KR100860413B1 - Extended home service apparatus and method for providing extended home service in p2p networks - Google Patents

Abstract

In the peer-to-peer network for connecting a plurality of peer terminals through a virtual home network, the present invention provides middleware including a protocol for peer-to-peer networking, and peer information and peer group information using a protocol of the middleware. A peer and peer group management service module for managing and communicating with other peer terminals activated in the peer-to-peer network, a basic service module for creating and managing a peer-to-peer application service, the user and the other By implementing an interface with the peer terminals, each of the plurality of peer terminals by implementing an extended home service device including an application service module that provides the user by calling a service desired by the user in the basic service module Peer through the virtual home network or Can communicate with peer groups to provide users with a variety of content and services faster, anytime, anywhere.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, extended home service platforms, JXTA middleware, peer and peer group management service modules, base service modules, application service modules, and peers.

Description

Expanded Home Service Devices and Services in a Peer-to-Peer Network {EXTENDED HOME SERVICE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING EXTENDED HOME SERVICE IN P2P NETWORKS}

1 is a diagram illustrating a P2P network structure for a peer-to-peer extended home service according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a diagram illustrating a peer-to-peer network-based extended home service device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a diagram illustrating a process for providing an extended home service in a peer-to-peer network-based extended home service device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and more particularly, to an extended home service apparatus and a method for providing an extended home service in a peer-to-peer network.

Recently, with the development of communication environment and high performance of personal terminal, the demand for content sharing and service interworking between devices anytime and anywhere is increasing. Accordingly, there is a demand for a technology for searching for and sharing services and contents between devices by constructing a virtual space that provides a seamless connection between personal terminal devices. These technologies include peer-to-peer (hereinafter referred to as P2P) technology. In general, P2P technology is used in a ubiquitous environment and uses a user terminal to share user resources on various wired and wireless networks. Provide service.

By the way, existing P2P services have developed their own separate platform suitable for service characteristics and provide a platform that depends on the service characteristics. These service platforms are each implemented as their own service providing platform by individual P2P service providers. Is being provided. Currently, the service that is being developed and provided is mainly based on file sharing, and a platform suitable for the characteristics of these services has been developed and spread.

However, in the future, services such as personal broadcasting and commerce based on User Create Contents (UCC) are expected to be major services, and the existing platform must be greatly changed, and the revised platform must be installed to users again. Hassle to do. In addition, a service developer needs to develop and manage each platform for each service area.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an extended home service apparatus and a service providing method for easily developing an application service based on a peer-to-peer network.

The apparatus for achieving the above object of the present invention, in a peer-to-peer network connecting a plurality of peer terminals through a virtual home network, each of the plurality of peer terminals are provided to provide an extended home service to the user An extended home service device, comprising: middleware for managing protocols necessary for communication with other peer terminals on the peer-to-peer network and providing the extended home service, and peer information and peer group information using a protocol managed by the middleware. A peer and peer group management service module for managing and communicating with other peer terminals activated in the peer-to-peer network, a basic service module for generating and managing information of services to be provided to the user, and the middleware The user using a protocol managed by And an application service module that performs an interface with the other peer terminals and calls a service desired by the user from the basic service module and provides the service to the user.

On the other hand, a method for achieving the object of the present invention, in a peer-to-peer network for connecting a plurality of peer terminals having an extended home service device via a virtual home network, any one of the peer terminals A method for providing an extended home service to a user by an extended home service device, the method comprising: registering peer configuration information on the peer-to-peer network and performing initialization to execute a service; Is connected to, a process of setting edge peer environment information using the registered peer configuration information, a process of searching for another peer terminal activated on the peer-to-peer network, and a peer interested in the information about the found terminal. Registering with the list, and selecting a peer from the peer list Performing the service and will be characterized by including the step of providing to said user the service.

And another method for achieving the object of the present invention, in a peer-to-peer network that connects a plurality of peer terminals having an extended home service device via a virtual home network, to any one of the peer terminals A method for providing an extended home service to a user by the provided extended home service device, the method comprising: registering peer configuration information on the peer-to-peer network and performing initialization to execute a service; Upon connection, a process of setting edge peer environment information using the registered peer configuration information and a peer generated by another peer terminal activated on the peer-to-peer network when receiving a group-based service request from the user. Searching for a group, and the company of the searched peer groups Registering information about the peer group selected by the user in the interested peer group list, performing a joining procedure for joining a peer group selected by the user among peer groups registered in the interested peer group list, The method may further include providing a corresponding service to the user by performing a service with a subscribed peer group.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First of all, in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals have the same reference numerals as much as possible even if displayed on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In an embodiment of the present invention, peer-to-peer (P2P or less, P2P) for sharing digital resources (eg, cpu, hard disk, content, etc.) together through direct exchange without separate server system between user terminals. It provides P2P network based extended home service by applying P2P) communication technology. Here, the extended home service refers to a virtual service space that connects to a network so that a user can easily access indoor / outdoor terminals by extending a physically limited area using a P2P networking technology.

The P2P extended home service integrates devices shared by individuals or groups into one virtual space through a virtual network, thereby allowing access to various terminals and contents to be shared at any time and anywhere. In order to provide such extended home services, an extended home services infrastructure is required. Currently, there is a JXTA (jxtapose) middleware that Sun (SUN) provides in an open source form.

Therefore, an embodiment of the present invention will be described by applying the JXTA middleware, the implementation of a service platform (hereinafter referred to as a service device) for developing and providing a P2P-based extended home service running on the middleware and the service device implemented as such The service providing method in the following will be described in detail. First, a P2P network for P2P extended home service will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a P2P network structure for a peer-to-peer (P2P) extended home service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a P2P network connects terminals in offices, mobile devices (cars, mobile devices, sensors, etc.) and homes in a distributed personal space to easily search for services and contents in a P2P manner between devices anytime, anywhere. Provide a ubiquitous environment for sharing.

Various peers exist in the office, home, or ad hoc network, and in view of the development of communication technology, in the future, mobile terminals 20 mainly use the wired Internet-based PC terminal 10 in the office. Can be configured.

In addition, in the case of a home network, entertainment equipment 31 such as a PVR, IPTV, etc., home automation equipment 32 such as a camera, a lamp, a door lock, a gas valve, and the like, and a microwave oven, a refrigerator, etc., mainly on the home server 30 The same white appliances 33 are connected. These premises equipment is not equipped with P2P platform directly, but consists of P2P networking in which legacy device agents are placed on the home server side. These peers 10, 20, 30 are connected to each other via the rendezvous / relay peer 40.

Since the rendezvous / relay peer 40 is a super peer, since P2P-based services cause a lot of traffic on the transmission network, additional peers are needed to guarantee the quality of service, and peers in and out of home and outside are searching for a peer to communicate with. If you want to search for information and services, you can mediate it and propagate the query. In this case, the relay peer 40 supports a device that does not have an Internet Protocol address (IP address) or a peer that cannot directly communicate with a firewall / network address translator (Firewall / NAT). Typically, the rendezvous peer and the relay peer are physically installed and operated in one peer terminal.

And the management peer 50 is connected to the rendezvous / relay peers 40, the management peer 50 manages the status, failure, configuration information, etc. of the rendezvous / relay peers 40, It is also responsible for registering and authenticating service subscribers.

The PC terminal 10, the mobile terminals 20, and the home server 30 configured as described above operate as edge peers and may be equipped with an extended home service apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the rendezvous / relay peers 40 may also act as edge peers and may be equipped with the extended home service device.

Next, a structure of an extended home service device (service platform) for providing an extended home service installed in peer terminals in such a P2P network will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a diagram illustrating a peer-to-peer network-based extended home service device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the P2P network-based extended home service device includes middleware (JXTA middleware) 100, a peer and peer group management service module 200, a basic service module 300, and an application service module 400. It is organized separately.

The JXTA middleware 100 is composed of JXTA protocol specifications defined by the JXTA project team to provide solutions for P2P applications under the direction of Sun Microsystems. JXTA is a set of language and platform independent protocols for P2P networking. The JXTA middleware 100 includes a peer discovery protocol, a peer resolver protocol, a rendezvous protocol, a peer information protocol, a pipe binding protocol, and an endpoint routing protocol, and includes peer grouping and message provisioning. Message Propagration, Transport Gateway, and Legacy Device Proxy protocols may be included. This protocol is used for P2P networking and can be used in communicating with other peer terminals residing in the P2P network and in creating peer groups, performing peer or peer group searches.

The peer and group management service module 200 includes a peer management service unit 210, a peer group management service unit 220, and a storage unit 230 that is a local disk or a storage medium.

The peer management service unit 210 manages peer information, provides a function for communicating with other peers, and if the peers are found on a P2P network to which the peers are currently connected, the peers are stored in the storage unit 230. Store in peer list. In addition, when the user registers a specific peer as an interested peer in the peer list, the peer management service unit 210 stores the registered peer in the storage 230.

The peer group management service unit 220 stores information in a group list list when a group is found. When a user registers a specific peer group as a interested peer group in the group list, the peer group management service unit 220 permanently stores the registered group in the storage unit 230. At this time, if the group type is a peer group requiring security, peer group advertisement information and group access key (password) issued by the group are stored at the same time.

The basic service module 300 configures a basic element service in the form of a library when generating and providing a P2P application service, a file transfer service unit 310, a message transfer service unit 320, and a remote control service unit 330. , The remote procedure call service unit 340. These element service units are called and used for each function necessary in the upper application service module.

The application service module 400 includes a user interface unit 410 in charge of an external interface function, and substantially provides application services to service users. The application services provided by the application service module 400 may provide various services other than the content sharing service 420, the messenger service 430, the HDTV remote control service 440, and such services are provided by a service developer. It can be created in various ways with management service module and basic service module.

As described above, a P2P network-based extended home service device (service platform) implemented and provided by a service developer is mounted on a peer terminal so that a service user can use a desired application service, that is, a P2P network-based extended home service.

Then, when a user intends to use a service, a method for providing a P2P network based extended home service to the user in the P2P network based extended home service device mounted in a peer terminal will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

3 is a diagram illustrating a process for providing an extended home service in a peer-to-peer network-based extended home service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal of one edge peer 10 among the terminals serving as the edge peers 10, 20, and 30 illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described by way of example. Note that the same applies to the terminal of the rendezvous / relay peer 40 capable of (20, 30) or the edge peer role.

Referring to FIG. 3, in step 501, the extended home service device provides configuration information such as information for connection with the rendezvous / relay peer 40 or other edge peers 20 and 30 and unique information about each edge peer. After registering in advance and receiving an access (login) request from the user, an initialization process is performed to check the information input from the user and process the login. That is, the extended home service apparatus receives a peer identifier and a password from a user, compares the information with pre-registered information, and then accepts the user's connection request. Here a user is assigned the peer identifier and password from a management peer in the peer to peer network.

When the user completes the login to the peer terminal including the extended home service device, the extended home service device sets its peer environment information using the stored peer name, the rendezvous and relay peer information in step 502. . The peer environment information may include a peer name, a network environment setting, a rendezvous, a relay peer setting, and the like.

Thereafter, in step 503, the extended home service device determines whether to perform a group-based service, and if so, proceeds to step 506. On the other hand, in case of performing individual peer service that is not group based, in step 504, the extended home service device activates its own peer terminal based on the set environment information, and activates it on the network to provide a service to the user. Search for other edge peer terminals. Since each edge peer terminal advertises its own resource, the extended home service device in the edge terminal that searches is able to search the currently active edge peer terminals by collecting the advertised information.

Then, the extended home service device includes the searched edge peer terminals in the peer list and displays the peer list on the display unit of the terminal for user confirmation. The user then checks the displayed peer list to select the edge peer terminal of interest. Therefore, in step 505, the extended home service apparatus registers information on the edge terminal selected by the user in the interested peer list in its storage unit 230 and then selects one of the peer terminals existing in the interested peer list. Proceed to step 512 to perform the service. At this time, the edge peer information registered in the interested peer list is permanently stored, and the extended home service device does not need to re-search the edge peers even when the user's edge peer is re-login due to the registration of the interested peer list. do.

On the other hand, as a result of checking in step 503, when performing a group-based service, in step 506, the extended home service device checks whether there is a request for creating a new peer group from the user. After receiving the property information and creating a new peer group, the process proceeds to step 512. Groups can be created according to user's preferences, hobbies, and characteristics. Groups can be created using parameters such as peer group name, peer group description, group type, and password. In this case, if the group deletion request is received from the user, the extended home service device deletes the corresponding peer group that has received the deletion request from the peer group in the storage 230.

On the other hand, if there is no new peer group creation request, the expanded home service device searches for peer group information advertised by other edge peers on the network in step 508. In step 509, the extended home service device selects a peer list of interest from among peer group lists included in peer group information and registers the selected peer list in the interested peer group list in its storage unit 230. .

Then, when the user wants to check the peer group list through his peer terminal, the extended home service device displays the peer group lists managed by the user on the display unit of the peer terminal. Accordingly, the user selects a specific peer group, that is, a peer group of interest, if he wants to join as a member of the displayed peer group lists. Therefore, in step 510, the extended home service device determines whether there is a request for joining a specific peer group from a user. As a result of the check, if there is no subscription request, the operation ends as it is.

On the other hand, if there is a subscription request, in step 511, the extended home service apparatus adds information about its peer terminal, that is, user information, to the interested peer group selected by the user and performs the subscription procedure. If the corresponding peer group is a security group, authentication processing is performed to join the user to the interested peer group according to the result. Here, the authentication process checks the information on the peer group stored in the storage 230, that is, peer group advertisement information and group access key (password) issued by the peer group and matches the information input by the user. It can be done by comparing whether.

After performing the above processes, in step 512, the extended home service device transmits a file, a message, remote control, and a remote procedure with any peer terminal in the interested peer list or any peer group existing in the interested peer group list. Perform services such as calling. Accordingly, a user can quickly receive various services performed through his peer terminal equipped with the extended home service device.

In the embodiment of the present invention as described above, by implementing the extended home service platform, it is possible to receive various contents and services anytime and anywhere through the virtual home network. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible for a developer to develop a service based on a basic service application (API) provided by a service platform without directly controlling a lower complex middleware. This can dramatically reduce new service development cycles. As a result, the development cycle of the developers is shortened, and thus users can be provided with a new service that reflects the needs of the users quickly.

The method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented as a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium (CD-ROM, RAM, ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, etc.).

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by the equivalents of the claims.

As described above, the present invention uses the application programming interface provided by the extended home service platform, so that service developers can significantly reduce the time and cost required to modify and develop the application service without having to understand all the contents of the middleware in the P2P platform. It is effective to respond quickly to the requirements of P2P service users. In addition, in terms of service users, various P2P services can be provided quickly, and a more reliable and secure P2P based extended home service environment can be provided.

Claims (15)

In a peer-to-peer network for connecting a plurality of peer terminals through a virtual home network, an extended home service apparatus provided in each of the plurality of peer terminals to provide extended home service to a user, Middleware for managing protocols necessary for providing the extended home service and communication with other peer terminals on the peer-to-peer network; A peer and peer group management service module for managing peer information and peer group information using a protocol managed by the middleware and communicating with other peer terminals activated in the peer-to-peer network; A basic service module for generating and managing information of services to be provided to the user; And an application service module for performing an interface with the user and the other peer terminals using a protocol managed by the middleware, and calling the desired service from the basic service module and providing the service to the user. An extended home service device in a peer-to-peer network. The method of claim 1, wherein the peer and peer group management service module, Registering peer configuration information on the peer-to-peer network, searching for other peer terminals that are activated on the peer-to-peer network, managing peer information for discovered peer terminals, and setting peer environment information of its peer terminals; Peer management service department, A peer group management service unit configured to search for the peer group generated by the other peer terminal and manage information about the retrieved peer group and information about the peer group created by the peer group; And a storage unit which stores peer information about the searched terminal and information about the searched peer group. The method of claim 2, And the peer group management service unit performs a joining procedure for joining a peer group selected by the user among peer groups registered as an interested peer group. The method of claim 3, The peer group management service unit performs an authentication process by using information on the subscribed peer group stored in the storage unit when the subscribed peer group is a security group. . The method of claim 2, The peer group management service unit deletes the peer group that has received the deletion request from the peer group list in the storage unit when receiving the deletion request of the new peer group from the user. . The method of claim 2, And the storage unit permanently stores the peer information and the group information in the interested peer list and the interested peer group list, respectively, according to the user's selection. In a peer-to-peer network in which a plurality of peer terminals having an extended home service apparatus are connected through a virtual home network, an extended home service apparatus provided in any one of the peer terminals provides extended home service to a user. In the method for Registering peer configuration information on the peer to peer network and performing initialization to execute a service; When the user connects to any of the peer terminals, setting edge peer environment information using the registered peer configuration information; Searching for another peer terminal activated on the peer to peer network; Registering information about the searched terminal in an interest peer list; And providing a corresponding service to the user by performing a service with a peer terminal selected by the user in the interested peer list. The method of claim 7, wherein the performing of the initialization for executing the service comprises: Requesting connection to its peer terminal by inputting a peer identifier and password assigned from a management peer in the peer-to-peer network; Comparing the input peer identifier and password with pre-registered information; And accepting the connection request if the comparison result information is matched. The method of claim 7, wherein The information about the retrieved terminal is permanently stored in the list of peers of interest in its storage unit. In a peer-to-peer network in which a plurality of peer terminals having an extended home service apparatus are connected through a virtual home network, an extended home service apparatus provided in any one of the peer terminals provides extended home service to a user. In the method for Registering peer configuration information on the peer to peer network and performing initialization to execute a service; When the user connects to any of the peer terminals, setting edge peer environment information using the registered peer configuration information; Receiving a group-based service execution request from the user, searching for a peer group generated by another peer terminal activated on the peer-to-peer network; Registering information on the peer group selected by the user among the searched peer groups in a peer group list of interest; Performing a joining procedure for joining a peer group selected by the user among peer groups registered in the interested peer group list; And providing a corresponding service to the user by performing a service with the subscribed peer group. The method of claim 10, further comprising: performing an authentication process when the subscribed peer group is a security group. The method of claim 10, Receiving a group-based service execution request from the user, creating a new peer group for sharing content and services in a peer terminal thereof; Storing the created peer group in a peer group list in a storage unit; And providing a corresponding service to the user by performing a service shared by the created new peer group. The method of claim 12, Upon receiving the request for deletion of the new peer group from the user, providing the extended home service in a peer-to-peer network, further comprising deleting the peer group that has received the deletion request from the list of peer groups in the storage unit. Way. The method of claim 10, And information about the peer group selected by the user is permanently stored in the list of peer groups of interest in its storage. The method of claim 10, wherein the performing of the initialization for executing the service comprises: Requesting connection to its peer terminal by inputting a peer identifier and password assigned from a management peer in the peer-to-peer network; Comparing the input peer identifier and password with pre-registered information; And accepting the connection request if the comparison result information is matched.

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