KR101467023B1 - System and method to deliver contents using dynamic context in the distributed network - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a content / service using a dynamic context in a distributed network, and more particularly, to a system and method for collecting, analyzing, and inferring various context information existing in a network and using the dynamic context information, / Services to improve end-to-end delivery quality in providing distributed content / services and to optimize traffic generation in user's content / Providing system and method therefor.
To this end, the present invention provides a method of providing a content / service, comprising the steps of: collecting, analyzing and inferring various dynamic context information existing in a network; Selecting a server capable of providing an optimal content / service from a plurality of content providing servers capable of providing contents using the stored dynamic context information; And setting a network path capable of optimally delivering the content / service from the selected content providing server.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a content / service using a dynamic context in a distributed network,

The present invention relates to a system and method for providing a content / service using a dynamic context in a distributed network, and more particularly to a system and method for collecting, analyzing, and inferring various context information existing in a network and using the dynamic context information To optimize the end-to-end delivery quality in optimizing the traffic generation of the user's content / service utilization network in providing the distributed content / service, , A content / service providing system and a method thereof.

As a method for improving the quality of the content delivery according to the present invention, there are a cache technology, a global load balancing (GLB) technique, a content synchronization technique, and a peer-to-peer (P2P) technique .

Also, in the content transmission, there are an application traffic optimization (ALTO) technology and a proactive network provider participation (P2P) technology for optimizing traffic generation.

These conventional techniques will be described in more detail as follows.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a conventional client-server model.

In general Internet architecture, content delivery is a client - server model. When a user requests content, the CP server that delivers the content delivers the content.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the content delivery structure of the client-server model, a content demand of a user is concentrated in a server that provides content, which increases the load of the server (increases traffic of the server network). Also, if the server providing the content does not exist in the network of the same Internet provider (ISP) and has a long distance or cost in terms of the routing of the network or the network, the traffic of the Internet connection section between the operators increases Backbone traffic is increased, thereby causing a transmission delay of the content, thereby deteriorating the quality of use of the content.

In order to solve this problem, that is, in order to improve the quality of content transmission, the CP is required to install the content concentrated on the web server of the content provider (CP) And temporarily stores the content in a cache, and when the user requests the stored content, it uses a caching technique for transmitting the content from the temporary storage (cache) stored in the ISP network.

On the other hand, GLB (Global Load Balancing) technology is a technology for selecting a server capable of providing an optimal service to end users among a plurality of content providing servers distributed to various ISPs and connecting services.

In addition, when the content is changed, a technology such as synchronization is used so that users can receive contents of the same contents all at once by immediately reflecting this in a server farm distributed by each ISP.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) technology is a method of mutually sharing contents among computers without using a relay server by utilizing the performance of PC and the connectivity of the Internet. However, since there is no fixed content providing server, And there are problems such as distribution of illegal contents.

However, the above-described conventional techniques have difficulty in ensuring a uniform content delivery quality due to a decrease in the adaptability to the actual dynamically changing context. For example, there is no ability to adapt to dynamic context changes such as congestion in the path for delivering content, increase in the load on the server / storage that delivers the content, or in the case of server down, (IX), a subscriber network, or the like, and may be transmitted to a user and may experience a long delay.

Application programs such as P2P or servers providing contents do not take into consideration the information of the dynamically changing network and the quality is deteriorated and the network information is not considered in the selection of the peer to provide the content. The application traffic optimization (IETF) application traffic optimization (ALTO) technology collects and analyzes network routing information to select a peer with a minimum network cost (hop) to prevent the occurrence of unnecessary network traffic. And how to improve it. However, the information of the network is information that only the ISP knows, and it is impossible to realize the ALTO technology without cooperation of the ISP.

Accordingly, Proactive Network Provider Participation for P2P (P4P) provides a case in which the ISP having the network information actively provides the network information to the P2P service provider, thereby showing the effect of the traffic reduction.

The above-described conventional techniques have the following problems.

In the content delivery structure of the client-server model, there is a problem that the load of the server is increased because the user's content request is concentrated on the server that provides the content. Also, if the server providing the content does not exist in the network of the same Internet provider (ISP) and has a long distance or cost in terms of the routing of the network or the network, the traffic of the Internet connection section between the operators increases Backbone traffic is increased, thereby causing a transmission delay of the content, thereby deteriorating the quality of use of the content.

Conventional methods such as caching technology, GLB technology, P2P technology, and synchronization technology have a problem in that it is difficult to guarantee a uniform quality of content delivery due to poor adaptability to a dynamic context.

And ALTO technology, P4P technology, etc., focuses only on how to optimize traffic by collecting and providing the network context. It also affects the actual best content / service quality and various context factors needed to guarantee it A context of a server providing a content / service changing to a content / service, a context of a terminal using a content / service, a context related to a user, and the like, have.

It is an object of the present invention to solve such problems of the prior art.

Accordingly, the present invention collects, analyzes, infer and stores various context information existing in a network, selects an optimal content / service by utilizing the dynamic context information, End-to-end quality of a content / service and to optimize traffic generation of a user's content / service utilization network, and a method thereof.

That is, the present invention is a server capable of collecting, analyzing, inferring and storing various context information existing in a network and providing an optimal content / service from a plurality of content providing servers capable of providing contents using the dynamic context information And to set a network path capable of delivering the content / service optimally from the content providing server, thereby improving the delivery quality between the end-to-end and optimizing the traffic generation of the network. Providing system and method therefor.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects and advantages of the present invention which are not mentioned can be understood by the following description, and will be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the present invention. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a content / service providing system including a context source for providing a context, a context based content / service providing device, and a context user terminal using analyzed context information, Analyzing and inferring various dynamic context information and storing the dynamic context information, selecting a server capable of providing an optimal content / service from a plurality of content providing servers capable of providing contents using the dynamic context information, Set up a network path that can deliver content / services optimally from the server.

Meanwhile, the method of the present invention includes the steps of: collecting, analyzing, and inferring various dynamic context information existing in a network; Selecting a server capable of providing an optimal content / service from a plurality of content providing servers capable of providing contents using the stored dynamic context information; And setting a network path capable of optimally delivering the content / service from the selected content providing server.

The present invention as described above has the effect of distributing the load of the server providing the contents. That is, the present invention can distribute the load by dynamically collecting the load of the server providing the contents and taking into consideration when selecting the optimum contents providing server.

Further, the present invention has an effect of avoiding a failure of a server that provides a content. That is, the present invention can avoid a failure by selecting another server based on the dynamically collected failure information when a failure occurs in the server providing the content.

Further, the present invention has the effect of improving the transmission quality of contents. That is, by selecting an optimal server among the servers closest to the user, the routing distance is shortened, thereby minimizing the transmission delay. It is also adaptable dynamically to network context as well as other contexts. For example, it is possible to select a server that has less load and has no obstacles among nodes with short routing distances, and is caching contents optimized for the user's preferred terminal.

Also, the present invention has the effect of reducing the traffic of the network and IX (Internet exchange). That is, the present invention is able to localize traffic by selecting to provide content at the shortest distance, the best server with the user.

1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional client-server model,
2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a content / service providing system utilizing a dynamic context in a distributed network according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method of providing a content / service using a dynamic context in a distributed network according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of an embodiment of a method of providing a content / service using a dynamic context in a distributed network according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a content / service providing system and method using a dynamic context in a distributed network according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, It can be easily carried out. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

And throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another part in between. Also, when a component is referred to as " comprising "or" comprising ", it does not exclude other components unless specifically stated to the contrary .

2 is a block diagram of a content / service providing system utilizing a dynamic context in a distributed network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a content / service providing system using a dynamic context according to the present invention includes a context source for providing a context, a context based content / service providing device, a context user (terminal) using analyzed context information, .

The configuration blocks of FIG. 2 will be described as follows.

1. Context Source: A module that provides context information periodically or dynamically. Eg network, service, terminal, OSS, NMS, etc.

A. Service: The type of context source that can provide service-related information. Eg content servers, service servers, etc.

B. User: The type of context source from which the user-related information can be provided. Ex) OSS, NMS, BSS

C. Network: A type of context source that can provide network-related information. Eg network devices such as routers, switches, etc.

D. Terminal: A type of context source that can provide information related to the user terminal. Ex) Smartphone, pad, PC, etc.

2. Context aware router: A module that provides context aware routing.

A. Context collection: A functional module that collects context information from context sources distributed over the network and transmits the data to the context analysis function module.

B. Context analysis: A module that analyzes context information and converts it into a format that can be used by context sharing and context aware routing modules. Example) Ranking information, top 5 information

C. Context sharing: A functional module that provides a common interface for easily accessing and using context information.

D. Context aware routing: A functional module that routes user requests to the optimal source and route based on context.

3. Context User (Terminal): A module that requests content delivery to a context aware router.

A. Applications: Computer software. It also means an application designed to help users perform specific tasks.

B. Web: Computer Software Applications. It also means a web application that operates in a browser-controlled environment.

The context source can be divided into four types as shown in [Table 1], which provides context information.

Context  Classification Explanation Context  Information Example service Service-related information that may affect the quality of delivering content / services - static: service category, content category, rate, service / content provider, quality of service ( QoS )
- Dynamic: Content cache list, number of sessions, load ratio, average service time, Content Ranking user Information related to users who use content / services location( IP Address, physical location), preference, connection Presence network Network-related information that can affect content / service delivery quality Network type (wired, wireless, WCDMA , WiBro ), Bandwidth, routing information ( IGP , BGP ), Network failure information, network construction information Terminal Information related to the terminal requesting / receiving / displaying content / service delivery Hardware capabilities (model, screen size, input / output format), software capabilities ( OS , Mobile platform), terminal status ( RSS , Battery output, memory Usage rate , CPU condition, Disk  Usage rate)

The context-based content / service provisioning device consists of four modules: context collection, context analysis, context sharing, and context-based routing.

1. Context acquisition module collects context information from a distributed context source, and receives and transmits the context information to the analysis module.

A. Policy Manager

Provides an administrative method of defining context collection policies. Eg) Context source, collection method, protocol, time period, etc.

Alternatively, it provides an interface to register when the context source itself needs to join the network.

- Context Source: A module that provides context information periodically or dynamically. Ex) Network, service, terminal, OSS, NMS, etc.

- Collection method: A method of collecting context information from a context source. Eg) Events, request / response, polling, etc.

. Polling: A method by which the context collection module actively collects context information from context sources.

. Event-driven: A method of applying a context collection policy to automatically convey information to the context collection module when the context source periodically or changes occur.

. Request / Response: A method by which the context collection module requests information from and responds to a context source when needed.

- Protocol: A well-known protocol tailored to the context sources used to gather context information. Eg SNMP, FTP, HTTP, IGP, BGP, and so on.

- Time period: The time period for collecting context information from the context source. The context collection function module needs to periodically check the time period.

For example, [Table 2] shows the policy management.

Information Context Source How to collect protocol Cycle service Content Server A event SNMP 5 minutes Service server B Polling FTP 5 minutes user Location management server C Request / response HTTP real time network router event IGP real time router event BGP real time Terminal Terminal Receive request HTTP real time

B. Policy distributor

Deploy collection policies defined by the policy manager to context sources. The policy distribution needs to ensure security and reliability, and each context source sends context data to the context collection function module according to the received policy.

C. Context Data Recipient

And receives context data from context sources. Understanding the protocol to gather context information and extracting contextual context information when context data is received from context sources.

2. The context analysis module analyzes the received context data and transforms it into meaningful information. The context analysis module includes a context model, a transformation / filter, and an analysis module.

The context analysis module performs the following functions.

A. Context Model Manager

It provides a management method that defines the relationships or dependencies between the types of context information that must be obtained to ensure correct behavior of the context requestor. The presence of a well-designed context information model increases the availability of the context requestors context information. Furthermore, a correct representation of context data is needed, since a uniform representation of the context information in the model is required for consistency checking.

B. Context modifier

Removes unnecessary information from the received data, converts it into basic context information conforming to the context model defined by the context model manager, and stores it in the basic context repository.

C. Context interpreter

And provides inference and differentiation in which basic context information is changed to information at a higher level such as ranking. This is used by the context requestor to select the best source for content or service delivery. This is because the context information collected from various sources having different levels of expression needs to be interpreted before being used.

3. The context sharing module provides a common interface for external users to access the context of the repository.

The context sharing module performs the following functions.

A. Common Interface Providers

Provides a common interface that allows context requestors to access context information. The context requestor remotely invokes the interface using the appropriate variables and authentication information. The Context Sharing Function module performs the appropriate operation with the received parameters and then responds to the result.

B. Security

Provides a security mechanism to protect against unauthorized access and use of context information. To ensure security requirements, you can use authentication, authorization, and billing features.

C. Context forwarder

It provides a mechanism to convey context information such as request / response, subscription / notification, and so on. This mechanism is defined in the circumstances between the context sharing function module and the context requestor.

4. The context aware routing module receives the user's content or service delivery request and provides the optimal content providing device and content delivery path based on the context information. Routing is a service routing that determines which nodes are closest in terms of network adjacency and which nodes have optimal resource status.

The context aware routing module performs the following functions.

A. Receiving a request

It is a module that receives user's request and understands application protocol for service request such as HTTP, RTSP / RTMP, RTP, SIP. Upon receiving the request from the user, context information such as an IP address, a content / service ID, a terminal information, a content / service provider information, and a request option to be used for determining the optimum node and path is extracted from the request message.

B. Optimal Source Selection

And selects an optimal source from a plurality of content / service sources existing in a distributed network by combining context information available on a network, a terminal, a service, a user, and the like. The present invention provides a method of combining a plurality of context information by simply multiplying a weight and a context ranking according to an option extracted from a request message.

C. Optimal Path Selection

Selects an optimal network path for providing contents / services from a plurality of network paths, and reserves network resources such as QoS priority, network bandwidth, and server resources in advance to guarantee end-to-end delivery quality.

D. Redelivery of Requests

And passes the user's request back to the selected node and the selected path. The user's request message is naturally passed back to the selected node without user intervention. After redelivery, the routing results are cached in order to improve routing performance.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be described in detail.

First, the pre-conditions are as follows.

1. Context-based content / service provision device collects routing information that is dynamically changed such as IGP, BGP, etc.

2. The context-based content / service providing apparatus receives service status information periodically or dynamically changed from the content providing servers. Eg cached list, load factor, number of sessions, average service time, etc.

3. The context-based content / service providing apparatus analyzes the collected data, summarizes the abstracted context information desired by the user, and stores it in the context storage. Ex) ranking information

4. Content source 1 is overloading the service session excessively.

5. Content source 3 suddenly has a service failure.

6. Finally, context ranking is configured as shown in the table in Table 3 below.

Network Context Ranking Service Context Ranking ranking Content source ranking Content source One Content Source # 1 One Content Source # 2 2 Content Source # 3 3 Content Source # 2 9 Content source # 1 (overloaded) 10 Content source # 3 (failure)

3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method of providing a content / service using a dynamic context in a distributed network according to the present invention.

1. The user requests content from the content provider.

2. The content provider relays the request to the context based content / service providing device (the method of delivering uses the domain name).

3. The user's request session is delivered to the context-based content / service provisioning device.

4. The context-based content / service provision device extracts the user's terminal context from the request message. (Eg, terminal type, OS type, terminal display size, etc.)

5. The context-based content / service providing device selects an optimal content source based on the context. In the example, content source 1 is overloaded, content source 3 is disabled, and content source 2 is selected.

6. Re-deliver the user request to content source 2.

7. User request session is delivered to content source 2.

8. Content source 2 provides content to the user.

FIG. 4 is a detailed flowchart of an embodiment of a method of providing a content / service using a dynamic context in a distributed network according to the present invention, and shows a context-based optimal node selection process (an optimal content providing server selection process).

1. Receive a context-based content delivery request.

2. Extract context information from user request message.

A. User IP Extraction,

B. Content ID extraction,

C. Terminal information extraction,

D. Extraction of contents provider information

E. Extract server selection weight options

3. Check whether there is caching information for the request based on the information extracted in the procedure 2 above.

A. If present in the cache, resend the request to the target content server.

B. If it is not in the cache, move to the next.

4. Extract the server selection weight option to see if it is the default.

* Weight options (w1, w2, w3, w4) ⇒ Percentage

- w1: Network

- w2: Service

- w3: User

- w4: terminal

A. In case of default, the network context ranking is inquired.

B. If not default

i. (Network <R1>, service <R2>, user <R3>, terminal <R4>) of the four context types.

ii. Weights are applied to recalculate rankings.

* Ranking recalculation: w1 * R1 + w2 * R2 + w3 * R3 + w4 * R4

5. Determine the optimal content server.

6. Reserves network resources between users and content servers and reserves resources (QoS, Bandwidth) to content servers.

7. Resend the user request to the server.

8. Cache context based content requests / results.

9. Exit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a content / service providing system and a method thereof using a dynamic context in a distributed network according to the present invention, and shows a content providing server and context-based routers.

The present invention can distribute the load concentrated to the server providing the contents or reduce the traffic of the backbone traffic and the inter-operator Internet connection interval.

Meanwhile, the system and method for providing a content / service using the dynamic context according to the present invention may be implemented in the form of a program command that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present invention or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magnetic media such as floppy disks; Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal line, a wave guide, or the like, including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal designating a program command, a data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those generated by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, Various permutations, modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described, but should be determined by the scope of the appended claims, as well as the appended claims.

Claims (22)

A context acquisition unit for collecting context information from at least one context providing device, analyzing the collected context information, and storing the analyzed context information; And
Extracts information for selecting a content or a service providing apparatus from the received request message, and then selects and selects a content or a service providing apparatus based on the extracted information and the analyzed context information And a context-aware routing unit for routing the provided content or service request to the content or service providing apparatus. The method according to claim 1,
The context acquisition unit
And collects at least one of information related to content or service provision, user related information, network related information, and user terminal related information from the at least one context providing devices. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the user-related information includes at least one of an IP address, an actual location of a user, a preference of a user, and accessibility information as information related to a user who uses the content or service. The method of claim 2,
The content or service providing related information is service related information that may affect the quality of delivering the content or service. The information includes service type, content type, fee, service provider, content provider, service quality information, , Load information, average service time, and content ranking information. The method according to claim 1,
The context acquisition unit
A policy for collecting context information is defined, and a defined context collection policy is distributed to the at least one context providing device. The method of claim 5,
The context acquisition unit
Wherein the content providing apparatus defines at least one of a context providing apparatus for collecting a context, a context collection method, a protocol used for context collection, and a time for context collection as a policy for collecting the context information. The method according to claim 1,
The context acquisition unit
Wherein the context providing apparatus provides an interface for registering with the network, and extracts context information from the data received from the at least one context providing apparatus. The method of claim 7,
The context acquisition unit
A context model is defined based on a relationship between context information types to be acquired, the received data is converted into context information corresponding to the defined context model, and then the converted context information is converted into a predetermined upper level To the information of the content service providing apparatus. The method according to claim 1,
The content service providing apparatus
Further comprising a context sharing unit for providing an interface for allowing the external device to access the analyzed context information. The method of claim 9,
The context sharing unit
Performs authorization, authorization or accounting of the external device, and delivers the context information to a permitted external device through a predefined method. delete The method according to claim 1,
The context aware routing unit
And extracts at least one information such as an IP address, a content ID, a service ID, a terminal information that transmitted the request message, a content or a service provider information, and a request option from the received request message. The method according to claim 1,
The context aware routing unit
Wherein the selected content or service providing apparatus selects an optimal network route for providing a content or a service based on the extracted information and the analyzed context information and reserves network resources based on the selected network route To the content service providing apparatus. The method according to claim 1,
The context aware routing unit
And routes the content or service request to the selected content or service providing device, and then stores the routing result. A content service providing method performed by a content service providing apparatus,
Collecting context information from at least one context providing device;
Analyzing the collected context information and storing the analyzed context information;
Receiving a content or service request message;
Extracting context information of a user terminal for selecting a content or a service providing apparatus from the received content or service request message;
Selecting a content or service providing apparatus based on the context information of the user terminal and the analyzed context information; And
And routing the provided content or service request to the selected content or service providing device. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the collecting of context information from the at least one context providing device comprises:
Wherein at least one information is collected from the at least one context providing device, the at least one information including content or service providing related information, user related information, network related information, and user terminal related information. 16. The method of claim 15,
Analyzing the collected context information, and storing the analyzed context information,
Analyzing the collected context information, converting the analyzed context information into predefined high level information, and storing the converted high level information. delete 16. The method of claim 15,
The step of extracting the context information of the user terminal comprises:
At least one information such as an IP address, a content ID, a service ID, a terminal information that transmitted the request message, a content or a service provider information, and a weight option of a content or a service providing apparatus from the received content or service request message And extracting the content data from the content data. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the selecting of the content or service providing apparatus based on the context information of the user terminal and the analyzed context information comprises:
And if the cache information corresponding to the extracted context information of the user terminal is present, selects the content or the service providing apparatus based on the cache information. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the selecting of the content or service providing apparatus based on the context information of the user terminal and the analyzed context information comprises:
When there is no cache information corresponding to the context information of the extracted user terminal, based on the content option information included in the context information of the extracted user terminal or the weight option information of the service providing device and the analyzed context information, Is selected. &Lt; / RTI &gt; 16. The method of claim 15,
The content service providing method includes:
Further comprising routing the content or service request to the selected content or service providing device, and then storing the routing information in a cache.

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