KR20150074373A - Method for imposing individual electric charges and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for calculating electric charges for electric power which each user has used and imposing the electric charges to the corresponding user and an apparatus therefor. In an electric charges imposing system according to the present invention, the method for imposing electric charges generated at a designated place to a user individually includes: a step of monitoring residence time for which the user resides at the place per user; a step of calculating electric charges of each user based on the residence time monitored per user; and a step of imposing the calculated electric charges to each user.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for charging individual electric charges,

The present invention relates to a method of charging an electricity bill, and more particularly, to an electricity bill charging method and an apparatus for charging an electricity bill by calculating an electricity bill used by each user.

The electricity supplier installs a watt-hour meter in a house or building to measure the amount of power consumed in the premises or buildings, checks the total amount of power consumed in the place by reading the number displayed on the watt-hour meter, Proportionally charge the user an electricity bill.

On the other hand, a device has been developed to notify the user of a certain amount of electric power consumption. The following patent document discloses an electricity consumption alarm device that outputs an alarm sound when a preset electricity use amount is used.

However, the present electricity rate system measures the amount of electric power used by the place where the use of electricity is authorized under the name of a person or corporation, charges the electric charge in proportion to the amount of electric power used, . Furthermore, the improved electrical measuring apparatus as described in the following patent documents also discloses a technique for measuring the amount of electricity used by each individual person only when the amount of electricity used at home reaches a threshold value or more and outputs an alarm sound. I do not.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2003-0009770

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of charging an electricity rate by checking the amount of electric power used by each user gathered at a specific place, calculating and charging the electric charge for each individual based on the amount of electric power used, and an apparatus therefor.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited thereto. It will also be readily apparent that the objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electricity billing method for charging an electricity bill generated at a designated place in an electric billing system, the method comprising the steps of: step; Calculating an electricity rate of each user based on the monitored residence time for each user; And imposing the calculated electric charge on each user.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electricity billing apparatus for calculating and charging an electricity bill generated at a designated place by an individual, comprising: a storage unit for storing a residence time of each user staying at the place; An electricity bill calculating unit for calculating an electricity bill for each user based on a residence time per user stored in the storage unit; And an invoice generation unit for generating an invoice for the calculated electricity bill and sending it to each user.

The present invention is advantageous in that the electricity rates of each user are reasonably calculated in consideration of the residence time of each user located at a specific place, the use time of the home appliance, and the like, and the electric charges are shared among the users.

In particular, when the device according to the present invention is applied to a place where a lot of people can swim, such as a guest house, a library, a cafe, etc., there is an advantage that a more reasonable usage fee can be calculated and charged to a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. And shall not be construed as limited to such matters.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an electricity billing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a home gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for calculating and charging an individual's electricity bill at a home gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: There will be. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an electricity billing system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electric bill charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of home appliances 100-N and a home gateway 200.

The home device 100-N is an electronic device capable of communicating with the home gateway 200, and performs an operation under the control of the home gateway 200. When the home device 100-N receives a request from the mobile communication terminal 300 to use the home device 100-N by radio contact (for example, NFC tagging) at a close distance from the mobile communication terminal 300, Acquires the identification information of the terminal 300 and transmits a license permission request message including the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 and the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 to the home gateway 200. In addition, when the use approval message is received from the home gateway 200, the home device 100-N switches from the standby mode to the operation mode and performs an operation according to the operation signal input by the user. Such a home appliance 100-N includes a smart TV, a smart refrigerator, a smart coffee machine, and a smart exercise machine capable of network communication.

The mobile communication terminal 300 is a terminal carried by the user. When the mobile communication terminal 300 enters the home network, the mobile communication terminal 300 receives a message informing the home gateway 200 to perform the electric sharing. Also, the mobile communication terminal 300 receives a control level list in which a plurality of control level levels are recorded, from the home gateway 200, selects a control level level recorded in the control level level list, and transmits the control level level to the home gateway 200 The control level is given. The control level represents a usage right for one or more home devices (100-N). When the mobile communication terminal 300 receives the control level from the home gateway 200, the mobile communication terminal 300 makes a radio contact with the specific home appliance 100-N in close proximity to the home appliance 100-N to change the mode of the home appliance 100-N from the standby mode to the operation mode Thereby allowing the corresponding home appliance 100-N to operate as intended by the user. On the other hand, when the mobile communication terminal 300 leaves the home network, the mobile communication terminal 300 receives from the home gateway 200 an electric bill calculated based on the time at the designated place of stay in the home network and the home appliance 100- do.

The home gateway 200 communicates with each home appliance 100-N as an electricity billing device to control the operation of the home appliance 100-N and monitor the state of the home appliance 100-N. Also, the home gateway 200 forms a home network to relay communication between the external communication network and the home device 100-N, and also performs a firewall function and a user authentication function for the home network.

In particular, when the home gateway 200 detects entry of a specific user into the mobile communication terminal 300, the home gateway 200 transmits a message to the user's mobile communication terminal 300 informing that the electricity bill sharing is executed. Also, the home gateway 200 transmits a control level list to the user's mobile communication terminal 300, and gives the control level selected by the user to the user. When the user's mobile communication terminal 300 departs from the home network, the home gateway 200 determines the home network residence time of the user, the usage time of the individual home device 100-N, and the weight of the control level assigned to the user And transmits the bill to the user's mobile communication terminal 300 after calculating the electricity rate of the user.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a home gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the home gateway 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is an electricity billing apparatus for charging an individual electric bill. The home gateway 200 includes a communication unit 210, a storage unit 220, a control level setting unit 230, an appliance use confirmation unit 240, an electricity bill calculation unit 250, and an invoice generation unit 260. [

The communication unit 210 performs a function of communicating with other devices via a network. In particular, the communication unit 210 includes a mobile communication terminal 300 of the user or a short range wireless communication module 211 that performs short-range wireless communication with other devices.

The short-range wireless communication module 211 periodically broadcasts a short-range wireless broadcast signal including its own identification information (e.g., a MAC address) to guide the connection of the mobile communication terminal 300. [ The short range wireless communication module 211 detects that the mobile communication terminal 300 has newly entered the home network when it can perform short range wireless communication with the new mobile communication terminal 300, And transmits the terminal entrance detection signal including the identification information to the control level setting unit 230. [ The short-range wireless communication module 211 continuously monitors whether or not the short-range wireless session is maintained with the mobile communication terminal 300 and continuously transmits the short- 60 seconds) is disconnected, it is determined that the user has exited from the place where the home network is formed, and a user departure signal is generated.

The storage unit 220 stores the identification information of the user's mobile communication terminal 300 and the residence time information in which the user's entrance time and exit time are recorded by user. That is, the storage unit 220 stores the residence time information in which the user's entrance time and exit time are divided according to the identification information of the user's mobile communication terminal 300. The storage unit 220 stores identification information of the user's mobile communication terminal 300, control level assigned to the user, identification information of the home appliance 100-N that the user uses, The use start time, and the use end time of the home device 100-N are mapped and stored for each user.

In addition, the storage unit 220 stores a common electricity rate per unit time (e.g., minutes), a weight for each control level, and an electricity rate per unit time of each home appliance 100-N. The common electricity rate per unit time, the weight per control level, and the electricity rate per unit time for each home appliance 100-N are preset by the administrator and stored in the storage unit 220.

The control level setting unit 230 performs a function of giving a control level to the user who has entered the home network to use one or more home devices 100-N. Specifically, when the mobile communication terminal 300 newly enters the home network, the control level setting unit 230 checks the current time and sets the current time as the entry time of the user, And stores the new residence time information in the storage unit 220. The storage unit 220 stores the new residence time information.

In addition, the control level setting unit 230 transmits a control level list in which a plurality of control level levels are recorded to the user's mobile communication terminal 300, and the control level set in the list and the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 And stores the generated device usage information in the storage unit 220. For example, the first control level indicates permission to use only the home device 1 (100-1), the second control level indicates the right to use only the home device 1 (100-1) -1) and the home device 2 (100-2), and the third control right level may indicate the right to use all the home devices 100-N.

The device usage verifying unit 240 monitors whether the home device 100-N is used by the user, and records the usage information of the home device in the storage unit 220. Specifically, when the use permission request message is received from the specific home device 100-N through the communication unit 210, the device usage verifying unit 240 confirms that the mobile communication terminal 300 included in the usage permission request message Identifies the identification information and the identification information of the home appliance 100-N and confirms the control authority level mapped with the identification information of the home appliance 100-N based on the device usage information of the storage unit 220. [ Next, the device usage verifying unit 240 determines whether the user is authorized to use the home device 100-N having the verified home device identification information, based on the checked control level. In addition, if the user is not authorized to use the home device 100-N, the device use confirmation unit 240 transmits a use disapproval message to the home device 100-N, To the home appliance (100-N).

The device usage verifying unit 240 monitors the use time of the home device 100-N when the use approval message is transmitted to the home device 100-N, and when the user uses the home device 100-N And saves the time in the device usage information of the storage unit 220. At this time, the device use confirmation unit 240 sets the time at which the use approval message was sent to the use start time of the home device 100-N, monitors the operation of the home device 100-N, After setting the use time of the home appliance 100-N that has stopped operating to the use end time, it is mapped with the identification information of the user's mobile communication terminal 300 to identify the home appliance 100-N, And stores the time and the use end time in the device usage information of the storage unit 220. [

The electricity rate calculating unit 250 calculates the electricity rate of the user based on the residence time of the user, the home appliance utilization time, and the control authority level. That is, when the user departure signal is generated in the short distance wireless communication module 211, the electricity rate calculating unit 250 checks the time at which the user departure signal was generated, sets the time at which the user departure signal was generated, And stores the exited time in the residence time information of the storage unit 220. [0064] The electricity bill calculating unit 250 checks the user's residence time based on the entry time and the exit time recorded in the residence time information of the storage unit 220, Multiply the common electricity rate to calculate the user's default electricity rate. At this time, based on the per-user residence time information stored in the storage unit 220, the electricity rate calculating unit 250 may determine the average number of users per unit time (for example, one minute) , And may raise or lower the unit common electricity rate based on the average number of people.

In addition, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 checks the usage time of the individual home appliance 100-N used by the user and the weight of the control right granted to the user in the user's device usage information stored in the storage unit 220. [ The electricity rate calculating unit 250 multiplies the usage time of the home appliance 100-N used by the user, the unit electricity rate of the home appliance 100-N and the weight of the control right level, 0.0 > 100-N. ≪ / RTI >

The bill generating unit 260 generates an electric bill including the user's basic electricity bill and the additional electricity bill, and sends the bill to the user. That is, when the electricity rate calculation is completed in the electricity price calculation unit 250, the bill generation unit 260 generates an invoice in which the electricity price of the user, to which the user's basic electricity rate and the additional electricity rate are added, do. Preferably, the bill generating unit 260 additionally records an electricity usage record including the user's residence time, the use time of the individual home appliance 100-N, and the like in the bill.

3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for calculating and charging an individual's electricity bill at a home gateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3, when the user's mobile communication terminal 300 newly enters the home network, the short-range wireless communication module 211 performs short-range wireless communication with the mobile communication terminal 300, By acquiring the identification information, it is detected that the user's mobile communication terminal 300 has entered the home network (S301). The short-range wireless communication module 211 transmits a terminal entry detection signal including the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 to the control level setting unit 230.

The control level setting unit 230 then checks the current time and sets the current time as the entry time of the communication terminal user. Then, the control level setting unit 230 sets the entry time and the residence time And stores the generated information in the storage unit 220. Next, the control level setting unit 230 transmits a control level list in which a plurality of control level levels are recorded to the user's mobile communication terminal 300 (S303). Each of the control levels indicates a different usage right for each home appliance 100-N. For example, the first control level indicates permission to use only the home device 1 (100-1), and the second control level indicates the right to use the home device 1 (100-1) and the home device 2 , And the third control level may indicate the right to use all the home appliances 100-N. Preferably, when the control level is transmitted from the control level list to the mobile communication terminal 300, information indicating that the electricity rate to be charged increases when the control level is increased. More preferably, the control level setting unit 230 transmits a message informing execution of the electricity bill sharing to the user's mobile communication terminal 300 and, in response thereto, transmits the electricity bill sharing consent message from the mobile communication terminal 300 Upon receipt, a control level list in which a plurality of control levels are recorded is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 300 of the user.

Next, the control level setting unit 230 receives the control level selected by the user from the user's mobile communication terminal 300 (S305) through the short-range wireless communication module 211, And the device usage information mapped with the identification information of the terminal 300 and stores the generated device usage information in the storage unit 220.

Then, the device use confirmation unit 240 monitors the use of the home device of the user (S307), and determines whether the use permission request message including the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 is received from the specific home device 100-N (S309). In other words, when the user makes a close proximity wireless contact (i.e., NFC connection) with the home-use device 100-N to the mobile communication terminal 300, the home appliance 100- Acquires the identification information of the terminal 300 and transmits a license permission request message including identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 and identification information of the terminal 300 to the home gateway 200.

Then, the device usage verifying unit 240 confirms the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 included in the usage permission request message and confirms the mapped control level from the device usage information of the storage unit 220 (S311). Next, the device usage verifying unit 240 determines whether the user is authorized to use the home device 100-N based on the checked control level (S313). That is, the device use confirmation unit 240 identifies available home appliances based on the control level granted to the user, and includes the home appliance 100-N that has transmitted the usage permission request message among the home appliances thus identified And determines whether or not the user can use the home device 100-N.

Next, if the user is not authorized to use the home device 100-N, the device use confirmation unit 240 transmits a use disapproval message to the home device 100-N, N from being operated (S319).

On the other hand, if the user is authorized to use the home device 100-N, the device use confirmation unit 240 transmits a use approval message to the home device 100-N, N is changed from the standby mode to the operation mode, and the home appliance 100-N is operated by the user's operation (S315). The device usage verifying unit 240 monitors the use time of the home device 100-N until the use of the home device 100-N is terminated. When the use of the home device 100-N ends, The time using the home device 100-N is confirmed and stored in the device usage information of the storage unit 220 (S317). Specifically, the device use confirmation unit 240 sets the time at which the use approval message was sent to the use start time of the home device 100-N, monitors the operation of the home device 100-N, The use time of the home appliance 100-N that has stopped operating is set to the use end time. The device usage verifying unit 240 maps the start time, the end time, and the identification information of the home device 100-N to the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 of the corresponding user, Information.

Meanwhile, the short-range wireless communication module 211 of the communication unit 210 checks whether or not the short-range wireless session established through the short-range wireless communication module 211 is maintained and continuously monitors whether or not the user leaves the home network (S321).

The short range wireless communication module 211 determines that the user has left the place where the home network is formed when the short distance wireless session formed with the user's mobile communication terminal 300 is disconnected for a predetermined time (for example, 60 seconds) And generates a departure signal.

Then, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 checks the time at which the user departure signal is generated, sets this time as the user's departure time, maps the identification information of the user's mobile communication terminal 300 And stores it in the residence time information of the storage unit 220. Preferably, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 transmits a message to the user's mobile communication terminal 300 inquiring whether or not the user is exited through the mobile communication network, and when the exiting fee confirmation message is received from the mobile communication terminal 300 And stores it in the residence time information of the storage unit 220. [0064]

Next, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 checks the entrance time and the exit time of the user in the storage unit 220 as the user leaves the place where the home network is formed, Check the residence time. Next, the electricity rate calculating unit 250 calculates the basic electricity rate of the user by multiplying the residence time by the common electricity rate per unit time stored in the storage unit 220 (S323). Preferably, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 calculates the electricity bill per unit time (for example, 1 minute) for the users staying at the place during the time the user has stayed, based on the residence time information of each user stored in the storage unit 220 You can check the average number of people, and you can either raise or lower your electricity bill per hour based on this average number of people. For example, when the average number of users per minute is equal to or less than 10, the electricity rate calculating unit 250 may multiply the common electricity rate per unit time by a high weight (for example, 1.5) to increase the common electricity rate per hour, (For example, 0.5), the common electricity rate per unit time can be lowered by multiplying the common electricity rate by a low weight (for example, 0.5).

Next, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 checks whether the home appliance 100-N used by the user is present based on the appliance usage information of the storage unit 220 (S325) The control level granted and the usage time of each home appliance 100-N used by the user are confirmed from the device usage information of the storage unit 220. At this time, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 extracts the control level mapped with the identification information of the mobile communication terminal 300 deviating from the home network from the device usage information of the storage unit 220, The use time for each home appliance 100-N is checked based on the use start time and the use end time of the home appliance 100-N recorded in the appliance use information.

Then, the electricity bill calculating unit 250 confirms the weight for the extracted control level and the electricity price per unit time for each home appliance 100-N used by the user in the storage unit 220. [ The electricity rate calculating unit 250 multiplies the home appliance 100-N by the weight for the control level, the usage time of the home appliance 100-N, and the unit electricity price of the home appliance 100-N, The additional electric charges for each home appliance 100-N used by the home appliance 100-N are calculated (S327).

When the electricity bill calculation unit 250 completes the calculation of the electricity bill, the bill generation unit 260 generates an invoice in which the calculated base electricity bill and the additional electricity bill of the user are added, and transmits the bill to the user's mobile communication To the terminal 300 (S329). Preferably, the bill generating unit 260 additionally records an electricity usage record including the user's residence time, the use time of the individual home appliance 100-N, and the like in the bill.

On the other hand, if there is no home appliance used by the user in step S325, the bill generator 260 generates an electricity bill containing the user's basic electricity bill and transmits the bill to the user's mobile terminal 300. [ The bill generating unit 260 transmits the generated bill to the user's mobile communication terminal 300 through the mobile communication network as short-range wireless communication is disconnected between the communication unit 210 and the mobile communication terminal 300 .

As described above, the home network system according to the present invention can reasonably calculate the electric charges of each user in consideration of the residence time of each user located at a specific place, the use time of the home device 100-N, To share electricity bill.

While the specification contains many features, such features should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention or the scope of the claims. In addition, the features described in the individual embodiments herein may be combined and implemented in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the singular < Desc / Clms Page number 5 > embodiments herein may be implemented in various embodiments individually or in combination as appropriate.

Although the operations have been described in a particular order in the figures, it should be understood that such operations are performed in a particular order as shown, or that all described operations are performed to obtain a sequence of sequential orders, or a desired result . In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. It should also be understood that the division of various system components in the above embodiments does not require such distinction in all embodiments. The above-described program components and systems can generally be implemented as a single software product or as a package in multiple software products.

The method of the present invention as described above can be implemented by a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium (CD-ROM, RAM, ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, magneto optical disk, etc.). Such a process can be easily carried out by those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The present invention is not limited to the drawings.

100: home appliance 200: home gateway
210: communication unit 211: short-range wireless communication module
220: storage unit 230: control level setting unit
240: Instrument use confirmation unit 250: Electricity rate calculation unit
260: Blue component generation unit 300: Mobile communication terminal

Claims (16)

A method of charging an electricity bill for an individual charged at a designated location in an electricity billing system,
Monitoring the stay time of the user staying at the place by user;
Calculating an electricity rate of each user based on the monitored residence time for each user; And
And imposing the calculated electricity rate on each user. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of monitoring includes the step of checking the usage time of each electronic device installed in the place by user,
The step of calculating the electricity rate includes:
Calculating a basic electricity rate for each user on the basis of the residence time of the monitored user; And
And calculating an additional electricity charge for each user on the basis of the checked electronic appliance usage time. 3. The method of claim 2,
And providing each user with a control level in which a usage right for each electronic device is set. The method of claim 3,
The step of calculating the additional electricity bill may include:
Wherein the additional electricity bill is calculated by multiplying the weight of the control level granted to the user, the electronic equipment usage time of the user, and the electricity bill per hour of the electronic equipment used. The method of claim 3,
The step of granting the control level to each user comprises:
Wherein a list in which a plurality of control right levels are recorded is transmitted to each user terminal, and a control level selected from the list is given to each user. 3. The method of claim 2,
The step of calculating the base electricity rate includes:
Wherein the basic electricity rate for each user is calculated by multiplying the residence time of the user by the common electricity rate per hour. 6. The method of claim 5,
The step of calculating the base electricity rate includes:
Checking the number of users crowded at the place during the residence time of the user, and adjusting the cooperative electricity rate per hour based on the number of users. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Wherein the monitoring comprises:
Wherein the residence time for each user is confirmed on the basis of the time point when the short-range wireless communication with each terminal of the user is performed and the point when the short-range wireless communication with each terminal of the user is stopped. An electricity billing apparatus for calculating and charging an electricity bill generated at a designated place by an individual,
A storage unit for storing a residence time of each user who stayed at the place;
An electricity bill calculating unit for calculating an electricity bill for each user based on a residence time per user stored in the storage unit; And
And an invoice generation unit for generating an invoice for the calculated electricity bill and sending it to each user. 10. The method of claim 9,
And a device use confirmation unit for monitoring the use time of each electronic device installed in the place by user,
The electric-
Calculating a basic electricity rate for each user based on the residence time for each user, calculating an additional electricity rate for each user based on the monitored time of the used electric appliance,
The bill generation unit generates,
And generates an invoice for the electricity bill in which the basic electricity bill and the additional electricity bill are added, and sends the generated bill to each user. 11. The method of claim 10,
And a control level setting unit for giving each user a control level set with a usage right for each electronic device. 12. The method of claim 11,
The electric-
Wherein the electronic billing apparatus calculates the additional electricity bill by multiplying the weight of the control level given to the user, the electronic billing time of the user, and the billing charge per hour of the electronic equipment used. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the control level setting unit comprises:
Wherein a list in which a plurality of control right levels are recorded is transmitted to each user terminal, and a control level selected from the list is given to each user. 11. The method of claim 10,
The electric-
And the basic electricity rate for each user is calculated by multiplying the residence time of the user by the common electricity rate per hour. 15. The method of claim 14,
The electric-
Checking the number of users crowded at the place during the residence time of the user, and adjusting the common electricity rate per hour based on the number of users. 16. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 15,
And a communication unit for performing short-range wireless communication with the terminal of the user,
Wherein the storage unit stores the residence time including the time when the short-range wireless communication with the user terminal is performed and the time when the short-range wireless communication with the user is stopped, according to the user.

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