KR100876958B1 - A Middleware for Data Communication Between Various Terminals and Application Server and An Operating Method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Regardless of a method of providing a wireless Internet service or a type of a mobile terminal, a mobile middleware is provided to support data transmission and reception between a mobile terminal and an application server. The mobile middleware according to the present invention comprises: a terminal information identification module for parsing a request received from a mobile terminal and identifying terminal information of the mobile terminal from the request; The terminal information for generating a terminal information map for the mobile terminal by analyzing the terminal information and mapping the terminal information into a key-key value pair composed of a key which is a predetermined identification field and a key value which is an identification value corresponding to the key. Mapping module; When the application server processes the request and outputs response data, a response data format conversion module for determining a format of response data most suitable for the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map and converting the response data into the format. ; And a response message generation module for storing the converted response data in a response message adapted to be transmitted to the mobile terminal.

Middleware, Mobile Terminal, Application Server, Terminal Information, Header, Request, Response Message

Description

A middleware for data communication between various terminals and application server and an operating method

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a mobile service system according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a mobile middleware 100 according to the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of operating the mobile middleware 100 according to the present invention.

The present invention generally relates to middleware that supports data communication between a mobile terminal and an application server and a method of operating such middleware. More specifically, the present invention relates to data between a mobile terminal and an application server regardless of a method of providing a wireless Internet service or a type of mobile terminal. The present invention relates to a mobile middleware supporting smooth transmission and reception.

In recent years, the number of wireless Internet users is increasing rapidly not only in the world but also in Korea. The initial mobile communication, which was merely intended to make calls, has gradually changed into a wireless Internet using the Internet on mobile terminals such as mobile phones and PDAs. At the same time, there is a need for complex services including various entertainment functions including DMB. In addition, the wireless Internet technology has a significant change in the business environment, and more companies are building an infrastructure that can provide business services to mobile terminals of customers or employees working outside.

Currently, wireless internet access protocols of mobile terminals are not unified, and even in Korea, each mobile communication company uses a different protocol. WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), the most representative protocol, is a protocol that can efficiently transmit data in a radio wave environment between a mobile terminal and a base station of a mobile carrier and can operate in various wireless environments (GSM, TDMA, CDMA, CDPD). And, by converting HTML to WML, it solves the speed problem of sending or receiving to mobile terminal. WAP is a standard that is designed to allow wireless data users to access the Internet easily and conveniently. The WAP provides a gateway between the Internet network and the mobile communication network to quickly search and display information on the Internet. In addition, since WAP uses a communication protocol, a gateway for interchanging HTML, which is a markup language of existing Internet standard protocols such as HTTP and TCP, and WML, which is a markup language of a WAP-specific protocol, are required. In other words, the application server and the WAP gateway interact with each other using HTTP, the Internet protocol currently used in the wired network, and the WAP gateway and the mobile terminal exchange information with a WSP designed for a wireless environment.

On the other hand, the VM (Virtual Machine) method developed in late 2001 is a method of mounting a platform, which is a virtual engine in a terminal, and downloading and executing an application program developed according to a standard. The VM method can diversify the user input method and provide various contents such as video, thereby invigorating the mobile game business. Currently, domestic mobile carriers use platforms with different basic operating systems. For example, SKT is adopting SK-VM, GVM, LGT is KVM, and KTF is BREW as its basic operating system, and the government is pushing for unification into the WIPI platform.

In addition, in order to support such a mobile service, conventionally, a technology for converting content into a form suitable for various mobile terminals, a data synchronization technology between a mobile terminal and a server side, and a mobile groupware technology for extending wired groupware to a mobile environment , Message processing technologies such as SMS (Short Message Service) and MMS (Multimedia Message Service) are being developed. However, these conventional technologies are not only developed for a specific function but also adapted to a specific mobile carrier or a specific terminal, so that systems are separately constructed and used according to the type of service, mobile carrier, and terminal. .

Due to these characteristics of the mobile Internet, in order to develop a mobile internet service system, an application server is used as a separate module according to the type of script, terminal type, browser type and version of the terminal supported by mobile carriers. Developing. Therefore, the developer of the application server not only needs to have sufficient knowledge about the wireless Internet environment, but also has a problem that the structure of the system becomes very complicated and difficult to maintain and maintain. In addition, since a separate module must be processed according to the type of mobile communication company and the terminal, there is a problem that the type of the terminal that can be provided with a specific application service must be limited.

The present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art, to provide a mobile middleware and a method of operating the mobile middleware to provide a variety of Internet services to the user terminal regardless of the type of mobile carrier and mobile terminal The purpose.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile middleware and a method for facilitating the development, maintenance, and maintenance of an application server by supporting the development of applications common to various mobile communication companies and mobile terminals.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a mobile middleware that supports data communication between various mobile terminals and application servers, parsing a request received from the mobile terminal, and identifying terminal information of the mobile terminal from the request. A terminal information identification module; The terminal information for generating a terminal information map for the mobile terminal by analyzing the terminal information and mapping the terminal information into a key-key value pair composed of a key which is a predetermined identification field and a key value which is an identification value corresponding to the key. Mapping module; When the application server processes the request and outputs response data, a response data format conversion module for determining a format of response data most suitable for the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map and converting the response data into the format. ; And a response message generation module for storing the converted response data in a response message adapted to be transmitted to the mobile terminal, regardless of the method of providing the wireless Internet service or the type of the mobile terminal. It provides a mobile middleware that supports the transmission and reception smoothly.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in a method of operating mobile middleware that supports data communication between various mobile terminals and application servers, the request received from the mobile terminal is parsed, and the terminal information of the mobile terminal is identified from the request. Making step; Analyzing the terminal information and generating a terminal information map for the mobile terminal by mapping a key, which is a predetermined identification field, with a key-key value pair consisting of a key value, the identification value corresponding to the key; If the application server processes the request and outputs response data, determining a format of response data most suitable for the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map, and converting the response data into the format; And storing the converted response data in a response message adapted to be transmitted to the mobile terminal, regardless of the wireless Internet service providing method or the type of the mobile terminal. It provides a method of operating a mobile middleware that supports to be made.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an embodiment of a mobile Internet service system according to the present invention. As shown, the mobile Internet service system includes a client 10, a mobile communication network 20, an IWF gateway 30, a mobile middleware 100 (hereinafter referred to simply as "middleware 100"), and an application server 50.

Client 10 is a personal computer that can use the wireless Internet as well as wireless terminals such as synchronous CDMA 2000 and asynchronous W-CDMA handsets, smart phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). It includes a system. The mobile terminal has a built-in web browser for accessing the wireless Internet to use various wireless Internet services.

In the present embodiment, only the case of using a mobile terminal will be described. However, it should be noted that the client 10 is not limited to the mobile terminal and may include a personal computer system using a wired communication network. In the case of a terminal using a wired communication network, the terminal communicates using a standardized communication protocol. In addition, when the terminal and the middleware, the middleware and the application server are connected via a wired communication network, the processing by the IWF gateway described later is not required.

The mobile communication network 20 provides a wireless communication network for data transmission between the mobile terminal and the IWF gateway 30.

The IWF gateway 30 converts the signal message transmitted through the wireless communication network into a signal message conforming to the protocol of the wired communication network, or converts the signal message of the wired communication network into a signal message conforming to the protocol of the wireless communication network. In other words, the IWF gateway 30 converts the WAP protocol and the Internet TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) protocol, and the communication code between the mobile communication network and the wired Internet network to quickly retrieve and display information on the wired Internet. It provides an interface between a mobile communication network and a wired internet network by performing a process such as conversion or protocol conversion. As a result, the mobile terminal 10 can transmit / receive data with the application server 50.

In this case, the communication protocol with the mobile terminal is not limited to the WAP, and any protocol may be included as long as it can convert and provide both devices so as to be recognized between the mobile terminal and the Internet-based application server.

The middleware 100 receives a request from the client 100 which is a mobile terminal. The middleware 100 identifies terminal information, which is information about the mobile terminal and the mobile communication company, from the request, and passes the data included in the request to the application server. It also serves to convert the response data relating to the request to the terminal, using the identified terminal information. The detailed configuration and operation of the middleware 100 will be described in detail below.

The application server 50 receives the data included in the request from the middleware 100 and executes an application program corresponding to the request, thereby generating response data for the request.

In particular, the business application server of the enterprise, as shown in Figure 1, in order to satisfy various business service requests from the client, DBMS (Database Management System), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) The mobile business can be implemented by processing a business logic process that is prepared in advance in conjunction with a legacy system.

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the middleware 100 according to the present invention. As illustrated, the middleware 100 includes a terminal information identification module 110, a terminal information mapping module 120, a response data format conversion module 130, and a response message generation module 140, and known hardware 180, an operating system, and the like. The software 190 may further include. The modules are interconnected, for example, by bus 170.

The terminal information identification module 110 receives the information identifying the mobile communication company from the mobile terminal, identifies and parses the header part of the request according to a transmission protocol predefined by the mobile communication company. Accordingly, terminal information, which is information about the mobile communication company and the terminal, is identified and grasped from the header of the request.

Table 1 below shows the information actually obtained from the header portion of the request when the mobile terminal uses the HTTP protocol and when the VM protocol is used.

HTTP protocol VM protocol User-Agent Carrier Information X-UP-SUBNO Virtual Machine Information HTTP_DEVICE_INFO Device LCD Size HTTP_DRIVER_INFO Support color information HTTP_PHONE_NUMBER Billing Information

When using the HTTP protocol, as shown in Table 1, the header provides the User-Agent field that provides the terminal information, the X-UP-SUBNO that provides the user information, HTTP_DEVICE_INFO, which provides the terminal device information, and the terminal driver information. HTTP_DRIVER_INFO and HTTP_PHONE_NUMBER providing a phone number of the terminal.

For example, if the mobile terminal is a terminal that meets the SK-VM 1.0 standard, SK-VM uses the HTTP 1.1 protocol for downloading MSD and JAR files, and the request from the terminal is a user agent in the HTTP 1.1 protocol header. The terminal contains the following terminal information.

-Terminal hardware information: terminal manufacturer, terminal model name, screen size (pixels, text, etc.).

-Software information: SK-VM version, MIN, etc.

-Wireless internet service provider information: SKT, KTF, LGT, etc.

On the other hand, when using the VM protocol, the carrier information, the virtual machine information, the device LCD size, the support color information, and the charging information are provided in the header. By the way, in the VM protocol, some information (for example, session information and terminal position information) necessary for generating the terminal information map described later may not be provided from the communication protocol header. In this case, the terminal information identification module 110 may be configured to grasp information about the location of the terminal from other information provided from the header of the request and to find out the telephone number of the terminal using the information. That is, even when all the terminal information required in the header of the request is not included, it is preferable to be configured to grasp other information using the terminal information already provided. More specifically, when the terminal information identification module 110 cannot grasp some terminal information from the communication protocol header, for example, the terminal information identification module 110 requests confirmation of such information from an analyzer of a mobile telecommunication company that provides a service.

In this way, even if it is impossible to grasp the entirety of the required terminal information from the communication protocol header of the request, the terminal information identification module 110 combines the information obtained from the communication protocol header of the request with information already disclosed to the client 10. A terminal information map related to the terminal may be generated.

When the terminal information required by the terminal information identification module 110 is determined, the terminal information mapping module 120 analyzes the terminal information, and includes a key, which is a predetermined identification field, and a key value, which is an identification value corresponding to the key. By mapping to key-key value pairs, a terminal information map for the mobile terminal is generated. In detail, the terminal information mapping module 120 executes an application program requested by a request from a client among the terminal information identified by the terminal information identification module 110 in a form most suitable for processing the resulting response data in the client. Extract terminal information required for conversion. In addition, the terminal information mapping module 120 maps the extracted terminal information to a key, which is a predetermined identification field of the terminal information, and a key value, which is a value of terminal information corresponding to each of the identification fields, in the corresponding terminal.

More specifically, Table 2 below shows an example of a terminal information map composed of a key and a key value, which are identification fields of terminal information, together with the contents of the identification field.

Key (Name) Key value Content of the identification field SessionKey 016XXXXXXX Session key Carrier SKT Mobile carrier Service EV-DO WAP Wireless Internet Service Method pType SCH-V740 Terminal model name Manufacture Samsung Terminal Manufacturer Information mType D4 Terminal type by company bType 15 (infraware) Browser type Version 11 Browser version information Width 240 Browser horizontal pixel information Height 297 Browser vertical pixel information Column 22 Number of characters per column in browser Row 11 Browser string Color 16 Browser color offer bit Nid 162 Location information Regzone 2 Location information Baseid 49157 Location information Pilotpn 446 Location information Sid 2236 Location information

As described above, when the terminal information map generated by mapping the terminal information about the mobile communication company and the terminal identified from the request to the key corresponding to the identifier and the key value corresponding thereto is combined, the terminal information map is combined to the terminal. It is easy to identify the appropriate data format. Therefore, middleware for converting response data to the terminal can be easily implemented according to the wireless Internet method or the type of the terminal. In addition, by using such middleware, it is not necessary to develop a separate application server according to the type of terminal or mobile communication company.

Next, when the data included in the request is passed to the application server 50, the application server 50 processes the data, and outputs the response data thereto. The output response data is sent to the middleware 100 before being transmitted to the client 10 which is the mobile terminal.

The response data format conversion module 130 of the middleware 100 grasps the format of the response data most suitable for the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map of the mobile terminal created by the terminal information mapping module 120, and converts the response data into the format. To convert. Since the terminal information map of the present invention is mapped with a key and a key value, it is possible to easily grasp the format of the response data most suitable for various kinds of mobile terminals. In detail, the response data format conversion module 130 predetermines the format of response data that is most suitable for various types of terminals and wireless Internet services. When a request is received from the mobile terminal and a terminal information map of the terminal is generated, a plurality of terminal informations mapped to a key and a key value are combined to determine a format of response data most suitable for this.

With this arrangement, the system developer can easily develop a process for determining the format of response data of any type of terminal, not limited to the type of mobile terminal or the type of wireless Internet service according to the mobile carrier. Can be.

If the format of the response data most suitable for the mobile terminal is determined, the response data format conversion module 130 converts the response data into the format. For example, when the response data is an image file, the image handler of the response data format conversion module 130 may combine a screen size, a screen pixel, and an image format that the terminal may process in the terminal information map. Identify a suitable format supported by the terminal and convert the image file into such a format.

In addition, the response data should be encoded in a content type designated for the terminal, and may use a MIME (Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions) technique.

Note that in the case of the VM protocol, the header processing of the response message may be performed by the mobile communication company without directly converting the format of the response data.

The response message generation module 140 stores the response data converted into a format most suitable for the mobile terminal in a response message of a form suitable for the mobile terminal. More specifically, the response message generation module 140 generates a response message containing response data based on a template corresponding to a markup language supported by the mobile terminal, for example, based on the terminal information map.

When the response message is completed, the data transmission is completed by transmitting the response message to the mobile terminal client 10 through the gateway 30 and the mobile communication network 20.

According to the above configuration, not only can the application server be developed in common regardless of the type of mobile communication company and the mobile terminal, but also the mobile middleware can be easily implemented to support the smooth transmission and reception of data between various mobile terminals and the application server. Can be.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method of operating the middleware 100 according to the present invention.

First, the procedure is started by the client 10 as a mobile terminal accessing the wireless Internet service and sending a request (S400). When a request is received from the client 10 (S410), the middleware 100 parses the request and identifies terminal information of the mobile terminal from the request (S420).

Next, the identified terminal information is analyzed and mapped to a key-key value pair consisting of a key which is a predetermined identification field and a key value which is an identification value corresponding to the key (S430). The terminal information map is generated (S440).

When the data included in the request is passed to the application server, the application server outputs response data thereto, and the response data is transmitted to the middleware 100 (S450).

The middleware 100 determines a format of response data most suitable for the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map generated in S440 (S460), and converts the response data into the format (S470). In this case, in the case of the VM protocol, instead of directly converting the format of the data, it is possible to process the header part of the response data so as to fit the mobile communication company in charge of data transmission and reception of the corresponding terminal.

Next, the converted response data is stored in a response message adapted to be transmitted to the mobile terminal (S480). By sending the response message to the gateway 30, the operation of the middleware 100 may be terminated (S490), and the response message is transmitted to the client 10 through the mobile communication network 20.

As mentioned above, although the technical idea of this invention was demonstrated in detail through the preferable embodiment of this invention, the said content is only one Embodiment of this invention, It should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention.

As is apparent from the above, the present invention can provide a mobile middleware that supports smooth data transmission and reception between a mobile terminal and an application server regardless of a wireless Internet service providing method or a type of a mobile terminal.

In addition, the middleware according to the present invention can support the common application development regardless of the type of mobile communication company and mobile terminal.

Claims (9)

Mobile middleware that supports data communication between various mobile terminals and application servers, A terminal information identification module for parsing a request received from a mobile terminal according to a data transmission protocol and identifying terminal information of the mobile terminal from the request; The terminal information for generating a terminal information map for the mobile terminal by analyzing the terminal information and mapping the terminal information into a key-key value pair composed of a key which is a predetermined identification field and a key value which is an identification value corresponding to the key. Mapping module; When the application server processes the request and outputs response data, the application server grasps the format of response data most suitable for the type, specification and type of mobile communication company of the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map. A response data format conversion module for converting the data into the format; And A response message generation module for storing the converted response data in a response message adapted to be transmitted to the mobile terminal; Mobile middleware that supports data transmission and reception between a mobile terminal and an application server regardless of the method of providing wireless Internet service or the type of mobile terminal. The method of claim 1, The predetermined identification field is A mobile middleware including at least one of a session key, a carrier, a wireless Internet service method, a terminal model, a terminal manufacturer, a terminal type, a browser type, a screen pixel, an image format, and location information. The method of claim 1, The response message generation module, And a markup processing module for identifying a markup language supported by the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map and generating the response message using the markup language. The method of claim 1, The response data format conversion module, And the image processing module converting the image file into a format supported by the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map when the response data is an image file. Mobile middleware that supports data communication between various mobile terminals and application servers, A terminal information identification module for parsing a request received from a mobile terminal according to a data transmission protocol and identifying terminal information of the mobile terminal from the request; The terminal information for generating a terminal information map for the mobile terminal by analyzing the terminal information and mapping the terminal information into a key-key value pair composed of a key which is a predetermined identification field and a key value which is an identification value corresponding to the key. Mapping module; A response data format conversion module for processing the response data so that the application server processes the request and outputs the response data, based on the terminal information map, to process the response data in accordance with the type, specification, and type of the mobile communication company; ; And A response message generation module for storing the converted response data in a response message adapted to be transmitted to the mobile terminal; Mobile middleware that supports data transmission and reception between a mobile terminal and an application server regardless of the method of providing wireless Internet service or the type of mobile terminal. In the operation method of mobile middleware supporting data communication between various mobile terminals and application servers, Parsing a request received from the mobile terminal and identifying terminal information of the mobile terminal from the request; Analyzing the terminal information and generating a terminal information map for the mobile terminal by mapping a key, which is a predetermined identification field, with a key-key value pair consisting of a key value, the identification value corresponding to the key; If the application server processes the request and outputs response data, determining a format of response data most suitable for the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map, and converting the response data into the format; And Storing the converted response data in a response message adapted to be transmitted to the mobile terminal, Regardless of the method of providing the wireless Internet service or the type of the mobile terminal, a method of operating the mobile middleware for smoothly transmitting and receiving data between the mobile terminal and the application server. The method of claim 6, The predetermined identification field is Method of operating a mobile middleware including at least one of a session key, a carrier, a wireless Internet service method, a terminal model, a terminal manufacturer, a terminal type, a browser type, a screen pixel, an image format, and location information. The method of claim 6, Storing the converted response data in a response message of a form suitable for the mobile terminal, Identifying a markup language supported by the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map, and generating the response message using the markup language. The method of claim 6, Converting the response data into a format suitable for the mobile terminal, And converting the image file into a format supported by the mobile terminal based on the terminal information map, when the response data is an image file.

Images