WO2014193209A1

WO2014193209A1 - Management of access to a wi-fi network

Info

Publication number: WO2014193209A1
Application number: PCT/MA2014/000012
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frédéric RUIZ
Original assignee: Omniup.Com Sarl
Priority date: 2013-05-31
Filing date: 2014-05-27
Publication date: 2014-12-04

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for managing access to a community Wi-Fi network comprising a gateway (11) including at least one network access point (13), the method being implemented in said gateway and comprising the following steps: when the gateway receives a request to connect to the Internet from a user station (10), the station is prevented from accessing the Internet; contextual video content of one video advertisement among the video advertisements stored in the gateway is sent to the user station; and, following the full or partial consultation of the contextual video content of the advertisement, the user station is authorised to connect to the Internet network via the gateway.

Description

Management of access to a Wi-fi network

The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications, and more specifically to the field of community Wi-Fi networks. .

It finds applications in the access management of a user station to

Internet, by a gateway comprising at least one access point to the network.

The term "Wi-Fi network" means any radio network using, in particular, wireless transmission technology, for example based on the IEEE 802.11 power grid standard and its developments commonly referred to as Wi-Fi (for "Wireless Fidelity"). in English). A community Wi-fi network refers to a Wi-Fi access network that can be used by non-private users hosting the access equipment to the Internet network (for example: Internet access router by the network operator public) and possibly a domestic gateway.

The term "gateway" (also known as "home gateway" or "gatekeeper") means any Wi-Fi router allowing the interface between private equipment (or stations) of the user and a public network, for example high speed type. The public network is most often fixed, for example ADSL, 3G, 4G, LTE, Wimax or local radio.

A gateway provides router functions and can be connected to an access modem (eg ADSL, 3G, 4G, LTE, Wimax, etc.). The gateway can integrate at least one access point to a community Wi-Fi network and can be connected locally to a number of other access points as well as to a private cable computer network.

In the following, an access point designates equipment providing the function of transmitting and receiving the Wi-Fi radio signal (for example according to IEEE 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac and its future evolutions) as well as management functions of the community or private Wi-Fi network. An access point may comprise the various parameters, one of which makes it possible to identify a radio network, this parameter being designated by the abbreviation SSID (for "Service Set Identifier"). Depending on the capabilities of the home gateway, it is possible to set up several different radio networks. Each radio network is differentiated by its SSID and can define an access point within the meaning of the invention. Multiple gateways can use the same SSID.

A gateway may regularly broadcast a frame called Beacon, including the different SSIDs set for the gateway. A gateway can broadcast at least two SSIDs, one for the private radio network and the other for the community Wi-Fi network.

The term "user station" means any terminal capable of connecting to the Wi-fi network after having selected the network by its SSID identifier for example. A user station can be a computer, an advanced telephone type Smartphone or Softphone, or any other Wi-fi terminal equipped with an integrated or external screen. For example, in the context of the present invention, a user station may be Wi-fi compatible according to the IEEE 802.1 1a / b / g / n / ac standards or its future evolutions.

It may be advantageous to condition the connection of a user to the Internet, by the prior broadcast of digital video content associated with an advertisement. Indeed, the Wi-fi access can be funded by advertisers with an interest in the broadcast of ads, and the connection can then be free for a user with a user station as defined above.

An announcement may designate an audiovisual message displayed on the station screen and may be static in the form of an image or text. An ad can also be dynamic in the form of audiovisual content or a portal under web technologies with text, image or buttons allowing a short navigation within this announcement. An advertisement may be for example an advertisement for a third party consisting of a dynamic message. The content and form of the ad can be customized according to the wishes of the advertiser.

The term "advertiser" is understood to mean any legal or natural person wishing to broadcast an advertisement to users of stations.

However, the current solutions of conditioning access to the Internet by viewing an ad require the download of the advertisement from a remote server via the Internet. A server is a central system connected through the Internet to the gateway for the management of specific information, and in particular for the communication of the content of the advertisement.

In the case where several access stations wish to access the Internet through the same gateway, such downloads are very resource-consuming for the gateway. In addition, the display time of the ads depends on the available rate for each user station, and the waiting time for the connection to the Internet is therefore uncertain for the user.

The present invention improves the situation. To this end, it proposes, according to a first aspect of the invention, a method of managing access to a community Wi-fi network comprising a gateway integrating at least one access point to the network, the method being implemented in the gateway and comprising the following steps:

- on receipt by the gateway of an Internet connection request from a user station, preventing the station from accessing the Internet;

- Send to the user station contextual video content of a video advertisement among video ads stored in the gateway;

- Following partial or full consultation of the video contextual content of the advertisement, authorize the connection to the Internet of the user station through the gateway.

Thus, the ads are stored locally on the gateway. Such a method involving local storage of the advertisements within the gateway makes it possible not to vary the quality and the display time of the video ad on the Wi-fi station, regardless of the number of simultaneous calls of announcements by users accessing the Internet via the gateway.

In addition to providing a high-speed Internet connection, the invention provides advertising content or information via Wi-fi access. Wi-fi technology is thus associated with promotional or informational marketing, opening more space for advertising campaigns of advertisers. The invention makes it possible to provide a media vector located between the conventional billboard display and the audiovisual, and allows the following advantages:

targeting restricted geographical areas with messages adapted to the immediate environment (promotions or local information);

- statistical measures of the rate of consultation of advertising or informative messages;

Reduction of visual pollution related to billboards or other paper brochures consuming natural resources and generating discarded flyer cleaning costs.

According to the invention, the choice of the announcement to be sent to the user station may depend on a recognition of the location in which the gateway is located or a profile of the user. According to the invention, only part of the contextual video content or its entirety must be viewed by the user to access the Internet. Some Advertisers may wish the user to wait until the end of a commercial (typically 10 to 30 seconds) before they can connect to the Internet. The invention may further provide that the evening announcement consulted from a date and for a specific duration on one or more locations eligible geographically.

In addition, the invention offers the possibility of broadcasting (individually, on demand and according to the profile of the user), an audiovisual advertisement such as a commercial used on media such as televisions or Internet viewing systems. of videos, the ad being customizable according to the wishes of the advertiser. The invention further provides the advertiser with the ability to choose the times, dates, location, and content of the targeted consumer ad campaign.

According to one embodiment, the method may further comprise the following step:

- disconnect the user station after a specified period.

This embodiment makes it possible to limit the duration of connection to the Internet. After a while, the internet connection of the station is interrupted, which encourages the user to reconnect, and thus to consult a new announcement. For example, another ad may be chosen by the gateway for the second connection.

In addition or alternatively, the method may further comprise the following step:

- Limit the number of connections of the user station during a given time interval.

This embodiment makes it possible to protect the gateway against exaggerated uses.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the method may further comprise the following step:

- Limit a rate usable by the station connected to the Internet through the gateway.

This embodiment avoids saturating the Wi-fi community network.

An embodiment of the method according to the invention may furthermore provide the following step:

- limit an overall usable bit rate by a set of user stations connected to the Internet through the gateway.

Thus, the bit rate and / or the volume (in megabytes for example) that can be used by the community of stations attached to the community Wi-fi network is limited.

According to one embodiment, the method may further comprise the step of storing statistical usage data during connection of the user station to the Internet through the gateway, the usage data comprising:

- those entered on a possible registration form visible by the user at the first connection on the global network (independently of the gateway site but equipped with an identical system);

a MAC address of the user station;

- a moment and a duration of the connection to the Internet;

- a volume entering and leaving data exchanged through the gateway during the connection to the Internet;

- a place of connection.

Thus, the statistical data can be transmitted to a centralized server. Compatibility and registration of each announcement trigger of all user stations connected to all gateways of the network can be assured. Keeping the connection statistics on the centralized server allows the advertiser to know the number of users who viewed his ad as well as other relevant information enabling advanced functions related to consumer profiles and behaviors, or their locations, etc.

According to one embodiment, the method may furthermore comprise the step consisting in sealing all the users' Internet traffic between themselves and with respect to the private network of the gateway host and the access modem. Internet.

In one embodiment, the connection request may be an http or https request.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the method may further comprise the following steps:

periodically interrogating a central server hosting desired configurations for a plurality of gateways, the configurations comprising configuration parameters and the contextual video contents to be broadcast;

- Updating the gateway configuration, and stored contextual video content stored in deferred time.

According to one embodiment, the method may comprise the prior step of storing several previously downloaded advertisements by decision of a central server, and indexing the advertisements for presentation to the user station. according to a profile of the user.

A second aspect of the invention relates to a gateway for managing access to a community Wi-fi network integrating at least one access point to the network, the gateway being configured to implement the method according to the first aspect of the invention. 'invention.

A third aspect of the invention relates to a computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to the first aspect of the invention, when this program is executed by a processor.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear on examining the detailed description below, and the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network architecture for managing access to the Internet according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of exchanges between entities of the access system according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the steps of a method according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a network architecture for managing access to the Internet according to one embodiment of the invention.

The network architecture comprises a user station 10 as defined above, a Wi-fi gateway 11 comprising at least one access point to an Internet network 13, a router (ADSL or equivalent for example), one or more servers 14 dedicated communicating required configurations for each of the network gateways, to communicate to the periodic request of each gateway of the network its required configuration (for example: global configuration of the gateway, announcements to be broadcast, priority of broadcasting video ads, parameters Wi-fi or addressing etc). The gateway 11 is particularly suitable for implementing the steps of the method described with reference to FIG.

The network architecture further comprises one or more Radius protocol authentication servers or the like, and one or more syslog servers 15 for recording the information of each user connection (a MAC address of the user station). , a moment and a duration of the connection to Internet, a volume entering and leaving data exchanged through the gateway during the connection to the Internet).

One or more servers 16 can deliver a network management interface for the various administrators according to their rights. One or more database servers 17 of the global system include all the updated or saved information of the system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of exchanges between entities of the access system according to FIG.

At a step 201, the user station 10 can select the SSID of the network

Wi-fi, and transmits at a step 202 an Internet connection request to the gateway 11.

At a step 203, the gateway determines a video advertisement from a set of video ads stored locally, and contextual video content of the determined video advertisement is transmitted to the user station 10 at a step 204.

At a step 205, the contextual video content is partially or completely consulted, and the user station 10 accesses the Internet at a step 206. Thus, in the case of a digital audiovisual advertisement, it can be expected that this announcement is partially consulted. or fully before the system allows the user to connect to the Internet from the network.

Each advertisement consultation may give rise to an event consisting of information recorded and counted by the central system, itself composed of one or more servers as previously described.

The announcement, whatever its form, may be followed by an automatic redirection to an Internet address (URL) chosen and programmed into the system, at step 206.

Prior to the display of an advertisement to the user station 10, a contextual analysis of the user's profile can be implemented to display for example a relevant advertisement and adapted to the profile of the user.

During a step 207, data are exchanged via the Internet by the user station 207. Simultaneously, in a step 208, the gateway 11 can record and record on the server 15 statistical data of use during the connection of the user station to the Internet through the gateway, the usage data including:

a MAC address of the user station;

- a moment and a duration of the connection to the Internet; - a volume entering and leaving data exchanged through the gateway during the connection to the Internet;

- a place of connection.

At a step 209, after a determined period of connection of the user station 10, the server 11 can interrupt the connection of the user.

At a step 210, a new connection request may be issued by the user station 10, and the preceding steps may be repeated.

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the steps of a method implemented in the gateway 1 1 according to one embodiment of the invention.

At a previous step 31, the gateway 11 can store several video advertisements previously downloaded to an internal storage space of the gateway 11, on the decision of the server 15, and can index these video announcements in order to present them to the user station 10 according to his profile in a contextual mode.

At a step 32, the gateway 11 can receive a connection request to

Internet, such as URL type, from the user station 10 (its Internet browser for example).

At a step 33, a contextual video content of one of the video advertisements stored in the internal storage space of the gateway 11, is sent to the user station 10.

At a step 34, the gateway may periodically interrogate the central server 14 hosting the configurations desired by the administrator of all the gateways of the network, such as configuration parameters of the gateway (SSID, IP configuration, etc.) and the video advertisements to be broadcast, and in a step 35, the configuration and the contents of the gateway 11 can be updated in deferred time.

In a step 36, the gateway 11 may prevent any Internet use of the user station as long as some or all of the planned viewing events are not completed.

At a step 37, the gateway 1 1 authorizes the connection to the Internet of the user station 10 when some or all of the events of the announcement intended to be consulted has actually been consulted.

In a step 38, the gateway 11 stores and processes on the central server the details of the connection data for each consultation of the video advertisement and the Internet connection that follows for each user station 10 accessing the Internet at the same time. across the bridge 1 1.

Thus, the invention allows:

- to offer a free Internet connection to a user equipped with a user station accessing a Wi-Fi network;

- to help relieve the use of public telecommunications networks (3G or 4G for example) and to reduce operators' investments in increasing the material resources of traffic capacity and radio coverage;

- reduce the digital divide by providing free Internet access for all;

to contribute to the development of consumption through increased advertising effect;

- By the financial contribution of the advertiser broadcasting the video ad, allow a partial or total coverage of ADSL subscription costs or equivalent for a host of this shared Internet access;

- to supply a social and professional economy with activities and jobs related to the implementation of the service (eg facilities) and its operation (eg central services).

In addition, providing the ability to connect to the Internet for free in exchange for mandatory consultation of an ad creates value:

- by facilitating the development of new ADSL accesses (or equivalent) with a reduction in the monthly subscription financial burden of the owner wishing to open his Internet access to visitors;

- by generating value created by local advertising promotion (increased consumption by offering local products or services);

- by the fee paid by the advertiser with its associated taxation (VAT, IS) and the conservation of foreign currency on the territory;

- by new direct and indirect jobs created necessary for the commercial and technical administration of this service (graphics, publicists, technicians, salespeople, etc.).

The present invention finds particular applications in:

shopping centers, for the advertising of local businesses that will compete to be present and visible on the new media according to the invention; - shops and businesses, for virtual advertising in a local area nearby for products or services;

cafés, service stations, etc., for advertising major institutional brands;

- tourist areas, ports, airports, train stations, etc., for tourist promotions, information, etc .;

public spaces, for information and promotions of various services.

The gateway can also be adapted for implementation of the following steps:

Step 1: Development of an internal operating system of the gateway (firmware, software integrated in the gateway for managing hardware components of the equipment), this operating system to dedicate and optimize the use hardware components of the gateway to this video ad service prior to any user Internet connection, including dedicating enough memory space for variable storage and indexing of multiple video ads locally on the gateway. This operating system makes it possible to take control of each of the hardware components of the equipment such as:

- management of the gateway's network configuration in its router mode: DHCP, routing, addressing, DNS, etc., IP Ethernet ports, DHCP server, IP addressing and routing and any activity related to the routing and switching functions under IP protocol;

- management of the gateway Wi-Fi card on SSID parameters, type of encryption, encryption key, radio channel, transmission power, access point mode or router, etc;

- management of connections to remote servers for automatic teleconfiguration of each gateway and its remote supervision with: servers, ports, secret key, QoS, etc .;

- management of the hardware card: CPU, video download, configuration, Heartbeat, RAM memory, Storage memory with process and indexation of files stored, downloaded or deleted;

- Management of the Hotspot mode for the management of the user redirection on the video program adapted to the profile of the user. Step 2: Prepare the Gateway before installation

- erasing and replacing the internal operating system of the gateway (Firmware) in order to obtain hardware equipment that is free of any software component;

- writing to the memory (NAND and / or RAM) of the operating system equipment.

Step 3: composition of a dynamic web ad:

- Creation of web pages with programming in HTML languages (for "HyperText Markup Language" in English) and CSS (for "Cascading Style Sheets" in English, ie cascading style sheets). CSS is a computer language used to describe the presentation of HTML and XML documents. The standards defining CSS are published by the Workd Wide Web Consortium (W3C). CSS became widely used in the mid-1990s in web design and is well supported by web browsers in the 2000s. HTML is the data format designed to represent web pages. This is a markup language for writing hypertext. HTML also allows you to semantically structure and format the content of pages, to include multimedia resources including images, input forms, and computer programs. It makes it possible to create interoperable documents with a wide variety of equipment in accordance with the requirements of web accessibility. It is often used in conjunction with programming languages (JavaScript) and presentation formats (cascading style sheets). HTML is initially derived from the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). JavaScript (also abbreviated as "JS") is a scripting language mainly in interactive web pages but also on the server side. It is an object-oriented, prototype-oriented language, that is, the basics of the language and its main interfaces are provided by objects that are not class instances, but are each equipped with constructors to create their properties, and in particular a prototyping property that makes it possible to create personalized heir objects. Jquery is a free JavaScript library that focuses on the interaction between JavaScript (including Ajax) and HTML, and aims to simplify common JavaScript commands. Video-js designates a free HTML5 video player with free code of rights and use (open source); - responsive design using CSS Framework Bootstrap. The concept of responsive design (OQLF) is a collection of different principles and technologies that form a web design approach in which a site is designed to provide the visitor with an optimal viewing experience that facilitates reading. and navigation. The user can thus consult the same website through a wide range of devices (computer monitor, smartphones, tablets, TV, etc.). A "Framework" refers, in computing, a kit of structural software components, which serves to create the foundations and the outline of all or part of a software (architecture). "Bootstrape" means, in computer science, either in a system, a small boot program that makes it possible to launch a larger one, or in compilation, a compiler written in its own language;

- adding video files (mp4, .ogv, .webm or other future formats for other multimedia players). ;

- addition of a connection button compatible with the operating system installed on the gateway (built-in gateway software allowing the management of hardware components of the equipment).

Step 4: Add validation rules with a video ad: wait for the end of the ad movie before you can activate the login button or automatically redirect the user to a chosen Internet address.

Step 5: Automatic and regular configuration of the gateway.

Automatic addition to the gateway by establishing encrypted communications with one or more servers via the Internet for operating rules or configuration rules:

- injection of the realized video content containing the advertisement;

- redirection of any initial Internet request established by a station to the start index of the realized content;

- injection of components allowing the gateway to give information on its operating status to the servers in order to allow remote supervision;

- injection of components allowing the gateway to consult the central server to verify the configuration it should have. If there is a difference in the configuration parameters, the gateway will update its configuration;

- injection of components allowing the gateway to consult the central server to check what video broadcast programs it must contain in order to refresh its advertising programs if necessary;

- Internet connection duration limit per session requesting the advertisement; limit the number of connections per period for the same station identified by its MAC address in order to limit the abusive connections of the Wi-Fi community network;

limit of the rate and volume that can be used by the station so as not to saturate the community Wi-Fi network;

- the limit of the bit rate and the volume that can be used by the community of stations attached to the community Wi-Fi network in order to limit the overall consumption of Internet traffic by the gateway and Internet access;

- make waterproof for all Internet traffic users between them and vis-à-vis the private network of the host of the gateway and Internet access modem.

Claims

A method of managing access to a community Wi-fi network comprising a gateway (11) integrating at least one access point to the network (13), said method being implemented in said gateway and comprising the following steps:

- upon receipt by the gateway of an Internet connection request from a user station (10), preventing the station from accessing the Internet;

- Following partial or full consultation of the video contextual content of the advertisement, allow the connection to the Internet network of the user station through the gateway.

The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

- disconnect the user station (10) at the end of a specified period.

The method of claim 1 or 2 further comprising the step of:

- Limit the number of connections from the user station (10) to the Internet (13) during a given time interval.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising the following step:

- Limit a usable rate by the user station (10) connected to the Internet (13) through the gateway (1 1).

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising the following step:

- Limit an overall usable bit rate by a set of user stations (10) connected to the Internet (13) through the gateway (11).

The method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of storing statistical usage data during connection of the user station (10) to the Internet (13) through the gateway (11), usage data including: a MAC address of the user station;

- a moment and a duration of the connection to the Internet;

- place of connection.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connection request is an http or https request.

8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising the following steps:

periodically interrogating a central server (14) hosting desired configurations for a plurality of gateways (11), the configurations comprising configuration parameters and the contextual video contents to be broadcast;

9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, comprising the prior step of storing several previously downloaded advertisements by decision of a central server (15), and indexing the advertisements for presentation to the user station (10). according to a profile of the user.

10. Access management gateway to a community Wi-fi network integrating at least one access point to the network, said gateway (1 1) being configured for the implementation of the method according to one of the preceding claims.

11. Computer program comprising instructions for implementing the method according to one of claims 1 to 9, when the program is executed by a processor.