Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/32—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
  • G06Q30/0207—Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
  • G06Q30/0226—Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
  • G06Q30/0233—Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
  • G06Q20/387—Payment using discounts or coupons
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q50/00—Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism
  • G06Q50/10—Services

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a system and method for managing points used on-line, and more particularly to a system and method for managing divided points for use in more than two kinds of different domains on-line.
• on-line services have been provided through the homogeneous medium called the Internet.
• These services have been provided to users in different on-line domains, such as web domains, game domains and the like on-line. That is, the users can receive various services in web domains through web pages provided to the users by web servers or game services in various game domains provided to the users by game servers.
• web service To receive services in such web domains (hereinafter, referred to as "web service”), a user accesses a web server providing a relevant service to select a desired web service through a web page provided by the web server.
• the web server displays a list of various kinds of web services to the user to allow the user to use the selected web service, and, if the user selects one web service from the list of web services, provides the user with the selected specific web service. Through such a web service, the user can purchase or
• game service a user accesses a web server or a channel
• server providing a game service, and selects a desired game through a web
• the channel server displays a list of channels to the user to allow the user to
• the server displays a game screen to the user to
• the user can play games provided via the
• points or miscalculation of points may arise.
• the points are managed and used in the web service domain and the game service domain separately, a problem in that it is difficult to integrally manage the points due to lack of interrelationships between the points may arise.
• a system for managing divided web points and game points required to use a web service and a game service provided to a plurality of users who access the Internet comprising a user point database for storing and managing the web points and game points for each user; a web server for providing a user with the web service by referring to the web points stored in the user point database; a game server for providing the user with the game service by referring to the game points stored in the user point database; and a channel server for providing the user with channel-related data for each game, allowing the user to play a game through the game server in a specific channel selected by the user, converting the user's web points stored in the user point database into corresponding game points when the user enters the specific channel, and updating the user point database by adding the corresponding game points to the user's game points stored in the user point database.
• a method for managing divided web points and game points required to use a web service and a game service provided to a plurality of users who access the Internet comprising a) displaying a list of channels for each game to a user at a request for use of a specific game service from the user; b) determining whether or not there is an input from the user for selecting a specific channel among the displayed list of channels; c) when it is determined that there is an input from the user for selecting the specific channel, converting the user's web points into corresponding game points and updating the user's game points; and d) providing the user with the game service using the updated game points.
• a system for managing divided points used in two or more different service domains on-line comprising a user point database for storing and managing points used in the two or more different service domains for each user; at least two service servers for providing a user with a corresponding service by referring to points stored in the user point database; an update server for converting points used in remaining service domains except a specific service domain among the two or more different service domains into corresponding points used in the specific service domain when the user enters
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for managing divided points on ⁇
• Fig. 2 is a detailed block diagram of a user point database shown in Fig.
• Fig. 3 is a detailed block diagram of a channel server shown in Fig. 1 ;
• Fig. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for managing divided points on-line according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• Fig. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a process of updating web points to
• Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a system for managing divided points on ⁇
• a web server 100 includes a web server 100, a channel database 200, a channel server 300, a
• the user point database 100 stores and manages web points for web services and game points for game services for each user.
• the web server 200 provides a plurality of user computers 700-1 , 700-2, ..., 700-n, which have accessed the web server 200 via Internet 800, with various game services such as Tetris, man-to-man card playing games, poker, gold wing and the like in association with the game server 500, as well as various web services such as chatting, associations of like-minded persons, shopping malls and the like.
• the web server 200 manages web points that are paid when the users use web services or are charged for use of web services by referring to the user point database100.
• a charge of web points as used herein refers to acquisition of points corresponding to the amount of money settled by a user for web services through various settlement means such as cash or credit card and the like.
• various settlement means such as cash or credit card and the like.
• terminals other than the computers can access the web server 200 via the Internet 800 to receive the web service or the game services.
• the users can use mobile communication terminals, Internet- accessible televisions and the like.
• the channel database 300 stores game room-related data established in each channel as well as channel-related data for each game.
• the channel server 400 provides a list of channels related to the selected game, a list of game rooms for each channel, and the like, by referring to the channel database 300. Accordingly, the user can select a channel including the selected game and a specific game room belonging to the selected channel from the channel list and the game room list, respectively, which are provided by the channel server 400.
• the web server 200 executes a user program for the game installed in the user computers 700-1 , 700-2, ..., 700-n, and the executed user program promotes the user computers 700-1, 700-2 700-n to access the channel server 400 via the Internet 800.
• the channel server 400 changes existing game points by converting web points stored in the user point database 100 into corresponding game points and adding the resultant game points to the existing game points.
• the channel server 400 sets the web points stored in the user point database 100 to zero, such that the sum of the web points and game points before the web points are converted into zero game points equal to the sum of the web points and game points after the conversion of web points into zero. That is, when the user enters a specific channel to play a game, all of his web points in the user point database 100 are converted into game points.
• the game database 500 stores logic for each game to control to allow a user to play games. Although such a game logic may be located in the game server 600, it is assumed to locate it in the game database 500 to provide various game logics in the embodiment of the present invention.
• the game server 600 provides game services selected by the user through the channel server 400.
• the game server 600 proceeds with a game according to a game logic prescribed for each game by referring to the game database 500. For example, when the user selects a man-to-man card playing game, establishes a specific game room in a specific channel or selects one of established game rooms in a specific channel through the channel server 400 and then two users enter the newly established or selected game room, the game server 600 performs various operations, including game display, game progress, game result settlement and the like, to allow two users to play the man-to-man card playing game.
• the game logic means rules specified to proceed with a game automatically according to the prescribed rules regarding the game.
• the game server 600 manages variation of game points arising in the course of playing of a game after users receive a game service, by referring to the user point database 100. For example, when a user wins a game, the game server 600 changes the game points by adding newly acquired game points to the existing game points stored in the user point database 100.
• the game server 600 deducts game points to be paid from the game points stored in the user point database 100 and pays the user the resultant game points. Also, since web points have been already converted into game points and have been updated, the game server 600 can know overall points only by referring to the game points in the user point database 100. However, the web server 200 can know the overall points only in total by referring to all of web points and game points in the user point database 100. So far, it has been illustrated that a point of time when the web points in the user point database 100 are converted into the game points and are updated is only the time when the user enters a specific channel.
• the web points can be converted into game points and can be updated at various points of time.
• the web points can be periodically updated in terms of game points after proceeding with several rounds of the game, for example. It will be easily understood by those skilled in the art that such an update of the web points in terms of the game points can be performed at any time, provided that a specific point of time when the update is performed is given to the channel server 400, the game server 600 and the user point database 100.
• the user point database 100 includes a web point database 110 for storing user web points used for a web service and a game point database 120 for storing user game points used for a game service.
• the web point database 110 which is referred to by the web server 200, provides web points paid when a user uses the web service, or adds and stores web points charged by a user.
• the game point database 120 which is referred to by the game server 600, provides game points paid when a user uses the game service, or adds and stores the game points that are acquired by winning a game.
• All web points stored in the web point database 110 are converted into the corresponding game points by the channel server 400, and are added and stored to the game point database 120 when the user enters a specific channel through the channel server 400 for the game service. That is, all the web points in the web point database 110 are converted to become zero (0). Accordingly, when the user uses the game service, the total points for each user depends on only the game points, and thus, the game server 600 provides the game service by referring to the game point database 120 only.
• Fig. 3 is a detailed block diagram of the channel server 400 shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig.
• the channel server 400 includes a channel display unit 410, a game room display unit 420, a game point update unit 430, a point converter 440, and a channel controller 450.
• the channel display unit 410 displays a list of channels related to a game, which is selected by a user through the web server 200, to the user by referring to the channel database 300, receives a channel selection input from the user, and transmits the selection input to the channel controller 450.
• the game room display unit 420 displays to the user a list of game rooms belonging to a channel, which is selected by the user through the channel display unit 410, receives a game room selection input from the user, and transmits the input to the channel controller 450.
• the game point update unit 430 stores game points, which result from conversion of web points stored in the web point database 110 of the user point database 100, in the game point database 120, and initializes the web points stored in the web point database 110 to zero (0).
• the point converter 440 converts the web points stored in the web point database 110 into corresponding game points under the control of the game point update unit 430.
• the game points corresponding to the web points can be differently converted depending on the kind of games, and weights that are referred to at the time of conversion for each game can be stored in the point converter 440 in the form of a separate table or the like.
• the channel controller 450 controls the channel display unit 410 and the game room display unit 420 to display a list of channels and a list of game rooms to play a game, respectively, to the user, and allows the user to enter a game room of a channel corresponding to a channel and game room selection input received
• the channel controller 450 controls the game point
• channel controller 450 controls the game point update unit 430 and the point
• converter 440 converts the web points into the corresponding game points
• the web server 200 performs a relevant settlement by deducting web points corresponding to a purchasing amount of money from the web point database 110.
• the web point database 110 has no web point, namely a zero value, for web services, a user can charge corresponding web points through various settlement methods such as cash, credit card and the like.
• the web server 200 stores the charged web points in the web point database 110.
• the channel controller 450 controls the channel display unit 410 to display a list of channels including a game, which is selected by the user, to a user (S110), and receives a channel selection input from the user (S120).
• the channel controller 450 controls the game room display unit 420 to display a list of game rooms belonging to the selected channel to the user (S130), and controls the game point update unit 430 to perform update of the web points to the game points (S140).
• the game point update unit 430 acquires web points stored in the web point database 110 (S141), and then initializes a user's existing web points stored in the web point database 110 to zero (S142). Thereafter, the point converter 440 is controlled to convert the web points acquired in the step S141 into corresponding game points (S143). Next, the game point update unit 430 sums the game points obtained in the step S143 and game points pre-stored in the game point database 120, and updates the game point database 120 with newly produced game points (S144). Next, if the web points are converted into game points and are updated in the step S140, the channel server 400 receives a game room selection input from the user (S150).
• the channel server 400 allows the user to enter the selected existing game room or enter a newly established game room (S160), and controls the process of a game to allow the user to play the game using game points stored in the game point database 120 updated in the step S140 (S170).
• the user's web points are converted into the corresponding game points and are updated, allowing the user to play a game using all of the web points and the game points. Accordingly, problems caused by using the web points through the web service when a conventional game service is used can be overcome.
• the web server 200 performs settlement using overall points in the web point database 110 and the game point database 120. Alternatively, it could be also made to allow the web server 200 to use only the web points in the web point database 110.
• the user should charge web points through separate settlement.
• the update of the web points used in the web service domain to the game points used in the game service domain has been described in this embodiment, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is not restricted to this and the principle of the present invention is also applicable to points used in two or more different service domains, respectively. For example, in a case where points are used in three different service domains, when a service in one of the three service domains is to be used, points used in the remaining two service domains can be converted into corresponding points in the specific service domain and can be updated.
• the points in the remaining two service domains can be converted with different weights, though a conversion table in the channel server or the like.
• points used in two or more service domains should be stored in the user point database 100 for each user and it is natural that all of the points in the remaining two service domains be initialized to zero after the conversion of the points.
• a subject which converts and updates the points used in the remaining service domain into the corresponding points in the specific service domain when the use enters the specific service domain from the two or more service domains such as, for example, an update server
• the points used in different service domains are managed separately, but, in a specific case, the points are integrally managed to achieve more precise management. Furthermore, by updating the points in only a case where a user enters a specific service domain, hacking in the specific service domain can be prevented.

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• 2004
  • 2004-06-02 KR KR1020040039948A patent/KR100466217B1/ko active IP Right Grant
• 2005
  • 2005-05-18 WO PCT/KR2005/001460 patent/WO2005119541A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2005-05-18 JP JP2007514893A patent/JP4185155B2/ja active Active
• 2006
  • 2006-12-01 US US11/607,161 patent/US20070078001A1/en not_active Abandoned

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