KR20000034381A - Method for recording the using information of vod service - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for recording the using information of VOD(Video On Demand) service is provided to calculate variable using fee according service providing time by recording the service using information. CONSTITUTION: A method for recording the using information of VOD service comprises steps of: (202)recording an IP address, an ID, a start time of a subscriber in a table of a service using information recorder right before service start if the subscriber requires the service; (204)calculating using fee of present service by using fee information and using time in end time of the service; (205)calling the service termination mode and (206)searching null records by using the IP address and the ID; and (207)recording present time and using fee in a record field.

Description

On-demand video service usage information recording method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to video on demand (VOD) services, and more particularly, to a method of recording on-demand video service usage information that records usage time and fee information of a service provided to each subscriber by a plurality of servers.

Video-on-demand service uses digital interactive cable television service technology instead of the conventional analog method to provide the information (eg, video information, etc.) that a television viewer needs at a desired time.

A system for implementing such an on-demand video service includes an information provider consisting of a large capacity server capable of storing and transmitting information, a service provider such as a television broadcasting station, and information requested from a service provider through a network. A delivery system provider for simultaneously delivering to a large number of television users at high speed, a television user or subscriber using service information provided from the delivery system provider.

In the above-described configuration, an information provider (or business operator) having at least one server and providing on-demand video services to a plurality of subscribers needs to continuously manage usage information on which subscriber has used which service and for how long. . This is because it helps to set the direction of business by charging subscribers for the services provided and analyzing the performance of each program.

Therefore, in the past, a service usage time recording method for recording and managing a service ID (IDentification), service start time and end time using a subscriber's IP (Internet Protocol) address based on the subscriber's request every time has been proposed. The information provider can charge each subscriber or analyze the service usage by each program. At this time, the usage fee is calculated by using the time information recorded by the above-described recording method and the fee (or billing) information managed separately for each program on the server side.

However, the rate information managed by the server side is to manage only the amount currently set for each program. That is, in the case of a new program, more users want to use it, so the usage fee is relatively expensive, and in the case of the old program, the user fee is reduced so that the user fee is discounted to some extent than the price originally set. If the usage fee is changed in this way, the server side updates the usage fee for the corresponding program to the changed usage fee and does not manage the previous usage fee.

Therefore, when the information provider wants to calculate the total income for each program, there is a problem that an accurate calculation result cannot be obtained for the program whose usage fee is changed as described above. For example, if a program was charged for 500 won from January 1, 1998 to March 31, 98, and the fee was changed to 300 won on April 1, 1998, the server will If the information provider wants to calculate the gross income from January 1998 to November 30, 1998 for the program, the total usage time for the period is 300 won. Since the total income of the program is calculated, the fee charged from January 1 to March 31, 1998 is also calculated as 300 won, and the usage fee added for three months is incorrectly calculated.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, the on-demand video service usage information for recording the service usage information to calculate the usage fee reflecting the variable usage fee according to the service providing time for each program in the on-demand video service system Its purpose is to provide a method of recording.

In order to achieve the above object, the method according to the present invention provides a service usage information each time a given server provides a service to a predetermined subscriber in an operation structure in which a plurality of servers can provide a video service on demand to a plurality of subscribers. A system comprising a service usage information recording apparatus for recording a service, wherein when a predetermined subscriber requests a service for a predetermined program, the service usage information recording apparatus is provided immediately before the start of the service from a predetermined server providing the predetermined program. The service start module is called to record an internet protocol (IP) address, identification information (ID) of a service being serviced, and a service start time for a predetermined subscriber in a usage information table provided in the service usage information recording device. step; At a service termination point for a predetermined program, calculating a fee for a currently provided service using fee information and a service usage time corresponding to a predetermined program; immediately after the fee is calculated, The server calls the service termination module provided in the service usage information recording apparatus and uses the Internet protocol (IP) address and the program identification information (ID) for a predetermined subscriber. Searching for a null record in the recorded end time recording field; recording a current time and a usage fee in an end time recording field of the searched record.

1 is a block diagram of an on-demand video service system for performing a method according to the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recording on-demand video service usage information according to the present invention.

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawing>

10_1 to 10_n: Server 100: On-demand video service usage information recording device

110: usage information table 120: service start module

130: service termination module

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of an on-demand video service system for performing a method of recording on-demand video service usage information according to the present invention. The server 1 to server n (10_1 to 10_n) for providing a service and an on-demand video service usage information recording device ( 100).

The on-demand video service usage information recording apparatus 100 records a usage information table 110 in which information regarding service usage is recorded, and is called from a corresponding server immediately before service start, and records information related to a service start time in the usage information table 110. The service start module 120 is configured to include a service end module 130 which is called from the corresponding server at the service end time and records information related to the service end time in the usage information table 110.

In addition, the usage information table 110, as shown in Table 1 according to the present invention, the ip field for recording the Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol (hereinafter abbreviated as ip)) address of the subscriber who uses the service, and ID (IDentification) of the serviced program. A plurality of records consisting of a svc_id field to record, a start_time record field to record a service start time, an end_time record field to record a service end time, and a using fee field Will be provided.

ip svc_id start_time end_time using fee : : : : : 111.111.111.4 2 1998/1/2 8:25 PM 1998/1/2 9:36 PM 5000 111.111.111.26 7 1998/1/2 9:16 PM 1998/1/2 10:06 PM 3670 : : : : :

In the ip field of Table 1, the IP address of the subscriber is recorded in string format (for example, 111.111.111.4, 111.111.111.26), and the service ID is recorded in integer format in svc_id. That is, an integer service ID such as '1, 2, 3, 4, ....' assigned by the information provider for each program is recorded. The start_time field records the date (year / month / day) and time (hour: minute AM (afternoon)) at which the service began to be provided, and the end_time field records the date and time when the service was terminated. The information is recorded at the time when the service is terminated or an unexpected error occurs and the service is abnormally terminated. In addition, in the using fee field, the total usage fee calculated using the service usage time and the current fee information of the program receiving the service is recorded.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recording on-demand video service usage information according to the present invention.

Next, the operation of the method illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

First, when each server 10_1 to 10_n receives a service request from a legitimate subscriber, the server 10_1 to 10_n proceeds to step 201 before providing the service to the subscriber, and starts the service start module 120 of the video service usage information recording apparatus 100 on demand. ). In operation 202, the IP address value (@ip) and the service ID value (@svc_id) of the subscriber are transmitted to the service start module 120.

After the service start module 120 is called from the predetermined server, the IP address value (@ip) and service ID value (@svc_id) and service start time of the subscriber received from the calling server are received. The following SQL (Standard Query Language) query statement 1 is executed to record in the field, the svc_id field, and the start_time field, respectively.

SQL query 1:

INSERT o_usage (ip, svc_id, start_time) VALUES (@ ip, @ svc_id, GETDATE ())

As the above-described SQL query 1 is performed, a new record in which the new subscriber IP address, the service ID, and the current time information is recorded is generated in the usage information table 110. At this time, the current time information to be recorded is recorded in the start_time recording field.

Then, if the corresponding service is terminated, the corresponding server proceeds to step 204 through step 203 and the time difference between the time when the service start module 120 is called and the time when the current service is terminated and the program provided with the service. Calculate the usage fee of the currently provided service using the current usage fee information. That is, the service fee is calculated by multiplying the above time difference and the fee information.

In step 205, the service termination module 130 in the on-demand video service usage information recording apparatus 100 is called. When the service termination module 130 is called from the predetermined server, the process proceeds to step 206 in which the end_time field is empty by using the subscriber's IP address (@ip) received from the calling server and the ID of the corresponding service (@svc_id). null) Search for records in the usage information table 110.

If the corresponding record is found, the service termination module 130 proceeds to step 207 to execute the next SQL query 2.

SQL query 2:

UPDATE o_usage SET end_time = GETDATE (), using_fee = @ using_fee (1)

WHERE ip = @ ip AND svc_id = @ svc_id AND end_time = NULL (2)

Accordingly, the service termination module 130 is a condition that the service end time (end_time) is null with the IP address value (@ip) and the ID value (@svc_id) of the subscriber received from the corresponding server. The current time is recorded in the end time recording field of the record satisfying the above, and the usage fee calculated in step 204 is recorded in the usage fee field.

When the service usage information of the plurality of subscribers is recorded in the usage information table 110 by repeating the above-described steps 201 to 207, the on-demand video service provider (information provider) is provided from the servers 10_1 to 10_n owned by the own. It is possible to facilitate billing for subscribers who have received the service, and can calculate the actual gross income for each program accurately regardless of the change in the usage fee set for the service program for each period.

As described above, the present invention records the usage time and the usage fee for each service that is serviced in the video service system on demand, so that the video service provider can easily charge the usage fee for each subscriber, and at the request of the subscriber. It is possible to provide a list of usage hours and current usage fees, and to calculate the total revenue for each program to take into account the profitability of each program, it is possible to accurately calculate the total revenue generated within the desired period regardless of whether the usage fee of the program is changed. There is an advantage.

Claims (1)

In an operation structure in which a plurality of servers can provide on-demand video services to a plurality of subscribers, a system having a service usage information recording device for recording service usage information whenever a predetermined server provides a service to a predetermined subscriber. In When the predetermined subscriber requests a service for a predetermined program, a service start module provided in the service usage information recording device is called immediately before service start from a predetermined server providing the predetermined program to call the service usage information. Recording an internet protocol (IP) address, identification information (ID) of a service being serviced, and a service start time of the predetermined subscriber in a usage information table provided in a recording device; Calculating, by the predetermined server, at a service termination point of the predetermined program, a usage fee for a currently provided service by using usage fee information and a service using time corresponding to the predetermined program; Immediately after the usage fee is calculated, the predetermined server calls a service termination module provided in the service usage information recording device, and supplies an Internet Protocol (IP) address and program identification information (ID) for the predetermined subscriber. Retrieving a null record in an end time recording field in which a service end time is recorded among records existing in the usage information table by using the same; And recording a current time and a usage fee in the end time recording field of the searched record.