Network system performing application control based on context information

• US 20060277296A1
• Filed: 12/27/2005
• Published: 12/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yoshiuchi, Hideya, Moriwaki, Norihiko, Matsubara, Daisuke
• Granted Patent: US 7,761,547 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

A communication application control technology in which the location and status (context) of a user from a sensor net, and the communication application is controlled based on the context information. A sensor net server (or a presence server) manages the location and status of a user as well as group information detected by a sensor, and an application server obtains the user information included in the group from the sensor net server (or a presence server), and establishes a session with that user. This invention is applicable to various applications including the PTT (Push-to-Talk) and 3PCC.

Claims

1. A network system including a plurality of clients, an application server, a plurality of sensors, at least one base station that terminates wireless communications from said plurality of sensors, and a sensor net server, wherein:

said sensor net server has a storage device that stores context information detected by each of said plurality of sensors; and

said application server contains a control unit that controls applications based on said context information.

2. A network system according to claim 1, wherein:

said sensor net server comprises a communication interface unit, a control processing processor, and a data storage device;

said control processing processor performs the processing of user location information management, grouping of users according to user locations, communications with said application servers, and communications with said base stations; and

said data storage device stores a user location management table that manages the locations of a plurality of users each having each of said plurality of sensors, and a group management table that manages a group consisting of at least one of said plurality of users.

3. A network system according to claim 1, wherein:

said application server comprises a communication interface unit, a control processing processor, and a data storage device;

said control processing processor performs the processing of obtaining the information on said group from said sensor net server, and communications with said sensor net server; and

said data storage device stores a group management table that manages said group information.

4. A network system according to claim 3, wherein:

said application server sends a member list request to said sensor net server during application control;

said sensor net server that received said request sends a member list including the users in said group to said application server;

said application server that received said member list establishes a communication session with a user included in said member list.

5. A network system according to claim 4, wherein:

said sensor net server sends a member list updating to said application server; and

said application server that received said member list updating updates said group management table based on said member list updating, and establishes a communication session with a user that is included in said group in said group management table at the time of establishing the session.