KR102310071B1 - Method for providing messenger service and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for providing a messenger service capable of efficiently calculating the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages generated during a group conversation based on the last message confirmation time of each terminal device during a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate which relates to, during a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate, collecting a last message confirmation time from the two or more terminal devices, and determining that a message that occurred before that has been read based on the last message confirmation time, the Calculate the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for messages that occurred during group conversations.

Description

Method for providing messenger service and apparatus therefor

The present invention relates to a messenger service for exchanging messages including at least one of text, video, photo, and audio between two or more terminal devices, and more particularly, each terminal during a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate. The present invention relates to a method for providing a messenger service capable of efficiently calculating the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages generated during a group conversation based on a last message confirmation time of a device, and an apparatus therefor.

With the rapid development of information and communication technology and terminal performance, various functions used in PCs can be used without time and place restrictions by using mobile terminal devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs.

In particular, the smartphone is equipped with an open operating system (Open OS) that provides a standardized interface and platform for application developers, so that the existing mobile phone functions such as voice calls, Internet access and search functions through browsing programs, as well as Internet access and search functions, By loading a third-party application program creator or a user-created application program, various functions desired by the user can be performed.

On the other hand, an instant messenger service is a service in which two or more users perform real-time text communication through a communication network. As high-performance terminal devices spread, even a mobile instant messenger performed based on a portable terminal device such as a smart phone has appeared.

In the case of instant messengers that are run based on smartphones that can be used all the time, unlike PC-based instant messengers, there are no restrictions on the time and place of service use, so the number and usage of its users is increasing explosively. .

As the number and usage of instant messengers increases, the amount of messages exchanged through the instant messenger also increases, making it difficult to effectively manage messages.

For example, when a group conversation in which two or more users participate is performed through an instant messenger, it is required to manage the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for messages generated during the group conversation.

In particular, in the case of an instant messenger based on a smartphone, not only the number of messages exchanged through the group conversation is large, but also the number of users participating in the group conversation is large. It is necessary to calculate the number of confirmed or unconfirmed

Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2001-0103278, published on November 23, 2001 (Title: Multiple chatting method)

Accordingly, the present invention provides a messenger service that can efficiently calculate the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages generated during a group conversation based on the last message confirmation time of each terminal device during a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate through the messenger service. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing and an apparatus for the same.

In particular, the present invention collects the last message confirmation time from the terminal devices of each user participating in a group conversation in which two or more users participate, and determines that the message that occurred before that last message was confirmed by the user based on the last message confirmation time An object of the present invention is to provide a method for providing a messenger service for calculating the number of confirmed and unconfirmed messages for each message, and an apparatus for the same.

The present invention provides a means for solving the above problem, a communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from two or more terminal devices participating in a group conversation through a communication network, and collecting the last message confirmation time from the two or more terminal devices through the communication unit, A messenger service that determines that a message that occurred before that message has been read based on the last message confirmation time, counts the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for messages generated during the group conversation, and provides a count value for each message to the two or more terminal devices There is provided a messenger service device comprising a control unit.

The messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a storage unit which is allocated for each group conversation and stores a member table for managing user identification information of terminal devices participating in the group conversation and a last message confirmation time of each terminal device. Further comprising, the messenger service control unit, after recording the last message confirmation time collected from the two or more terminal devices in the member table, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for messages generated in the corresponding group conversation based on the member table can be counted.

In the messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit is allocated for each group conversation and further stores a count table for managing the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for each message generated in the group conversation, and the messenger service The controller may record in the count table the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages per message of the corresponding group conversation counted based on the member table.

At this time, when message confirmation information for one or more messages is requested from the terminal device among the messages generated during the group conversation, the messenger service control unit transmits a count value of the message for which confirmation is requested by referring to the count table to the terminal device However, if the count value of the requested message does not exist in the count table, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages may be counted and recorded in the count table based on the member table.

In addition, in the messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the messenger service control unit initializes by deleting information recorded in the count table at a predetermined period.

In addition, in the messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the storage unit further stores a notification table for managing identification information of a group conversation in which the number of message confirmed or unverified messages is changed, and the messenger service control unit is, when the information recorded in the count table is changed, records the identification information of the corresponding group conversation in the notification table, and at least two terminal devices participating in the group conversation recorded in the notification table at a certain period, the number of message confirmers or unconfirmed You may be notified of changes to the number.

In addition, in the messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the messenger service control unit stores the message generated in the group conversation in the storage unit, and confirms that all users participating in the group conversation based on the count value By judging whether or not the message is confirmed by all users, it is possible to delete the message.

In addition, the present invention provides a means for solving the above problems, a communication unit for communicating with a messenger service device through a communication network, a storage unit for storing messages transmitted and received through the communication unit, an output unit for displaying the message, the communication unit, and storage A control unit for displaying a message generated during a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate in a group conversation in conjunction with at least one of the unit and the output unit, extracting the last message display time, and transmitting the message to the messenger service unit It provides a terminal device characterized in that.

The terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes an input unit for transmitting a user input signal to a control unit, wherein the control unit stores the received message in the storage unit when a message is received through the communication unit. , according to the user input signal, the stored message may be retrieved and displayed through the output unit.

In the terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, before displaying the message generated during the group conversation, the control unit requests message confirmation information for one or more messages to be displayed from the messenger service device, and the messenger service A count value corresponding to the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for the one or more messages may be received from the device and displayed together with the message.

In addition, in the terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a notification message notifying that a change has occurred in message confirmation information is received from the messenger service device, the control unit sends the one or more messages to the messenger service device. You can request message confirmation information for .

In addition, the present invention provides a means for solving the above problem, wherein a messenger service device connected to two or more terminal devices through a communication network collects the last message confirmation time from the two or more terminal devices during a group conversation in which the two or more terminal devices participate Counting the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for the message generated during the group conversation by determining that a message that occurred before that has been read based on the last message confirmation time, and setting the count value to the two or more terminals There is provided a method for providing a messenger service, comprising the step of providing to a device.

In the method for providing a messenger service according to an embodiment of the present invention, before the collecting step, user identification information of two or more terminal devices participating in the group conversation and the last message confirmation time collected from each terminal device are recorded for each group conversation. Further comprising the step of generating a member table to record, and a count table for recording the count value of the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for messages generated in the corresponding group conversation for each message, and the collected last message confirmation time and count value It can be recorded in the member table and the count table.

In addition, the method for providing a messenger service according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include deleting a count value for each message recorded in the count table at a predetermined time period.

In addition, in the method of providing a messenger service according to an embodiment of the present invention, the counting step may include, when message confirmation information for one or more messages generated during the group conversation from a terminal device is requested, the one or more messages are added to the count table. Checking whether the count value of the above message exists, for a message for which the count value does not exist, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages is counted based on the last message confirmation time for each terminal device in the member table and added to the count table It may include the step of recording.

In addition, the method for providing a messenger service according to an embodiment of the present invention includes, when information in the count table is changed, recording identification information of the corresponding group conversation in a notification table, at a predetermined period, the group conversation recorded in the notification table The method may further include transmitting an alarm message informing that the message confirmation information has been changed to two or more terminal devices participating in the , so that the terminal device receiving the alarm message requests the message confirmation information.

In addition, the present invention may provide a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for performing the above-described method for providing a messenger service is recorded.

According to the present invention, when a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate is provided through a messenger service device, the last message confirmation time is collected from the two or more terminal devices, and the last message confirmation time is collected based on the last message confirmation time. By counting the message as read, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages can be calculated during group conversations.

In particular, the present invention does not store messages generated during group conversations in the server device, but updates and manages only the last message confirmation time of terminal devices participating in group conversations through the member table, thereby minimizing traffic generation and messages generated during group conversations. It is possible to easily calculate the number of confirmed or unconfirmed

In addition, the present invention manages the count value for the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages generated for each group conversation calculated from the last message confirmation time through the count table, but by deleting the information recorded in the count table at a certain period, With the minimum amount of memory, it is possible to manage the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages generated during group conversations.

In addition, the present invention separately manages a group conversation in which the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages is changed through the notification table, and a notification message notifying that there is a change in the message confirmation information at regular intervals for each group conversation recorded in the notification table By notifying the message, it is possible to manage the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages while minimizing traffic generation.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a messenger service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating an interworking process between a messenger service device and a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 to 7 are flowcharts illustrating a method of providing a messenger service by a messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a messenger service by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is an exemplary screen view for explaining a method of providing a messenger service according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, detailed descriptions of well-known functions or configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention in the following description and accompanying drawings will be omitted. Also, it should be noted that throughout the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible.

The terms or words used in the present specification and claims described below should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventor is appropriate as a concept of terms for describing his invention in the best way. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined in Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention, and do not represent all the technical ideas of the present invention, so at the time of the present application, various It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

In addition, terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, and are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components, and to limit the components. not used For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as the first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as the second component.

In addition, when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “connected” to another element, it means that it is logically or physically connected or can be connected. In other words, it should be understood that a component may be directly connected or connected to another component, but another component may exist in the middle, and may be indirectly connected or connected.

In addition, the terms used herein are used only to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, terms such as "comprises" or "have" described in this specification are intended to designate that the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification exist, but one or the It should be understood that the above does not preclude the possibility of the existence or addition of other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a messenger service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the messenger service system of the present invention may be configured to include a plurality of terminal devices 100 and a messenger service device 200 connected through a communication network 10 .

A messenger service system including such a configuration delivers a message including at least one of text, video, voice, and image between a plurality of terminal devices 100 through the messenger service device 200, and Message confirmation information indicating the confirmation state is calculated and provided to the two or more terminal devices 100 . Here, the message confirmation information may be the number of confirmers defined as the number of users who checked the corresponding message among users participating in the group conversation or the number of unconfirmed users who did not check the corresponding message among users participating in the group conversation.

In this case, the plurality of terminal devices 100 refer to devices of a user using a messenger service, and are devices in which a user can compose a message, request transmission, and check messages of other users.

To this end, the plurality of terminal devices 100 are loaded with an application program implemented to perform a messenger service function in conjunction with the messenger service device 200 , and provide the above-described messenger service to the user through the execution of the application program. can do. In addition, the two or more terminal devices 100 execute a messenger program through an external server (not shown) through a cloud computing method, or run a messenger program through the messenger service device 200 even if the application program is not loaded. can also run

In particular, the terminal device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may request a group conversation by designating another terminal device. In this case, the terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation may provide a message generated during the group conversation to the user through the chat window. Here, the message generated during the group conversation is a message exchanged between the terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation, and a message transmitted from any one of the terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation or a terminal device participating in the group conversation ( 100) may mean a message received from another terminal device participating in the group conversation.

In this case, the terminal device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention receives and stores a message transmitted by itself and a message transmitted by another terminal device, and stores the stored message according to a user's request according to a predetermined standard (eg, time or by user) and displayed. In this way, when a message is displayed in the chat window so that the user can check it by the terminal device 100 , it is considered that the message has been confirmed by the user.

The terminal device 100 according to the present invention transmits the last message confirmation time to the messenger service device 200 when the last message is displayed by the user's request so as to calculate the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for each message generated in the group conversation. send. Here, the last message confirmation time is time information corresponding to the displayed last message, and may be a time at which the last message is displayed in the terminal device 100 or time information included in the message identification information of the last message. For reference, in the messenger service according to the present invention, in order to identify a plurality of messages generated during a group conversation, message identification information for each message is given. includes time information. In this case, the last message confirmation time according to the present invention may use time information included in the message identification information.

In addition, the terminal device 100 may transmit the last message confirmation time at an interval of at least a first period or more. For example, the terminal device 100 transmits the last message confirmation time whenever the last message is displayed, but waits for a predetermined time if the first period has not elapsed since the previous last message confirmation time was transmitted. , transmits the last message confirmation time after the first period has elapsed.

In addition, before displaying one or more messages generated during a group conversation in a chat window according to a user's manipulation (eg, scrolling), the terminal device 100 transmits confirmation information about the one or more messages to the messenger service device 200 . you can request In this case, when the terminal device 100 requests message confirmation information, it also transmits identification information of the one or more messages.

And, when displaying the one or more messages according to the message confirmation information transmitted from the messenger service device 200 in response to the message confirmation information request, the terminal device 100 determines the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages. can be displayed together. Also, the terminal device 100 may request message confirmation information from the messenger service device 200 when receiving an alarm message notifying that the message confirmation information has been changed from the messenger service device 200 .

That is, by requesting the message confirmation information only when the message confirmation information is changed according to the notification message transmitted from the messenger service device 200, unnecessary traffic generation can be reduced.

The messenger service device 200 interworks with the two or more terminal devices 100 to control message transfer between the two or more terminal devices 100 and manages message confirmation information of the multiple terminal devices 100 . In addition, the messenger service device 200 may temporarily store a message transmitted between two or more terminal devices 100 until a predetermined time (eg, a point in time when the counterpart terminal device confirms it).

In addition, the messenger service device 200 manages status, reception mode, message recipient list, and subscriber environment information for users in order to provide a messenger service to two or more terminal devices 10 , and provides access to the wired/wireless Internet. It is possible to manage a session, that is, a conversation channel, for delivering messages between on-line users. In addition, the messenger service device 200 may perform a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) call processing and a Message Session Relay Protocol (MSRP) relay function, and through this, a messenger service can be provided between two or more terminal devices 100 . have.

In particular, the present invention relates to a group conversation in which messages are exchanged between two or more terminal devices 100, wherein the messenger service device 200 includes two or more terminal devices ( 100) collects the last message confirmation time, compares the message generation time with the last message confirmation time, and considers that the message generated before the last message confirmation time is confirmed by the terminal device 100, thereby generating during group conversation The message confirmation information, ie, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages, is counted for each message, and the count value is provided to two or more terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation.

The messenger service device 200 may be implemented as a set of various devices to support the above-described operation. For example, it may be implemented including a database server capable of storing and managing various related information, a file server for file processing, a push server for pushing information such as a notification message to the terminal device 100 , and the like.

In addition, it may be implemented including various servers according to the system design method. In addition, the function corresponding to the server may be implemented in one messenger service device 200 as one module.

The main configurations and more specific operation methods of the terminal device 100 and the messenger service device 200 as described above will be described later, and the terminal device 100 and the messenger service device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. ), a processor mounted thereon may process program instructions for executing the method according to the present invention. In one implementation, the processor may be a single-threaded processor, and in another implementation, the processor may be a multi-threaded processor. Furthermore, the processor may process instructions stored in a memory or a storage device.

In addition, the two or more terminal devices 100 and the messenger service device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention transmit and receive data through the communication network 10 to perform the above-described operation, in which case the communication network 10 is Various types of communication networks that are currently known or are currently under development and will be used in the future may be used.

For example, wireless communication methods such as WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi), Wibro, Wimax, HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) or Ethernet (Ethernet), xDSL (ADSL, VDSL) , HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Cable), FTTC (Fiber to The Curb), FTTH (Fiber To The Home), such as wired communication methods can be used.

First, the configuration of the terminal device 100 on the user side using the messenger service according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 .

2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The terminal device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device that can communicate through the communication network 10 and can be used by a user, for example, various types that can be connected to a wired/wireless Internet as well as a smart phone and a tablet PC. It can be a terminal device of

However, the terminal device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention basically includes the configuration shown in FIG. 1 , regardless of the type thereof.

Specifically, the terminal device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a communication unit 110 , an input unit 120 , an output unit 130 , a storage unit 140 , and a control unit 150 .

Each component will be described in more detail. The communication unit 110 is a configuration for transmitting and receiving data through the communication network 10 . In particular, in the present invention, the messenger service device 200 and the messenger service device 200 through the communication network 10 Transmits and receives data related to the messenger service.

For example, the communication unit 110 may transmit a message input through a chat window screen of a messenger service to the messenger service device 200 and receive a message from another terminal device 100 delivered from the messenger service device 200 . have.

In addition, the communication unit 110 may request message confirmation information (eg, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed persons) related to the transmitted/received message, and receive message confirmation information in response thereto.

The input unit 120 is configured to transmit various information such as number and character information input from the user, various function settings, and signals input in relation to function control of the terminal device 100 to the control unit 150 . In particular, in the present invention, the input unit 120 includes a user input means for executing a messenger service. In addition, the input unit 120 supports a user input means for instructing a preset operation among the messenger services.

The input unit 120 includes at least one of a key input means such as a keyboard or keypad, a touch input means such as a touch sensor or a touch pad, a voice input means, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor and a proximity sensor, and a camera. It may include a gesture input means made by In addition to this, all types of input means currently under development or that may be developed in the future may be included.

The output unit 130 is configured to provide information about a series of operation states and operation results that occur while the function of the terminal device 100 is performed in a form recognizable by a user. In the present invention, the output unit 130 may visually display various information generated during execution of the messenger service. For example, a menu for using a messenger service and writing a message, a message input by the user, and a message received from the other party are displayed. In particular, according to the control of the controller 150, the output unit 130 according to an embodiment of the present invention may display confirmation information (the number of confirmed or unconfirmed) of the message together with a message transmitted and received during a conversation.

The output unit 130 may be implemented in the form of a single touch panel (or touch screen) together with the input unit 120 as described above. When implemented together with the input unit 120 , the user's preset operation , for example, various information generated according to a touch operation may be displayed.

In addition, the output unit 130 is LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor LCD), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), light emitting diode (LED), AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic LED), flexible display ( Flexible display) and a three-dimensional display (3 Dimension) may be configured. In addition, some of these displays may be configured as a transparent type or a light transmitting type so that the outside can be viewed through them. This may be configured in the form of a transparent display including a TOLED (Transparant OLED).

The storage unit 140 is configured to store various data generated during program execution, including OS programs and application programs necessary for the operation of the terminal device 100 . In particular, in the present invention, the storage unit 140 may store a messenger program programmed to perform the messenger service according to the present invention, and may also store messages transmitted and received according to the execution of the messenger program.

The storage unit 140 includes a flash memory, a hard disk, a multimedia card micro-type memory (eg, an SD or XD memory, etc.), a RAM, a ROM ( ROM) may be implemented by including various types of storage media.

Finally, the controller 150 is a configuration for controlling the overall operation of the terminal device 100, and may be implemented as a processor, an OS program driven by the processor, and one or more application programs.

In particular, in the present invention, the control unit 150 includes a messenger service module 150 for processing a messenger service. The messenger service module 150 may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, for example, by the controller 150 executing a messenger program stored in the storage unit 140 . have. Meanwhile, the messenger service module 150 may be understood as an independent expression of a function of performing a messenger service-related process among the functions of the control unit 150 .

The messenger service module 150 operates according to a user's request through the input unit 120 , and outputs a messenger service screen to the output unit 130 .

In particular, when a user's group conversation is requested through the input unit 120 , the messenger service module 150 outputs a chat window screen to the output unit 130 , and then transmits and receives messages transmitted and received during the group conversation through the chat window screen. indicate

In addition, after displaying the message through the output unit 130 , the messenger service module 150 transmits the last message confirmation time to the messenger service device 200 so that the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages per message can be counted. .

Also, before displaying the message through the output unit 130 , the messenger service module 150 may request message confirmation information for the message to be displayed from the messenger service device 200 , and In response, message confirmation information (the number of confirmed or unconfirmed numbers) counted based on the last message confirmation time may be received from the messenger service device 200 and displayed on the output unit 130 together with the message.

The operation of the terminal device 100 including the messenger service module 150 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 9 .

In addition, the main components of the terminal device 100 have been described with reference to FIG. 2 . However, not all of the components shown in FIG. 2 are essential components, and the terminal device 100 may be implemented by more components than the illustrated components, and the terminal device 100 may be implemented by fewer components. ) may be implemented.

Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a messenger service apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the messenger service device 200 may include a communication unit 210 , a storage unit 220 , and a messenger service control unit 230 .

The communication unit 210 is configured to transmit/receive data related to a messenger service with one or more terminal devices 100 through the communication network 10 . In particular, the communication unit 210 may receive a message transmitted from any one terminal device 100 and transmit it to one or more other terminal devices 100 in conversation. In addition, the communication unit 210 may receive the last message confirmation time for calculating message confirmation information from the one or more terminal devices 100 , or transmit message confirmation information of each message to the one or more terminal devices 100 . .

The storage unit 220 is configured to store programs and data necessary for or generated during operation of the messenger service device 200 . In particular, the storage unit 220 may store various information related to the messenger service. To this end, the message DB 221 for storing messages exchanged through the messenger service, is generated for each group conversation, and is A member table 222 for managing the participating terminal devices 100, a count table 223 for recording message confirmation information (the number of confirmed or unconfirmed) for each message generated for each group conversation and generated in the corresponding group, and One or more of the notification tables 224 that record identification information of the group conversation in which the change occurred in the message confirmation information may be stored.

The messenger service control unit 230 is configured to control overall execution of the messenger service. Specifically, the messenger service control unit 230 opens a chat room between two or more terminal devices 100 through a messenger service, controls message transmission/reception between two or more designated terminal devices 100, and manages message confirmation information for a transmitted/received message. .

In particular, the messenger service control unit 230 collects the last message confirmation time from two or more terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation while the message is transmitted through the group conversation, and compares the message generation time and the last message confirmation time Therefore, the message that occurred before the last message confirmation time is regarded as confirmed by the corresponding terminal device 100, so message confirmation information, that is, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages, is counted for each message generated during the group conversation, and the count value is It is provided to two or more terminal devices 100 to participate in the group conversation.

The operation of the messenger service controller 230 may be more easily understood through a description of a method for providing a messenger service, which will be described later.

Next, a method of providing a messenger service by the terminal device 100 and the messenger service device 200 configured as described above will be schematically described with reference to FIG. 4 .

4 is a flowchart illustrating an interworking process between a messenger service device and a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , any one of a plurality of terminal devices 100 , for example, a first terminal device 101 is another terminal device (eg, second to n-th terminal devices 102 to 10n). can be designated to transmit a group conversation request (S105). The group conversation request is generated by the first terminal device 101 according to a user input signal and transmitted to the messenger service device 200 . In addition, the first terminal device 101 may display a chat window through the output unit 130 .

In this case, the messenger service device 200 receiving the group conversation request first generates group conversation identification information for identifying the group conversation, and, in addition, a member table 222 necessary for message management in the group conversation, and a count The table 223 is allocated (S110). Here, the generated group conversation identification information may be transmitted to the first terminal device 101 .

In addition, the member table 222 is a table for managing the last message check time of the terminal device participating in the corresponding group conversation and each terminal device, and may be composed of user identification information and last check time information as shown in Table 1 below. have.

The user identification information is unique information allocated to identify users who use the messenger service, and may be allocated to each user when subscribing to the messenger service or a mobile phone number assigned to a terminal device used by the user. In addition, the last message confirmation time is time information corresponding to the last message checked by the user, and is time information measured by the internal clock of the terminal device 100 when the last message is displayed through the output unit 130 . can be Also, the last message confirmation time may be time information allocated to the confirmed last message. More specifically, message identification information is given to each message in order to identify each message that occurs during a group conversation. In this case, the message identification information may include information on a time at which the corresponding message was transmitted. Accordingly, time information included in the message identification information may be used as the last message confirmation time. The last confirmation time illustrated in Table 1 is time information extracted by the latter method. In addition, the last confirmation time may be expressed as time information such as hours/minutes/seconds, or it may be expressed as a timer value that is increased in units of a predetermined time. In Table 1 below, the last confirmation time is expressed as a timer value that is increased in units of a predetermined time.

User identification information Last check time +820000xxxxxx11 135781420487 +820000xxxxxx12 135781420497 … …

In addition, the count table 223 is a table for managing message confirmation information (the number of confirmed or unconfirmed) for each message generated in the corresponding group conversation, and is composed of message identification information and a count value, as shown in Table 2 below. can be

Message identification information Message Confirmation Information F4038fa3c5... 5 E3ae19078... 10 … …

In an embodiment of the present invention, the count table 223 sequentially records message confirmation information and deletes message confirmation information for which a preset threshold time has elapsed, so that, within a limited memory capacity, unnecessary message confirmation information is It is deleted and only the latest message confirmation information can be managed. The member table 222 and the count table 223 are generated for each group conversation, that is, for each group conversation identification information.

Meanwhile, the first terminal device 101 requesting the group conversation may create a message to be transmitted to another terminal device according to the user input signal, and transmit the message transmission request to the messenger service device 200 ( S115 ). The message transmission request may include a message created by the first terminal device 101 and group conversation identification information.

Upon receiving the message, the messenger service device 200 transmits the message included in the message transmission request to the second to n-th terminal devices 102 to 10n participating in the group conversation corresponding to the group conversation identification information (S120). ). To this end, the messenger service device 200 uses the group conversation identification information as an index to separately manage terminal device information participating in the group, that is, user identification information, or through the member table 222 as shown in Table 1 can be checked

Then, the second to n-th terminal devices 102 to 10n that have received the message from the messenger service device 200 respectively store the received message in the storage unit 140 , and then, a user input signal of the input unit 102 . Accordingly, the stored message may be retrieved and displayed through the output unit 130 .

In the present invention, when the message thus received is displayed by the output unit 130, it is determined that the user has confirmed the message.

As described above, when the user's message is checked in any one of the terminal devices that have received the message, for example, the second terminal device 102, the second terminal device 102 transmits the message check to the messenger service device ( 200) (S130). In this case, the notification of the message confirmation is made in the form of transmitting the last message confirmation time from the second terminal device 102 . In this case, the second terminal device 102 may further transmit identification information of the last checked message.

In this case, the user of the second terminal device 102 may operate the chat window to continuously check a plurality of messages generated through the corresponding group chat.

In this case, the second terminal device 102 notifies the message confirmation at an interval greater than or equal to the minimum message confirmation period. That is, the message confirmation is notified when the user confirms the message, but when the message is continuously checked, the message confirmation is notified at the minimum message confirmation period, thereby preventing excessive traffic generation.

In this way, the messenger service device 200, which has been notified of message confirmation from the terminal device participating in the group conversation, updates the member table 222 based on the received last message confirmation time (S135). More specifically, the terminal device that notified the message confirmation is extracted from the member table 222 based on the user identification information, and the last confirmation time of the corresponding terminal device is changed to the last message confirmation time received.

In addition, according to a preset condition of the messenger service device 200 , the messenger service control unit 230 of the messenger service device 200 receives messages for each message based on the last confirmation time recorded in the member table 222 . Confirmation information (the number of confirmed persons or the number of unconfirmed persons) is counted (S140). For example, when a change occurs in the last confirmation time of the member table 222, or when message confirmation information is requested from any one of the terminal apparatuses 100 participating in the group conversation, the messenger service apparatus 200 sends a message Confirmation information can be counted.

Then, the messenger service device 200 may provide the counted message confirmation information to the terminal device 100 participating in the group conversation ( S145 ). In this case, the message confirmation information may be selectively provided only for the requested terminal device 100, thereby minimizing unnecessary traffic generation.

The process of providing the messenger service according to the present invention, which is performed as described above, will be described in more detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 to 8 .

5 to 7 are flowcharts illustrating an operation process by the messenger service apparatus 200 in the method for providing a messenger service according to the present invention. With reference to this, the operation of the messenger service apparatus 200 will be described in detail. .

First, in FIG. 5 , in the method of providing a messenger service described with reference to FIG. 4 , group conversation identification information is generated, a member table 222 and a count table 223 are allocated, and then the member according to the message confirmation state of the terminal device. It is a flowchart showing the process of updating the table 222 (S110, S135) in more detail.

Referring to FIG. 5 , when receiving a group conversation request from any one of the plurality of terminal devices 100 ( S205 ), the messenger service device 200 generates group conversation identification information for identifying the requested group conversation, and (S210), and also allocates a member table 222 and a count table 223 necessary for message management in the group conversation (S215).

Thereafter, the messenger service device 200 checks whether a message transmission is requested from any one of the two or more terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation ( S220 ).

As a result of the check, when a message transmission request occurs, the message is temporarily stored (S225), and the stored message is transmitted to two or more terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation (S230).

Next, the messenger service device 200 checks whether a message confirmation notification is received from two or more terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation ( S235 ). The message confirmation notification is transmitted from the terminal device displaying the message so that the user can check it according to the user's request, and includes the last message confirmation time of the corresponding terminal device.

Accordingly, the messenger service device 200 extracts the last message confirmation time from the received message confirmation notification, and updates the member table 222 allocated for the corresponding group conversation based on this (S245). This may be accomplished by the messenger service device 200 changing the last message check time of the terminal device in the member table 222 allocated to the corresponding group conversation to the extracted last message check time.

In the above process, steps S220 to S245 are repeatedly performed while the group conversation is continued, and all messages generated in the group conversation are continuously managed, and each terminal is stored in the member table 222 according to the message confirmation status. The last message confirmation time of the device may be updated.

Next, FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail a process (S140 to S145) of calculating message confirmation information and providing it to the terminal device 100 in the method of providing the messenger service described with reference to FIG. 4 .

Referring to FIG. 6 , the messenger service device 200 checks whether message confirmation information is requested from the terminal device 100 participating in the group conversation ( S305 ). Here, when message confirmation information is requested, message identification information for one or more messages for which message confirmation information is to be provided may be transmitted together.

Accordingly, when message confirmation information is requested from the terminal device 100 , the messenger service device 200 first checks whether confirmation information of the requested message exists in the count table 223 based on the message identification information transmitted together. do (S310).

At this time, for a message that does not exist in the count table 223, the messenger service device 200 determines the last message confirmation time for each terminal device recorded in the member table 222 updated through the process of FIG. As a reference, the message confirmation information (the number of confirmed or unconfirmed) of each terminal device is counted and recorded in the count table 223 (S330).

Then, with respect to the message existing in the count table 223, the message confirmation information is extracted from the count table 223 (S320), and the extracted message confirmation information is included in the response message to the terminal device 100 to (S325).

Step S325 may be performed when message confirmation information for all messages requested by the terminal device 100 exists in the count table 223 .

As described above, the count table 223 may be updated according to a request from the terminal device 100 participating in the group conversation or when the last confirmation time recorded in the member table 222 is changed.

Next, FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the process of providing message confirmation information ( S145 ) in more detail in the method of providing the messenger service described with reference to FIG. 4 .

Referring to FIG. 7 , the messenger service apparatus 200 checks whether information in the count table 223 is changed ( S405 ). Here, the information change of the count table 223 means that the message confirmation information of a specific message is changed. In this case, the messenger service device 200 determines the group conversation identification information of the count table 223 in which the information is changed. is recorded in the notification table 224 (S410).

The notification table 224 is a table for managing a group conversation in which information to be provided from the messenger service device 200 to the terminal device exists, and identification information of the group conversation in which message confirmation information is changed is recorded.

Then, the messenger service device 200 checks whether a preset notification period (eg, 1 sec) has been reached (S415).

As a result of the check, when the preset notification period is reached, the messenger service device 200 sends an alarm message informing the terminal devices 100 participating in each group conversation recorded in the notification table 224 that the message check information has been changed. It transmits (S420).

Upon receiving the alarm message in this way, the terminal device 100 may request message confirmation information to the messenger service device 200 to receive the changed message confirmation information. In this case, the transmission of the message confirmation information may be performed as described with reference to FIG. 6 .

As described above, when the message confirmation information is changed, the messenger service device 200 notifies it, so that the terminal devices 100 participating in the group conversation do not need to periodically request the message confirmation information, according to the reception of the notification message. When the message confirmation information is changed, it is possible to request and receive the message confirmation information, and as a result, unnecessary traffic generation can be minimized.

Next, the operation of the terminal device 100 among the messenger service providing method according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 8 .

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a messenger service by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, it is a flowchart illustrating a process after receiving a message in a terminal device participating in a group conversation.

* Referring to FIG. 8 , when the terminal device 100 participating in the group conversation receives a message generated during the group conversation through the messenger service device 200 ( S505 ), the terminal device 100 stores the received message in the storage unit 140 . (S510). This is a process performed without user intervention, and message confirmation by the user of the terminal device 100 has not yet been made.

In the above state, the terminal device 100 may notify the user that there is a received message by displaying that the message has been received on the output unit 130 through a pop-up window or an icon.

Thereafter, when a request to display a message received through the input unit 120 occurs (S520), the terminal device 100 brings the stored message and displays it through the chat window of the output unit 130. Prior to that, the message is displayed through the chat window One or more messages to be identified are extracted (S525).

Then, the terminal device 100 requests message confirmation information for one or more extracted message identification information to the messenger service device 200 (S530).

Thereafter, in the terminal device 100, the messenger service device 200 receives message confirmation information of each message through the process of FIG. 6 (S535).

Then, as shown in FIG. 9 , the terminal device 100 maps the message 91 corresponding to the extracted message identification information and the received message confirmation information 92 to display the chat window of the output unit 130 . displayed through (S540).

Accordingly, the user of the terminal device 100 can know the recently received message and the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages.

In addition, when the message is displayed as in step S540 , the terminal device 100 extracts the last message check time over a preset minimum message check cycle and transmits it to the messenger service device 200 ( S545 , S550 ). .

Accordingly, the messenger service device 200 may continuously collect and update the last message confirmation time for each terminal device 100 participating in the group conversation.

The messenger service providing method according to the present invention may be implemented in the form of software readable through various computer means and recorded in a computer readable recording medium. Here, the recording medium may include a program command, a data file, a data structure, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the recording medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software. For example, the recording medium includes a magnetic medium such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, and a magnetic tape, an optical recording medium such as a compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), a digital video disk (DVD), and a floppy disk. Magneto-Optical Media, such as a disk, and hardware devices specially configured to store and carry out program instructions, such as ROM, Random Access Memory (RAM), Flash memory, etc. do. Examples of program instructions may include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. Such hardware devices may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

In addition, although exemplary device configurations are described herein and in the drawings, implementations of the functional operations and subject matter described herein may be implemented in other types of digital electronic circuits, or structures disclosed herein and structural equivalents thereof. It can be implemented as computer software, firmware or hardware including the above, or a combination of one or more of them. Implementations of the subject matter described herein relate to one or more computer program products, ie computer program instructions encoded on a tangible program storage medium for execution by or for controlling the operation of an apparatus according to the invention. It can be implemented as the above modules. The computer readable medium may be a machine readable storage device, a machine readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter that affects a machine readable radio wave signal, or a combination of one or more thereof.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script or code) mounted on the device according to the invention and executing the method according to the invention is a programming language comprising compiled or interpreted language or a priori or procedural language. It can be written in any form of language, and can be deployed in any form, including standalone programs, modules, components, subroutines, or other units suitable for use in a computer environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program may be in a single file provided to the requested program, or in multiple interacting files (eg, files that store one or more modules, subprograms, or portions of code), or portions of files that hold other programs or data. (eg, one or more scripts stored within a markup language document). The computer program may be deployed to be executed on a single computer or multiple computers located at one site or distributed over a plurality of sites and interconnected by a communication network.

Computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as EPROMs, EEPROMs and flash memory devices, such as magnetic disks such as internal hard disks or external disks, magneto-optical disks and CD-ROMs. and all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including DVD-ROM disks. The processor and memory may be supplemented by, or integrated into, special purpose logic circuitry.

While this specification contains numerous specific implementation details, they should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or claim, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions. should be understood Certain features that are described herein in the context of separate embodiments may be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments, either individually or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although features operate in a particular combination and may be initially depicted as claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be excluded from the combination, the claimed combination being a sub-combination. or a variant of a sub-combination.

Likewise, although acts are depicted in the figures in a particular order, it should not be construed that all acts shown must be performed or that such acts must be performed in the specific order or sequential order shown in order to achieve desirable results. In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Further, the separation of the various system components of the above-described embodiments should not be construed as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the program components and systems described may generally be integrated together into a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. You have to understand that you can.

Certain embodiments of the subject matter described herein have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, acts recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. As an example, the processes illustrated in the accompanying drawings do not necessarily require the specific illustrated order or sequential order to achieve desirable results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

The present description sets forth the best mode of the invention, and provides examples to illustrate the invention, and to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. This written specification does not limit the present invention to the specific terms presented. Accordingly, although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above-described examples, those skilled in the art can make modifications, changes, and modifications to the examples without departing from the scope of the present invention.

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

According to the present invention, when a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate is provided through a messenger service device, the last message confirmation time is collected from the two or more terminal devices, and the last message confirmation time is collected based on the last message confirmation time. By counting the message as read, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages can be calculated during group conversations.

In particular, the present invention does not store messages generated during group conversations in the server device, but updates and manages only the last message confirmation time for each terminal device participating in the group conversations through the member table, thereby minimizing traffic generation and messages generated during group conversations. It is possible to easily calculate the number of confirmed or unconfirmed

In addition, the present invention manages the count value for the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages generated for each group conversation calculated from the last message confirmation time through the count table, but by deleting the information recorded in the count table at a certain period, With the minimum amount of memory, it is possible to manage the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages generated during group conversations.

In addition, the present invention separately manages a group conversation in which the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages is changed through the notification table, and a notification message notifying that there is a change in the message confirmation information at regular intervals for each group conversation recorded in the notification table By notifying the message, it is possible to manage the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages while minimizing traffic generation.

10: communication network 100, 101 to 10n: terminal device
200: messenger service device 210: communication unit
220: storage 221: message DB
222: member table 223: count table
224: notification table 230: messenger service control unit

Claims (3)

a communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from two or more terminal devices participating in a group conversation through a communication network;
The number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for messages generated during the group conversation by collecting the last message confirmation time from the two or more terminal devices through the communication unit and determining that a message that occurred before that time was read based on the last message confirmation time a messenger service control unit for counting and providing a count value for each message to the two or more terminal devices; including,
The messenger service control unit,
After recording the last message confirmation time collected from the two or more terminal devices in the member table, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for the message generated in the group conversation is counted based on the member table, and assigned to each group conversation, group conversation records in the count table to manage the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages per message generated in
When the information recorded in the count table is changed, the identification information of the corresponding group conversation is recorded in the notification table, and two or more terminal devices participating in the group conversation recorded in the notification table at a certain period change the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages A messenger service device, characterized in that it notifies that this has occurred. a communication unit communicating with the messenger service device through a communication network;
a storage unit for storing messages transmitted and received through the communication unit;
an output unit for displaying the message;
A control unit that interworks with one or more of the communication unit, the storage unit, and the output unit, displays a message generated during a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate, on the output unit, extracts the last message confirmation time, and transmits it to the messenger service device ; including,
The control unit is
After the last message confirmation time is transmitted to the messenger service device, and the messenger service device records the last message confirmation time in a member table, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for a message generated in the corresponding group conversation based on the member table to be counted, assigned to each group conversation, recorded in a count table for managing the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages per message that occurred in the group conversation, and to delete message confirmation information for which a preset threshold time has elapsed,
When the information recorded in the count table is changed, the messenger service device records identification information of the corresponding group conversation in the notification table, and at least two terminal devices participating in the group conversation recorded in the notification table at regular intervals, the number of message checkers or a terminal device, characterized in that it is notified that a change has occurred in the number of unconfirmed persons. A messenger service device connected to two or more terminal devices through a communication network,
collecting a last message confirmation time from the two or more terminal devices during a group conversation in which two or more terminal devices participate;
counting the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for the message generated during the group conversation by determining that a message that occurred before that message has been read based on the last message confirmation time; and
providing a count value to the two or more terminal devices; including,
The counting step is
After recording the last message confirmation time collected from the two or more terminal devices in the member table, the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages for the message generated in the group conversation is counted based on the member table, and assigned to each group conversation, group conversation records in the count table to manage the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages per message generated in
When the information recorded in the count table is changed, the identification information of the corresponding group conversation is recorded in the notification table, and two or more terminal devices participating in the group conversation recorded in the notification table at a certain period change the number of confirmed or unconfirmed messages A method for providing a messenger service, characterized in that it notifies that this has occurred.

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