterioration in accuracy of time synchronization with the time server 10, the synchronization state determination unit 21 determines the operation of the service to be provided based on the detection result. For example, if it is determined that the time synchronization accuracy is not sufficiently high, the application server 20 can stop providing the service until the time synchronization accuracy is restored between itself and the time server 10.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the subscriber termination device and the application server monitor the accuracy of time synchronization established with the time server. Thereby, in the communication system, when the accuracy of time synchronization deteriorates, it is not guaranteed that the service is equally provided to each user, and the service provision can be stopped until the accuracy of time synchronization is recovered. .

  As described above, the communication system according to the present invention is useful for a system in which an application server provides a service to a user terminal, and is particularly suitable for performing time synchronization between devices.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Time server station 2 Application server station 3 Communication network 4-1, 4-2 Subscriber accommodation station 5-1 to 5-5 User house 10 Time server 11 Time information distribution part 20 Application server 21 Synchronization state determination part 22 Service operation Unit 40 station side device 41 communication control unit 42 F / W download unit 43 timer application 50 subscriber termination device 51 line termination unit 52 communication processing unit 53 synchronization monitoring unit 54 time synchronization unit 55 F / W update unit 56 timer function 57 user IF unit 60 User terminal 61 IF unit 62 Communication line processing unit 63 Application processing unit 521 Time information extraction unit 522 Time information inspection unit 523 Filter unit 524 Specific data extraction unit 525 Time information insertion unit 526 Multiplexing unit

Claims (10)

An application server and a time server are connected to a communication network, and a user terminal receiving a service requiring time information from the application server is connected to the communication network via a subscriber terminal device and a station side device, and the time A communication system establishing time synchronization between a server and the subscriber termination device,
The subscriber termination device includes timer means that operates at a time synchronized with the time server, and determines whether or not a predetermined time has passed by comparing with time information from the timer means, and Based on the result, the transfer of data transmitted and received between the application server and the user terminal is controlled, and at least a part of the function of the timer means is a communication path between the application server and the user terminal. acquired from program down loaded from the station-side apparatus is a host apparatus in the,
A communication system characterized by the above. The subscriber termination device includes communication processing means for controlling transmission / reception of data between the user terminal and the application server,
The communication processing means determines whether or not to transfer data from the user terminal to the application server based on a relationship between time information from the timer means and a predetermined time, and data from the application server. Whether or not to transfer to the user terminal,
The communication system according to claim 1. The subscriber termination device includes communication processing means for controlling transmission / reception of data between the user terminal and the application server,
The communication processing means inserts time information from the timer means into data transferred from the user terminal to the application server.
The communication system according to claim 1. The subscriber termination device comprises synchronization monitoring means for monitoring the accuracy of time synchronization established with the time server,
When the synchronization monitoring unit detects deterioration in accuracy, it notifies the application server,
The application server determines operation of a service to be provided based on the notification;
The communication system according to claim 1, 2, or 3. The application server includes synchronization state determination means for establishing time synchronization with the time server and monitoring accuracy of the time synchronization;
The synchronization state determination means determines the operation of the service to be provided based on the detection result when the deterioration of accuracy is detected.
The communication system according to claim 1, 2, or 3. An application server and a time server are connected to a communication network, and a user terminal receiving a service requiring time information from the application server is connected to the communication network via a subscriber terminal device and a station side device, and the time A time information utilization method in a communication system in which time synchronization is established between a server and the subscriber termination device,
The subscriber terminal device includes a timer unit that operates at a time synchronized with the time server, and a time determination step of determining whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed by comparing with time information from the timer unit; ,
The subscriber termination device, based on the determination result in the time determination step, a data control step for controlling transfer of data transmitted and received between the application server and the user terminal;
Including
The subscriber terminating equipment, obtained from at least a portion of the function, program down loaded from the station-side apparatus is a host apparatus in communication path between the user terminal and the application server of said timer means To
The time information utilization method characterized by this. In the data control step, whether to transfer data from the user terminal to the application server based on a determination result in the time determination step, and whether to transfer data from the application server to the user terminal Determine whether or not
The time information utilization method according to claim 6. In the data control step, based on the determination result in the time determination step, the time information from the timer means is inserted into data transferred from the user terminal to the application server.
The time information utilization method according to claim 6. The subscriber termination device monitors the accuracy of time synchronization established with the time server, and when detecting deterioration in accuracy, notifies the application server of a time synchronization accuracy monitoring step;
The application server, based on the notification, a service operation determination step of determining operation of a service to be provided;
The time information utilization method according to claim 6, wherein the time information is used. When the application server establishes time synchronization with the time server, monitors the accuracy of the time synchronization, and detects deterioration in accuracy, it determines the operation of the service to be provided based on the detection result Synchronization accuracy monitoring step,
The time information utilization method according to claim 6, wherein the time information is used.

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