KR20170050407A - Apparatus and medthod for providing beacon service in system for providing beacon service about a number of store using one beacon - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a beacon service in a system for providing a beacon service for a plurality of member stores using one beacon, wherein a beacon management server receives and registers information about use time for the plurality of member stores with regard to a beacon device and controls the beacon device to transmit beacon identification information corresponding to the registered member store according to a period based on the information, thereby enabling various member stores to share one beacon device.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a beacon service providing apparatus and method for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using a single beacon,

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a beacon service in a system for providing a beacon service for a plurality of merchants using a single beacon, and more particularly, to a system and method for sharing a beacon service among a plurality of merchants, And more particularly, to a beacon service providing apparatus and method in a system for providing a beacon service for a plurality of affiliated shops by transmitting a beacon signal by changing the beacon identification information transmitted from the beacon device according to the usage period registered in the service period.

The contents described in this section merely provide background information on the present embodiment and do not constitute the prior art.

With the development of the mobile communication network and the development of the terminal specification, the mobile communication terminal has become a necessity of modern people and has evolved into a total entertainment device beyond the conventional category of simple communication apparatus or information providing apparatus.

The mobile communication terminal has a function for performing near field communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth (Bluetooth) as well as a communication function through a mobile communication network.

However, NFC has a short communication distance and requires a separate wireless chip for communication, while Bluetooth has a relatively long communication distance and most terminals are equipped with a Bluetooth communication function, and various communication services using the same are being developed.

A service scheme for providing a variety of information to a mobile communication terminal possessed by a user using a beacon using Bluetooth communication has been developed.

For example, a beacon-based beacon which can transmit a periodical signal using an electromagnetic wave or an acoustic wave from a beacon device installed at an affiliate store to drive a specific application of a peripheral mobile communication terminal and provide a desired content A content providing service is being used.

At this time, the services provided by the service providers include a simple service promotion page service, a discount coupon download service at a low price, a payment service for goods purchased at a store, and an application download service such as a game for a user, Such as public relations, finance, settlement, and games.

However, in the case of the beacon service, since the beacon identification information transmitted by the beacon device is fixed in general, each beacon device must be installed in order to provide the beacon service to each merchant.

In such a case, there is a problem that a merchant who does not need to use the beacon device at all times has to install a beacon device, which causes a great deal of burdens in terms of cost.

In addition, although the beacon device continuously transmits a beacon signal during a period other than a period for providing the beacon service, the beacon device is always activated and consumes a large amount of battery even though it is not necessary to use it.

Accordingly, it is required to develop a technique for operating the beacon device more efficiently.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-694491 (titled "Zone-based coupon service method and system for mobile communication network, 2006.06.30)

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for providing a beacon service in a system for sharing a single beacon device with a plurality of stores so as to reduce a cost incurred by installing a beacon device at each merchant do.

Further, in the present invention, when a plurality of merchants share one beacon device and set a period and an event type to be used by each merchant, a server managing the beacon device transmits a beacon corresponding to each merchant A beacon service providing apparatus and method in a system for allowing a plurality of merchants to share one beacon device by changing identification information of a signal and transmitting the same.

In order to provide a beacon service, it is possible to reduce the unnecessary cost in providing a beacon service by controlling the state of the beacon device so that the beacon device can be activated only during a necessary period without continuously activating the beacon device And to provide a beacon service providing apparatus and method in a system.

However, the object of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a beacon management server comprising: a management server communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from a beacon device through a communication network; And a management server control unit for receiving and registering information on the use period of a plurality of merchant points with respect to the beacon apparatus and controlling the beacon apparatus to transmit beacon identification information corresponding to the registered merchant point based on the received information .

Also, the server control unit of the beacon management server according to the present invention generates a scheduling table for the beacon device based on information on the usage period of the plurality of merchant points.

Here, the scheduling table is a table generated by associating merchant point information to be used with the beacon device or beacon identification information corresponding to the franchise point information for each use period for a plurality of usage periods.

In addition, the scheduling table may further include a transmission power intensity of the beacon device according to the usage period.

The scheduling table may further include on / off information of the beacon device according to the usage period, and the server controller may control on / off of the beacon device according to the on / off information.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a beacon apparatus including a beacon communication unit for transmitting / receiving data to / from a beacon management server through a communication network, and for transmitting a beacon signal; When receiving the control information for controlling the beacon communication unit to transmit beacon identification information corresponding to the registered merchant from the beacon management server to the beacon management server by changing the beacon identification information of the beacon signal according to the control information, And a beacon controller for transmitting the beacon signal through the beacon controller.

The beacon control unit of the beacon apparatus of the present invention may further comprise a beacon control unit for receiving the on / off state control information for activating or deactivating the state from the beacon management server through the beacon communication unit, The control unit controls to activate or deactivate the control unit.

The beacon controller of the beacon apparatus of the present invention may further include a beacon controller configured to receive the beacon signal from the beacon management server through the beacon communication unit, And transmits the beacon communication unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing a beacon service, the method comprising: receiving information on a use period of a plurality of merchant points for a beacon device and registering the information on use period of the merchant; Controlling the beacon device so that the beacon management server transmits beacon identification information corresponding to the registered merchant by period based on the registered information; And changing the beacon identification information of the beacon signal according to the control of the beacon management server by the beacon device.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing a beacon service, the method comprising the steps of: And controlling transmission of the beacon signal to the beacon signal by transmitting information on a transmission power intensity of the beacon signal to the beacon device along with the beacon signal, And transmitting the signal.

In the method for providing the beacon service of the present invention, the step of controlling the beacon device may include a step of controlling on / off of the beacon device according to the beacon device on / Wherein the beacon device further comprises a step of activating or deactivating the beacon device according to the beacon device on / off control from the beacon management server.

Meanwhile, a method for providing the beacon service can be provided as a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the beacon is recorded, and can be provided as a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium which is implemented to execute the beacon service.

According to the present invention, when a plurality of merchants share one beacon device, and a time period and an event type in which each merchant uses the beacon device are set, the server managing the beacon device sets a period And controls the beacon device to change and send the identification information.

By doing this, a single beacon device can be shared by multiple merchants, resulting in cost savings.

Also, in the server managing the beacon device, the state of the beacon device is turned off and deactivated during the period during which the beacon device does not transmit the beacon signal based on the information set by each merchant, It is effective in terms of battery saving and traffic volume management of the device.

In addition, various effects other than the above-described effects can be directly or implicitly disclosed in the detailed description according to the embodiment of the present invention to be described later.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a system for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using a single beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a beacon device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a beacon management server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an inter-device signal flow for providing a beacon service for a plurality of merchants using a single beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure in a beacon management server for providing a beacon service according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a control flowchart in a beacon device for providing a beacon service according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an exemplary diagram for explaining transmission intensity control for each merchant size when a beacon service is provided to a plurality of merchant stores using a single beacon device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a scheduling table generated using event information registered for each merchant according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
10 is a diagram illustrating an operating environment in a system for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

In the following description and the accompanying drawings, detailed description of well-known functions or constructions that may obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted. It should be noted that the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals as possible throughout the drawings.

The terms and words used in the following description and drawings are not to be construed in an ordinary sense or a dictionary, and the inventor can properly define his or her invention as a concept of a term to be described in the best way It should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the technical ideas of the present invention are described. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

Also, terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. are used to describe various elements, and are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another, Not used. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as a first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as a second component.

Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It is also to be understood that the terms such as " comprising "or" having ", as used herein, are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, It should be understood that the foregoing does not preclude the presence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

Also, the terms "part," "module," and the like, which are described in the specification, refer to a unit for processing at least one function or operation, and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. Also, the terms " a or ", "one "," the ", and the like are synonyms in the context of describing the invention (particularly in the context of the following claims) May be used in a sense including both singular and plural, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In addition to the above-described terms, certain terms used in the following description are provided to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and the use of such specific terms may be changed to other forms without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

In addition, embodiments within the scope of the present invention include computer readable media having or carrying computer executable instructions or data structures stored in computer readable media. Such computer-readable media can be any available media that is accessible by a general purpose or special purpose computer system. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or in the form of computer- But is not limited to, a physical storage medium such as any other medium that can be used to store or communicate certain program code means of the general purpose or special purpose computer system, .

In addition, the invention may be practiced with other computer systems, including personal computers, laptop computers, handheld devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, a pager, and the like. < RTI ID = 0.0 > [0040] < / RTI > The invention may also be practiced in distributed systems environments where both local and remote computer systems linked by a combination of wired data links, wireless data links, or wired and wireless data links over a network perform tasks. In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in local and remote memory storage devices.

Further, the beacon service using the beacon technology according to the present invention will be described based on a data communication technology based on a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) method.

While NFC is only available within a few tens of centimeters, the Bluetooth method can operate in the range of several tens of meters, and its application field is widely applied. In particular, Bluetooth does not need to be tagged like a NFC near a reader, so data can be transmitted only when the beacon is installed, and detailed data can be read and personalized in the building.

However, the beacon service in the present invention is not necessarily limited to BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or Bluetooth, but may be implemented in a personal area network (PAN) system such as Zigbee, UWB (Ultra WideBand), ANT, Wi- Various local communication technologies are applicable.

Now, an apparatus for providing a beacon service in a system for providing a beacon service to a plurality of affiliated shops using one beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view for schematically explaining a system structure for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a terminal device 100, a beacon device 200, a beacon management server 300, , And a beacon service server (400).

Here, the terminal device 100 transmits and receives data through the BLE communication method with the beacon device 200. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any of various PAN communication technologies can be applied.

The terminal device 100, the beacon device 200, the beacon management server 300, and the beacon service server 400 are linked through the communication network 500.

Each component will now be schematically described with reference to FIG.

The communication network 500 serves to transmit data between the terminal device 100 and the beacon service server 400 or between the beacon management server 300 and the beacon device 200, A wired communication method such as Ethernet, xDSL (ADSL, VDSL), HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Cable), FTTC (Fiber to the Curb) and FTTH (Fiber To The Home) ), Wi-Fi, WiBro, WiMAX, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) It can also be used.

In addition, the communication network 500 may include a plurality of access networks (not shown) and a core network (not shown), and may include an external network such as an Internet network (not shown). An access network (not shown) is an access network that performs wired / wireless communication with the terminal device 300 and includes a plurality of base stations such as a base station (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a NodeB, an eNodeB, (Base Station Controller), and an RNC (Radio Network Controller). Also, as described above, the digital signal processing unit and the radio signal processing unit integrally implemented in the base station are divided into digital units (hereinafter, referred to as DUs and radio units (RUs) A plurality of RUs (not shown) may be provided in each of a plurality of areas, and a plurality of RUs (not shown) may be connected to a centralized DU (not shown).

A core network (not shown) constituting a mobile network together with an access network (not shown) performs a role of connecting an access network (not shown) and an external network (not shown), for example, an Internet network (not shown).

As described above, the core network (not shown) is a network system that performs main functions for mobile communication services such as mobility control and switching between access networks (not shown), and includes a circuit switching or a packet exchange and manages and controls the packet flow in the mobile network. The core network (not shown) manages inter-frequency mobility and plays a role for interworking with traffic in an access network (not shown) and a core network (not shown) and other networks such as the Internet It is possible. Such a core network (not shown) may further include an SGW (Serving Gate Way), a PGW (PDN GateWay), an MSC (Mobile Switching Center), a HLR (Home Location Register), a MME (Mobile Mobility Entity) .

The Internet network (not shown) refers to a public network, that is, a public network, in which information is exchanged according to the TCP / IP protocol. The Internet network is connected to the terminal apparatus 300, (Not shown) and an access network (not shown) to the store management server 400. Conversely, the information provided to the store management server 400 can be provided to the core network (not shown) and the access network The terminal device 300 can be provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the store management server 400 may be implemented integrally with a core network (not shown).

In addition to the above-described communication methods, other widely known or later-developed communication methods may be included.

The terminal device 100 refers to a user device that can transmit and receive various data via the communication network 500 according to a user's operation. The terminal device 100 can perform voice or data communication through the communication network 500 and can transmit and receive information through the beacon service server 400 and the communication network 500, Based communication. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 >

To this end, the terminal device 100 of the present invention may include a memory for storing programs and protocols for sending and receiving beacon signals, and a microprocessor for executing and controlling various programs.

Such a terminal device 100 accesses an application providing device (not shown), for example, an app store or the like connected to the communication network 500 by preferentially accessing a beacon signal from a corresponding app store, You can receive and install service apps. The terminal device 100 executes the beacon service application, extracts beacon identification information from the beacon signal, transmits it to the beacon service server 400, maps the beacon identification information to the beacon service server 400 Related information (e.g., event related information, coupon, etc.) to the user.

The terminal device 100 of the present invention can be implemented in various forms. For example, the terminal device 100 described herein may be a mobile terminal such as a smart phone, a tablet PC, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a portable multimedia player (PMP) Of course, fixed terminals such as smart TVs, desktop computers, etc. may be used.

In addition, the terminal device 100 of the present invention can not enumerate all of the variations of the portable device according to the convergence trend of the digital device, but a unit equivalent to the above- The beacon service app can be used as the terminal device 100 according to the present invention and any device can be used as the terminal device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The beacon device 200 of the present invention means a device that periodically transmits a beacon signal for a normal beacon service. In this case, the beacon signal may include beacon identification information, such as identification information or position information, allocated to the beacon apparatus 200. The beacon identification information may be information indicating whether the terminal apparatus 100 is provided with a beacon service Standard.

In particular, the beacon apparatus 200 according to the present invention is fixedly installed at a predetermined position to transmit a beacon signal at regular intervals to provide a beacon service to a plurality of merchants. At this time, under the control of the beacon management server 300, the beacon device 200 transmits a beacon signal including beacon identification information indicating a signal for receiving a beacon service for a certain merchant for each use period. The transmission of the beacon signal may be performed through a predetermined advertise channel.

At this time, the beacon management server 300 controls the beacon device 200 to change the beacon identification information to beacon identification information corresponding to the corresponding merchant for each period of use, and transmit the beacon identification information.

To this end, the beacon apparatus 200 stores beacon identification information for a plurality of merchants, transmits a control signal to the beacon apparatus 200 from the beacon management server 300, and transmits to the beacon apparatus 200, The beacon signal can be transmitted by selecting the corresponding beacon identification information. As another example, the beacon management server 300 may transmit the beacon signal by changing the beacon identification information by transmitting the beacon identification information to the beacon device 200 in accordance with the usage period.

For example, when it is assumed that four merchants use a single beacon device 200 together, the first merchant point sets the beacon identification information to "111" and the second merchant point sets the beacon identification information to "222" The third franchisee can set the beacon identification information to "333", the fourth franchisee can set the beacon identification information to "444", and the beacon management server 300 Or in the beacon unit 200.

In the embodiment of the present invention, in transmitting a beacon signal, the beacon device 200 receives a control signal changed in accordance with a corresponding service period and a beacon ID according to a service period set by the beacon management server 300, . In another embodiment, the beacon apparatus 200 receives the information about each service period and the merchant from the beacon management server 300, and changes the beacon ID for the merchant to be served in the service period based on the received information, .

In addition, the beacon apparatus 200 receives control on the status from the beacon management server 300. [ That is, since the beacon management server 300 does not need to activate the beacon management 200 for a period not corresponding to the service period for providing the service, the beacon management server 300 transmits a control signal for turning off the beacon device 200 to the beacon device 200, And the beacon apparatus 200 receives it and changes its state to the off state.

At this time, even if the state is changed to the off state, the control signal for changing to the on state by activating some receiving functions for receiving the signal from the beacon management server 300 should be receivable.

The beacon management server 300 of the present invention is a constituent means for managing at least one beacon device 200. The beacon management server 300 remotely transmits information on a plurality of beacon signals to be transmitted from the beacon device 200 to the beacon device 200, Lt; / RTI > In the beacon service system of the present invention, the configuration for managing the beacon device 200 is described as the beacon management server 300. However, it is also possible to manage the beacon device 200 through the smart beacon controlled by the beacon management server 300 There will be.

The beacon management server 300 registers information for an event service for each of a plurality of merchants, and generates a scheduling table based on registered merchant-specific event information. At this time, the event information includes at least one of a use period and an event kind. At this time, an example of the scheduling table can be illustrated as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 9, the scheduling table includes an item of usage period, event store information, and beacon device on / off information.

That is, information on which event is to be carried out at a certain franchise according to each use period is set, and information for turning off the beacon device is set during a period in which the event does not proceed.

That is, the beacon management server 300 controls transmission of the beacon signal of the beacon apparatus 200 based on the generated scheduling table, and controls the state of the beacon apparatus, that is, the on / off state.

1, the beacon service server 400 of the present invention is a server that manages contents for an event service registered at each merchant. In the embodiment of the present invention, a beacon management server 300 and a server 400, but it may be integrated with the beacon management server 300 as well.

If there is a service request based on the beacon identification information through the communication network 500 from the terminal device 100, the beacon service server 400 checks the received beacon identification information and the event corresponding to the current period, And provides the contents to the terminal device 100.

The beacon management server 300 and the beacon service server 400 according to the embodiment of the present invention have the same hardware configuration as that of a typical Web server or network server. However, the software includes a program module implemented through a language such as C, C ++, Java, Visual Basic, Visual C, or the like.

On the other hand, the memory mounted on each device of the present invention stores information in the device. In one implementation, the memory is a computer-readable medium. In one implementation, the memory may be a volatile memory unit, and in other embodiments, the memory may be a non-volatile memory unit. In one implementation, the storage device is a computer-readable medium. In various different implementations, the storage device may comprise, for example, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or any other mass storage device.

Although the present specification and drawings describe exemplary device configurations, the functional operations and subject matter implementations described herein may be embodied in other types of digital electronic circuitry, or alternatively, of the structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents May be embodied in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including, or in combination with, one or more of the foregoing. Implementations of the subject matter described herein may be embodied in one or more computer program products, i. E. One for computer program instructions encoded on a program storage medium of the type for < RTI ID = 0.0 & And can be implemented as a module as described above. The computer-readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter that affects the machine readable propagation type signal, or a combination of one or more of the foregoing.

The system structure for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the terminal device 100 according to the present invention will be described.

2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the terminal device 100. As shown in FIG.

2, a terminal device 100 according to the present invention includes a terminal control unit 20, a terminal input unit 21, a terminal communication unit 22, a terminal output unit 23, and a terminal storage unit 24 .

The terminal control unit 20 may be an operating system (OS) and a process device for driving each configuration.

The terminal control unit 20 of the terminal device 100 controls to expose the beacon signal received through the terminal communication unit 22 or the information received and transmitted from the beacon service server 400 through the terminal output unit 23 And may store such information or data in the terminal storage unit 24.

The terminal input unit 21 receives various information such as numbers and character information, and transmits various signals to the terminal control unit 20 in connection with setting various functions and controlling the functions of the terminal device 100. The terminal input unit 21 may include at least one of a keypad and a touchpad that generates an input signal according to a user's touch or operation. At this time, the terminal input unit 21 may be configured in the form of a touch panel (or a touch screen) together with the terminal output unit 23 to simultaneously perform input and display functions. In addition to input devices such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, and a joystick, the terminal input unit 21 may be any type of input means that can be developed in the future.

The terminal communication unit 22 transmits and receives data to and from the beacon service server 400 via the communication network 500 and receives signals periodically transmitted by the beacon apparatus 200.

The terminal communication unit 22 includes RF transmitting means for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of the transmitted signal, RF receiving means for performing low-noise amplification of the received signal and down-converting the frequency, Data processing means, and the like.

The terminal communication unit 22 may include at least one of a wireless communication module (not shown) and a wired communication module (not shown). The wireless communication module is configured to transmit and receive data according to a wireless communication method. When the terminal device 100 uses wireless communication, the wireless communication module uses any one of a wireless network communication module, a wireless LAN communication module, And transmit and receive data to and from the beacon service server 400.

Here, the terminal communication unit 22 includes a first communication module 22-1 and a second communication module 22-2.

The first communication module 22-1 receives the signal transmitted from the beacon device 200. [ Here, the first communication module 22-1 can perform PAN (Personal Area Network) communication including Bluetooth as described above.

The second communication module 22-2 communicates with the beacon service server 400 via the communication network 500. [ Here, the second communication module 22-2 may be a wireless communication device such as a wireless LAN (WLAN), a Wi-Fi, a Wibro, a WiMAX, a HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) Method can be used.

The terminal output unit 23 displays information on a series of operation states, operation results, and the like that occur during the performance of the function of the terminal apparatus 100. [ The terminal output unit 23 can display a menu of the terminal device 100 and user data input by the user. Here, the terminal output unit 23 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor LCD (TFT-LCD), a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode An organic light emitting diode (OLED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a retina display, a flexible display, and a three-dimensional display. At this time, when the terminal output unit 23 is configured as a touch screen type, the terminal output unit 23 can perform some or all of the functions of the terminal input unit 21. [

In particular, in the present invention, service contents received from the beacon service server 400 through the terminal output unit 23 can be exposed to the user.

The terminal storage unit 24 is a device for storing data, and includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores an application program necessary for the functional operation of the terminal device 100. [ The terminal storage unit 24 may include a program area and a data area. Here, when the terminal device 100 activates each function in response to a user's request, the terminal device 100 executes the corresponding application programs under the control of the terminal control section 20 to provide each function.

In particular, the terminal storage unit 24 according to the present invention can store an operating system for booting the terminal apparatus 100, various application programs, user information matched to the terminal apparatus 100, and the like. Also, a beacon service app for providing a beacon service according to the present invention can be stored.

The configuration of the terminal device 100 according to the present invention and the operation in the configuration have been described above.

Hereinafter, a configuration and an operation method of the beacon device 200 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 7. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of the beacon apparatus 200 according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the beacon apparatus 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3, a beacon apparatus 200 according to the present invention includes a beacon controller 30, a first beacon communicator 31, a second beacon communicator 32, and a beacon storage unit 33 .

The beacon controller 30 controls overall operation of the beacon apparatus 200 according to the present invention. The beacon controller 30 receives a beacon signal through the first beacon communication unit 31 so that the adjacent terminal apparatus 100 can recognize the beacon apparatus 200 itself To be transmitted. Particularly, in the present invention, the beacon controller 30 can control to transmit a beacon signal through the first beacon communication unit 31. [

In addition, the beacon controller 30 transmits beacon identification information to be included in the beacon signal to be transmitted from the beacon management server 300 through the second beacon communication unit 31 and duration information to transmit the beacon signal including the beacon ID Upon receipt, the beacon ID is included in the beacon signal for transmission during the period.

When the beacon controller 30 receives the on / off state control information for activating or deactivating the state from the beacon management server 300, the beacon controller 30 controls to activate or deactivate the current state according to the on / off state control information. That is, the beacon apparatus 200 can be activated only for a required period of time without continuously activating it, thereby reducing battery consumption.

When the beacon controller 30 receives the beacon ID and information on the power intensity of the beacon signal to be transmitted along with the period information from the beacon management server 300, the beacon controller 30 transmits the beacon signal with the corresponding power strength. That is, the beacon apparatus 200 is provided with the beacon apparatus 200 so that the beacon apparatus 200 can transmit the signal strength according to the merchant size.

Referring to FIG. 8, as shown in the example of FIG. 1, the sizes of the merchant stores (store 1, store 2, store 3, store 4) sharing one beacon device may be different from each other. Accordingly, transmission ranges (1000, 1002, and 1004) for transmitting beacon signals should be set for each merchant, and transmission strength should also be set according to the range. Such transmission intensity information is set for each merchant and stored in the beacon management server 300 for controlling transmission of the beacon signal.

In other words, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the beacon signal can be transmitted to the terminal device located in the affiliated point at a strength enough to receive the beacon signal according to the size of the franchise point.

The first beacon communication unit 31 is a configuration for transmitting a beacon signal to the terminal device 100 adjacent to the communication coverage area around the Bluetooth based on Bluetooth low power (BLE) technology. In particular, the first beacon communication unit 31 included in the beacon apparatus 200 may operate in the peripheral mode defined by the BLE.

The second beacon communication unit 31 is configured to transmit and receive data through the communication network 500. Specifically, the second beacon communication unit 31 receives control information related to transmission of a beacon signal from the beacon management server 400 through the communication network 500 or receives control information for controlling the state of the beacon apparatus 200 .

The second beacon communication unit 31 operates based on a communication technology different from that of the first communication module 110. The second beacon communication unit 31 may be a Wi-Fi communication module, a Zigbee communication module, A communication module, an optical communication module, a cable communication module, and a wired Internet communication module.

The beacon storage unit 33 is a means for storing data or a program necessary for operation of the beacon apparatus 200. [ In particular, the beacon storage unit 33 may store beacon device control information for controlling transmission of a beacon signal received through the second beacon communication unit 32, or information for state control. At this time, the beacon device control information includes at least one of beacon identification information and beacon signal dispatching period, and the information for state control will include information for turning on or off the state of the beacon device 200. [

An operation procedure for providing a beacon service for a plurality of affiliated shops using a single beacon in the beacon device 200 configured as above will be described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 7, the beacon apparatus 200 includes beacon control information 300 including beacon identification information to be included in a beacon signal to be transmitted from the beacon management server 300, beacon information including period information to transmit a beacon signal including a beacon ID, (S700)

Upon receiving the beacon device control information, the beacon device 200 transmits a beacon signal including the beacon ID according to the received beacon device control information (S702)

In addition, the beacon apparatus 200 checks whether the received beacon apparatus control information is a beacon apparatus OFF control for deactivating the beacon apparatus 200. (S704)

If it is determined that the beacon device 200 includes the beacon device off control information for deactivating the beacon device 200, the beacon device 200 is disabled or turned off. At this time, the off state of the beacon apparatus 200 may be a state where only the minimum power is consumed in a state in which data received from the beacon management server 300 is receivable.

When the beacon device 200 in the off state receives the beacon device on control information for activating the state from the beacon management server 300, the beacon device 200 switches the current state of the beacon device 200 to the active state. At this time, if the beacon device control information including the beacon ID and the usage period information is transmitted from the beacon management server 300 instead of the beacon device on control information, the current state of the beacon device 200 in the off state is turned on, It may be possible to control the transmission of the beacon signal.

The configuration and configuration of the beacon apparatus 200 according to the present invention have been described above.

Hereinafter, a configuration and an operation method of the beacon management server 300 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of a beacon management server 300 according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a control flowchart of a beacon management server for providing a beacon service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4, the beacon management server 300 according to the present invention may include a management server control unit 40, a management server communication unit 41, and a management server storage unit 42.

The management server control unit 40 performs overall control of the beacon management server 300 and controls transmission of the beacon signal of the beacon apparatus 200 based on the event information registered for each of a plurality of merchant points according to the present invention, And controls the state of the beacon apparatus 200 to be off during a period in which signal transmission is not required.

At this time, in order to control transmission of beacon signal based on the registered event information, the management server control unit 40 transmits the beacon device control information to the beacon device 200. The beacon device control information includes a beacon signal to be included in the beacon signal to be transmitted Identification information, and period information for transmitting a beacon signal including a beacon ID.

For this, the management server control unit 40 generates a scheduling table based on the event information registered for each merchant. At this time, the scheduling table may be generated as shown in FIG. 9 as described above. Thereafter, the management server control unit 40 confirms information for controlling signal transmission of the beacon device based on the generated scheduling table, and generates beacon device control information based on the confirmed information.

The generated beacon device control information is transmitted to the beacon device 200 so that the beacon device 220 can receive the event service to be served by the corresponding merchant for each set period of use.

In this case, preferably, the beacon management server 300 provides beacon identification information for the franchisee to provide a period-specific event to the beacon device 200, and transmits the beacon identification information to the beacon device 200 The beacon management server 300 may transmit the scheduling table to the beacon apparatus 200 so that the beacon apparatus 200 controls the transmission and status of the beacon signal based on the scheduling table .

A method for controlling the beacon management server 300 to control the beacon signal transmission of the beacon apparatus 200 will be described with reference to FIG.

6, the beacon management server 300 registers event information including a period during which the beacon device 200 is used from each of a plurality of merchant points, and transmits the beacon device 200 (Step S600). In step S600,

Then, based on the generated scheduling table, the beacon management server 300 transmits a beacon signal including beacon identification information to be included in the beacon signal for controlling the beacon apparatus 200 and beacon information including period information to transmit the beacon signal including the beacon ID And transmits the device control information to the beacon apparatus 200 (S602, S604)

That is, the beacon apparatus 200 is controlled so that the corresponding beacon ID is transmitted in the beacon signal during the use period.

4, the management server communication unit 41 is for communicating with the beacon device 200. The communication network for the management server communication unit 41 to function is a wireless LAN (WLAN), a Wi- However, the present invention is not limited to the wireless communication system such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, HSDPA, ADSL, VDSL), Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Cable (HFC), Fiber to the Curb (FTTC), and Fiber To The Home (FTTH).

The management server storage unit 300 is a device for storing data, and includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores application programs necessary for functional operation of the beacon management server 300. [ The management server storage unit 300 may include a program area and a data area.

In particular, in the present invention, the management server storage unit 300 may store the scheduling table 42-1 and the event information 42-2.

The internal structure of each system constituting the system for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

Now, a signal flow between the respective components to provide a beacon service for a plurality of merchants using a single beacon in the system configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

5 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an inter-device signal flow for providing a beacon service for a plurality of merchants using a single beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5, the beacon management server 300 receives event information including a period for using the beacon device 200 from each of a plurality of merchant points.

Thereafter, the beacon management server 300 creates a scheduling table corresponding to the beacon identification information corresponding to the merchant using the beacon device 200 for each period of use based on the registered event information (S500)

The beacon management server 300 confirms the beacon identification information to be included in the beacon signal for controlling the beacon apparatus 200 based on the generated scheduling table and period information for transmitting the beacon signal including the beacon ID. )

Thereafter, the beacon management server 300 generates beacon device control information including the confirmed information and transmits the beacon device control information to the beacon device 200 (S504, S506). That is, the corresponding beacon ID is included in the beacon signal And controls the beacon apparatus 200 to be sent out.

At this time, the beacon management server 300 may include beacon on / off state control information in the beacon device control information in order to disable the beacon device 200 for a period in which none of the merchants uses the beacon device 200 .

Upon receiving the beacon device control information transmitted from the beacon management server 300, the beacon device 200 transmits a beacon signal including the beacon ID according to the received beacon device control information (S508, S510)

In addition, if the received beacon device control information includes beacon off state information, the beacon device 200 will turn its current state into an inactive state, i.e., an off state. At this time, the off state of the beacon apparatus 200 may be a state where only the minimum power is consumed in a state in which data received from the beacon management server 300 is receivable.

Thereafter, when the terminal device 100 receives the beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device 200, the terminal device 100 requests the beacon service server 400 for the service using the beacon identification information included in the received beacon signal (S514)

In response to the request, the beacon service server 400 confirms the service to be provided corresponding to the beacon identification information, and provides the confirmed service to the terminal device 100 (S516)

As described above, according to the present invention, when a plurality of merchants share one beacon device 200 and each merchant sets a period and an event type in which the beacon device uses the beacon device, the beacon management server 300, which manages the beacon device, And controls the beacon apparatus 200 to change the ID of the beacon signal to be transmitted to each of the merchant points. By doing this, a single beacon device can be shared by multiple merchants, resulting in cost savings.

Also, during a period during which the beacon device 200 does not transmit a beacon signal based on information set by each merchant in the beacon management server 300, that is, during a period in which it is not necessary to activate the beacon device, , Which is effective in battery saving and traffic volume management of a beacon device.

As described above, a method for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon has been described according to each embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a diagram illustrating an operating environment of an apparatus for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon in the beacon service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 10 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the invention may be implemented. Although not required, the invention may be described in connection with computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The computer executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules illustrate examples of program code means for carrying out the acts of the invention disclosed herein.

10, an exemplary computing system embodying the present invention includes a processing unit 11, a system memory 12, and various system components including the system memory 12 connected to the processing unit 11 And a system bus 10 for communicating with the system.

The processing unit 11 may execute computer-executable instructions designed to implement the features of the present invention.

The system bus 10 may be any of several types of bus structures including a local bus, a peripheral bus, and a memory bus or memory controller using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory 12 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12b. A basic input / output system (BIOS) 13a, containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between components within a computing system, such as during start-up, may generally be stored in ROM 12a.

The computing system may include storage means, for example, a hard disk drive 15 that reads information from, or writes information to, the hard disk, reads information from, or writes information to, And an optical disk drive 17 that reads information from, or writes information to, an optical disk such as, for example, a CD-ROM or other optical media . The hard disk drive 15, the magnetic disk drive 16 and the optical disk drive 17 are connected by a hard disk drive interface 18, a magnetic disk drive-interface 19 and an optical drive interface 20, respectively, And is connected to the bus 10.

Further, the computing system may further include an external memory 21 as a storage means. The external memory 21 may be connected to the system bus 10 through an input /

The above-described drives and their associated computer-readable media readable and writable by the drives provide non-volatile storage of computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data. The exemplary environment described herein illustrates a hard disk 15, magnetic disk 16 and optical disk 17, but may also include magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, DVDs, Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs Other types of computer readable media for storing data, including ROM, ROM, etc., may be used.

Includes one or more program modules including an operating system 13b, one or more application programs 13c, other program modules 13d, and program data 13c that are loaded and executed by the processing unit 11 The program code means may be stored in the hard disk 15, the magnetic disk 16, the optical disk 17, the ROM 12a or the RAM 12b.

In addition, the computing system may receive commands and information from a user through other input devices 22 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner, These input devices 22 may be connected to the processing unit 11 via an input / output interface 24 connected to the system bus 10. The input / output interface 24 may be, for example, a serial interface such as a serial port interface, a PS / 2 interface, a parallel port interface, a USB interface, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface (i.e., FireWire interface) Any of a variety of different interfaces can be represented logically, or even combinations of different interfaces can be represented logically.

In addition, the computing system to which the present invention is applied may further include a display device 26 such as a monitor or LCD or an audio device 27 such as a speaker or microphone, which may be connected via a video / audio interface 25 And is connected to the system bus 10. For example, other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers, may also be connected to the computer system. The video / audio interface unit 25 may include a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a graphics device interface (GDI), or the like.

Further, the computing system embodying the invention is connectable to a network such as, for example, an office-wide or enterprise-wide computer network, a home network, an intranet, and / or the Internet. The computer system may exchange data with external sources such as, for example, a remote computer system, a remote application, and / or a remote database.

To this end, a computing system to which the present invention is applied includes a network interface 28 for receiving data from an external source and / or for transmitting data to an external source.

In the present invention, such a computing system is capable of transmitting and receiving information with a device located remotely via the network interface 28. For example, if the computing system refers to the terminal device 300, it may transmit and receive information to and from the beacon device 200 via the network interface 28. On the other hand, when the computing system refers to the beacon device 200, information can be exchanged with the terminal device 300 through the network interface 28. [ The network interface 28 may be represented by a logical combination of one or more software and / or hardware modules, such as, for example, a network interface card and a corresponding Network Driver Interface Specification ("NDIS") stack.

Likewise, the computer system receives data from an external source via the input / output interface 24 or transmits data to an external source. Output interface 24 may be coupled to a modem 23 (e.g., a standard modem, a cable modem, or a digital subscriber line (" DSL ") modem) Lt; / RTI > and / or transmit data to an external source.

Although FIG. 10 shows an operating environment suitable for the present invention, the principles of the present invention may be employed with any system that can implement the principles of the present invention, with appropriate modifications if necessary. The environment shown in Figure 10 is merely illustrative and does not represent a small portion of the very diverse environment in which the principles of the present invention may be implemented.

In addition, in the beacon service system of the present invention, various information generated for providing a beacon service to a plurality of merchants using one beacon can be stored and accessed in any computer-readable medium related to the computing system. For example, a portion of these program modules and a portion of the associated program data may be stored in the system memory 12, such as in the operating system 13b, the application program 13c, the program module 13d, and / (13e).

Further, when a mass storage device such as a hard disk is connected to the computing system, such program modules and related program data may be stored in the mass storage device. In a networked environment, program modules associated with the present invention, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote computer system connected via a modem 23 or network interface 25 of the input / output interface 24. The execution of such a module can be performed in a distributed environment as described above.

As described above, the present specification contains details of a number of specific implementations, but they should not be construed as being limitations on the scope of any invention or claimability, but rather on the particular embodiment of a particular invention But should be understood as an explanation of the features. Certain features described herein in the context of separate embodiments may be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments, either individually or in any suitable subcombination. Further, although the features may operate in a particular combination and may be initially described as so claimed, one or more features from the claimed combination may in some cases be excluded from the combination, Or a variant of a subcombination.

Likewise, although the operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, it should be understood that such operations must be performed in that particular order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired result, or that all illustrated operations should be performed. In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, the separation of the various system components of the above-described embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the described program components and systems will generally be integrated together into a single software product or packaged into multiple software products It should be understood.

Certain embodiments of the subject matter described herein have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the operations recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. By way of example, the process illustrated in the accompanying drawings does not necessarily require that particular illustrated or sequential order to obtain the desired results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

The description sets forth the best modes of the present invention and provides examples for the purpose of illustrating the invention and enabling a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The written description is not intended to limit the invention to the specific terminology presented. Thus, while the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above examples, those skilled in the art will recognize that modifications, changes, and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the described embodiments but should be defined by the claims.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a beacon service in a system for providing a beacon service for a plurality of merchants using a single beacon, and more particularly, to a system and method for sharing a beacon service among a plurality of merchants, And more particularly, to a beacon service providing apparatus and method in a system for providing a beacon service for a plurality of affiliated shops with a single beacon by transmitting a beacon signal by changing the beacon identification information in accordance with the usage period registered in the service period.

According to the present invention, a beacon management server for managing a beacon device registers event information including a period during which a beacon device is used from each of a plurality of merchant points, receives a beacon from a merchant that uses a beacon device The beacon identification information corresponding thereto is confirmed and the beacon device is controlled so that the corresponding beacon ID is included in the beacon signal during the use period so that a single beacon device can be shared by various merchants and the cost can be reduced .

Also, in the beacon management server managing the beacon device, the state of the beacon device is turned off and deactivated during a period during which the beacon device does not transmit the beacon signal based on the information set by each merchant, , Battery saving and traffic volume management of beacon devices.

Accordingly, the present invention can contribute to the development of the beacon service industry through a method in which a plurality of merchants share one beacon device to provide a beacon service as described above. It can be used industrially.

100: terminal device 200: beacon device 300: beacon management server
400: beacon service server 500: communication network 20:
21: terminal input unit 22: terminal communication unit 22-1: first communication module
22-2: second communication module 23: terminal output unit 24: terminal storage unit
30: Beacon control unit 31: First beacon communication unit 32: Second beacon communication unit
33: Beacon storage unit 40: Server control unit 41: Server communication unit
42: server storage unit 42-1: scheduling table 42-2: event information

Claims (13)

A management server communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from the beacon device through a communication network;
A management server control unit for receiving and registering information on a use period of a plurality of merchant points with respect to the beacon apparatus and controlling the beacon apparatus so that beacon identification information corresponding to a registered merchant is periodically transmitted based on the information;
The beacon management server comprising: The system according to claim 1,
And generates a scheduling table for the beacon device based on information on a usage period of the plurality of merchants. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the scheduling table comprises:
Wherein the beacon management server is a table generated by associating merchant information to be used with the beacon device or beacon identification information corresponding to the merchant information for each of the plurality of usage periods. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the scheduling table
Further comprising a transmission power intensity of the beacon device according to the usage period. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the scheduling table comprises:
Further comprising on / off information of the beacon device for each use period,
And the server control unit controls on / off of the beacon unit according to the on / off information. A beacon communication unit for transmitting / receiving data to / from the beacon management server via a communication network and transmitting a beacon signal;
When receiving the control information for controlling the beacon communication unit to transmit beacon identification information corresponding to the registered merchant from the beacon management server to the beacon management server by changing the beacon identification information of the beacon signal according to the control information, A beacon controller for transmitting the beacon signal through the antenna;
≪ / RTI > The beacon controller according to claim 6,
And controls to activate or deactivate the state according to the on / off state control information when receiving the on / off state control information for activating or deactivating the state from the beacon management server through the beacon communication unit . The beacon controller according to claim 6,
Wherein the beacon communication unit transmits the beacon signal to the beacon communication unit with the transmission power intensity when the information about the transmission power intensity of the private beacon unit is further received from the beacon management server through the beacon communication unit. A step of the beacon management server receiving and registering information on a use period of a plurality of merchant points for the beacon device;
Controlling the beacon device so that the beacon management server transmits beacon identification information corresponding to the registered merchant by period based on the registered information;
Changing the beacon identification information of the beacon signal according to the control by the beacon management server;
Gt; a < / RTI > beacon service. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of controlling the beacon device comprises:
The beacon management server transmits to the beacon device information on the transmission power intensity of the beacon signal together with the merchant point information using the beacon device or the beacon identification information corresponding to the merchant point information for each use period of a plurality of merchant points, Controlling transmission of the beacon signal to the beacon signal,
Wherein the transmitting step comprises:
And transmitting the beacon signal with the transmitted power intensity. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 20 > The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the step of controlling the beacon device comprises:
And controlling the beacon management server to turn on / off the beacon device according to on / off information of the beacon device for each use period,
Wherein the transmitting step comprises:
Activating or deactivating the beacon device according to beacon device on / off control from the beacon management server;
≪ / RTI > further comprising the step of: A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 10 is recorded. A computer program stored in a computer-readable medium embodied thereon for carrying out the method recited in any one of claims 9 to 10.

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