Patent Publication Number: US-2012047019-A1

Title: Apparatus, method, and advertising server for providing mobile advertising through mobile broadcasting network

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a mobile advertising system for providing differentiated and personalized mobile advertising (MobAd) service, and more particularly to an apparatus, method, and advertising server for providing a user-personalized mobile advertising service through the use of a mobile broadcasting network, and a system therefor. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     The mobile communication market has continuously met requirements for the production of new services through the recombination or unification of existing technologies. With the development of communication and broadcast technologies, current broadcast systems or mobile communication systems provide a broadcast service through a mobile terminal (hereinafter, referred to simply as a “terminal”), such as a mobile phone or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). 
     In addition to potential and actual market demands, rapidly increasing user demands for multimedia services, enterprisers&#39; strategies to provide a new service such as a broadcast service beyond the existing voice service, and interests of Information Technology (IT) companies that are enhancing mobile communication businesses in response to consumer demands have enabled the convergence between a mobile communication service and the Internet Protocol (IP) to become a big stream in the development of next generation mobile communication technology. 
     Meanwhile, Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is an organization that studies the standards for interaction between individual mobile solutions, and mainly serves to establish standards for various applications relating to mobile games, Internet services, etc. Particularly, among the working groups of the OMA, the Open Mobile Alliance Requirement Working Group (OMA REQ) and Open Mobile Alliance Content Delivery Working Group (OMA CD) are studying the technical standards for a mobile advertising (MobAd) service. 
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     As described above, a user-personalized advertising service may be provided in a mobile advertising system, wherein it is necessary to diversify the communication scheme in order to provide the advertising service to more users. Accordingly, the mobile advertising system is required to be combined with a communication scheme which enables advertising services to be transferred to a wider range of users, and if the advertising services are provided in mutually different communication schemes, a more differentiated and personalized advertising service can be provided to the users. If advertisement can be provided through a mobile broadcasting network, as an example of the communication schemes, the scope of provision of advertisement may be further expanded. 
     Solution to Problem 
     Accordingly, the present invention provides an apparatus, method and advertising server for providing a user-personalized mobile advertising service through the use of a mobile broadcasting network in order to provide the user-personalized advertising service to a wider range of users. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing a mobile advertisement using a mobile broadcasting network, the apparatus including: a BCAST client for, when a BCAST server creates a service guide to which advertisement information is applied in response to a request including the advertisement information and an advertisement from an advertisement server, receiving the advertisement and the service guide created by the BCAST server; and an advertisement engine for providing the advertisement server with user&#39;s contextualization and personalization information in advance, selecting at least one advertisement from among one or more object advertisements when receiving a notification message reporting that the one or more object advertisements exist from the advertisement server, and receiving the selected advertisement from the BCAST client. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing, by a mobile advertisement provision apparatus including a BCAST client and an advertisement engine, a mobile advertisement using a mobile broadcasting network, the method including the steps of: providing an advertisement server with user&#39;s contextualization and personalization information in advance; when a BCAST server creates a service guide to which advertisement information is applied in response to a request including the advertisement information and an advertisement from an advertisement server, receiving a notification message reporting that one or more object advertisements exist from the advertisement server; and selecting at least one advertisement from among the object advertisements and receiving the selected advertisement. 
     In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an advertisement server for providing a mobile advertisement using a mobile broadcasting network through a process, which includes: receiving user&#39;s contextualization and personalization information from an advertisement engine in advance; transmitting a request message requesting creation of a service guide, to which advertisement information is applied, to a BCAST server; receiving a response message reporting that the service guide has been created from the BCAST server; selecting an advertisement reception target audience using the user&#39;s contextualization and personalization information provided in advance when receiving the response message; creating a notification message reporting that an advertisement matching the selected advertisement reception target audience exists, based on the response message; and transmitting the created notification message to the advertisement engine. 
     ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION 
     Since a mobile advertisement (MobAd) enterpriser can implement the method of the present invention using the existing OMA CAST technology, the advertising service can be provided through the broadcasting network, without using a separate other technology. In addition, according to the present invention, since the mobile advertising service is provided to a plurality of users through the broadcasting network, it is possible to increase the efficiency of resource utilization. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a logical architecture of the BCAST Working Group of the OMA; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating the configuration and interfaces of a mobile advertising system to which the present invention is applied; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a system made by combining logical entities of mobile advertising (MobAd) and mobile broadcasting (BCAST) according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart explaining an operation of providing a mobile advertising service to the user using an OMA BCAST protocol; 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart explaining the operation of an Ad server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart explaining the operation of an Ad engine according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     MODE FOR THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same elements will be designated by the same reference numerals although they are shown in different drawings. Further, in the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. 
     The following description will be given on exemplary embodiments of the present invention for achieving the aforementioned technical objective. For convenience, a description of the present invention will be made herein using the names of the entities defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which is the 3rd mobile communication standard, or defined in the MobAd of Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), which is a standard organization for applications of mobile terminals. However, the stated standards and entity names thereof are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and the present invention can be applied to other systems having a similar technical background. 
     The present invention proposes a method for providing a mobile adverting service through the use of a mobile broadcasting network. Specifically, a method according to the present invention includes a step of creating and providing, by a BCAST server, a service guide (hereinafter, referred to as an “Ad information-embedded service guide”) to which advertisement information is applied to a BCAST client when a MobAd server (hereinafter, simply referred to as “Ad Server”) provides the advertisement information to the BCAST Server which handles a broadcast service; and a step of requesting, by an advertising engine (Ad engine), the BCAST client to provide a desired advertisement when the Ad server notifies the Ad engine of an object advertisement, and receiving the requested advertisement from the BCAST client. 
     Before a detailed description of the present invention, the basic configuration of a mobile broadcasting system used in the present invention will be described. To this end, reference is made to  FIG. 1 , which is a diagram illustrating a logical architecture of the BCAST Working Group of the OMA that establishes standard technologies of an application layer and its lower transport layer with respect to a mobile broadcast service. 
     A detailed description will first be made of logical entities shown in  FIG. 1 . A content creation (CC) entity  101  provides contents which are the basis of a BCAST service, wherein the contents include a file for a normal broadcast service, for example, data for movie, audio, and video. In addition, the content creation entity  101  provides a BCAST service application entity  102  with attributes for the contents for creating a service guide and determining a transport bearer to deliver the service. 
     The BCAST service application entity  102  receives the data for the BCAST service from the content creation entity  101  and processes the received data in the format suitable for media encoding, content protection, and interactive service. In addition, the BCAST service application entity  102  provides the attributes for the contents provided from the content creation entity  101  to a BCAST service distribution/adaptation entity  103  and a BCAST subscription management entity  104 . 
     The BCAST service distribution/adaptation entity  103  performs file/streaming delivery, service collection, service protection, service guide creation/delivery, and service notification operations using the BCAST service data provided from the BCAST service application entity  102 . In addition, the BCAST service distribution/adaptation entity  103  adapts the service to be suitable for a broadcast distribution system (BDS)  112 . 
     The BCAST subscription management entity  104  manages service provisioning such as a subscription/charging-related function of a BCAST service user, provisioning of information used for the BCAST service, and a terminal receiving the BCAST service, in a hardware/software manner. 
     A terminal  105  receives contents and program support information, such as service guide and content protection, and provides a broadcast service to the user. A BDS service distribution entity  111  delivers a mobile broadcast service to a plurality of terminals through mutual communication with the broadcast distribution system  112  and an interaction network  113 . 
     The broadcast distribution system  112  delivers a mobile broadcast service over a broadcast channel, wherein the mobile broadcast service may include, for example, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) of 3rd Generation Project Partnership (3GPP), a Broadcast Multicast Service (BCMCS) of 3rd Generation Project Partnership 2 (3GPP2) which is the 3rd generation synchronous mobile communication standard group, a DVB-Handheld (DVB-H) defined by Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) which is the digital broadcasting standard group, and an IP-based broadcasting/communication network. The interaction network  113  provides an interaction channel, and can be, for example, a cellular network. 
     A description will now be made of reference points that are connection paths between the aforementioned logical entities. The reference points have a plurality of interfaces according to their purposes. The interfaces are used for communication between two or more logical entities for a predetermined purpose, wherein the message format and protocol for the communication are applied. 
     BCAST- 1   121  is a transmission path for contents and content attributes, and BCAST- 2   122  is a transmission path for a content-protected or content-unprotected BCAST service, attributes of the BCAST service, and content attributes. BCAST- 3   123  is a transmission path for attributes of a BCAST service, content attributes, user preference/subscription information, a user request, and a response to the request. BCAST- 4   124  is a transmission path for a notification message, attributes used for a service guide, and keys used for content protection and service protection. 
     BCAST- 5   125  is a transmission path for a protected BCAST service, an unprotected BCAST service, a content-protected BCAST service, a content-unprotected BCAST service, BCAST service attributes, content attributes, a notification, a service guide, security materials such as Digital Right Management (DRM) Right Object (RO) and key values used for BCAST service protection, and all data and signals transmitted through a broadcast channel. BCAST- 6   126  performs the same role as BCAST- 5   125 . BCAST- 7   127  is a transmission path for service provisioning, subscription information, device management, and user preference information transmitted through an interaction channel for control information related to receipt of security materials, such as DRM RO and key values, used for BCAST service protection. BCAST- 8   128  is a transmission path through which user data for a BCAST service is interacted. 
     BDS- 1   129  is a transmission path for a protected BCAST service, an unprotected BCAST service, BCAST service attributes, content attributes, a notification, a service guide, and security materials, such as DRM RO and key values, used for BCAST service protection. BDS- 2   130  is a transmission path for service provisioning, subscription information, device management, and security materials, such as DRM RO and key values, used for BCAST service protection. 
     X- 1   131  is a reference point between the BDS service distribution entity  111  and the broadcast distribution system  112 . X- 2   132  is a reference point between the BDS service distribution entity  111  and the interaction network  113 . X- 3   133  is a reference point between the broadcast distribution system  112  and the terminal  105 . X- 4   134  is a reference point between the BDS service distribution entity  111  and the terminal  105  over a broadcast channel. X- 5   135  is a reference point between the BDS service distribution entity  111  and the terminal  105  over an interaction channel. X- 6   136  is a reference point between the interaction network  113  and the terminal  105 . 
     The components of a mobile advertising system using a mobile broadcasting system, as described above, and the operations thereof will now be described with reference to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating the configuration and interfaces of a mobile advertising system to which the present invention is applied. 
     The mobile advertising system includes an advertising engine (Ad engine)  200  and an Advertising server (Ad server)  210 , which are mandatory components, and interfaces provided by the mandatory components. Components and interfaces, other than the aforementioned mandatory components and interfaces, are illustrated only for showing the cooperation relationship in the mobile advertising system, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted. 
     The Ad engine  200  is a component of the mobile advertising system, and is located in a terminal. The Ad engine  200  cooperates with an Ad application  240  and is used to access the Ad server  210 . Such an Ad engine  200  corresponds to an Ad client, and supports a useful function to approach a mobile advertising service provided from the Ad application  240 . In addition, the Ad engine  200  performs an Ad acquisition and delivery function, an Ad selection function, an Ad interaction result handling function (Ad Metrics Handling function), a user/service/device data handling function, and the like. 
     Here, the Ad acquisition and delivery function serves to receive an advertisement from the Ad server  210 , to store the received advertisement, to update a received advertisement, to receive an advertisement request from the Ad application  240 , and to provide an advertisement corresponding to the request. The Ad selection function serves to select an appropriate advertisement through the use of advertisement selection criteria, input data in an advertisement request message provided from the Ad application  240 , contextualization and personalization information (C&amp;PI), etc. The Ad interaction result handling function serves to receive an interaction result from the Ad application  240 , to combine the interaction result with information (e.g. a measurement time of the interaction result) which the Ad engine  200  has known, to check if the received interaction result is fraudulence, to express a result of the checking, and to provide an interaction result to the Ad server  210 . The user/service/device data handling function serves to handle dynamic/static information of a user/device, and to provide mobile advertising service-related data, e.g. rule, policy, etc. 
     The Ad server  210  is a component of the mobile advertising system, and is located on a network. The Ad server  210  is used to provide advertisements to the Ad engine  200  and a service provider application  230 . The Ad server  210  supports an Ad selection function, an Ad delivery function, an Ad interaction result handling function, a user/service/device data handling function, etc. 
     The Ad selection function provides a function of selecting an appropriate advertisement through the use of contextualization and personalization information (C&amp;PI), Ad metadata, an Ad rule (i.e. MobAd rule), etc. The Ad delivery function serves to deliver Ad metadata, an advertisement, an Ad campaign, reference of Ad metadata, an advertisement, or an Ad campaign, and an indicator indicating that there is no appropriate advertisement, to the Ad engine  200  and the service provider application  230 . The Ad interaction result handling function serves to collect an advertising exposure frequency and user response information, received from the Ad engine  200  and the service provider application  230 , to collect and handle interaction result-related information (e.g. information on advertising exposure time), and to combine a plurality of collected interaction results. The user/service/device data handling function serves to handle user contextualization and personalization information, to handle mobile advertising service-related data, to handle groups for Ad provision, to handle Ad channels, and to handle advertisements and Ad metadata. 
     The Ad application  240  is an external entity executed by a terminal, and is used for requesting the Ad engine  200  to send an advertisement, receiving an advertisement from the Ad engine  200 , displaying the received advertisement to the user, and providing an Ad interaction result to the Ad engine  200 . The Ad application  240  may include, for example, a messaging client, a web browser, a gaming client, etc. 
     The service provider application  230  is an external entity, and is used for requesting the Ad server  210  to send an advertisement, receiving an advertisement from the Ad server  210 , displaying the received advertisement to the user, together with contents, and providing an Ad interaction result to the Ad server  210 . The service provider application  230  may include, for example, web portals, a multimedia service (MMS) relay/server, a short message service center (SMSC), a gaming server, etc. 
     Contextualization and personalization Resources (C&amp;PR) (not shown), are storages for user-related information, and is out of the scope of mobile advertisement. The C&amp;PR may include, for example, the user&#39;s personal characteristics, preference, current circumstances, etc. The C&amp;PR is used to identify requirements of the user upon Ad selection. 
     Interfaces used between logical entities as shown in  FIG. 2  are as follows. 
     MobAd- 1   245  is an interface between the Ad engine  200  and the Ad application  240 , and is provided by the Ad engine  200  to the Ad application  240 . MobAd- 1   245  is used when the Ad application  240  requests the Ad engine  200  to deliver an advertisement and an Ad-associated identifier, or provides the Ad engine  200  with an Ad interaction result. 
     MobAd- 2   250  is an interface between the Ad server  210  and the service provider application  230 , and is provided by the Ad server  210  to the service provider application  230 . MobAd- 2   250  is used when the service provider application  230  requests an advertisement or provides an Ad interaction result, or when the Ad server  210  provides the service provider application  230  with an Ad response and an associated Ad identifier. 
     MobAd- 3   255  is an interface between the Ad server  210  and the Ad engine  200 , and is provided by the Ad server  210  to the Ad engine  200 . MobAd- 3   255  is used when the Ad engine  200  requests the Ad server  210  to send an advertisement and an Ad-associated identifier, or provides the Ad server  210  with an Ad interaction result. 
     Delv- 1   260  is an optional interface provided by the Ad engine  200 . The Ad engine  200  receives an advertisement and Ad metadata via Delv- 1   260  through the use of underlying push and/or a broadcast delivery device. The Ad server  210  uses Delv- 1   260  when delivering an advertisement, an Ad notification, and a service notification to the Ad engine  200 . 
     As described above, when the user requests an advertisement through the Ad application, or when the Ad engine requests a desired advertisement to the Ad server using/referring to available user&#39;s contextualization and personalization information, the Ad server selects and provides an advertisement corresponding to a requested condition to the Ad engine. For example, when advertisements are provided to women spectators in their twenties and thirties in the XX baseball field, users having mutually similar contextualization (i.e. Location: XX baseball field) or personalization (i.e. women in their twenties and thirties) information receive the advertisements. In this case, when consideration is taken into a case where the users receive the same advertisement, 2N (wherein “n” represents the number of advertisement requestors) number of transmission/reception times is created according to the number of users. This derives the necessity of efficient use of resources. 
     Accordingly, in consideration of this respect, the present invention proposes a method of providing a mobile advertising service through the use of mobile broadcasting in a mobile advertising system in order to provide more users with personalized advertising service. To this end, an OMA BCAST protocol is used the mobile advertising system according to the present invention. 
     A system for providing a mobile advertising service using mobile broadcasting, as described above, will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a system made by combining logical entities used for mobile advertising (MobAd) and mobile broadcasting (BCAST) according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the logical entities shown in  FIG. 3  are the same as those shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , an Ad server  300  performs the role of the BCAST service application entity  102  shown in  FIG. 1 , and operates in cooperation with a BCAST service distribution/adaptation entity  310  and a BCAST subscription management entity (BSM)  320 . 
     Also, in the terminal  105  shown in  FIG. 1 , an Ad engine (i.e. MobAd engine)  370  and a BCAST client  360  are included. Here, MBA-x is a reference point between the Ad engine  370  and the BCAST client  360 . The Ad engine  370  transmits a mobile advertising request message to the BCAST client  360  through the reference point, and receives an advertisement from the BCAST client  360 . The operations of the remaining components are the same as those described with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . When a mobile advertising service is provided to multiple users through such a mobile broadcasting network, it is possible to increase the efficiency of resource utilization. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart explaining an operation of providing a mobile advertising service to the user using an OMA BCAST protocol. In  FIG. 4 , it is assumed that the Ad engine  370  provides the Ad server  300  with user&#39;s contextualization and personalization information in advance, as shown in step  400 , or that the Ad server  300  has already stored the user&#39;s contextualization and personalization information. Here, the user&#39;s contextualization information includes, for example, location, preference, a keyword, etc., and the personalization information include, for example, age, sex, a residential district, etc. The following description will be given about an example where the Ad server  300  stores information “the City Hall,” “iPod,” etc. as the contextualization and personalization information. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the Ad server  300  transmits a request message, that requests a BCAST server  305  to create an Ad-embedded service guide in step  405 . The request message is used for the Ad server  300  to provide the BCAST server  305  with all advertisement information and advertisements stored in the Ad server  300 . In addition, the request message plays a role of allowing the BCAST server  305  to create an Ad information-embedded service guide, and to transmit advertisement through the use of a BCAST protocol. For example, all Ad information and advertisements, such as a TGI City Hall discount event, iPod, restaurant, sports shoes, mobile phones, etc., can be included in the request message and can be transmitted to the BCAST server  305 . 
     Then, the BCAST server  305  creates an Ad-embedded service guide using and/or referring to received Ad information in step  410 . Subsequently, the BCAST server  305  transmits a response for reporting that the Ad-embedded service guide has been created to the Ad server  300  in step  415 . This response plays a role of allowing the Ad server  300  to select a target terminal to receive advertisement, and to prepare to transmit a list of advertisements mapped to the target terminal to the Ad engine  370 . 
     While transmitting such a response, the BCAST server  305  creates a BCAST channel for transmitting a received advertisement through an OMA BCAST protocol. That is, at least one dedicated BCAST channel for only advertisement transmission is created. Thereafter, the BCAST server  305  transmits the created Ad-embedded service guide to the BCAST client  360  in step  420 , and transmits an advertisement to the BCAST client  360  in step  425 . In this case, the advertisement and the Ad-embedded service guide are transmitted through mutually different sessions. 
     Meanwhile, the Ad server  300 , which has received the response in step  415 , checks user contextualization and personalization information and selects advertisement reception target audiences in step  430 . Also, the Ad server  300  transmits a notification message, which includes information on advertisements suitable for the target audiences selected according to step  430 , i.e. information on object advertisements or advertisement filtering mapped to the target audiences, to the Ad engine  370  in step  435 . The notification message is a filtering message for advertisement reception, and is directly delivered from the Ad server  300  to the Ad engine  370  through an external way, such as the HTTP protocol, instead of the OMA BCAST protocol. For example, when the Ad server  300  selects an advertisement reception target audience whose contextualization and personalization information is set to “the City Hall” and “iPod,” the Ad server  300  notifies the selected advertisement reception target audience, using a notification message, that TGI City Hall discount event and iPod advertisements are being provided through a service guide. 
     When receiving such a notification message, the Ad engine  370  filters the user contextualization and personalization information using the notification message in step  440 . In this case, when receiving the notification message, the Ad engine  370  determines if user contextualization and personalization information stored in the Ad engine  370  is updated. After such an update, if there is an advertisement satisfying the updated user contextualization and personalization information, the Ad engine  370  transmits an advertisement request message to the BCAST client  360  in step  445 . For example, when the current location of the Ad engine  370  does not correspond to the City Hall, and the iPod advertisement satisfies the current contextualization and personalization information, the Ad engine  370  requests only the iPod advertisement. Then, the BCAST client  360  acquires the advertisement based on the request in step  450 , and then transfers the acquired advertisement to the Ad engine  370  in step  455 . That is, the Ad engine  370  receives only the iPod advertisement. 
     The operation of the Ad server  300  shown in  FIG. 4  will now be described in more detail. To this end, reference is made to  FIG. 5 , which is a flowchart explaining the operation of the Ad server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the Ad server  300  provides the BCAST server  305  with all advertisement information and advertisements, which are stored in the Ad server  300 , in step  500 . To this end the Ad server  300  transmits a message requesting creation of an Ad-embedded service guide. As an example, Table 1 below shows a message requesting creation of an Ad-embedded service guide, wherein the message includes advertisement information and advertisements to use/refer to when the Ad-embedded service guide is created. However, the format of the message is not limited to that shown in Table 1. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Ad-embedded 
                 Identifier of Ad-embedded service guide creation request 
               
               
                 service guide 
                 message, Unique in all the world 
               
               
                 creation request  
                   
               
               
                 ID 
                   
               
               
                 Ad Server ID 
                 Identifier of MobAd server requesting Ad-embedded 
               
               
                   
                 service guide to be created 
               
               
                 Ad Metadata 
                 Metadata of advertisement, including Ad ID, category, 
               
               
                   
                 type, format, expiration date, genre, targeted audience, 
               
               
                   
                 and the like of corresponding advertisement 
               
               
                 Ad 
                 Advertisement 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     A request message as shown in Table 1 includes an Ad-embedded service guide creation request ID used as an identifier of the Ad-embedded service guide creation request message, an Ad server ID which is an identifier of an Ad server requesting an Ad-embedded service guide to be created, Ad metadata representing the characteristics of a corresponding advertisement, and an advertisement which is an advertisement content provided by an advertiser to the user. 
     Of them, the Ad server ID is used to identify each Ad server when a plurality of Ad servers requests an Ad-embedded service guide to be created. Also, the request message includes Ad metadata, wherein one advertisement necessarily has one piece of Ad metadata explaining the characteristics of the corresponding advertisement. In this case, the Ad metadata includes an Ad ID, a type, a format, an expiration date, a genre, a targeted audience, and the like of the corresponding advertisement. 
     Therefore, according to the present invention, multiple pieces of Ad metadata and Ad information stored in the Ad server are included in the request message and are provided. 
     After transmitting such a request message, the Ad server  300  receives a response message representing whether or not an Ad information-embedded service guide has been created from the BCAST server  305  in step  505 , and then determines if an Ad-embedded service guide has been successfully created in step  510 . Here, the response message may be configured as shown in Table 2, but the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Ad-embedded 
                 Identifier of response message to Ad-embedded  
               
               
                 service guide  
                 service guide creation request, and the  
               
               
                 creation 
                 same as identifier of Ad-embedded  
               
               
                 response ID 
                 service guide creation request message 
               
               
                 State 
                 Representing state information, such as success,  
               
               
                   
                 failure, cause of failure, etc., with respect to  
               
               
                   
                 Ad-embedded service guide creation request 
               
               
                 Category 
                 Information classified by Ad metadata and  
               
               
                   
                 advertisement 
               
               
                 BCAST service ID 
                 Identifier of BCAST channel to transmit  
               
               
                   
                 advertisement 
               
               
                 BCAST content ID 
                 Identifier of advertisement re-defined in BCAST 
               
               
                 Ad ID 
                 Ad identifier provided from Ad server to BCAST  
               
               
                   
                 server, and ID corresponding to BCAST  
               
               
                   
                 content ID 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 2, the Ad-embedded service guide creation response ID is used as an identifier of the Ad-embedded service guide creation response message, and is the same as the Ad-embedded service guide creation request ID. 
     The state represents state information, such as success, failure, the cause of failure, etc., with respect to an Ad-embedded service guide creation request. If an Ad-embedded service guide creation request fails, the following items are not included in the response message to be provided. 
     The category is information classifying advertisements, wherein the BCAST server determines the category by making reference to Ad metadata received from the Ad server. Here, corresponding information may be configured in various forms according to business models. The category may be classified, for example, according to genres, types, targeted audiences (e.g. over 18 years old), and the like of advertisements. 
     The BCAST service ID is an identifier allocated for a BCAST server to transmit an advertisement received from an Ad server through a BCAST protocol, and is a BCAST Ad channel identifier. 
     The BCAST content ID is an identifier allocated for mapping an Ad identifier, received from an Ad server, to an identifier which can be recognized by BCAST protocol. The BCAST content ID is an identifier which can be recognized by the BCAST protocol, and is used when a BCAST client acquires a corresponding advertisement. 
     The Ad server  300  checks the state of Table 2 in order to determine if the Ad-embedded service guide has been successfully created in step  510 . 
     When the Ad-embedded service guide creation has failed as a result of the determination, the Ad server  300  returns to step  500  and again provides the BCAST server  305  with all Ad information and advertisements stored in the Ad server  300 . In contrast, when Ad-embedded service guide has been successfully created, the Ad server  300  checks user contextualization and personalization information, received or stored in advance, in step  515 , and selects an advertisement reception target audience in step  520  based on the checked information. 
     When a notification target audience has been selected in step  525 , the Ad server  300  creates a filtering notification message for advertisement reception based on the user contextualization and personalization information, and provides the filtering notification message to the Ad engine  370  in step  530 . According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, three types of filtering notification messages for advertisement reception will now be described with reference to Tables 3 to 5, respectively, but the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Filtering ID for Ad  
                 Identifier of filtering notification message for 
               
               
                 reception 
                 advertisement reception, Unique in all the world 
               
               
                 Category 
                 Information classified by Ad metadata and 
               
               
                   
                 advertisement 
               
               
                 BCAST service ID 
                 Identifier of BCAST channel to transmit 
               
               
                   
                 advertisement 
               
               
                 BCAST content ID 
                 Advertisement identifier re-defined in BCAST 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 3, the filtering ID for Ad reception is an item allocated for identifying the filtering information for advertisement reception, which is transmitted from the Ad server to the Ad engine, and is used as a message identifier. The category, the BCAST service ID, and BCAST content ID items are the same as those included in the Ad-embedded service guide creation response message. 
     The filtering notification message for advertisement reception, as shown in Table 3, is used when there are both an advertisement and filtering information for advertisement reception, which are suitable for an advertisement receiver selected by the Ad server according to the contextualization and personalization information. Accordingly, the Ad server  300  can report an information suitable for a selected advertisement reception target audience through the use of a BCAST service ID, a BCAST content ID, etc, and can report information for advertisement filtering through the use of the category, etc. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 4 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Filtering noti-  
                 Identifier of filtering notification message for 
               
               
                 fication ID for  
                 advertisement reception, Unique in all the world 
               
               
                 Ad reception 
                   
               
               
                 BCAST service ID 
                 Identifier of BCAST channel to transmit  
               
               
                   
                 advertisement 
               
               
                 BCAST content ID 
                 Advertisement identifier re-defined in BCAST 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 4, the filtering ID for advertisement reception is an item allocated for identifying the filtering information for advertisement reception, which is transmitted from the Ad server to the Ad engine, and is used as a message identifier. The filtering notification message for advertisement reception, as shown in Table 4, is used when there is an advertisement suitable for an advertisement receiver, whom the Ad server selects based on pre-received user contextualization and personalization information. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 5 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 Filtering ID for  
                 Identifier of filtering notification message for 
               
               
                   
                 Ad reception 
                 advertisement reception, Unique in all the world 
               
               
                   
                 Category 
                 Information classified according to advertisement 
               
               
                   
                   
                 metadata 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 5, the filtering ID for advertisement reception is an item allocated for identifying the filtering information for advertisement reception, which is transmitted from the Ad server to the Ad engine, and is used as a message identifier. The filtering notification message for advertisement reception, as shown in Table 5, is used for the Ad server to notify the Ad engine of filtering information for advertisement reception, which is suitable for an advertisement receiver selected according to pre-received user contextualization and personalization information. 
     When the Ad server  300  cannot select an advertisement reception notification target audience with pre-received user contextualization and personalization information in step  525 , the Ad server  300  requests the user contextualization and personalization information to be updated, checks the updated user contextualization and personalization information, and then determines an advertisement reception notification target audience. 
     Meanwhile, the operation of the Ad engine  370  shown in  FIG. 4  will now be described in detail. To this end, reference is made to  FIG. 6 , which is a flowchart explaining the operation of the Ad engine according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , the Ad engine  370  receives an advertisement reception filtering message which is a notification message, as shown in Tables 3 to 5, in step  600 . Then, the Ad engine  370  compares contextualization and personalization information included in the received message with the current information stored in the Ad engine  370 , and checks changed information. That is, the Ad engine  370  compares user contextualization and personalization information currently stored in the Ad engine  370  with the information included in the notification message. When it is determined in step  605  that it is necessary to update the current user contextualization and personalization information, new contextualization and personalization information is applied in step  610 . Thereafter, it is determined if there is an advertisement satisfying the newly-applied contextualization and personalization information in step  615 . Specifically, an advertisement satisfying the current user contextualization and personalization information updated in the Ad engine exists with respect to the BCAST content ID, the BCAST service ID, the category, or all the three items, the Ad engine  370  transmits an advertisement request message to the BCAST client  360  in step  620 . An example of the advertisement request message is shown in Table 6, but the present invention is not limited to the format shown in Table 6. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 6 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Ad request  
                 Identifier of advertisement request message,  
               
               
                 message ID 
                 Unique in all the world 
               
               
                 BCAST service ID 
                 Identifier of BCAST channel to transmit  
               
               
                   
                 advertisement 
               
               
                 BCAST content ID 
                 Advertisement identifier re-defined in BCAST 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 6, the Ad request message ID is an item allocated for identifying advertisement request information delivered from the Ad engine to the BCAST client, and is used as a message identifier. The BCAST service ID item and BCAST content ID item are the same as those included in the Ad-embedded service guide creation response message. The advertisement request message, as shown in Table 6, is used when the Ad engine requests the BCAST client to provide a specific advertisement. 
     Another example of the advertisement request message is shown in Table 7 below. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 7 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 Ad request  
                 Identifier of advertisement request message,  
               
               
                   
                 message ID 
                 Unique in all the world 
               
               
                   
                 Category 
                 Information classified according to  
               
               
                   
                   
                 advertisement metadata 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     In Table 7, the Ad request message ID is an item allocated for identifying advertisement request information delivered from the Ad engine from the BCAST client, and is used as a message identifier. The category item is the same as that included in the Ad-embedded service guide creation response message. The advertisement request message, as shown in Table 7, is used when the Ad engine requests the BCAST client to provide an advertisement using the category as filtering criteria for advertisement selection. 
     Accordingly, the BCAST client  360  acquires only advertisements satisfying the items included in the advertisement request message received from the Ad engine, from among received advertisement channels. In this case, a response message to the advertisement request message, which the Ad engine has received from the BCAST client, may have a format as shown in Table 8, but the present invention is not limited to the format shown in Table 8. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 8 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Ad request  
                 Identifier of advertisement request response message,  
               
               
                 response 
                 The same as Ad request message ID 
               
               
                 message ID 
                   
               
               
                 Ad 
                 Advertisement suitable for requested item 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The response message, as shown in Table 8, includes an advertisement suitable for one or more items requested by the Ad engine, and includes an advertisement request response message ID, which is a message identifier indicating that the message is a response to the advertisement request message. 
     Accordingly, the Ad engine  370  receives an advertisement acquired from the BCAST client  360  in step  625 , so that the Ad engine  370  can obtain only one or more desired advertisements through a response message, as shown in Table 8. 
     While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.