Method and system for providing wireless LAN service using rental digital television

Abstract

A method and system for providing a wireless LAN service using a rental digital television is provided. When a wireless-LAN-embedded digital television leased to a first user is turned on, the digital television accesses a management authentication server using a service server included in the digital television to determine whether or not the first user is a lease service subscriber. A TV tuner of the digital television is activated if the first user is a lease service subscriber. When a terminal of a second user has accessed an access point of the digital television, the digital television accesses the management authentication server using the service server to determine whether or not the second user is a wireless LAN service subscriber. A wireless LAN service is provided to the terminal of the second user if the second user is a wireless LAN service subscriber.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present invention relates to a wireless LAN, and more particularly to a method and system for providing a wireless LAN service using a rental digital television.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Currently, television broadcasts are changing from analog to digital. Electronic products are also changing from analog to digital. Low-quality media devices are increasingly replaced with high-quality multimedia devices. Although the demand for digital televisions is on the rise in the course of such commercial, social, and cultural changes, it is difficult to spread digital televisions since they are very expensive compared to the demand.[0005]Wireless LAN is a new technology which attracts a lot of attention recently. Due to the new Intel Centrino technology, wireless LAN cards are installed in many notebook computers and wireless LAN features are added to many portable devices. Despite of this fact, the wirele...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for providing a wireless LAN service using a rental digital television, which overcomes the above problems associated with the spread of the digital television and wireless LAN, whereby digital television customers can easily install both a digital television and an environment for use of a wireless LAN in their home or place of business to receive a variety of services, wireless LAN users can access and use environments in which it is easy to use the wireless LAN, and service providers can easily spread access points using the demand for digital televisions and thus can increase the number of wireless LAN service subscribers to provide a variety of services to them.

[0013]Preferably, an incentive proportional to the number of accesses to the access point by wireless LAN service subscribers can be provided to wired network subscribers provided with digital televisions in order to improve the quality of services provided to the wireless LAN service subscribers. Preferably, digital televisions are identified with respective serial numbers to allow the management authentication server to obtain access statistics.

Problems solved by technology

Although the demand for digital televisions is on the rise in the course of such commercial, social, and cultural changes, it is difficult to spread digital televisions since they are very expensive compared to the demand.

Despite of this fact, the wireless LAN is not widely used.

One reason is that an access point used in this technology, which is a point of connection to a wired network, is available only in a limited area and has low mobility.

Another reason is that the wireless LAN technology does not provide services differentiated from services provided through the wired network due to its low bandwidth compared to that of the wired network.

Although many researchers strive to establish a new standard solving such problems and to improve the performance of the wireless LAN, the wireless LAN is still not widely used.

As described above, it is difficult to spread the digital television and wireless LAN due to the high price of the digital television and the limited available range of the access point and thus difficult to provide a variety of services using the digital television and wireless LAN.

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