Network system performing application control based on context information

• US 7,761,547 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2005
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Matsubara, Daisuke, Yoshiuchi, Hideya, Moriwaki, Norihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia; Rupal D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen; Van Kim T
• Application Number:
  US11/316,831
• Publication Number:
  US 20060277296A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,666 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/223
• 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 each associated with a respective user of a plurality of users, at least one base station that terminates wireless communications from said plurality of sensors, and a sensor net server which includes a control processing processor, wherein:

said sensor net server has a storage device that stores a first association between each of said plurality of sensors and a corresponding base station of said at least one base station and a second association between each of said at least one base station and a corresponding group of a plurality of groups;

said control processing processor performs setting of a third association between each of said users and a corresponding group of said plurality of groups according to said first and second associations; and

said application server contains a control unit that controls applications based on said plurality of groups;

wherein;

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

said control processing processor further performs processing of obtaining information on said groups from said sensor net server, and communicating with said sensor net server; and

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

wherein;

said application server sends a member list request for a specified group 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 specified 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;

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 specified group in said group management table at the time of establishing the session.

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

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

said control processing processor further performs processing of user location information management, setting said groups according to user locations, communicating with said application server, and communicating with said at least one base station; and

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

3. A network system according to claim 1, wherein said control unit of said application server controls communications applications only available within one group of said plurality of groups based on context information.

4. A network system according to claim 3, wherein said communications applications include Push-to-Talk (PTT) and third party call control (3PCC).