A METHOD FOR ESTABLISHING A NETWORK PLATFORM FOR RENTING THE ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS

Abstract

 A method for establishing a network platform for renting the electronic publications adopts a grid algorithm, links to the Internet via various networks, and establishes the network platform having an information service grid character for renting the electronic publication. Three types of nodes are established in the information service grid: a first type of node is established as service domain owner and the administrator grid node; a second type of node is established as service provider grid node that is composed of the consumers of the electronic publication; and the third type of node is established as the service provider grid node which is composed of the publishers of the electronic publication; the three types of node provide the network information service by utilizing the grid computing mode and the SOAP. The service provider grid nodes can do online maintenance on the content of the electronic publication provided by them and collect the charge. And the service consumer grid nodes can obtain the service provided by the service provider nodes through the variant service paths, which are provided by the service domain owner and the administrator grid nodes, and pay the service fee.

Description

Field of Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for establishing a network platform for electronic publication renting, more particularly, to a method for establishing a platform where electronic publication consumers access to the Internet through various network access approaches (e.g. Internet, Satellite communication network, cable television network, wireless broadband network, computer network and local telephone network, etc) and acquire various electronic publication service published by service provider gird nodes on an information service grid composed of service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, service provider grid nodes and service requester grid nodes.

Background of Invention

[0002] With the constant development of various networks and the abundance of various electronic publications, there is an increasing demand that electronic publication consumers consume electronic publications via network. Floods of and distributed electronic publications need to be published. Meanwhile, the electronic publication consumers demand customized electronic publication consumption, which means that exchanges such as information and contents exchange between the electronic publication consumers and the electronic publication publishers are required. An information service grid is needed to provide a unified and highly efficient information service to converge floods of electronic publication resources in a virtual space with Digital Rights Management (DRM). The information service grid provides electronic publication consumers with services to rent and purchase their selected electronic publications, and read and watch their selected electronic publications via various display devices with the support of electronic publication renting network platform. With the support of electronic publication renting network platform, the electronic publication publishers are provided with services to publish, rent electronic publications that belong to the electronic publication publishers and to make publication profits from the electronic publications by charging fees.

[0003] By comparing the advanced computational infrastructure (i.e. network) with the information highway (i.e. broadband network), information highway is the information infrastructure for information transportation and acquisition while the advanced computational infrastructure is the information infrastructure for information processing. Although there are plans for continuous expansion of bandwidth for information highway and improvement of routers at home and broad, scientists from home and abroad believe that the real next generation information infrastructure is the advanced computational infrastructure which brings a fundamental change to information processing that mainly relies on computers. The nature of this change is the upgrade of World Wide Web (WWW) to Great Global Grid (GGG).

[0004] To establish the information service grid of electronic publication renting network platform requires various mainstream technologies among which include middleware technology, Peer-to-Peer (P2P), Web Service, Open Grid Services Architecture, etc.

Summary

[0005] One object of the present invention is to provide a method for establishing an electronic publication renting network platform which includes distributed electronic publication resources that have Digital Rights Management feature and can be added or withdrawn at any time, blocks heterogeneous resource differences of each grid node in the information service grid and blocks spatial characteristic of each grid node in the information service grid.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for establishing an electronic publication renting network platform where the electronic publication consumers are able to obtain services for renting, purchasing electronic publications.

[0007] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for establishing an electronic publication renting network platform where the electronic publication publishers are able to obtain content publication service and content renting service, which have electronic publication copyright protection.

[0008] To these ends, the technical solution adopted by the establishing method of the present invention is:

[0009] Utilizing various network access approaches to access the Internet and utilizing multiple types of grid nodes (at least three types) to constitute the information service grid; establishing three types of grid nodes in the information service grid: a first type of grid node being established as service domain owner and administrator grid nodes; a second type of grid node being established as service requester grid nodes composed of electronic publication consumer group; a third type of grid node being established as service provider grid nodes composed of electronic publication publisher group; wherein the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes provide communication and services with the service requester grid nodes and the service provider grid nodes via networks and the foregoing information service grid constitutes the electronic publication renting network platform.

[0010] The detailed establishing method is:

<1> First, to establish service domain owner and administrator grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform: utilizing various computer systems having multi-user and multi-task (multi-user and multi-task are proprietary terms for computer systems) functionalities, adopting Web Service approach and Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) to establish the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, blocking heterogeneous resource differences of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, blocking spatial characteristic of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, connecting the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes to the Internet via various network access approaches, establishing as the first type of grid node which is established with the functions for processing various service request paths, on-line service computation and service matchmaking signaling in the information service grid so as to enable the first type of grid node to be the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes on the electronic publication renting network platform.

<2> Then, to establish the service requester grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform: configuring a multi-media terminal with Digital Rights Management feature and a handheld wireless remote controller and configuring the playback of a general television set; allowing to connect the service requester grid nodes to the Internet through various network access approaches, employing various virtualized service environment request paths of said service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, obtaining various network services on the platform, establishing as the second type of grid node of the information service grid so as to enable the second type of grid node to be the service requester grid nodes on the electronic publication renting network platform.

<3> Finally, to establish the service provider (or referred to as service supplier) grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform: utilizing various computer systems having multi-user and multi-task functionalities, adopting Web Service approach and Open Grid Services Architecture, blocking heterogeneous resource difference of the service provider grid node, blocking spatial characteristic of the service provider grid node, connecting the service provider (or referred to as service supplier) grid node to the Internet via various network access approaches, establishing as the third type of grid node which includes various electronic publications and is capable of executing content service with said service domain owner and administrator grid node and said service requester grid node so as to enable the third type of grid node to be the service provider (or referred to as service supplier) grid node on the electronic publication renting network platform.

[0011] The above-mentioned service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, the service requester grid nodes and the service provider grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform may all connect to the Internet through various networks (e.g. Internet, satellite communication network, cable television network, wireless broadband network, computer network and local telephone network, etc.) and may communicate and provide service to each other by utilizing Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) having interoperability feature and Extensible Markup Language (XML) information processing framework (as mentioned above), and thus achieve advanced interoperability feature.

[0012] The above-mentioned service domain of the electronic publication renting network platform represents a set of like or related Web services via a public service entrance point. With the application of autonomic computing principle, extensibility and operability of the service grid system is established based on Web service and grid system architecture and the Web service and grid service are combined together. The service requesters just face with a clear and explicit (friendly and concise) directory page layout, while the service request and response seem to be the same as the local machine. It is fully realized that any service requester, at anywhere and any time, as long as the service requester grid node executes the power-on operation, can complete the link initialization of the service request. It is a virtualized tremendous electronic publication renting network platform that the service requesters are faced with. With the variation of the operation environment, the platform is able to dynamically configure itself, constantly perform self-monitoring and optimize operation status. If the platform is found to be attacked from an unknown source or a potential problem of a fault is found, the platform may control center operation and reset system by setting strategy rule (including service selection), service mapping, and issue handling of the electronic publication renting network platform, so as to enable the platform to operate normally and stably and ensure that the platform delivers high-quality service.

[0013] The method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform enjoys the following distinguished features:

<1> As previously described, the establishing method of the present invention is to provide a platform similar to an operation system for grid resource service by grid computing. The platform blocks heterogeneous resource difference of each grid node, blocks spatial characteristic of each grid node, manages grid resources such as computing, storage and network, provides interactability and interoperability between the applications. The distinguished feature for the established electronic publication renting network platform lies in that the information service grid utilizes the existing grid infrastructure, protocol specifications, World Wide Web (WWW) and database technology to provide an integrated intelligent information platform, the goal of which is to create a new generation information platform and software infrastructure built upon the Operation System (OS) and World Wide Web (WWW) and based on Internet. On this platform, the way of information processing is distributed, synergic and intelligent. Users may access all the information through a single entrance point. The ultimate goal that the electronic publication renting network platform pursues is to realize Service On Demand and One Click Is Enough service.

<2> As previously described, the establishing method of the present invention is to provide an information service to the service requester via a multi-media terminal device, wherein information service is easy to operate and can be detached from the network to play independently the contents which have authorized copyrights and have the information of service frequencies.

<3> As previously described, the establishing method of the present invention is to enable the service request from the service requester to enter the information service grid by setting up various request paths (various on-line request service paths such as Call Center service, grid service and mobile short message, etc.), where this type of service request messages are analyzed by the service domain owner and administrator.

<4> As previously described, the establishing method of the present invention is to utilize Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) having interoperability feature and Extensible Markup Language (XML) information processing framework. The service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, the service requester grid nodes and the service provider grid nodes establish communication and services to each other via networks. With the support of Simple Object Access Protocol, the management platform, content group and user group cooperate to compute together and process the required data of their own.

<5> As previously described, the establishing method of the present invention is that the service requester uses the wireless remote controller for operation (or a button for direct operation), uses the general television set for playback and utilizes various network access methods to import to the information service grid and employ the service of the information service grid.

<6> As previously described, the establishing method of the present invention is to dynamically constitute the electronic publication renting network platform where the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, service requester grid nodes and the service provider grid nodes can be added or deleted at any time.

<7> As previously described, since the method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform according to the present invention utilizes Web Service approach and Open Grid Service Architecture (OGSA), the electronic publication renting network platform established using the method of the present invention has high extensibility in which: complying with the standard of Grid Service of Open Grid Services Infrastructure (OGSI) makes it possible for the platform to be expanded constantly. The service capability of the whole platform is hardly restrained. With the successive enrollment of service providers (or publishers), the service contents, which the platform is able to provide, are getting more and more enriched. With the constant expansion of the grid processing capability, the number of the users that the platform supports will also increase continuously.

<8> As previously described, the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the method of the present invention has a center service domain which serves as a service access entrance point for a set of related services. The entrance point is a place where service providers register their services and is also a place where service providers build the service domain system architecture by instantiating the objects of the service center. The center service domain is set as a default strategy. That is, the center service domain utilizes different service levels for the service providers according to the provided service functions. It differentiates services from different service providers based on the service selection requirements from the users. Each service provided from the service provider maps to the related service instance of the service provider. Users may use service functions authorized by service levels based on service selections. The center service domain will use a plurality of selection rules to select instances from appropriate supply service pool to request service for accessing the platform.

<9> As previously described, the method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the present invention is that the service requester grid nodes submit service requests and the program contents are rent to the terminals of the service requester grid nodes through grid service. The contents when being played are not subject to network bandwidth. Consequently, the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the method of the present invention enjoys reliable quality and has great service quality assurance. The effect of using the electronic publications satisfies the users.

<10> As previously described, the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the present invention is based on grid technology. Therefore, grid storage could be adopted to well protect the data of the whole platform from loss of data.

<11> As previously described, since the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, the service requester grid nodes and the service provider grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the present invention can be added at any time or deleted at any time, there is no limitation to the number of grid nodes.

[0014] The development of the transformation from the Internet to the World Wide Web (WWW) causes the number of the users to increase from millions bases to billion bases and causes the application range to be covered from scientific and educational areas to all aspects of social strata, while the influence of the transformation from the World Wide Web (WWW) to Great Global Grid (GGG) results in a transition from a surface application which mainly relies on information sharing or information exchange etc. to a deep-level application which mainly relies on highly effective cooperation and supports for decision-making and results in a transition from an application that concentrates on convenient communication to an application that concentrates on comprehensive capability. For example, the application of information grid of the present invention looks like a simple information service for content distribution and service on demand. However, due to the adoption of the grid technology, the support capability for simultaneous on-line acquisition for services is greatly improved, which mitigates the bandwidth bottleneck of each grid node and enhances the effective throughputs of the information service.

[0015] With the continuous development of computer and network technology, the information service system has become a complex system of multi-platform and multi-system. This entails the information service system program to be provided with an extensive compatibility to support different system platforms, data formats and various connection methods. It is required that the implementation system, in the various network environments, be loosely coupled, cross-platform, irrelevant of languages, irrelevant of specific interface and provide reliable access for the application program of the World Wide Web (WWW). With the continuous increase of the heterogeneous computing environments, the interoperability between each system becomes more and more necessary, which requires that systems communicate and share data seamlessly and thereby eliminates information island, realizes information sharing, carries out data exchange and achieves information consistency in the various network environments. The fact that the present invention adopts the Web Service approach is intended to make it possible for different systems to call each other by means of "software-software dialog", to break the status of the incompatibility between software applications, websites and various equipments and to achieve the objective of "WEB-based seamless integration".

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016] 

Figure 1 illustrates grid node architecture on a platform established through a method for establishing electronic publication renting network platform according to the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates detailed architecture of various grid nodes embodiments on the information service grid of an electronic publication renting network platform established according to a method of the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates various network access modes for service requester grid nodes established through a method for establishing electronic publication renting network platform according to the present invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart of requesting and acquiring service for service requester grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform consistent with Figure 1 according to the method of the present invention.

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart of acquiring service request and providing service for service provider grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform consistent with Figure 1 according to the method of the present invention.

Detailed Descriptions of the Preferred Embodiments

[0017] Methods of the present invention will further be presented hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings and the detailed embodiments. A method for establishing electronic publication renting network platform is described below.

[0018] As shown in Figure 1, information service grid can be built through methods for accessing the Internet via various networks (e.g. Internet, Satellite communication network, cable television network, wireless broadband network, computer network and local telephone network, etc). Three types of grid nodes are established in the information service grid. The first type of grid nodes 1 is established as the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01. The second type of grid nodes 2 is established as the service requester grid nodes 02 composed of electronic publication consumers. The third type of grid nodes 3 is established as the service provider grid nodes 03 composed of electronic publication publishers. The service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01, the service requester grid nodes 02 and the service provider grid nodes 03 communicate and provide service through the grid and the foregoing information service grid constitutes the electronic publication renting network.

[0019] The detailed method for establishing the foregoing information service grid includes:

<1 > First, to establish service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 of the electronic publication renting network platform: utilizing various computer systems having multi-user and multi-task functionalities, adopting Web Service approach and Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) to establish the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, blocking heterogeneous resource differences of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, blocking spatial characteristic of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, connecting the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes to the Internet via various network access approaches, establishing as the first type of grid nodes 1 which is established with the functions for processing various service request paths, on-line service computation and service matchmaking in the information service grid so as to enable the first type of grid nodes to be the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 on the electronic publication renting network platform.

<2> Then, to establish the service requester grid nodes 02 of the electronic publication renting network platform: utilizing a multi-media terminal with Digital Rights Management and a general television set for playback (the multi-media terminal has a wireless remote controller), connecting the service requester grid nodes to the Internet through various network access approaches, establishing as the second type of grid nodes 2 in the information service grid where the second type of grid nodes 2 utilizes various service request paths of the foregoing service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 and obtains various network services on the information service grid platform so as to enable the second type of grid nodes to be the service requester grid nodes 02 on the electronic publication renting network platform.

<3> Finally, to establish the service provider (or referred to as service supplier) grid nodes 03 of the electronic publication renting network platform: utilizing various computer systems having multi-user and multi-task functionalities, adopting Web Service approach and Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA), blocking heterogeneous resource difference of the service provider grid nodes, blocking spatial characteristic of the service provider grid nodes, connecting the service provider (or referred to as service supplier) grid node to the Internet via various network access approaches, establishing as the third type of grid nodes 3 which includes various electronic publications and is capable of conducting content services with the foregoing service domain owner and administrator grid nodes and said service requester grid nodes so as to enable the third type of grid nodes to be the service provider (or referred to as service supplier) grid nodes 03 on the electronic publication renting network platform.

[0020] As illustrated in Figure 1, under the framework of the information service grid on the electronic publication renting network platform, the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 on the first type of grid nodes 1, the service requester grid nodes 02 on the second type of grid nodes 2 and the service provider grid nodes 03 on the third type of grid nodes 3 may be added or deleted at any time. Consequently, there is no limitation on the number of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01, the service requester grid nodes 02 and the service provider grid nodes 03.

[0021] As illustrated in Figure 1, the service requester grid nodes 02 on the electronic publication renting network platform according to the present invention include a user group composed of at least one electronic publication consumer. The service provider grid nodes 03 on the electronic publication renting network platform according to the present invention include a content group composed of at least one electronic publication publisher.

[0022] As illustrated in Figure 1, the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 on the electronic publication renting network platform communicate, through various network (e.g. Internet, Satellite communication network, cable television network, wireless broadband network, computer network and local telephone network, etc) accessing methods, with the service provide grid nodes 03 and the service requester grid nodes 02 using Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) 4 having an interoperability feature and thereby realize the advanced interoperability.

[0023] The foregoing Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) employed in the present invention is a simple protocol for information exchange in a decentralized or distributed environment and is a protocol based on Extensible Markup Language (EML). As a communication protocol, the Simple Object Access Protocol can be implemented in various programming languages under various operation systems (e.g. Windows, Solaris, Mac OS UNIX, LINUX, etc) and on various computer platforms (e.g. IBM PC, APPLE Power MAC, SUN WorkStation, etc). The Simple Object Access Protocol includes four parts: 1) Simple Object Access Protocol envelop (SOAP envelop) which defines what the content of an information description is, who sends it, who should receive and process it and how to process their frameworks; 2) Simple Object Access Protocol encoding rules (SOAP-encoding-rules) which is used to represent instances of the data types required by application programs; 3) Simple Object Access Protocol representation (SOAP RPC representation) which represents protocols for remote procedure call and answer; 4) Simple Object Access Protocol binding (SOAP binding) which utilizes base layer protocol to exchange information, as described in the below embodiment of an SOAP protocol.

[0024] Below is an example of request for acquiring server address sent from the service requester grid node 02 to the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01. === request envelop begin === <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <SOAP-ENV: Envelope xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"> <SOAP-ENV:Header> <SoapHeaderClass> <STBID>0050C2262000</STBID> (ID of the STB) <CardID>86430A5FC3122726</CardID> (ID of the smart card) <ValidCheck>24FA8798FF361 F913B83BD6F1 F8F3C8D</ValidCheck> (authority code, authentication code) <Language>ZH_CN</Language> (STB language) </SoapHeaderClass> </SOAP-ENV: Header> <SOAP-ENV:Body> <RequestServerIP> (Request method) <MAC>0050C2262000</MAC> (MAC address of STB) </RequestServerIP> </SOAP-ENV:Body> </SOAP-ENV:Envelope> === request envelope end ===

[0025] Below is the response to acquiring server address service provided from the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 based on the foregoing request from the service requester grid node 02. === response envelope begin === <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <soap: Envelope xmlns: soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"> <soap: Body> <RequestServerIPResp xmlns="http://www.mv3.cn/services"> (Request for response) <RequestServerIPResult>http://211.161.197.178/WebService/</RequestS erverIPResult> </RequestServerIPResp> (Response result, indicating the addresses of the available servers) </soap: Body> </soap: Envelope> === response envelope end ===

[0026] Figure 2 illustrates detailed architecture of an embodiment of each grid node on the information service grid of the electronic publication renting network platform established according to a method of the present invention. As illustrated in Figure 2, in the present embodiment, the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 established on the first type of grid node 1 connect to various networks 5 (including Internet, wireless network, cable television network, cable telephone network, wireless telephone network, etc) via network access routing 105. On-line management 104 manages the on-line status of the service provide grid nodes 03 and the service requester grid nodes 02; The catalog publication of the electronic publications 106 of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 publishes electronic publication catalog to the service requester grid nodes 02; ID identification and fee transaction 107 is responsible for the ID identification and fee transaction for the service requester grid nodes 02 and the service provider grid nodes 03; service management (transaction) 108 is responsible for matchmaking the service requests from the service requester grid nodes 02 with the service instances provided by the service provider grid nodes 03.

[0027] As shown in the embodiment of Figure 2, the established service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 are responsible for configuring the operation strategy and monitoring center behavior, which includes registration and cancellation of the provided service instances, maintenance of its control of the service quality and execution the processing of the manual faults transfer. More specifically, the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 are responsible for ID identification of the service requester grid nodes 02 and the service provider grid nodes 03, service management, data safety; responsible for digitalizing book information, digitalizing audio and video publication and delivery of various electronic publications, etc; responsible for service fee collection and payment; and provide a plurality of service paths serving the service requester grid nodes 02, including Call Center service 101, mobile short message service and WAP network service 102, and WWW network service (order) 103,etc. The service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 deliver the electronic publications from one service provider grid node 02 or more service provider grid nodes 02 to the multi-media terminals 206 of the service requester grid nodes 02 in compliance with the rules of information service grid. The service requester grid nodes 02 may utilize handheld wireless remote controller to operate the multi-media terminals 206 and employ external general television sets 205 for playback. Or, the service requester grid nodes 02 use buttons which can directly operate the multi-media terminals 206 and employ external general television sets 205 for playback.

[0028] As shown in Figure 2, the service paths, which is established by the foregoing service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 of the electronic publication renting network platform in the present embodiment, includes operator service and automated service 101 of the Call Center, mobile short message and a plurality of request service paths for on-line services such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) network service 102, World Wide Web (WWW) network order service 103, wherein:

●Call Center service 101 receives service requests from the service requester grid nodes 02 using general telephone 201. The content of the service includes:

business consultation, which introduces features, usages, charging methods, etc. to the users;

account query, which provides real-time account information to the users;

renting content, which accepts and confirms the service requests of the users;

user complaints, which receives the user complaints and records reasonable suggestions from the users as well.

● mobile short message and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) network service 102.

[0029] The content of the service includes:

[0030] The service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 are responsible for configuring mobile short message and WAP network service 102, receiving service requests which is sent by the service requester grid nodes by short message using mobile phone 202 to the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01, and, at the mean time, replying confirmation information by short message. The service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 also provide order information of hot publications to the users for their selection by WAP network service.

● World Wide Web (WWW) network order service 103. The content of the service includes:

business consultation, which introduces features, usages, charging methods, etc. to the users;

account query, which provides real-time account information to the users;

renting content, which accepts and confirms the service requests of the users;

user complaints, which receives user complaints and records reasonable suggestions from the users as well.

[0031] As illustrated in the embodiment of Figure 2, the detailed architecture of the service requester grid nodes established on the second type of grid node is:

establishing service requester grid nodes 02 which at least include one electronic publication consumer. The service requester grid nodes 02 utilize multi-media terminals 206 and general television sets 205 to appreciate the electronic publications wherein the multi-media terminals 206 are provided with digital right management (DRM) feature. The multi-media terminals 206 have a feature for automatic registration to the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 (the multi-media terminal 206 is a product provided by a patent).

[0032] The service requester grid nodes 02 on the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the method of the present invention may acquire the services of electronic publication renting network platform by using various broadband internet access approaches. The various access approaches are illustrated in Figure 3.

● When the service requester grid node 02-1 utilizes ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) to access various networks 5, a broadband router 207 can be used for access via ADSL MODEM 208, which constitutes configuration plan 1 for the service requester grid nodes 02.

● When the service requester grid node 02-2 utilizes FTTB (FTTB+LAN (FTTB for short): i.e. Fiber to The Building) to access networks 5, a hub 207 can be used, which constitutes configuration plan 2 for the service requester grid nodes 02.

● When the service requester grid node 02-3 utilizes Cable (cables of the cable television) to access networks 5, a broadband router 207 connecting a Cable MODEM can be used for access, which constitutes configuration plan 3 for the service requester grid nodes 02.

● When the service requester grid node 02-4 utilizes satellite communication to access networks 5, a digital satellite receiver 207 can be used for access, which constitutes configuration plan 4 for the service requester grid nodes 02.

● When the service requester grid node 02-5 utilizes wireless network to access networks 5, a wireless broadband router 207 can be used directly for access, which constitutes configuration plan 5 for the service requester grid nodes 02.

[0033] For all the foregoing configuration plans of the service requester grid nodes 02, their users 204 all utilize general television sets 205 and multi-media terminals 206 to appreciate electronic publications. Moreover, download method is employed to complete the playback of the authorized information content. The playback mode established on the service requester grid nodes 02 is to be disconnected from the network to independently play the information content that is authorized to play, or to connect to the network to play the information content that is authorized to play.

[0034] The information service grid method that utilizes Service On Demand or One Click Is Enough service (i.e. browse information content directly through the multi-media terminal) is established on the service provider grid nodes of electronic publication renting network platform.

[0035] Among all the configuration plans of the service requester grid nodes 02, the service requester grid nodes 02 may make service requests to the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 via the foregoing request service paths provided by the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01. As illustrated in Figure 2, user 204 may make service request by using general telephone 201, mobile phone 202, personal computer 203 or multi-media terminal 206 through Call Center operator service 101, mobile short message service 102, network order service 203 (website browsing service or wireless website browsing service, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)), or by directly clicking the multi-media terminal 206, i.e., the user 204 may use the remote controller (or directly operate the button) to operate at the multi-media terminal 206. In other words, the foregoing established service requester grid nodes 02 are able to establish communication with the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 and the service provider grid nodes 03 through various networks 5 including Internet, satellite communication network, cable television network, wireless broadband network, computer network and local telephone network, etc, and is able to achieve the advanced interoperability feature by utilizing Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) having interoperability feature and Extensible Markup Language (XML) information processing framework (as mentioned above). The service requester grid nodes 02 may receive service through multi-media terminals 206. The service requester grid nodes 02 may rent and purchase the electronic publications published by the service provider grid nodes 03 via a plurality of service paths provided by the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 and pay the service fee. The service requester grid nodes 02 may read the electronic publications at any time in compliance with the digital right management approach.

[0036] As illustrated in Figure 2, the detailed architecture of the grid node for the established service provider grid nodes 03 is: establishing the service provider grid nodes 03 which at least include one electronic publication publisher on the third type of grid nodes 3; configuring electronic publication content server 301 on the service provider grid nodes 03. The content data storage of the service provider grid nodes 03 may carry out design and build-up physical location according to the self-condition of the service provider grid nodes 03. (e.g. stored in the local service provider grid nodes 03, IDC, etc.) The logical locations (i.e. the domain names on the network or fixed IP addresses) of the service provider grid nodes 03 must be registered to the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01 on the electronic publication renting network platform.

[0037] The service provider grid nodes 03 manage their own content data and submit content lists and data of brief introduction to the electronic publication renting network platform under the direction of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes 01. According to the data from a plurality of service provide gird nodes 03 and the customization request from the service requester grid nodes 02, the electronic publication renting network platform will automatically combine them as a renting content list and deliver the renting content list to the service requester grid nodes 02.

[0038] The established service provider grid nodes 03 as illustrated in Figure 2 may establish communication with the service domain owner and administrator gird nodes 01 and the service requester grid nodes 02 through various networks 5 including Internet, satellite communication network, cable television network, wireless broadband network, computer network and local telephone network, etc, and may achieve the advanced interoperability feature by utilizing EML information processing framework provided by the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) having interoperability feature. The service provider grid nodes 03 may do on-line maintenance to the content of the electronic publications provided by them, and collect the service compensation (service fee, etc.) from the service domain owner and administrator gird nodes 01 after providing services to the service requester grid nodes 02. The service provider grid nodes 01 will store the contents of their electronic publications in the content group units (publisher units, physical locations can be local places of the publishers or different places) on the platform. The electronic publication publishers may do on-line maintenance and provide electronic publication content. The service provider grid nodes 03 will register the provided services on the electronic publication renting network platform, and may also cancel the provided services. Registration and cancellation of the services will result in addition or deletion of service instances in the service instance list in the service domain. The service providers will make selection among providers' service requests provided to the electronic publication renting network platform to register their service instances. The service providers will not make choice to support what kind of user services. The electronic publication renting network platform will use such relationship as part of it strategy configuration to perform mapping.

[0039] Figure 4 is a flowchart of requesting and acquiring services for the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the method of the present invention.

(1) The service requester grid node 02 logs on: When the service requester grid node 02, which has already registered on the management platform of the electronic publication renting network platform, opens the multi-media terminal, the multi-media terminal will log on automatically. The service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 is informed that the multi-media terminal is on line.

(2) The service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 publishes the renting content list: When the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 is acquiring the on-line signal of the multi-media terminal of the service requester, the content list is automatically published to the multi-media terminal of the service requester grid node 02.

(3) The service requester grid node 02 selects function: The service requester grid node 02 may select renting, playback functions at the multi-media terminal.

(4) Select renting content: The service requester grid node 02 may make content renting selection through the multi-media terminal, computer, cell phone and calling system with operator service. The cell phone or the calling system with operator service (this calling system includes Call Center, Communication Center, Service Center Business; this calling system can communicate directly with customers by voice. The Call-Center-Agent handles customer selection for electronic publication renting, customer complaints, answering questions from customers and consumer service, etc) acquire the renting content list.

(5) Check user resources: After the service requester completes content renting selection, the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 may check resources and funds of the multi-media terminal of the service requester grid node 02. If the requirement for the resources is not met, the multi-media terminal will require the service requester grid node 02 to select resources. If the requirement for the funds is not met, the multi-media terminal will inform the service requester grid node 02 to deal with the fund issue. When the service requester grid node 02 gifts the renting content to other service requester grid node 02, the gifted service requester grid node 02 will have a funds check.

(6) Create key, create ID: After the service requester grid node 02 meets the requirement, the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 creates key and creates ID for the service requester grid node 02 in order to enable an effective communication between the service provider grid node 03 and the content storage multi-media terminal of the service requester grid node 02.

(7) Deliver key and ID to the service provider grid node 03: the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 submit the key and the ID which are created together with the content storage multi-media terminal of the service requester grid node 02 to the related service provider grid node 03 and conduct authorization for content renting.

(8) Enable dialogs between the service requester and the service provider: Once the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 completes key and ID creation and delivery, dialogs between the service requester grid node 02 and the service provider grid node 03 are enabled.

(9) The related service provider grid node 03 checks key and ID: the related service provider grid node 03 checks the key and ID of the service requester grid node 02 and establishes a delivery mechanism for the renting content.

(10) Deliver the renting content: deliver the renting content to the multi-media terminal, which is the destination for the content storage, from the service provider grid node 03 to the service requester grid node 02.

(11) Select the rented content and play it: the service requester grid node 02 selects the downloaded renting content to play.

(12) Check content integrity: the multi-media terminal of the service requester grid node 02 checks integrity of the renting content.

(13) Check content key: the multi-media terminal of the service requester grid node 02 checks the key for the renting content and the key of the multi-media terminal, and generates a play request of the service requester node.

(14) Submit the play request of the service requester grid node 02: the multi-media terminal of the service requester grid node 02 submits the play request to the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01.

(15) Acquire play-allowed key: the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 calculates the play key according to the play request from the service requester grid node 02 and delivers the key to the multi-media terminal of the destination of the service requester grid node 02.

(16) Play according to the content key and the play key: the multi-media terminal of the destination play the renting content according to the content key and play key.

(17) Calculate fee according to the content key and play key: the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 calculates the fees for the renting service of the service requester grid node 02 according to the content key and the play key, and charges fees and allocates fees according to the fee calculation and the copyright agreement with the service provider grid node 03.

[0040] Figure 5 is a flowchart of receiving request and providing service of the electronic publication renting network platform established according to the method of the present invention.

(1) The service provider grid node 03 logs on: When the service provider grid node 03 that has already registered on the management platform of the electronic publication renting network platform opens the node, the grid node will log on automatically. The service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 is informed that the node content server of the service provider grid node 03 is on line.

(2) The service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 builds up an instance of the service provider grid node 03. The service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 builds up an instance of the service provider grid node 03 according to the contents in the content server of the opened service provider grid node 03.

(3) The service provider grid node 03 provides service: The service provider grid node 03 will await the service request of the service requester grid node 02, which is forwarded from the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01.

(4) Check resources: The service provider grid node 03 checks the service resources according to the service request of the service requester grid node 02, which is forwarded from the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01.

(5) Check the key and the ID of the service requester grid node 02: the service provider grid node 03 checks the key and the ID of the service requester grid node 02 according to the service request of the service requester grid node 02, which is forwarded from the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01.

(6) Check the service request of the service requester grid node 02: the service provider grid node 03 checks the service request of the service requester grid node 02 according to the service request of the service requester grid node 02, which is forwarded from the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01.

(7) Renting content delivery: the service provider grid node 03 delivers the renting content to the multi-media terminal of the destination for the content storage of the service provider grid node 03 to the service requester grid node 02 according to the service request of the service requester grid node 02, which is forwarded from the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01.

(8) Request for service fee calculation: The service provider grid node 03 completes the request service of the service requester grid node 02, sends out a request for service fee calculation to the service domain owner and administrator grid node 01 and charges the service fee.

Claims

1. A method for establishing an electronic publication renting network platform, wherein utilizing a grid algorithm and establishing information service grids via various network access approaches; establishing three types of grid nodes within the information service grids: a first type of grid nodes being established as service domain owner and administrator grid nodes; a second type of grid nodes being established as service requester grid nodes; a third type of grid nodes being established as service provider grid nodes; the three types of grid nodes carrying out network communication and network services by utilizing the grid algorithm and a Simple Object Access Protocol, wherein the information service grids composed of said grid nodes constitutes the electronic publication renting network platform.

2. The method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein the detailed establishing method comprising:

<1> establishing the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform: utilizing various computer systems having multi-user and multi-task functionalities, adopting Web Service Approach and Open Grid Services Architecture to establish the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, blocking heterogeneous resource difference of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, blocking spatial characteristic of the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, connecting the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes to the Internet via various network access approaches, establishing as the first type of grid nodes of the information service grids, wherein the first type of grid nodes are established with various service request paths processing, on-line service calculation and service matchmaking signaling so as to enable the first type of grid nodes to be the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes on the electronic publication renting network platform;

<2> establishing the service requester grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform: configuring a multi-media terminal with Digital Rights Management feature and a handheld wireless remote controller and configuring the playback of a general television set, allowing to connect the service requester grid nodes to the Internet through various network access approaches, employing various virtualized service environment request paths of said service domain owner and administrator grid nodes to acquire various network services on the platform, establishing as the second type of grid nodes of the information service grid nodes so as to enable the second type of grid nodes to be the service requester grid nodes on the electronic publication renting network platform;

<3> establishing the service provider grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform: utilizing various computer systems having multi-user and multi-task functionalities, adopting Web Service Approach and Open Grid Services Architecture, blocking heterogeneous resource difference of the service provider grid nodes, blocking spatial characteristic of the service provider grid nodes, connecting the service provider grid nodes to the Internet via various network access approaches, establishing as the third type of grid nodes which includes various electronic publications and is capable of executing content service with said service domain owner and administrator grid nodes and said service requester grid nodes so as to enable the third type of grid nodes to be the service provider grid nodes on the electronic publication renting network platform.

3. The method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein establishing on the service requester grid nodes of the electronic publication renting network platform an information service grid mode that employs Service On Demand or One Click Is Enough service.

4. The method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein a playback mode established on the service requester grid nodes is: to be disconnected from the network and play independently the information contents that are authorized to play, or to connect to the network to play the information contents which are authorized to play.

5. The method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein said various service paths established on the electronic publication renting network platform comprise a Call Center on-line service path, a network on-line service path and a mobile short message on-line service path.

6. The method for establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes conduct communication service with the service requester grid nodes and the service provider grid nodes via networks and adopts Simple Object Access Protocol with interoperability and the information processing framework of Extensible Markup Language.

7. The method of establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein that said service requester grid nodes use the handheld wireless remote controller to operate the multi-media terminal and employ an external general television set for playback, or said service requester grid nodes use a button that directly operates the multi-media terminal and employs an external general television set for playback.

8. The method of establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein under the framework of the information service grids, configuring the service provider grid nodes that can be added at any time or deleted at any time.

9. The method of establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein the service requester grid nodes use a download mode to realize the playback of the authorized information contents.

10. The method of establishing the electronic publication renting network platform of claim 1, wherein under the framework of the information service grids, configuring the service domain owner and administrator grid nodes, the service requester grid nodes and the service provider grid nodes, which can be added or deleted at any time.

Drawing