JPH1063595A - Service session managing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a service session managing device executing the service session management of service necessary for a job so as to allow even a user without detailed information on a proper use, etc., concerning a service to smoothly execute the job. SOLUTION: A service plan generating means 104 generates a low-order layer method and a high-order layer method featuring each service concerning a network and a terminal based on information obtained by a user information managing means 101, a terminal information managing means 102 and a network information managing means 103. Application to start from a high-order layer method is specified, a network service to start is selected, a starting parameter to be necessitated at the time of starting application is generated, a parameter to be necessitated at the time of starting the network service is generated, a terminal service necessitated for providing a service to the user is started and the network service is started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a LAN,
The present invention relates to a service session management device for efficiently providing various services used on a corporate network configuring a WAN interconnecting LANs to a service user who is a business person in charge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional corporate network, services such as a backbone system, a telephone, and a facsimile, which systematize the business itself, are mainly used. In this case, since the role of each service is very clear, it is easy for the user to use these services properly, and the user himself has used the service suitable for the purpose.

[0003]

In recent years, companies have introduced new information systems based on e-mail, computer telephony, and the like in order to improve white-collar productivity. This system is significantly different from the conventional one, and the user has a high degree of freedom in selecting the means. The contact may be made by telephone or e-mail. Therefore, it is becoming difficult for users to use the services properly.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above,
Its purpose is to provide service session management for services necessary for business so that even users who do not have detailed information such as appropriate use of the service can perform their business smoothly. It is to provide a device.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a user information managing means for managing information relating to a user of a service used on a network, and information relating to a terminal. Terminal information managing means for managing, network information managing means for managing information about the network, and a group of attributes characterizing a service related to the network based on information available by the user information managing means, the terminal information managing means, and the network information managing means. Service plan generating means for generating a high-layer method, which is an attribute group characterizing a low-layer method and a terminal-related service, application selecting means for specifying an application to be started from the high-layer method, and a network service to be started. Selection Network service selecting means, terminal order generating means for generating startup parameters required at the time of application startup, network order generating means for generating parameters required at the time of network service startup, and providing a service to the user. The gist of the present invention is to have terminal application control means for interpreting a high-layer method and starting a terminal service, and network control means for interpreting a low-layer method and starting a network service.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, based on a service request from a user, a user situation which is a relation between service use members and their roles, an installed application,
Generate high-layer and low-layer methods to launch terminal applications and network services that adapt to network conditions such as available memory, available protocols, and traffic flow, and identify appropriate terminal applications and network services Then, the control order is generated, and further, the terminal application and the network service are controlled so that the service can be used, and an environment necessary for providing the service desired by the user is prepared.

The present invention according to claim 2 is based on claim 1.
In the invention described, when the terminal application control means controls an application based on the generated higher layer method, or when the network control means controls a network service based on the generated lower layer method If a problem occurs due to a shortage of necessary terminal functions, applications, network resources, etc., change the service plan to avoid the problem, add an application, etc., and start the service. The gist of the present invention is to have inconvenience avoiding means that can be used.

According to the present invention, when controlling an application or controlling a network service, terminal functions, applications,
If inconvenience occurs due to lack of network resources, change the service plan to avoid the inconvenience, add applications, etc. to resolve the inconvenience related to service provision and use it. I do.

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle configuration of a service session management device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The service session management device 100 shown in FIG.
A user information management unit 101 that manages information about a user of the service; a terminal information management unit 102 that manages information about a terminal; a network information management unit 103 that manages information about a network; Based on the information obtained by the terminal information management means 102 and the network information management means 103, a lower layer method which is an attribute group characterizing a service related to the network and a high layer method which is an attribute group characterizing a service related to the terminal are generated. Service plan generating means 104; application selecting means 105 for specifying an application to be started from the higher layer method; and network service for selecting a network service to be started from the lower layer method. Service selection means 106, terminal order generation means 107 for generating startup parameters required when starting an application, network order generation means 108 for generating parameters required when starting network services, and terminal application control for starting terminal services And a network control unit 110 for activating a network service.

Further, the service session management device 100
When the terminal application control means 109 controls the application based on the generated high-layer method, or when the network control means 110 controls the network service based on the generated low-layer method, In the event that inconvenience related to service provision occurs due to lack of functions, applications, network resources, etc., the inconvenience avoiding means 120 capable of changing a service plan, adding an application, etc. is provided so as to avoid such inconvenience. Have.

In the service session management apparatus 100 configured as described above, detailed situations other than a direct service request, such as the user being busy on the network or the type of application installed in the terminal. A service that satisfies the user's service request can be used without the user being conscious of.

Further, even when an unexpected situation such as a shortage of the memory of the terminal is encountered, a process capable of avoiding the inconvenience without user's consciousness is flexibly applied. The possibility that the service desired by the user is provided is increased.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a service session management device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The service session management device 200 shown in FIG.
1 is a more specific implementation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which a service request receiving unit 201 that accepts a service request from a user stores user status information that is a relationship between service use members and their roles. User information base 202, terminal information base 203 storing information on availability of hardware and software of terminals and resource information such as memory disks, network information storing network status information such as usable protocols and traffic distribution Base 204, user information base 2
02, a terminal information base 203, and a network information base 204, a service plan generation that generates a lower layer method that is an attribute group characterizing a service related to the network and a high layer method that is an attribute group characterizing a service related to the terminal. Part 210,
A terminal application selection unit 220 for specifying an application that meets a user's service request or various situations;
A network service selection unit 230 that specifies a network service that meets the user's service request, a terminal order generation unit 205 that generates parameters required to start a terminal-side application, and a parameter that is necessary to start a network service. Network order generation unit 206 to generate, terminal application control unit 2 to control start / stop of the terminal application, etc.
07, when the network control unit 208 that controls the start / stop of the network service, the terminal application control unit 207, or the network control unit 208 controls the terminal application or the network service, if the service cannot be executed normally for some reason, There is a disadvantage avoiding unit 240 that applies processing that can avoid such disadvantages and other alternative service plans.

The service plan generation unit 210 further includes an activity definition information base 211 that stores specific provision conditions of a service and has information necessary for generating a high-layer method and a low-layer method, and a user abstraction. Plan generation knowledge base 21 for storing knowledge for obtaining specific service provision conditions from specific service requests
2 Terminal application selection unit 220
The application filtering unit 221 refers to the terminal status information base 222, which is dynamic information about the terminal such as the remaining memory amount, and the application definition information base 223 indicating the correspondence between the application specifications and the specific application names. An appropriate application is specified based on the plan generated by the service plan generation unit 210. Network service selector 2
Reference numeral 30 further refers to a network status information base 232, which is dynamic information on the network such as network traffic, and a network service definition information base 233 indicating the correspondence between network service specifications and specific network service names. The network service filtering unit 231 specifies an appropriate network service based on the plan generated by the service plan generation unit 210. Inconvenience avoidance unit 24
0 further includes an inconvenient state determining unit 241 for determining whether or not an inconvenient state has occurred, an inconvenient avoidance means selecting unit 242 for selecting a unit capable of returning the inconvenient state to a normal state, and a normal inconvenient state for the inconvenient state. An inconvenience avoiding means execution control unit 243 for executing the avoiding means selected to return to the state is provided.

Next, a mechanism for selecting and executing a service adaptively to a user's request and various situations will be described in detail using a specific example.

First, a mechanism for generating a high-layer method and a low-layer method using plan generation knowledge based on a user's service request, activity definition information, user information, terminal information, and network information will be described.

As an example, consider a case where a secretariat person in charge of the “new product development project” informs project members of guidance for the next meeting. As shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the person in charge of the secretariat inputs a service request “well-known” from a GUI (graphical user interface). "Transmission time" and "authentication mechanism" of higher layer methods
The “guarantee” reflects the attribute of “information transmission designation” in the activity definition information related to “well-known” prepared in advance as a service provision condition. The “service quality” of the higher layer method reflects the value of “service quality” in the activity definition information. Regarding the “sender” and “recipient” in the high-layer method and low-layer method, instead of reflecting the values of “sender” and “recipient” included in the direct activity definition information,
Since the values of “sender” and “recipient” included in the activity definition information are usually defined by variables such as roles, the current member can be referred to the user information and the high-layer method and low-layer method can be used. Is reflected on each of the "caller" and "receiver".

Although the "originator" is the "secretariat", the user information indicates that the "secretariat" is now "kamakura". Therefore, for example, the value “kamakura” is embedded in the attribute “sender” of the high-layer method. For the “communication protocol” and “media encoding protocol” in the higher layer method, the “media” in the activity definition information is “text” and the plan generation knowledge “media encoding if the media is text” The “media encoding protocol” is determined to be “SJIS” from three pieces of information that the protocol is JIS or SJIS ”and that the terminal used by the user in the terminal information has only the“ SJIS ”encoding function. In this example, “SMTP” is selected as the “communication protocol”, but this can also be determined in the same manner as the “media encoding protocol”. The “protocol” of the lower layer method refers to a group of protocols that can be used in the network information, and a protocol that matches the attribute values such as the “communication protocol” and the “media encoding protocol” of the higher layer method is selected. In this case, the available “protocol” of the network information is “IP”, and “SMTP” selected as the “communication protocol” of the higher layer method is “IP” from the plan generation knowledge.
Therefore, it is understood that “IP” is selected as the “protocol” of the lower layer method.

In this manner, a high-layer method and a low-layer method can be generated.

Next, a mechanism for selecting a specific application based on the generated method will be described with reference to FIG.

The “terminal status” of the application selection unit 220 refers to the type of terminal, operating system,
This is information on the installed / started application and dynamically changing resource status. The “application definition information” contains, for each application,
It shows the specifications. Specifically, the “application definition information” has a form in which the attribute of the higher layer method and the attribute of the terminal status are merged. The terminal status can be obtained at regular intervals or on demand from an interface provided by the operating system. After the high-layer method is generated, a semantic comparison between the “high-layer method” and the “attribute corresponding to the high-layer method in the application definition” (characters do not always match exactly) is performed.
In this example, the "communication protocol" is "SMTP", the "media encoding protocol" is "S-JIS", the "transmission time" is "no problem", the "authentication mechanism" is "yes", and the "guarantee" is "no problem". , The “service quality” is “medium”, and the “higher layer method” matches the “attribute corresponding to the higher layer method in the application definition”.

Next, a semantic comparison between the obtained “terminal status” and “attribute corresponding to the application-defined terminal status” is performed. In this example, the "compatible model" is "IBM-
The “PC” and “corresponding OS” are “Windows95”, and the terminal status and the attribute corresponding to the application-defined terminal status match. Also, the “empty memory size” is “16M” and the “empty disk size” is “500”.
M ”,“ CPU type ”is“ Pentium ”, and“ implemented application name ”is“ Eudora 2.1.3J,
Netscape 3.0b4 ", and the" terminal status "satisfies the condition indicated by the" application definition ". As described above, "Eud"
ora2.1.3J "is selected.

After selecting the application, the terminal order generation unit 205 generates a parameter specified at the time of starting the application. In the above example, "Eudo
In “ra2.1.3J”, “JIS” and “SJIS” can be used for “media encoding protocol”. Here, assuming that the application does not automatically recognize the “media encoding protocol”, the “J
It is necessary to specify which of IS and SJIS is used. In some cases, it is necessary to select whether to start with the security mode ON or OFF. As described above, the optional information required at the time of starting the application is extracted from the higher layer method, and the “media coding protocol: SJIS” is included in the terminal order.
Specify "Authentication mechanism: Yes". Similarly, optional information at the time of starting the network service is also extracted from the lower layer method and specified in the network order.

Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a mechanism for avoiding inconvenience that occurs when controlling a terminal application or a network service will be described.

After the terminal application to be activated and the network service, and the terminal order and the network order are determined, the inconvenient state determination unit 241 in the inconvenience avoiding unit 240 dynamically generates "conditions required for service provision". The “conditions required for service provision” have items such as “memory usage status”, “network congestion status” and “server operation status”, and are specified values (within the range) for all of these attributes. Otherwise, the service cannot be provided normally. Further, similarly, the inconvenient state determination unit 241 holds the current value of each attribute included in the “condition necessary for service provision” as the “current state”.

First, the "conditions required for service provision" are compared with the "current state" to extract differences. In this example, the “network congestion situation” is different.
The “condition necessary for providing the service” is “Green”, whereas the “current state” is “Red”. In order to provide the service, the value of the “network congestion status” must be “Green”, as shown in “Requirements for Providing the Service”. Therefore, the value of the “network congestion status” is changed from “Red” to “Green”
Check if there is any means that can be changed to "n".
In this example, it is assumed that “Red” can be changed to “Green” by applying the means of “service quality DOWN”. Therefore, "service quality DOWN" is selected here as the avoidance means. After this means is actually executed, the “current state” is acquired again and compared with “the condition essential for service provision”. If any of the “network congestion status” is “Green”, the inconvenient state has been resolved and the inconvenience avoiding process ends.

[0028]

As described above, the service session management apparatus of the present invention selects and controls a service based on various conditions that affect the service request of the user and the selection of the service. The service can be used without selecting a service suitable for the purpose. Also, if the service can not be provided due to some inconvenience,
Since the inconvenience is dealt with and the service is changed to a state in which the service can be provided, the possibility that the user can enjoy the service increases. For example, if the required applications are missing, the applications will be installed automatically and the applications will be set up so that they can be used. May be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a service session management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a service session management device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific process of a service plan generation process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific process of an application selection process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific process of the inconvenience avoidance process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100, 200 service session management device 101 user information management means 102 terminal information management means 103 network information management means 104 service plan generation means 105 terminal application selection means 106 network service selection means 107 terminal order generation means 108 network order generation means 109 terminal application Control means 110 Network control means 120 Inconvenience avoidance means

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kisaku Fujimoto 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A user information managing means for managing information on a user of a service used on a network;
Terminal information management means for managing information about the terminal, network information management means for managing information about the network, and a service related to the network based on information obtained by the user information management means, the terminal information management means, and the network information management means. A service plan generating means for generating a lower layer method as an attribute group and a higher layer method as an attribute group for characterizing a service relating to a terminal; an application selecting means for specifying an application to be started from the higher layer method; Network service selecting means for selecting a network service to be started, terminal order generating means for generating start parameters required at the time of starting the application, and parameters required at the time of starting the network service. A service order comprising: a network order generating means for generating data, a terminal application control means for starting a terminal service required for providing a service to a user, and a network control means for starting a network service. Management device. 2. When the terminal application control means controls an application based on the generated higher layer method, or when the network control means controls a network service based on the generated lower layer method. If a problem occurs due to a shortage of necessary terminal functions, applications, network resources, etc., change the service plan to avoid the problem, add an application, etc., and start the service. 2. The service session management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an inconvenience avoiding unit that makes it possible.