WO2010026799A1

WO2010026799A1 - Content download system, agent, and content download method

Info

Publication number: WO2010026799A1
Application number: PCT/JP2009/057978
Authority: WO
Inventors: 林　偉夫
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社
Priority date: 2008-09-02
Filing date: 2009-04-22
Publication date: 2010-03-11
Also published as: JPWO2010026799A1; JP5316966B2

Abstract

A content download system is provided with a first wireless communication network (NW), a second wireless communication network (NW) equipped with access points (AP) and cache servers corresponding to the APs, a content server, a mobile terminal which transmits a request for downloading a content including positional information through the first wireless communication network (NW), and an agent which records positional information relating to the APs and the cache servers corresponding to the APs in association with each other. When receiving a request for downloading, the agent acquires the content from the content server, determines a designated AP from the positional information relating to the mobile terminal and that relating to the AP, identifies a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP, and caches the content to the designated cache server. The mobile terminal moves to the wireless area of the designated AP. When the mobile terminal moves to the wireless area of the designated AP, the designated cache server transmits the content to the mobile terminal through the designated AP.

Description

Content download system, agent, and content download method

The present invention relates to a content download system.

The content download service is a service in which a user downloads content from a content server on the Internet using wireless access by a portable terminal. For wireless access using a portable terminal, for example, a system with a wide wireless area but a low communication speed, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), and a mobile phone system represented by a third generation mobile phone, There are systems with a narrow wireless area but high communication speed such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). When wireless access is performed using a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal moves with the user. Therefore, it becomes an issue for the content download system to efficiently download the content according to the movement of the mobile terminal. Related technologies that provide content download according to the movement status of a mobile terminal using the features of a wireless system are disclosed as follows.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-038242 discloses an in-train download service system capable of providing efficient access at low cost when a user in a train accesses the Internet or the like. The in-train download service system disclosed in JP-A-2004-038242 uses a train to download content requested from any terminal present in the train from a content server connected to a predetermined network and provide the content to the terminal Is a download service system. The station yard wireless communication means is installed at each of a plurality of stations, and enables wireless communication with a terminal in a train or an in-house server in a state where the train is present in the yard of each station. The proxy download means is connected to the station premises wireless communication means, accesses the corresponding content server as a proxy of the request source according to the download request from the terminal or the in-house server, and acquires and stores the requested content. The data acquisition station specifying means specifies a station for acquiring data requested by a terminal or an in-house server. The content transfer means transfers the content acquired by the proxy download means to the terminal or the in-house server via the station radio communication means belonging to the station specified by the data acquisition station specifying means.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-026977 discloses a content reservation delivery system that enables downloading of content in various places in a short time. The content reservation distribution system of JP 2005-026977 A comprises a first wireless communication system having a first service area and a first data transfer rate, a second service area narrower than the first service area, and A content reservation delivery system for performing reservation delivery between a content server providing content and a mobile communication device via a second wireless communication system having a second data transfer rate higher than the data transfer rate of 1. . The mobile communication device transmits means for transmitting download reservation information of desired content to the content server via the first wireless communication system, and transmits a download request for desired content to the content server via the second communication system. A request transmitting means and a means for receiving desired content transmitted from the content server via the second communication system. The content server transmits the desired content to the mobile terminal device via the second communication system according to the means for receiving the download reservation information, the means for receiving the download request, and the received download reservation information and the download request. And

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-033439 discloses a data distribution system capable of acquiring desired data while the data user moves. The data distribution system disclosed in JP 2005-033439 A is a data distribution system for distributing information to mobile terminals via a plurality of access points connected to a network. The access point and the mobile terminal can transmit and receive using Bluetooth. The information preparation means prepares information. The means for predicting predicts the position of the mobile terminal. The means for selecting selects an access point near the predicted mobile terminal location. The means for transmitting uses Bluetooth the information prepared by the preparation means from the selected access point to the mobile terminal.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-196008 discloses a data delivery system that enables effective caching for specific users who make mobile access using a mobile device. The management apparatus in the data distribution system of JP 2006-196008 A comprises a mobile computer connected to the Internet via a wireless network, and an information server for providing WWW (World Wide Web) information to the mobile computer via the Internet. The management apparatus is connectable to a plurality of cache servers arranged to cache information transferred from the information server to the mobile computer. The means for receiving includes at least the information on the connection position of the mobile computer in the wireless network notified of at a predetermined timing from the mobile computer, and the mobile computer pertaining to a special user registered in advance. It receives identification information specifying one or more WWW information stored in the mobile calculation notified from the mobile computer at the time of network connection of the computer. The means for selecting uses the information on the connection position of the mobile computer notified from the mobile computer to select one or more cache servers arranged in the vicinity of the mobile computer. The means for performing control includes, in advance, the WWW information selected based on the notified identification information related to the special user and the information provider who provides the WWW information by the information server to the selected cache server. Control is made to cache the selected WWW information depending on the information related to the registered special information provider who designates the special user.

JP, 2004-038242, A JP 2005-026977 A JP, 2005-033429, A JP, 2006-196008, A

The information delivery system according to the related art described above is a technique for delivering information at a specific place at high speed and efficiently. Therefore, information distribution in the situation where the user moves freely is not considered. Furthermore, it is not considered about the optimal information deployment according to the movement of the user or the situation of the network.

Then, this invention aims at providing the content download system which can download content to a portable terminal efficiently according to the movement condition of a portable terminal.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a content download system capable of selecting an access point from which a portable terminal can download content efficiently.

The content download system according to the present invention comprises a first wireless communication network that configures a first wireless area and performs communication at a first communication speed, and a second wireless area that has a smaller wireless area than the first wireless area. The second wireless communication network performing communication at a second communication speed faster than the communication speed, and the second wireless communication network are installed corresponding to the access point constituting the second wireless area and the access point, A cache server for temporarily storing the content, a content server for storing the content, a portable terminal for transmitting a download request for content including current location information via the first wireless communication network, and an access point Location information and access points and corresponding cache servers for each access point An agent that records the information in a corresponding manner, and when the agent receives the download request, the agent acquires the content from the content server, and accesses based on the position information of the portable terminal and the position information of the access point included in the download request The designated access point is determined from among the points, the designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point is specified from among the cache servers, and the content is cached to the designated cache server, and the mobile terminal determines the wireless area of the designated access point Moving in, the designated cache server transmits the content to the portable terminal via the designated access point when the portable terminal is moved in the wireless area of the designated access point.

The agent of the present invention is used in the content download system described above.

The content downloading method according to the present invention comprises a first wireless communication network that configures a first wireless area and performs communication at a first communication speed, and a second wireless area that has a smaller wireless area than the first wireless area and that has a first In a content download system including a second wireless communication network for performing communication at a second communication speed higher than the communication speed, a portable terminal, an agent, and a content server, the second wireless communication network includes a second wireless area And a cache server provided corresponding to the access point and temporarily storing the content, storing the content, and a current position via the first wireless communication network Sending a download request for content including information; Storing the location information of the access point and the cache server corresponding to the access point in correspondence with each access point, receiving the download request, acquiring the content from the content server, and the portable terminal included in the download request Determining a designated access point among the access points based on the location information of the access point and the location information of the access point; identifying a designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point among the cache servers; and a designated cache server Caching content into the wireless area of the designated access point, moving the portable terminal into the wireless area of the designated access point, the content to the portable terminal through the designated access point And a step of Shin.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a content download system capable of efficiently downloading content to a portable terminal according to the movement situation of the portable terminal.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a content download system capable of selecting an access point capable of efficiently downloading content to a portable terminal.

The objects, effects, and features of the above-described invention will become more apparent from the description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a content download system in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the difference in wireless area between the mobile communication network and the high-speed wireless access network in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to n in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority in the first embodiment is high priority. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a selection screen for selecting the priority of content in the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority in the first embodiment is medium priority. FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram when the position information management unit 203 determines a designated AP when the priority in the first embodiment is medium priority. FIG. 9 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority in the first embodiment is low priority. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram when the position information management unit 203 determines a designated AP when the priority in the first embodiment is low priority. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the content download system in the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of the monitoring device 300 in the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the second embodiment.

A content download system according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment
First, a content download system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the content download system according to the present embodiment will be described using FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a content download system according to the present embodiment.

The content download system according to the present embodiment includes a mobile terminal 100, a network A (hereinafter, NW-A) 101, base stations 102-1 to 102 n, a network B (hereinafter, NW-B) 103, an access point The following comprises APs 104-1 to n, cache servers 105-1 to n, the Internet 107, a content server 108, and an agent 200.

First, the NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to 102-n will be described. The NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to n constitute a mobile communication network represented by, for example, a third generation mobile phone. The NW-A 101 is a conventional mobile communication network provided with devices such as a base station control device that controls the base stations 102-1 to n, a switch, and a location registration server. The base stations 102-1 to 102-n are connected to the NW-A 101, respectively. Each of the base stations 102-1 to 102-n can communicate with the portable terminal 100 by radio. The mobile terminal 100 can perform communication by connecting to the NW-A 101 via the base stations 102-1 to 102-n. The NW-A 101 is also connected to the Internet 107. Therefore, the mobile terminal 100 can access the Internet 107 via the base stations 102-1 to 102-n and the NW-A 101. The mobile communication network of the NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to 102-n is based on the prior art, so the detailed description is omitted. Although only three base stations 102-1 to n are illustrated, more (n: n is an integer of 0 or more) actually exist.

Next, NW-B 103 and APs 104-1 to n will be described. The NW-B 103 and the APs 104-1 to n constitute an IP (Internet Protocol) network by high-speed wireless access represented by a wireless LAN, WiMAX, and the like. The NW-B 103 is configured by connecting a large number of network switches, network routers, or transmission devices. The APs 104-1 to n are connected to the NW-B 103, respectively. The APs 104-1 to n can communicate with the portable terminal 100 by wireless, respectively. The portable terminal 100 can perform communication by connecting to the NW-B 103 via the APs 104-1 to n. The NW-B 103 is connected to the Internet 107 via the agent 200. Therefore, the portable terminal 100 can access the Internet 107 via the APs 104-1 to n and the NW-B 103. The high-speed wireless access by the NW-B 103 and the APs 104-1 to n will not be described in detail because they are configured by the prior art. Although only APs of three stations are illustrated, APs 104-1 to n are actually more present (n stations: n is an integer of 0 or more).

Note that a mobile communication network by the NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to n (hereinafter referred to as a mobile communication network, the NW-A 101 and the base stations 102-1 to n) includes the NW. The communication speed is lower than that of a high-speed wireless access network (hereinafter referred to as a high-speed wireless access network, the NW-B 103 and the APs 104-1 to n) by the B 103 and the APs 104-1 to n. Specifically, while the communication speed of the mobile communication network is several hundred kbps to several Mbps, the communication speed of the high-speed radio access network is several Mbps to several tens Mbps. Therefore, when data of the same capacity is downloaded, the download time of the data is different between when using a mobile communication network and when using a high-speed radio access network. This tendency becomes more pronounced as the amount of downloaded data increases.

Also, the wireless area of the mobile communication network is wider than the wireless area of the high speed wireless access network. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the difference in wireless area between the mobile communication network and the high-speed wireless access network in the present embodiment. Wireless areas of the base station (shown as base station areas in the drawing) 120-1 to 120-n are wireless areas by the base stations 102-1 to 102-n, respectively. The centers of the wireless areas 120-1 to 120-n of the base station are the base stations 102-1 to 102-n, respectively. Further, the wireless area of the AP (shown as AP area in the drawing) 121-1 to wireless area 121-n of the AP are wireless areas by the AP 104-1 to n, respectively. The centers of the wireless areas 121-1 to n of the AP are the APs 105-1 to n, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless areas configured by the base stations 102-1 to n are wider than the wireless areas configured by the APs 105-1 to n. Usually, the wireless areas formed by the base stations 102-1 to n, respectively, extend several kilometers to several tens of kilometers around the base stations 102-1 to n. On the other hand, the wireless area formed by the APs 104-1 to n is narrower than the wireless area formed by the base stations 102-1 to 102-n. Usually, the wireless area configured by the APs 104-1 to n has a radius of several 10 m to several 100 m around the AP 104-1 to n. Further, the term “wide wireless area” herein is not limited to the wireless area configured by each one of the base stations 102-1 to n and the APs 104-1 to n. That is, even when the wireless area constituted by all of the base stations 102-1 to n and all of the APs 104-1 to n is considered as a whole, the wireless area formed by the base stations 102-1 to n is It includes the meaning of being wider than the wireless area configured by the AP 105-1 to n. In FIG. 2, wireless areas 120-1 to n by base stations 102-1 to n and wireless areas 121-1 to n by APs 104-1 to n are circular as in the case of using nondirectional antennas. The area is composed for the sake of simplicity of explanation. The wireless area is not limited to this because it varies depending on the outputs of the base stations 102-1 to n and APs 104-1 to 104-n and the directivity of the antenna used.

Next, the Internet 107 will be described. The Internet 107 is connected to the NW-A 101 and the NW-B 103. Further, the Internet 107 is connected to the content server 108. The Internet 107 transfers data of communication performed between the NW-A 101, the NW-B 103, and the content server. The Internet 107 and the NW-B 103 are connected via an agent 200. This depends on the connection position of the agent 200 in the network, and is not limited thereto. For example, the agent 200 may be connected only to the Internet 107 and installed as an access server on the Internet 107. In addition, since the internet 107 is comprised by the prior art, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

Next, the mobile terminal 100 will be described. The portable terminal 100 downloads content from the content server 108. The mobile terminal 100 includes base stations 102-1 to n and APs 104-1 to n, and a not-shown antenna and a wireless transmission / reception unit for performing wireless communication. The mobile terminal 100 can perform communication by connecting to the NW-A 101 via the base stations 102-1 to 102-n. The portable terminal 100 can connect to the NW-A 101 via the base stations 102-1 to 102 n, and can further connect to the agent 200 via the Internet 107. In addition, the portable terminal 100 can perform communication by connecting to the NW-B 103 via the APs 104-1 to n. The portable terminal 100 transmits a content download request to the agent 200 via the mobile communication network. In the present embodiment, the portable terminal 100 transmits the content download request including the positional information of the portable terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 is provided with a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver (not shown), and can obtain the current position of the mobile terminal 100. The portable terminal 100 includes the position information of the portable terminal 100 acquired by the GPS receiver in the content download request, and transmits the content download request to the agent 200. The agent 200 determines an AP (hereinafter, designated AP) from which the content can be downloaded from among the APs 104-1 to n based on the position information of the portable terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 receives an information notification of the designated AP (hereinafter, AP information notification) from the agent 200. When the mobile terminal 100 enters the wireless area of the APs 104-1 to n notified by the AP information notification, the mobile terminal 100 accesses the AP and notifies the agent 200 of access point arrival via the NW-B 103 (hereinafter referred to as AP arrival notification) Send Thereafter, the portable terminal 100 downloads content data from a corresponding cache server (hereinafter, designated cache server) corresponding to the designated AP. Thus, in the present embodiment, the portable terminal 100 transmits a content download request via the mobile communication network. Since the content download request has a small data capacity, there is little influence even if it is transmitted via a low speed mobile communication network. Also, since the base stations 102-1 to 102-n constitute a wide wireless area, the portable terminal 100 can easily transmit a content download request. The portable terminal 100 also downloads the content via the high speed wireless access network. Content has a large data capacity as compared to a request message or the like. The portable terminal 100 can efficiently download content using the high communication speed of the APs 104-1 to n.

Next, the content server 108 will be described. The content server 108 stores content data to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 100. The content server 108 is connected to the Internet 107, and can be accessed via the Internet 107. In the present embodiment, upon receiving a content download request from the agent 200, the content server 108 transmits the designated content to the agent 200. Also, although only one content server 108 is illustrated for ease of explanation, actually, a larger number of content servers 108 exist on the Internet.

Next, the cache servers 105-1 to n will be described. The cache servers 105-1 to n temporarily store the content data and download the content data to the portable terminal 100. The cache servers 105-1 to n are connected to the NW-B 103, respectively. The cache servers 105-1 to n are installed corresponding to the APs 104-1 to n, respectively. For example, the cache server 105-1 is installed corresponding to the AP 104-1. This means that the cache server 105-1 stores the content that the portable terminal 100 downloads in the wireless area of the AP 104-1. Similarly, cache servers 105-2 to n are respectively installed corresponding to the APs 104-2 to n. This means that the cache servers 105-2 to n store contents to be downloaded by the portable terminal 100 in the wireless areas of the APs 104-2 to n. In the present embodiment, cache servers 105-1 to n are provided corresponding to the respective APs 104-1 to n. In this case, a plurality of cache servers corresponding to one AP may be set, and conversely, one cache server corresponding to a plurality of APs may be set. These are items determined based on the traffic volume of the system and are not limited. In the present embodiment, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the position information included in the content download request transmitted by the mobile terminal 100. The agent 200 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. The agent 200 temporarily caches the content to the designated cache server. The mobile terminal 100 enters the wireless area of the designated AP. When receiving the synchronization command from the agent 200, the designated cache server transmits the cached content to the mobile terminal 100.

Next, the agent 200 will be described. The agent 200 receives a content download request from the portable terminal 100, downloads the content from the content server 107, and downloads the content to the portable terminal 100. When downloading content to the portable terminal 100, the agent 200 determines the designated AP from among the APs 104-1 to n based on the location information of the portable terminal 100 included in the content download request, and the cache server 105-1 to Identify the specified cache server from n. The agent 200 transmits the content to the designated cache server, and causes the designated cache server to cache the content temporarily. When the agent 200 causes the designated cache server to cache the content, the agent 200 notifies the portable terminal 100 of the designated AP. When entering the wireless area of the designated AP, the portable terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification to the agent 200. When receiving the AP arrival notification, the agent 200 transmits a content synchronization request (hereinafter, content synchronization request) to the designated cache server. When the designated cache server receives the content synchronization request, the designated cache server downloads the cached content to the portable terminal 100.

Here, configurations of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to n in the first embodiment. The agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to n include a processing unit 10, a storage unit 11, a communication unit 12, an input / output unit 14, and an internal bus 14. The processing unit 10, the storage unit 11, the communication unit 12, and the input / output unit 14 are electrically connected to one another by the internal bus 14 and can transmit and receive signals. The storage unit 11 is configured by a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD) or the like, and functions of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to n. A processing program for realizing the above, data and the like are recorded. The processing unit 10 is configured of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and executes the processing program recorded in the storage unit 11 to obtain the functions of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to n. To realize. The communication unit 12 is configured by a communication port or the like, and communicates with another device. The input / output unit 13 is configured of a keyboard, a mouse, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and the like. Each function of the agent 200, the content server 108, and the cache servers 105-1 to 105-n can be realized by a program or can be realized by hardware.

Next, FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the present embodiment. Each function of the agent 200 is realized by the configuration of the agent 200 as described above. The agent 200 includes a synchronization processing management unit 201, a content management unit 202, a position information management unit 203, a position information management table 204, a server determination unit 205, and a communication processing unit 206.

The position information management table 204 records the position information of the APs 104-1 to n in association with the APs 104-1 to n. In addition, the position information management table 204 records the movement planned route 32 of the user. The movement planned route 32 is a user's movement plan. For example, the planned travel route 32 is a scheduled travel on a specific day, or a repetitive and continuous travel route such as daily or weekly. The planned movement route 32 is registered in advance by the user, accessing the agent 200 from the portable terminal 100 or other information terminals.

The position information management unit 203 detects the position information of the portable terminal 100 included in the content download request, the position information of the APs 104-1 to n recorded in the position information management table 204, or the movement recorded in the position information management table 204. Based on the planned route 32, the designated AP is determined. When receiving the content download request from the portable terminal 100, the position information management unit 203 determines a designated AP and notifies the server determination unit 205.

The server determination unit 205 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP determined by the position information management unit 203. The server determination unit 205 associates and stores the respective APs 104-1 to n with the cache servers 105-1 to n. When notified of the designated AP from the position information management unit 203, the server determination unit 205 determines the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP, and notifies the content management unit 202 and the synchronous processing management unit 201.

The content management unit 202 transmits a content synchronization request to the designated cache server. When the content management unit 202 receives an AP arrival notification from the portable terminal 100, the content management unit 202 transmits a content synchronization request to the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP that has reached the wireless area.

When the download of content to the portable terminal 100 is interrupted, the synchronization processing management unit 201 stores a portion (hereinafter, data portion) of the content data for which the download has been completed. When the mobile terminal 100 moves between a plurality of designated APs, downloading of desired content may not be completed with only one designated AP. The synchronization processing management unit 201 stores the data portion for which the town loading has been completed in the portable terminal 100, so that when downloading is performed from another designated cache server again, the download is resumed from the data portion. To request. Therefore, duplicate data download can be prevented, and efficient download of desired content can be realized.

The above is the description of the configuration of the content download system in the present embodiment.

[Description of operation method]
Next, an operation method of the content download system in the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the user can select the priority when downloading the content. The priority is a degree indicating how urgent the user needs the content. In the present embodiment, the case of classification into three types of priorities will be described. The three types of priority are high priority, middle priority, and low priority. Of the three types of priority, high priority is the most urgent, and low priority is the least urgent. In the case of high priority, the mobile terminal 100 downloads content using the mobile communication network (NW-A 101 and base stations 102-1 to n). In the case of medium priority, the mobile terminal 100 moves to the subordinate of the designated AP notified from the agent 200 and downloads the content. In the case of low priority, the portable terminal 100 selects an appropriate AP 104-1 to n according to the movement of the portable terminal 100 and downloads the content.

(Operation method in case of high priority)
First, in the present embodiment, an operation method when the user selects content acquisition with high priority will be described. FIG. 5 is an operation flow of the content download system in the case where the priority is high priority in the present embodiment. In the case of high priority, the mobile terminal 100 downloads content using the mobile communication network (NW-A 101 and base stations 102-1 to n).

(Step S10)
The user inputs a content acquisition request to the portable terminal 100. In the present embodiment, the user inputs a priority when inputting a content acquisition request. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a selection screen for selecting the priority of content in the present embodiment. The user can select the priority of the content through the selection screen as shown in FIG. The setting of the priority may be performed each time the user inputs a content acquisition request, or may be set in advance according to the type of content. In this description, the user selects the priority as high priority. When the content acquisition request is input, the portable terminal 100 requests a content download request for the desired content (hereinafter, desired content) (shown as a content acquisition request in the drawing) with the current position information of the portable terminal 100 The mobile communication network is used to transmit to the agent 200, including the priority. The content download request includes the content server 108 storing desired content, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the storage position of the desired content in the content server 108, and the like. The information mobile communication network and the Internet 107 transfer the content download request to the agent 200.

(Step S20)
The agent 200 receives the content download request. The agent 200 transmits a desired content download request to the content server 108 storing the desired content based on the content download request.

(Step S30)
The content server 108 receives a content download request from the agent. The content server 108 transmits the desired content to the agent 200. The content acquisition from the content server 108 by the agent 200 will not be described because it is based on the prior art.

(Step S40)
The agent 200 acquires desired content from the content server 108. The agent 200 determines the content download method to the portable terminal 100 based on the priority included in the content download request from the portable terminal 100. In the description, the priority is set to high priority. The agent 200 transmits the desired content to the mobile terminal 100 using the mobile communication network.

(Step S50)
The portable terminal 100 receives the desired content via the mobile communication network.

The above is the operation | movement method of the content download system at the time of setting priority to high priority in this embodiment. When the priority is set to high priority, the desired content can be downloaded using the wide wireless area of the mobile communication network.

(Operation method for medium priority)
Next, in the present embodiment, an operation method will be described in the case where the user selects content acquisition with medium priority. FIG. 7 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority in the present embodiment is medium priority. In the case of medium priority, the mobile terminal 100 moves to the subordinate of the designated AP notified from the agent 200 and downloads the content.

(Step S100)
The user inputs a content acquisition request to the portable terminal 100. In this description, the user selects medium priority. When the content acquisition request is input, the portable terminal 100 includes the current position information and the priority of the portable terminal 100 in the content download request of the desired content, and transmits the request to the agent 200 using the mobile communication network. Send. The content download request includes the content server 108 storing desired content, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the storage position of the desired content in the content server 108, and the like. The information mobile communication network and the Internet 107 transfer the content download request to the agent 200.

(Step S110)
The agent 200 receives the content download request. The agent 200 transmits a content download request for the desired content to the content server 108 that stores the desired content based on the content download request.

(Step S120)
The content server 108 receives a content download request from the agent 200. The content server 108 transmits the desired content to the agent 200. The content acquisition from the content server 108 by the agent 200 will not be described because it is based on the prior art.

(Step S130)
The agent 200 acquires desired content from the content server 108. The agent 200 determines the content download method to the portable terminal 100 based on the priority included in the content download request from the portable terminal 100. In the present description, the priority is set to medium priority. If the agent 200 determines that the priority is medium priority, it determines the designated AP based on the position information of the portable terminal 100 included in the content download request. The position information management unit 203 determines the designated AP based on the position information of the portable terminal 100 and the position information of the APs 104-1 to n recorded in the position information management table 204.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram when the position information management unit 203 determines the designated AP when the priority in the present embodiment is medium priority. Referring to FIG. 8, a wireless area 120-2 of the base station 102 and wireless areas 121-2 4 and 5 of the APs 104-2, 4 and 5 exist. The

distances

20, 21 and 22 are distances from the portable terminal 100 to the APs 104-2, 4 and 5, respectively. In the present embodiment, the position information management unit 203 determines an AP closest to the portable terminal 100 among the APs 104-2, 4 and 5 as the designated AP. For example, referring to FIG. 8, the distance 21 is closest. Therefore, in this case, the position information management unit 203 determines the AP 104-4 as the designated AP. The position information management unit 203 outputs the information on the designated AP to the server determination unit 205. The server determination unit 205 inputs the designated AP from the position information management unit 203. The server determination unit 205 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 notifies the content management unit 202 of the designated cache server.

(Step S140)
The content management unit 202 is notified of the designated cache server from the server determination unit 205. The content management unit 202 transmits the desired content to the designated cache server. The designated cache server receives and stores the desired content.

(Step S150)
The server determination unit 205 notifies the portable terminal 100 of a designated AP (hereinafter, AP information notification). The server determination unit 205 transmits an AP information notification including the position information of the designated AP. AP information notification is transferred using a mobile communication network. Upon receiving the AP information notification from the agent 200, the mobile terminal 100 notifies the user of the position of the designated AP. As a method of notifying the user of the information on the designated AP, the portable terminal 100 may display the position of the portable terminal 100 and the position of the designated AP on the map data, and may make a notification. If a building name or spot name corresponding to position information of the designated AP is recorded in advance, a method of notifying by that name may be used. The method of notifying the user of the information of the designated AP is not limited to the method as long as the notified user can move into the wireless area of the designated AP. As described above, in the present embodiment, the agent 200 notifies the user of the position of the designated AP, and urges the user to move to the wireless area subordinate to the designated AP.

(Step S160)
The user moves into the wireless area of the designated AP. When the user does not want to move to the designated AP notified by the AP information notification, the content is downloaded by changing to another priority. For example, an item such as “change to another priority” is provided in the notification screen of the designated AP to the user. The portable terminal 100 transmits a priority change request to the agent 200 when the user selects such an item. When the agent 200 receives the change request, the agent 200 may change the content download method corresponding to the priority included in the change request.

(Step S170)
When detecting that the mobile terminal 100 has entered the wireless area of the designated AP, the mobile terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification to the agent 200. The mobile terminal 100 detects that it has entered the wireless area of the designated AP, based on broadcast information transmitted by the designated AP. The APs 104-1 to n (including designated APs) transmit broadcast information including an AP identifier such as an ESSID (Extend Service Set IDentifier) or a MAC (Media Access Control) address of each AP. A method is conceivable in which the portable terminal 100 acquires the identifier of the designated AP by AP information notification received from the agent 200. When the identifier of the designated AP included in the AP information notification matches the identification information of the APs 104-1 to n included in the broadcast information transmitted by the APs 104-1 to n, the portable terminal 100 transmits the wireless of the designated AP. Detects that the area has been reached. Alternatively, the designated AP may call the identifier of the portable terminal 100 simultaneously, and the portable terminal 100 may respond to the simultaneous call. In this case, a method may be considered in which the designated cache server simultaneously acquires the identifier of the portable terminal 100 when receiving desired content data from the agent 200. The designated cache server notifies the designated AP of the identifier of the mobile terminal 100. As a result, the designated AP can make a simultaneous call to the designated AP's wireless area, including the notified identifier of the portable terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 notifies the agent 200 of AP arrival notification using either a mobile communication system or a high-speed radio access system.

(Step S180)
The agent 200 receives an AP arrival notification from the mobile terminal 100. The agent 200 detects that the portable terminal 100 exists under the wireless area of the designated AP by receiving the AP arrival notification. The synchronization processing management unit 201 transmits a content synchronization request for desired content to the designated cache server.

(Step S190)
The designated cache server receives the content synchronization request from the agent 200. The designated cache server downloads (synchronizes) the desired content stored therein to the portable terminal 100.

(Step S200)
The mobile terminal 100 performs wireless communication with the designated AP, and downloads the desired content from the designated cache server.

(Step S210)
When the download (synchronization process) of the desired content to the portable terminal 100 is completed, the designated cache server transmits a synchronization process completion notification to the agent 200.

(Step S220)
The content management unit 202 receives the synchronization processing completion notification from the designated cache server. When the other user does not need the desired content of the designated cache server, the content management unit 202 transmits a content deletion request (hereinafter, cache deletion request) to the designated cache server.

(Step S230)
When the designated cache server receives the cache deletion request from the agent 200, the designated cache server deletes the desired content.

The above is the operation | movement method of the content download system at the time of setting priority to inside priority in this embodiment. The agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the position information of the portable terminal 100 and the position information of the APs 104-1 to n, and transmits the desired content to the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. Further, the user confirms the position information of the designated AP notified from the agent 200 with the portable terminal 100. By doing this, the user can know the designated AP capable of high-speed data communication close to the position of the user, move to a designated AP subordinate, and efficiently carry out the content by high-speed data communication. It becomes possible to download. Moreover, when the user does not want to move to the designated AP, it is possible to change to another content acquisition method by changing the priority.

When the user is moving, the mobile terminal 100 may transmit the update request of the designated AP to the agent 200, including the current position information of the mobile terminal 100. When the agent 200 receives the update request, the agent 200 may select the designated AP again based on the current position information of the mobile terminal 100. Alternatively, the user may select a designated AP from among several designated AP candidates. The agent 200 extracts a plurality of designated AP candidates and transmits them to the mobile terminal 100. The user selects one AP as a designated AP from among a plurality of designated AP candidates, and inputs the designated AP to the mobile terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 notifies the agent 200 of the designated AP selected by the user. The agent 200 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP notified from the portable terminal 100, and transmits desired content to the designated cache server. It is good also as such an operation method.

(Operation method in case of low priority)
Next, in the present embodiment, an operation method when the user selects content acquisition with low priority will be described. FIG. 9 is an operation flow of the content download system when the priority in the present embodiment is low priority. In the case of low priority, the portable terminal 100 selects an appropriate AP 104-1 to n according to the movement of the portable terminal 100 and downloads the content. In the present description, it is assumed that the user has recorded an action schedule in the position information management table 204 in advance.

(Step S300)
The user inputs a content acquisition request to the portable terminal 100. In this description, the user selects low priority. When the content acquisition request is input, the portable terminal 100 includes the current position information and the priority of the portable terminal 100 in the content download request of the desired content, and transmits the request to the agent 200 using the mobile communication network. Send. The content download request includes the content server 108 storing desired content, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the storage position of the desired content in the content server 108, and the like. The mobile communication network and the Internet 107 transfer the content download request to the agent 200.

(Step S310)
The agent 200 receives the content download request. The agent 200 transmits a content download request for the desired content to the content server 108 that stores the desired content based on the content download request.

(Step S320)
The content server 108 receives a content download request from the agent. The content server 108 transmits the desired content to the agent 200. The content acquisition from the content server 108 by the agent 200 will not be described because it is based on the prior art.

(Step S330)
The agent 200 acquires desired content from the content server 108. The agent 200 determines the content download method to the portable terminal 100 based on the priority included in the content download request from the portable terminal 100. In the present description, the priority is set to low priority. When the agent 200 determines that the priority is low, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the position information of the portable terminal 100 included in the content download request. The position information management unit 203 determines the designated AP based on the position information of the mobile terminal 100 and the action schedule of the user recorded in the position information management table 204.

Here, FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram when the location information management unit 203 determines the designated AP when the priority in the present embodiment is low priority. Referring to FIG. 10, wireless areas 120-1 to 3 of base stations 102-1 to 3 and wireless areas 121-1 to 6 of APs 104-1 to 6 exist. The position information management table 204 records the planned travel route 32 from the departure point 30 of the user to the arrival point 31. The movement planned route 32 of the user can be considered as the movement planned route 32 of the portable terminal 100 as it is. The planned movement route 32 is recorded in advance in the position information management table 204 by the user. Although only one planned travel route 32 is shown in the present description, a plurality of planned travel routes 32 are registered. Here, the departure point 30 is, for example, a home, and the arrival point 31 is, for example, a school, a company, or the like. The planned travel route 32 may register a frequently used route such as a commuting route, or may register a one-off route such as a travel or business trip. Further, the planned travel route 32 may register a route using a map, or may be performed, for example, by registering a passing point such as a station or a bus stop on the way.

The mobile terminal 100 passes through the wireless areas of several APs by moving the planned travel route 32. In this description, the wireless areas 121-1, 2 and 6 of the APs 104-1, 2 and 6 are passed. The position information management unit 203 determines the APs 104-1, 2 and 6 as the designated AP. The position information management unit 20 may record the range of the wireless areas of the APs 104-1 to n in advance, and determine the AP 104-n providing the wireless area through which the planned movement route 32 passes as the designated AP. Alternatively, an AP whose position information is closer to the planned movement path 32 may be selected as the designated AP. By doing this, an AP that is not certain to pass through the wireless area can be designated as the designated AP, and even if the portable terminal 100 passes through the wireless area subordinate to the AP, the content is downloaded. be able to.

The position information management unit 203 notifies the server determination unit 205 of the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 specifies a designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. In the present description, the server determination unit 205 determines cache servers 105-1, 2 and 6 (not shown) corresponding to the APs 104-1, 2 and 6 as designated APs as designated cache servers. The server determination unit 205 notifies the content management unit 202 of the designated cache server.

(Step S340)
The content management unit 202 is notified of the designated cache server from the server determination unit 205. The content management unit 202 transmits the desired content to the designated cache server. The designated cache server receives and stores the desired content. Note that, when notified of a plurality of designated cache servers from the server determination unit 205, the content management unit 202 transmits the desired content to each designated cache server.

(Step S350)
The user moves along the planned movement path 32 into the wireless area of the designated AP.

(Step S360)
When detecting that the mobile terminal 100 has entered the wireless area of the designated AP, the mobile terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification to the agent 200. The portable terminal 100 does not detect which AP is the designated AP when the priority is low priority. Therefore, the mobile terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification each time it enters the wireless area of the AP. The portable terminal 100 may include the identifier of the designated AP (hereinafter referred to as the arrival designated AP) of the wireless area in which the portable terminal 100 currently exists in the AP arrival notification and may transmit it to the agent 200. The agent 200 can determine, based on the identifier of the designated AP, the wireless area of which designated AP among the plurality of designated APs has reached the portable terminal 100.

(Step S370)
The agent 200 receives an AP arrival notification from the mobile terminal 100. The agent 200 detects that the mobile terminal 100 exists under the wireless area of the arrival designated AP by receiving the AP arrival notification. The synchronization processing management unit 201 transmits a content synchronization request for desired content to the designated cache server (hereinafter referred to as the arrival designation cache server) corresponding to the arrival designation AP.

(Step S380)
The reach designated cache server receives the content synchronization request from the agent 200. The reach designation cache server downloads (synchronizes) the desired content stored in the mobile terminal 100.

(Step S390)
The mobile terminal 100 performs wireless communication with the designated AP, and downloads the desired content from the designated cache server.

(Step S400)
When the portable terminal 100 is moving, the download of the desired content may not be completed while passing through one reach designated AP. When the portable terminal 100 moves out of the wireless area of the arrival designation AP before the download of the content is completed, the arrival designation cache server downloads the data of the desired content to the portable terminal 100 (synchronization) (synchronization) (Processing) The agent 200 is notified of information (hereinafter referred to as synchronization information) indicating whether it has been done. The synchronization processing management unit 201 of the agent 200 acquires and stores synchronization information from the arrival designated cache server. By doing this, when the portable terminal 100 next enters the wireless area of another designated AP, it is possible to resume the download of the desired content from the data portion where the download was interrupted last time. That is, when moving to the wireless area of another designated AP next time, the mobile terminal 100 transmits an AP arrival notification to the agent 200. The agent 200 receives an AP arrival notification from the mobile terminal 100 again. The synchronization processing management unit 201 specifies the download restart position in the data of the desired content for the mobile terminal 100 based on the stored synchronization information. The synchronization processing management unit 201 notifies the download designation cache server of the download restart position corresponding to the current arrival designation AP. The current arrival designation cache server downloads (synchronizes) desired content from the data portion notified from the agent 200. Thus, the content download system repeats steps S350 to S400 until the portable terminal 100 completes the download of the desired content.

(Step S410)
The arrival designation cache server transmits a synchronization processing completion notification to the agent 200 when all download (synchronization processing) of the desired content to the mobile terminal 100 is completed.

(Step S420)
The content management unit 202 receives the synchronization process completion notification from the arrival designated cache server. When another user does not need the desired content, the content management unit 202 transmits a content deletion request (hereinafter, cache deletion request) to all designated cache servers.

(Step S430)
Each designated cache server, upon receiving a cache deletion request from the agent 200, deletes the desired content.

The above is the operation | movement method of the content download system at the time of setting priority to low priority in this embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the position information of the portable terminal 100 and the movement planned route 32 of the user stored in the position information management table, and sends the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP. Send the desired content. The portable terminal 100 downloads content from the designated cache server corresponding to the designated AP each time it moves to the wireless area of the designated AP. When the download of desired content is interrupted, the synchronization processing unit 201 stores up to which data portion the desired content has been downloaded. When receiving the AP arrival notice from the portable terminal 100 again, the synchronization processing unit 201 notifies the arrival designation cache server of the data portion of the desired content for which the download should be resumed. By doing this, since the next arrival designated cache server can detect the data portion to be resumed if the download of the desired content is interrupted, the download can be efficiently performed to the portable terminal 100. Can. In addition, the user can efficiently download desired content using the high-speed wireless access system as he travels the pre-registered planned travel route 32.

In the present embodiment, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the planned movement route 32 registered in advance by the user. This may be used as an operation method of determining a designated AP by predicting the movement route of the future user, that is, the portable terminal 100 based on the history of the movement route of the user. In this case, the location information management table 204 of the agent 200 records the history of the movement route for each mobile terminal 100. The position information management unit 203 uses the movement route of the mobile terminal 100 from now to the future based on the position information of the mobile terminal 100, information such as the current date and time, day of the week, and the history of the movement route of the mobile terminal 100. Expect. The position information management unit 203 may determine, for example, an AP having a wireless area through which the predicted moving route passes as the designated AP based on the predicted moving route, or has a wireless area close to the predicted moving route. The AP may be determined as the designated AP.

The above is the description of the operation method of the content download system in this embodiment.

Thus, according to the content download system of the first embodiment, it is possible to select the content download method according to the priority. If the priority is high priority, the mobile terminal 100 can be downloaded using the wide wireless area of the mobile communication network system. When the priority is medium priority, the agent 200 determines the designated AP based on the position information of the mobile terminal 100 and notifies the mobile terminal 100 of the designated AP. The portable terminal 100 can move to the wireless area of the designated AP and download the desired content using the high-speed wireless access system. Furthermore, when the priority is low, the agent 200 determines a plurality of designated APs based on the planned travel route 32 registered in advance by the user. The portable terminal 100 downloads the content each time it moves to the wireless area of the designated AP. Therefore, while the user moves along the planned movement path 32, it is possible to download desired content. If the download of desired content is not completed while the portable terminal 100 passes through the wireless area of one designated AP, the agent 200 stores the data portion where the download of the desired content is completed. When the mobile terminal 100 moves to the wireless area of the next designated AP, the agent 200 resumes the download from the data portion after the download of the desired content is completed. Therefore, the portable terminal 100 is efficient because it does not download desired content redundantly.

The above is the description of the content download system according to the first embodiment.

Second Embodiment
Next, the content download system of the second embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the agent 200 acquires the usage status of each AP based on the communication status between the mobile terminal 100 and the agent 200, and determines the designated AP in consideration of the usage status of the AP.

[Description of configuration]
First, the configuration of the content download system according to the present embodiment will be described using FIG. The configuration of the content download system of this embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration of the first embodiment. Therefore, the description will be made focusing on the difference from the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the content download system in the present embodiment.

Similar to the first embodiment, the content download system according to the present embodiment includes the portable terminal 100, the network A (hereinafter, NW-A) 101, the base stations 102-1 to 102-n, and the network B (hereinafter, NW-). B) 103, access points (hereinafter, AP) 104-1 to n, cache servers 105-1 to n, the Internet 107, a content server 108, an agent 200, and further, a monitoring device 300 . Further, the agent 200 in the present embodiment is different from the configuration in the first embodiment.

First, the monitoring device 300 will be described. The monitoring device 300 monitors the communication status between the mobile terminal 100 and the agent 200. The monitoring apparatus 300 acquires, from the relay apparatus configuring the NW-B 103, communication data between the mobile terminal 100 and the agent 200 copied in the relay apparatus. The monitoring apparatus 300 aggregates AP statistical information of the APs 104-1 to n based on the communication data. The AP statistical information indicates the communication state of each AP. The AP statistical information includes data on the number of mobile terminals 100 accessed by each AP, the bandwidth used, and the communication quality. The items included in the AP statistical information are not limited to these items. Other items may be used as long as they can determine the communication state of the APs 104-1 to n. Also, the monitoring device 300 is not limited to acquiring communication data by data replication in the relay device, and may physically acquire communication data by connecting an optical tap to an optical fiber connecting between the relay devices. The AP statistical information may be obtained directly from each AP.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of the monitoring device 300 in the present embodiment. The monitoring apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment includes a data receiving unit 301, a data analyzing unit 302, an information managing unit 303, and an information transmitting unit 304.

The data receiving unit 301 receives the copied communication data from the relay device. The data reception unit 301 outputs the received communication data to the data analysis unit 302.

The data analysis unit 302 analyzes communication data. The data analysis unit 302 extracts the IP addresses of the transmission source and the transmission destination, the port number, the identifier of the portable terminal 100, and the identifier of the AP from the communication data. The data analysis unit 302 outputs the extracted data to the information management unit 303.

The information management unit 303 uses information on the AP used by each mobile terminal 100 for communication based on the IP address of the transmission source and the transmission destination, the port number, the identifier of the mobile terminal 100, and the identifier of the AP, the use band , To detect communication quality. The communication quality is determined, for example, by the number of packet retransmissions when using TCP. In addition, the determination method of communication quality can also be determined by acquiring information such as packet transmission delay time and failure information of AP. The information management unit 303 outputs the extracted information to the information transmission unit 304.

The information transmission unit 304 acquires data from the information management unit 303, and counts the number of portable terminals 100 that are accessing each AP, the use band, and the communication quality (hereinafter, AP statistical information). The information transmission unit 304 outputs AP statistical information of each AP to the agent 200. As described above, the agent 200 can acquire the state information of the APs 104-1 to n according to the AP statistical information that the monitoring apparatus 300 outputs. Note that the information transmission unit 304 periodically outputs AP statistical information to the agent 200. The information transmission unit 304 may output the AP statistical information to the agent 200 at predetermined time intervals, or the change amount of the AP statistical information may be provided with a certain threshold, and the threshold may be exceeded. AP statistical information may be output to the agent 200.

Next, the agent 200 will be described. The agent 200 of this embodiment determines a designated cache server based on the AP statistical information acquired from the monitoring device 300.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram of the agent 200 in the present embodiment. Each function of the agent 200 of the present embodiment is realized by the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. Similar to the first embodiment, the agent 200 includes the synchronization processing management unit 201, the content management unit 202, the position information management unit 203, the position information management table 204, the server determination unit 205, and the communication processing unit 206. And further includes a line quality management unit 207 and a control communication unit 208.

The control communication unit 208 receives the AP statistical information transmitted by the information transmission unit 304 of the monitoring device 300. The control communication unit 208 outputs the AP statistical information to the channel quality management unit 207.

The channel quality management unit 207 stores AP statistical information for each of the APs 104-1 to n.

When determining the designated cache server among the cache servers 105-1 to n, the server determination unit 205 according to the present embodiment performs the determination based on the AP statistical information stored in the line quality management unit 207. The server determination unit 205 of the present embodiment sets a threshold for the number of portable terminals 100 accessing the designated AP, the use band, and the communication quality in the AP statistical information. For example, when the number of portable terminals 100 accessing the designated AP is equal to or more than a certain threshold, the server determination unit 205 excludes the designated AP from the target of the designated AP. This is because it is considered that the APs that the portable terminal 100 is accessing, the number of which is equal to or more than a certain threshold, do not have good communication transfer efficiency. Alternatively, in the communication quality of the designated AP, the server determination unit 205 excludes the designated AP from the target of the designated AP when the number of TCP retransmitted packets is equal to or more than a certain threshold. The number of retransmissions of the TCP packet exceeds a certain threshold value because it is considered that the packet quality is high and the communication quality in the designated AP is low. As described above, the server determination unit 205 determines whether to remove the designated AP from the target based on the AP statistical information. Note that the determination performed by the server determination unit 205 is not limited to the above. For example, the determination may be performed by providing a fixed threshold for the use band of the designated AP, or the AP statistical information indicates failure of the AP. If the information is included, the determination may be made to remove the faulty AP from the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 determines whether or not the designated AP is targeted, and determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated designated AP.

The above is the description of the configuration of the content download system in the present embodiment. The configuration other than that described above is the same as that of the first embodiment, so the description will be omitted.

[Description of operation method]
Next, an operation method of the content download system of the present embodiment will be described. The operation method of the content download system of this embodiment is substantially the same as the operation method of the first embodiment. Therefore, the operation method will be described focusing on parts that are different from the first embodiment.

In the operation method of the content download system according to the present embodiment, the server determination unit 205 stores the line quality management unit 207 in step S130 described in FIG. 7 and step S330 described in FIG. An operation of determining whether or not the designated AP is targeted is added based on the AP statistical information. In the present description, it is assumed that the line management unit 207 of the agent 200 has previously received and stored AP statistical information from the information transmission unit 304 of the monitoring device 300.

In steps S130 and S330 of the present embodiment, the server determination unit 205 inputs the designated AP from the position information management unit 203. The server determination unit 205 inquires the line quality management unit 207 about AP statistical information of the designated AP. The server determination unit 205 determines, based on the AP statistical information of the designated AP acquired from the line quality management unit 203, whether or not the designated AP is to be a target. If the server determination unit 205 determines that the designated AP is to be excluded from the target, the server determination unit 205 removes the designated AP from the target. The server determination unit 205 determines a designated cache server corresponding to the designated designated AP. The server determination unit 205 outputs the designated cache server to the content management unit 202.

The above is the description of the operation method of the content download system of this embodiment. The operation method other than that described above is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

As described above, according to the content download system of the second embodiment, the monitoring apparatus 300 aggregates AP statistical information and transmits it to the agent 200. The agent 200 determines whether or not the designated AP is targeted based on the AP statistical information, and determines the designated cache server corresponding to the designated designated AP. With this configuration, the agent 200 can determine the designated AP according to the usage state of the AP. Therefore, the portable terminal 100 can download the content using the AP in a good state.

The above is the description of the content download system of the second embodiment.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments so far, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The configurations and details of the present invention can be modified in various ways that can be understood by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention.

The present application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-225173 on September 2, 2008, and the disclosure in Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-225173 is incorporated into the present application by reference.

Claims

A first wireless communication network forming a first wireless area and performing communication at a first communication speed;
A second wireless communication network which configures a second wireless area narrower in wireless area than the first wireless area and performs communication at a second communication speed higher than the first communication speed;
The second wireless communication network is
An access point constituting the second wireless area;
And a cache server installed corresponding to the access point and temporarily storing content,
A content server storing the content;
A portable terminal for transmitting a download request for the content including current location information via the first wireless communication network;
An agent for recording the position information of the access point and the cache server corresponding to the access point in association with each of the access points;
When the agent receives the download request, the agent acquires the content from the content server, and the access point is selected based on the position information of the portable terminal and the position information of the access point included in the download request. Determine a designated access point from the cache server, identify a designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point among the cache servers, and cache the content to the designated cache server;
The mobile terminal moves into the wireless area of the designated access point,
The content download system, wherein the designated cache server transmits the content to the portable terminal via the designated access point when the portable terminal moves into a wireless area of the designated access point.
The content download system according to claim 1, wherein
When the agent caches the content in the designated cache server, the agent notifies the mobile terminal of location information of the designated access point.
The content download system according to claim 2, wherein
When the mobile terminal detects that the mobile terminal has moved into the wireless area of the designated access point, the mobile terminal transmits, to the agent, a notification of arrival of the designated access point in the wireless area.
When the agent receives the arrival notification, the agent transmits an instruction to synchronize the content to the designated cache server.
The content download system, wherein the cache server transmits the content to the portable terminal when the synchronization command is received.
The content download system according to claim 3, wherein
The content download system according to claim 1, wherein the agent determines the access point closest to the mobile phone terminal as the designated access point based on location information of the mobile phone terminal and location information of the access point.
The content download system according to claim 1, wherein
The agent stores a planned travel route to which the mobile terminal should move, and determines a plurality of designated access points from among the access points based on position information of the access point and the planned travel route, Identifying a plurality of designated cache servers corresponding to each of the plurality of designated access points among the cache servers, and caching the content to each of the plurality of designated cache servers;
The mobile phone moves into a wireless area of a designated access point among the plurality of designated access points,
Among the plurality of designated cache servers, the arrival designation cache server corresponding to the arrival designation access point moves the mobile telephone terminal into the wireless area of the arrival designation access point via the arrival designation access point. A content download system for transmitting content to the mobile terminal.
The content download system according to claim 5, wherein
The mobile terminal sends an arrival notification to the agent each time it moves to a different wireless area of the access point,
The agent designates the designated access point as the designated access point when the access point constituting the wireless area to which the mobile terminal has moved is any of the plurality of designated access points when the arrival notification is received. The synchronization instruction of the content is notified to the reach designated cache server corresponding to the reach designated access point as an access point,
A content download system, wherein the reach designated cache server transmits the content to the portable terminal via the reach designated access point when the synchronization command is received.
The content download system according to claim 6, wherein
The content download system according to claim 1, wherein the agent determines the access point closer to the movement planned route as a plurality of designated access points based on position information of the access point and the movement planned route.
The content download system according to claim 7, wherein
Each of the designated cache servers, when the download of the content is not completed before the portable terminal moves from within the wireless area of the designated access point corresponding to the designated cache server to outside the wireless area, the content Notify the agent of the data portion of the download completed,
The agent notifies the data portion to another reachable cache server corresponding to the other reachable access point when the mobile terminal moves into the wireless area of the other reachable access point.
The other arrival designation cache server determines the download resumption position of the content based on the data portion, and transmits the content from the download resumption position to the portable terminal via the arrival designation access point. Content download system.
The content download system according to claim 8,
The agent records a history of a movement route of the mobile terminal, and stores the movement planned route predicted based on the history.
The content download system according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The monitoring device further includes a monitoring device that counts AP statistical information indicating the communication state of the access point for each access point,
The agent determines, as the designated access point, an access point with a good communication state among the designated access points based on the AP statistical information collected by the monitoring device.
The content download system according to claim 10, wherein
The AP statistical information is the communication quality based on the number of mobile terminals accessing the access point, the band used, and the number of retransmissions of TCP packets.
An agent used in the content download system according to any one of claims 1 to 11.
A first wireless communication network forming a first wireless area and performing communication at a first communication speed;
A second wireless communication network which configures a second wireless area narrower in wireless area than the first wireless area and performs communication at a second communication speed higher than the first communication speed;
In a content download system comprising a mobile terminal, an agent, and a content server,
The second wireless communication network is
An access point constituting the second wireless area;
A cache server installed corresponding to the access point and temporarily storing content;
Storing the content;
Sending a download request for the content including current location information via the first wireless communication network;
Recording the position information of the access point and the cache server corresponding to the access point in association with each access point;
Acquiring the content from the content server upon receiving the download request;
Determining a designated access point from among the access points based on position information of the portable terminal included in the download request and position information of the access point;
Identifying a designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point among the cache servers;
Caching the content to the designated cache server;
Moving into the wireless area of the designated access point;
Transmitting the content to the portable terminal via the designated access point when the portable terminal moves into a wireless area of the designated access point.
It is the content download method according to claim 13,
The content downloading method further comprising: notifying the mobile terminal of location information of the designated access point when the content is cached in the designated cache server.
The content download method according to claim 14, wherein the step of transmitting the content to the portable terminal is
Sending to the agent a notification of arrival of the designated access point in the wireless area when it is detected that the designated access point has moved into the wireless area;
Sending an instruction to synchronize the content to the designated cache server upon receiving the arrival notification;
Transmitting the content to the mobile terminal upon receiving the synchronization command.
15. The content download method according to claim 15, wherein the step of determining the designated access point is:
Determining the access point closest to the mobile phone terminal as the designated access point based on the mobile phone terminal location information and the access point location information.
It is the content download method according to claim 13,
Storing a planned travel route for the mobile terminal to move;
The step of determining the designated access point comprises
Determining a plurality of designated access points from among the access points based on the position information of the access point and the movement planned route;
In the step of identifying the designated cache server,
Specifying a plurality of designated cache servers corresponding to each of the plurality of designated access points among the cache servers;
The step of caching the content is
Caching the content to each of the plurality of designated cache servers;
The moving step is
Moving into a wireless area of a designated access point of the plurality of designated access points;
In the step of transmitting the content to the portable terminal,
Transmitting the content to the portable terminal through the designated access point when the portable terminal moves into a wireless area of the designated access point.
The content download method according to claim 17, wherein the step of transmitting the content to the portable terminal through the designated access point is:
Sending an arrival notification to the agent each time it detects that the access point has moved to a different wireless area;
When the access notification that configures the wireless area in which the identifier has moved is one of the plurality of designated access points when the arrival notification is received, the designated access point is designated as the designated access point, and the arrival reaches the designated access point. Notifying the reach designated cache server corresponding to the designated access point of a synchronization instruction of the content;
Transmitting the content to the portable terminal via the arrival designated access point upon receiving the synchronization command.
The content downloading method according to claim 18, wherein the step of determining the plurality of designated access points is:
Determining the access point closer to the planned travel route as a plurality of designated access points based on position information of the access point and the planned travel route.
It is the content download method according to claim 19.
If the download of the content is not completed before the mobile terminal moves from within the wireless area of the designated access point corresponding to the designated cache server to the outside of the wireless area, the data of the content that has been downloaded Notifying the agent of the part;
Notifying the data portion to the other reachable cache server corresponding to the other reachable access point when the mobile terminal moves into the wireless area of the other reachable access point;
A content download method further comprising: determining a download resume position of the content based on the data portion; and transmitting the content from the download resume position to the portable terminal via the reachable access point. .
The content download method according to claim 20, wherein the step of storing the planned movement route includes:
Recording a history of a movement route of the portable terminal;
Storing the predicted traveled route predicted based on the history.
A content downloading method according to any one of claims 13 to 21;
Aggregating, for each access point, AP statistical information indicating a communication state of the access point;
The step of determining the designated access point comprises
Determining a preferred access point of the communication state among the designated access points as the designated access point based on the aggregated AP statistical information of the monitoring device.
It is the content download method according to claim 22.
The AP statistical information is the communication quality based on the number of mobile terminals accessing the access point, the bandwidth used, and the number of retransmissions of TCP packets.