KR100390372B1 - apparatus and method for managing integrated E-mail - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an integrated email management device and a method for managing integrated email using the same, wherein each raw mail server is integrated to manage an email service function of a plurality of raw mail servers scattered on the Internet and each independently provide an email service. Configuring an integrated email management device including a plurality of adapters for processing protocol data, and using the plurality of adapters to receive mail lists, mail contents, and attachments from each raw mail server according to a user's request. And a series of processes for converting the received information into a form of a subscriber station and outputting the converted information. Thus, by integrating and providing a plurality of email services, including web-based email services, subscribers using a plurality of email services do not have to access each mail server to check mail reception information. The advantage is that you can integrate and manage multiple email services at a low cost without using extra storage space for your mail inbox.

Description

Apparatus and method for managing integrated E-mail}

The present invention relates to an integrated email management device and a method for managing integrated email using the same, wherein each raw mail server is integrated to manage an email service function of a plurality of raw mail servers scattered on the Internet and each independently provide an email service. The present invention relates to a method for configuring an integrated email management device including a plurality of adapters for processing protocol data, and to collectively manage each email service using the integrated email management device.

With the emergence of the Internet based on the TCP / IP protocol, the e-mail service has become the most useful service utilizing the Internet. This email service is used as a means for transmitting messages between remotely located clients in a distributed client / server environment. Traditional e-mail services are basically a Post Office Protocol (POP) protocol for receiving messages from a server or a recently proposed Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) protocol, and a client-to-server ( It utilizes the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol to transfer messages from a server or from a server to another remote server. POP, IMAP, and SMTP are all protocols that operate on top of the TCP / IP protocol. The message format basically uses text format and consists of a header part, a message body, and an attachment part. In addition, MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) is used as a standard for sending and receiving documents other than text.

Meanwhile, with the emergence of a new document-sharing service based on the Internet called World-Wide-Web (WWW), the conventional e-mail services described above are being provided on the web. It was. The web is a service based on the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) protocol that operates over TCP / IP, and allows the documents provided by the web server to be accessed through a web browser. HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is used as a standard format of the document supported by the web, and an addressing method called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is used to access a document (or a service providing the documents) existing on the web. .

Such a web-based e-mail service is configured such that a web browser becomes an e-mail client and a web server serves as an intermediary of a conventional e-mail server. That is, messages sent / received from an E-mail server are all converted to a document standard (for example, HTML) commonly used on the web in a web server, and then accessed or transmitted through a web browser. Web-based e-mail services have exploded in use as they are now available not only to businesses, schools or institutions, but also to end users. Representative examples include Microsoft's Hotmail service, or Daum's Hanmail service.

1 and 2 show an example of a system configuration for providing such a conventional email service.

First, FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for providing an email service according to a conventional embodiment, and shows a system configuration for providing an email service using an existing POP or IMAP. Referring to FIG. 1, a subscriber who wants to use an email service uses a PC 40 or the like to access the Internet / Intranet 10 and then communicates with an email server 20 that provides an email service. Communication is by POP or IMAP and SMTP. On the other hand, the e-mail server 20 is again connected to the Internet / intranet 10 to exchange e-mail with another e-mail server 30 in the distance using SMTP. At this time, the email server 20 configures a mailbox for managing the received emails for each user, and stores them in a separate mailbox 25. That is, the mail received for each user is stored in the mailbox 105.

2 is a system configuration diagram for providing an e-mail service according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and shows a configuration of a web-based e-mail service. Referring to FIG. 2, a subscriber who wants to use an e-mail service accesses the Internet / Intranet 10 using a PC 60 or the like, or has a mobile terminal 75 such as a mobile phone, and the Internet / Intranet 10. It connects to the base station 70 via the connected wireless internet gateway 65. In this case, when the subscriber uses the PC 60 or the like, HTTP is used, and when the mobile terminal 75 is used, HTTP or WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is used according to the type of the terminal.

The webmail server 50 stores mail messages received for mail message transmission / reception between different users who use the webmail service in the mailbox 55 which is a separate storage location. In addition, the webmail server 50 transmits / receives mail using the remote email server 30 and the SMTP protocol, and stores email messages received from the remote email server 30 in the mailbox 55. do. When the webmail server 50 requests a mail message stored in the mailbox 55 from any subscriber, the webmail server 50 may use HTML (when using HTTP) or WML (Wireless) according to the subscriber's terminal type (60 or 75). Markup Language) (when using WAP), etc., is transferred to the subscriber's terminal.

On the contrary, when there is a request for mail transmission from any subscriber, the message to be sent is received from the subscriber and stored in the mailbox of the user if the receiver is a webmail server user, and the receiver is a remote mail server 30 user. If the case is converted to a standard email format and delivered to the remote email server (30).

Recently, as these e-mail services increase in order, each e-mail service forms a system configuration as shown in FIG. 1 or 2. Therefore, subscribers who subscribe to each email service must connect to an email server that provides their respective email service to check the contents of each email service, which burdens subscribers using various email services.

As a result, there is a need to integrate and provide a plurality of email services into a single service.

The present invention has been made by the necessity as described above, and an object of the present invention is to integrate existing web-based email services and email services using a plurality of different protocols into a single web-based email service. It is to provide an integrated email management device that manages.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated email management method having such an integrated email management device and integrating and managing respective email services.

1 is a system configuration diagram for providing an email service according to a conventional embodiment;

2 is a system configuration diagram for providing an email service according to another embodiment of the prior art;

3 is a system configuration diagram for providing an integrated email service according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is an internal block diagram of an integrated email server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a field configuration diagram of a media converter table according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a field configuration diagram of a subscriber information table according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a field configuration diagram of a subscriber mail service list table according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a field configuration diagram of a mail service information table according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a diagram illustrating a protocol conversion rule information configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention;

10 is a flowchart illustrating the integrated email management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

11 is a flowchart illustrating a user authentication process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of registering a raw mail service according to an embodiment of the present invention;

13 is a flowchart illustrating a mail list receiving process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

14 is a flowchart illustrating a mail content receiving process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

15 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving an attached file according to an embodiment of the present invention;

16 is a flowchart illustrating a mail transmission process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

17 to 23 specifically illustrate a process for providing an integrated email service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

200: web server 250: terminal protocol adapter

600: integrated email server 610: integrated email service manager

620: Server Protocol Adapter 630: Media Converter DB

650: subscriber information DB 670: mail service information DB

In order to achieve the above object, the integrated email management apparatus of the present invention provides a module equipped with a web server that interfaces with a subscriber terminal that wants to use an email service through the Internet, and provides an email service independently scattered on the Internet. A plurality of raw mail server adapters for communicating with each of a plurality of raw mail servers, and one or more of the raw mail server adapters when an email service request message is received from the subscriber terminal through the web server mounting module; The integrated email server which performs the above-described adapters of the designated raw mail server in parallel and integrates the result of processing the email service request message in real time in the email services provided by the raw mail servers and delivers the result to the web server mounting module. It includes.

On the other hand, the integrated email management method of the present invention for achieving another object of the present invention is to determine the validity of the subscriber, if the subscriber subscribed as a member to use the integrated email service, log in to the integrated email management device; A first step of performing authentication for the subscriber and using the information on the email services to be serviced by the integrated email management device, registering the email service as the subscriber's raw mail service; Step 2, when the subscriber requests the email service, receives the subscriber's mail list in real time from each of the email servers providing the email service registered as the subscriber's raw mail service, and then displays the subscriber's mail in the form of the terminal display of the subscriber. A third process of converting and outputting the third process; If a desired mail is selected from the mail list outputted in the process, a fourth process of receiving the mail content from the original mail server receiving the mail in real time, converting the mail content into a terminal display form of the subscriber, and outputting the same.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a system configuration diagram for providing an integrated email service according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a subscriber for using the integrated email service may access the Internet / Intranet 100 using a PC 400 or the like, or have a mobile terminal 550 such as a mobile phone. It connects to the base station 500 via a wireless Internet gateway 450 connected to the Internet / Intranet 100. In this case, when the subscriber uses the PC 400 or the like, HTTP is used, and when the mobile terminal 550 is used, HTTP or WAP is used according to the type of the terminal. The embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 is different from the existing e-mail service providing system in that a plurality of e-mail servers using POP / IMAP and SMTP, in which the integrated e-mail server 600 is connected to the Internet or an intranet 100, are provided. Emails provided by the multiple email servers 700 and the web-mail servers 300 communicate with the multiple email-servers 300 using HTTPs 700 and HTTP. The integrated service is managed through the 600, and the integrated service is provided to the PC 400 or the mobile terminal 550 connected to the Internet or the intranet 100 through the web server 200.

The integrated email server 600 is configured to accommodate all protocols provided by the existing email service, and the emails of the plurality of raw mail servers 700 scattered on the Internet 100 and provide email services independently of each other. Integrated management of service functions. That is, the integrated email server 600 communicates with a plurality of email servers 700 based on existing POP / IMAP and SMTP, so that an email can be transmitted / received with the email servers 700 and a plurality of emails. Web-mail servers 300 and e-mail transmission / reception based on HTTP are also possible.

On the other hand, the integrated email server 600 does not need a separate mailbox for storing email. That is, all mails are managed by each mail server (hereinafter referred to as a raw mail server), and the integrated email server 600 serves to mediate data exchange in real time between the raw mail server and the subscriber. However, according to the embodiment, the last data requested by the subscriber for temporary performance may be temporarily stored in a temporary storage device.

4 is an internal block diagram of an integrated email server according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the integrated email server 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an integrated email service manager 610, a plurality of server protocol adapters 620, a media converter DB 630, and a subscriber information DB. 650, a mail service information DB 670, a temporary storage space (cache) 690, and a terminal protocol adapter 250.

The media converter DB 630, the subscriber information DB 650, the mail service information DB 670, and the temporary storage space (cache) 690 are illustrated separately for each function in FIG. 4, and are actually physical storage devices. It does not represent the configuration of. In addition, the media converter DB 630, the subscriber information DB 650, and the mail service information DB 670 will all be stored in one database managed by one database management system (DBMS). In addition, if necessary, DB contents can be partially organized and managed.

The plurality of server protocol adapters 620 communicate with all raw mail servers stored in the mail service information DB 670 by the corresponding protocol. To this end, the server protocol adapter 620 includes a plurality of protocol adapters that support each protocol service. First, the server protocol adapter 620 performs communication by POP / SMTP and raw mail servers performing data communication by POP / SMTP. Data communication via HTTP with a POP / SMTP adapter 620a, an IMAP / SMTP adapter 620b that performs communication by IMAP / SMTP, and raw mail servers that perform data communication by IMAP / SMTP. And an HTTP adapter 620c for performing communication by HTTP with a raw mail server, and other adapters 620d for supporting other protocol services. At this time, the other adapter 620d can be added dynamically as needed.

The terminal protocol adapter 250 is embedded in the web server 200 to interface with a subscriber terminal that wants to use an arbitrary e-mail service, and the browser of the subscriber terminal requesting an arbitrary e-mail service and protocol information supported by the browser. Detect. In other words, it is determined whether the subscriber terminal is equipped with a PC browser or a mobile terminal browser, and the data display mode information for each type of the terminal is detected.

The media converter DB 630 stores an email information conversion module for determining the type of email service to be provided to the terminal according to the type of the subscriber terminal detected by the terminal protocol adapter 250. The detailed field configuration of the media converter DB 630 is shown in FIG.

The subscriber information DB 650 stores subscriber information of subscribers subscribed as members to use the integrated email service. The detailed table configuration of the subscriber information DB 650 is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The mail service information DB 670 stores a list of email services that can be provided through the integrated email server and raw mail servers providing the respective email services, and basic information for providing the corresponding email service. The detailed table configuration of the mail service information DB 670 is shown in Figs.

The integrated email service manager 610 receives the integrated email service request message through the terminal protocol adapter 250 and receives a response to the request through the server protocol adapter 620. At this time, the terminal protocol adapter 250 includes the subscriber terminal information when transmitting the email service request message. Then, the integrated email service manager 610 transmits the response contents received through the server protocol adapter 620 to the terminal protocol adapter 250, and the terminal protocol adapter 250 transmits the contents according to the type of the subscriber terminal. Convert to output form and output to user's terminal. That is, the terminal protocol adapter 250 uses the server protocol adapter (610) through the integrated email service manager 610 using information on whether the subscriber requests an email service using a mobile phone or a PC. The e-mail information received from the 620 is converted into an output form of a PC or a mobile phone and output to the subscriber's terminal. In this case, when the email information received from the server protocol adapter 620 includes an attachment, the integrated email service manager 610 uses the conversion module stored in the media converter DB 630 to convert the attachment to the subscriber. It is converted in advance to the output form of a PC or a mobile phone and stored in a temporary storage space (cache) 690. In this case, when contents other than text are attached to the attached file, the output format of the attached contents may be converted based on the browser of the terminal detected by the terminal protocol adapter 250 and the protocol information supported by the browser. On the other hand, the file stored in the temporary storage (cache) 690 is provided to the user as it is later when the subscriber makes a request for the attached file.

In addition, when receiving a transmission request message for any email from the terminal protocol adapter 250, the integrated email service manager 610 retrieves the subscriber information of the subscriber who generated the transmission request message in the subscriber information DB 650. Then, the subscriber identifies the email service selected as the default email service at the time of registering the raw mail service, and transmits the email using the default email service.

Referring to the operation of the integrated email management apparatus of the present invention shown in Figures 3 and 4 as an example.

Any integrated email service subscriber may use a mobile terminal equipped with a WAP browser (550) to provide a terminal protocol adapter (250) executed in the web server 200 to receive a specific mail of a POP-based mail server specified by the subscriber. If so, the terminal protocol adapter 250 forwards the request to the integrated email service manager 610, and the integrated email service manager 610 receiving the request allows the user to handle receipt of the POP-based mail specified by the user. do. That is, the integrated email service manager 610 receives mail contents from the POP-based mail server 700a designated by the user through the POP / SMTP adapter 620a.

5 is a field configuration diagram of a media converter DB according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the media converter table 640 includes a terminal browser type field 641 / media type field 642 / media file format field 643 / conversion module field 644. At this time, the terminal browser type field 641 stores the type of terminal browser available for subscribers to use the e-mail service, which is the type of protocol used by the terminal, that is, the browser of a mobile phone using WAP or HTTP. Store information such as whether your phone or PC is a browser. The media type field 642 stores a media type of data to be provided through the terminal, and the media stores the media type of the data as one of image / audio / video / document. The media file format field 643 stores a format of a media file to be provided through the terminal. The media file format field 643 stores a corresponding file storage format, that is, a file format such as JPEG or Bitmap. The conversion module field 644 stores a conversion module for converting media files created in any format into a format for displaying by type of the terminal browser.

6 and 7 are table configuration diagrams of a subscriber information DB according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the subscriber information table 655 includes a subscriber unique number (ID) field 656 / password field 657 / subscriber terminal browser type field 659.

On the other hand, a configuration example of the subscriber mail service list table 660 is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 7, the subscriber mail service list table 660 is allocated a storage area in proportion to the number of e-mail services that the subscriber wants to use, and the subscriber unique number (ID) field 661 / raw mail service name. 662 / default flag 663 / raw mail server ID 664 / raw mail server password 665 information. At this time, the default flag 663 is data for deciding whether or not to select a raw mail service stored in the raw mail service name 662 as the default mail service, and an email server for performing this when the subscriber requests mail transmission. Information needed for selection.

8 is a field configuration diagram of the mail service information DB 670 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, mail service information table 675 includes a raw mail service name field 676 / raw mail server address field 677 / raw mail protocol adapter name field 678.

The raw mail service name field 676 is an area for storing an email service name that can be serviced through the integrated email server, and stores specific email service names such as hanmail and hotmail.

The raw mail server address field 677 stores the domain name of the raw mail server that provides the email service stored in the raw mail service name field 676. For example, if your native mail service is hanmail, www.daum.net 'is saved as your domain name. If your native mail service is hotmail, www.msn.co.kr' is saved as your domain name. do. Also, if the raw mail service is a POP-based service, record the POP mail server and SMTP mail server addresses.

The raw mail protocol adapter name field 678 is a module capable of exchanging data with a raw mail server using a protocol used by the raw mail server, that is, HTTP, POP, IMAP, etc. (the protocol adapters 620a to 4 of FIG. 4). 620d)) Save the name. This field is for enabling the integrated email server to perform dynamic linking communication with the corresponding protocol adapter when attempting to communicate with a specific raw mail server. module name of library). For example, the Java environment would be the Java class name, and the Windows environment would be the COM module name stored as a DLL file.

The HTTP-based protocol conversion rule table 680 stores conversion rules for converting the HTTP-based mail protocol provided by a plurality of raw mail servers using HTTP into a unified mail protocol. An example of the configuration of the HTTP-based protocol conversion rule table 680 is shown in FIG.

Referring to Fig. 9, the HTTP-based protocol conversion rule table 680 includes a corresponding raw mail service name 681, a function name 682 of the email service, and a domain name of a raw mail server providing the email service. (URL: Uniform Resource Locate) 683, input / output variable list 684 input / output at the time of mail protocol conversion, and conversion rule 685 applied at the time of mail protocol conversion. Referring to the function name 682 and the conversion rule 685 of the e-mail service as an example, in the case of the rule for the mail list extracting function, the function name 682 of the e-mail service is "mail list extracting", and the conversion rule 685 is a rule for extracting a mail list and may set a mail reception date, sender, subject, and the like.

10 is a flowchart illustrating the integrated email management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 10, the integrated email management method of the present invention is a member for using an integrated email service that integrates and manages email service functions of a plurality of raw mail servers scattered on the Internet and each independently provides an email service. If any subscribed subscriber is logged in, authentication of the subscriber is performed to determine whether the subscriber is valid (s100, s200).

If the subscriber is a valid subscriber, the subscriber provides the desired service. First, when the subscriber requests registration for the email service to receive the integrated email service, the subscriber inputs the usage information for the email service. The email service is registered as the subscriber's raw mail service (s400).

If the subscriber wants to check the e-mail received by his or her unique number, the subscriber's mail list is obtained from the raw mail servers that provide the raw mail services registered as the raw mail service of the subscriber in step S400. After each reception, the terminal converts the terminal into a display form of the subscriber (S500).

When the subscriber selects a desired mail from the mail list output in step S500, the subscriber receives the mail contents from the original mail server that receives the mail, converts the mail contents into the terminal display form of the subscriber, and outputs the mail (s600). ).

If the subscriber wants to send an arbitrary mail, the subscriber checks the basic mail service of the subscriber and then transmits the mail using the basic mail service (s700).

11 is a flowchart illustrating a subscriber authentication process s200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 11, first, the logged-in subscriber receives the subscriber information input at the time of login from the web server and performs authentication for the corresponding subscriber (S210). If the subscriber is valid, the subscriber checks the raw mail service list registered in advance (s230). As a result of the confirmation, the authentication of the subscriber is performed in parallel with respect to all the raw mail service lists registered by the subscriber, and then the authentication result is notified (s240 and s250). At this time, the subscriber authentication for each raw mail service is performed based on the subscriber information written when the subscriber registers any email service as the raw mail service, that is, the ID and password of the subscriber for using the raw mail service. In addition, all authentication is handled in parallel by performing authentication of each raw mail service in a separate thread. On the other hand, if the logged-in subscriber is not valid, the process is terminated after performing the connection disable process (S260).

12 is a flowchart illustrating a raw mail service registration process s400 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 12, the raw mail service registration process for each subscriber first displays a list of mail services available in the integrated email server to the subscriber who wants to register the raw mail service (S410). When the subscriber selects any e-mail service he / she wants to use from the displayed mail service list, the subscriber enters information on the selected e-mail service (S420 and S430). When the subscriber inputs his / her subscriber authentication information to use the email service, the subscriber adds the mail service to the subscriber's mail service list that stores the mail services registered for the integrated email service (s440, s450). ).

At this time, the subscriber must have already subscribed to the e-mail service to be registered as a raw mail service.

13 is a flowchart illustrating a mail list receiving process s500 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 13, first, a thread for processing each of the raw mail services registered in the subscriber's mail service list DB is processed, and the following process is performed in parallel for each of them. First, check whether the service is an HTTP-based mail service (s510, s520). If the corresponding service is an HTTP-based mail service, the mail list of the subscriber is extracted from the mail list receiving URL of the raw mail server.If the service is not an HTTP-based mail service, the corresponding mail list is applied according to the protocol of the raw mail server. The mail list of the subscriber is received (s530 and s540). And, until all the raw mail services registered in the subscriber's mail service list are finished (s550), the mail list arrives at the mail server until the completion of the mail list receiving operation (s560, s520). , s530, s540 are performed.

When the mail list reception operation is completed for all the original mail services registered in the subscriber's mail service list, the received lists are converted to match the subscriber terminal format, and then the mail list is transmitted to the subscriber terminal (s570, s580). ).

14 is a flowchart illustrating a mail content receiving process s600 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 14, first, after receiving mail selection information of a user (s605), raw mail server information of the selected mail is extracted from a list of all mail services storing mail services that can be serviced by the integrated email server ( s610).

If the raw mail server is based on HTTP, the contents of the mail are extracted from the mail receiving URL of the raw mail server. Otherwise, the mail contents are received according to the protocol of the raw mail server (s615, s620, s625). After that, the received contents are converted according to the format of the subscriber station and transmitted to the corresponding subscriber station (s640, s645 or s650, s655).

At this time, by identifying whether there is an attachment in the received mail content (s630), if there is an attachment, the content for receiving an attachment after the mail content before the mail content conversion step (s640), for example For example, the URL for receiving the attached file is added after the mail content (s635), and the receiving process for the attached file (s660) is performed as a separate thread.

The attachment file receiving process s660 is shown in FIG. 15.

Referring to FIG. 15, when the raw mail server receiving the attachment is based on HTTP, the attachment is received from the attachment receiving URL of the raw mail server, otherwise, according to the protocol of the raw mail server. The attachment is received (s662, s664, s666).

According to the conversion module stored in the media converter DB according to the format of the attached file, the content of the attached file is converted to the subscriber terminal, and the content of the attached file is stored in a temporary storage space (cache) (s668, s670). . Attached files stored in the temporary storage space (cache) are immediately transmitted to the subscriber's terminal when the subscriber requests to view the attached file using a terminal such as a mobile phone.

16 is a flowchart of a mail transmission process s700 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 16, first, when a subscriber inputs mail transmission information necessary for sending a mail such as a mail subject, a recipient, a mail message, an attached file name, and the like, the information is read (S710). After checking the raw mail service selected as the default mail service from the mail service list of the subscriber (s720), the server information of the mail service is checked from the entire mail service list serviced by the integrated email server (s730).

When the mail server is based on HTTP, the mail is sent by accessing the mail sending URL of the raw mail server. In this case, the contents of the mail are transmitted to the raw mail server according to the protocol of the corresponding raw mail server (s740, s750, s760). When the transmission result is transmitted from the original mail server, the transmission result message is transmitted to the terminal of the subscriber (s770).

17 to 23 are diagrams specifically illustrating a process for providing an integrated email service according to an embodiment of the present invention. 17 to 23, the general processing of the integrated email management apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

17 shows an example of mail contents received from a POP-based mail server. When the mail content is received from the POP-based mail server as described above, the POP / SMTP adapter extracts the necessary part of the mail content and delivers it to the integrated email service manager. This part is extracted from the SMTP adapter.

In addition, the POP / SMTP adapter converts the extracted information into a unified mail message format designated by the unified email service manager and delivers it to the unified email service manager, which is shown in FIG. 18. FIG. 18A shows an example of a general mail message format, and FIG. 18B shows a case in which mail contents shown in FIG. 19 are converted according to the format.

When the integrated email service manager receiving the data as shown in FIG. 18 (b) from the POP / SMTP adapter transmits the received data to the terminal protocol adapter, the terminal protocol adapter adapts the message format to the terminal type of the subscriber. Convert it. If the subscriber uses a terminal equipped with a WAP browser, the data in the form shown in FIG. 18 (b) is converted into a WML file format as shown in FIG. 19 and transmitted to the terminal of the subscriber.

On the other hand, when a subscriber requests a terminal protocol adapter to receive a mail list using a mobile terminal equipped with a WAP browser, the terminal protocol adapter sends the subscriber's request to the integrated email service manager. The integrated email service manager then receives a list of mails for each of the raw mail servers previously registered by the subscriber.

20 is a mail list receiving URL (http: //lwllfd.lawll.hotmail.msn) of a mail server providing a hot mail service through an HTTP adapter, for the integrated email service manager to receive a mail list from an HTTP-based raw mail server. .com / cgi-bin / HoTMaiL), an HTML document showing a mail list received from the URL is displayed on a web browser screen, and FIG. 21 shows an HTML format of a document created to generate such a web browser screen. Indicates. In FIG. 21, only portions corresponding to the top three lists of the mail list displayed on the screen of FIG. 20 are shown.

After receiving the mail list in the form described above, the HTTP adapter extracts the mail list portion of the contents shown in FIG. 21 based on the HTTP-based protocol conversion rule, and then converts the contents into a unified mail list format designated by the integrated email service administrator. Convert it and forward it to the integrated email service manager.

FIG. 22 shows the contents of a file storing the HTTP-based protocol conversion rule for extracting a mail list portion from the contents shown in FIG. 21, and FIG. 23 shows a unified mail list format designated by the integrated email service manager and an example thereof. Fig. 23 (a) shows the unified mail list format designated by the integrated email service administrator, and Fig. 23 (b) shows an example.

Upon receiving the mail list in the format shown in FIG. 23, the integrated email service manager converts the mail list according to the subscriber's terminal format and delivers the mail list. As shown in the above example, the subscriber uses a mobile terminal equipped with a WAP browser. Converts the mailing list into WML file format and delivers it to the subscriber station.

The above description is only for explaining one embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be variously changed within the scope of the appended claims. For example, the shape and structure of each component specifically shown in the embodiment of the present invention can be modified.

As described above, the apparatus and method of the present invention integrate and provide mail services based on various existing protocols into one web-based service, so that subscribers who use various types of email services on the web confirm their respective email services. In order to prevent this problem, I did not connect to the email server. Therefore, there is an advantage that the Internet users using various types of email services can use the email services more easily.

In addition, since the email is received in real time, there is an advantage that it is possible to integrate and manage a plurality of email services at low cost without using a storage space for a separate mail inbox.

Claims (15)

A module equipped with a web server that interfaces with a subscriber station that wants to use an email service through the Internet; A plurality of raw mail server adapters that communicate with each of a plurality of raw mail servers scattered across the Internet, each providing an independent email service; When receiving an email service request message from the subscriber terminal through the web server loading module, one or more of the designated raw mail server adapters of the raw mail server adapters are executed in parallel, and each of the raw mail servers is provided. And an integrated email server for integrating a result of processing the email service request message in real time in email services and delivering the result to the web server mounting module. The module of claim 1, wherein the web server mounting module It consists of a program called from a web server, And detecting the protocol information supported by the browser embedded in the subscriber terminal, and generating a document form conforming to the protocol. The method of claim 1, wherein the integrated email server is A mail service information storage unit for storing and managing a list of raw email services that can be integrated through the integrated email management device and basic information for integrating corresponding email services; A subscriber information storage unit for storing subscriber information of subscribers registered as members to use the integrated email service; A conversion information storage unit for storing an e-mail information conversion module for determining an output form of information to which information other than text is attached according to the type of browser embedded in the type of the subscriber terminal; When the integrated email service request message is received through the web server mounting module, it is dynamically connected with the raw mail server adapters to receive the processing result of the request message from the corresponding raw email service, and the email provided by the raw email service. If content other than text is attached to the contents, the output form of the attached contents is converted based on the browser of the terminal detected by the web server-mounted module and the protocol information supported by the browser. Integrated email management device comprising an email management unit. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of raw mail server adapters A P.O.P.P.O.P adapter that performs communication with the P.P.P. An I.M.P adapter for performing communication by the I.M.A.P and SMTP with the raw mail server; And an HTTP adapter for performing communication by the raw mail server with the HTTP T. HTTP. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of raw mail server adapters And dynamically adding a protocol adapter that supports the message exchange protocol used in the raw mail server communicating with the corresponding raw mail server adapter. According to claim 1, wherein the mail service information storage unit A service name storage area for storing an email service name that can be serviced through the integrated email management device; An address storage area for storing an address of a raw mail server providing the email service; And a raw mail server adapter name storage area for storing a name of the raw mail server adapter that performs data communication with the raw mail server according to a protocol used by the raw mail server for data communication. Management device. The method of claim 6, When the raw mail server uses HTTP to communicate data, different raw mail servers provided by each of the plurality of raw mail servers using HTTP are used. And a conversion rule storage area for storing conversion rules for converting an HTTP-based mail protocol into a unified mail protocol. The method of claim 7, wherein The conversion rule storage area stores a rule for extracting a mail list, mail content, and attachments attached to the mail content from the raw mail server using the HTTP. Email management device. The method of claim 3, wherein the subscriber information storage unit A terminal address area for storing an address of a terminal used by a subscriber; And an e-mail service use information area for storing service use information on raw e-mail services used by the subscriber. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the email service usage information area is The storage area is allocated in proportion to the number of raw email services that the subscriber intends to use. The name of the raw email service to be used through the integrated email management device which the subscriber intends to use, a flag indicating whether the email service is the default email service, a user's unique number of the corresponding email service, Integrated email management device comprising user password information. The method of claim 3, wherein the conversion information storage unit A terminal browser type storage area for storing types of terminals available for subscribers to use an email service; A media type storage area for storing a media type of data to be converted; A media file storage area for storing the format of the media file to be converted; And a conversion module storage area for storing a conversion module for converting the media file format corresponding to the media type into a format suitable for the type of the terminal browser. delete delete delete delete