KR20070015254A - Gateway system for mobile services on the open cellular network, and service method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A gateway system for a mobile service in a wireless open network and a service method thereof are provided to transmit a session ID received from a PM to a mobile terminal, maintain a communication session with the mobile terminal by using the session ID, receive contents from an application server by transmitting the session ID and a contents service request to a converter if receiving the contents service request including the session ID, thereby dynamically dealing with a service request from terminals of various standards, in which the type and version of hardware and software are different, and consistently providing the service to be suitable for the environment of the wireless terminals. A gateway system comprises the followings: a gateway(120) which receives a connection request including terminal information from a mobile terminal(110) and transmits contents converted according to the terminal information to the mobile terminal(110); a PM(Profile Manager)(130) which receives information about the point of time when the mobile terminal(110) is connected and the terminal information form the gateway(120) and transmits a session ID(Identification), generated by combining the connection time and the terminal information, to the gateway(120); and a converter(140) which searches for the terminal information corresponding to the session ID from the PM(130) and converts the contents received from an application server(150) according to the searched terminal information, and transmits the converted contents to the gateway(120).

Description

GATEWAY SYSTEM FOR MOBILE SERVICES ON THE OPEN CELLULAR NETWORK, AND SERVICE METHOD THEREOF}

1 is a block diagram of a mobile service model according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an operation flowchart of a gateway system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flow chart of a terminal registering a terminal and transmitting a session id according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a gateway processing a service request from a mobile terminal in which terminal registration and session id transmission of FIG. 3 are completed.

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

110: mobile terminal (client) 120: gateway

130: Profile Manager (PM) 140: Converter

150: application server

The present invention relates to a gateway for a mobile service, and more specifically, to a web service, a gateway for providing various application services as well as a web service regardless of the type of wired or wireless device used by a user in a wireless open network environment. It is about the service method.

The content service provided in the existing mobile environment is designed as a dedicated service according to the service provider operating the wireless communication network, and develops the serviceable content separately for each mobile phone type, and the information of the HTTP header variable in the gateway operated by these service providers. As a result, a web page that is browser-dependent to each device is created and provided.

In more detail, when a wireless device such as a mobile phone requests a wireless Internet or content service, the mobile phone generates user information (for example, user ID, terminal information, location information, or other hardware / software information) Transmit to the gateway operated by the cellular service provider. Subsequently, the gateway goes through an authentication procedure with the ID of the user information, and transmits the user information to the transcoder (converter) when ID authentication of the user information is successful. The transcoder transmits user information to a service provision server through the Internet, and receives selected content corresponding to the user information. The transcoder converts the content provided from the service provision server according to the user information and transmits it to the mobile phone through the gateway.

As such, the conventional mobile service is based on a communication service provider, and in order to provide a mobile service, it was possible only by signing a content supply (CP) contract with these service providers. However, with the recent opening of the wireless network, general operators have been able to serve contents through the wireless network.In this new environment, various contents are not established through the use of the basic service technology provided by the telecommunications operators, but by building their own gateway system. You must provide a service. In other words, in order to provide a content service through an open wireless network, a gateway system capable of providing content corresponding to terminal environments of various standards connected through wireless networks of various communication providers is required.

In addition, the current carrier-based mobile service has a structure that does not utilize the existing Internet service by providing a mobile-only content separately from the general Internet content. However, in the wired / wireless integrated environment according to the opening of the wireless network, it is required to provide a consistent content service environment that can accommodate them regardless of the user terminal environment, that is, whether the wired or wireless device. In other words, the content provided in the PC-based wired Internet environment can be provided directly to the mobile device in the technical scope possible, while at the same time avoiding the need for a separate change to the existing PC-based Internet service servers, There is a need for a system structure in which a specific service provider can provide contents serviced on the existing Internet to a mobile terminal without requiring any change to a corresponding server.

In addition, in such a wired / wireless integrated service environment, an efficient session establishment procedure for authentication of each terminal, reception and response of a service request, etc. will be required.

In order to solve the above problems, a first object of the present invention is to actively respond to service requests from terminals of various standards having different types and versions of hardware and software installed therein in an open wireless network environment, and in a wired environment. It is to make it possible to service the content being serviced consistently with the environment of these wireless terminals.

In addition, a second object of the present invention is to provide an efficient session establishment procedure that can perform authentication, reception and response of each terminal, etc. through the gateway in such a wired / wireless integrated service environment.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gateway system for converting the content managed by the application server in the wireless open network according to the terminal information to service the mobile terminal, the terminal information from the mobile terminal A gateway for receiving a connection request including and transmitting the converted content according to the terminal information to the mobile terminal; A profile manager which receives the access point of the mobile terminal and the terminal information from the gateway and delivers the session ID generated by combining the mobile terminal to the gateway; And a converter for retrieving terminal information corresponding to the session id from the profile manager, converting the content received from the application server according to the retrieved terminal information, and delivering the converted content to the gateway. The gateway transmits the session id received from the profile manager to the mobile terminal, maintains a communication session with the mobile terminal using the session id, and requests a content service request including the session id from the mobile terminal. Upon receipt, the session id and the content service request are transmitted to the converter to receive content from the application server.

In this case, it is preferable that the gateway creates a thread in charge of the mobile terminal that has received the access request, and connects the session id received from the profile manager with the thread to maintain a session for the mobile terminal.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for serving a mobile terminal by converting content managed by an application server according to terminal information, and receiving a connection request including terminal information from the mobile terminal and accessing the mobile terminal. A first step of generating a session ID (session id) by combining a viewpoint and the terminal information; Transmitting the generated session id to the mobile terminal; Receiving a content service request including the session id from the mobile terminal; A fourth step of retrieving terminal information using the session id received from the mobile terminal; A fifth step of transmitting the received service request to an application server to receive the corresponding content; Converting the content received from the application server according to the terminal information retrieved through the session id; And a seventh step of transmitting the converted content to the mobile terminal.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and like reference numerals refer to like or similar components throughout the drawings.

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a service model for a wired / wireless integrated service according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and includes a client, a mobile terminal 110, a gateway 120, a profile manager, and a profile manager. Hereinafter referred to as "PM" 130 and a gateway system consisting of a converter (140), and an application server (Application Server) 150. Meanwhile, FIG. 1 has shown the operation flow of the gateway system shown in FIG. 2 described below for reference, and details thereof will be described later with reference to FIG. 2.

First, the mobile terminal 110 has a hardware and software environment for providing a content service, and as described above, a wireless network operated by a wireless communication provider, for example, a wireless data network of a mobile phone service provider, a wireless LAN, and a portable Internet. The gateway 120 may be connected to the gateway 120 through Wibro. On the other hand, in the present invention, such a mobile terminal is not limited to a mobile phone, and includes a higher specification device, such as a smart phone, PDA, notebook.

Next, the gateway 120, the PM 130, and the converter 140 constitute a gateway system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention as described above.

The gateway 120 is connected to the mobile terminal 110 in a wireless environment through a wireless network. When the gateway 120 receives a service connection request from the terminal, the gateway 120 performs an authentication process and controls the PM 130 and the converter 140 to control a communication session. Establish. Then, the format conversion is received through the converter 140, and the content is transmitted to the terminal.

The PM 130 is an administrator for the terminal profile, and stores information related to the mobile terminal in advance, and plays a role of creating a session id in combination with time information of the timestamp based on the terminal information. In addition, the PM provides appropriate terminal information whenever there is a request for information from the converter 140 or other components to the terminal.

In response to the request of the gateway 120, the converter 140 receives the content serviced from the Internet and formats the content to be suitable for the environment of the mobile terminal 110. For example, based on a tag of the content received from the application server 150, the content can be converted according to the content format, transmission speed, resolution, file size, etc. supported by the mobile terminal. The conversion can be made accordingly. In addition, the converter may cache and store the pre-converted data, and use the same for a subsequent service request from the terminal or another terminal having the same specification.

The application server 150 is connected to the above-described gateway system to provide various application services including content services. The application server 150 may be separately provided from the outside of the above-described gateway system or included in the inside.

1 and 2, the operation of the gateway system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described sequentially.

As shown, first, the gateway 120 receives a service connection request from the mobile terminal 110 (S200). When the mobile terminal 110, which is a client, connects for the first time to use a mobile service, the identification information (id) and password (password) of the user are transmitted to the gateway 120, where the terminal information is a header of the connection request message. It is included in the (Header) information and transmitted together.

On the other hand, if the client is a mobile phone generates the terminal information itself when using the mobile phone browser, it may not be the case of a PDA-based client. Thus, the PDA client can be configured to read and transmit its terminal information from operating system (OS) information. For example, a PDA using WinCE as an operating system transmits information necessary for content conversion among registry information to the gateway 120.

In step S200, the gateway creates one thread for the terminal, and performs authentication processing for the terminal based on the received user ID and password. At this time, if authentication fails, the terminal handles an error and terminates the procedure. On the other hand, the authentication service may be performed by the gateway itself or through a separate server according to a known method.

Subsequent to step S200, the gateway 120 that has completed terminal authentication transmits a timestamp of the access time of the terminal that made the access request and header information including the terminal information to the PM 130. (S205). Meanwhile, the gateway may transmit the header information as it is so that the PM extracts the terminal information therefrom, or alternatively, the terminal may extract the terminal information from the header information and then pass the terminal information to the PM. However, any of these methods is substantially the same in that terminal information is transferred from the gateway to the PM.

The PM generates a session ID (SessionID) that can be uniquely identified using the terminal information and the timestamp. When the session id generated as described above receives a request for terminal information from other components in the gateway system, the session id identifies the terminal information and the access information and provides the information. And, preferably, the validity period of the session id can be set.

Next, the PM notifies the gateway of the session id generated as described above (S210). The gateway, which receives the session id, connects the session id to a thread in charge of processing the terminal, and maintains a softstate to communicate with the terminal. On the other hand, if the time stamp and the terminal information is transmitted to the PM in step S205 described above, but does not receive the session id for a predetermined time, the gateway processes as having failed to generate the session id, and notifies the terminal to this step (S200). You can start from the connection request of.

In addition, the gateway 120 transmits the session id received from the PM 130 to the terminal 110 (S215), and the terminal 120 recognizes the related information only with the session id in response to a request that is generated later. Share with. Accordingly, since the gateway maintains a communication session with the terminal which has already transmitted the terminal information through the thread in which the session id is combined, the transmission of the terminal information is not required for subsequent requests for the same terminal.

Subsequently, the terminal 110 receiving the session id transmits a service request for the content along with the session id to the gateway 120 (S220). The service request includes address information of the application server where the content is located. And file information. If the session id received from the terminal is invalid due to, for example, a period of time, etc., the gateway may perform error processing and start again from step S200. On the other hand, in step S220, since the authentication for the terminal has already been completed in step S200, the separate authentication procedure is not required.

In step S220, the gateway that receives the session id and the content request from the terminal transfers it to the converter (S225). Then, the converter requests the terminal information to the PM using the session id (S230), and receives the terminal information retrieved through the session id from the PM (S235). On the other hand, the request step (S230) of the terminal information is preferably performed before the content request to the application server, so that the converter may have the terminal information prior to receiving the content from the application server.

Next, the converter 140 receiving the content request according to the above-described step (S225) requests the corresponding content to the application server 150 (S240), and the request is the same as the method for requesting the content by the wired Internet user. Can be performed.

The application server 150 receiving the content request according to the above-described step (S240) in response to this (Response) and transmits the corresponding content to the converter 140 (S245). If the converter 140 cannot set the content type that cannot be properly converted in accordance with the mobile terminal, the converter 140 may not display the content type and may not receive the content.

On the other hand, steps S240 and S245 may be repeated several times through an appropriate download procedure according to the content as in the case of receiving content in the wired network.

The converter 140 receiving the content through the above-described step S245 converts the format of the content so as to be suitable for the corresponding terminal based on the terminal information identified by the session id, that is, the terminal profile. The converted content is delivered to the gateway (S250), and the gateway finally transmits it to the mobile terminal (S255). The content converted in this way is delivered through the gateway because the gateway maintains a connection path with the client of the mobile environment, so that the terminal can be correctly delivered even if the terminal moves.

Meanwhile, in the above-described steps (S225 to S240), the gateway 120 receiving the content request from the terminal 110 transfers the content request to the application server via the converter 140, but does not go through the converter as an alternative. If not, the gateway can make a direct request to the application server. Even in such a case, it is preferable that the converter receives information on at least the session id of the terminal according to the above-described step (S225) so that the terminal information necessary for the conversion can be obtained in advance, and the content is received from the gateway. The conversion can be performed according to the terminal information.

3 and 4, the operation of the gateway in the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process of registering terminal information by a gateway when a mobile terminal attempts to access a service. FIG. 4 illustrates a process of registering a terminal and transmitting a session id according to the process of FIG. It shows step by step the process of processing a service request.

First, referring to FIG. 3, when the mobile terminal approaches an initial state (S300) and inputs an id and a password, the gateway performs authentication through a user id and / or password (S305). At this time, if authentication is successful, creates a session for the current user and creates a thread in charge (S310). However, if the authentication fails in the above-described step (S305), the gateway notifies the mobile terminal of the authentication failure, and returns to the initial state (S300).

Subsequent to step S310, the gateway extracts basic information about the terminal from the header information transmitted from the terminal (S315), and transmits timestamp and header information or terminal information to the PM so that the PM generates a session id (S320). ).

Subsequently, when the PM generates a session id by combining the timestamp and the terminal information and responds, the gateway receives the session id (S325). If the session id is not answered, it is reset to the initial state as shown and returned. The gateway, having received the session id, registers it with the thread in charge of the corresponding terminal and combines it (S330), and transmits the session id to the client terminal (S335). When step S335 is completed, the gateway maintains a session connection with the terminal and enters a service waiting state for receiving a service request therefrom (S340).

Subsequently, referring to FIG. 4, if the gateway receives the session id and the service request within the valid time in the aforementioned standby state (S340), the gateway checks whether the session id is valid (S345). For example, as a result of confirming the validity of the session id according to a valid time or the like, if the session id is not valid, the terminal notifies it and returns to the initial state (S300).

When the validity of the session id is confirmed in step S345, the session id and the service request received from the terminal are transmitted to the converter (S350). When the above process is completed, the converter receives terminal information from the PM, requests content from the application server, and then receives content to perform format conversion. Accordingly, the gateway receives a response including the content specific to the terminal from the converter (S355), and transmits the response to the client (S360). When step S360 is completed, the gateway maintains a standby state as described above with step S340 (S365), and maintains the session in softstate for a valid time of a predetermined time, and takes charge of the session if there is no request for a predetermined time. Remove the thread that is.

On the other hand, in the above-described embodiment, the billing according to the service provided to the mobile terminal can be variously implemented according to the service policy of the network operator or the content service provider, etc., and the description thereof is not related to the main features of the present invention. Omit.

Although the preferred embodiment according to the present invention has been described above, this is merely exemplary and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. For example, each component constituting the gateway system according to the present invention, that is, the gateway, PM and converter, etc. may be individually implemented or two or more components may be integrally implemented. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the open wireless network environment, it is possible to actively respond to service requests from terminals of various standards having different types and versions of hardware and software installed therein, and are being serviced in a wired environment. There is an advantage that the content can be consistently serviced according to the environment of these wireless terminals. In particular, each content service provider operates the gateway system according to the present invention, so that the mobile service can be provided independently of the base technology of the communication network operator.

Furthermore, in such a wired / wireless integrated service environment, by effectively establishing and managing a session for receiving a service request from each terminal through the gateway, it is possible to prevent the middle speed transmission of terminal information.

Claims (8)

A gateway system that converts content managed by an application server according to terminal information in a wireless open network to serve a mobile terminal. A gateway for receiving an access request including terminal information from the mobile terminal and transmitting the converted content to the mobile terminal according to the terminal information; A profile manager which receives the access point of the mobile terminal and the terminal information from the gateway, and delivers the session ID generated by combining the mobile terminal to the gateway; A converter for retrieving terminal information corresponding to the session id from the profile manager, converting content received from the application server according to the retrieved terminal information, and transferring the converted content to the gateway Including; The gateway transmits the session id received from the profile manager to the mobile terminal, maintains a communication session with the mobile terminal using the session id, and receives a content service request including the session id from the mobile terminal. Passing a session id and a content service request to the converter to receive content from the application server Gateway system. The method of claim 1, wherein the gateway is And receiving the authentication information when the connection request is received, and transmitting the access time and the terminal information to the profile manager for the mobile terminal on which the authentication is completed. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the gateway is And validate the session id of the service request received from the mobile terminal and forward only the service request for which the session id is valid to the translator. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the gateway is Creating a thread in charge of the mobile terminal receiving the connection request, and connecting the session id received from the profile manager with the thread to maintain a session for the mobile terminal. A method of converting content managed by an application server according to terminal information and serving a mobile terminal, Receiving a connection request including terminal information from a mobile terminal, and generating a session ID by combining the access point of the mobile terminal and the terminal information; Transmitting the generated session id to the mobile terminal; Receiving a content service request including the session id from the mobile terminal; A fourth step of retrieving terminal information using the session id received from the mobile terminal; Transmitting the received service request to an application server to receive the corresponding content; A sixth step of converting the content received from the application server according to the terminal information retrieved through the session id; A seventh step of transmitting the converted content to the mobile terminal; Mobile service method comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein the first step Receiving authentication information from the mobile terminal, and generating the session id for the mobile terminal of the authentication is completed. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the second step Maintaining a communication session with the mobile terminal using the generated session id The mobile service method further comprising. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the fourth step Validating the session id received from the mobile terminal, and returning to the first step for the invalid session id.

Images