KR100798479B1 - Location based service method and system using short message - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a location based service (LBS) method and system using a Short Message Service (SMS), and more particularly, to an LBS using an SMS service of a portable terminal connected to a wireless communication network. The present invention relates to an LBS method and system using SMS, which transmits a request for information and receives LBS information from an LBS system by an SMS or a multimedia message service (MMS).

According to the present invention, by making it possible to request and receive service information by SMS or MMS in order to more easily use the LBS provided through the existing wireless Internet network, to provide a service user with simplicity, For service providers, profits from the activation of LBS can be increased.

Short Message (SMS), Multimedia Message (MMS), Location Based Service (LBS)

Description

Location based service method and system using short message {METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING SMS BASED LBS SERVICES}

1 is a schematic diagram of an SMS-based LBS system of the present invention.

2 is a schematic diagram of an SMS-based LBS device that is a key component of the SMS-based LBS system of FIG.

3 is an operation flowchart of the SMS-based LBS system of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a location based service (LBS) method and system using a short message service (SMS), and more specifically, to an SMS of a portable terminal connected to a wireless communication network. The present invention relates to an LBS method and system using SMS, which transmits a service request for an LBS using a service, and receives LBS information from an LBS system by an SMS or a multimedia message (MMS).

The present invention enables the service user to request and receive service information by SMS or MMS in order to use the LBS provided through the existing wireless Internet network more easily. It is a way to increase profits for operators by activating LBS.

LBS is a service that provides various additional services to mobile phone users based on the location information of the mobile phone. Representative services include finding a friend's location, searching for my location, and searching for nearby restaurants. These LBSs provide both service requests and responses through the wireless Internet network.

Wireless Internet means wirelessly accesses the data network of a service provider (ie mobile communication service provider, mobile internet service provider) using a portable terminal (i.e., mobile phone, smart phone, PDA, etc.) in a mobile phone network or a mobile internet network. Refers to all packet data services that provide various data-based services.

However, LBS, which is provided in the mobile phone network in the related art, provides a service based on the wireless Internet, which not only complicates the procedure for using the service, but also passively responds to the user's use of the wireless Internet, and burdens of expensive wireless Internet usage fees. Are limiting the activation of services.

Specifically, first, in order to use "nearby traffic information" which is a kind of wireless Internet based LBS using a mobile phone, "1) Wireless Internet access (for example, SK Telecom is Nate, KTF is Magic N) → 2) From the initial menu screen, select the LBS related menu (primary menu, eg traffic information) → 3) Select the desired submenu (secondary menu, eg metropolitan metropolitan traffic information) from the LBS menu → 4) Submenu (3rd) Menu, the surrounding traffic information) Select → 5) Select the selected menu → 6) Wait for and check the service inquiry result. This complicated use procedure is an obstacle to the smooth use of LBS.

Second, most mobile phone users, except for some enthusiast users who frequently use the wireless Internet service, are not familiar with the wireless Internet service system, interface, and method used by service providers. Because it is made through the continuous menu selection, it shows a very passive attitude to use the service through the wireless Internet. The passive reaction to the use of the wireless Internet is a limitation to the activation of the LBS provided based on the wireless Internet.

Third, in addition to the service subscription fee for using the service, a wireless Internet call charge is added. Currently, wireless internet call charges in mobile phone networks are charged at 6.5 won per packet (512 bytes) and 2.5 won for multimedia. Therefore, the service usage fee is added because the packet call fee required to download the 6 or 7 service use procedures and the actual map data is added, and many service users cannot use the service much due to the burden of the packet fee.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for a method and system for providing LBS inexpensively in a familiar and simple manner such as SMS, which is used by most mobile phone users, instead of the wireless Internet type LBS having the above disadvantages. have.

In order to solve the above problems of the prior art, the present invention transmits a request for information about the LBS using the SMS service basically provided to the portable terminal connected to the wireless communication network and receives the LBS information from the LBS system by SMS or MMS It is an object to provide a method and system.

In addition, the present invention by requesting a location search using the SMS familiar to most mobile phone users, and by receiving the result information in the SMS or multimedia message, to enhance the accessibility to the LBS, simplify the LBS using procedure, It is an object of the present invention to provide an SMS-based LBS method and system that can provide more convenient services to service users easily and inexpensively, and provide service popularization effects to service providers.

In addition, since the present invention requests a service by SMS and receives a response by SMS or a multimedia message, only a minimal fee such as SMS and multimedia message fee is added as a service fee, and thus, wireless Internet use and An object of the present invention is to provide an SMS-based LBS method and system that can solve the objection to packet charges.

In addition, since the present invention only adds a new SMS-based LBS device to an existing SMS / MMS center and a Location Based Service Platform (LBSP), the SMS-based service can be performed without changing the existing wireless communication system. It is an object to provide an LBS method and system.

The SMS-based LBS method of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art, and to provide the above object of the present invention, the terminal functioning as an SME, SMS / MMS center connected to the terminal via a wireless communication network And an SMS-based LBS device connected to the terminal and the SMS / MMS center via the wireless communication network, and connected to the terminal, the SMS / MMS center and the SMS-based LBS device through the wireless communication network or a separate wireless communication network. A method for providing an LBS using an SMS in an LBS system using an SMS in an LBS system, wherein the SMS-based LBS device receives and analyzes an SMS requesting a location-based service from the terminal via the SMS / MMS center to the LBSP. Transmitting a corresponding location based service request signal; And receiving a location based service result signal from the LBSP and transmitting a corresponding location based service result SMS / MMS to the terminal via the SMS / MMS center.

In addition, the SMS-based LBS system of the present invention, the terminal functioning as an SME, the SMS / MMS center connected to the terminal via a wireless communication network, the terminal and the SMS / MMS via the wireless communication network or a separate wireless communication network An LBS system including an LBSP connected to a center, wherein the SMS-based LBS device is connected to the terminal and the SMS / MMS center via the wireless communication network and is connected to the LBSP through the wireless communication network or the separate wireless communication network. And the SMS-based LBS device receives and analyzes an SMS requesting a location-based service from the terminal via the SMS / MMS center, and transmits a location-based service request signal corresponding to the LBSP, from the LBSP. Receive the location-based service result signal and the location-based service result SMS / M corresponding to the terminal via the SMS / MMS center It is characterized by transmitting the MS.

In addition, the SMS-based LBS device of the present invention is an SMS-based LBS device connected to the terminal, SMS / MMS center and LBSP functioning as an SME via at least one wireless communication network, from the terminal via the SMS / MMS center Receives and analyzes the SMS requesting the location-based service, transmits the location-based service request signal corresponding to the LBSP, receives the location-based service result signal from the LBSP, and corresponds to the terminal via the SMS / MMS center. Location-based service results in transmitting the SMS / MMS.

In order to implement the SMS-based LBS method of the present invention, 1) message generation and transmission technology related to the creation and transmission of SMS and MMS, and 2) natural language search technology related to key word extraction required for location search among SMS texts (ie, text) Parsing or SMS parsing), 3) WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) server technology necessary for location search and map data request / receipt location request with LBSP by changing searched natural language to be recognized by LBS processing device located in mobile phone network. Wireless Internet technologies such as 4) LBS technology such as location search, map search, and map providing performed by LBSP, and 5) location response result information processed by LBSP to receive a response message format to fit the user's mobile phone. Message generation and transmission technology that is generated and sent to the service user by SMS or MMS is required, and, optionally, 6) Response message Wireless Internet reconnection technology such as a callback URL SMS technology that generates a response message with a callback URL SMS and sends a response message to a service user when the wireless internet reconnection function is to be inserted by providing a confirmation button to the user. 7) When the service user reconnects to the wireless Internet, wireless internet technologies such as a menu window for additional services and a WAP server technology for providing additional services are required.

The above technologies are already developed, known, and commercialized in mobile phone networks and wired and wireless Internet networks, and have been verified. The core of the present invention implements these technologies in the SMS-based LBS system of the present invention, and effectively combines these technologies to form SMS-based systems. It is to provide an LBS method and system. Therefore, a detailed description of each of these technologies will be omitted and only the SMS-based LBS method and system of the present invention will be described in detail on the assumption that each of these technologies is implemented.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram of an SMS-based LBS system of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of portable terminals 110 such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA, a DMB phone, and a Wibro terminal are connected to an SMS / MMS center 120 through a wireless communication network.

The portable terminal 110 transmits the location search request of the service user to the SMS / MMS center 120 in the form of SMS and performs the function of receiving the location search result in the form of SMS or MMS. The type of the portable terminal 110 is continuously expanded according to the development of wireless communication technology, and in the present invention, all kinds of SMS transmission and reception (that can function as Short Messaging Entity (SME)) are available. Both the portable terminal 110 and the wired terminal connected to a separate SME such as an SMS server may be applied.

The SMS / MMS center 120 receives the SMS from the mobile terminal 110, analyzes the called number, and transmits the received number to the SMS-based LBS device 130 when it is a location search request SMS, and the SMS-based LBS device 130. Receive the location search results from) and processes it into a response message form of SMS or MMS to transmit to the portable terminal (110).

The SMS from the portable terminal 110 may be a location search request SMS that simply requests a location search, or an LBS service request SMS that requests an LBS service involving location search. In the latter case, the result information received from the SMS-based LBS device 130 may be a variety of LBS service results of known types such as public safety services in addition to the location-based information services provided by the LBSP 140. However, hereinafter, only the location search request SMS and the location search result SMS / MMS will be described for simplicity of explanation.

The message transmitted from the portable terminal 110 to the SMS / MMS center 120 is preferably written in SMS for ease of the calling procedure, and is transmitted from the SMS-based LBS device 130 to the SMS / MMS center 120. The message may be written in SMS (when composed of text information only) or MMS (when multimedia information such as map information, voice guide information, music, video, etc. is included) according to the type of location search result.

Meanwhile, in order to generate a location search request message, a typical SMS / MMS center used in an existing wireless communication system may be used as the SMS / MMS center 120 of the present invention, and in order to generate a location search result message, A typical SMS or MMS center used in a wireless communication system may be used as it is as the SMS / MMS center 120 of the present invention. Alternatively, a dedicated SMS / MMS center 120 for application of the present invention may be provided in a wireless communication network, and an SMS center and an MMS center may be provided separately.

In addition, the scope of the wireless communication to which the present invention is applied includes all services that are serviced at present and in the future, such as a mobile communication network and a mobile Internet network (Wibro), in which a service provider's service system and a service user's terminal are wirelessly connected. Kinds of wireless communication networks may be included.

The SMS-based LBS device 130 receives and analyzes a location search request SMS, transmits a location search request signal to the LBSP 140, receives a location search result from the LBSP 140, and receives the location search result from the SMS / MMS center 120. Perform the function of sending to. To this end, the SMS-based LBS device 130 includes a message processing unit, an LBSP interworking unit, an SMS / MMS center interworking unit, a wireless internet processing unit, and a service managing unit, which will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

The LBSP 140 receives the location search request signal from the SMS-based LBS device 130, analyzes and processes the request, and transmits the processing result to the SMS-based LBS device 130. The LBSP 140 may be a conventional LBSP used in the existing wireless Internet as it is.

2 is a schematic diagram of an SMS-based LBS device 130, which is a key component of the SMS-based LBS system of FIG.

The SMS parsing unit 212 of the message processing unit 210 parses the location search request SMS received from the SMS / MMS center 120 via the SMS / MMS center interworking unit 230. Extract key words to grasp the user's exact question. The core word extraction process may be a natural language search technology used in a search service of a typical wired / wireless portal site and a search technology using a semantic web-related ontology.

The SMS generating unit 214 of the message processing unit 210 generates an appropriate location search request message signal that can be recognized by the LBSP 140 to receive a response to the desired location search request based on the extracted core word. The message transmission control unit 218 transfers the generated location search request message signal to the LBSP interworking unit 220.

Meanwhile, the location search result information from the LBSP 140 is received through the LBSP interlocking unit 220, and the received information is sent to the message processing unit 210 so that the SMS / MMS conversion unit 216 is a portable terminal of the service user. Convert to a form of SMS or MMS that can be recognized by the 110, the message transmission control unit 218 delivers the converted SMS or MMS to the SMS / MMS center interlocking unit 230, or the user's portable terminal Directly to 110.

The LBSP interworking unit 220 serves as an access point for providing an interworking function between the message processing unit 210 and the LBSP 140. The LBSP interlocking unit of the LBSP interlocking unit 220 provides a function of receiving a location search request message signal from the message processing unit 210 and transmitting the signal to the LBSP 140, and also provides the location search result information (eg, the LBSP 140). For example, the restaurant provides a function of receiving the restaurant's call, telephone number, map information, etc.) and transmitting the received message to the message processor 210.

The SMS / MMS center interworking unit 230 is an access point providing an interworking function with the service user and receives the SMS from the service user by interworking with the SMS / MMS center 120 constructed in the wireless communication network. It provides a function to deliver to, and in conjunction with the SMS / MMS center 120 delivers a location search result message delivered to the service user in the message processing unit 210 performs a function for delivering to the service user. When the SMS / MMS center 120 is provided as an independent SMS center and an MMS center, the separate SMS interworking unit 232 and the MMS interworking unit 234 correspond to each other.

On the other hand, the message processing unit 210 inserts the wireless Internet reconnection function into the location search result SMS / MMS delivered to the service user, if necessary by the service provider's selection, the service user wants additional information in addition to the location search result information received by the service user. In this case, a function of accessing the wireless Internet to use an additional information retrieval service may be provided. In this case, the SMS / MMS conversion unit 216 of the message processing unit 210 inserts a wireless internet reconnection function such as a callback URL SMS into the location search result SMS / MMS. In other words, by applying the Callback URL SMS function, one of the high-end SMS services currently provided in the mobile phone network, the service provider attaches the wireless Internet access IP address (URL address) to the SMS and MMS that the service provider sends as a response message. Thus, when the service user wants to search for additional information after checking the response message, the service user can directly access the wireless Internet to the portable terminal to provide a service that can use the additional information.

When the service user uses the wireless internet reconnection function, that is, when the service user selects the wireless internet reconnection to search for additional information, the wireless internet processing unit 240 performs a service processing procedure therefor. The WAP service control unit of the wireless internet processing unit 240 provides a service menu board for providing additional information to the service user, and when the service user selects a desired menu from the service menu board, the WAP service control unit performs a processing procedure for the selected menu. The processing result information is transmitted to the service user through the WAP interworking unit. In this case, the WAP interworking unit of the wireless Internet processing unit 240 may interoperate with other content provider servers (Content Providers, CPs) constructed in a wireless communication network such as an existing mobile phone network or a mobile internet network, if necessary according to the service menu selected by the service user. It may be.

On the other hand, the operation and management unit of the service management unit 250 is responsible for the overall operation, management, statistics and device operator interface functions for the SMS-based LBS device 130, status information, errors for the SMS-based LBS device 130 Collect information, statistical information, performance information, etc. and provide it to the device operator. On the other hand, when the system is built so that the service is provided only to the service users subscribed to the SMS-based LBS service of the present invention, the subscriber-based authentication and authentication procedure can be performed in the SMS-based LBS device 130, in this case The customer and the service authentication unit of the service management unit 250 may perform the authentication function and the charging function for the service user and the service together.

The SMS-based LBS method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3, which shows the operation procedure of the SMS-based LBS system of the present invention.

The calling process from the portable terminal 110 to the LBS service platform 140 is performed as follows. 1) First, a service user writes a desired location search request using his portable terminal 110 (eg, "Where is Pizza Hut around the city hall?"), And 2) SMS-based LBS device 130 ) By sending the SMS as the called number to the SMS / MMS center 120 to request a location search. 3) The SMS / MMS center 120 constructed in the wireless communication network analyzes the called number of the SMS and, if the called number corresponds to the SMS-based LBS device 130, sends the received SMS to the SMS-based LBS device 130. To pass. 4) When the system is constructed so that the service is provided only to the service user who subscribes to the SMS-based LBS service of the present invention, the subscriber-based identification and authentication procedure may be performed on the SMS-based LBS device 130. 5) The SMS-based LBS device 130 extracts key words (eg, City Hall, Pizza Hut) that can grasp the location search request contents desired by the service user through an analysis procedure on the received SMS. The location search request message is changed to a format recognizable by the LBSP 140 storing the location information of the word, and 7) it is transmitted to the LBSP 140.

The incoming process from the LBSP 140 to the portable terminal 110 is performed as follows. 8) First, the LBSP 140 receives the location search request message to analyze the content of the request, and 9) process this, 10) location search result information (mainly, including the map information for the search request location) SMS Send to the base LBS device 130. 11) The SMS-based LBS device 130 changes the location search result information to SMS or MMS, and 12) transmits the changed message to the SMS / MMS center 120. In this case, when the message includes multimedia information such as map information, the message transmitted to the SMS / MMS center 120 is written in MMS, and the called number of the message is the telephone number of the mobile terminal 110 of the service user who originally requested the service. Or send it by specifying it as an IP address. 13) Then, the SMS / MMS center 120 transmits the location search result message to the portable terminal 110 of the service user corresponding to the reception information of the received location search result message. Meanwhile, when the SMS-based LBS device 130 has a function as an SMS / MMS server, the SMS-based LBS device 130 may directly transmit the SMS or MMS including the location search result to the portable terminal 110 of the service user.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method and system for transmitting a request for information about LBS and receiving LBS information from an LBS system by SMS or MMS using an SMS service provided basically to a portable terminal connected to a wireless communication network.

In addition, since the present invention requests a location search using SMS familiar to most mobile phone users, and receives the result information as an SMS or a multimedia message, " create and send a location search request SMS → wait and receive a location search result. "Location retrieval service is performed through the same procedure that users are familiar with and simple, that is, the same procedure that ordinary mobile subscribers send SMS and receive response message. As a result, the procedure for using LBS is simplified, so that a more convenient service can be easily and cheaply provided to service users and a service popularization effect can be provided to service providers.

In addition, since the present invention requests a service by SMS and receives a response by SMS or a multimedia message, only a minimal fee such as SMS and multimedia message fee is added as a service fee, and thus, wireless Internet use and The user's rejection of the packet rate is solved and the LBS can be used at the lowest rate.

In addition, the present invention can provide a response to the customer's location search request received via SMS in a variety of ways, for example, SMS, MMS or wireless Internet reconnection services, so that the customer searches for the location he wants to find In order to improve the quality of service for users by eliminating the retrieval procedure and providing a simple service use procedure of "service request → service response" method, the wireless internet reconnection service is provided if the user wants additional information. At the same time, it can provide service providers with increased revenue from toll charges for using the wireless Internet.

In addition, the present invention adds only the SMS-based LBS device of the present invention to the existing SMS / MMS center and the LBSP, so that the service can be performed without changing the existing wireless communication system.

Claims (10)

An SMS-based LBS device connected to a terminal, an SMS / MMS center, and an LBSP, which functions as an SME, via at least one wireless communication network, and is located from the terminal via the SMS / MMS center using the SMS-based LBS device as a called number. Receives an SMS requesting a base service, analyzes the SMS-based LBS device and SMS content, and transmits a location-based service request signal corresponding to a word of a location search request content desired by a service user in an SMS sentence to the LBSP, and the LBSP SMS-based LBS device, characterized in that for receiving the location-based service result signal from the SMS to transmit the location-based service result SMS / MMS corresponding to the terminal via the SMS / MMS center. The method of claim 1, Means for extracting a word required for a location-based service corresponding to a content search request desired by a service user in a sentence of an SMS requesting the location-based service received from the terminal; And And means for generating the location-based service request signal recognizable by the LBSP using the extracted word. The method of claim 1, And a means for converting the location based service result signal received from the LBSP into an SMS or MMS that can be received by the terminal. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The terminal is a portable terminal, and the SMS-based LBS device further comprises means for transmitting the location-based service result SMS / MMS to callback URL SMS or callback URL MMS and WAP server means for reconnection of the service user. SMS-based LBS device. The method of claim 4, wherein Wherein the location-based service request SMS is a location search request SMS, and the location-based service result SMS / MMS is an MMS including map information related to a location search result. A terminal functioning as an SME, an SMS / MMS center connected to the terminal via a wireless communication network, an SMS-based LBS device connected to the terminal and the SMS / MMS center via the wireless communication network, the wireless communication network or a separate A method for providing an LBS using SMS in an LBS system connected to the terminal, the SMS / MMS center and the SMS-based LBS device through a wireless communication network, The SMS-based LBS device receives an SMS requesting a location-based service from the terminal via the SMS / MMS center using the SMS-based LBS device as the called number and analyzes the called number and SMS sentence of the SMS-based LBS device. Transmitting a location-based service request signal corresponding to a word of a location search request content desired by a service user in an SMS sentence to the LBSP; And Receiving the location based service result signal from the LBSP and transmitting the location based service result SMS / MMS corresponding to the terminal via the SMS / MMS center. The method of claim 6, Sending, at the terminal, an SMS requesting a location-based service to the SMS / MMS center; Analyzing, by the SMS / MMS center, a called number of the SMS and transmitting an SMS corresponding to the SMS-based LBS device to the SMS-based LBS device; In the SMS-based LBS device, a word required for a location-based service of a location search request content desired by a service user in the sentence of the SMS is extracted and the location-based service request that can be recognized by the LBSP using the extracted word. Generating a signal; Generating, at the LBSP, the location based service result corresponding to the location based service request to the SMS based LBS device; In the SMS-based LBS device, LBS providing method using the SMS further comprising the step of converting the location-based service result signal received from the LBSP to the SMS or MMS that can be received by the terminal. The method according to claim 6 or 7, The location-based service result SMS / MMS LBS providing method using the SMS, characterized in that the callback URL SMS or callback URL MMS. The method according to claim 6 or 7, The location-based service request is a location search request, and the location-based service result SMS / MMS is LBS providing method using SMS, characterized in that the MMS including the map information related to the location-based location search results. In an LBS system comprising a terminal functioning as an SME, an SMS / MMS center connected to the terminal via a wireless communication network, and an LBSP connected to the terminal and the SMS / MMS center via the wireless communication network or a separate wireless communication network. , An SMS-based LBS device connected to the terminal and the SMS / MMS center via the wireless communication network, and connected to the LBSP through the wireless communication network or the separate wireless communication network; The SMS-based LBS device receives an SMS requesting a location-based service from the terminal via the SMS / MMS center using the SMS-based LBS device as a called number and analyzes the called number and sentence of the SMS-based LBS device. Transmits a location-based service request signal corresponding to a word of a location search request desired by a service user to the LBSP, receives a location-based service result signal from the LBSP, and responds to the terminal via the SMS / MMS center. LBS system using SMS, characterized in that for transmitting the location-based service results SMS / MMS.

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