KR102094170B1 - Apparatus for providing zone based contents and method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a content providing service, and more particularly, to a relay device and method for providing zone-based content capable of providing paid content for free to a user located in a specific zone.
For this, the relay device for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention includes one or more access devices, one or more operator devices managing the access devices, and a communication interface unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from one or more content providing servers and the communication Status information is collected from the one or more access devices through an interface, and the collected status information is classified according to specified condition information to generate zone information for the access device, and the content providing server is located in the corresponding zone. It may be configured to include a zone management unit for providing the generated zone information to a corresponding content providing server to provide paid content for free to the terminal.

Description

A relay device and method for providing zone-based content {APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING ZONE BASED CONTENTS AND METHOD USING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a content providing service, and more particularly, to a relay device and method for providing zone-based content capable of providing paid content for free to a user located in a specific zone.

The contents described in this section merely provide background information for the present embodiment, and do not constitute a prior art.

Recently, as computers, electronics, and communication technologies have developed rapidly, various wireless communication services using a wireless network have been provided. Accordingly, a service provided by a mobile communication system using a wireless communication network is developing as a multimedia content service for transmitting and receiving data as well as a voice service.

In general, a content providing server that provides various paid contents such as music, games, magazines, pictures, etc. performs an authentication process for the terminal user requesting the content to provide paid contents according to the type of service to which the user subscribes, or later The terminal is charged a certain fee for using the information.

However, the paid content service up to now has a problem in that it is difficult to more flexible content marketing because it is focused on a content providing server. In other words, even if a paid content is provided free of charge only at a specific time to a terminal located in a specific zone, it is difficult for the content providing server to directly generate and manage information for multiple zones, making virtually impossible zone-based content marketing. .

Published Korean Patent No. 2002-0053952, published on July 6, 2002 (Name: How to charge fees for using Internet paid content)

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-described conventional problems, in particular, a relay device connected to a plurality of access devices forming a zone generates and classifies zone information according to specified condition information, and then provides it to a content providing server By doing so, the present invention relates to a relay device and method for providing zone-based content that supports content providing servers to provide paid content free of charge to terminals located in a specific zone.

However, the object of the present invention is not limited to the above object, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, the relay device for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention transmits and receives information to and from one or more access devices, one or more operator devices managing the access devices, and one or more content providing servers. A communication interface unit; And collecting status information from the one or more access devices through the communication interface, classifying the collected status information according to specified condition information to generate zone information for the access devices, and corresponding to the content providing server. And a zone management unit that provides the generated zone information to a corresponding content providing server to provide paid content free of charge to a terminal located in the zone.

At this time, the zone management unit accumulates and collects status information received from the access device for a period of time, calculates an average value for variable information among the collected status information, and then calculates the average value and the remaining status information May be generated as zone information for the access device.

In addition, the status information may include at least one of access device identification information, access device location information, traffic load, connected user information, and serviced data types.

In addition, the specified condition information is specified by the operator device or the content providing server, content providing time, content providing frequency, number of terminals connected to the access device, connected user information, connected terminal information, access device location information, access device It may include at least one of the identification information.

At this time, the zone management unit may provide information on a content providing server connected to the access device or a corresponding operator device managing the access device.

In addition, the zone management unit may request and receive status information to a corresponding selected access device according to the condition information.

The zone-based content providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object transmits and receives information to and from one or more access devices, one or more operator devices managing the access devices, and one or more content providing servers, and provides content A relay device providing zone information to a server, the relay device comprising: collecting status information from the one or more access devices; Generating, by the relay device, zone information by classifying the collected status information according to specified condition information; And providing the generated zone information to a corresponding content providing server so that the relay device provides paid content free of charge from a content providing server to a terminal located in the corresponding zone.

At this time, prior to the step of collecting the status information, the relay device receiving the condition information from the operator device or the content providing server; may further comprise a.

Further, in the generating of the zone information, the relay device accumulates and collects state information received from the access device for a period of time, calculates an average value for variable information among the collected state information, and then The calculated average value and the remaining status information can be generated as zone information for the access device.

In addition, the present invention can provide a computer-readable recording medium recording a program executing the zone-based content providing method as described above.

According to a relay device and method for providing zone-based content of the present invention, a relay device connected to a plurality of access devices forming a zone generates and classifies zone information according to specified condition information, and then provides it to a content providing server , It is possible to provide paid content free of charge to a terminal located in a specific zone more easily without the need for a content providing server to build and manage special information.

Through this, the paid content can be provided free of charge to events located only in a specific zone, so that the user can use the paid content for free while being located in the zone, and the content providing server provides the paid content. It will be able to draw the user's attention. Also, a business operator (for example, a restaurant business operator) managing a connection device providing a zone has an effect of attracting users into their zone.

In addition, various effects other than the above-described effects may be directly or implicitly disclosed in a detailed description according to an embodiment of the present invention to be described later.

1 is an exemplary view for explaining a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a relay device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.
3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a content providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an operator device according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a data flow diagram illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a data flow diagram illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to another embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a data flow diagram illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail preferred embodiments that can be easily carried out by the person of ordinary skill in the art. However, in the detailed description of the operating principle for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known functions or configurations may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. This is to more clearly communicate the core of the present invention by omitting unnecessary description. In addition, the present invention can be applied to various changes and can have various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description, but this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments. It should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In addition, terms including ordinal numbers such as first and second are used to describe various components, and are used only to distinguish one component from other components, and to limit the components It is not used. For example, the second component may be referred to as a first component without departing from the scope of the present invention, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as a second component.

In addition, when referring to a component being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it means that it can be connected or connected logically or physically. In other words, it may be understood that a component may be directly connected to or connected to other components, but other components may exist in the middle and may be connected or connected indirectly.

In addition, the terms used herein are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, terms such as "comprises" or "have" described herein are intended to designate the existence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, or one or more thereof. It should be understood that the above or other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof are not excluded in advance.

Now, a relay device and method for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. At this time, the same reference numerals are used for parts having similar functions and actions throughout the drawings, and duplicate descriptions thereof will be omitted.

First, a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be schematically described with reference to FIG. 1.

1A and 1B are exemplary views for describing a content providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1A and 1B, a relay device 200 of a content providing system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention processes a relaying process between a plurality of operator devices 600 or a plurality of content providing servers 300 In addition, a process for providing content to the terminal 100 located in a specific zone may be supported.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1B, the content providing system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a terminal located in a plurality of zones (10a, 10b, 10c, hereinafter referred to as 10 if there is no separate division) (100) and a plurality of content providing servers (300a, 300b, 300c, to be referred to as 300 if there is no distinction below) to provide content through the communication network 500 to the terminal 100 to be configured In particular, in the content providing system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the relay device 200 collects and manages information on a plurality of zones 10, and the content providing server 300 has a specific zone ( When the paid content is provided at the request of the terminal 100 located in 10), the paid content is provided free of charge according to the zone 10 in which the terminal 100 is located.

Briefly describing each component, first, the terminal 100 refers to a user's device capable of transmitting and receiving various data through the communication network 500 according to a user's operation. The terminal 100 may perform voice or data communication through the communication network 500, and may transmit and receive various information with the content providing server 300. For this, the terminal 100 of the present invention may include a browser for transmitting and receiving information, a memory for storing programs and protocols, a microprocessor for executing and controlling various programs, and the like. In addition, the terminal 100 of the present invention will be referred to as 400 if there is no separate division of the access devices 400a, 400b, 400c shown in FIG. 1B to request and receive content from the content providing server 300 ) Can be connected to the communication network 500. Here, the access device 400 is a device that supports access of the communication network 500 of the terminal 100, and may be, for example, an access point. The terminal 100 may be connected to an access point located within a certain radius according to a wireless LAN communication method, and may transmit and receive information to and from the content providing server 300 through the communication network 500 through the access point. Further, the access device 400 of the present invention may be a base station device. Here, the base station device may be, for example, a BS (Base Station), a BTS (Base Transceiver Station), a Node B, an eNode B, and the like to support entry into the core network of the communication network 500 of the terminal 100. Can play a role. In addition, in another method, the base station apparatus may be a digital unit (DU) divided into a digital signal processing unit and a wireless signal processing unit. At this time, a plurality of digital units may be connected to a centralized radio unit (Radio Unit).

When the terminal 100 is connected to any one access device 400, it is located in a zone, a zone of a certain radius covered by the access device 400. Here, the zone covered by the access device 400 may vary depending on the type and performance of the access device 400, and the terminal 100 is connected to the first access device 400a and is located in the first zone 10a. It may be moved to the second connection device 400b and moved to the second zone 10b. Since the connection process between the terminal 100 and the access device 400 can use a variety of known procedures, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The content providing server 300 serves to provide content at the request of the terminal 100. At this time, the content providing server 300 may provide paid content to the terminal 100. To this end, the content providing server 300 may perform a process such as an authentication procedure for the terminal 100 before providing the paid content to the terminal 100, depending on the type of service to which the terminal 100 is subscribed. Paid content may be provided to the terminal 100. For example, the content providing server 300 may provide paid content such as games, magazines, music, etc. when the terminal 100 is a terminal 100 subscribed to a service provided by the terminal 100. In particular, the content providing server 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention checks the zone information where the terminal 100 is located, and according to the checked zone information, even if it is not the terminal 100 subscribed to the service provided by itself, In the case of the terminal 100 located in the designated zone 10, paid content can be provided to the corresponding terminal 100 free of charge without a separate billing process.

For example, when the designated zone corresponding to the first content providing server 300a is the first zone 10a, the terminal 100 connected to the first access device 400a of the first zone 10a transmits In response to a content request for paid content, the corresponding content can be provided free of charge.

The operator device 600 means the operator's device having or managing a connection device 400 forming a zone as described above. In particular, the operator device 600 of the present invention sets condition information for providing paid content for free to the user's terminal 100 connected to the access device 400 provided in a predetermined space to be serviced by the operator device 600 of the present invention, , It may provide information about this to the relay device 200. In addition, the operator device 600 may provide a message informing that the paid content is provided free of charge to the user's terminal 100 located in a predetermined space to be serviced by the user, so that the user can recognize it. , It can support the function to display and guide through a separate display device.

In order to support such a process, the relay device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention collects and manages information about a zone and provides the information to the content providing server 300 to provide the content providing server 300 ) Plays a role to support the provision of zone-based content. At this time, the relay device 200 of the present invention collects a plurality of zone information according to the condition information specified by the operator device 600 or the content providing server 300, classifies and manages it for each content providing server 300, , It can support the overall process of delivering to the content providing server 300.

The main configuration and operation method of the more specific relay device 200 will be described later, and the terminal 100, the relay device 200, the content providing server 300, and the access device 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention And a processor mounted in the operator device 600 may process program instructions for executing the method according to the present invention. In one implementation, this processor may be a single-threaded processor, and in other implementations, the processor may be a multithreaded processor. Furthermore, the processor is capable of processing instructions stored on a memory or storage device.

In addition, various types of communication networks may be used as the communication network 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

For example, an IP network that provides a large data transmission / reception service and a data service without disconnection through an Internet protocol, an IP network structure that integrates different networks based on IP, All IP, Wibro (Wireless Broadband network, wireless LAN including Wi-Fi network, wired communication network, mobile communication network, HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) network and satellite communication network, etc. It can be a next-generation communication network. Particularly, the communication network 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes one or more wireless access networks, and the terminal 100 passes through the wireless access network to a backbone network or a wide area network (WAN) of a communication operator. Information may be transmitted to and received from the content providing server 300 through a core network including a network.

Accordingly, the communication network 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a wireless access network based on the access device 400 and various types of core networks.

Hereinafter, the main configuration and operation method of the relay device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a relay device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the relay device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a communication interface unit 210, a relay storage unit 220, a zone management unit 230, and a relay processing unit 240. have.

When describing each component in more detail, first, the communication interface unit 210 serves to transmit and receive information to and from a plurality of access devices 400, a content providing server 300, and an operator device 600. In particular, the communication interface unit 210 of the present invention may request current status information from a plurality of access devices 400 physically or logically connected according to a request from the zone management unit 230 and receive response information thereto. . In addition, when not physically or logically connected to the plurality of access devices 400, the communication interface 210 requests current status information in a broadcasting method within a certain radius, and receives response information thereto. It might be.

Then, the communication interface unit 210 may receive the condition information from the content providing server 300 or the operator device 600, and may transmit information about the corresponding zone to the content providing server 300.

The relay storage unit 220 serves to store and manage zone information according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the relay storage unit 220 of the present invention stores the condition information received from the content providing server 300 or the operator device 600, and accumulates the status information received from the multiple access devices 400 for a period of time. Can be saved. Then, the zone information generated by the zone management unit 230 based on the condition information and the status information and the corresponding content providing server 300 may be mapped and managed. At this time, the zone information may include identification information for the access device and information for providing paid content for free. Here, the information for providing paid content free of charge may be information obtained by extracting only the finally necessary information from the condition information received from the content providing server 300 or the operator device 600. In addition, the content providing server 300 corresponding to the zone information may be changed in units of a predetermined cycle or at the request of the content providing server 300 or the operator device 600. All of this information can be stored and managed in the form of a zone DB. The relay storage unit 220 may include a flash memory, a hard disk, a multimedia card micro type memory (eg, SD or XD memory, etc.), RAM, and ROM. It may be configured to include a storage medium such as (ROM).

The zone management unit 230 collects and manages zone information.

More specifically, the zone management unit 230 may request status information from the one or more access devices 400 through the communication interface unit 210 and receive status information as response information thereto. At this time, the zone manager 230 may accumulate and collect state information received from the access device 400 for a certain period. Here, the status information may be at least one of access device identification information (MAC, SSID, IP address, access device service area identifier, etc.), location information, traffic load, connected user information, and serviced data type.

In addition, the zone management unit 230 may calculate an average value for information having variable values among information collected by accumulating for a certain period of time, for example, information such as traffic load. For example, the zone management unit 230 collects status information from the first access device 400a in units of 1 hour, variable information from the status information collected for 3 hours, and an average value for the traffic load as described above. By calculating, it is possible to grasp the number of terminals that are average connected to the first connection device 400a.

In addition, the zone management unit 230 may generate zone information using state information collected through the above-described process. In this case, the zone management unit 230 may classify according to the condition information specified from the operator device 600 or the content providing server 300 in advance, and set the zone information in correspondence with each content providing server 300. Here, the designated zone information is designated by the content providing server 300 or the operator device 600 to provide paid content free of charge to the terminal 100 located in a specific zone, content providing time, content providing frequency, It may include at least one of the number of terminals connected to the access device, connected user information, connected terminal information, access device location information, and access device identification information.

For example, the zone management unit 230 may provide the content providing time (10 am to 12 pm), the number of connected terminals (10 or more), and access device location information (school) from the first content providing server 300a. Collects condition information including information, and provides information on the content provision time (18:00 to 22:00), the number of connected terminals (more than 50), and access device location information (Gangnam Station) from the second content providing server 300b. When the included condition information is collected, dozens of state information from the access device 400 is compared with the condition information specified by the content providing server 300.

According to the result of the comparison, when the status information of the first access device 400a satisfies the condition information specified by the first content providing server 300a, the zone management unit 230 determines whether the first access device 400a A zone having a predetermined radius to be covered may be set as zone information corresponding to the first content providing server 300a, and status information of the third access device 400c may be designated by the second content providing server 300b. When the condition information is satisfied, the zone management unit 230 may set a zone of a certain radius covered by the third access device 400c as zone information corresponding to the second content providing server 300b.

By comparing these differently specified condition information and status information for each access device 400, the zone management unit 230 can generate and manage optimal zone information.

The zone management unit 230 controls the zone information set for each content providing server 300 to be stored in the relay storage unit 220 through this process. In addition, according to the request of the relay processing unit 240, it is possible to control the process of passing the pre-generated zone information to the corresponding content providing server 300. At this time, the zone management unit 230 may provide the zone information to the content providing server 300 at the request of any one content providing server 300, and in a certain periodic unit, the corresponding content providing server Zone information corresponding to 300 may be provided.

In addition, the zone management unit 230 of the present invention may provide information on the content providing server 300 set corresponding to the access device 400 or the operator device 600 managing the access device 400. The access device 400 that has received this may guide information on a content providing server that is available while connected to itself. For example, the access device 400 is connected to each terminal 100, 'Now, try accessing the A game provided by the content providing server. It is provided until 1 o'clock free of charge. 'To this end, the zone management unit 230 can provide information on the content providing server 300 correspondingly set to the corresponding access device 400. have.

The relay processing unit 240 performs overall control of the relay device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. When condition information is received from the content providing server 300 or the operator device 600, the received condition information It can be controlled to be stored in the relay storage unit 220. In addition, status information may be requested from a plurality of access devices 400 physically or logically connected through the communication interface 210. For example, the relay device 200 may be connected to a plurality of access devices 400 located within a certain radius through a communication cable, and the relay processing unit 240 may include a plurality of access devices 400 connected through the communication cable. Can request status information. In addition, when the relay device 200 stores information about a plurality of access devices 400 located in a predetermined radius in advance, it may request and receive status information from the access device 400.

On the other hand, when the relay device 200 is not physically or logically connected to a plurality of access devices 400, the relay processing unit 240 is currently broadcast in a predetermined radius through a communication interface unit 210 in a broadcasting method. Status information may be requested and response information may be received. In addition, the relay processing unit 240 requests status information from a plurality of access devices 400, and when receiving the status information, only the access devices selected from the plurality of access devices 400 are considered in consideration of the condition information of the content providing server 300 Information can be requested and received. For example, if the access device location information among the condition information specified by the first content providing server 300 is 'Gangnam', the relay processing unit 240 requests and receives status information from the access device 400 located in Gangnam You may.

In addition, the relay processing unit 240 may transmit pre-generated zone information to the corresponding content providing server 300 through the communication interface 210 at the request of the content providing server 300, and generated in a predetermined cycle unit Zone information may be delivered to each content providing server 300.

As described above, main components of the relay device 200 of the present invention have been described with reference to FIG. 2. However, not all components shown through FIG. 2 are essential components, and the relay device 200 may be implemented by more components than the components shown, and the relay device 200 may be configured by using fewer components. ) May be implemented.

Hereinafter, the main configuration and operation method of the content providing server 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a content providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.

1 and 3, the content providing server 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a server communication unit 310, a service control unit 320, a user management unit 330, and a server storage unit 340. Can be configured.

In more detail for each component, first, the server communication unit 310 supports a role of transmitting and receiving various information with one or more terminals 100 through the communication network 500. In particular, the server communication unit 310 of the present invention may receive a content request message from any one terminal 100, and provide content to the terminal 100 under the control of the service control unit 320, or a guide message Can send. In addition, the server communication unit 310 may transmit and receive various information with the relay device 200. That is, the server communication unit 310 may transmit condition information for providing content to the relay device 200, and may receive zone information set by the relay device 200.

The service control unit 320 performs overall control of the content providing server 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the service control unit 320 according to an embodiment of the present invention firstly provides for zone-based content provision. It can perform the role of setting and managing condition information. Here, the condition information is designated to provide paid content free of charge to the terminal 100 located in a specific zone, content providing time, content providing frequency, number of terminals connected to the access device, connected user information, connected terminal information, access It may include at least one of the device location information.

Then, the service control unit 320 may receive the set zone information from the relay device 200 through the server communication unit 310 in a predetermined cycle unit.

Then, the service control unit 320 may receive a content request message from the terminal 100 through the server communication unit 310. Here, the content request message may be a request message for paid content. For example, it may be a request message for a magazine, game, music, etc. provided only to users who have subscribed for a fee. In addition, the service control unit 320 identifies identification information of the access device 400 included in the content request message. As a result of confirming the identification information of the access device 400, in the case of identification information of the access device 400 corresponding to the zone information received from the relay device 200, the corresponding content may be provided to the terminal 100 for free. Here, providing for free means providing content without a process for authenticating whether a user of the terminal 100 is a user subscribed to a service provided by the user. In addition, even if an authentication process is performed, a separate billing may not be processed for content provision for a content request message generated in a corresponding zone for the terminal 100 when processing the billing later.

On the other hand, as a result of confirming the identification information of the access device 400, if the access device 400 identification information corresponding to the zone information received from the relay device 200 is not, the service control unit 320 sends a guide message to the terminal 100 Can provide. For example, 'This service is paid content provided only to subscribers. Would you like to connect to this service? '.

The user management unit 330 may serve to store and manage information about users subscribed to the service. In addition, the user management unit 330 may perform authentication and charging processing for the terminal 100 under the control of the service control unit 320. As described above, the service control unit 320 can directly provide the content requested by the terminal 100 to the terminal 100 located in a predetermined zone to provide the content for free without interworking with the user management unit 330. When the requested content is provided by the terminal 100 located in the non-zone, the terminal 100 may be authenticated by interworking with the user management unit 330 to perform charging processing for the terminal 100.

Also, the user management unit 330 may perform billing processing for a user using the operator device 600. In other words, a separate billing process is not performed for the user's terminal 100 located in a zone set to provide paid content for free, but a separate billing process is performed for a business operator that requests the provision of the corresponding service, that is, the zone is managed. You can also perform the process.

The server storage unit 340 stores all programs according to the function execution of the content providing server 300. In particular, the server storage unit 340 according to the present invention may store and manage information on content provided by the content providing server 300. Also, the server storage unit 340 may store and manage zone information provided from the relay device 200.

The server storage unit 340 of the present invention may be a storage located in the content providing server 300, and is located outside the content providing server 300 to transmit and receive data to and from the content providing server 300. It can be.

The main configuration and operation method of the content providing server 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

The content providing server 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as a conventional web server or a network server in hardware. However, software includes program modules implemented through languages such as C, C ++, Java, Visual Basic, and Visual C. The content providing server 300 may be implemented in the form of a web server or a network server, and the web server is generally connected to an unspecified number of clients and / or other servers through an open computer network such as the Internet, and the client or other web. It refers to a computer system that accepts a request to perform a server's work and derives and provides the work results, and computer software (web server program) installed therefor. However, in addition to the above-described web server program, it should be understood as a broad concept including a series of application programs running on a web server and, in some cases, various databases built therein. The content providing server 300 provides web server programs that are variously provided according to operating systems such as DOS, Windows, Linux, UNIX, and Macintosh, in general server hardware. It can be implemented using, and representative examples include a website (Website), an Internet Information Server (IIS) used in a Windows environment, and a CERN, NCSA, APPACH used in a Unix environment. In addition, the content providing server 300 may classify service subscription information and store and manage it in a member database, and such a database may be implemented inside or outside the content providing server 300. At this time, the database implemented inside the content providing server 300 may be a service storage unit 23.

In addition, the content providing server 300 of the present invention may be implemented as one or more servers operating in a server-based computing method or a cloud method. In particular, information transmitted and received through the group driving system 100 may be provided through a cloud computing function that can be permanently stored in a cloud computing device on the Internet. Here, cloud computing is a virtualized information technology (IT) resource, for example, hardware (server, storage, network, etc.), software using Internet technology in digital terminals such as desktops, tablet computers, laptops, netbooks, and smartphones. (Database, security, web server, etc.), service, data, etc. on-demand (On demand) means a technology that serves. In the present invention, all information transmitted and received between the one or more terminals 100 and the content providing server 300 is stored in a cloud computing device on the Internet and can be transmitted anytime, anywhere.

Hereinafter, the main configuration and operation method of the operator device 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an operator device according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1.

1 and 4, the operator device 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a device communication unit 610, a device input unit 620, a device control unit 630, a device storage unit 640, and a device output unit It may be configured to include 640.

When describing each component in more detail, first, the device communication unit 610 may transmit condition information to the relay device 200 through the communication network 500. In addition, the device communication unit 610 may transmit various information, such as information about currently available content, to the terminal 100 connected to the access device 400 that forms a zone that it manages. In addition, various information may be received from the relay device 200 or the content providing server 300 through the communication network 500.

The device input unit 620 transmits various information such as numeric and text information input from a user, various function settings, and signals input in connection with function control of the operator device 600 to the device control unit 630. In particular, the device input unit 620 of the present invention may support user input for setting condition information. In addition, the device input unit 620 of the present invention may support user input for providing various information, such as information about content currently available to the terminal 1000.

As described above, the device input unit 620 includes key input means such as a keyboard or keypad, touch input means such as a touch sensor or touch pad, voice input means, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, acceleration sensor and proximity sensor, and a camera. It may include a gesture input means comprising at least one of the.

In addition to this, any form of input means that is currently under development or can be developed in the future may be included.

The device control unit 630 performs overall control of the operator device 600, and includes at least one processor and at least one memory loading data including a central processing unit (CPU) / micro processing unit (MPU) in hardware. It may include a loaded execution memory (eg, a register and / or random access memory (RAM)) and a bus (BUS) for inputting and outputting at least one data to the processor and memory. In addition, a predetermined program routine (Routine) is loaded into the execution memory from a predetermined recording medium to perform a defined function (for example, condition information setting function) of the operator device 600 in software, and is processed by the processor. Or, it may include program data.

In particular, the device controller 630 according to an embodiment of the present invention may support the entire process of setting condition information according to a user's request. Here, the condition information is designated to provide paid content free of charge to the terminal 100 located in the zone managed by the user, content providing time, content providing frequency, number of terminals connected to the access device, connected user information, connected terminals It may include at least one of information and access device location information.

For example, when the operator of the operator device 600 operates a restaurant, a zone may be formed by providing the access device 400 in a predetermined space to be serviced by the operator. In addition, paid content other than food service may be provided free of charge to a user who visits a restaurant. At this time, the operator can provide the paid content free of charge to the terminal of the user who visited the restaurant only when the condition information is satisfied according to the condition information as described above. For example, if the number of terminals 100 currently connected to the access device 400 is small, or the condition information is provided to provide paid content free of charge according to specified condition information such as a specific time zone (12 PM to 2 PM). Will be set.

The device controller 630 may control the overall process of setting the condition information, and support the overall process of passing the set condition information to the relay device 200 through the device communication unit 610. Subsequently, when information on the content providing server 300 connected from the relay device 200 is received, the device control unit 630 guides the information through the device output unit 650 or through the device communication unit 610. The entire process of guiding the terminal 100 currently connected to the access device 400 may be supported. For example, a guide message to the user of the terminal 100 through the device output unit 650 or through the access device 400 managed by the user, for example, 'Try to access the current OOO game service. It can be used for free only while you are here. '

The device storage unit 640 may temporarily store various data generated during execution of the application program, including an application program required for function operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, the device storage unit 640 according to an embodiment of the present invention stores the condition information input through the device input unit 620, or provides information about the content providing server 300 provided by the relay device 200. Can be saved. In addition, it is possible to store information about the access device 400 that it manages.

The device storage unit 640 may largely include a program area and a data area. The program area stores related information for driving the operator device 600 such as an operating system (OS) for booting the operator device 600. The data area is an area in which data generated according to the use of the operator device 600 is stored. As described above, condition information, information on the content providing server 300 and information on the access device 400 may be stored. have. The device storage unit 640 may include flash memory, hard disk, multimedia card micro type memory (eg, SD or XD memory, etc.), RAM, and ROM. It may be configured to include a storage medium such as (ROM).

The device output unit 640 displays information about a series of operation states and operation results that occur during the functioning of the operator device 600. In particular, the device output unit 640 of the present invention may be a module constituting the operator device 600, but may be an external device that communicates through the operator device 600 and the device communication unit 610. . The device output unit 640 may display various information generated by the device control unit 630. In particular, it is possible to output information about paid content currently available for free through the access device 400.

As described above, the device output unit 640 may be implemented in the form of one touch panel (or touch screen) together with the device input unit 620, and when implemented together with the device input unit 620, the user Various information generated according to the touch operation may be displayed. At this time, the device output unit 640 of the present invention is a liquid crystal display (LCD), thin film transistor LCD (TFT-LCD), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), light emitting diode (LED), active matrix organic LED (AMOLED) ), A flexible display and a 3D display. In addition, some of these displays may be configured to be transparent or light transmissive so as to be able to see the outside through them. It may be configured in the form of a transparent display that includes a Transparant OLED (TOLED).

In addition, the device output unit 640 may support a sound source output function that converts and outputs various information generated by the device control unit 630 to an analog signal. At this time, the device output unit 640 may output information about paid content currently available for free through the access device 400 through the speaker.

As described above, the main components of the operator apparatus 600 of the present invention have been described with reference to FIG. 6. The operator device 600 of the present invention may be implemented in the same form as the terminal 100 used by the user, but in the present invention, it is located in the zone and manages the zone so as to be distinguished from the terminal 100 of the user using the content. The user's terminal is referred to as an operator device 600.

All the devices constituting the present invention have been described above. The relay device 200, the operator device 600, the content providing server 300 and the access device 400 constituting the present invention may be equipped with a memory, and the memory stores information in the device. In one implementation, the memory is a computer-readable medium. In one implementation, the memory may be a volatile memory unit, and in other implementations, the memory may be a non-volatile memory unit. In one embodiment, the storage device is a computer-readable medium. In various different implementations, the storage device may include, for example, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or some other mass storage device.

In addition, the term '~ module' used in the embodiment of the present invention means a software component, and '~ module' performs certain roles. As an example, '~ module' refers to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, and processes, functions, attributes, procedures, and subs. Routines, segments of program code, drivers, data, database, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. In addition, the functions provided in the components and '~ modules' may be combined into a smaller number of components and '~ modules', or further separated into additional components and '~ modules'.

Although the specification and drawings describe exemplary device configurations, the functional operations and subject implementations described herein may be implemented with other types of digital electronic circuits, or the structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents. It may be implemented in the included computer software, firmware or hardware, or a combination of one or more of them. Implementations of the subject matter described herein are one or more computer program products, that is, one for computer program instructions encoded on a tangible program storage medium to control or thereby execute the operation of a device according to the present invention. It can be implemented as the above modules. The computer-readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of materials affecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combination of one or more of these.

Hereinafter, a method of providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 5, in order to provide a zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention, first, the relay device 200 collects status information (S101). To this end, the relay device 200 may request status information from one or more access devices 400 and receive status information in response thereto. At this time, the relay device 200 may accumulate and collect state information for a certain period. In addition, when variable information exists in the status information, an average value may be calculated for the variable information, and the calculated average value may be stored as status information for the access device 400.

When the status information is collected through this process, the relay device 200 classifies and generates zone information according to the specified condition information (S103). Here, the condition information is information that can be specified by the operator device 600 or the content providing server 300, content providing time, content providing frequency, number of terminals connected to the access device, connected user information, connected terminal information, access It may include at least one of the device location information.

When zone information is classified for each content providing server 300 through the above process, the relay device 200 may transmit the corresponding zone information to the corresponding content providing server 300 in units of a predetermined period (S105). In addition, after storing zone information classified for each content providing server 300, when a request is generated from the content providing server 300, the zone information may be provided to the content providing server 300.

Hereinafter, a method for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

First, the process of setting the condition information by the content providing server 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

6 is a data flow diagram illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Prior to description with reference to FIG. 5, it will be described on the assumption that the terminal 100 and the access device 400 are connected in advance. At this time, the terminal 100 may continuously move, and may be connected by moving from the first access device 400a to the second access device 400b. In addition, the connection device 400 of the present invention is a device for supporting the connection of the communication network 500 of the terminal 100, for example, may be an access point (access point). The terminal 100 may be connected to an access point located within a certain radius according to a wireless LAN communication method, and may transmit and receive information to and from the content providing server 300 through the communication network 500 through the access point. Further, the access device 400 of the present invention may be a base station device. Here, the base station device may be, for example, a BS (Base Station), a BTS (Base Transceiver Station), a Node B, an eNode B, and the like to support entry into the core network of the communication network 500 of the terminal 100. Can play a role. In addition, in another method, the base station apparatus may be a digital unit (DU) divided into a digital signal processing unit and a wireless signal processing unit. At this time, a plurality of digital units may be connected to a centralized radio unit (Radio Unit).

In such a state that the terminal 100 is connected to the access device 400, the relay device 200 may receive condition information in advance from the content providing server 300 (S203).

Thereafter, the relay device 200 may request status information from the plurality of access devices 400 (S205), and receive status information in response thereto (S207). In addition, the relay device 200 may also receive condition information from the content providing server 300 after receiving status information from the access device 400.

Then, the relay device 200 collects and stores status information (S209). At this time, the relay device 200 may collect status information by accumulating for a certain period of time, calculate the average value for the variable information from the accumulated status information, and then connect the calculated average value and the remaining status information to the access device ( 400). For example, since the number of terminals currently connected to the access device 400 is a variable value, the number of terminals is accumulated over a period of time to set an average value for the number of terminals as zone information for the access device 400. Can be created. On the other hand, identification information, location information, and the like of the access device 400 are not variable information, and thus, this is set as zone information for the access device 400 without special processing.

Then, the relay device 200 classifies and generates zone information according to the condition information specified by the content providing server 300 (S211). Through this classification process, for example, the first zone 10a may be set in response to the first content providing server 300a, and the second zone 10b and the second zone may correspond to the second content providing server 300b. The 3 zones 10c may be set, and the first zone 10a, the second zone 10b, and the third zone 10c may be set corresponding to the third content providing server 300c. In addition, the number of zone information set corresponding to each content providing server 300 is not limited.

Then, the classified zone information is transmitted to the corresponding content providing server 300 (S213). Thereafter, the content request message may be transmitted to the content providing server 300 through the access device 400 to which the terminal 100 is connected (S215 to S217). At this time, the content request message may be a content request message for paid content. In addition, before the terminal 100 transmits a content request message to the content providing server 300, the relay device 200 may transmit information about the content providing server 300 assigned to the access device 400. . In addition, the access device 400 may guide information on a content providing server available to each connected terminal 100. For example, the access device 400 is connected to each terminal 100, 'Now, try accessing the A game provided by the content providing server. It is provided free of charge until 1:00. '

After the step S217, the content providing server 300 checks identification information of the access device 400 included in the received content request message, and the access included in the zone information received in step S213 from the relay device 200 It is checked whether the identification information of the device is the same (S219). As a result of the determination, if they are not the same, a guide message is transmitted to the terminal 100 via the access device 400 (S221 to S223). Here, the guidance message is, for example, 'This service is paid content provided only to subscribers. Would you like to connect to this service? '

On the other hand, as a result of the determination of S219, when the identification information of the access device included in the zone information received in step S213 from the relay device 200 and the identification information of the access device included in the content request message are the same, the corresponding terminal 100 Since it is a user's terminal located in a designated zone where free content can be provided, content can be provided to the corresponding terminal 100 without any authentication and billing processing.

The terminal 100 and the content providing server 300 continuously communicate, and when the terminal 100 is out of the designated zone, the content providing server 300 is transmitted to the terminal 100 as' out of the free service available area. . You may be able to provide guidance messages such as 'Do you want to switch to paid content service?'.

In addition, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it has been described as an example that the relay device 200 transmits the corresponding zone information in a predetermined cycle unit to the content providing server 300, but is not limited thereto, and the content providing server 300 According to the request, the relay device 200 may provide zone information.

This will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

7 is a data flow diagram illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As described above, the terminal 100 is connected to the access device 400 (S301), and the relay device 200 can receive condition information from the content providing server 300 (S303). Then, the relay device 200 may request and receive status information from one or more access devices 400 (S305 to S307), and through the process as described above, the received status information and content providing server 300 Zone information for the content providing server 300 may be generated and stored using the condition information specified by S310 to S313. In this state, when the terminal 100 transmits a content request message to the content providing server 300 via the access device 400 (S315 to S317), the content providing server 300 is a zone designated as the relay device 200 Whether the information corresponds to the information is sent by querying the access device identification information included in the content request message (S319). Thereafter, when response information for the query is received from the relay device 200 (S321), the content providing server 3000 provides content to the terminal through the access device 400 according to the received response information, or recommends use of a paid service Message can be transmitted.

Hereinafter, an embodiment when the condition information is set by the operator device 600 that manages the access device 400 will be described.

8 is a data flow diagram illustrating a method for providing zone-based content according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, the operator device 600 transmits condition information to the relay device 200 (S401). Here, the condition information specified by the operator device 600 may further include identification information for one or more access devices 400, unlike the condition information specified by the content providing server 300. That is, the operator device 600 transmits the identification information of the access device 400 forming the zone managed by itself to the relay device 200 together, and provides the content providing server 300 to the terminal 100 located in the corresponding zone ) To request the service to the relay device 200 to use the paid content for free.

Upon receiving this, the relay device 300 stores the condition information transmitted from the operator device 600 and requests and receives status information from the access device 400 connected to the one or more terminals 100 (S403) (S405 ~ S407).

At this time, the relay device 200 does not request status information from all the access devices 400 managed by itself, but requests and receives status information from the operator device 600 to the designated access device 400. Here, the relay device 200 may request and collect status information in consideration of the condition information provided from the operator device 600. For example, when the condition information includes information on the content providing time, the relay device 200 may request and collect status information on the access device 400 at the time or immediately before the time. have.

Thereafter, the relay device 200 generates zone information using the collected status information S409 and the condition information specified by the operator device 600 (S411). The zone information includes identification information for the access device 400 and information for providing paid content for free. For example, when the condition information provided from the user device 600 includes the number of connected terminals (for example, less than 3), information on the number of contents provided (for example, 10 times), and the content type (music service), The relay device 200 checks the number of connected terminals to the status information received from the access device 400, and when the number of connected terminals is 10, does not generate zone information. On the other hand, when the number of connected terminals corresponds to the condition information, the relay device 200 may generate zone information including identification information for the access device 400 and information on the number of times the content is provided.

Thereafter, the relay device 200 may transmit the generated zone information to the corresponding content providing server 300, that is, the content providing server 300 that provides a music service (S413). Thereafter, when the terminal 100 transmits a content request message to the content providing server 300 via the access device 400 (S415 to S417), the content providing server 300 receives from the relay device 200 in step S413. It is checked whether it is the same as the identification information of the access device included in the zone information (S419). As a result of the determination, if they are not the same, a guide message is transmitted to the terminal 100 via the access device 400 (S421 to S423). Here, the guidance message is, for example, 'This service is paid content provided only to subscribers. Would you like to connect to this service? '

On the other hand, in the same case, the content providing server 300 may provide the content to the terminal 100 via the access device 400.

In addition, the relay device 200 provides information on the content providing server 300 mapped to the operator device 600, so that the operator device 600 does not access the unspecified number of terminals connected to the access device 400 ( 100) The user may be guided to recognize, and may induce access to the user's access device 400. For example, a business operator operating a restaurant may use an A music service free of charge through a predetermined external output device. You can induce general users to use the service by outputting a guide phrase such as 'Please come in and use it'.

According to the zone-based content providing method of the present invention, a relay device connected to a plurality of access devices forming a zone generates and classifies zone information according to specified condition information, and then provides it to a content providing server, thereby providing content It is possible to provide paid content free of charge to a terminal located in a specific zone more easily, without the need for the server to build and manage special information.

The method for providing zone-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

The method for providing zone-based content of the present invention as described above may be provided in the form of a computer-readable medium suitable for storing computer program instructions and data. A program recorded in a recording medium for implementing a zone-based content providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention transmits and receives information to and from one or more access devices, one or more operator devices managing the access devices, and one or more content providing servers, A relay device for providing zone information to a content providing server, the relay device collecting status information from the one or more access devices, and the relay device classifies the collected status information according to specified condition information to provide a zone ( zone) generating information and providing the generated zone information to a corresponding content providing server so that the relay device provides paid content free of charge from a content providing server to a terminal located in the corresponding zone.

At this time, the program recorded on the recording medium can be read, installed and executed on a computer to execute the above-described functions.

Here, in order for a computer to read a program recorded on a recording medium and execute functions implemented as a program, the above-described programs are C, C ++, which can be read by a computer's processor (CPU) through a computer's device interface, It may include code coded in a computer language such as JAVA or machine language.

Such code may include a function code related to a function defining functions described above, and the like, and control code related to an execution procedure necessary for a processor of a computer to execute the functions described above according to a predetermined procedure. In addition, the code may further include memory reference-related code as to which location (address address) of the computer's internal or external memory should be referred to additional information or media necessary for the computer's processor to perform the functions described above. . In addition, when the processor of the computer needs to communicate with any other computer or server in the remote in order to execute the above-described functions, the code indicates that the computer's processor is in remote using the computer's communication module. It may further include communication-related codes on how to communicate with other computers or servers, and what information or media should be transmitted and received during communication.

Such computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include, for example, recording media such as hard media, magnetic media such as floppy disks and magnetic tapes (Magnetic Media), and CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory). , Optical Media such as DVD (Digital Video Disk), Magnetic-Optical Media such as Floptical Disk, and ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (RAM) , Random Access Memory, Flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), and semiconductor memory such as EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM). The processor and memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated into, special-purpose logic circuits.

The computer-readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In addition, functional programs for implementing the present invention and related codes and code segments, etc., programmers in the technical field to which the present invention belongs, considering the system environment of a computer that reads a recording medium and executes the program It can be easily inferred or changed by.

This specification includes details of many specific implementations, but these should not be understood as limiting on the scope of any invention or claim, but rather as a description of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment of the particular invention. It should be understood. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments may be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable subcombination. Further, although features may operate in a particular combination and may be initially depicted as so claimed, one or more features from the claimed combination may in some cases be excluded from the combination, and the claimed combination subcombined. Or sub-combinations.

Likewise, although the operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, it should not be understood that such operations should be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all shown actions should be performed in order to obtain desirable results. In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components of the above-described embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the described program components and systems will generally be integrated together into a single software product or packaged in multiple software products. You should understand that you can.

The present invention relates to a content providing service, and more particularly, to a relay device and method for providing zone-based content capable of providing paid content for free to a user located in a specific zone.

According to the present invention, a relay device connected to a plurality of access devices forming a zone generates and classifies zone information according to specified condition information, and then provides it to a content providing server, so that the content providing server constructs and manages different information It is possible to provide paid content free of charge to a terminal located in a specific zone more easily without having to do so.

Through this, the present invention can contribute to the development of the content service industry. In addition, the present invention is not only sufficient for commercial or commercial possibilities, but also practically and clearly, so it has industrial applicability.

10: zone 100: terminal 200: relay device
210: communication interface 220: relay storage 230: zone management
240: relay processing unit 300: content providing server
310: server communication unit 320: service control unit
330: user management unit 340: server storage unit
400: connection device 500: communication network
600: operator device 610: device communication unit
620: device input unit 630: device control unit
640: device storage unit 650: device output unit
1000: content providing system

Claims (10)

A communication interface unit for transmitting and receiving information with one or more access devices, one or more operator devices managing the access devices, and one or more content providing servers; And
Status information is collected from the one or more access devices through the communication interface, and the collected status information is classified according to specified condition information to generate zone information for the access device, and the corresponding zone is provided by the content providing server. Includes a zone management unit for providing the generated zone information to a corresponding content providing server to provide paid content free of charge to a terminal located in;
The zone management department
The status information received from the access device is accumulated and collected for a period of time, an average value of variable information among the collected state information is calculated, and the calculated average value and the remaining status information are used to connect to the access device. A relay device for providing zone-based content, characterized in that it is generated with zone information. According to claim 1,
The variable information
A relay device for providing zone-based content, characterized in that it is at least one of a traffic load and the number of currently connected terminals. According to claim 1,
The status information
A relay device for providing zone-based content, comprising at least one of access device identification information, access device location information, traffic load, active user information, and serviced data types. According to claim 1,
The specified condition information is
As specified by the operator device or the content providing server, the content providing time, the content providing frequency, the number of terminals connected to the access device, the connected user information, the connected terminal information, the access device location information, and the access device identification information A relay device for providing zone-based content, characterized in that. According to claim 1,
The zone management department
A relay device for providing zone-based content, characterized by providing information on a content providing server connected to the access device or a corresponding operator device managing the access device. According to claim 1,
The zone management department
A relay device for providing zone-based content, characterized by requesting and receiving status information from a corresponding access device selected according to the condition information. In the relay device for transmitting and receiving information with at least one access device, at least one operator device for managing the access device and at least one content providing server, and providing zone information to the content providing server,
The relay device collecting status information from the one or more access devices;
Generating, by the relay device, zone information by classifying the collected status information according to specified condition information; And
Including the step of providing the generated zone information to the corresponding content providing server so that the relay device provides paid content free of charge from the content providing server to the terminal located in the corresponding zone.
The step of generating the zone information is
The relay device accumulates and collects status information received from the access device for a period of time, calculates an average value for variable information among the collected status information, and uses the calculated average value and the remaining status information Zone-based content providing method characterized in that it is generated as zone information for the access device. The method of claim 7,
Before the step of collecting the status information,
Receiving, by the relay device, condition information from the operator device or the content providing server;
Zone-based content providing method further comprising a. delete A computer-readable recording medium recording a program executing the method for providing zone-based content according to any one of claims 7 to 8.

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