KR20070095530A - Method for providing patch data to client terminals and game providing system of enabling the method - Google Patents

Abstract

A game providing system operation method for providing game patch data to client terminals and a game providing system applying the same are provided to transmit the patch data to the client terminals after excluding the patch data which has the same version information as a patch stored in the client terminal by comparing the version information received from the client terminal with the version information of the patch data. A patch database(601) stores more than one patch data by each version. A patch information receiver(602) receives the version information of the stored patches from the client terminal. A patch selector(603) selects the patch version not downloaded to the client terminal by comparing the received patch version information with the version of the patch stored in the patch database. A patch data recognizer(604) recognizes the patch data the same as the patch information received from the client terminal by referring to the patch database. A patch provider(605) transmits the patch data excluding the patch data corresponding to the selected patch version to the client terminal.

Description

TECHNICAL FOR PROVIDING PATCH DATA TO CLIENT TERMINALS AND GAME PROVIDING SYSTEM OF ENABLING THE METHOD}

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a network connection relationship of a game providing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a patch database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a patch information table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a game providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a game providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

8 is an internal block diagram of a general purpose computer device that may be employed to perform the method of providing a game patch according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

600: game delivery system 601: patch database

602: patch information receiving unit 603: patch selecting unit

604: patch data identification unit 605: patch provider

The present invention relates to an operation method of a game providing system for providing game patch data to a client terminal and a game providing system employing the above method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a case in which a patch corresponding to a predetermined game is transmitted to a predetermined client terminal. Comparing the patch data corresponding to the patch stored in the client terminal with the patch data corresponding to the patch to be transmitted, identifying the matching patch data, and excluding the identified patch data and transmitting the patch data to the client terminal. And a game providing system employing the above method.

Recently, with the development of high speed data communication network, many people use the Internet, and with the increase of the use of the Internet, various kinds of content services using the Internet, for example, services such as messengers, shopping malls, and games, are provided. In particular, among the various content services, the game service field is rapidly increasing in speed of development and dissemination, and many Internet users are using online game services using the Internet.

The program of games currently offered by online game services is very complex and consists of millions of lines of code written by several different programmers. The provider who provides the game runs the program reliably and error-free, does not compromise the security or stability of the IT environment, and is thoroughly tested before launch to minimize problems. However, even with these tests, it is impossible to find all the errors in the program.

As such, the provider providing the game provides the user with a patch for program changes or functional changes or additions that appear after the game's release. The user can simply download the patch online and install it on the client terminal to simply correct errors, change or add functions that are present in the program of the game. The patch is not provided as a one-time item, but is provided to the user whenever an error in a program is corrected or a function of a game is changed or added, and one or more patches for correcting, changing a function, or adding an error in a program of the game are provided. Contains data.

When providing a conventional patch, it is often provided to the user, including the patch data included in the previously provided patch. This is because the user may be provided with convenience by allowing the user to install all the patches provided so far by installing only the last patch provided without installing one or more previously provided patches. However, in such a case, the user who installed all the patches provided will download and install the patch data that is already installed, if the patch is installed every time. The user has a problem in that unnecessary time such as download time or installation time caused by duplicate patch data has to be consumed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, when transmitting a patch according to a predetermined game to the client terminal, receiving the version information of the stored patch from the client terminal, by referring to the received version information An operation method and a method of operating the game providing system for comparing the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch stored in the client terminal with the patch data corresponding to the patch to be transmitted and excluding the matching patch data and transmitting the same to the client terminal Its purpose is to provide a game providing system.

In addition, the present invention records the version information of the downloaded patch to a predetermined storage means when downloading a patch according to a predetermined game from the client terminal, and when storing another patch to the client terminal, refer to the storage means Operation method and the method of the game providing system for comparing the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch stored in the client terminal and the patch data corresponding to the patch to be transmitted and transmitting the same to the client terminal excluding the patch data. Its purpose is to provide a game providing system.

In addition, the present invention compares the patch data stored in the client terminal with the patch data of the patch to be transmitted to transmit a patch except for the duplicate patch data to the client terminal to reduce the download time and installation time consumed by the duplicate patch data Its purpose is to reduce it.

In order to achieve the above object and solve the problems of the prior art, the game patch providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, storing one or more patch data for each version (version) of the patch according to the game Maintaining a patch database; Receiving version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal from a predetermined client terminal; Selecting a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal by comparing the received version information of the patch with a version of a patch stored in the patch database; Referring to the patch database, comparing patch data corresponding to a version of the selected patch with patch data corresponding to version information of the patch received from the client terminal, and identifying matching patch data; And excluding the identified patch data from the patch data corresponding to the selected patch version and transmitting the same to the client terminal.

Game patch providing method according to another embodiment of the present invention, maintaining a patch database for storing one or more patch data for each patch version (version) according to the game; Maintaining a patch information table corresponding to a client terminal, which records version information of at least one patch according to the game downloaded from the client terminal; Comparing a version of a patch corresponding to the client terminal with a version of a patch stored in the patch database by referring to the patch information table and selecting a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal; Comparing patch data corresponding to a version of the selected patch with patch data corresponding to version information of a patch downloaded to the client terminal by referring to the patch database, and identifying matching patch data; And excluding the identified patch data from the patch data corresponding to the selected patch version and transmitting the same to the client terminal.

Game providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention, the patch database for storing one or more patch data for each version (version) of the patch according to the game; A patch information receiver configured to receive version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal from a predetermined client terminal; A patch selecting unit which selects a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal by comparing the received version information of the patch with a version of a patch stored in the patch database; A patch data identification unit for comparing the patch data corresponding to the selected version of the patch with the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch received from the client terminal with reference to the patch database, and identifying matching patch data; ; And a patch providing unit to transmit the excluded patch data to the client terminal from among patch data corresponding to the selected patch version.

Game providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention, a patch database for storing one or more patch data for each patch version (version) according to the game; A patch information table corresponding to a client terminal, which records version information of at least one patch according to the game downloaded from the client terminal; A patch selector configured to compare version information of a patch corresponding to the client terminal with a version of a patch stored in the patch database, and to select a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal by referring to the patch information table; A patch data identification unit for comparing the patch data corresponding to the selected version of the patch with the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch downloaded to the client terminal, and identifying the matching patch data by referring to the patch database; And a patch providing unit to transmit the excluded patch data to the client terminal from among patch data corresponding to the selected patch version.

The client terminal used in the present invention refers to a variety of devices that can be connected in a wired / wireless communication network as a terminal having a computing capability by including a microprocessor and a memory means such as a desktop PC, a notebook PC, a PDA, a mobile communication terminal, and the like.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a network connection relationship of a game providing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the game providing system 120 receives version information of one or more patches according to a predetermined game stored in the client terminal 110 from the client terminal 110 through a predetermined communication network. The patch version not downloaded from the client terminal 110 is selected by referring to the received version information of the patch. In addition, the game providing system 120 maintains a patch information table for recording one or more version information according to a predetermined game stored in the client terminal 110, and does not download it from the client terminal 110 with reference to the patch information table. You can also select patch versions that do not.

The game providing system 120 may compare patch data corresponding to the selected patch version with patch data corresponding to the received patch version information by referring to a patch database storing one or more patch data for each patch version. By identifying the matching patch data, except for the identified patch data and transmits to the client terminal (110).

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, in step 201, the game providing system maintains a patch database that stores one or more patch data for each version of a patch according to a predetermined game.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a patch database according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, patch database 300 includes a patch version 301 and fields of patch data 302. The patch version 301 may record version information of a patch according to the game provided to the user so far. The version information of the patch is number information that is assigned to distinguish the patch from the previous patch whenever a patch for error correction, a function change, a function addition, etc. of the game is released. For example, "patch 1.1, patch 1.2, patch 1.3" may be recorded as version information of the patch according to the game currently provided to the user. The patch data 302 may record patch data such as an executable file included in the patch in response to the patch version 301.

In step 202, the client terminal transmits version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal to the game providing system. For example, the client terminal may transmit version information "patch 1.1, patch 1.2" of the patch according to the game stored in the client terminal to the game providing system.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the version information of the patch may include a list of one or more patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch stored in the client terminal. For example, the patch version information may include a list "AA, BB" and "AA, DD" of the patch data corresponding to the patch version information "patch 1.1, patch 1.2". Therefore, when patch data is lost due to an error of the client terminal, which may occur, the client terminal transmits version information of the patch to the game providing system by including a list of patch data except for the missing patch data. The game providing system can more accurately identify the patch data stored in the client terminal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a user of the client terminal inputs a download request of a patch according to the game through the client terminal, and the client terminal transmits a download request of the patch to the game providing system. Can be. The download request may include version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the client terminal may transmit information of one or more patch versions according to the game downloaded from the client terminal to the game providing system at predetermined intervals.

In step 203, the game providing system receives version information of the patch from the client terminal.

In step 204, the game providing system compares the version information of the received patch with the version of a patch stored in the patch database and selects a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal. For example, the game providing system compares the received patch version information "patch 1.1, patch 1.2" with the version "patch 1.1, patch 1.2, patch 1.3" of the patch stored in the patch database of FIG. You can select the version "patch 1.3" of the patch you did not download from.

In operation 205, the game providing system refers to the patch database, and compares patch data corresponding to the version of the selected patch with patch data corresponding to version information of the patch received from the client terminal. Identifies matching patch data. For example, the game providing system refers to the patch database, the patch data "AA, YY" corresponding to the version "patch 1.3" of the selected patch and the version information "patch 1.1" received from the client terminal. patch data "AA, BB" corresponding to "patch 1.2" and "AA, CC, DD" are compared, and the matching patch data "AA" is identified. That is, the game providing system identifies whether patch data corresponding to the selected patch version and patch data corresponding to the patch data stored in the client terminal exist.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the version information of the received patch includes a list of patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch, the game providing system may generate the list of the received patch data and the patch database. With reference, patch data corresponding to the selected version of the patch is compared to identify matching patch data.

In step 206, the game providing system transmits the identified patch data from the patch data corresponding to the selected patch version to the client terminal. For example, the game providing system includes the selection including patch data “YY” except for the identified patch data “AA” among patch data “AA, YY” corresponding to the selected patch version “patch 1.3”. The patched version to the client terminal.

In step 207, the client terminal receives the selected patch version excluding the patch data identified above from the game providing system.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game according to another embodiment of the present invention.

First, in step 401, the game providing system maintains a patch database as shown in FIG. 3 that stores one or more patch data for each patch version according to the game.

In step 402, the game providing system maintains a patch information table that records version information for one or more patches according to the game downloaded from the client terminal corresponding to the client terminal.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a patch information table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the patch information table 500 includes fields of the client terminal 501, the patch version 502. The client terminal 501 may record a unique identifier included in the client terminal or an identifier for identifying the client terminal by an ID / password of a user who uses the client terminal subscribed to the game providing system. The patch version 502 may record version information of one or more patches according to the game downloaded from the client terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the game providing system may receive a download request of a patch according to the game from the client terminal.

In step 403, the game providing system compares the version information of the patch corresponding to the client terminal with the version of the patch stored in the patch database with reference to the patch information table, and the version of the patch not downloaded from the client terminal. Select. For example, the game providing system refers to the patch information table of FIG. 5, and the version information "patch 1.1, patch 1.2" of the patch corresponding to the client terminal and the version "patch of the patch stored in the patch database of FIG. 3. 1.1, patch 1.2, patch 1.3 ", and a version" patch 1.3 "of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal can be selected.

In operation 404, the game providing system refers to the patch database, compares patch data corresponding to a version of the selected patch with patch data corresponding to version information of a patch downloaded to the client terminal, and matches the patch data. Identifies patch data.

In operation 405, the game providing system transmits the identified patch data to the client terminal by excluding the identified patch data from among patch data corresponding to the selected patch version.

In step 406, the client terminal receives the selected patch version excluding the identified patch data from the game providing system.

In step 407, the game providing system records and updates a version of the selected patch in the patch information table corresponding to the client terminal. For example, when the selected patch version "patch 1.3" is transmitted to the client terminal "junghyun / d5141", the game providing system corresponds to the selected patch version "patch 1.3" in response to the client terminal "junghyun / d5141". "Can be added to the patch information table of FIG.

6 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a game providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the game providing system 600 includes a patch database 601, a patch information receiving unit 602, a patch selecting unit 603, a patch data identifying unit 604, and a patch providing unit 605. Include.

The patch database 601 stores one or more patch data for each version of a patch according to the game.

The patch information receiving unit 602 receives version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal from a predetermined client terminal. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the version information of the patch received from the client terminal may include a list of one or more patch data corresponding to the version of the patch downloaded to the client terminal.

The patch selector 603 compares the received version information of the patch with the version of the patch stored in the patch database 601 and selects a version of the patch not downloaded from the client terminal.

The patch data identification unit 604 refers to the patch database 601, compares patch data corresponding to the selected version of the patch with patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch received from the client terminal, and matches the patch data. Identify the patch data.

The patch provider 605 transmits the patch data to the client terminal by excluding the identified patch data from among patch data corresponding to the selected patch version.

7 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a game providing system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, the game providing system 700 includes a patch database 701, a patch information table 702, a patch selecting unit 703, a patch data identifying unit 704, a patch providing unit 705, And a patch table updater 706.

The patch database 701 stores one or more patch data for each patch version according to the game.

The patch information table 702 records version information for one or more patches according to the game downloaded from the client terminal corresponding to the client terminal.

The patch selecting unit 703 compares the version information of the patch corresponding to the client terminal with the version of the patch stored in the patch database 701 by referring to the patch information table 702, and determines whether the patch is not downloaded from the client terminal. Select the version.

The patch data identification unit 704 refers to the patch database 701, compares patch data corresponding to the selected version of the patch with patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch downloaded to the client terminal, and matches the patch data. Identifies patch data.

The patch provider 705 transmits the patch data to the client terminal excluding the identified patch data from among patch data corresponding to the selected patch version.

The patch table updating unit 706 records and updates the version of the selected patch in the patch information table 702 in correspondence with the client terminal.

The method of providing a game patch according to the present invention may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means and recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks, such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal wire, a waveguide, or the like including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal specifying a program command, a data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

8 is an internal block diagram of a general purpose computer device that may be employed to perform the method of providing a game patch according to the present invention.

Computer device 800 includes one or more processors 810 coupled with a main memory device including random access memory (RAM) 820 and read only memory (ROM) 830. The processor 810 is also called a central processing unit (CPU). As is well known in the art, the ROM 830 serves to transfer data and instructions to the CPU unidirectionally, and the RAM 820 typically transfers data and instructions bidirectionally. Used to. RAM 820 and ROM 830 may include any suitable form of computer readable media. Mass storage 840 is bidirectionally coupled to processor 810 to provide additional data storage capability, and may be any of the computer readable recording media described above. The mass storage device 840 is used to store programs, data, and the like, and is a secondary memory device such as a hard disk which is generally slower than the main memory device. Certain mass storage devices such as CD ROM 860 may be used. The processor 810 may include one or more input / output interfaces, such as video monitors, trackballs, mice, keyboards, microphones, touchscreen displays, card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers, voice or handwriting readers, joysticks, or other known computer input / output devices. 850 is connected. Finally, the processor 810 may be connected to a wired or wireless communication network through the network interface 870. Through this network connection, the procedure of the method described above can be performed. The apparatus and tools described above are well known to those skilled in the computer hardware and software arts. On the other hand, the hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention.

As described above, although the present invention has been described with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains various modifications and variations from such descriptions. This is possible.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the claims below but also by the equivalents of the claims.

According to the present invention, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, when transmitting a patch according to a predetermined game to the client terminal, receives the version information of the stored patch from the client terminal, With reference to the version information, the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch stored in the client terminal may be compared with the patch data corresponding to the patch to be transmitted, and the corresponding patch data may be excluded and transmitted to the client terminal.

In addition, the present invention records the version information of the downloaded patch to a predetermined storage means when downloading a patch according to a predetermined game from the client terminal, and when storing another patch to the client terminal, refer to the storage means Therefore, the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch stored in the client terminal and the patch data corresponding to the patch to be transmitted can be compared, and the patch data corresponding to the patch data can be excluded and transmitted to the client terminal.

In addition, the present invention compares the patch data stored in the client terminal and the patch data of the patch to be transmitted to the client terminal by transmitting a patch except for the duplicate patch data to reduce the download time and installation time consumed by the duplicated patch data Can be reduced.

Claims (12)

In the operation method of the game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game, Maintaining a patch database storing one or more patch data for each version of a patch according to the game; Receiving version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal from a predetermined client terminal; Selecting a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal by comparing the received version information of the patch with a version of a patch stored in the patch database; Referring to the patch database, comparing patch data corresponding to a version of the selected patch with patch data corresponding to version information of the patch received from the client terminal, and identifying matching patch data; And Transmitting the identified patch data to the client terminal by excluding the identified patch data from among patch data corresponding to the selected patch version. Game patch providing method comprising a. The method of claim 1, Receiving the version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal from the client terminal, Receiving a download request of a patch according to the game from the client terminal, wherein the download request includes version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal; Game patch providing method comprising a. The method of claim 1, Receiving the version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal from the client terminal, And receiving information of one or more patch versions according to the game downloaded from the client terminal at predetermined intervals from the client terminal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Version information of the patch received from the client terminal game patch providing method comprising a list of one or more patch data corresponding to the version of the patch recorded in the client terminal. In the operation method of the game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game, Maintaining a patch database for storing one or more patch data for each patch version according to the game; Maintaining a patch information table corresponding to a client terminal, which records version information of at least one patch according to the game downloaded from the client terminal; Comparing a version of a patch corresponding to the client terminal with a version of a patch stored in the patch database by referring to the patch information table and selecting a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal; Comparing patch data corresponding to a version of the selected patch with patch data corresponding to version information of a patch downloaded to the client terminal by referring to the patch database, and identifying matching patch data; And Transmitting to the client terminal by excluding the identified patch data from among patch data corresponding to the selected patch version. Game patch providing method comprising a. The method of claim 5, Recording and updating a version of the selected patch in the patch information table corresponding to the client terminal; Game patch providing method characterized in that it further comprises. The method of claim 5, And receiving a download request of a patch according to the game from the client terminal. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 3 and 5 to 7 is recorded. In the game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game, A patch database for storing one or more patch data for each version of a patch according to the game; A patch information receiver configured to receive version information of one or more patches according to the game stored in the client terminal from a predetermined client terminal; A patch selecting unit which selects a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal by comparing the received version information of the patch with a version of a patch stored in the patch database; A patch data identification unit for comparing the patch data corresponding to the selected version of the patch with the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch received from the client terminal with reference to the patch database, and identifying matching patch data; ; And Patch providing unit for transmitting to the client terminal by excluding the identified patch data from the patch data corresponding to the selected patch version Game providing system comprising a. The method of claim 9, The version information of the patch received from the client terminal comprises a list of one or more patch data corresponding to the version of the patch recorded in the client terminal. In the game providing system for providing a patch according to a predetermined game, A patch database for storing one or more patch data for each patch version according to the game; A patch information table corresponding to a client terminal, which records version information of at least one patch according to the game downloaded from the client terminal; A patch selector configured to compare version information of a patch corresponding to the client terminal with a version of a patch stored in the patch database, and to select a version of a patch not downloaded from the client terminal by referring to the patch information table; A patch data identification unit for comparing the patch data corresponding to the selected version of the patch with the patch data corresponding to the version information of the patch downloaded to the client terminal, and identifying the matching patch data by referring to the patch database; And Patch providing unit for transmitting to the client terminal by excluding the identified patch data from the patch data corresponding to the selected patch version Game providing system comprising a. The method of claim 11, A patch table updating unit which records and updates a version of the selected patch in the patch information table corresponding to the client terminal Game providing system, characterized in that it further comprises.

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