KR20030003314A - Wireless pda service system using thin client architecture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A wireless PDA(Personal Digital Assistance) system using a thin client architecture is provided to download and store desired mass data, and to facilitate the management of e-mail. Also the wireless PDA is provided to operate various programs. CONSTITUTION: Wireless PDA terminals(101-103) transceive data with gateway servers(111,112) using a wireless communication network. The gateway servers(111,112) drive corresponding application existing in the gateway servers(111,112) by using the wireless PDA terminals(101-103) according to the request of a user. If necessary, the gateway servers(111,112) request contents provider servers(121-123) in which related contents is stored to send corresponding contents. The contents provider servers(121-123) receive the request of sending corresponding contents and transmit the corresponding contents to the gateway servers(111,112). And the gateway servers(111,112) convert the received contents into a wireless data format to transmit the converted contents to the wireless PDA terminals(101-103) through the wireless communication network.

Description

Wireless PDA service system using thin client architecture {WIRELESS PDA SERVICE SYSTEM USING THIN CLIENT ARCHITECTURE}

The present invention relates to a wireless PDA service system using a thin client architecture, and more particularly, to a wireless PDA service system in which a PDA terminal and a gateway server wirelessly transmit and receive data to each other, and processing of the data is performed at the gateway server. will be.

The first use of the term "PDA (Personal Digital Assistance)" dates back to 1993 when Apple announced the original Newton at the Macworld Expo in Boston. Since then, the term has been used interchangeably with terms such as palmtop computer, handheld PC, pocket computer, palm PC, etc., and has recently become a concept encompassing all these terms.

While PDAs usually have built-in Personal Information Management (PIM) features such as calendar, address book, and notepad, the operating system and applications are separated, and third-party applications are installed. It is different from the conventional electronic notebook in that it is an independent computing platform designed with software and hardware for use. It is also designed to perform secondary computer roles on the go, on the premise that a user's primary computer is a desktop PC or laptop, to install new applications or to synchronize data in a subordinate connection to a desktop or laptop computer. It's also different from mini-notebooks and sub-notebooks.

New changes in PDAs started at Microsoft. Microsoft's release of Windows CE has enabled many PDA users to work in a consistent user interface from PDAs to server computers. As a result, HP, Casio, Philips, Compaq, NEC, LG and other major domestic and foreign hardware companies have been competing to develop Windows CE hardware, and the multimedia function of PDA has emerged as an important topic. Windows CE-based PDAs offer a variety of multimedia features, including color display and still images, WAV, MP3, and multimedia file playback. As a result, applications that were previously only available on desktops and laptops are becoming available on PDAs. However, there are problems such as the operating system kernel, the inefficient use of the hardware, and the high hardware specification, which are still burdensome for the PDA, and therefore, a new alternative is required.

As PDA makers and digital media are oriented toward wired to wireless, wireless communication is becoming important in the PDA's communication function. The first product that integrates wireless data communications and PDAs into a device is Nokia's 'Communicator', but it does not have an open operating system, so application software is not scalable. Therefore, it is closer to a mobile phone than a PDA, and the PIM function and the e-mail function are added.

Apart from this, the combination of PDA and communication device is simply called 'pdQ' released by Qualcomm in 1998. pdQ is a PalmOS licensed application for Qualcomm's mobile phones. It has the advantage of using all PalmOS software as well as wireless data communications. PDAs have the potential to connect and communicate with cell phones or wireless modems if they originally use a PC card slot, serial port, or infrared port.

However, the full-fledged wireless communication PDA is PalmComputing's 'Palm VII' released in 1999. This product is not a combination of PDA and mobile phone, but the wireless data communication function embedded in the PDA itself. Internet access is available through.

In addition, Windows CE and PalmOS 'compatible handheld' Visor ', including other compatible models of PalmOS, are moving to adopt a short-range wireless communication technology called Bluetooth.

As the mobile functions of PDAs are highlighted, the implementation of the wireless Internet environment available in PDAs is becoming an essential task to be solved this year. Although the number of wireless Internet users using mobile phones has already exceeded 15 million in South Korea, there are still more imaginary numbers than actual users because of the constraints such as billing system, contents and terminals. For this reason, the market is regarded as an attractive market that should take the lead in life and death for major PDA equipment providers, mobile operators, content providers and service providers. Recently, a wireless PDA (wireless PDA), which combines the voice telephone function of a conventional mobile phone and the data communication function of a PDA, has emerged, such as a terminal called a temporary mobile communicator (PMC). The built-in CDMA module provides a transfer rate of 64 Kbps, enabling Internet services such as e-mail and web browsing.

However, most PDAs currently developed have independent operating systems, and have customized programs (eg, address books) that are independent of the corresponding PDA. Users are dissatisfied because existing PDAs, which mimic desktop computers a lot, have poor storage capacity and slower networks than desktop computers. Compared to notebook computers, PDAs do not function as personal managers because of their limited application.

Moreover, wireless PDAs that are driven by the application of wireless communication technology are subject to many limitations due to the performance limitations of the PDA itself.

The present invention is to provide a PDA that can download and store a large amount of data desired by the user, easily manage e-mail, and run a variety of programs in order to solve such problems.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is to overcome the problems of the conventional PDA by performing a part of the operation in another system, not an approach through the performance improvement of the PDA device having a fundamental limitation.

1 is a block diagram of a processing flow of data transmitted and received in a wireless PDA service system according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing technical specifications used for data transmission between a wireless PDA terminal and a gateway server according to the present invention;

3 is a block diagram illustrating data transmission and reception with a gateway server when a wireless PDA terminal according to the present invention uses an embedded Linux OS as its operating system.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a web browser operation during a data communication process of a wireless PDA according to the present invention.

5 is a conceptual diagram of data transmission and reception made by calling a specific content provider server by accessing a corresponding gateway server according to the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating data transmission and reception in a wireless data service network according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

101, 102, 103: Wireless PDA

111, 112: gateway server

121,122,123: content provider server

601: base station controller / mobile communication switch

621: base station

1 is a block diagram illustrating a processing flow of data transmitted and received in a wireless PDA service system according to the present invention. The wireless PDA terminals 101-103 transmit and receive data to and from the gateway servers 111 and 112 using a wireless communication network. In addition, the gateway servers 111 and 112 use a wireless PDA terminal 101-103 to run a corresponding application in the gateway servers 111 and 112 as required by the user, and if necessary, a content provider server that stores related contents and the like ( 121-123) to send the content. The requested content provider servers 121 to 123 transmit the corresponding content to the requested gateway server 111 and 112. The gateway servers 111 and 112 convert the received content into a wireless data format and transmit the converted content to the wireless PDA terminals 101 to 103 through a wireless communication network.

As described above, the wireless PDA service system according to the present invention adopts a thin client / server system that executes applications in the gateway servers 111 and 112, not on the terminal side. Specifically, the present invention implements the thin client / server architecture in such a way that the wireless PDA terminals 101-103 become clients and the gateway server becomes a server. Therefore, the wireless PDA terminals 101-103 can be regarded as simply terminals capable of outputting a result (display, sound, etc.). The wireless PDA terminals 101-103 are used as a front end to the user, and actual work (application driving) is performed in the gateway servers 111 and 112.

The wireless PDA terminals 101-103 are equipped with a simple operating system and terminal client software capable of processing output such as screens and sounds, which are processing results received from a server, in a small hardware. In addition, the wireless PDA terminals 101-103 include a wireless communication device and a solution thereof, and use a wireless method in data communication with a server.

The gateway servers 111 and 112 receive data transmitted through the wireless communication equipment of the wireless PDA terminals 101-103. At this time, since the wireless communication is carried out, the terminal-base station-controller or the like may be used by a wireless communication device such as CDMA technology or the like, and a satellite connection method that is in the spotlight as a next-generation technology may be used. That is, when data of the wireless PDA terminals 101-103 are received by the existing wireless communication equipment, the data is transmitted to the gateway servers 111 and 112.

In a preferred embodiment, since the IMT-2000 has been developed to increase the frequency utilization efficiency and to be used even at high speeds at a speed of 2 Mbps, data exchange is possible using this. In a specific network configuration, an existing wireless telephone network may be used. In this case, an address and an identifier may be inserted into the data packet to be transmitted to the gateway servers 111 and 112.

Voltization of the IMT-2000 backbone network may be adopted to ensure more stable realization and avoid network complexity.

Specifically, when data is transmitted from the wireless equipment of the wireless PDA terminals 101-103 to the base station by using wireless communication, the data may be transmitted to the ATM network switch to export voice traffic and data packets to separate logical channels. In this case, the data packet is transmitted to the gateway servers 111 and 112 through the packet switch, and the voice traffic is transmitted to the ISDN / PTSN through the network in the existing wireless network.

In another preferred embodiment, if the voice traffic does not have to be central, it may be accommodated in the IP backbone network. In this case, the voice traffic is also carried in the data packet and forwarded to the IP network through the packet switch, and forwarded from the IP network to the gateway servers 111 and 112 for processing.

The gateway servers 111 and 112 match the data packet with a dedicated CP server and a transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), and then connect with a general server (not shown), for example, a web server, to request web information (url). Receive information from the web server. The gateway servers 111 and 112 convert the digital image and various tags, etc. contained in the information, and transmit the converted images to the wireless PDA terminals 101-103. The wireless PDA terminals 101-103 receive it and display it on the display device.

When the gateway servers 111 and 112 and the wireless PDA terminals 101 to 103 transmit and receive data, the wireless communication network may be configured as follows.

6 is a block diagram illustrating data transmission and reception in a wireless data service network according to the present invention. The wireless PDA terminals 101-103 transmit data to the base station 621, and the base station transmits the data to the base station controller / mobile communication switch 601, and according to the region, the metropolitan area-IWF 613 and the branch-IWF ( 612, and are transmitted to the gateway servers 111 and 112 through the P-IWF 611.

If the fourth generation mobile communication, which is currently under discussion, is realized and a speed of 10 Mbps is realized, the service according to the present invention can be more stably processed.

In another preferred embodiment, the wireless PDA terminals 101-103 transmit data wirelessly to the base station, which in turn transmits the data signal to the satellite, and the satellite transmits this data signal to the Satellite Operations Center. This signal is relayed to the gateway servers 111 and 112 associated with the PDA terminal.

The gateway servers 111 and 112 receive a data signal to drive a corresponding program, for example, a wireless PDA dedicated web browser, and subsequently operate the corresponding application according to data signals and information transmitted from the wireless PDA terminals 101 to 103. At this time, in the case of surfing the Internet or accessing a database, the gateway servers 111 and 112 are connected to the content provider server 121-123 by wire or wirelessly.

As shown in the figure, a data signal is communicated between a server and a PDA through a wireless communication method. The system is basically similar to the computing system of the server-terminal structure of the 1960s. The wireless PDA is just a terminal, and all resources and tasks are handled by a central server. The wireless PDA only shows the user the output processed by the central server, and is a device that receives input from the user. Wireless PDA applies the existing server-terminal structure system to modern wireless communication. Wireless PDA communicates data with the server as wireless, and most of the work is performed by the server.

The system of this embodiment may also be referred to as a thin client system, which, unlike the current client-server relationship in a distributed system, known as a thick client system, handles all data and applications on the server. This is because the wireless PDA is simply a terminal for displaying only the processing result.

Such a thin client system is currently being used as a core technology of the ASP (Application Service Provider) business in the Microsoft product line using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). However, Microsoft Corporation has been able to access the Windows server product line and view the execution screen of the application program on the client side. It has been installed as a basic service since the Windows 2000 server product line. However, while Microsoft's thin client system simply delays the running of Windows-based applications on the server side, the present invention applies this technique to overcome the limitations of PDAs.

For example, Linux RDP (T.128 Draft-Application sharing Protocol, T.125 Draft-Multipoint Communication Service, RFC905-ISO DP 8073 Transport Protocol, RFC2126-ISO Transport on TCP) and RDP client programs can be used.

Such a wireless PDA system has many advantages over existing wireless PDAs. First of all, the storage capacity is not limited. Since all the applications themselves exist in the server, and the wireless PDA terminal drives it using wireless communication and receives and outputs only the result data, the storage capacity of the server becomes the storage capacity of the wireless PDA, thus increasing the scalability. Of course, it is possible to improve the wireless PDA itself, but the user can actually upgrade to the existing wireless PDA by only upgrading the operating system of the server without replacing the wireless PDA. In addition, since the actual data processing is substantially performed in the server, it is possible to easily run a variety of applications. This is in contrast to conventional PDAs, which have had limitations in loading applications because of limited memory.

Job files are stored on the server, allowing users to continue working on a networked desktop computer. If a user previously has the same file on both an existing PDA and a desktop computer (for example, a database such as an address book) and changes it on the PDA, the user must update the data on the desktop by sending the file back to the desktop computer. did. However, in the system according to the present invention, since data is stored on a server, even when connected to a desktop computer instead of a PDA, it is much easier to retrieve the corresponding file over a network and store it again on the server.

The wireless PDA itself is responsible for only a small amount of operations, so there is no need to load other large-capacity applications, and unlike existing PCs or other computer-related devices, where CPU performance is constantly required for high-speed applications, High speed is not required. Also, no large amount of memory is required. Therefore, the price of the wireless PDA terminal can be kept low.

2 is a block diagram showing technical specifications used for data transmission between a wireless PDA terminal 101-103 and a gateway server according to the present invention. An embodiment of a technical specification used for data transmission between the wireless PDA 101-103, the gateway servers 111 and 112, and the CP servers 121-123 is shown.

In this embodiment, the present invention supports a cross-platform application. For example, a system is constructed as shown in FIG. 2 in order to enable communication compatibility between an application running on a Microsoft Corp. Windows operating system and an application running on a Linux operating system.

The wireless PDA 101-103 in Fig. 2 uses an embedded Linux operating system, for example. Here, the embedded Linux operating system is not an operating system running on a general PC but refers to a Linux-based operating system designed so that the wireless PDA can perform optimal performance in this system. For example, to build an embedded Linux operating system, use Strong ARM as the CPU of Wireless PDA, use Linux Kernel 2.2.x or 2.4.x as Kernel, XFree86 3.3.x or 4.0.x in X-Window. Can be used.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gateway servers 111 and 112 and the CP servers 121-123 support a cross platform. Cross-platform support means applying or introducing technologies or methods used in one platform to another platform. This approach enables data sharing across multiple operating systems (in this embodiment, Linux and WINDOWS 2000). For cross-platforms, you can have data transfer between the two modules, Linux programming and Windows programming, using the RDP protocol. That is, in the present embodiment, the CP server 121-123 and the gateway server 111, 112 are constructed to be compatible with data communication between Linux and WINDOWS 2000, and interwork with each other, thereby processing data based on Windows and outputting the image to the wireless PDA. Alternatively, the data can be transmitted to the wireless PDA as compressed data.

3 is a block diagram showing data transmission and reception with a gateway server when the wireless PDA terminal 101-103 according to the present invention uses an embedded Linux OS as its operating system. The wireless PDA terminal 101-103 uses an embedded Linux OS as its operating system. Even when the gateway servers 111 and 112 are different from each other as the gateway server 111 based on Windows or the gateway server 112 based on Linux X-window, as shown in FIG. The wireless PDA terminals 101-103 of the present invention can easily transmit and receive data with both servers.

The technique used in the system specifically described above is only one embodiment, which is in no way intended to limit the claims of the present invention thereto. Those skilled in the art are not limited thereto, and any modification can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a web browser operation during a data communication process of a wireless PDA according to the present invention. This shows how a user runs applications in gateway servers 111 and 112 using wireless PDA terminals 101-103.

The user turns on the power of the wireless PDA he is holding (201). A screen for selecting a gateway appears (202), and the user selects a gateway to log in from (203). Basically, the screen itself for setting the gateway is stored in the wireless PDA memory. This may be done by storing the latest updated gateway information and displaying it when the power is turned on, or by displaying a gateway that can be used in real time by receiving from a central control station through a wireless base station. It is possible.

The wireless PDA accesses the selected gateway server (204). The technical implementation method at the time of connection is as described above. Log in to the gateway server. By logging in, whether or not authentication succeeds (205) becomes a problem. If successful, an item of content provided by the corresponding gateway server is displayed as a menu (206). Thereafter, as described with reference to FIG. 1, the server processes data in such a manner that only the result is displayed on the wireless PDA. If the server is not running, or if the server capacity is exceeded, it will start again in step 202 if authentication fails.

After the wireless PDA succeeds in authentication, the method of running the application in the server may be implemented as in the following example.

According to the data received from the corresponding gateway server selected by the user, the web browser actually displayed on the user's LCD is not actually running on the wireless PDA, but only the screen of the web browser running on the server is output. The wireless PDA terminal 101-103 transmits input information indicating that the user has executed the web browser to the server via wireless. The server receiving the input information runs a web browser. After the web browser has finished running, the server sends the processed screen to the wireless PDA again. Since the user sees the web browser running through the wireless PDA, the user may think that the web browser is executed in his wireless PDA, but in reality, it shows only the execution of the web browser connected to the wireless PDA. .

5 is a conceptual diagram of data transmission and reception performed by connecting to the corresponding gateway server 111 and calling a specific content provider server 121 (actually, a directory of contents contained in the content provider server). In the display A of the wireless PDA terminal 101, the user recognizes the contents directory of the content provider server 121 as icons B and C as shown in FIG. 5 and selects them using a touch pen or other input device. Can be. When the icon (C) is selected as shown in FIG. 5, the gateway server 111 which has received the selection information by wireless communication calls the corresponding content provider server 121 accordingly, and the called content provider server 121 is connected thereto. Accordingly, the first list L, which is the highest list of the content provider server 121, is automatically sent to the gateway server 111, and the gateway server 111 supports the cross platform as described above. After converting the data in a manner suitable to 101, the data is transmitted to the corresponding wireless PDA terminal 101 using a wireless communication network.

However, the above embodiment is only one example of specific embodiments in the present invention, and the embodiment may be modified in various ways. The manner of specifying the content provider server may be selected from a textual selection list rather than an icon. Instead of showing the top-level list for each content provider server, a top-level directory is set for each subject like a portal on an existing web, and a content provider server to be selected automatically is selected at each content selection. On top of that, you don't have to know which content provider server you choose.

The method of searching for specific content in the content provider server is the same as the directory selection or search method of the existing web portal.

The technique used in the system specifically described above is only one embodiment, which is in no way intended to limit the claims of the present invention thereto. Those skilled in the art are not limited to this, and any modification can be made within the technical idea of the present invention.

Such a wireless PDA system has the following advantages over existing wireless PDAs.

1) The storage capacity is infinite. Since all the applications themselves exist in the server, and the wireless PDA terminal drives it using wireless communication and receives and outputs only the result data, the storage capacity of the server becomes the storage capacity of the wireless PDA, so there is practically no limit on the storage capacity. .

2) Because wireless PDA itself is only responsible for small processing, there is no need to load other large-capacity applications, and unlike high-speed PCs and other computer-related devices that require continuous CPU speed for their applications Not required.

3) High scalability It is possible to improve the wireless PDA, but by upgrading only the server operating system without the user having to replace the wireless PDA, the user can perform better performance with his wireless PDA.

4) You can run unlimited applications. Unlike PDAs, which had limitations in application loading due to limited memory, they are not limited by memory.

5) The price of the wireless PDA terminal itself is cheap. This is achieved by reducing the cost of CPU, memory and so on.

6) Since the work files are stored on the server, the user can work continuously with a desktop computer connected to the network.

The system built using the gateway server also has the following advantages.

1) It is not restricted by the base operating system of the content provider server. Since the gateway server supports cross-platform, wireless PDA terminals can operate regardless of whether they are Linux-based or Windows-based.

2) With the upgrade of the gateway server, the performance of wireless PDA will also be expanded. The performance of the gateway server is possible because it is a thin client system that can define the limits of wireless PDA.

Claims (4)

In a wireless PDA service system using a thin client architecture, A content provider server for supplying content; A gateway server receiving content information from the content provider server and converting the content information into wireless data; A wireless communication network for transmitting the wireless data from the gateway server to a wireless PDA terminal; And And a wireless PDA terminal configured to receive and display the wireless data, wherein an application is driven in the gateway server. The wireless PDA service system of claim 1, wherein the gateway server runs a corresponding application according to an instruction from the wireless PDA terminal. The cross platform of claim 1, wherein the gateway server enables to convert data about the content from the content provider server into the wireless data regardless of an operating system of the content provider server. Wireless PDA service system. In a wireless PDA service system using a thin client architecture, A wireless PDA terminal wirelessly transmitting / receiving data to / from a gateway server and having a minimum storage and arithmetic unit for output; A wireless communication network for transmitting the wireless data from the wireless PDA terminal to the gateway server; The gateway server for executing a corresponding application in the gateway server in accordance with wireless data from the wireless PDA terminal; And And a content provider server for supplying content to the gateway server, wherein the gateway server requests data transmission from the content provider server according to the operation of the corresponding application, and sends data about the content from the content provider server. Wireless PDA service system characterized in that receiving.