WO2009057915A2

WO2009057915A2 - Teminal and method of providing intelligent service in ubiquitous smart space

Info

Publication number: WO2009057915A2
Application number: PCT/KR2008/006284
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jae Ho Kim; Minan Song; Il Yeup Ahn; Sang Shin Lee; Yong Kuk Park; Kwang Ho Won; Jong Chan Choi
Original assignee: Korea Electronics Technolongy Institute
Priority date: 2007-11-02
Filing date: 2008-10-23
Publication date: 2009-05-07
Also published as: KR100838526B1; WO2009057915A3

Abstract

Provided are a mobile terminal and a method for implementing a ubiquitous service environment using a resource corresponding to a user's demand as a virtual resource. The terminal includes a communication unit communicating with a device in the ubiquitous service environment, a context information collection unit collecting a context information from resources of an ubiquitous smart space through the communication unit, a storage unit for storing the context information, a resource selection unit selecting an optimal resource on the basis of the context information, and a resource environment setup unit setting up a communication environment so as to compose the virtual resource with the optimal resource.

Description

TEMINAL AND METHOD OF PROVIDING INTELLIGENT SERVICE IN UBIQUITOUS SMART SPACE

Technical Field

[1] The present disclosure relates to a ubiquitous computing service, and in particular, to a mobile terminal and a method of providing an intelligent service in a Ubiquitous Smart Space (USS). Background Art

[2] Generally, a ubiquitous computing environment refers to an environment that can be provided with a desired service by connecting to a network anytime and anywhere. Cooperation between all computing devices providing an individual service in surrounding space is essential in order to provide various services in this ubiquitous environment.

[3] Objects in this ubiquitous computing are connected to Internet Access Point (AP) through Near Field Communication (NFC). Accordingly, a non-IP based synchronous (realtime) NFC interface is used as a basic networking. Based on this networking, the future ubiquitous computing requires the Ubiquitous Smart Space (USS) capable of re- composing computing environment in the computer system "anywhere, anytime".

[4] The USS is a service space in which Ubiquitous Mobile Object devices (UMO) embedded into the computing environment recognize and determine the situation so as to provide a suitable service to a user cooperatively and timely.

[5] The UMO requires a function of storing information on various resources, and a function of managing and querying the stored information. Also, the UMO requires mobility and minimum resources necessary to the user.

[6] However, the USS in a related art ubiquitous computing environment has a limitation in sharing the intelligent resource with heterogeneous UMO to provide a suitable service to the user. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[7] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a terminal and a method of providing an intelligent service in a ubiquitous smart space (USS) so as to support an intelligent service sharing in the USS.

[8] The present disclosure also provides a terminal and a method of providing an intelligent service in the USS so as to allow a ubiquitous mobile object device to retrieve surrounding resources and to share an intelligent resource corresponding to user's preference and demand. [9] The present disclosure also provides a terminal and a method of providing an intelligent service so as to share an intelligent resource corresponding to the user's preference and demand in the USS. Technical Solution

[10] According to an aspect, there is provided a terminal for implementing a ubiquitous service environment using a resource corresponding to a user's demand as a virtual resource, including: a communication unit communicating with a device in the ubiquitous service environment; a context information collection unit collecting a context information from resources of an ubiquitous smart space through the communication unit; a storage unit storing the context information; a resource selection unit selecting an optimal resource on the basis of the context information; and a resource environment setup unit setting up a communication environment so as to compose the virtual resource with the optimal resource.

[11] According to another aspect, there is provided a method of providing an intelligent service in a ubiquitous smart space, including: collecting a context information in the ubiquitous smart space according to a user's demand; setting up an optimal communication environment using the context information; and executing a ubiquitous service by composing a virtual resource with an optimal resource under the communication environment.

Advantageous Effects

[12] The terminal and method of providing an intelligent service according to the present invention have the effect of increasing convenience of a user by supporting a smart space, which allows the UMO embedded into the USS to provide a suitable service to the user by self-determining the situation and cooperating with each other. Brief Description of the Drawings

[13] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a UMO service scenario according to an exemplary embodiment.

[14] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a UMO service framework according to an exemplary embodiment.

[15] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating UMO framework operation procedures according to an exemplary embodiment.

[16] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a CIB structure according to an exemplary embodiment.

[17] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a UMO resource Reasoner and a UMO resource composer according to an exemplary embodiment.

[18] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a UMO framework interface according to an exemplary embodiment. [19] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a UMO framework inter-working according to an exemplary embodiment.

[20] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a UMO framework profile in XML form according to an exemplary embodiment.

[21] FIG. 9 is a table illustrating resource classification code according to an exemplary embodiment.

[22] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing the intelligent service in a ubiquitous smart space according to an exemplary embodiment. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[23] Hereinafter, specific embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[24] In a software framework structure according to an exemplary embodiment, a software framework for sharing an intelligent resource in UMO is provided to implement USS. That is, the software framework for sharing an intelligent resource, which is a software framework providing an suitable service by request of a user moving in various USS environment, is mounted in various UMO existing in surrounding environment. The UMO has a technical point of providing a service independently or through an interaction with the user based on circumferential resource or context when the user intends to provide a specific service while moving in the USS environment.

[25] Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be fully described with reference to the appended drawings. The description of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be focused on parts necessary to understand an operation and an action of the present invention.

[26] For a general understanding, the description will be hereinafter made on the basis of a framework. However, the framework corresponds to each unit of the terminal provided with an optimal ubiquitous service by using an optimal resource as a virtual resource in the USS environment. Accordingly, it will be understood that the terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention includes the units corresponding to the frameworks so as to be provided with ubiquitous services.

[27] First, the service provided by UMO frameworks is roughly divided into a voluntary environmental control service, and a voluntary resource sharing and composition service through a user preference-based situation recognition.

[28] The voluntary resource sharing and composition service is a service that voluntarily composes resources provided in the USS environments and user profiles into an optimal environment in order to provide a ubiquitous computing environment service which the user demands. [29] The voluntary environmental control service is a service that may control the USS environment in accordance with the intention of the user through a voluntary service execution mechanism in the UMO framework on the basis of the user's preference and context information of the surrounding environment.

[30] Accordingly, FIG. 1 shows a method by which the UMO provides various services to a user in the USS environment.

[31] A UMO framework structure according to an exemplary embodiment will be described below.

[32] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a UMO framework structure according to an exemplary embodiment.

[33] Referring to FIG. 2, the UMO framework includes two layers, i.e., a USS configuration layer and a situation awareness support layer located in the center of the UMO frameworks.

[34] USS configuration layer below is located right on a USS interaction layer supporting a communication infrastructure, and obtains a resource and context information from the USS environment. The USS configuration layer enables UMO to provide a service by composing an optimal USS environment. A situation awareness support layer, which is located right on the USS configuration layer, provides intelligent services by recognizing a situation of the USS based on information from the USS configuration layer and an application layer.

[35] Hereinafter, an operation of this UMO framework will be described with reference to

FIG. 3.

[36] The UMO framework defines a service provision to the user as a performance procedure by which the UMO provides a service in accordance with a continuously changing intention of the user. The performance procedure is also defined as a UMO action cycle.

[37] The UMO action cycle is divided into a service broker block, a discovery block, a

Context Information Base (CIB) block, a reasoner block, and a resource composer block. The service broker block analyzes the intention of the user, and thus requests a suitable computing environment to be constituted. The Discovery block retrieves resources of services existing in the USS environment on the basis of the requested information. The CIB block stores, manages, and provides the retrieved resources and the resource information such as context information. The reasoner block composes a resource map suitable for the service provision according to the retrieved information and information such as the user's intention, and makes a plan for the voluntary service performance. The resource composer block performs a binding using virtual device drivers so as to use substantial resources on the basis of the resource map from the reasoner block, and provides the voluntary resource sharing and composition service. In this case, the service broker performs the voluntary environment control service using the action plan from the reasoner.

[38] As described in FIG. 2, the UMO action cycle corresponding to the action of the user occurs in UMO soft framework. UMO may provide services based on the user and environment recognition through one UMO action cycle. When the user's action occurs, the UMO recognizes the action of the user by the service broker, and receives the request of the service.

[39] If the request is recognized through the service discovery, a discovery engine is driven in order to collect context information on the surrounding environment. The UMO appropriately filters and manipulates the information so as to make a plan using the collected information, and stores the information in a CIB. The reasoner generates the resource map for the optimal service using information on the user's preference and request on the basis of the stored context information, and delivers the resource map to the resource composer. Then, the resource composer receives the optimal resource map and constructs the environment capable of providing a service by appropriately binding the resources on the basis of the information stored in the CIB.

[40] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a CIB structure according to an exemplary embodiment.

[41] Referring to FIG. 4, the CIB provides a function of storing information on the various resources available in the UMO device, a function of managing and querying the stored information, and a function of generating detailed description information of the resources capable of being provided to the surrounding UMO using internal context information.

[42] The CIB includes a CIB storage 41, a UMO IB manager 42, a resource wrapper/ encoder 43, and a local resource 44.

[43] The CIB storages 41 stores a resource and service function including multilevel categories and the shared resources and the context information provided from the surrounding UMO devices.

[44] The UMO IB manager 42 provides a function of querying the stored CIB in various and convenient manner and a function of managing (e.g., adding or deleting) the CIB in order to support the efficient data management and query function.

[45] The resource wrapper 43 a provides a function of transforming and adding the shared resource information of the external UMO devices using the internal context information.

[46] The resource encoder 43b provides a function of generating resource description information 45 using the internal context information in order to show the detailed information on services available in the UMO device to the external UMO device. The generated information is delivered to other UMO devices through a resource provider [47] CIB having this structure provides the following functions.

[48] - Multi-layer data structure: provides a storage capable of efficiently storing information on surrounding resources and services having a multilevel category, and a flexible storage for addition and deletion of a new category generation and certain information.

[49] - Efficient data management and query function: is a function of variously querying the stored RIB/OIB and a function of managing (e.g., addition/deletion, etc.) the CIB.

[50] - CIB transformation and addition function according to the context: is a function of transforming the resource description information collected from the outside into a form for CIB storage, and a function of adding or modifying a part of the resource description information 45 for the CIB storage using the internal context information and the user's preference information.

[51] - Local resource description information generation function: is a function of generating the resource description information 45 with respect to resources capable of being providing from internal context information to the outside, and a function of re- composing resource description information 45 optimized to a resource discovery request by filtering the resource information according to the retrieval condition included in the request.

[52] A service reasoner function block will be fully described below.

[53] A UMO service reasoner provides an optimized UMO service to a user and a user environment on the USS using the user's preference, an environment surrounding the user, and internal context information of the UMO device.

[54] For this UMO service, the service reasoner provides the following functions.

[55] - User preference-based service: provides a function of standardizing a general user preference information and a user preference information for service profile, and storing and managing the standardized information in efficient form, and a function of collecting, adding, modifying the general user preference information and the user preference information for the service profile and retrieving various user preference information on the user and UMO software framework.

[56] - User and situation recognition-based service: provides a function of recommending a service profile which is considered useful to the user in the present situation to the user by recognizing changes of the user and the environment surrounding the user.

[57] - Automatized resource combination generation function: provides a function of generating all available resource combination lists including all shared resource information retrieved to provide services according to an automatized method, and a function of retrieving the substituted resource if the shared resources suitable to the user's demand are absent. [58] - Rule-based optimal resource combination selection function: provides a function of defining and managing various rules to provide services by selecting an optimal resource combination, and a function of selecting a resource combination optimized to provide the corresponding service using the pre-defined rule from all of the generated resource combination lists.

[59] A UMO service reasoner includes a user preference manager, an action flow generator, a resource map generator, and a reasoning engine. The UMO service reasoner maintains, adds, and manages the preference of the user. The action flow generator recommends useful services in a current situation to a user by recognizing changes of the user and the environment surrounding the user. The resource map generator generates all resource combinations using various shared resources surrounding the retrieved user on the basis of the service profile. The reasoning engine creates a final resource list from the resource map to provide the optimal service.

[60] - Preference manager: provides a function of storing and managing a general user preference information and a user preference information for a service profile in the standardized manner, a function of collecting, adding, and modifying the general user preference information and the user preference information for the service profile by learning, and a function of retrieving corresponding information by an information retrieval request of a user and other blocks of the UMO software platform.

[61] - Action flow generator: provides a function of recommending a useful service profile in a current situation to the user by recognizing the changes of the user and the environment surrounding the user, and a function of recommending a user's preference-based and a current situation-based service among the services currently advertised in the environment surrounding the user using the information provided from the preference manager.

[62] - Resource map generator: provides a function of providing a Reasoning Engine with all available resource combination lists generated according to the automatized method by using the shared resource information retrieved to provide services, and a function of retrieving a substituted resource if the shared resources suitable to the user's demand are absent.

[63] - Reasoning engine: performs a function of defining and managing various rules to select an optimal resource combination from the share resource combination list provided from the resource map generator, and provides a flexible interface mountable with various types of reasoning techniques in order to select the optimized resource combination.

[64] A resource composer function block will be fully described below.

[65] A resource composer receives the resource map finally made by the service reasoner, composes a set of resources, and provides a way to use the resources. [66] A retrieval of various resources according to user's demand and a selection of an optimal combination are performed by other functional blocks. The resource composer takes charge of receiving the above result, combines the resources, and enables the interface to be used in other programs. The resource composer includes remote resources existing in a remote UMO.

[67] As described in FIG. 5, the internal structure of the resource composer 50 includes a resource composition manager 51, a resource downloader (52) and a resource installer 53.

[68] The resource composition manager 51 provides an interface with the service reasoner and a CIB, which are external blocks. In this way, the resource composition manager 51 plays a substantial role in the resource composition by controlling the resource downloader 52 and the resource installer 53, which are internal blocks to compose a list of the requested resources. The service reasoner (60) delivers IDs of the resources according to the service profile to the resource composition manager 51. The resource composition manager 51 obtains information and approaches of the resources, and the shared resources from CIB using the IDs.

[69] The resource downloader 52 takes charge of communicating with a remote UMO and downloading a Resource Access Provider (RAP) software, which is a virtual resource software provided from the remote UMO device when a sharing request for the remote resources arrives.

[70] The resource installer 53 takes charge of receiving, installing, and driving the RAP software from the resource downloader 52.

[71] The resource composer (50) may compose a virtual resource by driving the RAP software, and share the resources existing in the external UMO. The virtual resource, which is a resource provided from the resource composer 50, is a resource existing in the external UMO recognized as a local resource. Because the virtual resource is connected with the UMO devices via pre-defined communication channel, the virtual resource may be uses as the local resource in the UMO devices. The resource composer 50 provides the following functions for these services.

[72] - CIB interface and data retrieval and analysis function: provides a function of interfacing a CIB database of UMO platform, a function of querying a stored CIB in various manners, and a function of retrieving and analyzing a storage of the surrounding resources and services in multilevel categories.

[73] - Remote UMO connection function: is a function of connecting with the UMO and transmitting data to obtain the shared resources through various communication channels which the UMO holds.

[74] - Virtual device driver download function from remote UMO: supports a function of reliably downloading a virtual device driver necessary to compose the virtual resource. [75] - Virtual device driver installation function: is a function of mounting the virtual resource by actively installing a control software and the driver downloaded from the remote UMO.

[76] A Service Discover will be fully described below.

[77] As described in FIG. 5, the service search engine for UMO service framework includes a primitive for providing service to an upper layer, a message processor, an neighbor manager managing information on surrounding shared nodes, and a localization engine finding a relative location to the surrounding node related with service.

[78] - Service discovery Engine Interface

[79] The service discovery Engine includes the following primitives for interfacing the upper layer or other components.

[80] - Request primitives: performs a request which service discovery receives from the upper layer.

[81] - Confirm primitives: is used in order to return the result performed by the request primitive to upper layer.

[82] - Indication primitive: is used for the service discovery to inform the upper layer of an event such as a message arrival.

[83] - Response primitive: is used for the upper layer to deliver the result performed by the indication primitive to a corresponding device.

[84] - Message processor

[85] Message processor transforms a request of the upper layer through primitive calls into a service discovery message, delivers it to the surrounding devices through an interaction adapter, and calls an appropriate indication primitive by analyzing the service discovery message.

[86] - Neighbor manager

[87] Neighbor manager manages information such as ID of the surrounding devices,

UMO ID, Operation Mode (Directory mode or Peer-to-peer mode), state, and Network address.

[88] - Localization engine

[89] Localization engine performs a function of calculating location information between the devices used as basic data in function of recognizing the usage situation of shared resources. The Localization Engine provides the upper layer with relative distance information between the devices using the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) provided by the Interaction Adapter in the process of transmitting the service discovery message.

[90] A UMO framework block inter-working will be described with reference to the accompanying FIG. 6. [91] A Service Access Point (SAP) is used as an interface between the UMO framework internal blocks [92] The SAP of UMO framework internal blocks are defined in each of functional blocks.

[93] Primitives used in UMO framework are described in the following table 1. [94] Table 1 [Table 1] [Table ]

[95] The UMO framework performs a UMO operation flow as described in FIG. 7 when a service request is received from an upper application layer. If a service broker receives a profile.request from an application layer, the service broker requests a service reasoner to compose resources with respect to ID of the received profile. The service reasoner verifies if the corresponding resources exist in CIB using a CIB. request. Then, after the service reasoner checks the preference with respect to a resource composition from a user preference manager, the service reasoner requests a resource discover & provider to retrieve the corresponding resources in a USS environment by a resource_find.request. The resource discover & provider broadcasts a discovery command for the requested resources to a USS interaction adapter in the USS environment.

[96] Information retrieved by the USS interaction adapter is delivered to the resource discover & provider using the discovery.confirm. Also, the retrieved information is stored in CIB using a CB-set.request. if the discovery is completed until a given time_out, the resource discover & provider informs the service reasoner that the retrieval has been completed by sending a resource_find.confirm to the service reasoner. Then, the service reasoner generates an appropriate resource composition map using CIB and preference information of resource, context and user from a user preference manager, and delivers the resource composition map to a resource composer through a composition.request. The resource composer obtains detailed information on the corresponding resources from the CIB in accordance with the given map, and, if necessary, downloads virtual resources and related software from a corresponding UMO to compose them like its own local resources. After this process, the resource composer updates the changed local resource information in CIB. If the update is completed, the resource composer informs the service reasoner by a com- position.confirm. The service reasoner informs the service broker through a resource.confirm. The service broker informs the application layer that a service for profile is ready through a profile.confirm, and ends the process. If the process ends, the application layer is provided with the services by using a service environment voluntarily composed by the UMO software framework.

[97] 3. UMO Software Framework Profile Description

[98] A UMO framework profile includes the definitions of all the necessary resources in order to provide the specific UMO service. A UMO framework profile description may be expressed in XML form as described in FIG. 8.

[99] UMO framework profile description includes the following items on the basis of a

UMO service profile.

[100] - The profile element: includes a proper ID of the UMO software framework profile, a name and a profile description.

[101] - "Annotation" element: shows a comment about a corresponding function, and, if necessary, may include many "annotation" elements, which are expressed as "xml: lang" attributes. Values of "xml: lang " complies with the ISO 639-2 [3] standard.

[102] - The resource element: includes information on an individual resource used in order to run the UMO software framework profile. The resource information supports comprehensive definitions on desired resources using "group:, "type" and "item" attributes in order to retrieve resources which may be divided into multilevel categories. The definition which is inclusive in about the resource it supports., "the group (group)", "uses a type (type)" and "an item (item)" attribute (attribute) in about the resources which are the possibility of becoming the configuration with multilevel category

[103] - "Group", "type" and "item" attributes of resource element: includes a classification code corresponding to each resource. An example of the resource classification code is described in FIG. 9.

[104] The above framework can be embodied into a terminal. That is, the operation and action of each function unit of the terminal may provide an ubiquitous service using optimal resources in an ubiquitous function type space. [105] Accordingly, the terminal for implementing a ubiquitous service environment using a resource corresponding to a user's demand as a virtual resource includes a communication unit for communicating with a device in the ubiquitous service environment, a context information collection unit for collecting a context information from resources of an ubiquitous smart space through the communication unit, a storage unit for storing the context information, a resource selection unit for selecting an optimal resource on the basis of the context information, and a resource environment setup unit for setting up a communication environment so as to compose the virtual resource with the optimal resource.

[106] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing the intelligent service in a ubiquitous smart space according to an exemplary embodiment.

[107] First, when a request of a user is inputted into a terminal in step Sl 10, context information is collected in the ubiquitous smart space according to user's demand in step S 120.

[108] Then, the terminal stores the collected context information in step S130, and generates a resource map so as to provide an optimal service on the basis of the stored context information in step S 140.

[109] Next, the terminal sets up a communication environment with an optimal resource using the resource map and the stored context information in step S 150.

[110] Thus, the terminal executes a ubiquitous service using the optimal resource in step S 160.

[I l l] As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims. Industrial Applicability

[112] According to the embodiments of the present invention, the intelligent service method and the terminal in the ubiquitous smart space can contribute to an activation of a ubiquitous computing technology development by sharing the resources in accordance with the user's preference and demand in the ubiquitous smart space.

[113]

Claims

[1] A terminal for implementing a ubiquitous service environment using a resource corresponding to a user's demand as a virtual resource, the terminal comprising: a communication unit communicating with a device in the ubiquitous service environment; a context information collection unit collecting a context information from resources of an ubiquitous smart space through the communication unit; a storage unit storing the context information; a resource selection unit selecting an optimal resource on the basis of the context information; and a resource environment setup unit setting up a communication environment so as to compose the virtual resource with the optimal resource.

[2] The terminal of claim 1, further comprising a resource composition unit transmitting information on the optimal resource to the resource environment setup unit by composing the resource map including the optimal resources according to information of the optimal resource, a user's intention and preference, and the context information.

[3] The terminal of claim 2, wherein the resource composition unit comprises: a downloader downloading a program corresponding to a request of resource sharing from a remote ubiquitous mobile object device; a installer installing the program; and a controller controlling operations of the downloader and the installer to compose the information on the optimal resources.

[4] A method of providing an intelligent service in a ubiquitous smart space, the method comprising: collecting a context information in the ubiquitous smart space according to a user's demand; setting up an optimal communication environment using the context information; and executing a ubiquitous service by composing a virtual resource with an optimal resource under the communication environment.

[5] The method of claim 4, wherein the setting up of the optimal communication environment comprises: collecting resources necessary to an optimal service on the basis of the context information; composing a resource map comprising the collected resources as the optimal resource according to a user's intention and preference, and the context in- formation; and setting up the optimal communication environment in consideration of the resource map.

[6] A computer-readable storage media storing a program for executing a method comprising: collecting a context information in the ubiquitous smart space according to a user's demand; setting up an optimal communication environment using the context information; and executing a ubiquitous service by composing a virtual resource with an optimal resource under the communication environment.