KR20000050106A - multimedia streaming service method, and system for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A system for serving a multimedia streaming is provided to supply only clients certificated a streaming server actually with multimedia data, and to manage use specification of multimedia streaming service of the clients, and support security of various multimedia streaming contents supplied via a wire/wireless communications network. CONSTITUTION: A system for serving a multimedia streaming contains processes. In the first process, a client accesses to a web site supplying in a particular web server via a self personal computer. In the second process, the client selects a desired streaming contents in a web page of the accessed web site. The third process, a web server encodes user information of the client, and attaches the encoded information on position information of the selected streaming contents, to transmit to the personal computer. In the fourth process, the client accesses to a corresponded streaming server of the transmitted position information, reads the attached encoded information, to deliver to the streaming server. The fifth process is to receive a requested streaming contents from the accessed streaming server.

Description

Multimedia streaming service method, and system for the same

The present invention relates to an Internet service, and more particularly, to a multimedia streaming service method and system for supporting security of various multimedia streaming contents provided through a wired / wireless communication network such as the Internet, and managing the usage history of multimedia streaming services of clients. .

Today, people around the world can find information, read and read news, buy or sell news, learn courses, participate in local communities, and much more, freely, both on time and in space. . This is because the Internet supports the connection of many networks around the world.

The Internet connects servers that send information from various networks, and sends information from various web pages around the world using tools such as e-mail and browsers that send and receive text messages. World Wide Web (abbreviated as WWW) for finding, NET NEWS for information exchange and discussion on specific topics, and file transfer between server and user's computer for file transfer It enables various services such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

As a result, the number of Internet users is increasing day by day, and the development of technology to meet the needs of users continues.

Recently, users' satisfaction has increased due to the increase of internet speed, i.e. the transmission bandwidth, which means that the amount of data to be transmitted is increasing. Internet services are now available that allow users to view and listen to multimedia through on-line retrieval of combined video. His representative is a multimedia streaming service. In this case, streaming means that audio data or video data (video data) having a large size is not downloaded and executed, but is divided into several files and transmitted in real time.

In order to listen to or display these audio files or video files in streaming format, various application softwares must be embedded in the client's personal computer. In other words, audio streaming / video streaming requires an audio streaming application such as a real audio player or a multimedia streaming application such as a windows media player.

Most such streaming applications are multimedia plug-ins that support audio / video streaming in real time, and are additional application programs that can operate based on a web browser.

Currently, services that can be supported through the above-mentioned multimedia streaming include live broadcasting services such as sports, news or live concerts, video on demand (VOD), and the like. Many internet service businesses such as movie theaters are emerging one after another.

However, in providing a multimedia streaming service through the Internet or an intranet, both at home and abroad, many service providers that provide a streaming service based on multimedia content have produced a variety of multimedia streaming contents at high cost. Has been struggling with the commercialization of security and streaming services themselves.

An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above points, in providing a variety of streaming services based on multimedia content in addition to applying encryption and management system to solve the security problem of multimedia content, thereby commercializing streaming services To provide a multimedia streaming service method suitable for the realization and service quality improvement and a system therefor.

A first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of a client accessing a web site provided by a specific web server through his personal computer; Selecting, by the client, desired streaming content from a web page of the connected web site; Encrypting user information of the client by the web server, attaching the encrypted information to the location information of the selected streaming content, and transmitting the encrypted information to the personal computer; Accessing, by the client, the corresponding streaming server of the received location information, and decrypting the attached encryption information in the personal computer and transmitting the decrypted encryption information to the streaming server; And receiving the desired streaming content from the connected streaming server.

Preferably, the method further includes a user authentication step of verifying the identity of the client using the received information in the streaming server that has received the decrypted encrypted information.

In addition, after receiving the streaming content, the method further includes the step of storing the serviced usage record information by database for each client whose identity is confirmed.

In particular, the web server selects the user identification code (ID) of the client, the Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the client's personal computer, the file name of the streaming content file selected by the client, and the client selected by the client. A time allowed for continuous access to streaming content and an encryption key respectively set in the web server and the streaming server to be accessed are encrypted and transmitted to the personal computer.

A second aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of encrypting user information of any client to which a particular web server is connected to it; Transmitting, by the web server, the encrypted information after the site address of the object server providing multimedia streaming to the client personal computer; Connecting to the object server of the received site address from the personal computer, decrypting the attached transmitted encrypted information, and transferring the same to the connected object server; And providing, by the object server, the multimedia streaming service selected by the client to the personal computer.

Advantageously, after said delivering said decrypted information to said object server, said object server of said delivered decrypted information and / or said Internet protocol (IP) address of said personal computer and / or Or performing user authentication for access to the self using an encryption key set in common between the web server and the object server. Here, the object server streams the multimedia selected by the client to the client whose identity is verified by the user authentication, and stores and manages the usage history of the service for each client after the corresponding streaming service is completed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software for interfacing a web page according to a website of a specific client and encryption software for encrypting various user information of the connected client. A plurality of multimedia streaming contents provided through the web page according to the connection, and when the client selects one or more streaming contents, an address of the server providing the selected streaming contents, a streaming path, and encrypted by the encryption software. A web server for transmitting user information of the client to a personal computer of the client; Built-in plug-in module for decrypting the encrypted information corresponding to the encryption software of the web server, the client provides a user interface to allow the client to select a specific multimedia streaming content from the web site by the web interface Or a personal computer of a client connected to a server address sent from the web server when selecting more streaming content; Receive user information of the client decrypted from the personal computer and perform user authentication on the client, and stream the multimedia of the streaming content selected by the client to the personal computer through the personal computer, and then the user authentication. It is configured to include a streaming server for storing and managing the streaming history for each client identified by the identity.

1 is a system configuration diagram for the multimedia streaming service of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration for a multimedia streaming service of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

10: web server 11: web computer

12: web database 20: streaming server

21: Streaming Computer 22: Streaming Database

23: user management database 30: personal computer

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a multimedia streaming service method and a system therefor according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a system configuration diagram for the multimedia streaming service of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration for the multimedia streaming service of the present invention.

The following description will be made with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The system of the present invention is largely composed of a web server 10, a streaming server 20, and a personal computer 30 of a client (user), which are interconnected via the Internet. Connected. Of course, it can also be connected via a local area network. In particular, the web server 10 and the streaming server 20 are only software independent, and the web server 10 and the streaming server 20 may be integrated into one computer.

In the configuration of the present invention, the web server 10 includes a web computer 11 and a web database 12, and the streaming server 20 includes a streaming computer 21, a streaming database 22, and a user management database 23. It consists of.

The web computer 11 includes software for allowing a web page to be web interfaced to the user computer 30 when the client attempts to access the web site using a web browser embedded in the personal computer 30 of the user. In addition, various user information (user identification code, Internet protocol address) of the connected client, information (file name of streaming content file, streaming content access time) of the client's multimedia streaming content selection, and access password by mutual authentication Built-in encryption software to encrypt the key.

In addition, the web database 12 of the web server 10, the location information (URL: Uniform Resource Locator) of the streaming content, in order to provide the multimedia streaming content, the user identification code (ID) of the client entered after connecting to the web server 10 Identification number) and an Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the user's computer 30, a file name of the multimedia streaming content file that can be provided, and an access time of the multimedia streaming content that can be provided. Separately, the web database 12 temporarily stores the user identification code (ID) and the Internet protocol (IP) address of the user computer 30 only for a predetermined period of time without permanently storing it.

Accordingly, when the client attempts to access the client through the personal computer 30, the web server 10 provides a web interface according to the connection to the personal computer 30, and streams a plurality of multimedia streams through the web page. Provide content.

In particular, when the client selects one or more streaming content, the web server 10 indicates location information of the content provider that provides the selected streaming content, that is, an address of the streaming server 20 and a streaming path of the selected multimedia content. The unique resource location (hereinafter, abbreviated as URL) is transmitted to the personal computer 30.

In addition, when the client selects one or more streaming contents, the web server 10 may store various user information (user identification code, Internet protocol address) of the client connected using encryption software and streaming stored in the web database 12. The file name of the content file, the access time for streaming content, the access encryption key by mutual authentication are encrypted, and the encrypted information is attached to the back of the URL and transmitted to the personal computer 30.

The streaming database 22 constituting the next streaming server 20 stores multimedia data corresponding to various multimedia streaming contents of the web server 10. Therefore, the streaming computer 21 has software for loading multimedia data stored in the streaming database 22 and dividing the data into smaller pieces of streaming data for streaming to the personal computer 30.

In particular, the streaming computer 21 accesses the user information (user identification code, Internet protocol address), the file name of the streaming content file, the streaming content access time and mutual authentication from the personal computer 30 of the client requesting multimedia streaming. The user receives the encryption key to authenticate the client, and streams the multimedia data of the selected streaming content to the personal computer 30 of the client.

In addition, the user management database 23 constituting the streaming server 20 stores the multimedia streaming details for each client that provided the multimedia. Therefore, the streaming computer 21 has software for storing and managing the multimedia streaming details for each client whose identity is confirmed by user authentication.

The personal computer 30 of the client then includes a plug in module for decrypting various pieces of information encrypted and transmitted in response to the encryption software embedded in the web server 10, and allows the client to access the website. It has a built-in web browser. In addition, the user computer 30 provides a user interface for the web server 10 to select specific multimedia streaming content provided through the web interface.

Next, the multimedia streaming service procedure of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2 described above.

First, the transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (hereinafter abbreviated as TCP / IP) is used as a physical protocol for the interconnection between the client's personal computer 30 and each server 10,20. The multimedia streaming data transmission is then carried out via the TCP / IP interconnection.

First, the client executes a web browser, which is Internet access software embedded in his personal computer 30, and accesses a web site that provides multimedia streaming content through the executed web browser. This means that the personal computer 30 and the web server 10 are interconnected via TCP / IP.

The web server 10 then provides a web interface to the personal computer 30 according to the web site access. This web page provides a variety of multimedia streaming content such as audio and video (especially movies, broadcasts, advertisements, etc.), and the client selects which of the various contents to receive.

The web server 10 then informs which streaming server 20 the multimedia streaming content selected by the client is present and located on the network (especially the Internet). That is, the URL of the selected multimedia streaming content is transmitted to the user computer 30 of the client.

Here, the web server 10 of the present invention allows access to various user information (user identification code, Internet protocol address) of the connected client and the file name and streaming content of the streaming content file stored in the web database 12 using encryption software. The connection encryption key by time and mutual authentication is encrypted, and the encrypted information is attached to the personal computer 30 by attaching the encrypted information behind the URL of the selected multimedia streaming content.

Accordingly, the client requests the desired multimedia streaming data after connecting to the corresponding streaming server 20, which is an object server that provides multimedia data with the URL (site address) of the streaming content delivered from the web server 10, and the client Personal computer 10 decrypts the encrypted information transmitted from the web server and delivers it to the streaming server 20.

Next, the streaming server 20 performs user authentication to verify the identity of the client by using the client's user identifier (ID) among the decryption information received from the personal computer 30 and an access encryption key by mutual authentication.

Then, if the user authentication is successfully completed and the identity of the client is confirmed, the streaming server 20 divides the multimedia data of the content stored in the streaming database 22 into a relatively small streaming file to the personal computer 30 Provides a streaming service to transmit.

As can be seen here, unlike in the present invention, where there is no communication between the web server 10 and the streaming server 20 while the multimedia streaming service is provided, in the present invention, the web server 10 and the streaming server through the user computer 30 of the client. Communication is made between the 20.

That is, the existing web server 10 may interact with the client's personal computer 30 to perform user's identification or payment for the use of the service, including web pages, but the streaming server 20 ) Only transmits real-time multimedia data to the client personal computer 30 only, and there is no interaction with the client's personal computer, so the streaming server 20 could not find out which client receives the multimedia data. In particular, even though the user's identity is verified through the web server 10, the streaming server 20 cannot identify the client's identity, so it is impossible to confirm whether the client providing the multimedia data is actually an authenticated client. It was. Therefore, multimedia data was more likely to be abnormally exposed by third parties who did not verify their identity.

However, in the present invention, when the web server 10 transmits the URL of the multimedia streaming content, various user information (user identification code, Internet protocol address) of the connected client, the file name of the corresponding multimedia streaming content, and the streaming content Provides encrypted access encryption key by the access time and mutual authentication, and personal computer 30 decrypts the information transmitted from the web server 10 again when accessing the streaming server 20 of the URL Since it is provided to the connected streaming server 20, the present invention basically includes the web page, the personal computer 30 and the web server 10 of the client for operations such as user identification or payment for the use of the service ), The streaming server 20 is a client personal computer. While transmitting a real-time multimedia data (30), there are those with a client personal computer dialog (Interaction). Accordingly, the streaming server 20 may know which client is provided with the multimedia data.

In particular, in the present invention, since the identification of the user through the web server 10 and the identification of the client through the streaming server 20 are performed again, the streaming server 20 provides the multimedia data only to the authenticated client.

In addition, in the present invention, the web server 10 encrypts and transmits the allowed time allowing continuous access to the streaming content selected by the client, which is connected to the streaming server 20 using the URL transmitted from the web server 10. ) To restrict the client's access to For example, if a client requests streaming content corresponding to a 2-hour movie, the web server 10 can continuously access the streaming content along with a user identifier (ID) after the URL of the streaming content. Encrypt the allowed time to inform the client's personal computer 30 and delivers. As a result, if the movie contents are serviced for 2 hours, the client is allowed to watch 2 times repeatedly by allowing 4 hours of continuous access time.

The following shows an example of the location information of the multimedia streaming content including the encryption information attached in the present invention.

"mms: //stream01.xirect.com/test.asf? 10492853095712038502005661059730283748"

"Mms: //stream01.xirect.com/test.asf" is a URL previously transmitted by the web server 10 to a personal computer, and "10492853095712038502005661059730283748" is encrypted information. In addition, "?" Is a code for distinguishing a URL from encryption information. As can be seen from the example of the location information of the present invention, in the present invention, even if the location information expressed as described above is leaked during transmission, encryption is essential so that the actual content of the information is not known.

The multimedia streaming service method and system therefor according to the present invention described so far apply to the following various fields.

First is the Internet cinema service. On the other hand, it is suitable for providing internet movie contents service (Pay-per-view) at a unit price of 500 won or 1000 won.

Second is the internet live broadcasting service. It is suitable for providing broadcast content services such as live concerts and live broadcasts. In this case, in the present invention, since the usage record information received from the streaming server 20 can be stored and managed for each client whose identity has been confirmed, payment is possible for each client receiving the Internet live service according to each reading time.

Third, multimedia education service. It is suitable for providing educational services on a network (especially the Internet) based on educational multimedia contents. In this case, in the present invention, since the usage record information received from the streaming server 20 can be stored and managed for each client whose identity has been identified, it is possible to store and manage how and from what time the educational multimedia content is learned by a specific client. After that, the usage record can be checked and checked to calculate statistics for each of a plurality of clients.

Fourth, it is a multimedia internet target advertisement service. Currently, Internet advertisements are generally in the form of banner advertisements. This banner advertisement form can obtain the response of the client only by clicking on it by the client. However, in the future, multimedia streaming advertisement contents such as videos having a certain playing time are expected to be provided. Even when the multimedia streaming advertisement content is serviced, it is possible to directly grasp the degree of interest in the advertisement because the client can know how long the multimedia advertisement has been viewed through the multimedia streaming service usage history management in the present invention.

As described above, when using the multimedia streaming service method and the system therefor, the user's identity is confirmed through the web server and the client's identity is confirmed through the streaming server. Only provide multimedia data. As a result, there is no possibility of abnormally exposing the multimedia data by a third party who has not been identified, thereby ensuring the security of the multimedia data produced at a high cost.

In addition, in the present invention, since the streaming server stores and manages the service usage record of each client for providing the multimedia streaming service, the service commercialization of the service providers of the multimedia streaming service is realized more specifically.

Claims (13)

A client accessing a web site provided by a specific web server through his personal computer; Selecting, by the client, desired streaming content from a web page of the connected web site; Encrypting user information of the client by the web server, attaching the encrypted information to the location information of the selected streaming content, and transmitting the encrypted information to the personal computer; Accessing, by the client, the corresponding streaming server of the received location information, and decrypting the attached encryption information in the personal computer and transmitting the decrypted encryption information to the streaming server; Multimedia streaming service method comprising the step of receiving the desired streaming content from the connected streaming server. The multimedia streaming service method of claim 1, further comprising a user authentication step of verifying an identity of the client using the received information in the streaming server that has received the decrypted encrypted information. The multimedia streaming service method of claim 1, further comprising, after receiving the streaming content, storing the serviced usage record information in a database for each client whose identity is verified. 2. The web server of claim 1, wherein the web server comprises: a user identification code (ID) of the client, an internet protocol (IP) address assigned to a personal computer of the client, a file name of a streaming content file selected by the client, A unique resource location that encrypts an allowable time for continuous access to the streaming content selected by the client, and an encryption key set for each of the web server and the streaming server to be connected, and converts the encrypted information into location information of the selected streaming content. (Uniform Resource Locator: URL) attached to the multimedia streaming service method characterized in that the transmission to the personal computer. The method of claim 1, wherein the web server encrypts and transmits a user identification code (ID) of the client to the personal computer. The method of claim 1, wherein the web server encrypts an Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to a personal computer of the client and transmits the encrypted encrypted data to the personal computer. The method of claim 1, wherein the web server encrypts the file name of the streaming content file selected by the client and transmits the file name to the personal computer. The multimedia streaming service method according to claim 1, wherein the web server encrypts an allowable time for continuous access to the streaming content selected by the client and transmits the encrypted time to the personal computer. The multimedia streaming service method according to claim 1, wherein the web server encrypts an encryption key set between the web server and the streaming server to be connected to the personal computer. Encrypting user information of any client connected to the specific web server; Transmitting, by the web server, the encrypted information after the site address of the object server providing multimedia streaming to the client personal computer; Connecting to the object server of the received site address from the personal computer, decrypting the attached transmitted encrypted information, and transferring the same to the connected object server; Providing the multimedia streaming service selected by the client to the personal computer in the object server. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein after passing the decrypted information to the object server, the object server identifies the client's identification code (ID) and / or Internet protocol (IP) address of the personal computer among the delivered decrypted information. And / or performing user authentication on a connection to itself using an encryption key set in common between the web server and the object server. The method of claim 11, wherein the object server streams the multimedia selected by the client to the client whose identity is confirmed by the user authentication, and stores and manages the usage history of the service for each client after the streaming service is completed. Multimedia streaming service method, characterized in that. Built-in software for interfacing web pages according to a specific client's website access and encryption software for encrypting various user information of the connected client, and provides a plurality of multimedia streaming contents through the web page according to the access. To transmit the address of the server providing the selected streaming content, the streaming path and user information of the client encrypted by the encryption software to the client's personal computer when the client selects one or more streaming content. A server; Built-in plug-in module for decrypting the encrypted information corresponding to the encryption software of the web server, the client provides a user interface to allow the client to select a specific multimedia streaming content from the web site by the web interface Or a personal computer of a client connected to a server address sent from the web server when selecting more streaming content; Receive user information of the client decrypted from the personal computer and perform user authentication on the client, and stream the multimedia of the streaming content selected by the client to the personal computer through the personal computer, and then the user authentication. Multimedia streaming service system, characterized in that it comprises a streaming server for storing and managing the streaming history for each client identified by the identity.