WO2005026968A1 - User-related information management system - Google Patents

Abstract

A user-related information management system includes a plurality of management servers for managing user-related information for specifying, together with a user, each of a plurality of user terminals configured so as to belong to at least one of a plurality of groups. The system manages the information in a batch mode for each group. According to the user-related information, each of the plurality of management servers provides various services to the user terminals belonging to the same group via an IP network.

Description

 Specification

User related information management system

 The present invention relates to a user-related information management system, and in particular, to a user-related information for specifying, together with a user, a plurality of user use terminals that are organized to belong to at least one of a plurality of groups. The server load distribution is implemented in such a way that multiple management servers are managed collectively by the same group, and Vo IP (Voice over Internet Protocol) communication etc. can be performed without installing a large-scale server on the IP (Internet Protocol) network. The present invention relates to a user-related information management system capable of providing various services. Background art

 <The problem of bidirectional communication for dynamically allocated IP addresses>

 In recent years, with the spread of Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), broadband IP services can be received even at home, and the number of individual users (general users) who always connect to the IP network at home has increased. In IP services used by individual users, IP addresses are often dynamically assigned (assigned) by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server or the like. When IP addresses are dynamically allocated, the following two problems occur because individual users cannot directly know each other's IP addresses.

 (1) Peer-to-Peer one-to-one peer-to-peer communication services (for example, services such as Vo IP communication without a server, and competitive games) cannot be received.

 (2) As a member, cannot provide information provision services to multiple individual users (eg, home page release, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) service).

 There are the following two methods to solve these problems.

 (1) The first method uses a fixed IP address. By using a fixed IP address, it is possible to receive normal DNS (Domain Name System) services.

(2) The second approach is to use DNS for dynamic IP addresses (hereinafter simply D-DNS). Use). In D-DNS, each time an IP address is assigned by DHCP server or the like, the name of the terminal and the IP address assigned to the harmful address are registered in the D-DNS server, so that the same service as ordinary DNS can be received. .

 However, the number of fixed IP addresses is limited in IPv4, and it is not practical. In addition, the use of D-DNS eliminates the advantage of (a) that IP addresses are not exposed to an unspecified number of users, and increases the risk of malicious attacks. This danger is a major problem for security-vulnerable individual users.

 (b) D—The information that a DNS server should have is huge. This not only makes server management difficult from the viewpoint of cost and the like, but also takes time to link information between servers, making it impossible to resolve addresses in a timely manner and to exchange information for this information. It is inevitable that traffic will hinder the effective use of network resources.

 <Security issues in interpersonal communication>

 Currently, in order to avoid the danger of interpersonal (individual user) communications being viewed by others or altering the content of communications, VPN (Virtual Private Network) services and encryption for transmitting and receiving information using security (security) There is a communication method.

 However, for individual users, these approaches have two problems:

 (1) It is difficult to use VPN service between individual users.

 (2) When transmitting and receiving information with encryption, encryption is usually performed using the public key (public key) of the partner's Eisa, but it is troublesome to use a different encryption key for each user for each communication. It is. In particular, it is troublesome for each user to manage the public key for each other user. This is a very big barrier, as personal users do not like tedious settings.

 [Patent Document 1]

 JP 2002-271508 A DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

 An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems. In particular, it is possible to provide various services in a network layer to user terminals belonging to the same group based on collectively managed user-related information. It is to realize the technique of doing.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a user-related information management system of the present invention A plurality of user servers organized to belong to at least one of the groups; a plurality of management servers for collectively managing user-related information for specifying each of the user terminals together with the user for each group;

 Each of the plurality of management servers provides various services to the user use terminals belonging to the same group via an IP network based on the user-related information.

 In the user-related information management system having this configuration, at least one of the plurality of management servers may collectively manage the plurality of pieces of the user-related information in the same group. .

 Further, the plurality of management servers adopt a load distribution arrangement form in the IP network.

 The user-related information includes, as information elements, user identification information, a password, belonging group information, terminal identification information, and a fixed or dynamically assigned IP address associated with each of the user terminals. The user-related information may further include, as an information element, at least one of an e-mail address, public key information for encryption and encryption, and QoS information associated with each of the user terminals. Can be included.

 Each of the plurality of management servers has first storage means for storing each information element of the user-related information in association with each of the user terminals.

 Each of the plurality of management servers further includes a second storage unit for managing a valid entry corresponding to the user use terminal in group II;

 The valid entry registered in the second storage means specifies the user-related information stored in the first storage means.

 Each of the plurality of management servers provides address resolution as the various services to the user use terminals belonging to the same group based on the terminal identification information or the IP address included in the user related information. I do.

 Each of the plurality of management servers performs authentication based on the password and the belonging group information included in the user related information, and provides the user using terminal belonging to the same group as the various services as the simple V サ ー ビ ス service. I will provide a.

Each of the plurality of management servers notifies public key information for encryption included in the user-related information, and notifies each of the user use terminals belonging to the same group to each of the user use terminals. Provide encrypted communication service as seed service.

 Each of the plurality of management servers notifies the QoS information included in the user-related information, and provides QoS-specified communication services as the various services to the user use terminals belonging to the same group. .

 Each of the plurality of management servers performs authentication based on belonging group information included in the user-related information, and sends the same group as the various services to the previous user using terminal belonging to the same group. The user-related information of all the other user terminals belonging to the terminal is reported together.

 Each of the plurality of management servers performs authentication based on affiliation group information included in the user-related information, and sends the various services as the various services to the terminal using the previous user belonging to the same group. The user related information of another specific user terminal belonging to the same group can be notified.

 Each feature of the present invention described above may be applied to a management server, a recording medium recording a program, and a program. Brief Description of Drawings

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user-related information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

 FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the basic database of the management server in FIG. 1 FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the group management database of the management server in FIG.

 FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an entry registration sequence in the user-related information management system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

 FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an entry deletion sequence in the user-related information management system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

 FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a sequence for obtaining information on all members in a group in the user-related information management system according to the embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a user-related information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for explaining another member information acquisition sequence. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

 Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

 [Configuration of user related information management system]

 <overall structure>

 Referring to FIG. 1 showing a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, in a user-related information management system 1, a plurality of users (users) requesting frequent communication between users (such as individual users) are provided. (User terminals) are divided into multiple groups, and information related to those users (sometimes described as user-related information or personal information) is collectively managed for each group. Here, a group of the plurality of users (including user use terminals) is referred to as a “group”.

 In the user related information management system 1, two management servers 2 (2A, 2B) are provided for managing information related to a plurality of users for each group. Through these management servers 2, the user-related information of each user in the three groups a, b, and c can be easily used without special awareness of the user.

 Each user terminal 3 (3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E) must be equipped with client software and the user must register this client software ^: user-related information. Therefore, the following various services can be received through the management server 2.

 (1) A service that searches for an IP address from a terminal name or a terminal name from an IP address (a service equivalent to DNS).

 (2) A service that notifies the user name from the terminal name or notifies the terminal name from the user name (terminal—user management service).

 (3) A service that notifies the user of a user name or terminal name of an encrypted public key necessary for communication as necessary (encrypted public key management service).

 (4) A service (e-mail address notification service) that notifies the e-mail (e-mail) address from the user name or terminal name as necessary.

(5) Use the desired QoS (Quality of Service) class from the class Service to notify TOS (Type of Service) information, Port information, and PRI (Pri or ity) information to be set for this purpose (QoS negotiation service).

 (6) Simple VPN service (simple VPN service) that provides each of the above services only to multiple users in the same group.

 <Management server and terminal>

 In this user-related information management system 1, each of the management servers 2A and 2B has a fixed IP address, and basically only one is provided for each of the groups a, b and c. However, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a plurality of management servers 2 are provided for one group. In this case, the same database is managed by the plurality of management servers 2.

 The management server 2 can manage a plurality of groups. In this example, the management server 2A manages two groups a and b, and the management server 2B manages one group c.

 Each user, that is, each of the terminals 3A to 3E can belong to a plurality of groups among the groups a to c. In this case, the corresponding terminal 3 communicates with a plurality of management servers 2. Become. In this example, terminals 3A to 3C belong to group a, terminals 3B to 3D belong to group b, and terminals 3C to 3E belong to group c. Therefore, terminal 3A belongs to group a, terminal 3B belongs to groups a, b, terminal 3C belongs to groups a, b, c, and terminal 3D belongs to group. The loops are groups b and c, and the group belonging to terminal 3E is group c. The users (A to E) who use the terminals 3A to 3E are home personal users, in-house users, or on-campus users.

 The management servers 2 A, 28 and the terminals 38 to 3 £ transmit and receive various kinds of information (data overnight) via an IP network (sometimes described as a network) 4 such as the Internet or an intranet. .

More specifically, the management server 2 is a server computer provided by an Internet service provider (ISP) or a telecommunications carrier, and includes a central control device, a main storage device, and an auxiliary storage device. , And a communication interface, etc., but illustration of this configuration is omitted here. In the management server 2, user-related information for providing each of the above services is provided. To logically implement the information management function, install it as application software on the auxiliary storage device (hard disk device) of the server computer that constitutes the management server 2.

 The terminal 3 can be realized by a personal computer equipped with a WEB (World Wide Web) browser, a hard disk device as a central control device, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, and a flexible disk. It comprises a device, a display device as a display device, a keyboard and mouse as an input device, a communication interface, and the like, but illustration of this configuration is omitted here.

 <Management server database>

 The management server 2 in the user-related information management system 1 manages all of the following user-related information in the evening. Each element of the user-related information is managed by three basic databases: a user identifier (user ID) database 20 shown in Fig. 2, a fixed information database 21 and a variable information database 22. You.

 (1) User name (user ID): The user IDs “Users A to E” stored in the user ID database 20 are used to uniquely identify users, and the management server 2 associates and manages each data based on this user ID.

 (2) Password: The password stored in the fixed information database 21 is information for user authentication. When registering an IP address from the terminal 3, the user who uses the terminal 3 is authorized. It is used to confirm whether it is. Of course, the password from the terminal 3 to the management server 2 is also transmitted after being encrypted with the public key that the management server 2 notifies each user.

 (3) Registered group information: The registered group information stored in the fixed information database 21 is information for managing the group to which the user belongs (belonging group). The management server 2 provides various user-related information only to the terminal 3 used by a user belonging to the group.

 (4) Terminal name: The terminal name stored in the variable information database 22 is a unique name for each terminal 3 and is managed together with the domain. This terminal name can be freely registered from terminal 3.

(5) I @@ address: The I @@ address stored in the variable information database 22 is This is the IP address of terminal 3 and can be freely registered from terminal 3. Registered from terminal 3 every time the IP address changes.

 (6) E-mail (e-mail) address: The e-mail address stored in the variable information database 22 is the e-mail address of the user using the terminal 3 and can be freely registered from the terminal 3.

 (7) Encryption public key: The encryption public key, which is committed to the variable information database 22, is a public key required for encryption and can be freely registered from the terminal 3.

 (8) QoS information: The QoS information stored in the variable information database 22 is managed by associating the QoS class information with the TOS information, Port information, and PLI information when performing terminal-to-terminal communication. Information to do.

The basic database shown in FIG. 2 will be described in further detail. The user ID database ₂₀ , the fixed information database 21, and the variable information database 22 exemplified here are the basic databases of the management server 2 A in FIG. It is.

Since the management server 2A has two groups a and b as the management groups, the user ID database 20 stores the user ID “user A, B” corresponding to each user using the terminals 3A to 3D. , C, D ”are registered (stored). In addition, the setting information database 21 stores a password corresponding to each user who uses the terminals 3A to 3D and the registered group information of the terminals 3A to 3D in a storage area 211 for each of the terminals 3A to 3D. 212, 213 and 21 are registered. For example, as the registered group information of the storage area 211 corresponding to the terminal 3A, information “group a” indicating the group to which the terminal 3A belongs is registered, and although not shown, the storage area corresponding to the terminal 3B As the registered group information 212, information “group _a , group b” indicating the group to which the terminal 3B belongs is registered.

 Further, the variable information database 22 stores information such as a terminal name, an IP address, an e-mail address, an encrypted public key, and QoS information as information related to each user of the terminals 3A to 3D. It is registered in the storage area 221, 222, 223, 224 for each of A to 3D. The arrows between the storage areas of the user ID database 20, the fixed information database 21 and the variable information database 22 indicate that the information elements of the user-related information are associated with each other. Is shown.

Although not shown, the basic data base of the management server 2B in FIG. Since the management server 2B has one group c as a management group in the source, the terminals 3C, 3D, and 3E and the users corresponding to the users using these terminals 3C to 3E The relevant information is registered as well.

 As shown in FIG. 3, the management server 2 has a group management database (table) 23 for managing only valid entries for each group. The entry registered in the gnole management table 23 is deleted when there is no access from the terminal 3 for a predetermined time. Therefore, while connected to the network, that is, while connected to the management server 2, the terminal 3 periodically notifies the management server 2 of the existence so that the corresponding entry is not deleted from the group management database 23. There is a need.

 The group management table 23 shown in FIG. 3 will be described in further detail. The group management table 23 illustrated here is an example of the management server 2A in FIG.

 Since the management server 2A refers to the two groups a and b as the management groups, the storage area 2 31 of the group management table 23 stores the terminals 3A, 3B, and 3C corresponding to the group a. A valid entry corresponding to the terminals 3 B, 3 C, and 3 D belonging to the group b is registered in the storage area 2 32 of the group management table 23. When a valid entry is registered in the storage areas 2 3 1 and 2 3 2 of the group management table 23, the pointer to the variable information database 22 is valid, and the user-related information corresponding to the terminal is not stored. It is specified.

 Although illustration is omitted, the group management table 23 of the management server 2B in FIG. 1 indicates that the management server 2B has one group c as a management group, so that the terminals 3C and 3D , 3E valid entry is registered as well.

 [Operation of user related information management system]

 Next, an operation example in the user-related information management system according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 will be described.

 <User management and group management>

In the user-related information management system 1, management of users belonging to each group a, b, c, that is, addition / deletion of a user ID and management of a password are performed by an administrator of each group. In this case, management on WEB is possible so that remote management can be easily performed. Shall be. Also, the management of the groups, that is, the deletion of each group, is performed by the server administrator.

 <Enable / Disable entry>

 In the user-related information management system 1, when the terminal 3 having a fixed IP address is connected to the network 4, or when the terminal 3 to which the IP address is dynamically allocated is connected to the network 4 and the IP address is allocated. On the management server 2, the entry corresponding to the user is enabled.

 When this entry is validated, the terminal 3 registers its IP address and terminal name in the variable information database 22 of the management server 2. At this time, the management server 2 performs a registration process based on the user name (user ID) stored in the user ID—evening 20. The management server 2 performs authentication with a password stored in the fixed information database 21 in order to prevent impersonation. To keep the entry valid while the terminal 3 is connected to the network 4, it is necessary for the terminal to check the existence at regular intervals.

These operations (performing the processing) are automatically performed by the client software on the terminal 3. The user needs to register the user name, password, and terminal name in this client software either statically or interactively at the terminal 3 to be used. In addition, the user uses the IP address of the management server 2 on the terminal 3 to be used.

 Basically, when the terminal 3 is disconnected from the network 4 (the connection is released), an invalidation request is made to the management server 2, but if the invalidation is not performed by this normal sequence, the management server 2 is invalidated. Then, autonomously invalidate the entry that has not been confirmed for a certain period of time.

 《Entry registration sequence》

 The entry registration sequence will be further described with reference to FIG.

 (1) As described above, the entry registration process becomes effective, for example, when the terminal 3 dynamically acquires an IP address connected to the network 4.

(2) The terminal 3 sends (sends) an entry validation request with its user ID to the management server 2. (3) The management server 2 sends a password request to the terminal 3. In response, terminal 3 returns a password response with a password. The management server 2 performs authentication (password confirmation) as to whether this user is an authorized user and returns a confirmation response to the terminal 3.

 (4) The terminal 3 notifies the management server 2 of various user-related information (here, the IP address, the terminal name, the mail address, the encryption public key, and the QoS information) as registration information. At this time, unnecessary information such as an encryption public key in a terminal without an IP security protocol (IP security protocol) is omitted. The management server 2 registers the user-related information in the database 22 (updates the registration information), and registers a pointer to the variable information database 22 as a corresponding entry in the group management table 23 (end). After that, a response (registration response) is returned to terminal 3.

 《Survival confirmation / entry deletion sequence》

 Next, the survival confirmation / entry deletion sequence will be further described with reference to FIG.

 (1) When a registration response is returned from the management server 2 in the above-described entry registration sequence, the terminal 3 operates the timer (hardware or software timer) until the survival confirmation request is transmitted.

 On the other hand, the management server 2 that has transmitted the registration response to the terminal 3 in the entry registration sequence operates a timer until the entry of the group management table 23 is deleted. Here, the timer of terminal 3 has a shorter timeout (T.O.) period than that of management server 2.

 (2) The terminal 3 sends a survival confirmation request to the management server 2 when the timer times out. When receiving the survival confirmation request from the terminal 3, the management server 2 returns a response (survival confirmation response) to the terminal 3 and restarts the camera. Terminal 3 restarts the timer upon receiving the survival confirmation response from Management Server 2.

 (3) When the timer times out, the management server 2 deletes the corresponding entry from the group management table 23.

 <Notification of user list in group>

In the user-related information management system 1, a user using the terminal 3 obtains various user-related information (except passwords) of all users (all members) in the self-registered group from the management server 2 at any time. It includes in doing. This allows the user to It is possible to know other users who can communicate.

 It is also possible to specify a user and obtain only the user-related information of some members (individual members) in the group. This is because it is not advisable to obtain all user-related information when the number of users in the same group is enormous, considering the resources of the terminal 3 as a client and the traffic of the network 4. That's why. In this case, the terminal 3 does not manage the information of all the users in the group, but inquires the management server 2 of various user-related information for each individual user every time communication is performed.

 << All member information acquisition sequence in group >>

 The sequence for obtaining information on all members in the group will be further described with reference to FIG.

 (1) Terminal 3 requests management server 2 to acquire its own user ID, own IP address (IP Source Address), and member information in the group with the target group ID (group a, b, c) (all member information) Send

 (2) The management server 2 determines whether or not the terminal belongs to the group based on the registered group information associated with the IP address (IP Source Address) corresponding to the terminal 3 in the acquisition request in the basic database. Check.

 (3) In response to the acquisition request from terminal 3, management server 2 returns in-group member information response including information on all other members in the target group. The member information in the returned information includes the user ID, IP address, terminal name, e-mail address, encrypted public key, and QoS information for the number of members, but the necessary information elements are from terminal 3. Can be set in the options within the acquisition request. The return information is updated as registration information at the user terminal 3.

 << Individual member information acquisition sequence in group >>

 Next, with reference to FIG. 7, the individual member information report acquisition sequence in the group will be further described.

(1) Terminal 3 obtains its own user ID, own IP address (IP Source Address), target group ID (group a, b, c), and individual member information in the group with the acquisition request key from management server 2. Submit the request. At this time, the acquisition request key for specifying the individual member is the user ID, terminal name, IP address, And an email address.

 (2) Based on the registered group information associated with the IP address (IP Source Address) corresponding to the terminal 3 in the acquisition request in the basic database, the management server 2 Check if it belongs to the group.

 (3) In response to the acquisition request from the terminal 3, the management server 2 returns to the terminal 3 a member information response within the group accompanied by individual member information within the target group. The member information in the group of the returned information includes the user ID, IP address, terminal name, e-mail address, encryption public key, and QoS information applicable to the specified individual member, but the necessary information elements Can be set as an option in the acquisition request from terminal 3. The return information is updated as registration information in the user terminal 3.

 <User communication within the group>

 In the user-related information management system 1, the user of the terminal 3 can not only know the communicable users in the same group, but also communicate based on the above-mentioned user list notification function of the management server 2 in the group. You can know various information of the individual user you want to use. For this reason, when communicating with users in the same group, the user can easily obtain an encrypted public key based on the terminal name and perform security communication, and based on the QoS information. Therefore, communication using the QoS service can be performed.

 [Application example 1: Communication between terminals at home]

 In the Internet connection from the terminal 3 used by an individual user at home, an IP address is dynamically allocated according to the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) or the DHCP protocol, and various services are provided to the user. Here, an example of application to the user related information management system 1 in this case is shown.

 (1) In the user-related information management system 1, a plurality of (here, two) management servers 2 (2A, 2B) are provided on an IP network 4 such as the Internet by a provider such as an ISP, Various (three in this case) groups a, b, and c are formed based on the user's application through the terminal 3. Here, management within each group is left to the user.

(2) Each user registers a password, an encrypted public key, a terminal name, an e-mail address, and the like in the client software on the terminal 3 of the user. (3) Each user inquires of the management server 2 through his own terminal 3 for user-related information of another communicable terminal in the own group. Note that the user-related information of other terminals is periodically updated by a dedicated application (software) installed in the terminal 3.

 (4) In the case of group formation with only a small number of members, only users, each user can acquire all user related information through his / her own terminal 3 and know the communicable partner user such as an IP (Vo IP) telephone.

 (5) Accordingly, each user starts communication with another terminal 3 belonging to the same group through his own terminal 3. Specific communication examples include the use of games and applications such as IP phones. At this time, the user can send and receive information with the contents mutually encrypted using the encryption public key without being conscious of the user separately.

 (6) If terminal 3 is not always connected, and terminal 3 used by a user is disconnected from IP network 4, management server 2 deletes the valid entry from DALAIP management table 23 after a certain period of time, and Notify the members in the group that terminal 3 has left network 4.

 [Application example 2: QoS communication in a closed network]

 In an in-house LAN (Local Area Network) such as a company or a campus LAN such as a university, a fixed IP address is often used as the IP address of the terminal 3. Also in this case, the user-related information management system 1 can easily provide a QoS service for each application used and each terminal.

 (1) In the user-related information management system 1, when the closed network is, for example, an in-house LAN, the in-house network administrator sets up the management server 2 on the network 4 as an intranet. In addition, a QoS network based on TOS etc. will be built on the company LAN.

 (2) The internal network administrator sets the QoS setting for the specific IP address to the management server 2. For example, access to a welfare server, which is considered to be unnecessary during working hours, is given lower priority. In addition, sending data to the mail server overnight has a lower priority, while receiving data from the mail server has a higher priority. Furthermore, the ports used for Vo IP communication use QoS guaranteed classes for bandwidth.

(3) The user uses his / her terminal 3 according to the application used by the user. Register the port used and the QoS information you want to use in the client software.

(4) The user registers his / her own encryption public key in the client software on the terminal 3 of the user.

 (5) When a user accesses a terminal or server for which QoS has been set by the network administrator via his / her own terminal 3, the client software autonomously sets the QoS based on the T0S information notified from the management server 2. Performs communication using.

 (6) Each user, when receiving a communication request from another user, specifies the QoS class to be used for that user and performs communication.

 [Modification]

 The processing in the above-described embodiment is provided as a computer-executable program, and can be provided via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a flexible disk, and further via a communication line.

 Further, each processing in the above-described embodiment can be performed by selecting and combining a plurality or all of them.

 [Effect]

 As described above, in the user-related information management system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, each of a plurality of user use terminals organized so as to belong to at least one of the plurality of groups is assigned to the user. In addition, the following effects can be expected because the server load distribution mode is adopted in which the user-related information to be specified is collectively managed by a plurality of management servers 2 for each group.

 (1) Services such as VoIP communication can be provided (started) without providing a large-scale server on an IP network 4 such as the Internet or an intranet.

 (2) Regarding users who are not always connected, it is possible to easily obtain the connection status of the user terminal and various user-related information and provide the desired users.

 (3) By providing mutually relevant user information only to each user in the same group, a simple VPN can be constructed and security can be ensured. In particular, nuisance calls and the like in Vo IP can be suppressed.

(4) Since the management servers 2 can be distributed and arranged for each group, it is possible to configure a network in which traffic is not biased to one location. (5) A user can perform encrypted communication between terminals without regard to the other user and without managing the encrypted public key: ^ It is possible.

 (6) Depending on the application used, the optimal QoS service line can be used without the user being aware of it. Industrial applicability

 INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a management server that provides communication between terminals for use by an individual user at home, and QoS communication in a closed network such as an in-house LAN such as a company or a campus LAN such as a university.

Claims

The scope of the claims

 1. A plurality of users who collectively manage user-related information for identifying each of a plurality of user terminals together with the user, which are organized to belong to at least one of the groups. Equipped with a management server;

 Each of the plurality of management servers provides various services to the user terminals belonging to the same group via an IP network based on the user-related information.

 User related information management system.

2. At least one of the plurality of management servers collectively manages the user related information for a plurality of the same group.

 2. The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

3. The user-related management system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of management servers adopt a load distribution arrangement form in the IP network.

4. The user-related information includes, as information elements, user identification information, a password, belonging group information, terminal identification information, and a fixed or dynamically assigned IP address associated with each user terminal.

 2. The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

5. The user-related information further includes, as an information element, at least one of an e-mail address, encryption key information for encryption, and QoS information associated with each user terminal.

 5. The user-related report management system according to claim 4.

6. Each of the plurality of management servers has first storage means for storing each information element of the user-related information in association with each of the user use terminals.

2. The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

7. Each of the plurality of management servers further includes a second storage unit for managing valid entries corresponding to the user use terminals for each group;

 The valid entry registered in the second storage means specifies the user-related information stored in the first storage means.

 7. The user-related information management system according to claim 6.

8. Each of the plurality of management servers sends the various types of services to the user use terminals belonging to the same group based on the terminal identification information or the IP address included in the user related information. Provide address resolution

 The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

9. Each of the plurality of management servers authenticates based on the password and the group information included in the user-related information, and the user using terminal belonging to the same group. Providing a simple V Ρ Ν service as a service

 The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

10. Each of the plurality of management servers notifies public key information for encryption included in the user-related information, and notifies the user use terminals belonging to the same group as the various services. Providing encrypted communication services ''

 The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

1 1. Each of the plurality of management servers notifies the QoS information included in the user-related information, and communicates the QOS status notification to the user use terminals belonging to the same group as the various services. Providing services

 The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

1 2. Each of the plurality of management servers authenticates based on the belonging group information β included in the user-related information, and transmits the various services to the user U terminal belonging to the same group. Of all other user terminals belonging to the same group Notify the user area information at once

 The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

13. Each of the plurality of management servers authenticates based on the belonging group information included in the user-related information, and sends the same group to the user using terminal belonging to the same group as the ^ service. Notify the user association information of another specific user terminal belonging to the user

 The user-related information management system according to claim 1.

14. A management server for adopting a load distribution arrangement form in an IP network; and specifies, together with a user, each of a plurality of user terminals arranged to belong to at least one of the plurality of groups. Means for collectively managing user-related information for each group in order to:

 Means for providing various services to the user terminals belonging to the same group via the IP network, based on the user-related information;

 Management server comprising:

1 5. Collectively manage the user related information for the same group.

 The management server according to claim 14.

16. The user-related information includes, as information elements, user identification information, a password, belonging group information, terminal identification information, and a fixed or dynamically assigned IP address associated with each of the user terminals.

 The management server according to claim 14.

17. The user related information further includes, as an information element, at least one of an email address, public key information for encryption, and QoS information associated with each of the user using terminals.

The management server according to claim 16.

18. A first storage means for storing each information element of the user-related information in association with each of the user terminals.

 The management server according to claim 14.

1 9. Further comprising a second storage means for managing an effective entry corresponding to the user use terminal for each group;

 The valid entry registered in the second storage unit designates the user-related information stored in the first storage unit.

 19. The management server according to claim 18, wherein:

20. In the management server that adopts the load distribution

 Collectively managing user-related information for specifying each of a plurality of user terminals arranged together to belong to at least one of the plurality of groups together with the user for each group;

 Providing various services to the user terminals belonging to the same group via the I-network based on the user-related information;

 A readable medium that stores a program for executing the program.

2 1. In the IΡ network, the management server

 Collectively managing user-related information for specifying each of a plurality of user terminals arranged together to belong to at least one of the plurality of groups together with the user for each group;

 Providing various services to the user terminals belonging to the same group via the I-network based on the user-related information;

 Program to execute.