JP5478554B2 - Gateway apparatus and communication method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gateway device in which services of a plurality of service providers operate and a communication method performed by the gateway device.

  In recent years, various devices such as personal computers, AV devices, and information appliances are connected to a network to form a home network. The home network is connected to an external network such as the Internet by a gateway device.

  Reflecting this situation, there are various service providers who plan to provide services using devices connected to these home networks.

  Non-Patent Document 1 describes platform technology (OSAP) in which a plurality of service providers share a gateway device and a center system that manages the gateway device and provide services to users based on such a background. ing.

“NTT R & D 2007 Year Report“ OSGi Service Aggregation Platform (OSAP) ””, [online], [searched February 24, 2011], Internet <http://www.ntt.co.jp/ RD / OFIS / active / 2007pdf / hot / pf / 01.html>

  In the platform technology of Non-Patent Document 1, a service provider creates an application program (hereinafter referred to as “AP”) that executes a service, and the created AP is downloaded to a gateway device of a user who uses the service, Executed. A service is provided by the AP of the gateway device performing communication such as device control.

  However, Non-Patent Document 1 has the following problems. That is, in the gateway device, the functions provided by the APs of various service providers and the gateway device itself are operating, and if a failure occurs in a certain AP, the gateway device as a whole will be stopped. Become. In order to prevent this from happening, when introducing a new AP, it is necessary to verify the operation of the AP in advance, and the AP's prior operation verification cost (expense, period) when adding a new service is high. There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce operation verification costs when a new service is added in a gateway device in which services of a plurality of service providers operate. It is in.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a gateway device in which services of a plurality of service providers operate , and the service relates to route information used in the service and equipment permitted to use the service. Service definition information including permission information and an external application installed in the device, provided for each service , a storage unit for storing the service definition information, provided for each communication protocol, and the external application A driver unit that transmits / receives data using the communication protocol, a relay unit that converts data transmitted / received through an interface of a communication protocol supported by the driver unit to a common interface, and data that is converted from the relay unit to a common interface , Corresponding service services It reads definition information from the storage unit, having a relay base unit for relaying the data, based on the route information and the permission information of the service definition information.
In addition, the present invention is a communication method performed by a gateway device in which services of a plurality of service providers operate, and the service includes route information used in the service and permission related to a device permitted to use the service. service definition information including the information, and is constituted by the installed external application to the device, the gateway device is provided for each service includes a storage unit that stores the service definition information, and the external application, predetermined A communication step for transmitting / receiving data using a communication protocol of the above, a conversion step for converting data transmitted / received by an interface of a predetermined communication protocol in the communication step to a common interface, and receiving data corresponding to the common interface Service definition Read information from the storage unit, it performs a relay step of relaying the data, based on the route information and the permission information of the service definition information.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the operation verification cost at the time of adding a new service can be reduced in the gateway apparatus in which the service of a some service provider operates.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the sequence of the initial process of a gateway apparatus. It is the sequence of the relay process of a gateway apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Conventionally, in the present embodiment, service provision realized by operating an AP provided by a service provider on a gateway device, an AP bundle held on the gateway device side, and an external AP operated on the device side, In order to provide services.

  In the present embodiment, an implementation using OSGi (Java (registered trademark)) technology will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to various technologies. it can.

  The illustrated communication system includes a gateway device 1, a plurality of devices 41 to 44, and a distribution server 3. The plurality of devices 41 to 44 are connected to the gateway device 1 via the home network 8 or the external network 9 and communicate with the gateway device 1. In FIG. 1, as an example of the device, the device 41 is a smartphone, the device 42 is a printer, the device 43 is a personal computer, and the device 44 is a fixed telephone, but is not limited thereto.

  Further, in the example shown in the figure, an external AP necessary for using a predetermined service is installed in each of the device 41 (smart phone) and the device 43 (personal computer). When a user uses a desired service, the user accesses the server of the service provider that provides the service using the devices 41 and 43, and downloads and installs the corresponding external AP on the devices 41 and 43.

  The distribution server is an OSAP center system, for example, and holds an AP bundle provided by each service provider and a relay bundle and a driver bundle provided by a provider (for example, a communication provider) of the gateway device 1. These bundles are distributed to the gateway device. When a user uses a desired service, the user downloads an AP bundle, a relay bundle, and a driver bundle corresponding to the service from the distribution server 3 to the gateway device 1 and installs them.

  The gateway device 1 is a home gateway (service gateway) disposed in a home, and is a network device connected to the home network 8 or the external network 9. The gateway device 1 of the present embodiment includes various bundles (software) based on the OSGi standard technology. In the illustrated example, driver bundles (driver units) 18 to 21, relay bundles (relay units) 15 to 17, relay basic bundles (relay basic units) 14, and AP bundles (service definition information) 11 to 13 are included. Prepare. The driver bundles 18 to 21, the relay bundles 15 to 17, and the AP bundles 11 to 13 are distributed from the distribution server 3 as described above.

  The driver bundles 18 to 21 are provided for each communication protocol, and transmit / receive data to / from an external application or device installed in the device using the communication protocol. Specifically, each driver bundle communicates with a corresponding device using a communication protocol (for example, HTTP, UPnP, SIP, etc.) used by the device. Each driver bundle defines a dedicated interface specialized for each communication protocol.

  The relay bundles 15 to 17 convert data transmitted and received by the driver bundle through an interface of a predetermined communication protocol into a common interface. Specifically, the individual interface of the driver bundle is converted into a common interface defined by the relay basic bundle 14. The relay bundle basically exists for each driver bundle, but may be shared by a plurality of driver bundles 19 and 10 as the relay bundle 16 shown in FIG.

  The relay basic bundle 14 receives data converted from each relay bundle into a common interface, reads out the service definition file (service definition information) of the corresponding service from the AP bundle, and based on the route information and permission information of the service definition file. Relay the data. Also, the relay basic bundle reads a service definition file held in the AP bundle, generates a service for the AP bundle and a corresponding relay bundle (for example, OSGi service) within the range defined in the file, and registers it. To do. Note that there is one relay basic bundle, and communication relay processing is performed using the relay bundle instead of the AP bundle (service provider).

  The AP bundles 11 to 13 are bundles created by a service provider, and are software that is paired with an external AP, and are provided for each service. Each AP bundle stores a service definition file for defining a service. In the service definition file, route information used for the service (for example, a relay destination protocol such as HTTP → UPnP), permission information related to devices that are permitted to use the service (only permissions permitted by the service provider are described) In addition, setting information related to relay such as information such as the name of the other service and an explanation is stored. Note that the AP bundle normally makes only a request for initialization to the relay basic bundle 14 and does not perform any other processing.

  As the gateway device 1 described above, for example, a general-purpose computer system including a CPU, a memory, an external storage device such as an HDD, an input device, and an output device can be used. In this computer system, each function of the gateway device 1 is realized by the CPU executing the program (bundle) of the gateway device 1 loaded on the memory. The program (bundle) of the gateway device 1 can be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, a DVD-ROM, or can be distributed via a network.

  Next, the process of the gateway apparatus 1 of this embodiment is demonstrated.

  First, initial processing of the gateway device 1 will be described. When a new AP bundle and a relay bundle and driver bundle corresponding to the AP bundle are registered (downloaded) in the gateway device 1, the relay basic bundle performs an initial process. Based on the service definition file stored in the AP bundle, the relay basic bundle performs listener registration for receiving a callback from the corresponding relay bundle and initializes the corresponding relay bundle.

  The relay bundle requests the driver bundle to connect to an external AP included in the device in response to an initialization instruction from the relay basic bundle, and performs processing for receiving a callback from the driver bundle as necessary.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence showing an example of initial processing in OSGi.

  The newly registered AP bundle requests initialization of the relay function by using the relay manager function of the relay basic bundle at the time of activation. As a result, the relay basic bundle reads the service definition file in the AP bundle and registers each of the RelayAdmin and Notify OSGi services.

  Specifically, the AP bundle transmits an instruction to generate RelayManager to the relay basic bundle (S11), and the relay basic bundle reads the service definition file stored in the AP bundle and generates RelayManager (S12). RelayManager is an interface by which an AP bundle requests initialization to a relay basic bundle.

  When the RelayManager is generated in the relay basic bundle, the AP bundle calls the init () method of the RelayManager to initialize the relay basic bundle (S13). Thereby, RelayManager sets route information, RelayAdmin registration (S14), and Notify registration based on the setting information such as the service provider identifier, relay type list, route class list, etc. in the service definition file of the AP bundle. (S17, S20) is performed.

  In RelayAdmin registration (S14), the service provider identifier of the AP bundle and a part of the contents of the service definition file of other AP bundle are set in the service property. RelayAdmin is an interface for the relay bundle to acquire information related to the AP bundle.

  The registered RelayAdmin transmits a registration notification to each of the corresponding relay bundles (in the illustrated example, the relay bundle 1 and the relay bundle 2) (S15, S19). As a result, the relay bundle acquires information necessary for initializing the driver bundle and initializes the driver bundle as necessary, and also acquires connection information to the corresponding external AP and connects to the external AP. The driver bundle is instructed to perform (S16).

  In Notify registration (S17, S20), a list of service providers and relay types is read from the service definition file of the AP bundle and set in the service property. Notify is an interface in which the relay bundle requests the relay basic bundle to perform notify relay. The relay bundle is also an interface that monitors registration of notify in order to determine the necessity of notify relay.

  The registered Notify transmits a registration notification to each of the corresponding relay bundles (in the illustrated example, the relay bundle 1 and the relay bundle 2) (S18, S21). When Notify is registered, the relay bundle tracks a service having a notify relay type to be processed as a service property, and starts notify relay.

  In addition, when the relay bundle is set so that it can receive notifications from devices and requests from external APs to the driver bundle, it uses the BundeContext and AccessControlContext of the AP bundle, and in the service definition file of the AP bundle Operate within the range of the set permission information (S22).

  In this way, when RelayAdmin and Notify are registered, the relay bundle requests the driver bundle to connect to the external AP, and if necessary, provides a service for receiving a callback from the driver bundle. Register using BundleContext and AccessControlContext.

  Next, the relay process of this embodiment will be described.

  Relay processing converts a call from a relay bundle (notify relay) into a call to another relay bundle (action relay), and if there is a response, the return value of action relay is the return value of notify relay As a series of processes to be returned to the original relay bundle.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence showing an example of relay processing in OSGi.

  When receiving an event such as communication from an external AP or notification from a device, the driver bundle calls the corresponding relay bundle (S41). Here, it is assumed that the driver bundle receives an event from the external AP and calls the relay bundle 1. The relay bundle 1 selects an AP bundle that should receive the event, calls Notify1 of the relay basic bundle in which the AP bundle is registered, and relays the event (S42). In this notify relay, the relay bundle 1 can include a destination route class / route session and a source route class / route session as necessary.

  When Notify 1 receives the notify relay of the event, it performs routing processing for determining a destination route class (relay bundle) (S 43). For example, Notify 1 selects the entry having the longest matching head part of the relay type from the route information described in the service definition file in the AP bundle, and determines the selected route class as the transmission destination. When a destination route class is designated for notify relay, the designated route class is determined as a destination.

  Specifically, when a route class such as a response to a certain request is clear, the relay bundle uses the destination route class to include the destination route class in the request data of the notify relay. If there is no destination route class in the request data, for example, if it is described as follows in the service definition file, if the relay type is A.UPnP1.0-CP.InvokeAction, select upnpcustom as the destination route class When the relay type is A.UPnP1.0-CP.GetDeviceDescription, select upnpcp as the destination route class. The relay bundle registers a route class that can be processed by itself at the time of activation in the property of its own object, and selects a relay bundle based on that.

<Example: Description of service definition file>
application.relay.route.A.UPnP1.0-CP. = upnpcp
application.relay.route.A.UPnP1.0-CP.InvokeAction = upnpcustom
Notify 1 performs action relay that calls the relay bundle of the destination route class determined in S 43 using the permission information of the AP bundle (S 44). Here, it is assumed that the relay bundle 2 is called. At this time, if the destination route session and the source route class / route session are specified in the notify relay, these are also delivered.

  The relay bundle 2 executes an action using the function of the driver bundle within the scope of the permission information of the AP bundle, and controls the device or notifies the external AP (S45).

  Specifically, for example, when the right to use the corresponding driver bundle is not given as permission information, the control is failed. In addition, the control is successful only when all the permissions (Java permissions) specified in the driver bundle are described in the permission information of the AP bundle.

  If the event input in S41 is a response requesting a response, the response data of the action in S45 is returned to the relay bundle 1, the external AP, or the device that is the transmission source of the notify relay through the reverse route. In the illustrated example, the response data of the device is relayed to Notify 2 via the relay bundle 2 (S46, S47), and the Notify 2 determines the destination route class (relay bundle 1) (S48), It is transmitted to the AP (S49, S50).

  In the present embodiment described above, a service definition file in which route information and permission information are defined is distributed to the gateway device 1, and an API (Application Program Interface) is unified by a relay bundle. As a result, the provider of the gateway device (for example, a telecommunications carrier or the like) statically reads only the information of the service definition file described in the AP bundle provided by the service provider, and checks and verifies it. New services can be added. That is, the operation verification cost when adding a new service can be reduced.

  In the prior art, it is necessary to check the AP downloaded to the gateway device instead of the AP bundle. However, since the AP is usually written in a general-purpose program language, whether there is no problem in the written contents is static. In many cases, it is not possible to determine whether there is any inconvenience for the provider of the gateway device, and it is necessary to actually test the AP before introducing a new service AP. Yes, there is a large periodical and monetary cost. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a new service can be added only by verifying the information of the service definition file, so that the operation verification cost can be reduced.

  In this embodiment, the service provider implements the service with the AP bundle of the gateway device 1 and the external AP of the device. As a result, the external AP does not need to directly control a plurality of communication protocols, and each device can be used with a single communication protocol (such as HTTP) that is familiar to service providers (low development cost). . That is, in this embodiment, the problem that the development cost is high due to the service provider grasping the behavior of each communication protocol and its driver program and creating the AP in the prior art can be solved.

  Further, in this embodiment, the end user can restrict communication only by devices or external APs that are permitted by the AP bundle for each service, not by the unit of the driver bundle for each communication protocol.

  Further, in this embodiment, even when a new communication protocol or a service using the same appears in the future, by distributing a driver bundle, a relay bundle, and an AP bundle corresponding to the communication protocol or service to the gateway device, It can be handled in the same framework and is easy to expand in the future.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Many deformation | transformation are possible within the range of the summary. For example, the contents processed by the relay bundle can be defined by a character string (relay type) for each function, and relaying can be performed in units of the relay type. For example, the DeviceDescription of UPnP devices can be acquired, but UPnP Actions can not be transmitted.

  In addition, external AP authentication information may be stored in the AP bundle (for example, digest authentication ID / Pass, certificate, etc.) so that the external AP and the AP bundle (service) have a one-to-one correspondence.

  In addition, a user interface may be provided, and permission information of the AP bundle may be dynamically changed based on input from the user, and for example, a relay target may be added or deleted in units of individual devices. As a result, access control in units of devices becomes possible.

  In the above-described embodiment, the implementation example using the OSGi technology has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various technologies.

1: Gateway device 11, 12, 13: AP bundle 14: Relay basic bundle 15, 16, 17: Relay bundle 18, 19, 20, 21: Driver bundle 3: Distribution server 41, 42, 43, 44: Device 21: Playback section

Claims (2)

A gateway device that operates services of a plurality of service providers,
The service includes route information used in the service, service definition information including permission information regarding a device permitted to use the service , and an external application installed in the device.
A storage unit provided for each service and storing the service definition information;
A driver unit provided for each communication protocol, for transmitting and receiving data with the external application and the communication protocol;
A relay unit that converts data transmitted / received through an interface of a communication protocol supported by the driver unit into a common interface;
A relay basic unit that receives data converted into a common interface from the relay unit, reads service definition information of a corresponding service from the storage unit, and relays the data based on route information and permission information of the service definition information; The gateway apparatus characterized by having. A communication method performed by a gateway device that operates services of a plurality of service providers,
The service includes route information used in the service, service definition information including permission information regarding a device permitted to use the service, and an external application installed in the device.
The gateway device is
Provided for each service includes a storage unit that stores the service definition information,
A communication step of transmitting and receiving data with the external application using a predetermined communication protocol;
A conversion step of converting the data transmitted and received at the interface of a predetermined communication protocol into a common interface in the communication step;
Receiving the data converted into the common interface, reading service definition information of the corresponding service from the storage unit, and performing a relay step of relaying the data based on route information and permission information of the service definition information A communication method characterized by the above.

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